History of Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh is one of the 29 states of India whose 17th centuries.

recorded history begins in the Vedic period. It is men- The arrival of Europeans (the French under the Marquis
tioned in Sanskrit epics such as Aitareya Brahmana
de Bussy-Castelnau and the English under Robert Clive)
(800 BCE).[1][2][3] The Assaka Mahajanapada (700–300 ended Qutub Shahi rule. In 1765, Clive and the chief and
BCE) was an ancient kingdom located between the
council at Visakhapatnam obtained the Northern Circars
Godavari and Krishna Rivers in southeastern India.[4] from Mughal emperor Shah Alam. The British achieved
Accounts that people in the region are descended from
supremacy when they defeated Maharaja Vijaya Rama
the sage Viswamitra are found in the Ramayana, the Gajapati Raju of Vizianagaram in 1792.
Mahabharata and the Puranas.
Andhra’s modern foundation was laid in the struggle for
Indian independence under Mohandas Gandhi. Potti
Sriramulu's campaign for a state independent of the
1 Overview Madras Presidency and Tanguturi Prakasam Panthulu
and Kandukuri Veeresalingam's social-reform move-
In the sixth century BCE, Assaka was one of India’s ments led to the formation of Andhra State, with Kurnool
sixteen kingdoms. It was succeeded by the Satavahana its capital and freedom-fighter Pantullu its first chief min-
dynasty (230 BCE-220 CE), who built the city of ister. A democratic society, with two stable political par-
Amaravati. The kingdom reached its zenith under ties and a modern economy, emerged under the Chief
Satakarni. At the end of the period, the Telugu region Ministership of N. T. Rama Rao.
was divided into fiefdoms ruled by lords. In the late sec- India became independent from the United Kingdom in
ond century CE, the Andhra Ikshvakus ruled the eastern 1947. Although the Muslim Nizam of Hyderabad wanted
region along the Krishna River. to retain independence from India, but was forced to cede
During the fourth century, the Pallava dynasty extended his kingdom to the Dominion of India in 1948 to form
their rule from southern Andhra Pradesh to Tamilakam Hyderabad State. Andhra, the first Indian state formed
and established their capital at Kanchipuram. Their primarily on a linguistic basis, was carved from the
power increased during the reigns of Mahendravarman Madras Presidency in 1953. In 1956, Andhra State was
I (571–630) and Narasimhavarman I (630–668). The merged with the Telugu-speaking portion of Hyderabad
Pallavas dominated the southern Telugu-speaking region State to create the state of Andhra Pradesh. The Lok
and northern Tamilakam until the end of the ninth cen- Sabha approved the formation of Telangana from ten dis-
tury. tricts of Andhra Pradesh on 18 February 2014.[5]
Between 624 and 1323 the Kakatiya dynasty emerged,
bringing the Telugu region under unified rule. During
this period, the Telugu language emerged as a literary 2 Pre-Satavahana period
medium with the writings of Nannayya.
Main article: Andhra in Indian epic literature
In 1323 the sultan of Delhi, Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq, sent
a large army commanded by Ulugh Khan (later, as Mo-
hammad bin Tuglhluq, the Delhi sultan) to conquer the There are references to an Andhra kingdom and a
Telugu region and lay siege to Warangal. The fall of thepeople known as the Andhras in Indian epic poetry
Kakatiya dynasty led to an era with competing influences (the Mahabharata, the Ramayana and the Puranas).
from the Turkic kingdoms of Delhi, the Chalukya Chola In the Mahabharata Rukmi ruled the Vidarbha King-
dynasty (1070–1279) in the south and the Persio-Tajik dom, which included the Deccan Plateau, the foothills
of the Vindhya Range, present-day Andhra Pradesh,
sultanate of central India. The struggle for Andhra ended
with the victory of the Musunuri Nayaks over the Turkic Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka and a little-
Delhi Sultanate. known (now submerged) archipelago in the Bay of Ben-
The Telugu achieved independence under gal. Rama is said to have lived in the forest around
Krishnadevaraya of the Vijayanagara Empire (1336– present-day Bhadrachalam during his exile.
1646). The Qutb Shahi dynasty of the Bahmani Sultanate Although the ancient literature indicates a history dating
succeeded that empire. The Qutub Shahis were tolerant to several centuries BCE, archaeological evidence exists
of Telugu culture from the early 16th to the end of the only from the last two millennia. The fifth-century BCE

