Raju

Raju is a Sanskrit word meaning King . It is a commonly used first name as well as a noble title. It is also used in Telugu society to refer to social group comprised of a collection of families of mixed social and ethnic origin who for centuries had a history of functioning as Kings, Dukes, Counts , Yeomans, Knights, and Gentry, who married amongst themselves. Most trace their origins back to the 14th century and others to some of the ancient Andhra kingdoms, their feudatories and armies. As such members of this social group claim to belong to the warrior jati of the Kshatriya varna in the Hindu caste system and call themselves Rajus. This caste is native to Andhra Pradesh, with a population barely comprising 1% of the state’s population . They are most prominent in the north coastal districts of the state with pockets in the Rayalaseema region and in the Karnataka district of Bellary and the Tamil Nadu districts of North Arcot and Virudhunagar.

You can generally distinguish them by their use of Raju or Varma as an agnomen for their last name. In Telugu tradition it is customary to place your family name first as an initial followed by the given name and the caste title as the last name. For example A. Sita Rama Raju or B. Arvind Varma, would actually be Alluri Sita Rama Raju or Buddharaju Arvind Varma and would mean Rama of the Alluri family and the Raju caste.

A good number still live in villages as landed gentry but large segments have moved to urban centers in India and abroad and are engaged in professional and business occupations. In their most recent history a significant number of families were hereditary barons called zamindars. Of the zamindars the most prominent are the Rajas of Vizianagaram, Karvetinagaram and Anegundi of Karnataka.

File:Alluri.jpg

Alluri Sita Rama Raju

Origins

Rama (center) Suryavanshi lineage.

File:RadheShyam07.jpg

Krishna Chandravanshi lineage.

Members of this community claim to have descended from a few ancient Kshatriya families that migrated from the north to Andhra Pradesh as well as many local ruling clans that attained Kshatriya status. Ethinically the current members are a mix of these two ethnic groups, though they are more Dravidian than Aryan due to centuries of intermarraige. V. Rama Chandra Rao postulates that most of the Raju families can trace their origins to the Vishnukundina and Chalukya periods. Most of the inscriptions referring to individual families are found starting with the Chalukya period and more detailed inscriptions are found during the Kaktiya and Vijayanagar period, indicating the caste identity started at leasr from the 7th-8th century A.D The oral traditions of their orgins:

1. Founders of the Ikshvaku Kingdom in Andhra are thought to be a distant branch of the older Ikshavaku dynasty of Lord Rama in Kosala, Uttar Pradesh who migrated to the south and established another dynasty.
2. The Matsya of Oddadi are linked to the ancient kingdom that lay to the south of the Kurus and were a part of the Chedi Kingdom of Madhya Pradesh, Bundelkhand region.
3. A folktale claims Madhav Varma of the Vishnukundina dynasty led the original members of their gotras to Andhra. Officially the Vizianagaram dynasty of the Pusapatis was founded by Amala Raju who took the fiefdom during Qutb Shahi times in the 16th century and built the village of Poosapadu, which is located in the Nandimandalam Taluq. But closer examination indicates the clan is far older than 16th century.
4. Varnataka is likely to be Karnataka and the Chalukyas.
5. Parichedis were an ancient clan mentioned during the Chalukya reign who may have originated from the ancient Chedi clan or the Nagpur, Parchure area of Maharashtra.
6. Kota Vamsa/Chagi/Kolanu Soranaths are other ancient clans in Andhra.
7. Nandimandalam is named after a region of Andhra and refers to the border clans of Orissa and Andhra Pradesh linked to the Mathara, Vashisthi, Eastern Ganga and Gajapati Dynasties of Orissa.

• They are divided into sects called:

1. Suryavanshi (Sun Dynasty) include Ikshvaku, Vishnukundina, Eastern Ganga and Gajapati.
2. Chandravanshi (Lunar Dynasty) includes Matsya, Eastern Chalukyas, Paricheda, Kota Vamsa and Kalachuris.
3. Matsyavanshi: Madgole zamindars

These celestial origins are myths left over from the ancients used to get people to think their ruler was God-like and should be respected. This was a world wide phenomenon as there are examples of a French monarch as well as the Emperor of Japan making claimes to have been born of the sun. Unfortunately you will still find some who faithfully believe it to be literally true and continue to perpetuate it. The majority of the populace simple uses it for lighthearted anecdotes.

Gothram

• Suryavanshis and Chandravanshis are further subdivided into five clans called Gothrams.

1. Bharadwaja
2. Dhananjaya
3. Kashyapa
4. Kaundinya
5. Vasishta

• Each Gothram is again sub-divided into hundreds of endogamous sects based on surnames that are named after villages of origin, a famous member of the clan, personality etc.
• Sage Kaundinya was the son of Vasishtha and nephew of Agastya.

Depending on who you talk to you, will be either told that the members of each gotra were descendents of the actual rishis (Saints) or that the rishis were simply the spiritual guides of their ancestor. Either way the basic premise is that members of a particular gotra are brothers and sisters. Where this becomes important is during marriage. Members of the same gotra cannot marry each other because as stated they would be brothers and sister. In the early days people used to name themselves after their gotra but as the population of the clans grew, they started using their village names as their family name. It became important to know ones gotra in order to guarantee the orderly and non-incestuous continuation of the family line. This is also the rational for preventing members of the Vasistha and Kaundinya gotras from marrying, as they were father and son. If you believe that the rishis were the actual ancestors it makes sense, but if you believe that the rishis were only spiritual guides to your clan then its obviously just a symbolic practice. To see a list of towns that were the source of the surnames see towns and to see the list of common names see gotras.

History

While the histories of the Zamindari families are fairly well documented, there hasn't been a concerted effort made to look into the history of the rest of the community until Mr. Varahala Raju Buddharaju published Sri Andhra Kshatriya Vamsa Ratnakaram. He interviewed elders in the community and obtained birth certificates from every village and town in the coastal regions in order to build a geneological tree of all the families. However his book only goes back 500 years and it is restricted to the families located in the north coastal regions of AP. Using this resource and numerous history books and scientific studies we may be able to shed some light on the subject.

Duties

A Hindu ruler was bound by the holy scriptures to govern as a Dharma Raja (Just Ruler), with the main duties being protection of his subjects and livestock.

• The Rig Veda states:

praja arya jyotiragrah'. RV, VII. 33.17

People ruled by Aryans (nobles) are led by the Divine light. King Rama of Ayodhya is considered the greatest of the Dharma Rajas:

arya sarva samascaiva sadaiva priyadarsanah

A noble who worked for the equality of all, was dear to everyone.

• According to Jain and Buddhist literature, Kshatriyas are those who own a farm, i.e. Landlords.

Varna

Varna means "color" as well as "veil". It shows the four different ways in which the Divine Self is hidden in human beings. In the context of color people have confused it to mean race but it actually represents the distinct qualities (guna) that the four functional classes possess in their hearts and minds.

