Telugu people

Telugu people (Teluguvāru), also called Telugus, 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 groups. Telugu is the fourth most spoken language in India and the 14th most spoken native language in the world. 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. Telugu is the fastest-growing language in the United States. It is also a protected language in South Africa. Andhra is an ethnonym used for Telugu people since antiquity. The earliest mention of the Andhras occurs in Aitareya Brahmana (800 BCE) of the Rigveda. They were also mentioned in the Mahabharata and Buddhist Jataka tales. Megasthenes reported in his Indica (310 BCE) that Andhras were living in the Godavari and Krishna river deltas and were famous for their military strength which was second only to Mauryans in all of India. 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. They established trade relations with the Roman Empire and their capital city, Amaravati was the most prosperous city in India in 2nd century CE. Inscriptions in Old Telugu script (Vengi script) were found as far away as Indonesia and Myanmar. In the 13th century, Kakatiyas unified various Telugu-speaking areas under one realm. Later, Telugu culture and literature flourished and reached its zenith during the late Vijayanagara Empire. After the fall of the Vijayanagara Empire, various Telugu rulers called Nayakas established independent kingdoms across South India. Kandyan Nayaks, the last dynasty to rule Sri Lanka were of Telugu descent. In this era, Telugu became the language of high culture across South India.