Place:Andhra Pradesh, India

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NameAndhra Pradesh
Alt namesĀndhra Prādeshsource: Wikipedia
TypeState
Coordinates16.0°N 79.0°E
Located inIndia     (1956 - )
Contained Places
Deserted settlement
Golconda
District
Adilabad
Anantapur
Chittoor
East Godavari
Guntur
Hyderabad
Kadapa
Karimnagar
Khammam
Krishna
Kurnool
Mahbubnagar
Medak
Nalgonda
Nellore
Nizamabad
Prakasam
Rangareddi
Srikakulam
Visakhapatnam
Vizianagaram
Warangal
West Godavari
Inhabited place
Adoni
Allur
Alwal
Amalapuram
Anakapalle
Armur
Atmakur
Badvel
Banganapalle
Bapatla
Belampalli
Bhadrachalam
Bhainsa
Bhattiprolu
Bhongir
Bhrugubanda
Bimlipatan
Bobbili
Bodhan
Bollarum
Chilakalūrupet
Chodavaram
Cuddapah
Dharmavaram
Dhone
Elamanchili
Emmiganuru
Gadwal
Gajuwaka
Gandipalem
Giddalur
Gooty
Gudur
Gummadidala
Guntakal
Hasanparti
Hindupur
Jaggayyapeta
Jagtial
Jammalamadugu
Jangaon
Jannaram
Kadiri
Kalahasti
Kalyāndrug
Kamareddi
Kandukur
Kanigiri
Kapra
Kavali
Koilkuntla
Kolhāpur
Koratla
Kosigi
Kothapet
Kottagudem
Kovūr
Kukatpalle
L.B. Nagar
Macherla
Madhira
Mahbubabad
Malkajgiri
Malkapuram
Mancherāl
Mandapeta
Mangalagiri
Mantapampalle
Markapur
Miryalguda
Mothkur
Nagarkurnool
Nakrekal
Nandikotkur
Narasannapeta
Narasapur
Narasaraopet
Narayanpet
Narsipatnam
Nidadavole
Nirmal
North Vijayapuri
Pakala
Palakollu
Parlakimidi
Parvatipuram
Pedana
Peddapuram
Penna Ahobilam
Penugonda
Penukonda
Pithapuram
Ponnūru Nidubrolu
Proddatur
Pulimamidi
Punganuru
Pushpagiri
Puttūr
Pālkohda
Quthbullapur
Raikod
Rajampet
Ramachandrapuram
Ramagundam
Rayachoti
Rayadrug
Salur
Samalkot
Sangāreddi
Sattenapalle
Secunderabad
Serilingampalle
Siddipet
Sirsilla
Sompeta
South Vijayapuri
Sriharikota
Suluru
Suriapet
Sydapuram
Tadpatri
Tandur
Tanuku
Tekkali
Tenali
Tiruvur
Trimulgherry
Tuni
Tādepallegūdem
Upamaka
Uravakonda
Varshakonda
Vempalle
Venkatagiri
Vetapalemu
Vijayapuri
Vijayawada
Vikarabad
Vuyyuru
Wanparti
Yellandu
Zahirābād
Unknown
Thotapalli Gudur ( village
source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
source: Family History Library Catalog


the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Andhra Pradesh (abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants, with the state capital being Amaravati and the largest city being Visakhapatnam. It is bordered by Telangana to the north-west, Chhattisgarh to the north, Odisha to the north-east, Tamil Nadu to the south, Karnataka to the west and the Bay of Bengal to the east. It has the second longest coastline in India after Gujarat, of about . Andhra State was the First state to be formed on a linguistic basis (after independenceOdisha is the first State formed on linguistic basis before independence on 1 April 1936) in India on 1 October 1953. On 1 November 1956, Andhra State was merged with the Telugu-speaking areas of the Hyderabad State to form Andhra Pradesh. The state was then reorganised in June 2014 to form a separate Telangana state.

Andhra Pradesh was once a major Buddhist pilgrimage site in the country and a Buddhist learning center, which can be seen in many sites in the state in the form of monastery ruins, chaityas and stupas. Locally mined diamonds include the Koh-i-Noor from Kollur Mine. It is also a major producer of rice known as the "rice bowl of India". Its official language is Telugu; one of the classical languages of India, the fourth most spoken language in India and the 11th-most spoken language in the world. Andhra Pradesh's second official language is Urdu.

Early inhabitants were known as the Andhras, tracing their history back to the Vedic period, when they were mentioned in the 8th century BCE Rigvedic text Aitareya Brahmana. According to the Aitareya Brahmana, the Andhras left North India from the banks of the Yamuna river and migrated to South India. The Assaka Mahajanapada (700–300 BCE) was an ancient kingdom located between the Godavari and Krishna rivers in southeastern India. Accounts that people in the region are descended from the Viswamitra are found in the Ramayana, the Mahabharata and the Puranas. The region also derives its name from the Satavahanas, who are also known as Andhras, the earliest kings of Andhra Pradesh and India. Early peoples supported local art culture by building temples and sculptures of the Buddhist monuments in the state.[1] It was ruled by the Mauryan Empire, Satavahana dynasty, Salankayanas, Andhra Ikshvakus, Pallavas, Vishnukundinas, Eastern Chalukyas, Rashtrakutas, Cholas, Kakatiyas, Vijayanagara Empire, Gajapati Empire, Mughal Empire, Deccan sultanates, Qutb Shahi dynasty, and Asaf Jahis. In the 3rd century BCE, Andhra was a vassal kingdom of Ashoka, but after his death Andhra became powerful and extended its empire to the whole of Maratha country and beyond.

