History and Culture of Andhra Pradesh
First created : January 05,2000
Last updated: June 17,2007
From the lush green rice fields on the banks of Krishna river to the diamonds of Cudapah valley, Andhra Pradesh represents a fertile land of resources and ideas. In the fourteenth century, during the Vijayanagar kings, Andhra Pradesh represented the epitome of Indian prosperity, and in 1983 the people of Andhra Pradesh strongly came together to defeat one of the greatest threats to Indian democratic system (by restoring the government of N.T. Rama Rao by popular demand). We bring you this Potpourri of topics on Andhra history and culture, to honor a great people.
The logo (shown on the left) for the series is from a beautiful mural in Lepakshi in Anantapur district and depicts a man wearing headgear similar to that worn by Krishnadevaraya, a great former king of Andhra.
WHAT IS THE IMPACT OF ANDHRA POLITICS ON THE CENTER IN NEW DELHI AND FUTURE OF INDIA
<img src='http://www.kamat.com/kalranga/andhra/vnlogo.gif' border='0' alt='user posted image' />
The royal emblem of the Vijayanagar kings
featuring the Varaha (boar)
The Vijayanagar Empire
1336 A.D. to 1565 A.D.
The Vijyanagar kingdom was started in South India on a humble note to resist Muslim invasion of the Hoysala territory by Mallik Kafur's destructive campaign. However, within fifty years, the Vijayanagar (a.k.a. Vijayanagara) kingdom came to be known as a powerful empire and reigned the Indian southern peninsula for nearly 200 years. It required four Muslim kingdoms to come together to destroy the unwieldy large empire at the battle of Talikota.
The big empire was visited by many foreigners who left vivid descriptions of the prosperity, strong powerful army and busy maritime trade. (See: Hu-En-Tsang.)
Their capital was at Vijayanagar on the banks of Tungabhadra river, which today (2000) contains many great ruins.
Krishnadevaraya of Vijayanagar was a great patron of art and literature and an accomplished poet himself in Telugu. The Hampi ruins are scattered over the area of fourteen square miles known as world's biggest open-air museum.
Dynasties of Deccan
First Online: June 21,2001
Last Updated: June 17,2007
Note: Not a complete list of the rulers of South India.
For references, scroll to bottom of the page -- Ed.
<span style='color:blue'>
* The Pandyas 200 B.C. to 300 B.C.(?)
* The Pallavas of Kanchi c. 3rd century - 9th century
* The Chola Dynasty: 300 B.C. to 1250 A.D. -- A very important dynasty to rule South India (and other parts of South Asia). The Chola empire rose under Rajaraja Chola I (reigned 985â1014 A.D.) and Rajendra Chola I (reigned 1014â42 A.D.), and their power reached its zenith.
* The Satavahanas: (c. 50 B.C to 250 A.D.)
* The Chalukyas of Badami
* The Chalukyas of Kalyani (973- 1198 CE)
* The Rashtrakutas 752-985 A.D.
* The Vijayanagara Empire: 1336 A.D. to 1565 A.D.
* The Hoysala Dynasty: 1000 A.D. to 1346 A.D.
* The Kadambas: 350 A.D. to 14th Century
* The Gangas: 350 A.D. to end of 10th Century
* The Wodeyars of Mysore: 1578 A.D. to 1947 A.D.
* The Adil Shahis and Bahamani kings of Bijapur</span>
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)[1][2]. 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. During this period the Telugu language, emerged as a popular medium undermining the predominance of Prakrit and Sanskrit. Telugu was made official language during Vishnukundina Kings who ruled from Vinukonda as the capital. Eastern Chalukyas ruled for a long period after the decline of Vishnukundinas. Their capital was Vengi. The present day Rayalaseema was the first home of Chalukyas. As early as 1st century CE, they were mentioned as being the vassals and chieftains under the Satavahana rule. Their place of residence at that time was the Kadapa area. They migrated to the northern Karnataka area after suffering loses at the hands of Pallava kings. They reentered the Telugu land via the present day Telangana and gave rise to Eastern Chalukya kingdom[3][4]
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 Andhra Pradesh and India, was founded by Harihara (Hakka) and Bukka, who served as Treasury officers in the administration of the Kakatiya empire. 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 protect the interests of the Telugu people of Madras State, Amarajeevi Potti Sriramulu attempted to force the Madras Presidency government to listen to public demands for the separation of Telugu speaking districts from the Madras Presidency to form an Andhra state, and Andhra attained statehood on 19 October 1952.
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.
[edit] Geography
Andhra Pradesh has the second-longest coastline in India of 970 kilometres [5] and can be broadly divided into three unofficial geographic regions, namely Kosta (Coastal Andhra/Andhra), Telangana and Rayalaseema. [6] [7] [8]
Kosta
Kosta
Telangana lies west of the Ghats on the Deccan plateau. The Godavari River and Krishna River 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.
Kosta occupies the coastal plain between Eastern Ghats ranges, which run the length of the state, and the Bay of Bengal.
Telanagana
Telanagana
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.
Rayalaseema
Rayalaseema
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.
The Kakatiya dynasty was a South Indian dynasty that ruled parts of what is now Andhra Pradesh, India from 1083CE to 1323CE[1]. It was one of the great Telugu kingdoms that lasted for centuries.
[edit] Origins
The Kakatiyaâs ascent to power can be traced to the reign of the Western Chalukyas. Kakartya Gundyana, a subordinate of the Eastern Chalukyan monarch, Amma II (945 CE-970 CE), established the Kakatiya dynasty[2]. The dynasty's name comes either from its association with a town known as Kakatipura (since the kings bore the title âKakatipuravallabhaâ) or from their worship of a goddess called Kakati. A temple dedicated to goddess Kakatamma exists in Warangal so Kakatipura could be another name for Warangal itself. Kakatiyas belonged to the Durjaya family/clan. Inscriptional evidence points out that the Kakatiyas accepted the new religion Lingayatism started by vishwaguru Basavanna, and that they were members of the Durjaya family.
