State of Telangāna, India — Towns & Travel Guide

What is State of Telangāna known for?

Telangana is known for the deep past of the Deccan Plateau, a land ruled in turn by the Kakatiyas, the Qutb Shahis, and the Nizams of Hyderabad. It is a Telugu-speaking state. Hyderabad, its chief city, was the seat of the old Princely State of Hyderabad.

The state itself is young, formed in 2014, but its heritage runs back many centuries.

Where is State of Telangāna?

Telangana lies in southern India. It sits on the Deccan Plateau, the wide upland that runs through the heart of the country's interior, and the plateau defines the whole of the state from edge to edge. This is inland country, a broad tableland far from any coast.

Among India's states it ranks eleventh in size, a large block of the southern Deccan. Hyderabad sits near its heart, the chief city and the historic seat of the whole region. The land here is Telugu-speaking country, carved out of the older territory of Andhra Pradesh that lay to the south.

Borders ring it on every side. Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh lie to the north, while Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka fall to the south, so that Telangana is held on all sides by other states of the Indian interior. It has no coast at all.

The whole state sits up on the plateau, well away from the open sea. Telangana was cut from Andhra Pradesh in 2014, and its outline follows the Telugu-speaking lands of the old Princely State of Hyderabad. Plateau and interior shape it all throughout.

What is State of Telangāna like?

Telangana is Telugu-speaking country. Its culture rests on a very deep past, for the region has been settled since ancient times and held by the Andhras from at least the ninth century BCE. The Satavahana dynasty later ruled the whole Deccan Plateau from here, trading as far as the Roman Empire.

Layer on layer of rule followed. The Vishnukundinas, the Eastern Chalukyas, and the Kakatiyas each left their mark on the land. The Telugu language ties the region together.

Later centuries brought the Vijayanagara Empire, the Bahmanis, and the Qutb Shahis, and then the Mughals and the Nizams of Hyderabad, who made the city their seat. Under them, Hyderabad grew into the heart of the whole region. British rule came in time, and the land passed through the Princely State of Hyderabad.

That long succession of rule shaped the culture of the Deccan. Telangana carries it still. Hyderabad still stands as the chief city of the Telugu Deccan.

Its heritage runs far deeper than its short years as a young state, reaching back through dynasty after dynasty on the plateau.

What is the history of State of Telangāna?

Telangana is the youngest state of India, created in 2014 when it split from Andhra Pradesh. The split was long in the making. After the Independence of India, the Telugu-speaking regions were grouped within Andhra Pradesh, and only after decades of protest did the Telangana movement win a separate state from the old Princely State of Hyderabad.

Its deeper past belongs to the Deccan.

What is the climate of State of Telangāna?

Telangana has a hot and dry tropical climate, shaped by its inland place on the Deccan Plateau. The plateau keeps it dry. A long hot season builds before the rains arrive, and the wet season brings relief across the interior.

With no coast to soften it, the heat runs strong inland. The Deccan sets the weather.

How do you get to State of Telangāna?

Most travellers reach Telangana through Hyderabad, the chief city and the main point of arrival. The state sits inland. Overland routes cross in from the neighbouring states, down from Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh in the north and up from Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka in the south.

There is no sea route, since the plateau has no coast. From Hyderabad, the rest of the Deccan opens out.