1
2 5 BRIHATPALAYANAS

Kingdom of Pratipalapura, identified with Bhattiprolu in In the Vayu Purana, Manu (the patriarch of ancient In-
the Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh, may be the earliest dia) had nine sons; Ikshvaku, the eldest, founded the
kingdom in South India and inscriptions suggest that King Suryavanshi dynasty and ruled from Ayodhya at the be-
Kubera ruled Bhattiprolu around 230 BCE. The script ginning of the Treta Yuga. He had 100 sons; the eldest
of the Bhattiprolu inscriptions was the progenitor of the was Vikushi, who succeeded his father as the ruler of Ay-
Brahmi Lipi, which later diversified into modern Telugu odhya. Fifty of Vikushi’s brothers founded small princi-
and Tamil scripts. palities in North India, and forty-eight founded kingdoms
in the south.
In the Dharmamrita, during the lifetime of the 12th
3 Satavahana dynasty tirthankara, Yasodhara (an Ikshvaku prince from the
kingdom of Anga) went to Vengi. The prince was so
impressed with the region’s beauty and fertility that he
As part of the Mauryan Empire during the fourth cen- made it his home and founded the city of Pratipalapura
tury BCE, Andhra was a political state in the southeast- (present-day Bhattiprolu).
ern Deccan. According to Megasthenes, who visited the
court of Chandragupta Maurya (322-297), the Andhras In the Puranas, the Andhra Ikshvakus are called Sripar-
had 30 fortified towns and an army of 1,000,000 infantry, vatiyas (rulers of Sriparvata) and Andhrabhrityas (ser-
2,000 cavalry and 1,000 elephants.[6] vants of the Andhras). They were feudal lords of the
Satavahanas, and bore the title of Mahatalavara. Al-
Uninterrupted political and cultural accounts of Andhra though the Puranas cite seven kings ruling Andhra for 100
Pradesh begin during the rise of the Satavahana dynasty. years, only four are confirmed in inscriptions.
According to the Matsya Purana, the dynasty had 29
rulers in a 456-year period from the 2nd century BCE
to the 2nd century CE. An inscription at Nasik, written 4.1 Vashishthiputra Sri Santamula (San-
at the time of Gautamiputra Satakarni (the 23rd Satava- tamula I)
hana ruler), indicates that the kingdom included most of
the southern peninsula and southern parts of Maharash- Santamula I founded the Ikshvaku dynasty, performing
tra, Orissa and Madhya Pradesh. The court language used the Asvamedha, Agnihotra, Agnistoma and Vajapeya sac-
by the Satavahanas was Prakrit, and their kings observed rifices to proclaim his imperial status. Rulers of subse-
the Vedic religion. quent dynasties commonly performed the Ashvamedha
The fall of the Satavahana empire left Andhra in po- sacrifice to declare their independence.
litical chaos, and local rulers carved out small king-
doms for themselves. Between 180 and 624 CE, con-
trol of Andrha lay with the Ikshvaku, Brihatpalayana,
4.2 Virapurushadatta
Salankayana, Vishnukundina, Vakataka, Pallava, Ananda
Virapurushadatta was the son and successor of Santamula
Gotrika, Kalinga and other small kingdoms; the most im-
through his wife, Madhari. He had a sister, Adavi San-
portant was the Ikshvaku. Sanskrit replaced Prakrit as
tisri, took a queen from the Saka family of Ujjain and
the inscriptional language at this time.
gave his daughter in marriage to a Chutu prince.

4 Ikshvakus 4.3 Ehuvula Santamula (Santamula II)

Ehuvula Santamula (Santamula II), Virapurushadata’s
The Andhra Ikshvakus (Sanskrit: इक्श्वाकू) estab- son, ruled after a short Abhira interregnum.
lished a kingdom along the Krishna River in the sec-
ond half of the second century CE. Their capital was
Vijayapuri (Nagarjunakonda). Archaeological evidence 4.4 Rudrapurushadatta
indicates that the Ikshvakus succeeded the Satavahanas
in the Krishna River valley, and may have entered Rudrapurushadatta was an Ikshvaku ruler mentioned in
Andhra from the north.[7] The Ikshvakus left inscrip- inscriptions from Gurajala in Guntur district. Possibly a
tions at Nagarjunakonda, Jaggayyapeta, Amaravati and son of Ehuvula Santamula, he ruled for over 11 years.
Bhattiprolu, and their rulers observed the Vedic religion.
Some scholars believe that this dynasty was related to
the ancient Ikshvakus of the Hindu epics, and Rama of 5 Brihatpalayanas
the Ramayana (the incarnation of Vishnu) was descended
from the Ikshvaku line. Inscriptions in the Nagarju- During the third century CE the Brihatpalayanas ruled
nakonda valley, Jaggayyapeta and Ramireddipalli provide north Andhra from their capital, Kodur, in the Krishna
some support for this hypothesis. district. One dynasty was the Jaya Varma.
 3

6 Anandagotrikas held by the Vishnukundina dynasty, although it was later

associated with the Rajus.
The Ananda Gotrikas (335-425) ruled coastal Andhra In 1512, the maharaja of Vizianagaram was conquered
from their capital, Kapotapuram. Their affiliations are by the Golkonda dynasty and was made subahdar of the
unknown. Northern Circars. The title was conferred by Aurangzeb,
who gave the maharaja a split-tipped sword (still part
of the Vishnukundina coat of arms). The rajahs of
7 Salankayanas Vizianagaram received the title of Gajapati after the
16th-century Battle of Nandapur in the Northern Circars.
From about 300 to 440, after the fall of the Ikshvakus, In 1845, the British (represented by Lord Northbrook)
the Salankayanas ruled part of the east coast from Vengi. conferred several honours on Maharaja Vijaya Rama Ga-
Like the Vishnukundinas of Vinukonda who succeeded japati Raju III. On 31 December 1850, Raju III had a
them, the Salankayanas were vassals of the Pallavas of son. One of his daughters was married to Maharaj Kumar
the southern Telugu and northern Tamil lands. At this Singh, a cousin of (and heir apparent to) the maharajah
time, Telugu and Kannada scripts began to separate from of Rewah.
those of other Indian dialects.

