Editor: I. Mallikarjuna Sharma Volume 11: 15-31 March 2015 No. 5-6
Martyrs memorial special issue of 15-31 March 2015 paying tributes to Bhagat Singh and other comrades.
Martyrs memorial special issue of 15-31 March 2015 paying tributes to Bhagat Singh and other comrades.
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46 Historical inevitability or electoral corruption? [IMS] (20<strong>15</strong>) 1 LAW<br />
Continuing his address, and after paying<br />
tributes to and expressing loyalty to the British<br />
Crown, Sri Venkatarangaiah briefly delineated<br />
the two important aims and objectives of the<br />
Andhra movement: “1. Establishment of an Andhra<br />
University; 2. Formation of a separate Andhra State<br />
through linguistic reorganization of provinces.” He<br />
noted that though opinions differed on the<br />
formation a separate Andhra State, all<br />
knowledgeable persons generally supported it. He<br />
referred to the acceptance of the demand by Sri<br />
V.P. Madhava Rao, former Primier of Mysore<br />
State, and the decision of the Standing Committee<br />
of the Indian National Congress to bring the <strong>11</strong><br />
Telugu districts in Madras Province under a<br />
separate Andhra Committee. He felt that if people<br />
could be convinced that historically Andhras<br />
were a nation on their own and there were times<br />
when their sway extended over the breadth of<br />
many territories in India for considerable periods,<br />
perhaps even the staunch opponents of Andhra<br />
State could be impressed and veered round to<br />
support the demand, and then began to narrate the<br />
ancient history of Andhras in some detail:<br />
“Tracing racial history, in the days of Manu<br />
Smriti 3 Andhras were nomads residing outside<br />
the villages and also subsisting on hunting wild<br />
animals in the forests. In Aitaryea Brahamana<br />
Andhras are grouped along with lower tribes like<br />
Pulinda, etc. But at the same time they are also<br />
referred to as Viswamitra’s offspring. … …when<br />
Viswamitra could do re-creation in opposition to<br />
Brahma’s entire creation, cannot we Andhras<br />
gain just a small separate State for ourselves?<br />
By the time of Srikrisha, Andhras seems to have<br />
risen to an eminent stage. One illustration would<br />
suffice: In Harivamsa, Chanuura who fought<br />
with Srikrishna was said to be an Andhra Malla<br />
(wrestler). So it is clear per the above criteria that<br />
there was a race of Andhras from ancient times.<br />
Further, it is said that there was a king by name<br />
Andhaka among the clan of Yadus, and his<br />
territory came to be known as Andhra country. In<br />
Matsya Purana, written in the form of futuristic<br />
telling, it was stated that Andhras would become<br />
3 Dated anywhere between 1250 BCE-200 CE, and Sri<br />
Venkatarangaiah pantulu seems to be taking the older.<br />
kings and Andhra bhRtyas would also become<br />
kings. Then, to whichever period this<br />
mythological prognosis applies, it is certain this<br />
much that by the time of Ashoka the Andhras<br />
had become a strong nation. Thereafter, history<br />
records that the Andhra Empire extended far and<br />
wide from Magadha to Kanchipuram. In the<br />
times of Dandi, a great Sanskrit poet,<br />
Andhradesa was said to spread up to and even<br />
beyond Jagannatha temple site [i.e. Puri in Orissa]<br />
and there was said to be a big Andhra city.<br />
During the reign of Kakatiyas, Andhras<br />
flourished very much, which fact is illustrated in<br />
Prataparudriiyam. Errapragada referred to the<br />
king Sri Vema as the welfare-ruler of Central<br />
Andhra State; if Addanki, his capital, was to be<br />
in central Andhra, one need not very much dilate<br />
on the vast territorial limits of the entire Andhra<br />
state. Later under Srikrishnadeva Raya the<br />
[Andhra] empire spread over the entire area from<br />
Katakam (Cuttack) to Kanyakumari. Shortly<br />
after the sunset of Vijayanagara Empire, Andhra<br />
kings spread from Jagannatha temple site to<br />
Simhala (Sri Lanka) and established kingdoms at<br />
various places in the entire stretch. The Nayak<br />
kings in Tamil region (Tanjavur) were Andhras.<br />
The kings of Candy in Sri Lanka were Telugus.<br />
[the famous patriot-martyr of Panchalan Kurichi in extreme<br />
South - Veera Pandya Kattabomman – was a Telugu - IMS.]<br />
It is said that even in music there is one tune called<br />
Andhri. As such, it is undoubted that there was an<br />
Andhradesa of yore; this Andhra country is about 2000<br />
years old.”<br />
(to be continued)<br />
* * *<br />
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Law Animated World, <strong>15</strong>-<strong>31</strong> <strong>March</strong> 20<strong>15</strong> 46