Palaeolithic era
The Ketavaram rock painting's are dated back to the Paleolithic era (located at a distance of 18 Kilometer from Kurnool). Also the Jurreru Valley, Katavani Kunta and Yaganti in Kurnool District have some important rock art's and painting's in their vicinity, may be dated back to 35,000 to 40,000 years ago.
Medieval era
Hamlet's existed around Kurnool for more than 2,000 years. The Chinese traveller Xuanzang, on his way to Kanchi, passed through Kurnool. In the seventeenth century, Kurnool was part of the sultanate of Bijapur, under the governorship of a hereditary line of jagirdars of African origin, who were among the most powerful nobles at the court.
Aurangazeb, the last Mogul King to rule India, conquered the Deccan in 1687 and left his governors, the Nizams, to rule the Andhra centres of Hyderabad and Kurnool. Both the Nizam of Hyderabad and Nawab of Kurnool declared independence and became sole rulers of their territories. Nawab Alaf Khan Bahadur was the first ruler of Kurnool and his descendants ruled it for over 200 years. In the early 18th century, the Nawabs joined hands with the sultan of Mysore and fought the British Empire.
Name of the City
There are many theories about the origin of the name Kurnool. According to A Manual of the Kurnool District in the Presidency of Madras, the name Kurnool is derived from Kandenavolu or Kandanavolu (a Telugu name by which it is referred to in the inscriptions and literature of the past), pronounced as karnooluu. The site on which the city now stands was a resting place before crossing the Tungabhadra river to Alampur, during the time of Chalukya's. Here, they greased their cart-wheels with oil. They called the place Kandenametta or kandanavolu (Kandanam means
