TELANGANA PLATEAU

plateau in western Andhra Pradesh state, southeastern India. Comprising the northeastern part of the Deccan Plateau, the Telangana Plateau has an area of about 57,370 square miles (148,000 square km), a north-south length of about 480 miles (770 km), and an east-west width of about 320 miles (515 km). Mentioned in one of the Mauryan emperor Asoka's edicts, the region was successively ruled by the Satavahanas, Pallavas, Eastern Calukyas, Kakatiyas, and the Vijayanagar kings until it became part of the Qutb Shahi kingdom of Golconda. It later came under the rule of the Nizam Shahi dynasty of Hyderabad. Since the establishment of the Indian Union in 1947, there have been repeated demands for the creation of a Telangana state, separate from Andhra Pradesh. Geologically, the plateau is chiefly composed of Precambrian gneiss. Its senile peneplain is marked by undulations, almost completely graded valleys, and monadnocks that range from hill groups to tors and arrangements of massive boulders. The plateau is drained by the Godavari River taking a southeasterly course; by the Krishna River, which divides the peneplain into two regions; and by the Penneru River flowing in a northerly direction. The plateau's forests are moist deciduous, dry deciduous, and tropical thorn. Most of the population of the region is engaged in agriculture; cereals, oilseeds, cotton, and pulses (legumes) are the major crops. There are multipurpose irrigation and hydroelectric-power projects, including the Pochampad, Bhaira Vanitippa, and Upper Penneru. Industries (located in Hyderabad, Warangal, and Kurnool) produce cotton textiles, sugar, foodstuffs, tobacco, paper, machine tools, and pharmaceuticals. Cottage industries are forest-based (timber, firewood, charcoal, bamboo products) and mineral-based (asbestos, coal, chromite, iron ore, mica, and kyanite). There is a dense network of roads, as well as railways and waterways; Hyderabad, capital of Andhra Pradesh, is linked by air with major cities in India. The language of the plateau is Telugu of the Dravidian family. The plateau's important cities and towns are Hyderabad, Warangal, Kurnool, and Nizamabad.