 | This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . (Learn how and when to remove these messages)
|
| This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . (Learn how and when to remove these messages)
|
The House of Pusapati claims to descend from the Rajput Sisodia dynasty of Mewar. According to Edward B. Eastwick, Ananda Gajapati Raju is descendent from Gahlot clan and is of the Vasishtha gotra.
In 529 A.D., his Madhava Varma marched with four clans into the Deccan and conquered the territory from Ramnad to Kataka. He established a capital in Bezawada, before transferring it to Vijayanagaram. The Pusapati family reigned over this kingdom for 921 years. In 1512, they were subjected by Sultan Quli Qutb Shah of the Qutb Shahi dynasty. The Pusapatis were appointed as the subahdars of the Rajahmundry Circar. Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb confirmed the subahdar in his office and gifted him a two-edged sword (Zulfikar), which remains in the family's coat-of-arms.
In 1817, Ananda Gajapati Raju's father handed over part of his estate to the Madras Presidency to clear his debt of ₹200,000 (equivalent to ₹140 million or US$1.7 million in 2023). In 1827, he again made over his estate and died at Banaras, leaving a debt of ₹1,100,000 (equivalent to ₹740 million or US$8.9 million in 2023). His successor, Maharajah Vijayarama Gajapati Raju III, was recognized in his father's room in 1845 and had several honors conferred on him by the British Raj. Lord Northbrook obtained the title of His Highness for him and his name was enrolled among the chiefs entitled to return visits from the Viceroy. He was clear of debt.
The Rajahs of Vizianagaram obtained the title of 'Gajapathi' by right of conquest after the battle of Nandapur in the northern circars against Balaram Dev III of Jeypore Kingdom in the sixteenth century.
Ananda Gajapati was the second of the three children, born to Maharajah Vijayarama Gajapati Raju. Narayana Gajapati (10 February 1850 – 29 September 1863) was his elder brother and Appala Kondayamba (16 February 1859 – 14 December 1912) was his younger sister. She married Maharaj Kumar Singh, cousin and heir apparent of H.H. Maharajah of Rewah.
Ananda Gajapati learnt Sanskrit under the guidance of eminent scholars, like Bhagavathula Hari Sastry, Mysore Bhimacharyulu and Mudumbai Narasimha Swamy. Major Thomson and Lingam Lakshmoji taught him English. He was proficient in Latin and French.
During the rule of Maharajah Ananda Gajapati, education, literature and music received a tremendous fillip and Telugu culture throve considerably. Known widely for both munificence and cultural magnificence, Ananda Gajapati Raju was granted the personal title of 'Maharajah'. He was a Member of the Madras Legislative Council for many years and was created a G.C.I.E. in 1892. [1] He was held in awe, reverence and admiration as the most cultured and munificent, the most erudite and graceful, the most accomplished and humane of all the princes of Vizianagaram till his time.
Maharajah Ananda Gajapati has been acclaimed throughout the Telugu-speaking world as Abhinava Andhra Boja. He spared no effort to make Vizianagaram the center of learning, a Banaras in Andhra Desa.
Satavadhani Chellapilla wrote and published an essay in Krishna Patrika in 1941 about the Vizianagaram Samsthanam. Ananda Gajapati revered tradition and exerted himself to uphold and maintain it. His court was a regular meeting ground for men of varied attainments. His patronage of scholars, poets, literature, and artists is comparable to Krishna Deva Raya of Hampi Vijayanagaram. The Diggajas of Maharajah Ananda Gajapati's court are Mudumbai Narasimachari, Varaha Narasimha, Kolluru Kama Sastri, the poet, Peri Venkata Sastri, the master of Shastras and his son Peri Kasinadha Sastri. He assigned them projects and commissioned the translation of Dharma Sastras.
He generously gave financial support of a lakh rupees to Max Müller for his translational work of Rig Veda.
Poona Gayani Samaj was a society founded for the purpose of promoting classical music, mainly Hindusthani music, on 13 September 1894. It was heavily funded by Ananda Gajapati Raju, who helped and funded the publication of Gayala Siddanjanam and Swara Manjari written by the Tachchuri Singracharya brothers of Madras. Ananda Gajapati had in his court an Italian Band set consisting of 48 players and a Shehnai troupe with twelve players. He was said to have tutored the eminent Veena Venkata Ramana.
