History of our people I

I have discovered that the history of our land is quiet old and rich. I was fascinated to know that this region flourished and prospered since the Vedic period. That is quiet long, which explains the rich culture that we adopt. Religion and literature grew side by side in this glorious land and to know one means to understand the other. Here I will make you familiar with the history of this land, the kings that ruled it, and the people who flourished and called this their motherland.
The history of Andhra dates back as far as 5th century BCE. And the reference of an “Andhra Kingdom” and people called “andhras” have been mentioned in many Sanskrit scriptures like the Mahabharata, Ramayana, the Puranas and even in the Buddhist Jataka tales. Rukmini in Mahabharata is said to be hailed from Vidarbha the region between the Deccan Plateau, around the Vindhya ranges which includes the present day Andhra, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka regions, including the little known and now submerged islands in Bay of Bengal. Rama in his exile is said to have lived in the forests around the present day Bhadrachalam in Andhra Pradesh.
Evidence for a flourishing kingdom in coastal Andhra Pradesh relates to the visit of Buddha to Amaravati in the Guntur district. Lord Buddha preached at Dharanikota / Dhanyakatakam and conducted Kalachakra ceremony, which takes the antiquity of Amaravati back to 500 BCE. The Mauryans extended their rule over Andhra in the 4th century BCE. Megasthenes, (a Greek explorer and geographer), who visited the Court of Chandragupta Maurya (322-297 BC), mentioned that Andhras had 30 fortified towns and an army of a million infantry, 2000 cavalry and 1000 elephants. Buddhist books reveal that Andhras established their kingdoms in the Godavari Valley at that time. Asoka referred in his 13th rock edict (232 BC) that Andhra was under his rule. According to an inscription at Nasik, it was under Gautamiputra Satakarni, the 23rd Satavahavana; the kingdom included most of the southern peninsula and some southern parts of present Indian states like Maharastra, Orissa and MadhyaPradesh. The court language used by Satavahanas was Prakrit. Buddhism flourished throughout this age, and several Buddhist Stupas including Amaravati, Chaityas and Viharas were constructed during this time, although the kings followed Vedic religion.


With the fall of the Mauryan Empire Andhra Satavahanas became independent in 3rd century BCE. After the decline of the Satavahanas in 220 CE, Ikshvaku dynasty, Pallavas, Vishnukundinas, Ananda Gotrikas and ruled the Telugu land. The Ikshvakus ruled the eastern Andhra country along the Krishna river during the later half of the second century CE. Their capital was Vijayapuri(Nagarjunakonda). Some scholars have suggested that this dynasty was related to the ancient Ikshvakus of Hindu epics. Rama of Ramayana, who is considered as the incarnation of Vishnu belonged to the line of Ikshvaku. According to Hindu epics, Ikshvaku, who was the Manu and father of Kukshi, was the founder of the Suryavanshi dynasty, reigning from Ayodhya at the commencement of the Treta Yuga. There is however no direct evidence to suggest that the Andhra Ikshvakus were related to the Epic Ikshvakus. Archaeological evidence has suggested that the Andhra Ikshvakus immediately succeeded the Satavahanas in the Krishna river valley. Ikshvakus have left inscriptions at Nagarjunakonda, Jaggayyapeta, Amaravati and Bhattiprolu. Although the Ikshvaku rulers practiced the Vedic religion, they were also great sponsors of Buddhism.Buddhism was at its height in the Andhra country during their reign.
Salankayanas ruled over a part of the East Coast with Vengi as their capital. Salankayanas and Vishnukundinas were two of the many dynasties that succeeded the Ikshvakus Both Salankayanas and Vishnukundinas were vassals under Pallava kings who ruled from southern Telugu and northern Tamil lands. From their time, the script for Telugu and Kannada languages began clearly separating from that of the other south Indian and north Indian dialects. They ruled between 300 AD and 440 AD. Salankayanas were succeeded by Vishnukundinas from Vinukonda.