GUNTUR, Andhra Pradesh

Main Attraction: Ethipothala

The Ethipothala is a natural valley located amidst picturesque and peaceful surroundings was once a place of penance for saints. Hence the name Ethi-Taposthala. Presently it is known as Ethipothala. This beatuful Valley is about 8 Kms. From the Macherla Railway Station in Guntur District.

The rain water on Nallamala Hill ranges flows underground and emerges out here as Chandravanka and Suryavanka. Suryavanka stream falls vfrom a height of 21 metres into a beautiful lagoon. The fallen water flows 3 Kms. From the valley and joins river Krishna. In ancient days saints used to go to Srisailam and Guthikonda Bilam through the underground tunnel of this Valley. The cave temples of Lord Dattatreya, His consort Madhumati Devi and Lord Ranganath are worth seeing.

This is a place of tourist attraction. Thousands of tourists who visit Nagarjunasagar Dam also visit this place.

Brief History

General:

Guntur district in its present form was constituted only in 1904 out of the areas of Ongole taluk of Nellore district and portions of the Krishna District. Prior to 1859 there was 'Guntur district' with headquarters at Guntur but with a different jurisdiction. In 1859 this district was abolished and was divided up between Masulipatam and Rajahmundry districts, which were renamed as Krishna and Godavari. In 1904 Krishna district was bifurcated and Guntur district with its present jurisdiction was constituted into a separate independent district. The early history of the district is briefly given below.

Political History:

The earliest known rulers of the district were the Buddhist dynasty of the Andhras who built the stupa at Amaravathi and whose curious old leaden coins are still occasionally found. The Buddhist remains at Amaravathi on the right bank of the Krishna nearly seventy miles (110 Kms.) from its mouth, bear inscriptions in the Gupta character; which refer to the second century after Christ and may possibly be older than that. The Buddhist stupa, discovered on the north bank of the river near Jaggayyapet, is said to be the date as remote as 200 B.C. or only half a century later than the Asoka edicts. It may therefore be inferred that for some time before and after the Christian Era, Buddhism was firmly established on the banks of the Krishna.

This religion seems to have given way before the Brahmans and a sect of Buddhist dissenters known as the Jains. The Brahmans are said to have been invited by the King of Dharanikota, Mukkanti Pallava, in the third century A.D. or by a King named Sudakshana about the same date to Srikakulam, a shrine lower down the Krishna. Both legends are current, but the history of this period is very obscure. The Pallava dynasty may be the line of Kings which is shown by two copper plates to have reigned in the fourth century A.D. over "Vengi desha" but this kingdom is not mentioned by Ptolemy or in the Periplus of the Red Sea.

In 640 A.D. there is an account written by the Chinese Pilgrim, Hiuen Tsang, who travelled through India to see the Buddhist monasteries. He speaks of the Kingdom of Anta-lo (Andhra) with its capital ping-kilo (Vengi) and in Dhanakacheka (Dhanyakataka or Dharani Kota) describes two very extensive Buddhist monasteries, the eastern and western. The Chinese traveller describes the monasteries as surrounded by trees and gushing fountains, which may indicate a great clearance of forest and lessening of rainfall in the last twelve centuries. He mourns over the decay of Buddhism, decay caused perhaps as much by the opposition of the Jains as by the advent of the Brahmans, for the Jains did not disappear from the Krishna district until six centuries after Hiuen Tsang's visit.

By 640 A.D. the Pallava dynasty of Vengi had been conquered by the Chalukya Kings of Kalyanpur. Some would place this conquest as far back as the time of Vishnu Vardhana, great grandfather of Satyasraya Vallabhendra in the fourth century, but at all events, the territory was divided about 605 A.D. and Vengi was given to Kubja Vishnuvardhana, the younger brother of Satyasraya Vallabhendra, King of Kalyanpur. The Kubja Vishnuvardhana founded a dynasty, known as the Eastern Chalukya Kings, who reigned for four centuries, and who excavated the cave temple at Undavalli and other rock cut shrines. About 999 A.D. they in their turn were supplanted by the Cholas. The latter after some two centuries gave place to the Ganapathis of Warangal. Ganapati Deva, who reigned at Warangal (1190-1258 A.D.), and built around Warangal the single stone wall, which is given the name Ekasilanagaram, or in its Tamil form, 'Orukkal', whence Warangal, was an active persecutor of the Jains and throughout his wide dominions which included the seacoast from Divi to Nellore, erected Brahmanical temples. Possibly he might have married his only daughter to the Jain King of Dharanikota for political reasons, to absorb in his Kingdom the territory of this petty ruler, and Pratapa Rudra, the son born of this mixed marriage, would naturally follow his mother's faith.

