Medieval history Kakatiya period During the
Kakatiya period,
Reddi, together with its variant
Raddi, was used as a status title (
gaurava-vachakamu). The title broadly represented the category of village headmen irrespective of their hereditary background. The
Kakatiya prince Prola I (c. 1052 to 1076) was referred to as "Prola Reddi" in an inscription. After the Kakatiyas became independent rulers in their own right, various subordinate chiefs under their rule are known to have used the title Reddi. Reddi chiefs were appointed as generals and soldiers under the Kakatiyas. Some Reddis were among the feudatories of Kakatiya ruler Pratapa Rudra. During this time, some of the Reddis carved out feudal principalities for themselves. Prominent among them were the
Munagala Reddi chiefs. Two inscriptions found in the
Zamindari of Munagala at Tadavayi, two miles west of Munagala—one dated 1300 CE, and the other dated 1306 CE show that the Munagala Reddi chiefs were feudatories to the Kakatiya dynasty. The inscriptions proclaim Annaya Reddi of Munagala as a chieftain of Kakatiya ruler Pratapa Rudra. The Reddi feudatories fought against attacks from the
Delhi sultanate and defended the region from coming under the Turkic rule. Eventually, the Sultanate invaded
Warangal and captured Pratapa Rudra in 1323.
Reddi Kingdom After the death of Pratapa Rudra in 1323 CE and the subsequent fall of the
Kakatiya empire, some Reddi chiefs became independent rulers.
Prolaya Vema Reddi proclaimed independence, establishing a "Reddi dynasty" based in
Addanki. He had been part of a coalition of
Telugu rulers who overthrew the "foreign" Turkic rulers of the Delhi Sultanate.
Vijayanagara period The post-Kakatiya period saw the emergence of
Vijayanagara Empire as well as the Reddi dynasty. Later, Reddis became the military chieftains of the Vijayanagara rulers. They along with their private armies accompanied and supported the Vijayanagara army in the conquest of new territories. These chieftains were known by the title of
Poligars. The Reddi poligars were appointed to render military services in times of war, collect revenue from the populace and pay to the royal treasury. The chieftains exercised considerable autonomy in their respective provinces. The ancestors of the legendary
Uyyalawada Narasimha Reddy – who led an armed rebellion against the
British East India company, were poligars. Reddis were historically dominant in the
Rayalaseema region. Once independent, the erstwhile chiefs of the Vijayanagara empire indulged in several internal squabbles for supremacy in their areas. This constant warring between powerful feudal warlords for fiefdoms and power manifests itself even in modern-day Rayalaseema in the form of a brutally violent phenomenon termed as “
factionalism”, "factional violence" or simply "faction".
Modern history Golkonda period During this period, Reddys ruled several "samsthanams" (tributary estates) The
Gadwal samsthanam situated in
Mahbubnagar includes a fort built in 1710 CE by Raja Somtadari. Reddys continued to be chieftains, village policemen and tax collectors in the Telangana region, throughout the Golkonda rule.
British period One of the most prominent figures from the community during the British period is Uyyalawada Narasimha Reddy. He challenged the British and led an armed rebellion against the
British East India company in 1846. He was finally captured and hanged in 1847. His uprising was one of the earlier rebellions against the British rule in India, as it was 10 years before the famous
Indian Rebellion of 1857. Reddys were the
landed gentry known as the
deshmukhs and part of the
Nizam of Hyderabad's administration. The Reddy landlords styled themselves as
Desais,
Doras and
Patel. Several Reddys were noblemen in the court of Nizam
Nawabs and held many high positions in the Nizam's administrative set up. Raja Bahadur Venkatarama Reddy was made
Kotwal of
Hyderabad in 1920 CE during the reign of the seventh Nizam
Osman Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VII. Raja Bahadur Venkatarama Reddy was the first Hindu to be made kotwal of Hyderabad as in the late 19th and early 20th century, during the Islamic rule of the Nizams, the powerful position of Kotwal was held only by Muslims. His tenure lasted almost 14 years and he commanded great respect among the public for his outstanding police administration. Several Reddys were at the forefront of the anti-Nizam movement. In 1941, communist leaders
Raavi Narayana Reddy and
Baddam Yella Reddy transformed the
Andhra Mahasabha into an anti-Nizam united mass militant organisation and led an armed struggle against the Nizam's regime.
Reddy States (Zamindaris & Samsthanams) During the
medieval and later feudal/
colonial periods, many parts of
Andhra Pradesh and
Telangana of the
Indian subcontinent were ruled as sovereign or
princely states by various dynasties of Reddy community. Some of the prominent Reddy
zamindaris (samsthanams): •
Atmakur Amarchinta Samsthanam, Telangana. •
Domakonda Samsthanam, Telangana. •
Munagala—Gurlapaty clan Samsthanam, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. •
Wanaparthy Samsthanam (originally known as Sugur), Telangana. Founded by Veera Krishna Reddy ==Modernity==