Thigala

Thigalas also known as Thigalava or Thigalaru are an endogamous social group or caste of people native to southern Karnataka and border regions of Tamil Nadu.

Ethnic Roots

Thigala refers to the "Vahni Kula Kshatriya",which means vannela kshatriyas which is the part of chandra vamsha kshtriyas in thelugu vannela means full moon (beladingalu)and agnikula kshatriya means soorya vamsha kshatriyas thigala kshatriyas are purely belongs to raju kshatriyas in andra pradesh.

Due to pronounce problem it has changed as vahnikula kshatriya we can prove this by the obc cast list of andra pradesh raju kshatriyas are the richest cast in andra pradesh they are in general categary and to get the reservation raju kshatriyas use sub cast chandravamsha kshatriya as vannyakula kshatriya and sooryavamsha kshatriyas as agnikula kshatriya which is in obc.

The name thelagaru became as thigalaru thigala kshatriyas are chalukya kshatriyas who are basically kannadigas ,chandra vamsha and soorya vamsha kshatriyas the sub casts of thigala kshatriyas in andra pradesh are agnikula kshatriya, vannyakula kshatriya,velamnaadu reddy, palli kappu reddy, vanne kappu reddy, Dharmaraju kappu reddy, raju kshatriya reddy, raju reddy, chalukya kappu.

Chalukya kshatriyas are have very close relation with ganga kshatriyas in karnataka we can see gangatkar vokkaligas(we can see in mandya,maddur,mysore,channapatna,nelamangala,tumkur,bangalore,) draupadi karagada vokaligaru(in kolar,hoskote,anekal,and in bangalore) mullu vokkaligaru (mainly in hassan )kishkinde vokkaligaru (in jiganee, kanakapura,and in bangalore) in karnataka.

vokkaligas are kappus in andra pradesh, kappu means protectore still iam searching for thigala kshatriya and raju kshatriya roots and vahnikula khatriyas language is the mixture of telagu tamil kannada almost 60% we use kannada telagu and 40% we wil use tamil and when we were in borders of tamil nadu we adopted the culture of karaga still today we use thelagu while reading mahabharath day before karaga festival .

Somvanshi Kshatriya" or Chandravanshi Kshatriyas are one of the three main Kshatriya Vansha, in India, the other being Surya Vansha and Agni Vansha. vannela (beladingalu full moon)kshatriya They are direct descendants of Som (Or Moon). As the name "SOM" indicate, this community belongs to lunar dynasty. Some Kshatriyas still using the surname Somvanshi are based Majorly in Hardoi, Pratapgarh and Allahabad in UP, Kumaon in Uttaranchal, Some parts of Manipur (the descendants of Arjuna, one of the five Pandavas, whowas married to a princes of Manipur). Other Kshatriyas have diversified and have different Vijayanagara Period Out of the four clans that ruled the Vijayanagara empire, two clans Saluva Dynasty and Aravidu Dynasty claimed to be of the Kshatriya Varna. [54] Raja Achutya Deva Raya, Zamindar of Anegundi and head of the Hindu Kshatriya Community[55] mentioned that they are of the Kshatriya Raju caste and marry among Telugu speaking Kshatriya Rajus settled in Hampi area.

Raju families such as the Chodarajus, Tirumalarajus, Madirajus, ,Nandyalas, Gobburis, Saluvas (Bommarajus) of Karvetinagar, the Rajas of Owk and Matla Chiefs were all relatives of the Aravidu dynasty.

[edit] Legends

God Rama belongs to Suryavanshi lineage. God Krishna belongs to Chandravanshi lineage. The history of South India and the Puranas reveal that the Andhra Kshatriyas descended from the Aryavarta (northern India) to the south due to internal conflicts, foreign invasions, famine etc. Vayu Purana, Buddhist and Jain literatures mention about migration of Ikshvakus Kshatriyas to southern India.

Rajus traditional accounts claim descent from Ikshvaku, Vishnukundina, Chalukya, Paricchedi and Kota Vamsa.[19]

Some historians and traditional accounts link Rajus to ancient Andhra Ikshvakus, which was the first Kshatriya kingdom in Andhra which ruled during 2nd and 3rd Centuries CE and are purportedly linked to ancient Ikshvakus of Kosala.[19]

According to most historians and by the inscriptional evidences of Paricchedi and Chagi ruling clans, during 4th - 5th century AD few Suryavanshi Kshatriyas of four clans travelled from northern India to the south, where they initially worked as feudatories of Vakatakas before establishing the Vishnukundina Kingdom. [20] While Chandravanshi Kshatriyas of Andhra are said to be descendents of Eastern Chalukyas and few other Kshatriya dynasties.

