Rani Rudrama Devi

Told in English, Telugu.

Have you ever been to Warangal? If you go there one day, you will see great stone gateways standing in the open sky, carved with swans and flowers and patterns that look like lace made of rock. People take photos there, and children run between the pillars. But long, long ago, more than seven hundred years ago, those gateways were part of a mighty fort, and the city was called Orugallu. And in that fort lived a girl who would one day become one of the bravest rulers our Telugu land has ever known. Her name was Rudrama.

Rudrama's father was Ganapatideva, the king of the Kakatiyas. He was a strong and thoughtful king who ruled for a very long time. In his days, the Kakatiyas built big lakes to catch the rain, so that farmers could grow rice and crops even in dry years. The beautiful Ramappa temple, with its dancing stone figures, was built in his time too. But the king had one worry that sat heavy on his heart. He had no son.

In those days, almost everyone believed that only a man could sit on the throne. When a king had no son, the kingdom could fall into quarrels, with uncles and cousins and nobles fighting over who should rule. Ganapatideva looked at his daughter and made a choice that was very unusual for his time. He decided that Rudrama would be his heir.

So Rudrama did not grow up only learning music and poetry, though she may have learned those too. She learned to ride horses. She learned how to use a sword and a bow. She learned how a kingdom is run, how taxes are collected, how armies are arranged, and how a ruler must listen to the troubles of farmers and traders. Old stone inscriptions from that time even call her by a king's title, Rudradeva Maharaja. Isn't that interesting? It was as if the kingdom was saying, this daughter will rule just like any king.

We do not know what Rudrama felt in her heart as a girl. But we can imagine it. Perhaps some days she felt proud. Perhaps other days she felt tired, or lonely, knowing that people were watching her and waiting for her to fail. Have you ever had to try something while others thought you could not do it? It is not an easy feeling, is it?

When she grew up, Rudrama married a prince named Virabhadra, from the Eastern Chalukya family. Her father grew old, and he began to share the work of ruling with her. And after Ganapatideva passed away, Rudrama became the queen of the whole Kakatiya kingdom, ruling from the great fort of Orugallu.

Now, you might think that everyone cheered. But many did not. Some of the nobles, the powerful chiefs who ruled smaller lands under the Kakatiyas, grumbled among themselves. A woman on the throne, they said? How can a woman lead armies? How can a woman keep us in order? Some of them stopped obeying her. Some even rose up against her, hoping to take power for themselves.

This was the first big test of Rudrama's life. She could have given up and let someone else rule. She could have been frightened. Instead, she chose to stand firm. She gathered the chiefs and generals who were loyal to her, people who believed in her and in the kingdom. Slowly and carefully, she brought the rebels back under control. She showed the nobles that she was not just the daughter of a king. She was a ruler in her own right.

But an even bigger test was coming.

To the west of the Kakatiya kingdom lived the Yadava kings of Devagiri. Their king, Mahadeva, looked at Orugallu and thought, now a woman rules there. Surely this is the right time to attack. Surely she will not be able to stop us. And so a great Yadava army marched towards the Kakatiya land, and it came all the way to the walls of Orugallu itself. The army surrounded the fort. This is called a siege.

Imagine being inside that fort. Outside, the drums of a huge enemy army. Inside, the people of the city, the families, the children, the old grandmothers, all looking to their queen. What would she do?

Rudrama did not hide. She led her people in defending the city. The fort of Orugallu had strong walls, made stronger by the Kakatiya kings, and its soldiers were brave and well prepared. Rudrama and her generals fought back so firmly that the Yadava army could not break in. In the end, King Mahadeva had to turn his army around and go back to his own land. The very king who had thought a woman would be easy to defeat went home defeated by her.

When the news spread, the nobles who had once doubted her went quiet. Nobody could say any more that a woman could not protect a kingdom. Rudrama Devi had protected it with her own courage.

But a good ruler is not only someone who wins battles. A good ruler is someone who makes life better for ordinary people when the fighting is over. And this is where Rudrama shone just as brightly. Under her rule, the Kakatiya kingdom grew rich and peaceful. Farmers used the great lakes to water their fields. Weavers made cotton cloth so fine and so light that people across the seas wanted to buy it. Ships sailed from ports on the eastern coast, carrying goods to faraway lands. And the mines of the kingdom were famous for diamonds.

Here is something wonderful. Far away, in a city called Venice, there lived a traveller named Marco Polo. He journeyed all the way to China and back, and on his way home he sailed along our eastern coast and came to the port of Motupalli, which was in the Kakatiya kingdom. Later he wrote a book about everything he had seen. In it, he described a kingdom ruled by a wise queen, a queen whose husband had died many years before, who ruled with such fairness and justice that her people loved her deeply. He wrote of the fine cloth, like the web of a spider, and of the diamonds. Most historians believe the queen he was writing about was our Rudrama Devi. Just think of it. A traveller from the other side of the world heard of her goodness and wrote it down.

As the years went on, sadness came to Rudrama too. Her husband Virabhadra passed away, and she carried on ruling alone. Like her own father, she had no son. So she faced the same question he had faced so long ago. Who would rule after her?

She chose her grandson, Prataparudra, the son of her daughter Mummadamma. She brought him up to be the next king, teaching him the ways of ruling, just as her father had once taught her. Perhaps she remembered her own childhood, and all the hard lessons, and thought, now it is my turn to pass on what I know.

Rudrama Devi ruled for many years, until she was an old woman. A stone inscription from the year 1289 remembers her passing, and many historians believe she was still leading and protecting her kingdom right to the end. After her, Prataparudra became king of Orugallu.

So the next time you see those great stone gateways of Warangal standing tall against the sky, remember the girl who grew up behind those walls. Remember that people told her she could not do it, and she did it anyway. Remember that she was brave in battle, but also kind and fair in peace. And remember that being a true leader means taking care of everyone who depends on you.

Rani Rudrama Devi. Can you say her name with me, proudly? Rani Rudrama Devi, the brave queen of Orugallu.