Ever wondered how the places got their names? Most of them get their names due to the holy places found in that area or it is so named by a famous person of history. There is this historic place in Andhra which got the name Cuddapah or Kadapa and only a few stories can tell us why. It puts one in thought that whether the places were exactly located at the same location with the same name or any events have altered its geographies. One such classic example is that of Kadapa and here’s an interesting account.
One theory states that the place Kadapa was actually a spoiled version of Gadapa. It was called so because it was on the threshold between the passage that leads from Vontimitta to the sacred hill of Tirumala.
In the records older than 18th century, the name of the place was written as Kurpah or Krupa which in Sanskrit means mercy. No one knows where the older town of Kadapa of historic Andhra lies but the present day town of Kadapa was founded in 16th century. After the battle of Talikota, the district was lost to the sultans and nizams who were searching lands for newer settlements. This also marked the end of the Vijayanagara Empire. In the army of Golconda king was once a general called by the name Neiknam Khan. Neiknam invaded Kadapa with the help of few of his followers. He liked the area so much that he decided to stay. With his reasons, he approached the king of Golconda and told him to hold on to the district. The Sultan of Golconda approved his suggestion.
More than this, the Sultan also ensured that the place (Kadapa) was henceforth named as Neiknamabad. The Sultan appointed his relative as the first Nawab of Neiknamabad. However, the followers of Neiknam Khan lost faith in this move and began their journey eastwards and further north-east wards towards coastal Andhra. For the most part the city of Neiknamabad stayed abandoned with a minimum population. Seeing this Nawab decided to make friends with the earlier Hindu population who were living in the actual Kadapa village before Neiknamabad was erected.
The Nawab made the Hindus believe that if they settle in Neiknamabad, they will be allowed to practise their social and religious customs without any interference. To prove his point the Nawab let the Hindus built the temple of Anjaneya swami near his own palace which already had a mosque near it. Eventually the Hindus migrated to this particular village close to their own and started calling it Kadapa as well. During the period of the Nawab the Anjaneya swami temple was probably the only Hindu temple that was erected. Other Siva temple of Muchampet was constructed during the British rule.
The locals and the elderly people are still aware about the migration from Kadapa to Neiknamabad which later also came to know as Kadapa.
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