Part 2 - Buddha (A.D. 1157-1201)

Buddha was the son and successor of Durga and had a reign of forty-six years from A.D. 1157 to 1201 when he was succeeded by his second son Rudra, which suggests that his eldest son predeceased him. Buddha is known from the records of his successors. His only record is from Inugurti, removed from the wall in the old fort and now preserved in the local Vishnu temple, mentioning Betakshompalaka, Durgabhupati and Buddha kshompati. Few details of his reign are known.

Political conditions

In this period, some of the kingdoms in Vengi were the kotas, the Kondapadumatis, the Kona kandravadis, and the Chagis besides the Velanandu chodas and the Telugu. chodas. The Chagis claim lordship over Natavadivishaya, as is evidenced from their inscriptions. Buddha must have been on friendly terms with the Chagis, and the Konakandravadis.

Buddha and the Kakatiyas

The Kakatiya contemporaries of Buddha were Rudradeva Mahadeva and Ganapati. Rudradeva, an ambitious and enterprising ruler, his leading expeditions of conquest frequently into Vengi proved a menace to the security and peace of the Velsnandu kingdom. His brother and successor had a brief reign (1195-1199 A.D.). Buddha acknowledged the supremacy of the Kakatiyas under Rudradeva which is attested by his Inugurti stone inscription mentioning Rudradeva and his general Sikhmayaka ruling over Natavadi simha. The name of the general is not clear and the record, records some grant of his Buddha, and Mahadeva became allies in this period and the political alliance thus inaugurated lasted for the rest of the Natavadi rule, and the Kakatiyas proved a source of strength and support to the Natavadis. The Kundavaram inscription says that Mahadeva married his daughter Kundamika to Rudradeva son of Buddha As for the date, the cyclic year Pramadi is given. This measure of alliance speaks for the political wisdom of Buddha and Mahadeva, for it eliminated any fear for the Natavadis from the Kakatiyas. Buddha maintained amicable relations with Ganapati, the son and successor of Mahadeva. We may note that Natavadi Buddha cannot have had any relationship with Buddha, the author of Ranganatharamayana, for chronology is against it, as Gona Buddha lived fifty year after the Natavadi Buddha,