The Kakatiya dynasty (IAST: Kākatīya) was a Telugu dynasty that ruled most of eastern Deccan region in present-day India between 12th and 14th centuries. Their territory comprised much of the present day Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, and parts of eastern Karnataka, northern Tamil Nadu, and southern Odisha. Their capital was Orugallu, now known as Warangal.

Early Kakatiya rulers served as feudatories to Rashtrakutas and Western Chalukyas for more than two centuries. They assumed sovereignty under Prataparudra I in 1163 CE by suppressing other Chalukya subordinates in the Telangana region. Ganapati Deva (r. 1199–1262) significantly expanded Kakatiya lands during the 1230s and brought under Kakatiya control the Telugu-speaking lowland delta areas around the Godavari and Krishna rivers. Ganapati Deva was succeeded by Rudrama Devi (r. 1262–1289) who is one of the few queens in Indian history. Marco Polo, who visited India around 1289–1293, made note of Rudrama Devi's rule and nature in flattering terms. She successfully repelled the attacks of Yadavas (Seuna) of Devagiri into the Kakatiyan territory.

In 1303, Alauddin Khalji, the emperor of the Delhi Sultanate invaded the Kakatiya territory which ended up as a disaster for the Turks. But after the successful siege of Warangal in 1310, Prataparudra II was forced to pay annual tribute to Delhi. Another attack by Ulugh Khan (i.e. Tughluq) in 1323 saw stiff resistance by the Kakatiyan army, but they were finally defeated. The demise of the Kakatiya dynasty resulted in confusion and anarchy under alien rulers for some time, before Musunuri Nayakas united the various Telugu clans and recovered Warangal from the Delhi Sultanate.

Kakatiyas unified the distinct upland and lowland cultures of Telugu lands, which brought into being a feeling of cultural affinity between those who spoke the Telugu language. Kakatiya period also saw the construction of reservoirs for irrigation in the uplands called "tanks" many of which are still used today. They were egalitarian in nature and anyone, regardless of birth, could acquire the nayaka title that denoted the warrior status. They recruited peasants into the military which resulted in a new warrior class and provided social mobility. Kakatiya era also saw the development of a distinct style of architecture that improved and innovated upon the existing modes. Most notable examples are the Thousand Pillar Temple in Hanamkonda, Ramappa Temple in Palampet, Warangal Fort, Golconda Fort and Kota Gullu in Ghanpur.

Studies of the inscriptions and coinage by the historian Dineshchandra Sircar reveal that there was no contemporary standard spelling of the family name. Variants include Kakatiya, Kakatiyya, Kakita, Kakati and Kakatya. The family name was often prefixed to the name of the monarch, giving constructs such as Kakatiya-Prataparudra. Some of the monarchs also had alternate names; for example, Venkata and Venkataraya may have been alternate names of Prataparuda I, with the former appearing on a coin in the form Venkata-Kakatiya.

Kakatiya inscriptions suggest that the family's name derives from the name of a place called Kakati. The Bayyaram tank inscription from the reign of Ganapati-deva states that the Kakatiya chief Venna (c. 9th century) resided at Kakati, because of which his descendants came to be known as Kakatishas ("lords of Kakati"). Ganapati-deva's Garavapadu charter traces the family's ancestry to Durjaya, a legendary chieftain of ancient Andhra and a descendant of Karikala Chola. According to this account, Karikala arrived at Kakati during a hunting expedition, and set up his camp there. The modern identity of Kakati is uncertain: different historians have variously attempted to identify it with modern Kakati village in Karnataka and Kanker in Chhattisgarh. Siddheshvara-Charitra, a later literary work, states that the ancestors of the Kakatiya family lived at Kandarapura (identified with modern Kandhar in Maharashtra). However, no other evidence supports this tradition. Later, the Kakatiya capital Orugallu (present-day Warangal) was also called "Kakati-pura" ("Kakati town"), as attested by some inscriptions of the dynasty.

Kumarasvami Somapithin, in his 15th-century commentary on Vidynatha's Prataparudra-Yashobhushanam or Prataparudriya states that the family was named after their tutelary goddess Kakati, a form of Durga. It is possible that the early Kakatiya chiefs resided at a place called Kakati, which had a shrine of their tutelary goddess. Although the Hindu mythological texts do not mention any such form of Durga, the worship of a goddess named Kakati is attested by several other sources. For example, Vallabharaya's Krida-bhiramamu mentions an image of Kakatamma ("Mother Kakati") in the Kakatiya capital Orugallu. The 16th century Shitap Khan inscription mentions the reinstallation of the image of goddess Jaganmatruka (mother of the universe) and the lotus seat of the Kakatirajya, which had been destroyed by the Turushkas (Turkic people). According to one theory, Kakati was originally a Jain goddess (possibly Padmavati) and later came to be regarded as a form of Durga.

Much of the information about the Kakatiya period comes from inscriptions, including around 1,000 stone inscriptions, and 12 copper-plate inscriptions. Most of these inscriptions document matters relating to religion, such as donations to Hindu temples. They are particularly abundant for the period 1175–1324 CE, which is the period when the dynasty most flourished and are a reflection of that. The probability is that many inscriptions have been lost due to buildings falling into disuse and also the ravages of subsequent rulers, most notably the Muslim Mughal Empire in the Telangana region. Inscriptions are still being discovered today but governmental agencies tend to concentrate on recording those that are already known rather than searching for new examples.