Godavari

“ The Sabari is the principal tributary of the Godavari within the district. The Godavari often rises in destructive floods. The population of the present area in 1901 was 1,445,961. In the old district the increase during the last decade was 11%. The chief towns are Cocanada and Rajahmundry. The forests are of great value; coal is known, and graphite is worked. The population is principally occupied in agriculture, the principal crops being rice, oil-seeds, tobacco and sugar. The cigars known in England as Lunkas are partly made from tobacco grown on lankas or islands in the river Godavari. ”

“ The Indravati, the Sabari and the Tal or Talper, are the chief rivers of the district; all of them affluents of the Godavari. The soil throughout the greater portion of Bastar consists of light clay, with an admixture of sand, suited for raising rice and wet crops. In the jungles the Marias, who are among the aboriginal tribes of Gond origin, raise kosra (Panicum italicum) and other inferior grains. Aboriginal races generally follow the migratory system of tillage, clearing the jungle on selected patches, and after taking crops for two or three years abandoning them for new ground. ”

“ The former consists in cultivating certain recognized clearings for a year or two at a time, Godavari Delta allowing the forest to grow again for a few years, and then again burning and cultivating them; while under the latter the clearing is not returned to for a much longer period and is sometimes deserted for ever. The latter is in fashion in the more hilly and wilder parts, while the former is a step towards civilization.
In February or March the jungle trees and bushes are cut down and spread evenly over the portion to be cultivated; and, when the hot weather comes on, they are burnt. ”

“ Vegi, near Ellore, in the Krishna district, and Rajahmundry in the Godavari district were for many centuries, the capitals of the powerful Andhra kingdom of Vengi at whose court Telugu was first cultivated. Under the Eastern Chalukyas, the dominions of the kings of Vengi included the greater part of the Vizagapatam district and extended in the south-west into the Nellore district. The inland parts of the Telugu country were absorbed during this period by the kingdoms of Dravida, Karnata, or Maharastra. ”

“ After Bharata’s return to Ayodhya, Rama and his companions moved further southwards, in the direction of the great forest of Dandhaka, which extended indeed as far as the Godavari. In their wanderings they came to the abode of a certain ascetic whose wife, having performed severe austerities for ten thousand years, was privileged, during ten years of drought, to create fruits and roots for the sustenance of the people and to divert the course of the river Jumna, so that its waters should flow by the thirsty asylum of the hermits. ”

“ Other Irrigation Sources—Minor channels and tanks—Wells- Artesian wells. Economic Condition of Agriculturists.
The immense area irrigated from the Godavari anicut has naturally resulted in paddy being the most important crop in the district. The seasons for growing it in Bhadrachalam (where, however, very little is raised) differ from those elsewhere. In Bhadrachalam a short crop (pinna vari) is raised between May and August and a longer one (pedda vari) between August and January ”

“ Páta Pattisam: A hamlet of this, called Pattisam Nidhi, forms a picturesque and rocky island in the Gódávari, three miles south of Pólavaram. The population of the whole village is 2,002. It is called Páta (old) Pattisam to distinguish it from Kotta (new) Pattisam, a hamlet of Gútála. A division of the old Pólavaram estate, containing five villages and paying a peshkash of Rs, 5,209, is called the Pattisam division, but this was never held separately from Pólavaram proper. ”

“ The temple has no income and is very much out of repair.
Kunnavaram: Stands at the junction of the Saveri and Gódávari rivers; population 1,107. Formerly the station of the Special Assistant Agent and now the head-quarters of the District Forest Officer, Upper Gódávari. It is an important point for the river-borne trade, as it is beyond the Gháts and the unbridged Saveri and carts can travel from it to Bhadráchalam. ”

“ Under this empire Ujjain was the seat of a viceroy, a prince of the imperial house, who ruled over Kathiawar, Malwa and Gujarat. On the death of Asoka in 231 B.C. the empire of the Mauryas broke up, and their heritage in the west fell to the Andhra dynasty of the Satavahanas of Paithan on the Godavari, a Dravidian family whose dominion by 200 B.C. stretched across the peninsula from the deltas of the Godavari and Kistna to Nasik and the Western Ghats. ”

