The burning issue of the state of Andhra Pradesh is the Telangana Movement. I usually find myself ending up in heated up discussions of the same. Here is an attempt to let you know my understanding about the issue. Let me begin with the history of Telangana.
The first to rule this region were the Satavahanas with Kotilingala in Karimnagar as their first capital which was later shifted to Dharnikota in Guntur District. Their rule lasted for 450 years. Their empire was spread in the regions of Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. The Satavahana Empire was important in repelling foreign empires from India. There is a historic hiatus of nearly 800 years as to which dynasty rulers exactly ruled the region but this period portrayed the downfall of Satavahana Dynasty and the rise of Kakatiya Dynasty.
Ganapatideva of Kakatiya Dynasty was the first ruler to unite entire Telugu area after Satavahanas. His empire was spread in almost entire Andhra Pradesh and a few regions of Karnataka as well. Golconda fort was built in his reign. Rudrama Devi and Pratapa Rudra were few of the famouns Kakatiya rulers.
After Kakatiyas, Telangana region was taken over by the Delhi Sultanate in 14th century followed by Bahmanis, Qutb Shahis and the Mughals. As the Mughal Empire began to disintegrate in the early 18th century, the Muslim Asaf jahi dynasty established a separate state known as Hyderabad. Later, Hyderabad entered into a treaty of subsidiary alliance with the British Empire, and was the largest and the most populous princely state in India. Thus Telangana was never under direct rule of the British unlike the Coastal Andhra and the Rayalaseema regions.
The Hyderabad state consisted of 9 districts all of which are in present day Telangana. The life under the Nizam rule was not an easy one. Except for the Hyderabad city, all the other regions were mere villages. Each village had a village head called 'Dora', the local feudal landlord and he lived in his palace called 'Gadi'. All the villagers were treated as slaves. The Dora had control over everything that was happening around. Most of the villagers used to end up indebted to him with all their lands lost due to the inconsistency in the Monsoons. The Dora exploited each and every natural resource and human resource he could avail. The atrocities included exploitation of women and slaughter, if they revolted. There were 'Aadabapas', the palace maids who should succumb to the wills of the visitors of the palace. There were no means of proper education. Only few children of the families related to the Dora and other village officials had the privilege of going to school. The scheduled caste and scheduled tribe people were treated as untouchables and they were entitled to do awkward jobs which the so called elite class people would never even imagine to do.
Hyderabad state contained almost 93% of Hindus whereas the rulers were Muslims. Hence, the Asaf Jha rulers started a crusade called Muhammadiyah to convert all the residents to Muslims. As a rule, no one wanted to abandon their religion. But the Nizams allured the scheduled castes and tribes by promising them lands and schools which were never in their avenue. And the converted people suffered the wrath of the Dora for disregarding their religion. Hence, they were then bereaved of everything.
In Seemaandhra regoins, people fought with Britishers whereas in Telangana region people fought with their own people. Seemaandhra was a part of Madras Presidency then. Some people say that the Telanagana region had been exploited by their own people but the people who suffered were much more when compared to the people who exploited and the suffering was as good as suffering under the British Empire.
Inspired from the Indian freedom movements, a rebellion called Peasant Revolt started in Nalgonda district against the Nizam rulers in 1946 and was spread like wild fire in entire Hyderabad state.This revolt was supported by the Communists. Peasant farmers and labourers revolted against the local feudal landlord and against Osman Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VII.
In 1947, Indian Union was formed after the dismissal of the Britishers from the country. Hyderabad state was then pressurized to join the Indian Union. However, the Nizam was very anxious to become independent and it had been Nizam's ambition to secure Dominion Status for his State. A few people of Telangana under the leadership of Swami Ramananda Tirtha formed Andhra Hindu Mahasabha which sought integration of the state with the rest of India. In order to curb the peasant revolt and Andhra Mahasabha, Osman Ali Khan launched the Razakar Movement with help of Khasim Razvi.
