Telangana, as a geographical and political
entity was born on June 2, 2014 as the 29th and the youngest state in Union of
India. However, as an economic, social, cultural and historical entity it has a
glorious history of at least two thousand five hundred years or more. Megalithic
stone structures like cairns, cists, dolmens and menhirs found in several
districts of Telangana show that there were human habitations in this part of
the country thousands of years ago. Remnants of iron ore smelting found at many
places demonstrate the hoary roots of artisanship and tool making in Telangana
for at least two thousand years. The reference to Asmaka Janapada, part of
present Telangana, as one of the 16 Janapadas in ancient India proves that there
existed an advanced stage of society.
One of the first five disciples of the Buddha,
Kondanna is a typical name from Telangana and though there is no exact
information about his native place, the earliest known Buddhist township of
Kondapur in Medak district is believed to be after him. The Buddha himself
famously acknowledged that it was Kondanna who understood him properly. The
Buddhist sources say that Bavari, a Brahmin from Badanakurti in Karimnagar sent
his disciples to all the way to north India to learn Buddhism and spread the
message in this region. Megasthenes, who visited India in the 4th century BCE,
wrote that there were 30 fortified towns of Andhras and a majority of them were
in Telangana. In the historical age, Telangana had given rise to mighty empires
and kingdoms like the Satavahanas, Vakatakas, Ikshvakus, Vishnukundins,
Chalukyas, Kakatiyas, Qutb Shahis and Asif Jahis.
The emergence and flourishing of these
powerful political formations is in itself a proof of existence of a sturdy
economic, social and cultural structure. Thus Telangana has been a vibrant
social entity by the time of the Buddha and continued to be so for the next two
and a half millennia. Endowed with such rich cultural heritage, despite the
attempts by historians and scholars from Andhra region to obfuscate and erase
its history, Telangana always retained and fought for its self respect and self
rule. Due to the official efforts to ignore, erase, belittle and look down
Telangana history and turn it into an appendage or a footnote, particularly
during 1956-2014, much of Telangana history is either not properly researched or
not recorded even if it was studied. Telangana rose again and secured its
political identity now and is in the process of resurrecting its own glorious
past. Here is an attempt to reconstruct the history of Telangana, the wonderful
musical instrument with a thousand strings.
Pre-history (Up to 1000 BCE)
Even though extensive exploration has not been
done, particularly subjected to neglect after 1956, the archaeological
department under the Nizams’ government had done tremendous work in
discovering the traces of pre-historical human habitations in Telangana. These
studies found that human habitations in parts of Telangana can be seen from the
Paleolithic age consistently. Either the same locations or extended locations
showed people continued to live and develop through the later stages of
Mesolithic, Neolithic and Metal ages. Excavations discovered stone tools,
microliths, cists, dolmens, cairns and menhirs. All the ten districts of
Telangana showed these traces even when a proper, scientific and official
research and excavations have not been done and thanks to the efforts of either
the first generation researchers before 1950s or individual amateur
explorations.
Pre-Satavahanas (1000 BCE – 300
BCE)
In the historical age beginning from 1000 BCE
there are some references of Telangana as a geographical entity as well as
Telugu as a linguistic entity, in the contemporary Buddhist and mythological
texts. However, it needs a detailed research to discover finer aspects and
establish the stage of development of pre-Satavahana society. Thought the
official research into this aspect was stalled for about six decades, some
enthusiasts like Thakur Rajaram Singh, B N Sastry and Dr D Raja Reddy did their
own painstaking explorations and showed that there was a flourishing society
before the emergence of the Satavahanas. Particularly Dr Raja Reddy proved with
numismatic evidence that there were rulers before the Satavahanas with
Kotalingala as capital and issued their own coins. In these excavations the
coins of Gobada, Naarana, Kamvaaya and Samagopa were discovered and at least two
other rulers’ names came to light. Thus Telangana happens to be the first
region in the subcontinent to have issued punch-marked coins with even insignia.
The Buddhist texts as well as accounts of foreigners like Magesthenes and Arrian
talked about this region as having thirty forts, many of which have to be
explored.