• If a person possessed the qualities of action, will, aggression, and energy, seek honor, power, status and have a martial and political temperament, they would be represented by the color Red (rajas = energetic). Those that belong to this color belong to the Kshatriya class.

One hymn of the Rig Veda states:

कारुरहं ततो भिषगुपलप्रक्षिणी नना । (RV 9.112.3)

"I am a bard, my father is a physician, my mother's job is to grind the corn......"

Brahmanism

In Hindu scriptures various rulers lost their status as Kshatriyas.

• The Manusmriti, written between 200 or 400 AD states that the Sakas (Scythians), Yavanas (Ionian, Indo-Greeks), Kambojas (Central Asians), Paradas (Sinkiang), Pahlavas (Persians), Kiratas (Nepal, Assam), Dravidas, and Daradas were originally noble Kshatriyas but were relegated to the Barbaric (Vrishala) status due to their neglect of the Brahmanas as well as due to their non-observance of the sacred Brahmanical codes (X/43-44).
• Anushasanaparava of the Mahabharata also views the Sakas, Kambojas and the Yavanas etc. in the same light.
• Patanjali in his Mahabhasya regards the Sakas and Yavanas as pure Sudras (II.4.10).
• The Mahabharata also associates the Sakas, Yavanas, Gandharas (Northwest India), Kambojas (Pamir-Badakshan), Pahlavas, Tusharas, Sabaras, Barbaras, Dravidas etc.. and addresses them all as the Barbaric tribes of Uttarapatha.
• Puranic accounts attest that the Dravidas are Kshatriyas and are said to be descendants of the sons of Vishwamitra. Like the Kambojas, Sakas, Yavanas, Daradas, Khashas etc, the Dravidas were recorded as Kshatriyas who no longer were initiated into the sacred thread due to their neglect of the Brahmanas as well as due to their non-observance of the sacred Brahmanical codes.

From this information we can see that the role of a ruler was to protect his people and their livestock and "Arya" and "Varna" referred to a persons character and virtue and not race. Also that ones caste was not initially determined by birth and that later on regardless of your occupation, if you did not follow Vedic teachings and support the Brahmans you would no longer be considered a true Kshatriya.

Ancient India

Vedic Age

From about 1000 B.C. to 300 B.C., many Hindu states had been formed by the mingling of the Aryans, Dravidians, Kols, Turanians, and other minor tribes of the country. The Vedas were established, and the Hindu caste system had been established, though it was a little flexible and was not as rigid as it became some-time later on.

As the population increased there was a migration across the Vindhya mountains. The stories of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata give glimpses of this slow trickling of the Aryans down into the southern territories. The Aryans found that these Dravidians had an advanced civilization and mixed with the better educated and ruling people of these kingdoms, and absorbed some of their ideas. At the close of this old Hindu age, the Persians and the Greeks came to India. From the time that the Aryans entered India, it was after about a thousand years that we hear about the coming of these Persians and Greeks.

Buddhists Age

In the year 567 B.C. the famous Buddha was born, the founder of the great religion Buddhism, which discarded the Vedas and Upanishads on which the Hindu religion is based and also the caste system. His teachings appealed to the common man, and a very large number of Hindus became Buddhists in a very short time. Buddhism became the most important religion of India for nearly one thousand years till the eighth century A.D. During these thousand years of the Buddhist age, India had great rulers like Ashoka.

Puranic Age

After about 400 A.D., Hinduism became stronger, due to the preaching of zealous Hindu teachers, like Shankaracharya, Ramanujacharya and Madhvacharya, all of them from South India. It was at this time that the Puranas were composed and written, inspired by the great revivalists who taught the old scriptures with a new interpretation that appealed to all classes and castes bringing back many Buddhists into the Hindu fold. However, the caste system became very rigid in order to protect themselves from influence from the different tribes that raided from Central Asia. To protect their culture, they developed the Code of Manu. Anybody who broke any of these laws was excommunicated. To avoid an outsider getting into this caste system, the law was made that you had to be born a Hindu, in a particular caste. In spite of this there was a little mingling and it was probably accepted with some reservations.

So we see that there was a thousand year period where the caste system was fluid and the early Kshatriyas were Aryan in culture but ethnically mixed already and the ones that migrated to the still predominantly Dravidian south continued to mix although primarily with the elite. And that the ones in the North continued to mix with the new waves of tribes coming in from central Asia. We also see that the caste system became rigid around the 5th century but that women, not men, could marry out of caste. It also became important to continue to practice Brahminical Hinduism in order to maintain this status. With this general description of the political, ethnic and cultural situation of the times we can look more detailed into each of the clans that the oral traditions alluded to.

Satavahana

Sp far no family in the Raju community can trace their lineage back to the Satavahanas or Ikshavakus who were initially their feudatories. Most historians feel that the Satavahanas were a Brahmin royal family. Not much is known about what happened to them but the royal family of Kanker in Madhya Pradesh, trace their ancestory back to their period. The traditional history goes back to 106AD when Raja Satkarni of the Satavahana dynasty ruled Kanker. Afterwards the Chalukya rulers added Kanker to their empire where it remained till 788AD. A succession of dynasties then controlled Kanker till the end of the Kandra dynasty in 1385. The present ruler belongs to a very old Rajput family, and according to tradition, his ancestor, Raja Veer Kanhar Dev, formerly the abdicated ruler of Jagannath Puri, was raised to the throne by a vote of the people and ruled till 1404. Under the Marathas, the Kanker State was held on condition of furnishing a military contingent 500 strong whenever needed. In 1809, the Chief was deprived of Kanker, but was restored to it in 1818 by the British. This clan belongs to the Chandra Rajput clan and is linked by marriage to the Chauhan clan of Sonepur , and the Banj dynasty of Bastar. The Bhanj dynasty of Bastar as we will discuss later is related to the Kakatiya dynasty and to the Vizianagar and Kurupam dyanasties of the Pusapatis and Virycharlas. This is only a circumferential link to the Rajus.

Ikshvaku

Based on the similarity of the names and on aKannada poem called “Dharmamrita” as well as Puranic and Buddhist writings, historians like Buhler and Rapson aver that the Ikshvaku of Andhra may have been a distant branch of the renowned Ikshvakus dynasty of Ayodhya in Northern India that migrated to the Deccan and established their own kingdom in the Krishna River-Guntur region.

According to the Vayu Purana, Manu, the great patriarch of ancient India had nine sons of whom Ikshvaku was the eldest. Ikshvaku was the reputed founder of the solar dynasty of monarchs with his capital in Ayodhya. He had a hundred sons, and the eldest Vikushi, succeeded his father as the ruler of Ayodhya. According to the Vishnu Purana, the founder of the Dakshina Kosala Kingdom was Kusa, with his capital in Kusasthali. Of the rest, fourty eight founded small principalities in Northern India and the other fifty migrated to the south and carved out the Matsya, Pandya and Kekaya principalities there.

