- Moturi Satyanarayana

          The history and the growth of civilization in India cannot be studied in isolation without reference to Asia. It is also a fact that the Asian history, particularly of the South East Asia cannot be studied independent of Indian influence. At the same time it can also be said that Peninsular India derived much stimulus to build its cultural history from the eastern and south eastern countries.

          With long sea coast on either side, Peninsular India played a great role in transmitting the best of what it received and assimilated to the South Eastern Countries and got back what they contributed with their indigenous and innate talents. Between the two sea coasts – Western and Eastern, the Eastern is longer one. This coast acted even in the prehistoric period as a spring board for the people to cross the Bay of Bengal and associate themselves with the cultural activities of the other shores in building up cultural edifices. Indian influence, particularly that of Peninsular India reached the shores of China, Korea and Japan not only with its Dravidian and Aryan patterns but also Buddhistic forms by direct and indirect routes over the land and the sea. Despite the fact that there were large number of settlements of Indian traders and priests in the S.E.Asian Countries, there was never any question of socio political domination by Indians.

           Counties of the Fareast including China, Korea, Japan, Mongolia owe much to the inspiration of ideas imported from India. Among the tribal people of South East Asia, the formative ideas took routes and blossomed due to the impact of Indian ideas. There was no consequent or invasion, 'No conversion by force or imposition of any type on them, it was all voluntary adoption'. The indigenous population adopted Indian ideas to enable thems-elves to live ordered and fruitful lives. The Indian concepts and forms provided only themes and patterns for transformation of society and also opened new avenues for cultural and artistic development. The overall scenery of the art and architecture prevalent in the areas clearly reveal the influence of Indian colonization. It is luxuriant in magnificence and intellectual in imaginative strength.

           The eastern coast of the Indian Peninsula is endowed by nature with many parts from which Buddhistic as well as Brahminical priests, preachers, traders, artisans sailed to the other shores of the Bay of Bengal. They were many expeditions too conducted from sea coasts to the coasts of the South Eastern Asian countries. The sea coast was not only used for dispatching men and material but also did in its own turn to receive men and material for cultural exchange. The ports on that coast served as centers for linking the two shores for more than 2000 years. In fact, they were cultural linkage centers and it is found that the ports on the eastern sea coast were acting as recently as the thirteenth century for cultural transfusion. During the Chola period, a colony of Malayan Buddhists built two temples to salvage the declining Buddhism in South India with the subsidy obtained from Sailendra Kings. These two temples were known as Raja Raja Perumpally and Rajendra Chola Perumpally at Nagapatnam, the term Perumpally being used as a synonym for stupa. There is another instance of similar effort made with the patronage of Sailendra Kings. A Buddhist stupa, or Perumpally was also built at the same time at Bapatla on the Andhra Coast and that is why the Hindu God to whom a temple was erected later on the ruins of that stupa was called Perumpally Bhavanarayana. Instances of such activities for cultural transfusions may be multiplied. In fact, for the people of the East Coast, the other shore of Bay of Bengal was much nearer rather than the places like Kashmir, Peshawar and Karachi in India. The other reason for this is the cultural linkage due to socio-ethnological relationship. Historically speaking, people of S.E.Asia are considered to be nearer to Peninsular India and their culture ethnologically.

          During the last 200 years and more, the task of writing history unfortunately fell into the hands of those who had access to the limited references available. As a result, documentation of histories carried on only in pieces with regional patterns and emphasis. Besides this, the importance of studying history has also shifted to power center rather than to the centers of learning that collect authentic information for the purpose of chronicalisation of activities with an unbased mind and objectivity.

           There is an unanimity of opinion among geologists about the formation of Peninsular India. In their opinion Peninsular India took shape long before the real of India. The Chitradurga excavations near Mysore, a next door neighbor to Telugu land and the artifacts found at Billasurgam in the Telugu land itself, established the fact that this part of the country was inhabited by human beings having their own civilization, culture, language and also life patterns in the hoary past. These excavations show that the civilization of Peninsular India was more than 6000 years old.

           Streams of culture from all parts of the World have been flowing into this base of pre-historical culture. The present day historian does not deal with these pre-historical cultures. He starts with the Dravidian culture, treating it as the first one and adds that the Aryan cultural edifice was built on that. The word 'Aryan' is interpreted as 'noble'. According to the dictionary meaning of Monier Williams, the meaning of 'Aryan' is also 'peasant'.

           Besides the Dravidian and Aryan cultures, the Jain and Buddhist cultures also flowed down to the south in their own ways. They also made their own impact and got ultimately merged with the earlier cultures. Traces of Jainism and its impact, particularly in the western half of the Peninsular India are still visible in social patterns as well as in remains of visual art chiseled out of the rock, while Buddhism became extinct in the social life and left no discernible mark in the social fabric as well as econography in the south.