Satavahanas (250 BCE – 200 CE)
After the fall of the Mauryan Empire, around
the third century BC there arose the first significant kingdom under the
Satavahanas from this region. The earliest capital of the Satavahanas was
Kotalingala and then moved to the other popular capitals like Paithan and
Amaravati (Dharanikota) only after two centuries of their rule. However, the
first capital was either ignored or brushed aside to give prominence to the
later place in coastal Andhra. The coins issued by the Satavahana kings Simuka
(BC 231-208), Siri Satavahana, Satakani I, Satasiri, Satakani II, Vasittiputta
Pulumayi, Vasittiputta Satakani and their governors were discovered in
Kotalingala. Numismatic and epigraphic evidence showed that the Satavahanas
ruled a larger area of the peninsula, with oceans as borders on three sides.
Literature like Gathasaptashati, painting like Ajanta flourished during the
Satavahana rule.
Post-Satavahana (200 CE – 950
CE)
After the fall of Satavahanas in the third
century AD, Telugu-speaking areas were divided under various small rulers and
till the emergence of the Kakatiyas, for about six or seven centuries this
fragmentation continued. Even as the mainstream Andhra historians maintained
that it was a dark period in Telangana history without any political formation,
the current research found that Telangana was ruled by various kingdoms like the
Ikshvakus, Vakatakas, Vishnukundins, Badami Chalukyas, Rashtrakutas, Vemulavada
Chalukyas, Kalyani Chalukyas, Mudigonda Chalukyas, Kanduri Chodas and Polvasa
dynasty. A detailed research into this period is yet to take place.
Kakatiyas (950 CE – 1323 CE)
The sub-feudatories of the Rashtrakutas
emerged themselves as independent kings and founded the Kakatiya dynasty around
950 AD and this kingdom became strong and united whole of Telugu-speaking lands
and lasted for more than three centuries and a half. The kingdom saw powerful
kings like Ganapatideva, Rudradeva and Prataparudra as well as the first ever
woman ruler in the subcontinent Rudramadevi. The Kakatiyas ruled from
Hanumakonda in the beginning and shifted their capital to Warangal later.
The Kakatiyas are known for their irrigation
public works, sculpture and fire arts. Thanks to the well-planned irrigation
facilities and a perfect system of chain tanks to suit the undulating nature of
the terrain, the Kakatiya kingdom flourished economically leading to cultural
progress also. Envy of this affluence, several neighbouring kingdoms as well
as Delhi Sultanate tried to wage war on Warangal many times and failed. Finally
in 1323, Delhi army could lay seize on Warangal fort and capture Prataparudra,
who, according to the legend, killed himself on the banks of the Narmada
unwilling to surrender when he was being taken as prisoner of war to
Delhi.
Post-Kakatiya Interregnum (1323 –
1496)
After Prataparudra was defeated by Malik Kafur
in 1323, the Kakatiya kingdom was again fragmented with local governors
declaring independence and for about 150 years Telangana was again under
different rulers like Musunuri Nayakas, Padmanayakas, Kalinga Gangas, Gajapatis,
and Bahmanis.
Qutbshahis (1496 - 1687)
Sultan Quli Qutb Shah, subedar for Telangana
under the Bahamanis, with Golconda as his capital, declared his independence in
1496 and seven sultans of this dynasty ruled not only Telangana but the entire
Telugu-speaking land including parts of present day Maharashtra and Karnataka.
The Moghul empire waged war and defeated Golconda in 1687 and for about three
decades Telangana was again witnessed chaos and fragmented rulers.
Asaf Jahis (1724-1948)
In 1712, Emperor Farrukhsiyar appointed
Qamar-ud-din Khan as the viceroy of Deccan and gave him the title Nizam-ul-Mulk
. He was later recalled to Delhi, with Mubariz Khan appointed as the viceroy. In
1724, Qamar-ud-din Khan defeated Mubariz Khan and reclaimed the Deccan suba. It
was established as an autonomous province of the Mughal empire. He took the name
Asif Jah, starting what came to be known as the Asif Jahi dynasty. He named the
area Hyderabad Deccan. Subsequent rulers retained the title Nizam ul-Mulk and
were called Asaf Jahi Nizams or Nizams of Hyderabad. The Medak and Warangal
divisions of Telangana were part of their realm.
When Asaf Jah I died in 1748, there was
political unrest due to contention for the throne among his sons, who were aided
by opportunistic neighbouring states and colonial foreign forces. In 1769,
Hyderabad city became the formal capital of the Nizams.
Nasir-ud-dawlah, Asaf Jah IV signed the
Subsidiary Alliance with the British in 1799 and lost its control over the
state's defense and foreign affairs. Hyderabad State became a princely state
among the presidencies and provinces of British India.
