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Rayalaseema

Geographic region in Andhra Pradesh, India

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It comprises nine southern districts of the State, namely Anantapur, Annamayya, Chittoor, Kadapa, Kurnool, Markapuram, Nandyal, Sri Sathya Sai, and Tirupati . As of 2011 census of India, the region had a population of 15,184,908 and cover an area of 81,234 km2 (31,365 sq mi).

Etymology

The region was previously called Ceded districts during the rule of the British Raj. This is with reference to the time when the Nizam of Hyderabad, Ali Khan, ceded the region to the British as a part of subsidiary alliance. Chilukuri Narayana Rao, a Telugu lecturer and activist from Anantapur, deemed the term "ceded" as derogatory and coined the term Rayalaseema. In the Andhra Mahasabha and Ceded Districts Conference held at Nandyala in November 1928, he moved a resolution to the effect which was accepted by the other delegates of the conference.

The name Rayalaseema hearkened back to the Vijayanagara times, whose Kings used a suffix Rāya (tadbhava of Sanskrit Rāja) or Rāyalu in Telugu as their regnal title. The boundaries of Rayalaseema roughly match the territorial extent of the Aravidu dynasty, the last dynasty to rule the Vijayanagara Empire. People of region coined their land as a Raya Desam.

Post independence

The four districts of the region were part of the Madras Presidency until 1953. From 1953 to 1956, the region was a part of Andhra State and in 1956, the Telangana region was merged with Andhra State to form Andhra Pradesh State. On 2 February 1970, three taluks from Kurnool i.e., Markapur, Cumbum and Giddalur were merged along with some other taluks of Nellore district and Guntur district to form Prakasam district.

In February 2014, the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014 bill was passed by the Parliament of India for the formation of Telangana state comprising ten districts. Hyderabad will remain as a joint capital for 10 years for both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. The new State of Telangana was inaugurated on June 2, 2014. The formation of a new state named Telangana from Andhra Pradesh is not considered an amendment to the Constitution of India per article 3 and 4 of that document.

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