8 Pallavas 10 Kalachuris of Chedi

The Pallava dynasty (Telugu: పల ; Tamil: பல்ல- Although the Matsyas, Chedis, Pericchedis, Haihayas and
வர்) ruled South India from the fourth to the eighth cen-Kalachuris may share a common Vedic ancestry and ori-
turies from Kanchipuram in Tamil Nadu. It was ascen- gin myth, the link is tenuous. In the Puranas, Matsya
dant during the reigns of Mahendravarman I (571–630) (Sanskrit for “fish”) was the name of a tribe (Meenas)
and Narasimhavarman I (630–668). The empire included and a state of the Vedic civilisation. The Matsya tribe
the southern Telugu and the northern parts of the Tamil was founded by a fisherman who became a king. The
regions. Mahabharata (V.74.16) describes King Sahaja as a son
of Uparichara Vasu, a Chedi king. Vasu ruled the Chedis
The Pallavas were noted for their patronage of and the Matsyas, suggesting the Matsya were once part
Dravidian architecture, examples of which survive of the Chedi kingdom. The Puranas mention six Matsya
in Mahabalipuram. The Chinese traveller Xuanzang kingdoms, and the Pandya Kingdom in the south has a
visited Kanchipuram (under Pallava rule), and extolled fish on its banner. Signs of the Matsya are later found in
its benign government. the Visakhapatnam region.
The period was characterized by conflict with the
Chalukyas of Badami in the north and the Tamil states of
Chola and Pandyas in the south. During the eighth cen- 10.1 Chedi
tury, the Pallavas were succeeded by the Chola dynasty.
The Chedi kingdom, in central and western India, was
first ruled by Paurava kings and later by Yadav kings. It
9 Vishnukundinas corresponds roughly to the present-day Bundelkhand re-
gion of Madhya Pradesh.
The Vishnukundina dynasty ruled in the Deccan and
South India in the 5th and 6th centuries CE. According to
Edward B. Eastwick, the maharaja of Vizianagaram was 10.2 Haihaya
a descendant of the maharajas of Udaipur and the Sisodia
branch of the Gehlot tribe. A brother of the maharaja of The Haihaya kingdom (haya means “horse”) was one of
Udaipur migrated to Oudh. Early rulers of the dynasty a number kingdoms ruled by Chandravamsha Kshatriya
allied with the Vakatakas and the Rashtrakutas by mar- kings in central and western India. The Vishnu Purana
riage. links its outlying tribes to the Yadu tribe. According to
In 529, Madhava Varma (a descendant of the dynasty) the Puranas, the Haihaya were divided into the Talajang-
and four allied clans achieved independence by defeating has, Vitihotras, Avantis, Tundikeras and Jatas. Haihaya
the Salankayanas in coastal Andhra. Their capitals were rulers included the legendary Kartavirya Arjuna, a pow-
Amaravati and Bezwada before they settled on Viziana- erful king who defeated Ravana. Although he had one
garam. Over the centuries the allied clans were vassals thousand arms, he was felled and his arms severed by
of the Vizianagaram rulers and subsequent dynasties, in- Parasurama. The Haihaya capital was Mahishmati, on
cluding the Chalukyas. Kalidindi in Krishna district was the banks of the Narmada River in Madhya Pradesh.
4 13 KAKATIYA DYNASTY

10.3 Kalachuri The Eastern Chalukyas were a branch of the Chalukyas

of Badami. Pulakesin II conquered Vengi (near Eluru)
Kalachuri is the name used by two kingdoms who claim in 624 and installed his brother, Kubja Vishnuvard-
a common ancestry and ruled in a succession of dynasties hana (624-641), as its ruler. The Vishnuvardhana dy-
from the 10th to the 12th centuries. The first kingdom nasty, known as the Eastern Chalukyas, ruled for nearly
controlled western Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan in cen- four centuries. Vishnuvardhana’s domain extended from
tral India. The second, the southern Kalachuri, ruled Srikakulam in the north to Nellore in the south.
part of Karnataka. Kalachuri kings, related by marriage
Control of the Vengi region shifted from Gunaga Vijaya-
to the Chalukyas and Rashtrakutas, ruled from Tripuri,
ditya to Rashtrakuta rule, to the Kalyani Chalukya (10th
Gorakhpur, Ratnapur and Rajpur.
and 11th centuries), and then to the Cholas. In 1118,
The name Kalachuri may derive from kali (long mous- Kulottunga Chola was defeated by Vikramaditya VI of
tache) and churi (sharp knife). The Kalachuri were also the Kalyani Chalukya dynasty. The Cholas at Talakad
known as Katachuris. were defeated by the Hoysala ruler, Vishnuvardhana, and
In the Telugu epic “The Battle of Palnadu", the Kalachuri Vengi was again ruled by the Chalukyas.
are referred to as the Haihaya family of the Kona region The Kalyani Chalukya fell with the death of Vikrama-
(Amalapuram; the Razole Taluqs of the present-day East ditya VI. By the end of the 12th century, the Eastern
Godavari district, and the Haihaya family of Palanadu. Chalukya empire was divided into three kingdoms: the
They were vassals of the Chalukyas. Hoysala Empire, the Kakatiya Kingdom and the Yadavas.
The Pericchedis are also mentioned as vassals of the
Chalukyas. According to V. Rama Chandra Rao, they
were connected to the ancient Chedi. The Pericchedis 12 Chola dynasty
had two branches, with Kollipaka and Bezawada their
capitals. Rao also mentions that the Vastsavai dynasty of The Chola dynasty ruled in Andhra from 1010 to 1200.
Peddapuram may be related to the Matsya dynasty, since Its territory extended from the Maldives in the south to
there is evidence of a branch in the Visakhapatnam area. the Godavari River in Andhra Pradesh.
An 1174 record suggests the Kalachuri dynasty was
thought to be founded by Soma, who grew a beard and
moustache to save himself from Parashurama’s wrath. 13 Kakatiya dynasty
Their emblem was suvarna vrishabha, a golden bull. The
Kalachuri honoured Krantivirya Sahasrarjun, who killed
Rishi Jamdagni (Bhagwan Parshurama’s father). Histori- The Kakatiya dynasty rose to power during the 12th and
ans such as P. B. Desai emphasize the Kalachuris’ central- 13th centuries. Initially vassals of the Western Chalukyas
Indian origin. of Kalyani, they held a small territory near Warangal.

At their zenith, the Kalachuris ruled parts of Gujarat, Prola II of the Kakatiyas (1110–1158) Kakatiya territory
Malwa, Konkan and Maharashtra. Their rule was ended southward and declared his independence. His succes-
by the Badami Chalukyas under Badami Chalukya Mag- sor, Rudra (1158–1195), increased the holdings eastward
alesa. Lieutenant colonel James Tod recorded a tribe of to the Godavari delta. Rudra built the Warangal Fort as
Haihayas “near the very top of the valley of Sohagpur, in a second capital, and countered invasions by the Seuna
Bhagelkhand, aware of their ancient lineage, and though Yadavas of Devagiri.
few in number, still celebrated for their valour”. The next ruler, Mahadeva, extended the Kakatiyas king-
dom to the coast before he was succeeded by Ganapati
Deeva in 1199. Ganapati Deeva was the first ruler since
11 Eastern Chalukyas the Satavahana dynasty to unite the Telugu lands; unlike
the Satavahanas, the Kakatiyas were Telugu kings who
Between 624 and 1323, the Telugu language emerged as used Telugu as their court language. In 1210, Ganap-
a literary medium alongside Prakrit and Sanskrit. From ati defeated the Velanati Cholas and extended his empire
around 848 (during the time of Gunaga Vijayaditya) to north to Anakapalle.
the 11th century, the language progressed from stanzas to Rani Rudrama Devi (died 1289 or 1295), who defended
full literary works. At this time, it was written in old Tel- the Kakatiya kingdom against the Cholas and the Seuna
ugu script; Al-Beruni referred to the script as “Andhri” Yadavas, is one of the few queens in Indian history. She
in his 1000 Kitab Al-Hind. During the 11th century, was succeeded by her grandson, Prataparudra. Although
the Mahabharata was partially translated by court poet his reign was characterized by battles against internal and
Nannaya under the patronage of the Eastern Chalukya external foes, Prataparudra expanded his kingdom west to
ruler Rajaraja Narendra. Modern Telugu script evolved Raichur and south to Ongole and the Nallamala Hills. He
from the old Telugu script from the 11th to the 19th cen- introduced a number of administrative reforms, some of
turies. which were adopted in the Vijayanagar empire. Muslim
 5

attacks began in 1310, and in 1323 the Kakatiya dynasty 15 Reddy dynasty
fell to the Delhi Sultanate.
Main article: Reddy dynasty

