Dukes · The Velanati Chodas of the Andhra coast · as at first light, 1 January 1200

Prithviswara (Velanati)

The Velanati king in possession of everything the Kakatiyas want.

He holds the delta and the plain from Pithapuram and Chandavolu, a Chola vassal with a Chola name behind him and a house exhausted by the Palnadu war. On 1 January 1200 no Kakatiya army is in his delta. On the likely course the pressure starts in 1201 and he is killed about 1207 (the later block says what each step depends on).

Who he is

Name
Prithviswara (Pruthviswara)
Title
Maharaja of Velanadu
Since
1186 (Wikipedia: reign 1186-1207)
Born
not known
Family
Velanati Choda: follows Gonka III (1181-1186) and Rajendra Choda II (1161-1181); parentage not given in what we read
Confidence
medium

Wikipedia's Velanati Chodas article (read): ruled from Pithapuram; later events, on the likely course: suffered defeats from 1201; killed in battle by Ganapati (1207); Rajendra Choda III (1207-1216) followed. 'Tried to take Prolu-nadu' in 1184 (Rudradeva article).

What it holds

  • Pithapuram
  • Chandavolu (old seat)
  • The Godavari delta (Vengi) and Velanadu with Kammanadu

How it was acquired

Succeeded Gonka III in 1186 (Wikipedia).

Allies and rivals

Chola vassal; hostile to the Kakatiyas; kin of the Haihaya.

How things stand that morning

King of the richest and least secure country in Telugu land.

What the year holds

What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.

  1. 1201 onward; about 1207Defeats from 1201; killed by Ganapati about 1207.Depends on: Kakatiya regency holding. Stopped by: Chola intervention.

Places of note

  • Pithapuram: Seat on the Wikipedia reading.
  • Chandavolu: Old seat.

Where the sources disagree

  • Board 'chandavolu-velanadu': 'Pruthviswara holds it on this date': Wikipedia says he ruled from Pithapuram.

Evidence: Wikipedia's Velanati Chodas, Telugu Cholas, Rudradeva and Ganapatideva articles (read); no inscription of his is cited in any of them.

Primary sources for Velanati Chodas (Velanadu)

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

  • Corpus of Inscriptions in the Telingana Districts, Various (Kakatiya chancery and temple scribes), edited by P. Sreenivasachar (inscriptions of the 10th to 15th centuries; edited 1940 to 1942). The Kakatiyas of Orugallu (Warangal) are known for 1200 almost entirely from inscriptions, and this Hyderabad Archaeological Series corpus is the main printed collection. Read online
  • South Indian Inscriptions (Archaeological Survey of India), Various (Chola, Pandya and other chanceries and temple scribes), edited by E. Hultzsch, V. Venkayya, H. Krishna Sastri and successors (inscriptions of the 7th to 17th centuries; the series ran from 1890). The temple inscriptions printed here are the primary record of the Tamil country in 1200. Read online

Sources and studies

  1. Wikipedia: Velanati Chodas (read this session)
  2. Wikipedia: Telugu Cholas (read this session)
  3. Wikipedia: Ganapatideva (read this session)
  4. Wikipedia: Rudradeva (read this session)

Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.