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Matsya Kingdom of Vaddadi
The Matsya Kingdom of Oddadi was in Andhra Pradesh, India. It was founded by Mankaditya, a ruler of the Matsya dynasty. The kingdom maintained autonomous power at some point and later served as a tributary vassal state to the Eastern Chalukyas, Eastern Gangas and later the Suryavanshis of Nandapur and Jeypore. During the advent of the British Raj, it became a separate zamindari known as the ‘Madgole Samasthanam’ that was later purchased by Vikram Dev III of Jeypore. As per the inscriptions found in the Srilakshmivaraha temple in Simhachalam, the most influential ruler of this kingdom was Arjuna Deva.

Etymology
Francis argues that the name 'Vaddadi' is derived from 'Oddadi' or 'Oddavadi' meaning 'the beginning of the Odia land'. However, it could not be ascertained as the region was always known as Kalinga which comprised of both Telugu and Odia population.

Origin
Traditional believes of the Matysavamsa narrates that the kingdom was founded by a prince called Satya Martanda, who arrived in the Utkal region from North-western India (ancient Matsya kingdom). He gained the trust and respect of the king of Utkala who gave him his daughter in marriage and bestowed upon him a principality of Oddadi.

Satya Martanda claimed to be a descendant of King Yadunabha Matsya or Matysa, the progenitor of the Matsya race and the founder of the original Matsya kingdom in North-West of India. According to Mahabharata, this Matsya along with his twin sister Matsyagandha (later Satyavati) were born to the Chedi King - Uparichara Vasu and a celestial nymph or Apsara called Adrika. The Matsya tribe was descendant of Yadunabha and find mention in Rig Veda as 'Matseyas' - an Indo-Aryan tribe who fought against Sudas in the Battle of the Ten Kings.

A long list of Matsya rulers after Satya Martanda ruled from Oddadi. As per inscriptions, one Matsya family was mentioned in the Chipurupalle plates of Vishnuvardhana I (632 AD) of the Eastern Chalukyas. This Chipurupalle is a village in Visakhapatnam district. Similarly, One king named Atavi Durjaya of this family and perhaps a successor of Satya Martanda, executed a grant of Dimilishaya and Kalvaganda in Sarvasiddhi Taluq to two Brahmins. There is again a long line of intermediaries between Atavi Durjaya and Bhima that are not known. Bhima I was succeeded by his younger brother Ganga in whose line Mankaditya was born after the reign of several kings. The details of the history of the Matsya kingdom during this period of seventeen generations from Bhima to Mankaditya is not known. The names Bhima, Vallabha, Yuddhamalla, Ganga, and Kokkila seem to suggest their allegiance to the Eastern chalukyas but the names of the later kings and the location of the kingdom perhaps ascertains that later in history they must have ruled Oddadi as feudatories of the Gangas of Kalinga.

History
The earliest known dynasty of the Matsya Kingdom of Oddadi is the Matsyavamsa or Matsya Dynasty founded by Raja Mankaditya. He is the first Matsya king finding mention in other records. A record at Draksha-tama dated A.D. 1252 and the 36th year of Tribhuvanachakravarti Rajadhirajadeva begins with Mankaditya of Matsyakula. He could have been a vassal chief of the Eastern Chalukyas or the Gangas of Kalinga. According to the Dibbida plates, Mankaditya had two sons—Bhima IV and Jayanta. However, he was succeeded by Jayanta and not Bhima IV. Jayanta is mentioned as ‘Mahamandaleshwara’ Oddadi Jayanta Raju in the Draksharma epigraph of Arjuna. He finds place in the Simhachalam record of Arjuna and was more powerful than Mankaditya of his titles indicate.

The most influential ruler of the dynasty was Arjuna I, who succeeded his father Jayanta in 1252 AD. He made gifts to the temple of Simhachalam in 1269 AD, for the increase of his dynasty’s fame and valour described as “Kula”, “Kirti” and “Pratapa”. In his records Arjuna is mentioned with pompous titles like ‘Arjunadeva’, ‘Matsyavamsadhbhava Srinaramsinhavardhana’, ‘Oddavadi Arjuna Deva Maharaja’, ‘Oddavadi Matsyakulatilaka Arjunadevaraju’ and ‘Oddavadi Srinarasimhavardhana Arjunadevamaharaju’.

