History of Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh is the fourth largest state in India.  Situated on the south eastern coast it enjoys the second largest coastline of any state in the country.  The state was originally part of the Madras state although it officially came into its own in 1953.  The actual area has been documented since the ancient times with documentation about the area found in Sanskrit epics.  Rulers of the area have included Chandragupta Maurya, the Satavahanas, the Vishnukundinas and the Cholas among others.

In the seventeenth century Andhra Pradesh was colonized by the British.  The area then known as Hyderabad acknowledged the British rule in return for local autonomy.  The colonization lasted until 1947 when India became independent from the United Kingdom.  Upon independence the area requested it stay separate from the rest of India though Operation Polo stopped all chances of this and the area was forcibly joined to the Republic of India in 1948.

In an effort to remake Andhra an independent state, Indian revolutionary Potti Sreeramulu fasted until his death in 1952.  Sreeramulu’s wish to protect the Andhra people was finally granted in 1953 a year after his death when the area was made into a separate state.

On November 1, 1956 an act called the States Reorganization Act was drawn up in order to merge the Telugu speaking areas of the former Hyderabad state and the former Madras state.  This formed the area we now know today as Andhra Pradesh, and was the first time a state has been formed based on languages.  The former capital of the Hyderabad state – Hyderabad City was named as the new capital of Andhra Pradesh