North Andhra or Uttara Andhra (IAST: Uttara Āndhra), also known as Kalinga Andhra (IAST: Kaḷiṅga Āndhra),[1][2] is a geographic region in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is between the Eastern Ghats and the coast of the Bay of Bengal. It comprises six northern districts of the state, Srikakulam, Parvathipuram Manyam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam, half of the Alluri Sitharama Raju district and Anakapalli.[3]Alluri Sitharama Raju district was carved out of Erstwhile Visakhapatnam and East Godavari districts. So, half of the Alluri Sitharamaraju district belongs to North Andhra/ Uttara Andhra (Northern part of the district which is sharing its border with Visakhapatnam, Anakapalli and Vizianagaram districts) and the southern part of this district belongs to Coastal Andhra region/ Godavari region. As of 2011 census of India, the region with six districts has a population of 9,338,177.[4]
The region is in the extreme Northeast of Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. The region is skirted to a distance by Kandivalasagedda, Vamshadhara and Bahuda at certain stretches of their courses white a line of heights of the great Eastern Ghats run from Northeast. Kakinada and East Godavari Districts flanks in the southwest while Odisha bounds it on the north and Bay of Bengal on the South and the East and Parts of Telangana and Chhattisgarh on the west. Visakhapatnam is the largest city of the region in terms of population and area.
Uttarandhra region is a part of Coastal Andhra region.
History
The present north coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh were once part of the Kalinga region. Kalinga is a historical region of India. According to political scientist Sudama Misra, the Kalinga janapada originally comprised the area covered by the Puri and Ganjam districts.[5] It is generally defined as the eastern coastal region between the Mahanadi and the Godavari rivers, although its boundaries have fluctuated with the territory of its rulers. The core territory of Kalinga now encompasses a large part of Odisha and northern part of Andhra Pradesh.[6]
Part of the city is known by its colonial British name, Waltair; during the colonial era, the city's hub was the Waltair railway station, and a part of the city is still called Waltair.
Early and Medieval history
The Kalingas have been mentioned as a major tribe in the legendary text Mahabharata. In the 3rd century BCE, the region came under Mauryan control as a result of the Kalinga War. Ashoka annexed the kingdom after the final battle near the Dhauli hills, the capital Sisupalgarh fell to the Mauryas. After the war, Buddhism prospered in Kalinga and spread to other south eastern regions through maritime trade routes. After the decline of the Mauryan Empire, the region came under the control of the Mahameghavahana family, whose king Kharavela described himself as the "supreme Lord of Kalinga".[7]
After several wars with Satavahanas and other kingdoms, the Kalinga dynasty crumbled and divided into small independent kingdoms. The Gupta ruler Samudragupta sensed an opportunity and invaded the kingdom. Kalinga came under Gupta suzerainty in the 4th century CE after his invasion, the kingdom got united and reclaimed its glory. They ruled the region from Mukhalinga and Dantapura of Northern Andhra. After the Gupta withdrawal, it was ruled by several minor dynasties. These included the Vasishthas, the Matharas, and the Pitrbhaktas.[8]
The last Eastern Ganga ruler Bhanudeva IV was dethroned by Kapilendra Deva in 1435. This event marked the foundation of the Gajapati Empire that ruled over the regions of Utkala (North Odisha) and Kalinga (South Odisha, North Andhra Pradesh). Prataparudra Deva was the last great king of the Suryavamsi Gajapatis and soon after his death his minister Govinda Vidyadhara usurped the throne by murdering the last two Gajapati scions. The fall of the Gajapati Empire meant the independence of their many tributary and feudal states.[citation needed]
Evidently, a tributary kingdom called Nandapur ruled by the Suryavamsa dynasty from 13th century .[9] The king of this kingdom was Vishwanatha Deva Gajapati who began expanding his kingdom in the southern region of Odisha and northern region of Andhra. In 1545, he sent his military commander and the chief of Kasimkota, Mukunda Deva/ Mukunda Harichandan to conquer the northern plains of Odisha which were under control of the weak Bhoi dynasty of Govinda Vidyadhara.[10]
Govinda Vidyadhara signed a truce with Vishwanatha Deva and was granted the status of a tributary state. Mukunda Harichandan was appointed as the minister in order to seek full control over the region, however, he later assassinated the last two Bhoi heirs and declared himself as the new king of Utkala. Nevertheless, Kalinga was still ruled by the Suryavansi kings until they were defeated and became a Vassal of the GolcondaQutb Shahi during the reign of Balarama Deva, who failed to control the vast dominion of his predecessor, Vishwanatha Gajapati.[11] His successors ruled over the region as 'Maharajah of Kalinga' until the feud of Ramachandra Deva I and Balarama Deva III which marked the end of their domination over Kalinga.[12] They came to be known as Kingdom of Jeypore.[citation needed]
Modern history
In 1674, Vishwambhar Dev of Jeypore kingdom defeated the Faujdar of Chicacole (Srikakulam), appointed by the Qutb Shahi Sultans and claimed an independent semi-monarchy over the Circars.[13] Aurangzeb conquered Golconda in 1687 and the Circars along with the Qutb Shahi Sultanate were annexed to the extensive empire of Aurangzeb. However, the first two Faujdars appointed by the Mughals were defeated and slain in the battlefield by the Maharaja of Jeypore, Raghunath Krishna Dev, who continued to rule claiming independent control over the region until his death in 1708.[14] The successor of Raghunath Krishna proved to be an inefficient ruler and as a result lost a vast territory of the Circars. However, the kings of Jeypore continued to rule their decreased kingdom independently until the advent of the British in 1777. The British destroyed the fort of Jeypore and granted them a demoted status of a Zamindari.[citation needed]