The Puranas mentions them as the Sriparvatiyas (Foresters), rulers of Sriparvata (forests) and Andhrabhrityas (`Servants of the Andhras'). The Satavahanas were also referred to as Andhras. Though seven kings are said to have ruled for 100 years in all, only a few are known by name from inscriptions. Originally they were feudatories of the Satavahanas and bore the title Mahatalavara

Vishnukundina

The royal family of Vizianagaram claim to be direct descendents of the Vishnukundinas, one of the ancient Kshatriya clans found in Andhra Pradesh in the 5th and 7th century. In family lore it is believed that a Madhava Varma of the Vishnukundinas led his Vasistha clan (Gotra) along with the other four clans against the Salankayanas and established his kingdom. The biographer of the Pusapati clan, Edward B. Eastwick found that the Maharajas of Vizianagaram descent from the Maharanas of Udaipur of the Sisodia branch of the Gehlot tribes. A brother of the Maharana migrated to Oudh, and his descendant, Madhava Varma, marched five clans into the deccan, and conquered the country from Ramanad to Cuttack. His descendants reigned over this area for 921 years.

They were eventually subjugated by Sultan Kuli of the Golkonda dynasty. The 5th King of that line was made Subahdar of the Northern Circars. Emperor Aurangzeb confirmed the title and gave him a two-edged sword (Zulfikar), which is still used in the coat-of-arms of the family [34]. In 1827 he died at Banaras. His successor, Maharajah Vijay Rama Gajapati Raju III had several honors conferred on him by the British Government. Lord Northbrook obtained for him the title of His Highness, and had his name enrolled among those of chiefs entitled to return visits from the Viceroy. A daughter was married to His Highness Maharaj Kumar Singh, cousin and heir apparent of H.H. Maharajah of Rewah. The Rajahs of Vizianagaram obtained the title of 'Gajapathi', after the battle of Nandapur, in the northern circars in the 16th century. A descendent of this line Sir Vijay Anand Gajapathi Raju was a captain of the Indian cricket team in the 30's. In addition to these royal families the Pusapatis are related to:

1. The Rathore Rajputs of Kashipur in Uttaranchal. Who are descended from the old Rajas of Kumaon.
2. The Jhala dynasty Wadhwan princely state located in Saurashtra founded about 1630 as an offshoot of the Dhrangadhra princely state founded in 1090 by Harpal Dev Mokwana, the founder of the family tree of Dhrangadhra and Wankaner. Wankaner was founded in 1605 by a grandson of Raj Chandrasinhji, the ruler of Dhrangadhra. The Maharaja married the Maharani of Jodhpur.
3. The Bais dynasty of Kasmanda in (Sitapur district) Orissa. The Royal family of Kasmanda is descended from Raja Salivahan of the Satavahana dynasty who defeated Raja Vikramaditya in 78AD. Raja Dinesh Pratap Singh married the daughter of Raja of Payagpur and had:
   1. Rajkumar Divyakar Pratap Singh who married Rani Jaya Rajya Lakshmi, daughter of the Rana of Nepal.
   2. Rajkumar Dinraj Pratap Singh married the sister of the Maharaja of Jaisalmer.
   3. Daughter married the Raja of Hindol.
4. The Sen (Chandravanshi) dynasty of the Keonthal princely state in Himachal Pradesh and brother in law to the Udaipur Maharana who is also married to the Nepal Royal family that is currently related to the Scindia Royal family of Gwalior of Maratha origin.
5. The Vyricharla Raju dynasty of Kurupam, founded about 1450. They were granted the estate by the Raja of Jeypore, Raja Vyricharla Married the daughter of the Raja of Daspalla, who’s son is married to the daughter of the Pusapadi Ananda Gajapathi Raju.

The Rajas of Kurupam are related through marriage to:

1. The Jeypore Royal family, who’s founder was a descendant of Raja Kanaka Sena, of Jammu
2. The Bhanj dynasty of Daspalla princely state in Orissa founded in the 15th century by a younger son of Raja Narayan Bhanj Deo of Baudh. The 19th Raja Sahib of Daspalla married daughter of Raja of Balrampur (Talcher)
3. Baudh princely state of Orissa. The Bhanj dynasty is also the ancestors of the Rajas of Daspalla.
   1. Eldest daughter married into the Chauhan dynasty of Patna in Orissa, founded by Raja Rama Deo in the 13th century.
   2. Second daughter married the Raja of Khariar.
4. The Parmar dynasty of Gangpur princely state of Orissa.
5. The Kacchawa dynasty of Talcher princely state of Orissa founded in the 12th century. 25th Raja of Talcher married the daughter of Raja of Bastar and the daughter of the Thakur of Sayla. The Gajapati king was pleased with his valor and bestowed on him the title of Birabara Harichandan.
6. The Bhuyavamsha dynasty of Dhenkanal princely state (Orissa). Founded about 1530 by a scion of the Khurda family. The current raja is married to daughter of Maharaja of Kalahandi who’s children:
   1. Rajkumar Yuvaraj Amar Jyoti Singh Deo, married the elder daughter of Maharajkumar of Wankaner, which is an offshoot of the Jala dynasty of Dhrangadhra.
   2. Raj Kumari Anuradha Devi, married Kunwar Chandraveer Singh, son of Maharaj Amarendra Singh Ji of Salumber

The Raju families of Rajapalayam are descendents of families led by the brother of the Vizianagaram Maharajah, Chinna Raju, who intially settled at Kila-raja-kulara-man and then moved their settlements to Raja-palayam. The original emigrants served under Chokkanath Nayak, king of Madurai. They purchased land from Vijay Ranga Chokkanath Nayak and constructed Rajapalayam in 1885. The word palayam is frequently used in many Tamil cities as a suffix and it translates roughly to Fort. .

Varnataka / Karnataka

Badami Chalukya Territories

• Chalukya

Chalukyas were a royal dynasty that succeeded the Vishnukundinas and ruled large parts of southern and central India between 550 and 750, and again between 973 and 1190. As early as the first century, they were mentioned as being vassals and chieftains under the Satavahana rule. Historians generally agree that the Chalukyas originated from Karnataka, were led into Andhra by Pulakesin, who appointed his brother Vishnu Vardhana as his Viceroy, after Pulakesin’s death declared independence and referred to as the Eastern Chalukyas.

• Eastern Chalukya

The Eastern Chalukyas, also known as Vengi Chalukyas parceled out their territory into many small principalities (estates) held by the nobility consisting of collateral branches of the ruling house of Elamanchili, Pithapuram and Mudigonda, and a few Kshatriya families closely connected by marriage ties (Kona Haihayas (Heheya, Kalachuris), Kolanu Saronathas), and other non-Kshatriya families (Kota Vamsas, Chagis, Parichedas, Velanadus, Velanti Chodas, Kondapadamatis etc.), who were raised to high position for their loyalty, valor and statecraft.