The first of the Reddy clans became prominent dur-

ing the Kakatiya period, when the Reddys carved feudal
14 Musunuri Nayaks principalities for themselves. After the death of Prat-
apa Rudra II and the subsequent fall of the Kakatiya
The Musunuri Nayaks reclaimed the Telugu lands from Empire, the Reddy chiefs became independent and the
the Delhi Sultanate and ruled them for fifty years. Hakka Reddy Kingdom emerged. The Reddys ruled from
(Harihara) and Bukka, treasury officers at the court of present-day Srikakulam in the north to Kanchi in the
Prataparudra, were inspired by the Musunuri Nayaks to south, most of the present-day Andhra and Rayalaseema
organise a Hindu opposition to the Muslim invaders. regions.[12][13][14][15] In his 1909 book, Castes and Tribes
of Southern India, Edgar Thurston described the Reddys
Prataparudra was captured by the Muslims.[8] Two Tel-
as village chiefs and listed them as Kapu.
ugus, Annaya Mantri and Kolani Rudradeva, united the
Nayaks against the invaders. A Nayak from Vengi (in The Reddy dynasty (1326–1448) ruled por-
the present-day West Godavari district), Musunuri Pro- tions of coastal Andhra Pradesh for over a
century.[12][16][17][17][15][18][19][20][21] Prolaya Vema
layanayak (Prolaaneedu), was chosen as their leader.[9][10]
By 1326, Prolaneedu had liberated Warangal.[11] In- Reddy, named by his father after Musunuri Prolaya-
spired by the victories of Prolaneedu and his cousin, needu, was the first king of the Reddy dynasty.[22] The
Kaapaneedu, other states (including Kampili, Hoysala, capital of the kingdom was Addanki. It was moved to
Dwarasamudram and Araveedu) asserted their indepen- Kondavidu and then later to Rajahmundry.[23] His reign
dence. was characterised by the restoration of peace, patronage
of the arts and literature and broad development. Errana,
Ulugh Khan captured Harihara and Bukka at Warangal.
the translator of the Mahabharata, lived during this
Converted to Islam, they were sent by the sultan to sup-
period.
press the Hoysala ruler’s rebellion. Instead, the broth-
ers established the Vijayanagara Empire. The Sultan led
a large army south, but was halted by an epidemic and
Nayak resistance. Kaapaneedu, with the assistance of the
Hoysala, liberated Andhra Pradesh. 16 Vijayanagar Empire
In 1345 Muslim nobles rebelled against Muhammad bin
Tughluq in Devagiri, resulting in the foundation of the The Vijayanagara Empire was founded by Harihara
Bahmani Sultanate by Hasan Gangu. He assumed the (Hakka) and Bukka, who were treasury officers in the ad-
name Alauddin Bahman Shah, and moved his capital to ministration of the Kakatiya dynasty or commanders of
Gulbarga in 1347. With raids and coercion, Singama of Hoysala's forces. When Warangal fell in 1323 the broth-
the Recherla Nayaks destabilised Alauddin’s rule. Kaa- ers were captured, taken to Delhi and converted to Islam.
paneedu forged a treaty with Alauddin and surrendered The Delhi Sultanate sent them to the Deccan as gover-
the Kaulas fort. nors of Kampili in the hope that they could deal with the
local revolt and invasions by neighboring Hindu kings.
In 1351, Muhammad bin Tughluq died. Eight years later,
Their first campaign was against neighboring Hoysala em-
Alauddin died and was succeeded by Mohammed Shah. peror Veera Ballala III of Dwarasamudra. The brothers
Kaapaneedu then sent his son, Vinayaka Deva, to liberate
later reconverted to Hinduism under the influence of the
Kaulas and Bhuvanagiri from the Bahmanis; Vijayanagar sage Vidyaranya, and proclaimed independence from the
emperor Bukka Raya assisted Deva in the campaign. Al- Delhi Sultanate. Some, however, claim that the founders
though Deva was initially successful, he was eventually of the empire were Kannadigas stationed in the Tungab-
defeated, captured and killed. hadra region under Veera Ballala III to fight the Muslim
Kaapaneedu persisted, capturing Golconda and Waran- invasion.
gal. In 1365, Golconda was chosen as the border between Harihara I (r. 1336–1356) established his new capital,
the Bahmani and Warangal kingdoms. Kaapaaneedu was Vijayanagar, in an easily-defended position south of the
forced to pay reparations, including a turquoise throne to Tungabhadra River. The empire reached its zenith under
Mohammed Shah. Krishnadevaraya in the early 16th century, and Telugu lit-
In 1370 Anapota Nayaka of Recherla marched against erature developed at this time. Vijayanagar monuments
Warangal as part of a Bahmani invasion, and Kaapaneedu were built across South India, and in Lepakshi, Tirupati
died in the ensuing battle at Bhimavaram. With Kaapa- and Shri Kalahasti in Andhra Pradesh. The largest and
needu gone, the Bahmanis soon subjugated their allies best-known collection of such monuments is at Hampi in
and ruled Andhra. present-day Karnataka.
6 18 COLONIAL ERA

