Kamma (caste): Difference between revisions

Kamma
Kamma
Religions	Hinduism
Languages	Telugu; Kannada; Tamil;
Country	India;
Region	Andhra Pradesh; Telangana; Karnataka ; Tamil Nadu;
Status	Forward caste

Browse history interactively

← Previous edit Next edit →

Content deleted Content added

VisualWikitext

Inline

Revision as of 06:57, 16 June 2019

Kamma is a caste that is concentrated in the South Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Kammas are classified as a Forward Caste, and they mainly use three titles: Chowdary, Rao, and Naidu.^[1]

The community of Kammas is that of agricultural families originating from the Kammanadu region of the Guntur and Prakasam districts in Andhra Pradesh.^[2]^[3] Kammas are believed to have spread out from the region during the Vijayanagara period due to their military role, followed by some in-migration during the British period, and out-migration again during the twentieth century.^[4] Today they constitute a dominant agrarian and trading caste from coastal Andhra with socio-economic and political prominence throughout the Telugu-speaking regions of India (the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana).^[5]^[6]

They also have a notable presence in the neighbouring states in India such as Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.^[7] In recent times, a sizeable number of Kammas have migrated to the United States.^[8]

Origins

60km
40miles

Gundlakamma

Konidena

Chirala

Addanki

Bapatla

Vinukonda

Sattenpalle

Kammanadu region

The modern community of Kammas, along with Velamas and Reddys, are believed to have originated with the Kapus (agriculturists). Specifically, the Kammas are believed to have originated from the agriculturalists (Kapus) of the Kammanadu region in coastal Andhra Pradesh.^[3]^[9] A popular legend collected by Edgar Thurston narrates that Kammas originated from the youngest son of a certain Belthi Reddi, who managed to recover his mother's ear-ornament (called "kamma" in Telugu) which had been stolen by the king's minister. The other sons of Belthi Reddi are similarly said to have given rise to the other prominent caste communities of the Telugu people.^[10]

The region, lying between the Gundlakamma river and the Krishna river in the erstwhile Guntur district (which included the three subdistricts later transferred to the Ongole district in 1970), had an identity dating back to ancient times. The term "kamma" either referred to the two rivers that formed the boundaries of the region,^[11] or to the Buddhist monastic institutions called sanghakammas believed to have been once prevalent in the region.^[12]

As the people of the region migrated to other parts, they were often referred to as the Kamma community (kamma-kula).^[13] Terms such as kamma-brahmana, kamma-komati, kamma-sreshti and kamma-kapu are attested in inscriptions as descriptions of people.^[14]^[15]^[16] The migration was aparently quite extensive, and was made by possible by the Kammanadu's strategic location with access to the Deccan plateau as well as to the regions in the south and southwest.^[17] By 1872, only one-fourth of their total population was living in the original region. But the migrants retained links to the homeland and returned to it whenever the situation was favourable.^[18]

Medieval history

Post-Kakatiya period

The demise of the Kakatiya Empire resulted in confusion and anarchy for sometime, before the Musunuri Nayaks brought stability to the region.^[19] The Musunuri Nayaks, who Telugu historians have stated are Kammas, led a confederacy of Telugu nobles to liberate the Telugu regions from the rule of the Tughlaqs.^[20]^[21]^[22]^[23]^[24]^[25]. The Musunuri Nayaks, namely Prolaya Nayaka and Kapaya Nayaka, established an independent kingdom that was initially based out of Rekapalle. The Vilasa Grant of Prolaya Nayaka, where he bemoaned the devastation of Telugu regions under the Turks, sought to legitimize himself as the rightful restorer of order following the Kakatiyas.^[26] Kapaya Nayaka, who was the cousin of Prolaya, later succeeded him, and the capital was shifted to Warangal following Kapaya Nayaka's ousting of Malik Maqbul, who was the governor of that area for the Delhi Sultanate.^[27] The Musunuri Nayaks were succeeded by the Recherla Nayakas.