Yuan Chwang travelled in the Andhra country after the establishment of the Eastern Chalukya kingdom, and noted that the people were of a violent character, were of a dark complexion and were fond of arts. The society was based on hereditary caste system. Besides the four traditional castes, minor communities like Boyas and Savaras (Tribal groups) also existed.

The Brahmins were held in high esteem in society. They were proficient in Vedas and Shastras and were given gifts of land and money. They held lucrative posts such as councellors, ministers and members of civil service. They even entered the army and some of them rose to positions of high command. The Kshatriyas were the ruling class. Their love of intrigue and fighting was responsible for civil war for two centuries. The Komatis (Vaisyas) were a flourishing trading community. They organized into a powerful guild (Nakaram) which had its headquarters in Penugonda (West Godavari) and branches in seventeen other centers. It seems there used to be a minister for communal affairs (Samaya Mantri) in the government. The Sudras constituted the bulk of the population and there were several sub-castes among them. The army furnished a career for most of them and some of them acquired the status of Samanta Raju and Mandalika.

Satya Narayan Kambhampati mentioned in his article that the Kshatriyas continued to be the ruling caste, but now they were not the only fighters. From records he found that anyone, including Brahmins, Vaisyas and Sudras could take up arms during times of danger. Latitude was shown to Kshatriyas marrying women of lower castes, because such unions added to the number of Kshatriyas. Kings belonging to the Sudra caste enjoyed equal status with those of higher birth. So any discussion of caste lost its old meaning. A couple of generations of independent rule or even high office as governor or feudatory prince encouraged an ambitious family to claim Kshatriya status and trace a descent from the Sun or Moon. .

Matsya/Chedi/Perichedi/Kalachuri

The Matsyas, Chedis, Perichedis, Haihayas and Kalachuris seem to share a common mythylogical and historical background but it would be difficult to make a conclusive link with the current information. The supposed associations are that in the Puranas the Matsya (Sanskrit for fish) was the name of a tribe and state found in the Vedic civilization of India. It was founded by a fisherman who later attained kingship. Chedi kingdom was one among the many kingdoms ruled during early periods by Paurava kings and later by Yadav kings in the central and western India. It falls roughly in the Bundelkhand division of Madhya Pradesh. Mahabharata (V.74.16) refers to a King named Sahaja, as the son of a Chedi king named Uparichara Vasu who ruled over both the Chedis and the Matsyas, which implicates that Matsya once formed a part of the Chedi Kingdom. The epic refers as many as six other Matsya kingdoms. The Pandya Kingdom in the extreme south also bears the icon of a fish on its official banner showing some connection with the Matsya kings and a branch of Matsya is also found in later days in Visakhapatnam region wich V.R. Rao believes are linked to the Vatsavai royal family of Peddapuram.

The Haihaya kingdom, which is included amongst the Chedi clans, was one of the many kingdoms ruled by Chandravanshi kings in central and western India. Its capital was Mahishmati (modern city of Maheswar) on the banks of river Narmada in Madhya Pradesh.

Kalachuri is the alternative name for Chedi and Haihaya used by two kingdoms from the 10th-12th centuries, one ruling over areas in Central India (west Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan) called Chedi or Haihaya and the other southern Kalachuri who ruled over parts of Karnataka. They share a common ancestry belief.

• Origin Myths
  • Haihaya is supposed to be derived from Haya (A horse).
  • They believe they are descendents of a prince of the Chandravanshi lineage.
  • The Vishnu Purana represents them as descendants of Haihaya of the Yadu lineage.
  • In the Vayu and other Puranas, five great divisions of the tribe are named as Talajanghas, Vitihotras, Avantis, Tundikeras, Jatas, or rather Sujatas.
  • According to the Mahabharata, they were descended from Saryati, a son of Manu.
  • Kaartaveerya-arjuna, of a thousand arms, was king of the Haihayas, and had his arms cut off by Parasurama.
• The southern branch of Haihayas (Kalachuris) further adds to the legend:
  • Kalli meaning long moustache and Churi meaning Sharp knife is the source of their dynastic name.
  • An 1174 record says the dynasty was founded by one Soma who grew a beard and moustache, to save himself from the wrath of Parashurama, and thereafter the family came to be known as Kalachuri.
  • Their emblem was Suvarna Vrishabha or the golden bull.
  • They worship Krantivirya Sahasrarjun who killed Parshurama's father, Jamadagni.

Historians such as Dr. P.B. Desai are emphatic about the central Indian origin of the Karnataka Kalachuris who are also referred to as Katachuris (shape of a sharp knife), Kalanjara-pura-vara-dhis-vara (Lord of Kalanjara) and Haihaya (Heheya). Mount Kalanjara is in north central India, east of the Indus Valley floodplain. Colonel Todd believes that the Vindhya Mountains would have been the home of these tribes; and that a tribe of Haihayas still exists: Near the very top of the valley of Sohagpur, in Bhagelkhand, aware of their ancient lineage, and though few in number, still celebrated for their valor.

Before the arrival of Chalukyas, the Kalachuris had carved out an extensive empire covering areas of Gujarat, Malwa, Konkan and parts of Maharashtra. However after their crippling defeat at the hands of Badami Chalukya Magalesa, they remained in obscurity for a prolonged period of time.

Historians have also pointed out that several Kalachuri kings were related to Chalukyas and Rashtrakutas by matrimonial alliances and had ruled from places like Tripuri, Gorakhpur, Ratnapur, Rajpur. By the time they are mentioned in the Telugu epic Battle of Palnadu, they are referred to as the Haihaya family of the Kona region (Amalapuram and Razole taluqs of the present East Godavari District), and the Haihaya family of Palanadu, feudatories of the Chalukyas.

In the same tale the Perichedis are also mentioned also as feudatories of the Chalukyas with capitals in Kollipaka and Bezawada. V.R. Rao feels that they may have been linked to the ancient Chedi Kingdom though others feel that they originated in the Parchure area of Maharastra and got their name this way. The Jaiswals of North India and the Somavamshiya Sahasrarjun Kshatriyas also claim to be descended from the Haihayas.

Kota/Chagi/Kolanu Saronathas

Kota kings ruled from Dharanikota during the 11th and 12th century AD and the Chagis were also present around that time. The royal families of Rama-Chandra-Puram, Mogalthur, Mutta Talaga Chirala, of which the current direct descendent is actor turned politician Krishnam Raju Uppalapathi, uncle of popular Telugu actor Prabas Uppalapathi, as well as the Kotapalli and Moida royal families all claim descent from the Kota kings.

The royals of Kota Uratla and Thangedu royal families claim to be descendents of the Chagis, with their name changing over time to Sagi. V.R. Rao is in agreement with all these claims. Members of the community with the Kolanuvati surname may have origins with the Kolanu Saronathas.