Basing on ancient inscriptions, traditional accounts and historical evidences, the Rajus of Andhra are descendents of the following ancient clans:

Vishnukundina: A folktale claims Madhav Varma of the Vishnukundina dynasty led the original members of their gotras to Andhra. Chalukyas: Chandravanshi Rajus are said to be descendents of Eastern Chalukyas. Parichedis: The forefathers of the Pusapatis. Kota Vamsa: Dharanikota Kings of Dhananjaya gotra. Chagi: Forefathers of the Sagis and Vatsavais Chedi (Haiheya-Kalachuri-Kona Chodas): Chodarajus Gajapati and Eastern Ganga: Kurupam and Salur zamindars claim descent from them. Matsya of Oddadi (Orissa), which is linked to ancient Matsya Kingdom: The zamindars of Madgole claim descent from them. Rajus are classified into two sects (as per ancient Kshatriya tradition based on Vansh): [21] Suryavanshi (Sun Dynasty) include Vishnukundina, Paricheda, Chagi, Chola-Chalukyas (Cholas claimed Suryavanshi and Chalukyas were Chandravanshi, the two families merged) Eastern Ganga and Gajapati. Chandravanshi (Lunar Dynasty) includes Eastern Chalukyas, Kota Vamsa, Kalachuris (Chedi-Haihaya), Saluva and Aravidu dyanasties of Vijayanagar.

The founding brothers of the Aravidu dynasty were the son-in-laws of Krishna Deva Raya of the Tuluva Dynasty and were also related previously through marriage with the Saluva Dynasty. Gobburi Narasaraju was the nephew of Aliya Ramaraju and[56] After the death of King Venkatapathi Raju, from 1614 to 1616 there was a great war of succession. Amongst the claimants to the throne was Gobburi Jaga Deva Raju, the brother-in-law of the emperor and also a relative of the Raja of Karvetinagar, Saluva Makaraju.[57][58] The Chodaraju's gotra was given as Kasyapa and the Nandyala's gotra was given as Atreya and were described as belonging to Chandravanshi, both were related through marriage and both were appointed Mahamandaleswars during the start of the 16th century.[59][60][61][62] The Madiraju's gotra was given as Kasyapa and Suryavanshi and related to the Thirumalarajus, both appointed Mahamandeleswars of Guntur area and happened to be the grandchildren of Aravidu Rama Raya.[63][64][65] Madhava Varma Bejawada was mentioned in 1509 AD. as of the Vasishtha gotra and Suryavansi.[66] Krishna Deva Raya defeated among others Rachi Raju 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.[67][68] Ganapathirajus were described as of the Suryavanshi and Kasyapa gotra and were Mahamandaleswars in 1555 AD.[69] Karvetinagar The current Bommaraju family of Karvetinagar are of Kshatriya Raju caste and trace their origins back to an ancestor who migrated from the Pithapuram area of the Godavari Delta about the 8th or 9th century. One ancestor obtained the favor of the Eastern Chalukya King, Vimala Aditya and Saluva Narasa was appointed the Chief of the region around Tirupati, where he founded a town called Narasapuram. The family later became feudatories of Vijayanagar, and had marriage alliances with the Saluva and loyalties to the Aravidu dynasties over the next two hundred years. Around the 16th century the family changed their name to the current Bommaraju, retaining Saluva as a title.[70]

They usually speak either Kannada or thelagu,kannada,Tamil (mixed) language but their writting literature is only kannada.

Karaga Festival

They are generally Hindus. Their main deity is Draupadi and the Karaga festival celebrated in Bangalore known as Bangalore Karaga or Bengalooru Karaga, Kolar and other towns is mainly performed by people belonging to this caste. Especially the dance of the Karaga Carrier and that of the Veerakumaras is eye catching and enthrilling.

Historic Association in Bangalore

they are the kannadigas who belongs to Estern chalukyas (chandra vamsha kshatriyas) Western chalukyas (soorya vamsha kshatriyas) warriors chalukya kshatriyas ruled almost south and north india they fought with cholas and pallavas and many more in this time they split in to different places and they adopted culture of their places when they gave a full stop for wars they depended mainly in agriculture even today they are famous in cultivating lands and their god dharmaraya and draupadi karaga festival which is the main festival of bangalore they built dharmaraya temple in thigalarapette which has the history of 500 years

Prominent Tigalas

• satyam computers ramalingam raju belongs to agnikula kshatriya
• film actore krishnam raju andra pradesha agnikula kshatriya
• film actore prabhas raju andra pradesh agnikula kshatriya
• Narendra Babu, Congress MLA agnikula kshatriya
• P.R. Ramesh, Ex-Mayor of Bangalore City vahnikula kshatriya
• Srinivas Director - Global System Architects India, Bangalore
• Abhimanyu - Senior, Priest (Poojari) of Dharmaraya Swamy Templevahnikula kshatriya Bangalore

External links

• Tigalaru in Karanataka study
• Tigala, karanataka version of Vanniyar caste
• The Mysore : Tribes and Castes, 5 Vols.
• Extensive article on Tigalas
• Tigalaru are native to north karnataka southern Karnataka and coorge
• Urban planning by medieval Tigalas
• Summaru of Karaga Festival
• Official website of Karaga festival
• Karaga and example of communal amity
• Thigalas of Karnataka andrapradesh and borders of Tamil Nadu unite in Karaga festival
• Karaga pictures ftom Potpuri site
• Karag festival in Mallur