Andra -origin of the word and other details

                 CHAPTER -1

Origin  of Andra
It is impossible to confirm the origin of a culture and the date of its origin. Different tribes, classes, and societies gradually combined over a period of time and a transformed society had evolved. This is the evolution of a society.
Various names of Andra
Andra denotes ‘south’ in Sanskrit.
 Telugu language, land and people have many names.  Andhra, Aandhra, Tenumgu, Tenungu, Telugu, Telumgu, Telungu, Trilinga, Vadagu, Vaduga, and Gentoo are names by which Telugu people and their language are known.  Andhra and Aandhra are Sanskrit names for Telugu.   Tenumgu, Tenungu, Telugu, Telumgu, Telungu and Trilinga are names used in Telugu literature.  Vadagu and Vaduga are Tamil names for it.  Gentoo is a Portuguese name for Telugu people and their language.
References in all ancient literature like Ramayana and Mahabharatha
The word “Aandhra” was also used to indicate the country/land inhabited by the Aandhra Nationality in Sanskrit literature, for example, in Valmiki Ramayana, Sugreeva sends his monkey troops to countries of Aandhra, Pundra, Chola, Pandya etc in search of Sita.  According to Vyasa's Bharata, Aandhra was a southern country that was conquered by Sahadeva. 
Until 1100 AD, the word Aandhra was not used in Sanskrit literature to denote a language, except in Bhrata's Natyasastra. So far it was predominantly used for either land or the Nationality.  However, from the beginning of 2nd millennium when Telugu literature started blooming Aandhra word has been used in Telugu literature (Nannaya onwards) to denote Telugu language.
References in  Tamil literature
Tamils, in their Sangam literature in the beginning of Christian era, called Telugu people Vadugu, Vadagu, Vadugar etc., meaning 'the northern people."  Jayagondar’s work called Kaldlingattupparindni used words like Telungaru and Vadugu to describe Telugus.
References in Jataka tales
Some of those Andhras who came to the south settled on the west side of Vindhya mountains (present Northern regions of Hyderabad). Another tribe crossed the Eastern Ghats over Orissa and reached the Kalinga Desam. "Serivanijo" Jataka tale explains that Andhras built the "ANDHAKAPURAM" on the banks of "Tel" (tEl) river.
Jataka tales were written during 200-250 BC. Tel river is a subriver of Mahanadi in Orissa. This confirms that one of the Andhra tribes migrated this way. The people in this tribe are Kalingas (ka'Limgulu). The books cited above describe the Andhras and Kalingas as two different branches of a single tribe. Sometimes these two words (Andhras and Kalingas) are used as synonyms interchangeably
Portuguese name for Telugu people
Portuguese who colonized parts of the Indian Continent called Telugu Nationality, the Gentoo or Gentio.  This Portuguese word means gentile or heathen.  This is the name used by Europeans to describe the various peoples of Indian Continent, especially Telugu people, for when Portuguese arrived, the Telugu king of Vijayangar was dominant over the great part of the peninsula.

The word Telugu comes from Trilinga
Trilinga is another name for Telugu country. This word is a Shaivite term and derived from the fact that there are three Shaivite temple cities in Telugu country. They are Srisailam, Daksharama and Kaleswaram. 
Both the language and people are hybrid

Various Andhra kings considered themselves related to Aryans and invited Brahmins from various parts of the Indian Continent to immigrate to the land of Andhra by providing incentives such as donation of villages and lands.  Thus, the Andhra Nationality became a genetically hybrid Nationality when Sanskrit speaking Aryans mixed with them. And hence the non-Aryan (non- Indo-European) languages of these people also became hybridized. Also, Sanskrit influenced Telugu language tremendously because of the immense and rich literary contribution of Sanskrit speaking Brahmins.

