History
Nellore District had an important role in telugu history during the emergence of the language and also during the formation of the state.Mauryas, Early Cholas and Pallavas
With the rise of the Mauryan Empire, many parts of the Andhra Pardesh including Nellore came under its influence and was part of the Ashokanempire in the third century B.C. The caves near Nellore haveinscriptions in the brahmi script used by Ashoka. The Cholas were animportant dynasty in the south peninsula. The early Cholas ruledbetween the 1st and the 4th centuries A.D. The district was part of thefirst and the most famous Chola, Karikalan. He is well known for hisgreat engineering marvel.
Chola power declined with frequent attacks by the Pallavas,Cheras and Pandyas, until they rose to power again around the 9thcentury. Chola rule was broken when the Cholas were overthrown by SimhaVishnu Pallava and the region came under the Pallava rule between thefourth and sixth centuries A.D. With the dawn of the seventh century,the political centre of Gravity of the Pallavas shifted to the southand weakened their power towards the north. Several ancient Pallava andChola temple are in Udayagiri village. Several ancient Pallava andChola temple are in Udayagiri village. Several inscriptions aboutPallava rule were found in the Guntur-Nellore tract of the AndhraPradesh. The big four storeyed cave at Vundavalli and 8 cave temple atBhairavkonda resembles the Pallava architecture during Mahendravarma\'speriod.
Eastern Chalukyas, Rastrakutas and Medieval Cholas
The Eastern Chalukyas were a branch of the Chalukyas of Badami.Pulakesin II, the renowned ruler of Badami Chalukyas conquered Vengi(near Eluru) in 624 AD and installed his brother Kubja Vishnuvardhana(624-641 CE) as its ruler. His dynasty known as the Eastern Chalukyasof Vengi, ruled for nearly four centuries in all. Vishnuvardhanaextended his dominions up to Srikakulam in the north and Nellore in thesouth. Later the Vengi kingdom again came under the Rashtrakuta rule.Since the time of Gunaga Vijayaditya (848AD), inscriptions startedshowing Telugu stanzas. [1]
The king Vijayalaya defeated the Pallavas and captured Thanjavur. These cholas seized back most parts of the south India. [2].Based on his royal inscriptions, Parantaka I (907–953) took thenorthern boundary up to Nellore, where his advance was stopped by adefeat at the hands of the Rastrakuta king Krishna III. [3].
Nellore Chola kings
This was the period when the political power of Nellore was at its peak and also reached its ebb. Tikkana Somayajulu, a minister and famous telugu poet who translated Mahabharatham into telugu, gave the account of the history of this family in his other book called Nirvachanottara Ramayanamu. A branch of Telugu Cholas,feudatory of the Western Chalukyas of Kalyani appointed them as rulersof Pakanadu for helping in the war between Cholas and Chalukyas. Theyruled over the region consisting of the Nellore, Kadapa, Chittur andChengalput districts with Vikramasimhapuri (modern Nellore) as theirhead capital.
Tikka (1223 - 1248 ) defeated both the Hoyasala and the Pandyas andgot the Tondaimandalam region and assumed the titleCholasthapanacharya. During the reign of Tikka\'s son and successorManumasiddhi II (1248 - 1263), Nellore faced lot of attacks from otherCholas and Pandyas. Tikkana visited Ganapatideva of Kakatiyas andgained military support for his king. About the year 1260, a dangerousfeud broke out between Manumasiddhi and Katamaraju, the chief ofErragaddapadu in Kanigiri region. The feud was on the issue of therights of the two princes to use certain wide meadows as grazinggrounds for their flocks of cattle. It led to the bloody battle foughtat Panchalingala near Muttukuru on the coast of Paleru river.Manumasiddhi\'s forces led by Khadga Tikkana, the cousin of poet Tikkanawon the battle, but the leader perished. This feud and the consequentbattle formed the theme of the popular ballad entitled "KatamarajuKatha". Shortly after or during this battle, Manumasiddhi died andNellore last its significance. [4]
Kakatiyas, Pandyas, Vijanagaras etc.
