Krishna River

The Krishna River or Kistna also called Krishnaveni is the third-longest river in India, after the Ganges and Godavari and the second longest  river of the Peninsular India after Godavari. It is also the fourth-largest in terms of water inflows and river basin area in India, after the Ganges, Godavari and Brahmaputra.

Origin : Jor village, Mahabaleswar (Western Ghats), Satara district, Mahasrashtra State, India.
Length : 1400 km (869.9 mi)
Drainage : 258948 km
Elevation : 1,337 m (4,386 ft)
Outflow : Bay of Bengal, near Hamsaladeevi village in Diviseema, Koduru Mandal, Krishna District, Andhra Pradesh State, India.

States : Maharashtra 305 km (190 mi), Karnataka 483 km (300 mi),  Telangana and Andhra Pradesh 612 km (380 mi).

Length in Telangana: Around 430 km

Start in Telangana: Thangadigi village, Krishna Mandal, Narayanpet district.
End in Telangana: Vajinepally, MellaCheruvu Mandal, Suryapet district.

Telangana Districts : Narayanpet, Jogulambha Gadwal, Wanaparthy, Nagarkurnool, Nalgonda, Suryapet

Tributaries in Telangana

Left Bank

1) Bhima River joins Krishna River near Thangadigi or Tangidi Village,Maganoor Mandal, Narayanpet district.

2) Mandipalle Pedda Vagu joins Krishna River near Mandipalle village, Maganoor Mandal, Narayanpet District.

4) Okacheti vagu / Oragheti vagu joins Krishna river near gurramgadda village, Gadwal mandal, Jogulambha Gadwal district

5) Gowardhanagiri vagu joins Krishna River near Gummadam village, Pebbair Mandal, Wanaparthy district.

9) Mallapaharani Vagu joins Krishna river near Chellepahad village, Chinambavi Mandal, Wanaparthy district.

10) Yerragattu vagu joins Krishna River near Bollaram village, Kollapur Mandal, Nagarkurnool district

11) Kanet Vagu joins Krishna River in Nallmala Forest, Kollapur Mandal, Nagarkurnool district

12) Yemlapaya Vagu joins Krishna River in Nallmala Forest, Padra Mandal, Nagarkurnool district

13) Kampa Vagu joins Krishna River in Nallmala Forest, Padra Mandal, Nagarkurnool district

14) Chinnagundala Vagu joins Krishna River in Nallmala Forest, Padra Mandal, Nagarkurnool district

15) Bugga Vagu joins Krishna River in Nallmala Forest, Padra Mandal, Nagarkurnool district

16) Nalla Vagu joins Krishna River in Nallmala Forest, Padra Mandal, Nagarkurnool district

17) Purmaklakaya Vagu joins Krishna River in Nallmala Forest, Padra Mandal, Nagarkurnool district

18) Vadlavanchela Vagu joins Krishna River in Nallmala Forest, Padra Mandal, Nagarkurnool district

19) Nallamala Pedda Vagu joins joins Krishna River in Nallmala Forest, Padra Mandal, Nagarkurnool district

20) Pulibugga Vagu joins Krishna River in Nallmala Forest, Padra Mandal, Nagarkurnool district

21) Dindi River joins Krishna River in Nallmala Forest, Padra Mandal, Nagarkurnool district

22) Peddamunigal Pedda Vagu joins Krishna River near Peddamunigal village, Neredugommu Mandal, Nalgonda district.

23) Mattam Vagu joins Krishna River Jemmanakota village, Tirumulagiri Sagar Mandal, Nalgonda district.

24) Halia River joins Krishna River Chityala village, Adavidevullapally Mandal, Nalgonda district.

25) Tungapahad Vagu joins Krishna River Kothapalli village, Damercherla Mandal, Nalgonda district.

26) Musi River Joins Krishna River Wadapalli village, Damercherla Mandal, Nalgonda district.

27) Vemuleru joins Krishna River near Gundeboina Gudem, Palakeedu Mandal of Suryapet District

Krishna River ends in Vajinepally, MellaCheruvu Mandal, Suryapet district, Telangana State.

Antara Ganga Vagu joins Krishna River in Andhra Pradesh

Paleru River joins Krishna River in Ravirala, Andhra Pradesh

Munneru River joins Krishna River in Vibhareetapadu, Andhra Pradesh

Right Bank

3) Nalla vagu joins Krishna river near Nettampadu village, Dharur Mandal of Jogulamba Gadwal District

6) Pyata vagu joins Krishna river near Maramungala village, Manopad or Manopadu Mandal in Jogulamba Gadwal district

7) Ghantakaranna vagu joins Krishna river near Shalipur village, Alampur Mandal, Jogulambha Gadwal district

8) Tungabhadra River joins Krishna river near Chagatur village, Alampur Mandal, Jogulambha Gadwal district

1) Bhima River joins Krishna River near Thangadigi or Tangidi Village, Maganoor Mandal, Narayanpet district.

        Krishna-Bhima Sangam. This Place is also called as "Nivrutti Sangamam" where in Sri Datta    Bhimeswara Temple located.

2) Mandipalle Pedda Vagu joins Krishna River near Mandipalle village, Maganoor Mandal, Narayanpet District.

3) Nalla vagu joins Krishna river near Nettampadu village, Dharur Mandal of Jogulamba Gadwal District

4) Okacheti vagu / Oragheti vagu joins Krishna river near gurramgadda village, Gadwal mandal, Jogulambha Gadwal district

    Tributaries

        Konneru vagu joins okacheti vagu near Ramanpadu village

            Konneru vagu Pedda vagu joins Konneru vagu near Dantanoor village.

            DevarKaula vagu joins Konneru vagu Pedda vagu near Perur village.

5) Gowardhanagiri vagu joins Krishna River near Gummadam village, Pebbair Mandal, Wanaparthy district.

6) Pyata vagu joins Krishna river near Maramungala village, Manopad or Manopadu Mandal in Jogulamba Gadwal district

7) Ghantakaranna vagu joins Krishna river near Shalipur village, Alampur Mandal, Jogulambha Gadwal district

8) Tungabhadra River joins Krishna river near Chagatur village, Alampur Mandal, Jogulambha Gadwal district

9) Mallapaharani Vagu joins Krishna river near Chellepahad village, Chinambavi Mandal, Wanaparthy district.

10) Yerragattu vagu joins Krishna River near Bollaram village, Kollapur Mandal, Nagarkurnool district

11) Kanet Vagu joins Krishna River in Nallmala Forest, Kollapur Mandal, Nagarkurnool district

12) Yemlapaya Vagu joins Krishna River in Nallmala Forest, Padra Mandal, Nagarkurnool district

13) Kampa Vagu joins Krishna River in Nallmala Forest, Padra Mandal, Nagarkurnool district

14) Chinnagundala Vagu joins Krishna River in Nallmala Forest, Padra Mandal, Nagarkurnool district

15) Bugga Vagu joins Krishna River in Nallmala Forest, Padra Mandal, Nagarkurnool district

    Kaklet Vagu joins Bugga Vagu in Nallamala Forest near Krishna River

16) Nalla Vagu joins Krishna River in Nallmala Forest, Padra Mandal, Nagarkurnool district

    Nartimula Vagu joins Nalla Vagu near Krishna River in Nallmala Forest, Padra Mandal, Nagarkurnool district

17) Purmaklakaya Vagu joins Krishna River in Nallmala Forest, Padra Mandal, Nagarkurnool district

18) Vadlavanchela Vagu joins Krishna River in Nallmala Forest, Padra Mandal, Nagarkurnool district

19) Nallamala Pedda Vagu joins joins Krishna River in Nallmala Forest, Padra Mandal, Nagarkurnool district

20) Pulibugga Vagu joins Krishna River in Nallmala Forest, Padra Mandal, Nagarkurnool district

21) Dindi River joins Krishna River in Nallmala Forest, Padra Mandal, Nagarkurnool district

22) Peddamunigal Pedda Vagu joins Krishna River near Peddamunigal village, Neredugommu Mandal, Nalgonda district.

23) Mattam Vagu joins Krishna River Jemmanakota village, Tirumulagiri Sagar Mandal, Nalgonda district.

24) Halia River joins Krishna River Chityala village, Adavidevullapally Mandal, Nalgonda district.

25) Tungapahad Vagu joins Krishna River Kothapalli village, Damercherla Mandal, Nalgonda district.

26) Musi River Joins Krishna River Wadapalli village, Damercherla Mandal, Nalgonda district.

27) Vemuleru joins Krishna River near Gundeboina Gudem, Palakeedu Mandal of Suryapet District

Antara Ganga Vagu joins Krishna River in Andhra Pradesh

Paleru River joins Krishna River in Ravirala, Andhra Pradesh

Munneru River joins Krishna River in Vibhareetapadu, Andhra Pradesh

Antara Ganga Vagu joins Krishna River in Andhra Pradesh

Paleru River joins Krishna River in Ravirala, Andhra Pradesh

Munneru River joins Krishna River in Vibhareetapadu, Andhra Pradesh

    Wyra joins Munneru in Ithavaram Andhra Pradesh.

        Kattaleru joins Munneru near Pallempalli, Andhra Pradesh

Krishna River flows east to Wai and then in a generally southeasterly direction past Sangli to the border of Karnataka state. There the river turns east and flows in an irregular course across north-central Karnataka and then to the southeast and into southwestern Telangana state near Thangadigi village, Krishna Mandal, Narayanpet district. It then veers southeast and then northeast, forming a portion of the border with Andhra Pradesh state. Turning east it flows into Andhra Pradesh to its delta head at Vijayawada, and from there flows southeast and then south until it enters the Bay of Bengal.

Telangana is separated from Andhra Pradesh by the Krishna River, which acts as a geographical divider between the two. The River Krishna forms border between the states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh from Srisailam to Pulichintala for about 290 kms flows passing through NSP Dam. 

It is a major source of irrigation for Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. The delta of this river is one of the most fertile regions in India and was the home to ancient Satavahana and Ikshvaku Sun Dynasty kings.

Srisailam Dam
The Srisailam Dam is constructed across the Krishna River on the border of Mahabubnagar District, Telangana and Kurnool district, Andhra Pradesh near Srisailam temple town and is the 2nd largest capacity working hydroelectric station in the country.

The dam was constructed in a deep gorge in the Nallamala Hills in between Mahabubnagar and Kurnool districts, 300 m (980 ft) above sea level.

Kalwakurthy lift irrigation scheme by drawing water from the Srisailam reservoir, supplies irrigation water in Mahabubnagar and Nalgonda districts.

Srisailam left bank canal receives water by gravity through tunnels to irrigate lands in Nalgonda district.

Tributaries of Krishna river in Telangana are Tungabhadra, Bhima, Dindi, Haliya, Musi, Paleru and Munneru.

Bhima River
Length : 861 km (535 mi)
Drainage : 70,614 km.
The longest tributary is the Bhima River, originates near Bhimashankar Temple in the Bhimashankar hills in khed Taluka on the western side of the Western Ghats, known as Sahyadri, in Pune District, Maharashtra state.

The Bhima River is a major river in South India. It flows southeast through Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Telangana states, before entering the Krishna River. After the first sixty-five kilometers in a narrow valley through rugged terrain, the banks open up and form a fertile agricultural area which is densely populated.
Tungabhadra River The largest tributary of the Krishna River is the Tungabhadra with a drainage basin measuring 71,417 km running for about 531 km.

The Tunga and the Bhadra rise at Gangamoola, in Varaha Parvatha in the Western Ghats at an elevation of 1198 metres in Chikmagalur District of Karnataka along with the Nethravathi (west-flowing river, joining the Arabian Sea near Mangalore).

The Bhadra river flows through the industrial city Bhadravathi. More than 100 tributaries, streams, creeks, rivulets and the like contribute to the two rivers.

The Tungabhadra River is formed by the confluence of the Tunga River and the Bhadra River at Koodli at an elevation of about 610 metres near Holehonnur, about 15 km (9.3 mi) from Shimoga.
It is a confluence of both the Dwaitha and the Adwaitha philosophies.

From there, it mingles with the Krishna at Gondimalla, near the famous Alampur in Mahabubnagar District of Telangana, Jogulamba is the presiding deity, known as Dakshina Kashi are the other important pilgrimage centres. There is a cluster of Nava Brahma temples constructed by the early Chalukyas

Musi River
Length : 256 Km (159 miles)
Drainage : 2219
The river originates in Anantagiri Hills near Vikarabad, Ranga Reddy district, 90 kilometers to the west of Hyderabad and flows due east for almost all of its course. It joins the Krishna River at Vadapally in Nalgonda district.

It flows through a major portion of Hyderabad, India and divides the historic old city with the new city. It was known as Muchukunda river in olden days, and the precise reason for the change of name is not known.

There are many bridges across the river in Hyderabad. The oldest bridge, Purana pul (meaning 'old bridge') was built during the reign of Ibrahim Qutub shah in 1579 A.D. Nayapul (meaning 'new bridge'), near High Court was added later. There are other bridges in Dabirpura, Chaderghat, Amberpet, Uppal Kalanand Tekumatla near Suryapet.

