The Early History of the Deccan (Parts I–XI) v2.c15.s2.t1.52

v2.c15.s2.t1.52

Rudradēva was a powerful king. He adhered strictly to the policy of territorial expansion planned by his father, and enlarged his original principality into an extensive kingdom which must be reckoned amongst the principal states of the early medieval Deccan. Rudra realized to a great extent the ambitions of his father. He built up a kingdom extending from the Gōdāvarī in the north to the Kṛṣṇa in the south. Although his efforts to conquer Vēṅgī and make the sea the eastern boundary of his dominions ended in failure, he yet paved the way for its subjugation by his successors by contracting diplomatic and marital alliances with the great feudatory families such as the Kōṭas and the Nāṭavāḍis. Rudra was assisted in his wars by a band of devoted *nāyakas* belonging to the families of the Ceṟaku, the Malyālas of Saṁkisapura, and the Rēceṟlas of Pillalamarri. Of these the Rēceṟlas of Pillalamarri had served the Kākatīyas with devotion and fidelity for many generations since the time of Bēta I. Kāma, the son of Kāṭa, and Nāma, his grandson, were both in the service of Rudradēva as commanders of his armies. Kāṭa, son of Sabba and Āchama of the Malyāla family, was his general as well as his *pradhāni*. It was this same Kāṭa who reduced the Kōṭa chiefs to subjection and received from his sovereign the title of *Kōṭagelpāta* (conqueror of Kōṭa).