01Queen at Bidanur
Keladi was a Nayaka kingdom of the Malnad, the rain forests above the Kanara coast, once a vassal of Vijayanagara. Its kings were Veerashaivas, and their chief temple at Keladi still stands. Chennamma, from a Lingayat merchant family, married Somashekhara Nayaka. After he was murdered in a court intrigue around 1671 she put down the conspirators, took the government herself, and adopted a son, Basavappa Nayaka, to secure the line. Linganna Kavi’s Kannada chronicle Keladinripavijayam records her reign.
02Rajaram’s passage, 1689
After Sambhaji was captured and killed in 1689, his brother Rajaram escaped from the Mughal siege of Raigad and made for Jinji in the far south, travelling in disguise through hostile country. He sought help from Keladi. Chennamma gave him shelter and sent him on his way, knowing what it would cost. Aurangzeb sent a force against her; her troops fought it in the forests and passes of the Malnad, and the war ended in a settlement that left Keladi standing. The Maratha struggle survived because Rajaram reached Jinji.
