A Family History of Venkatagiri Rajas/6th Generation
Sixth Generation.
Anapotha Naidu.
Anapotha Naidu and his brother Mada Naidu are two important members of this generation. They had their respective capitals at Rachakonda and Devarakonda of the Nizam's Dominions, and a description of these places will shortly follow. But they held sway over Orangal, Bhuvanagiri, Singapuram and others. The main line descends from the elder.
The first event of his time is the siege of Jallipalli. As described towards the end of the last generation, he promised to take revenge on his father's enemies, and to that end he marched with his brother to the outskirts of Jallipalli and began to attack. The numerous Reddi chiefs came out, and were all defeated and slain. Then it is said that like Parasurama he performed the funeral rites of his father with the blood of the enemies slain. The next is when he besieged Inukurthi in 1361 A.D. and defeated an army- headed by 101 chiefs who claimed descent from the Lunar line. His brother Mada Naidu gave him great help in this attack. He had a separate seat of Government at Devarakonda which was well improved and fortified during his time.
The Anapotha tank dug in his own name, and the construction of a Pratiganda Bhairava temple on its bund are dated 1368 A.D., as proved by an inscription. There are two other inscriptions of the same year on the bund and therefore belonging to his own time. An inscription of the year 1369 A.D. speaks of his gift of the village Ayyanabrolu to Mylara Deva an idol of the same place in memory of- a glorious military campaign. In 1380 A.D., he built another tank known as Raya Samudram and set upon its bund the idol of Bhairava. The construction of steps from the foot of Srisailam to its top is a memorable charity of the brothers A short description of Rachakonda is given below :
Rachakonda means Rajah's Hill. It is situated in modern Hyderabad, and is a part of Nallagonda taluk. It is about six miles west of Narayanapuram Estate, thirty-two miles east of the city of Hyderabad, thirty miles south of Bhuvanagiri, and at the same distance north-west of Devarakonda. It is surrounded on all sides by mountains and has a circumference of thirty miles. At the centre of this circle is the capital with an extent of about ten miles. Huge gateways into the town were built on the four sides with different names, and side by side with these, temples with different idols and descriptive stone inscriptions. Almost the whole of the town has since gone to decay, and with the help of the few relics that remain we can judge fairly well its past history and glory. Traces of palace-streets and bazaar-streets are seen here and there. From the middle of the city shoot up two peaks known as Rachakonda and Naganayakonda, and a big wall built with boulders runs round them and forms a compound. There are four towers on Rachakonda with rock-built ramparts, twenty yards high, and there are other towers on the second hill also. The big gateways leading up hill are of special interest to the spectators. The central hall of the palace called Boddu-Chavika is still intact. Temples of Ramaswami and Veerabhadra are the only two in sound condition to-day. There are besides a river flowing north-east, many wells and tanks. South of Rachakonda is Vedagiri with its cave-temple of Varaha-Narasimha.
His character, love of learning and martial spirit are well described in the famous book Narasabhupaliyam.
A short history of his brother Mada Naidu and his descendants is written for the sake of completeness and on account of its importance. Mada Naidu not only rendered valuable service to his brother in fightings battles, but himself defeated Anapotha Reddi, a relation of Anavema Reddi near Dannala.
He built a huge rock-temple at Umamaheswaram, a holy place at the northern foot of Srisailam. The date of its construction is proved by the inscription in the temple itself to be 1376 A.D. His capital Devarakonda with Madhavapuram at its foot was highly improved during his time. The detailed description of Devarakonda is rather out of place in the present family history, but it may be said that it was a natural fort almost impregnable, in 360 blocks or divisions with nine main and thirty-two sub-entrances, a big granary to contain 125,000 putties of corn, with nine sardars, each sardar being at the head of 12,000 troops and nine gate-defenders. Descendants of these families live there to the present day and are still in possession of the jaghirs granted by the Recharla Kings. From a recent statement of a Tahsildar of the Nizam's, it becomes plain that the Chiefs that once reigned at Devarakonda were (1) Yachama Naidu, the same as the fourth member of this line, Yerra-Dacha Naidu, (2) Madhava Rao, the present Mada Naidu, (3) Parvatha Rao, (4) Vedadri Rao, (5) Venkata Pratapa Surya Rao, (6) Dharma Rao, (7) Madhava Rao, and (8) Lakshmana Rao. It will be seen from a later portion and from the inscription dated 1575 A.D., that the fort was finally captured from Lakshmana Rao by the then Nawab of Hyderabad.
The descendants of Mada Naidu noted in the genealogical tree are not historically important, as they are talked of only for their general skill in fighting.
A great grandson of Komara Vedagiri Naidu killed Macha Reddi, a brother of Anavema Reddi in fighting, for which he was himself defeated and slain by Anavema, His brother Lingama Naidu, though young at that time, got enraged at this and killed Anavema in his turn. The favourite dagger called Nandikampotu fell into the hands of Lingama Naidu, and the attempts of Anavema's brother, Veerabhadra Reddi, to regain it by begging secretly through the poet Sree Nadha is the subject of a humorous poem in Telugu literature.
A contemporary of the King Proudha Deva Raya, Lingama Naidu lived in the middle of the fifteenth century. His conquests seem to be numerous and occupy full two pages of Telugu history. From it, we learn that he was a terror to the wicked and a protector of the poor. With the booty so gained, he made several charities in the name of Sree Saila Mallikharjuna, and on one occasion he won the admiration of Anagondi Proudha Deva Raya and a reward of Gandapenderam (a jewel for the leg).