“ A hill in the range which runs from that peak across the river into the Pólavaram division is locally known as Biraiya Konda, and is regarded as the haunt of a demon called Biraiya who is worshipped by the native navigators of the Gódávari.† [5] Among the great rivers of India the Gōdávari takes rank next after the Ganges and Indus. It runs nearly across the peninsula, its course is 900 miles long, and it receives the drainage from 115,000 square miles, an area greater than that of England and Scotland combined. ”

“ AMALAPURAM TALUK.
Amalapuram taluk is a triangular island enclosed between the Vasishta, Vainateyam and Gautami branches of the Godavari and the sea. With the smaller Nagaram island, which is similarly bounded, it comprises the whole of the central delta of the Godavari river. Statistics regarding it will be found in the separate Appendix to this volume. It is the most populous taluk in the district and the density of its inhabitants to the square mile (548) is well above the average of the plain taluks. ”

“ Beyond them again lived the Andaroi, in whom it is impossible not to recognize the Andhras of Southern India. The Andhras were a great and powerful nation who had settled originally between the Godavari and the Krishna, but who before the time of Megasthenes had extended their kingdom as far north as the Narmada. Megasthenes writes that they were a powerful race, possessed numerous villages and thirty walled towns, and supplied their king with 100,000 infantry, 2,000 cavalry, and 1,000 elephants. ”

“ They also observe the curious custom of emptying half the contents of the pots of Ganges water they bring back with them into the Gódávari, and fill them up again from the latter river. It is believed that if this is not done, the Ganges water will quickly dry up in the pot. The sanctifying effect of a bath in the Gódávari at Rajahmundry is placed so high that'people come by train all the way from Madras for the purpose, often going back the next day. ”

“ Meanwhile another family, the Haihiya chiefs of 'the Kóna country,' were in power in the delta of the Gódávari. The delta taluk of Amalápuram is still known as the Kóna country. These people were apparently hereditary chieftains subordinate to the Vengi viceroys and the Vélanándu family. Their inscriptions in this district range from 1128 to 1206. ”

“ Sahyadri hills begin in Khandesh district, and run S. as far as Gao.
In the territory of the Nizam of Hyderabad, the cross range forming the watershed between the river systems of the Tapti and the Godavari, is locally known as Sahyadri Parbat. ”

“ The net result of this settlement was a loss to Government of just over Rs. 1,000 annually.
The present Agency tracts of Gódávari consist of the whole of the old mansabs (estates) of Rampa and Jaddangi, the more hilly parts of the old Peddápuram and Pólavaram zamindaris, the Dutcharti and Guditeru muttas of the Golgonda Agency transferred from Vizagapatam in 1881 and the Bhadráchalam taluk transferred from the Central Provinces. ”

“ Southern India, rich with historical and archaeological remains, is a land of definite and yet indefinable charm. To the north of Mysore is the largest native state in India, Hyderabad, a picturesque plateau cut by the mighty Godavari River. Broad fertile plains, the lovely Nilgiris or "Blue Mountains," other regions with barren hills of limestone or granite. Hyderabad history is a long, colorful story, starting three thousand years ago under the Andhra kings, and continuing under Hindu dynasties until A.D. 1294, when it passed to a line of Moslem rulers who reign to this day. ”

“ Gāndli.—The Telugu caste of oil-pressers, numbering about 3000 persons in the Central Provinces, in the Chānda, Nāgpur and Bhandāra Districts. They are immigrants from the Godāvari District of Madras and have been settled in the Central Provinces for some generations. Here many of them have prospered so that they have abandoned the hereditary calling and become landowners, traders and moneylenders. Like the well-to-do Telis they are keenly desirous of bettering their social position and now repudiate any connection with what may be known as ‘the shop,’ or the profession of oil-pressing. ”

“ At this juncture Vijayagópála escaped from Rajahmundry and took refuge with Linga Reddi, a hill chief whose estate lay on the east bank of the Gódávari above Pólavaram. He was induced by his host and a fugitive revenue defaulter (who had plundered Undi in 1798) to join them in a rebellion, and their combined parties commenced a fitúri by plundering two villages in the Pólavaram estate.
His brother's revolt encouraged Mangapati to give further trouble about his revenue. ”

