Recherla Nayakas were an Andhra dynasty that wrested power from the

Musunuri Nayakas The Musunuri Nayakas were a prominent Telugu Hindu warrior dynasty that rose to power in the 14th century in the Deccan region following the fall of the Kakatiya Empire to the Delhi Sultanate in 1323 CE. They originated from the region of ...

and became the dominant power in the

Telangana Telangana is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated in the Southern India, south-central part of the Indian subcontinent on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, ele ...

region during the late 14th century and early 15th century (r. 1375–1435). They were based at Rachakonda, southeast of

Golconda Golconda is a fortified citadel and ruined city located on the western outskirts of Hyderabad, Telangana, India. The fort was originally built by Kakatiya ruler Pratāparudra in the 11th century out of mud walls. It was ceded to the Bahmani ...

, the border with the

Bahmani sultanate The Bahmani Kingdom or the Bahmani Sultanate was a late medieval Persianate kingdom that ruled the Deccan plateau in India. The first independent Muslim sultanate of the Deccan, the Bahmani Kingdom came to power in 1347 during the rebellio ...

during this period, and built a second base at Devarakonda.

History

Even though modern historians of Andhra identify the Recherla Nayakas with

Velama Velama are a Hindu caste found mainly in Telangana and AP. The term "Velama" was first recorded for the community in a 17th century inscription. The text "Velugoti Vari Vamsavali" documents the medieval military history of Velama rulers. Orig ...

s, Cynthia Talbot states that the formation of the Velama community dates to a later period, the mid-sixteenth century at the earliest. The Recherla Nayakas are believed to have established their first base at Amanugallu. Driven by ambition and avarice, Recherla Nayaks (Anapota and Maada Nayaka) joined hands with Bahmani Sultan and marched on Warangal. In a battle fought at Bhimavaram 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 a Telugu dynasty that ruled most of eastern Deccan region in present-day India between 12th and 14th centuries. Their territory comprised much of the present day Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, and p ...

and that

Prataparudra II Pratāparudra (r. c. 1289–1323) was the last monarch of the Kakatiya dynasty of India. He ruled the eastern part of Deccan, with his capital at Warangal. Prataparudra succeeded his grandmother Rudrama as the Kakatiya monarch. In the first ...

conferred on him the title ''Pandya-raja-gaja-kesari'' (a lion against the Pandya elephants). The titles related to the defeat of Pandyas was after a battle at Kanchipuram against Pandyas where Recherla Nayakas defeated five royals of the Pandya empire. Two other titles held by 'Dacha Nayaka' related to this event are and (i.e. destroyer of armies of five Pandyas, namely, Vira Pandya, Vikrama Pandya, Parakrama Pandya, Sundara Pandya, and Kulasekhara Pandya). The Recherla Nayakas built two fortified towns at Rachakonda and Devarakonda 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 district, Suryapet, Rangareddy, Yadadri Bhuvanagiri, ...

. The Recherlas had as their rivals the

Reddy dynasty The Reddi Kingdom or Kondavidu Reddi Kingdom existed from 1325 to 1448 CE in southern India. Most of the region that was ruled by the kingdom is now part of modern-day central Andhra and Rayalaseema. It was established by Prolaya Vema Reddi i ...

in the coastal Andhra region. They were initially allied with the

, 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 known as the Karnata Kingdom, was a late medieval Hinduism, Hindu empire that ruled much of southern India. It was established in 1336 by the brothers Harihara I and Bukka Raya I of the Sangama dynasty, belongi ...

. Following a split among the Reddy clan, into

Rajahmundry Rajahmundry ( ), officially Rajamahendravaram, is a city in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and district headquarters of East Godavari district. It is the fifth most populated city in the state. During British rule, the district of Rajahmu ...

Reddys and

Kondavidu Kondaveedu Fort is a historically significant ancient hill fortress located in Kondaveedu, a village in the Chilakaluripet constituency of Palnadu district, Andhra Pradesh, India. The site is located 16 miles west of the city of Guntur. Apart f ...

Reddys, the

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 Nayak dynasties Telugu monarchs