Andhra Pradesh.

Andhra Pradesh.
Capital. Hyderabad.
Population. 77 million.
Area. 106195 square miles.
Revenue Districts. 23.

Definitive historical evidence of the Andhras dates from the times of the Mauryan dynasty, which ruled in the north in the 3rd century BC. Emperor Ashoka sent Buddhist missions to the Andhras in the south. About the 1st century AD, the Satavahanas, came to power.. Experts ascribe parts of the famous paintings in the Ajanta caves of the Deccan to the Andhra painters of that period. Buddhism prospered under the Andhras, and in their capital flourished the great Buddhist university of antiquity, where Nagarjuna, the founder of the Mahayana school of Buddhism, taught. The ruins of the university at Nagarjuna-konda still attest to its former glory. In the 11th century, during the reign of the eastern Chalukyas, a dynasty that unified most of the Andhra area, the first of the Telugu poets, Nannaya, began translating the Sanskrit epic, the Mahabharata, into Telugu, thus inaugurating the birth of Telugu as a literary medium. The dynasty of the Kakatiyas of Warangal in the 12th and 13th centuries extended Andhra power militarily and culturally; it was during their regime that the commercial expansion of the Andhras toward Southeast Asia reached its peak. By this time, however, the Muslims had established themselves in the north, and their invasion of the south led to the fall of Warangal in 1323. But the rise of the kingdom of Vijaya-nagar, to the southwest of Warangal, arrested the expansion of the Muslim power for some time. Acclaimed as the greatest kingdom in Andhra history and as one of the greatest in Indian history, Vijaya-nagar, under the rule of its great king Krishna Deva Raya, who reigned from 1509 to 1529, became synonymous with military glory, economic prosperity, good administration, and artistic splendour. During this period, Telugu literature flourished. The formation of an alliance between the various neighbouring Muslim principalities, however, led to the fall of Vijaya-nagar in 1565, leaving the Muslims in control of the Andhra areas. In the 17th century, English and French traders began to involve themselves in Indian politics. As a result, successive Nizams of Hyderabad, seeking to consolidate their kingdom against rivals, obtained first French and later British support. In exchange for their help, the British acquired from the Nizam the coastal Andhra districts lying to the north of Madras and later the hinterland districts. Thus, the major part of the Andhra country came under British rule. Part of the Telugu-speaking areas, known as the Telangana region, remained under the Nizam's dominion, and the French acquired a few towns. During the 19th century, the Andhras came to the forefront of the movement. Leaders such as Kandukuri Veerasalingam pioneered in social reform. In the struggle against British rule, Andhra leaders played decisive roles. Pride in their historical and linguistic achievements led them to demand a separate province. Simultaneously, a movement was also organized to unite the Telugu-speaking peoples living under British rule and those under the Nizam's administration. The Andhras' demand for separate statehood became so insistent that, when the central government refused to comply, a local leader, Potti Sreeramulu, fasted to death in 1953 to dramatize the issue. The government finally acceded to the people's request by creating on Oct. 1, 1953, the Andhra state, which included the Telugu-speaking districts of the former Madras state, thus paving the way for the formation of linguistic states throughout India in 1957. The erstwhile state of Hyderabad, which had joined independent India in 1949, was split up, and its nine Telugu-speaking districts were joined to the Andhra state on Nov. 1, 1956, to form the new state of Andhra Pradesh. In 1960, 221.4 square miles in the Chingleput and Salem districts of Madras were transferred to Andhra Pradesh in exchange for 410 square miles from Chittoor district.

Andhra Pradesh exhibits a characteristic Indian cultural pattern in the distribution of its languages and religions. Telugu is the official and most widely spoken language in the state; a small minority speak Urdu. The remaining groups consist of people speaking border-area languages, including Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, Marathi, Oriya, and tribal languages. The great majority of the population are Hindus, and there are both Muslim and Christian minorities. The Christians live in urban centres and coastal areas, and the Muslims are concentrated in the Telangana and Rayala-seema areas. More than one-quarter of the population are urban dwellers, and over a third of these inhabit the industrial and manufacturing areas around the three main cities--Hyderabad, Vishakhapatnam, and Vijayawada. With increasing industrial development, these cities are becoming linked with neighbouring urban areas, forming agglomerations. Some important industries and several smaller enterprises, such as sugar factories and service industries, are scattered among medium and smaller urban areas.

Tirupati lies about 67 miles northwest of Madras in the Palkonda Hills. Tirupati is known as the abode of Venkateshvara, Lord of Seven Hills. About 6 miles northwest of Tirupati, at an elevation of 2,500 feet.. At the hill's summit is a temple dedicated to Venkateshvara. This temple, nestled among sacred waterfalls and tanks, is a fine example of Dravidian art and is one of the most important pilgrimage centres in India. The temple, which is of great antiquity, is now the centre of Sri Venkateswara University.

Golkonda, fortress and ruined city lying 5 miles west of Hyderabad was the capital of the Qutb Shahi kingdom, one of five Muslim sultanates of the Deccan. The territory of Golconda lay between the lower reaches of the Godavari and Krishna rivers and extended to the Bay of Bengal coast. In 1687 the ruling dynasty of Qutb Shahis was overthrown by the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, and Golconda was annexed to the Mughal Empire.The fortress is 3 miles in circumference, with concentric masonry-block walls. Palaces, mosques, and the Qutb Shahi tombs still remain intact. Historically, Golconda was famous for its diamonds, derived from the conglomerate rocks of the nearby hills.



