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PRADESH - HISTORY OF ANDHRA |
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The earliest mention of the Andhras
appears in the Aitareya Brahmana (800 BC). It was called
Dakshina Padh during those days. Andhras, Pulindas,
Sabaras, and many other sects lived in Dakshina Padh.
In the Mauryan age, the Andhras were a political power
in the Deccan. Megasthenes, who visited the court of
Chandragupta Maurya (322-297 BC), mentioned that the
Andhra country had 30 fortified towns and an army of
1,00,000 infantry, 2,000 cavalry and 1,000 elephants. |
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Buddhist religious books reveal that Andhras established
their kingdoms
on the Godavari belt at that time. Even Ashoka referred
in his 13th rock edict that the Andhras were his
subordinates.
The flourishing Satvahana Empire, which followed the Mauryas, covered the entire
Deccan plateau by the 1st century AD. From the seventh to the 10th centuries,
the Chalukyas ruled the state. This was followed by the rule of the Cholas, Kakatiyas,
and the powerful Vijayanagar Empire. By the 16th century AD, the Qutab Shahi
dynasty established its firm foothold in and around Hyderabad. The Nizams, as
the rulers of Hyderabad were called, maintained their rule, even during the advent
of the French and British. Andhra Pradesh was constituted as a separate state
on October 1, 1953, comprising the 11 districts of the erstwhile Madras state,
and made Kurnool the capital. By November 1, 1956, the Nizam's state of Hyderabad
was amalgamated to the state of Andhra Pradesh.
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