[edit] Early History
Gundaya (950 CE) was the first known historical figure among the Kakatiyas[3]. He sacrificed his life in the service of the Rashtrakuta ruler Krishna II while fighting against the Eastern Chalukyas. The grateful Krishna II placed Gundaya's son Eriya in charge of Kurravadi near Warangal. This kingdom was created as a check on the Mudigonda Chalukyas on the eastern borders of the Rashtrakuta Empire[4]. Eriya made Kakatipura his capital. Eriya's grandson Kakartya Gundyana rendered help on behalf of his master Krishna III to Danarnava in setting aside his brother Amma II and occupying the throne of Vengi, as a result of which he got Natavadi as a token of gratitude. Gundyana's son and successor Betaraja I took advantage of the Chalukya-Chola conflict and carved out for himself a small principality. His son and successor Prola I obtained by way of grant, Hanumamakonda from Somesvara I. Beta II, son and successor of Prola, ruled between 1076 CE and 1108 CE. During his period, Hanumakonda became the capital of the Kakatiyas. Prola II the younger brother of Beta II was the most famous among the early Kakatiya rulers. When the Chalukyan power began to decline, Prola II took advantage of the confused situation and proclaimed independence. He made extensive conquests in Telangana. He also defeated and killed Gunda, the ruler of Mantrakuta (Nuzividu taluk of Krishna district) and annexed it to his kingdom. However, in his attempts to occupy the Velanati kingdom he lost his life at the hands of Rajendra Choda, the prince of the Velanati Telugu Chodas of Chandolu. This was the emergence of the Kakatiya dynasty in its own right[5].
[edit] Rudradeva
Prola II was succeeded by Rudradeva (1158 - 1195). Rudradeva, also known as Prataparudra I, was the eldest son of Prola II. By the year 1162 CE, Rudradeva vanquished a number of his enemies and transformed his petty principality into an extensive kingdom. Rudradeva devoted the later part of his reign to the conquest of the coastal region. He consolidated and pushed the kingdom to the north up to the Godavari delta. He built a fort at Warangal to serve as a second capital. During the years 1176-82 CE the battle of Palanadu was fought. Rudradeva rendered military assistance to Nalagama's faction. In this battle, the military strength of Velanadu had got weakened. Exploiting the situation, Rudradeva led his forces into coastal Andhra and conquered up to Srisailam and Tripurantakam in the south. In the last year of his reign (1195 CE), he came into conflict with the Seunas (Yadavas) of Devagiri. Rudra suffered defeat and death in his encounter with Jaitrapala I. After Rudradeva's death and the imprisonment of his nephew Ganapati in the hands of the Yadavas, his younger brother Mahadeva ascended the throne and ruled the kingdom for a short span of about three years (1196-1198 CE). He led an expedition against the Yadava kingdom to avenge Rudra's death and also to release his son Ganapati. He lost his life in the battle.
[edit] Ganapatideva
Following the death of Mahadeva disorder broke out in the kingdom. Recherla Rudra, the commander-in-chief of the Kakatiya ruler, saved the kingdom from crumbling. Ganapatideva was set free by Jaitrapala due to political considerations like his desire to secure himself against an attack from Warangal in the event of a conflict with the aggressive Hoysalas in the south. Ganapatideva's reign lasted for 62 years. It is one of the most brilliant epochs in the history of Andhradesa. Ganapati during his long reign brought under his sway almost the whole land inhabited by the Telugu speaking people. Though Ganapatideva was alive until 1269 CE he handed over the threads of administration to his daughter Rudramadevi in 1262 A.D. itself and retired from active politics.
Ganapatideva was known as the greatest of the Kakatiyas and the first after the Satavahanas to bring the entire Telugu area under one rule. He put an end to the rule of the Cholas in the year 1210 who accepted his suzerainty. He established order in his vast dominion and encouraged trade. It is around this period that the Golconda fort was constructed, as well as beautiful temples in the Kakatiya art form such as Ramappa Temple at the tiny village of Palampet outside of Warangal.
Figure S9: Thirteenth century Kakatiya Ganapati Deva inscription.
Figure S9: Thirteenth century Kakatiya Ganapati Deva inscription.
[edit] Rudramadevi
The most prominent ruler in this dynasty was Rani Rudrama Devi 1262-1295 CE, one of the few queens in Indian history. She was born as Rudramba to Ganapathideva who had no sons. She was formally designated as a son through the ancient Putrika ceremony and given the male name of Rudradeva and declared the Queen. Despite initial misgivings by some of her generals who resented a female ruler, she suppressed the internal rebellions and external incursions. An able fighter and ruler Rudramba defended the kingdom from the Cholas and the Yadavas, earning their respect. She remains one of the few female powers of the south for all time.
[edit] Prataparudra
Rudramadevi died in the month of November, 1289 CE., fighting battle against the rebel Kayastha chief Ambadeva. On the death of Rudrama, her grandson Prataparudra, who was adopted by her as son and as heir apparent on the advice of her father Ganapatideva, ascended the throne at the beginning of the year 1280 CE. Prataparudra had to fight battles throughout his reign against either the internal rebels or the external foes. Prataparudra expanded borders towards the west, whilst introducing many administrative reforms, some of which were also later adopted in the Vijayanagar empire.
[edit] The Demise of the Dynasty
The conquest of South India (Deccan) by the Delhi Sultanate started in 1296 when Alauddin Khilji, the son-in-Law and commander of the Sultan Jalaluddin raided and plundered Devagiri (Maharashtra)[6]. Khilji subsequently murdered the Sultan and took over the reins of the Sultanate. The glory and wealth of the Kakatiya kingdom attracted the attention of Khilji. The first foray into the Telugu kingdom was made in 1303 CE by the Sultanâs armies led by Malik Fakruddin. It was a disaster because of the valiant resistance of the Kakatiya army in the battle at Upparapalli (Karimnagar District). The second attempt was made in 1309 by Malik Kafur who managed to capture Siripur and Hanumakonda forts. Warangal fort was taken after a prolonged seize. Malik Kafur indulged in murder and mayhem around the fort which prompted King Prataparudra to make a pact and offer an enormous amount of tribute. Prataparudra asserted his independence in 1320 CE when there was a change of power in Delhi. The Khilji dynasty ended and Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq ascended the Delhi throne. Tughlaq sent his son Ulugh Khan in 1323 CE to defeat the defiant Kakatiya king. Ulugh Khanâs (Muhammad bin Tughluq) raid was repulsed but he returned in a month with a larger and determined army. The unprepared and battle-weary army of Warangal was finally defeated. King Prataparudra was taken prisoner. He committed suicide by drowning himself in the river Narmada while being taken to Delhi.
[edit] Musunuri Nayaks
The Kakatiya dynasty ended and resulted in confusion and anarchy under alien rulers for sometime. Two cousins belonging to Musunuri clan under the leadership of Prolayanayaka who served as army chiefs for Kakatiya kingdom later united the Telugu people and recovered Warangal from the Delhi Sultanate and ruled for half a century[7].
[edit] The Legacy
The Kakatiya dynasty is regarded as one of the golden ages in Telugu history. The kingdom was ruled by Telugu speaking Hindu rulers who encouraged literature, art and architecture. The Thousand-pillar Temple in Hanumakonda (now merged with Warangal) stands as testimony to this. The famous Kohinoor diamond which was unearthed in Kollur on the banks of Krishna river during their reign, was among the booty carried to Delhi after the dynasty's fall. Ramappa Temple, located 77 km from Warangal and still intact today is an example of brilliant Kakatiya art and sculpture.