After the death of Ganapathi Deva, the grandfather of Pratapa Rudra, in 1258 A.D the Government was assumed by his daughter, Rudramma, one of the most illustrious and famous women in Indian history who have left behind a reputation as the most skilful ruler. It was during the regency of this widowed queen that the Venetian traveller, Marco Polo, visited this country, about the year 1290 A.D. He seems to have landed at Motupalle, now an obscure fishing village near Chirala.

This queen Rudramma transferred the royal authority to her daughter's son, Pratapa Rudra, in the year 1295 A.D. There are numerous grants of Pratapa Rudra in Krishna district and in the Palnad taluk. In 1323 A.D. he was taken captive by the Muslims and carried away to Delhi and this was an irretrievable disaster, for although his son Virabhadraya asserted his independence in 1344 A.D. He failed to regain the lost dominions of his father and the Muslim kingdom of Gulbarga steadily advanced until in 1425 A.D. when Warangal was included within its limits.

After the captivity of Pratapa Rudra in 1323 A.D. his kingdom was left without a ruler. This district then came under a dual sway, the king of Orissa ruling the northern part while the south fell into the hands of a line of cultivators who rose to considerable power and are known as the Reddi Kings of Kondaveedu.

The founder of the family of Reddi Kings of Kondaveedu was Donti Aliya Reddi, a cultivator of Hanumakonda, who amassed enormous wealth, tradition says by discovering the alchemists' secret of the process of transmuting metals into gold, and migrated to Kondaveedu. On the downfall of Pratapa Rudra, the eldest son, Pulayya Vema Reddi declared himself as independent ruler of the hill fort of Kondaveedu. He also possessed himself of the fortresses of Bellamkonda, Vinukonda, and Nagarjunakonda in Palnad taluk. His brother Anavema Reddi extended his dominions as far as Rajahmundry in the north, Kanchi in the south and Srisailam in the west. Kondapalle hill fort is said to have been built in his reign. An inscription at Amaresvaram dated 1361 A.D. states that Anavema Reddi was in possession of Kondaveedu, Addanki and Raichur, that he repaired the temple at Amaravati and the causeway at Srisailam and that he defeated various Rajas including the kings of Warangal. This last boast probably relates to the unsuccessful efforts of Virabhadraya in 1344 A.D. and later to regain his father's territories from the Muslims on the one hand and the Orissa Rajas and Kondaveedu Reddies on the other. Anavema Reddi was succeeded by his brother, Aliya Vema Reddi who was succeeded by the fourth brother, Komaragiri Reddi, a ruler of bad reputation, who was followed by his sons Komati Venka Reddi, and Racha Vema Reddi, the last of the line, who after an evil reign of four years was assassinated by a person named Chowdari Yellappa in 1428 A.D. The dates of these six Reddi kings are as follows:

Pulayya Vema Redd … 1328 A.D.

Ana Vema Reddi … 1340 A.D.

Aliya Vema Reddi ... 1370 A.D.

Komaragiri Reddi … 1382 A.D.

Komati Venka Reddi … 1396 A.D.

Racha Vema Reddi … 1424 A.D.

These Kondaveedu Reddis were great patrons of Telugu literature. The poet Srinadha with his brother-in-law, Bammera Pothana flourished, at their court and sang their praise. The ruins of their fortresses at Kondaveedu, Bellamkonda and Kondapalle are still to be seen.

