Telugu
Telugu are speakers of the Telugu language, a part of the Dravidian language family, which also includes Tamil, Kannada, and Malayalam. Also known as Andhras, these people mainly live in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh (population estimated at 74.0 million in 1998), but many Telugu live in adjoining states, and a significant number are found throughout the southeastern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Smaller migrant communities are located in the United States, the United Kingdom, Singapore, and South Africa. The Telugu are predominantly Hindus.
The Telugu region of India has undergone a long history of changes. Over two millennia ago, the Andhra kingdom, with its capital, Paithan, lying in the current state of Maharashtra, was a Buddhist stronghold. Successor kingdoms included the dynasties of the Pallavas, eastern Chalukyas, Kalingas, Kakatiyas, and Cholas. The Hindu Vijayanagar empire in Karnataka and the southern part of Telugu land were the last Hindu kingdoms that ruled the Telugu. The Bahmani and Golkonda kingdoms that followed much later reflected Muslim domination in central India. During the sixteenth century European traders began to arrive at the seaport city of Machilipatnam, and by the eighteenth century the British had control of much of southern India, which they governed from Madras. The British also controlled the sultanate of Golkonda, based at the city of Hyderabad, which in turn dominated much of the central regions. Following Indian independence from the U.K. in 1947, most of the Telugu territory became the newly established state of Andhra Pradesh.
Further Reading
Robinson, Marguerite S. (1988) Local Politics: The Law of the Fishes: Development through Political Change in Medak District, Andhra Pradesh (South India). New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
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