reddy

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According to Alain Daniélou and Kenneth Hurry, the Rashtrakuta and Reddi dynasties may both have been descended from the earlier dynasty of the Rashtrikas.{{cite book|first1=Alain |last1=Daniélou |author-link1=Alain Daniélou |first2=Kenneth |last2=Hurry |title=A Brief History of India |url=https://archive.org/details/briefhistoryofin00dani |url-access=registration |year=2003 |publisher=Inner Traditions / Bear & Co|isbn=978-0-89281-923-2|page=[https://archive.org/details/briefhistoryofin00dani/page/114 114]}} This common origin is by no means certain: there is evidence suggesting that the Rashtrakuta line came from the Yadavas in northern India and also that they may simply have held a common title. Either of these alternative theories might undermine the claim to a connection between them and the Reddis.{{cite book |first=Pran Nath |last=Chopra |author-link=Pran Nath Chopra |title=A Comprehensive History of Ancient India |volume=3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gE7udqBkACwC&pg=PA202|year=2003|publisher=Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd |isbn=978-81-207-2503-4 |page=202}}

The varna designation of Reddys is a contested and complex topic. Even after the introduction of the varna concept to South India, caste boundaries in South India were not as marked as in North India, where the four-tier varna system placed the priestly Brahmins on top followed by the Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, and Shudras.{{Citation needed|date=July 2023|reason= The four-tier varna system wass contested everywhere in India by brahmins}} In South India, on the other hand, there existed only three distinguishable classes, the Brahmins, the non-Brahmins and the Dalits. The two intermediate dvija varnas—the Kshatriyas and Vaishyas—did not exist.{{cite book |first=Ayesha |last=Jalal |title=Democracy and Authoritarianism in South Asia: A Comparative and Historical Perspective |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GNJHlFTPBT0C&pg=PA204 |year=1995 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-47862-5 |page=204}}{{cite book |first=Jean Alphonse |last=Bernard |title=From Raj to the Republic: A Political History of India, 1935–2000 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dP9tAAAAMAAJ |year=2001 |publisher=Har Anand Publications |page=37|isbn=9788124107669 }}{{cite book |first=M. P. |last=Joseph |title=Legitimately Divided: Towards a Counter Narrative of the Ethnographic History of Kerala Christianity |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fNLYAAAAMAAJ |year=2004 |publisher=Christava Sahitya Samithi |isbn=978-81-7821-040-7 |page=62}}{{cite book |first1=Tapan |last1=Raychaudhuri |first2=Irfan |last2=Habib |author-link2=Irfan Habib |first3=Dharma |last3=Kumar |title=The Cambridge Economic History of India: c.1200–c.1750 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L-s8AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA26 |year=1982 |publisher=Cambridge University Press Archive |isbn=978-0-521-22692-9 |page=27}}

The dominant castes of South India, such as Reddys and Nairs, held a status in society analogous to the Kshatriyas and Vaishyas of the north with the difference that religion did not sanctify them,{{cite book|author=M. P. Joseph|title=Legitimately divided: towards a counter narrative of the ethnographic history of Kerala Christianity |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fNLYAAAAMAAJ|year=2004|publisher=Christava Sahitya Samithi|isbn=978-81-7821-040-7|page=62}}{{cite book |first=Ghanshyam |last=Shah |title=Caste and Democratic Politics in India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aX-ZAEit4fgC |year=2004 |publisher=Anthem Press |isbn=978-1-84331-086-0 |page=83}} i.e. they were not accorded the status of Kshatriyas and Vaishyas by the Brahmins in the Brahmanical varna system. Historically, land-owning castes like the Reddys have belonged to the regal ruling classes and are analogous to the Kshatriyas of the Brahmanical society.{{cite book |first=Paula |last=Richman |title=Questioning Rāmāyaṇas: a South Asian tradition |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7RW6MrAiJ-0C&pg=PA176 |year=2001 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-22074-4 |page=176}}

