Kapu (caste)

Kapu
Religions	Hinduism, Buddhism
Languages	Telugu, Kannada, Tamil
Region	Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Orissa, Maharashtra
Subdivisions	Seelam, Rao, Rayudu‡ — Andhra Pradesh, Orissa Reddy ‡ — Karnataka and Rayalaseema Nayaka‡ — Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka Naidu‡ — Rayalaseema, Palnadu, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala Naicker‡ — Tamil Nadu, Sri Lanka
Related groups	Reddy
‡ Shared by other groups

Kapu (Telugu: కాపు) refers to a social grouping of the Telaga and Balija subcastes found primarily in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. The etymology of the name is variously given as "to protect", "agricultor", "watchman", or "watching". They are also referred to by the title Naidu^{[citation needed]}} ("leader").Kapus speak Telugu and are primarily an agrarian community, forming a heterogeneous peasant Shudra caste, considered along with the Kamma, Reddy, and Patnaik as the four dominant upper Shudra castes of Andhra Pradesh. The Kapu community in Andhra Pradesh is predominantly concentrated in the coastal districts, North Telangana and Rayalaseema regions of Andhra Pradesh. They are also found in large numbers in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Chattisgarh, Orissa and some other Indian states as well as Sri Lanka.^{[citation needed]}

Origin

Ancient Indian (Bharata) cities and Places(Title and location names are in English.)

Kapus were the earliest inhabitants of the Deccan region, people who migrated from the north, cleared forests for agriculture and built settlements.^{[citation needed]}

It is possible that there was a Balija association with a fort at Senji between the sixteenth century and the 1640s, although the details are uncertain.

Kapu titles

The name Gurusthulu is synonymous with Balijas as per R. V. Russell

Aside from noting that the Kapu were a high caste agricultural Shudra community, Jogendra Nath Bhattacharya recorded in 1896 that in common with others of their type in the "Telegu country", "They enlist in the army as common soldiers. ... [They] follow the local Kshatriyas in all matters relating to religion and diet. They eat almost every kind of meat excepting beef. They also drink spirituous liquors, though in privacy, and with great moderation." He lists the "Telega" (an alternate spelling for Telaga) separate from the Kapu but makes no reference to the Balija.

More recently, in 2002, the Kapu have been described by Srinivasulu as a "dominant peasant caste in coastal Andhra", with the Telaga listed as "a backward peasant caste" and the Baliji as "a Lingayat peasant caste". The 1921 census of India was the last to collect data regarding caste. It pre-dates the creation of Andhra PradeshA in 1956 and also the post-Indian independence socio-economic classification system, Further, it treated Reddys as being among the Kapu community for enumeration purposes because of the generic definition of kapudanam as people involved with farming. Srinisavulu has analysed the 1921 census data to cause alignment with the new state and classification system, from which he concludes that Kapus (including Reddys) amounted to 15% of the state's then population and are a Forward caste, whilst the Balija and Telaga are Backward castes and comprised 3% and 5% of the 1921 population, respectively.

Srinivasulu notes that the Reddys and Kammas are the politically dominant communities of Andhra Pradesh as a whole, rather than just the coastal areas, and that the Kapus are among a group with lesser but still significant influence despite their small population. They are particularly effective in the districts of East Godavari and West Godavari, although Srinivasulu notes that "The Kapus of the coastal districts are distinct from the Munnur Kapus of Telangana. While the former are fairly prosperous, the political emergence of the latter, who are part of the OBC category, is a recent phenomenon."

See also

• List of Kapus
• List of Kapu dynasties

Further reading

• K. A. Nilakanta Sastry (12 November 2006). Further Sources of Vijayanagara History. Read Books. ISBN 9781406719000. http://books.google.com/books?id=FqLfdZ0gcoEC. Retrieved 9 May 2011. 
• A. Vijaya Kumari; Sepuri Bhaskar (1 March 1998). Social change among Balijas: majority community of Andhra Pradesh. M.D. Publications Pvt. Ltd.. ISBN 9788175330726. http://books.google.com/books?id=r-ffeWmj2JUC. Retrieved 9 May 2011. 
• C. F. Brackenbury (2000). District gazetteer, Cuddapah. Asian Educational Services. ISBN 9788120614826. http://books.google.com/books?id=TEruAaDaOZ8C. Retrieved 9 May 2011. 
• Konduri Sarojini Devi (May 1990). Religion in Vijayanagara Empire. Sterling Publishers. http://books.google.com/books?id=7qnXAAAAMAAJ. Retrieved 9 May 2011. 
• The Madura Country (James Henry Nelson)
• - The Warrior Merchants - by Mittison Mines
• India's Silent Revolution - By christophe Jaffrelot
• Social Change in Modern India - by M N Srinivas
• The Trading world of the Tamil Merchant - by Kanakalatha Mukund
• Constructing the Colonial Encounter - by Niels Brimnes
• The Political Economy and Commerce - by Sanjay Subrahmanyam
• The World of the Weaver in Northern Coromandel, C.1750- C.1850 by P. Swarnalatha
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• The Castes and Tribes of The Nizam's Dominions (Syed Siraj Ul Hassan)
• "Rethinking India's Oral and Classical Epics: Draupadi among Rajputs, Muslims" By Alf Hiltebeitel.
• The Wars of The Rajas - by Charles Philip Brown
• The View from Below - By Kanakalatha Mukund
• Government Oriental Manuscripts Library in Chennai (Madras), W. C. Mackenzie: Colonel Colin Mackenzie, first Surveyor-General of India. Edinburgh: W&R Chambers, 1952
• Castes And Tribes of Southern India (Edgar Thurston)
• Mughal State and Tribes in 17th century - by Sunita Ziadi Indian Economic Social History Review.1989; 26: 343-362
• Land and People of Indian States and Union Territories,Tamil Nadu by Gopal K Bhargava,Shankarlal C.Bhatt
• Claus, Peter J.; Diamond, Sarah; Mills, Margaret Ann (2003). South Asian folklore: an encyclopedia : Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka. Routledge. ISBN 9780415939195. 
• Asia in the making of Europe by Donald Frederick Lach,Edwin J Van Kley
• Genetic Evidence on Caste Origins
• Iyer, L. K. Ananthakrishna. The Mysore Tribes and Castes. http://books.google.com/books?id=zseCqGFRpyQC&pg=PA99. 
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