Paricheda

The Pericchedis were an ancient ruling clan in Andhra and are ancestors of the Pusapati royal family. Pericchedis built Bezawada (Modern Vijayawada) off the river Krishna in 626 and another capital in Kollipaka establishing themselves for nine centuries there. They were Kshatriyas of the Suryavanshi sect. They obtained the title of Gajapathi, after the battle of Nandapur.

Paricchedis were staunch patrons of Hindu Dharma in contrast to the Chalukyas, who initially were patrons of Jainism.

The ancient rulers were:

(Telugu:విజయనగరం పూసపాటి వారు) The family name was changed to Pusapati after moving to the coastal region. They founded the city of Vizianagaram, named after Vijay Rama Raju, spelled with a Z to differentiate it from the Vijayanagar Dynasty in Hampi. They obtained the title of Gajapathi, after the battle of Nandapur, in the Northern Circars in the 16th century. In 1484 Pusapati Rachi Raju wrote Vasistha Gotra Kshatriya Sisa Malika.

They, along with the other allies of Vijayanagar were conquered by Sultan Quli, the founder of the Qutub Shahi dynasty of Golkonda but by 1652 the 5th King of the subsequent Pusapati line was made Subahdar of the Northern Circars and they re-established themselves in the Vizagapatnam country. They received Gajapathi title after defeating the Gajapathi's of Nandapur (Orissa), their former allies and relatives, in the 16th century. In 1827 Maharajah Vijay Rama Gajapati Raju III had several honors conferred on him by the British Government. Lord Northbrook obtained for him the title of His Highness, and had his name enrolled among those of chiefs entitled to return visits from the Viceroy with a 13 gun salute. A daughter was married to His Highness Maharaj Kumar Singh, cousin and heir apparent of H.H. Maharajah of Rewah. In 1848 the late Maharaja of Vizianagaram visited Bezawada, the home of his family for so many centuries. His visit is recorded in a Telugu inscription. A descendent of this line Sir P. Vijay Anand Gajapathi Raju inherited the family estate in Benares, married the princess of Kashipur and was a captain of the Indian cricket team in the 1930s.

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