The Early History of the Deccan (Parts I–XI) v2.c15.s3.t3.3

v2.c15.s3.t3.3

The Kākatīya army fell into two divisions, the royal forces and the nāyaka levies. How these were officered and commanded is not known, though daṇḍādhipatis and sēnādhipatis are both frequently mentioned in the inscriptions. The king was the ipso facto commander-in-chief of the whole army by virtue of his office. Very often he actually took the field in person. Rudra and Mahādēva both fell in battle; Gaṇapati was taken prisoner while fighting by the side of his father; and even Rudramadēvī, if we can rely on general tradition, donned male attire, put on armour, and fought with the Yādava king Mahādēva when he came to invest her capital. The king was usually accompanied by a number of officers called *aṅgarakshas* whose special duty it was to guard his person and palace. Beside the *aṅgarakshas* a body of *leṅkas* or companions-at-arms, who called themselves his sons and who shared his board, fought by his side. The *leṅkas* were slaves who had entered into a covenant with their lord to devote themselves exclusively to his service. They took an oath (*bāsa*) to look on their lord as their *guru* and deity in this world and the next, to have no regard either for their own property or for their lives in furtherance of his interests, to stand by him in the hour of danger, to fight his battles, either to perish with him in the clash of arms or to kill themselves if they should chance to survive him.¹ However, no instance of the immolation of the *leṅkas* after the death of their master is actually on record in the Telugu country, though such occurrences did take place in the neighbouring Karṇāṭaka, as illustrated by the example of the *Garuḍas* under the Hoysalas.² The ideal of conduct which the *leṅkas* were expected to follow was indeed lofty. It will be of interest here to cite the chief characteristics of a *leṅka* as described in an inscription of A.D. 1045: ‘Truth should be his utterance, praise (of his master) his work, charity his recreation, succour of the distressed seeking his protection his merit, and unflinching attitude in a great battle his prime concern.’³ The duties and obligations of the *leṅkas* were collectively known as the *leṅka-vāḷi* and in return for their performance the *leṅkas* were granted estates by the king out of the proceeds of which they were to maintain themselves. The royal feudatories and the *nāyakas* dependent on the kings also maintained *leṅkas* in their private services, so that these retainers became a common feature of Āndhra society during the middle ages.