Telugu Historyతెలుగు చరిత్ర

Sri Krishnadevaraya Andhra Bhasha Nilayam, Hyderabad

The first Telugu library of Hyderabad, opened in Sultan Bazaar on 1 September 1901. Komarraju Lakshmana Rao, the Raja of Munagala, Ravichettu Ranga Rao and others founded it. A Hyderabad State committee's history says the Telugu awakening of Telangana began with it, and calls it a school of renaissance.

The Sri Krishnadevaraya Andhra Bhasha Nilayam was a Telugu library in Hyderabad, opened in 1901.1 It was the first Telugu library of the city.23 Its story is part of The library movement.

Founding, 1901

The Hyderabad State committee’s history of the freedom movement (1957) gives the date: the library opened in Sultan Bazaar on 1 September 1901.1 It names its founders as the Raja of Munagala, Komarraju Lakshmana Rao, Ravichettu Ranga Rao, Adipudi Somasekhar Rao and Mailavaram Narasimha Shastry.1

Sarojini Regani explains how this came about. Telugu leaders of the Madras districts, moved by the reform movement of those years, wanted strong links with the Telugu people of the Nizam’s state.2 The Raja of Munagala, N. Venkata Ranga Rao, employed Lakshmana Rao as his diwan (chief minister) and supported the plan.2 Ravichettu Ranga Rao was a mansabdar of Hyderabad (a holder of a state rank and allowance).2

G. Venkataramarao, in his Telangana Charitra (2014), gives the library a large place.4 He writes that the wish to honour the Telugu language, the fight against illiteracy, historical research and the movement against the Nizam’s harsh rule were all born in it.4

A school of renaissance

The committee’s history says the public awakening of Telangana began with this library.1 It soon became one of the best-known institutions of the state, and “developed as a school of renaissance in Telangana”.5 Madapati Hanumantha Rao, later the leader of that awakening, entered public life in these same years.6

At about the same time, the same founders started a literary society, the Vignana Chandrika Mandali, to publish useful books in Telugu.1 Other libraries followed: one at Warangal in 1904, and the Andhra Samvardhini Library at Secunderabad in 1905.5 The Who’s Who of Freedom Struggle (1980) also names Lakshmana Rao as one of those who set up the library.7

A centre of Telugu life

The library took part in the study of Telugu history. For its Kakatiya celebration at Warangal, the Andhra Historical Research Society planned an exhibition.8 It expected the library, with other bodies of Hyderabad, to lend inscriptions, copies of inscriptions and palm-leaf manuscripts for the show.8

It also served readers outside its walls. Venkataramarao writes that the Andhra Yuvati Mandali, a women’s society founded in Hyderabad in 1935, borrowed good books from the library.9 A servant carried them to women readers for a week at a time.9

Where the sources disagree

No disagreement was found among the sources used for this page.

Footnotes

  1. The Freedom Struggle in Hyderabad, Vol. III (1957), p. 151 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  2. Sarojini Regani, Highlights of the Freedom Movement in Andhra Pradesh (1956), p. 171 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  3. P. Krishna Moorthy, Unification of Andhra Pradesh (Ph.D. thesis, Karnatak University, 1987), p. 167 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩

  4. Venkataramarao, Telangana Charitra (2014), p. 141 (in Telugu) (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩ ↩2

  5. Freedom Struggle in Hyderabad, Vol. III (1957), p. 152 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  6. Freedom Struggle in Hyderabad, Vol. III (1957), p. 169 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  7. Sarojini Regani (ed.), Who’s Who of Freedom Struggle in Andhra Pradesh, Vol. II (1980), p. 196 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩

  8. R. Subba Rao, address at the Kakatiya Conference, Journal of the Andhra Historical Research Society, Vol. VI, Parts 3–4, p. 221 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩ ↩2

  9. G. Venkataramarao, Telangana Charitra (2014), p. 140 (in Telugu) (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩ ↩2

References

Sources (6)
  1. Hyderabad State Committee Appointed for the Compilation of a History of the Freedom Movement, The Freedom Struggle in Hyderabad: A Connected Account, Vol. III (1885-1920) (opens in a new tab), Hyderabad State Committee, Hyderabad, 1957, pp. 151–152, 169. Public domain in India; paraphrased. [Public domain in India]
  2. Sarojini Regani, Highlights of the Freedom Movement in Andhra Pradesh (opens in a new tab), Ministry of Cultural Affairs, Government of Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad, 1956, pp. 171. Cite-only; paraphrased. [All rights reserved (cited, not reproduced)]
  3. P. Krishna Moorthy, Unification of Andhra Pradesh (Ph.D. thesis, Department of History and Archaeology, Karnatak University, Dharwad) (opens in a new tab), 1987, pp. 167. Cite-only; paraphrased. [All rights reserved (cited, not reproduced)]
  4. G. Venkataramarao; C. Narayana Reddy (chief ed.) and J. Chennayya (ed.), Telangana Charitra (తెలంగాణ చరిత్ర) (opens in a new tab), Andhra Saraswata Parishat, Hyderabad, 2014, pp. 140–141. Cite-only; paraphrased. [All rights reserved (cited, not reproduced)]
  5. Sarojini Regani (ed.), Who's Who of Freedom Struggle in Andhra Pradesh, Vol. II: Karimnagar, Khammam, Krishna, Kurnool, Mahbubnagar, Medak and Nalgonda districts (opens in a new tab), State Committee for the Compilation of the History of the Freedom Struggle in Andhra Pradesh, Government of Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad, 1980, pp. 196. Cite-only; paraphrased. [All rights reserved (cited, not reproduced)]
  6. R. Subba Rao (articles); Andhra Historical Research Society, Journal of the Andhra Historical Research Society, Vol. VI, Part 1 (July 1931), incl. R. Subba Rao, 'The Pulomburu Plates of Vishnukundin Madhavavarma' (pp. 17-23) and 'The History of the Eastern Gangas of Kalinga' (pp. 58-64) (opens in a new tab), Andhra Historical Research Society, Rajahmundry, 1931, Vol. VI, Parts 3–4, p. 221. Cite-only; paraphrased. [All rights reserved (cited, not reproduced)]

Spotted an error on this page? Tell us

Last updated: