The Andhras are believed to be the southern people originally. Earlier, they resided in the southern region of the Vindhyas. Andhra Pradesh was then the part of the Mauryan Empire. The people were independent and militarily very strong. In the ancient times, the Telugu kings reigned over northern Deccan. The capital then was Prathisthanpura. With the fall of the Mauryan Empire, a powerful Telugu dynasty named Satavahanas, came into power. The dynasty reigned supreme over Maharashtra, Konkan, Berar, Malwa and even the south.

They traded with Romans and also with certain countries like Java and Sumatra. They had maintained strong commercial relations with countries like China, Japan and Burma. They always followed the Brahmanical religion and patronised Buddhism as well. During those times, a Buddhist philosopher and an exponent of the Madyamika philosophy, Acharya Nagarjuna came into prominence. Responsible for the absorption of Buddhism into Hinduism, he put forth the Madyamika philosophy. Those times also witnessed the carvings of the beautiful sculptures of Amaravati and the paintings of Ajanta. The Satavahanas rulers gave immense security to their subjects.

Then came the Ikshvakus around 300 A.D. With their arrival, extension of a kingdom in the Krishna and Godavari valleys took place. The capital was Vijayapuri, the current Nagarjunakonda. The Pallava dominions later took over the kingdom. Smaller kings then came into powers. After the Ikshvakus, came the kings of Brihatpalayana gothra. They are believed to have ruled from Vengipura near Eluru in West Godavari.

Hastivarman, a Salankayana king was the next ruler. After the decline of the Salankayanas, the Vishnukundins came into existence till 616 A.D. The capital then was Vinukonda in Guntur District. Samudragupta conquered Pithapuram in East Godavari District and Kottura in Visakhapatnam during one of his expeditions. The Chalukyas later reigned over a large part of Andhra, their capital being Vengi. The king who won over the Vengi territory was Pulakesin II. He later changed the capital to Rajamahendrapuri, which is currently known as Rajhmundry. Finally the Pallavas of Kanchi defeated the Chalukyas.

The Kakatiyas of Warangal, a great Telugu dynasty were the next rulers of the ruins of Chola, prominent among them being Ganapathi Deva, Prataparudra Deva and Rani Rudrama, and following them were the Chalukya Kingdoms. The former were also skilled in the construction of tanks and irrigation purposes. During their time, Ramappa and Pakhal lakes came into existence. They also brought the Telugu literature into prominence. Today, Andhra has around 23 districts and three distinct geographical regions - Rayalseema, Coastal and Telangana .

Andhra Pradesh has an area of 2,75,068 sq kms. Its Capital is Hyderabad, Andhra PRadesh has a population of 6,63,04,854. 23 Districts.

Boundaries: To the East of Andhra Pradesh is the Bay of Bengal, to the West is Karnataka, to the South is tamilnadu, to the North West is Maharastra, to the North East is Madhya Pradesh and Orissa.

Main Languages:Telugu and Urdu.

Climate: Summer from 41°c to 20° c, winter from 32° c to 13° c.