Cynthia Talbot states that the modern-castes of the Telugu states did not originate until the late stages of the Vijayanagara Empire.^[28] Telugu historians disagree with that statement. For instance, B.S.L Hanumantha Rao states that the post-Kakatiya Andhradesa (Telugu regions) experienced a triangular-conflict between the Velamas, Kammas, and Reddys, and K.Satyamurthy noted that the post-Kakatiya period saw the Kammas, Reddys, and Velamas, among others, leading Telugu society.^[29]^[30]

Vijayanagara period

During the reign of Krishnadevaraya, Kammas are said to have formed the bulwark of the Vijayanagara army. Kamma Nayaks (commanders) were appointed as governors in many areas of Tamil Nadu.^[31] Pemmasani Ramalinga Nayudu was a leading military commander under Krishnadevaraya. Vithalappa Nayaka was another prominent Kamma military commander during the reign of Krishadevaraya and Achyuta Deva Raya.^[32]^[33] Their role in protecting the last great Hindu kingdom of India was significant.^[34]^{[non-primary source needed]}

Golkonda period

The Kammas were largely reduced by the status of peasants in the post-Kakatiya period.^[35] The Vijayanagara kingdom was troubled after the battle of Tallikota in 1565. Pemmasani Nayaks, Ravella Nayaks and Sayapaneni Nayaks helped the Araviti kings in keeping the Muslims at bay. It took another 90 years to consolidate the Muslim power in Andhra country with the capture of Gandikota in 1652. Kamma nayaks migrated in large numbers to the Tamil region. During the Golkonda period, the Sayapaneni Nayaks (1626–1802) ruled Dupadu region as vassals of the Golkonda sultans.^[36]

Modern history

Kamma landholdings were consolidated, and their influence consequently increased, by the introduction of the ryotwari system as a replacement for the zamindari system in the 19th century.^[37]

In the 1872 census, the Kammas made up 40 per cent of the agricultural population of the Krishna district (which included the present Guntur district until 1904). Along with Brahmins, they formed the domininant community of the district.^[38] By 1921, their population in the district increased to 47 per cent, representing a large in-migration. The literate Kammas learned the Vedas, wore the sacred threads, taught Sanskrit and performed priestly functions for the lower-caste members, which are said to have generated controversies. Despite this attachment to Brahminical orthodoxy, the Kammas related to the Kapus (cultivators) and their Shudra identity.^[39] The upward mobility of the community was noted in N. G. Ranga's study in the 1920s. The Kammas were also politically active, associating themselves with the Indian National Congress almost from its inception, and agitated for farmers' interests. They formed the Kamma Mahajana Sabha, a caste association, in 1910, which received encouragement from the political leaders. Ranga also started a Madras Kamma Association in 1919 and founded a journal Kamma Patrika, later renamed to Ryot Patrika.^[40] The Kammas constituted 6 per cent of the population in the Telugu-speaking of the Madras Presidency in 1921, a figure slightly higher than Brahmins, but lagging far behind 'Kapur or Reddi'.^[41]

Construction of dams and barrages and establishment of an irrigation system in Godavari and Krishna River deltas by Arthur Cotton was a great boon to the Kamma farmers. Availability of water and the natural propensity for hard work made the Kammas wealthy and prosperous.^[42] The money was put to good use by establishing numerous schools and libraries and encouraging their children to take up modern education.^[43]

The Kammas of Southern Tamil Nadu have also excelled in the cultivation of black cotton soils and later diversified into various industrial enterprises, particularly in Coimbatore and Kovilpatti.^[44]^[45]

Classification

The varna system of Brahmanic ritual ranking never took hold in South Indian society outside Kerala. There were essentially three classes: Brahmin, non-Brahmin and Dalit.^[46] Kammas naturally fall into the non-Brahmin class.^[47] Classification of social groups in the Andhra region has changed frequently as the various communities jostle for status.^[48] During the British Raj, the Kammas were considered to be "upper Shudra", along with the Reddy and Velama castes, under the varna system.^[49]^[50]. Kammas claim the Kshatriya status and argued that the Kshatriya status was given based on one’s deeds, according to dharma. Despite this line of reasoning, by claiming that the contemporary Kammas were Kshatriyas because their ancestors had attained that status by virtue of good deeds or marriage into royal Kshatriya families like the Kakatiyas, in fact the Kammas proved the validity of pedigree rather than dharma in determining one's varna.^[51]

Selig Harrison said in 1956 that

Kamma lore nurtures the image of a once-proud warrior clan reduced by Reddi chicanery to its present peasant status. Reddi duplicity, recounted by Kamma historian K. Bhavaiah Choudary, was first apparent in 1323 AD at the downfall of Andhra's Kakatiya dynasty. Reciting voluminous records to prove that Kammas dominated the Kakatiya court, Chaudary suggests that the Reddis, also influential militarists at the time, struck a deal at Kamma expense with the Moslem conquerors of the Kakatiya regime. The Kammas lost their noble rank and were forced into farming.^[35]

.