Reputed actors and stage artists were part of his court. Jagannadha Vilasini was a dramatic society started during his father's reign in 1874 and used to give performances in Sanskrit and Telugu at Pithapuram and Madras. The chief of the actors was Butchi Sastry and the society was also referred to as the 'Butchi Sastry Troupe'. Ananda Gajapati invited Gomatham Srinivasa Charyulu, known as Indian Garrick to his court and also patronized the play Harischandra he wrote in English.
The Maharajah had a forward-looking temperament and progressive views. He was who originally initiated social reform. Gurajada Appa Rao who wrote the epoch-making play Kanyasulkam dedicated it to the Maharajah. The writer declares in his preface to the first edition that the Maharajah inaugurated a brilliant epoch in the history of Telugu Literature.
Gurazada Srirama Murty was one of the most accomplished research oriented scholar in the court of Vizianagaram. [2]
Vizianagaram Treaty of 15 November 1758 and the end of fifteen years of war between the English and the French for the sovereignty of India from 1744 to 1759 A.D. was the work of a historiographer. Ananda Gajapati Raju composed and got it printed by Vest and Company, Madras in 1894. He quoted extensively from various historical sources, the chief of which was The History of the Rise and Progress of the Bengal Army. He collected data from more than forty scholars, historians, poets, and documenters; some of the most important are Orme, Broome, Cambridge, Carmichael, Gleiig, Taylor and Adams, Pusapati Vijayarama Raju, Meer Alum, Megasthenes, and Huen Tsang. His admiration for the glory of his forebears and their glorious past where his ancestors paved the way for the firm establishment of British power in the country culminated in this masterpiece of his research work.[ citation needed ]
Vizianagaram, also known as Vijayanagaram, is a city and the headquarters of the Vizianagaram district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is located in the Eastern Ghats, about 24 km (15 mi) west of the Bay of Bengal and 40 km (25 mi) north-northeast of Visakhapatnam. The city has a population of 228,025 and was established as the capital of the Vizianagaram estate by Raja Vijayaram Raj from the Pusapati dynasty. The rulers had a notable role in the history of the region in the 18th century and were patrons of education and arts.
Gurajada Venkata Apparao was an Indian playwright, dramatist, poet, and writer known for his works in Telugu theatre. Rao wrote the play Kanyasulkam in 1892, which is considered as the greatest play in the Telugu language. One of the pioneers of Indian theatre, Apparao holds the titles Kavisekhara and Abyudaya Kavitha Pithamahudu. In 1910, Rao scripted the widely known Telugu patriotic song "Desamunu Preminchumanna".
Raju may refer to:
The Battle of Bobbili, comprising the attack on the fort of Bobbili on 24 January 1757, was a significant event in the princely state of Vizianagaram. Gen. Tandra Paparayudu gained the sobriquet The Tiger of Bobbili for his fierce, ultimately hopeless resistance, and final vengeance.
Maharaja Pusapati Vijayrama Gajapati Raju D.Litt. was an Indian parliamentarian and philanthropist. He was the eldest son of Maharaja Alak Narayanadev Gajapathi Raju and Vidyavathi Devi of Vizianagaram estate in Andhra Pradesh. He was born at Phool Bagh Palace in Vizianagaram.
North Andhra or Uttara Andhra, also known as Kalinga Andhra, is a geographic region in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is between the Eastern Ghats and the coast of the Bay of Bengal. It comprises six northern districts of the state, Srikakulam, Parvathipuram Manyam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam, half of the Alluri Sitharama Raju district and Anakapalli. Alluri Sitharama Raju district was carved out of Erstwhile Visakhapatnam and East Godavari districts. So, half of the Alluri Sitharamaraju district belongs to North Andhra/ Uttara Andhra and the southern part of this district belongs to Coastal Andhra region/ Godavari region. As of 2011 census of India, the region with six districts has a population of 9,338,177.
Poosapati / Pusapati was the ruling clan of the Northern Andhra region, Vizianagaram.
Simhadri Narasimha Satakam is a compilation of Telugu poems by Gogulapati Kurmanatha Kavi in the 18th century. He wrote the Satakam extempore in praise of Lord Varaha Narasimha of Simhachalam.
Maharajah's College, or M. R. College, established in 1879, it is an autonomous institution located in Vizianagaram, Andhra Pradesh.
