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Centuries ago, Andhra Pradesh was a major Buddhist centre
and part of Emperor Ashoka's sprawling kingdom. Not
surprisingly, traces of early Buddhist influence are still visible
in several places in and around the state. After the death of
Emperor Ashoka, several dynasties from the Ikshvakus,
Pallavas, Chalukyas, Kakatiyas, Vijayanagaram
kings, Qutb Shahis, Mughals and the Asaf
Jahi's, ruled this princely city.
The history of
Andhra Pradesh dates back to the epic era of the Ramayana and the
Mahabharatha. But the documented history points to 236 BC,
when Satavahana established a kingdom and a dynasty around
the modern Hyderabad. During the reign of 450 years, Buddhism
flourished in the kingdom. The rulers were followers of
Brahmanism, but the women folk practiced Buddism. It was during
this period that Buddhism spread from these shores to China, The
far East and to Sri Lanka. The Ikshvakus succeeded the
Satavahanas and ruled the kingdom for 57 years. The Pallavas
annexed the area South of River Krishna and ruled till the end of
6th century.
Then came the dynasties of Chalukyas and the Kakatiyas.
The Kakatiyas established themselves as rulers of a Telugu
speaking people. The glorious reign of the Kakatiyas came to
end in the 14th century and for the first time Telugus came
under a Muslim regime that brought with it a totally different set
of customs, language and religion.
The Delhi Sultanate came in power in 1347 AD, governed by
Allahuddin Hasan, claiming lineage to Bahman Shah of Persia,
revolted against the Delhi Sultanate and declared himself ruler of
the southern part of the territory, comprising mainly the Deccan
and Telangana area.
It was somewhere around this time that the Qutub Shahi dynasty
came into being when Sultan Quli, the Bahmani governor of
Telangana, became independent and extend the new kingdom of
Golconda right upto Machlipatnam on the east coast. Given the
title of Quli-ul-Mulk by the Bahmanis, Qutub Shah, a descendant of
a royal family of Hamdan in Persia, took over the reins and ruled
till 1548.
Aurangazeb last Mogul king to rule India, conquered the
Deccan in 1687 and left his governors, the Nizams, to
rule Andhra. The British and French took over from the
Nizams. Andhra became a part of Indian Union in 1947. The present
state was formed in 1953, merging a part of the then Madras State
(present Tamil Naidu) and the princely state of Hyderabad. |
AP History
