Palnati Yuddham, the Northern Circars and a capital shifted across the Krishna: the Guntur story

Background

Guntur, in Andhra Pradesh, was ruled by dynasties such as the Satavahanas, Andhra Ikshvakus, Pallavas, Ananda Gotrikas, Vishnukundina, Kota Vamsa, Chalukyas, Cholas, Kakatiyas, Vijayanagara and Qutb Shahis during ancient and medieval times. The battle of Palnadu, which is enshrined in legend and literature as Palnati Yuddham, was fought in Guntur district in 1180.

Guntur became part of the Mughal empire in 1687 when the emperor Aurangzeb conquered the Qutb Shahi sultanate of Golconda, of which Guntur was then a part. In 1724 Asaf Jah, viceroy of the empire's southern provinces, declared his independence as the Nizam of Hyderabad. The coastal districts of Hyderabad, known as the Northern Circars, were occupied by the French in 1750. Raja Vasireddy Venkatadri Nayudu shifted his capital from Chintapalli in Krishna district to Amaravati across the river Krishna, and built many temples in the Guntur region. Guntur was brought under the control of the British East India Company by 1788, and became a district of Madras Presidency.

The district administration records that the Guntur region played a significant role in the struggle for independence and in the formation of Andhra Pradesh, with the northern, Telugu-speaking districts of Madras state, including Guntur, advocating for a state of their own after independence.