A total of seven Nizam's ruled Hyderabad.
(there was a period of 13 years after the rule of Asaf Jah I, when three of his
sons (Nasir Jung, Muzaffar Jung and Salabath Jung) ruled. They were not
officially recognised as the rulers:
- Nizam-ul-Mulk, Asaf Jah I (Mir Qamar-ud-din
Khan)
- Nasir Jung (Mir Ahmed Ali Khan)
- Muzaffar Jung
(Mir Hidayat Muhi-ud-din Sa'adullah Khan)
- Salabat Jung
(Mir Sa'id Muhammad Khan)
- Nizam-ul-Mulk, Asaf Jah II (Mir Nizam Ali
Khan)
- Sikander Jah, Asaf Jah III (Mir Akbar Ali
Khan)
- Nasir-ud-Daula, Asaf Jah IV (Mir Farqunda Ali
Khan)
- Afzal-ud-Daula, Asaf Jah V (Mir Tahniyath Ali
Khan)
- Asaf Jah VI (Mir Mahbub Ali Khan)
- Asaf Jah VII
(Mir Osman Ali Khan)
Post-independence
When India became independent from the British
Empire in 1947, Hyderabad remained an independent princely state for a period of
13 months.
The peasants of Telangana waged an armed
struggle to liberate the region. Scores of people lost their lives in the armed
struggle. The private militia named Razakars, under the leadership of Qasim
Razwi unleashed terror in the state by resorting to looting and murder.
On 17 September 1948, the Indian government
conducted a military operation called Operation Polo to bring Hyderabad state
into the Indian Union. It appointed a civil servant, M. K. Vellodi, as first
chief minister of Hyderabad State on 26 January 1950.
In 1952, Dr. Burgula Ramakrishna Rao was
elected chief minister of the Hyderabad State in its first democratic election.
During this time, there was an agitation by locals in the state to ensure proper
representation was given to locals ( mulkis ) of Hyderabad.
First Telangana Movement
In early 1950s, people of Telangana region in
Hyderabad state, started organizing themselves with a demand for separate state.
In 1953 the Indian government appointed the States Reorganization Commission
(SRC) to look into various statehood demands in the country. The Commission was
headed by Fazal Ali, Kavalam Madhava Panikkar and H.N. Kunzru
The SRC toured the whole country to seek
representations from various sections of the society. People of Telangana region
submitted several memorandums to the SRC and expressed their wish to constitute
Telangana as a separate state. Telangana intellectuals such as late Prof
Jayashankar and political leaders such as Sri HC Heda, Sri Konda Venkat Ranga
Reddy gave memorandums containing historic, political, economic, social and
cultural justifications for creating the Telangana state. The Commission
submitted its report on 30 September 1955, and recommended formation of
Telangana state.
During the period between 1955 September and
1956 November, the people of Telangana launched a series of protests demanding
statehood by implementing the SRC recommendations. But intense lobbying by
leaders from Andhra state in New Delhi resulted in the merger of Telangana
region in Andhra state to form the Andhra Pradesh state.
Telangana leaders insisted on a Gentlemen’s
Agreement before the merger could take place. The agreement was signed by Andhra
and Telangana leaders and provided safeguards with the purpose of preventing
discrimination against Telangana by the Andhra leaders.However, the agreement
was violated from day one by the Andhra leaders.
1969 Telangana Agitation
Non-implementation of Gentlemen’s Agreement
and continued discrimination to Telangana region in government jobs, education
and public spending resulted in the 1969 statehood agitation.
In January 1969, students intensified the
protests for a separate state. On 19 January, all party accord was reached to
ensure the proper implementation of Telangana safeguards. Accord's main points
were 1) All non-Telangana employees holding posts reserved for Telangana locals
will be transferred immediately. 2) Telangana surpluses will be used for
Telangana development. 3) Appeal to Telangana students to call off
agitation.
But the protests further intensified, as more
and more students and employees joined the statehood movement. Police firing on
protesters led to the death of about 369 youngsters during this phase of the
agitation. Then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi called for a high-level meeting to
discuss the statehood issue. After several days of talks with leaders of both
regions, on 12 April 1969, the Prime Minister developed an Eight Point Plan. Sri
M. Chenna Reddy, founded the Telangana Praja Samithi (TPS) political party in
1969 to spearhead the statehood movement.
