was Véma, the son of Próla, who boasts that he conquered Raichúr and defeated certain kings, calls himself 'the lion to the elephant which was the Pándyan king' (whatever that may mean), and was a great patron of Telugu and Tamil literature. Of his successors, two are stated to have fought against the Musalmans and three were men of letters. His grandson Kumáragiri placed his minister and brother-in-law, Kátaya Véma, in charge of the eastern portion of his dominions and made Rajahmundry the capital thereof. Kátaya Véma's dates range from 1385 to 1422 and an inscription of his occurs in the Simháchalam temple in Vizagapatam.
On the death of Kátaya Véma, one Alláda the son of Dodda Reddi obtained (it is not clear how) the throne of Rajahmundry, and founded a new, though short-lived, dynasty. His inscriptions appear as early as 1415-17 in the delta (at Pálakollu, Palivela, and Drákshárámam) and he is represented therein as being the friend or servant of Kátaya Véma, whose enemies he claims to have 'uprooted.' His military operations were extensive. He says that he 'befriended' the Gajapati of Orissa and the king of Karnáta (i.e., the king of Vijayanagar, in the Bellary district) who was allied with the Gajapati, and defeated a Musalman general called Alpa Khan. He also claims to have defeated the Reddis of Kondavíd. His sons Allaya Véma and Vírabhadra ruled jointly; and members of the family are mentioned in the Drákshárámam inscriptions until as late as 1447.
In 1434 the Gajapati dynasty of Orissa was founded by Kapilésvara, the minister of the last Ganga king of that country.*[1] Kapilésvara had shortly before been in alliance with the Rajahmundry Reddis and the Vijayanagar king against the Muhammadans, but he none the less obtained the assistance of the Báhmani king of Kulbarga, then the most powerful Musalman chief in the Deccan, in establishing himself in his new position. By 1454 he was recognized as suzerain as far south as Kondavíd, and a minister of his was ruling at Rajahmundry in 1458; so, though the details of the conquest are unknown, he had apparently seized the whole of this district.
In 1470, however, his successor Purushóttama applied to the Báhmani king of Kulbarga, for help against a rival claimant, and was forced to cede to that ruler, as the price of his assistance, the districts of Rajahmundry and Kondapalle in Kistna. The Hindu inhabitants of Kondapalle, however, soon afterwards revolted, murdered the Muhammadan governor,
- ↑ * Babu Man Mohan Chakravarti's paper in J.A.S.B,, Ixix, pt. 1, No. 2.
