Telugus
Telugu people: Saint Tyāgarāja  • Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan  • P. S. Kumaraswamy Raja  • Tanguturi Suryakumari  • Neelam Sanjiva Reddy  • N.T. Rama Rao • Jiddu Krishnamurti • Sameera Reddy • Pullela Gopichand • V. S. Rama Devi • Dronavalli Harika • U. G. Krishnamurti •
Total population
81 millioncitation needed
Regions with significant populations
India  Malaysia 103,000  France 10,000  South Africa  USA  Australia  UK  Canada
Languages
Telugu
Religion
Hinduism · Islam · Christian · Buddhism · Judaism
Related ethnic groups
Dravidian · Aryan · Brahui · Gondi · Kalinga · Kannadiga · Malayali · Tamilian · Tuluva

Telugu people refer to the group of peoples who natively speak the Telugu language. They are one of the most ancient ethnic groups found in India, existing prior to the writing of the Vedas and mentioned in the Ramayana and Mahabharat epics. They are also the largest of the Dravidian groups by population and Telugu, which falls in the central Dravidian language group, is the most spoken of the Dravidian languages and the third most commonly spoken language in India after Hindi and Bengali.They are spread throughout India and abroad but the state of Andra Pradesh is their homeland. The most significant populations outside of Andhra are found in Pondicherry, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Chattisgarh and Orissa.

Countries in North America, Europe, Africa, Australia, Mauritius, Fiji, Réunion and Malaysia also have significant populations. In the Americas they have two large associations called TANA [1] (Telugu Association of America) and ATA [2] (American Telugu Association).

History

Andhra/Kalinga

Telugu/Andhra/Kalinga refers to the branches of the same people. They were also called Andhri, which can be traced to the various people living in the northern and southern borders of Aryavarta¹ Magadha, Anga, Asmaka, Mulaka and Kalinga were all branches of the same ethnic group.²³⁴⁵⁶ They are mentioned in the Aitareya Brahmana as the sons of the sage Viswamitra banished from Aryavarta.⁷ In the Ramayana tale, Viswamitra condemned the Naramedha Yagna, freed Shunahshepa, and adopted him as his son. Viswamitra's children disliked this act and were cursed by him and banished to the east and south. It is understood from this tale that these children of Viswamitra were Andhras. This myth is most likely a way of explaining that Andhras were a part of the earliest waves of Indo-Aryan tribes to come to India who had fully integrated into the Dravidian populace and thus no longer pure Indo-Aryans. ⁸

They are also mentioned in the Vayu and Matsya Purana.⁹ In the Mahabharata the infantry of Satyaki was composed of a tribe called Andhras, known for their long hair, sweet language, and mighty prowess.¹⁰ They lived along the banks of the Yamuna river. Andhras and Kalingas supported the Kauravas during the Bharata war. Sahadeva defeated the kingdoms of Pandya, Dravida, Odhra, Chera, Andhra, and Kalinga while performing the Rajasuya yajna. Chanoora was killed by Krishna in Madhura. Hari Vamsa Purana corroborates the fact that Chanoora was the king of Karoosa Desa (on the north side of Vindhya and on the north banks of the Yamuna river) and was an Andhra. Buddhist references to Andhras are also found. ¹¹

Ancient Territory

Andhras were nomads for several centuries. Some tribes migrated and others did not and remained in their older settlements. Apastamba Rishi states that around 700 BC some Andhra tribes inhabited Salvadesa on the banks of the Yamuna River. Apastamba sutra has been widely practiced among Andhra Brahmin families and continues to be followed even today. A single Rishi was the teacher (acharya) of each tribe. Apastamba was one such teacher. Apastamba wrote these rules in Salva Desam on the banks of Yamuna river. After Apastamba's death the Andhra tribes crossed the Vindhya mountains, reached the south, and merged with the other Andhra tribes. Atreya Brahmana tells us that Andhras lived on the south side of Vindhya along with Pundra, Pulinda, Sabaras, Mootibas.

Some of those Andhras who came to the south settled on the west side of Vindhya mountains (present Northern regions of Hyderabad). Another tribe crossed the Eastern Ghats over Orissa and reached the Kalinga Desam. Serivanijo Jataka tale explains that Andhras built the Andhaka-puram on the banks of Tel river.