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 Andhra Pradesh and India, was founded by Harihara (Hakka) and Bukka, who served as Treasury officers in the administration of the Kakatiya empire. 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 protect the interests of the Telugu people of Madras State, Amarajeevi Potti Sriramulu attempted to force the Madras Presidency government to listen to public demands for the separation of Telugu speaking districts from the Madras Presidency to form an Andhra state, and Andhra attained statehood on 19 October 1952.
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.
See my compilation of the Andhra satavanas
http://kosal.us/History/Andhra%20Kingdoms%...nt%20India.html
According to our puranas, the satavahanas reigned between 900 BCE and 300 BCE. They were the Chakravartis during this period.
The conceptual framework in which to think about Indian history is to recognize the notion of a chakravarti, who was dominant during a period and who took upon himself the responsibilities of the maintenance of the tradition.
They reigned from Patliputra, although some branche sof the dynasty ruled from Prathishtana and Guntur (Amaravati). The telugu language developed during this period. Note the language must have been present for a very long time, but the literature and sanskritization took place during the satavhana era
08-15-2007, 11:40 PM
(This post was last modified: 08-16-2007, 01:16 AM by ramana.)
Thanks for the thread. It is very important to understand the role of Andhra Pradesh in Indian history and even the current times.
We need to first get an acceptable chronology and then we can discuss the impact of Andhra Pradesh on South Indian and Indian history.
Two insights:
- It was the Muslim defeat and conquest of Kakatiya Warangal that opened up the Deccan.
-It was the support of the Nizam succession that provided the opening the British rule of India.
Its not without reason that the new US consulate was opened up in Hyderabad.
<b>Painful memories for erstwhile Hyderabad State</b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->By Mohammed Shafeeq. Andhra Pradesh, India, 09:30 AM IST
It's a bloody chapter in Indian history that still rankles those who lived through it. Real freedom for the erstwhile Hyderabad state came 13 months after the country's independence Aug 15, 1947, and that too through a military operation.
Unlike hundreds of other princely states, which immediately merged with the Indian Union after independence, the Nizam or ruler of Hyderabad sought to keep the state independent.
Despite 85 percent of its 17 million population wanting to merge with India, the Nizam was carried away by the rhetoric of a few and decided to take on the might of the Indian Army without realising the consequences for his people.
The climax came to be known in popular parlance as 'police action', also called 'operation polo'. And it is still fresh in the minds of many in the erstwhile Hyderabad state - comprising the Telangana region of the present Andhra Pradesh as well as the Kannada and Marathi-speaking regions of the present states of Karnataka and Maharashtra.
<b>'Hundreds of people were killed in police action. Many districts witnessed the worst communal riots. Wells and fields were filled with bodies. More people were killed in police action than at the hands of (pro-Nizam) 'razakars',' said Jamalunnisa, a freedom fighter belonging to the Communist Party of India (CPI).</b>
<b>An official report said that at least 27,000 people were killed during and after the 'police action'.</b>
With an area of 223,000 sq km, Hyderabad was the largest and perhaps the most developed of all princely states in pre-independence India. Its ruler, Mir Osman Ali Khan, was said to be the richest man in the world.
Osman Ali, who began his reign in 1911, was the seventh and last Nizam of the Asafjahi dynasty (1724 to 1948). Following India's independence and partition, he sought freedom for his state after his proposals for recognition of Hyderabad as an independent constitutional monarchy within the British Commonwealth or merger with Pakistan were rejected.
<b>Almost the entire population of the state's 2.5 million Muslims were for merging with Pakistan while the 15 million non-Muslims, barring a few who enjoyed high positions in the government, were for integration with India.</b>
At that time, Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM), a Muslim party, had become a dominant force. Its paramilitary wing, made up of the 'razakars', was blamed for repression on Hindus, especially in remote districts.
<b>'The razakars were also involved in converting Hindus to Islam through allurement,' said Narayan Rao Pawar, an Arya Samaj activist who is now 82</b>.
<b>The Nizam had banned political parties but organisations like the Andhra Mahasabha, Arya Samaj, the Hyderabad State Congress and the CPI were carrying on covert activities for the state's merger with the Indian Union</b>.
The peasants of the state had also revolted against the Nizam, who tried to suppress their armed struggle against landlords.
'The razakars used to attack and loot houses and rape women,' said Konda Lakshman Bapuji, who was part of the Andhra Mahasabha.
MIM leader Qasim Razvi had become more powerful than the Nizam and his fiery speeches against the Indian Union and its leaders added fuel to fire. Thousands of Muslims who were victims of communal violence took refuge in Hyderabad.
'They were not ready to listen to the voice of nationalist Muslims like Shoiabullah Khan, editor of the Urdu daily Imroz. He was stabbed to death by razakars,' said Bapuji, who was then a lawyer in his early 20s.
<b>The repression by the Nizam's Army and razakars forced Arya Samaj activists like Pawar to hatch a plan to kill the Nizam.</b>
'It was around 5 p.m. Dec 4, 1947. His convoy had emerged from his palace King Koti and I hurled a bomb which hit the rear side of the car but exploded only after the car had zipped past the place,' he said.
<b>Pawar was tried and after four to five months, the sessions court awarded him the death sentence. He recalled that the Nizam was gearing up for a battle with the Indian Army.</b>
'It was not mere rhetoric by Qasim Razvi. The Nizam was procuring sophisticated weapons. Sydney Cotton (a pilot and arms trader from Australia) used to airdrop weapons in Hyderabad and Warangal. The Nizam was also getting arms from Goa which was under the rule of Portugal,' he said.
On the intervening night of Sep 12 and 13, 1948, the Indian Army finally attacked Hyderabad state from five sides. The Indian Army made rapid progress from all sides and on Sep 17, the Hyderabad Army surrendered.
After these events, the Nizam was appointed 'rajpramukh' (constitutional figurehead) of the state by the government of India. He continued in office until 1956, when the state was dismembered pursuant to the linguistic reorganisation of states.
Jamalunnisa, 90, one of the few Muslim women political activists in those days, recalling the 'police action', said: 'It was gloom for hundreds of families. Many felt betrayed by the razakars. Several youths recruited for fighting lost their lives.
'The economy was destroyed and hundreds of people fled their villages to save themselves. Many migrated to Pakistan.
'The large-scale communal riots in the north also created a gulf between the two communities which were living in harmony.'
