The State of Telangana was carved out of the erstwhile State of Andhra Pradesh and was formed on the 2nd June 2014. Telangana is the 29th State of Indian Republic. The geographical area of the State is spread over 1,12,077 sq.kms, which makes it the 12 the largest State in the Country.

Past:

As an economic, social, cultural and historical entity it has a glorious history of at least two thousand five hundred years or more. Megalithic stone structures like cairns, cists, dolmens and menhirs found in several districts of Telangana show that there were human habitations in this part of the Country thousands of years ago. Remnants of iron ore smelting found at many places demonstrate the hoary roots of artisanship and tool making in Telangana for at least two thousand years. The reference to Asmaka Janapada, part of present Telangana, as one of the 16 Janapadas in ancient India proves that there existed an advanced stage of society.

Megasthenes, who visited India in the 4th century BC, wrote that there were 30 fortified towns of Andhrs and a majority of them were in Telangana. In the historical age, Telangana had given rise to mighty empires and kingdoms like the Satavahanas, Vakatakas, Ikshvakus, Vishnukundins, Chalukyas, Kakatiyas, Qutub Shahis and Asif Jahis.

The emergence of flourishing of these powerful political formations is in itself a proof of existence of a sturdy economic, social and cultural structure.

Even though extensive exploration has not been done, the archaeological department under the Nizams‟ government had done tremendous work in discovering the traces of pre-historical human habitations in Telangana. These studies found that human habitations in parts of Telangana can be seen from the Palaeolithic age consistently. Around the third century BC there arose the first significant kingdom under the Satavahanas from this region. The earliest capital of the Satavahanas was Kotalingala and then moved to the other popular capitals like Paithan and Amarvati (Dharanikota) only after two centuries of their rule.

The sub-feudatories of the Rashtrakutas emerged themselves as independent kings and founded the Kakatiya dynasty around 950 AD and this kingdom became strong and united whole of Telugu speaking lands and lasted for more than three centuries and a half. The kingdom saw powerful kings like Ganapatideva, Rudradeva and Prataparudra as well as the first ever woman ruler in the subcontinent Rudramadevi. The Kakatiyas ruled from Hanumakonda in the beginning and shifted their capital to Warangal later

The Kakatiyas are known for their irrigation public works, sculpture and fine arts. Thanks to the well-planned irrigation facilities and a perfect system of chain tanks to suit the undulating nature of the terrain, the Kakatiya kingdom flourished economically leading to cultural progress also. Envy of this, affluence, several neighbouring kingdoms as well as Delhi sultanate tried to wage war on Warangal fort and capture Prataparudra, who according to the legend, killed himself on the banks of the Narmada unwilling to surrender when he was being taken as prisoner of war to Delhi.

Sultan Quli QUtub Shah, subedar for Telangana under the Bahamanis, with Golconda as his capital, declared his independence in 1496 and seven sultans of this dynasty ruled not only Telangana but the entire Telugu speaking land including parts of present day Maharashtra and Karnataka. The Moghul Empire waged war and defeated Golconda in 1687 and for about three decades Telangana was again witnessed chaos and fragmented rulers.

In 1724, Qamar-ud-din Khan established as on autonomous province of the Mughal Empire. He took the name Asif Jah, starting what came to be known as the Asif Jahi dynasty. He named the area Hyderabad Deccan. Subsequent rulers retained the title Nizam ul-Mulk and were called Asaf Jahi Nizams or Nizams of Hyderabad. The Medak and Warangal divisions of Telangana were part of their realm.

A total of seven Nizam‟s ruled Hyderabad. There was a period of 13 years after the rule of Asaf Jah , when three of his sons (Nasir Jung, Muzaffar Jung and Salabath Jung) ruled. They were not officially recognised as the rulers.

• Nizam-ul-Mulk, Asaf Jah1 (Mir Qamar-uddin Khan)
• Nasir Jung (Mir Ahmed Ali Khan)
• Muzaffar Jung (Mir Hidayat Muhi-ud-din Sa‟adullah Khan)
• Salabat Jung (Mir Sa‟id Muhammad Khan)
• Nizam-ul-Mulk, Asaf Jah II (Mir Nizam Ali Khan)
• Sikandar Jah, Asaf Jah III ( Mir Akbar Ali Khan)
• Nasir-ud-Daula, Asaf Jah IV ( Mir Farqunda Ali Khan)
• Afzal-ud-Daula, Asaf Jah V ( Mir Tahniyath Ali Khan)
• Asaf Jah VI (Mir Mahbub Ali Khan)
• Asaf Jah VII ( Mir Osamn Ali Khan)

When India became independent from the British Empire in 1947, Hyderabad remained an independent princely state for a period of 13 months. The peasants of Telangana waged an armed struggle to liberate the region. Scores of people lost their lives in the armed struggle. The private militia named Razakars, under the leadership of Qasim Razwi unleashed terror in the state by resorting to looting and murder. On 17 September, 1948, the Indian Government conducted a military operation called Operation Polo to bring Hyderabad State into the Indian Union. It appointed a civil servant, M.K. Vellodi, as first Chief Minister of Hyderabad State on 26 January, 1950.

