Andhra Pradesh is a state on the east coast of southern India. The seventh largest Indian state by area and the tenth largest by population, it is bound by the Bay of Bengal to the east, and shares borders with the states of Odisha to the northeast, Chhattisgarh to the north, Telangana to northwest, Karnataka to the west, and Tamil Nadu to the south. Telugu, one of the classical languages of India, is the most widely spoken language in the state and serves as its official language. Amaravati is the state capital, and Visakhapatnam is the largest city.
Archaeological excavations have unearthed stone tools used by early hominins and later Neolithic settlements. The Andhras are mentioned in the Aitareya Brahmana () of the Rigveda. In the 4th century BCE, Megasthenes described the Andhras living in the Godavari and Krishna River deltas, and the region later came under the control of the Mauryan Empire. The Satavahana dynasty ruled over most of the Deccan from the 1st to 3rd century CE, with their capital at Dhanyakataka. Subsequent major dynasties that ruled the region include the Vishnukundinas, Andhra Ikshvakus, Pallavas, Eastern Chalukyas, Cholas, Kakatiyas, Vijayanagara Empire, and Qutb Shahis. European colonisation began in the 17th century, with the British controlling much of the state as a part of the Madras Presidency for two centuries. After the Indian independence in 1947, Andhra State was carved out of Madras State in 1953. In 1956, it merged with the Telugu-speaking regions of the former Hyderabad State to form Andhra Pradesh. A new state of Telangana was bifurcated from it in 2014.
The Eastern Ghats separate the coastal plains from the Deccan Plateau. Major rivers include Godavari, Krishna, Tungabhadra, and Penna, which flow eastwards towards the Bay of Bengal. The state has significant reserves of limestone, bauxite, and a major proportion of India's baryte reserves. , agriculture and related activities employed 62.2% of the population, with rice as the staple crop. Fisheries is a major contributor to the economy, with the state accounting for 30% of the country's fish production in 2022-23. The Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota serves as India's primary satellite launch centre.
Andhra Pradesh has a diverse culture and is home to art forms like Kuchipudi, an Indian classical dance, and Carnatic music. It is the birthplace of the Amaravati school of art that influenced South and Southeast Asian art. The state is home to a number of pilgrimage centres including the Venkateswara temple in Tirumala and natural attractions. Unique geographical indications from the state include Bandar laddu, Banganapalle mango, Dharmavaram silk sari, Kondapalli toys, and Tirupati laddu.
Etymology
The Andhras are mentioned in the Aitareya Brahmana of the Rigveda () as descendants of the sage Vishvamitra. They are referred to as non-Aryans living on the fringes of Aryan settlements. In Puranic literature, they are referred to as Andhras, Andhrara-jateeya, and Andhrabhrtya. According to scholars, the term Andhra functioned as both a tribal and a territorial name. The region inhabited by the Andhras was called Andhradesa, which was also known by other names including Andhramandala, Andhravisaya, Andhrabhumi, and Andhrapadha. According to Iravatham Mahadevan, the term āndhra is derived from the Old Telugu masculine nominative marker aṉṟu, possibly used by Indo-Aryan people or Buddhists to refer to the Telugu people. Pradesh means "state" or "province" in Sanskrit and several Indian languages.
History
Pre-history (before 4th century BCE) Stone tools excavated from Hanumanthunipadu were dated to approximately 247,000 years old (Middle Palaeolithic). Although this finding suggests that archaic Hominini existed in the Indian subcontinent long before the migration of modern humans from Africa began (about 125,000 years ago), the absence of fossil evidence has made it difficult to identify the people who made these tools. Neolithic burial sites, and petroglyphs, dating back to 4,000 to 5,000 years ago were found in Achammakunta in Palnadu district and Chakrala Bodu in Markapuram district. These burial sites house extensive cists and dolmens, aligned in the same direction and often surrounded by a wall.
Early history (4th century BCE to 4th century CE)
Early Hindu texts refer to the Andhras who lived in Andhradesa. Greek historian Megasthenes reported in his Indica () that Andhras lived in the Godavari and Krishna river deltas and were known for their military strength, which he ranked second only to the Mauryans in all India. Archaeological evidence from sites such as Amaravathi, Bhattiprolu, and Dharanikota suggests that the Andhra region might have been part of the Maurya Empire in the 3rd century BCE. After the death of Emperor Ashoka in 232 BCE, the Maurya rule weakened and was replaced by several smaller kingdoms in the Andhra region. Buddhist relics from Bhattiprolu ( 3rd to 2nd century BCE) bear Brahmi inscriptions, and the Bhattiprolu script is considered a key for deciphering Tamil Brahmi. The Telugu script evolved later from the Kadamba script, which shares similarities with the Brahmi script.
The Satavahana dynasty dominated the Deccan Plateau from the 2nd century BCE to the 3rd century CE. The Satavahanas ruled from their capital Dhanyakataka, which according to historian Stanley Wolpert, might have been the most prosperous city in India in the 2nd century. Roman coins unearthed from Nagarjunakonda and the mention of the port of Machilipatnam (Maisolia) in the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea ( 1st century) indicate that trade relations existed with the Roman Empire during the period. Although uncertain, as per some scholars, Nagarjuna, the founder of the Madhyamaka school of Mahayana, lived in the region during the Satavahana period. The Amaravati School of Art, which is regarded as one of the three major styles of ancient Indian art, developed during the period and had a great influence on art in South Asia and Southeast Asia.
