Devarakonda

Devarakonda stands in the Nalgonda country of Telangana, in a dry upland of fields, tanks and rocky rises about sixty kilometres from Nalgonda. Its hills made it a natural place for a stronghold, and in the late fourteenth century it became one of the two fortified towns, with Rachakonda, built by the Recherla Nayakas, chiefs also known as the Padmanayaka Velamas.

The Recherlas rose in 1368, when they allied with the Bahmani sultan, marched on Warangal and defeated the Musunuri chief Kapaya Nayaka at Bhimavaram, which gave them control of Telangana. They then held it for about a century, with their base at Rachakonda and a second base at Devarakonda. In 1419 they changed sides and fought with Vijayanagara and the Rajahmundry Reddis at Pangal, where their coalition won, but the shift of allegiance brought Bahmani attacks in the 1420s. The Bahmani sultans took Warangal and Rachakonda by 1435, after which the Recherla chiefs remained minor players scattered across Telangana.