The Musunuri Nayakas were chieftains of 14th-century South India who were briefly significant in the region of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Musunuri Kapaya Nayaka is said to have taken a leadership role among the Andhra chieftains and driven out the Delhi Sultanate from Warangal. But his rise was soon challenged by the Bahmani Sultanate and he was defeated. The Recherla Nayakas wrested power from him in 1368.
Origins
Little is known of the Musunuri family; they are often described as "obscure". The founding ruler of the family, Musunuri Prolaya Nayaka, suddenly appears as a new ruler at Rekapalle, near Bhadrachalam, around 1330. Prolaya Nayaka was son of Musunuri Pochaya Nayaka.
Some Andhra historians state that Musunuri Nayakas belonged to the Kamma caste group. However, according to Cynthia Talbot, the modern castes of Andhra region did not originate until the late stages of the Vijayanagara Empire. Musunuri Nayakas were ardent saivities and Kapaya Nayaka acclaimed that he was chosen by none other than the Lord Visweswara of Kashi (i.e. Lord Siva) to protect the Dharma.
Opposition to the Delhi Sultanate's invasion
After the fall of the Kakatiyas, their empire was annexed by the Delhi Sultanate. Ulugh Khan (also known as Muhammad bin Tughluq), the general that conquered Warangal, renamed it "Sultanpur" and remained as the governor of the region for a short period. In 1324, he was recalled to Delhi to succeed the Khaljis as Muhammad bin Tughluq. A former Kakatiya commander, Nagaya Ganna Vibhudu, now renamed Malik Maqbul, was appointed as the governor of the region. However, the Tughluq hold over the erstwhile Kakatiya empire was tenuous and a number of local chieftains seized effective power.
Vilasa grant
Vilasa grant was the only inscription made by Prolaya Nayaka that got discovered. This grant gave new insight into the history of Andhra and Telangana, and the happenings aftermath of the death of Prataparudra. This Vilasa grant was originally discovered in the 19th century but it took nearly a century to be deciphered by the eminent Indian historian, Mallampalli Somasekhara Sarma. As published in Volume 32 of the Epigrahica Indica, the original discovery happened at Kandarada, a village near the ancient town Pithapuram, Andhra Pradesh, by Hundi Venkata Rao Pantulu and his Vaishya partner. These discovered 14 copper plates were equally distributed and the share of 7 plates held by Venkata Rao Pantulu got preserved and now they are currently located in the Government museum at Chennai. These 7 copper plates are deciphered by Somasekhara Sarma and they reveal about a land grant to Brahmins in Konaseema region nearby a village named (Telugu: ), currently in Ainavilli Mandal of Konaseema district, Andhra Pradesh.
Prolaya Nayaka
According to the Vilasa grant, Prolaya Nayaka ruled from Rekapalle. Located at the edge of the Papikondalu hills (part of the Eastern Ghats), Rekapalle could control the narrow Sabari river valley lying between the Bhadrachalam forest and the Papikondalu forest. Konda Reddis, who populate the hill forests would have facilitated Prolaya Nayaka's rebellion against the Sultanate. Rekapalle is also a strategic location to control or obstruct communications on the Godavari river passing through the hills.
Prolaya Vema Reddi of the Panta Reddi clan, who seems to have established his own independent rule in Addanki by 1325, is believed to have taken control of the region between the Krishna and Godavari rivers, perhaps up to Rajahmundry. Historian M. Rama Rao states that Prolayavema Reddi and Prolaya Nayaka must have made a 'joint effort' to drive the Muslim rule out from the area.
In 1330, Prolaya Nayaka published the Vilasa grant, a copper-plate grant near Pithapuram, in which he bemoaned the devastation of the Telugu country brought about by northern Muslim armies and attempted to legitimise himself as the rightful restorer of order. Prolaya Nayaka left no children and was succeeded by a cousin, Kapaya Nayaka, who governed until 1368 and attempted to further expand his rule.
Kapaya Nayaka
Rebellion
Kapaya Nayaka ( 1333–1368) led a larger rebellion against the Tughluq rule, driving it out of Warangal in 1336. According to the Kaluvacheru grant of Anithalli, a female member of the Panta Reddi clan in 1423, Kapaya Nayaka was assisted by 75 Nayakas. The grant also states that Prolaya Vema Reddi was one among these 75 Nayakas.