Telugu vāru తెలుగు వారు | |
---|---|
Telugu Talli, the personification of the Telugu people and culture | |
Total population | |
c. 83 million[1][2] (native speakers) | |
Regions with significant populations | |
Andhra Pradesh Telangana Yanam | |
![]() | 81,127,740 (2011)[2] |
![]() | 1,230,000 (Telugu Americans)[3] |
![]() | 383,000[4] |
![]() | 138,000[5] |
![]() | 126,000 (Malaysian Telugus)[6] |
![]() | 59,400[7] |
![]() | 54,685[8] |
![]() | 40,000[9] |
![]() | 33,000[10] |
![]() | 34,000[11] |
![]() | 20,000[12] |
![]() | 18,700[1] |
![]() | 13,300[1] |
![]() | 5,754[13] |
![]() | 5,000[14] |
Other | See Telugu diaspora |
Languages | |
Telugu | |
Religion | |
Majority:![]() Minority: Christianity, Islam, Buddhism | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Other Dravidian peoples: |
Person | Telugu |
---|---|
People | Teluguvāru |
Language | Telugu |
Country | Telugu Nāḍu |
Telugu people (Telugu: తెలుగువారు, romanized: Teluguvāru), also called Andhras, are an ethno-linguistic group who speak the Telugu language and are native to the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Yanam district of Puducherry. They are the most populous of the four major Dravidian linguistic groups. Telugu is the fourth most spoken language in India[15] and the 14th most spoken native language in the world.[16] A significant number of Telugus also reside in the Indian states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Orissa, Maharashtra. Members of the Telugu diaspora are spread across countries like United States, Australia, Malaysia, Mauritius, UAE and others.[17] Telugu is the fastest-growing language in the United States.[18] It is also a protected language in South Africa.[19]
Andhra is an ethnonym used for Telugu people since antiquity.[20] The earliest mention of the Andhras occurs in Aitareya Brahmana (c. 800 BCE) of the Rigveda.[21] In the Mahabharata, the infantry of Satyaki was composed of a tribe called the Andhras, known for their long hair, tall stature, sweet language, and mighty prowess. They were also mentioned in the Buddhist Jataka tales.[22] Megasthenes reported in his Indica (c. 310 BCE) that the Andhras, living in the Godavari and Krishna river deltas, were famous for their formidable military strength, which was second only to that of the Maurya Empire in the entire Indian subcontinent.[23] The first major Andhra polity was the Satavahana dynasty (2nd century BCE–2nd century CE) which ruled over the entire Deccan plateau and even distant areas of western and central India.[24] They established trade relations with the Roman Empire and their capital city, Amaravati was the most prosperous city in India in 2nd century CE.[25] Inscriptions in Old Telugu script (Vengi script) were found as far away as Indonesia and Myanmar.[26]
In the 13th century, Kakatiyas unified various Telugu-speaking areas under one realm.[27] Later, Telugu culture and literature flourished and reached its zenith during the late Vijayanagara Empire.[28][29] After the fall of the Vijayanagara Empire, various Telugu rulers called Nayakas established independent kingdoms across South India serving the same function as Rajput warriors clans of northern India.[30] Kandyan Nayaks, the last dynasty to rule Sri Lanka were of Telugu descent.[31] In this era, Telugu became the language of high culture throughout South India.[32] Vijaya Ramaswamy compared it to the overwhelming dominance of French as the cultural language of modern Europe during roughly the same era.[33] Telugu also predominates in the evolution of Carnatic music, one of two main subgenres of Indian classical music.[34]
The architecture developed by Andhras in Krishna river valley in early first centuries CE, called the Amaravati School of Art, is regarded as one of the three major styles of ancient Indian art and had a great influence on art in South India, Sri Lanka, and Southeast Asia.[35] Mahayana, the predominant Buddhist tradition in China, Japan, and Korea and the largest Buddhist denomination in the world, was developed among Telugus in Andhra.[36]
Telugu is one of six languages designated as a classical language by the Government of India. It has been in use as an official language for over 1,400 years[37] and has an unbroken and diverse literary tradition of over a thousand years.[38][39] Telugu performing arts include the classical dance form Kuchipudi, as well as Perini Sivatandavam, and Burra Katha. The Telugu shadow puppetry tradition, Tholu Bommalata, dates back to the 3rd century BCE,[40] and is the ancestor of Wayang, the popular Indonesian art form that has been a staple of Indonesian tourism.[41] Telugu cinema is the largest film industry in India in terms of box office as well as admissions.[42][43] The industry has produced some of India's most expensive and highest-grossing films, influencing Indian popular culture well beyond Telugu-speaking regions.[44]
Apparently originating somewhere between the peninsular rivers Godavari and Krishna, homeland of the Dravidian Telugu-speaking peoples whose descendants now live in a state called Andhra, the great Andhra dynasty spread across much of south and central India from the second century BC till the second century AD.
