Category Archives: About Telangana

UP connection of KTR’s constituency: ‘Shuklas’ who worked as Nizam’s tax collectors

Shanti Prakash Shukla’s forefathers in 1930s were specially recruited from UP’s Unnao district to collect taxes from the Velama (zamindar or landlord) community to which the incumbent CM KCR belongs.

K T Rama Rao (File photo | EPS)

Sircilla :

There is a strong Uttar Pradesh connection in Sircilla, the assembly constituency of Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao’s heir apparent K T Rama Rao — there are families of people from the northern state who were recruited during the Nizam rule for collecting tax from landlords.

One such family that had migrated to northern part of the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh, now Telangana, was Shanti Prakash Shukla’s forefathers in 1930s who were specially recruited from Uttar Pradesh’s Unnao district to collect taxes from the Velama (zamindar or landlord) community to which the incumbent chief minister KCR belongs.

Velama is an upper caste that makes up only about 4 per cent of the population in Telangana at present.

“The Velama community was prominent here and they did not pay taxes to Nizams. Our forefathers came here to work as tax collectors in the ‘Razakar’ unit,” advocate Shukla, 65, told PTI in an exclusive interview.

‘Razakar’ was a military unit that was established under the Nizam’s rule solely for collecting taxes from the farming community.

It was Maharaja Peshkar Sir Kishen Pershad, a courtier in the Nizam’s regime, who had initiated the recruitment of people from Uttar Pradesh, as also of Sikhs from Punjab who had migrated here, Shukla said.

As feudal oppression and the Nizam’s autocratic rule became unbearable, Shukla said, it became difficult for his forefathers to collect taxes from poor farmers who had lost their crop and there were also atrocities against women and as a result of all this, they resorted to a revolt.

Shukla’s father Amritlal Shukla was born in Karimnagar district and gave up his teaching job to join the Communist Party in 1940s to take part in the freedom struggle against Nizams.

His mother Shantabhai Shukla was from Madhya Pradesh.

The advocate, who has four siblings, further said that the Nizams started deputing ‘Razakars’ to harass those resisting integration of Hyderabad state in the Dominion of India.

“My father was in jail for 2-3 years. He escaped from the Nizam’s custody. He joined the Communist Party and was even elected as an MLA in 1957 from the Combined Community Party,” he said.

Many of the migrants from Uttar Pradesh are now working in various departments including in the state police.

“That is the reason you find more Hindi and Punjabi speaking population in Hyderabad,” said Shukla, who is married to a local and their two children are settled abroad.

Besides talking about the history, Shukla said the election campaign is in full swing in Telangana where the ruling TRS government is seeking a re-election, but what bothers him the most was the kind of money being spent on the elections.

“I remember, my father had spent only Rs 350 on election but now each MLA is spending Rs 15 crore,” he said amid high-pitch loudspeaker announcement outside asking people to vote for ‘car’, the symbol of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS).

Chief minister KCR’s son, who is popularly known as KTR, is contesting for the third time from Sircilla constituency, which is about 140 kms from the state capital Hyderabad, in the December 7 assembly polls.

He had won with a margin of over 53,000 votes against his Congress rival in the 2014 assembly elections.

Noting that the Communist had a stronghold in Sircilla till 1967, Shukla said, “Time has changed. Now goondas and rowdies are entering politics and there is no ideology.”

His wife Jhansi Lakshmi, a retired lecturer, said her father M Narayana from Khamman district had also fought against the Nizam rule during the freedom movement.

She is now currently working in an NGO creating awareness among women voters about elections and to exercise their voting rights independently and without any influence from their husbands.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Elections> Telangana / by PTI / December 02nd, 2018

A flourishing trade centre revisited

A bird’s eye view of Peddabonkur village of Karimnagar district.


Coins, terracotta beads, pearls, semi-precious stones unearthed at Peddabonkur village of Karimnagar

The Hussain Miyan Vagu, a tributary of Godavari, flows beside the largely agriculture village of Peddabonkur in Karimnagar district. But 20 centuries ago, it was a flourishing trade centre.

“The vagu (stream) might have been a source of water for the village that flourished in the 1st and 2nd century. The village had flourishing trade centre during Satavahana rule and later in Chalukya times,” says N.R. Visalatchy of the Department of Archaeology and Museums (DAM). The Satavahanas ruled between 1 BCE and 2 CE in a region that now stretches over Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka and Maharashtra while the Eastern Chalukyas ruled between 7th and 12 century.

