The present work entitled "Pre, Proto and Early historic cultures of Krishna-Tungabhadra valley" (with special reference to Andhra Pradesh) embodies the results of my study based mainly on the fieldwork i.c. explorations and excavations conducted in the river valley, bounded by the districts of Mahbubnagar, Nalgonda, and Kurnool. Recently, excavations have been conducted by the State Archaeological Department, especially in the submersible areas of the Srisailam Hydro Electric Project, constructed across the river Krishna at Patalaganga near Srisailam, threatening a good number of sites belonging to Pre, Proto, and Early Historic periods, both in Mahbubnagar and Kurnool districts, which hitherto were unnoticed. The river valley occupies a unique place, comparable with Raichur doab in South India in an Archaeological context.
Earlier, attempts were made by scholars to record the lithic appendages lying on the banks of the rivers and rivulets in this river valley. Though a good number of sites were explored and excavated, no comprehensive study of the valley, right from Prehistoric to Early historic times, incorporating new archaeological data is published so far. Except for a few works like Utur excavations (F.R. Allchin 1961) followed by Veerapuram (BDCRI 1984) and Satanikota (ASI- 1980), no substantial work was done projecting various cultural aspects of the river valley in detail. Hence, to fill this lacuna and to highlight the cultural potentiality of the river valley and its adjoining regions, which are rich in archaeological wealth, I ventured to take up the work and made a systematic study of the material obtained from both explorations and excavations. In this, I had the benefit of studying the excavated data personally. about the subject and thus gained first-hand information. Further, I have had the privilege of participating in and conducting major excavations in this river valley, which helped me in studying the cultural materials in their proper chronological context. The results of the salvage operations undertaken by other agencies like the Archaeological Survey of India and Birla Archaeological & Cultural Research Institute, Hyderabad have also been fully utilized to obtain an overall picture of the ancient man, of this river valley.
I had the privilege of taking part in all the major excavations conducted at a host of sites like leej, Hulikal, Chinnamarur, Peddamarur, Veerapuram, Ramapuram, Gandlur, and Huzurnagar, besides the areas, not far away from the valley, which enabled me to gain first-hand knowledge of the si their stratigraphy, by studying the material in their exact locus. As such the conclusions arrived at, can be claimed as reliable and authentic. And The present work is divided into six chapters. The first chapter deals with a brief introduction to the physiographical features of the Krishna-Tungabhadra valley, its river systems, mountains, geology, climate, rainfall, flora fauna, etc., and a brief review of the previous works done in the region.
The second chapter provides a backdrop of the pre-historic cultures of the region, ranging from the early paleolithic to mesolithic periods. In the third chapter, an attempt is made to provide a comprehensive picture of the various neolithic settlements in the valley and their bearing on contemporary ecological and ethnographical aspects. The fourth chapter also deals with the megalithic sites spread over the valley which throws fresh light on the constructional techniques of the funerary monuments, their religious beliefs, agriculture, economy, and food habits of the people. The fifth chapter deals with a study of the development and evolution of society from proto-historic times to the rise of urbanized communities, based on archaeological evidence encountered. Also, an attempt to analyze the structural activity of the early historic people, such as prototypes of the temples built and the coinage of the times has been made.
Lastly, the sixth chapter contains a detailed review of the work, dealing with the process, of the growth and development of the Krishna-Tungabhadra valley through various cultural periods from pre and proto to early historic times.
While pursuing this task, I have to place on record, my deep sense of gratitude to the several scholars and friends who helped me at various stages in the preparation of this work. Among them, special mention should be made of Dr.V.V.Krishna Sastry, former Director, Archaeology and Museums, Government of Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad, for his kind encouragement and generous permission to study the excavated materials of the Department. I am deeply beholden to him for this.
Special mention should be made of my Guide and mentor Dr.B.K. Gururaja Rao, Reader, Department of Ancient History and Archaeology, University of Mysore, who took great pains in seeing this work through, at various stages, and for his invaluable suggestions. But for his affection, encouragement, and constant help, I could never have completed this work. I also express my thanks to Dr. A.V. Narasimha Murthy, Professor and Head of the Department of Ancient History and Archaeology, University of Mysore, for his valuable guidance and inspiration.
