Andhra Pradesh
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
| Andhra Pradesh | |
 Location of Andhra Pradesh |
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| Capital | Hyderabad, India 17.22° N 78.26° E |
| Largest city | Hyderabad, India |
| Abbreviation | IN-AP |
| Official languages | Telugu |
| Legislature • Strength • Governor • Chief Minister |
Unicameral 295 Sushilkumar Shinde (list) Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy (list) |
| Formation | October 1, 1953 |
| Area | 275,068 km² (4th) |
| Population (2001) | 75,727,000 (5th) |
| Density | 275/km² |
| Districts | 23 |
| Time zone | IST (UTC +5:30) |
 Seal of Andhra Pradesh |
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Andhra Pradesh (ఆంధ్ర ప్రదేశం in Telugu) (Āndhra Prādesh), is a state in south-eastern India and is part of the linguistic-cultural region of South India. It lies between 12°41' and 22°N latitude and 77° and 84°40'E longitude, and is bounded 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 and it forms the major link between the north and the south of India. It is the biggest and most populous state in the south of India. It is considered the rice bowl of India. The state is crisscrossed by two major rivers, the Godavari and Krishna. ("Pradesh" means "region" or "state".)
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History
Sanskrit writings from the 7th century BC describe the Andhra people as Aryans from the north who migrated south of the Vindhya Range and mixed with Dravidians. They are mentioned again at the time of the death of the great Mauryan King Ashoka, in 232 BC. This date has been held to be the beginning of the Andhra historical record. Satavahana dynasty ruled 'Andra Maval' region of western Maharashtra. Hence they were called as 'Andhras'. Subsequently Andra Pradesh got its name from this dynasty. Various dynasties have ruled the area, including the Andhra (or Satavahana), Reddys, Shakas, Ikshvakas, Eastern Chalukyas, Kakatiyas, Vijayanagar, the Qutb Shahis, and the Nizams (princes) of Hyderabad.
17th Century
During the 17th century, the British acquired the Coastal Andhra region along the Bay of Bengal, then known as the Northern Circars, from the Nizams, which became part of the British Madras Presidency. The Nizams retained control of the interior provinces as the princely state of Hyderabad, acknowledging British rule in return for local autonomy.
The Colonial Era
During the colonial era, Andhra was split amongst several rulers: the Nizam, the Madras Presidency. The Andhra (or Telugu) were at the forefront of Indian nationalism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Potti Sriramulu fought for independence alongside Mahatma Gandhi, and later fought for Andhra unification.
Post-Indepedence
India became independent from Britain in 1947. The Muslim Nizam of Hyderabad wanted to retain his independence from India, but his state was forcibly integrated into India in 1948 as Hyderabad state. In 1953, the northern, Telugu-speaking portion of Madras State voted to become the new state of Andhra Pradesh, the first of India's linguistic states. The state aquired its present boundaries on November 1, 1956, when Hyderabad State was partitioned along linguistic lines and its Telangana region was added to Andhra Pradesh.
Other articles about Andhra Pradesh History
Dynasties
Satavahana, Reddys, Shakas, Ikshvakas, Eastern Chalukyas, Kakatiyas, Vijayanagar, Qutb Shahi.
Geography
Regions
Andhra Pradesh can be broadly divided into three regions, namely Coastal Andhra, Telangana and Rayalaseema.
Coastal Andhra occupies the coastal plain between Eastern Ghats ranges, which run the length of the state, and the Bay of Bengal.
Telangana lies west of the Ghats on the Deccan plateau. The Godavari and Krishna rivers rise in the Western Ghats of Karnataka and Maharashtra and flow east across Telangana to empty into the Bay of Bengal in a combined river delta.
Rayalaseema lies in the southeast of the state on the Deccan plateau, in the basin of the Penner River. It is separated from Telangana by the low Erramala hills, and from Coastal Andhra by the Eastern Ghats.
The Krishna and Godavari rivers together irrigate thousands of square kilometres of land, and create the largest perennial cultivable area in the country. Andhra Pradesh leads in the production of rice (paddy) and is called India's Rice Bowl.
Important Cities
- Hyderabad is the capital of the state and, along with its twin town of Secunderabad, is the largest city.
- Visakhapatnam is the second largest city, India's fourth largest port, an important Naval Centre and an industrial hub.
- Tirupati features the famous Venkateswara temple, is a major pilgrimage center.
