Rayalaseema

Rayalaseema (Telugu: రాయలసీమ) is a geographic region in the state of Andhra Pradesh in India. It includes the southern districts of Anantapur, Chittoor, Kadapa and Kurnool. It has a total area of 67,299 km2. These Telugu speaking districts were part of Madras Presidency until 1953 when Telugu speaking districts of Madras Presidency were carved out to form Andhra state. Between 1953 and 1956, this region was part of Andhra State. In 1956, Telangana region was merged with Andhra State to form Andhra Pradesh State. The Rayalaseema was ruled by Sri Krishna Devaraya. Rayalaseema was the original home of Eastern Chalukyas. They gradually extended their sway over Karnata country because of the pressure from Cholas kings. Although Rayalaseema is a small region compared to the rest of Telugu speaking regions, its contribution to Telugu, Tamil, Urdu, arts, culture and literature is immense.

Before and around the period of Chalukya, i.e., 7CE period, it is also called "Hiranyaka Rastramu". Only during and after the Vijayanagara era is it called Rayala seema.

During the British era, the Nizam of Hyderabad ceded this area to the British, and is also called Ceded Districts'. After Independence, it was renamed as Rayalaseema as 'seema' was an administrative unit of the Vijayanagara Empire similar to today's districts.