As per the inscriptions of Daksharamam, Arjuna did not acknowledge the suzerainty of the Gangas or the Cholas. There is also no evidence that suggests that he got into a battle with either of the two kingdoms. However, he did advance as far as Draksharamam near the banks of Godavari on an expedition of conquest and seems to have extended the boundaries of the Matsya kingdom.

One evidence also suggests that Kumara Anantajiyana, a Matsya prince of Arjuna’s family was governing Chikati across the Krishna River in the modern Prakasam district of Andhra Pradesh. Probably Chikati constituted part of the Matsya kingdom in this period. The two brothers of Arjuna – Mankaditya and Annama along with Ananta must have fought for the Matsyas in their wars against their enemies.

There were two kings or joint rulers who succeeded Arjuna Deva – one was his own son Jayanta II and the other was Jayantika, son of his brother Mankaditya. They both issued records simultaneously and ruled for a long reign of sixty-four years. The contemporary Ganga emperors were – Narasimha II, Bhanudeva II, Narasimha III and Bhanudeva III. There is not much evidence that suggests their allegiance to the Gangas. However, the Matsyas in this period came into conflict with the Reddis in defensive warfare. Although, the Matsya records are silent about it, they perhaps were vanquished by the Reddis as mentioned in the Chimakurti copper plate. Furthermore, a contemporary Reddi literature supports the Reddi king Vema’s achievements in Kalinga.

Arjuna II alias Virarjuna, the son of Jayanta II succeeded him and Jayantikaraju on the Matsya throne at Vaddadi. His earliest record is from Simhachalam registering gifts by his queen Kamaladevi dated 1357 AD. The name Arjuna itself and the epithet Vira attached to it, perhaps indicate his capacities as a warrior. He is mentioned in the records as ‘Oddavadi Mandaleshwara Sri Virarjunadevaraju’ of Matsyavamsa and was most likely a vassal of the Gangas. The Sultan of Delhi, Firoz Shah Tughlaq invaded Odisha in his second expedition into Bengal in 1360-1361 AD and Virarjuna must have helped Gangas against the enemies. He was perhaps defeated by the Reddis in 1385 AD. One theory however suggests that Veer Arjuna formed an alliance with the Reddy chiefs of Rajahmundry in order to free his kingdom from the suzerainty of the Gangas who were defeated by Firuz Shah Tughlaq in 1361.

Arjuna III or Prataparjuna is described as a distinguished warrior and was more enterprising than his predecessors. He was married to Satyamahadevi belonged to the Ganga family of Jantarnadu. He is believed to have shaken off allegiance of the Gangas completely. However, one record suggests that he joined hands with the great commander Kapilendra Deva to drive away the Reddis from Kalinga and was successful. This theory somewhat justifies his allegiance to the Gangas.

Prataparjuna led an expedition of conquest into Jantarnadu ruled by Ganga dynasty and was victorious. During this expedition, Arjuna III, obviously subordinated the Ganga ruler and perhaps captured Lakkavarapukota in Jantarnadu.

Pratap Vallabha Raju is mentioned in records as ‘Mahamandaleshvara’, ‘Vallabharaja Mahapatra’, ‘Kumara Traida Beharamahapatra’ and ‘Sri Vira Bhupatiraya Vira Pratapa Vallabharaja Mahapatra’. In his reign, Kapilendra Deva assassinated the last Ganga scions and ascended the throne as the Gajapati of Kalinga. Kapliendra also subdued all the local dynasties in Kalinga and the Matsyas were no exception. The ‘Mahapatra’ title granted to Pratapavallabha indicates his subordination to the Gajapatis as this term suffixed to the names of the provincial governors under the Gajapatis.

However, Vallabha had to face the Reddi expedition in the territories of the Matsya kingdom in 1434 AD and suffered a defeat to the invader. For Matsyadesh Oddadi is included in the conquests of Alladevema Reddi in his Simhachalam inscriptions of 1435 AD along with Potnur and Kalavalapalle. Singharaja or Pratapasingharaja was the son of Pratapsrirangaraja - the younger brother of Pratapavallabharaja was. He succeeded his uncle and formed an alliance with Raja Vinayak Dev who had just arrived in the region and succeeded the last Silavamsi king. This alliance with the help of Vinayak’s combat expertise defeated the Reddis and drove them out. Both kings were vassal chiefs under the Gajapatis and bore the title of ‘Mahamandelshvara’ and ‘Bhupati Raja’. Singharaja was the last ruler of the Matsya dynasty and upon his death the kingdom was annexed into the dominion of Vinayak Dev and his successors – the Suryavanshis of Nandapur/Jeypore.