Sums up Bapuji, who became a minister after the formation of Andhra Pradesh in 1956: 'The Nizam was not a bigot but wanted to protect his rule at any cost. He always sided with the British and when the British left he wanted the state to remain independent.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
What a piece of crock. The Nizam had no rights to the area. The 15M non Muslims had a say in their way of life by accession to India. The coming of the Asaf Jahi dynasty in Golkonda prevented the re-integration of Telengana into the India mainstream for 200 years.
The Nizam was preparing to take over as the successor to the Mughals. His protege Kasim Rizvi was talking of flying the Asaf Jahi standards from Lal Quila. BTW the Nixam married hi sosns to the daughters of the deposed Caliph. He was thus aiming to get legitimacy for his progeny in the future. They are now sheep farmers in Australia.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->They are now sheep farmers in Australia. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
That business went bust.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Jah ran into a financial crisis, lost control over his west Perth mansion and the sheep station Murchison was abandoned and a liquidator appointed in 1996. On the death of Helen in 1989, and after having lived in Australia for 21 years, Jah moved to Turkey, his motherâs homeland, where he now lives in a modest apartment with his fifth wife, Princess Orchedi. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Prince to Pauper
<!--QuoteBegin-Viren+Sep 10 2007, 11:37 PM-->QUOTE(Viren @ Sep 10 2007, 11:37 PM)<!--QuoteEBegin--><!--QuoteBegin--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->They are now sheep farmers in Australia. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
That business went bust.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Jah ran into a financial crisis, lost control over his west Perth mansion and the sheep station Murchison was abandoned and a liquidator appointed in 1996. On the death of Helen in 1989, and after having lived in Australia for 21 years, Jah moved to Turkey, his motherâs homeland, where he now lives in a modest apartment with his fifth wife, Princess Orchedi. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Prince to Pauper
[right][snapback]72942[/snapback][/right]
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Just to share an anecdote. My grandmother used to tell me of a story connected to the origin of Asaf Jah dynasty.
A Brahmin wanting to attain moksha went to Kashi and was told by his teacher to take 1000 pails of water from the Ganges and pour it on the Shiv lingam in the Shiva temple over there. The Brahmin did upto 999 nos and then lost his patience on seeing that no God materialised till then and in frustration threw the bucket on the lingam.
God then told him in that he would not attain moksha (because moksha is not exactly proportional to the number of pails of water put, I guess <!--emo&  --><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /><!--endemo--> , but since he had put as much effort, he would be reborn as a rich and powerful man and that for 7 generations his family would hold power and wealth. He would not be born as a Hindu however as he did a very un Hindu like act of venting his frustration on the shiv lingam. Hence this person was reborn as the first Nizam. Did they continue for seven generations??
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Did they continue for seven generations?? <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<i>At his death, he had four wives, 40 concubines, 33 children</i> (known)
This is from one person, now if start counting before and after, by now they had already created a mid size town, half of them must be marrying each other sibblings.
<!--QuoteBegin-Mudy+Sep 11 2007, 10:22 PM-->QUOTE(Mudy @ Sep 11 2007, 10:22 PM)<!--QuoteEBegin--><!--QuoteBegin--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Did they continue for seven generations?? <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<i>At his death, he had four wives, 40 concubines, 33 children</i> (known)
This is from one person, now if start counting before and after, by now they had already created a mid size town, half of them must be marrying each other sibblings.
[right][snapback]72990[/snapback][/right]
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No what I meant was did their dynasty continue for 7 generations with all its power and wealth?
kartiksri: <!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->It is said that the Asaf Jah dynasty had only seven rulers; however there was a period of 13 years after the rule of the first Nizam when three of his sons (Nasir Jung, Muzafar Jung and Salabath Jung) ruled. They were not officially recognized as the rulers. A legend about the first Nizam states that, on one of his hunting trips he was offered some kulchas (an Indian bread) by a holy man and was asked to eat as many as he could. The Nizam could eat seven kulchas and the holy man then prophesied that seven generations of his family would rule the state.
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This is from Wiki
09-12-2007, 08:57 PM
(This post was last modified: 09-12-2007, 09:00 PM by Bodhi.)
In "Maharaja", Diwan Germani Das gives a vivid account of Nizams. Especially about the last Nizam and his habits. (a very miserly person, a crooked thug). I remember several very funny accounts of Nizam from this book.
An official account of the history of the region now known as Andhra Pradesh.
History of Andhra Pradesh
And
Ancient Period
Two Parts.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><span style='color:red'>The story of Hyderabad's globalisation</span>
Sanjaya Baru | November 08, 2007
I had the good fortune of knowing Professor Waheeduddin Khan both personally and professionally. Professor Khan was a true son of Hyderabad -- gentle, genial, graceful and always affectionate. He epitomised the best values that this city, my home, had come to symbolise. It is as a tribute to Wahid sahib's love for this city, which I wholeheartedly share, that I have chosen to speak on my reading of Hyderabad's links with the world.
My interest in the link between India's external relations and the internal change in the country, elaborated in various essays and columns and published as The Strategic Consequences of India's Economic Performance (2006), was partly triggered by what I saw happening in Andhra Pradesh in the 1990s. My specific interest in this region's links with South-east Asia was shaped by former Prime Minister Narasimha Rao's 'Look East Policy'.
It may be recalled that even before Independence, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru took keen interest in India's relations with Asia, especially Indo-China, and as Prime Minister he tried to re-establish India's ancient and civilisational links with the region. Links that were disrupted by European colonialism. However, this new post-colonial phase was short-lived. The Cold War disrupted a nascent re-engagement with the region.
The end of the Cold War, India's economic opening up in 1991, the rise of the 'Asian Tigers' and of China, encouraged India to re-engage the region. It was Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao who conceptualised and launched India's 'Look East Policy'. In doing so, I suspect Shri Narasimha rao was not only inspired by Panditji's vision of India's relations with East and South-east Asia, but was also influenced by his own understanding of our civilisational links with the region. As a scholar familiar with the history of the region, Narasimha Rao would have known how deep run the roots of this region's links with Asia to our East.
My own research on India's relations with ASEAN opened my eyes to the depth and expanse of the human engagement across the Bay of Bengal littoral. Today, however, our relations with the ASEAN region are not just defined by history, geography, culture or even commerce. There is a growing people-to-people interaction and a growing congruence of strategic interests.
The India-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has been actively pursuing will further cement this relationship. India's 'Look East Policy' offers a new opportunity for Andhra Pradesh to rediscover its links with the region and build a mutually beneficial interface with ASEAN.