So, Andhra, Telugu, Gentoo, Vadugu etc all stand for Telugu Nationality, culture and language localized in the present state of Andhra Pradesh

Mahabharata war has a prominent place in the ancient history. Several kings of different tribes fought in this battle. Several thousands of soldiers lost their lives. Kauravas were destroyed. Innumerable number of tiny kingdoms mushroomed. Locust infestation destroyed crops on the banks of Ganges and Yamuna rivers. People inhabiting those regions migrated 300 miles away to south. Chandogyopanishat (Ca'mdOgyOpanishad) confirms this. Iatreya (aitarEya bra'hmaNam) Brahmanam tells us that Andhras lived on the south side of Vindhya along with Pundrapulinda Sabara Mootibas (punDrapulimda Sabara mootibulu). Chandogyopanishad and Itareya Brahmanam were written in 1000 BC.
Andhras were nomads for several centuries. Some tribes (classes) migrated and others did not want to do so and remained in their older settlements. During 700 BC some Andhra tribes inhabited the Salvadesa (sa'lvadESamu) on the banks of Yamuna River. The tale of Apastambarushi (a'pastambaRushi) explains this. Apastamba rules (a'pastamba gruhya sootra'lu) have been widely in practice among Andhra Brahmin families today. A single Rushi was the teacher (a'ca'rya) of each tribe. Apastamba was one such teacher. Apastamba wrote these rules in Salvadesam on the banks of Yamuna river. After Apastamba's death the Andhra tribes crossed the Vindhya mountains, reached the South, and merged with the other Andhra tribes.
Andhra tribes established relationships with Naga, Yaksha, and Dravida tribes of Vindhya mountains who already were living there then. Telugu, Tamil, and Kannada are Dravidian languages. The name "Tenugu" transformed into "Telugu". From "Telugu" words like "Telagalu", "Telangana", "Telanganyulu" (a subsect of Andhra Brahmins), and "Teligiri" originated. A tribe called "Tailang" (taila'ng) in Burma is proposed to be related to Telugu people.
Tenugu (tenugu) is the meaning for those who travel towards south. In Tamil and Kannada "ten" means south side (dakshina dikku).
The hybrid however establishes through the mitochondrial DNA from various ethnic groups supports the concept that all have come from the same genetic pool of people who followed  Sanathana Dharma later on labelled as Hindus of the sub continent.
Independent India’s National Official formation of Andra
On November 1st, 1956, a Telugu state called Andhra Pradesh was formed from the merger of a Telangana part of Hyderabad kingdom and Andhra state that was formed in 1953 from the Madras province of British East India. The State of Andhra Pradesh is home millions  Telugu speaking nationality.

Formation of Andhra Pradesh – 1947 to 1956

There are a lot of myths and huge ignorance surrounding the formation of Andhra Pradesh. People generally assume that it was historically one through time. However, Andhra Pradesh witnessed many changes before it emerged as the first linguistic state on November 1, 1956. The years 1947 to 1956 were very crucial in the history of Andhra Pradesh. When India got independence on August 15, 1947, the three main regions of Andhra Pradesh – Coastal Andhra, Rayalaseema and Telangana were not part of Andhra Pradesh state.

Telangana was part of Hyderabad state, which was an independent native Indian state. Though, there were 568 native Indian states, Hyderabad State was the most important native state and was administered directly by the Governor General of India.

The ruler of Hyderabad State was considered the most senior or superior native Indian ruler. Hyderabad state included Telangana, 4 Kannada districts in Gulberga division & 4 Marathi districts in Aurangabad division.

Find below The area outlined in red color represents the Hyderabad state, super imposed over today’s India map

Hyderabad state was not under direct British rule.. In contrast, Hyderabad state had its own law. Urdu was official language for Hyderabad state. Which means all records were kept only in Urdu (for this reason the old land records are in Urdu). The maintenance of all records in Urdu is symbolic of the differences between the two vastly different administrative systems. Urdu was a compulsory subject in Hyderabad state and almost all educated people knew Urdu like people know English today.

Hyderabad state had its own financial, military, judicial, police, general, public works and revenue departments.

 Whereas Hyderabad State followed the Moghul administration systems (with changes made over time).