About the 1st century CE the Satavahanas (or Satakarni), one of the most-renowned of the Andhra dynasties, came to power.
Amaravati on the banks of the Krishna, which was later the southeast capital of the Satavahanas, flourished in its trade with Rome, Ceylon, and Southeast Asia, and may well have been the most prosperous city of India during the second century of the Christian era.
The Telugu language became particularly prominent in ruling circles by the early sixteenth century, because of the large number of warrior lords who were either from Andhra or had served the kingdom there.
Telugu warrior nayaks (chiefs) were the ruling class over much of South India — including ethnic Tamil and Kannada areas — and were in some ways, served the same function as the rajput warrior clans of northern India. The last dynasty to rule Sri Lanka before the annexation of the Kingdom of Kandy by the British, were also Telugu nayaks.
All four worshipped at Buddhist and Hindu shrines, used Sinhala and Tamil as court languages (though they spoke Telugu), and encouraged their courtiers to take wives from Madurai and Thanjavur.
Telugu had become the language of high culture in southern India during the medieval period, and by the seventeenth century its status rivalled that of Sanskrit.
In Tyagaraja's time, Telugu was the language of high culture even in Tanjore, the heartland of the Tamil linguistic area.
In precolonial or early-modern South India, Telugu became the cultural language of the south, including the Tamil country, somewhat similar to the overwhelming dominance of French as the cultural language of modern Europe during roughly the same era. Therefore, Telugu predominates in the evolution of Carnatic music, and it is the practice to teach Telugu language in music colleges to those aspiring to become singers.
In precolonial or early-modern South India, Telugu became the cultural language of the south, including the Tamil country, somewhat similar to the overwhelming dominance of French as the cultural language of modern Europe during roughly the same era. Therefore, Telugu predominates in the evolution of Carnatic music, and it is the practice to teach Telugu language in music colleges to those aspiring to become singers.
Those of us who have studied the evidence above will prefer to locate this source of most of the Mahāyāna sutras in Andhra. (p. 355) From the internal evidence it appears that this sutra was written in South India, very likely in Andhra, in which case the country of origin of the Mahāyāna continued in the lead in the development of new ideas in India. (p. 402)
Developed before the 10th century, the form had origins in the tholu bommalata, the leather puppets of southern India. The art of shadow puppetry probably spread to Java with the spread of Hinduism.
Perhaps the most interesting of the south-Indian puppet types for me, however, were the tholu bommalata -- the articulated, leather, shadow puppets -- which are the probable ancestors of Indonesia's wayang.
The tolu bommalata shadow puppets are found in the Andhra region and may be the origin of the Javanese wayang kulit puppets.
Puppetry is one of the most ancient Indian folk arts and Andhra history records that this art was in vogue during the Satavahana period in the 4th century B.C. Art critics opine that the puppetry spread from Andhra to Indonesia, Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, Burma, and from there to Africa, Greece, Macedonia and the Byzantine empire.
Leather puppet shadow play is one of the most ancient performing folk art forms known to Andhras from 3rd century B.C. Historians and art critics opine that it spread to Java, Malaysia, and Indonesia from Andhra.
Indonesian version of Tholu Bommalata known as "Wayang" has roots in the Telugu-speaking region.
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