Cumbum is a census town in Prakasam district of the

Indian state India is a federal union comprising 28 states and 8 union territories, with a total of 36 entities. The states and union territories are further subdivided into districts and smaller administrative divisions. History Pre-indepen ...

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

. It is the headquarters of Cumbum mandal in

Markapur revenue division Markapur revenue division (or Markapur division) is an administrative division in the Prakasam district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is one of the 3 revenue divisions in the district which consists of 13 mandals under its administ ...

. It was a part of Kurnool district prior to its merger into Prakasam district.

Cumbum Lake

Cumbum Lake, also known as ''Gundlakamma Lake'', was built on the

Gundlakamma The Gundlakamma River ( te, గుండ్లకమ్మ నది) is a seasonal waterway that flows through the east-central part of the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. It arises in the Nallamala Hills, an offshoot of the Eastern Ghats. Its m ...

rivulet upon the

Nallamala The Nallamalas (also called the Nallamalla Range) are a section of the Eastern Ghats which forms the eastern boundary of Rayalaseema region of the state of Andhra Pradesh and Nagarkurnool district of the state of Telangana, in India. They run in ...

hills. It is one of the oldest man-made lakes in Asia. The anicut was built by the Vijayanagar Princess Varadharajamma (also known as Ruchidevi), wife of Sri Krishna Devaraya. She was also the daughter of Gajapatis of

Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...

. The lake is about long and about wide. According to the Imperial Gazette of India, at the turn of the 20th century, the dam was 57 feet (17 m) tall, and the drainage area was 430 square miles (1,100 km²). The directly irrigated land was about 10,300 acres (42 km²) in all. It is the second largest irrigation tank in Asia. Cumbum Lake is accessible both by the Guntur-

Nandyal Nandyal is a city and District headquarters of Nandyal district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is a municipality and the headquarters of Nandyal mandal in Nandyal revenue division. Demographics In the 2011 census of India, Nandya ...

railway line and from

Ongole Ongole is a city in Prakasam district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is the headquarters of Prakasam district and also the mandal headquarters of Ongole mandal in Ongole revenue division. Ongole cattle, an indigenous breed of oxen, ...

by road.

History

There are inscriptions at Cumbum and Bestawaripeta, one from 1706, and another from 1729. The first refers to the death of the sheriff Khaja Muhammad, who was the Qiladar of Cumbum fort during the reign of Aurangazeb. The second refers to Muhammad Sahib, son of Muhammad Khayum of Tab and governor of Cumbum during the reign of

Muhammad Shah Mirza Nasir-ud-Din Muḥammad Shah (born Roshan Akhtar; 7 August 1702 – 26 April 1748) was the 13th Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1719 to 1748. He was son of Khujista Akhtar, the fourth son of Bahadur Shah I. After being chosen by the ...

. It also states that Muhammad Sahib had a

mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...

constructed at Cumbum during his governorship. These inscriptions prove that this district, like other districts in the Qutub Shahi Kingdom, was once under the Mughal rule. It was formed as part of the Golkonda province, one of the six provinces into which the Deccan Suba was sub-divided int. During the

British rule The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was hims ...

, Cumbum tehsil was a municipality of Kurnool district; as such, it had a regimental garrison and a collectorate. On 10 June 1846,

Uyyalawada Narasimha Reddy Uyyalawada Narasimha Reddy was an Indian freedom fighter leader. The son of a former Telugu Palegaadu Mallareddy and Seethamma, Narasimha Reddy was born in Rupanagudi village, on 24 November 1806. He belonged to the Motati Clan of Reddy's. He ...

raided the treasury at Cumbum, and started rebellion against British.

Geography

Cumbum is located at . It has an average elevation of 184 metres (606 ft).

Transport

Cumbum railway station provides rail connectivity and is a ''D-category'' railway station in the

Guntur railway division Guntur Railway Division is one of the three divisions of the South Coast Railway zone of Indian Railways. The division was sanctioned in 1995–96 and was fully operational on 1 April 2003, with its headquarters at Guntur. The ''Rail Vikas Bhavan ...

of the South Central Railway zone. State highways, roads, and the Guntur–

Guntakal Guntakal is a City in Anantapur district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is the headquarters of Guntakal mandal and Guntakal revenue division.It is also the headquarters of the Guntakal Railway Division in South Central Railway. Ge ...

railway line pass through the town.

International recognition by UNESCO

The Cumbum Tank was made a World Heritage Irrigation Structure (WHIS) in 2020 by UNESCO.

Politics

The town was an assembly constituency in Andhra Pradesh until 2009. Anna Venkata Rambabu won the 2019 assembly elections when the Cumbum constituency was reorganized and merged with the Giddalur constituency.

Education

The primary and secondary school education is provided by the government's ''School Education Department''. The languages of instruction followed by different schools are English and Telugu.

References

{{Prakasam district Census towns in Andhra Pradesh Mandal headquarters in Prakasam district