To be continued
This is the first part of a three-part series on 'The story of Hyderabad's globalisation' by Dr Sanjaya Baru
Excerpted from the Waheeduddin Khan Memorial Lecture 2007, delivered at the Centre for Economic and Social Studies, Hyderabad on August 30, 2007.
http://www.rediff.com/money/2007/nov/08spec.htm
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Second Part:
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><span style='color:red'>Globalisation of Golconda</span>
Sanjaya Baru | November 12, 2007
Shri Narasimha Rao would have known that Hyderabad, and its predecessor kingdom of Golconda, had their own 'Look East Policy'. I discovered this from my reading of Narendar Luther and V K Bawa's books on Hyderabad. The story of the roads leading away from the Charminar fascinated me.
The North-South Road on either side of the Charminar, we know, ran from the banks of the Musi to the hill on which the Falak Numa Palace was later built. The West-East road began at the majestic fort of Golconda, but ran all the way to the prosperous port of Machilipatnam. The significance of this road in the history of Golconda cannot be underestimated.Â
Golconda, and later Hyderabad, is one of the few landlocked urban centres of this subcontinent that reached great heights of prosperity without a major river system or a port next to it. But that is strictly not correct, for Golconda and Hyderabad had the port of Machilipatnam linking them to the world outside. The road connecting the two was the umbilical cord that linked Hyderabad to the Andhra coastline and from there to global markets, contributing to the region's prosperity for several centuries.
In his impassioned narration of a love story centering around a Hyderabadi Princess and a British official, novelist and historian William Dalrymple (2002) draws from archival material to tell us that: 'the road from Hyderabad to the port of Masulipatam was one of the most beautiful in the Deccan'. Of course, it had to be a beautiful road for on it had traveled for centuries bullock carts and horse carts laden with precious stones and highly valued commodities.Â
Historians are familiar with the vital strategic role of the Machilipatnam Port, also known as 'Bandar', the Persian word for port. But long before the Persians and the Europeans arrived at Bandar, the Hindu kings of the Satavahana Dynasty set forth across the waters from the port of Masalia, later Masulipatnam. In his little known but well researched account of India's maritime history, Rear Admiral K Sridharan (1982) records the maritime prowess of the Andhras during Satavahana rule from as early as 1st century AD.
According to Sridharan: 'That the Andhras maintained a fleet is proved by incontrovertible numismatic evidence. The coins minted during the reigns of Pulamayi and Yagnasri (and King Yajna Satakarani around 200 AD) show, on the obverse, representation of sailing ships with two masts.' A ship-building industry developed at Masulipatnam and the Satavahanas forayed deep into East Asia, leaving their cultural imprint as far as Viet Nam.
Historians tell us that peninsular India was very much a part of the active maritime trade across Asia, from China to the Persian Gulf, from times immemorial. According to Ken McPherson (2004), along with various ports on the western coast of the Indian subcontinent, Masalia on the east cost (identified as Masulipatnam) was listed in The Periplus, the writings of an unknown Greek visitor to India in 1st Century AD, as a port visited by ships from Egypt and the Persian Gulf crewed by Greeks, Egyptians, Arabs and Persians.
Among the goods exported from here to the West were grain, timber, metals, gold, silver and copper coinage. According to McPherson: 'From this early period one of the most unique characteristics of South Asian trade until the eighteenth century AD is evident. Put most simply, South Asia exported a greater value of goods than it imported, with the result that huge quantities of gold and silver flowed into the subcontinent.'
In his masterly survey of maritime India in the 17th century, historian Sinnapah Arasaratnam says: 'A new element in the trade of Coromandel, and what gave Masulipatnam a special place among Coromandel ports, was the forging of trade links with the west, with Gujarat, the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea. This Persian connection was strengthened by the adherence to the Shiite sect of Islam by the Golconda rulers and nobility. This gave them favoured treatment in Persian ports and brought in a substantial Persian merchant migration to settle in the port and the country.
'At the beginning of the century Golconda had emerged as an Indian Ocean port, looking eastwards and westwards. Golconda rulers, anxious to develop their trading ambitions, fostered friendly relations with the Portuguese. With the rise of Masulipatnam, Golconda muslims and domiciled Persians became another of the Bay of Bengal's itinerant merchant communities.' (p.50)
Textiles, rice, iron and steel, tobacco, indigo and diamonds were the major export items, while imports included Persian silk, horses, coffee, dried fruits, almonds, rose water and coined specie.
Masulipatnam, later called Machilipatnam, developed further as a maritime gateway to the Deccan under Sultan Quli Qutub Shah-I. Golconda in the centre of the peninsula and Machilipatnam along the East Coast became the two most important urban centres of the Deccan in his time. What is interesting about the growing maritime activity of the Golconda kingdom was that it was not just local resources that fed this activity, but the fact that the State's institutional and infrastructure support enabled it to emerge as a maritime State.Â
There appears to have been a certain entrepot character to Machilipatnam's role in the region's mercantile activity. This was almost entirely because of the enlightened outward-looking nature of the Golconda rulers, and the security they offered to trade and enterprise.
The global was, without doubt, an essential part of Golconda's prominence in its heyday as the seat of power in the heart of India. The arrival of the Europeans in the waters around India, however, disrupted the indigenous links of maritime trade in the Indian Ocean waters. Trade from and to India passed increasingly into the hands of European traders. The Portuguese on the west coast and the Dutch on the east, to begin with. Golconda's prosperity was also linked to the west coast with the Portuguese reaching deep across the peninsula to Golconda. On the Coromandel Coast the Dutch were first challenged by the French and then by the British, who finally held sway.
Nayan Chanda (2007) tells us, in his masterly tour d'horizon of globalisation how European merchants bought and sold diamonds from the Golconda mines and the bed of the Krishna River through their ports on the West Coast. Chanda tells us, from correspondence of European traders available in archives, the story of Isaac Ergas who would take customers' orders, much like any shop keeper today, in his offices in the Italian port of Livorno for the sale of Golconda diamonds. These orders were sent by hand over sea from Livorno to Lisbon and from Lisbon to Goa, and by road from Goa to Golconda. And, as he tells us, 'if everything went well -- and the ship did not sink in a storm -- customers receive the diamonds a year or two later'! Hindu traders along the Konkan Coast then bartered the diamonds for corals or other valuables.Â
These popular accounts remind us that the land-locked fort of Golconda, and its successor urban centre of Hyderabad, were actively linked to the maritime trade of both the East and the West Coast. It required not just the availability of diamonds along the Krishna River and the rocks of the Deccan but the administrative acumen of the Golconda rulers to build a centre of great wealth and prosperity based on trade with distant lands.
Historians are familiar with the great European battles for control over Machilipatnam. First came the Portuguese, and then came the Dutch. They were followed by the French and finally came the British. By the late 18th century the British established full control over the Bay of Bengal after annexing Machilipatnam from the French. By the 19th century when Hyderabad was connected by rail with the presidency towns of Bombay and Madras, the importance of Machilipatnam declined.Â
However, the growth of modern education and industrialisation from the end of the 19th century and through the early part of the 20th century ensured that Hyderabad was one of the few non-British centres of development before independence. The local and the global in the long history of Hyderabad's evolution worked together to ensure the city's prosperity and growth over the centuries.