Jataka tales were written during 200-250 BC. Tel river is a subriver of Mahanadi in Orissa. The people in this tribe are Kalingas. The books cited above describe the Andhras and Kalingas as two different branches of a single tribe. Sometimes these two words (Andhras and Kalingas) are used as synonyms.

Andhra tribes established relationships with Naga, Yaksha, and Dravida tribes of Vindhya mountains who already were living there. In Tamil and Kannada Ten means south side and Tenugu is a person travels to the south. The name Tenugu transformed into Telugu. From Telugu, words like Telagalu, Telangana, and Teligiri originated. A tribe called Tailang in Burma is proposed to be related to Telugu people.[3]

Satavahanas

The first great Andhra empire was that of the Satavahanas,¹² who came to power when the last Kanva emperor Sisuman, was assassinated by his prime minister Sipraca, of the Andhra tribe. They reigned for 450 years and the last was Puliman or Puloma the pious, who after conquering India put an end to his life by drowning himself in the holy waters of the Ganges, after the example of his grandfather. From this king, India was called by the Chinese Poulomeun-koue, the country of Puliman. While in the west the inhabitants of the Gangetic provinces were denominated Andhra Hindus^{citation needed}. The Satavahana rulers are said to have been held in the highest veneration all over India^{citation needed}; and their fame was extended to the peninsulas of Malaya, the Maharaja of India being a favorite subject of Malayan poetry¹³.

Language

Main article: Telugu language

In Ancient times Telugu the language of the Andhras, seems to have been spoken as far north as the mouth of Ganges. This appears both from the geographic limits which the Greeks have assigned, to the territory of the Andhra race and from many of the names and places mentioned by Ptolemy up to that delta being found to be Telugu. Telugu is a name mentioned by the Greek geographers as that of a nation dwelling on or near the Ganges. In respect to antiquity of culture and glossarial copiousness, it ranks next to Tamil in the list of Dravidian Idioms, but this has been disputed as it has a large Sanskrit influence and has a different structure to that of other Dravidian languages. It is also named as the "Italian of the East" as most words in Telugu end in a vowel, as in Italian.

Culture

Kakateeya Sculpture at warangal

Literature

Main article: Telugu literature

• Padya Sahityam and Gadya Sahitaym
• Bhagavatam by Sri Bammera Paotana
• Ramayanam by Rayana Baskara
• Ramayanam by Kummari Molla
• Maha Bharatam by Kavi Trayam ( Nannaya,Yerrapragada and Tikkana)
• Sataka Sahityam by Vemana, Baddena, Marana Venkana, Yenugu Lakshmana Kavi, Seshappa Kavi, Dhoorjati, and Bhakata Ramdas
• Telugu Chatu Padyalu
• Tenali Ramalinga Kavi
• Kavi Sarvabouma Srinathudu
• Telugu Vageya Karulu
• Annamayya
• Tyagaraju
• Kshetrayya

Uma Muralikrishna, a very talented Kuchipudi dancer performing at IIM Bangalore

Food

Some common Telugu foods are:

1. Paravannam
2. Aavakaaya
3. Gongoora pachchadi
4. Korivi Karam
5. Vankaya Kura
6. Pootha Rekulu
7. Madata Kajalu
8. Gor Meetilu
9. Ariselu
10. Boorelu
11. Gaarelu
12. Bobbatlu (bhakshaalu in Rayalaseema)
13. Jentikalu
14. chakkilaalu
15. Ulava Chaaru
16. Pacchi Pulusu
17. Bommidaila Pulusu
18. Vadiyalu
19. Attu (dosa)
20. pappu
21. rasam
22. sambaru
23. Pulihora

Ravva Dosa served at a Hotel in Guntur.

Traditional Dress

• Male

1. Uttareeyam (Angavastram or veil)
2. Jubba (Kurta) The top portion
3. Pancha (Dhoti)
4. Lungi (Casual or Worker dress)

• Women

1. jacket
2. Cheera (Sari)

• Girls

1. Parikini
2. Langa Oni (Half Saree)

See also

• Satavahana Dynasty
• Kakatiya dynasty - the first great Telugu kingdom that lasted for centuries
• Vijayanagara Empire
• List of people from Andhra Pradesh
• Andhra Pradesh
• List of Telugu people
• Telugu language
• Andhra cuisine

References

External links

• anigalla.net
• TeluguVedika.com
• Vemana
• Translations of Telugu fiction and articles
• Telugu people profiles
• VedaBooks