In his history of the Bobbili Zemindari, G. Ranganayakulu says that Rajah Dharma Rao was the founder of the Samasthanam. He finds this stated in some of the records of the Samasthanam, to which much weight
must apparently be attached. But this cannot, for the following reasons, be accepted as true.
In his letter, dated the 15th December, 1821, J. Smith, Esq., the then Collector and Agent of Vizagapatam, in asking the then Rajah of Bobbili, Rayadappa for his opinion on some matters then under the consideration of the Government, such as the entrusting of the police administration to the Zemindars, and the making of all the Zemindaries inalienable under certain conditions, inquired of the Rajah who the founder of the Samasthanam was and what customs prevailed in the Samasthanam in the matter of succession. In reply to the inquiry about the founder, the Rajah