Madgole Estate
Upon the death of the last Matsya king – Singharaja, the kingdom of Matsyas fell under the control of the Jeypore Suryavanshi rulers. They appointed a member of the extended Matsya family as the Lord of the Matsya territories and helped him shift to Madgole which was located at 20 miles from the old capital Oddadi. There is not much information about this lineage of subordinate kings, however, the later rulers of this little kingdom continued the tradition of claiming the dynasty of the old Matsyas.

In the early 17th century, Vishwambhar Dev of Jeypore gained great influence in the Kalinga region. He liberated the Northern Andhra territories, including the Matsya land, from the Qutb Shahis of Golconda and established many fiefs or zamindaris to consolidate his power. These fiefs were granted to the loyal and courageous chiefs of his kingdom and one such chief was granted the fief of Madgole with the title of ‘Bhupati Raju’.

Later, when Vijayarama Raju of Pusapati clan began encroaching upon the lands of the Jeypore kings in 1730, the chief of Madgole was Linga Bhupati Raju who challenged Vijayarama on the battlefield along with some other chiefs of Jeypore but was defeated and fled to Jeypore where he remained until his death. However, Vijayarama was himself defeated and slain in the Battle of Padmanabhama and the British began granting sanads of zamindari to the Lords of the old fiefdoms. Essentially, they also called the family of Linga Bhupati Raju who were residing in Jeypore and granted the sanad of Madgole estate or zamindari to the only male heir, Jagannath. Jagannath was granted the title of ‘Raja’ but in the meantime he was overwhelmed by the financial condition of his family and the newly acquired estate. He had three sons – Linga Deva II, Harihara Deva and Krishna Deva.

The eldest son, Linga Bhupati Raju II administered the zamindari for some years. He had a daughter named Jogimani Devi who was married to Mukund Dev of Kalyan SInghpura belonging to a junior family branch of the Jeypore Suryavanshis. Essentially, Linga Bhupati II was succeeded by his brother Harihara who ruled for several years and was succeeded by Krishna Deva who is said to have been the most influential Lord of Madgole. He introduced some significant changes in the management of the impoverished estate which proved effective. He was married to two ladies - Sithamani Devi and Nilamani Devi. The first lady was issueless and hence adopted Vikram Dev Varma, son of Krishna Chandra Dev, the Prince of Jeypore. The second lady had one daughter, Ammimaha Devi married to Vishwambhar Dev, the youngest of the three princes of Jeypore.

There was a period when there were three claimants of Madgole estate. The first was Vikram Dev Varma, adopted son of Sithamani Devi. The second claimant was Rajendramani Devi, daughter of Ammimaha and Vishwambhara. The third claimant was Mukund Dev II, adopted son of Krishna Dev and grandson of Jogimani and Mukund I of Kalyan SInghpura. The adoption of Vikram Dev was challenged by Nilamani Devi and henceforth it was put aside by the Privy Council. In 1901, the Government of Madras recognised Mukund Dev II and Rajendramani Devi as joint heirs of the estate. Therefore, the two heirs divided the estate equally between themselves.

Rajendramani Devi was an influential figure in the district of Vizagapatam. She was known for her administration and charitable acts towards her people. Vadivelu describes her as -

"Sri Rajendramani Devi Garu is highly religious and charitably disposed. Her nobility of conduct, her large-heartedness, her sympathy for the poor, and her kindness to her ryots are spoken of in eulogistic terms in the Vizagapatam district".

Following the demise of the two heirs, the estate of Madgole was purchased by Maharaja Vikram Dev III of Jeypore. One half of the estate was acquired by Jeypore in 1920 and the other half was acquired in 1930 during the reign of Maharaja Ram Chandra Dev IV. In 1931, Vikram Dev Varma succeeded as the Raja of Madugula.

Matsya Dynasty of Oddadi
The intermediaries between Satyamartanda and Vira Pratap Singharaju are as followed:

Satya Martanda - ??? -- Atavi Durjaya - ??? - Ganga - Vallabha - Yudhamalla - Gonaga - Bhima -- Revana - Kokkila - Gudda - Aditya - Kandi - Gonaga II - Gudda II - Kandi II - Aditya II -- Parangada - Gudda III - Bhima III - Naranga - Manikaditya