Andhra Pradesh comprises two major regions, namely Rayalaseema in the south-west and Coastal Andhra bordering the Bay of Bengal in the east and north-east. The state has 26 districts, 6 in Uttarandhra, 12 in Coastal Andhra and 8 in Rayalaseema. The state also borders a union territory, Yanam – a district of Puducherry, which lies to the south of Kakinada in the Godavari delta on the eastern side of the state. The economy of Andhra Pradesh is the 8th largest in India, with a gross state domestic product (GSDP) of and has the country's 17th-highest GSDP per capita of .[2][3] Andhra Pradesh ranks 27th among Indian states in Human Development Index (HDI).[4] It has a jurisdiction over almost of territorial waters.[5]

Andhra Pradesh hosted 121.8 million visitors in 2015, a 30% growth in tourist arrivals over the previous year, making it the third most-visited state in India. The Tirumala Venkateswara Temple in Tirupati is one of the world's most visited religious sites, with 18.25 million visitors per year. The region is also home to a variety of other pilgrimage centres, such as the Pancharama Kshetras, Mallikarjuna Jyotirlinga and Kodanda Rama Temple. The state's natural attractions include the beaches of Visakhapatnam, hill stations such as the Araku Valley and Horsley Hills, and the deltas of Konaseema in the Godavari river, and Diviseema in the Krishna river.

Contents

Prehistory

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia


History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Toponym

A group of people named Andhras was mentioned in Sanskrit texts such as Aitareya Brahmana (800–500 BCE). According to Aitareya Brahmana of the Rig Veda, the Andhras left north India from banks of River Yamuna and settled in south India. The Satavahanas have been mentioned by the names Andhra, Andhrara-jateeya and Andhrabhrtya in the Puranic literature. They did not refer themselves as Andhra in any of their coins or inscriptions; it is possible that they were termed as Andhras because of their ethnicity or because their territory included the Andhra region.

Early and medieval history

The Assaka Mahajanapada, one of the sixteen Vedic Mahajanapadas, included Andhra, Maharashtra and Telangana. Archaeological evidence from places such as Amaravati, Dharanikota, and Vaddamanu suggests that the Andhra region was part of the Mauryan Empire. Amaravati might have been a regional centre for the Mauryan rule. After the death of Emperor Ashoka, Mauryan rule weakened around 200 BCE and was replaced by several smaller kingdoms in the Andhra region.

The Satavahana dynasty dominated the Deccan region from the 1st century BCE to the 3rd century CE. The later Satavahanas made Dharanikota and Amaravathi their capital, which according to the Buddhists is the place where Nagarjuna, the philosopher of Mahayana lived in the 2nd and 3rd centuries. The Andhra Ikshvakus, with their capital at Vijayapuri, succeeded the Satavahanas in the Krishna River valley in the latter half of the 2nd century. Pallavas, who were originally executive officers under the Satavahana kings, were not a recognised political power before the 2nd century CE and were swept away by the Western Chalukyan invasion, led by Pulakesin II in the first quarter of the 7th century CE. After the downfall of the Ikshvakus, the Vishnukundinas were the first great dynasty in the 5th and 6th centuries, and held sway over the entire Andhra country, including Kalinga and parts of Telangana. They played an important role in the history of Deccan during the 5th and 6th century CE, with Eluru, Amaravathi and Puranisangam.

The Salankayanas were an ancient dynasty that ruled the Andhra region between Godavari and Krishna with their capital at Vengi (modern Pedavegi) from 300 to 440 CE. The Eastern Chalukyas of Vengi, whose dynasty lasted for around five hundred years from the 7th century until 1130 CE, eventually merged with the Chola dynasty. They continued to rule under the protection of the Chola dynasty until 1189 CE when the kingdom succumbed to the Hoysalas and the Yadavas. The roots of the Telugu language have been seen on inscriptions found near the Guntur district and from others dating to the rule of Renati Cholas in the fifth century CE.

Kayastha chiefs descended from North Indian Kayasthas ruled over vast swathes of land in Andhra country, and they are recorded in Andhra history dating back to the 13th century CE. Kakatiyas ruled Andhra Pradesh state for nearly two hundred years and constructed several forts. They were succeeded by the Musunuri Nayaks. Musunuri Nayaks led a confederation of Nayakas to overthrow the rule of the Delhi Sultanate in Telugu lands.