The Brahmins, on top of the hierarchical social order, viewed the ruling castes of the south like the Reddys, Nairs and Vellalars as sat-Shudras meaning shudras of "true being". Sat-shudras are also known as clean shudras, upper shudras, pure or high-caste shudras.{{cite book|author=D. Dennis Hudson |title=Protestant origins in India: Tamil Evangelical Christians, 1706–1835 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tZ2jw_npdyoC&pg=PA77 |year=2000|publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing|isbn=978-0-8028-4721-8|page=77}}{{cite book|first1=Alyssa |last1=Ayres |first2=Philip |last2=Oldenburg |title=India Briefing: Quickening the Pace of Change |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SJI3jApnTI8C&pg=PA138 |year=2002 |publisher=M.E. Sharpe |isbn=978-0-7656-0813-0|page=138}} This classification and the four-tier varna concept was never accepted by the ruling castes.{{cite book|author=G. Krishnan-Kutty|title=The political economy of underdevelopment in India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bTlMi4a6Ct8C&pg=PA172|year=1999|publisher=Northern Book Centre|isbn=978-81-7211-107-6|page=172}}{{cite book |first=G. |last=Krishnan-Kutty |title=Peasantry in India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wyRZ7nmItsEC&pg=PA10 |year=1986 |publisher=Abhinav Publications |isbn=978-81-7017-215-4|page=10}}

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During the Kakatiya period, Reddi, together with its variant Raddi, was used as a status title (gaurava-vachakamu). The title broadly represented the category of village headmen irrespective of their hereditary background.{{sfn|Talbot, Pre-colonial India in Practice|2001|pp=55, 59}}

The Kakatiya prince Prola I (c. 1052 to 1076) was referred to as "Prola Reddi" in an inscription.{{citation|last=Diskalkar|first=D. B.|title=Sanskrit and Prakrit Poets Known from Inscriptions|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S_gHAQAAMAAJ|year=1993|publisher=Anandashram Samstha|page=122}} Quote: "Balasarasvati, author of an inscription dated S. 1135 [c. 1057 CE] had lived at the court of Prola Reddi, ruler of the same Kakatiya [dynasty]."{{cite book |author=Archaeological Survey of India |author-link=Archaeological Survey of India |title=Indian Archaeology: A Review |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y_9tAAAAMAAJ |year=2000|publisher=Archaeological Survey of India |page=123}} After the Kakatiyas became independent rulers in their own right, various subordinate chiefs under their rule are known to have used the title Reddi.{{sfn|Talbot, Pre-colonial India in Practice|2001|p=98}} Reddi chiefs were appointed as generals and soldiers under the Kakatiyas. Some Reddis were among the feudatories of Kakatiya ruler Pratapa Rudra.{{citation needed|date=November 2014}} During this time, some of the Reddis carved out feudal principalities for themselves. Prominent among them were the Munagala Reddi chiefs. Two inscriptions found in the Zamindari of Munagala at Tadavayi, two miles west of Munagala—one dated 1300 CE, and the other dated 1306 CE show that the Munagala Reddi chiefs were feudatories to the Kakatiya dynasty. The inscriptions proclaim Annaya Reddi of Munagala as a chieftain of Kakatiya ruler Pratapa Rudra.{{citation needed|date=November 2014}}

The Reddi feudatories fought against attacks from the Delhi sultanate and defended the region from coming under the Turkic rule.{{cite book |first1=Giri S. |last1=Dikshit |first2=Saklespur |last2= Srikantaya |first3=Bi. Eṃ. Śrī. Smāraka |last3=Pratiṣṭhāna |title=Early Vijayanagara: Studies in its History & Culture: Proceedings of S. Srikantaya Centenary Seminar |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZGZuAAAAMAAJ&q=reddy |year=1988 |publisher=B.M.S. Memorial Foundation |page=131}} Eventually, the Sultanate invaded Warangal and captured Pratapa Rudra in 1323.{{Citation needed|date=April 2023}}

{{Main|Reddi Kingdom}}

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After the death of Pratapa Rudra in 1323 CE and the subsequent fall of the Kakatiya empire, some Reddi chiefs became independent rulers. Prolaya Vema Reddi proclaimed independence, establishing a "Reddi dynasty" based in Addanki.{{cite book|author=K. V. Narayana Rao|title=The emergence of Andhra Pradesh |url=https://archive.org/details/emergenceofandhr00nara|url-access=registration|access-date=9 July 2011|year=1973|publisher=Popular Prakashan|page=[https://archive.org/details/emergenceofandhr00nara/page/4 4]}}{{cite book|author=P. Sriramamurti|title=Contribution of Andhra to Sanskrit literature |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GagPAAAAMAAJ |access-date=28 August 2011|year=1972|publisher=Andhra University|page=60}}{{cite book|author1=Amaresh Datta|author2=Mohan Lal|title=Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature: Sasay-Zorgot |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Hc5jAAAAMAAJ|year=1992|publisher=Sahitya Akademi|page=4637|isbn=9780836422832}} He had been part of a coalition of Telugu rulers who overthrew the "foreign" Turkic rulers of the Delhi Sultanate.

