The Early History of the Deccan (Parts I–XI) v2.c15.s2.t3.98

v2.c15.s2.t3.98

*Gaṇapati's Vassals, Generals, and Ministers.* Gaṇapati was assisted in his wars and in the administration of the kingdom by a large number of feudatories, generals, ministers, and officials. All of them, to whichever category they belonged, had to serve in the army, since the public services were organized on a military basis. It is not possible, therefore, to make any distinction between civil and military properly so called because no such distinction existed at the time. The feudatories may be divided broadly into two classes, old and new. The Rēcherlas and the Malyālas were the oldest of the Kākatiya feudatories. Their fortunes, as we noted above, were linked up with those of the Kākatiya monarchs almost from the very beginning. Rudra, the head of the Rēcherla family, played an important part in the affairs of the Kākatiya kingdom in the opening years of Gaṇapati’s reign and indeed saved it from destruction. When, on the death of Kākati Rudra and his brother Mahādēva in the wars with the Sēuṇas, and the imprisonment of Gaṇapati at Dēvagiri, the nobles rose in revolt and warriors from beyond the frontiers swept the country, Rudra stood firmly loyal and took upon himself the task of preserving the integrity of the kingdom. He drove out the foreign invaders, put down the nobles with a stern hand, and governed the land until the return of his young master from captivity at Dēvagiri.¹ Rājanāyaka, the commander of his forces, followed the Kākatiya army to Kaliṅga when, after the death of the Velanāṭi king Pṛthvīśvara, Gaṇapati invaded that country in A.D. 1212, and rendered distinguished service on several fields of battle.² Though several other members of the Rēcherla family are mentioned in the inscriptions they do not demand any special notice, since they do not seem to have had any considerable share in the affairs of the State. Of the chiefs of the Malyāla family, Chauṇḍa, the son of Kāṭa, the conqueror of Kōṭa, deserves particular mention, for he took a leading part in the early wars of Gaṇapati with the Velanāṭi ruler Pṛthvīśvara. The appellations *dvipi-luṇṭaka* and *divi-cūrakāra* which are associated with his name in the inscriptions clearly prove that he took an active part in the overthrow of the Ayya family and the subjugation of Divi which was situated on the shore of the estuary of the river Kṛṣṇā.³