- Vijayawada is an important trading center and a prominent railway junction.
- Guntur is the heart of the tobacco industry.
- Warangal was the capital of the Kakatiya dynasty.
- Nellore is famous for its sea food.
- Kurnool was the capital city of the Andhra state.
- Kakinada is the hub of natural gas exploration and industrial activity.
- Rajahmundry is known for the Godavari barrage which is the largest bridge in the state.
Districts
23 districts of Andhra Pradesh
Politics
Andhra Pradesh has a Legislative Assembly of 294 seats. The state has 60 members in the Indian national parliament: 18 in the Rajya Sabha (upper house) and 42 in the Lok Sabha (lower house).
Andhra Pradesh had a row of Congress governments till 1982. Kasu Bramhananda Reddy held the record for the longest serving chief minister which was broken by Nara Chandrababu Naidu. P.V. Narasimha Rao also served as the chief minister for the state, who later went on to become the Prime Minister of India. Among the notable chief ministers of the state are Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy, Kasu Bramhananda Reddy, Dr.Marri Chenna Reddy , Kotla Vijaya Bhasker Reddy , N T Rama Rao and Nara Chandrababu Naidu.
The Beginning of Multi-Party Politics
1982 saw the rise of NT Rama Rao (or NTR) as the chief minister of the state for the first time introducing a formidable second political party to Andhra politics and thus breaking the virtually-single party monopoly on Andhra politics. Nadendla Bhaskar Rao attempted a hijack when NTR was away to the United States for a medical treatment. After coming back, NTR successfully convinced the governor to dissolve the Assembly and call for a fresh election. NTR won by a large majority. His government's policies included investment in education and rural development and in holding corrupt government offices accountable.
1989 assembly elections ended the 7-year rule of NTR with the congress being returned to power and Dr.Marri Chenna Reddy at the helm. He was replaced by N. Janardhan Reddy who was in turn replaced by Kotla Vijaya Bhasker Reddy.
In 1994 Assembly saw NTR becoming the chief minister again, but he was soon thrown out of power by his finance minister and son-in-law N Chandrababu Naidu. Naidu won a second term before he was defeated by the Congress-led coalition in the May 2004 polls.
Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy of the Indian National Congress (INC) is the current chief minister of the states. Rajasekhara Reddy fought the 2004 Assembly elections in an alliance with a new party called Telangana Rashtra Samithi (or TRS), which hopes to form a separate state called Telangana.
See Andhra Pradesh Politics
See Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh
See List of political parties in the state
Economy
Recent Economic Progress
In the last decade, the state has emerged at the forefront of India's progress in fields like
and has emerged as a land of immense business opportunities.
In spite of some liberalization since 1990, Andhra's economy still faces many challeges, especially in the drought-hit agricultural sector.
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. Rice, sugarcane, cotton, mirchi, and tobacco are the local crops. The state has also started to focus on the fields of information technology and biotechnology.
Urban Centers of Economic Importance
Hyderabad, the capital of Andhra Pradesh, is the fifth largest cosmopolitan city in India, rich in culture, enduring history and industrial growth. It is unique in being one of the few cities where tradition and technology co-exist. Hyderabad, like Bangalore, has become a center for outsourcing. Notable amongst the multinational companies in Hyderabad is Microsoft.
Vizag, Andhra's main port, is home to the Indian Navy's Eastern Naval Command. The city's shipyards, fisheries, docks, and steel works make it an economic powerhouse. Recently, Vizag has seen a rise in investment as industry in Andhra begins to turn towards the lucrative export market. Also, because of its highly valuable geographic location, and because of recent political movement towards a creation of a separate Telangana state, Vizag has seen a massive rise in investment in the city's real estate market.
Culture
Language
Telugu (తెలుగు) is the state's official language. It is known for its mellifluous nature and has also been called 'Italian of the East'. An Urdu-speaking and predominantly Muslim minority lives mostly in Hyderabad. Among the many tribal languages, Banjara, Koyi, and Gondi have the greatest number of speakers.
Music
The state has a rich cultural heritage. The great composers of carnatic music Annamacharya, Tyagaraja and many others chose Telugu as their language of composition, thus enriching the language.
Literature
- Main article: Telugu literature
Nannayya, Tikkana, and Yerrapragada form the trinity who translated the great epic Mahabharatha into Telugu. Modern writers include Sri Sri, Jnanpith Award winners Sri Viswanatha Satyanarayana and Dr. C. Narayana Reddy.