The Razakars were a set of brutal hooligans who were also responsible for the forcible conversions of the Hindus. The Andhra Mahasaba which was initially non-violent became violent because of the barbarity of the Razakars. The leaders were banished from the state by the Nizam. The growing violence of the Razakars and the Andhra Mahasabha jeopardized the law and order. The Government of India decided to curb these tendencies by launching a Police Action against Nizam rule. The Indian Army, led by Major-General J.N.Chaudhuri, entered the state from five directions. The motive was to weaken the ruling party and achieve the goal of getting the state to join the Indian Dominion. On 18th September, Nizam's forces surrendered to the Indian Army and the officials were arrested. Hyderabad state was then merged into the Indian Union with M.K.Vellodi as the first chief minister in 1950. 1952 elections led to the victory of Congress Party with Burgula Ramakrishna Rao as the first democratic chief minister. Meanwhile Telugu speaking areas were carved out of Madras State on the fast unto death of Sri Potti Sriramulu to create seperate Andhra State.
In December 1953, State Reorganization Commission(SRC) was formed to form separate states on linguistic basis. Telangana and Andhra with their common language were considered for merger. However, SRC had to get the consent of both the states for this. People of Andhra State were in favour of the merger but people of Telangana had some concerns. Telangana had a less-developed economy than Andhra but with a larger revenue base which people of Telangana feared might be diverted for use in Andhra. They were also concerned about the proportionate distribution of the irrigation projects on Krishna and Godavari rivers. They were bothered about their scope to seek the govt jobs as people of Andhra had access to higher education under the British Empire. Chief minister Mr. Ramakrishnayya, however was in favor of the merger despite the concerns of the people of Telangana.
In 1955 a resolution was passed which assured the people of Telangana that the development of that area would be a special charge, and that certain priorities and special protection will be given for the improvement of that area such as reservation in services and educational institutions on the basis of population and irrigation development. With lobbying from Andhra Congress leaders and with pressure from the Central leadership of Congress party, an agreement was reached between Andhra and Telangana leaders on 20th February 1956 to merge Telangana and Andhra into Andhra Pradesh with promises to safeguard Telangana interests. On the basis of Gentlemen's Agreement, Andhra Pradesh was formed on 1st November, 1956.
People expressed dissatisfaction over the implementations of the agreements and guarantees made during the formation of the state. After 12 years of the formation of the state, students protested against the discrimination of govt. jobs to Telangana people and organised a rally in Osmania University. This was the first rebellion of the Telangana Movement. Protests continued all along and Osmania University still remains the center for this movement.
The first to rule this region were the Satavahanas with Kotilingala in Karimnagar as their first capital which was later shifted to Dharnikota in Guntur District. Their rule lasted for 450 years. Their empire was spread in the regions of Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. The Satavahana Empire was important in repelling foreign empires from India. There is a historic hiatus of nearly 800 years as to which dynasty rulers exactly ruled the region but this period portrayed the downfall of Satavahana Dynasty and the rise of Kakatiya Dynasty.
Ganapatideva of Kakatiya Dynasty was the first ruler to unite entire Telugu area after Satavahanas. His empire was spread in almost entire Andhra Pradesh and a few regions of Karnataka as well. Golconda fort was built in his reign. Rudrama Devi and Pratapa Rudra were few of the famouns Kakatiya rulers.
After Kakatiyas, Telangana region was taken over by the Delhi Sultanate in 14th century followed by Bahmanis, Qutb Shahis and the Mughals. As the Mughal Empire began to disintegrate in the early 18th century, the Muslim Asaf jahi dynasty established a separate state known as Hyderabad. Later, Hyderabad entered into a treaty of subsidiary alliance with the British Empire, and was the largest and the most populous princely state in India. Thus Telangana was never under direct rule of the British unlike the Coastal Andhra and the Rayalaseema regions.
The Hyderabad state consisted of 9 districts all of which are in present day Telangana. The life under the Nizam rule was not an easy one. Except for the Hyderabad city, all the other regions were mere villages. Each village had a village head called 'Dora', the local feudal landlord and he lived in his palace called 'Gadi'. All the villagers were treated as slaves. The Dora had control over everything that was happening around. Most of the villagers used to end up indebted to him with all their lands lost due to the inconsistency in the Monsoons. The Dora exploited each and every natural resource and human resource he could avail. The atrocities included exploitation of women and slaughter, if they revolted. There were 'Aadabapas', the palace maids who should succumb to the wills of the visitors of the palace. There were no means of proper education. Only few children of the families related to the Dora and other village officials had the privilege of going to school. The scheduled caste and scheduled tribe people were treated as untouchables and they were entitled to do awkward jobs which the so called elite class people would never even imagine to do.