Maharajah's Government College of Music and Dance is an educational institution in Vizianagaram, Andhra Pradesh, India. It is the first music college in South India.
The name is derived from its founder Raja Vijayaram Raj who established a sovereign kingdom by claiming independence from the Kingdom of Jeypore in 1711. It formed alliances with the French and British East India Company to conquer the neighbouring principalities of Bobbili, Kurupam, Paralakhemundi and the Kingdom of Jeypore. However, they fell out with the British and as a result were attacked and defeated in the Battle of Padmanabham. They were annexed as a tributary estate like other principalities and remained so, until their accession to the Indian Union in 1949.
Tandra Paparayudu was an Army General of Bobbili who assassinated Pusapati Vijayarama Gajapati Raju I Raja of Vizianagaram, and committed his Royal suicide during the Battle of Bobbili in 1757, a significant historical event in the Princely state of Vizianagaram, the present day Vizianagaram district of Andhra Pradesh.
This is a list of political families in the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana
Pusapati Ashok Gajapathi Raju is an Indian politician and the former Union Minister for Civil Aviation in the Narendra Modi Government. A scion of royal family of Vizianagaram princely state, he is the younger son of the last Maharaja of Vizianagaram. He was a member of Andhra Pradesh State legislature for over twenty five years and was a Minister in the Govt. of A.P., for thirteen years holding the portfolios of Commercial Tax, Excise, Legislative affairs, Finance, Planning and Revenue.
Vizianagaram fort is an early 18th-century fort in the city of Vizianagaram in northeastern Andhra Pradesh, South India. It was built by Vijaya Rama Raju, the Maharaja of Vizianagaram in 1713. The formal ceremony, while laying the foundation for the fort, was very auspicious as it represented five signs of victory. The square-shaped fort has two main gates, of which the main entry gate has elaborate architectural features. There are many temples and palaces within the fort and a victory tower. This alternative name is Pusapati.
Kolluri Kamasastry (1840–1907) was a Sanskrit scholar. He was a poet who adorned in Vizianagaram Pusapati Ananda Gajapati Raju Maharaja's court. He translated many Sanskrit books into Telugu language. "Andhra dharma Sindhu" and "Sudra Kamalakaramu" are his two most important translations in to Telugu. He was also the author of "Raghunayaka Satakamu".
Gurajada Srirama Murty (1851–1899) was Telugu writer, poet and editor. He published his book on the lives of the Telugu poets in the last decade of the nineteenth century, the trend has been set for the writing of biography in Telugu.
Jagannatha Gajapati Narayana Deo II was the Odia monarch of the Paralakhemundi Estate in the southern part of today's Odisha and northern Andhra Pradesh. He was from the Eastern Ganga dynasty of the Khemundi Ganga Branch from the year 1736 CE to 1771 CE. He had ascended to the throne at the age of eighteen and at a time when Odisha was torn apart due conflicts between external powers like the Mughals, Marathas, French and British for control of the territory. He invaded khurdha Bhoi dynasty king Birakishore Deva and Vizianagaram estate King Pusapati Vijayarama Raju II and defeated the both kings. He made the last great attempts on his own to revive the lost glory of Odisha and its unique Hindu culture that revolved around the tradition of Jagannath worship. He had defied the authority of the Nizam of Hyderabad and maintained his own sovereignty. He was one of the first rulers who indulged in conflicts with the new European colonists in the eastern part of India. He was also effort bound till the end of his life in framing strategic diplomatic plans to free the ancient land of Odisha from external aggressors and revival of its lost Eastern Ganga Dynasty-Gajapati glory from the past.
Pusapati Ananda Gajapati Raju Vijayanagaram Pusapati royalist, former minister, Chairman of Mansa Trust.
Calamur Chandrasekhara Sastri (1854–1887), sometimes Sastry or Sastriyar, was the first Principal and Professor of English and Sanskrit of the Maharajah's College at Vizianagaram from his appointment in 1875, developing it from a secondary school with four teachers into a graduate institution before his death at the age of 32 in 1887, with the support of the contemporaneously reigning Maharajas of Vizianagaram, Pusapati Vijayarama Gajapathi Raju III and Pusapati Ananda Gajapati Raju. He was the first Indian principal of any South Indian college at the time.