The Andhra Ikshvakus, with their capital at Vijayapuri, succeeded the Satavahanas in the Krishna River valley in the 3rd century. The Salankayanas ruled the region between Godavari and Krishna rivers with their capital at Vengi from the 4th to the early 5th century.
Medieval history (5th to 16th century)
The Vishnukundinas held sway over the region in the 5th and 6th centuries. The Undavalli Caves are an example of Indian rock-cut architecture of that time. The Telugu Cholas (Renati Chodas) ruled the south Andhra region from the 6th to the 13th centuries intermittently, initially as samantas of the Pallavas and later under the Cholas. The oldest Telugu inscription is the Kalamalla sasanam, dated to 575, which was carved during the reign of the Renati Choda king Erikal Muturaju Dhanunjaya. The Eastern Chalukyas ruled the Vengi region from the 7th century to early 12th century, and later continued to rule under the protection of the Cholas until 1189. Early Telugu literature appeared during the Chalukya period.
The Kakatiyas ruled the region between the late 12th and early 14th centuries. After repeated attacks from the Delhi Sultanate, the Kakatiyas fell in the early 14th century, which resulted in anarchy. The Musunuri Nayakas briefly wrested power in northern Andhra, before the Bahmani Kingdom took control of the region, while the Reddi Kingdom ruled the coastal Andhra region. The Reddis constructed several fortifications including the Kondaveedu and Kondapalli Forts.
The Gajapatis ruled parts of the region in the late 15th century before the region became part of the Vijayanagara Empire during the reign of Krishnadevaraya in the early 16th century. The Pemmasani Nayaks controlled parts of the northern Andhra region and were allied with the Vijayanagara Empire. The Nayaks had a large army that fought for the Vijayanagara kings against the Bahmani Kingdom. During the Vijayanagara rule, several infrastructure projects were built including tanks and anicuts. The Vijayanagara kings also patronised art and literature, and built several temples and monuments. The Lepakshi group of monuments, which are part of the tentative list of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites, was built during the period.
Later conflicts and European colonisation (17th to 20th century)
After the Vijayanagara Empire was defeated in the Battle of Talikota in 1565 by a confederacy of Deccan sultanates, and the break-up of the sultanates, the Sultanate of Golconda controlled parts of Andhra while the Nayaks including Pemmasani Nayaks, Sayapaneni Nayaks, and Nayakas of Kalahasti supported the Aravidu dynasty and continued to ruled parts of the region. Majority of the region later came under the rule of the Mughal Empire in the 17th century. Nizam-ul-Mulk, initially appointed as viceroy of the Deccan by the Mughals in 1713, established himself as a semi-independent ruler as the Nizam of Hyderabad.
A French factory was founded at Masulipatnam in 1669 after a grant from Golconda Sultanate, which was abandoned before being re-established after the French established a trading post at Yanam in 1723. The territories were ceded to the French by Muzaffar Jang Hidayat, the 3rd Nizam of Hyderabad, in 1750. In 1765, Robert Clive of the East India Company obtained a grant of four circars (administrative districts) in the Rayalaseema region from the Mughal emperor Shah Alam II and later formalised in a treaty with Nizam Ali, the 5th Nizam of Hyderabad, in 1778 to for an addition of another circar. The territories were later ceded to the British by Ali in 1800. Meanwhile, in North Andhra, Raja Vijaya Ramaraju established the Vizianagaram Estate with the help of the British support. However, after a dispute with the British, he was defeated at the Battle of Padmanabham in 1794 and the estate annexed as a tributary of the British. Following the annexation of the Carnatic Sultanate in 1801, the last major portion of present-day Andhra Pradesh came under British East India Company rule as part of Madras Presidency. The French territories changed hands multiple times between the British and the French, before they were returned to the French at the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1817. While Masulipatnam was later taken over by the British following several rounds of territory exchanges in the late 19th century, Yanam remained with the French.
After the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the region became part of the British crown. During the British Raj, several irrigation facilities and waterways were developed, including the Dowleswaram Barrage, built by Arthur Cotton. The Buckingham Canal, built between 1806 and 1878, ran parallel to the Coromandel Coast from Kakinada to Marakkanam and served as a major water transportation route. Telegraph service was initiated in 1850. Kandukuri Veeresalingam pioneered the Telugu renaissance movement which promoted the education of women and lower-caste people, opposed child marriage, dowry, and the prohibition of widow remarriage. Armed uprisings against the British were led by Uyyalawada Narasimha Reddy in the mid-19th century, and Kanneganti Hanumanthu and Alluri Sitarama Raju later mobilised farmers and Adivasis. Other prominent people involved in the struggle for independence include Tanguturi Prakasam ("Andhra Kesari"), Gadicherla Harisarvottama Rao, and Bhogaraju Pattabhi Sitaramayya. Pingali Venkayya, designed the initial tricolour flag, which was later adopted as the Indian National Flag. Durgabai Deshmukh founded the Andhra Mahila Sabha in 1937.
Post-Independence (1947–present)