The dynasty (1325–1448 CE) ruled coastal and central Andhra for over a hundred years.{{cite book|author=Pran Nath Chopra|title=Religions and communities of India |url=https://books.google.com/books?ei=QQkKTszVGoPevwPmhZGWAw|access-date=4 July 2011|year=1982|publisher=Vision Books|page=136}}{{cite book|author1=Mallampalli Somasekhara Sarma|author2=Mallampalli Sōmaśēkharaśarma|title=History of the Reddi kingdoms (circa 1325 A.D. to circa 1448 A.D.) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=diYLAQAAIAAJ&q=reddi|access-date=8 July 2011|year=1948|publisher=Andhra University}}

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The post-Kakatiya period saw the emergence of Vijayanagara Empire as well as the Reddi dynasty. Initially, the two kingdoms were locked up in a territorial struggle for supremacy in the coastal region of Andhra. Later, they united and became allies against their common archrivals—the Bahmani sultans and the Recherla Velamas of Rachakonda who had formed an alliance. This political alliance between Vijayanagara and the Reddi Kingdom was cemented further by a matrimonial alliance. Harihara II of Vijayanagara gave his daughter in marriage to Kataya Vema Reddi's son Kataya. The Reddi rulers exercised a policy of annexation and invasion of Kalinga (modern day Odisha). However, the suzerainty of Kalinga rulers was to be recognised. In 1443 CE, determined to put an end to the aggressions of the Reddi Kingdom, the Gajapati ruler Kapilendra of Kalinga formed an alliance with the Velamas and launched an attack on the Reddi Kingdom. Veerabhadra Reddi allied himself with Vijayanagara ruler Devaraya II and defeated Kapilendra. After the death of Devaraya II in 1446 CE, he was succeeded by his son, Mallikarjuna Raya. Overwhelmed by difficulties at home, Mallikarjuna Raya recalled the Vijayanagara forces from Rajahmundry. Veerabhadra Reddi died in 1448 CE. Seizing this opportunity, Kapilendra sent an army under the leadership of his son Hamvira into the Reddi Kingdom, took Rajahmundry and gained control of the Reddi Kingdom.{{Citation needed|date=May 2012}} The Gajapatis eventually lost control after the death of Kapilendra, and the territories of the former Reddi Kingdom came under the control of the Vijayanagara Empire.{{cite book|first1=Hermann |last1=Kulke |author-link1=Hermann Kulke |first2=Dietmar |last2= Rothermund |author-link2=Dietmar Rothermund |title=A history of India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TPVq3ykHyH4C|year=2004|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-415-32919-4|page=189}}

Later, Reddis became the military chieftains of the Vijayanagara rulers. They along with their private armies accompanied and supported the Vijayanagara army in the conquest of new territories. These chieftains were known by the title of Poligars.{{cite book|author=A. Ranga Reddy|title=The State of Rayalaseema |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_g9T8UoCeO4C&pg=PA215|year=2003|publisher=Mittal Publications|isbn=978-81-7099-814-3|pages=215, 333}} The Reddi poligars were appointed to render military services in times of war, collect revenue from the populace and pay to the royal treasury. The chieftains exercised considerable autonomy in their respective provinces. The ancestors of the legendary Uyyalawada Narasimha Reddy – who led an armed rebellion against the British East India company, were poligars.{{cite book|author=Andhra Pradesh (India). District Gazetteers Dept|title=Andhra Pradesh District Gazetteers: Kurnool |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_rwYAAAAIAAJ|year=1992|publisher=State editor, District Gazetteers|page=55}} Reddis were historically dominant in the Rayalaseema region.{{cite book|author=Subrata Kumar Mitra|title=Political parties in South Asia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dObxI9xahSYC&pg=PA105|year=2004|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-275-96832-8|page=105}}

