Part 9 - Keta III and Ganapati (A.D. 1234-1240)

Keta or Manmaketa III was the eldest son and successor o Bhima. As the inscriptions of his son Ganapati, are founc from the beginning, it may be inferred that as crown prince oi joint ruler with Keta III, Ganapati was associated in th« Governance of the kingdom. The earliest inscription of thi reign is that of Ganapati dated A.D. 1234 from Prattipadu Keta is mentioned as mahamandalesvara Manmaketa raja ii his Amaravati inscription of A.D. 1235. Ganapati’s record a Begatapuram dated A.D. 1238, mentions his mahapradhan uddandanayaka Prolinayaka with his brothers Tandanayaks Ketinayaka and Dasinayaka and their parents-Uddandanayaks and Gundasani. The c.p. grant of A.D. 1240 mentions the king as Manmaketa, lord of the city of Dhanyaketaka. In tin Velpur inscription of A.D. 1240 king Ganapaya is said to haw been the son of Doddaketa raja. Unless Manmaketa wa also known as Doddaketa which name is generally applied to Keta II, Ganapaya of this inscription cannot be identified witl Ganapati, the son of Keta III. Bayyaladevi, the queen o Keta III and her daughter, and several members of the roya family’s figure in the records of Keta III.

The Political Relations of Keta III and Ganapati

The contemporaries of Keta III and Ganapati in this perio< were Rajaraja III of the imperial cholas, Ganapati of th Kakatiyas, Tikka I of the Telugu cholas and Rudra I of th Natavadis. The Kakatiya inscriptions in a continuous series i the Telugu country show the further advance of Gmapat But neither Kota keta nor Ganapati owe allegiance to th Kakatiyas in their records. Probably the Ketas were allies o the Kakatiyas in this period.