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

Bezawada

Bezawada is where the Krishna breaks through the last hills and turns to its delta: the gate between the Telugu upland and the sea, with the Kanaka Durga shrine on the rock of Indrakeeladri and the old Malleswara temple (inscriptions from the ninth to the sixteenth century, including those of the Eastern Chalukya kings Yudhamalla I and II; Vijayawada article, read).

Cave temples cut in the fourth to ninth centuries stand at Mogalrajapuram and at Undavalli across the river (the second from memory). The Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang stayed near here about 640. Who holds the town in January 1200 is not recorded: the Velanati king Prithviswara and the Kota chiefs of Dharanikota are the claimants, the Kakatiyas the next field.

On the likely course Kakatiya forces are here in 1201.

Who holds it

Title
The Velanati or Kota officer at Bezawada
Since
not pinned
Born
not known
Confidence
low

No source we read names who holds the Krishna gap on 1 January 1200; Wikipedia's Ganapatideva article has Kakatiya forces here by 1201 (the Kanaka Durga inscription), so it is not Kakatiya on the day.

Lord in 1200

A Velanati or Kota officer; not named. Status contested in the campaign board's own words.

Overlord

Velanati crown (Prithviswara), or the Kota chief of Dharanikota, with a Kakatiya claim

How things stand that morning

The most contested crossing in the Telugu country: no army of either side is here on the day.

Council

Not known. The temple priests of Kanaka Durga and Malleswara would be the main local body (general).

Communities

Telugu Brahmins and temple priests; Buddhist remains in the hills are of the earlier ages.

Fairs and markets

Pilgrim gatherings at the Krishna ghats; no dated fair known.

Walls and castle

Hill defences on Indrakeeladri; no wall dated.

Trade and crafts

River crossing tolls on the main road between the upland and the delta; the ferry and ford below the hills (board 'the-lower-krishna-crossings'); cotton and rice.

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. 1201Kakatiya forces take Bezawada (the Kanaka Durga inscription) and open the delta.Depends on: A free Ganapati and the regent's decision to march. Stopped by: A Yadava objection; a Velanati or Chola intervention; the Kota chief of Dharanikota refusing passage.

Places of note

  • Indrakeeladri and the Kanaka Durga shrine: Hill shrine over the river.
  • The Krishna gap and the Kondapalli hills: The hills and ford north-west of the town (board 'kondapalli-gap').

Where the sources disagree

  • Board 'bezawada-vijayawada' calls the town contested; this record agrees and draws it Velanati for the map. Board 'kondapalli-gap' is the campaign board's name for the hills and ford north of the town.

Evidence: The Vijayawada article (read) has nothing for 1200; the Kakatiya capture in 1201 is from the Ganapatideva article (read) as used in the Kakatiya realm record.

"The campaign board" is OMNIA's working map. These notes record where its earlier claims were checked against the sources.

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: Vijayawada (read this session; thin on 1200)
  2. Wikipedia: Ganapatideva (read this session)
  3. Wikipedia: Velanati Chodas (read this session)
  4. OMNIA board notes for this place (a lead only, checked against the sources above)

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