Telaga

Telaga
ClassificationForward caste
ReligionsHinduism
LanguagesTelugu
CountryIndia
Populated statesMajor:
Andhra Pradesh
Yanam
Minor:
Telangana
Orissa
West Bengal
RegionSouth India

Telaga is a land-owning agrarian community primarily found in the Coastal Andhra region of India.[10] Telaga is a subcaste of the Kapu community, with both terms often used interchangeably.[19] They are classified as a Forward caste.[27] Historically, they were a warrior caste known for their honour and bravery.[28][29]

The origins of the Telaga community are linked to the Telugu Choda dynasties, particularly the Velanadu chiefs (1076–1216 CE), who ruled Coastal Andhra and gradually came to be identified as Telagas.[30] The community commonly uses the titles Naidu and Dora.[37] The Balija and Ontari communities are closely related to the Telagas.[44]

In the erstwhile districts of East and West Godavari, Krishna, Guntur, and Visakhapatnam, the Telagas have long identified as Kapus, while in Srikakulam and Vizianagaram districts, they are still known as Telagas to differentiate them from the unrelated caste of Turpu Kapus who are also present in the same districts.[45][46]

  1. ^ Census of India, 1961. Vol. 2. Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India. 1961. p. 8. The Kapus who are otherwise popularly known as Telagas in these parts primarily belong to a caste of cultivators and land owners. They are among the most respected of the non-Brahmins. It is said that in the past they were soldiers in the armies of the Hindu Sovereigns.
  2. ^ Narayan-Parker, Deepa; Petesch, Patti L. (1 January 2002). From Many Lands. World Bank Publications. p. 152. ISBN 978-0-8213-5049-2. About half the 153 households in the village are from the dominant Telaga caste of landed farmers ....
  3. ^ Arnold, David (1986). Police Power and Colonial Rule, Madras, 1859-1947. Oxford University Press. p. 48. ISBN 978-0-19-561893-8.
  4. ^ K. Veeram Reddy (1987). Land Reforms and the Emergence of New Agrarian Structure in Andhra Pradesh: A Case Study of Chittoor District. p. 63. It was because of the caste composition of land ownership, for most of the agricultural land is owned by the dominant castes - Kamma, Reddy, Velama, Telaga, and Kshatriya communities.
  5. ^ a b Bulletin. Madras Institute of Development Studies. 1990. p. 123. Taking Andhra Pradesh alone, all the populous land-owning castes such as Reddy, Kamma, Kapu, Telaga, Velama, Raju, etc. (which are among the forward sections), constitute definitely more than nine percent of the total population which is the proportion of the land-owning castes in the above extrapolation for northern India.
  6. ^ Rao, Velcheru Narayana (1 June 2017). Text and Tradition in South India. State University of New York Press. p. 310. ISBN 978-1-4384-6777-1.
  7. ^ H. Blackburn, Stuart; A. K. Ramanujan, eds. (1986). Another Harmony: New Essays on the Folklore of India. University of California Press. p. 143. ISBN 978-0-520-05498-1. Now let us look at the various castes associated with our epics. Those associated with the Palnati Katha are Telaga, Velamas, and Kammas—all traditionally landowning castes.
  8. ^ Jackson-Laufer, Guida Myrl (1994). Encyclopedia of Traditional Epics. ABC-CLIO. p. 463. ISBN 978-0-87436-724-9.
  9. ^ Oddie, Geoffrey A. (1977). Religion in South Asia: Religious Conversion and Revival Movements in South Asia in Medieval and Modern Times. Curzon Press. p. 81. ISBN 978-0-7007-0103-2.
  10. ^ [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]
  11. ^ Murty, K. Ramachandra (2001). Parties, Elections, and Mobilisation. Anmol Publications. p. 21. ISBN 978-81-261-0979-1. The Kapus of Godavari Districts are quite well off and politically dynamic. They proudly declare themselves as Telagas.
  12. ^ a b Singh, K. S. (1992). People of India: Andhra Pradesh. Anthropological Survey of India. p. 851. ISBN 978-81-7671-006-0. The term Kapu is variously used in different regions of Andhra Pradesh. They are equated with Reddis in Rayalaseema districts (Thurston, 1909). In East Godavari, West Godavari, Krishna, and Guntur districts, the same term refers to a forward caste, often synonymously used with the Telaga and Ontari.
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference D&D was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ Kantha Rao 1999, p. 67, Chapter 2
    The Kapus are found all over Andhra Pradesh and they are sub-divided into the Turpu Kapus and Telagas. The Kapus of the East and West Godavari call themselves Telagas or Pedda (Big) Kapus and claim to be superior to the Turpu (East) Kapus. The Turpu Kapus are those belonging to the districts of Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam.
  15. ^ Subrahmanyam, Y. Subhashini (1975). Social Change in Village India: An Andhra Case Study. Prithvi Raj Publishers. pp. 74, 75. The Kapu form the bulk of the population and are agriculturists and horticulturists. The Kapus of the East Godavari call themselves Telaga or Pedda (Big) Kapus.
  16. ^ Cite error: The named reference DD was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  17. ^ Satyanarayana, A. (2005). Dalits and Upper Castes: Essays in Social History. Kanishka Publishers, Distributors. p. 152. ISBN 978-81-7391-703-5.
