Reign of Rudrama Devi, queen of the Kakatiyas
In the eastern Deccan, Rudrama Devi, daughter of the Kakatiya king Ganapati, ruled from Warangal under the male regnal name Rudradeva Maharaja — one of the few women in Indian history to inherit a throne from her father. She held the kingdom against the Yadavas and rebellious nobles until she was killed, apparently by the forces of a rebel chief, in 1289.
- Date
- between 1262 and 1263 – November 1289start: exact date unknown: an interval is given; end: month known · duration: ≈ 27 years
- Place
- Warangal (Orugallu)today: Warangal Fort, Telangana, India · South Asia
- Participants
- Rudrama Devi, Kakatiya dynasty
- Threads
- Asia, Africa and the Americas in the 13th century
- Also known as
- Rudramadevi; Rudradeva Maharaja; Рудрама Деви; Kakatiya; Какатии
Ganapati had no male heir, made his daughter co-ruler around 1260, and she seems to have ruled alone from 1263 (some sources date her reign from 1262). Some nobles and her own relatives would not accept a woman on the throne, and the Yadava king Mahadeva invaded the kingdom, but she drove him back. She strengthened the capital, adding to the fortifications of Warangal an outer earthen wall about 2.4 km across. From the 1270s the Kayastha chief Ambadeva broke away and carved out a principality of his own in the south; Rudrama appears to have been killed by his forces in November 1289 — an inscription of 27 November 1289 records a gift of land made for her merit. She was succeeded by her grandson Prataparudra.
Marco Polo, who visited India around 1289–1293, described a country ruled by a queen, though he took her for Ganapati’s widow; by the time of his visit (around 1293, by one estimate) she had probably already died. The kingdom outlived her by a generation: in 1310 Alauddin Khalji’s general Malik Kafur besieged Warangal and made Prataparudra pay tribute, and in 1323 an army of the Tughluq sultan put an end to the Kakatiya kingdom.
Connections
Related events
- Travels of Marco Polo1271–1295 · East AsiaMarco Polo, who visited India about 1289–1293, described the kingdom of Mutfili as ruled by a queen — usually identified with Rudrama Devi, although she had died in November 1289
- Alauddin Khalji becomes Sultan of Delhi21 October 1296 · South AsiaIn 1310 Alauddin’s general Malik Kafur besieged Warangal and made Rudrama’s grandson Prataparudra pay tribute
Adjacent events in the thread
- Yekuno Amlak founds the Solomonic dynasty1270 · Africa
- Great Drought and the Ancestral Puebloan departure from Mesa Verde1276–1299 · North America
Meanwhile in the world
Other regions, within a year of this event
Western and Central Europe
- Sicilian Vespers30 March 1282
- “Summa Theologica” by Thomas Aquinas1265–1274
- Rise of the Hanseatic League1241–1356
Eastern Europe
- Formation of the Principality of Moscowbetween 1263 and 1283
- Battle of Wesenberg18 February 1268
- Death of Alexander Nevsky14 November 1263
- Reign of Mindaugasc. 1236 – between August and September 1263
Balkans and Anatolia
- Rumi composes the Masnavi in Konyac. 1258 – 17 December 1273
- Reconquest of Constantinople25 July 1261
Middle East and Egypt
- Reign of Sultan Baibars24 October 1260 – between 30 June and 1 July 1277
Africa
- Yekuno Amlak founds the Solomonic dynasty1270
- Mapungubwe Hill, capital of the kingdom of Mapungubwec. 1220 – c. 1300
- Great Zimbabwe, the stone capital of a Shona kingdom1200–1299 – c. 1450
Central and Northern Asia
- Pax Mongolicac. 1250 – c. 1350
- Completion of the Secret History of the Mongolsbetween 1228 and 1264
East Asia
- First Mongol invasion of JapanNovember 1274
- Battle of Yamen19 March 1279
- Proclamation of the Yuan dynasty1271
- Second Mongol invasion of JapanJune–August 1281
- Travels of Marco Polo1271–1295
North America
- Great Drought and the Ancestral Puebloan departure from Mesa Verde1276–1299
- The Thule migrate east across the Arctic to Greenlandc. 1200 – c. 1300
- Ancestral Puebloans build Cliff Palace at Mesa Verdec. 1190 – c. 1280
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Latin America
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- The Kingdom of Cusco: the Inca state before the empirec. 1200 – c. 1438
- Mayapan, capital of Postclassic Yucatán1220s – between 1441 and 1461
- Chimor: the Chimú kingdom and its capital Chan Chanc. 900 – c. 1470