17 Mughal era French troops in the subah; revenue in the Northern Cir-
cars amounted to one million rupees per year.
In 1323, Delhi sultan Ghiaz-ud-din Tughlaq sent a large Bussy had helped Salabat Jang become subedar of the
army under Ulugh Khan to conquer the Telugu coun- Deccan. The agreement between the French and Salabat
try and lay siege to Warangal. In 1347, after a revolt Jang in Aurangabad bears the signature of Said Loukshur,
against the Delhi Sultanate, an independent Muslim state Salabat Jang’s minister. Yanam was an important town
(the Bahmani Sultanate) was established in South India during the French occupation of the Northern Circars.
by Ala-ud-Din Bahman Shah. By the end of the 15th
In 1758, the French and English fought at Chandurti
century, the sultanate was plagued with factional strife.
(in the present-day Gollaprolu mandal of East Godavari
Five Shahi sultanates were founded, and the Qutb Shahi
district). The French were defeated by the armies of
dynasty played a role in the history of the Telugu country.
the British and Maharaja Ananda Gajapathi Raju II of
The dynasty ruled Andhra from the early 16th to the end Vizianagram. Salabat Jang made a treaty with the British,
of the 17th century. Sultan Quli Qutb Shah, founder of giving them the Northern Circars in a firman.
the dynasty, served the Bahmanis faithfully and in 1496
The Nizam later rebelled against the English. The war
was appointed governor of Hyderabad State. In 1518,
ended with a second treaty; the Northern Circars re-
after the death of Mahmud Shah, his patron Quli Qutb
mained under the control of British India, and after 1760
Shah declared independence.
the French lost their hold there and throughout South In-
In 1687, Aurangazeb invaded and annexed Golconda and dia. In 1765, Robert Clive and the chief and council at
appointed a Nizam (governor). The Mughal Nizams con- Vizagapatam obtained from Mughal emperor Shah Alam
trolled Andhra for about 35 years. In 1707 Aurangazeb a grant of the Northern Circars. In 1792, the British de-
died, and the Mughal regime weakened and lost control of feated Maharaja Vijaya Rama Gajapati Raju of Viziana-
the provinces. This enabled the British East India Com- garam. During the rule of Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan,
pany and the French Compagnie des Indes Orientales to the Kingdom of Mysore pursued an expansionist pol-
consolidate power in India. icy against the Marathas, the Nizam and the English and
made incursions into the Rayalaseema region.

18 Colonial era
18.1 Madras Presidency

Maximum extent of French influence (1741-1754) Madras Presidency in 1859; North Canara (Uttara Kannada)
was transferred to the Bombay Presidency in 1862.
In a 1753 decree, Deccan subedar Asif ad-Dawlah
Mir Ali Salabat Jang ceded Chicacole, Ellore and The Northern Circars became part of the British Madras
Rajahmundry to the Marquis de Bussy-Castelnau. An Presidency. The Nizam later ceded five territories (Datta
annual stipend of 200,000 rupees was paid to maintain Madalālu) to the British, which became the Rayalaseema
 7

region. The Nizams retained control of the interior • Shri Kalahasti

provinces as Hyderabad State, acknowledging British rule
in return for local autonomy. The provinces were gov- • Polavaram
erned in a feudal manner, with zamindars in areas such • Venkatagiri
as Kulla and elsewhere in the Godavari acting as lords
under the Nizam. The zamindari system was dismantled • Pithapuram
after independence.

18.1.1 Telugu districts 19 After independence

• Vizagapatam (later Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and In 1947, India gained independence from the United
Visakhapatnam districts) Kingdom. Although the Muslim Nizam of Hyderabad re-
sisted, he was forced to cede his state to India in 1948 to
• Godavari (later East Godavari district) form Hyderabad State. When India became independent,
Telugu-speaking people (Urdu is spoken in some parts of
• Machilipatnam (later Guntur, Krishna and West Go-
Hyderabad and a few other districts of Hyderabad State)
davari Districts)
were distributed in 22 districts: nine in Hyderabad State,
• Kurnool 12 in the Madras Presidency and one in French-controlled
Yanam. In 1953 Andhra State was created from part of
• Nellore the Madras Presidency, the first state in India formed on a
linguistic basis. In 1956, Andhra State was merged with
• Cuddapah
the Telugu-speaking area of Hyderabad State to form the
• Anantapur state of Andhra Pradesh.

18.1.2 Zamindaris 19.1 Madras Manade movement

• Vizagapatam Madras possessed Tamil and Telugu cultures. In the

early 1920s, Madras Presidency Chief Minister Panagal
• Pemmasani clan Raja said that the Cooum River should be the bound-
ary between the Andhra and Tamil regions. In 1928 C.
• Ravella clan
Sankaran Nair submitted a report to the central council
• Yarlagadda rajas explaining why Madras should not belong to the Tamils,
but it was decided that the city would remain in the Tamil
• Balusu clan region. In 1953 Telugu speakers in the former Madras
Presidency sought to make Madras the capital of Andhra
• Mullapudi clan Pradesh, adopting the slogan Madras manade (“Madras
• Adusumilli clan is ours”).