The Musi river was the cause of frequent flood devastation of Hyderabad city until the early decades of the 20th century. On Tuesday 28 September 1908, Hyderabad witnessed disastrous floods of the River Musi, flowing through the city.
Abdallah Ahmed Bin Mahfooz submitted his report on October 1, 1909, with recommendations on preventing a recurrence of floods and improving civic amenities. Nizam VII constituted a City Improve Trust in 1912. He built a flood control system on the river. A dam was built in 1920 across the river, ten miles (16 km) upstream from the city called Osman Sagar. In 1927 another reservoir was built on Esi (tributary of Musi) and named Himayat Sagar. These lakes prevented the flooding of the River Musi and are major drinking water sources for Hyderabad city.

Dindi River
Dindi origin is Shabad Hills near about Muhalgidda (Mahabubnagar District) and joins Nagarjunasagar through Dindi reservoir. Dindi Reservoir is a medium water reservoir Dindi town in Mahabubnagar. It is part of Srisailam Left Bank Canal.It is close to Nagarjunsagar-Srisailam Tiger Reserve, around 95 kilometers from Hyderabad.

The Dindi Lift Irrigation Scheme envisages drinking water to fluorosis-affected areas and irrigation facilities to drought-prone areas of Devarakonda and Munugodu constituencies in Nalgonda district. The LI scheme will also cover some parts of Achampet and Kalwakurthy constituencies in Mahbubnagar district by lifting the flood water from the foreshore of Srisailam reservoir to Dindi Reservoir at 0.5 tmc per day for 60 days to a quantum of 30 tmc.

The lifting of water involves two stage pumping, two offline and three online reservoirs system. The gross command is 3,68,880 acres and the net commendable area is 3,41,000 acres under Dindi lift scheme, which will cover five mandals in Mahbubnagar district and 14 mandals in Nalgonda district.

The state government accorded administrative approval to the line estimate of Dindi Lift Irrigation Scheme for an amount of `6,190 crore.

Hallia River
The Hallia, a small river taking its origin in the hills west of Narayanapur in Nalgonda taluk, flows in a south easterly direction for about 45 miles where it is joined by kongal river and continuing in the same direction falls into krishna river.

Paleru River
Length : 104 Km (70 miles)
Drainage : 2483 km
Flows through Warangal district and mingles into river Krishna near Jaggayyapeta, Krishna Dist. in Andhra Pradesh.

During the Nizam rule, a reservoir was constructed on the river at Paleru town in Khammam, Kusumanchi. Hundreds of acres are irrigated with the help of this reservoir. Paleru reservoir acts as a balancing reservoir to the Nagarjunasagar left canal.

Munneru River
Origin : Yelbuligutta near Krishnapuram Village of Narasampet, Mahabubabad town of Warangal District, Telangana
Length : 122 km (76 mi)
Drainge : 3734 km
Districts : Warangal, Khammam (Telangana), Krishna (A.P)
Outflow : Jalapalli in Chandrullapadu mandal of Krishna District.

The Muneru takes its birth at Yelbuligutta near Krishnapuram Village of Narasampet Taluq of Warangal District. At a distance of about 19 km. from its origin, it joins Pakal lake, a fesh water lake, presently used by the local people for drinking and irrigation purposes. The Muneru river, after running for about 38.4 km. From Pakal lake, it receives the waters of another rainfed stream known as Vattivagu near Govindapuram village of Mahabubabad Taluq.

The Akeru river, another tributary of the Muneru rises in the north eastern Fringes of Janagoan Taluq of Warangal District near Bonthaghatnagaram flows in the South Eastern direction and after receiving rain water of Ghanapur, Vardhannapet, Nallikoduru and Nandikodur Mandals in Warangal District joins the Muneru at Thirthala in Khammam District.

The river Wyra, another tributary of Muneru originates in the hill zone of Yellendu Mandal and after passing through Timmarajupet Mandal joins Wira lake. There after it form a tank near Singarayapalem and then flows after receiving the waters of another hill stream Kattaleru near Chilakaluru south wards into Madhira Taluq and joins river Muneru near Jalapalli in Krisha District.

Besides these streams, there are also minor independent rainfed tributaries of Muneru river such as Minaga Vagu, Kucha Vagu, Chavati Vagu, Yanugadda Vagu and Nallavagu which are active only during rainy season and dry away during lean and hot seasons. 

Muneru river valley has brought to light large quantities of cultural materials belonging to Neolithic, Megalithic and Early Historic periods.

Krishna Pushkaralu
Mahabubnagar : Jurala, Beechupalli, Rangapur, Alampur, Nadi Agraharam, Chintarevula, Nandimalla (Narayanpet), Krishna, Pasupula and Panchadev Padu (Maktal), Chellepad (Weepanagandla), Jataprole (Weepanagandla), Somasila (Kollapur), Malleswaram, Manchalakatta and Lingala.
Renowned Datta mandir, Ksheera Lingeswara temple and Venkateswara temples are located at the meeting point of the rivers Krishna and Bheema. Paspula ghat in Makthal is also very close to Krishna Ghat.

Nalgonda : Nagarjunasagar, Wadapally in Damaracharla mandal, Mattapally and , apart from 5 places of Mellacheruvu mandal, Utlapally in Peddavura mandal, Adavidevulapally in Damaracharla, Mahankaligudem in Nereducharla.

The Telangana government has made the necessary arrangements at Pushkar ghats in Nalgonda (34) and Mahabubnagar (52) districts at an estimate of `680 crore. The government is expecting as many as 3.34 crore devotees to take holy dips in the river during the Pushkarams.

There are many shrines and temples along the banks of the river Krishna, which arises in Mahabaleshwar in Maharashtra and passes through Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh and joins the sea at Hamsaladeevi.

One of the 12 Jyothir-linga temples and two of the 18 Shakthi Peethas are located in Telangana and its border. Besides the Jyothirlinga and Shakthi Peetha at Srisailam, the state has the Alampur Jogulamba Shakthi Peet-ha near the river Krishna.

There are also two Hanuman pilgrimages at Beechpally and Pedda Chintarevula.
These are among five temples in which idols of lord Hanuman were installed by Vyasaraya Theertha, the guru of Madhva Parampara, in a single day. These are also along the banks of the river.

Then there are prominent pilgrimages like Harihara Kshetram at Vadapally in Nalgonda, Dattha Mandiram at Maganur, Ranganayaka Swamy temple at Pebber, Dwadasha Jyothirlinga-layam at Somashila near Kolhapur, Uma Mahesw-ara Temple near Patala-ganga at Mannanur, Sang-ameswara Temple at Kott-hapally, Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple at Mattapally and others, along the banks of the river.

The Krishna enters Telangana at Krishna village in Maganur mandal of Mahabubnagar district and exits into Andhra Pradesh from Nagarjuna Sagar. The government has deployed 200 police personnel at each ghat, beside at least 20 expert swimmers at major ghats and other staff including sanitation, health RWSS, electricity etc.

Ghats, pilgrimages and accommodation along the Krishna

Krishna ghat
This ghat is located in Maganur mandal of Mahabubnagar district. Renowned Datta mandir, Ksheera Lingeswara temple and Venkateswara temples are located at the meeting point of the rivers Krishna and Bheema. Paspula ghat in Makthal is also very cloase to Krishna Ghat.
Distance from Hyderabad: 185 km
Transportation: RTC runs buses from Hyderabad to Raichur via Mahabubnagar and Makthal. Railway passengers can reach Krishna by any train from Hyderabad to Bengaluru.
Accommodation facilities: Yatri Nivas Hotel and Vivekananda Ashram

Rangapur ghat
This ghat is located in Pebber mandal. Ranganayaka Swamy temple is renowned in Rangapur. Besides this, Abhyayanjaneya swamy temple is located nearby the ghat.
Distance from Hyderabad: 150 km and 86km from Mahabubnagar town
Transportation: RTC busses are available from Hyderabad, Mahabubnagar and Kurnool
Accommodation facilities: Temporary sheds have been constructed

Agraharam ghat
This ghat is located in Gadwal. Spatikalingeswara, Kalyana Venkateswara temples, Ramalayam, Hanuman Temple, Navagraha Mandapam, Ahobilam Mutt and Saksheswara Swamy temples are located nearby this ghat.
Distance from Hyderabad: 180 km
Transportation: RTC busses and trains are available from Nampally and Secunderabad stations
Accommodation facilities: Hotels, lodges and free meal facilities

Beechpally ghat
This is the major ghat in Mahabubnagar district. Pushkarams in Telangana will begin at this ghat. Abhayanjaneya swamy temple, Shivalayam, Kodanda Ramalayam and Hayagreeva Gnana Saraswathi temples are located on the banks of Krishna here.
Distance from Hyderabad: 168 km
Transportation: RTC buses are available from Hyderabad, Kurnool and Raichur. Train passengers should go up to Gadwala from Nampally and use public transport to reach Beechpally for 16 km
Accommodation facilities: A few rooms are available in R&B guest house

Kyathur & Gondimalla
These ghats are located near Alampur. Chief Minister K.Chandrashekar Rao would take a holy dip at Gondimalla ghat. Kullayappa, Shivalayam, Hanuman Temple, Jhukareswari Temple, Suryanarayana swamy temple, Yoga Narasimha Swamy temple and Papanashini teertham are located nearby these ghats apart from the Alampur Jogulamba Shakthi Peetam.
Distance from Hyderabad: 205 km
Transportation: Buses are available; rail passengers should catch Kurnool train from Hyderabad to reach Jogulamba.
Accommodation: Temporary sheds at ghats and lodges at Alampur or Itikyala.

Somashila ghat
This ghat is having VIP and General ghats. Dwadasha Jyothirlingalayam is located on the banks of Krishna here.
Distance from Hyderabad: 200 km
Transportation: Buses are available from Hyderabad to Jadcharla. Commuters should take local buses from Jadcharla to Kolhapur via Nagarkurnool.
Accommodation facilities: Only one lodge at Kolhapur. The government is planning to provide rooms in government schools and offices. Nagarkurnool and Wanaparthy have some lodges.

Patalaganga & Lingalagattu
This ghat is located in Mannanur. Umamaheswara temple, Maddimadugu Pabbathi Anjaneya swamy temple, Uma Maheswara Ksetram, Chenchulaxmi museum, view point from Nallamala forest, Mallela Teertham waterfalls, Traibal Museum, Sakshi Ganapathi Temple, Boating, Akkamahadevi caves and other site seeing points are located nearby this ghat besides Srisailam Mallikarjuna Swamy and Bramarambika temples.
Distance from Hyderabad: 190km
Transportation: Buses are available from Hyderabad
Accommodation: Temporary sheds were constructed at the ghat. Lodges and hotels are available at Srisailam.

Pondugala & Irkigudem
These ghats are located near Miryalaguda, Nalgonda district. Dachepally in Guntur, which is closer to these ghats, have five ghats. These ghats some local temples.
Distance from Hyderabad: 176km
Transportation: Busses are available to Miryalaguda from Hyderabad. From Miryalaguda, pilgrims can choose local busses or private transportation like autos. Railway passengers can reach up to Nadikudi junction from Hyderabad in Guntur trains.

Vadapally
Vadapally is having renowned and historical Laxminarsimha swamy temple and Vadapally Meenakshi Agastheswara Swamy temples.
Distance from Hyderabad: 180 km
Transportation: Take bus to Miryalaguda and then take a local bus to the ghat.

Mahankali & Mattapally
These ghats are located near Miryalaguda. Mattapally Laxminarsimha Swamy temple is famous shrine. Besides this, Parvathi Ramalingeswaralayam, Godadevi temple and Hanuman temples are located nearby these ghats.
Distance from Hyderabad: 186 km
Transportation: Busses from Hyderabad to Miryalaguda and Hujurnagar
Accommodation facilities: Annadana satrams, lodges and hotels are available



http://www.deccanchronicle.com/nation/in-other-news/110816/pilgrimage-centres-at-krishna-river-gears-up-for-pushkarams.html


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krishna_River
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musi_River_(India)
http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/telangana/Government-Sanctions-Rs-6k-Crore-for-Dindi-Project/2015/06/12/article2862068.ece

Read More

Western Chalukyas of Kalyani

973 AD - 1163 AD ( 973 AD - 1200 AD)
Founder : Tailapa II
Capitals : Manyakheta, Kalyani (Basavakalyan in Bidar , Karnataka)
Languages : Kannada, Sanskrit
Religion : Jainism, Hinduism

The last ruler of Rastrakuta Dynasty Kakka II (Karaka) was killed by Taila II or Tailapa II the scion of old Chalukya stock in 973 AD. Thus Taila II founded the dynasty of Chalukyas of Kalyani which lasted for 2 centuries. For 200 years they remained in conflict with the Cholas and also the eastern Chalukyas of Vengi. They were finally destroyed by the Hoyasala Empire in 12th century. The empire of Chalukyas of Kalyani is also known as Western Chalukya Empire. This empire has a great contribution in the modern Kannada literature as well as Sanskrit literature.

966 AD : Ujjili, Mahaboobnagar District.
In this Kannada inscription the name of the king is lost and it states that the king was ruling from Kalyanapura. Dated S. 888, Prabhava, su. 5, Thursday, (Uttarayana samkranti). Registers the land and flower garden to the god Chennaparsva by Sri Vallabha Chola maharaja for repairs and feeding the ascetics in the temple Baddijinalaya of Darvila Sangha, Senagana and Karuru Gaeeha inside the fort of rajadhani Ujjivolal in Kallakelegu-500. The gift was made into the hands of Indresvara Pandita.

