India 2018

650 India 2018
In 2014 Telangana was formed as 29th state of India with Hyderabad as its
capital. Earlier Telangana was part of Andhra State as per the linguistic reorganisation
of states in 1956. Telangana state has 10 districts including
Hyderabad, Adilabad, Khammam, Karimnagar, Mahbubnagar, Medak,
Nalgonda, Nizamabad, Rangareddy and Warangal.
History of Telangana
The name Telangana refers to the word Trilinga Desa, earned due to the presence
of three ancient Shiva temples at Kaleswaram, Srisailam and Draksharamam.
A more historical reason is that during the reign of Nizams the region was
known as Telugu Angana to differentiate it from the areas where Marathi was
spoken. The region has been ruled by great dynasties such as Sathavahanas,
Kakatiyas, Chalukyas, Mughals, Qutubshahis, Asafjahis. The Kakatiyas
contributions to architecture are considered very impressive. Among Kakatiyas,
Prataparudra was a great ruler who ruled till AD 1323. The Satavahanas ruled
Telangana region for about 400 years right from the 2nd century BC to beyond
the 2nd century AD.
There have been several movements to revoke the merger of Telangana
and Andhra, major ones occurred in 1969, 1972 and 2009. The movement for a
new state of Telangana gained momentum over the decades. In 2009 the
Government of India announced the process of formation of the Telangana.
Violent protests led by people in the Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions
occurred immediately after the announcement, and the decision was put on
hold in December, 2009. The movement continued in Hyderabad and other
districts of Telangana. There have been large scale strikes, protests and
demonstrations coupled with many suicides also demanding separate
statehood.
In July, 2013 the process of formation of a separate state gained
momentum. After various stages, the Bill was placed in the Parliament and in
February, 2014 Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Bill was passed by the
Parliament for the formation of Telangana state comprising ten districts from
north-western Andhra Pradesh.
Geography
Telangana is situated on the Deccan plateau in the central stretch of the eastern
seaboard of the Indian Peninsula. It covers 114,800 sq km (44,300 sq miles).
The region is drained by two major rivers, with about 79 per cent of the
Godavari river catchment area and about 69 per cent of the Krishna river
catchment area, but most of the land is arid due to higher elevation of most of
the state compared to rivers. Telangana is also drained by several minor rivers
such as the Bhima, the Manjeera and the Musi. The state is surrounded by
Maharashtra on north and north-west; Karnataka on the west; Chhattisgarh
on the north-east and Odisha lies on its west.