The DAM recently finished excavation of the Satavahana era site and a vast trove findings about 922 artefacts were discovered in one layer. The excavation throws a new light on the Satavahana era and the trade links of the village in the interiors of Karimnagar. The coin hoards unearthed include punch marked coins dating to pre-Satavahana era, variants of Satavahana coins, Eastern Chalukyan coins, Pallava coins and one Chola coin. “The coin collection makes me believe that the village was continuously inhabited for a long time and had trade relations with many places in the country,” says Ms. Visalatchy who led the excavation team. Besides agricultural produce and cattle trade; the village had a tradition of textile manufacture. Needles, knives and nails have been uncovered at the site.

It is not just the trade links that formed a key part of the findings at Peddabonkur. Among the artefacts are 500 terracotta beads. “We recovered 50 tiny pearls from the site. The pearls are very small and the technique for drilling a hole through them and stringing them would be worth researching,” said Ms. Visalatchy.

Among the other findings from the site are jade, jasper, shell bangles besides crystal and semi-precious stones. The findings also include amalkha gold foil work, the ribbed shape of amla, for ear rings.

From a historical perspective, this was one of the biggest finds during the archaeological season for the DAM. A report cataloguing the finds as well as the historical context has been sent to the Government of India.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Serish Nanisetti / Hyderabad – October 20th, 2018

Khajuraho in Telangana: Prehistoric rock art with love making in Siddipet

Paintings are believed to be from the Chalcolithic (copper age)

Hyderabad :

In a rare find, rock art with sexual scenes were discovered on a hill at Timmareddypalli in Kondapaka village of Siddipet district. The paintings of people dancing and animals are believed to be from the Chalcolithic (copper age). This is the third place in Telangana where lovemaking scenes from an early age were found, after Mattamralla Tanda and Yadaram.

“The rock art site has been discovered east of Timmareddypalli on a hill called Edaragutta. It is located 200 feet above ground where a cave is located nearby the hill. We found around 30 Reddish paintings on the rock canvas. Some of the painting are monkeys, genitals of wild buffalo, an old couple getting ready for hunting, sun, demanding people, a serpent with fangs and a fox. The lovemaking scenes of a couple were also among the paintings,” Historian Sriramoju Haragopal of Telangana Jagruti told TOI.

He added, “According to historian VV Krishna Shastry, the paintings depicting genitals belong to Chalcolithic age. The rare sexual scene paintings were earlier found in two more locations in Telangana. The rock paintings appear to be skilled. There are pictures with men holding the spare.”

In a separate finding, historians found cave Kondapapa too in which several pottery and beads of Satavahana era were found. Vemuganti Murali Krishna, another historian who was part of the team said, “A hillock is located near Kondapaka. It is called Mallanna Gutta. There are traces of prehistoric man living here. A Siva temple is located nearby. We found Sathavahana era potteries and beads in the nearby fields.”

Historians said the sites are located in between agriculture fields and asked the government to protect the sites by acquiring the land.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> News> City News> Hyderabad News / by U. Sudhakar Reddy / TNN / July 02nd, 2018

Keshav Rao Jadhav passes away

Keshav Rao Jadhav

He was active in 1969 Telangana movement

Noted socialist and a strong supporter of separate Telangana, Keshav Rao Jadhav, passed away at the age of 86 following brief illness. He is survived by wife and three daughters.

His third daughter, who is unmarried, performed the last rites at Amberpet crematorium.

Keshav Rao Jadhav, who retired as Professor in English Department of Osmania University, was the president of Osmania University Teachers Association. He was actively involved in the separate Telangana movement in 1969 and also associated with the People’s Union of Civil Liberties.

He stood for a dialogue with the Maoists to end violence. He worked closely with socialist leader Ram Manohar Lohia.

With breathing problem, he was shifted to a private hospital in Barkatpura on Friday where he breathed his last on Saturday.

Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao and other leaders condoled his death

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Telangana / by Special Correspondent / Hyderabad – June 16th, 2018

Stone age tools found near Hyderabad

Archeologists have found a hand axe and hammer stone from a place just outside Hyderabad that they believe is from the stone age—the paleolithic era.

Stone age hammer discovered on the outskirts of Hyderabad at Athvelly in Medal district | Express photo

Hyderabad :

What do we know about Hyderabad’s or Telangana’s ancient history, beyond stories of Qutb Shahis, Nizams, Kakatiyas or Satavahanas? Maybe reports of megalithic burials from iron age being discovered in the State.

But now, archeologists have found a hand axe and hammer stone from a place just outside Hyderabad that they believe is from the stone age—the paleolithic era. The tools, that were found at Athvelly which lies about 35 km away from the city in Medchal district, indicate that there’s much left to be explored about Telangana’s history.

