Raichur District - History

History

The recorded history of the district is traced to as far back as the third century B.C. The fact that three minor rock edicts of Ashoka are found in this district one at Maski in the Lingasugur taluk and the other two near Koppal, prove that this area was included in the dominions of the great Mauryan king Ashoka (273 - 236 B.C.). At that time, this region was under the governance of the Viceroy or Mahamatra of Ashoka. Early in the Christian era, the district appears to have been a part of the kingdom of the Satavahanas. The Vakatakas, who reigned during the 3rd and 4th centuries A.D., seem to have held sway over Raichur for sometime, after which it appears to have been included in the Kadamba dominions. The next dynasty of importance, which ruled over this region, was that of the Chalukyas of Badami. According to an inscription from Aihole, Pulikeshi-II having defeated the Pallavas, occupied this area and made it a province in his empire under the governance of his son Adityavarma. Later the whole of the present Raichur district was included in the dominions of the Rashtrakutas, who rose to power in the eighth century, as could be gathered from the inscriptions of that period found in this district. According to an inscription from Manvi taluk, one Jagattunga, a subordinate ruler under the Rashtrakuta king Krishna-II, was ruling the province of Adedore Eradusavirapranta, i.e., the area constituting the present Raichur district. Nripatunga, a Rashtrakuta king, has described Koppal in his Kannada work, Kavirajamarga, as the great Kopananagara.

Numerous inscriptions of the Western Chalukyas, found in the various parts of the district, testify to the fact that this region was under their sway for a considerable length of time between the 10th and 12th centuries A.D. It is learnt from an inscription found at Naoli in Lingsugur taluk that during the reign of Chalukya Vikramaditya-V, the Adedore-pranta, i.e., the Raichur region, was being ruled by his younger brother Jagadekamalla-I. Another inscription from Maski describes the place as a capital and makes a reference to the reign of Jayasimha. There were, however, frequent wars between the Chola kings of the south and the Chalukyan kings of Kalyani (aka Western Chalukyas) for supremacy over the Raichur region and the territory had passed into the hands of the Cholas for a brief period. The Haihayas and Sindas also seem to have ruled some parts of this region for sometime. Later, after the fall of the Chalukyas, Raichur passed into the hands of the Kalachuri and later Sevna Yadava kings. Then came the Kakatiyas in the 13th century. From an inscription on the fort-wall of Raichur, referred to earlier, it is learn that the original fort was built by one Gore Gangayya Reddy, a general of the Kakatiya queen Rudramma Devi of Warangal, in 1294 A.D., at the instance of the latter. Raichur was sacked by Malik Kafur, was commander of Sultanate of Delhi in 1312.

Raichur district was passed to Vijayanagara Empire in 1323 after demise of Kakatiyas due to invasions of Sultanate of Delhi. It was captured by Bahmani Sultanate in 1363. It was passed to Bijapur Sultanate in 1489 after fragmentation of Bahmanids. Vicayanagara recaptured it after Battle of Raichur in 1520 but Bijapur recaptured it in 1565 after Vijayanagara's defeat at hands of Deccan Sultanates during Battle of Talikota. Aurangzeb, emperor of Mughal Empire captured the district in 1686. Finally 1724 Raichur became part of Nizam of Hyderabad between 1724 and 1948 except British Empire rule between 1853 and 1860 as part of Madras Presidency. During Nizam rule it was part of Gulbarga Division.

After the Operation Polo, Nizam was forcibly integrated to Indian Union in 17 September 1948. Between 1948 and 1956, it was part of Hyderabad State. During division the state based linguistic basis, it was become part of Mysore State, later was renamed State of Karnataka.