  18. ^ Singh, K. S. (1992). People of India: Andhra Pradesh. Anthropological Survey of India. p. 1817. ISBN 978-81-7671-006-0. The Telaga are a Telugu speaking dominant cultivator community, concentrated in all the coastal towns and hinterlands of East and West Godavari, Krishna, Guntur and Nellore districts of Coastal Andhra and in all the ..... Today we find the Kapu, Ontari and Balija of the state often call themselves Telaga, and the Telaga in some parts also use Kapu as synonym. The Telaga occupy a higher status in the hierarchy among these groups.
  19. ^ [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18]
  20. ^ Murty, K. Ramachandra (2001), Parties Elections And Mobilisation, Anmol Publications Pvt. Limited, p. 158, ISBN 978-81-261-0979-1: "Srikakulam district: ... The Brahmins, Rajus (Kshatriya), Komati, and Telaga communities are considered to be forward communities and these castes constitute around 8 percent of the district."
  21. ^ Census of India, 1971: Andhra Pradesh. Vol. 6. Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India. 1976. p. 236. It is also seen that Brahmin, Vysya, Telaga, Kapu who are considered to be socially and economically forward castes ....
  22. ^ Bernstorff, Dagmar (1973). "Eclipse of "Reddy-Raj"? The Attempted Restructuring of the Congress Party Leadership in Andhra Pradesh". Asian Survey. 13 (10): 970. doi:10.2307/2643005. ISSN 0004-4687. JSTOR 2643005. Other forward communities are Brahmins, Vaishyas, Kshatriyas, Telagas, Khaists.
  23. ^ Hauck, Gerhard (1973). "Gewaltlosigkeit und Gleichheit als Ideologie: Eine Studie über den Gandhiismus in Indien" [Nonviolence and Equality as Ideology: A Study of Gandhiism in India]. Soziale Welt (in German). 24 (1): 102. ISSN 0038-6073. JSTOR 40877086.
  24. ^ Naidu, D. Suran (1991). The Congress Party in Transition: A Study in Srikakulam District of Andhra Pradesh. National Book Organisation. p. 27. ISBN 978-81-85135-64-9. The Brahmin, Raju (Kshatriya), Komati (Vaisya) and Telaga castes are considered 'forward communities' in the district.
  25. ^ Raju, Rapaka Satya (1989). Urban Unorganised Sector in India. Mittal Publications. p. 158. Among the forward communities, Vysya, Telaga and Brahmin communities had higher representation in that order.
  26. ^ "Telaga community to fight for BC status". The Hindu. 12 December 2021. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 27 April 2023.
  27. ^ [5][12][20][21][22][23][24][25][26]
  28. ^ Cite error: The named reference wm was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  29. ^ Cite error: The named reference :24 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  30. ^
    • Chintamani Lakshmanna (1973). Caste Dynamics in Village India. Nachiketa Publications. p. 28.: "...Velanadu (Krishna and Penna Doab) was ruled by Velanati Chodas and other areas were ruled by Telugu Chodas. In the course of time, these were called Telagas, one of the important non-Brahman castes."
    • Etukuru Balaramamurthy (1953). ఆంధ్రుల సంక్షిప్త చరిత్ర [A Brief History of the Andhras] (in Telugu). Visalaandhra Publishing House. (p. 97) తాము చతుర్ధ వంశస్టులమని, దుర్జయ కులోద్భవులమని వెలనాటి చోడులు చెప్పుకున్నారు. మిగతా తెలుగు చోడులు తాము సూర్యవంశజులమని, కరికాల చోళుని వంశస్థులమని చెప్పుకున్నారు. కాని వాస్తవానికి అందరూ ఒకే కుదురునుండి ప్రారంభమైన చతుర్ధ వంశస్థులే తప్ప వేరు కారు. వీరందరికీ కాలక్రమేణా తెలగాలు లేక కాపులు అను పేరు స్థిరమైంది. (p. 114) కోట బేతరాజు మొదలైనవారు తెలుగుచోడులు. వీరు క్రమంగా తెలగాలుగా మారారు.
  31. ^ Cite error: The named reference Lakshmanna-1973 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  32. ^ Census of India, 1961. Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India. 1962. p. 18.
  33. ^ Shashi, Shyam Singh (1994). Encyclopaedia of Indian Tribes: Andhra Pradesh. Anmol Publications. pp. 196. 195. ISBN 978-81-7041-836-8. But Reddis, Kammas, and Telaga Naidu are equal in social rank. They are originally agricultural castes.
  34. ^ Madras Christian College Magazine. Vol. 27. Madras Christian College. 1910. p. 461.
  35. ^ Simhadri, Y. C. (1979). The Ex-criminal Tribes of India. National.
  36. ^ Census Commissioner, India; Baines, Jervoise Athelstane (1893). Census of India, 1891. Vol. 13. p. 240.
  37. ^ [31][32][33][34][35][36]
  38. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  39. ^ Cite error: The named reference :2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  40. ^ Cite error: The named reference Sarma-1946 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  41. ^ Naidu, D. Suran (July 1980). "Andhra Pradesh: A Repeat Performance of the 1977 Election?". In Singh, Harnam (ed.). The Indian Political Science Review. Vol. XIV. pp. 250–251.
  42. ^ Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  43. ^ Kantha Rao 1999, p. 77, Chapter 2.
  44. ^ [38][39][40][41][42][43]
  45. ^ లింగం వీరభద్రయ్య చౌదరి (1974). స్వవిషయం రెండవ భాగం (in Telugu). Triveni Publishers. pp. 469, 649–650.
  46. ^ Cite error: The named reference PK was invoked but never defined (see the help page).