HYDERABAD: A 12th-century inscription and sculptures of a female warrior have been found in Polavasa village near Jagtial town. The find explains how Prataparudra I, also known as Rudradeva, had expanded the Kakatiya dynasty in northern Telangana by defeating the subordinate kings of Kalyani Chalukyas during the early stages of the Kakatiya dynasty.
The inscription was discovered by Mahesh, senior journalist and a member of Public Research Institute for History, Archaeology and Heritage (PRIHAH). According to K Munirathnam Reddy, director of epigraphy, ASI, the inscription was written in Telugu, with the characters of the 12th Century, which seemed to explain the fight between Kakatiya Rudradeva, who ruled the kingdom between 1,158 AD and 1,195 AD, and the chief of Polavasa named Medaraju. He said that the inscription also mentioned a person named Singana. However, other details are not clearly visible.
MA Srinivasan, archaeologist, told TNIE that even in the past, a sculpture of a woman warrior was found in Polavasa, which he said, was the capital of one of the subordinate kings of the Kalyani Chalukyas.
“Polavasa and Kolanupaka were the capitals of the subordinate kings who were working under the Kalyani Chalukyas. The battle between Rudradeva and Medaraju signifies how the Kakatiyan ruler defeated these subordinate kings and started establishing his empire in northern Telangana, towards the end of the Kalyani Chalukyan rule in this region,” he said.