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Chapter Overview Map
Society, Religion, Language, Literature, Art and Architecture in Ancient Andhra
4.1–4.2 Society and economy
- Inscriptions name householders, merchants, bankers, artisans and nuns as donors, so ordinary people are visible in the record.
- Land grants, guilds, lead coins and Roman coin hoards show a farming base linked to long-distance trade.
4.3–4.5 Three religious traditions
- Buddhism flourished most between about the 2nd century BCE and the 4th century CE, around great stupas such as Amaravati.
- Jainism has secure dated evidence mainly from the 7th century CE; earlier links are tradition.
- Brahmanical faith grew from Vedic sacrifices to temples of Shiva, Vishnu and Skanda.
4.6–4.7 Language and literature
- Telugu is a Dravidian language whose first long inscription, at Kalamalla, dates to about 575 CE.
- Royal records moved from Prakrit to Sanskrit, and then to Telugu; literary Telugu begins with Nannaya in the 11th century.
4.8–4.9 Art and architecture
- The Amaravati school carved narrative reliefs in greenish-white limestone and influenced Sri Lanka and South-East Asia.
- Andhra stupas carry ayaka platforms with five pillars at each cardinal point.
4.10–4.12 Sources, comparison and legacy
- Inscriptions, coins, sculpture and excavations together rebuild cultural history.
- Trade, royal patronage and religion rose and fell together.
Don't confuse
- Kalamalla is the first long Telugu inscription; Addanki (848 CE) is the earliest known Telugu verse inscription.
- Amaravati village (Palnadu district) holds the ancient stupa; the new capital region of the same name is a separate place.
Notice how each branch groups related sections, and how the last branch separates two pairs of facts that are easy to mix up.