The control of European interests over the Coromandel trade and the establishment of British imperial control over peninsular India meant that presidency towns of Calcutta, Madras and Bombay became more important to India's maritime trade. This contributed to the decline and collapse of Machilipatnam and cut its highly productive links with Hyderabad. Not only did maritime trade shift to the presidency port towns but also the rail links between Hyderabad and Madras and Bombay ended Machilipatnam's maritime importance.
More importantly, the division of India into British India and Princely India may have also weakened Hyderabad's links with the outside world. During the era of the last Nizam, Hyderabad did see some industrial activity with the growth of textiles and other industries, but much of this was either based on public investment or investment by expatriate capital, especially marwari enterprise. Hyderabad's pearl trade was one of the few remnants of its glorious maritime past, and it remains a reminder of the city's links with Asia to our east.
Part III: Local origins of Hyderabad's development
To be concluded
Excerpted from the Waheeduddin Khan Memorial Lecture 2007, delivered at the Centre for Economic and Social Studies, Hyderabad on 30 August 2007.
http://www.rediff.com/money/2007/nov/12spec.htm
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From Deccan Chronicle, 21 Nov 2007
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Caste realities of AP
By Syed Amin Jafri
In his bid to regain power in the next Assembly elections due in early 2009, Telugu Desam president and former chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu is seeking to play the âcaste cardâ once again. When the Congress was in power during 1989-94, the TD, under N.T. Rama Raoâs leadership, had also tried to rake up the âcaste factorâ. However, NTR wrested power from the Congress not because of any caste polarisation but by getting support from all sections of society which were fed up with the Congress leadersâ obsession with dissidence rather than better governance.
NTR was soon âdethronedâ by his own son-in-law â Chandrababu Naidu â who set a record as the only Chief Minister in Andhra Pradesh to rule uninterruptedly for over eight-and-a-half years. Claiming that the Congress government, over the last three-and-a-half years, has meted out a raw deal to the Backward Classes, dalits and Girijans because of which these sections are on an agitational path, the TD alleges that all the key posts in the government and a majority of nominated posts are filled up with Reddys, thereby ushering in âReddy Rajâ in the State.
Releasing a list of such âappointees,â the TD contended that filling up posts with leaders from one particular caste could not be constructed as âIndiramma Rajyam.â To counter the âcasteistâ politics pursued by the Congress, Mr Naidu promises to give a sizeable number of party tickets to candidates from the Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and the minority communities in the 2009 Assembly elections. He demands reservations for the Backward Classes in the Lok Sabha and Legislative Assemblies on the lines of reservation of seats for the SCs and the STs.
Senior TD leader and former home minister T. Devender Goud has also been projecting himself as the leader of Backward Classes in the State, more particularly Telangana region. Even as the TD, Telangana Rashtra Samiti, the Communist Party of India, Communist Party of India-Marxist and the Bharatiya Janata Party are championing the cause of weaker sections such as BCs, dalits, Girijans and minorities, the Congress leadership is also alive to these attempts to whip up âcaste sentimentsâ to browbeat the party in the next elections.
For this reason, the Chief Minister is harping on the initiatives launched and increased budgetary allocations made for the SCs, STs, BCs and the minorities by his regime since 2004. The Congress is, thus, hopeful of tackling the Opposition onslaught on the issue of weaker sectionsâ welfare.
But what could prove to be a real challenge for the ruling party is the attempts being made by other organisations and groups â which claim to represent these weaker sections â to fight for social, economic, educational and political empowerment of âneglectedâ sections. Several retired bureaucrats belonging to weaker sections have come together with political activists like Dr Kancha Ilaiah to form the Forum for Empowerment of Weaker Sections, presumably as a non-political forum, to focus on the problems and aspirations of these sections.
A meeting convened by the forum provided an opportunity to prominent leaders from these sections to give vent to their grievances against the leadership of their own respective parties for giving a raw deal to representatives of these sections all these years. Veteran Congress leader G. Venkatswamy cried hoarse at Congress president Sonia Gandhi for denying him the opportunity for his elevation to the post of President of India. His grouse was that the party high command had let him down in the earlier presidential election too by not proposing his candidature. The forum has released a study on upper caste domination on the elected bodies like the AP Legislative Assembly. In the current Assembly, 96 out of the 294 members are from the Reddy caste, which constitutes six per cent of the Stateâs population.
Another 35 MLAs are from Kamma caste which accounts for 3.59 per cent of the Stateâs population. With 7.14 per cent share of the Stateâs population, Kapu caste has 21 MLAs. Other upper castes such as Kshatriyas, Velamas, Brahmins and Vysyas have fewer MLAs. Thus, three major upper castes, with 16 per cent share of total population, have 152 MLAs (51 per cent of total strength). The remaining 142 MLAs belong to 33 other castes and communities, including SCs, STs, BCs and minorities.
These statistics portray the State of affairs wherein the upper castes as well as some âprivilegedâ groups among SCs, STs and BCs enjoy political power. Though 94 castes are listed as BCs and categorised into four groups, members from only a handful of castes â Gouds, Yadavs, Munnuru Kapus, Turupu Kapus, Koppula Velamas, Gavaras and Padmashalis â have been elected to the Assembly. Out of the 59 sub-castes in the SC list, only Malas and Madigas have shared political power. Similarly, among the 33 listed Scheduled Tribes, only members from Lambada and Gond tribes have been getting elected to the Assembly. Among the minorities, only Muslims and Christians are getting represented in the Legislature. Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists and Parsis are a neglected lot.
Apart from reservation of seats in Lok Sabha and Assembly for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, Andhra Pradesh provides reservations for Backward Classes and women also in the local bodies (panchayat raj bodies and civic bodies). The representation for different castes and sub-castes among SCs and BCs and tribes among STs is somewhat better in the local bodies as the dominant caste groups among the weaker sections are usually nominated by the political parties to contest the polls.
The reservations for women in local bodies include proportionate representation for them among the seats reserved for SCs, STs and BCs also. What compounds the situation and perpetuates the upper caste hegemony in the State Assembly is the earmarking of âinformal reservationsâ for dominant castes by major political parties in successive elections. Right from the first AP Legislative Assembly to the present one, the upper castes have dominated the House, with the Reddys always accounting for the lionâs share.