Dance
Kuchipudi is the state's classical dance form. Andhra has 1,500 movie theaters, the most of any state in India. The state also produces about 200 movies a year.
Cultural Institutions
Andhra Pradesh has many museums, including the Salar Jung Museum in Hyderabad, which features a varied collection of sculptures, paintings, and religious artifacts, and the Visakha Museum in Vizag, which displays the history of the pre-Independence Madras Presidency in a rehabilitated Dutch bungalow.
Other elements of Culture
Bapu's paintings, Nanduri Subbarao's Yenki Paatalu (Songs on/by a washerwoman called Yenki), mischievous Budugu (a character by Mullapudi), Annamayya's songs, Aavakaaya (a variant of mango pickle in which the kernel of mango is retained), Atla taddi (a seasonal festival predominantly for teenage girls), banks of river Godavari, Dudu basavanna (The ceremonial ox decorated for door-to-door exhibition during the harvest festival Sankranti) have long defined Telugu culture.
Festivals
- Sankranthi in January.
- Ugadi or the Telugu New Year in March/April.
- Vinayaka Chavithi in August.
- Dasara in October.
- Deepavali in November.
- Bonalu in Sravanam.
Food
The cuisine of Andhra Pradesh is reputedly the spiciest of all Indian cuisine. Foods include both the original spicy Andhra cooking and Muslim-influenced Hyderabadi cuisine.
Pickles and chutneys are particularly popular in Andhra Pradesh and many varieties of pickles and chutneys are unique to the state. Chutneys are made from practically every vegetable including tomatoes, brinjals and an aromatic green called 'Gongura'. A mango pickle, 'Avakkaya', is probably the best known of the Andhra pickles.
Rice is the staple diet and is used in a wide variety of ways. Typically, rice is either boiled and eaten with curry, or made into a batter for use in a pancake-like dish called dosas, or rice cakes called idlis.
Meat, vegetables and greens are prepared with different masalas into a variety of strongly flavoured dishes.
Hyderabadi cuisine is influenced by the Muslim population, which arrived in Andhra centuries ago. Much of the cuisine revolves around meat. It is rich and aromatic, with a liberal use of exotic spices and ghee, not to speak of nuts and dry fruits. Lamb, chicken and fish are the most widely used meats in the non-vegetarian dishes. The biryanis are perhaps the most distinctive and popular of Hyderabadi dishes.
Tourism
Andhra Pradesh is the home of many religious pilgrim centers. Tirupati, the abode of Lord Venkateswara, has the richest and most visited Hindu temple in India. Srisailam, the abode of Sri Mallikarjuna, is one of the twelve Jyothirlingams in India and Yadagirigutta, the abode of an avatara of Vishnu, Sri Lakshmi Narasimha. Puttaparthi hosts the ashram of popular guru Sri Sathya Sai Baba. The Ramappa temple at Warangal is famous for some fine temple carvings. The state has numerous Buddhist centers at Amaravati, Bhattiprolu, Nagarjuna Konda, and Phanigiri.
The one-million-year old limestone caves at Borra, picturesque Araku Valley, hill resorts of Horsley Hills, Godavari racing through a narrow gorge at Papi Kondalu, waterfalls and rich bio-diversity at Talakona, the beaches of Vizag are some of the natural attractions of the state.
Charminar, Golconda Fort, Chandragiri Fort, and Falaknuma Palace are some of the monuments in the state.
Famous personalities from Andhra Pradesh
External links
- Andhra Pradesh government Official Portal
- Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly Live
- Andhra Pradesh Portal on The Indian Analyst Detailed information, index of News, Analysis, and Opinion from many sources
| Indian states and territories |  |
|---|---|
| Andhra Pradesh | Arunachal Pradesh | Assam | Bihar | Chhattisgarh | Goa | Gujarat | Haryana | Himachal Pradesh | Jammu and Kashmir | Jharkhand | Karnataka | Kerala | Madhya Pradesh | Maharashtra | Manipur | Meghalaya | Mizoram | Nagaland | Orissa | Punjab | Rajasthan | Sikkim | Tamil Nadu | Tripura | Uttaranchal | Uttar Pradesh | West Bengal | |
| Union territories: Andaman and Nicobar Islands | Chandigarh | Dadra and Nagar Haveli | Daman and Diu | Lakshadweep | Pondicherry | |
| National Capital Territory: Delhi | |