“ Carboniferous sandstone extends across the Godavari valley as far as Ellore, but the coal has been found to be of inferior quality. Among other minerals may be mentioned manganese in Vizagapatam, and mica in Nellore. Garnets are abundant in the sandstone of the Northern Circars, and diamonds of moderate value are found in the same region. Stone and gravel quarries are very numerous. ”

“ From Mahabaleshwar the Kistna runs southward in a rapid course into the nizam’s dominions, then turns to the east, and ultimately falls into the sea by two principal mouths, carrying with it the waters of the Bhima from the north and the Tungabadhra from the south-west. Along this part of the coast runs an extensive strip of land which has been entirely formed by the detritus washed down by the Kistna and Godavari. The river channel is throughout too rocky and the stream too rapid to allow navigation even by small native craft. ”

“ By 632 Vishnuvardhana had established himself in these new territories as an independent sovereign of the kingdom of 'Vengi,' the capital of which was at Pedda Végi near Ellore and which included the Gódávari district, and there he founded the Eastern Chálukya dynasty, which held that country for at least five centuries and remained throughout distinct from, and independent of, the Western Chálukyas. ”

“ Gingelly, horse-gram and ragi are most widely grown in Peddápuram and Rajahmundry. Cholam is chiefly raised in Bhadráchalam in the Agency, in all the upland taluks and in Amalápuram in the delta. Castor is popular in Pólavaram; cambu in Peddápuram; Bengal gram in Amalápuram, Peddápuram and Rámachandrapuram; and sunn hemp in Amalápuram, Nagaram and Cocanada. Tobacco grows best in the Gódávari lankas and in Yellavaram. ”

“ There are two varieties of tobacco — lanka and pati. The former, which is much the superior, is grown on the alluvial soils of the lankas and banks of the Gódávari, which require no manure owing to their being covered with silt by the river every year. The latter is raised in fields near the villages. The crop is always transplanted. ”

“ The only railway which traverses the district is that which was originally called the East Coast Railway but is now known officially as the North-east line of the Madras Railway. It enters the district from the south at Rajahmundry over a fine bridge across the Gódávari, and, skirting the north- western edge of the delta, finally runs from Samalkot parallel with the coast till it passes out of the district at Tuni. ”

“ Totapalli, eighteen miles north-east of Peddapuram, population 94, was the former capital of one of the three ancient mansabdaris of the Godavari district. The original holder of this was a mokhasadar under the zamindar of Peddapuram, who was bound to pay his suzerain a quit-rent of 1,000 pagodas a year and attend on him when required with a body of 700 peons. It was this military service which caused him to be denominated a mansabdar.1 [7]
His estate comprised lOO villages, of which 37 were held by inferior mokhasadars.2 [8] Mr. ”

“ The Eastern Ghats run in fragmentary spurs and ranges down the Madras coast. They begin in the Orissa district of Balasore, pass southwards through Cuttack and Puri, enter the Madras presidency in Ganjam, and sweep southwards through the districts of Vizagapatam, Godavari, Nellore, Chingleput, South Arcot, Trichinopoly and Tinnevelly. ”

“ Asóka was the great apostle of the Buddhist religion, which he extended far and wide in India, and the magnificent Buddhist remains at Amarávati on the Kistna river are proof that the faith he espoused obtained a strong hold in country even further south than the Gódávari. They contain an inscription in the Mauryan character. But his conquest of the Andhras by no means terminated the existence of that dynasty. ”

“ Almost the only noteworthy article of export from Gódávari is its surplus agricultural produce, but a fair quantity of the locally woven, dyed, or stamped cotton goods are sold outside the district, and so are the hides and skins from the tanneries of Rajahmundry. The distillery and sugar-factory at Samalkot also sends large quantities of its sugar and arrack to other parts of India. Of the agricultural products exported, rice is the largest item. ”

“ According to their own account, the Sakuna Pakshis are Telagas who emigrated to Vizagapatam from Peddāpuram in the Godāvari district.
A member of the caste, before proceeding on a begging expedition, rises early, and has a cold meal. ”