People and Government                                           

Agriculture.  There is intensive irrigation and farming in the deltas of the Godavari and Krishna rivers.  Rice is the main food crop, but maize, millet, and pulses are also grown.  Cash crops such as sugar cane and tobacco are also important.   

In the dry interior, farming is much more difficult.  Rainfall is low and unreliable, so the farmers must grow hardy crops.  On land  which is not irrigated, they grow gram (lentils), millet, and sorghum.  Oilseeds, especially castor and peanuts, and tobacco, are the most important cash crops.  Andhra Pradesh produces more than half of India's castor and almost all its Virginia tobacco.  
The most intensive cultivation is on the valley floors.  The surrounding hills and slopes are completely barren.   

There has been much research in Andhra Pradesh into ways of improving dry farming.  The United Nations set up the International Centre for Research in the Semiarid Tropics near Hyderabad in the early 1970's.  This institution has become the world's leading research centre into agriculture in tropical "dryland."  It has successfully developed crop breeding and experimental farming techniques to improve yields. 

Manufacturing.  There has been a rapid growth in factory employment in the state.  Andhra Pradesh now has nearly one-tenth of India's total industrial workforce.  Much of that growth has taken place in electronics industries which have grown up around Hyderabad.  The state also manufactures aeronautical parts, cement, chemicals, cigarettes, cotton goods, fertilizers, machine tools, synthetic drugs, and watches.  Heavy engineering, shipbuilding, and steel making are important in the coastal belt, especially at Visakhapatnam. 

Andhra Pradesh is also famous for some of its handicrafts.  Bidri ware uses gunmetal (an alloy of zinc and copper) with silver inlaid in beautiful floral patterns.  Objects made range from large vases to tiny boxes.  Miniature wooden figures of animals, birds, fruit, and vegetables are a speciality of Kondapalli.  Hyderabad is known for fine jewellery made from gold and precious stones.  Pearl ornaments and silver filigree work are also beautifully crafted.  Andhra Pradesh is famous for shawls and fabrics produced in cotton and silk mixes.  However, perhaps the most striking of Andhra crafts are Kalamkari paintings (kalam refers to the pen used).  These paintings on cloth are produced in the south of the state and have a distinctive style.  Indigo and vegetable dyes, such as those extracted from turmeric and pomegranate skin, are used.  Originally designed to tell stories from mythology, they make good wall hangings.  Hand block-printed textiles are also produced. 

Mining  The most important minerals in the state are coal and iron ore.  There are coal mines in the Singareni field along the lower Godavari Valley, and extensive deposits of high-quality iron ore in the far north.  Andhra Pradesh also produces chrysolite asbestos, copper ore, limestone, manganese, and mica.  One of the most famous diamonds in the world, the Koh-i-noor, was found at Golconda, just west of Hyderabad.  Diamond mines are operating again after being closed for a long time. 

Hyderabad is on the main railway line to Bombay and Madras, and has more than 8,000 kilometres of track.  There are over 2,500 kilometres of main roads in the state, and more than 50,000 kilometres of other roads.  Hyderabad and other major towns have air connections to the national network.  On the coast, Visakhapatnam is one of the country's major ports, and the eastern headquarters of the Indian Navy.  It has facilities for shipbuilding and is now an important outlet for exports.   

Radio and television have grown rapidly in Andhra Pradesh.  More than 66 per cent of the people had access to television at the end of the 1980's, and over 95 per cent listened to radio broadcasts.  There are nearly 40 daily newspapers in the state, including English-language national dailies. 

By 1991, hydroelectric power had supplied electricity to about 27,400 villages in the state.  Important power projects include Balimela Hydel Project, Kothagudem and Ramagurdam Thermal Power Projects, Nagarjuna Sagar, Sileru, Srisailam, and Vijayawada.  There is a gas-based power station at Vijayswaram.  

Location and Description: Andhra Pradesh stretches over 1,200 kilometres along the eastern seaboard of India, and more than 700 kilometres from the coast at Masulipatnam, to the west of Hyderabad.  It is one of India's tropical states. 

The state has three main regions: the coastal strip, the mountains, and the inland plateau.  Irrigation in the flat coastal area has helped to make it the richest agricultural region of the state.  The deltas of the Godavari and Krishna rivers have particularly fertile soil.  Rice and sugar cane are the most important crops.  Immediately inland, a series of mountain ranges, covered with forest or scrub jungle, runs nearly parallel with the coast.  Large gaps in the ranges lead up to the plateau behind.  The plateau has some of India's oldest rocks, which geologists believe are more than 3,000 million years old. 

