Andhra Pradesh is a state in southern India. Andhra Pradesh is one of the so-called linguistic states that arose after independence to bring people who spoke the same language and had a similar culture (in this instance, Telegu) under one state administration. It has been further bifurcated in recent times.
- In the case of Andhra Pradesh, this was accomplished by merging the princely state of Hyderabad with the erstwhile state of Madras' Telegu-speaking regions.
- When India gained independence, the Nizam of Hyderabad, a Muslim monarch whose people were mostly Hindus, was originally hesitant to join the Indian union, but he eventually agreed when soldiers were sent by the Indian government.
- Hyderabad, the state's biggest and most significant city, has remained the state capital. Andhra Pradesh is mostly agricultural, having abundant land in the Krishna and Godavari river deltas, but it remains underdeveloped, with a wide gap between the wealthy and the poor.
- In recent years, it has become the seat of the Telegu Desam, a powerful regional political organization, as well as a stronghold for the Naxalites, a Marxist revolutionary organization fighting the landlords with military forces.
- Andhra Pradesh is also home to India's most valuable temple, the Venkateshvara Temple in Tirupati, as well as Mallikarjuna, one of Shiva's twelve jyotirlingas. Christine Nivin et al., India. 8th ed., Lonely Planet, 1998, is an accessible resource for general information on Andhra Pradesh and all of India's regions.
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