           In the onward march of human civilization, two forces played decisive roles : 1. The force of muscle and skill and 2. The force of intellect and imagination. The force of muscle was largely responsible for development of Agriculture and Industry while the force of intellect produced patterns of civilization, religion, philosophy and culture to keep the human beings in peace. The two forms of forces give birth to two institutions, namely the Church and State in the language of Western Historians. The Church made profuse use of aesthetics for the expansion of religion and the philosophy while the state helped the expansion of aesthetics for the purpose aculturisation of the society. In between, human emotions were studied with meticulous and controlled to prevent violent eruptions and efforts were also made for sublimation. For the purpose of silencing these eruptions, energies were diverted through ideology and philosophy with the help of conceptualization of the human characteristics. The concepts of these characteristics were projected through imagery in the form of super human personalities. They are very well known to the students of Indian mythology.

           Peninsular India for centuries acted as a confluence and also as reservoir of such cultural streams received from various parts. Each layer brought a specialty of its own. If a full picture of history of Peninsular India is to be drawn, none of the streams, viz., Dravidian, Aryan, Jain and Buddhistic can be eliminated. To what extent these streams left behind their marks of religious cultural import or socio-religious importance have yet to be fully studied to arrive at a proper evaluation of their relative strength in formation of society and social transformation. The voice of conflict of opinion has not yet become silent in this regard. But it must however be admitted that Buddhism reigned a supreme for centuries after reaching its pyramidal heights. It found new areas of expansion in the South Eastern Countries, Buddhism was welcomed with open arms by the inhabitants of South Eastern countries and got intertwined with the Brahminical culture which was already there.

           Prior to the demarcation of the East Coast on the basis of language it was all one from the cape comorin to the confluence of Ganges. The North East coast was known as Kalinga and the South East coast as Chola Mandal. Telugu land and its people are closely associated with both the coasts. Comparatively, the coast of Telugu land is the longer and its shared half of the chola mandal and half of the Kalinga.

           Historically and culturally, the cultural citadel as far as the south east coast is concerned was Kancheepuram which is known as Kanchi to the students of history. It was one of the seven cultural centers of India/the six others being Ayodhya, Madhura, Maya, Kashi, Avantika and Puri. Among the seven, Kancheepuram was the crucible for moulding cultural patterns not only for the whole of India but also patterns prevalent in the South Eastern countries. Kancheepuram was the great city of learning; Leaned men of all schools of philosophy, cults and religions made special efforts to go through the courses of study available at Kancheepuram. The area around Kancheepuram was known as Aruvanaadu. The people of the Telugu country even today know the Tamils as 'Aruvas'. Probably, the meaning of Aruva is considered to be 'Knowledge'. This Aruvanadu comprised the present district of South Arcot, North Arcto, Chelgleput, Chittor and Nellore and there was no question of any particular language being used to the exclusion of any other language in this area. The earlier forms of Telugu and Tamil were prevalent and they were interchangeable. The languages of higher thought of scriptures, such as Pall, Sanskrit, Arthamagathi were prevalent as media for learning at Kancheepuram. Thus, the City of Kanchi can be claimed by the ancestry of Telugus, Tamils, Kannadigas and Keralites alike as their ancient cultural centers. It is equally well known that the famous clans of Andhras, Pallavas and the Cholas who established large kingdoms in the south, west and the north reigned supreme from this area and had spread themselves in various, philosophy and social practices in Peninsular India. This shows that Kancheepuram acted as a strong spring -- board for cultural expansion to North as well as to the South Eastern countries.

          During the period when Kancheepuram was acting as the beacon light to illuminate the minds of the scholars in different parts of the country what the land of the present Andhra Pradesh was called is unknown. The name Telugu which has been gaining groud during the medieval period and earlier whether it belongs to the Dravidian stock or it is the name of a race or a language or derived from any other word is still being debated in the world of scholars. It cannot be denied that the word 'Tilling' was used as a synonym for Telugu: but a close study leads us to point out that Tilling is the earlier one used as the name of the language and the people. The Telugu land is known in the ancient and medieval periods, as Tilling to the rest of India. The Telugu land is known in the ancient and medival periods, as Tilling to the rest of India. The sufficx in that word, namely 'ing; suggests that this is a name of the place known as Ti. 'ing' as a toponomical suffix, has been baffling the scholars in the field of linguistics and sociology. From its use, it is interpreted that this word has travelled from the north East as similar place names like Darjeel-ing, Kalimpo-ng (Bengal) and Tela-ng(Burms) suggest. The word 'ing' is common to most countries in the North Eastern parts as well as to the East Asian countries and also the large stretches of land dividing itself into islands in the East Asia. It is also common in many countries like China, Indonesia. Even in India, when we count the countries, we start with A-ang. Kali-ng, Tela-ng, Ve-ng, (Vengi) etc/ Countries in this list particularly cover the whole of the East coast and they are acquired historical Importance. This aspect has to be further studied.