All these clans were important participants in the battle of Palnadu which turned out to be a battle over social changes. In it a Brahma Naidu sought the cooperation of all the royal families to bring about social change to do away with caste distinctions and bring about a more egalitarian society. He was opposed by the Chalukyas and especially the Haihayas as well as their loyal supports who wanted to keep the current rigid social system that was being practiced. It was supposedly a very bloody battle in which Brahma Naidu's faction lost but in the long run it brought about the demise of the caste system as it was practiced amongst Telugu royals. The Chalukyas merged into the Cholas and lost control to the Kakatiyas.

Kakatiya

The Kakatiyas apparently declared that they were from the Sudra Varna early in their career but near the later stages of their reign started to claim Kshatriya status as evidenced by an inscription found on the huge Nandi pillar lying near the ruined temple in Malkapuram, Guntur Taluk, Guntur District which gives a detailed account of the Kakatiya family and are described as belonging to the Solar race of Kshatriyas. This discrepancy may be due to misinterpretation of the earlier declarations or just the common practice of long established royals.

Cynthia Talbot fund inscriptions describing that Kshatriyas were in their army and the number living in the capital was 2,000. There are also 9 inscriptions found during Kakatiya rule mentioning the Sagi rulers, 6 inscriptions mentioning Pericheda Bhimaraju ruling in the Guntur region and 2 inscriptions of Kota kings of the Vasistha gotra ruling in the Guntur region. . In these inscriptions the Chodarajus were ruling in Narasaraopeta and Paricheda Bhimaraju was in Guntur while the Sagi family was described as belonging to the Kshatriya varna.. Inscriptions also state that a Rudraraju was a general of the Kakatiya army and Sagi Potaraju was ruling the Nathavadi country with Gudimetla as his capital See Inscriptions to see some of the many archived inscriptions and to browse through all the documents click this link.[35]

Interestingly, the royal family of Bastar believes that Kakatiya King Pratap Rudra's brother, Annam Deo, left Warangal and established his kingdom at Bastar , Chhattisgarh around the late 14th century. A daughter of a later descendant named Raja Rudra Pratap Deo, Praphul Kumari Devi ascended the throne in 1922. Later in 1927, she was married to Praphul Kumar Bhanj Deo, who belonged to the royal family of Mayurbhanj [36]. Praphul Kumari Devi died in 1936 in London and her elder son Maharaja Pravir Chandra Bhanj Deo Kakatiya ascended the throne in 1936 at a minor age. Praphul Kumari Devi is believed to be the last link to the Kakatiyas. The current descendant of this dynasty is Praveen Chandra Bhanj Deo.

Other branches of the Bhanj dynasty are Baud, Nilgiri, Keonjhar (which was founded in the 12th century by Adi Singh Kachhawa Bhanj) and Daspalla, who's former ruler Purna Chandra Deo Bhanj (Chairman of Daspalla Hotels) was married to Rani Kamala Devi of Chemudu. Their daughter, Rani Preeti Devi married Raja Vyricharla Kishore Chandra Deo Raju of Kurupam (MLA and MP from Kurupam). Raja Kishore Vyricharla's aunt was married to Raja Bir Udit Pratap Shekhar Deo of Gangpur . Raja Kishore Vyricharla's son is married to Sudhani Devi, daughter of the former Maharaja of Vizianagram, Pusapati Ananda Gajapathi Raju (MLA and MP) and who's brother Ashok had been the Finance Minister of the TDP regime of Chandra Babu Naidu.

After the decline of the Kakatiya empire, a series of kingdoms arose before the emergence of the Vijayanagar empire, the Nayak and Reddy dynasties. Inscriptions found during their time help use know the political and social system of that time. The Nayak ruler Singaya-Nayaka says:

The three castes, viz. Brahmanas, Kshatriyas and Vaisyas, were produced from the face, the arms and the thighs of the Lord; and for their support was born the fourth caste from His feet. That the latter caste is purer than the former three is self-evident; for this caste was born along with the river Ganga (which also springs from His feet), the purifier of the three worlds. The members of this caste are eagerly attentive to their duties, they ably bear all the burden of the earth by helping those born in the kingly caste. Another inscription relates how his relative Kapaya-Nayaka rescued the Andhra country from the ravages of the Mohammedans. .

The Reddy dynasty describes how:

After the elimination of the Kshatriya defenders, the duty of defending cows and Brahmins fell on Shudras, "born of the feet of Vishnu". The first independent Reddy king, Vema, "restored all the agraharas of Brahmins, which had been taken away by the wicked Mleccha (Barbarian) Kings". He was "a very Agastya (Mover of mountains) to the ocean which was the Mlecchas". Another inscription of the same dynasty proudly proclaims Vema's birth from "the victorious fourth Varna", which "sprang from the feet of Vishnu", and which ruled "the remainder of the territory once ruled by the dvijas (before the Muslim conquest)", and describes how his first son Anna-Vema freed the country of the "crowd of enemies" and used his wealth to sponsor the "men of learning". .

Mahamuni Kavya Kantha Ganapathi Shastry mentioned Raja Dantuluri Ganna Bhoopal, gave away his daughter Surambika to Ana Vema Reddy in marriage by virtue of his valore. This was said to be the first marriage between Reddy and Kshatriya communities.

If there were no Kshatriyas in Andhra who were these rulers referring to? There were certainly many communities much larger in size and power with rulers who could have easily called themselves Kshatriyas. But these rulers continued to identify themselves as from a separate caste. Clearly they were present during that time as Dantuluri is a common name in the Dhananjaya gotra of Rajus and are a prominent family in Bhimavaram [37].

Orissa/Nandimandalam

Kalinga in 265 B.C.E.

During the time of the Vishnukundinas there were a few clans called the Matharas and Vasishthas. The Matharas called themselves the descendents of the Vashisthas, which got its name from its gotra.

The region between Cuttack and Vijayawada was known as Kalinga (ancient Orissa), and was controlled often by the Oriya rulers the Eastern Gangas of the Vashistha gotra. The early Eastern Gangas ruled from Kalinga-nagara (Mukhalingam near Srikakulam Andhra Pradesh). They shifted their capital to Cuttack in the 12th century. Religious leader Ramanujacharya had a great influence on the Raja Choda Ganga Deva, who re-built the temple at Puri. Narasimha Deva built the Sun Temple at Konark. The Gangas were succeeded by the Suryavanshi Gajapati rulers. Two copper plates of the early Pallava dynasty have been found in the Kolleru Lake, traced to Gajapati Langula Narasimha Deva, an Oriya ruler. According to legend, the Gajapathi fort was located at Kolleti Kota on one of the eastern islands of the lake, which protected the Oriya forces. The enemy general encamped at Chiguru Kota located on the shores and tried to excavate a channel in the modern-day Upputeru, so that the water of the lake would empty into the sea and allow an attack on the Gajapathi fort. The Orissa army general sacrificed his own daughter (Perantala Kanama) to propitiate Gods and ensure his success against his enemies.