Reddys have been the ârulingâ class both under the Congress and the TD rule. Their numbers in the Assembly have ranged around 70 in a total strength of 294 members during successive elections. In 1989 and 2004, when the Congress regained power in the State, their numbers crossed the 90 mark. Even when the TD swept the polls, their numbers hovered around 75 in a House of 294 members.
So, whether the Congress loses or gains power or the TD wrests or concedes power to its rival, the Reddys retain their position as the single-largest caste group in the Assembly. This happens because in a large number of constituencies and several districts, the main parties field Reddy candidates and whosoever wins belongs to this caste. Similarly, in several constituencies, the main parties field upper caste candidates belonging to other castes such as Kammas, Kshatriyas, Kapus, Velamas etc.
The number of Kamma members has remained the same in successive Assembly elections, irrespective of which party won the polls. Even the Communist parties, which fight for casteless society, are caste-conscious when picking up their candidates. It is unfair to blame the Congress for ushering in âReddy Rajyamâ or the Telugu Desam for âKamma Rajyamâ. Whether the bosses in these parties like it or not, they have to balance the caste equations in the selection of candidates for elections. Neither Dr Rajasekhar Reddy nor Mr Naidu can ignore the âcaste realitiesâ of AP politics.
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More like a follow-up to above article from Deccan Chronicle, 5 Dec 2007
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Chiruâs political dreams
By Syed Amin Jafri
The protracted Hamletian dilemma is, hopefully, poised to end soon with Telugu megastar Chiranjeevi making up his mind to launch a political party in Andhra Pradesh in January 2008. <b>After vacillating on the issue for almost one-and-a-half decades, Chiranjeevi has grandiose plans to lead a grand alliance of "politically suppressed" sections such as backward classes, dalits, girijans, minorities and forward castes like Brahmins, Vysyas and Kshatriyas as an alternative to the ruling Congress and main Opposition , the Telugu Desam.</b> The idea is to set up the party in time for the next Assembly elections due in May 2009.
The decision of the megastar to take a plunge into politics, however, has hardly caused any excitement in political circles precisely because it has come rather belatedly. Speculation was rife for long that Chiranjeevi would follow the footsteps of Telugu matinee idol N.T. Rama Rao, who had founded the Telugu Desam in 1982 at the peak of his cinematic career as the first credible alternative to the Congress in the state. For long, the Congress and the TD leaders wooed Chiranjeevi to join politics (nay, their respective parties) and campaign for them in elections. At one time, Mr Dasari Narayana Rao tried very hard to convince Chiranjeevi to lead a party to represent the interests of numerically strong Kapu caste in the state. As Chiranjeevi was not receptive to their overtures, the Congress and the TD ultimately gave up their efforts to lure the megastar into politics.
<b>In recent months, other players entered the scene to plead with Chiranjeevi to lead what is being projected as a "third alternative" to take on the Reddy-dominated Congress and the Kamma-centred Telugu Desam. The CPI, CPI(M), Lok Satta Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and even the Telangana Rashtra Samiti jumped onto the bandwagon of Chiru enthusiasts.</b> The leaders of these parties held parleys with Chiranjeevi individually and invited him to join politics. Moreover, some caste-based organisations have been making efforts to organize support among weaker sections â backward classes, scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and minorities. The Madiga Reservations Porata Samithi, Mala Mahanadu, AP BCs Front and other similar organisations have displayed their political ambitions too often, seeking greater share of political cake for their respective groups.
Mr Manda Krishna Madiga, Mr Krupa Madiga, Mr Jupudi Prabhakar Rao, Mr Karam Shivaji, Gaddar, Mr R Krishnaiah, Dr Kancha Ilaiah, Mr S. Ramachander Rao and several retired IAS officers belonging to the weaker sections have been in the forefront of the campaign for forging an effective alternative to the Congress and the TD. The objective behind the efforts of these organisations and activists is to seek justice for the weaker sections through political empowerment in the real sense. Their grouse is that the state politics was dominated by Reddys till early 1980s and thereafter by Kammas and Reddys alternatively.
In the process, not only the other forward castes but also backward classes, minorities and sections of dalits and girijans have been marginalised. Kapus, along with their associate castes â Balijas, Ontaris and Telagas â have been nursing this grievance from the late 1980s. Vijayawada East MLA Vangaveeti Mohana Ranga Rao was emerging as the rallying point for Kapus in the coastal belt when he was brutally murdered in Vijayawada in 1988. <b>In a way, Rangaâs murder could be termed as a turning point in the stateâs history.</b>
The killing of Ranga and two of his associates at their hunger strike camp in the early hours of December 26, 1988, had triggered off large-scale arson, looting, murder and vandalism in Vijayawada and other Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema towns. The protestors burnt down 566 buses, 22 theatres, six hotels, 38 business establishments and scores of houses. In the mob violence, 13 persons died while 21 were killed in police firings. <b>The Ranga episode led to caste polarisation and ultimately resulted in the ouster of N.T. Rama Rao from power in the 1989 Assembly elections.</b>
Kapus came into prominence under the Congress rule during 1989-94 but the acute infighting among their leaders led to splits in Kapunadu, which was formed as the apex organisation for political awakening of this numerically dominant community. <b>Marginalisation of Kapunadu prompted Mr Dasari Narayan Rao to give up his attempts to form a political party with Chiranjeevi.</b> Instead of floating the Telugu Talli Party, he joined the Congress on the eve of 1999 elections and campaigned against the TD. He was elected to the Rajya Sabha in 2000 and 2006 and became a minister of state in the Union Cabinet in November 2004.
Today, Kapus are politically scattered, with Kapunadu losing its pre-eminence. In the present Assembly, there are 27 members from Kapu and associated castes, apart from Munnuru Kapu and Turupu Kapu members belonging to backward classes. There are a handful of Kapus among Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha members from the state. <b>Moreover, Mr Dasari Narayana Rao and Chiranjeevi do not see eye-to eye these days. Their relations soured further after the Dasari camp reportedly extended a helping hand to Chiranjeeviâs second daughter Srija and her boyfriend Sirish Bharadwaj when they fled to Delhi after their marriage.</b>
The 52-year-old Chiranjeevi, popularly known as Chiru, belongs to a family with strong cinematic presence. His younger brothers Nagendra Babu and Pawan Kalyam and his son Ram Charan Teja are also actors. Son-in-law of actor Allu Ramalingaiah and brother-in-law of producer-actor Allu Aravind, Chiru acted in 146 films so far.
A product of Madras Film Institute and amateur stage artiste, he made his cinematic debut in 1978 with Punadhirallu. His role in Khaidi in 1982 catapulted him into the big league and gave him star image. But will luck smile on Konidela Siva Sankara Vara Prasad a.k.a. Chiranjeevi in his new avatar as a political leader? This is hard to tell, notwithstanding the huge fan following that Chiranjeevi has across the state. Moreover, the political scenario now is radically different from what it was quarter of a century ago when NTR launched the Telugu Desam.