           The Indian Historian when he happens to be the explorer of his base of historical studies will commence with – the Aryan invasion from the North to the South or from North-West to the South-East. It is generally believed and partially established that the seeds of civilization commenced sprouting first in the East and the other areas came into the field later. But today the historian in India starts with ideas, that have been given a shape by Western historians and as such, he fervently believes that the cultural flow had been from Europe to other parts. However, if the student of history starts with a new premises basing his observation on ethnology, sociology and linguistics, he will come out with the theory that all civilizations and cultures are composite. The compositeness is much varied as it is vast and ultimately finds the exterior as the one and the same and the interior is unfathomable. Fortunately, at present there is a tendency to enquire and find one's own identity and association through the medium of ethnology of socio-linguistics. During the past few centuries, emphasis in the field of enquiry has been on the language and through its literature and the basic concepts of mental images moulded as art pieces either metal or stone with chiseling tools or in the pictures of lines and color. Now the evolution of culture is to be studied and its progressive march to be projected and presented for identification through several media, language, literature, art, architecture and patterns of living.

          The Telugus have their home land in the Indian subcontinent, in the south. This homeland has been acting as a connecting link between the north and the south. The association of Telugu with coastal area from Kanyakumari to Konark is as old as history. They are mainly a race more associated with marine activities and they have spread themselves through their virility, clubbed with sobriety into the hinterland. The problem of dissection of their culture to determine its proportion on the basis of the Astroloid, Mongoloid, Aryan and Dravidian cultures is still unsolved. It is established on account of the presence of the Astroloid traits seen in many of the tribal rallying in the coastal land. The association of Telugu is the old culture like the Astroloid and Mongoloid. They were a part of the prehistorical culture.

          Much time is spent to describe to evaluate chronologically the Dravidian. While wrestling with the problems connected with the enquiry of the Aryan and Dravidian cultures, the original base of the pre-Dravidian settlers on Indian soil is lost sight of. It is now the time to get in tune with the integrative approach to expand our studies or enquiries and find out the merging areas of pre-Dravidian culture. When we go deep we establish our kinship first with the fareast and South East the other areas like North-West and West come later. It remains still a riddle whether the South Eastern people crossed the Bay of Bengal and occupied the East Coast first to find the earlier settlers of their ancestry who were likely to have crossed the North-Eastern Himalyas settled in plains of Bengal, Orissa, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Gondvana and the coastal areas up to the Cape Comorin and also the Western Ghats and Western slopes. The study of people and human movements will yield commendable and valuable results to broaden the horizon for the old culture with the later ones and also break the water tight compartments of cultural preserves. This will also provide a proper perspective to the study of religion and philosophy, the real basis for cultural development and different arts.

           We have been devoting ourselves to the studies of the histories of European origin and most of the material these histories contain belong to the occident. Histories pertaining to the Orient received so far very insufficient notice. The central Asian countries being culturally connected with the west received better attention from the historians of the west. The centers of civilization and culture of the Fareast, most ancient, did not get adequate attention. The anthropological and ethnological studies as well as the result of excavations placed in the hands of historians provide new materials

           scrutiny and evolution. The earlier civilization mostly pre-Dravidian and pre-Aryan spreading all over the country got a raw deal. The Far eastern and South eastern countries particularly having India as the center earned the right to demand a new direction for writing histories and evolution of their cultural achievements. What is required now is an integrative approach for the study of march of events from the archaic period to the modern for reconstruction of their historical relationship between the centers of the East and the South eastern Countries and India.

          Among the regions of coastal Indian covering the entire peninsula now demarcated on the basis of language, Telugu region is the largest in area as well as in the mother tongue population. The Telugu region approximately is half of the South India from the view point of area. It covers areas from the river Pranahita in the North to the Palar River in the South, Berhampur in the East and Bellary in the West. Its population is much bigger than that of Great Britain with all its islands put together and also France, Spain, Italy and German Republic and Poland. One-tenth of the Indian population is Telugu while more than eight percent of the land is occupied by them. What was this region doing during the period of pre-Dravidian and the Aryan invasions? Were the people inhabited in this area nomads? This rich duo-Delta area which is as large as the Delta of the Ganges and thrice as large as the Delta of the Kaveri should also have been rich in its civilization. A study of the pre- and post- earlier Christian era shows that this area was very rich and had the distinction of producing great scholars and also having clusters of cultural centers highly developed in art, architecture and social practices. The present historical study available do not speak anything about this nor provide adequate data about the history either of antiquity or the pre-medieval or the medieval, particularly of Telangana area and its neighborhood. The available material containing the medieval period is full with the internecine quarrels between one kingdom or the other. We are told more about the achievements of Vakatakas, Rashtrakutas and the Haihayas in the north, Chalukyas in the

