Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh [1](Telugu: ఆంధ్ర ప్రదేశ్, Urdu: آندھرا پردیش [aːnd̪ʰrə prədeːʃ] (help·info)) or AP, the "Rice Bowl of India", is a state in southern India. It lies between 12°41' and 22°N latitude and 77° and 84°40'E longitude, and is bordered by Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Orissa in the north, the Bay of Bengal in the East, Tamil Nadu to the south and Karnataka to the west. Andhra Pradesh is the fifth largest state in India by area and population. It is the largest and most populous state in South India. The state is crossed by two major rivers, the Godavari and the Krishna.

History

Main article: History of Andhra
An Andhra Kingdom was mentioned in the Sanskrit epics such as Aitareya Brahmana and Mahabharata. Inscriptional evidence showed that there was a kingdom in coastal Andhra ruled by Kuberaka with Pratipalapura (Bhattiprolu) as his capital in 5th century BCE. This probably was the oldest known kingdom in south India. Around the same time Dhanyakatakam/Dhranikota seemed to be a very important place. According to Taranatha: "On the full moon of the month Caitra in the year following his enlightenment, at the great stupa of Dhanyakataka, the Buddha emanated the mandala of "The Glorious Lunar Mansions" (Kalachakra)[2][3]. The Mauryans extended their rule over Andhra in 4th century BCE. With the fall of the Mauryan Empire Andhra Satavahanas became independent in 3rd century BCE. After the decline of the Satavahanas in 220 CE, Ikshvakus, Pallavas, Vishnukundinas, Anandagotrikas and Cholas ruled the Telugu land. Inscriptional evidence of Telugu was found during the rule of Renati Cholas (Kadapa region) in 5th century CE[citation needed]. During this period the Telugu language, emerged as a popular medium undermining the predominance of Prakrit and Sanskrit[citation needed]. Telugu was made official language during Vishnukundina Kings[citation needed] who ruled from Vinukonda as the capital. Eastern Chalukyas, who were originally Kannadigas ruled for a long period after the decline of Vishnukundinas. Their capital was Vengi. As early as 1st century CE, they were mentioned as being the vassals and chieftains under the Satavahanas and later under Ikshvakus.
The battle of Palnadu resulted in the weakening of Chalukyan power and emergence of the Kakatiya dynasty in the 12th and the 13th centuries CE. The Kakatiyas were at first the feudatories of the Western Chalukyas of Kalyani, ruling over a small territory near Warangal. In 1323 CE, Delhi Sultan Ghiaz-ud-din Tughlaq sent a large army under Ulugh Khan to conquer the Telugu country and capture Warangal. King Prataprudra was taken prisoner. Musunuri Nayaks recaptured Warangal from the Delhi Sultanate and ruled for fifty years. The Vijayanagar empire, one of the greatest empires in the history of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and India, was founded by Harihara (Hakka) and Bukka, who served as commanders in the army of the Hoysalas or were employed as treasury officers of the Kakatiyas of Warnagal. In 1347 CE, 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 Colonial India, Northern Circars became part of the British Madras Presidency. Eventually this region emerged as the Coastal Andhra region. Later the Nizam had ceded five territories to the British which eventually emerged as Rayalaseema region. The Nizams retained control of the interior provinces as the Princely state of Hyderabad, acknowledging British rule in return for local autonomy.
India became independent from the United Kingdom in 1947. The Muslim Nizam of Hyderabad wanted to retain his independence from India, but his state of Hyderabad was forced to become part of the Republic of India in 1948 as Hyderabad State.
In an effort to gain an independent state, and protect the interests of the Telugu people of Madras State, Amarajeevi Potti Sriramulu fasted until death. Public outcry and civil unrest after his death forced the government to announce the formation of a new state for Telegu speakers. Andhra attained statehood in October 1953.
On 1 November 1 1956 Andhra State merged with the Telangana region of Hyderabad State to form the state of Andhra Pradesh, which would be mainly Telugu-speaking. Hyderabad, the former capital of the Hyderabad State, was made the capital of the new state Andhra Pradesh.

Geography

Andhra Pradesh has the second-longest coastline in India of 970 kilometres[4] and can be broadly divided into three unofficial geographic regions, namely Kosta (Coastal Andhra),Uttaraandhra (North Coastal Andhra), Telangana and Rayalaseema.[5][6][7]

Rivers and hills

The state is dotted with hill ranges from the north to the south, running erratically down the middle of the country dividing it into western and eastern or coastal Andhra. These hills form integral geographical entities of Andhra life and history. In the north, there are Simhachalam and Annavaram hills, in the middle country there are the Srisailam hill ranges and in the south are the Tirumalai-Tirupati hills.
The Krishna and Godavari rivers together irrigate thousands of square kilometres of land and create the largest perennial cultivable area in the country. Nearly 75% of the state territory, is covered by the basins of three big rivers - Godavari, Krishna and Pennar and their tributaries. In addition, there are 17 short rivers like Sarada, Nagavali, Musi and other streams. The two great perennial rivers of the state, Godavari and Krishna spring from the Western Ghats in Maharashtra and flow eastward and joins the Bay of Bengal. The Godavari enters the state of Andhra Pradesh from Maharashtra while the Krishna first goes to Karnataka where it flows for a considerable distance before entering Andhra Pradesh. Besides these two big rivers, there are the Tungabhadra, the Pennar and many other small rivers and rivulets. Pennar originates in the Karnataka plateau. Like all the peninsular rivers and even those which arise in central India, like the Narmada, Sone and Chambal, all these are rain fed rivers as there is no snow below the Himalayas. Andhra Pradesh has considerable topographical variations with dense forest in the north east, flat paddy lands in the coastal plains, several noteworthy beaches along the Bay of Bengal and the stark boulder-strewn region around Hyderabad. Andhra Pradesh leads in the production of rice (paddy) and is called India's Rice Bowl.

Economy

agriculture

Agriculture has been the chief source of income for the state's economy. Two important rivers of India, the Godavari and Krishna, flow through the state, providing irrigation. Rice, sugarcane, cotton, mirchi and tobacco are the local crops. There are many multi-state irrigation projects in development, including Godavari River Basin Irrigation Projects.[8][9]

The state has also started to focus on the fields of information technology and biotechnology. In 2004 - 2005, Andhra Pradesh is at the fifth position in the list of top IT exporting states of India. The IT exports from the State were Rs.1,800 million in 2004. But by a percentage increase of 52.3% every year, the IT exports reached Rs.19,000 million in 2006 - 2007 and ranked fourth in India. The service sector of the state already accounts for 43% of the GSDP and employs 20% of the work force.[10]

Mineral wealth
Andhra Pradesh is a mineral rich state, ranking second in India in terms of mineral wealth. For example, the state has about one third of India's limestone reserves, at about 30 billion tonnes.[11]
The state ranks first nationwide in hydro electricity generation with national market share of over 11%.
Andhra Pradesh's gross state domestic product for 2005 is estimated at $62 billion in current prices. This is a chart of trend of gross state domestic product of Andhra Pradesh at market prices estimated by Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation with figures in millions of Indian Rupees.