The discovery of pre-historic remains belonging to the stone-age man all along the banks of the Krishna River from Machilipatnam to Nagarjuna Sagar provides evidence that this part of the river valley was inhabited by the Stone Age man.

A legend narrates that vijayawada was established by Arjuna around the Malleswara temple and Indrakiladri hills in commemoration of Lord Shiva’s Darshan that he had, and thus named it after him as vijayawada.

Another legend states that Goddess Durga rested here after killing a Rakshasa (Demon) and since she was victorious (Vijaya), it is called vijayawada.

Besides being an important religious centre for Buddhists and Hindus, vijayawada is also a centre of Andhra culture. The Chalukyas of Kalyan and the great king Krishna Deva Raya once conquered this place, and the famous Chinese traveler Xuanzang (Hsuan-tsang) visited this place in 639 when Buddhism was at its zenith in the region.

During the British Raj the city experienced significant growth. In particular, the completion of the Prakasam Barrage in 1959, and Railway Bridge on the Krishna River connecting Guntur City and its District helped in expanding the agricultural and commercial base of this region.