Velanati Cholas were one of the Chola families who ruled over parts of the

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 ...

in the 12th century. They were Vassals of

Later Cholas The Later Chola dynasty ruled the Chola Empire from 1070 C.E. until the demise of the empire in 1279 C. E. This dynasty was the product of decades of alliances based on marriages between the Cholas and the Eastern Chalukyas based in Vengi, and ...

and

Western Chalukyas The Western Chalukya Empire ruled most of the Deccan Plateau, western Deccan, South India, between the 10th and 12th centuries. This Kannada people, Kannadiga dynasty is sometimes called the ''Kalyani Chalukya'' after its regal capital at Kalya ...

and ruled over the region of

Kammanadu Kammanadu (or Kamma-nadu, also Kamma-rashtra) is a historical region in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It consisted of parts of the present day Guntur and Prakasam districts. According to historian and geographer K. Iswara Dutt, Kammanadu ...

in modern

Guntur Guntur () is a city and the administrative headquarters of Guntur district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Guntur is spread across 168.49 km square and is the third-largest city in the state. It is situated to the west of the Ba ...

district. During its peak the chiefs also ruled area of Venginadu, the land between Krishna and Godavari rivers. They belonged to the Durjaya family, so they were also called as ''Durjayas of Velanadu''. Rajendra Choda II had assumed the title " Durjayakulaprakasa ".Kakatiya Nayaks: their contribution to Dakshinapath's independence, 1300-1370 A.D.N. G. Ranga (https://books.google.com/books?ie=ISO-8859-1&id=C58sAAAAMAAJ), p. 12

History

Gonka I Gonka I was a Telugu king and the first of Velanati Chodas who ruled from 1076 to 1108. Gonka I ruled as a vassal to Kulottunga I of Later Cholas of Gangaikonda Cholapuram, and his son Mammadi Varma, viceroy of Vengi. He fought as general in the ...

ruled as a vassal to

Kulothunga I Kulottunga I (;1025 CE - 1122 CE) also spelt Kulothunga (), was a Chola Emperor who reigned from 1070 CE to 1122 CE succeeding his cousin Athirajendra Chola. He also served as the Eastern Chalukya king from 1061 CE to 1118 CE, succeeding his ...

Gangaikonda Cholapuram Gaṅgaikoṇḍa Chōḻapuram is a village located near to Jayankondam, Ariyalur district, Tamil Nadu, India. It became the capital of the Chola dynasty in c. 1025 by Chola emperor Rajendra I, and served as the capital for around 250 years. ...

, and his son Mummadi Varma, viceroy of

Vengi Vengi (or Venginadu) is a delta region spread over the Krishna and Godavari River, (also called Godavari and Krishna districts), the region is also known as Godavari Delta, that used to house world famous diamond mines in the Medieval period. The ...

. He fought as general in the battles against

Kalyani Chalukyas The Western Chalukya Empire ruled most of the Deccan Plateau, western Deccan, South India, between the 10th and 12th centuries. This Kannada people, Kannadiga dynasty is sometimes called the ''Kalyani Chalukya'' after its regal capital at Kalya ...

and also against refractory vassals, Kalinga and Chakrakuta, who joined with Kalyani Chalukyas. He assumed the title ''Chola Mula Stambha (The pillar of Chola empire)''. His kingdom included the region from

Gundlakamma The Gundlakamma River ( te, గుండ్లకమ్మ నది) is a seasonal waterway that flows through the east-central part of the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. It arises in the Nallamala Hills, an offshoot of the Eastern Ghats. Its m ...

in south to Tripurantakam in West.

Rajendra Choda I Rajendra Choda I was a Telugu king and the second of Velanati Chodas who ruled from 1108 to 1132 AD. Rajendra Choda I succeeded his father Gonka I as the chieftain and continued his allegiance to the Chola dynasty. He was defeated by Anantapa ...

succeeded his father as the chieftain and continued his allegiance to

. He was defeated by Anantapalaya, the general of

Vikramaditya VI Vikramaditya VI (r. 1076 – 1126 CE) became the Western Chalukya King after deposing his elder brother Someshvara II, a political move he made by gaining the support of Chalukya vassals during the Chola invasion of Chalukya territory.Sen ( ...

of Kalyani Chalukyas in 1115 AD. Rajendra Choda I was forced to accept the suzerainty of Kalyani Chalukyas. Someswara III succeeded his father Vikramaditya VI in Kalyani in 1126 AD and Rajendra Choda I continued their allegiance to Kalyani Chalukyas. Malla Bhupati of Vengi recovered some regions on the banks of

Krishna Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is one ...