The Bhoi and Surya Vansi Gajapatis of Orissa, on the height of their power in the 15th century, ruled over a kingdom extending from the Ganga river in the north to the Kaveri in the south under Gajapati Kapilendra Deva. But by the early 16th century, the Gajapatis lost great portions of their southern dominion to Vijayanagar and Golconda. This period was marked by the influence of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and by the construction of Jaganatha temples across the length and breadth of the empire. The last independent Oriya emperor was Gajapati Mukunda Deva. During the Gajapathi reign an inscription mentions a Bhupathiraju Vallabha Raju Mahapatra in Chodavaram. .

As far as their connection to the Rajus, it was common for the Zamindari families of the border region of Orissa and Andhra to have alliances. Early on they actually sided with the Gajapathis against the Vijayanagar Empire. There was a notable exception with inscriptional confirmation of two Kshatriya generals fighting on the side of Krishna Deva Raya. Of the modern clans, the Virycharla royals of Kurupam and the Satrucharla clan of Salur have more in common with the Orissa royals then they do with the Godavari clans.

Vijayanagar Empire

Vijayanagara Empire, 1446-1520 CE

This empire was founded by the Sangama brothers Hakka and Bukka. Some historians claim that they were generals in the Kakatiya empire that ended up forming their own empire, others claim they were the five sons of the Hoysala King, another theory claims they were northern officials of the Mughal empire sent to administer the territory for them but ended up declaring their independence under the influence of a Hindu sage. Most reliable historians believe they are originally from Karnataka and from the Kuruba or Yadava caste. The Vijayanagara Empire was founded as the last bastion of Hinduism against Islamic oppression from Tughlaq rule in the Deccan, lasting for more than two centuries as the dominant power in South India.

The capital Vijayanagar was built in an easily defensible position south of the Tungabhadra River. The city was a royal ceremonial and administrative center and the nexus of trade routes. Foreign travelers and visitors were impressed by the variety and quality of commodities that reached the city, the architectural grandeur of the palace complex and temples, and by the ceremonial significance of the annual Mahanavami celebrations, at which the Nayakas and other chiefs assembled to pay tributes. The kingdom's expansion in the first century of its existence made it the first South Indian state to incorporate different linguistic and cultural regions under a single regime, albeit with sub regional and local chiefly powers exercising authority as its agents and subordinates.

The empire was divided for the purposes of administration into a number of kingdoms and provinces called Rajas. They were also known as Mandalams. A governor, known by different names like Samanta Raju, Nayaka, Danda-Nayaka, and Mandal-eswara etc., were appointed over each province by the central government at Vijayanagar. Although technically under the direct control of the central power, they enjoyed a good measure of local autonomy within their jurisdiction without interference from the central government as long as they discharged their obligation to it regularly. They held their own courts and maintained their own armies. There were also areas which were administered through feudal vassals who claimed to enjoy a semi-independent status. South of the Vijayanagar kingdom, were many small chieftains called Polygars who ruled over small areas and paid tribute to the kings of Vijayanagar

Under Vijayanagar rule, temples emerged as major political arenas. Monastic organizations (Mathas) representing various religious traditions also became focal points of local authority, often closely linked with the Nayak chieftains. A fairly elaborate and specialized administrative infrastructure underlay these diverse local and regional religio-political forms.

In all, four clans ruled the empire, of which two claimed to be of the Kshatriya Varna. The Saluva clan was the first to declare this and Robert Sewell states the Rajas of Karvetinagar claim descent from the Saluva lineage.

The other clan that claimed to have been Kshatriyas was the Aravidu Dynasty. The government of Karnataka acknowledges Raja Achutya Deva Raya as the recognized direct descendant of this line. He was extensively interviewed by Robert Sewell in order to help him in research for his book. In his royal biography he takes on the title of Zamindar of Anegundi, Senior Representative of the Royal House of Vijayanagar, born 4th August 1936, adoptive son of Rani Lal Kumari, Guru (Religious Head) of the Hindu Kshatriya Community, enjoys the customary privileges and honors at Hampi Temple and at Anegondi Temple, during all religious functions as well as Muslim festivals

• The Chodarajus were mentioned in 1501 AD., described as relatives of the Nandyalas.
• Madhava Varma Bejawada was mentioned in 1509 AD. and described as of the Vasishtha gotra and Surya Vamsa.
• Krishna Deva Raya defeated among others Rachiraju Pusapati, Srinatha Raju and Lakshmipati Raju on his way to defeating Pratapa Rudra Gajapati Raju of the Gajapathi Dynasty. He immediately reinstated these rulers as his vassals and married the daughter of Pratapa Rudra as a truce offering. All this occurred between 1514-1517 AD.
• The Chodarajus of Kasyapa gotra were described as Mahamandalesvars in 1522 AD..
• The Nandyalas were described as belonging to the lunar race and were Mahamandalesvars in 1543 AD..
• Thirumalarajus were the Mahamandeleswara of Guntur area in 1554 AD.
• Madirajus were described as of the solar race and the Kasyapa gotra and were Mahamandalesvars in Kurnoool and were related to the Thirumalarajus in 1555 AD.
• The Thirumalarajus were described as being directly related to the Aravidu royal family in 1558 AD. Aravidu Rama Raju of the Atreya gotra was their grandfather.
• Ganapathirajus were described as of the solar race and the Kasyapa gotra and were Mahamandaleswars in 1555 AD.
• The Matli chiefs were Ellamrajus who gained the territory after defeating the Tirupatirajus in battle in 1604 AD.

Nizam/Colonial Rule

Northern Circars

Madras Presidency, 1909

After Vijayanagar was destroyed in the Battle of Tallikota in 1565 AD from the combined forces of the Muslim states of Golconda, Bijapur, Ahmednagar, and Bidar, the tributary kingdoms that were under Vijayanagar fell under the control of the Sultans of Golconda and Bijapur. The Golconda Empire came under the control of the Mughal Dynasty in 1686 and became known as Deccan Subah. Mughal rule didn't last long however. Nizamul Ul Mulk Asaf Jah controlled Andhra Pradesh and parts of Tamil Nadu and Orissa as the governor of the Deccan.

In the beginning the French had influence over Hyderabad but when Salabat Jang came to power, he realized that the French were losing ground to British and realigned himself with them. In 1761, the British East India Company helped Nizam Ali Khan depose his brother Salabat Jang and occupy the Deccan Subah. The East India Company initially leased the coastal regions of Andhra from the Nizam. However the accords of 1768 and 1779 gave the East India Company complete control of these regions and were named Circars. Telangana remained under the Nizam.