18.1.3 Padamanayakas 19.2 Creation of Andhra State

• Bobbili Activist Potti Sriramulu advocated inclusion of the

Telugu-speaking areas of Rayalaseema and Coastal
• Vavilavalasa Inuganty kings Andhra in an Andhra state. He conducted a hunger
strike until Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru promised
• Siripuram Inuganty kings
to form an Andhra state. On 19 October 1952, when
• Palakonda Nehru’s promise had not been fulfilled, Sriramulu began
fasting again at Maharshi Bulusu Sambamurthy’s Madras
• Kirlampudi home. The Andhra Congress committee disapproved of
Sriramulu’s hunger strike, but his action became widely
• Kasimkota known. He died shortly after midnight on 15 December
• Annavaram 1952 at 126 Royapettah High Road, Mylapore, Madras,
and the house has been preserved.
• Nuzuveedu During Sriramulu’s funeral procession, mourners praised
• Mylavaram his sacrifice. When the procession reached Mount Road,
thousands of people joined it and raised banners hailing
• Guraja Sriramulu. Later, they began destroying public property.
8 19 AFTER INDEPENDENCE

The news spread quickly, and seven people were killed by ucationally backward people of Telangana that they may
police gunfire in Anakapalle and Vijayawada. The unrest be swamped and exploited by the more advanced people
continued for several days. of the coastal areas”. In its analysis, the SRC opposed
On 19 December 1952, Prime Minister Nehru an- an immediate merger. Paragraph 386 reads, “After tak-
nounced the formation of a separate state for the Telugu- ing all these factors into consideration we have come to
speaking people of the Madras Presidency. On 1 Oc- the conclusion that it will be in the interests of Andhra as
tober 1953, eleven districts in the Telugu-speaking por- well as Telangana, if for the present, the Telangana area
tion of Madras State (Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema) is to constitute into a separate State, which may be known
as the Hyderabad State with provision for its unification
voted to become Andhra State, with Kurnool as their cap-
ital. Andhra Kesari Tanguturi Prakasam Pantulu became with Andhra after the general elections likely to be held
in or about 1961 if by a two thirds majority the legisla-
chief minister of the new Telugu state.
ture of the residuary Hyderabad State expresses itself in
favor of such unification”. The central government, led
19.3 Merger of Hyderabad and Andhra by Nehru, merged Andhra State and Telangana to form
States Andhra Pradesh on 1 November 1956 after ensuring safe-
guards to Telangana in the form of a gentleman’s agree-
Main article: History of the Telangana movement ment.
In December 1953, the States Reorganisation Com-
68 º 72 º 76 º 80 º 84 º 88 º 92 º 96 º

19.4 Telangana movement

36 º

Main article: Telangana movement

32 º

Actions aiming to revoke the merger of Telangana and

Andhra occurred in 1969, 1972 and 2009. On 9 De-
Mi 100 200 300
Km 100 200 300 400

28 º

cember 2009, the Government of India announced the

formation of a Telangana state. Protests in the Coastal
24 º

23.5 º Andhra and Rayalseema regions took place immediately

after the announcement, and on 23 December 2009 the
20 º
decision was indefinitely deferred. The Telangana move-
ment for statehood continued, with suicides, strikes and
protests.[25][26]
16 º

12 º 19.5 Bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh

See also: Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014
On 30 July 2013, the Congress Working Committee
8º

unanimously approved a resolution recommending the

formation of a Telangana state. In February 2014, a bill
Map of India, with the Telangana region highlighted in red was placed before Parliament.[27] The Andhra Pradesh
Reorganisation Act, 2014 was passed, allowing the for-
mission convened to prepare for the creation of states mation of a Telangana state of ten districts from north-
along linguistic lines.[24] Due to public demand, the com- western Andhra Pradesh.[28] The bill received the assent
mission recommended abolishing Hyderabad State and of the president, and was published in The Gazette of In-
merging its Marathi-speaking region into Bombay State dia on 1 March.[29] The state of Telangana was officially
and its Kannada-speaking region into Mysore State. formed on 2 June 2014.
The States Reorganisation Commission (SRC) discussed
a merger of the Telugu-speaking Telangana region of Hy-
derabad State and Andhra State. According to Paragraph 19.6 Telangana state
374 of the report, “The creation of Vishalandhra is an
ideal to which numerous individuals and public bodies, See also: Samaikyandhra Movement
both in Andhra and Telangana, have been passionately
attached over a long period of time, and unless there are Key figures in the formation of Telangana were
strong reasons to the contrary, this sentiment is entitled to Congress Party president Sonia Gandhi, Telangana
consideration”. About Telangana, paragraph 378 reads: Rashtra Samithi (TRS) president Kalvakuntla Chan-
“One of the principal causes of opposition of Visha- drashekar Rao, Chandrababu Naidu, Telugu Desam Party
landhra also seems to be the apprehension felt by the ed- (TDP) leader Sushma Swaraj and Venkiah Naidu of the
 9

• Kakatiya dynasty

• Musunuri Nayaks

• Reddy dynasty

• Vijayanagar

• Paricheda

• Qutb Shahi

• Gupta dynasty

21 References
[1] “Dance Dialects of India”. Ragini Devi. Motilal Bansarsi
Dass. ISBN 81-208-0674-3. Retrieved 9 June 2014.
Telangana (in white) and Andhra Pradesh (in yellow) after bi-
[2] “History of Andhra Pradesh”. AP Online. Government of
furcation
Andhra Pradesh. Retrieved 22 July 2012.

