Renāṭi Cholas

Renāḍu

The Renāṭi Cholas held the country called Renāḍu in the dry Rayalaseema uplands, ruling as a minor power between the Pallavas to the south and the Chalukyas to the west. Their inscriptions are numerous for so small a dynasty, and they were probably subordinate for most of their existence.

The Kalamalla inscription, recording a grant by Erikal Mutturaju Dhanañjaya, is conventionally dated to the second half of the sixth century and is treated as the earliest Telugu inscription — the beginning of a written record for a language now spoken by some eighty million people.

The dynasty gave way in the eighth century as the Rāṣṭrakūṭas extended into the region, and later Telugu Choda branches carried the name on elsewhere.