Origin of the word Telugu
The most popular explanation that is given to the word
telugu is that it comes from the word trilinga, i.e. from the three temples at
Srisailam, Drakasharamam,
and Kaleshwaram. Many scholars may not accept this view.
Some diverse views on Telugu:
Khandavalli Lakshmi Ranjanam
It probably comes from the word talaing. Since tala refers
to head, talaings refers to leaders. Probably, talaings were civilized people
and conquered
the tribals in the area of current Andhra Pradesh. Hence the
name talaings. Later this must have given rise to the words telungu and
trilinga.
Godavarti Ramadasu
Some say that the word Telugu comes from the Sanskrit forms
trilinga or trikalinga: Actually, the word kalinga itself is a Dravidian word.
In Kui language, rice is called Kulinga. Since Kuis were
mainly rice eaters, Aryans might have called them kulingas or kalingas.
Marepalli Ramachandra Shastri
In Gondi language, unga is form for plural. Telu means
white. Hence, telunga probably refers to people who are white in complexion.
Ganti Jogi Somayaji
Ten refers to south in Proto-Dravidian. Hence tenungu refers
to Southerners.
Which of the two words is older? Telugu or tenugu? Some say
that tenugu is older than Telugu because Nannaya used the word tenugu and
Ketana who is younger than Nannaya used the word Telugu in his Andhra Bhaashaa
Bhushanam. Malliya Raechana wrote a grammar book (Lakshana Granthamu) called
Kavi Janaashrayamu. But he didn't use this word in the place of 'praasa'
anywhere, so we are not sure what he really used.
The popular notion is that the first person to use the word
trilinga is Vidyanaatha in Kakatiya era. Actually, the first person to use the
word trilinga is Rajashekhara in Vidhdhasaala Bhanjika. He is the first person
to use trilinga with a ra vattu. Markandeya and Vayu Puranas mention only
tilinga. One of the oldest works in Tamil called Agattiyam says Konganam
Kannadam Kollam telungam. On the whole, it is more probable that the word� Telugu is older than the
word tenugu.
Telugu script: Onamaalu
The Telugu alphabet is called Onamaalu. There is a good
reason and a little bit of history for this.
Just as Buddhism was widely practiced in the ancient Telugu
country, Jainism flourished in the Kannade country. The writers of the earliest
Kannada literature were Jains. They were the religious leaders and educators of
that day. Common folks sent their children to Jain gurus for education. The
gurus initiated the Aksharabhyasam of the children with a prayer to the
Thirthankaras and Siddhas.That prayer started with "Siddham Namaha."
The close ties with the Kannada country helped spread the
Jain traditions in the Telugu country. There is even a school of thought that
the Jain and Buddhist literature that existed before Nannaya was destroyed by
scholars and kings who embraced Hinduism. Even if the literature was destroyed,
the traditions survived and Aksharabhyasam continued to be initiated with the
prayer - Siddham Namaha.
In later years, between 10th and 14th centuries, Saivism
became wide spread in the Telugu country (Paa So wrote Basava Puranam during
this time). Now the religious leaders and teachers were the Saivites and they
initiated Aksharabhyasam with a prayer that started with
"Onnamassivaaya." But the Jain tradition did not die away. The
initiation prayer generally took the form of
"Onnamassivaya Siddham Namaha." Over the years it
became O-Na-Ma-See-Vaa-Yaa-See-Dham-Namaha and the alphabet that was learnt
with this prayer came to be called "O-na-ma-lu."
Source: Mana lipi puttupoorvotharaalu by Thirumala
Raamachandra.
Telugu script: cha, tcha, chha; ja, tja, jha.
In Telugu we
have three distinct pronunciations for "cha" and "ja".
While the soft sounds of "cha" and "ja" and the harsh
sounds of "chha" and "jha" are not uncommon, found in many
if not all-Indian languages, the "tcha" and "tja" of Telugu
are rather unique and have interesting history both in terms of their
pronunciation and the way they are written. As you know, "tcha" and "tja"
are written as "cha" and "ja" but with the Telugu numeral 2
written on top of the letter. "Tcha" and "tja" are found in
Marathi also. But unlike Telugu, Marathi was derived from Sanskrit and Prairie,
neither, of which have "tcha" or "tja." Hindi, which also
derived from Sanskrit and Prakrit, does not have these sounds. So, how did
Marathi get them? It is believed that the sounds were adapted from Telugu. Some
scholars believe that Telugu and Bengali in turn acquired them from Pali.
Kakanuri Appakavi, a grammarian
from the 17th century, wrote that a dot placed on "cha" indicates the
pronunciation of "tcha" and similarly a dot on "ja"
indicates "tja". That tradition, if it was ever practiced, has long
since disappeared.
Who started the current tradition of writing the Telugu
numeral 2 on top of "cha" and "ja" to note their
pronunciation as "tcha" and "tja" respectively? Looks like
the credit for that goes to Charles Philip Brown (popularly known as CP Brown).
