Rudramadevi
A Queen True To Her Calling
Rudramadevi (reign 1260 - 1290 CE) of the powerful Kakatiya dynasty ruled from her capital Orugallu, present day Warangal in Telangana. The area was naturally rich in diamonds and was throughout the target of several attacks and invasions by vying rival kings seeking to expand their territories and increase their wealth.
Early Life
Rudramadevi was brought up like a boy by her father Ganapathideva who had two daughters to succeed him. Ganapathideva was a very prominent monarch of his line. At the end of a largely successful reign, he apprehended an attack by Jatavarman Sundara Pandian I from near Madurai. The Kakatiya empire needed a strong front to defeat this threat. Rudramadevi was trained in the art of war under her guru Sivadevayya. He coached her thoroughly in planning her campaigns, tactical moves on the battlefield and managing the enemies' moves. She was given a thorough grounding in politics and administration. She was taught the fine arts - music, dance and literature to prepare her to be a good administrator. She toured the kingdom, meeting officials and people to gain first hand knowledge.
Rudramadevi could also draw upon the formidable experience of her father who had ruled for nearly 60 years. He eased her into the battlefield and the court so she could prove her mettle and gain confidence. Above all she learnt to keep the welfare of her subjects as her primary goal.
On the advise of his councillors, Ganapathideva performed the putrika ceremony which invested Rudramadevi with the authority of a male heir. She assumed the name of Rudraraja from the age of fourteen and wore male attire as co-ruler. Shortly thereafter, life threw up challenges that the young queen had to face head-on. Even as she fended off Sundara Pandian the Kakatiya kingdom weakened, her father took ill, and soon died.
A Fight to Retain the Kingdom
Rudramadevi then took independent charge. Soon after, she faced rebellion from family members and nobles clearly disgruntled at a female ruler on the throne. When Rudramadevi and her daughter were visiting a temple at Mogalicharla, the fort of Warangal was forcibly occupied by the rebels. She crushed the uprising with the help of citizens, courtiers and troops that remained loyal to her. Rudramadevi had her work cut out keeping the kingdom intact against invaders such as the Yadavas of Devagiri who laid siege to her capital for fifteen days. She defeated the Yadavas and captured several of their troops who were later released after a ransom was paid. The Odia and the Chola who were looking for a chance to take over were also defeated. Rudramadevi not only proved that she was a good warrior but was also able to instil awe in the minds of her enemies for her personal bravery and her tactical intelligence. She was a feared adversary.
Family Life
In time, she was married to Virabhadra, a minor member of the Chalukya dynasty. Legend has it that the pair was well matched in combat. It had been one of Rudramadevi's conditions that the person she married should be her equal in an armed fight. The tales of their marriage have been told in song and verse down the ages. The marriage politically and socially unified the Telugu-speaking areas for the first time, since she was from Telangana and he was from the coastal Andhra region. Virabhadra appears not to have taken part in the kingdom's administration and died early. They led a harmonious life and had two daughters.
For political stability Rudramadevi got her daughter Mummadamma married to a Kakatiya prince Mahadeva. Another daughter was married to Annayamantri of Induluri.
An Administrator Par Excellence
Rudramadevi is remembered as a very able administrator and for her policies of statecraft. She reviewed the administrative setup and reconstituted the structure.
With the Naayankara system she established military and fiscal control on a sound footing. She rewarded her loyal nobles by gifting land regardless of social hierarchy and did not allow landowners to become entrenched, thus ensuring merit and fealty among her officers.
It is to her credit that the Orugallu fort was strengthened and completed with provision for water and amenities. She added to it formidable walls twenty feet high and a moat one hundred and fifty feet wide. When the fort renovation and expansion was completed, it was so strong that it succumbed to the army from Delhi only after five campaigns and the use of the most advanced technology in the world at the time.
