Social and Political Life in the Vijayanagara Empire (A.D. 1346 – A.D. 1646) v2.c18.s1.28

v2.c18.s1.28

Another class which was likewise responsible for the material prosperity of the land was composed of Reḍḍis. These exercised considerable influence in the Telugu provinces of the Empire. They come into prominence from the times of Dēva Rāya II. The Reḍḍi chief Pāṇṭa Mailāra is said to have pleased his royal master Dēva Rāya II by destroying wicked kings by his wisdom and valour, by paying homage to the Vijayanagara ruler, and by giving him great gifts. This is related in a record dated A.D. 1428-29.¹ The military achievements of Kṛiṣhṇa Dēva Rāya were of course responsible for a close co-operation of the Reḍḍis with Vijayanagara. This is suggested in the epigraph dated A.D. 1515-16, which says that the Gaṅga-Reḍḍi chief Gaṅgādhara, son of Viṭṭa (Chiṇṭa?), requested the Emperor to give the learned Brāhmaṇa Sūraya—who had foretold that many forts in the Telugu land would pass into the hands of Vijayanagara—the village Nāgulavaram.² These Reḍḍis may have helped the cause of the great movement for colonizing the south, and this may explain their presence in the districts of Trichinopoly, Coimbatore and Salem.³