973 - 997 AD : Tailapa II

Tailapa-II was one of the feudatories of the Rastrakutas and declared independence from Rashtrakutas after killing Karka and occupied his capital Manyakheta.

He restored the family of his ancestors to its former glory. Taila reigned for 24 years and during that time was able to recover the ancient territory of his race except the Gujarat region. We know about his reign from the Gadag records. He patronized a Kannada poet Ranna who was one the earliest poets of Kannada language. Ranna, Adikavi Pampa and Sri Ponna together are called three gems of Kannada literature.

10th April, A.D. 973 : Koraprolu, Medak District.
This inscription is dated S. 895, Srimukha Vaisakha su. 5, Thursday. (A.D. 973, April 10). The king's feudatory, Mahamandalesvara Soma Permadi was governing Koraprola in Kasavula-seventy from the capital Koraprola. The inscription records land grants to the god Bibbesvara constructed by his father Bibbarasa. This is the earliest record of the Chalukyas of Kalyana in Telangana as it is dated in the regnal year of Tailapa II, the founder of the Chalukya dynasty.

According to the Guider epigraph Kaktiya Beta I (996 - 1052) was too young to rule when his father was killed. The Kakatiya family was in dire straits at this time, being deprived of their lands as well as an adult male head. On the request of Kamavasani, the wife of Viriyala Erra Tailapa made him the head of Koravi region.

995 AD : Supported Mudigonda Chalukyas against Kaktiyas by killing Gunda IV (950 - 995).
Most of the time, Tailapa II kept on fighting with Munja, a Paramara king of Dhara. Munja was finally captured and probably killed in captivity. This was in 995 AD.

Two years later Tailpa died and his crown was passed on to his son Satyasraya

997 - 1008 AD : SatyasrayaThe period of reign of Satyasraya was 997 to 1008 AD. Though, to star with, he adopted the aggressive policy of his father had enmity with the eastern Chalukyas and Cholas. His 11 years reign was disturbed and was finally faced the disastrous consequence of a war with the great Chola Rajaraja-I. Rajaraja-I overran the Chalukya country and looted and killed a large number of men, women and children. Satyasraya was followed by Vikramaditya V and Jaysimha II. The next important king was Someshwara I.

An archaeology enthusiast discovered a stone inscription with the orders passed by 10th century Kalyani Chalukyan ruler Satyasraya atop a hillock called Dasthagiri Gutta in Basara town of Nirmal district.

The whole of Telangana region was under his rule.

1008 - 1015 AD : Vikramaditya V
He had a title named "Tribhuvana Malla" and was follower of Jainism.Kalabhairava Swamy temple inscription in Ummeda village in Nizamabad district pertains to the reign of Tribhuvanamalla Vikramaditya V. Satya Ratnakara Burudankita, Somarasa Punyamkora, the great prime minister of Pallavarasa era 933 on the full moon Sunday of Falguna month (February 10, 1012) during the lunar eclipse, washed the feet of Somanatha and worshipped the land of 60 martyrs.”

1015 AD : Ayyana
Rajendra Chola of Chola dynasty killed Ayyana in battle and occupied Kollipaka region.

1015 - 1042 AD : Jayasimha II also known as Jagadhekamalla I and Mallikamoda
Jayasimha II fought with cholas and recaptured kollipaka region.
Paramara Bhoja invaded Chalukya kingdom and conquered Nasik region, but Jayasimha waged a war with him around 1019-1022 and recaptured the region.
Jayasimha took to Shivaism in 1034 AD. His defence minister Macharaju patronised poet Chandrarajan who wrote a book called Madana Tilaka.

Developed the town of Kolanupaka and gave donations to Jain.

September 29, 1017 AD : Inscription in Ummeda village of Nandipet Mandal, located within Nizamabad district, emerged on a stone boulder locally known as ‘Ganapathi Gundu’, situated within the Kalabhairava temple premises within the village. This inscription spans three feet in height and four feet in width. Dated back to September 29, 1017 AD, the decree was issued on the propitious occasion of Pingala Aswayuja Shuddha Shashti, a Sunday.
December 31, 1031 AD : This inscription is engraved on the four faces of the pillar kept in Bandayappa matha in the village Bichkunda, Kamireddi district, Telangana. It is written in Kannada language and characters, dated Saka 953, Prajapati, Pushya, Su 15, = 1031 CE, December 31, Friday.

This was issued in the reign of Kalyana Chalukya King Jagadekamalla (Jayasimha II). It seems to records the construction of Kalla Basadi of Desiyagana and installation of the Tirthankara Chandra (Prabha) therein and also gift of lands by Senabova Changayya, Palla Chattayya, Boppagorava, Devannayya, Sovappayya with all the merchant guilds viz., Nakharas and Munnurvaru as Sarvamanya.

1042 - 1068 AD : Someswara I
Someshwara I, who was also known as Ahavamalla or Trilokamalla reigned from 1042 AD to 1068 AD. The contemporary Chola King was Rajadhiraja Chola I who became Chola king in the same year i.e. 1042. Someshwara I had established Kalyani as its capital.

He faced the attack of Rajadhiraja Chola-I, who overran initially the Chalukyan capital and demolished the forts and erected the pillars as a memorabilia of the victories, but the Chalukyan counter attack forced them out. Under Someshwara-I , the Chalukya army raided Chola capital Kanchipuram but it was repelled back. Finally in the battle of Koppam, Rajadhiraja Chola was killed. But his younger brother took the command and drove the Chalukyas back. In this attack, brother of Someshwara-I was killed. The reign of Someshwara I is known for numerous wars.

Kaktiya Beta I (996 - 1052) joins the Western Chalukya armies of Someswara I in the Chola invasion of 1052. Along with his general, Recharla Bramha, he destroys the Chola armies (of King Rajadhiraja I) and enters the city of Kanchi.

In 1067 prince Vikramaditya VI invaded chola kingdom and plundered Tanjore, Kanchi and Gangaikonda. Kakatiya Prola I(1052 - 1076) also participated in these wars and won the praise of Somesvara and was gifted Hanumakonda region.

Inscription dated Saka 978 (1056 AD) refers to the renovation of Indra Narayana Temple, formally built by Indra Vallabha / Indra III (914 AD - 929 AD) of Rashtrakuta family, consecration of the image of Vishnu therein, erection of Garuda-pillar.

This able king of the Western Chalukya Empire ended his life by drowning himself in the river Tungabhadra, due to his inability to endure a fever. Someshwara I was succeeded by his elder son Someshwara II.

1068 - 1076 AD : Someswara II
Had a title named Bhuvanaika Malla and he was a worshipper of Shiva.
He also fought wars against Chola Dynasty.

Vikramaditya VI with the help of Chola Veera Rajendra occupied Rattapadi region and declared himself king. Later in 1071 AD attacked his brothers kingdom and defeated him and agreed to give his brother regions of Anantapur, Chitradurgam, Dharwad and Kalinga.

Vikramaditya VI not satisfied revolted second time and defeated him in 1076 AD and declared himself the emperor.

1076 - 1126 AD : Vikramaditya VI
Vikramaditya VI ascended the throne in 1076 AD which marks the beginning of Chalukya-Vikram era. Vikramaditya VI was one of the ablest kings of the Western Chalukyan Empire. He left the maximum number of inscriptions, all in Kannada.

Greatest of Kalyani Chalukya rulers. He ruled for 50 years and expanded his kingdom in a huge way. Started Chalukya Vikram era.

Vikramadiyas younger brother Jayasimha revolted against him in 1080 AD but was suppressed by him.

He invaded Chola kingdom in 1084 AD and plundered Kanchi.
Vent kingdom was port of Kalyani Chalukyas between 1118 and 1138 AD.

He is the hero of a historical poem (Vikramankadevacharita) by Bilhana, a Kashmir poet and reigned for around half a century in tolerable peace.

Vikramaditya VI captured Kanchi in late in his career and engaged with serious battles with a Hoyasala King of Dorsamudra known as Vishnu. In the capital Kalyani during the times of Vikramaditya VI, a celebrated jurist of the 12th century called Vijñāneśvara lived. Vijñāneśvara has written a treatise on inheritance which is among the most influential legal treatises in Hindu Law outside Bengal. The title of this work was Mitāksarā.

Mitākṣarā is considered to be an important commentary on Yajnavalkya Smriti. Another work by Vijñāneśvara is Dayabhaga, which is also related to Hindu law. Death of Vikramaditya VI was followed by a decline of Chalukya Empire. The Western Chalukya Dynasty ended in 1190, when most parts of its territory were absorbed by Yadavas of Devagiri and Hoyasals of Dorsamudra. The last King of Western Chalukyan Empire was Someshwara IV. After his death, the remaining territories of the

Duggavatti epigraph of Tribhuvanamalla Vikramaditya VI, which is dated Saka1049, Prabhava, Pusa su.1, padiva, Advara and corresponds to A.D. 1126, December, 16 Thursday, not Sunday as stated, it is obvious that Vikramaditya VI was still on the throne upto A.D. 1126 December 16, if not further.

Patancheru grant of the king Bhulokamalla Somesvara III states specifically that king Bhulokamalla’s coronation took place on Phalguna su 7 Sunday, in the Chalukya Vikrama Year 51, Prabhava
King Vikramaditya VI was still on the throne upto A.D.1126, December, 16, and king Bhulokamalla’s coronation took place in A.D. 1127, February 20.

1126 - 1138 AD : Bhulokamalla Someswara III
1134 AD : This is dated the 8th year of the reign of the Chalukya king Bhulokamalladeva, Ananda, Ashadha, su(?) amavasye, Somavara, Vuatipata, Sankranti, Surya-grahana, corresponding to A.D. 1134 July 23 Monday when there was a solar eclipse; Simha-sankranti fell on the 28th of the month. His feudatory, the Mahamandalesvara Irungola-Cholamaharaja issued orders to the Mahapradhana Garudasetti to make a gift of 6 mattars of land, a flower garden, an oil-mill, and a house for the service of the god Bhimesvaradeva, set up by the Vaddavyavahari Bivisetti, son of Baputisetti and Bammikavve and for the feeding and clothing of the ascetics Ketarasi and Madhavarasi.

1135 : This is dated the 10th year of the Chalukya king Bhulokamalladeva (ruling from Kalyana), Rakshasa, Jyeshtha, su. 3, Adivara, corresponding to A.D. 1135, May 27 Friday, not Sunday, as stated. The Mhapradhana Senadhipati Sandhivigrahi Barmadevayya, the Hergade Guttiya-Dandanayaka Sambudeva, Savasi Anadabhatta of Palyea, Sairajabhatta, Sonubhatta, the Mahapradhana and Dandanaaka Kalimayya, Nayaka Recharasa, Ramadeva-Nayaka, Malleya-Nayaka Bacharasa and Dasimarasa together with Kuchi-Setti, made a grant, on account of Uttarayana, of some land and on oil-mill for the service of the gods Jakkesvaradeva and Kesavadeva. Ketumalla-Setti, Polli-Setti and Desimanta-Manavala made a gift of 500 leaves, for the service of the god Jakkesvara.

1138 - 1158 AD : Jagadekamalla IIThis is dated the 2nd year of the reign of the Chalukya king Pratapachakravarti Jagadekamalla (II), Siddharthi, Phalguna, su. 10 [Soma]vara corresponding probably to A.D. 1140 February 28 Wednesday; f.d.t.. 34. Somavara is probably a mistake for Sumyavara. The Mahamandalesvara Irungolarasa, Malla[rasa], Nirugarasa, Balarasa and Recharasa are said to have caused the construction of the temple of the god Kesava and granted some land for the service of the god.

The inscription mentions the date of its consecration as the Raudra Samvatsara, Thursday of Vaishaka Pournami in the third year of the reign of Kalyani Chalukya emperor Jagadekamalla, which corresponds to May 9, 1140 CE precisely.

ON A BROKEN SLAB LYING NEAR THE ISVARA TEMPLE AT GUNDAGATTI, HARAPANAHALLI TALUK, BELLARY DISTRICT.This is damaged and not dated. It refers itself to the reign of the Chalukya king Jagadekamalladeva and mentions his feudatory, the Mahamandalesvara Vira-Pandyadeva as ruling over Nolambavadi thirty-twothousand.

ON A STONE SUPPORTING THE BEAM AT THE ENTRANCE INTO THE RANGANATHASVAMI TEMPLE AT KORREVU, MADAKSIRA TALUK, ANTANTAPUR DISTRICT.
This is a little damaged and not dated. It refers itself to the reign of the Chalukya king Jagadekamalladeva and mentions his feudatory bammadeva-Chola-Maharaja as ruling over Govindavadi.

Thursday, 12th February 1142 AD : Kannada Inscription has been found at Kodiparthi village near the famous temple town Gangapuram in Jadcherla mandal, Mahabubnagar district of Mahadandanayaka Govindanayaka

1148 AD : Old Kannada inscription (c.1148 AD) of Western Chalukya King Jagadekamalla II in Balagali, Devangiri, Karnataka.

