हिंदीOn this day
Ruined

Kondavidu Fort

The hill capital of the Reddi kings, who rose after the fall of Warangal and kept coastal Andhra Hindu for a century. Krishnadevaraya took it from the Gajapatis in 1515.

Built: 14th century, the Reddi kingsWhere: Andhra Pradesh16.25° N, 80.26° E
  1. c. 1325
  2. 1515
  3. 1579
Photo: Abdaal · CC BY 3.0

01The Reddis and their poets

When the Kakatiya kingdom fell in 1323, Prolaya Vema Reddi was among the nayakas who threw off Sultanate rule in the Telugu country. He and his successors ruled from Addanki and then from Kondavidu, a cluster of hills fortified with walls, gates and tanks. They restored temple grants that had lapsed, and Prolaya Vema built the steps at Srisailam. Their court was a home of Telugu letters: Errana completed the Telugu Mahabharata under Prolaya Vema, and the great poet Srinatha served Pedakomati Vema as a minister of learning.

02Fought over

The Reddi line ended in the 1420s, and Kondavidu passed to the Gajapatis of Odisha. In 1515, on his eastern campaign, Krishnadevaraya besieged and took the fort, capturing a Gajapati prince. The Qutb Shahis of Golconda took it in 1579, and later the French and the English held it in turn. The fort is now overgrown, but walls, a granary, temple ruins and tanks can still be traced over the hills.

The life of this place

  1. c. 1325Prolaya Vema Reddi founds the Reddi kingdom after the fall of Warangal.
  2. 1515Krishnadevaraya captures Kondavidu from the Gajapatis.
  3. 1579Golconda takes the fort.
Visiting

About 25 km from Guntur. A ghat road now reaches the upper fort; carry water.

People

Kapilendra DevaRuler
reigned 1434–1467 CE

Kapilendra Deva

Founder of the Gajapati dynasty of Odisha

KrishnadevarayaRuler
reigned 1509–1529 CE

Krishnadevaraya

Greatest emperor of Vijayanagara, poet-king

Nearby

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