Kakatiya Dynasty

The Kakatiya Dynasty was a Telugu dynasty that ruled the eastern Deccan region of what is now India from 1163 to 1323, governing from its capital at Orugallu, modern Warangal, over territory covering most of present-day Telangana and Andhra Pradesh along with parts of eastern Karnataka, northern Tamil Nadu and southern Odisha. Originally feudatories of the Rashtrakutas and later the Western Chalukyas, the Kakatiyas declared sovereignty in 1163 and reached their territorial peak under Ganapati Deva, who reigned from 1199 to 1262 and expanded the kingdom into the Telugu-speaking lowland delta country around the Godavari and Krishna rivers; his daughter Rudrama Devi, who reigned from 1262 to 1289, was one of the few queens to rule in her own right in Indian history and won the praise of Marco Polo. The dynasty's last ruler, Prataparudra II, faced repeated sieges from the Delhi Sultanate, and a final siege in 1323 brought the Kakatiyas to an end, leaving a legacy that included unifying the region's upland and lowland Telugu culture, building irrigation tanks, and constructing distinctive temples such as Ramappa and the fortifications of Warangal Fort.