[3] “Ancient and medieval history of Andhra Pradesh”. P.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Chandrashekar Rao headed Raghunadha Rao. Sterling Publishers, 1993. p. iv. Re-
a political movement from Telangana that led the cam- trieved 9 June 2014.
paign to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh. Naidu, Gandhi and
Swaraj led parties which favored the split. Political lead- [4] https://archive.org/stream/ancientindiantri032697mbp#
ers such as former Andhra Pradesh chief minister Kiran page/n105/mode/2up
Kumar Reddy and Vijayawada Member of Parliament [5] Menon, Amamath K. (1 June 2014). “Telangana is born,
Lagadapati Rajagopal, opposed to the split, convinced KCR to take oath as its first CM”. India Today. Archived
their supporters to allow it peacefully. The Supreme from the original on 12 November 2014. Retrieved 15
Court has declined to hear an appeal of the creation of September 2016.
the state.
[6] Megasthenes and Arrian, McKindle J. W. (ed. and trans.)
Ancient India Thacker and Spink, Calcutta and Bombay,
1877, p. 30-174.
20 Dynasties
[7] Buhler and Rapson
• Satavahana [8] Somasekhara S. M. A Forgotten Chapter of Andhra His-
tory Andhra University, Waltair, 1945.
• Shakas
[9] Prasad D. History of the Andhras up to 1565 A. D. 1988,
• Andhra Ikshvaku p. 168.
• Brihatpalayana [10] Talbot C. Pre-colonial India in Practice Oxford University
Press, 2001, pp.177-182, ISBN 0-19-513661-6.
• Ananda Gotrika
[11] Rao C. V. R. Administration and Society in Medieval
• Vishnukundina Andhra (AD. 1038-1538) Manasa Publications,1976,
p.36.
• Kalachuris of Chedi
[12] Eṃ Kulaśēkhararāvu (1988). A history of Telugu litera-
• Salankayana
ture. For copies, M. Indira Devi. p. 96. Retrieved 9 July
• Eastern Chalukya 2011.

[13] Government Of Madras Staff; Government of Madras (1

• Pallavas
January 2004). Gazetteer of the Nellore District: brought
• Rashtrakuta upto 1938. Asian Educational Services. p. 51. ISBN
978-81-206-1851-0. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
• Vengi
[14] Gordon Mackenzie (1990). A manual of the Kistna dis-
• Chola empire trict in the presidency of Madras. Asian Educational Ser-
vices. pp. 9–. ISBN 978-81-206-0544-2. Retrieved 7
• Pandyan dynasty July 2011.
10 22 EXTERNAL LINKS

[15] K. V. Narayana Rao (1973). The emergence of Andhra

Pradesh. Popular Prakashan. p. 4. Retrieved 9 July 2011.

[16] Government Of Madras Staff; Government of Madras (1

January 2004). Gazetteer of the Nellore District: brought
upto 1938. Asian Educational Services. p. 52. ISBN
978-81-206-1851-0. Retrieved 1 July 2011.

[17] Gordon Mackenzie (1990). A manual of the Kistna district

in the presidency of Madras. Asian Educational Services.
pp. 10–. ISBN 978-81-206-0544-2. Retrieved 7 July
2011.

[18] Pran Nath Chopra (1982). Religions and communities of

India. Vision Books. p. 136. Retrieved 4 July 2011.

[19] M. D. Muthukumaraswamy; Molly Kaushal; In-

dira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (2004).
Folklore, public sphere, and civil society. NFSC
www.indianfolklore.org. pp. 198–. ISBN 978-81-
901481-4-6. Retrieved 5 July 2011.

[20] Mallampalli Somasekhara Sarma; Mallampalli Sō-

maśēkharaśarma (1948). History of the Reddi kingdoms
(circa. 1325 A.D. to circa 1448 A.D.). Andhra University.
Retrieved 8 July 2011.

[21] Andhrula Sanghika Charitra, Suravaram Pratapa Reddy,

(in Telugu)

[22] A Sketch of the Dynasties of Southern India By Robert

Sewell

[23] Sheldon I. Pollock (2003). Literary cultures in history: re-

constructions from South Asia. University of California
Press. pp. 385–. ISBN 978-0-520-22821-4. Retrieved 8
July 2011.

[24] “SRC submits report”. The Hindu. Chennai, India. 1

October 2005. Retrieved 9 October 2011.

[25] “Pro-Telangana AP govt employees threaten agitation”.

The Economic Times. 10 February 2012. Retrieved 18
February 2012.

[26] Telangana Students Suicides Increase in Hyder-

abad http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/02/25/
telangana-protests-student-suicides-increase-in-hyderabad-durin/

[27] “Telangana bill passed in Lok Sabha; Congress, BJP come

together in favour of new state”. Hindustan Times. Re-
trieved 18 February 2014.

[28] “Telangana bill passed by upper house”. The Times of In-

dia. Retrieved 20 February 2014.

[29] “The Andhra Pradesh reorganisation act, 2014” (PDF).

Ministry of law and justice, government of India. Re-
trieved 3 March 2014.

22 External links
• Planning Commission Study of Andhra Pradesh’s
Development and Regional in balances
 11

23 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

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