Sanskrit writings from the 7th century BC describe the Andhra people as Aryans from the north who migrated south of the Vindhya Range and mixed with Dravidians. They are mentioned again at the time of the death of the great Mauryan King Ashoka, in 232 BC.

This date has been held to be the beginning of the Andhra historical record. The Andhras are first mentioned in the Aitareya Brahamana. They first rose to prominence under the Satavahana Dynasty. Various dynasties have ruled the area, including the Andhra (or Satavahana), Ikshvakas, Eastern Chalukyas, Kakatiyas, Vijayanagar, the Qutb Shahis, and the Nizams (princes) of Hyderabad.

17th Century

During the 17th century, the British acquired the Coastal Andhra region along the Bay of Bengal, then known as the Northern Circars, from the Nizams, which became part of the British Madras Presidency. The Nizams retained control of the interior provinces as the princely state of Hyderabad, acknowledging British rule in return for local autonomy.

The Colonial Era

During the colonial era, Andhra was split amongst several rulers: the Nizam, the Madras Presidency. The Andhra (or Telugu) were at the forefront of Indian nationalism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Potti Sriramulu fought for independence alongside Mahatma Gandhi, and later fought for Andhra unification.

Post-Independence

India became independent from Britain in 1947. The Muslim Nizam of Hyderabad wanted to retain his independence from India, but his state was forcibly integrated into India in 1948 as Hyderabad state. In 1953, the northern, Telugu-speaking portion of Madras State voted to become the new state of Andhra Pradesh, the first of India’s linguistic states. The state acquired its present boundaries on November 1, 1956, when Hyderabad State was partitioned along linguistic lines and its Telangana region was added to Andhra Pradesh.