Once independent, the erstwhile chiefs of the Vijayanagara empire indulged in several internal squabbles for supremacy in their areas. This constant warring between powerful feudal warlords for fiefdoms and power manifests itself even in modern-day Rayalaseema in the form of a brutally violent phenomenon termed as “factionalism”, "factional violence" or simply "faction".{{cite journal |title=Seshan in Kurnool |first=K. |last=Balagopal |journal=Economic and Political Weekly |volume=29 |issue=30 |date=23 July 1994 |page=1905 |jstor=4401511 }}

During this period, Reddys ruled several "samsthanams" (tributary estates) in the Telangana area. They ruled as vassals of Golkonda sultans. Prominent among them were Ramakrishna Reddy, Pedda Venkata Reddy and Immadi Venkata Reddy. In the 16th century, the Pangal fort situated in Mahbubnagar district of Andhra Pradesh was ruled by Veera Krishna Reddy. Immadi Venkata Reddy was recognised by the Golkonda sultan Abdullah Qutb Shah as a regular provider of military forces to the Golkonda armies.{{cite book|author=Benjamin B. Cohen|title=Hindu rulers in a Muslim state L: Hyderabad, 1850–1949|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5qBrAAAAMAAJ&q=immadi+qutb+shah|access-date=20 July 2011|year=2002|publisher=University of Wisconsin–Madison|page=78}}{{request quotation|date=November 2014}} The Gadwal samsthanam situated in Mahbubnagar includes a fort built in 1710 CE by Raja Somtadari.{{Cite web|url=https://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/gazetteer/pager.html?objectid=DS405.1.I34_V12_127.gif|title=Imperial Gazetteer2 of India, Volume 12, page 121 -- Imperial Gazetteer of India -- Digital South Asia Library|website=dsal.uchicago.edu}} Reddys continued to be chieftains, village policemen and tax collectors in the Telangana region, throughout the Golkonda rule.{{citation needed|date=July 2013}}

One of the most prominent figures from the community during the British period is Uyyalawada Narasimha Reddy. He challenged the British and led an armed rebellion against the British East India company in 1846. He was finally captured and hanged in 1847. His uprising was one of the earlier rebellions against the British rule in India, as it was 10 years before the famous Indian Rebellion of 1857.{{cite book|author=D. P. Ramachandran |title=Empire's First Soldiers |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6Q7EiZmcMPMC&pg=PA121|date=October 2008|publisher=Lancer Publishers|isbn=978-0-9796174-7-8|page=121}}

Reddys were the landed gentry known as the deshmukhs and part of the Nizam of Hyderabad's administration.{{cite book|author=Vasudha Chhotray|title=The Anti-Politics Machine in India: State, Decentralization and Participatory Watershed Development |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Kx1N6tyVXtwC&pg=PA96|year=2011|publisher=Anthem Press|isbn=978-0-85728-767-0|page=96}} The Reddy landlords styled themselves as Desais, Doras and Patel. Several Reddys were noblemen in the court of Nizam Nawabs and held many high positions in the Nizam's administrative set up. Raja Bahadur Venkatarama Reddy was made Kotwal of Hyderabad in 1920 CE during the reign of the seventh Nizam Osman Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VII. Raja Bahadur Venkatarama Reddy was the first Hindu to be made kotwal of Hyderabad as in the late 19th and early 20th century, during the Islamic rule of the Nizams, the powerful position of Kotwal was held only by Muslims. His tenure lasted almost 14 years and he commanded great respect among the public for his outstanding police administration.{{cite book|author=Basant K. Bawa|title=The last Nizam: the life and times of Mir Osman Ali Khan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h45uAAAAMAAJ&q=raja+bahadur+reddy |access-date=21 July 2011|year=1992|publisher=Viking|pages=120–121|isbn=9780670839971}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.hyderabadpolice.gov.in/Main/AboutUs.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150206002744/http://hyderabadpolice.gov.in/Main/AboutUs.htm |url-status=dead |title=Raja Bahadur Venkatarama Reddy | Hyderabad Police online portal|archive-date=6 February 2015}}

Several Reddys were at the forefront of the anti-Nizam movement. In 1941, communist leaders Raavi Narayana Reddy and Baddam Yella Reddy transformed the Andhra Mahasabha into an anti-Nizam united mass militant organisation and led an armed struggle against the Nizam's regime.{{cite book | author=Puccalapalli Sundarayya| title=Telangana People's Struggle and Its Lessons |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TPjIh1G0TmcC&pg=PA12| year=2006| publisher=Foundation Books| isbn=978-81-7596-316-0| page=12}}

{{anchor|List of Reddy dynasties and states}}

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During the medieval and later feudal/colonial periods, many parts of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana of the Indian subcontinent were ruled as sovereign or princely states by various dynasties of Reddy community.

