The chief town of the Telugu Chodas of Nellore (Vikramasimhapuri on the Penna), on the Coromandel road between the Tamil and the Andhra country, facing the Kakatiya and Velanati reach to the north.
The English Wikipedia says Tamil inscriptions show Nellore as part of the Chola kingdom until the thirteenth-century decline; the Telugu Choda family rules it as a dependent. The Penna crossing and the Nellore tanks are its wealth. It is the northern bastion of the Chola world against the Telugu march.
Who holds it
- Name
- The Telugu Choda chief of Nellore, a Chola dependent since 1196 (see the lords record)
- Title
- see the lord or tenant line below
- Born
- not known
- Confidence
- medium
Lord in 1200
The Telugu Choda chief of Nellore, a Chola dependent since 1196 (see the lords record)
How things stand that morning
A Chola dependency under a Telugu Choda chief; Kakatiya power to the north is in crisis on the brief's account (Rudradeva killed about 1195, Mahadeva 1198 or 1199), so a Kakatiya move on Nellore is not expected (an inference).
Wealth
Rice, cloth, tolls.
Military
The chief's retinue; no figure.
Threats
- A Kakatiya or Velanati move from the north (later events)
- Famine in the Chola south (the famine itself is reported only in the brief and the campaign board's calendar)
Charter
No charter known
Council
The Telugu Choda chief, his officers and the temple managers; none named for 1200
Communities
Telugu and Tamil Brahmins, merchants, weavers, farmers
Militia
The chief's retinue and the Chola garrison; no figure
Walls and castle
The Nellore fort is not described for 1200
Trade and crafts
Rice, cotton cloth, the Penna crossing, the Krishnapatnam coast trade
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.
- 1200 and afterThe Kakatiya recovery under Ganapati will turn north to Nellore only after about 1206-1210.Depends on: A Kakatiya restoration. Stopped by: A continued Kakatiya crisis.
Where the sources disagree
- The English Wikipedia on Nellore does not mention the Telugu Chodas or any ruler of 1200; the chief's name is in the lords record, which is also thin.
Evidence: The Chola connection is cited in Wikipedia; the chief and events of 1200 are not.
Primary sources for Chola empire
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.
- The Lesser Chronicle (the continuation of the Mahavamsa), Dhammakitti and later monks of the Mahavihara tradition (the first continuation about the 13th century (chapters 37 to 79), carried on in stages to the 18th century). The only narrative source for Lanka in 1200. Read online
- History of Song, chapters 488 and 489: Jiaozhi, Dali, Champa, Zhenla, Pagan, Srivijaya, Java, Brunei, Chola and Tambralinga, Toqto'a (Tuotuo) and the Yuan history office, from the Song court records (1343 to 1345, from Song veritable records and court diaries). The Chinese court's record of its southern neighbours, compiled from Song archives. Read online
- The Leiden grants of Rajaraja I and Kulottunga I concerning the Srivijaya vihara at Nagapattinam, The Chola chancery (Rajaraja I, Rajendra I, Kulottunga I) (the Larger plates about 1005 to 1014 (completed under Rajendra I); the Smaller plates 1090). Background documents for the relations between the Cholas and the Malay world. Read online
- 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
- Epigraphia Carnatica: inscriptions of the Mysore country, Various (Hoysala chancery and temple scribes), edited by B. Lewis Rice and R. Narasimhachar (inscriptions of the 4th to 19th centuries; the series ran from 1886 to 1905, revised from 1972). The Hoysala kingdom of Veera Ballala II (reigning 1173 to 1220) is documented almost wholly by the inscriptions in this series, arranged by district and taluk with full English translations. Read online
- Epigraphia Zeylanica: lithic and other inscriptions of Ceylon, Various (the Polonnaruwa kings' chanceries), edited by D. M. de Zilva Wickremasinghe, H. W. Codrington and S. Paranavitana (inscriptions of the 3rd century BC to the 18th century; the series ran from 1904). Prints with translation the stone records of the Polonnaruwa kings who held or lost the throne around 1200. 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
- Travancore Archaeological Series, Various (Kerala chiefs, temples and merchant guilds), edited by T. A. Gopinatha Rao, K. V. Subrahmanya Aiyer and A. S. Ramanatha Ayyar (inscriptions of the 9th to 18th centuries; the series ran from 1910 to 1938). The main corpus for the Kerala coast. Read online
4 more in the sources library for Southern India and Sri Lanka.
Sources and studies
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.