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Pemmasani Ramalinga Nayudu was an army commander of a Vijayanagara military unit. An inscription dated to 1544 CE, which was found in Tallaproddatu, states that Pemmasani Ramalinga enjoyed the nayankara (feudal control) of the village. Phillip B. Wagoner who analysed 17th century Telugu text Rayavachakamu noted that it is not known whether Ramalinga Nayudu served Krishnadeva Raya or some later ruler.

Ramalinga was named as a commander and 'chief general' of the Vijayanagara emperor Krishnadevaraya (r. 1509–1529) in Rayavachakamu, and a later poetic rendition Krishnarajavijayam. According to Rayavachakamu, he was an army commander of a Vijayanagara military unit comprising nearly 80,000 soldiers. He was mentioned as a commander for the Vijayanagara king Krishnadevaraya at a certain 'Battle with the Turks'. Historian Venkataramanayya identified the battle as the one fought at Devni or Dewani (unidentified) in 1509–1510, within a year of Krishnadevaraya's accession. But some elements of the narrative are also reminiscent of the Battle of Raichur in 1520. Ramalinga is said to have played a crucial role in winning the battle against combined armies of Kalburgie, Golconda and Ahmednagar for Krishnadevaraya. Krishnadevaraya honoured him with gold threaded clothes and jewels following this victory.

He was the son of Pemmasani Timmanayudu II and Machamma. The Pemmasani Nayaks were a martial clan. During the Aravidu Dynasty of the Vijayanagara Empire, the Pemmasanis were in prominence as the chieftains of Gandikota sima and ministers at the Vijayanagara court. Burton Stein relays that the Pemmasanis controlled numerous small villages and many large towns and had large mercenary armies that were the vanguard of the Vijayanagara Empire in the sixteenth century.

Ramalinga and his brother, Erra Timmanayudu, fought and won various battles for Rama Raya, including the Battle of Juturu, Battle of Betamcherla, Battle of Bedakallu, and Battle of Adoni. It was mainly with their cooperation that Rama Raya won the succession conflict following the death of Achyuta Devaraya against Salakaraju Tirumala.

See also

• Pemmasani Nayaks
• Pemmasani Timma Nayaka
• Battle of Raichur

Notes

1. Wagoner 1993, p. 121.
2. Sriramamurty 1964, p. 93.
3. Wagoner 1993, p. 240: Pemmasani Ramalingama Nayadu belonged to the influential Pemmasani family that ruled the Gandikota-sima during the second half of the sixteenth century and provided several prominent ministers, including Pemmasani Timma, who served Vijayanagara under the Aravidu dynasty... It is not clear whether he served Krishnadevaraya or a later ruler.
4. Wagoner 1993, p. 138.
5. Ramayya Pantulu, J. (1926), "Krishna Raya", Journal of the Andhra Historical Society, Volume 2, Andhra Historical Research Society, p. 216 – via archive.org
6. Hayavadana Rao, Conjeeveram (1930). Mysore Gazetteer: pts. 1-2 Historical (2 v.), pt. 3. Mediaeval. pt. 4. Modern. Government Press. p. 1803. sent for one of his generals Pemmasāni Rāmalinga, who presented himself before the king, and engaged to lead the forlorn hope. With 80,000 men (so says the Rāyavāchakamu), he "marched to the battle as to a marriage."
7. Aiyangar, Sakkottai Krishnaswami (1919), Sources of Vijayanagar History, University of Madras, p. 241
8. Wagoner 1993, pp. 210–211, note 2.
9. The History of India. Britannica Educational Publishing. 2010. pp. 143–. ISBN 978-1-61530-201-7.
10. Rao, M. Rama (1971), Krishnadeva Raya, National Book Trust, p. 17
11. Sriramamurty 1964, p. 92}: "Krishnaraya presented Ramalinganayudu with gold threaded clothes and jewels and honoured him greatly for contributing to the victory."
12. Sriramamurty 1964, pp. 90–92.
13. Stein 1989, p. 88: "The Pemmasani family of Gandikota and Nandyala chiefs were part of the widely ramified coalition of Aliya Rama Raja and contributed to the latter's overwhelming power in the middle of the sixteenth century; they continued long after Rama Raja's time to hold great power in the erstwhile eastern heartland of the Vijayanagara kingdom."
14. Wagoner 1993, p. 240.
15. Stein 1989, p. 88: "Controlling numerous villages and many large towns, these powerful chiefs commanded large mercenary armies that were the vanguard of Vijayanagara forces during the sixteenth century."
16. Sriramamurty 1964, p. 92: "The Pemmasani brothers fought on behalf of Rāmarāya and obtained victories at Jūtūru, Betamcherla, Bedakallu, and Ādōni."
17. Sriramamurty 1964, p. 92: "It was mainly with their cooperation and support that Rama Raya succeeded in destroying Salakaraju."

Bibliography

• Stein, Burton (1989), The New Cambridge History of India: Vijayanagara, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-26693-2
• Sriramamurty, Y. (1964), "History of the Pemmasani Family", Journal of the Andhra Historical Society, Volume 30, Parts 1-4, Andhra Historical Research Society, pp. 89–104
  • Sriramamurty, Y. (1973), "The Pemmasani Family" (PDF), Studies in the History of the Telugu country during the Vijayanagara period 1336 to 1650 A D, Karnatak University/Shodhganga, hdl:10603/107988
• Wagoner, Phillip B. (1993), Tidings of the king: a translation and ethnohistorical analysis of the Rāyavācakamu, University of Hawaii Press, ISBN 978-0-8248-1495-3

• Telugu people
• History of Karnataka
• Nayaks of the Vijayanagara Empire
• History of Andhra Pradesh
• Vijayanagara generals