The tools were found by E Sai Krishna of Hyderabad, a Ph.D scholar in Archaeology from Deccan College in Pune and an Assistant Archaeologist with Archaeological Survey of India(ASI) in the Amravati circle. Krishna showed his findings to Dr K Padayya, Emeritus Professor at Deccan College, a Padma Shri awardee and expert in Paleolithic and Neolithic cultures of the Deccan.

When contacted by Express, Dr Padayya said: “Findings of Krishna are actually stray discoveries as they do not belong to a regular site. However, it is an important beginning because these findings hint at fact that the area is rich in paleolithic archaeology. Speaking to Express, Krishna said, “I am interested to find out more about the prehistory of Hyderabad and surrounding districts.”

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Hyderabad / by V. Nilesh, Express News Service / June 15th, 2018

Another year in Telugu calender cycle discovered

13th century inscription deciphered in Sayampeta Haveli

A Telugu calender year by name Nandidhata Samvatsara, which was celebrated by Telugu speaking people during the Kakatiya dynasty Rudra Deva’s reign (AD 1158 – 1195) was recently discovered by Archaeological Survey of India.

Archaeologists managed to decipher an inscription found on a slab fixed to a wall in a temple at Sayampeta Haveli in Geesukonda mandal of Warangal district.

D. Kanna Babu, superintending archaeologist, Archaeological Survey of India, Chennai, said in inscription, quite surprisingly, they found the name of an ancient Telugu cyclic year Nandidhata Samvatsara. He said people are unaware of this year, either in the traditional list of 60 Telugu calendar years or in lithic records of historical times. “Somehow, the name is missing from the list of traditional years of Telugu calender. We are examining if it matches with another name in the present calender with the help of astronomical texts,” he said.

As part of the Temple Survey Project, the ASI officials visited the ancient Panchalaraya Swamy temple, which was constructed in the Kakatiya era and discovered the damaged inscription on the rear wall of sanctum sanctorum, he said. Elucidating further details, Mr. Babu said that the inscription spanned six lines and was probably written in 13th century Telugu script.

Badly damaged

“For the past few decades, the the temple is annually treated with thick coating of lime wash in an effort to beautify it. We stumbled upon this piece without knowing its historical importance and ultimately, caused damage to the epigraph,” he said.

Mr. Babu said the epigraph states that Rudra Deva provided a perpetual lamp, along with other gifts, to the presiding deity in this temple on Mangalavara (Tuesday), the twelfth day of Bhadrapada masa during the year Saka 1116, equivalent to Nandidhata Samvatsara, (corresponding to AD 1194) in memory of his father Prolaraju.

The archaeologist added that another inscription was discovered at Trikuta temple in Jangaon recently, which also pertained to Rudra Deva.

A total of 19 epigraphs of Rudra Deva have been discovered so far.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Abhinay Deshpande / Hyderabad – April 19th, 2018

Proof of Satavahanas’ trade, cultural ties with world nations found

Fine pearls, pearls made of shell, shell-beads, and tortoise-shaped beads found

The Satavahana dynasty rulers had very good regular trade and cultural exchange programmes with all the countries in the world as was evident with the recovery of 40 fine pearls with holes and other material including metals during the excavations conducted by the State Archaeology and Museums at Peddabonkur village of Peddapalli district.

The department had launched the excavation works in a scientific manner in a sprawling 67 acres of land in the village since February 18 to unravel the history of Satavahana dynasty.

During the excavations for the first time the authorities had found the fine pearls, pearls made of shell, shell-beads, tortoise-shaped beads, gold-plated pearls, mud pearls, crystals, bangles, pottery, measurement pottery, dice made of bones, horn of deer, metal products etc.

Director of Archeology and Museums N.R. Visalakshi, who inspected the excavations on Wednesday, told newsmen that the recovery of pearls and other materials indicate that the Satavahana rulers were prosperous 2,000 years ago. The recovery of pearls and other materials show that they had trade and cultural relations with other parts of the world.

She said that they had unearthed pottery dump-yard and huge collection of pottery during the excavations. The coins and metals recovered from the spot would be sent for metallurgical survey to conduct non-invasive survey to analyse when it was first fired and the textures etc. without causing damage to the metals, she added. All these recoveries were collected after conducting excavations for 30 cm to 60 cm depth.

During the earlier excavations in the village in 1968 and 1973-74, the department had unearthed brick constructions, brick wells and the coins used by the Satavahanas, Mauryas and Romans.

She said that they were taking up the excavations in a scientific manner to preserve the ancient history and legacy of the Satavahana dynasty. She added that they would further continue excavations in coordination with district administration.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Special Correspondent / Peddubonkur (Peddapalli)- March 29th, 2018

Dravidian language family is 4,500 years old: study

The Dravidian language family’s four largest languages — Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu — have literary traditions spanning centuries, of which Tamil reaches back the furthest, researchers said.

