The writer of this article is Nandlal Singh (State Convenor, BJD Aapravasi Sammukhya). Please give your valuable feedback on nandlal.satyagraha@gmail.com
The beauty of any language is its consistent evolution over time and geographical spread, and the way it gets enriched with literary influences from varied sources. The desire to experiment and yet adhere to a grammatical construct contributes to its longevity. The debate about using a regional language’s expressional range and making it accessible to a common man is a universal one. The history of ‘Telugu’ literature over 1000 years isn’t about its ornate word play alone — it has often mirrored the society of a particular time-frame and many a time have foretold what the future holds for us.
Nearly 100 million people from all over the world are speaking in the beautiful Telugu language. Telugu is the official language of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. The language developed very richly and the biggest linguistic unit in India. Once the famous Indian king Sri Krishna Devaraya boasted in his court that ‘Desa Bhashalandu Telugu Lessa’, which means Telugu is the beautiful and supreme language of the country.
Since the past years, the language called as ‘Tenugu’. In the medieval period, the same language called ‘Andhra’. However, there are some deviations among the ideas of the scholars about the origin of Telugu language. But most of the people believe that the name of the ‘Telugu’ word formed from the three famous shrines of Srisailam, Kaleswaram and Draksharamam.
Telugu is one of the most widely spoken languages in South-Asia and one of the Dravidian languages which occupied second place after Hindi. Telugu is the only language in the Eastern world that has every single word ending with a vowel sound. The language also known as the ‘Italian of the East’.
Ancient History
About the 1st century the Satavahanas (or Satakarni), one of the most-renowned of the Andhra dynasties, came to power. Its members ruled over almost the entire Deccan plateau and even established trade relations with Rome. They were patrons of diverse religions and also were great builders; their principal city, Amaravati, contained Buddhist monuments that inaugurated a new style of architecture. Experts ascribe parts of the famous paintings in the Ajanta Caves of the Deccan (now in Maharashtra state) to the Andhra painters of that period. Buddhism prospered under the Andhras, and in their capital flourished the great Buddhist university of antiquity, where Nagarjuna (c. 150–250 CE), the founder of the Mahayana school of Buddhism, taught. The ruins of the university, at Nagarjunakonda, still reflect its former glory.
The Andhras continued to prosper over the next millennium, and in the 11th century the eastern Chalukya dynasty unified most of the Andhra area. Under the Chalukyas, Hinduism emerged as the dominant religion, and the first of the Telugu poets, Nannaya, began translating the Sanskrit epic, Mahabharata into Telugu, marking the birth of Telugu as a literary medium. During the 12th and 13th centuries the dynasty of the Kakatiyas of Warangal (now in Telangana) extended Andhra power militarily and culturally, and during their regime the commercial expansion of the Andhras toward Southeast Asia reached its peak.
The rise of the kingdom of Vijayanagar, Widely acclaimed not only as the greatest kingdom in Andhra history but also as one of the greatest in Indian history, Vijayanagar, under the rule of its preeminent king Krishna Deva Raya (reigned 1509–29), became synonymous with military glory, economic prosperity, good administration, and artistic splendour. Telugu literature, for instance, flourished during that period.
Indian nationalism arose during the 19th century, and the Andhras took a place at the forefront of the movement. Leaders such as Kandukuri Veeresalingam were pioneers in social reform. In the struggle against British rule, Andhra leaders played decisive roles. Pride in their historical and linguistic achievements led them to demand a separate province. Simultaneously, a movement was organized to unite the Telugu-speaking peoples living under British rule with those under the nizam’s administration.
After India gained independence in 1947, however, the region remained administratively and linguistically divided. In 1950 the southern and eastern Andhra portion was incorporated into Madras state, and the Telangana region became part of Hyderabad state. The Andhras’ demand for separate statehood became so insistent that, when the central government refused to comply, a local leader, Potti Sreeramulu, fasted to death in 1952 to dramatize the issue. The government finally acceded to the people’s request by creating, on October 1, 1953, Andhra state, which included the Telugu-speaking districts of the former Madras state to the south.
Cultural life
The Andhras’ contribution to India’s cultural heritage is substantial. Architecture and painting have been highly developed arts in the region since ancient times. The kuchipudi style of dance is unique in the Indian tradition, while Karnatak (South Indian) music has derived much from Andhra roots. Many of southern India’s major composers of classical Indian music have been Andhras, and Telugu has been the language of most of the compositions. Telugu, one of the four literary languages of the Dravidian family, occupies a prestigious place among Indian languages, being renowned for its antiquity and admired by many for its mellifluous quality. Telugu literature was prominent in the Indian literary renaissance of the 19th and 20th centuries, as the writing resonated with a revolution in literary forms and expression, stimulated to a large degree by Western genres.
Important Personalities
The Telugu Community has given wonderful gems like Tenali Rama Krishna , Sarojini Naidu (known as ‘The Nightingale Of India’), Three Presidents of India like Sarvepalli Radha Krishnan, V.V.Giri & Neelam Sanjeeva Redddy, Mokshagundam Visveswaraya (a pre-eminent engineer whose birthday India celebrates as Engineers’ Day), Prime Minister of India like P. V. Narsimha Rao, Pro people leader like N.T. Rama Rao & Y.S. Rajsekhar Reddy, M. Venkaiah Naidu (current vice president of India), Sportsperson like V.V.S. Laxman, P. Gopichand & P.V.Sindhu, and many more celebrities.
As an writer of this article I would personally thanks to this wonderful community which has an enormous contribution to the mankind. I have learnt & inspired by the Telugu community in my city of Cuttack in the state of Odisha. They are laborious, intellectual & wonderful people always working for the society : Nandlal Singh