The Sultans, Nizams and British all employed Rajus, Velamas, Reddys, Kapus and Kammas as the governors of estates with the responsibility of collect taxes. In 1857 the British broke up the estates and realigned the bigger brigands into Princely states and the lesser ones as Zamindars or Jagirdars. As this increased the number of estates that needed to be administered, some individuals with cash and influence were able to buy large temple estates and the title that came with them. This allowed locally prominent tax collectors to become Rajas. In the Andhra context, Raju is also a title and did not necessarily refer to the specific Kshatriya community. This is how many Samsthanams or Zamindars came into existence. These zamindars were abolished after the formation of the Indian Union in 1947.

Zamindaris

1. Anegundi
2. Ankapilli (originally Pusapadi)
3. Adhanki
4. Andra
5. Belgaum
6. Chemudu (Vyricharla)
7. Charmahal (Kalidindi)
8. Chinchinada (Alluri)
9. Darlapudi (Chintalpati)
10. Dimili (Pusapati)
11. Domabal
12. Ellore (Thirupathiraju)
13. Ganzcolara (Thirupathiraju)
14. Golgonda (Bhupathiraju)
15. Godicharla (Vatsavai)
16. Ichapuram
17. Karvetinagar
18. Kasipuram (Pusapati)
19. Kuppili (Jampana)
20. Kimmidi
21. Kondagandedu
22. Kottakota (Pinnamraju)
23. Kotapalli
24. Kota Uratla (Raja Sagi)
25. Thangedu (Raja Sagi)
26. Kondakirla (Sagi)
27. Kurupam (Vyricharla)
28. Korukonda (Thirupathiraju)
29. Kottur (Sagi)
30. Koppuram (Nallaparaju)
31. Madgole (Chintalapati) Claim descent from Matsya desa They have the figure of a fish on their flag.
32. Matli
33. Merangi (Satrucharla)

Central Provinces and Berar, 1903. Princely states are shown in yellow.

Hyderabad State, 1903

1. Mogalthur (Kalidindi)
2. Mutta Talaga Chirala (Uppalapati)
3. Moida (Penumatcha)
4. Nakkapilli (Kakarlapudi)
5. Owk
6. Ongole
7. Pachipenta
8. Polavaram
9. Palakonda
10. Parvatipuram
11. Peddapuram (Vatsavai)
12. Ponamanda (Mandapathi)
13. Rajamundry (Pusapati)
14. Ramachandrapuram Kota royal family S.R.K. Raja Gopal Narasa Raju.
15. Rayagarh
16. Rayavaram (Sagi)
17. Rajala (sagi)
18. Sarvasiddhi (Sagi)
19. Srirampuram (Kakarlapudi)
20. Salur (Satrucharla)
21. Sangam Valsa
22. Satyavaram
23. Tuni (Vatsavai)
24. Vizianagaram (Pusapati)
25. Uppada (Pusapati)
26. Vemalapudi (Sagi)
27. Velchur Kodur (sagi)
28. Wurutla (Dantuluri)
29. Jeypore In 1768, Viziaram Raju had granted the Jeypore country as a jagir.

Studies

Edgar Thurston did a comprehensive observational study of the communities of South India and published his seven volume Castes and Tribes of Southern India In line with the thinking of his times, his premise was that the caste system was a type of racial apartheid and that all upper caste North Indians were a degraded version of the ancient Indo-Aryans and that all South Indians were representatives of the ancient Dravidians as such it was not possible for there to be a Kshatriya caste in South India. With this criterion he acknowledged their martial history but was hesitant to connect them with the ancient Kshatriyas. Some sections run the risk of sounding pompous but it was written by him and only included to elaborate on a point:

The Maharajas of Vizianagaram claim to be Kshatriyas from the Rajputana and the leaders of the people of gotrams said to have come to the Northern Circars centuries ago. It is noted in connection with the battle of Padmanabham in the Visakhapatnam district (1794 AD) that Rajputs formed a rampart round the corpse of Vijay Rama Raju. Padmanabham will long be remembered as the Flodden of the Rajputs of Vizianagaram.

As a class they are the handsomest and best developed men in the country and differ so much in feature and build from other Hindus that they may usually be distinguished at a glance...In religion they are mostly Vaishnavites, and their priests are Brahmans...Claiming to be Kshatriyas, the Rajus of course assume the sacred thread, and are very proud and particular in their conduct, though meat eating is allowed. In all the more well-to-do families the females are kept in strict seclusion...The Brahmanical rites of Punya Havachanam (Purification), Jata Karma (Birth ceremony), Nama Karanam (Naming ceremony), Chaulam (Tonsure), and Upanayanam (Thread ceremony) are performed...At weddings the Kasi Yatra (Mock flight to Benares) or Snatha Kavritham is performed...In some villages, Rajus seem to object to the construction of a pial, or raised platform, in front of their houses. The pial is the lounging place where visitors are received by day. The Rajus claim to be Kshatriyas so other castes should not sit in their presence. If pials were constructed, such people might sit thereon, and so commit a breach of etiquette.

A 2001 examination of male Y-DNA by Indian and American scientists indicated that higher castes are genetically closer to Western Eurasians than are individuals from lower castes, whose genetic profiles are similar to other Asians. Y-chromosome DNA (Y-DNA) is a type of DNA that is only carried by men and is only inherited from their fathers. Men who share a common paternal ancestor will have virtually the same Y-DNA, even if that male ancestor lived many generations ago. According to Bamshad et al. (2001)], higher caste Telugus have a higher frequency of haplogroup 3 (R1a1) than lower castes. Haplogroup 3 is also characteristic for the Eastern Europeans. In the study, Bamshad and his team wrote, "Our results demonstrate that for biparentally inherited autosomal markers, genetic distances between upper, middle, and lower castes are significantly correlated with rank; upper castes are more similar to Europeans than to Asians; and upper castes are significantly more similar to Europeans than are lower castes." There is some evidence that a few millennia ago, a group of people with (Eastern) European genetic affinities migrated into the Indian subcontinent from the northwest. In the abstract to their paper Bamshad et al stated, "In the most recent of these waves, Indo-European-speaking people from West Eurasia entered India from the northwest and diffused throughout the subcontinent. They purportedly admixed with or displaced indigenous Dravidic-speaking populations. Subsequently they may have established the Hindu caste system and placed themselves primarily in castes of higher rank" . However, critics point out that a South Indian state of Andhra Pradesh might not be the best place for such a study. One of the upper castes, Kshatriyas, belongs to the minuscule part of Telugu population. Also, historically South Indian royal families had marital relationship with Central and East Indian royal families. In other words, Kshatriyas were not as isolated as Chenchu tribe.

