📜 Telangana Pre-Historical Age: Complete Guide
History Telangana Student Notes
“If we take the span of human life into a full-fledged movie, in that history will be only for a minute. The rest will be pre-history.”
— Gordon V. Childe, World-Renowned Historian
🔍 What is the Pre-Historical Age?
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Pre-Historical Age | Period with no written records for reconstructing human history |
| Historical Age | Period of 2,300 years for which written records are available |
| Telangana's Human Existence | Nearly 3 Lakh (300,000) years before the historical age! |
📚 Sources of Telangana's Pre-History
🏛️ Key Discoveries & Institutions
- Mid-19th Century: Robert Bruce Foote discovered Megalithic burials at Valigonda (Nalgonda district) — first step in studying Telangana's pre-history
- 1914: Hyderabad State Department of Archaeology established
- 1953: Book “Antiquarian Remains in Hyderabad State” published — listed 118 pre-historical sites including plant fossils at Asifabad & Sirpur, Neolithic and 96 Megalithic sites
- 1956: After Andhra Pradesh formation, hundreds of sites identified through Salvage Archaeology
💡 What is Salvage Archaeology? Study of sites in danger of submerging due to dam construction (Nagarjunasagar, Sriramsagar, Srisailam, Tungabhadra, Jurala, Nizamsagar, Polavaram projects).
👨🔬 Notable Researchers
| Researcher | Contribution |
|---|---|
| Dr. V.V. Krishna Sastri | Identified pre-historical sites, especially with paintings |
| Prof. K. Timma Reddy | Sites on left bank of Krishna river (Mahbubnagar) |
| Prof. M.L.K. Murthy | Lower Godavari valley sites (Polavaram submergence area) |
| Thakur Raja Ramsingh | Godavari valley sites (Basara to Bhadrachalam) |
| Dyavanpalli Satyanarayana | Discovered ~10 pre-historical sites in 5 years |
| B. Subrahmanyam | Book: Telugu Nelapai Puravastu Parisodhanalu (2012) |
⏳ Chronology of Pre-Historical Periods
| # | Period | Chronology | Tools Used |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lower Paleolithic | 3 to 1.30 lakh years ago | Pebble tools |
| 2 | Middle Paleolithic | 1.0/0.50 to 0.20 lakh years ago | Flake tools |
| 3 | Upper Paleolithic | 20,000 BCE – 10,000 BCE | Blades & Burins |
| 4 | Mesolithic | 8,500 BCE – 3,000 BCE | Microliths |
| 5 | Neolithic | 3,000 BCE – 1500 BCE | Smooth stone tools |
| 6 | Megalithic (Iron Age) | 1500 BCE – 300 CE | Iron tools |
🔑 Key Transition: Megalithic period = Iron Age = Proto-Historical Age (bridge between pre-history & history)
🪨 1. Lower Paleolithic Age
📍 Major Sites in Telangana
- Nallamalla forests (left bank of Krishna river) — Mahbubnagar & Nalgonda
- Lower Godavari valley — Peddapalli, Ramagundam, Godavarikhani (Karimnagar)
- Adilabad: Sirpur to Naspur, Manchiryala to Vemanapalli, Boath & Pochechera
- Warangal: Eturunagaram forests (Ekkala, Selibaka)
- Khammam: Palvancha, Cherla, Godavari valley
🛠️ Tools & Lifestyle
- Hand axes (huge shapes), chopping tools, discoids
- Resemblance to Acheulian tools of Africa
- Lifestyle similar to animals; lived in tree cavities
🪨 2. Middle Paleolithic Age
🔑 Key Discovery: Ox skeleton (Bos namadicus) found with stone tools at Yavaladevipadu (Mahbubnagar) — first evidence of human-animal relation
🛠️ Tools
- Small hand axes, pole axes, scraping stones
- Flake tools: single-faced, dual-faced, side-bordered, concave, convex, drills, awls-borers
📍 Major Sites
- Mahbubnagar: Appapur, Borapur, Chandraguptapattanam, Saleswaram, Kadalivanam, Medimankal, Kyaturu, Somasila, Dasarapalle
- Nalgonda: Yeleswaram, Nagarjunakonda
- Warangal: Ganapavaram
- Adilabad: Asifabad, Pochera, Naspur, Marlavayi
- Karimnagar: Godavarikhani, Medipalli, Buchayyapalem, Ramagundam, Malkapuram
🪨 3. Upper Paleolithic Age
🌍 Climatic Change: End of Pleistocene (Ice Age) → Beginning of Holocene (Warm Period)
🛠️ Tools & Art
- Blade tools, side-border blade tools, bone tools
- First cave paintings with colours!