 Though India got independence on 15th August 1947. The last Nizam of Hyderabad resisted Indian government’s efforts to merge Hyderabad state into the Indian Union. He even approached the United Nations for recognition of Hyderabad State as a separate country. Indian Union’s negotiations with the Nizam were abortive. The Nizam Government refused to accede his territory to Indian Union. Hyderabad was liberated from Nizam rule only  on 18 September, 1948.

Until the end of 1949, Major-General J.N.Chaudhuri was the Military Governor of Hyderabad. The government of India appointed M. K. Vellodi as a Chief Minister of Hyderabad state in 26 January 1950 (Republic day) till 6th March 1952. After 1952 general elections, Burgula Rama Krishna Rao took charge as Chief Minister of the Hyderabad state.

Complete Story of accession of Hyderabad to Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema belonged to Madras Presidency as a province of British India

The law of Madras Presidency rested upon the laws passed by the British Parliament. In contrast, Hyderabad state had its own law. English was the official language of Madras Presidency

The area represented in green color is the Madras Presidency. The area in darker shade of green represents the Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema districts, administered as part of Madras Presidency, which formed as Andhra state on October 1, 1953 with Kurnool as its capital city.



Andhra society is one of the ancient societies of India. One can encounter several tales about Andhras in epics like Mahabharatam and Ramayanam, in great puranas, and Budhdhist Jataka Tales. This confirms the ancient nature of Andhra society.
Andhras and Kalingas (ka'Limgulu) supported the Kauravas during the battle between Kauravas and Pandavas (the Bharata yudhdham). Sahadeva defeated the kingdoms of Pandya, Dravida, Odhra, Kerala, Andhra, and Kalinga while performing the Rajasooya yajna. This is depicted in the Mahabharatam. Chanoora (ca'NooruDu) was killed by Srikrishna in Madhura. Harivamsapuranam corroborates the fact that Chanoora was the king of Karoosa Desa (karooSa dESam) (on the North side of Vindhya and on the North banks of Yamuna river) and was an Anhdra (Andhrudu) too.
Ramayanam depicts an interesting tale. Viswamitra condemned the "Naramedha Yagam", freed Sunassepu (SunaSSEpu, the yajna paSuvu), and adopted him as his son. Viswamitra's children diliked this act by thier father and were cursed. Then Viswamitra's children migrated towards east and south. It is understood from this tale that these children of Viswamitra were Andhras (a'mdhrulu).
A tribe called "Andhras" arrived at the banks of Yamuna river during the Mahabharata war (1500 BC). This is clearly described in the epic.

References from

ANCIENT HISTORY OF ANDHRAS

By Etukoori Balaraama Moorti in Andhra Samkshipta Charitra 
English translation : PALANA (nparinand@cas.org)

Telugu Bhasha Charitra, Ed Bhadriraju Krishnmurti, "Andhram, Tenugu, Telugu" by G. N. Reddy, pp 1-14. 
Tamil Literature: Kurundogai, stanza 107; Nanninnai, stanza 212; Kalingattupparini, Verse 469; 
Manual of the Administration of the Madras Presidency, Vol. III, Madras. 
Aitareya Brahmanam, Asiatic Society of Bengal, 7th edition, 3rd chapter, 6th kanto. 
Vayasa Bharatam, Book of Sabha, 4th Chapter, Geeta Press, Gorakhpur. 
Manusmriti, chapter 10, Verse 36, Nirnayasagar Press, Bombay 
Natyasastramu, by Ponangi Apparao, p486 
Srimatbhagavatam, 14th chapter, Verse 18 
“Maccrindle's Magasthanese", Indian Antiquity, Vol. VI, pp 337-339. 
"Andhrula Saanghika Charitra," Suravaram Pratapareddy 
Telugu Sahitya Charitra, by Mudiganti Sujatareddi 
Telugu Sanskriti, Mallampalli Somasekharasarma

http://hyderabad-india-online.com/2010/09/liberation-hyderabad-state/