Gona Budda Reddy, also known as Ranganatha (13th century CE), was a

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wri ...

and ruler living in southern

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Written work

His '' Ranganatha Ramayanam'' was a pioneering work in the

Telugu language Telugu (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken by Telugu people predominantly living in the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, where it is also the official language. It is the most widely spoken member of the Dravidian language fam ...

on the theme of the ''

Ramayana The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th ...

'' epic. Most scholars believe he wrote it between 1300 and 1310 A.D., possibly with help from his family. The work has become part of cultural life in

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

and is used in puppet shows.

Gona Dynasty

During the Kakatiya dynasty (995-1323), Gona Budda Reddy ruled a kingdom in

Mahbubnagar district Mahabubnagar district is a district in the Indian state of Telangana. Mahabubnagar is the district headquarters which is popularly known as Palamoor. The district shares boundaries with Narayanapet, Vikarabad, Rangareddy, Nagarkurnool, Wanap ...

from Vardhamaanapuram (currently known as Nandi Vaddemaan) and Khilla Ghanpur (Fort Ghanpur) in modern-day Ghanpur, Mahbubnagar district. He and his family, the Gona dynasty, was mostly loyal to the Kakatiya dynasty. When he died, his brother Gona Lakuma Reddy took over the kingdom and rebelled against the Kakatiya, but his son Gona Ganna Reddy remained loyal to them in Vardamanapuram, (1262-1296 AD) indirectly supporting the rule of Kakatiya Queen

Rudrama Devi Rudrama Devi, also Maharani Rudramma Devi, was a queen of the Kakatiya dynasty in the Deccan Plateau from 1263 to 1289 (or 1295) until her death. She was among the women to rule as monarchs in India and promoted a male image in order to do so ...

against opposition to female rule.

References

Telugu poets Year of birth missing Year of death missing Indian male poets Poets from Telangana 13th-century Indian poets Telugu monarchs Translators of the Ramayana {{India-writer-stub