Andhra Pradesh History

The recorded history of Andhra Pradesh can be traced to the Andhra Kingdom of the (Iron Age) Mahajanapada period, succeeded by the Satavahana empire. The Andhra Ikshvakus ruled the eastern Andhra country along the Krishna river during the later half of the 2nd century. The Pallavas extended their rule from southern Andhra to Tamil regions and established their capital at Kanchipuram around the 4th century CE. They rose in power during the reign of Mahendravarman I (571 – 630 CE) and Narasimhavarman I (630 – 668 CE) and dominated the southern Telugu and northern parts of Tamil region until the end of the 9th century.

In 1347, an independent Muslim state, the Bahmani kingdom, was established in south India by Alla-ud-din Hasan Gangu as a revolt against the Delhi Sultanate. The Qutb Shahi dynasty held sway over the Andhra country for about two hundred years from the early part of the 16th century to the end of the 17th century.

In 1765 Lord Robert Clive, the then existing Chief and Council at Vizagapatam obtained from the Mughal emperor Shah Alam a grant of the five Circars. In 1792 the British got the complete supremacy, when they defeated Maharaja Vijaya Rama Gajapathi Raju of Vizianagaram.

India became independent from the United Kingdom in 1947. The Muslim Nizam of Hyderabad wanted to retain his independence from India, he was forced accede his kingdom to India in 1948 as the Hyderabad State. Andhra State was the first state in India that has been formed on a purely linguistic basis by carving it out from Madras Province in 1953. Andhra State was later merged with Telugu speaking area of Hyderabad (Telangana) to create Andhra Pradesh state in 1956.

It is believed that the people of Andhra Pradesh basically belong to the Aryan race. They are said to have migrated to the south of the Vindhyas, where they mixed up with the non-Aryans. The history of Andhra Pradesh dates back to the time of Ashoka the Great Mauriyan king ( 3rd century B.C.). This state became an important Buddhist center during his reign. The evidences of the Buddhist influence can be seen in Amaravathi and Nagarjunakonda. These are regarded as one of the greatest archaeological sites in India.

* The Early Andhra Pradesh

The earliest dynasty that ruled Andhra Pradesh was the Satavahana dynasty ( 2nd century BC 2nd century A.D), also known as the andhras. They were ruling much of central and southern India at that time. They established their capital at Amravati on the banks of river Krishna. They were very much indulged in international trade with both eastern Asia and Europe. The Satavahana kings were followers of Buddhism and they worked towards the welfare of this religion.

Later, Andhra Pradesh was ruled by the Pallavas from Tamil Nadu, the Chalukyas from Karnataka, and the Cholas. The Kakaityas also ruled this state in 13th century and they established their capital at Warangal. This dynasty had to face several Muslim invasions. Later on, after the demolition of Hampi, the kings of Hindu Vijayanagar kingdom, shifted their base to Chandragiri near Tirupati.

* The Muslim Expansion

The Kakatiya dynasty ended in 1323, when the Tughlak Sultan of Delhi captured the Kakatiya ruler. After the death of Kakatiya empire, four local kingdoms arose out of the old Kakatiyan empire. One of these kingdoms was Vijayanagar. This empire was a strong empire which rose against the Muslim expansion for more than 200 years. Vijayanagar kings fought bravely with Muslim sultanates in the north, which was attacked by the invaders time and again. In order to weaken the Vijayanagar empire, many sultans joined one another. Finally a grand alliance of the sultanates of Ahmadnagar, Bijapur, Golconda and Bihar was formed against Vijayanagar. Thus, the Vijayanagar army was defeated on 23rd January, 1565 by the Deccan sultans at the battle of Talikota.

Subsequently, in the mid 16th century, the Muslim Qutb Shahi dynasty emerged. The foundation of the modern city of Hyderabad was laid by the Qutub Shahis of Golcunda. They were defeated by the son of the Moghal emperor Aurangzeb in 1687, who seized Golconda. He appointed Asaf Jah the governor of Deccan. Later, when the Mughal Empire was decaying under Aurangzeb's successors, the Asaf Jahis were collecting power to become independent rulers under the title of Nizam. Five years after the death of Aurangzeb, in 1707, Hyderabad was declared independent by its Viceroy and thus, established the Asaf Jahi dynasty of Nizams. The Nizams helped the British against Tipu Sultan of Mysore and therefore they were rewarded a certain degree of autonomy even at the timem, when the British dominated all India. The Nizams were also involved in the Anglo-French wars in the Deccan. But, finally they had enter into a subsidiary alliance with the British in 1800.

* Post-Independence

Andhra Pradesh is one of the first states in India which was formed only on the linguistic basis. After India's independence, the andhras, that is, the Telugu-speaking people (although Urdu is widely spoken in Hyderabad) were distributed in about 21 districts. Out of them 9 were in the Nizam's Dominions and 12 in the Madras Presidency. But after an agitation, on October 1, 1953, 11 districts of the Madras State were consolidated to form a new andhra State with Kurnool as capital. Later, on November 1, 1956 the State Reorganization Commission recommended to enlarge the andhra State by adding nine districts which were in the Nizam's Dominion. The city of Hyderabad, became the capital of the enlarged Andhra Pradesh, which was also the capital of the Nizam.