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Velama

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Velama is a Hindu caste found mainly in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.[1] The earliest recorded use of the term "Velama" to refer to a community dates back to the 17th century inscription.[2] Famous Telugu poet Srinatha listed Velama caste in Bhimeswara Puranamu in the early 15th century. In the caste-based hierarchy, they hold a high position. They are also referred to as "Dora" (Lord) and "Rao" vaaru by other castes, a term that signifies respect. The medieval military history of Velama rulers and contemporaries was well recorded in the text "Velugoti vari Vamsavali".The modern Velama community is divided into four distinct categories: Padmanayaka Velama, Adi Velama, Koppula Velama, and Polinati Velama.

Origin and history

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The Velamas have been described by that name since the 17th century but poet Srinatha described Velamas in his early 15th century text Bhimeswara puranamu. The Velamas of Recherla dynasty ruled Telangana from Rachakonda (1335 -1434 AD) and Devarakonda hill forts (1335-1475 AD) . After the Bahamani occupation of Telangana, the scions of this Recherla dynasty migrated to the Vijayanagar empire as generals, administrators and earned the jaghir of Velugodu in kurnool district as a fiefdom for rendering military services to the empire. They became popular in the Vijayanagara court with their surname Velugoti. Later this Velugoti dynasty founded the Venkatagiri state in Nellore district which gave rise to the Pithapuram, Bobbili and Jetprole states in the early 17th century. In the 17th century, some Velama chiefs held zamindari positions under the sultanate of Golconda, which gave them considerable power over small regions in Telangana.[2] The sultanate chose to distinguish between various Velama groups by adopting a mansabdari system of ranks based on administrative and military service. This emphasis on status and trappings led to rivalries based on recognition of wealth and honors historically granted.

Among those that came to dominate from the Golconda sultanate ranks were the Meka dynasty Appa Raos of Nuzvid and the Malraju clan of Narasarao pet. The Velugoti and Apparao clans claimed recognition as royal clans, while other significant groups included the Pitapuram Raos and the Ranga Raos of Bobbili. The Velugoti dynasty, who traced their history to the 12 and 13 th century military governers of Kakatiyas, had ruled and lived in various places like Rachakonda, Devarakonda, Velugodu and North Mallur (Chittor district) before settling in Nellore district in 1695. Their prestige became such that in the 1870s, their sons were adopted as heirs by then rival Velama clan leaders, such as the Raos of Pithapuram and Ranga Raos of Bobbili whose own lineage faced extinction due to infertility or the early death of male children. Such arrangements enhanced the status of the adopters and the influence of the Velugotis.[3] Raja Gopalakrishna Ranga Rao of Bobbili who fought the famous battle of Bobbili in 1757 AD with the forces of Vijayanagaram and French was also an adopted son from the Velugoti family of Venkatagiri Rajahs.

Velamas carry the title Rao and Dora. They do not engage in hired labor, and their womenfolk do not work in fields.[4] Gosha or pardah tradition was practiced among their women .

Relationship with the Padmanayakas

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Padmanayaka is the prime subsect of Velama community and all the popular historians clearly identified Padmanayakas with the Velama community. According to Cynthia Talbot, who has challenged the theories of historians from the British Raj era, the terms Velama and Padmanayaka are not synonymous. "Padmanayaka" referred to a status that could be claimed by Telugu warriors from various backgrounds[5] but associated the Recherla Padmanayaka dynasty with Velamas. Additionally, the Bhimeswara Puranamu listed Velama and Padmanayaka as distinct communities.[6]

Culture

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Velamas are Hindus and belong to the Vaishnavism denomination of Hinduism.[7]