📍 Major Sites
- Adilabad: Vankidi
- Godavari valley: Cherla, Bornagudem, Laknavaram, Lingavaram, Peravaram, Rayavaram, Viravaram, Yellavaram
- Warangal: Eturunagaram, Pakala
- Krishna valley: Yeleswaram, Nagarjunakonda, Chandraguptapattanam, Kadalivanam, Medimankal
🪨 4. Mesolithic Age
- Belongs to first Holocene age — favorable conditions for human progress
- Microlithic tools — hence called Microlithic Age
- Last age using only stone tools
🎨 Cave Paintings
- 150+ figures — deer, cat, hyena, dog, fox, tortoise, geometrical designs, human figures, hand impressions in red colour
- Mostly in limestone, granite, sandstone hill caves
📍 Major Painting Sites
- Sanganonipalli (Mahbubnagar) — first generation paintings, large deer figures
- Duppad Gattu, Pothanpalli, Mannemkonda (near Sangnonipalli)
- Kokapeta (Ranga Reddy), Ramagundem (Karimnagar), Hastalapur (Medak), Pandavulagutta & Narsapur (Warangal)
💡 Special Finding: Microlithic tools made of chert stones unearthed at University of Hyderabad memorial stone — scraping stones, backed blades
🪨 5. Neolithic Age
🔑 The “New Stone Age Revolution” (Gordon Childe)
| Discovery | Impact |
|---|---|
| Agriculture | Permanent settlements → family, society, village |
| Pottery | Storage → individual property → rich/poor classes |
| Cattle Domestication | Large-scale farming → wheeled carts → trade |
🔄 Major Shift: From Food-Gathering → Food Production
🛠️ Tools
- Triangular axes, adzes, slings, rollers/pestles, blades, crescent-shaped chert implements
- Copper & bronze articles found at Chinnamarur & Chagatur (Mahbubnagar) — contact with Chalcolithic cultures
- Twisted copper swords at Rimmanagudem (Medak) — Copper Hoard Culture from Ganges coastal area
🏺 Pottery
- Hand-made earthenware; ash or light brown colour
- Black/red polish; mostly red decoration
- Similar to early Indus civilisation, Baluchistan, early Harappan pottery
- Jorve Chalcolithic resemblance (1400–1050 BCE, Maharashtra)
📍 Major Settlements
- Godavari valley & Maneru river (Karimnagar): Togarai, Kadambapur, Pedabankur
- Peddavagu coast: Budigepalli, Polakonda, Kolakonda, Devarapalli
- Tool manufacturing site: Togarai (near granite hills)
- Sharpening stones: Kadambapur, Aija (Mahbubnagar), Vellaturu mandal (Karimnagar)
🐄 Economy
- Animal husbandry + Agriculture
- Ash heaps at Utnoor (Mahbubnagar) — cattle sheds
- Domesticated: cows, buffaloes, sheep, goats, pigs, dogs, sparrows
- Crops: Jowar, paddy, millets (Ragi), pulses (green gram, black gram, horse gram)
- Rain-based farming
🎨 Art
- Cave paintings & line drawings: Budagavi (Karimnagar), Pandavulagutta (Warangal), Rachakonda (Nalgonda), Nallamudi (Khammam), Duppadgattu & Dongalagattu (Mahbubnagar)
- Bull paintings — curved horns, humps, hanging skin, long bodies
- Men holding arrows beside bulls
⚰️ Burial Culture
- Dead bodies buried with head towards North
- Two children buried in pots at Nagarjunakonda
🪨 6. Megalithic Age
- 1500 BCE – 300 BCE
- Skeletons kept in earthenware box or stone nest with big stones in round shape
- Called Rakshasagullu (Big Stone Age) or Iron Age
- Local names: Pandavulagoollu, Veeralapadulu
🏗️ Types of Megalithic Burials
| Type | Description |
|---|---|
| Pit Burials / Cairns | Pit dug, skeleton in earthenware box or stone slab room, big stones in circular form |
| Cist Burials | Stone slab room partially visible above earth, one slab on top |
| Dolmens | Entire stone burial above earth's surface |
| Rock-Cut Burials | Round caves carved in hillocks, dead bodies kept & roofed |
📍 Key Facts
- First Megalithic burial in India: Hyderabad Central University campus — 4,250 years old!
- First type burials: Dead buried as is
- Second type burials: Dead cremated, bones buried
- Pit burials & Cists: Left bank of Krishna river
- Dolmens: Right bank of Godavari river
- Cave burials: Godavari coastal area
🪦 Unique Features
- Cist burial slab facing East had a hole — for soul to wander or food offerings
- Swastik or Plus (+) shape stone slab rooms
- Mallur hillocks (Eturunagaram): Dolmens with huge volume, smooth stone compounds, Palnad sandstone containers, hollow structures, three fort walls — evidence of urbanization & city states!
