Pre-20th-Century History
The history of East Godavari district like the rest of Andhra may be traced to the period of the Nandas. Mahapadma Nanda, the founder of the Nanda dynasty, led expeditions and defeated several monarchs of the north and the Deccan, thus making the Nandas, monarchs of a large portion of the Deccan. Chandragupta Maurya, the founder of the Mauryan dynasty assumed control over the empire which included, a large portion of the Deccan. He was succeeded by his son, Bindusara (297-272 B.C.). Bindusara was followed on the throne by Ashoka.
After the Mauryas, the district passed under the away of the Satavahanas. The accession of Hala in about 6 or 7 A.D. lasted for only one year. Though there were no events of political importance during his reign, he won for himself a niche among the great poets of all time. the rule of Gautamiputra Satakarni ( A.D. 62-86). Vasishthiputra Pulumayi (A.D. 86-114) and Yajna Sri Satakarni (A.D. 128-157) is evident from the coins excavated. The Satavahanas appear to have ruled till the first quarter of the third century A.D.
Samudragupta, the Gupta ruler, who invaded this district in A.D. 350 came into conflict with the rulers of both, Pishtapura and Avamukta. The local rulers joined the rulers of neighbouring principalities to resist the onslaughts of the Gupta ruler. however, the outcome of this united opposition is not known. Samudragupta's invasion was followed by the rule of a line of kings belonging to the Matharakula. Their rule extended roughly from 375 A.D. to 500 A.D. The earliest known ruler of the dynasty was Maharaja Saktivarman. The districts passed into the hands of the Vishnukundin during the rule of Vikramendravarma I. They ruled for over two centuries from the first quarter of the 5th Century A.D. or slightly earlier. The records discovered indicate that their dominion extended over Vishakhapatnam, West Godavari, Krishna and Guntur besides the present East Godavari district. Ranadurjaya, a member of the Durjaya family, ruled pistapuram or Pithapuram as a Vassal of Vikramendravarma in recognition of his services to the State. Another Vishnukundin ruler Indrabhattaraka, defeated the rulers of Vasish-Takula and re-established his authority over this region. His success was, however, shortlived. The early Gangas of Kalinga with the support of some petty rulers, completely routed Indrabhattaraka's army. This resulted in Vishnukundin's power suffering a severe set-back. Indrabhattaraka was followed on the throne by a few others belonging to the same family. madhavavarma III was the last important ruler of this family. Madhavavarma III was, however, killed in a battle. He was succeeded by his son, Manchannabhattaraka who strove hard to maintain his hold over the ancestral dominion without much success.
Later, the western Chalukya ruler of Badami, Pulakesin II, with the help of his brother Kubjavishnu, attacked Pistapura and emerged victorious. Kubjavishnu was given the newly acquired territories in the east, in token of appreciation of the services rendered by him.
The rulers of Eastern Chalukya dynasty founded by Kubjavishnu, ruled first from Pistapura, next from Vengi and then from Rajamahendri (Rajahmundry). Chalukya Bhima I, who ruled furing A.D.892-921, built a temple in honour of Siva at Draksharama. In the subsequent period which marked a civil war for power, Amma I, son of Vijayaditya IV, came out victorious and ruled the kingdom for seven years. He was succeeded by his son Vijayaditya V, who was ousted from power within a fortnight of his accession. He was compelled to take refuge in the fort of Pithapuram, where he founded a dynasty.
In the early British period, the Constituent parts of the district were at first, administered by the Chief and Council at Machilipatnam, but in A.D. 1794 Collectors who were made directly responsible to the Board of Revenue, were appointed at Kakinada and Rajahmundry. Several changes took place in the administration of district till A.D. 1859 when the districts of Rajahmundry, Machilipatnam and Guntur were reconstituted into Godavari and Krishna districts. The execution and extension of the great irrigation schemes, on the Godavari and Krishna rivers and the enormous increase in work consequent on the improvement, in the methods of administration, rendered the Collectors task of efficiently controlling these two wealthy areas extremely difficult. Therefore, Godavari and Krishna districts had to be again readjusted. In 1904, the taluks of Yernagudem, Eluru, Tanuku, Bheemavaram and Narsapur (excluding the Nagaram island) were transferred to Krishna. On the 15th of April 1925, Krishna district was again bifurcated and West Godavari district was constituted. The residuary portion of Godavari district was named as East Godavari district with its headquarters at Kakinada. East Godavari district then consisted of the taluks of Raja-hmundry, Amalapuram, Nagaram, Bhadrachalam, Polavaram, Yellavan, Chodavaram, Peddapuram, Ramachandrapuram, Kakinada, Pithapuram, Tuni and Nugur. Subsequently, in 1942 Polavaram taluk was transferred to West Godavari district. The headquarters of Nagaram taluk was shifted to Razole in 1947. During the same year, Kothapeta taluk was formed. An important change that occurred subsequently in the territorial jurisdiction of the district was, the transfer of Bhadrachalam and Nugur taluks to Khammam district in 1959, because of their geographical contiquity and also for reasons of administrative convenience. From then onwards the district did not undergo any changes in its territorial jurisdiction for quite sometime. At 1961 Census, the district consisted of 12 taluks viz., Kakinada, Amalapuram, Razole, Kothapeta (IST), Ram-achandrapuram, Rajahmundry, Peddapuram, Prathipadu (IST), Tuni (IST), Pithapuram (IST), Rampachodavaram (IST) and yellavaram (IST). The last two were Agency Taluks. In July 1969, two independent sub-taluks namely, Alamur and Mummidivaram were formed out of Ramachandrapuram and Amalapuram taluks respectively. At 1971 Census the district thus consisted of eight taluks and six independent sub-taluks grouped under four Revenue Divisions-Kakinada revenue division comprising of Kakinada and Pithapuram (Independent sub-taluk); Rajahmundry revenue division with the taluks of Rajahmundry, Ramachandrapuram, Alamur (Independent sub-taluk) and Rampachodavaram (Independent sub-taluk), Peddapuram revenue division comprising Peddapuram taluk, Prathipadu taluk, Tuni (independent sub-taluk) and Yellavaram (independent sub-taluk) and Amalapuram revenue division with the constituent taluks of Amalapuram, Kothapeta, Razole and Mummidivaram (independent sub-taluk).
Modern History
Recent History
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