<b>However, in the post-1982 era, state politics has gravitated towards a two-party system with the TD and the Congress alternately holding power.</b> The only time when "third parties" achieved some success in the state was in 1962 when the undivided Communist Party of India won 51 seats and acted as a formidable Opposition in the Assembly.
In 1978, the Janata Party provided the third alternative to the two factions of the Congress led by Jalagam Vengala Rao and Dr Marri Channa Reddy respectively. Congress-I stormed into power and the Janata Party emerged as the main Opposition with 60 members. Thereafter, parties like the BJP, the CPI and the CPI(M) have found it safer to align with the TD. In 2004, comrades sailed with the Congress but have drifted away since. The State hardly needs a third front or third alternative now.
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Andhra Pradesh is a fascinating mirror on what happens latter in India.
Hugh Tinker.
Syed Amin Jafri is putting a lot of spin here. We need to watch his pattern of writing in future. It is snowing in DC here and I have some time today and I will write what I understand from my reading. <!--emo& --><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /><!--endemo-->
First about Caste configuration:
In AP Reddys form almost 25% of population and they never vote enblock. If they do, there will be no opposition. Velamas and Kammas are 6% each and are influential. Rajus (Khstriyas) are also about 4% but influential in couple of districts. Brahmins and Vyshyas are about 8% together and are mosltly irrelevant except in few constituencies. That's about 45% of forward castes( with some margin of error). About 1 percent of Reddys, Kammas got converted to Catholic christians during 60s. YSR belongs to this category.
Muslims are about 8% and their influence is only in Hyderabad and some constituencies of Telangana districts. Other religions(<0.5%) that Jafri is spinning about is negligible and moslty migrant population and are not politically interested in the state.
20% is backward classes that includes Kapus (balija, telaga and ontari), yadavs, padmasalis, gowda/setti balija etc. Mostly artisan caste. Politcally savvy but no real power yet. Too many castes are there in this section. Some of these variants are same but different names due to different regoins. Telangana Goud is same as East Godavari Dt. setti balija. Another factor is some of these variants are BC in one region where as they are forward caste in other regions. Classic example is Kapus. They are forward caste in coastal region excluding Guntur and prakasam districts. In north Andhra(Vishakapatnam and Orissa border) they are BC and in Guntur, prakasam and south Andhra they are with different names(balija, telaga etc) altogether and are BC. A very negligible number (people say these days there are more numbers) converted to christians from 10000 variants of BC castes.
Then comes SCs and they are about 15% and STs about 5% of population. 90% of SCs are converted to Christians and maintain their official record as not christians. This is a fact. A small section of STs also converted but there is a lot resistence these days in tribal regions. Lambdas and gonds are very proud and strong tribes and they can kill the evengelists.
Caste configurations in politics:
Before 1983, congress formula is very simple. Reddys(large portion)+Muslims(except HYD due to MIM)+ SC+ ST. Other Forward castes are divided due to socialists, Janata, communists etc. BCs of those days are not politically savvy and used to vote based on themes like Indira Gandhi and Nehru etc.They vote based on the voting pattern of principle opposing caste in the village. For example in Amalapuram Kapus and Setti balijas are competing castes. If Kapus vote to congress then setti balijas have to vote to different party. There is no permanent sticking factors. This pattern is followed in cinema fans associations as well. Kapus here are Chiranjeevi fans by caste and setti balijas are Nagarjuna fans as they have to be opposite. <!--emo& --><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /><!--endemo--> The opposition space is all to the communists. They were the principle opposition with about 15 to 20% vote. Most of the communists are some of the wealthy kammas, Reddys and velamas. They are in communists for a reason. The links between Naxals and communists are very open and they used to save the wealth from Naxal wrath by patronizing them by means of political support.
In the above scenario, voting is not essentially caste, it was more idealogical. From the bottom of the heart people believed that congress brought independence and we should support Gandhi, Nehru and Indira. Current writers(like Jafri here) totally forget this fact and write everything as caste.
Post 1983 with the entrance of NTR caste has really become a factor. The society has become more caste centric( means caste assertive). NTR not using caste is totally wrong. Only in the first term he came on a charismatic wave. Caste in politics is very real now in AP. But the caste factors are not as solidified as we see in UP or Bihar. Anti incumbancy also becomes a factor in this state but works on caste lines.
First term of NTR is a cinema star wave. People were just blind and they forgot that Indira is Nehru's daughter.
After that TDP solidified Kammas, Velamas, Rajus and BCs into one block. BCs were enblock to TDP. A large section of Vyshyas also vote for TDP. If we put in non-caste terms, TDP combined the rich farmers(not pure landlords), middle and small farmers, artisans, traders and private sector dependent population into one block.This is about 45 to 48% of population. Communist support dwindled to about 5% and is concentrated more in Telangana and in some shades of Coastal AP.
At this time congress is left with Landlords(a large section of Reddys), Muslims, Brahmins(most of them are Government employees and cannot fit into TDP scheme), SC and ST.
The reason for SCs to be in congress fold is because at village level land was freely distributed to SCs where as a large number of BCs are landless poor. TDP did a volte face here by means of strong arm tactics. They allowed the land grab from SCs.
If it is solidified why then TDP and Congress win and lose?
There are competing castes in the list of forward castes, factions of Reddys and the 10,000 BC castes. Obviously not all of them can be accomadated. The competitions vary differently in different regions. Each district has its own competing caste fissures.Some groups of castes move between TDP and Congress and that makes up the 6 to 7 % swing in the polls.
25 years passed and it is too much wait for these competing castes and vaccum needs to be filled and here comes the Chiranjeevi factor and TRS factor. This is exactly like Nitish Kumar factor of Bihar. Velamas are sidelined inside congress due to Reddys and inside TDP due to kammas. They need their space and they mostly belong to Telangana and hence the formation of TRS and the cries for separate Telangana.
Similarly Chiranjeeevi wanted to create an alliance of Brahmins, Vysyas and Kshatriyas from forward castes and neglected powerful BCs like Kapus and any other 3000 castes from 10,000 castes of BCs. This third formation talk is there since several years but no one has the clout or charisma like NTR or TDP.
On top of this there is a 8 to 10% idealogical BJP vote forming across the state. If Chiranjeevi succeeds, then there will be a coalition of third front+TDP or third front+Congress. These politically neglected castes will be in a negotiating situation. If BJP is smart and invest some money here this third front here is strongly religious hindu vote and they shoud occupy this rather than some one like Chiranjeevi or TRS etc. This is where BJP is doing blunder.
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