Sriranga II (a.k.a. Sriranga Chika Raya) (r. 1614 CE) was nominated in 1614 by King

Venkata II Venkatapati Raya (or Venkata II, r. 1585–1614 CE) was the younger brother of Sriranga Deva Raya (also the youngest son of Tirumala Deva Raya ) and the ruler of Vijayanagara Empire with bases in Penukonda, Chandragiri and Vellore. His reign ...

to succeed him as king of the

Vijayanagara Empire The Vijayanagara Empire, also called the Karnata Kingdom, was a Hinduism, Hindu empire based in the region of South India, which consisted the modern states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Goa and some parts of Telangana an ...

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 ...

. Sriranga was supported by a faction headed by Yachama Naidu of Recherla Velama dynasty, one of the Venkata II's loyal viceroys and commanders and Nayak of Venkatagiri, but was not favored by a set of nobles headed by Gobburi Jagga Raya, brother (or father) of Venkata II’s favourite Queen Obayamma.

Coup and Murder

The presence of a putative heir of former King Venkata II further worsened matters. Jagga Raya, with two of his lieutenants seized Sriranga II and his family and threw them into prison at

Vellore Fort Vellore Fort is a large 16th-century fort situated in heart of the Vellore city, in the States and territories of India, state of Tamil Nadu, India built by Vijayanagara Empire, Vijayanagara kings. The fort was at one time the headquarters of ...

, and crowned the namesake son of the former emperor. Yachama Naidu opposed the plans of Jagga Raya and, with the help of a washer man, smuggled Sriranga’s 12-year-old second son, Rama, from the fort. However, a subsequent attempt by Yachama Naidu to bring Sriranga II and his family through an underground escape tunnel was discovered, making Sriranga II’s confinement more severe. Finally, Yachama Naidu arranged with the captain of the

to murder the guards and release Sriranga II and his family. The guards were eventually killed, but the news reached Jagga Raya first, and he rushed in before Yachama Naidu could succeed and tasked his brother named Chinna Obo Raya to persuade Sriranga II and his family to either kill themselves or kill them himself if they refuse to do so. In pain, Sriranga II agreed to Chinna Obo Raya's words killing his family and finally himself.

Aftermath

Yachama attacked

Chandragiri Chandragiri is a suburb and neighbourhood of Tirupati and located in Tirupati district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is a part of Tirupati urban agglomeration and a major growing residential area in Tirupati It is the mandal headqua ...

and captured the fort but the putative heir of

and few of his nobles managed to escape from the fort and joined the Jagga raya's camp. The murder of the Royal family created shock and horror throughout the kingdom, fomenting hatred of Jagga Raya and his group. As a result, when Yachama headed his forces towards the Vellore fort there was no one to oppose him and the fort was surrendered without any resistance. Many nobles and chieftains deserted the Jagga Raya faction and joined Yachama's camp, which backed a legal royal claimant. Thus Sriranga II was killed within four months of his accession, but one of his sons, Ramadeva, escaped from the massacre to become the next

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

Vijayanagara Vijayanagara () was the capital city of the historic Vijayanagara Empire. Located on the banks of the Tungabhadra River, it spread over a large area and included the modern era Group of Monuments at Hampi site in Vijayanagara district, Bellary ...

, after winning a gruesome war of succession (

Battle of Toppur The Battle of Toppur was one of the largest battles in the history of India. In this battle, cannons were used at a large scale for the first time in South India. It caused complete destruction of the already declining Vijayanagara Empire. It was ...

) in 1617.

References

* http://www.thiruvarangam.com/history.html * Rao, Velcheru Narayana, and David Shulman, Sanjay Subrahmanyam. ''Symbols of substance : court and state in Nayaka period Tamilnadu'' (Delhi ; Oxford : Oxford University Press, 1998) ; xix, 349 p., 6p. of plates : ill., maps ; 22 cm. ; Oxford India paperbacks ; Includes bibliographical references and index ; . * Sathianathaier, R. ''History of the Nayaks of Madura'' icroformby R. Sathyanatha Aiyar ; edited for the University, with introduction and notes by S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar (

adras Mike Adras (born June 25, 1961) is an American college basketball coach. He most recently was the head men's basketball coach at Northern Arizona University. He was promoted from assistant coach after the 1998–99 season, when Ben Howland left f ...

: Oxford University Press, 1924) ; see also ( ondon: H. Milford, Oxford university press, 1924) ; xvi, 403 p. ; 21 cm. ; SAMP early 20th-century Indian books project item 10819. *K.A. Nilakanta Sastry, History of South India, From Prehistoric times to fall of Vijayanagar, 1955, OUP, (Reprinted 2002) . {{DEFAULTSORT:Sriranga 02 1614 deaths 17th-century Indian monarchs People of the Vijayanagara Empire Tamil Nadu under the Vijayanagar Empire Telugu monarchs Year of birth unknown People from Vellore district