History of Telangana explained in 10 points

1. The name Telangana is derived from the word Telugu Angana, which means a place where Telugu is spoken. The Nizams (1724-1948) used the word Telangana to differentiate it from the Marathi speaking regions of their kingdom

2. From 230 BC to 220 AD, the Satvahanas ruled this region between Krishna and Godaveri rivers.

3. The region experienced a Golden Age, in between 1083-1203, under the reign of the Kakatiyas who established Warangal as their capital

4. In 1309 AD, Allaudin Khilji's general Malik Kafur attacked Warangal, which led to the decline of the Kakatiyas. The region came under the Delhi Sultanate till 1687, when Golconda (near Hyderabad) fell to Aurangzeb

5. In 1724, Nizam-ul-mulk Asif Jah (Asif Jahin Nizam dynasty) established his independence and made Hyderabad the capital of the empire in 1769.

6. In 1799, the British sign an alliance with Nizam Asif Jah. The Nizam ceded coastal Andhra and Rayalseema regions to the British.

7. The region remained under the British and the Nizams till 1946, the year of Telangana rebellion, which was quelled by the Nizam's Razakars (mercenaries)

8. After India's independence in 1947, the last Nizam of Hyderabad, Osman Ali Khan, refused to join the Indian Union despite repeated requests from Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Patel. The Indian army annexed Hyderabad and the Nizam surrendered to Sardar Patel on 17th September, 1948. Hyderabad State accedes to the Indian Union.

9. In December 1953, the States Reorganisation Commission was appointed to recommend the reorganisation of state boundaries. The panel was not in favour of an immediate merger of Telangana with Andhra state, despite their common language. With the intervention of the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, Telangana and Andhra states were merged on November 1, 1956. Nehru termed the merger a "matrimonial alliance having provisions for divorce".

10. In 2013, the UPA government headed by Manmohan Singh clears the formation of Telangana. On June 2, 2104, K Chandrasekhar Rao takes oath as the first chief minister of Telangana, India's 29th state.