Profile
Kadapa district is said to be the heart of the Rayalaseema as it is centrally located and well connected with the 4 districts of Rayalaseema. The District has a glorious history and a rich cultural heritage. It is identified as a part of Dandakaranya through which the Lord Rama and his consort Sita wandered during their exile. Holy rivers like Penna (Panakini), Papaghni, Chitravati, Mandavya cut across the District giving the land a sanctity of their own. Kunderu, Sagileru are the chief Northern tributaries to Penna and Cheyyeru, Papaghni and Chitravathi are the Southern tributaries .The famous devotional singer Annamacharya hails from this district. Kadapa is also famous for its Barytes mines and Kadapa Slabs
History
Kadapa is considered to be one of the district endowed with rich history. Though its history goes back to second century B C, primarily it starts with Mourya & Satavahana dynasty as per the Archeological survey evidences. It was the battle field for several dynasties - Pallava, Chalukya, Cholas who waged wars for getting authority over South India. The Pallava kings penetrated from a time into the North of Cuddapah district and ruled for a certain period during the 5th century. Later on the Cholas defeated the Pallavas and their rule appears to have lasted till the later part of the 8th century. Subsequently the next dynasty which established its authority for a considerable period to be that of Banas With the retreat of the Banas, Kadapa came under the sway of a dynasty of kings called the Rastrakutas. King Indra III (915 A.D.) a later king Krishna III were the popular rulers. With the death of king Krishna III, the power and influence of this dynasty declined. The Telugu Cholas who were feudatories of Chola dynasty ruled entire Kadapa District and their power seems to have suffered a temporary eclipse due to the aggression of Pandas but soon, the Cholas kingdom firmly established once again in the district during the first half of the 13th century.In the latter half of 13th century, the district fallen in to the hands of Ambadeva who had temporarily usurped the Kakatiya crown and ruled from Vallur, 15 Kms. from Kadapa and during his time the land survey carried out and a river channel was constructed at Lebaka. Subsequently Kakatiya King Prataparudra succeeded the throne after death of Ambadeva and ruled the district with Warangal as the Capital during the opening of 14th century. But in A.D.1309, came the invasion of the Deccan by Muslims during the reign of Khilji emperor Alla Uddin and Pratapa Rudra was defeated and he was carried as a prisoner to Delhi and hence Warangal, the capital came into the hands of Alla-ud-din. In A.D.1336 the Vijayanagar Kingdom was found by Hari Hara and Bukka. During A.D.1344 a Hindu confederation of Warrangal, Krishna Vijaya NagaramRaja and the Hoysala King of Mysore, with an immense force drove the Muslims out of Warangal and rolled back the tide of their advance. This is the out come establishment of Vijayanagar empire and during the two centuries of its ascendancy. In the battle of Talikota, the Hindus and Muslims with forces of almost fabulous strength, contested for the supremacy over Deccan and with the result the Hindus were totally defeated and the Deccan fallen into the hands of King of Golconda.
In the year 1740 the Marathas invaded and defeated the Nawab of Kurnool and Kadapa. Hyder Ali obtained the possession of Gurramkonda and Kadapa from the hands of Marathas and appointed his brother-in-law Mir Saheb in Kadapa district. Hence Mir Saheb and his son Kamaluddin were the first rulers of the district. The district later fell in to the Nizam by the treaties of Mysore and Srirangapatnam. Later on this area was ceded to the British by the Nizam. Kadapa tasted the lawlessness of the 'palegars'. Finally Major Munro, the first District Collector took over the reins of administration. He gave peace to the people of this region. Shaik Peer Shah took prominent part in the first war of Independence in 1857. During the subsequent decades, people followed the leaders of the freedom movement and rejoiced with the rest of the people when India became free in 1947.