Mrs. Indira Gandhi had called snap
parliamentary elections in March 1971. In these parliamentary elections,
Telangana Praja Samithi won 10 out the 14 Parliament seats in Telangana.
However, Indira Gandhi’s Congress (R) Party scored a landslide victory on a
platform of progressive policies such as poverty elimination (Garibi Hatao). She
was reluctant to accept the Telangana statehood demand at that juncture. Sri M
Chenna Reddy then merged TPS in Congress (R) party, after formulating a
Six-Point Formula to safeguard Telangana’s interests. The statehood movement
continued until 1973, but subsided later.
Final Telangana Movement
Since mid 1990s, the people of Telangana
started organizing themselves under various organizations with a demand for
separate state of Telangana.
In 1997, the state unit of the Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP) passed a resolution seeking a separate Telangana. Though the
party created the states of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, and Uttarakhand in 2000, it
did not create a separate Telangana state citing resistance of its coalition
partner, Telugu Desam Party.
Sri Kalvakuntla Chandrashekar Rao (KCR), who
was then the Deputy Speaker of AP State assembly, had started background work on
Telangana issue in early 2000. And after detailed discussions and deliberations
with a plethora of Telangana intellectuals, KCR announced the launch of
Telangana Rashtra Samithi on May 17th 2001.
KCR had resigned to the post of Deputy Speaker
and MLA before launching the Telangana Rashtra Samithi party. Prof Jayashankar,
the ideologue of statehood movement extended his support to KCR.
In 2004, TRS entered into a poll alliance with
Congress party. The party won 26 MLAs and 5 MPs and entered into both the AP
state and Indian government. Telangana issue found a place in UPA-1 Common
Minimum Program. Statehood issue was also mentioned by President Abdul Kalam and
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in their speeches.
TRS president KCR, was initially allotted the
Shipping portfolio. But another UPA ally DMK demanded Shipping portfolio and
threatened to walk out of the coalition, if its demand was not met, KCR
voluntarily relinquished the Shipping portfolio to save the fledgling UPA-1
government. KCR remained as a Union Minister without portfolio, before being
given the Labour and Employment portfolio. As the UPA government continued to
dilly-dally on the decades old demand for Telangana state, KCR resigned to his
ministry in 2006.
When a Congress leader made a belittling
statement on the statehood movement in September 2006, KCR resigned to the
Karimnagar Lok Sabha seat and won it with a thumping majority. The massive
majority achieved by KCR in that election proved the strong statehood
aspirations in the region.
In April 2008, TRS party MLAs resigned also
walked out of the state government in protest against the delay in Telangana
formation. But, TRS could retain only 7 MLA and 2 Lok Sabha seats in this
by-election.
In 2009 elections, TRS allied with TDP, CPI
and CPM parties. The grand alliance did not yield the desired result, as the
Pro-Telangana vote got split between TRS, Congress, PRP and BJP. In the end, TRS
could win only 10 MLA seats and 2 MP seats.
Intensifying the movement
On Nov 29th, 2009 , KCR had announced an
indefinite hunger strike demanding statehood to Telangana. But en route, the
state police had arrested him and sent to Khammam sub-jail. The movement spread
like wildfire with students, employees, peoples’ organizations plunging into
it. In the next 10 days, the whole of Telangana region came to a
standstill.
The state government, headed by Sri K Rosaiah
had called for an all-party meeting on 7th December. Leaders of TDP and PRP
parties promised that they would support a Telangana statehood resolution if it
was tabled in the state Assembly. As KCR’s health was deteriorating very fast,
on Dec 9th 2009, the UPA government announced that the process of statehood for
Telangana would be initiated.
But within 2 weeks, resistance from Seemandhra
leadership resulted in UPA backtracking on this issue. KCR then brought all
political forces in Telangana region together to form the Telangana JAC – an
umbrella body of several organizations and parties, with Prof Kodandaram as its
Chairman. TRS cadre and leaders actively participated in several agitations and
protests launched by TJAC.
State Formation
After 4 years of peaceful and impactful
protests, the UPA government started the statehood process in July 2013 and
concluded the process by passing the statehood bill in both houses of Parliament
in Feb 2014.
In the General Elections held in April 2014,
Telangana Rashtra Samithi emerged victorious by winning 63 of the 119 seats and
formed the government. Sri K Chandrashekar Rao was sworn in as the First Chief
Minister of Telangana. The Telangana state was inaugurated formally on June 2nd
2014.
(Source:
http://www.telangana.gov.in/About/History)
