Visakhapatnam

History

Visakhapatnam's history stretches back to the 6th century BCE and the city finds mention in ancient texts such as the 4th century BCE writings of Pāṇini and Katyayana. Historically considered part of the Kalinga region, Legend has it that Radha and Viśakha were born on the same day and were equally beautiful. Sri Visakka Sakhi is the second most important gopi of the eight main gopis. She carries messages between Radha and Krishna and is the most expert Gopi messenger. Residents believe that an Andhra king built a temple to pay homage to his family deity Viśakha. This is now inundated under seawater near RK Beach. Another theory is that it is named after a woman disciple of Buddha named Viśakha. Later it was ruled by Kingdom of Jeypore (1535–1571), Qutb Shahis (1571–1674) and (1674–1711), Mughal Empire (1711–1724) and Nizam (1724–1757). The French (1757) and British (1765) established Factories and influence over the city. In 1794 the Battle of Padmanabham occurred between the Zamindari of Vizianagaram and the East India Company. after the battle, Vizianagaram estate was acquired by the East India company in 1802. The British East India Company fought the 1804 Battle of Vizagapatnam and it remained the under British colonial rule until Indian independence in 1947 which was a part of the Northern Circars. Hindu texts state that during the fifth century BCE, the Visakhapatnam region was part of Kalinga territory, which extended to the Godavari river. Relics found in the area also prove the existence of a Buddhist empire in the region. Kalinga later lost the territory to King Ashoka in the bloodiest battle of its time, which prompted Ashoka to embrace Buddhism. Ancient Buddhist sites, recently excavated, are scattered across Visakhapatnam, reflecting the region's…

Geography

The city is situated between the Eastern Ghats and the Bay of Bengal. Visakhapatnam is situated in Coastal Andhra Region. The city is surrounded by the Simhachalam Hill Range to the west, the Yarada Hills to the southeast, and Kambalakonda Wildlife Sanctuary to the northwest. The hills play an important role in Visakhapatnam's ecological environment and cover over 621.52  km2. * Eastern Ghats * Simhachalam Hills * Yarada Hills * Erra Matti Dibbalu * Dolphin's Nose Hills * Kailasagiri Hills Visakhapatnam has a tropical savanna climate (Köppen: Aw, closely bordering As). It receives rainfall from the South-west and North-east monsoons In October 2014 Cyclone Hudhud made landfall near Visakhapatnam. {{Weather box | location = Visakhapatnam (Dolphin's Nose) 1981–2010, extremes 1970–2005) | metric first= Yes | single line = Yes | collapsed = Yes | Jan record high C = 30.7 | Feb record high C = 35.0 | Mar record high C = 36.2 | Apr record high C = 36.1 | May record high C = 42.8 | Jun record high C = 39.8 | Jul record high C = 39.8 | Aug record high C = 36.2 | Sep record high C = 36.6 | Oct record high C = 34.5 | Nov record high C = 32.4 | Dec record high C = 31.4 | year record high C = 42.8 | Jan high C = 27.2 | Feb high C = 26.9 | Mar high C = 30.6 | Apr high C = 31.5 | May high C = 32.6 | Jun high C = 32.2 | Jul high C = 30.6 | Aug high C = 30.5 | Sep high C = 30.6 | Oct high C = 30.2 | Nov high C = 28.8 | Dec high C = 27.4 | year high C = 30.1 | Jan low C = 19.8 | Feb low C = 21.4 | Mar low C = 23.5 | Apr low C = 25.0 | May low C = 26.1 | Jun low C = 26.0 | Jul low C = 25.0 | Aug low C = 24.8 | Sep low C = 24.8 | Oct low C = 23.8 | Nov low C = 21.8 | Dec low C = 19.8 | year low C = 23.5 | Jan record low C = 15.6 | Feb record low C = 17.7 | Mar record low C =…

Most-observed species

• House Crow

  Corvus splendens Vieillot, 1817 · Aves
  10,787
• Common Myna

  Acridotheres tristis (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  10,395
• Large-billed Crow

  Corvus macrorhynchos Wagler, 1827 · Aves
  9,530
• Rose-ringed Parakeet

  Psittacula krameri (Scopoli, 1769) · Aves
  8,882
• Black Kite

  Milvus migrans (Boddaert, 1783) · Aves
  8,355
• Rock Pigeon

  Columba livia J.F.Gmelin, 1789 · Aves
  8,018
• Asian Koel

  Eudynamys scolopaceus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  7,962
• Spotted dove

  Spilopelia chinensis (Scopoli, 1786) · Aves
  7,869