1149 AD : ON A VIRAGAL SET UP IN THE COURT-YARD OF THE TALAKANTAMMA TEMPLE AT DEVAGUDI, JAMMALAMADUGU TALUK, CUDDAPAH DISTRICT.
This is damaged and dated the 13th year of the Chalukya king Jagadekamalla (II), cyclic year Sukla, Pausha, amavasye, Adivara corresponding probably to A.D. 1149 December 31, Saturday, not Sunday. It states that, when Katakada-Chandra-Dandanayaka's brother-in-law Madhuvarasa invaded the country of Kurumari with 40 horses, a servant of Malloja, the Heggade of the Mahamandalesvara Bhimarasa of Kurumari fell in a fight with Madhuvarasa, having slain a cavalier and a horse.

1150 AD : ON A SLAB BUILT INTO THE WALL FO THE SANKARESVARA TEMPLE AT UTTANGI, JAMMALAMADUGU TALUK, CUDDAPAH DISTRICT.
This is a little damaged and dated Saka 1072, Pramadi, Akshyatritiya-Amavasye, Surya-grahana, Vyatipata corresponding probably to A.D. 1150 March 30 Thursday; but there was no solar eclipse on that day. The record refers itself to the reign of Jagadekamalla (II) ruling from Kalyanapura. It states that when Jagadekamalla-Vira-Pandyadeva was governing Nolambavadi thirtytwo-thousand, a gift of land was made for the service of the god basavaesvara, whose temple had been built by Saudhare-Basavayya at Kuttangi in Kogali-nadu.

ON THE 4TH SLAB SET UP ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF THE KALLESVARA TEMPLE AT BAGALI, HARAPANAHALLI TALUK, Kadapa DISTRICT.
It is dated Chalukya-Vikrama year 16, Angiras, Phalguna, paurnamase, Somavara, Vyatipata. Chalukya-Vikrama-varsha 16 seems to be a mistake, for in that year Jagadekamalla to whose reign the record refers itself could not be ruling. If it is a mistake for Jagadekamalla-varsha 16, the date would correspond to A.D. 1153 February 9, Monday; f.d.t. . 79, The record states that Vikramadityarasa, uncle of Jagadekamall-Vira-Pandyadeva, gave to the Brahman Mahajanas of Baguli gadyanas 173, with the stipulation that with the interest thereon 13 Brahmans of the temple of Kalideva should be given provisions and 2 lamps should be burnt before the gods Kalideva and narasimhadeva. The gift was made for the merit of Sovaladevi, Vikramadityarasa and his wife Nagiyandeyarasi.

1155 AD : On a slab lying neat the pete-basappa temple at Chimmatumbalam, Adoni Mandal, Kurnool ditrict. This is damaged and dated Yuva, Pau[sha], su. 5, Somavara, Uttarayana in the reign of the Chalukya king Jagadekamalladeva (II), corresponding, probably, to A.D. 1155 November 30 Wednesday (not Monday). The Mahamandalesvara Ahavamalladeva is stated to have made a gift of land for the service of the god Nakearesvara set up by Harihar-Andar of Vasishtha-gotra. It is to be noted that though the record refers itself to the reign of Jagadekamall (II)

1156 AD : The inscription was installed by king Kanduri Udayanachoda, dating back to 1156 AD found at Vadaparthi village near Bhongir in Nalgonda, Telangana.

1158 AD : The stone inscription on a single granite stone was found on the banks of Charagonda Vagu, a local stream in Vavikollu, dating back to 1158 CE has been discovered and reported by the villagers of Vavikollu in Gundlapally mandal of Nalgonda district. The inscription was installed by king Kanduri Udayanachoda, who was the subordinate of Kalyani Chalukya king Jagadekamalla II. The orders were passed on a Sunday, which was Pournami (full moon night) of lunar eclipse on August 10, 1158, when the King had gifted his Raj Purohit Sarvadeva Somayajulu a village named ‘Bodavipparru.’
http://deccanland.com/2022/10/01/udayanachods-new-inscription-in-vavikollu/

1160 AD : ON A SLAB SET UP IN THE MANDAPA IN FRONT OF THE CENTRAL SHRINE OF THE SURYANARAYANA TEMPLE AT BAGALI, HARAPANAHALLI TALUK, BELLARY DISTRICT.

This is damaged and dated Saka 1082, Vikrama, Bhadrapada, punname, Brihaspativara, Soma-grahana, corresponding to A.D. 1160 August 18 Thursday, when there was a lunar eclipse. It refers itself to the reign of the Chalukya king Jagadekamalladeva and mention his feudatory Vira-Pandyadeva as ruling over Kadamalige thousand, Ballakunda three-hundred and Kogali five-hundred. In the presence of the fifty (Mahajanas) of Balguli, Dharmavve, wife of the Brahman general Chiddana, who was the son of the brave general Malapayya, and the daughter of Padmanabha, who was the son of the Brahman Dharmeya-Shadangi of Kasyapa-gotra, is said to have made a grant of land for the worship of the god Lakshminarayanadeva set up by herself in Baguli, for the pay of the sastra teacher and of a Purana reader and for the subsistence of the priests employed in the temple. Dharmavve is praised for her learning and character.

1149 AD - 1164 : Tailapa III
1149 - 1150 AD : Tailapa-III or Kumara Tailapa tried to be independent from Jagadekamalla II and was defeated by Kakatiya Prola II and released.

The inscriptions of the period 1150 - 1162 mention Jagadekamalla II in Anantapur Bellary region and Tailap III in the Dharwar-Bjapur and Raichur-Gulbarga regions, both ruling from Kalyanpura

4th June A.D. 1152 AD : Jukkal, Nizamabad
It is on a pillar in front of Hanuman temple. This inscription registers the gift of 20 and 12 marttars of land for the daily offerings and perpetual burning of the lamp to the gods Bijjesvaradeva and Nandi Betesvaradeva by mahamandalesvara Pereya Mallarasaru, during the reign of Trailokyamalladeva identifiable with Tailapa III.

1152 : On a beam of the Kashi-Vishvanatha temple – South Indian Inscriptions vol XV, no 48 – refers to the reign of the Western Chalukya king Tribhuvanamalla (Tailapa III) – dated in his third regnal year, corresponding 1152 CE – The inscription may refer to the reign of Vikramaditya VI, but his 3rd regnal year did not fall in Prajapati. The 3rd regnal year Prajapati, however fits in for the reign of Tailapa III. In that case, we have to assume that Tribhuvanamalla was Somesvara IV and that he was associated with his father Tailapa III in the administration of the kingdom from the beginning. The epigraph registers a gift of gold made by Perggadeyara Tribhuvanakesava described as the ‘dear son’ of the Thousand Mahajanas of Lokkigundi for the offerings to the god Kavatalesvara. The gift was entrusted to Somesvara-pandita, the acharya of the temple. A gift of land for the offerings to the same god made by Sovisetti is also recorded.

On a beam of the Kashi-Vishvanatha temple – South Indian Inscriptions vol XV, no 50 – refers to the reign of the Western Chalukya king Trailokyamalla (Tailapa III) – dated in his sixth regnal year, corresponding 1156 CE – It registers a gift of land made by Kaleyanayaka, son of Makestara Makimayya-nayaka to Monideva for his bhiksha. The donee in turn gave it for feeding the ascetics who visited the temple of Kavatala Chavundesvara at Lokkigundi. Kaleyanayaka is described as the son, i.e., lay disciple, of Monideva, who was the disciple of Samavedideva, the acharya of the temple of Ramesvara of Huligere.Epigraphia Carnatika vol XI, Davanagere taluk – dated 1160 CE – refers to the reign of the Western Chalukya king Tailapa III and Kalachuri king Bijjala II – genealogy of the Western Chalukya kings is provided, starting with Taila who took away the earth from the Rashtrakutas.

1154 AD : Bijapur, Bijapur Taluk, Bijpur District, Fifth pillar in Ark-killa
This inscription, which refers itself to the reign of Trailokyamalladeva, is dated in the 5th year of his reign Srimukha, Pushya Purnima, Friday, Lunar eclipse, corresponding regularly to A.D. 1154, January 1, Friday. 1157 AD : Haveri, Haveri Taluk, Dharwar District, Slab near the Kallumantapa
This inscription belonging to the reign of Trailokyamalladeva, is dated in the 8th year of his reign, Isvara, Pushya ba. 3, Monday. Uttarayanasamkranti. The details are irregular. The tithi cited fell on December 20, A.D. 1157, which was Friday. The Samkranti occurred on the 25th.

Epigraphia Carnatika vol XI, Davanagere taluk – dated 1164 CE – refers to the reign of the Western Chalukya king Tailapa III – Kalachuri king Bijjala was in service of the Western Chalukya king.

Western Chalukyan Empire was absorbed by Kakatiyas in Telangana region by Prolla II and the Great Hoyasala King Veera Ballala II.


http://nmma.nic.in/nmma/nmma_doc/Indian%20Archaeology%20Review/Indian%20Archaeology%201961-62%20A%20Review.pdf
https://www.gktoday.in/topic/chalukyas-of-kalyani/
https://telanganatoday.com/new-inscription-of-chalukyan-emperor-someswara-iii-found-in-telangana
https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/telangana/historical-discovery/article7593178.ece

https://www.whatisindia.com/inscriptions/south_indian_inscriptions/volume_9/chalukyas_of_kalyani.html
https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/telangana/2021/oct/01/medieval-inscription-slab-found-in-telanganas-nalgonda-district-2366217.html

Read More

Events Leading to Telangana State

September 17, 1948 : Telangana, was part of the erstwhile Hyderabad state which was merged into the Indian Union on 17 September, 1948.

January 26, 1950 : Central government appointed a civil servant, M K Vellodi, as the first Chief Minister of Hyderabad state on 26 January 1950. 

1952, Burgula Ramakrishna Rao was elected Chief Minister of Hyderabad state in the first democratic election.

November 1, 1953 : Andhra was the first state to be carved out (from erstwhile Madras state) on linguistic basis on 1 November, 1953. It had Kurnool town (in Rayalaseema region) as its capital after the death of Potti Sriramulu who sat on a 53-day fast-unto-death demanding the new state.

The proposal for amalgamation of Hyderabad state with Andhra state came up in 1953 and the then Chief Minister of Hyderabad state, Burgula Ramakrishna Rao, supported the Congress central leadership’s decision in this regard though there was opposition in Telangana region.

November 25, 1955 : Accepting the merger proposal, Andhra assembly passed a resolution on November 25, 1955 promising to safeguard the interests of Telangana.

February 20, 1956 : An agreement was reached between Telangana leaders and Andhra leaders on February 20, 1956 to merge Telangana and Andhra with promises to safeguard Telangana's interests. A “Gentlemen’s Agreement” was then signed by Bezawada Gopala Reddy and Burgula Ramakrishna Rao to the effect.

Eventually, under the States Re-organisation Act, Telugu-speaking areas of Hyderabad state were merged with Andhra state, giving birth to the state of Andhra Pradesh on 1 November, 1956.

The city of Hyderabad, the then capital of Hyderabad state, was made the capital of Andhra Pradesh state.

Events Leading to Telangana State

1969: ‘Jai Telangana’ movement for separate statehood to Telangana began. Over 300 people killed in police firing.

1972: ‘Jai Andhra’ movement began in coastal Andhra for separate Andhra State.

1975: Presidential order issued to implement Six Point Formula, providing some safeguards to Telangana.

1997: BJP supported demand for Telangana state; in 1998 election, it promised ‘one vote two states’

2001: K. Chandrasekhara Rao floated Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) to revive Telangana movement.

2004: TRS fought elections in alliance with Congress, wins five Lok Sabha and 26 assembly seats. UPA includes Telangana issue in common minimum programme.

2008: TDP announced support for Telangana demand.

2009: TRS contested elections in alliance with TDP but its tally came down to two Lok Sabha and 10 assembly seats.

Sep 2, 2009: Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy died in helicopter crash, triggering political uncertainty.

Oct 2009: Chandrasekhara Rao began fast—unto—death for Telangana state.

Dec 9, 2009: Centre announced decision to initiate the process for formation of Telangana state.

Dec 23, 2009: Following protests in Rayalaseema and Andhra regions (Seemandhra) and en mass resignations of MPs and state legislators, centre put the process on hold citing need for consensus.

Feb 3, 2010: Centre set up five—member Srikrishna committee to look into Telangana issue.

Dec 2010: Srikrishna committee submitted its report, suggested six options

Mar 10, 2011 : Million March
Even after turning entire Telangana region into an open jail, detaining more than a lakh people amd the police virtually laying siege to Hyderabad, the Andhra government could not stop the inevitable. 

