<P> The word "Telinga" changed over time to "Telangana" and the name "Telangana" was designated to distinguish the predominantly Telugu - speaking region of the erstwhile Hyderabad State from its predominantly Marathi - speaking one, Marathwada . After Asaf Jahis ceded the Seemandhra region to the British, the rest of the Telugu region retained the name Telingana and the other parts were called Madras Presidency's Circars and Ceded . </P> <P> The earliest use of Telangadh, which means south, was found in the Gond script . One of the earliest uses of a word similar to Telangana can also be seen in a name of Malik Maqbul (14th century CE), who was called the Tilangani, which implies that he was from Tilangana . He was the commander of the Warangal Fort (Kataka Pāludu). </P> <P> According to Prof Jayadhir Thirumala Rao, an expert in oriental manuscripts and languages, the Gonds, an ancient tribe with its own language and script dating back to at least two millennia, were the first people to refer to this region as Telangadh . Even today the Gond language uses the term, which means south . Perhaps, the Gonds were geographically positioned in the north . The Gond script dating back to about 2000 years refers to the term, Telangadh, which means south . The Gond language provides the earliest known linguistic reference to the existence of Telangana even before the commencement of the Common Era . </P> <P> Telangana was governed by many rulers, including the Maurya Empire (320 BCE to 180 BCE), Satavahana dynasty (180 BCE to 220 CE), Vakataka dynasty (250CE - 500CE), Chalukya dynasty (543CE - 753CE), Rashtrakuta dynasty (753CE - 982CE), the Kakatiya Dynasty (1083CE--1323CE), the Musunuri Nayaks (1326--1356) the Delhi Sultanate, the Bahmani Sultanate (1347--1512), Vijayanagara Empire (1336--1646), Qutb Shahi dynasty (1512--1687), Mughal Empire (1687--1724) and Asaf Jahi Dynasty (1724--1948). </P>

Geography of india with a focus on telangana