In 1952, Dr. Burgula Ramakrishna Rao was elected as Chief Minister of the Hyderabad State in its first democratic election. During this time, there was an agitation by locals in the state to ensure proper representation was given to locals (Mulkis ) of Hyderabad.

In early 1950s, people of Telangana region in Hyderabad State, started organising themselves with a demand for separate state. In 1953 the Indian Government appointed the States Reorganisation Commission (SRC) to look into various statehood demands in the country. The Commission was headed by Fazal Ali, Kavalam Madhava Panikkar and H.N. Kunzru.

The SRC toured the whole country to seek representations from various sections of the society. People of Telangana region submitted several memorandums to the SRC and expressed their wish to constitute Telangana as a separate State. Telangana intellectuals such as late Prof Jayashankar and Political leaders such as Sri HC Hda, Sri Konda Venkat Ranga Reddy gave memorandums containing historic, political, economic, social and cultural justifications for creating the Telangana State. The Commission submitted its report on 30th September 1955, and recommended formation of Telangana State. In January 1969. Students intensified the protests for a separate State.

In 1997, the State unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) passed a resolution seeking a separate Telangana. Sri Kalvakuntla Chandrashekar Rao (KCR), who was then the Deputy Speaker of AP State assembly, had started background work on Telangana issue and announced the launch of Telangana Rashtra Samithi on 17th May 2001.

On 29th November 2009, KCR had announced an indefinite hunger strike demanding statehood to Telangana. The State Government, headed by Sri K. Rosaiah had called for an all-party meeting on 7th December. Leaders of TDP and PRP parties promised that they would support a Telangana statehood resolution if it was tabled in the state Assembly. The UPA Government announced that the process of statehood for Telangana would be initiated. But within 2 weeks, resistance from Seemandhra leadership resulted in UPA backtracking on this issue. After 4 years of peaceful and impactful protests, the UPA Government started the statehood process in July 2013 and concluded the process by passing the statehood bill in both houses of Parliament in February,2014.

CULTURE & ARTS:

South of North and North of South‟ , Telangana State has long been a meeting place for diverse languages and cultures. It is the best example for India‟s composite culture, pluralism and inclusiveness. Located on the uplands of Deccan Plateau, Telangana is the link between the North and South India. It is thus no surprise that the region on the whole came to be known for its Ganga-Jamuna Tehzeeb and the capital Hyderabad as a „miniature India‟.

Geography, polity and Economy of the region determined the culture of Telangana. Satavahanas, the earliest known rulers of the region sowed the seeds of independent and self-sufficient village economy, the relics of which can be felt even today. In the medieval times, the Kakatiya dynasty‟s rule, between the 11th and 14th centuries with Warangal as their capital, and subsequently the Qutub Shahis and Asaf Jahis, who ruled the Hyderabad state defined the culture of the region.

While the Kakatiya rule led to evolution of dance forms such as Perini Sivatandavam, also known as “dance of warriors”, the commoners, faced with the challenges of daily life developed traditions of story-telling coupled with solutions to tide over them through Golla Suddulu, Oggu Kathalu and Gotralu etc.,

A variant of Yakshagana, Chindu Bhagavatham is performed widely across Telangana. It is a theatre art form that combines dance, music, dialogue, costume, makeup, and stage techniques with a unique style and form. The word “ Chindu” in Telugu means „Jump‟. As their presentation is interspersed with leaps and jumps, it gained the name of Chindu Bhagavatam. Most of the stories narrated are from “Bhagavatam”. Qawali, Ghazals and Mushairas evolved under the patronage of Qutub Shahi and the Asaf Jahi rulers in and around the capital city of Hyderabad.

The Hindu festivals like Ugadi, Srirama Navami, Bonalu, Vinayaka Chaturthi, Dasara, Deepavali, Sankranthi, Holi, Mahashivarathri are celebrated with pomp, gaiety and devotion. Dasara is the main festival with the epithet “Pedda panduga”, Bathukamma, a part of Dasara festivities, is unique to Telangana. This colourful festival has historic, ecological, societal and religious significance. Women clad in glittering costumes and jewellery carry beautifully stacked Bathukammas with flowers like Tangedu, Gunugu, Chamanthi and others to the village or street‟s meeting point.

