East Godavari district

East Godavari district or Thoorpu Godavari Jilla is a district in Coastal Andhra region of Andhra Pradesh, India. Its district headquarters is at Kakinada. As of Census 2011, it became the most populous district of the state with a population of 5,151,549. Rajahmundry and Kakinada are the two largest cities in the Godavari districts in terms of population.The district of Rajahmundry was reorganised in 1859 into two districts of Godavari and Krishna. Godavari district was further bifurcated into East and West Godavari districts in 1925. After Nov 1956's Andhra Pradesh was formed by combining parts of Naizam, Ceded and Circars, in 1959, the Bhadrachalam revenue division, consisting of Bhadrachalam and Naguru Taluks (2 Talukas in 1959 but later subdivided into Wajedu, Venkatapruram, Cherla, Dummugudem, Bhadrachalam, Nellipaka, Chinturu, Kunavaram, and Vararamachandrapuram mandals) of East Godavari district were merged into the Khammam district. After June 2014's reorganisation and division of Andhra Pradesh, the mandals of Bhadrachalam (with the exception of Bhadrachalam Temple), Nellipaka, Chinturu, Kunavaram and Vararamchandrapuram were re-added back to East Godavari District.HistoryEarly kingdomsThe district, like the rest of the Deccan was under the Nandas and Mauryas in its early history. After the fall of the Mauryan Empire, the district was under the Sathavahanas until the 3rd century under the famous poet king Hala. Coins found during excavations have revealed the rule of Gautamiputra Satakarni, Vasisthi-putra Pulumayi and Yajna Sri Satakarni. Gupta emperor Samudragupta invaded during the rule of both Pishtapura and Avamukta in the district in 350 A.D. Samudragupta's invasion was followed by the rule of the Mathara dynasty from 375 to 500. The earliest known ruler of the dynasty was Shaktivarman.