Reddy
[8][need quotation to verify] The Reddy dynasty (1325–1448 CE) ruled coastal and central Andhra for over a hundred years.
Today they continue to be a politically and socio-economically dominant group in the Telugu states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
[citation needed] In south India, on the other hand, there existed only three distinguishable classes, the Brahmins, the non-Brahmins and the Dalits.
[14][15][16][17] The dominant castes of south India, such as Reddys and Nairs, held a status in society analogous to the Kshatriyas and Vaishyas of the north with the difference that religion did not sanctify them,[4][18][19] i.e. they were not accorded the status of Kshatriyas and Vaishyas by the Brahmins in the Brahmanical varna system.
Historically, land-owning castes like the Reddys have belonged to the regal ruling classes and are analogous to the Kshatriyas of the Brahmanical society.
[20] The Brahmins, on top of the hierarchical social order, viewed the ruling castes of the south like the Reddys, Nairs and Vellalars as sat-Shudras meaning shudras of "true being".
[citation needed] The Reddy feudatories fought against attacks from the Delhi sultanate and defended the region from coming under the Turkic rule.
[citation needed] After the death of Pratapa Rudra in 1323 CE and the subsequent fall of the Kakatiya empire, some Reddi chiefs became independent rulers.
The Reddy rulers exercised a policy of annexation and invasion of Kalinga (modern day Odisha).
[36] The Reddy poligars were appointed to render military services in times of war, collect revenue from the populace and pay to the royal treasury.
The ancestors of the legendary Uyyalawada Narasimha Reddy – who led an armed rebellion against the British East India company, were poligars.
In the 16th century, the Pangal fort situated in Mahbubnagar district of Andhra Pradesh was ruled by Veera Krishna Reddy.
[41][need quotation to verify] The Gadwal samsthanam situated in Mahbubnagar includes a fort built in 1710 CE by Raja Somtadari.
[40] Reddys continued to be chieftains, village policemen and tax collectors in the Telangana region, throughout the Golkonda rule.
[citation needed] One of the most prominent figures from the community during the British period is Uyyalawada Narasimha Reddy.
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.
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.