, but Velanti Chodas remained as subjects of Someswara II in these battles. However, in 1132 AD, he fought along the side of

Vikrama Chola Vikrama Chola, known as Kō Parakēsari Varman, was a 12th-century ruler (''r. c''. 1118–1135 CE''The Cōḷas.'' 62-63.) of the Chola Empire in southern India. He succeeded his father Kulothunga I (''r. c.'' 1070–1120 CE) to the throne.''The ...

sent his army under his son Kulothunga II to Vengi. Many chieftains including Velandu Chodas joined hands with him and helped in driving out Kalyani Chalukyas in the battle of Manneru. Rajendra Choda I died in the same year and

Gonka II Gonka II was a Telugu king and the third of Velanati Chodas who ruled from 1132 to 1161. Gonka II succeeded his father Rajendra Choda I. He was regarded as greatest among of all Chodas and also fought as general in earlier battles during his fa ...

succeeded his father. He was regarded as greatest among of all Chodas and also fought as general in earlier battles during his father reign. He accompanied

Kulothunga Chola II Kulothunga Chola II was a Chola Emperor from 1133 CE to 1150 CE. He succeeded Vikrama Chola to the throne in 1135 CE. Vikrama Chola made Kulothunga his heir apparent and coregent in 1133 CE, so the inscriptions of Kulothunga II count his reign f ...

in many battles like famous Godavari battle that resulted in recovering all regions from Kalyani Chalukyas. He crushed many rebel chieftains like Chodas of Nellore and Konidena. His kingdom included the region between Mahendragiri in north and

Srisailam Srisailam is a census town in Nandyal district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is the mandal headquarters of Srisailam mandal in Atmakur revenue division. It is located about from the district headquarters Nandyal, from Kurnool, an ...

in south.

Prola II Prola II (r. c. 1116-1157 CE) was a Kakatiya chief who ruled the area around Anumakomda (modern Hanamkonda) as a vassal of the Kalyani Chalukyas. He was the father of Rudra-deva, the first sovereign ruler of the Kakatiya family. Prola II was a s ...

of Kakatiyas attacked his kingdom in 1158 AD. Chodayaraja, chief of Gonaka II killed Prola II and annexed lost regions. Gonaka II assumed many titles like ''Chalukyarajya MulaStambha''.

Decline

While glory of Velanati Chodas continued during the next two kings

Rajendra Choda II Rajendra Chola II was a Telugu king and the fourth of Velanati Chodas who ruled from 1161 to 1181 AD. He succeeded his father Gonka II and his reign was full of rebellions from Nellore Chodas, Pottapi Chodas and Pakanadu Chodas. He lost to Rudr ...

and

Gonka III Gonka III was a Telugu king and the fifth of Velanati Chodas who ruled from 1181 to 1186. He succeeded his father Rajendra Choda II and he lost to Rudradeva II of Kakatiya The Kakatiya dynasty (IAST: Kākatīya) was an Indian dynasty that ...

and although they defeated all rebellions from north and west, they lost control of some regions. Many warriors were slain in the battle of Palanadu between the families of Haihayas, relatives and vassals of Velanati Chodas. The kingdom lost land from Srisailam to Tripurantakam to the

Kakatiya The Kakatiya dynasty (IAST: Kākatīya) was an Indian dynasty that ruled most of eastern Deccan region comprising present day Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, and parts of eastern Karnataka and southern Odisha between 12th and 14th centuries. Th ...

king

Rudradeva Rudra-deva (r. c. 1158-1195) was a Kakatiya king, who ruled parts of the present-day Telangana and Andhra Pradesh in southern India. He was the first sovereign ruler of his dynasty. Like his father Prola II, Rudra was initially a vassal to the Ch ...

. The last great king in the dynasty is Pruthviswara. He ruled from Pithapuram and made several attempts to regain land and lost prestige. When kakatiyas were fighting against the Yadavas, he recovered the Velandau. However starting from 1201 AD, he lost to Kakatiyas and their subjects Nellore Chodas and was slain in a battle with Ganapatideva of Kakatiyas in 1207 AD. His son Rajendra Choda III made further attempts and lost entire kingdom to Ganapatideva.

Rulers

(1076–1108) *

(1108–1132) *

(1132–1161) *

(1161–1181) *

(1181–1186) * Pruthviswara (1186–1207) * Rajendra Choda III (1207–1216)

Culture

The region was between Krishna and Godavari rivers. According to '' Keyurabahu Charitram'', the region witnessed prosperity and plenty. According to Palanati Charitra, war sports including

cockfighting A cockfight is a blood sport, held in a ring called a cockpit. The history of raising fowl for fighting goes back 6,000 years. The first documented use of the ''word'' gamecock, denoting use of the cock as to a "game", a sport, pastime or ente ...

were popular. It had opulent city markets.

Religion

The region during this period witnessed both

Saivism Shaivism (; sa, शैवसम्प्रदायः, Śaivasampradāyaḥ) is one of the major Hindu traditions, which worships Shiva as the Supreme Being. One of the largest Hindu denominations, it incorporates many sub-traditions rangin ...

and

Vaishnavism Vaishnavism ( sa, वैष्णवसम्प्रदायः, Vaiṣṇavasampradāyaḥ) is one of the major Hindu denominations along with Shaivism, Shaktism, and Smartism. It is also called Vishnuism since it considers Vishnu as the ...

. Kings practiced Saivism according to books written about Velandu kings.

References

{{reflist * South Indian Inscriptions - http://www.whatisindia.com/inscriptions/ Dynasties of India Empires and kingdoms of India Chola dynasty History of Andhra Pradesh