The Telangana Joint Action Committee (TJAC) organized what it called a 'Million March'. A million people were to converge on the Tank bund. Thousands of policemen and paramilitary forces took positions to prevent agitators from not just making it to the venue but also into Hyderabad city itself. Votaries of Telangana from the nine Telangana districts, apart from Hyderabad, vowed to take over the Tank Bund. The government of the day was in a situation where it could not imagine what would happen. Barricades were set up at every conceivable place. Road blocks and police pickets gave no chance for people to march anywhere near the Tank Bund. That 'success' was for some hours. By afternoon, the Tank Bund was teeming with thousands of agitators. The outwitted police watched in horror at what was happening right in front of their eyes. The agitators destroyed the statues of Andhra poets and eminent persons which had been put up on the Tank Bund when N T Rama Rao was the chief minister. The statues were dumped in the Hussainsagar. TRS leader K Chandrasekhar Rao's nephew T Harish Rao gave a slip to the police who were trailing him, ran into the Lumbini Park, jumped on to a boat and rowed right up to the Buddha statue on the Gibraltor rock in Hussainsagar. If Harish Rao outwitted the police that way, a group of agitators made the police look silly. As if they were part of a marriage procession, the agitators marched to a local function hall. The police watched them, little realizing that they were protestors who were executing a plan to sneak on to the tank bund. The plan was a success and students and youth broke other barricades and ran on to the Tank Bund. The 'Million march' was a success though the number of protestors was not a million.

Breaking all the barricades, jumping over the barbed wire fencings and facing the brute force of the police and the paramilitary, Telangana supporters walked for several kilometres to gather at the Tank Bund of Hussain Sagar lake in the heart of the city and took a collective pledge to achieve their goal.

Sep 30, 2012 : Sagaraharam
It was a sea of humanity on the banks of Hussain Sagar lake in Hyderabad, as more than two lakh people from all parts of Telangana region converged to raise their voice demanding separate statehood.

Entire Hyderabad turned into a battle field as thousands of police forces and paramilitary forces including BSF, CRPF, CISF, ITBP, RAF and APSP were positioned at all vantage points to prevent the Telangana activists from entering the city. Apparently fearing violence, the South Central Railway today cancelled as many as 27 passengers trains, including local trains, while the APSRTC curtailed some of its bus services in the capital city.

However, within a couple of hours, thousands of Telangana activists started pouring in the city from all parts of the region despite preventive arrests of several of them in their respective districts. Raising slogans of 'Jai Telangana' amid the beating of drums and singing songs by Telangana artists, men, women and children from various sections gathered at the Necklace Road, leading to a tense atmosphere.

Braving the state police and central para-military forces which resorted to lathicharge, lobbed teargas shells, fired in the air and used water cannons, the people of Telangana under the aegis of Telangana Joint Action Committee, besides various political parties and organisations including the Congress, the BJP, the CPI, CPI (ML) New Democracy, Telangana Praja Front and Telangana United Front occupied the two km long stretch between Sanjeevaiah Park and P V Narasimha Rao ghat to take out the Telangana march, which was christened as "Sagara Haaram" (human chain around the lake).

Hundreds of Telangna activists suffered serious injuries in the clashes with the police, who lobbed hundreds of teargas shells to disperse the crowds at the Secretariat, Khairatabad, Telugu Talli statue and Osmania University.

Though the government had given permission for the activists to hold the rally only between 3 pm and 7 pm, the TJAC announced that they would not move from the venue till the Centre makes an announcement on the Telangana state formation. Some activists released a pamphlet at the meeting, calling upon the activists to convert the rally into a protest on the lines of Tahrir Square of Egypt in which lakhs of people gathered on roads for several days till President Hosni Mubarak fled the spot.

With the Telangana activists refusing to leave the place, the police forces first used water cannons and later lobbed tear gas shells directly at the stage to force the leaders to desert the venue. However, the TJAC leaders and political leaders on the stage refused to retreat.

TJAC chairman Prof M Kodandaram, who is spearheading the movement, announced that the agitation would take a serious turn, if the police continued to use repression to crush the agitation. He demanded that the Telangana ministers in the Kiran Kumar Reddy cabinet resign from their posts to bring pressure on the Centre to grant Telangana state.

July 30, 2013: UPA coordination panel and Congress Working Committee decided to carve out Telangana state. Protests in Seemandhra.

Oct 3, 2013: Union cabinet approved the proposal to divide Andhra Pradesh. A Group of Ministers (GoM) was constituted to prepare the roadmap after consultations with all stakeholders.

Oct 25, 2013: Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy raised banner of revolt against Congress leadership. He wrote letters to president and prime minister urging them to stop bifurcation process.

Dec 5, 2013: Union cabinet approved draft Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill 2013 prepared on the basis of recommendations by the GoM. Bill sent to President Pranab Mukherjee with a request to make a reference to Andhra Pradesh legislature to obtain its views under Article 3 of the Constitution.

Dec 9: The President gave time till Jan 23 to the state legislature to give its views.

Dec 12, 2013: Bill brought to Hyderabad in a special aircraft and amid tight security.

Dec 16, 2013: Bill introduced in both houses of state legislature amid clashes between Seemandhra and Telangana lawmakers.

Jan 8, 2014: After disruptions for several days, debate finally began on the bill in assembly and council.

Jan 21, 2014: State government sought four more weeks to debate the bill. The President gave one week.

Jan 27, 2014: Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy gave notice to assembly speaker for a resolution to reject the bill.

Jan 30, 2014: Amid ruckus, both houses of state legislature passed by a voice vote official resolutions, rejecting the bill and appealing to the President not to send the bill to parliament.

Feb 5, 2014: Chief minister staged sit—in in Delhi to oppose bifurcation.

Feb 7, 2014: Union cabinet cleared the bill and rejected Seemandhra leaders’ demand to make Hyderabad a union territory. Bill sent to the President for his approval to table it in parliament.

Feb 11, 2013: Congress expelled six MPs from Seemandhra for moving no—confidence motion against government.

Feb 13, 2014: Bill introduced in Lok Sabha amid clashes between MPs from Seemandhra and Telangana.

The Lok Sabha turned into a battlefield with senior MPs scuffling as home minister Sushilkumar Shinde introduced the Telangana bill around noon. The UPA government struggled to table the bill as expelled Congress MP Lagadapati. Rajagopal heightened the drama by spraying pepper spray in the air after being stopped from rushing to the Speaker's chair. The pepper spray left several parliamentarians, staff and journalists coughing and teary-eyed. Many MPs tried to rush outside to avoid the smell and chemical effects of the spray.

TDP MP Venugopal Reddy broke the Speaker's microphone, while TV reports also claimed he brandished a knife during House proceedings. The lawmaker, however, denied the allegation saying he was merely waving the Speaker's mic.
Speaker suspended 16 MPs including Rajagopal for rest of the session.

Feb 18, 2014: Lok Sabha passes Telangana State bill.

On June 2, 2104, K Chandrasekhar Rao takes oath as the first chief minister of Telangana, India's 29th state.




http://www.firstpost.com/politics/from-1948-to-2013-a-brief-history-of-the-telangana-movement-998093.html

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/timeline-telangana/article5702786.ece

http://www.rediff.com/news/report/slide-show-1-telangana-million-march-gets-huge-response/20110310.htm

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/Its-going-to-be-one-big-Telangana-state-party-on-Tank-Bund/articleshow/35854752.cms

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/telangana-march-deadline-hussain-sagar-lake-hyderabad/1/222892.html

Read More

Recherla Nayaks

1326 AD - 1475 AD : Recherla Nayaks

Founder : Bethala Naidu or Dachanaya also known as Eradachanaya

Capitals: Anumagallu, Rachakonda and Devarakonda

The sasanas describe the founder of the kingdom as Dachanaya also known as Eradachanaya. Velugotivari Vamsavali however, describes the earlier three generations and terms Bethala Naidu also known as Chevi Reddy as the founder of this dynasty.

c. 1230 - 1262 AD : Recherla Bethala Nayak
After their dominance in Telangana areas, the Imperial Kakatiyas had been facing a triple threat from western, southern and eastern geographies. Ganapathi Deva (1199 AD - 1261 AD) was no exception. In 1230 CE, Sundara Pandya of the Pandyan Kingdom occupied the area of Telugu Chodas of Nellore. In 1233 CE, the Aniyanka Bhima of Eastern Ganga kingdom occupied the north coastal areas. Around the same times, the Kayastha chief, Gangaya Sahini, supposed to be subordinate to Ganapathi Deva started ruling independently from Pakanadu to Cuddapah. “To meet the triple challenge, Ganapathi Deva invited the help of the prominent and rising Recherla Betala Nayak. Amangallu was assigned to the new lieutenant which yielded not less than one lakh revenue.”13 Betala Nayak joined Kakatiya administration as a loyal subordinate. 

Recherla Bethala Nayak sons are Dama, Prasaditya and Rudranayakas. All these were in the service of the Kakatiyas under Ganapati Deva 

1262 AD - 1289 AD : Prasaditya Nayaka

After Ganapatideva’s death some Kakatiya senanis and samantas tried to prevent Rudrama Devi from coming to the throne.  Prasaditya nayaka, who helped Rudramadevi to became the ruler of Kakaityas, was given the titles of Kakatiya Sthapanacharya and Rayapita Mahanka. (when Rudramadevi ascended the throne, her relatives on one side and Yadava kings on the other, who could not agree to the notion of a woman becoming the ruler, attacked Orugallu. Prasaditya nayaka defeated them and consolidated her rule.

1279 AD : Sources of inscriptions refer to Nayamkara or the office of Nayaka started as early as 1279 AD. So Prasaditya seems to be the first Recherla to have received the title as well as rights and duties of a Nayaka under the Nayamkara system, during the reign of Rudramadevi.

1289 AD - 1323 AD : Vennama Nayaka son of Prasaditya nayaka was famous as the chief of army of Prataparudra. Later, his son Eradacha nayaka and Naladacha nayaka, son of sabbinayaka (another son of Prasaditya nayaka) also had worked as chiefs of Prataparudra’s armies.

Vennama Nayaka fought against the Delhi Sultanate. The incident happened during the first invasion by the Delhi Sultanate to Telangana in 1303 AD, when Allauddin Khalji sent an army under Malik Fakruddin Ulugh and Malik Jajju of Karra, in this battle kakatiyas lost a large army in this battle.

Vennam Nayaka son Erra Dacha and Sabbi Nayaka son Nalla Dacha both were also loyal to the Kakatiyas.

1289 AD - 1323 AD : Era Dacha or Dachanya Nayaka

Vennamanayakas son is Dachanayaka or Eradachanayaka with whom the Rachakonda kingdom begins.

Dachanayaka had three sons Singama, Vennama and Yechama Nayakas. 

During the Kakatiyas battles with Pandya and Hoyasala dynasties, Eradacha nayaka played a key role. Prataparudra, who was impressed by his valor, gave him two titles of ‘Pancha Pandyadala Vibhala’ and ‘Pandya Gajakesari’, Eradacha nayaka had’three sons- namely Singama nayaka-I, Vennama nayaka and Echama nayaka. (Naladacha nayaka had 2 sons- named- Madhava nayaka and Damaneedu. Of them, Singama nayaka had became famous.

Dachanayaka and his son Singamanayaka were senanis of Prataparudra. When Prataparudra attacked the Pandyas at Kanchi in 1316 AD, Dachanayaka and Singamanayaka have shown great valor and helped the king in winning the battle. Prataparudra gave the title of “Panchpandyadala Vibhala” to Dachanayaka. He probably died in the battle of Orugallu with the Muslims in 1323 AD. 

The Recharla chiefs came to political prominence only in the reign of the Kakatiyas, and they ruled an independent kingdom only after the fall of the Kakatiyas. They ruled from Rachakonda in Nalgonda district. It is one of the historically famous forts from Telengana.

As a mark of appreciation, Prataparudra conferred on Erra Dacha the title “Pandyadalavibhala” and “Pandyaraya Gajakesari”.

Declared independence after the fall of kakatiya kingdom

1323 AD / 1325 AD - 1361 AD : Singama Nayaka I

Capital : Anumagallu

Son of Dachanayaka

1325 AD : After Warangal was captured by Muslim rulers, Musunuri Nayakas revolted against them at around 1325 A.D. During that time, Kapaya nayaka Musunuri dynasty was helped by Singama nayaka. Later Singama nayaka had became independent and extended his kingdom towards the south upto the coast of river Krishna.

He also wanted to extend his kingdom in the North and hence attacked Kapayanaka. As per the Vamsavali he defeated Kapayanaka. This, however did not appear to have yielded him much benefit because as per the Pillalamarri sasanam of Kapayanaka in 1357 AD, Kapayas kingdom stretched right upto Pillalmarri. 

During the battle of Musunuri Nayakas and Chalukya princes, Chalukyas imprisoned Singama Nayaka’s brother in law Chintapalli Singama Nayaka.

Singam Nayaka I carried out a vigorous attack on the fort of Jallipalli to free Chintapalli Singama Nayaka. Chalukyas were unable to hold the fort from attacks, they betrayed Singama Nayaka I and assassinated by by the ruling Somavamsa kshatriyas (Tambalajiyya) by treachery.

Singamanayaka had two sons Anapotanayaka and Madanayaka. When they heard about the death of their father, Anavotha nayaka along with Madana nayaka attacked the Jallipalli fort in 1361 AD, killed Soma dynasty rulers and took the title of ‘Somakula parasurama’. 

At that time their capital appears to have been Anumagallu. Anapotanayaka shifted the capital from Anumagallu to Rachakonda and built a strong fort there.

