Andhradesa

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Āndhradeśa (transl. Country of Āndhra) is a historical region in the Deccan Plateau of the Indian subcontinent, deriving its name from the ancient Andhras tribe, who inhabited and ruled the region since the Iron Age. The core territory of Andhradesa encompassed Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. At its zenith, the Andhradesa extended its influence over parts of present-day Maharashtra, Odisha, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat.^{[citation needed]}

The Āndhras were an ancient non-Aryan tribe who lived around the deltas of the Godāvarī and Kṛṣṇa rivers. Andhras were mentioned in the ancient Hindu scriptures such as the Aitareya Brahmana (c. 500 BCE), Ramayana, Mahabharata and Puranas. Greek historian Megasthenes reported in his Indica (c. 310 BCE) that Andhras were living in the Godavari and Krishna river deltas, and were famous for their military strength which was second only to Mauryans in all of India. They had 30 fortified towns along the Godavari River and an army of 100,000 infantry, 2,000 cavalry and 1,000 elephants. They were also mentioned at the time of the death of the Mauryan Emperor Ashoka in 232 BCE.