HISTORY
The earliest mention of the Andhras appears in the Aitareya Brahmana (800 BC). It was called Dakshina Padh during those days. Andhras, Pulindas, Sabaras, and many other sects lived in Dakshina Padh. In the Mauryan age, the Andhras were a political power in the Deccan. Megasthenes, who visited the court of Chandragupta Maurya (322-297 BC), mentioned that the Andhra country had 30 fortified towns and an army of 1,00,000 infantry, 2,000 cavalry and 1,000 elephants. The Buddhist religious books reveal that Andhras established their kingdoms on the Godavari belt at that time. Even Ashoka referred in his 13th rock edict that the Andhras were his subordinates.
The flourishing Satvahana Empire, which followed the Mauryas, covered the entire Deccan plateau by the 1st century AD. From the seventh to the 10th centuries, the Chalukyas ruled the state. This was followed by the rule of the Cholas, Kakatiyas, and the powerful Vijayanagar Empire. By the 16th century AD, the Qutab Shahi dynasty established its firm foothold in and around Hyderabad. The Nizams, as the rulers of Hyderabad were called, maintained their rule, even during the advent of the French and British. Andhra Pradesh was constituted as a separate state on October 1, 1953, comprising the 11 districts of the erstwhile Madras state, and made Kurnool the capital. By November 1, 1956, the Nizam's state of Hyderabad was amalgamated to the state of Andhra Pradesh.
REGIONS
- Northern Coast — comprises the districts of East Godavari, West Godavari, Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam
- Southern Coast — comprises the districts of Guntur, Krishna, Prakasam and Nellore
- Telangana — comprises the districts of Hyderabad, Ranga Reddy, Nalgonda, Karimnagar, Medak, Nizambad, Adilabad, Warangal, Mahaboobnagar and Khammam
- Rayalaseema — comprises the districts of Chittor, Anathapur, Cuddapah and Kurnool
CLIMATE
Weather is extremely hot for the most part of the year with high humidity along the coast and relatively dry in the interior areas. The monsoons in June and the return monsoons in October provide adequate rain fall for the rain dependent agriculture in the state. The best time to visit is November till February when it's relatively cooler. The hottest months are April, May and June.LANGUAGE
Telugu is the official language and is spoken by the majority of the populace. However, most educated people will also be able to speak Hindi and English.Like most South Indians, Telugu people are very protective of their language and culture, and will respond more readily to English than to Hindi. The exception is Hyderabad, where Hindi and Deccani Urdu are more commonly spoken.
English is widely spoken in Hyderabad and other major cities. Apart from Telugu, the major languages spoken in Hyderabad are Hindi and Urdu, Tamil in the south and Kannada in the west. Minimum knowledge of Telugu will be extremely useful (but not essential).
CONNECTIVITY
The main and only international airport in Andhra Pradesh is Hyderabad. Direct international connectivity to Hyderabad is available from many countries. International carriers operating from Hyderabad are Air India, Emirates, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Kuwait Airways, Lufthansa, Malaysia Airlines, Oman Air, Qatar Airways, Saudi Arabian Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Srilankan Airlines and Thai Airways. Domestic connectivity is excellent with Air India (and their subsidiary Indian Airline), Deccan, GoAir, IndiGo, Jet Airways, JetLite, Kingfisher, Paramount and SpiceJet operating from here.Visakhapatnam,Vijayawada and Tirupati also has moderately busy airports.