Descendants of Anavotha nayaka ruled from Rachakonda and descendants of Mada nayaka ruled from Devarakonda.

Rachakonda Kingdom
1361 AD - 1383 AD : Anavotha nayaka

Capital : Rachakonda

While occupying the Srisailam area they had a conflict with the Kondaveeti Reddy chiefs. At that time Srisailam was under the Reddimannis. As per the Vamsavali Madanayaka and his uncles son Naganayaka defeated Anapota Reddy near Dharanikota. Although victorious Dharanikota did not fall into Anapotanayakas hands. This is the first conflict between the Velama chiefs and the Reddy chiefs. From this time onwards uptill the end of the Kondaveedu Reddy kingdom, this rivalry did not abate. 

After avenging their father, Anapota I and Mada I attacked Musunuri Kapaya Nayaka for the control of Warangal fort, they defeated and killed him at Bhimavaram battle in 1368 AD.

Ainavolu sasanam of Anapotanayaka describes him in possession of Tribhuvanagiri(Bhongir), Orugallu and Singavaram forts and took the title of “Tribhuvana Rayarao’. With this victory his kingdom stretched upto Godavari in the North, Srisailam in the South, Bahamani kingdom in the West, and Kondaveedu in the East. 

Looking to the excellent relations these kings had with the Bahamani Empire, it is possible that the Bahamanis have helped them in their war against Kapayanayaka. 

Anupota Nayak-I and Madanayak ruling from Rachakonda and Devarakonda had become tributaries to Bahmanis.

He divided his kingdom into Northern and Southern regions for ease of administration; made Rachakonda the capital of North and ruled it himself; made Devarakonda as the capital of South and appointed his younger brother Mada nayaka as its ruler.

Anapotanayaka attacked the Kalinga kingdom in 1380 AD. This is known by his Simhachalam sasanam. 

The Ainavolu inscriptions refers to the donation of a village by Anavotha I to God Milara Deva.

1383 AD - 1399 AD : Singama nayaka-II / Singabhupala-II
After Anapotanayaka his son Singamanedu II ascended the throne of Rachakonda.  Singam Nayaka II was also known as “Sarvajna Singa Bhupala” and he was a great writer and poet.

Before coming to the throne he captured the fort of Kalyani in Gulbarga district. It appears that he went to Karnataka to help the Bahamani kings and took this fort during the campaign.

1384 AD : In the early days of Sighabhupala’s reign, the Vijayanagara kings took Srisailam and marched against Kothakonda in Rachakonda. The Vijayanagara sasanam in Tumkur district dated 1384 AD states that the king of Vijayanagara Harihara Devaraya II, sent his son Vira Bukkaraya against Orugallu. The Bahamani sultan then laid siege to Kottakonda in Mahabubnagar district (possibly taken earlier by the Vijayanagara forces) and one of the Vijayanagara commanders Saluva Ramadevaraya died in the battle. As per the sasana the sultan has done this to protect his samantas who owed allegiance to him. It appears from the sasana that the Vijayanagara forces were defeated. 

The defeat at Kotta Konda appears to have been decisive, for, Harihara II did not renew for several years subsequently to the failure of the expedition.

The reason for this aggression by Vijayanagara is unknown but Ziauddin Barani mentions that Kapayanaka and Harihararaya (the founder of the Vijayanagara kingdom) are related. Although this may not be certain they may have been closely associated with each other and Kapayanayakas defeat, coupled with the leanings the Rachakonda kings had shown towards the Bahamani kings precipitated the attack.

In 1387 AD, Kumara Singha Bhupala has attacked the Gowtami banks area via Southern Kalinga which was in his possession. As per his Simhachala sasanam he scored a number of victories in the area which was lying in the Kondaveedu kingdom at that time. With this campaign the authority of the Reddys was extinguished in the southern Kalinga.

1397 AD : The Vijayanagara king Hariharadevaraya did not forget his defeat at the hands of the Rachakonda kingdom and the Bahamanis. In 1397 he declared a war against the Bahamani kingdom and as per his Vijayanagara sasana, one of the Vijayanagara senanis, Gunda Dandadhinadha inflicted a defeat on Siaf Khan and Fateh Khan.

To reduce the pressure on the Bahamani forces Singhabhupala sent Ramachandranayaka, the son of Vedagirinayaka to attack the area of the Vijayanagara kingdom on the banks of river Krishna. Ramachandranayaka crossed the Krishna river, entered Kurnool and started plundering it whereupon he was attacked by the Vijayanagara armies near Bandikanuma. Ramachndranayaka emerged victorious in this battle.

Now Harihara II sent his son Bukkaraya to attack Ramachndranayaka. Bukka then defeated Ramachandranayaka and drove him out of the Vijayanagara kingdom. He then entered the Rachakonda kingdom and plundered it. It appears that the victories enumerated in the Vamsavali attributed to Anapotanayaka son of Singhabhupala and Ramachandranayaka and Madanayaka the sons of Pedavedagirinayaka seem to have taken place during this campaign. Although both sides claimed victory in this campaign, it appears that Vijayanagara kingdom had been victorious in this battle.

Bukkaraya took his armies crossed the Krishna and attacked the Panugallu fort in Devarakonda kingdom. The Bahamani armies immediately came to the rescue of Panugallu. In this campaign, Pedavadagirinayaka’s son Kumaramadanayaka has defeated Era Krishnaraya and Pandadadhisa as per the Vamsavali. In this Era Krishnaraya besieged Devarakonda. Although he was defeated, Bukkaraya scored a victory and secured the Panugallu fort in 1397 AD. In this campaign the son of Bukkaraya Anantabhupala had shown great valor. A few days after the Panuganti war Kumara Singhabhupala died. 

1399 AD -1421 AD : Anavotha nayaka-II 

After Singhabhupala II his son Immadi Anapotanayaka came to the throne in 1399 AD. He is also known as Kumara Anapotanayaka and Pinnamanayaka. He is a contemporary of the Bahamani sultan Firoz Shah. The burden of saving his kingdom from Bukkaraya fell on him. As per Velugotivari Vamsavali he saved 10,000 people from Metuku (Medak) Fort. It is possible that Bukkaraya went up to Medak fort victorious and laid seize to it and Anapotanayaka relieved and saved the garrison during this campaign.

It appears that on the side of Bahamani sultan Anapotanayaka scored a number of victories against the Kondaveedu and Rajahmundry reddy kings and also Vijayanagara kings. It is probable that the Raya supposed to have been stopped by him is Devaraya I.

Contemporary to Anapotanayaka Devarakonda was ruled by Kumara Madanayaka and Ramachandranayaka, the sons of Pedavedagirinayaka. Annadevachoda took refuge in Devarakonda during Pedavedagirinayaka’s reign. Kumara Madanayaka gave him an army and sent him via Kalinga to regain his kingdom. However, this army was defeated by Chalukya Vishveshwara Bhupati a tributory king of the Gangas in 1402 AD. After this Kumara Madanayaka proceeded with an army to help Annadevachoda. It is possible that the victory attributed to him over the Rajahmundry Reddy kings took place during this campaign.

Anapotanayaka mounted a successful campaign in 1417 AD against Panugallu. During the campaign the Bahamani sultan Tajuddin Ferozshah laid siege to Panugallu. At that time Panugallu was under the Vijayanagara kings. The Velamanayakas also went along with their armies to help Ferozshah, but during the campaign their relations soured. Seeing the opportunity Devaraya I negotiated with the Velamanayakas and turned them into his favor. During a fierce battle at Panagallu fort the Velamanayakas like Anapotanayaka came over to the side of Devaraya along with their armies. Due to this Ferozshah ‘s assumed victory turned into defeat and he could barely escape and reach his capital Gulbarga. Anapotanayaka died during this battle in 1421 AD.

1421 AD - 1425 AD : Madanayaka
After Anapotanayaka, his brother Madanayaka came to the throne in 1421 AD.,probably because Anapotanayaka’s eldest son Singamanayaka was too young to assume charge.
After the battle of Panagallu, the recherla's maintained enmity with the Bahmani Sultans and helped the Vijayanagara rulers in every way they could. During the battle between Ahmed Shah (Bahmani sultan) and Devaraya-II in 1424, Madanayaka helped the latter. 

1425 AD : Because of this, though Ahmed Shah made peace with Devaraya after the battle was over, he sent his deputy, Azam Khan to capture Warangal (kingdom of Mada nayaka). In this battle, Azam Khan captured not only Warangal, but also many forts in Rachakonda and Devarakonda kingdoms.

1425 AD - 1436 AD : Singama Nayaka III or Sarvaga Rao

After Madanayaka his brother Anapotanayaka’s son Mummadi Singamanayaka came to the throne. 

When Ahmad Shah was immersed in a war with the Sultan of Gujarat, the Rachakonda kings recovered all their lost forts.

Rachakonda and Devarakonda kingdoms fell into decline by 1455 AD.

1430 AD : The Bahmani ruler Ahmad Shah shifted the capital from Gulbarga to Bidar in 1430. They occupied the forts of Medak, Warangal and Bhuvangiri during 1433-1436 CE.

Ahmad Shah II or ALA-UD-DIN AHMAD II (Apr 17, 1436 - May 6, 1458)

1436 AD - 1460 AD : Prince Dawood son of Ahmad I

Prince Dawood son of Bahmani Sultan Ahmad - 1 was given charge of Rachakonda.

Only Devarakonda remained in the Recherla Nayaks hands.   

1460 AD - 1464 AD : Dharma Nayaka son of Singama Nayaka III
1462 A.D: Shayampet inscription - Dharmanayudu / Dharmanayaka, brother of Singama nayaka-III was appointed as the ruler of Warangal. However, now Recherla Nayaks became the tributaries of the Gajapatis of Orissa.

1461 A.D : The Bahamani Sultan then assigned the work to Mohammed Gawan, his minister. This was beyond Mohammed Gawan and the Muslim forces suffered one defeat after another in the hands of Hamviradeva son of Gajapathi Kapileswara and the Padmanayakas. One fort after another fell to them. They took Rachakonda, Bhuvanagiri and finally Orugallu around 1461 AD. 

1462 A.D: Shayampet inscription - Dharmanayudu / Dharmanayaka, brother of Singama nayaka-III was appointed as the ruler of Warangal. However, now Recherla Nayaks lost their independence and became the tributaries of the Gajapatis of Orissa.

Devarakonda Kingdom

1361 - 1384 AD : Mada Nayaka I 

The Kandikonda inscription reveals that Mada Naidu brother of Anavotha I had son named Venna. This prince ruled by his fathers orders at Skandadri (probably Khammam). This Venna is not mentioned in Veligotivari Vamsavali.

The Velugotivari Vamsavali mentions Madha Nayaka and Anapota Nayaka defeated Anavema Reddy of Kondavidu at Dharanikota.

The Rasarnava Sudhakaram mentioned, Mada I had constructed a flight of steps to the sacred mountain of Sriparvatam

According to the inscription of Mada I at Umamaheswaram, Mada I’s rule extended over the land lying between Srisailam and the Vindhya mountains.

1378 AD : Kandikonda, Mahabubabad Taluk, Warangal District.
This inscription is on the top of a hillrock. Records the construction of a temple to God Skandadrinatha (Siva) and his consort Uma on the top of the hill Skandadri by Veena, son of Mada (Madhava). The inscription gives a brief description of the donors. It is mentioned that in the Rechadiyanvaya, born from the river Ganga flowing from the feet of Vishnu, was born Erra, and after him, Singa. He had two sons-Ananta (Anapota) and Madhava. To king Madhava Nayadu was born a son, whom Tata the preceptor (Desika) named Venna in view of the fact that he was soft as butter to his followers.

When the Recherla Nayaks were engaged in coastal Andhra with the Reddy’s of Rajamahendravaram. Bukka II of Vijayanagara attacked the fort of Panugal in Mahbubnagar district and occupied Warangal fort, a strategic fort of the Recherla Nayaks, in 1397 AD

1384 AD - 1419 AD : Vedagiri I 

8th March, 1399 AD: Murupunuthula.
Language : Telugu.
This inscription is on a stone pillar lying near the Muthyalamma temple. The inscription is very damaged. After invoking the god Varaha, it introduces the chiefs of the Recherla family, Era Dacha, Singa and his son Madhava and the latter's son Vedagiri. This last named chief is said to be ruling the country lying between Srisaila and Vindhya mountains. He is stated to have made the grant of the agrahara named Morupnuntula to the god Mallari. Certain Manchena bhattu, otherwise known by his title [Nissamkula] Bharati son of Narayana Somayajulu of Brahmanapalli wrote this inscription. The chief Vedagiri is obviously Peda Vedagiri or Vidagiri I of the Devarakonda branch of the family.

Singama Nayaka II and his cousin Vedagiri I decided to conquer the northern districts of the Reddy kingdom by taking advantage of the disturbance for the throne between Peda Komativema Reddy and Kumaragiri Reddy.

Singama Nayaka II and Vedagiri I also came into conflict with the Gajapatis of Orissa, these details are mentioned in inscriptions at Srikurmam in Srikakulam district and at Simhachalam.

Vedagiri I , the ruler of Devarakonda gave asylum to the Eruva chief Annadeva Choda who arrived at his capital in search of help .

