Andhra's Age of Inscriptions, 1000–1650

The distributions of all stone inscriptions from Andhra Pradesh dating from a.d. 1000–1650 are analyzed in order to uncover the historical processes underlying their production. The largest numbers of inscriptions were issued during the periods of greatest political unity, under the Kakatiya and Vijayanagara states of the thirteenth and sixteenth centuries. Inscriptional production followed the frontier of agrarian settlement as it moved outward from the most favorable ecological zone along the coast, to the northern uplands (Telangana), and finally into the dry southern territory...

The distributions of all stone inscriptions from Andhra Pradesh dating from a.d. 1000–1650 are analyzed in order to uncover the historical processes underlying their production. The largest numbers of inscriptions were issued during the periods of greatest political unity, under the Kakatiya and Vijayanagara states of the thirteenth and sixteenth centuries. Inscriptional production followed the frontier of agrarian settlement as it moved outward from the most favorable ecological zone along the coast, to the northern uplands (Telangana), and finally into the dry southern territory (Rayalasima). Political power similarly shifted to the interior where Telugu increasingly displaced Kannada and Tamil as the language of inscriptions. The basic contours of the modern Telugu linguistic region were thus established, along with the beginnings of a Telugu cultural identity.