The Early History of the Deccan (Parts I–XI) v2.c15.s2.t5.25

v2.c15.s2.t5.25

The failure of Pratāparudra to ward off the Muslim invasion let loose the forces of disintegration in his kingdom, especially in the southern districts which had only recently been reduced to subjection. A rebellion appears to have broken out in the erstwhile Kāyastha dominions; and Raṅganātha, the Telugu Chōḷa ruler of Nellore, threw off the yoke and asserted his independence. Pratāparudra concerted measures, as soon as circumstances permitted after the retirement of the Muslim invaders from Teliṅgāṇa, to suppress the rebels and bring back the southern districts under his control. He sent an army under Juṭṭaya-leṅka Goṅkaya Reḍḍi against Mallidēva, probably a scion of the Kāyastha family, who had established himself at Gaṇḍikōṭa, and had attempted there to revive his ancestral kingdom. He perhaps received some help from the Sēuṇas, since Pratāparudra is referred to in the inscription describing Goṅkaya Reḍḍi’s expedition as Oḍḍiyarāyadiśāpaṭṭa and Sēuṇa-dhaṭṭu-vibhāla.¹ Mallidēva was defeated and killed and Gaṇḍikōṭa was captured. Pratāparudra appointed Goṅkaya Reḍḍi as the governor of Muliki-nāḍu and the adjoining territories and posted him at Gaṇḍikōṭa. But while he was further engaged in making preparations for invading the Telugu Chōḷa kingdom of Nellore he received a mandate from Delhi instructing him to accompany the Imperial Army with all his forces against the Pāṇḍyan dominions in the South.