Warangal district

Warangal district, formerly Warangal Rural district, is a district in the Indian state of Telangana. The district shares boundaries with Mahabubabad, Jangaon, Hanamkonda, Mulugu and Bhupalpally districts. As of June 2021, Hanamkonda tentatively serves as the district headquarters of both Hanamkonda and Warangal districts. Warangal city is proposed to replace Hanamkonda as the new headquarters of the Warangal district. The district was formed in 2016 by carving out Warangal Rural district from the erstwhile Warangal district. In August 2021, the Warangal Rural district was renamed back to Warangal district. Warangal and Khila Warangal mandals are transferred to the newly-formed Warangal district. Kakatiya dynasty Erstwhile Warangal district consisted of many prehistoric habitation sites, which were explored by the Indian archaeological authorities. Paleolithic Rock art paintings are found at Pandavula gutta Padmakshi Gutta, a Jain temple dedicated to Padmavati located on a hilltop in the heart of the town of Hanamkonda, was originally constructed during the Kakatiya era. The temple has sculptures of Jain tirthankaras and other Jain gods and goddesses. The Kadalalaya basadi or Padmakshi Temple is built on a large rocky outcrop. The Kakatiyas left many monuments, including impressive fortress, four massive stone gateways, the Swayambhu temple dedicated to Shiva, and the Ramappa temple situated near Ramappa Lake. Prominent rulers included Ganapathi Deva, Prathapa Rudra, and Rudrama Devi. After the defeat of Pratapa Rudra, the Musunuri Nayaks united 72 Nayak chieftains and captured Warangal from Delhi sultanate and ruled for fifty years. Jealousy and mutual rivalry between Nayaks ultimately led to the downfall of Hindus in 1370 and the rise of the Bahmani Sultanate. The Bahmani Sultanate later broke up into several smaller sultanates, of which the Golconda sultanate ruled Warangal. The Mughal emperor Aurangzeb conquered Golconda in 1687, and it remained part of the Mughal empire until the southern provinces of the empire split away to become the state of Hyderabad in 1724 which included the Telangana region and some parts of Maharashtra and Karnataka.