Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh, the "Rice Bowl of India", is a state in southern India. It lies between 12°41' and 22°N latitude and 77° and 84°40'E longitude, and is bordered 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 by area and population. It is the largest and most populous state in South India. The state is crossed by two major rivers, the Godavari and the Krishna.History
An Andhra Kingdom was mentioned in the Sanskrit epics such as Aitareya Brahmana and Mahabharata. Continuous political and cultural accounts of the area begin with the fall of the Mauryan Empire when Satavahanas became independent. After the decline of the Satavahanas in 220 CE, Ikshvakus, Pallavas, Vishnukundinas, Anandagotrikas and Cholas ruled the Telugu land. During this period the Telugu language, emerged as a literary medium undermining the predominance of Prakrit and Sanskrit.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, the Muslim Delhi Sultan Ghiaz-ud-din Tughlaq sent a large army under Ulugh Khan to conquer the Telugu country and lay siege to Warangal and capture it. 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.
Religion
About 89% of the population of Andhra Pradesh are Hindu. 92% of the Hindus speak Telugu while the rest speak Hindi, Tamil and other languages.Muslims account for 9% of the population of Andhra Pradesh. About 88% of the Muslims speak Urdu while the rest speak Telugu.
About 1% of the population of Andhra Pradesh are Christians. Almost all of the Christians speak Telugu.
Economy
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, providing irrigation. Rice, sugarcane, cotton, mirchi, and tobacco are the local crops. There are many multi-state irrigation projects in development, including Godavari River Basin Irrigation Projects.Information Technology
The state has also started to focus on the fields of information technology and biotechnology. In 2004-2005 Andhra Pradesh is at the fifth position in the list of top IT exporting states of India. The IT exports from the State were Rs.1,800 million in 2004. The service sector of the state already accounts for 43% of the GSDP and employs 20% of the work force.Mineral wealth
Andhra Pradesh is a mineral rich state, ranking second in India in terms of mineral wealth. For example, the state has about one third of India's limestone reserves, at about 30 billion tonnes.The state ranks first nationwide in hydro electricity generation with national market share of over 11%.
Andhra Pradesh has entered into a formal agreement with Reliance Industries for Jatropha planting. The company has selected 200 acres of land at Kakinada to grow jatropha for high quality bio-diesel fuel.
Andhra Pradesh's gross state domestic product for 2005 is estimated at $62 billion in current prices. This is a chart of trend of gross state domestic product of Andhra Pradesh at market prices estimated by Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation with figures in millions of Indian Rupees.
Year Gross State Domestic Product
| Year | G.D.P. |
| 1980 | 81,910 |
| 1985 | 152,660 |
| 1990 | 333,360 |
| 1995 | 798,540 |
| 2000 | 1,401,190 |
Tourism
The temple town Tirumala lit during the nightAndhra Pradesh is the home of many religious pilgrim centres. 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 twelve Jyothirlingalu in India, Amaravati's Siva temple is one of the Pancharamams, and Yadagirigutta, the abode of an avatara of Vishnu, Sri Lakshmi Narasimha. The Ramappa temple at Warangal is famous for some fine temple carvings. The state has numerous Buddhist centres at Amaravati, Bhattiprolu, Nagarjuna Konda, and Phanigiri.The golden beaches at Visakhapatnam, 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.
