________________
No. 52]
VELIGALANI GRANT OF KAPILESVARA, SAKA 1380
279
part of the Ganga kingdom, as is borne out by two inscriptions at Simhachalam. The record of Vēma1, dated Saka 1356 (1434 A.D.), registers the remission of taxes on the lands belonging to the gods and Brahmaņas in the villages of Kaluvalapalli, Odḍādi, Poṭnuru and others, which were acquired by the strength of his own arms. There can be no doubt that the said places were conquered by the Reddis from the Ganga king Bhanu IV. Virabhadra's inscription is undated; but it praises him as a great conqueror. The Mudabidure inscription, dated Saka 1351 (1429 A.D.), however, refers to the success of the Vijayanagara monarch Devaraya II against the Gajapati king and describes the former as 'the lion in destroying the crores of elephants to the lord of elephants (Gajapati), and the very Kalasōdbhava (Agastya) to the ocean of the army of the Andhra king (or, kings)'. The Simhachalam inscription of Telungaraya, a subordinate of the Vijayanagara king, also corroborates this fact. The success of the Reddis against the Ganga king thus appears to have been due to the help they received from the Vijayanagara monarch to whom they owed allegiance. The latest record of Gajapati Bhanu IV at Simhachalam is dated Saka 1352 (1430 A.D.)."
Kapilēsvara made an attempt to subdue the semi-independent chiefs like Pratapa Gangarāju and Saubhagyaraju and to reconquer the southern part of the erstwhile Ganga kingdom from the subordinates of the Vijayanagara monarch. The chiefs of Nandapür and Viraghaṭṭāms were subdued and with their help the Gajapati king attacked the Reddi kingdom of Rajahmundry. A Draksharama inscription (dated Saka 1366-1444 A.D.) of the Vijayanagara king Dövaraya II suggests that he came to the rescue of the Reddis against the attack of the Gajapati. As a result of the conflict between the Gajapati and the Vijayanagara king, the Reddis lost the Rajamahendra-rajya which became a part of the Gajapati empire. An inscription at Penugonda (Tanuku Taluk, West Godavari District), dated Saka 1370 (1448 A.D.), Vibhava, alludes to the rule of the Gajapati-kshönisa, i.e. Kapilēsvara. With the help of the Redḍis of Rajahmundry, who were the enemies of their kinsmen ruling from Kondavidu, Kapilēśvara marched against Kondaviḍu and other important forts in the south, captured them all and finally annexed them to the Gajapati kingdom.
Kapilēsvara appointed his own relatives to govern the southern tracts conquered by him. His nephew Raghudeva was ruling from Rajahmundry and one of his kinsmen named Ganadeva from Kondavidu, 10 while his own son Kumaramahāpātra Hambira was in charge of the whole Telugu and Tamil areas annexed to the Gajapati empire. Hambira's son Dakshina-Kapilēśvara was also a governor in the Tamil areas, 12
1 Ibid., Vol. VI, No. 1168.
Ibid., No. 1169.
Ibid., Vol. VII, No. 202, lines 13-14.
Ibid., Vol. VI, No. 905.
Ibid., No. 784.
A. R. Ep., 1933, No. 395.
SII, Vol. IV, No. 1375.
Mack. Mas., No. 15-4-4; Loc. Rec., Vol. II, p. 200; Sarma, History of the Reddi Kingdom, p. 193, note: Sak-ahde gagan-adri-Rama-dharani-namkhya-sama-purite
Vibhav abde cha Tapasya-masi kasino vire dvitiyam(ya)-tithau,
Pengoni-akhya-pur-öttamam Gajapati-kahiniba-sandipitam. Vibhav-abde cha does not suit the metre, Above, Vol. XXXIII, pp. 1 ff.
10 Ind. Ant., Vol. XX, pp. 390-93; A. R. Ep., 1917, No. 70.
11 Cf. A.R.Ep., 1941-42, C.P. No. 4.
1 C. ibid., 1919, Nos, 51 and 92; 1937-38, No. 87.