The Reddi kingdom (1325–1448 CE) was established by Prolaya Vema Reddi in the early 14th century, who ruled from present day Kondaveedu. Prolaya Vema Reddi was part of the confederation of states that started a movement against the invading Turkic Muslim armies of the Delhi Sultanate. They constructed Kondaveedu Fort , which they ruled between 1328 and 1428, before it was taken over by the Gajpathis of Orissa, and later ravaged by the Muslim rulers of the Bahmani kingdom in 1458. The Vijayanagara emperor Krishnadevaraya captured it in 1516. The Golconda Sultans fought for the fort in 1531, 1536 and 1579, and Sultan Quli Qutb Shah captured it in 1579, renaming it Murtuzanagar. It was reconquered by Vijayanagara who overthrew sultanate rule across the entirety of modern-day Andhra Pradesh (excluding Telangana). After this rebellion, the Bahmani sultans launched no further military campaigns outside their kingdoms, because the Maratha empire soon emerged as the strongest power in India. Efforts are in progress to classify Kondaveedu Fort as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Vijayanagara Empire originated in the Deccan Plateau region in the early 14th century. It was established in 1336 by Harihara Raya I and his brother Bukka Raya I of the Sangama Dynasty. The empire's patronage enabled fine arts and literature to reach new heights in Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, and Sanskrit, while Carnatic music evolved into its current form. During the Vijayanagara Empire, the Pemmasani Nayaks controlled parts of Andhra Pradesh and had large mercenary armies that were the vanguard of the Vijayanagara Empire in the sixteenth century. The Lepakshi group of monuments are culturally and archaeologically significant as it is the location of shrines dedicated to Shiva, Vishnu, and Veerabhadra which were built during the Vijayanagara Kings' period (1336–1646). The temples are the location of mural paintings of the Vijayanagara kings, Dravidian art, and inscriptions. Near the temple complex is a large granite Nandi bull. On a hillock known as Kurma Saila ('tortoise-shaped hill') are other temples to Papanatheswara, Raghunatha, Srirama, and Durga.

The Government of Andhra Pradesh has taken the initiative for including the "Lepakshi Group of Monuments" among the UNESCO World Heritage sites in India.

Modern history

Harihara and Bukka, who served as treasury officers of the Kakatiyas of Warangal, founded the Vijayanagara Empire. In 1347 CE, an independent Muslim state, the Bahmani Sultanate, was established in south India by Ala-ud-Din Bahman Shah in a revolt against the Delhi Sultanate. The Qutb Shahi dynasty held sway over the Andhra country after the resolution of Vijayanagar empire by joint action of Mughals, Bijapur and Golconda sultanates.

In the early nineteenth century, Northern Circars was ceded to the British East India Company and became part of the Madras Presidency. Eventually, this region emerged as the Coastal Andhra region. Later the Nizam rulers of Hyderabad ceded five territories to the British that eventually became the Rayalaseema region. The Nizams retained control of the interior provinces as the princely state of Hyderabad, acknowledging British rule in return for local autonomy. However, Komaram Bheem, a tribal leader, started his fight against the erstwhile Asaf Jahi Dynasty for the liberation of Hyderabad State. Meanwhile, the French occupied Yanam, in the Godavari delta, and (save for periods of British control) would hold it until 1954. In 1947, Vizianagaram was the largest Hindu princely state in Andhra Pradesh.

In 1839 just before the British Raj, a cyclone struck Coringa, East Godavari district and toppled buildings, as a result 20,000 ships were destroyed and over 300,000 people were killed.

India became independent from the British Raj in 1947. The 7th Nizam wanted to retain the independence of the Princely Hyderabad State from India, but the people of the region launched a movement to join the Indian Union. The state of Hyderabad was integrated into the Indian Union with Operation Polo in 1948.

Post-independence

In an effort to gain an independent state based on linguistic identity, and to protect the interests of the Telugu-speaking people of Madras State, Potti Sreeramulu fasted to death in 1952. As Madras became a bone of contention, in 1949 a JVP committee report stated: "Andhra Province could be formed provided the Andhras give up their claim on the city of Madras [now Chennai]". After Potti Sreeramulu's death, the Telugu-speaking area of Andhra State was carved out of Madras State on 1 October 1953, with Kurnool as its capital city. On the basis of the gentlemen's agreement of 1 November 1956, the States Reorganisation Act formed combined Andhra Pradesh by merging the Telugu-speaking areas of the already existing Hyderabad State. Hyderabad was made the capital of the new state. The Marathi-speaking areas of Hyderabad State merged with Bombay State and the Kannada-speaking areas were merged with Mysore State.

In February 2014, the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014 bill was passed by the Parliament of India for the formation of the Telangana state comprising ten districts. Hyderabad will remain as a joint capital for not exceeding ten years. The new state of Telangana came into existence on 2 June 2014 after approval from the President of India. Number of petitions questioning the validity of Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014 is long pending for the verdict since April 2014 before the Supreme Court constitutional bench.

In 2017, Government of Andhra Pradesh began operating from the newly planned capital city Amaravati. In August 2020, Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly passed Andhra Pradesh Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of All Regions Act, 2020. The decision resulted in widespread protests by the farmers of Amaravati. The act has been challenged in Andhra Pradesh High Court, which ordered to maintain status quo until the court completes its hearing. On 22 November 2021, the government, led by Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, has withdrawn the act. The Chief Minister, however, said his government would bring a better and more complete bill.

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