The current trend in historical researches is to focus attention on the social, economic and environmental aspects of history which are directly concerned with the progress of human civilization. For a proper understanding of the various facets of human history, such as history of religion, castes, tribes, professions, agriculture, economy, language, literature, art, etc., the study of historical geography and toponomy has proved to be very much helpful. History of a particular region or a place is basically linked to its origin which again depends on the distinctions of its topographical features. Toponomical study unfolds the forgotten facts which contributed to the origin of a human settlement at a particular place. Historical geography reveals the changes in territorial boundaries and administrative divisions on account of frequent political changes. This book deals with the historical geography and toponomy of Andhra Pradesh right from the early historic period upto the end of the Kakatiya regime, The author has based his investigations mainly on the epigraphical records of the region. In the section on historical geography, the administrative divisions are arranged alphabetically for the sake of easy reference, but at the same time the points of chronology and genealogy are taken note of in the treatment. A new approach has been adopted in the treatment of toponyms by analysing them from the social and economic perspectives. The section on urban centres and communication routes is, indeed, commendable. The last section on the identification of the inscriptional toponyms reveals the antiquity and historicity of the identified places. The work, almost exhaustive, presents an overall picture of the different aspects of the historical geography of ancient Andhradesa. This work will be received by scholars and researchers as a standard reference source for further investigations on the social arid economic growth of ancient Andhra and will urge similar studies pertaining to other regions.
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