Penukonda Town
This article has been extracted from THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908. OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS. |
Note: National, provincial and district boundaries have changed considerably since 1908. Typically, old states, ‘divisions’ and districts have been broken into smaller units, and many tahsils upgraded to districts. Some units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value.
Penukonda Town
Head-quarters of the subdivision and taluk of the same name in Anantapur District, Madras, situated in 14 5' N. and 77 36' E. Population (1901), 6,806. It is picturesquely placed at the foot of a steep, rugged, and strongly fortified hill over 3,000 feet in height, on the edge of an uneven plain which is flanked and crossed by smaller elevations of manifold shapes and sizes. From the hill, and connected with it at both ends, a semicircular line of massive fortifica- tions stretches out for some distance into the plain, and is washed on its southern side by a considerable tank. Partly within and partly outside this line is the present town ; and the remains of the ancient buildings on the lower ground, the towers and mantapams on the slopes of the hill, and the trees and the green crops of the cultivated patches combine to make a very pleasant picture, while an air of departed greatness is afforded by the numerous ruins and fragments of carved stone which lie about on every side. The view of the town and its surroundings from the top of the hill is well worth the climb. According to tradition, it was founded by one Kriyasakti Udaiyar. The earliest inscription, on the northern gate of the fort, says that king Bukka I of Vijayanagar entrusted the province of Penukonda to his son Vlra Virupanna Udaiyar, in whose time the fort was built.
Thus at the very beginning of the rule of the Vijayanagar dynasty the place was the residence of one of its princes. It evidently continued for many years to be one of the chief strongholds of the line ; and Krishna Deva, the greatest of its kings, is declared to have made it his residence for a period. When the Vijayanagar power was over- thrown by the Musalmans at the battle of Talikota, it was to Penu- konda that the king fled, taking with him a few followers and the treasures of his palace. The place then became the head-quarters of what remained of the fallen empire. In 1585 the king moved to Chandragiri in North Arcot, and then Penukonda was ruled by local governors. In 1577 the Sultan of Bijapur blockaded it closely, but a part of his troops were bought off and the siege failed. In 1589 the Sultan of Golconda made another attempt on it, but it was most heroically defended by Jagadeva Raya, and the Musalmans eventually retreated. It fell at last to the Sultan of Bijapur in 1652, the governor, so says tradition, being bought over. About a century later it became part of the possessions of Morari Rao, and from him it was taken by Haidar Ali in 1762. It remained a Mysore possession, with some slight interruptions, until the death of Tipu in 1799.
Of the many buildings in and about the town the most handsome is the Slier Khan mosque, which is constructed of dark green granite with black hornblende mouldings, and contains some excellent carving. Both this and another mosque in the fort have clearly been at one time Hindu temples. Babayya's dargdh is another well-known Muham- madan institution. Babayya, says the legend, was a prince who turned fakir. His spiritual guide gave him a twig, and told him to plant it wherever he stopped and to take up his residence at the place at which it budded. It budded at Penukonda, and the fakir and his following accordingly established themselves in the chief Hindu temple there.
News of the sacrilege having been brought to the ruler of the place, he put the fakir and the priest of the temple through several tests to see which of them was the more holy man. In all of these the fakir was victorious, and the king accordingly allowed him to remain in the temple. The dargdh is now a great place of pilgrimage for Musalmans and the centre of an organization of fakirs which extends throughout the Presidency.
The chief Hindu building in Penukonda is the Gagana Mahal or palace. It is a handsome two-storeyed erection, possessing a tower from which a good view of the town is obtained. It is built in the same Hindu-Saracenic style which was also adopted in the palace buildings at Vijayanagar.
Penukonda now contains the offices usual to the head-quarters of a subdivision and a taluk, and is the station of a District Munsif. It is also of some importance from a commercial point of view, and takes the lead in all intellectual matters