           west, Cholas in the south and the Ganges in the east and their preoccupation with military expeditions. Besides, the history of medieval period, the earlier period of history pertaining to Andhras and Pallavas does not give enough material about their contribution either in building up cultural centers or undertakings or social transformatory activities. An integrated picture of the Telugu region based on historical data is yet to emerge to show the Telugu culture, its extent as well its depth. It is evident from the study of history that the Chariot of culture on its four wheels was moving consistently and continuously from the shores of the Eastern Coast into the South Eastern Countries for centuries for four wheels being:

1. Literature and Religion with philosophy,
2. Music with rhythm and symphony for sublimation.
3. Aesthatics with imagery in the form of sculptor, architecture in the brick and mortar and stone and also in lines and color.
4. Society in groups of learned men pinning their faith to philosophy, ideology, social life and practices.

           Evidence of this movement of chariot can be found in the establishment of well organized kingdoms, development of architecture, forms of culture, transmission of social practices in different parts of South East Countries. Sumatra and Bali and Malaysia being nearer got in abundance the Indian culture grafted on the indigenous base. This chariot has been frequently travelling from shore to shore, west to east and vice versa laying the roads with clear vision and foresightedness.

           The scholars of invading nations from Europe, the French and the Dutch made extensive studies of the movement of this chariot. Their accounts have been translated into English and made available for the benefit of Indians. The influence of India and China, powerful neighbors of South East countries is clearly discernible from the large architectural complexes to tiny bronzes. The wonders of the Eastern World as Angkorthom and

           Angkorvat, large temples, pagodas, shrines and magnificent sites in other parts create an unfailing impression that they are only the prototypes of what India produced. An equal proportion of Brahminical as well as Buddhistic images can be found enshrined in this archeological complexes spread throughout. The flora and fauna lent further richness to the cultural beauties. The Mahayaana Buddhism spread through China from India established itself in the third and fourth centuries and the Zen Buddhism in the later sixth century in Japan. The Hinayana Buddhism got its firm footing in Ceylon and Burma. The Mahaayana number more than thirty five crores. The reason for this appears to be that the tenets of Hinayana lead to individualization of religion of the man while the Mahaayaana tenets lead the man towards the socialization. These two schools of Buddhism after long conflicts got fused as one religion to serve the mankind.

          It may be noted that the credit for the establishment and propounding theories of religious practices and also production of voluminous literature in Buddhism goes to two celebrities of Telugu India – viz., the great religious thinkers Buddhagosh and Nagarjuna. According to largest findings, Buddhagosh belonged to a farmer class, made his service center in Ceylon and his unsurpassed commentaries on Buddhistic cannons even today are available in Pali. He hails from a place called Moranda Khetak – Kota Nameli – Puri in Guntur district. Nagarjuna is the propounder of Mahayaana Buddhism whose name has become legendary, is also from Andhra. The center from which has transmitted the light of Mahayaana Buddhism is well known as Nagarjuna Konda on the banks of the river Krishna in Gunture District. His reputation as a scholar and exponent of Mahayaana Buddhism is far and wide. Humanity bows before him as the greatest apostle of Buddhism. It is also well known that his contribution had made an impact on all the other historical religions of the world.

           All these happened in the hoary past with the motivation to travel to further Indian countries. It was nearly an integral urge and faith to transmit

           One's own knowledge for better living. With the development of communications, the frequency of movements increased and also induced trade and commerce between the two countries. The elements of trade and commerce and the creation and accumulation of wealth required protection and new kingdoms came into existence. In course of time they attracted large number of Indians from the coastal and mountainous regions and they ultimately became Indian settlements to be further absorbed. During the last few centuries, when the entire area and South East countries and most parts of Asian countries got into the grip of westernization, the old neighborly moorings with India became practically extinct. Now, with the westernization got practically settled with the universal spread of education with a rational thinking through standardized academic institutions like Universities, there is a need to pursue the studies further to absorb and assilimilate development in the arena of culture for reunification.

           There is very little evidence of the Government of the South East countries and Indian Government to plan this reunification. The Universities situation in the entire coastal areas should invite scholars and professors well versed in religion, philosophy, culture and modern social sciences to address the Indian students and vice versa. The Second world Telugu Conference should initiate a program forthwith for implementation with the cooperation of universities situated on the other shores.