On the extinction of the Reddi dynasty the Ganapathi King of Orissa extended his power. In 1515 A.D. King Krishna Deva Raya of vijayanagar conquered the whole of the country and left many inscriptions to perpetuate the memory of his victories. He restored Kondapalle to the Orissa Raja but retained Kondaveedu. On the fall of Vijayanagar Empire in 1565 A.D. this region was conquered by the Muslims and the Hindu rule came to an end in 1579 A.D.in this district. On the fall of the Vijayanagar Empire in 1565 A.D. it passed on to the Kutub Shahi line of Golconda, and was eventually absorbed (on the destruction of that dynasty in 1687) in the empire of Emperor Aurangazeb.

In 1611 A.D. the English founded their second settlement in India at Masulipatam, which continued to be their headquarters until it was finally moved it to Madras in 1641 A.D. Three years after the founding of the English settlement came the Dutch and in 1669 A.D. the French followed. It was not, however, till the year 1750 A.D. that any of the European powers exerted any political influence in this district. Two years after that date the Subedar of the Deccan granted the whole of the Northern Circars to the French, and it was from them that this tract finally passed to the English. On the outbreak of hostilities in 1758 A.D. Colonel Forde, who was sent by Clive from Bengal to attack the French in the Northern circars, defeated them at Condore in Godavari District, and following them to Masulipatam besieged them there. Faced by a strong garrison in front and hemmed in behind by the Subedar of the Deccan, the ally of the French, his ranks rapidly thinned with disease, Forde, as a counsel of despair, at length made an almost desperate night attack upon the Masulipatam fort and captured it. As a consequence of this victory, first the divisions of Masulipatam, Nizampatam and part of Kondaveedu, and later the whole of the Circars, passed by a grant from the Subedar of the Deccan (confirmed by the emperor Shah Alam in 1765) to the Company. With the cession of the Palnad in 1801 by the Nawab of Arcot, the entire district finally became a British territory. At first it was administered by a Chief and Council at Masulipatam, but in 1794 A.D. Collectors directly responsible to the Board of Revenue were appointed at Guntur and Masulipatam. In 1859 A.D. these

two Collectorates (except two taluks of the later) were amalgamated into one district.

This amalgamation did not continue for long. With the construction of the anicuts across Godavari and Krishna rivers the irrigation facilities increased. This resulted in the increase in work of all kinds in the methods of administration and rendered the task of efficiently controlling these two wealthy areas more difficult for one Collector to compass. Hence readjustment of these two districts was necessitated and in 1904 a separate district was constituted with Guntur as headquarters. Ongole taluk of Nellore district, Tenali, Guntur, Sattenapalle, Palnad, Bapatla, Narasaraopet and Vinukonda taluks of Krishna district were included in the newly formed Guntur District. In 1909 Tenali Taluk was split up into Tenali and Repalle taluks. The jurisdiction of the district did not undergo any major change from that time and continued as part of the Madras State till 1953. This district has played a very important role in the National struggle for independence. It produced patriots like Desabhakta Konda Venkatappaiah, Parvathaneni Veeraiah Chowdary, leader of the great Pedanandipadu ‘No-Tax-Campaign’ of 1923, Vunnava Lakshminarayana Panthulu, ‘Andhra Ratna’ Duggirala Gopala Krishnaiah, ‘Andhra Kesari’ Tanguturi Prakasam Panthulu (the latter two belong to Chirala and Ongole respectively, which now belong to Prakasam district), whose services to the Nation are unforgettable. ‘Rythu Bandhava’ prof. N.G.Ranga, popularly known as ‘Acharya Ranga’ rendered yeomen services during the freedom struggle in arousing the rural masses throughout the country. The district also had the fortune of being the venue of the All India Congress Committee Sessions twice.

In 1953 when the Andhra State was formed, this was also transferred to Andhra State along with the other Telugu speaking districts of the composite Madras State. After the Reorganization of States in 1956, this district along with the other districts of Andhra State became part of Andhra Pradesh. It may be worth mentioning in this connection that Guntur city, the headquarters of this district was the seat of the Andhra High Court for a period of over 3 years from 1st October 1953, i.e. from the inception of the Andhra State till the formation of Andhra Pradesh on 1-11-1956.