Bonalu is a Hindu festival, celebrated during the Telugu month of Ashadam (translates to June/July of Gregorian calendar) wherein Goddess Mahakali is worshipped. The festival is also considered a thanks giving to the Goddess for fulfilling the desires of devotees.

While Ramzaan is the main festival of Muslims, Moharram too is celebrated on a large scale in Telangana. It is known famously as “Peeral Panduga”. Pir means Master. Many Hindus take part in the festival. Christians, mainly in and around Hyderabad celebrate Christmas and Good Friday with great fervour and religiosity.

Telangana is a great place for “Bidri” arts and crafts with many astounding handicrafts. The unique art of silver engraved on metal. Black, gold and silver coatings are applied on this. It involves various several stages like casting, engraving, inlaying and oxidizing. The name of this art form is derived from a town called Bidar (currently part of Karnataka) of the erstwhile Hyderabad State. Banjara Needle Crafts are the traditional handmade fabrics made by Banjaras (the tribal Gypsies) in Telangana. It is a form of embroidery and mirror work on fabrics employing the needlecraft. Dhokra or Dokra is also known as bell mental craft and is widely seen in Jainoor Mandal, Ushegaon and Chittalbori in Adilabad Dist. The tribal craft produces objects like figurines, tribal gods, etc. The work consists of folk motifs, peacocks, elephants, horses, measuring bowl, lamp caskets and other simple art forms and traditional designs. The renowned Nirmal oil paintings use natural dyes for depicting themes from the epics such as Ramayana and Mahabharata. Also, the wood paintings and other wooden articles, has great aesthetic expression. The origin of the Nirmal craft is traced back to the Kakatiya era. The motifs used for Nirmal craft are floral designs and frescoes from the regions of Ajanta and Ellora and Mughal miniatures. Telangana is famous world-wide for its amazing Bronze castings. While using solid casting of icons, the mould is created using several coatings of different clays on a finished wax model. This process them imparts fine curves to the cast image.

PRESENT:

The State comprises of 33 districts viz., Adilabad, Bhadradri, Hyderabad, Jagitial, Janagaon, Jayashankar Bhupalapally, Jogulamba-Gadwal, Kamareddy, Karimnagar, Khammam, Komaram Bhim Asifabad, Mahabubabad, Mahabubnagar, Mancherial, Medak, Medchal, Mulugu, Nagarkurnool, Nalgonda, Narayanpet, Nirmal, Nizamabad, Peddapalli, Rajanna Sircilla, Ranga Reddy, Sanga Reddy, Siddipet, Suryapet, Vikarabad, Wanaparthy, Warangal Rural, Warangal Urban and Yadadri-Bhuvanagiri. The capital of the State is Hyderabad which was built by Nizam Dynasty. Telangana is surrounded by states of Maharashtra; Karnataka; Chattisgarah and Andhra Pradesh. The state is having 73 Revenue Divisions, 141 towns, 13 Municipal Corporations, 128 Municipalities, 9 Zilla Parishads, 438 Mandal Parishads, 12751 Gram Panchayats and 590 Revenue Mandals, 10434 Revenue villages (as per Census-2011) and 9834 Inhabited villages ( Census -2011) and 600 Un-inhabited villages (census-2011) . As per 2011 census of India, the population of Telanagana is about 350.04 lakhs which is 2.97% of the total Country‟s population. The density of the population is 312 per Sq Km. The rural population is 213.95 lakhs. Literacy rate is at 66.54% .

The Hyderabad (Deccan) is the capital of Telangana State. Telugu and Urdu are the main languages spoken in the region and Marathi and Kannada are also spoken in some parts of the State. Hyderabad city has a population of about 6.9 million, with about 9.7 million in Hyderabad metropolitan Region, making it the fourth-most populous city and sixth-most populous urban agglomeration in India with fastest growing IT corridor after Bangalore. With an output of US$ 74 billion, Hyderabad is the fifth largest contributor to India‟s overall gross domestic product.