For much of the year, many areas of Andhra Pradesh are hot, dry, and desolate.  Although the great delta of the Krishna and Godavari rivers retains its lush greenness because of irrigation water, great tracts of the granite plateaus of the interior are baked dry by unremitting sunshine.  The natural vegetation reflects the seasonal rainfall pattern and the long periods of drought.  In the coastal belt, coconut and palmyra palms are common.  On some parts of the shoreline there are mangroves.  Inland, patches of open savannah and dry, open forest remain.  On the northeastern borders of the state there is still some dense sal and teak forest on the higher ground, up to 1,500 metres.  Elsewhere, the thin red soils are either cultivated, or have only a thin cover of grasses. 

The clearance of the forests has greatly reduced wildlife.  Bears, deer, leopards, and tigers are still found in remote areas and in game reserves.  Domesticated animals, especially cattle, are common.  

Temperatures in central Andhra Pradesh range from an average minimum of 
13 °C in December to 26 °C in May, the hottest month.  In the coastal areas, the minimum temperatures do not fall as far.  In the coolest months, December and January, the mean maximum temperatures are 28 °C or 29 °C. In May, they go up to 39 °C. Once the rainy season starts in late June, mean maximum temperatures fall back to around 30 °C.

The whole state receives most of its rain during the monsoon season, from June to October. However, the northeast of the state gets more than twice as much rain as the southwest.  Hyderabad in the centre receives a total of 76 centimetres a year on average.  57 centimetres fall between June and September, while only 3 centimetres fall between December and March. 

Cyclones cause massive damage in the deltas.  In 1977, a cyclone caused many thousands of deaths.  An equally severe cyclone struck the region in 1990, but far fewer lives were lost because many concrete shelters had been built. 

Rivers and Lakes: Two great rivers, the Godavari and the Krishna, drain most of Andhra Pradesh.  Both rise close to India's west coast.  The Godavari rises less than 200 kilometres north of Bombay and flows 1,400 kilometres southeast across the Deccan Plateau.  It drains more than 310,000 square kilometres and is the largest of the peninsular rivers.  The Krishna rises near Mahabaleshwar at a height of 1,300 metres.  It then flows 1,400 kilometres to the Bay of Bengal.  In all, it drains an area of 260,000 square kilometres, only the lowest fourth of which is in Andhra Pradesh.  The two rivers have the largest watersheds in India after the Ganges.  Between them, they irrigate nearly 6 million hectares of farmland. 

Irrigation projects in the state include the construction of many artificial lakes, canals, and water tanks.  The Telugo-Ganges irrigation project is intended to supply drinking water to Madras and irrigation to Rayalaseema and Nellore districts. 

The largest lake in the state is behind the manmade Nagarjunasagar Dam on the Krishna.  On the delta between the Krishna and the Godavari is Kolleru Lake.  During the wet season this covers nearly 260 square kilometres and is now a bird sanctuary.

Early experiences.   The history of the area corresponding to present-day Andhra Pradesh dates from the Maurya Empire . During the reign of Bindusara (297-272 B.C.), second ruler of the Maurya dynasty, Andhradesa became part of the Maurya Empire. 
The emperor Asoka, his son and successor, refers in his inscriptions to a people called the Andhras.  The first known Andhra dynasty, the Satavahanas, probably held administrative posts under the Mauryas.  They came to power when the Maurya Empire disintegrated, following the death of the emperor Asoka in 232 B.C. The Satavahanas ruled from about 230 B.C. to A.D. 200. Prathistan (Paithan) was their capital. 

The Satavahanas encouraged various religious  groups and were patrons of Buddhism and Brahmanism.  Archaeological finds from Amaravati on the east coast show the great skill and artistry of early Andhra sculptors and builders.  Some of the Ajanta cave paintings date from this period. Nagarjunakonda became a centre of learning in the 100's and 200's A.D.  
 After the end of the Satavahana Empire, several dynasties emerged in Andhra.  
The most prominent were the Pallavas (225-610), the Ishvaku (250-340), and the Vishnu Kundins (440-610).  Fragmented political control continued until the rise of the Kakatiya   dynasty (1081-1323).  The Kakatiyas ruled the entire Andhradesa.  Warangal, northeast of the present city of Hyderabad, was their capital. The southward expansion of the Delhi sultanate ended Kakatiya supremacy.

Although the Kakatiya ruler repulsed the initial attempt of Ala-ud-din Khalji to conquer the Deccan, he was defeated in 1309, and became a tributary of the sultan.  The Kakatiyas enjoyed a short-lived independence after the death of Ala-ud-din Khalji.  However, his successor, Ghiyas-ud-din Tughluq, annexed the Kakatiya kingdom after a five-month war  ended in the fall of Warangal in 1323.  The rise of the Vijayanagar Empire in the mid-1300's  prevented Turkish expansion further south.   