In 1724, Mir Qamar-ud-din Khan was appointed the governor of Hyderabad, with the title Nizam al Mulk. He came to be known as the Nizam of Hyderabad, its de facto ruler. The fourth Nizam Salabat Jang, a son of the Nizam al Mulk, who was indebted for his elevation to the throne to the French East India Company, granted the circars to the French in return for their services. In 1759, through the conquest of the fortress of Masulipatnam, the maritime provinces from the river Gundlakamma to the Chilka Lake were transferred from the French to the British. But the British left them under the administration of the Nizam, with the exception of Masulipatnam, a valuable port, which was retained by the British.[citation needed]
In 1765 Lord Robert Clive obtained from the Mughal emperor Shah Alam II a grant of the five Circars. The fort of Kondapalli was seized by the British as an opening move. On 12 November 1766 a treaty of alliance was signed with Nizam Ali Khan by which the British undertook to maintain troops for the Nizam's assistance. By a second treaty, often referred to as the Treaty of Masulipatnam, signed on 1 March 1768, the Nizam acknowledged the validity of Shah Alam's grant and resigned the Circars to the British East India Company, receiving as a mark of friendship an annuity of £50,000. Finally, in 1823, the claims of the Nizam over the Northern Circars were bought outright by the Company, and they became a British possession.[15] 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.[citation needed]
In an effort to gain an independent state based on linguistic identity, and to protect the interests of the Telugu-speaking people of Madras State, Potti Sreeramulu fasted to death in 1952. As Madras became a bone of contention, in 1949 a JVP committee report stated: "Andhra Province could be formed provided the Andhras give up their claim on the city of Madras [now Chennai]". After Potti Sreeramulu's death, the Telugu-speaking area of Andhra State was carved out of Madras State on 1 October 1953, with Kurnool as its capital city.[16] On the basis of the gentlemen's agreement of 1 November 1956, the States Reorganisation Act formed combined Andhra Pradesh by merging Andhra State with the Telugu-speaking areas of the already existing Hyderabad State.[17] Hyderabad was made the capital of the new state.[18]
In February 2014, the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014 bill was passed by the Parliament of India for the formation of the Telangana state comprising ten districts. Hyderabad will remain as a joint capital for not exceeding ten years.[19] The new state of Telangana came into existence on 2 June 2014 after approval from the President of India.[20] Number of petitions questioning the validity of Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014 is long pending for the verdict since April 2014 before the Supreme Court constitutional bench.[21]
Nagavali River rises in the eastern slopes of the Eastern Ghats near Lakhbahal in the Kalahandi district of Odisha at an elevation of about 1,300 metres. The total length of the river is about 256 km, of which 161 km are in Odisha and the rest in Andhra Pradesh.[citation needed] The catchment area of the basin is 9,510 square km. Nagavali is an interstate river with 4462 km2 and 5048 km2 river basin area located in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh respectively. The river basin receives 1000 mm average rain fall annually. The uplands of the river basin are hilly areas with predominantly tribal populated.[citation needed] It drains parts of the Kalahandi, Rayagada and Koraput districts of Odisha and Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnam districts of Andhra Pradesh.[26]Vamsadhara River originates in the border of Thuamul Rampur in the Kalahandi district and Kalyansinghpur in Rayagada district of Odisha and runs for a distance of about 254 kilometers, where it joins the Bay of Bengal at Kalingapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. The total catchment area of the river basin is about 10,830 square kilometers.[27]
Climate
The average elevation of this region ranges from 45 metres to 100 meters. South West Monsoon : 1000–1100 mm. Temperatures range from Max. 33-36 °C & Min. 26-27 °C. Red soils and Black soils with clay base, Pockets of acidic soils, laterite soils, Soils with PH 4-5.[28]
Major crops grown in this region are rice, black gram, green gram, groundnut, sugarcane, sesame, pearl millet, Mesta, finger millets, and horse gram.[29] This region is home to many co-operative sugar factories, jute mills, cashew processing industries.[citation needed]
Visakha Dairy is second biggest co-operative dairy in India.[citation needed]
Industries
Visakhapatnam is the biggest city of the region and is placed 10th among the top 15 cities contributing to India's overall Gross domestic product.[30]
The industrial city, Visakhapatnam has contributed a GDP of $43.5 billion. The city has state owned heavy industries and a steel plant.[31]
Visakhapatnam Steel Plant a leading Central PSU under the Ministry of Steel is the first shore based Integrated Steel Plant in the country.[32]
Vishakhapatnam Port is the major port in Uttarandhra Region. The state of Andhra Pradesh is the second-busiest maritime state (after Gujarat) in terms of cargo handled.[40] Visakhapatnam Port is one of the busiest cargo-handling ports in the country.[41]
Alluri Sitarama Raju (Freedom fighter, Belongs to Godavari districts but participated in the freedom struggle by empowering the tribals from East Godavari and Visakhapatnam districts(Now Alluri seetharamaraju district)).
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