Sanskrit writings from the 7th century BC describe the Andhra people as Aryans from the north who migrated south of the Vindhya Range and mixed with Dravidians. They are mentioned again at the time of the death of the great Mauryan King Ashoka, in 232 BC. This date has been held to be the beginning of the Andhra historical record. Various dynasties have ruled the area, including the Andhra (or Satavahana), Reddys, Shakas, Ikshvakas, Eastern Chalukyas, Kakatiyas, Vijayanagar, the Qutb Shahis, and the Nizams (princes) of Hyderabad. Charminar or Four Minarets in Hyderabad. Hyderabad was the capital of the Nizam kingdom and later the Nizam dominion.During the 17th century, the British acquired the Coastal Andhra region along the Bay of Bengal, then known as the Northern Circars, from the Nizams, which became part of the British Madras Presidency. The Nizams retained control of the interior provinces as the princely state of Hyderabad, acknowledging British rule in return for local autonomy. The Andhra (or Telugu) were at the forefront of Indian nationalism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. India became independent from the United Kingdom in 1947. The Muslim Nizam of Hyderabad wanted to retain his independence from India, but his state was forcibly integrated into India in 1948 as Hyderabad state.