The districts of Telangana (2014 to present)

Although Telangana as a state was carved out of Andhra Pradesh on the 2nd of June 2014, its battle for statehood and change in political boundaries has been in process for a long time since independence. But this post focuses purely on the political changes within the state from the time of its formation. Thirty-three districts in the state were previously carved out 10, thus adding some 23 new names to the list. 

At the time of its formation, the following were the districts of Telangana: 

1. Adilabad
2. Nizamabad
3. Karimnagar
4. Medak
5. Rangareddy
6. Hyderabad
7. Mahbubnagar
8. Nalgonda
9. Warangal
10. Khammam

At the time of the dissolution of the former Nizam's Dominions of Hyderabad (in 1948), another district existed, namely Atraf-i-Balda, within which the capital city of Hyderabad was located. Mahbubnagar district had an outlet sandwiched between the larger Gulbarga and Raichur districts in the north and south, respectively. Adilabad was more with a portion of today's Nanded district of Maharashtra attached to it (Mahur and Kinwat talukas). Khammam was part of the larger Warangal district, while Nalgonda had an enclave of Madras Province's Kistna district (today's NTR, Krishna and Eluru districts of Andhra Pradesh). 

But these names were always different, even in the 20th century or before. A 1910 dated map of India has the following names for the various districts in the Telangana region:

1. Seerpore (Sirpur, in Kumaram Bheem district)
2. Tandoor (in Kumaram Bheem district)
3. Eilgundel (former name for Karimnagar)
4. Indore (Indur; former name for Nizamabad)
5. Medduck (Medak)
6. Kumumet (Khammam or Khammam Mettu)
7. Nelkonda (Nalgonda)
8. Nuggur Kurnole (Nagar Kurnool)

If we compare this with an even older map dating 1804, some more names appear that are interesting and reveals a lot about the hidden history. 

1. Dewarcund
2. Yelcundul
3. Mullungur
4. Warangol
5. Meduck
6. Bonghir
7. Nilcundah
8. Mohammednagore
9. Muzaffarnagore
10. Combumbadoo

The 19th century Telangana was sandwiched between the more prominent districts of Aurangabad, Beeder or Mahomedabad (today's Bidar, in Karnataka) and Nandere (today's Nanded, in Maharashtra). As we see, the district of Nizamabad and Adilabad has had several name changes. In contrast, the remaining ones were saved from the drastic renaming spree of the various governments. As a district, Hyderabad was formed only in 1948; before that, it would be a township or a city in multiple districts. The bifurcations in the districts occurred after the formation of the state in 2014 and are as follows:

1. Adilabad - Adilabad, Kumuram Bheem, Mancherial, Nirmal
2. Nizamabad - Nizamabad, Kamareddy
3. Karimnagar - Karimnagar, Jagitial, Peddapalli, Rajanna Sircilla, Hanumakonda (or Warangal Urban)
4. Medak - Medak, Sangareddy, Siddipet
5. Rangareddy - Medchal-Madkajgiri, Vikarabad
6. Hyderabad
7. Warangal - Warangal, Hanumakonda, Jangaon, Jayashankar Bhupalpally, Mahabubabad
8. Mahabubnagar - Mahabubnagar, Jogulamba Gadwal, Nagarkurnool, Narayanpet, Wanaparthy
9. Nalgonda - Nalgonda, Jangaon, Suryapet, Yadadri Bhuvanagiri
10. Khammam - Khammam, Bhadradri Kothagudem, Mahabubabad

Below here are the different maps of Telangana before and after 2016.