Palanati Brahmanaidu (flourished in the 12th century AD); real name: Seelam Brahma Naidu, was the minister in a small Andhra kingdom of Palnadu (part of present

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). He was responsible for the administration of

Palnadu Palnadu is a region located in Palnadu district and covering a portion of Prakasam district in Andhra Pradesh, India. It is spread over the revenue divisions of Gurazala revenue division, Gurazala in Palnadu district and Markapur revenue division ...

ruled by Haihaya King Nalagama. He tried to usher in a new era in which caste distinctions would be abolished. Differences in ideology and court conspiracies led to Brahma Naidu leaving with his supporters, from the court of Gurajala ruled by Nalagamaraju. Nalagama's half brother Malideva established a kingdom with the support of Brahmanaidu at

Macherla Macherla is a town in Palnadu district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is the headquarters of Macherla mandal in Gurazala revenue division. History Macherla is capital of the region Palnadu. The name ''Macherla'' originated from ' ...

. He is said to have adopted a son, a brave warrior called Kannama, a Mala by caste, as he was childless for a long time.

The Battle of Palnadu

The Battle of Palnadu (Palnati Yudham) was immortalized in Telugu literature by the poet

Srinatha Srinatha ( – 1441) was a well-known 15th-century Telugu poet who popularised the Prabandha style of composition. Biography Srinatha was born in Telugu Niyogi Brahmin family in Kalapatam village on Gudur Mandal in Krishna district to parents ...

in his 'Palnati Vira Charita'. The only other scholarly book on the subject was a study of its use in traditional Telugu poetry, Gene Roghair's 1982 ''Epic of Palnadu: Study and Translation of Palnati Virula Katha, a Telugu Oral Tradition from Andhra Pradesh''. This war was very important in the social history of

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 ...

. It was a battle between two factions of the Palanati Haihayas. In the battle, Brahmanaidu's son named Balachundrudu fought courageously and died. Brahmanaidu won the battle and Nagamma, the minister of king Nalagmaraju fled from the field. However,

Malidevaraju Malidevaraju was the ruler of Macherla in the Palnadu kingdom, in present-day Andhra Pradesh, India. He fought for the complete control of Palnadu in the Battle of Karempudi but was killed during the conflict. Malideva was exiled from his kingdo ...

had died fighting in the battle and Brahmanaidu was forced to install Nalagmaraju as the king, who was the only surviving member of the Palnadu royal family. Subsequently, Brahma Naidu retired to the forests, renunciating the world.

In popular culture

* The 1947

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

film ''

Palnati Yudham ''Palnati Yuddham'' is a 1947 Indian Telugu-language historical war film jointly directed by L. V. Prasad and Gudavalli Ramabrahmam. Based on the Battle of Palnadu, the film stars Akkineni Nageswara Rao, Govindarajula Subba Rao and Kannamba, ...

'' depicted various aspects of the war and the human emotions surrounding it. It was directed by

L. V. Prasad Akkineni Laxmi Vara Prasada Rao (17 January 1907 – 22 June 1994), known professionally as L. V. Prasad, was an Indian film director, producer, actor, and businessman. He was one of the pioneers of Indian cinema and is the recipient of the Dad ...

and starred

Govindarajula Subba Rao Dr. Govindarajula Venkata Subba Rao (1895 – 29 October 1959) was a famous Telugu drama and film actor.Nata Ratnalu, Dr. Mikkilineni Radhakrishna Murthy, Second edition, Seetharatnam Grandhamala, Vijayawada, 2002, pp:56-59 Life sketch He play ...

as Brahmanaidu. * ''Palnati Yudham'' was remade in 1966, directed by Gutta Ramineedu, with N.T.R in the role of Brahmanaidu.

References

* B S L Hanumantha Rao, ''Social Mobility in Medieval Andhra'', Telugu Academy Press * Palanati Vira charitra, Oral Epic History of Andhra Pradesh 12th-century Indian politicians {{more cats, date=December 2021