The Early History of the Deccan (Parts I–XI) v2.c15.s2.t3.24

v2.c15.s2.t3.24

Tikka, whom Gaṇapati had installed on the throne of Nellore, was indeed an able and warlike prince; but owing to the aggressions of powerful neighbours he was not infrequently hard put to it to defend his frontiers and preserve the integrity of his kingdom. It was probably for this reason that he propitiated Kulōttuṅga III by acknowledging his supremacy,³ though he had himself come to power with the help of the Kākatīya monarch by ousting his uncle, who was himself a loyal feudatory of the Chōḷa emperor. Tikka had to face, early in his reign, a Sēuṇa invasion which threatened to destroy his power; following this he lost Kāñchī and his other possessions in the Tamil country as a result of the political disorders prevailing there, though he acknowledged the supremacy of the Chōḷa king Kulōttuṅga III, and kept on friendly relations with him. The total absence of any inscriptions of his between A.D. 1215 and 1228 seems to indicate that during these years he had again been driven from the throne. Tikka, according to contemporary Telugu literature and the Telugu Chōḷa inscriptions, is said to have vanquished his enemies single-handed by his own efforts without any help from allies; defeated the Sēuṇa army in the battle fought at Kurumulūr in the Cuddapah district, and made prisoners of all their horsemen.⁴ There is reason to believe, however, that Tikka actually owed his success, at least in part, if not wholly, to the help sent to him by Gaṇapati. In an inscription of Maṭṭevāḍa in the Warangal district, dated A.D. 1228, Gaṇapati is said to have plundered a Chōḷa capital which was in all probability Kāñchī.⁵ A more explicit reference to his achievements in this direction is furnished by the Gaṇapēśvaram epigraph of Jāya-sēnāpati dated A.D. 1231, in which it is stated that Gaṇapati, having easily subdued the Chōḷa, the Kaliṅga, the Sēuṇa, the Bṛihat-Karṇāṭaka, and the Lāṭa . . . made the whole country of Velanāṇḍu his own together with Dvīpa.¹ It may be noted that all the kings mentioned here, excepting the Lāṭa, were rulers of South Indian kingdoms. Evidently Tikka had to face a combination of the kings mentioned above; and he naturally seems to have appealed to his old friend for help. It was under these circumstances that Gaṇapati proceeded to the south at the head of his army and having vanquished and driven out the associated kings he re-established Tikka at Nellore and Kāñchī. Tikka appears to have appointed on this occasion the Kāyastha Gaṅgaya Sāhini, a brother-in-law of Ambadeva I, one of Gaṇapati’s vassals, as the Governor of Upper-Pākanāḍu to strengthen his position in the interior of his kingdom. Tikka’s troubles, however, were by no means at an end. His interests clashed with those of the Hoysalas, and he was soon involved in a war with them.