Preface

The warm reception accorded to the four earlier editions of the book by the students and the general public encouraged me to revise it thoroughly and add another relevant chapter. The volume is specially designed to meet the requirements of the students preparing or the M. A. degree and competitive examinations.

I take this opportunity to record my appreciation for the interest taken by Sterling Publishers (Pvt.) Ltd. In bringing out this book neatly and on time.

My sincere thanks are due to my wife, Farada, for giving some valuable suggestion. Finally, I thank my young son, Sudhir, who, throughout the period of my pre-occupation with the revision of the work, not only did not complain, but showed an active interest in it. I dedicate the book to my late mother with affection and respect.

Introduction

Andhra Pradesh is the fifth largest State in the Indian Union having an area of 2, 75, 909 sq. kms. And a population of about 54 millions (1981). It is the biggest among the South Indian States both in area and population. It is bound in the East by the Bay of Bengal and on the North by Orissa and Madhya Pradesh, on the South by Tamil Nadu and on the West by Karnataka and Maharashtra. It has a long coastline of about 960 kms. Which contains the major port of Visakhapatnam which, incidentally, is the head quarters of the Eastern Command of the Indian Navy and also the country's only submarine base.

The twenty-three districts of the State are generally divided into three geographical regions known as the Circars or Coastal Andhra. Rayalaseema and Telengana. The first two regions were formally part of the Madras Presidency until 1 October 1953 when they were detached from it, to form a separate State of Andhra; Telengana was a part of the erstwhile State of Hyderabad. On 1 November 1956 Hyderabad State was trifurcated and Telengana was merged with the Andhra State to form the present state of Andhra Pradesh with the city of Hyderabad as its capital.

Telegu is the predominant language of the State. It is spoken by about 88 per cent of the State's population. The next important language is Urdu which is spoken by about 7 per cent of the population. About 88 per cent of the State's population are Hindus. Muslims and Christians constitute about 7 per cent and 4 per cent respectively. Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsees together constitute about 1 per cent.