Some of the prominent Reddy zamindaris (samsthanams):

• Atmakur Amarchinta Samsthanam, Telangana.{{Cite web|url=https://www.telangana360.com/2016/11/atmakur-amarchinta-samsthan.html|title=Atmakur Amarchinta Samsthan}}{{Cite web|url=https://mahabubnagar.telangana.gov.in/history/samsthans/|title=Samsthans | Mahabubnagar District, Telangana | India}}
• Domakonda Samsthanam, Telangana.{{Cite web|url=http://www.telanganauniversity.ac.in/abouttu_originhistory_nizamabadcity.html|title=Telangana University|website=www.telanganauniversity.ac.in}}
• Gadwal Samsthanam, Telangana; —Raja Somasekhar Ananda Reddy or Somanadri{{cite book|author=Kandavalli Balendu Sekaram|title=The Andhras through the ages|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dzduAAAAMAAJ|year=1973|publisher=Sri Saraswati Book Depot|page=34}}
• Munagala—Gurlapaty clan{{cite book|author=Gordon Mackenzie|title=A manual of the Kistna district in the presidency of Madras |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=430nAMZz8LwC&pg=PA10|year=1990|publisher=Asian Educational Services|isbn=978-81-206-0544-2|pages=9,10,224-}} Samsthanam, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
• Wanaparthy Samsthanam (originally known as Sugur), Telangana.{{Cite web|url=https://wanaparthy.telangana.gov.in/history/|title=History | Wanaparthy District | India}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.telangana360.com/2016/11/wanaparthy-history.html|title=Wanaparthy History}}{{Cite web|url=https://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/gazetteer/pager.html?objectid=DS405.1.I34_V24_361.gif|title=Imperial Gazetteer2 of India, Volume 24, page 355 -- Imperial Gazetteer of India -- Digital South Asia Library|website=dsal.uchicago.edu}} Founded by Veera Krishna Reddy{{cite book |author1=Andhra Pradesh (India)|author2=Bh Sivasankaranarayana|title=Andhra Pradesh district gazetteers|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qDJuAAAAMAAJ|year=1976|publisher=Printed by the Director of Print. and Stationery at the Govt. Secretariat Press|page=39,40}}

The Kamma and Reddy castes have been politically dominant prior to the formation of Andhra Pradesh in 1956 and afterwards.{{Citation|last=PrincetonPIIRS|title=Dominant Caste and Territory in South India|date=2013-11-13|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vBvExh7-QY&feature=youtu.be |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211213/_vBvExh7-QY |archive-date=2021-12-13 |url-status=live|access-date=2016-08-11}}{{cbignore}} Reddys are classified as a Forward Caste in modern India's positive discrimination system.{{cite web |url=http://www.andhraelections.in/castes/ |title=Castes - Andhra (AP) Elections: News & Results |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120104215109/http://www.andhraelections.in/castes |archive-date=2012-01-04}} They are a politically dominant community in Andhra Pradesh, their rise having dated from the formation of the state in 1956.{{cite web |title=Caste, Class and Social Articulation in Andhra Pradesh: Mapping Differential Regional Trajectories |first=K. |last=Srinivasulu |date=September 2002 |publisher=Overseas Development Institute |location=London |url=http://www.odi.org.uk/resources/odi-publications/working-papers/179-caste-class-social-articulation-andhra-pradesh-india.pdf |access-date=30 March 2013 |page=3}}

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{{Reflist}}

• {{citation |last=Talbot |first=Cynthia |title=Pre-colonial India in Practice: Society, Region, and Identity in Medieval Andhra |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19803-123-9 |year=2001 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pfAKljlCJq0C |ref={{sfnref|Talbot, Pre-colonial India in Practice|2001}}}}

• {{cite book |title=A History of South India: From Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar |first=K. A. Nilakanta |last=Sastri |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1958 |isbn=0195606868}}

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Category:South Indian communities