In the State of Telangana, 45 Banks (Apart from Foreign Banks and Urban Co-operative Banks) with a network of 5728 branches as on 31st March, 2020. Out of these, 1782 branches are in rural areas, 1282 branches in semi-urban areas, 717 branches in urban areas and 1947 branches are in metropolitan areas catering the needs of public. For the overall development of the State, Banks are lending to the priority sector areas for supporting farm and non-farm activities for giving an impetus to the inclusive growth. Small Finance Banks and Payment banks operating in the State of Telangana are: Small Finance Banks: Equitas Small Finance Bank Ltd (14 Branches) Jana Small Finance Bank Ltd( 1 Branch); Fincare Small Finance Bank Ltd (11 Branches) ; Suryodaya Small Finance Bank Ltd(1 Br) and Utkarsh Small Finance Bank Ltd (1 Branch). Payment Banks: Airtel Payments Bank Ltd : It is reported that they do not have branches in Telangana State and they do business through their 2890 Banking points (BCs).India Post Payments Bank Ltd ( 23 Branches, 5809 Bank Mitra points); FINO Payments Bank Ltd (1 Branch).

he total geographical area of the State is 114.84 lakh hectares, of which the area under forest cover is 25.40 lakh hectares, constitutes 22.66% of the land. Gross cropped area is 62.88 lakh Ha, net cropped area is 49.61 lakh Ha. Gross irrigated area is 31.64 lakh Ha which accounts for 51.32% of Gross cropped area. Net irrigated area is 22.89 lakh Ha constitutes 46.14% of net cropped area. About 37.25% area is under cultivation, 14.08% is current fallow lands ( 15.78 lakh Ha) , 7.96% of land is put to non-agricultural uses (8.92 lakh Ha), 5.42% is barren and uncultivable (6.07 lakh Ha) and 7.33% falls under other fallows ( 8.22 lakh Ha) . The remaining 5.29% is under cultivable waste, permanent pastures and other grazing lands, and land under miscellaneous tree crops and groves are not included in the net area sown ( 5.93 lakh Ha). Irrigation intensity i.e., ratio of gross irrigated area to net irrigated area amounted to 1.36. Erstwhile undivided Nizamabad district had highest irrigation intensity (1.56%) whereas erstwhile undivided Mahabubnagar had lowest irrigation intensity (1.14%).

As per the Agricultural Census, 2010-11, the number of land holdings in the State is accounted to 55.54 lakhs and the area held by these holdings is 61.97 lakh Ha. The average size of the holdings in the State is 1.12 Ha, which is highly uneconomical to operate. In the State, 62.0 percent of the holdings are marginal (less than 1 Ha) and the percentage of small holdings ( 1 to 2 Ha) is 23.9%. Thus, marginal and small holdings constitute about 85.9% of total agricultural holdings in the State, making agriculture a subsistence source of livelihood for majority of the population. About 14% of total landholdings in the state were medium, ranging between 2 to 10 Ha, whereas their share in total area was 40.5%. Fragmentation of landholding and small farm size pose several challenges in making agriculture a viable activity and calls for “ aggregation” approach by forming farmer producers‟ organizations for reaping the economies of scale.

Telangana is semi-arid zone area with an annual rainfall of 905.3mm. 80% of which are from South-West monsoon. The state has four Agro-Climatic Zones(ACZs). Well irrigation as the main source of irrigation contributes to 82% of the net irrigated area and the share of canal and tank irrigation is 10% and 4% respectively. The state has been witnessing high climate variability across all ACZs and drought is a common and recurrent feature of the State, resulting in fluctuations in net sown area, net irrigated area and growth of the agriculture sector. 63% of the crop is rainfed, which is exposed to the hostilities of climate. 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. Telangana is also drained by several minor rivers such as the Bhima, the Manjira and Musi etc.,

NEW AGRICULTURE POLICY:

Telangana Government has launched a comprehensive Agriculture Policy by introducing a new cropping pattern under which farmers will have to cultivate crops in demand and suit different areas as recommended by the Government. The State is engaged in consultations with stakeholders, ranging from the academicians to scientists and farmers, to prepare a “Comprehensive” agriculture policy that would address the challenges of the State as the arable land increased significantly. The policy would

throw light on the number of rice mills required to process the paddy. The new policy is aimed at making farming a permanent profitable profession and promote Telangana‟s agricultural products in the world market.

Farmers will be allowed to take up paddy cultivation in 40 lakh acres and the Government will suggest what varieties farmers can cultivate.

In view of the huge demand to the Cotton produced in Telangana, the Government decided to encourage farmers to go for cotton cultivation in 70 lakh acres in the ensuing Vanakalam(Kharif) season. Govt will provide all marketing facilities to sell quality cotton at world level so that farmers will get more profits.

Appealing to the farmers to stop cultivating maize in the ensuing farming season, Government assured farmers to buy Red Gram produced by them. Vegetable will be grown in 2 lakh acres and normal chillis will be grown in 2 lakh acres in the identified areas only. The District Collectors to finalize the crop pattern in consultation with the local agriculture officials. The Govt also announced setting up of food processing SEZs, establishment of cold storages in every assembly constituency and increase the number of storage stations in the State.