The Dravidian language family, consisting of 80 varieties spoken by nearly 220 million people across southern and central India, originated about 4,500 years ago, a study has found.

This estimate is based on new linguistic analyses by an international team, including researchers from the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Germany, and the Wildlife Institute of India in Dehradun.

The researchers used data collected first-hand from native speakers representing all previously reported Dravidian subgroups. The findings, published in the journal Royal Society Open Science, match with earlier linguistic and archaeological studies.

South Asia, reaching from Afghanistan in the west and Bangladesh in the east, is home to at least six hundred languages belonging to six large language families, including Dravidian, Indo-European and Sino-Tibetan.

The Dravidian language family, consisting of about 80 language varieties (both languages and dialects) is today spoken by about 220 million people, mostly in southern and central India, and surrounding countries.

The Dravidian language family’s four largest languages — Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu — have literary traditions spanning centuries, of which Tamil reaches back the furthest, researchers said.

Along with Sanskrit, Tamil is one of the world’s classical languages, but unlike Sanskrit, there is continuity between its classical and modern forms documented in inscriptions, poems, and secular and religious texts and songs, they said.

“The study of the Dravidian languages is crucial for understanding prehistory in Eurasia, as they played a significant role in influencing other language groups,” said Annemarie Verkerk of the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.

Neither the geographical origin of the Dravidian language nor its exact dispersal through time is known with certainty.

The consensus of the research community is that the Dravidians are natives of the Indian subcontinent and were present prior to the arrival of the Indo-Aryans (Indo-European speakers) in India around 3,500 years ago.

Researchers said that it is likely that the Dravidian languages were much more widespread to the west in the past than they are today.

In order to examine questions about when and where the Dravidian languages developed, they made a detailed investigation of the historical relationships of 20 Dravidian varieties.

Study author Vishnupriya Kolipakam of the Wildlife Institute of India collected contemporary first-hand data from native speakers of a diverse sample of Dravidian languages, representing all the previously reported subgroups of Dravidian.

The researchers used advanced statistical methods to infer the age and sub-grouping of the Dravidian language family at about 4,000-4,500 years old.

This estimate, while in line with suggestions from previous linguistic studies, is a more robust result because it was found consistently in the majority of the different statistical models of evolution tested in this study.

This age also matches well with inferences from archaeology, which have previously placed the diversification of Dravidian into North, Central, and South branches at exactly this age, coinciding with the beginnings of cultural developments evident in the archaeological record.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Science / by PTI / Berlin – March 21st, 2018

RedBus co-founder named Telangana’s Chief Innovation Officer

Hyderaba :

The Telangana Government has appointed Phanindra Sama, who Co-Founded bus ticketing company RedBus and serial entrepreneur, as Chief Innovation Officer of the State.

A South African investment firm had acquired RedBus for about Rs. 780 crore. After the successful exit, Phanindra Sama has been working with start-ups and overseeing the activities of Kakatiya Sandbox in Nizamabad.

Phanindra received the formal appointment letter from Telangana IT and Industries Minister KT Rama Rao at Secretariat on Friday.

Phanindra will head the State’s Innovation Cell, which aims at promoting innovation at the grass root level, catching the school children in rural areas very young.

“The Cell will also focus on bringing the startup ecosystem closer by promoting a State-as-a-whole approach as opposed to concentrating startup activity in one location. It proposes to develop co-working spaces and incubators across the State,” a Government official said later.

source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com / Business Line / Home> News> National / by KV Karmanath / Hyderabad – November 11th, 2017

Outlining the journey of city police

Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, freelance writer Noopur Kumar, outgoing DGP Anurag Sharma and his successor M. Mahender Reddy releasing the book on Saturday.

Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao releases a book on city police

A coffee table book Journey of the Hyderabad City Police written by freelance writer Noopur Kumar was released by Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao here on Saturday. The book is a compilation of the progress of city police since the inception till date and is embellished with oil paintings.

The journey has been explained in a racy style right from the days when the police patrolled the city thoroughfares on bicycles to the installation of CCTV cameras.

The book deals with the speciality of Hyderabad on law and order front, the Kotwal regime of policing during Qutub Shahi rule, the police network during the subsequent Nizam’s period, the great Ganga Jamuna Tehzeeb of Hyderabad where Hindu and Muslims lived in harmony and the great personalities in the Police Department.

Mr. Rao congratulated Ms. Kumar for bringing out the book. Additional DGP Anjani Kumar supervised its production. The outgoing DGP Anurag Sharma, his successor M. Mahender Reddy and Chief Advisor to Government Rajiv Sharma participated.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Special Correspondent / Hyderabad – November 11th, 2017