Madanna and Akkanna

Madanna and Akkanna were two brothers who rose to prominence in the sultanate of Golkonda between 1674 and 1685. Towards the end of their lives in October 1685 they came to dominate state affairs in Golkonda. This is remarkable because they were administrators and ruled it and a large part of the elite of the sultanate were Muslims.

The brothers were born in Hanamkonda into a Niyogi Telugu Brahmin family of four brothers and some sisters, among whom, according to a Dutch contemporary source, Akkanna was his mother's favourite. Madanna was, however, the more talented. There has been some discussion in the historical literature about the question whether they were Telugu or Maratha Brahmins. It is probable that they were Smarta Brahmins, who honoured both Shiva or Vishnu, along with Surya. They were Niyogis and also uncles of Bhakta Ramdas. Akkanna's descendants were called Akkarajus and Madanna's descendanants were Madaraju's.

Madanna started as a clerk with the Golconda Sultanate and moved higher up through talent, guile and intrigue. At some point Madanna and Akkanna came into the service of Sayyid Muzaffar, a nobleman of Persian descent. Some time after Sayyid Muzaffar had brought Abul Hasan (r. 1672-1687) to the throne, however, then vizier Madanna and brother locked him up in his house and took over the charge of the treasury. As treasurer, Madanna became more and more powerful until he practically ruled the sultanate in all but name till his death, assisted by his brother Akkanna and his nephew Rustam Rao. Akkanna was less important, but was appointed general of the army, not so much to conduct military operations, but more to keep it from waging war (at least according to Dutch contemporary sources).

The most important policies of Madanna were staving off the Mughal emperor and reforming the tax or revenue collection. After the alliance with Shivaji and certain parties in the Bijapur sultanate failed in 1677, the method employed by Madanna to stave off Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, who was intent on subduing the Deccan sultanates, was to pay him off. In modern terms we would call this policy 'appeasement'. In order to be able to pay the enormous tributes to the Mughal emperor, Madanna reformed the revenue system. Briefly, he made sure that as little money as possible was left with the intermediaries in the collection chain and that the revenue collected from the agriculturalists, artisans and traders came directly to the state.

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