page_title: History of Andhra Pradesh
section_title: Vishnukundinas
hierarchical_section_title: History of Andhra Pradesh / Middle Kingdoms (3rd century BCE - 12th century CE) / Vishnukundinas
caption_attribution_description: English: Outer View of the Undavalli Caves and Ananta Padmanabha Swami Temple
context_page_description: Andhra Pradesh is one of the 28 states of India whose recorded history begins in the Vedic period. It is mentioned in Sanskrit epics such as Aitareya Brahmana. The Assaka Mahajanapada was an ancient kingdom located between the Godavari and Krishna Rivers in southeastern India. Accounts that people in the region are descended from the sage Viswamitra are found in the Ramayana, the Mahabharata and the Puranas.
  After the independence of India in 1947, modern-day Andhra Pradesh was part of the Madras State.
context_section_description: The Vishnukundina dynasty ruled in the Deccan and South India in the 5th and 6th centuries CE. According to Edward B. Eastwick, the maharaja of Vizianagaram was a descendant of the maharajas of Udaipur and the Sisodia branch of the Gehlot tribe. A brother of the maharaja of Udaipur migrated to Oudh. Early rulers of the dynasty allied with the Vakatakas and the Rashtrakutas by marriage.
  In 529, Madhava Varma (a descendant of the dynasty) and four allied clans achieved independence by defeating the Salankayanas in coastal Andhra. Their capitals were Amaravati and Bezwada before they settled on Vizianagaram. Over the centuries the allied clans were vassals of the Vizianagaram rulers and subsequent dynasties, including the Chalukyas. Kalidindi in Krishna district was held by the Vishnukundina dynasty, although it was later associated with the Rajus.
  In 1512, the maharaja of Vizianagaram was conquered by the Golkonda dynasty and was made subahdar of the Northern Circars. The title was conferred by Aurangzeb, who gave the maharaja a split-tipped sword (still part of the Vishnukundina coat of arms). The rajahs of Vizianagaram received the title of Gajapati after the 16th-century Battle of Nandapur in the Northern Circars.
  In 1845, the British (represented by Lord Northbrook) conferred several honours on Maharaja Vijaya Rama Gajapati Raju III. On 31 December 1850, Raju III had a son. One of his daughters was married to Maharaj Kumar Singh, a cousin of (and heir apparent to) the maharajah of Rewah.
caption: One of the Undavalli Caves, built in the 7th century CE by the Vishnukundina dynasty.
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