We know the great kings of Kakatiya dynasty. Their marks have been left etched on the state of Telangana for over a several centuries. The famous fort of Warangal and the thousand pillared temple are only a few to start with and it doesn’t end there. The movie Varsham has a song shot at the amazing thousand pillar temple and the sequence really did come out well, actually enough for me to visit it. A part of the temple complex was under renovation two years back. However, it has come to light that the original capital of Kakatiya Kings was not Warangal; they in fact had shifted the capital to Warangal for reasons unknown. It could probably be strategically ideal for a King to run his empire from the hill fort of Warangal.
Hanamkonda or Anmakonda is a short distance from the north of Warangal, and may be the ancient suburb of Warangal. Hanamkonda was the older capital of the Kakatiya kings before they actually shifted the new capital to Warangal during the reign of Ganapati Deva. The district around it was called Sabbi sayira or Sabbi one thousand which was a part of the empire of Kalyani. The land of Hanamkonda was also referred to as Anmakonda Vishaya. However, the actual Sanskrit name was supposed to be Hanumnadachala or the Hill of Hanumat (Hanuman), the famous follower of the hero of Ramayana, Lord Rama. The most breath-taking feature of Anmakonda is the hill is the thousand pillar temple built by King Rudra in 1163 CE.
Warangal eventually replaced Anmakonda as the new city during the time of Ganapati Deva. Warangal was actually the corrupted term or the later name for Orukkal, which means ‘one rock.’ In the Sanskrit texts the name sees a literal translation of Orukkal as Ekasaila, whose again original form was Ekasailanagara. The Telugu form of the name is Orumgallu. The city was prosperous needless to say.
In the time before Ganapati deva, the city of Warangal occupied a menial position but it was finally king Rudra I who further popularized the city by his work. It was provided with a stone wall by Rudra’s nephew and successor Ganapati. The fortifications of the city were finally completed by the daughter and successor Rudramma devi. From the onset of 14th century, the city had to face successive wars under the hands of Tugluq dynasty. Mohammed bin Tugluq took it in 1323 CE and again renamed the place as Sultanpur. Finally the city’s pride was lost upon the rising of Bahamani sultanate and shifting of capitals to Golconda in Hyderabad.
Also, do SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube channel to get more awesome video content delivered right into your inbox.