Politics

Prior to the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, creating the new state of Telangana, the Kammas and the Reddys were politically and economically dominant in the state.^[6]

During the 1980s, they played a key role in state and national politics with the inception of the Telugu Desam Party by its then President Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao also called as NTR.^[52]

Notable people

References

^ Gilbertson, Amanda (21 December 2017). Within the Limits: Moral Boundaries of Class and Gender in Urban India. Oxford University Press. p. 111. ISBN 9780199091621.
^ Nāgabhūṣaṇaśarma, M.; Sastry, M. V.; Śēṣagirirāvu, C. (1995), History and culture of the Andhras, Telugu University, p. 80 Quote: "Next to birth and profession, it was region which accounted for sectarian sub-divisions in all the castes like those of Kammanadu being called Kamma-Brahmana, Kamma-Kapu, Kamma-Sresthi and so on."
^ ^a ^b Sastry, P. V. Parabrahma (1996), Rural Studies in Early Andhra, V.R. Publication, p. 59 Quote: "The modern Kamma sect of people in Andhra desa is originally of the Kapu families hailing from Kamma nadu or Kamma rashtra of the medieval period."
^
*Benbabaali, Caste Dominance and Territory in South India (2018), pp. 6–7: "These waves of military migration towards the South of the Indian peninsula from the fifteenth century onwards explain the significant presence of Kammas in Tamil Nadu, where they again turned into agriculturalists in times of peace."
- Keiko, Politics and representation of caste identity (2008), pp. 357–359: "Interestingly, their population in the Krishna delta in the 1872 census was one-fourth of their total strength in the entire Madras Presidency, but had increased by 1921 to about 47 per cent."
- Benbabaali, Caste Dominance and Territory in South India (2018), p. 14: "The post-independence territorial recompositions provided them with new opportunities for investment in Telangana, where they bought land in the proximity of irrigation projects."
^ Benbabaali, Caste Dominance and Territory in South India (2018), pp. 2–3; Keiko, Politics and representation of caste identity (2008), p. 356
^ ^a ^b Srinivasulu, K. (September 2002). "Caste, Class and Social Articulation in Andhra Pradesh: Mapping Differential Regional Trajectories" (PDF). London: Overseas Development Institute. pp. 3–4. Retrieved 30 March 2013.
^ Benbabaali, Caste Dominance and Territory in South India (2018), pp. 6–7, 25–29, 29–30
^ Bhaskar, T. L. S.; Bhat, Chandrashekhar (2007). "Contextualising Diasporic Identity". In Oonk, Gijsbert (ed.). Global Indian Diasporas: Exploring Trajectories of Migration and Theory. Amsterdam University Press. pp. 108–109, 112. ISBN 978-90-5356-035-8.
^ Keiko, Politics and representation of caste identity (2008), p. 356: "their actual dominance was originally limited to two districts on the lower banks of the Krishna River, namely Krishna and Guntur districts."
^ Talbot, Austin Cynthia (2001), Pre-colonial India in Practice: Society, Region, and Identity in Medieval Andhra, Oxford University Press, p. 206, ISBN 978-0-19803-123-9
^ Lincoln, Bommala Abraham (1992), A study of place-names of Bāpaṭla Taluk: a study on onomastics, B. Subhashini, p. 118: "Here, Kamma indicates a stream. Cf: Gundlakamma: Prakasam District; Perakamma: a big Kamma, River Krishna"
^ Benbabaali, Caste Dominance and Territory in South India (2018), pp. 6–7: According to epigraphical records, the Krishna delta area was known as Kammanadu during the Chola empire—a toponym that probably came from the Buddhist monastic institutions called sanghakammas.
^ Rao, B. S. L. Hanumantha (1995), Social Mobility in Medieval Andhra, Telugu University, pp. 52–53
^ Pramila, Kasturi (1 January 2002), Economic and social conditions of Āndhra Deśa, A.D. 1000 to 1323 A.D., Bharatiay Kala Prakashan, p. 189
