History of Vizayanagram

Vizianagaram

విజయనగర౦

Vijayanagaram

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Vizianagaram district (Telugu: విజయనగరo జిల్లా), also known as Vijayanagaram district is a northern coastal district of Andhra Pradesh, India. The town of Vizianagaram is the district headquarters. The district is bounded on the east by the district of Srikakulam, southwest by the district of Visakhapatnam, southeast by the Bay of Bengal, and northwest by the state of Odisha.

Vizianagaram district was formed on June 1, 1979, with some parts carved from the neighbouring districts of Srikakulam and Visakhapatnam.The district is named after the princely state of Vizianagaram (Vijaya means victory and Nagaram means city in Telugu).

It is the least populous district in Andhra Pradesh.

View of Vizianagaram town

Jain Tirthankara Image at Rockcut Caves of Ghanikonda in Ramatheertham

The history of Vizianagaram district is with Kalinga dynasty. In modern times, the upper part of Kalinga was gradually merged into Odisha state and the lower part into Andhra Pradesh. The Kalinga empire extended from Cuttack in Odisha to Pithapuram in East Godavari district as far back as the 4th century BC. The Nandas ruled the area between 467 and 336 BC. They were followed by the Mauryas, the Chedis, the Satavahanas, the Pitribhaktas, the Matharas, the Vasishthas, the Vishnukundinas, the early Eastern Gangas, the Eastern Chalukyas of Vengi, the late Eastern Gangas, the Reddis of Rajahmundry and the Velanati Cholas till the Kakatiyas appeared by 1210 AD.History

Recorded evidence show that some local dynasties like the Rapatri Chiefs and the Gangas of Narayanapura (situated near Balijipeta), the Gangas of Jantarunadu (the track now known as Srungavarapukota), ruled over parts of the district from the 12th to 15th century.

The Kakatiya rulers under Ganapatideva defeated the Velanati Chola Chief, Prithvisvara who was ruling over the territory in 1210 AD. The territory was recovered by the Eastern Gangas during the reign of Ananga Bhima III. The Gajapatis of Odisha then came to rule the territory after overthrowing the Eastern Gangas in 1443 AD. The rule of the Gajapatis lasted for about 140 years till the Qutb Shahis conquered the territory around 1574 AD. Consequent on the occupation of Golconda by the Mughals in 1687 AD, the area came under the control of Mughals. When the Viceroy of the Mughals in Deccan, Nizam-ul-Mulk Asaf Jah declared independence in 1724 AD, the area came under the rule of the Asaf Jahis.

In the war of succession after Nizam-ul-Mulk Asaf Jah died, Salabat Jung who came to power with the backing of the French General Marquis de Bussy, rewarded the French by ceding four Circars including the Chicacole Circar in 1753. An important event in the history of the district which occurred by about this time is the war between the Rajas of Vizianagaram and Bobbili, popularly known as Bobbili Yuddam. The war was fought between the Rajah of Vizianagaram aided by the French General Bussy and the Rajah of Bobbili on the 24th January 1757.

Another important event in the history of the district is the war between the French and English fought at Chandurthi in 1758, in which the French were defeated and the Northern Circars were made over to the British under a firmana from the Mughal emperor Shah Alam in 1765 which were placed under the then existing Chief and Council at Vizagapatam. In 1794, the Chiefs and Councils were abolished and Vizagapatam was arranged into three divisions each under a collector. Almost the entire area of the present area of Vizianagaram district fell under the second division. However the three divisions were merged and a collectorate for the whole district was established in 1803 after the introduction of the permanent settlement in the area.

The history of the rebellions against the British rule goes back to 1830s when the people of the district particularly the tribals unable to bear the oppression, rose in frequent rebellions (fituris) leading to the establishment of separate administrative system known as "Agency Administration" under the India Act XXIV of 1839. The rebellion of Korra Mallaiah, a tribal chief of the Salur area against the British rule in 1900 is another important event. The district magistrate dispatched Reserve Police to suppress the revolt, which was seriously resisted by the people. In the skirmish that followed many were killed. Korra Mallaiah along with son was arrested and kept in Jail where he died subsequently. Subsequently in the Indian freedom movement, the people hailing from this area enthusiastically took part in various phases like non-cooperative movement, civil disobedience movement, Quit India Movement etc.,

Post-independence

After abolition of the Zamindaris in 1948, Visakhapatnam district was found to be unwieldy for administrative purposes. Consequently, Srikakulam district was carved out in 1950 bifurcating it from Visakhapatnam district. Vizianagaram district was formed on 1 June 1979, as per G.O.Ms.No.700/Revenue (U) Department, dated 15 May 1979 with some parts carved from the neighbouring districts of Srikakulam andVisakhapatnam. The Taluks of Vizianagaram, Gajapathinagaram, Srungavarapukota and a portion of Bheemunipatnam Taluk were transferred from the Visakhapatnam District. The Salur, Bobbili, Parvathipuram and Cheepurupalli Taluks from Srikakulam district were transferred to the new district.