The kakatiyas, the feudatories of the Western Chalukyas of Kalyani,under influence of Prola declared his independence. Ganapati Deva, thefirst great king of Kakatiyas brought most of the telugu area under hisrule. Nellore was part of kakatiya kingdom in the 13th century. Itchanged hands between them and Pandyas few times until Prataprudra IIdefeated Pandyas. After the fall of Kakatiya Empire, the region wasunder Tuglaq and then was later under Kondavidi Reddis.
The most parts of the district were annexed by the Sangama dynasty of the Vijayanagara empire in 14th century. The remaining portions of the district like Udayagiri were conquered by Krishnadeva Rayalu, the greatest king of the kingdom. The ruins of fortress built by the Vijayanagar kings in the 14th century are at Udayagiri.
Nawabs and British Period
After the fall of the Vijayanagara Empire, the area was ruled bythe Nawabs until the East India Company has taken control in 1792, andappointed Mr. Dyton as the 1st Collector. Nellore was declared therevenue unit for the district. [5]
During the British period, the district was at peace, the only event of any political importance being the sequestration in 1838, of the Jagir of Udayagiri,owing to its title holder\'s participation in a conspiracy, engineeredby the Nawab of Kurnool, against the ruling power. After the districtcame under the British administration, the jurisdiction of the districtdid not undergo any major changes, but for the transfer of Ongole taluk in 1904 to Guntur district when it was newly constituted.
Post Indian Independence
It was part of the composite Madras State until 1 October 1953. On 1 November 1956, when the states were reorganised on a linguistic basis, this district came under Andhra Pradesh. Nellore played a major role in the formation of Andhra Pradesh state. Potti Sriramulu,a Telugu patriot and activist, fasted to death for the formation ofAndhra Pradhesh state. His sacrifice resulted in the creation oflinguistic based states in Indian Union.
 |
| Mauyan Empire |
With the rise of the Mauryan Empire, many parts of the Andhra Pardesh including Nellore came under its influence and was part of the Ashokanempire in the third century B.C. The caves near Nellore haveinscriptions in the brahmi script used by Ashoka. The Cholas were animportant dynasty in the south peninsula. The early Cholas ruledbetween the 1st and the 4th centuries A.D. The district was part of thefirst and the most famous Chola, Karikalan. He is well known for hisgreat engineering marvel.
Chola power declined with frequent attacks by the Pallavas,Cheras and Pandyas, until they rose to power again around the 9thcentury. Chola rule was broken when the Cholas were overthrown by SimhaVishnu Pallava and the region came under the Pallava rule between thefourth and sixth centuries A.D. With the dawn of the seventh century,the political centre of Gravity of the Pallavas shifted to the southand weakened their power towards the north. Several ancient Pallava andChola temple are in Udayagiri village. Several ancient Pallava andChola temple are in Udayagiri village. Several inscriptions aboutPallava rule were found in the Guntur-Nellore tract of the AndhraPradesh. The big four storeyed cave at Vundavalli and 8 cave temple atBhairavkonda resembles the Pallava architecture during Mahendravarma\'speriod.
Eastern Chalukyas, Rastrakutas and Medieval Cholas
The Eastern Chalukyas were a branch of the Chalukyas of Badami.Pulakesin II, the renowned ruler of Badami Chalukyas conquered Vengi(near Eluru) in 624 AD and installed his brother Kubja Vishnuvardhana(624-641 CE) as its ruler. His dynasty known as the Eastern Chalukyasof Vengi, ruled for nearly four centuries in all. Vishnuvardhanaextended his dominions up to Srikakulam in the north and Nellore in thesouth. Later the Vengi kingdom again came under the Rashtrakuta rule.Since the time of Gunaga Vijayaditya (848AD), inscriptions startedshowing Telugu stanzas. [1]
The king Vijayalaya defeated the Pallavas and captured Thanjavur. These cholas seized back most parts of the south India. [2].Based on his royal inscriptions, Parantaka I (907–953) took thenorthern boundary up to Nellore, where his advance was stopped by adefeat at the hands of the Rastrakuta king Krishna III. [3].