Dynasties

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Notable People

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References

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  1. ^ Sadasivan, S. N. (2000). A Social History of India. APH Publishing. p. 284. ISBN 978-81-7648-170-0. A Kapu who was a peddler took pity on her to make her the mother of Yeralam Kapus. Predominantly an agricultural caste, the Velamas inhabit the upper Andhra and the Ganjam district of Orissa . Whether the Velamas were proverted from ...
  2. ^ a b Talbot, Cynthia (20 September 2001). Precolonial India in Practice: Society, Region, and Identity in Medieval Andhra. Oxford University Press. p. 192. ISBN 978-0-19-803123-9.
  3. ^ Price, Pamela (2004). "Kin, Clan, and Power in Colonial South India". In Chatterjee, Indrani (ed.). Unfamiliar Relations: Family and History in South Asia. Rutgers University Press. pp. 193–195. ISBN 978-0-8135-3380-3.
  4. ^ Russell, Robert Vane (4 January 2022). The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India: Ethnological Study of the Caste System. e-artnow.
  5. ^ Talbot, Cynthia (2001). Pre-colonial India in Practice: Society, Region and Identity in Medieval Andhra. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 191. ISBN 0-19-513661-6. Retrieved 27 March 2012.
  6. ^ Musunuri Nayaks: A Forgotten Chapter of Andhra History, M. Somasekhara Sarma, 1948, Andhra University Press, Waltair
  7. ^ K. S. Singh (1998). India's Communities. Oxford University Press. p. 3620. ISBN 9780195633542. The Velama are Hindu who belong to Vaishnava sect.
  8. ^
  9. ^
    • Alpana Pandey, ed. (2015). Medieval Andhra: A Socio-Historical Perspective. Partridge Publishing. ISBN 9781482850178. By this time there were many Velama principalities whose were called the Nayakas. Some of the famous Velama Nayakas of the time were those of the Kalahasti, Bellamakonda, jataprolu, bobbili, Velugodu Principalities.
    • Ravula Soma Reddy, ed. (2007). Studies in the Socio-economic History of Medieval: Andhra Desa. Research India Press. p. 150. ISBN 9788189131142. Another interesting thing to be noted in this connection is that several Velama Chiefs, after the conquest of the Rachakonda and Devarakonda Kingdoms carved out small principalities small principalities like those of Velugodu ( Kurnool district ), Venkatagiri, Kalahasti, Bellamkonda and Nuzividu ( coastal Andhra ) in the Vijayanagara Empire, during the period of the last Sangama rulers.
    • Alladi Jagannatha Sastri, ed. (1922). A Family History of Venkatagiri Rajas. Addison Press. p. 78. According to the social right established so early as during the days of the second descendant Prasaditya Naidu, under orders of the Emperor Ganapathi Rai, making the Padmanayaka Velamas the first and foremost in rank, the chiefs belonging to the other seventy - six Velama sects, Damara Venkatapathi Naidu of Kalahasti included, paid the customary respects to the Rajah on this occasion by keeping themselves standing . Damara Venkatapathi Naidu himself being the brother - in - law of the Rajah was allowed a seat in the south - east of the hall
    • W. Francis, ed. (1989). Gazetteer of South India. Mittal Publications. p. 20. Kalahasti Zamindari - One of the largest zamindari estates in Madras, situated partly in North Arcot District, partly in Nellore, and partly in Chingleput. Number of villages, 406 in North Arcot, 201 in Nellore, and 206 in Chingleput; area, 638 square miles in North Arcot, 576 in Nellore, and 250 in Chingleput; total population (1901), 223,327. The capital is the town of Kalahasti, where the zamindar resides. The history of the family, which belongs to the Velama caste, is obscure. The original owner of the estate probably received it from a king of the Vijayanagar dynasty in the fifteenth century, on condition of maintaining order. The estate at one time spread as far as the site of Fort St.George, and the Company obtained the land on which Madras now stands from the proprietor in 1639. The settlement is traditionally said to have been named Chennappapatnam in honour of the zamindar's father. The estate came under British control in 1792, and a formal grant to the family was made in 1801. The zamundar afterwards received the hereditary title of Raja. The gross income amounts to over 5 lakhs.
    • Illustrated Guide to the South Indian Railway. Higginbotham Publishing. 1900. p. 336. The Rajahs of Kalahasti appear to have always belonged to the Velama caste and to have come south with the Vijayanagar kings who made them menkavalgars or minor custodians, from which position they rose to be Poligars.
    • R. Parthasarathy, ed. (1984). Andhra Culture: A Petal in Indian Lotus. Government of Andhra Pradesh. p. 120.
    • C. D. Maclean, ed. (1982). Maclean's Manual of the Administration of the Madras Presidency. Asian Educational Service. p. 58.
  10. ^ Alpjan: A Chronicle of Minorities. Vol. 6. Social Advancement and Development Trust. 2005. p. 51.

Further reading

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