DYNASTIES

HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE OF NAGARKURNOOL
The name “Telangana” refers to the word TrilingaDesa, earned due to the presence of three ancient Shiva Temples at Kaleshwaram, Srisailam, and Draksharamam.
Nagarkurnool is a district in the southern part of Telangana with the town of Nagarkurnool being the district headquarters. The district was carved from the Mahbubnagar district/Palamoor region. This district is spread over an area of 6,545.00 square kilometers.

History of Nagarkurnool:
Nagarkurnool is believed to have been named after the two kings called Nagana and Kandana, who were brothers too. The district, today has three revenue divisions namely Achampet, Nagarkurnool and Kalwakurthy.
To understand the history of Nagarkurnool, it is important to trace the history of Palamoor(present day Mahbubnagar), as this region has been ruled by several regional rulers, Samasthans, Jamindars and Doras.
Palamoor district belongs to AsmakaJanapada, of Dakshinapatham, 6th century BC. According to Mahabharata literature, Maharshi Agastya Maharshi, established a shiva temple named “Agastheeswara Temple” on the banks of river Krishna (traceable to present day Kollapur division of the district)
In fact, this region was the southern extent of Ashok’s empire, with an inscription found in Erragudi of adjoining Kurnool district. Thereafter, this region saw the rule of Satavahanas, Vishnukundins, 358-500 AD (founder of this dynasty Raja Maha Rajendra Varma, hailed from Amrabad area of this district),
According to the Indrapalanagara Inscriptions, Amrabad was also the capital of the Mandalika Rajya. Later, Mahadeva Verma-I conquered the Kollapur area extending the spread of his kingdom.
According to the epigraphist, B.N. Sastry, the Vishnukundin were belongs to PalamoorDistrtict. The king Maha Verma-IV is believed to have conducted “Hiranyagarbha PrasutaYaga”, after defeating Chandragupta of Soma Dynasty at Srisailam- Nalamalla Forest Area, capturing the fort, and married his daughter Chandradevi.Thereafter, it was the rule of Badami Chalukyas, between 500 to 755 AD; subsequently, Rashtrakutas Dynasty, ruled briefly, in 9th century, during whichGovinda-III, laid an inscription in Chowdeswari Temple near to Gangapur of Jedcherla Mandal(bordering the district); Kalyani Chalukyas, 965-1162 A.D; and significantly, the KanduriChodas, between 1040-1290, who originally belonged to Mahbubnagar, independently ruled northern and southern parts of Krishna and Tungabhadra Rivers. They belonged to Karikalachola family, and built forts, in Amrabad, Rachur(Veldanda Mandal), Kodur, Makthal, Munnanur. Kings donated land for the temples and laid inscriptions, Lingala village is donated to Somasila temple. They developed this area as a powerful kingdom and ruled for 250 years.
Kakatiyas, 995-1323, defeated KanduriChodas, and also constructed the Rudradeva Fort at Munnanur, BuddheswaraSahasralingam(Gopalpet Mandal, Wanaparthy) and Lakshmi Narasimha(Singhottam, Kollapur).
Thereafter, was the period of feudatories of Kaktiya dynasty, which included, Malyala Dynasty, Gona Kings(with Vardhamanpuram of Bijinapally Mandal, as its centre), Vavilala kings(Amanagallu, Charakonda, Irvin and Vangur) and Cherukureddy kings, the latter ruled Amrabad area as its capital, as suggested by inscriptions at old Shiva temple at Amrabad in 1258 A.D; RecharlaPadmanayakas, 1303-1470(Kalwakurthy); .
Subsequently, we see Bahmani, 1347-1518, Qutb Shahi, 1596-1687 and it was during the time of Asaf Jahi, 1724-1948, that this district, saw introduction of many reforms (during the times of Salarjung and later Maharaja KishenPershad). It was during this time, that Palamoor District was renamed as Mahaboob Nagar District in the name of Mir Mahaboob Ali Khan Nizam-VI, ruler of Nizam.
During the independence movement, “Golkonda Patrika” was started by Suravaram Pratapa Reddy in 1925, who belongs to Palamoor District.

I History of Samsthans:
The Rajas of Hindu Samsthans in the Nizam’s were mostly Zamindars and military chiefs who established their authority over the surrounding territories. They were known as Paligars and their territories, Palayams. There were about sixteen Samsthans, which survived till Independence. Some of the important Samsthans in this region were Wanaparthi, Gadwal, Jetprole, Amarchinta, Palvancha, Gopalpet, Gurugunta, Kollapur and Anagundi.
Among these, KollapurSamsthan, is one of the major divisions in Nagarkurnool District. It is spread over a large area spanning most of the Nallamala Forest Area on the banks of River Krishna. There are traces of architectural treasures from 2nd century B.C. in this samasthan, which includes, Kollapur Palace, Fort, many ancient temples, built about 1500 years ago. KollapurSamsthan played a considerable role in Nizam’s era.

II  Mannanur is a tribal hamlet within the Amrabad Tiger Reserve area (part of the Nagarjuna Sagar-Srisailam Tiger Reserve’s western wing).
Mallelatheertham waterfall, remains to be one of the most enthralling places in Telangana and is located in a picturesque valley of the Nallamala forest range, also famous for a Shiva temple. Along with this, the district, in Achampet division has the sacred Uma Maheswaram, also considered as the north gateway of Srisailam. The district is also home to highly popular and exotic eco-tourism destination called Somasila, located near Kollapur, which is located in the backwaters of the Srisailam dam.