Kondavid Fort, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh India

Kondaveedu Fort  is located in Kondaveedu village in the Chilakaluripet constituency of Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh, India. It is a hill fortress located 1,700 feet (520 m) above m.s.l. Apart from this main fort, there are two other forts (names not known) nearby. All three forts are now in ruins.

Kondaveedu Fort was constructed by Prolaya Vema Reddy. Later it was ruled by the Reddy dynasty between 1328 and 1428 and then taken over by Gajpathis of Orissa later ravaged by the Muslim rulers of the Bahmani kingdom (1458). TheVijayanagara emperor Krishnadevaraya captured it in 1516. The Golconda Sultans fought for the fort in 1531, 1536 and 1579, and Sultan Quli Qutb Shah finally captured it in 1579, renaming it Murtuzanagar.

The fort came under the control of the French colonists in 1752 when it was extensively fortified. It passed on to the Englishimperialists who got control of the fort in 1788 but abandoned it in early 19th century in favour of Guntur. Now, the massive fortifications and battlements are seen in ruins only. The interior has extensive ruins of magazines and storehouses.

The main Kondaveedu Fort built by the king of the Reddy dynasty in the fourteenth century and the other two forts in its vicinity (all three built in successive periods), together with the province in which they are presently located, were ruled by many Kingdoms, Hindus,Muslims and the British, all who had divergent approaches to the administration of their province and the fort. While the Hindu rulers showed benevolence to its subjects and brought prosperity to the region, the Muslims subjected the province and its people to many depredations.

In 1323, Warangal and the whole of Andhra Pradesh came under the reign of Tughlaqs, rulers of Delhi. Their depredations and despotic reign resulted in formation of a confederation movement by the Hindukings of South India that ousted the Muslims from Warangal, and the Reddis were part of this movement.

The Reddis of Kondaveedu were initially feudatories of the kings of Warangal. From inscriptions, it is inferred that their rule overlapped with that of the Korukonda Reddis and that they shifted from their earlier capital at Addanki in Guntur to Kondaveedu. The founder of the dynasty was Prolaya Vema Reddy, the son of Prola

The Reddy dynasty was established by Reddys, one of the powerful non-Aryan tribes/caste. They ruled in the region around present day Vijayawada and Guntur towns for nearly a hundred years (1328–1428). Their first ruler Prolaya Vema Reddy (followed by five other rulers till 1428) who ruled till 1353, strengthened the defenses of his kingdom by building a number of forts, which included the Kondaveedu Fort.