Telangana
Telangana is a state in India situated on the south-central stretch of the Indian peninsula on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the eleventh-largest state and the twelfth-most populated state in India with a geographical area of 112,077 km2 (43,273 sq mi) and 35,193,978 residents as per 2011 census. On 2 June 2014, the area was separated from the northwestern part of Andhra Pradesh as the newly formed state with Hyderabad as its capital. Its other major cities include Warangal, Nizamabad, Khammam, Karimnagar and Ramagundam. Telangana is bordered by the states of Maharashtra to the north, Chhattisgarh to the northeast, Karnataka to the west, and Andhra Pradesh to the east and south. The terrain of Telangana region consists mostly is part of Deccan Plateau and dense forests covering an area of 27,292 km2 (10,538 sq mi). As of 2019, the state of Telangana is divided into 33 districts.
Throughout antiquity and the Middle Ages, the region now known as Telangana was ruled by multiple major Indian powers such as the Mauryans, Satavahanas, Vishnukundinas, Chalukyas, Cholas, Rashtrakutas, Kakatiyas, Delhi Sultanate, Bahmani Sultanate, Golconda Sultanate. During the 16th and 17th centuries, the region was ruled by the Mughals of India. The region is known for its Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb culture. During the 18th century and the British Raj, Telangana was ruled by the Nizam of Hyderabad. In 1823, the Nizams lost control over Northern Circars (Coastal Andhra) and Ceded Districts (Rayalseema), which were handed over to the East India Company. The annexation by the British of the Northern Circars deprived Hyderabad State, the Nizam's dominion, of the considerable coastline it formerly had, to that of a landlocked princely state with territories in the central Deccan, bounded on all sides by British India. Thereafter, the Northern Circars were governed as part of Madras Presidency until India's independence in 1947, after which the presidency became India's Madras state.
The Hyderabad state joined the Union of India in 1948 after an Indian military invasion. In 1956, the Hyderabad State was dissolved as part of the linguistic reorganisation of states and Telangana was merged with the Telugu-speaking Andhra State (part of the Madras Presidency during the British Raj) to form Andhra Pradesh. A peasant-driven movement began to advocate for separation from Andhra Pradesh starting in the early 1950s, and continued until Telangana was granted statehood on 2 June 2014 under the leadership of K. Chandrashekar Rao.
The economy of Telangana is the seventh-largest in India, with a gross state domestic product (GSDP) of ₹9.78 trillion (US$130 billion) and has the country's 6th-highest GSDP per capita of ₹237,632 (US$3,200). Telangana ranks 22nd among Indian states in human development index. The state has emerged as a major focus for robust IT software, industry and services sector. The state is also the main administrative centre of many Indian defence aerospace and research labs like Bharat Dynamics Limited, Defence Metallurgical Research Laboratory, Defence Research and Development Organisation and Defence Research and Development Laboratory.
Hyderabadi cuisine and Kakatiya architecture both from Telangana, are on the list of UNESCO creative city of gastronomy and UNESCO World Heritage Site. The cultural centers of Telangana, Hyderabad and Warangal, are noted for their wealth and renowned historical structures – Ramappa Temple (UNESCO World Heritage Site), Charminar, Qutb Shahi Tombs, Falaknuma Palace, Chowmahalla Palace, Warangal Fort, Kakatiya Kala Thoranam, Thousand Pillar Temple and the Bhongir Fort in Yadadri Bhuvanagiri district. The historic city Golconda in Hyderabad established itself as a diamond trading centre and, until the end of the 19th century, the Golconda market was the primary source of the finest and largest diamonds in the world. Thus, the legendary name Golconda Diamonds became synonymous with Golconda itself. Religious edifices like the Lakshmi Narasimha Temple in Yadadri Bhuvanagiri district, Makkah Masjid in Hyderabad, the ancient Bhadrakali Temple and Govinda Rajula Gutta in Warangal, Alampur Jogulamba Temple in Jogulamba Gadwal district and Medak Cathedral, Lord Shiva temple in Vemulawada of Rajanna-Siricilla district are several of its most famous places of worship.
Geography
Telangana is situated on the Deccan Plateau, in the central stretch of the eastern seaboard of the Indian Peninsula. It covers 112,077 square kilometres (43,273 sq mi). The region is drained by two major rivers, with about 79% of the Godavari River catchment area and about 69% of the Krishna River catchment area, but most of the land is arid. Telangana is also drained by several minor rivers such as the Bhima, the Maner, the Manjira and the Musi.
The annual rainfall is between 900 and 1500 mm in northern Telangana and 700 to 900 mm in southern Telangana, from the southwest monsoons. Telangana contains various soil types, some of which are red sandy loams (Chalaka), Red loamy sands (Dubba), lateritic soils, salt-affected soils, alluvial soils, shallow to medium black soils and very deep black cotton soils. These soil types allow the planting of a variety of fruits and vegetable crops such as mangoes, oranges, coconut, sugarcane, paddy, banana and flower crops.
Language
Telugu one of the classical languages of India is the official language of Telangana and Urdu is the second official language of the state. About 75% of the population of Telangana speak Telugu and 12% speak Urdu. Before 1948, Urdu was the official language of Hyderabad State, and due to a lack of Telugu-language educational institutions, Urdu was the language of the educated elite of Telangana. After 1948, once Hyderabad State joined the new Republic of India, Telugu became the language of government, and as Telugu was introduced as the medium of instruction in schools and colleges, the use of Urdu among non Hyderabadi Muslims decreased. Both Telugu and Urdu are used in services across the state, such as the Telangana Legislature website, with Telugu and Urdu versions of the website available, as well as the Hyderabad metro, wherein both languages are used on station names and signs along with English and Hindi. The Urdu spoken in Telangana is called Hyderabadi Urdu, which in itself is a dialect of the larger Dakhini Urdu dialects of South India. Although the language is orally spoken by most Hyderabadi Muslims, the language in a literary context has long been lost, and standard Urdu is used. Hindi is spoken mainly in Hyderabad, as well as some other urban areas like Warangal. Lambadi, a language related to Rajasthani dialects, is spoken throughout the state. Marathi is predominant in regions bordering Maharashtra, especially in the old Adilabad district, while Kannada is spoken by significant minorities along some parts of the Karnataka border. The old Adilabad district has a large number of speakers of tribal languages such as Gondi and Kolami, while Koya is a language spoken by significant numbers in Bhadradi Kothagudem district and along the Chhattisgarh border.