- Vertical stones: 1–5 yards height — Hyderabad Central University, Phanigiri, Aleru (Nalgonda), Bommera, Lebarthy (Warangal), Sivaru Venkatapur (Medak)
- Cross (+) stones: Janampet, Mangapeta (Warangal), Gundala, Kanchanapalli (Khammam) — not found anywhere else in the world!
- Pyramid stones in Egypt show Gods holding Cross (+) stones — possible Mediterranean connection!
- Rectangular platforms: Pochampad (Nizamabad), Kanchanapalli — food platforms for eagles or tool-making platforms
🏺 Objects Unearthed from Burials
| Category | Findings |
|---|---|
| Pottery | Vessels, pots, lids, three-legged seats, nail presses, finger prints, rope designs, potter marks |
| Unique Pottery | Red & black vessels, complete black shining vessels — unique to this age |
| Coarse Vessels | Big pots, containers, coffin boxes |
| Decoration | Earthenware beads (Veerapuram), bangles (Moulali, Hyderabad) |
| Toys | Dogs (Pochampad), ram with turned horns (Upperu), long horns (Serupalli), buffalo head (Peddabankur) |
| Iron Objects | Sickles, axes, spears, knives, swords, lances, blades, adzes, chisels, tridents, horseshoes, elephant goads |
| Copper Objects | Knives, handles, bells, bangles, rings, needles |
| Gold & Silver | Gold beads & earrings (Kadambapur), silver & gold beads (Rayagiri), golden ring (Polichetti tank, Khammam) |
| Precious Stones | Agate, carnelian, jasper, amethyst, crystal (Serupalli, Chinnamarur, Peddamarur) |
| Other | Horn combs (Pochampad, Chinnamarur), ivory beads & bangles (Nellimilli), bone beads (Hasmatpet) |
| Food Grains | Paddy, barley, millets (ragi, korra), horse gram, peas, black gram, red gram, beans, jujube, amla |
🐟 Fish hooks at Chinnamaruru — reveal food preferences!
🏛️ Historical Age: Early Glows and Foundations
🎨 Art & Paintings
- Cave paintings: Narsapur (Warangal), Yeddanoor, Sivaru Vekatapur, Vargal (Medak), Ramachandrapuram, Nallamudi (Khammam), Kokapet (Rangareddy), Mudumala (Mahbubnagar)
- Scenes: Hunting, war-heroes with sword/shield/bow/arrow/spear, men riding horse & elephant, dog, humped bull, cattle, deer, bird, cheetah, hare, fox, tortoise, crabs
- Mudumala cave: Mother Goddess in black colour — hands raised, legs straightened, breasts falling — worshipped for children, milk & crops
- Another Mudumala painting: Cow raising tail, exhibiting reproduction organs — worship of cow as Gomata for cattle wealth
👑 Formation of Kingdoms
- 6th Century BCE: Small kingdoms in Godavari valley (northern Telangana)
- First Janapada/Kingdom in South India: Asmaka at Bodhan (Nizamabad district)
- Kotilingala (Karimnagar) coins reveal king names: Gobada, Siri, Narana, Sirikamvaja, Siri Samagopa
- Satavahana Empire: First empire in South India — established by removing Samagopa king (name 'Satavahana' reprinted on coins)
📝 Quick Revision Table
| Age | Key Innovation | Major Sites |
|---|---|---|
| Lower Paleolithic | Hand axes, chopping tools | Nallamalla, Godavari valley |
| Middle Paleolithic | Flake tools, ox skeleton | Yavaladevipadu |
| Upper Paleolithic | Blade tools, cave paintings | Vankidi, Eturunagaram |
| Mesolithic | Microliths, 150+ cave figures | Sanganonipalli |
| Neolithic | Agriculture, pottery, cattle | Togarai, Kadambapur |
| Megalithic | Iron tools, burials | Mallur, Hyderabad Central University |
🎯 Key Takeaways for Students
- Telangana's pre-history spans 3 lakh years — only 2,300 years have written records
- Robert Bruce Foote (19th century) — father of Telangana pre-history studies
- Salvage Archaeology — saved sites from dam submergence
- Gordon Childe coined “New Stone Age Revolution” — food gathering → food production
- Megalithic Age = Iron Age = Proto-Historical Age — bridge to history
- First Megalithic burial in India — Hyderabad Central University (4,250 years old)
- Cross (+) stones — unique to Telangana, possible Mediterranean connection
- Asmaka — first kingdom in South India (Bodhan, Nizamabad)
- Satavahanas — first empire in South India (Kotilingala coins)
- Cave paintings — Mudumala Mother Goddess, bull worship, hunting scenes
📌 Remember: The pre-historical age is not “primitive” — it's the foundation of civilization, agriculture, art, and society as we know it!