In the battle of 1419 AD, Macha Reddy, brother of Pedakomati Vema Reddy was killed. Immediately after this,  Pedakomati Vema Reddy attacked Devarakonda and killed Vedagiri.

1419 AD - 1425 AD : Rao Madanedu and Mada Nayaka II

In 1420 AD, the Recherla Nayaks killed Pedakomati Vema Reddy and hanged him at the entrance of the Devarakonda fort.

1425 AD - 1427 AD : Vedagiri II

1427 – 1475 AD : Lingama Nayaka

In Devarakonda, the contemporary of Mummadi Singhabhupala was the son of Kumara Madanayaka, known as Lingamanayaka. Lingamanedu was very valiant in battle and at the age of 12 years itself, he led the forces and fought a battle. The Vamsavali attributes a lot of victories to him, but many of them could not be confirmed. However, it is certain that Lingamanedu’s attack on the Rajamahendravaram Reddy kingdom weakened and destroyed it. The Padmanayakas of Rachakonda and Devarakonda supported the Bahamani Sultan’s for sometime, the Vijayanagara kings for sometime and the Gajapati’s of Orissa for sometime and fought with their respective enemies.

During the times of 1433 – 1438 AD, Bahamanis of Bidar occupied the forts of Medak, Warangal, and Bhuvanagiri

After 1433 AD., the Rachakonda and Devarakonda kingdoms disappeared and only some forts remained in the Padmanayaka’s control. They then sought the help of the Gajapati’s of Orissa for regaining their kingdom. Kapileswara Gajapati of Orissa attacked the Telengana areas of the Bahamani kingdom, but was defeated by the Bahamani Sultan, Allauddin. In 1435 AD, the Rachakonda area was given by the Sultan to his brother Mohammed Khan. The Padmanayakas then supported Sikander Khan in his rebellion against the Bahamani Sultan Humayun Shah.

Humayun Shah marched against Sikander Khan and killed him in battle. To punish the Padmanayakas who supported Sikander khan, he sent Kwaza Jahan and Nizam Ul Mulk. They raised an army of 20,000 cavalry, 40 elephants and innumerable foot soldiers and laid seize to Devarakonda fort, which was under the Padmanayakas.

The Padmanayakas then sent a message to Kapileswara Gajapati of Orissa appealing for his help and also promising him a large amount of money. The Gajapati then sent his son Hamviradeva (known to Muslims as Ambar Roy) along with a huge force to help the Padmanayakas and also to release Telengana from the control of the Bahamani Sultan. When Hamviradeva’s forces attacked the Bahamani forces from the rear, Singamanayaka and Lingamanayaka came out from the fort and attacked the Bahamani forces from the front. The Bahamani forces were caught in between and suffered a humiliating defeat. Kwaja Jahan and Nizam Ul Mulk somehow escaped from the battlefield. When Humayun Shah came to know of the defeat, he becme enraged and killed Nizam Ul Mulk and imprisoned Kwaja Jahan. 

After the death of the Bahamani Sultan Humayun Shah, Nizam Shah became the Bahamani Sultan. He again tried to recover the Telengana areas from the Padmanayakas, but again Kapileswara Gajapti sent his armies which inflicted a defeat on the Bahamani forces and came near the capital Bidar. Then one Amirzada Muhibullah scored a tactical victory over the Gajapati forces, as a result of which Bidar could be saved. This is however, not a complete victory and the Orugallu kingdom remained under the Padmanayakas.

As long as Kapileswara Gajapati was alive, the Bahamanis could not conquer the Orugallu kingdom and it remained with the Padmanayakas. He died around 1470 AD. 

Bahamani Sultan Muhammad Shah II defeated Lingama Nayaka and occupied Rachakonda and Devarakonda. The Bahamani Sultan, then sent Malik Nizam Ul Mulk Bahri to conquer Telengana. This man not only took the forts in Telengana, but also Kondaveedu and Rajamahendravaram forts and occupied all of Telengana. The Orugallu kingdom was given by the Sultan to Azim Khan. This happened around 1475 AD. The Recherla kingdom is thus over and the Padmanayakas joined the court of Hampi Viajayanagar. 

https://www.mcrhrdi.gov.in/images/land/TEL%20-Vol%202%20-%20pg%201-404%20-%20%2005.01.2023%20-%20for%20MCRHRDI%20website.pdf

Read More

September 17, 1948

 On 17 September, 1948, Indian armed forces took control of the princely state of Hyderabad in a “police action”, ending the 200-year-old Nizam rule and merging the vast Hyderabad Deccan region, which comprised present-day Telangana, parts of Maharashtra and Karnataka into India

The Nizam who was a Muslim ruler—administered over the majority Hindu subjects—conferring enormous powers to feudal landlords, who in turn exploited the masses. Urdu was encouraged over native Telugu as medium of instruction and in administration, making education and jobs inaccessible to locals.

The freedom movement too had an impact on the Hyderabad state as the Congress and the Communists became politically active opposing the Nizam’s rule. The Communists led a popular resistance called Telangana peasants’ armed struggle starting from 1946 against the feudal landlords and the Nizam’s rule.

India gained independence from Britain on 15 August, 1947, and the Nizam, already weakened by the peasant revolt was under intense pressure by India to accede Hyderabad.

Qasim Razvi, an Aligarh-educated Muslim fanatic, who became increasingly influential during the last years of Nizam’s rule organized private militia called Razakars. The Razakars, who feared end of Muslim rule in Hyderabad, terrified people by looting, killing and rape for speaking-up against the Nizam’s rule.

The Razakars further alienated people from Nizam’s rule making it fittest case for India to intervene and liberate Hyderabad on 17 September.

The “police action” was followed by an unprecedented killings, loot and rape targeted against Muslims mainly in the stronghold regions of the Razakars

K.M.Munshi Indian Government’s envoy and Agent General to Hyderabad, received the invite for a meeting at 4PM with last Nizam Asaf Jha VII. Time magazine in it’s February 1937 edition, had put him on the cover page and called him the world’s richest man, a man who used the 100 million $ worth Jacob’s Diamond as a paper weight, and whose personal fortune ran into billions and presided over a kingdom that was around 215,339 sqkm in area, the largest of all the princely states in India. The State of Hyderabad covered the present day Marathwada in Maharashtra, Northern Karnataka, and the Telangana region. It had a population of 16.34 million as per the 1941 census, the majority of whom were Hindu, around 85%, with Muslims making up 12% and the rest being Christians, Sikhs, Parsis. Though predominantly Telugu speaking around 48%, it had significant population of Marathi(26.4%), Kannada(12.3%) and Urdu(10.3%) speakers.

The bespectacled, unassuming lawyer on the other hand hailed from a relatively humble family, in Broach, Gujarat, and was educated in Baroda, known to be excellent at academics too. Kanhaiyalal Maneklal Munshi, aka K.M.Munshi, was a student of Aurobindo Ghosh, at Baroda, later made a name for himself as a successful lawyer, in Bombay, and was also a well known writer too. Starting off as a revolutionary, he later took active part in the Bardoli Satyagraha along with Sardar Patel, and one of his more well known achievement was founding of the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan in 1938.

It was a vindication of sorts, for Munshi, that the Nizam who till then had ignored him, was now seeking to have an audience with him. The day before, the Nizam had demanded the resignation of his Prime Minister, Laik Ali and his entire cabinet. And when Munshi met him, the world’s richest and till then one of the most powerful men, declared with an air of resignation and helplessness “The vultures have resigned, I don’t know what to do”.
The Laik Ali Ministry at Hyderabad resigned, and on the same day at 5:00 pm, the Nizam broadcasted on his Deccan Radio that he was ordering the cease-fire, announced the state’s capitulation, welcomed the ‘police action’ and informed the people of the withdrawal of Hyderabad’s representation before the security council.

UN refused to pay heed to the Nizam Surrender, arguing that the withdrawal was under duress and kept it alive for another 50 years.

Pandu Ranga Reddy believes that it was because of the case still being alive at the UN that Hyderabad state was merged with Andhra state to form Andhra Pradesh in 1956.

"The idea was to remove Hyderabad state as an entity from the map. I believe that in 1969, when the demand to form Telangana came up, (then Prime Minister) Indira Gandhi did not agree to it because she knew a case was on in the UN and it would not be prudent to create Telangana which was the same geographical area as old Hyderabad state," says Reddy.

September 18, 1948, General Choudhary entered Hyderabad and arrested Laik Ali and his colleagues, and the Nizam's private army Chief (called as the Razakaars) Kazim Razvi.

August 15, 1947 - India had become independent, and the Hyderabad State Congress leaders celebrated it by hoisting the national flag, they were promptly arrested by the Nizam’s police. The Nizam had earlier requested the British Government for Hyderabad State to be an independent constitutional monarchy, under the Commonwealth, which however was rejected. The Nizam refused to sign the Instrument of Accession, and instead declared Hyderabad as an independent nation. For Sardar Patel, the existence of an independent country right in the heart of India, was too great a risk, he could never allow it, he was determined to integrate it, even if force was needed. Lord Mountbatten advised Sardar to avoid force, and try seeking a peaceful solution to the issue.

November, 1947 : It was then that the Central Govt came up with the Standstill Agreement, in November,1947, which only sought an assurance, that Hyderabad would not accede to Pakistan, and status quo would be maintained. In accordance with the Standstill Agreement, K.M.Munshi was appointed the Indian Government’s envoy and Agent General to Hyderabad. There was a good reason why Sardar had choosen Munshi for the responsibility, he had earlier been the Home Minister in Bombay from 1937-39, and handled the communally charged situation there well. Munshi had been living in virtual house arrest, was treated with disdain and suspicion by the Nizam’s Government and was living in some buildings that belonged to the Indian Army. The major issue though was something more serious, hardly was the Standstill Agreement signed, when the Nizam, passed two ordinances in quick succession. One was the restriction on export of precious minerals from Hyderabad to India, and another was declaring Indian currency as not legal tender in the state, both of them in violation of the Standstill Agreement.

Nizam used this Standstill Agreement to request world leaders, the UN and other Muslim nations to intervene and assist in Hyderabad’s independence attempts. He requested for intervention of UN, and also arbitration by the US President Harry Truman, both the efforts in vain though. While Churchill and the Conservatives supported the Nizam, the then Labor Govt headed by Clement Atlee decided to keep a hands off approach on the whole issue. The tipping point however came when the Nizam’s Govt, advanced a loan of Rs 20 cr to Pakistan, in form of Govt of India securities.

Razakars had become a law unto themselves, carrying out a terror campaign of ethnic cleansing, torture, rape, loot and arson, against Hindus and Muslims who were in favor of integration with India.

“In November last [1947], a small group which had organized a quasi-military organization surrounded the homes of my Prime Minister, the Nawab of Chhatari, in whose wisdom I had complete confidence, and of Sir Walter Monkton, my constitutional Adviser, by duress compelled the Nawab and other trusted ministers to resign and forced the Laik Ali Ministry on me. This group headed by Kasim Razvi had no stake in the country or any record of service behind it. By methods reminiscent of Hitlerite Germany it took possession of the State, spread terror … and rendered me completely helpless.”–The Nizam in his radio speech, Sept 23,1948.

To understand the genesis of the Razakars, one needs to go back further to the Telangana rebellion, that broke out in 1946. For a long time, the rural parts of Hyderabad State, were divided into what was called as Samsthanams, essentially pieces of feudal territories, who ran a brutal and often oppressive rule. They owned most of the land, and collected the taxes from the poor peasantry, and keeping them in perpetual bonded labor( called as Vetti Chakiri). These landlords were the masters of their own land, and had a good bonding with the Nizam and his nobles.

The Nizam on the other hand, hardly had any control over these lands, and let the Doras run it as per their own free whims, it was pretty much a quid pro quo arrangement.

It was an unlikely person,who would spark off the Telangana revolt, a doughty woman activist called Chakali Illamma, who fought against the local Zamindar’s attempt to take over 4 acres of her land. That sparked off a revolt all over Telangana, with the communists jumping into the fray, and liberating many villages from the feudal lords.

The revolt against the Telangana doras, that essentially was against bonded labor and exploitation, saw the Nizam himself become the target. To the villagers and activists, the exploitative landlords, were essentially stooges of the Nizam himself.One of the more popular revolutionary songs of that period was “Bandenaka Bandi Katti, Padaharu Ballu Katti, Nenosthanu koduka ra Nizam sarakaroda”. Loosely translated it means “Tying one cart after another, and 16 carts in tow, I am coming for you stooge of the Nizam”. Rural discontent was high against the Nizam, on one side the Communist leaders like Sundarayya, Ch.Rajeswara Rao , on the other side, Congress leaders like Swami Ramananda Teertha, P.V.Narasimha Rao, rising up against his rule. There was another reason too for the simmering discontent, in spite of the fact that Hindus constituted 85% of the population in Hyderabad State as per 1941 census, with Muslims making up 12%, they were severely under represented in the Government. The Army had 1268 Muslim officers and only 421 Hindu officers, in a strength of 1765, most of the highly paid officers were Muslim, and the Nizam and his nobles owned 40% of the land. Faced with growing discontent, and also the fear of a Hindu uprising, the Nizam gave a free hand to Qasim Rizvi to set up the Razakars,to counter it.

