History of Guntur

Guntur is one of the premier districts of Andhra Pradesh covering an area of 11,391 Sq.Kms. Guntur region shares with the rest of Deccan, the honour of being the home of the first man in India. Paleolithic man roamed about the region as evidenced by the discovery of Paleolithic (old stone) implements. The Kingdom of Prati palaputra (5th century BC), identified with Bhattiprolu, appears to be the earliest known kingdom in Guntur District. We also have an inscriptional evidence to show that king Kubera was ruling over Bhattiprolu around 230 BC followed by Sala Kings. Guntur region was successively ruled over by famous dynasties like Satavahanas, Ikshavakus, Pallavas, Anandagothrins, Vishnu Kundins, Chalukyas, Cholas, Kakatiyas, Reddies, Vijayanagara and Kutub Shahis during ancient and medieval times. Later several subordinate kingdoms ruled the region. These subordinate dynasties also in indulged in mutual warfares one of which culminated into a famous battle of Palnadu which is enshrined in legend and literate as "Andhra Kurukshetra" in 1180 AD.

During the period of Nizam rule, French occupied Guntur in 1750. Guntur was brought under control of English East India Company by 1788 AD.

The Region played a very remarkable role in the freedom struggle and also in the formation of Andhra Pradesh.

There are several opinions with regard to the meaning and origin of the word Guntur. The word Guntur owes it's origin to words like Gundu( a rock), Gunta (a pond) and Kunta (1/3 of an acre). We are well aware that in Sanskrit Guntur is being called as Garthapuri (Guntlapuri).

The earliest reference to Guntur, a variant of Guntur comes from the Idern plates of Ammaraja - I (922-929 AD), the Vengichalakyan King. Guntur also makes it's appearance in another two inscriptions dated 1147 AD and 1158 AD.

Since the beginning of Buddhist epoch, Guntur was standing foremost in matters of education. Buddhists established universities in ancient times at Dhanyakataka(Amaravathi) and Nagarjunakonda. At present with many educational institutions Guntur leads other Andhra Districts in matters of education.

Some places of historical importance in Guntur District are Amaravathi, Nagarjunakonda, Bhattiprolu, Undavalli caves and Archeological museum in Guntur.

Agricultural products like Paddy, Tobacco, Cotton and Chillies are the main agricultural products cultivated in the district.