Telangana was never under direct British rule, unlike Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions of Andhra Pradesh, which were part of British India's Madras Presidency. When India became independent, the Telugu-speaking people were distributed in about 22 districts; nine of them in the Telangana region of Nizam's Dominions (Hyderabad State), 12 in the Madras Presidency and one in French-controlled Yanam. A Communist led peasant revolt started in 1946, lasted until 1951. __