It is situated within the geographical co-ordinates of 17- 15’ and 19 – 15’ of the northern latitudes and 83 – 00’ and 83-45’’ of the eastern longitudes. Vizianagaram district occupies an area of 6,539 square kilometres (2,525 sq mi), comparatively equivalent to France's Desolation Island

The district can be divided into two distinct natural divisions i.e. plains and hilly regions. The hilly agency area covers Pachipenta and Gummalaxmipuram mandals fully and Salur, Makkuva,Ramabhadrapuram, Parvathipuram and Komarada mandals partly. Rest of the area is plain. The agency region mostly consists of hills covered by the Eastern Ghats which run parallel to the Coast from the North-East to South-West. The average height of these hills is over 914 meters, although there are several peaks of 1,219 meters high. In Parvathipuram division, the hills are lower than elsewhere and consists of steep and rugged lines devoid of plateaus.

The main towns of Vizianagaram district was Parvathipuram on the north, Cheepurupalli on the east, Vizianagaram on the south and S.Kota on the west. Remaining main towns Bobbili and Salur in the center of the district.

The principal rivers flowing in the district are River Nagavali, Suvarnamukhi, Vegavathi, River Champavathi, River Gosthani and Kandivalasa.

The main soils are red soils, sandy loams and sandy clay, which constitute 96% of the total area. The predominant soils are loamy with medium fertility. There are red loamy soils in dry lands and clay loamy in wet lands. The soils at some places are as thick as 4 meters, probably represents alluvium along the valleys.

The total geographical area of the district is 6300.38 km². About 51.1% of the land area is sown for agriculture and another 12.3% land is put to non-agricultural uses. The forest covers about 17.8% of the land. About 12.3% of the land is Barren and uncultivable. About 4% land is current and other Fallow lands.

The climate of Vizianagaram district is characterized by high humidity nearly all-round the year with oppressive summer and good seasonal rainfall. The summer season from March to May is followed by South West monsoon season, which continues up to September. October and November constitute the retreating monsoon season. The climate of the hilly regions of the district receives heavier rainfall and cooler than the plains. The maximum temperature recorded during 2004 is 39.6O C during May and the minimum temperature is 17.1O C during December.

The normal rainfall of the district for the year is 1,131.0 MM as against the actual rainfall of 740.6 MM received during 2002-03. The district gets the benefit of both the South ?West and North- East monsoon.

There is a coast line of 28 kilometers in the district on the east facing Bay of Bengal. There are 8 villages and 16 hamlets consisting of 6,993 fishermen. They are situated in Pusapatirega andBhogapuram mandals.

These 12 medium irrigation projects have an Ayacut of 439.84 km². Besides these irrigation projects, there are 1,065 Minor irrigation sources with an ayacut of 512.15 km² and 8,616 minor irrigation Tanks (Panchayat Raj) with an ayacut of 721.12 km².

Culture

The social customs in Vizianagaram district are South Indian Style with minor changes. The local people are soft spoken and kind at heart with strong family traditions. Gurajada Appa Rao (1862–1915) used all forms of literature like drama, novel, poetry, short story and essay with equal facility. He assimilated the culture and language of this region and became the forerunner of social reforms in India.

The predominant religion is Hinduism. The major festivals are Sankranthi, Ugadi and Rama Navami, Maha Shivaratri, Deepavali, Ganesh Chaturthi, Dasara and Vijayadasami. The nine-day festival celebrations during Rama Navami and Ganesh Chaturthi are very popular in many towns and associated with many cultural events including Stage Dramas, Harikathas, Burra kathas etc. Festivals of Gramadevatha are held annually at Vizianagaram, Bobbili, Salur, Parvathipuram and Sambara with much fanfare. The most popular amongst them is Pydithalli Ammavari Jatra, celebrated at Vizianagaram on Vijayadasami day. And also Polamma Jatara, at Sambara in Sambara Village of Makkuva Mandal is a Very much state known famous festival being celebrated in every 3rd week of January. This is a very renown festival for north andhra people.

The cuisine is strikingly South Indian Style with Rice as the staple food accompanied by Dals, Rasam or Sambar, Vegetable Curries, Pickles and Curd.

Ramatheertham Sri Rama Temple

1000 year old Sri Rama temple on top of Gurubhaktula konda

Ramatheertham is a village panchayat in Nellimarla mandal of Vizianagaram district in Andhra Pradesh in South India. This place is about 12 kilometers from Vizianagaram city.

The famous ancient temple of Ramachandra Swamy can be found over here. The beautiful idols of Lord Ramachandra Swamy, Sita Devi and Lakshmana in Silver kavachas can be seen at this temple. There is a beautiful lake in vicinity of the temple. One has to visit this temple for its serenity. The festivals of Sri Ramanavami and Vaikunta Ekadasi are celebrated with pomp and fervour here. You can see many tortoises with Vishnu Namams on their backs, roaming around in the temple. There is also a Rama Stambham installed by Pedda Jeeyar. Near to this temple, there is a black hill on which you can find the ruins of some Buddhist and Jain structures. These hills are called as Durga konda and Gurubhaktula konda.( sometimes called as Ramatheertham hills)

View of Eastern ghats at Saripalli Village

The Maharajkumar of Vizianagram fondly known as Sir Vizzy popularized the cricket game in North Coastal Andhra Pradesh. It is in honor of this great entrepreneur of cricket that Vizzy Stadium was made in his home town, Vizianagaram. The Vizzy Stadium is one of the Cricket grounds in Andhra Pradesh, where first class cricket is played. Vizzy led India in Test cricket and later became a cricket administrator and commentator. He was the President for the Board of Control for Cricket in India. He loved doing commentaries for All India Radio. He was a very benevolent man, who donated the Wellington pavilion at the Ferozshah Kotla stadium in New Delhi.

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