Rudramadevi continued and strongly encouraged the method, started during the reign of her father Ganapathideva, of using tanks to store water for irrigation in the arid Telangana region, perfectly suited to the topography of the region. Eventually nearly 5000 tanks were constructed by warrior families over the years during the reign of the Kakatiya. She is also credited with having set up maternity homes - in the 13th century!
Marco Polo the famous Italian explorer visited Rudramadevi’s kingdom around 1289 CE and had many flattering words to say about the queen and her manner of governance. He wrote about the prosperity of the kingdom, its external trade of "diamonds and delicate cotton, clothes looking like tissue of spiders' webs" from ports such as the well-established one at Motupalli. He called Rudramadevi a lover of justice, of equity, of peace and an exemplary queen.
Succession and Trouble Ahead
In 1280 CE, Rudramadevi designated her daughter Mummadamma’s son Prataparudra II as her heir, and abdicated. However, trouble brewed on the horizon when Kayastha ruler Amba Deva attacked with old Kakatiya enemies, the Pandyas and the Yadavas. Despite her age, Rudramadevi went to battle.
The Death of a Valiant Queen and a Mystery Solved
For centuries afterwards, how exactly Rudramadevi met her end was mere conjecture. An inscription had been known for a long time which said she died with her general Mallikarjuna Nayaka at Chandupatla, Nalagonda district, Telangana. But the event was not confirmed. However, in 2017 the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) discovered sculptures that could throw some light on the event.
Two portrait sculptures in the area helped reconstruct the scene after over eight centuries. Carved granite slabs were found during a survey near the Pochalamma temple in a remote village. Despite the damaged slabs, the strong personality of Rudramadevi carved on them shines through.
The stones show in sequence the events before the battle and immediately after, as Rudramadevi lost her life. It is conjectured that the anonymous sculptor must have witnessed it all. The portraits serve as commemorative visuals of Rudramadevi’s life. In the first one, she is depicted with a strikingly impressive face and in martial gear, holding a sword and standing strong. The imperial umbrella is also visible. In the second, she looks tired and the royal accoutrements are missing. A standing buffalo, the vehicle of Yama the God of Death, is positioned in the south (Yama’s direction) of the scene, indicating her death.
Prataparudra avenged his grandmother’s heroic death by defeating Amba Deva.
The Aftermath and the Legacy of Rudramadevi
Rudramadevi lived to a grand age by the standards of the time. Much after her death, the defeat of her grandson and heir Prataparudra II by the army of Ghias-ud-din Tughlaq from Delhi in 1325 CE and his death soon after, was the last major event of the dynasty. The Kakatiya defeat also resulted in Tughlaq taking the diamond, later named Koh-i-noor by the Mughal Shah Jahan a few centuries later, from the temple of Bhadrakali in Orugallu.
The end of the Kakatiya empire led to large-scale migration of its citizens to areas further south. Gangadevi’s family, also from Orugallu, eventually found refuge in the Vijayanagara empire several decades after Rudramadevi’s death.
An interesting aside - As the Kakatiya empire faded away Prataparudra’s brother Annamadeva fled north to Bastar, where he ruled. He took with him a murthi of the family deity Danteshwari Devi and much retinue. His descendants continued to rule the area right up to Indian independence in 1947, when Bastar was merged with the Union of India. Today Dantewada is a district of Bastar named after the deity.
References -
1. The Travels of Marco Polo | Book 3 https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Travels_of_Marco_Polo/Book_3
2. Precolonial India in Practice: Society, Region, and Identity in Medieval Andhra - Cynthia Talbot
5. The New Cambridge History of India, A Social History of the Deccan 1300-1761, Eight Indian Lives. Richard E.Eaton.
6. Maritime Trade of Early South India. New Archaeological Evidences from Motupalli, Andhra Pradesh in the journal East and West by P Krishna Mohan Reddy.
7. Rani Rudrama Devi. National Biography, Women Pioneers by Alekhya Punjala. www.nbtindia.gov.in
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