Medieval period.  Medieval history in the Deccan centres around the struggle for supremacy between the Bahmani and Vijayanagar kingdoms.  The whole of Andhradesa, except the Telangana region, formed part of the territory of Vijayanagar.  Vijayanagar--the City of Victory--was the capital of this great military empire.  
One of its most successful rulers, Krishna Deva Raya, was responsible for a period of territorialexpansion and economic prosperity.  He was renowned as a great warrior, statesman, scholar, builder, and patron of the arts.  His kingdom did not survive for long after his death in 1529.  
Political and territorial realignment in the Deccan followed the Battle of Talikota in 1565 (in which the army of Vijayanagar was routed) and the earlier disintegration of the  Bahmani kingdom in 1538.  The Bahmani kingdom split into five independent principalities.

One, Golconda, under Quli Qutb Shah ruled the Telangana region.  On the decline of Vijayanagar power, the ruler of Golconda extended his territory to the whole of Andhra, bringing the area  under one political authority at last.   
Golconda emerged as an independent kingdom when the Mughal Empire was at its greatest.   Inevitably, the Mughals advanced south, intending to extend their territory into the Deccan. Although the rulers of the Deccan resisted, they were powerless against the Mughals. Golconda was annexed in 1687 and Andhra became a province of the Mughal Empire.   
In 1724, Nizam-ul-mulk Asaf Jah, the Mughal viceroy of Deccan, carved out an independent  kingdom, Hyderabad.  Hyderabad, comprising almost the whole of present-day Andhra Pradesh, was the most important centre of Muslim culture in central and south India during the 1700's and 1800's.  A succession of nizams ruled it  from 1724 to 1947.  Their court culture was Islamic, but Hindu culture also flourished in the state.  

Colonial period.  From the 1500's to the 1700's, the Portuguese, Dutch, French, and English  vied with each  other for commercial privileges and political influence in India, especially South India.  In the 1600's, the East India Company of Britain established several important trading centres along the Malabar and Coramandel coasts, including Nizampatam, Masulipatam, Madapollam, and Vizagapatam.   
Through the 1700's, British and French merchants each formed alliances with local powers.  At the end of  the 1700's, the British reached an agreement with the nizam of Hyderabad.  He accepted British support in exchange for recognition of British rights to trade. By the beginning of the 1800's, Andhra came under the political control of the East  India Company.  The districts of Anantapur, Cuduppa, Nellor, Chittoor, and Kurnool were annexed by the company, and the territory of the nizam was brought under its indirect rule.
Hyderabad became one of the 550 princely states which stayed largely independent until 1947. Colonial rule led to the impoverishment of the Indian people.  Anticolonial feelings were first expressed through peasant and tribal revolts.  Later, a national movement was organized by the educated classes. 
Sri Kandukuri Viresalingam Pantulu began a social-religious movement which made possible the emergence of a democratic movement.  The writings of Gujaraja Apparao and Unnava Lakshminarayana began a literary renaissance.  The anticolonial movement initiated and organized by the Indian National 
Congress drew popular support in Andhra.  Important leaders in the movement included T. Prakasham, N. Sanjeeva Reddy, and Pattabhi Sitaramayya.  The Communist movement, which grew as part of the national movement also had a large following across the region.   
 
Independence.  At independence in 1947, the present state of Andhra consisted of a part of the British presidency of Madras and the nizam of Hyderabad 's state.  The nizam of Hyderabad might have joined fellow Muslims in the newly created Muslim state of Pakistan.  But, after political disturbances
  in 1949, the Indian government took direct control and incorporated the region into the Indian Union.   
Immediately after independence, Communists in the Telangana region organized a massive uprising by peasants against their landlords and the state.  Between 1948 and 1951, in about 3,000 villages the peasants set up village republics and redistributed land under the guidance of peoples committees. About 4,000 communists and peasant militants were killed and more than 10,000 arrested and imprisoned during the uprising.   

Formation of Andhra Pradesh: Movements for the linguistic reorganization of states were organized throughout the country by the national movement.  In Andhra, Potti Sreeramulu, a politician, starved himself to death in 1953 in protest against the government's refusal to grant the demand for separate  statehood.  In October of the same year, the government created Andhra out of the Telugu-speaking districts of the Madras presidency.  The Visalandhra movement demanded inclusion of Telugu-speaking  areas belonging to the former state of Hyderabad.  Consequently, the present state of Andhra Pradesh was formed in 1956.  Hyderabad became the capital of the new state.   
The Indian National Congress was the dominant political party in the state until 1984.  Its influence declined with the emergence of a regional party, the Telugu Desam.  Communist parties have considerable influence in some parts of the state.