CHANDRAGIRI

town in southeastern Andhra Pradesh state, southeastern India. It lies about 80 miles (130 km) northwest of Madras. Chandragiri is historically important for its connection with the Aravidu dynasty of Vijayanagar in South India. When the dynasty's empire was overthrown at the Battle of Talikota (1565) and the great city of Vijayanagar was taken by the Deccan allied Muslim army, the reigning Aravidu raja fled to Penukonda, nearly 200 miles (320 km) northwest of Madras. In 1585 the Aravidu dynasty's capital was moved to Chandragiri, site of a fort dating from AD 1000, which was then improved. There the rajas maintained themselves and a crumbling empire until 1646, when Chandragiri was taken by the sultan of Golconda (modern Hyderabad), from whom it passed to the Mughals (1687). It was from a dependent of the last Aravidu rajas that the English East India Company obtained permission, in 1639, to build a fort and factory in the district, known as Madraspatnam, which became Fort St. George and the city of Madras.