Kutru Zamindari in Bijapur district was the largest zamindari of the former Bastar State. After Annamdev defeated the Nag rulers in 1324, Sanyasi Shah controlled western Bastar and established Kutru as his capital, later acknowledging Annamdev’s sovereignty. The estate continued under his lineage until Independence. Local belief attributes the name “Kutru” to the distinctive “Kut-Kut-Kutru” call of a bird.