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 Andhra's 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 (230
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, Satakarni I, Satasiri, Satakarni II, Vasittiputtra Pulumavi,
Vasittiputtra Satakarni 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 (1083 – 1323 CE)
The sub-feudatories of the Rashtrakutas emerged
themselves as independent kings and founded the Kakatiya dynasty in 11th
century 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 – 1518)
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 (1518
- 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 in 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.
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