His reason for this notation is simple: a Telugu person knows the difference
between the pronunciation of cha in Chandrudu and Chali (cold) but how will a
foreigner reading a Telugu text know the difference? To make it convenient for
non-Telugus to learn proper pronunciation, Brown placed Telugu numeral 1 on top
of "cha" and "ja" for standard pronunciation and Telugu
numeral 2 on top of "cha" and "ja" when they are to be
pronounced as "tcha" and "tja" respectively. This notation
became popular and was recognized in 1836 in the Telugu grammar written by
Ravipati Gurumurthy Sastry. With the passage of time the printing presses
dropped placing 1 on "cha" and "ja" but continued to place
2 on the letters to indicate "tcha" and "tja."
Source: Mana lipi puttu purvotharaalu by Thirumala Ramachandra.
Telugu History
It is
impossible to confirm the origin of a culture and the date of its origin.
Different tribes, classes, and societies gradually combined over a period of
time and a transformed society had evolved. This is the evolution of a society.
Andhra society is one of the ancient societies of India. One
can encounter several tales about Andhras in epics like Mahabharatam and
Ramayanam, in great puranas, and Budhdhist Jataka Tales. This confirms the
ancient nature of Andhra society.
Andhras and Kalingas (ka'Limgulu)
supported the Kauravas during the battle between Kauravas and Pandavas (the
Bharata yudhdham). Sahadeva defeated the kingdoms of Pandya, Dravida, Odhra,
Kerala, Andhra, and Kalinga while performing the Rajasooya yajna. This is
depicted in the Mahabharatam. Chanoora (ca'NooruDu) was killed by Srikrishna in
Madhura. Harivamsapuranam corroborates the fact that Chanoora was the king of
Karoosa Desa (karooSa dESam) (on the North side of Vindhya and on the North banks
of Yamuna river) and was an Anhdra (Andhrudu) too.
Ramayanam depicts an interesting tale. Viswamitra condemned the
"Naramedha Yagam", freed Sunassepu (SunaSSEpu, the yajna paSuvu), and
adopted him as his son. Viswamitra's children diliked this act by thier father
and were cursed. Then Viswamitra's children migrated towards east and south. It
is understood from this tale that these children of Viswamitra were Andhras
(a'mdhrulu).
A tribe called "Andhras" arrived at the banks of
Yamuna river during the Mahabharata war (1500 BC). This is clearly described in
the epic.
Mahabharata war has a prominent place in the ancient history. Several
kings of different tribes fought in this battle. Several thousands of soldiers
lost their lives. Kauravas were destroyed. Innumerable number of tiny kingdoms
mushroomed. Locust infestation destroyed crops on the banks of Ganges and
Yamuna rivers. People inhabiting those regions migrated 300 miles away to
south. Chandogyopanishat (Ca'mdOgyOpanishad) confirms this. Iatreya (aitarEya
bra'hmaNam) Brahmanam tells us that Andhras lived on the south side of Vindhya
along with Pundrapulinda Sabara Mootibas (punDrapulimda Sabara mootibulu).
Chandogyopanishad and Itareya
Brahmanam were written in 1000 BC.
Andhras were nomads for several centuries. Some tribes (classes)
migrated and others did not want to do so and remained in their older
settlements. During 700 BC some Andhra tribes inhabited the Salvadesa (sa'lvadESamu)
on the banks of Yamuna River. The tale of Apastambarushi (a'pastambaRushi)
explains this. Apastamba rules (a'pastamba gruhya sootra'lu) have been widely
in practice among Andhra Brahmin families today. A single Rushi was the teacher
(a'ca'rya) of each tribe. Apastamba was one such teacher. Apastamba wrote these
rules in Salvadesam on the banks of Yamuna river. After Apastamba's death the
Andhra tribes crossed the Vindhya mountains, reached the South, and merged with
the other Andhra tribes.
Some of those Andhras who came to the south
settled on the west side of Vindhya mountains (present Northern regions of
Hyderabad). Another tribe crossed the Eastern Ghats over Orissa and reached the
Kalinga Desam. "Serivanijo" Jataka tale explains that Andhras built
the "ANDHAKAPURAM" on the banks of "Tel" (tEl) river.
Jataka tales were written during 200-250 BC. Tel river is a subriver of
Mahanadi in Orissa. This confirms that one of the Andhra tribes migrated this
way. The people in this tribe are Kalingas (ka'Limgulu). The books cited above
describe the Andhras and Kalingas as two different branches of a single tribe.
Sometimes these two words (Andhras and Kalingas) are used as synonyms
interchangeably.
Andhra tribes established relationships with Naga, Yaksha, and Dravida
tribes of Vindhya mountains who already were living there then. Telugu, Tamil,
and Kannada are Dravidian languages. Rayalaseema was the first settlement of
Tenugu (identify here! TENUGU is used here) people. Later Telangana was
occupied. The name "Tenugu" transformed into "Telugu". From
"Telugu" words like "Telagalu", "Telangana",
"Telanganyulu" (a subsect of Andhra Brahmins), and "Teligiri"
originated. A tribe called "Tailang" (taila'ng) in Burma is proposed
to be related to Telugu people.
Tenugu (tenugu) is the meaning for those who travel towards
south. In Tamil and Kannada "ten" means south side (dakshina dikku).