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History
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.
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