Andhra Pradesh

Area: 275,754 square km
Capital: Hyderabad
Main language: Telegu
Population: 75,727,541 (2004)

The large state of Andhra Pradesh was created by combining the old princely State of Hyderabad with the Telegu speaking portions of the former State of Madras. Most of the state stands on the high Deccan plateau, sloping down to the low-lying coastal region to the east where the mighty Godavari and Krishna Rivers meet the Bay of Bengal in wide deltas.

Andhra Pradesh was once a major Buddhist centre and part of Ashoka's large empire until it broke apart. Traces of that early Buddhist influence can still be seen in several places. Later the Chalukyas held power in the 7th century but they in turn fell to the Chola kingdom of the south around the 10th century. In the 14th century Moslem power finally reached this far south and for centuries the region was an arena for Hindu-Moslem power struggles. Finally it was taken over by a general of the Moghul Emperor Aurangzeb in 1713. His successors, the Nizams of Hyderabad, ruled the state right down to independence.

The final Nizam of Hyderabad was reputed to be one of the richest men in the world but Andhra Pradesh itself is one of the poorest and least developed states in India. New dams and irrigation projects are improving the barren, scrubby land of the plateau but much of the state remains economically backward.