Qasim Rizvi, an advocate from Latur, had joined the Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul Muslimeen(MIM), which was founded by Nawab Mahmood Nawaz Khan Qiledar, on the advice of the Nizam himself, and it’s first meeting was held in 1927. The aim of the MIM was to establish a Muslim dominion rather than integration with India, it was however under Bahadur Yar Jung, that it acquired the radical character. Yar Jung wanted Hyderabad to be a separate Islamic state independent of India, governed by Sharia. Known for his oratory, and a close friend of Mohd.Ali Jinnah and Mohd.Iqbal, he was one of the leading advocates of Pakistan. Rizvi by then had already risen in the ranks, and was a close confidante to Bahadur Yar Jung, and when the latter died suddenly in 1944, he took over the MIM. He then set up the Razakars, a fanatic, dreaded militia, that was the equivalent of Mussolini’s Black Shirts and Hitler’s Storm troopers, and this had the blessings of the Nizam. The Nizam encourages Rizvi and the Razakars, in order to counter the rising discontent among the rural population, and also the protests by the Communists and the Hyderabad State Congress.

The Razakars unleashed a reign of terror in Hyderabad State, with their storm-trooping acts. Villages were attacked in the middle of night, and after rounding the mostly Hindu residents up, they were massacred en masse. There have been eye witness accounts from some villagers, who managed to escape the Razakar’s by playing dead,often having to lie still on a pile of corpses. In some cases, the villagers fled to the nearest jungle or one of the numerous uninhabited mud forts to escape the Razakars. Rape, arson, torture, looting, were common tactics by the Razakars to intimidate the population. Much as the Nizam later protested he was a mere pawn, in the hands of the Razakars, the fact is that he was responsible for funding them, and also providing them arms. It was a Frankenstein he had created, with encouragement from Jinnah, Qasim Rizvi soon became more powerful than the Nizam. He was not just against Hindus, even those Muslims who did not favor integration with Pakistan, and wanted to be a part of India were targeted. A young Muslim journalist Shoebullah Khan who favored integration with India, was murdered. The Nawab of Chattari, Mir Mohd Said Khan was forced out by Rizvi in favor of the more fanatical Mir Laki, and also a close friend of Rizvi. Sir Walter Monckton, the advisor to the Nizam, resigned, in protest against the Razakar attacks on him. It was not for nothing Sardar Patel told the Nizam, after his surrender, when the latter said “To err is human”, “Yes it may be true, but errors always have consequences”.

Operation Polo code name for The Hyderabad Police Action was a military operation from September 13 to 17 1948 in which the Indian Armed Forces invaded the State of Hyderabad and ended the rule of Nizam, annexing the state into the Indian Union.

September 1948 : After a stalemate in negotiations between the Nizam and India, and wary of a hostile independent state in the centre of India and when the Nizam’s Govt, sent their external Affairs Minister, Nawab Moin Nawaz Jung to the UN Security Council, in September 1948, Deputy Prime Minister Sardar Patel decided to annex the state of Hyderabad.

After making a careful study, the decision was finally communicated to the Southern Command, who recommended September 13 as the best date to start the operations. The official Hyderabad State Army was actually more or less a sub unit of the Razakars, consider this, the total strength of the Nizam’s Army was 22,000 while the Razakar’s made up around 200,000, clearly a case of the tail wagging the dog. The Army was led by El Eldroos, a close confidante of the Nizam, of Arab Hadrami origin, who had fought in both the World Wars, however an utterly inept commander and strategist to boot. The Hyderabad Army actually was more a collection of mercenaries, which included Arabs, Rohillas, Pathans and Muslims from Uttar Pradesh. Though the Razakars made up the bulk of the Army, only 25 % of them were armed with modern weaponry, the rest used swords and outdated equipment. What it meant is that while the Razakars could harass and bully, hapless, defenseless civilians, they just were not equipped for actual combat.

The Indian Army was commanded by Gen. Jayanto Nath Chaudhari, a graduated from Kolkata’s St Xavier’s nicknamed as Mucho, and who had fought in the deserts of Africa as well as the Middle East during WWII. The final plan for Operation Polo (so called because of the large number of polo grounds in Hyderabad then), was formulated by Lt.Gen. Eric Goddard, GOC of the Southern Command of India and named after him. It was however Lt.Gen Sri Rajendrasinhji Jadeja, who belonged to the Jamnagar Royal family, who actually supervised the operation when he took over as GOC of the Southern Command, from Goddard. The plan envisaged two thrusts into Hyderabad, one from the Western side by Gen. J.N.Chaudhari , that would begin from Sholapur, and had 2 infantry brigades, one armored brigade and a strike force. The other thrust from the Eastern side, would be led by Gen.A.A.Rudra that would start from Vijayawada, which consisted of the Gurkha Rifles, 4 Infantry Battalions, and one squadron of the Poona 17th Horse.
On Day 1, September 13th, a fierce battle was fought at Naldurg Fort near Solapur, where the 2nd Sikh Infantry, managed to secure the fort, after resistance from 1 Hyderabad Infantry. There was resistance in the towns of Jalkot and Tuljapur from the Razakars, the latter town saw a 2 hr long battle, that finally saw the Razakars losing out. On the Eastern front, there was major resistance from two armored units of the Hyderabad State Army, consisting of Humbers and Staghounds, before they were overpowered and managed to reach the town of Kodad in Nalgonda district. From the other end, Hospet was captured from the Razakars, while the 5/5 Gurkha Rifles managed to secure a vital bridge over the Tungabhadra River.
September 14, 1948 : On Day 2, Osmanabad faced an attack from the Gurkha Rifles and an 8th cavalry squadron, as they attacked the city. There was heavy street to street fighting between the Indian army and the Razakars, who put up a fierce resistance, before the own finally fell. Aurangabad was attacked by six infantry and cavalry columns under Maj.Gen.D.S.Brar, and soon the civil administration surrendered.
September 15, 1948 : Jalna fell on Day 3, Sept 15, while air strikes by the Indian Air Force, cleared the town of Suryapet in Nalgonda, which fell to the Indian Army.
September 16, 1948 : Zahirabad fell to the Indian Army on Day 4, Sept 16, though they still kept facing ambush attacks from the Razakars.
September 17, 1948 : Finally on September 17th, 1948, the Indian Army entered the town of Bidar now in Karnataka, while another column took over the town of Chityal, in Nalgonda district, around 60 KM from Hyderabad. With Hingoli in Maharashtra, also falling to the Indian Army, the Nizam knew he had lost the game. The Hyderabad State Army was utterly routed, with 490 dead and 122 injured, and around 1647 becoming prisoners. The Razakar’s fared even worse, they lost 1373 of their men, and 1911 were captured, and with it their pipe dream of hosting an independent Hyderabad too. The Nizam announced the ceasefire, at 5 PM IST, disbanded the Razakars and allowed the Indian Army entry into Hyderabad. On September 18, El Edroos, met J.N.Chaudhuri and surrendered to him, while Qasim Rizvi was arrested by the Indian Government. Laik Ali was kept in house arrest, at Begumpet, from where he managed to escape in 1950. It also effectively ended the 235 yr old rule of the Asaf Jah Dynasty, which at it’s peak had extended from Malwa in the North to Trichy in the South, and was the last vestige of the Mughal rule in India.
The Nizam after Operation Polo, quite often positioned himself as a helpless victim of the Razakars, a quasi military organization, founded by Qasim Rizvi, that wanted to integrate Hyderabad with Pakistan, and run it as per the Sharia. Some others too have come up with the position, that the Nizam was essentially a decent, well meaning man, who was helpless before the Razakar’s storm trooper style tactics. While there is some amount of truth in that, the fact is that the Razakars were the Nizam’s own creation, or as some one put it his “Frankenstein creation”.

Why did the Nizam and his men have so much confidence on themselves?
Firstly they felt that even if India were to resort to an economic blockade, Hyderabad State had enough capability to stand on it’s own. They felt that a newly independent India did not have enough military firepower to undertake any action. Also even if India, did take action, all the Muslim nations would automatically come forward to help it, and the UN would be forced to intervene. Hyderabad state radio, announced that if India were to invade Hyderabad, some thousands of Pathans would come to the rescue of Hyderabad. And above all, you had Qasim Rizvi, the Razakar’s chief, who declared that if India were to attack Hyderabad ” Nothing but the bones and ashes of 10.5 million Hindus would be found”. Sardar Patel categorically replied back “If you threaten us with violence, swords will be met with swords”. There was a section in the Indian Govt too, that was apprehensive of retaliatory large scale communal violence, against Muslims in other parts of India, should the Hindus face the brunt of any communal violence in Hyderabad. Also fears of Pakistan attacking India, and the Nizam’s own air-force bombing other cities in India, were there. The Nizam too was busy arming himself, with the help of the Portugese in Goa , Pakistan and a certain Australian arms dealer called Sidney Cotton, who ran missions into Hyderabad. Lord Mountbatten in the meanwhile had left India in June, 1948, and that was a huge blow to the Nizam, who was hoping he would somehow help him out. Matter of fact, years later, after Operation Polo, when the Nizam’s daughter in law Durrushevar, met Mountbatten at a party, she coldly fired at him “You have let us down”. There still was resistance to Patel’s idea, from the then Commander in Chief of the Indian Army, Sir Roy Bucher, who felt that Hyderabad would be an additional front for the Indian forces already facing a conflict in Kashmir, but Sardar put his foot down.

Pandit Sundarlal Committee Report
A confidential government report said at least 27,000 to 40,000 people lost their lives during and after Indian troops entered Hyderabad state to force the ruler to surrender.

"There were more like revenge killings as well as loot. More so of Muslim traders particularly in the districts that today are part of Karnataka and Maharashtra,"' says Captain Pandu Ranga Reddy, a researcher.

It is a significant fact that the four worst effected districts (Osmanabad, Gulburga, Bidar and Nanded) had been the strong hold of Razakars.

A three-member delegation of Congress leaders, consisting of Pandit Sunderlal, Kazi Abdul Ghaffar and Moulana Misri, toured Hyderabad for three weeks from 29 Nov to 21 December, 1948 and submitted a report from ground zero.

A request by Pandu Ranga Reddy to the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library at Teenmurti House in New Delhi asked for the Sunderlal report on Hyderabad, through the RTI Act. The library replied to Reddy that the said report was not available. However, historian Md Safiullah, using his influential contacts, could finally procure a copy of the report.

The report under a heading 'Killing and Looting' states: "We can say at a very conservative estimate that in the whole state at least 27,000 to 40,000 people lost their lives during and after Police Action".

Historians say the then government was not pleased with the work done by the committee, with Patel personally chiding the members. "I have copies of the letters written by Sardar Patel to Kazi Abdul Ghaffar asking him who asked you to go to Hyderabad. Who asked you to report all these things about the Government of India?' says Safiullah.

Interestingly, the first Emergency of independent India was declared in September 1948.

A state of Emergency was declared when 36,000 Indian troops entered Hyderabad because the government was apprehensive how the minorities in other parts of India would react to this takeover.

The Sunderlal team visited dozens of villages and at each one they carefully chronicled the accounts of Muslims who had survived the appalling violence: "We had absolutely unimpeachable evidence to the effect that there were instances in which men belonging to the Indian Army and also to the local police took part in looting and even other crimes.
"During our tour we gathered, at not a few places, that soldiers encouraged, persuaded and in a few cases even compelled the Hindu mob to loot Muslim shops and houses."
The team reported that while Muslim villagers were disarmed by the Indian Army, Hindus were often left with their weapons. The mob violence that ensued was often led by Hindu paramilitary groups.
In other cases, it said, Indian soldiers themselves took an active hand in the butchery: "At a number of places members of the armed forces brought out Muslim adult males from villages and towns and massacred them in cold blood."
The investigation team also reported, however, that in many other instances the Indian Army had behaved well and protected Muslims.
The backlash was said to have been in response to many years of intimidation and violence against Hindus by the Razakars.
In confidential notes attached to the Sunderlal report, its authors detailed the gruesome nature of the Hindu revenge: "In many places we were shown wells still full of corpses that were rotting. In one such we counted 11 bodies, which included that of a woman with a small child sticking to her breast. "
And it went on: "We saw remnants of corpses lying in ditches. At several places the bodies had been burnt and we would see the charred bones and skulls still lying there."
From the depressing picture presented, only silver lining to the dark clouds of communal strife, instances in which Hindus defended and given protection to there Muslim neighbours, men and women even at the cost of their own lives.




References


http://defenceforumindia.com/forum/threads/rare-photos-of-operation-polo-hyderabad-police-action-1948.55823/

https://ia801306.us.archive.org/7/items/PanditSundarlalCommitteeReportOnTheMassacresInHyderabad1948/Pandit-Sundarlal-Committee-Report-on-the-Massacres-in-Hyderabad-1948_text.pdf

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/hyderabad-indian-army-telangana-police-action-independent-india/1/309167.html

https://historyunderyourfeet.wordpress.com/2013/09/17/operation-polo/

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-24159594

http://www.livemint.com/Politics/NbxBUAuu49lp7FtxDErnNM/Telangana-Liberation-Day-Five-things-to-know.html

Read More