The Budget process is focused on the following areas

1. Crop Production, Maintenance and Marketing
2. Investment Credit – spearhead capital formation in agriculture-
   1. Water Resources
   2. Farm Mechanization
   3. Plantation, Horticulture, Sericulture
   4. Forestry and Waste Land Development
   5. Animal Husbandry, Poultry, Sheep and Goat Farming
   6. Agriculture Infrastructure – Storage godowns, Cold Storages and Market Yards
   7. Land Development
   8. Food and Agro Processing
   9. MSME working capital and Investment Credit
   10. vestment Creditj
3. Other Developmental Initiatives
   1. Area Development Projects
   2. Doubling of farmers‟ income by 2022
   3. Climate Change
   4. Financing of FPOs

The state economy is mainly driven by agriculture. Two important rivers of India – the Godavari and the Krishna flow through the state providing irrigation. Apart from these two rivers, there are some other rivers also viz., Bhima, Dindi, Kinnerasani, Manjeera, Manair, Penganga, Pranahitha, Peddavagu, Taliperu etc. Govt. of India has taken up the river Pranahitha project as National Project.

Rice, cotton, maize, pulses and millets are the major agriculture crops. Horticulture cops like Mango, papaya, citrus, sapota, tomato, okra are also important crops. Recently, loose flowers, Gerberra cultivation is started in the state of Telangana. In the recent times, crops used for vegetable oil production such as sunflower; peanuts and groundnuts have gain favour.

The state is endowed with variety of soils, ranging from highly fertile alluvial to very poor sandy soils. The normal annual rainfall of state is 906 mm. It received 80 per cent of rainfall through South-West monsoon. However, in many parts of Telangana, the farmers are depending on bore-wells for their agriculture irrigation purpose.

Irrigation in Telangana underwent a major overhaul after rolling out an ambitious programme to reviving age old projects.

Major Irrigation projects completed:

1. Dindi Project
2. Kaddam Narayana Reddy Project
3. Nagarjuna Sagar Project
4. Nizam Sagar Project
5. Priyadarshini Jurala Project
6. Rajolibanda Diversion Scheme
7. Sri Ram Sagar Project Stage-I

Major Irrigation projects on going:

1. Dr. BR Ambedkar Pranahita Project
2. Flood Flow Canal from SRSP
3. Kaleswaram Project
4. Lower Manair
5. M. Baga Reddy Singur Project
6. Mid Manair
7. P.V. Narasimha Rao Kanthanapally Sujala Sravanthi
8. Sripada Sagar (Yellampally) LIS
9. Sriram Sagar Project Stage-II

The state is having rich mineral deposits. The deposits of carbon (coal) are available in the districts of Adilabad, Karimnagar, Khammam. The state-run Singareni Collieries (a joint venture with Central Government) is mining the coal in the state. It is a the major employer in the state. Major limestone deposits are available in the districts of Nalgonda and Rangareddy where many cement factories are functioning. Apart from the limestone deposits, granite stone and iron ore deposits are also available in the Khammam district.

Due to high cotton crop, many cotton & ginning mills are located in Adilabad, Nirmal, Warangal Rural/Urban districts. Because of Nizamsagar, Sriramsagar and Kaleswaram projects – Karimnagar, Peddapally, Rajanna Sircilla, Siddipet, Warangal, and Nizamabad districts have become rice bowls for Telangana. Apart from paddy, Nizamabad is favour for its turmeric crop and the district is having a large market for turmeric. Apart from these projects, there are another two important projects existed in Telangana i.e., Nagarjuna Sagar and Srisailam projects.

The Medak, Medchal & Rangareddy districts have a distinction of having biggest Industrial Cluster at Ramachandrapuram / Patancheru,. Defence factories sites at BDL, Banu, Ordinance Factory at Eddumailam etc. Manjeera, Singur project, Srisailm project are main sources of drinking water to Hyderabad city apart from Osmansagar, Himayatsagar reservoirs.

The Hyderabad Metro and its surroundings housed PSUs like BHEL, HAL, HMT, HCL, Midhani, DRDL, DLRL, BDL, etc. The city is also famous for its IT companies like – Infosys, Wipro, Mahindra Satyam, TCS and HCL etc. The world famous pearls are available at Hyderabad city. There is a special Bangle Market available in the city. Because of the Govt. of Telangana‟s Industrial Policy many industries are being established in the region.

(Source: Various magazines & news papers)