Nellore History

HISTORY  

NELLORE District situated in the South Eastern portion of the state with a costal length of 163 KM bounded by Bay of Bengal on the East. The district was known as VIKRAMA SIMHAPURI until 13th Century and later it came to be referred to as Nellore.

Historically the district was under the rule of mouryas, sathavahanas, pallavas, cholas, telugcholas, kakatias, pandyans etc. The great Telugu poet Tikkana Somayaji translated 15 parvas of Sanskrit Mahabharata into Telugu in Nellore. Molla, the second Telugu poetess had also written Telugu Ramayan here.

The city derives its name from the Tamil, “nelli” which means rice, as paddy cultivation is the predominant occupation in this region. Nellore has a long history that streches back to the 6th century A.D. Once ruled by the Pallava and Chola dynastics, Golconda vassals, Nawabs of Arcot and the Vijayanagara kings, Nellore, which was in the erstwhile Madras State, became a part of Andhra Pradesh in 1956.

Nothing certain is known of the History of Nellore before the time of the Cholas. The Neolthic age in Nellore is more abscure than the Paleolithic age. It is not clear up to what extent this district was occupied by the Dravidains.It is supposed that Nellore was situated in Dandakaranya forests into which the Aryas first penetrated as adventurous sages with the rise of the Mouryan Empire Nellore also seems to have under its influence and was part of the Ashoka Empire in the 3rd century B.C. It was next included in the Pallava Dominion between the fourth and sixth century A.D.  

Nellore was part of the composite Madras state until 1 October 1953. On 1 November 1956, when the states in India were reorganized on a linguistic basis, the district was transferred to Andhra Pradesh. Potti Sriramulu, a Telugu patriot and activist from Nellore fasted to death for the formation of the Andhra Pradesh state.In the year 2008 Nellore Distrisct was renamed to be called as Potti Srirammulu Nellore by the Andhra Pradesh government.