Mallampalli Somasekhara Sarma


Mallampalli Somasekhara Sarma was an Indian historian, who worked at the Andhra University. He was born at Miniminchilipadu Agraharam, a village in West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh to Bharayya and Nagamma.

Works

A Forgotten Chapter of Andhra History , Andhra University, 1945.History of Reddi Kingdoms , Andhra University, 1946.
The two books Forgotten Chapter and History of Reddi Kingdoms deal with the immediate aftermath of the fall of the Kakatiya Empire, the former covering the history of Musunuri Nayakas and the latter the history of Reddi kingdom. Some of his other works in Telugu include novel, and skteches.

Reception

Sarma is a well known Telugu historian and after his death the Government of Andhra Pradesh published a commemoration volume in his memory.

Sarma hypothesised that the Reddi kings were subordinate to the Musunuri chiefs during their inception:
The theory was criticised by historian M. Rama Rao, who noted that the founder of the Reddi line, Prolaya Vema Reddi, predated Musunuri Kapaya Nayaka. He concludes:
Modern historian Cynthia Talbot has warned against taking the inscriptional evidence at face value.
She also opined that Musunuri Kapaya Nayaka being a lord of 75 subordinates was a formulaic device.

Legacy

Recognizing his valuable contribution to the field of historical research, he was invited in 1940s to join in Andhra University by Dr. Cattamanchi Ramalinga Reddy, then Vice-Chancellor of Andhra University. He discovered some copper plate grants and the Vilasa grant of Prolaya Nayaka got deciphered by him and N. Venkataramanayya. His research work on history is considered as a major contribution to Indian history by many historians. For example, his work on the Telugu history after the fall of Kakaitya empire resulted in rectification of some versions of Indian history based on Firishta and considered to be an original and greatly significant contribution.
The Mallampalli Somasekhara Sarma Historical Research Foundation was established in Visakhapatnam in honour of Sarma. It awards annual memorial awards in his name to acclaimed historians of Andhra.