The study also revealed another classic anthropological observation, that women are significantly more mobile in terms of caste and hierarchical class than men, who are barely socially mobile at all in terms of caste and hierarchical Social class. Genetic evidence reveals that over millennia men from higher casts have married women from lower castes, but women from higher casts have rarely married men from lower castes. Thus the researchers imply that caste and class to a large extent is perpetuated by women and has also thereby contributed to the minimal mixing of Aryan blood with the natives. Recent paper in Current Biology, Cordaux et. al. (2004)] confirms the Bamshad (2001) results and concludes that the paternal lineages of Indian caste groups are primarily descendants of Indo-European speakers who migrated from Central Asia about 3,500 years ago.

Summary

You notice that starting from the Ikshvaku era there was always a referrence to warrior clan of Kshatriya. They were never large in number, mostly concentrated in the coastal regions, not necessarily holding the highest seats of power, but none the less functioning in the military hierarchy and involved to varying extent in the administration.

Genetic studies imply that the earliest ancestors of the Rajus were early Indo-Aryan migrants who over the course of centuries procreated with the Dravidian populace as the situation warranted. The modern community reflects this genetic pooling. As far as the non-Kshatriya clans named, this is more difficult to explain with the current available information. There may be inacurracy one way or the other. There seemed to be a battle of cultures between the Kshatriya and non-Kshatriya clans leading to the battle of Palnadu and it may be possible that after the battle the traditionalist faction took in some of their allies in order to increase their numbers. Members of these clans that sided with the Brahma Naidu faction may have merged into other castes, merged into communities from other states or simply died off. All these could be valid conclusions, none have been proven. .

Other than a few royal families that seem to have a link to some of the ancient dynasties, when it comes to a direct link to Ikshvakus and Eastern Chalukyas, there are no families like the Solanki Kshatriyas of Gujarat, who can trace their ancestry to the Western Chalukyas. The currently available information traces lineages back only to the 16th century, the rest is a mystery. Most of the Raju populace functioned as soldiers and officers during times of war and worked at various levels of administration and subsided on the land that they owned during times of peace. There was never a significant history of working as laborers, artisans or fisherman etc., making their claim to being Kshatriyas valid.

Modern community

Rajus are designated a forward caste . The Indian government came up with a policy of placing quotas for particular communities for hiring in government jobs, acceptance into educational institutions, dispensation of financial and developmental aid etc. to help bring up the overall financial and social well being of the vast number of poor and socially marginalized castes and communities in Indian society. In order to ensure that the most needy get these quotas framers didn't feel the traditional classification of upper and lower caste properly reflect the realities of certain regions and came up with forward caste and backward caste. Communities and castes that are economically and politically weak are placed in the backward caste list and enjoy the benefits that this designation entails. It is essentially a type of affirmative action. These quotas were supposed to last one generation, as this should theoretically be the foundation needed to improve. However since they constitute a huge vote bank, these quotas continue.

During the British Raj, the zamindari families answered to the Queen. The non-royals were landlords would hire or lease out their land to other communities for cultivation. The poorer sections would work as foreman or domestic help for the wealthier members. They practiced caste segregation and expected only a basic education from the men. The women also got only a basic education and kept in strict seclusion . Other than the Zamindars the majority of the community was not politically active early on but in later days a few were involved in various capacities with the freedom struggle, the most accomplished ones being the legendary Alluri Sita Rama Raju and Colonel D.S. Raju, who was a collegue of Subhas Chandra Bose.

During the early years of Indian independence Rajus enjoyed political influence disproportionate to their size. Poosapati Kumar Swamy Raju held the post of Chief Minister of the Madras State despite not being a native Tamilian. This reflects the wonderful secularism of the Tamil populace as well as their early political innocence. This quickly changed with the rise of the Dravidian movement. In Andhra Pradesh the old Zamindar families banked off the respect given by their traditional subjects to continue in elective positions. However three major issues greatly changed the political, economic, educational and social outlook of the community over the next decades.

1. Repeal of privy purses to royal families by the central government.
2. Land reform acts instituted by the P.V. Narasimha Rao government in Andhra Pradesh.
3. Increased caste based politics.

Initially the ruling families of India were promised the right to continue collecting taxes in their dominions as long as they gave up their titles and joined the Indian Union. But this right was repealed and they became ordinary citizens who had to pay property taxes to the central government. As they had no other source of income they were forced to sell off their estates or convert them into luxury hotels. This only affected a small percentage of the population and didn’t garner much public sympathy.

The land reform act in Andhra Pradesh however affected all the large and medium scale landlords. The government noticed that too much of the land was in too few hands so they hoped to spread the wealth with this act, which placed a cap of 16-24 acres of land per family member. It had the long term achievement of bringing up the financial, political and social status of large numbers of traditional disenfranchised families but it should be easy to understand why this didn't sit well with the Raju community. If they were not able to find an alternative source of income to generate money to buy additional land for the next generation, within two to three generations, the amount of available land would be miniscule. This forced many families to embrace education, as a solid education would give individuals the opportunity to apply for a high paying professional job or open up a business . In the early days most of the economy was controlled by a government that had caste quotas forcing many to go outside the country. The stress on education put them in a good position to take advantage of liberalization of the economy in the 90’s led by of all people P.V. Narashimha Rao. Technocrats and astute businessman founded companies like Satyam Computer Services, Visual Soft, Deccan Cements, Nagarjuna, SIRIS, Ramco and Biological Evans .

The changes in education, occupation and urbanization brought about social changes as well. More importance was placed education for women and their status in the community improved. They also no longer practice caste segregation and live respectfully with all communites. However marriage outside the caste is still frowned upon. The main reason for this objection is the fear of losing touch with traditions and customs and thus losing the communities identity. Even marriage to a Kshatriya from another state is grudgingly excepted so long as they learn the customs and traditions unique to the Telugu community. See customs for more information.

Politically they usually have two to three representatives in the almost three hundred strong state assembly which is proportionate to their population but they don’t enjoy major state wide political influence as Indian politics has been largely influenced by caste aspirations. Voters caste ballots en-block for the candidate that belongs to his/her caste, which encourages party leaders to endorse candidates who come from a community with a large vote bank in the constituency. This type of system puts Raju candidates at a disadvantage.

References

Other Sources

• Andhra Zamindars:[38]
• Karvetnagar [39]
• Andhra Kingdoms[40]
• Indian Intelligence Report: Inscriptions:[41]
• History of the Andhras [42]
• Caste system: [43]
• Caste politics In the North, West, and South India Before Mandal.[44]
• V. Ramesam, K. Mahadevan. Andhra Chronology (90-1800 A.C):[45]
• Caste Transformation (Winners and Losers) [46]

• The Andhras through the ages: Kandavalli Balendu Sekharan
• Class-study of the History and Cultue of the Andhras: Kandavalli
• Precolonial India in Practice: Cynthia Talbot
• A study of the history and culture of the Andhras: Kambhampati Satyanarayana
• Inscriptions:[47]
• Dharani Priya, B: A study of genetic demography of the Kshatriyas, Ph.D. Thesis, Andhra University (2001)