Recherla Nayakas were an Andhra dynasty that wrested power from the

Musunuri Nayakas The Musunuri Nayakas were warrior kings of 14th-century South India who were briefly significant in the region of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Musunuri Kapaya Nayaka is said to have taken a leadership role among the Andhra chieftains and d ...

and became the dominant power in the

Telangana Telangana (; , ) is a state in India situated on the south-central stretch of the Indian peninsula on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the eleventh-largest state and the twelfth-most populated state in India with a geographical area of and ...

region during the late 14th century and early 15th century (r. 1368–1435). They were based at Rachakonda, southeast of

Golconda Fort (Telugu: గోల్కొండ, romanized: ''Gōlkōnḍa'') is a historic fortress and ruined city located in Hyderabad, Telangana, India. It was originally called Mankal. The fort was originally built by Kakatiya ruler Pratāparu ...

, the border with the

Bahmani sultanate The Bahmani Sultanate, or Deccan, was a Persianate Sunni Muslim Indian Kingdom located in the Deccan region. It was the first independent Muslim kingdom of the Deccan,

during this period, and built a second base at

Devarakonda Devarakonda is a town in the Nalgonda district of the Indian state of Telangana. It is a municipality in Devarakonda mandal of Devarakonda division. It is located about from the district headquarters Nalgonda, from the state capital Hyderabad ...

History

Even though modern historians of Andhra identify the Recherla Nayakas with

Velama Velama is a caste found mainly in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. The earliest occurrence of ''Velama'' as a term for a community dates from the 17th century. Origin and history The Velamas are described by that name from the 17th century and in ...

s, Cynthia Talbot states that the formation of the Velama community dates to a later period, the mid-sixteenth century at the earliest. Unfortunately, Talbot's research falls short of historical references. There are adequate references of Nayaka castes (Kamma, Velama, and Padmanayaka) in literature such as the Srinatha's Bhismeswara Puranam, Palanati Yuddham (which happened in ~1180 AD), and the Velugoti vari Vamasavali which describes the recherla nayaka lineage of Venkatagiri Samsthanam, to name a few. The Recherla Nayakas are believed to have established their first base at Amanugallu. When their chief Singama Nayaka was assassinated by rivals, his son Anapota Nayaka blamed Musunuri Kapaya Nayaka as the orchestrator and marched on Warangal. In a battle fought at

Bhimavaram Bhimavaram is a city and headquarters of West Godavari district of the Andhra Pradesh state of India. It is the administrative headquarters of Bhimavaram mandal in Bhimavaram revenue division. It is a part of Bhimavaram Urban Development A ...

in 1368, Kapaya Nayaka was killed and the Recherlas got control of Telangana. Anapota Nayaka later claimed, in an inscription issued in 1369, that his grandfather, Dachaya, had served as a chief under the

Kakatiyas The Kakatiya dynasty (IAST: Kākatīya) was an Indian dynasty that ruled most of eastern Deccan region comprising present day Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, and parts of eastern Karnataka and southern Odisha between 12th and 14th centuries. Th ...

and that Prataparudra II conferred on him the title ''Pandya-raja-gaja-kesari'' (a lion against the Pandya elephants). The Recherla Nayakas built two fortified towns at Rachakonda and

in the

Nalgonda district Nalgonda district is a district in the Telangana state of India. Nalgonda district has the highest number of mandals in the state with 31 mandals. The district shares boundaries with Suryapet, Rangareddy, Yadadri and Nagarkurnool districts an ...

. The Recherlas had as their rivals the Reddy dynasty in the coastal Andhra region. They were initially allied with the

Bahmani sultanate The Bahmani Sultanate, or Deccan, was a Persianate Sunni Muslim Indian Kingdom located in the Deccan region. It was the first independent Muslim kingdom of the Deccan,

, following the same terms of agreement as reached by the Musunuri Nayakas in 1364, whereas the Reddys were allied to the

Vijayanagara Empire The Vijayanagara Empire, also called the Karnata Kingdom, was a Hindu empire based in the region of South India, which consisted the modern states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Goa and some parts of Telangana and Mahar ...

. Following a split among the Reddy clan, into

Rajahmundry Rajahmundry, officially known as Rajamahendravaram, is a city in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and District headquarters of East Godavari district. It is the sixth most populated city in the state. During British rule, the District of Raj ...

Reddys and Kondavidu Reddys, the Kondavidu Reddys switched their allegiance to the Bahmanis and the Recherlas aligned themselves with the Vijayanagara. A major battle ensued at Pangal Fort (near Wanaparthi) in 1419 in which the coalition of the Vijayanagara, Recherlas and

Reddys was victorious. However, the change of allegiance by Recherlas led to attacks by the Bahmani sultanate in the 1420s, who captured Warangal as well as Rachakonda by 1435. Thereafter, the Recherla chiefs remained small players scattered throughout Telangana.

References

; Sources * * * {{citation , first=Cynthia , last=Talbot , title=Pre-colonial India in Practice: Society, Region, and Identity in Medieval Andhra , publisher=Oxford University Press , isbn=978-0-19803-123-9 , year=2001 , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pfAKljlCJq0C Dynasties of India Telugu monarchs