Nellore Chola kings
This was the period when the political power of Nellore was at its peak and also reached its ebb. Tikkana Somayajulu, a minister and famous telugu poet who translated Mahabharatham into telugu, gave the account of the history of this family in his other book called Nirvachanottara Ramayanamu. A branch of Telugu Cholas,feudatory of the Western Chalukyas of Kalyani appointed them as rulersof Pakanadu for helping in the war between Cholas and Chalukyas. Theyruled over the region consisting of the Nellore, Kadapa, Chittur andChengalput districts with Vikramasimhapuri (modern Nellore) as theirhead capital.
Tikka (1223 - 1248 ) defeated both the Hoyasala and the Pandyas andgot the Tondaimandalam region and assumed the titleCholasthapanacharya. During the reign of Tikka\'s son and successorManumasiddhi II (1248 - 1263), Nellore faced lot of attacks from otherCholas and Pandyas. Tikkana visited Ganapatideva of Kakatiyas andgained military support for his king. About the year 1260, a dangerousfeud broke out between Manumasiddhi and Katamaraju, the chief ofErragaddapadu in Kanigiri region. The feud was on the issue of therights of the two princes to use certain wide meadows as grazinggrounds for their flocks of cattle. It led to the bloody battle foughtat Panchalingala near Muttukuru on the coast of Paleru river.Manumasiddhi\'s forces led by Khadga Tikkana, the cousin of poet Tikkanawon the battle, but the leader perished. This feud and the consequentbattle formed the theme of the popular ballad entitled "KatamarajuKatha". Shortly after or during this battle, Manumasiddhi died andNellore last its significance. [4]
Kakatiyas, Pandyas, Vijanagaras etc.
The kakatiyas, the feudatories of the Western Chalukyas of Kalyani,under influence of Prola declared his independence. Ganapati Deva, thefirst great king of Kakatiyas brought most of the telugu area under hisrule. Nellore was part of kakatiya kingdom in the 13th century. Itchanged hands between them and Pandyas few times until Prataprudra IIdefeated Pandyas. After the fall of Kakatiya Empire, the region wasunder Tuglaq and then was later under Kondavidi Reddis.
The most parts of the district were annexed by the Sangama dynasty of the Vijayanagara empire in 14th century. The remaining portions of the district like Udayagiri were conquered by Krishnadeva Rayalu, the greatest king of the kingdom. The ruins of fortress built by the Vijayanagar kings in the 14th century are at Udayagiri.
 |
| Udayagiri Kandan |
Nawabs and British Period
After the fall of the Vijayanagara Empire, the area was ruled bythe Nawabs until the East India Company has taken control in 1792, andappointed Mr. Dyton as the 1st Collector. Nellore was declared therevenue unit for the district. [5]
During the British period, the district was at peace, the only event of any political importance being the sequestration in 1838, of the Jagir of Udayagiri,owing to its title holder\'s participation in a conspiracy, engineeredby the Nawab of Kurnool, against the ruling power. After the districtcame under the British administration, the jurisdiction of the districtdid not undergo any major changes, but for the transfer of Ongole taluk in 1904 to Guntur district when it was newly constituted.
Post Indian Independence
It was part of the composite Madras State until 1 October 1953. On 1 November 1956, when the states were reorganised on a linguistic basis, this district came under Andhra Pradesh. Nellore played a major role in the formation of Andhra Pradesh state. Potti Sriramulu,a Telugu patriot and activist, fasted to death for the formation ofAndhra Pradhesh state. His sacrifice resulted in the creation oflinguistic based states in Indian Union.
No comments:
Post a Comment