Hyderabad state contained almost 93% of Hindus whereas the rulers were Muslims. Hence, the Asaf Jha rulers started a crusade called Muhammadiyah to convert all the residents to Muslims. As a rule, no one wanted to abandon their religion. But the Nizams allured the scheduled castes and tribes by promising them lands and schools which were never in their avenue. And the converted people suffered the wrath of the Dora for disregarding their religion. Hence, they were then bereaved of everything.
In Seemaandhra regoins, people fought with Britishers whereas in Telangana region people fought with their own people. Seemaandhra was a part of Madras Presidency then. Some people say that the Telanagana region had been exploited by their own people but the people who suffered were much more when compared to the people who exploited and the suffering was as good as suffering under the British Empire.
Inspired from the Indian freedom movements, a rebellion called Peasant Revolt started in Nalgonda district against the Nizam rulers in 1946 and was spread like wild fire in entire Hyderabad state.This revolt was supported by the Communists. Peasant farmers and labourers revolted against the local feudal landlord and against Osman Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VII.
In 1947, Indian Union was formed after the dismissal of the Britishers from the country. Hyderabad state was then pressurized to join the Indian Union. However, the Nizam was very anxious to become independent and it had been Nizam's ambition to secure Dominion Status for his State. A few people of Telangana under the leadership of Swami Ramananda Tirtha formed Andhra Hindu Mahasabha which sought integration of the state with the rest of India. In order to curb the peasant revolt and Andhra Mahasabha, Osman Ali Khan launched the Razakar Movement with help of Khasim Razvi.
The Razakars were a set of brutal hooligans who were also responsible for the forcible conversions of the Hindus. The Andhra Mahasaba which was initially non-violent became violent because of the barbarity of the Razakars. The leaders were banished from the state by the Nizam. The growing violence of the Razakars and the Andhra Mahasabha jeopardized the law and order. The Government of India decided to curb these tendencies by launching a Police Action against Nizam rule. The Indian Army, led by Major-General J.N.Chaudhuri, entered the state from five directions. The motive was to weaken the ruling party and achieve the goal of getting the state to join the Indian Dominion. On 18th September, Nizam's forces surrendered to the Indian Army and the officials were arrested. Hyderabad state was then merged into the Indian Union with M.K.Vellodi as the first chief minister in 1950. 1952 elections led to the victory of Congress Party with Burgula Ramakrishna Rao as the first democratic chief minister. Meanwhile Telugu speaking areas were carved out of Madras State on the fast unto death of Sri Potti Sriramulu to create seperate Andhra State.
In December 1953, State Reorganization Commission(SRC) was formed to form separate states on linguistic basis. Telangana and Andhra with their common language were considered for merger. However, SRC had to get the consent of both the states for this. People of Andhra State were in favour of the merger but people of Telangana had some concerns. Telangana had a less-developed economy than Andhra but with a larger revenue base which people of Telangana feared might be diverted for use in Andhra. They were also concerned about the proportionate distribution of the irrigation projects on Krishna and Godavari rivers. They were bothered about their scope to seek the govt jobs as people of Andhra had access to higher education under the British Empire. Chief minister Mr. Ramakrishnayya, however was in favor of the merger despite the concerns of the people of Telangana.
In 1955 a resolution was passed which assured the people of Telangana that the development of that area would be a special charge, and that certain priorities and special protection will be given for the improvement of that area such as reservation in services and educational institutions on the basis of population and irrigation development. With lobbying from Andhra Congress leaders and with pressure from the Central leadership of Congress party, an agreement was reached between Andhra and Telangana leaders on 20th February 1956 to merge Telangana and Andhra into Andhra Pradesh with promises to safeguard Telangana interests. On the basis of Gentlemen's Agreement, Andhra Pradesh was formed on 1st November, 1956.
People expressed dissatisfaction over the implementations of the agreements and guarantees made during the formation of the state. After 12 years of the formation of the state, students protested against the discrimination of govt. jobs to Telangana people and organised a rally in Osmania University. This was the first rebellion of the Telangana Movement. Protests continued all along and Osmania University still remains the center for this movement.
