The Early History of the Deccan (Parts I–XI) v2.c15.s2.t3.16

v2.c15.s2.t3.16

Although Pṛthvīśvara was regarded, at least in name, as the ruler of the coastal region, his authority, as has already been stated, was confined to a part of it. The provenance of his various inscriptions is proof that only the territory between Dākṣhārāmam in the East Godavari district to Śrīkūrmam in the Śrīkakulam district was actually under his sway. What happened in the years immediately following Gaṇapati’s conquest of Divi is not quite clear. Pṛthvīśvara probably led an expedition to recover Divi and other territories conquered by Gaṇapati, but met with disaster. In the contemporary Telugu literature and inscriptions it is said that as a young man Tikka, the Telugu Chōḷa king of Nellore, played ball with the head of Pṛthvīśvara on the field of battle.¹ Others besides Chōḍa Tikka also take credit for this achievement. Mahāmaṇḍalēśvara Ballaya Chōḷa, probably of Kammanāḍu, and the Kākatīya king Gaṇapati, both lay claim separately to the same deed. Each of these is reported to have treated the head of Pṛthvīśvara even as Tikka is said to have done, after having themselves slain him.² It is evident that Gaṇapati and the Telugu Chōḷa chiefs, Tikka and Ballaya, fought side by side against Pṛthvīśvara and killed him. How they came to join one another and make common cause against Pṛthvīśvara is not known. It is not improbable that, as stated above, he invaded the coastal Āndhra, that Gaṇapati and the two Telugu Chōḷa princes, who were either that prince’s feudatories or else his allies, opposed his advance, and that in the engagement which followed, Pṛthvīśvara was killed. With his death the power of the Velanāṭi kings came to an end and their territory passed into the hands of the Kākatīya monarch.