Agriculture, is the primary sector of the state's economy. Andhra Pradesh is one of the leading rice-growing states in the country and produces about four-fifths of India's Virginia tobacco. The state's rivers, particularly the Godavari and the Krishna, account for its agricultural importance; for a long time their benefits were restricted to the coastal districts of Andhra region, which had the best irrigation facilities. Since independence, great efforts have been made to tap the waters of these and other rivers for the benefit of the dry interior. Canal irrigation in the Telangana and Rayalaseema regions has given rise to agro-industrial complexes rivalling those of coastal Andhra Pradesh. The Nagarjuna Sagar multipurpose project, diverting the waters of the Krishna for irrigation, has increased substantially the production of rice and sugarcane. Rice flour, rice-bran oil, paints and varnishes, soaps and detergents, cardboard and other packaging materials, and cattle feed are all produced from local paddy rice. Other agricultural commodities now grown include chilli, pepper, sorghum, pulses, castor beans, peanuts, and cotton. This development in Telangana and Rayalaseema--further stimulated by new agricultural technology, use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and improved transport, marketing, and credit systems helped to reduce the political tensions that formerly existed between interior and coastal Andhra Pradesh. Half of the total investment for development is allotted to agricultural irrigation. The state's forest areas annually yield high-quality timber and forest produce.

There are four airports in the state--at Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Tirupati, and Vishakhapatnam. The rail system serves a major portion of the state and connects it with other parts of India. There is an extensive road system, which includes three national highways connecting Andhra Pradesh with all the major cities of the country. Other roads are maintained by state and local governments. The river canals in coastal areas, especially the saltwater Kommamur Canal running parallel to the coast from the Krishna River to Madras, are used for cargo transportation. Vishakhapatnam is a major international seaport.

The Andhras' contribution to India's cultural heritage is substantial. Architecture and painting have been highly developed arts in the region since ancient times. The kuchipudi style of dance is unique in the Indian tradition, while Carnatic music has derived much from Andhra roots. Many of southern India's major classical composers have been Andhras, and Telugu has been the language of most of the compositions. Telugu, one of the four literary languages of the Dravidian family, occupies a prestigious place among Indian languages, being renowned for its antiquity as well as for its mellifluous quality. Andhras also are prominent in the modern Indian literary renaissance, and their writing reflects the impact of the contemporary revolution in literary forms and expression. There are many periodicals in English, Telugu, and Urdu. Muslim culture in the Telangana region further enriches the state's cultural diversity. Before independence, arts and literature thrived mostly under the sponsorship of royal patrons and private organizations, many of which still function. The state has also created autonomous academies to revive, popularize, and promote fine arts, dance, drama, music, and literature. The conscious pursuit of culture is more an urban than a rural phenomenon, for cultural performances, literary meetings, and religious discussions occur mostly in towns or cities. In rural areas, folk culture predominates. Cultural evolution in different parts of the state under different historical circumstances resulted in the occurrence of recognizable variations in dialect, in the caste structure, and in habits, thus diversifying the folk arts. Folk media such as minstrel-ballad performances, puppet shows, and mythological storytelling are indigenous to the area; use of these media in social and political communication is also common. The penetration of the mass media, especially of radio and television, to rural parts has helped to bring an awareness of classical culture to the rural folk and of folk arts to the urban population. Andhra Pradesh is among the few major moviemaking states of India.

Among the state's mineral resources are asbestos, mica, manganese, barite, and high-grade coal. Low-grade iron ore is found in the southern parts of the state. Andhra Pradesh produces almost all of the country's barite. It is the only state in southern India that possesses coal reserves. Large deposits of natural gas have been discovered in the deltas of the Godavari and Krishna rivers. Production at the once world-renowned diamond mines of Golconda, where the Koh-i-noor diamond and other famous stones were found, is being renewed. Quartz, limestone, and graphite also occur. For the exploitation of its mineral resources the state has established a mining and metal trading corporation, once industrially underdeveloped, has in the latter half of the 20th century become one of the most highly industrialized states in India. Industries such as shipbuilding, aeronautics, and the manufacture of electrical equipment, machine tools, and drugs have been established by the central government in the Vishakhapatnam and Hyderabad areas. Private enterprises, many of them located in the Vijayawada-Guntur region, produce chemicals, textiles, cement, fertilizers, processed foods, petroleum derivatives, and cigarettes. An oil refinery is located in Vishakhapatnam, as is the largest shipbuilding yard in the country. Mining and manufacturing industries, however, account for a small percentage of the state's income. The central government has opened a mammoth steel plant at Vishakhapatnam, where there is easy access to raw materials and port facilities. The phenomenal increase in recent years in power generated by hydroelectric and thermoelectric projects augurs well for industrialization and irrigation. With its long coastline and many rivers, the state also has a significant and expanding fishing industry.

A summer that lasts from March to June, a July-to-September season of tropical rains, and a winter from October to February constitute the three seasons. Throughout much of the state, maximum and minimum temperatures range from 23 to 28 C and from10-12, respectively. Summers are very warm on the coastal plain, with temperatures reaching as high as 42 C in some places. On the plateau, summers are cooler and winters colder. Rainfall derives largely from the southwest monsoon winds; some places receive a maximum of 55 inches of rain and others only 20 inches. In coastal areas, rainfall is heavy; in some areas on the plateau, especially in the north and west, it is sparse.