^ Sarma, M Somasekhara; Sōmaśēkharaśarma, Mallampalli (1948), History of the Reddi Kingdoms (circa. 1325 A.D. to Circa 1448 A.D.), Andhra University, p. 278
^ Nāgabhūṣaṇaśarma, Modali; Sastry, Mudigonda Veerabhadra; Śēṣagirirāvu, Cīmakurti (1995), History and culture of the Andhras, Telugu University, p. 80
^ Keiko, Politics and representation of caste identity (2008), p. 356: "Its historical prominence, however, derived from the fact that it opened into the extensive Deccan plateau."
^ Keiko, Politics and representation of caste identity (2008), pp. 357–359: "their population in the Krishna delta in the 1872 census was one-fourth of their total strength in the entire Madras Presidency, but had increased by 1921 to about 47 per cent."
^ Talbot 2001, p. 178 harvnb error: multiple targets (2×): CITEREFTalbot2001 (help); Eaton 2005, pp. 26–27; Chattopadhyaya 1998, pp. 57–59
^ Rao, B. S. L. Hanumantha; India), Telugu University (Hyderabad (1995). Socio-cultural history of ancient and medieval Andhra. Telugu University. p. 157. The Nayakas of Musunuru who are said to have been Kammas . . .
^ Satyamurthy, K. (1990). Political geography of India. Printwell Publishers. p. 32. The Kamma-nayakas of the Musunuri family particularly Prolayanayaka and Kapayanayaka attempted successfully in freeing the land from the Muslim rule.
^ Rao, P. Raghunadha (1993). Ancient and medieval history of Andhra Pradesh. Sterling Publishers. p. 70. ISBN 9788120714953. These chiefs took the lead in organizing a war of independence against the Muslim rule and elected as their leader, Prolaya Nayaka, the Kamma chieftain of Musunuru . . .
^ Prasad, G. Durga (1988), History of the Andhras up to 1565 A. D. (PDF), Guntur: P. G. Publishers, p. 168
^ "The Hindu : Telugu cultural history". www.thehindu.com. 26 November 2002. He [Muppaalla Hanumantha Rao, the author of SAMAGRA ANDHRA DESA CHARITRA — SAMSKRITI — Third Volume] comes out with new evidence that, during this period, the Musunuri Kamma dynasty ruled Andhra for 50 years while the Reddy dynasty ruled the land for a hundred years plus another quarter of a century by the Reddy kings of Rajahmundry and the Velama kings had their sway over the region for some 150 years. He also finds that all these three major castes were one to begin with, but later split into three different sects {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
^ Pramila, Kasturi (1 January 2002). Economic and social conditions of Āndhra Deśa, A.D. 1000 to 1323 A.D. Bharatiay Kala Prakashan. p. 162. Prolayanayaka of the Musunuri family who is considered to belong to the Kamma caste established an independent kingdom at Rekapalli.
^ Talbot (2001), p. 178 harvp error: multiple targets (2×): CITEREFTalbot2001 (help); Eaton (2005), pp. 26–27; Chattopadhyaya (1998), pp. 57–59
^ Eaton, Richard M. (17 November 2005). A Social History of the Deccan, 1300-1761: Eight Indian Lives. Cambridge University Press. p. 50. ISBN 9780521254847.
^ Talbot, Cynthia (20 September 2001). Precolonial India in Practice: Society, Region, and Identity in Medieval Andhra. Oxford University Press. p. 86. ISBN 9780198031239.
^ Rao, B. S. L. Hanumantha; India), Telugu University (Hyderabad (1995). Socio-cultural history of ancient and medieval Andhra. Telugu University. p. 157.
^ Satyamurthy, K. (1991). Medieval Indian Culture and Political Geography. APH Publishing. p. 114. ISBN 9788170244424.
^ Dutt, K. I. (1926). "Kamma Commanders of the Vijayanagara Empire". Journal of the Andhra Historical Society. X: 223.
^ Wagoner, Phillip B. (1993). Tidings of the king: a translation and ethnohistorical analysis of the Rāyavācakamu. University of Hawaii Press. p. 14. ISBN 9780824814953.
^ Patil, Madhao P. (1 September 1999). Court Life Under The Vijayanagar Rulers. B.R. Publishing Corporation. pp. 70–71. ISBN 9788176460941.
^ Jackson, William (2005). Vijayanagara Voices. Ashgate Publishing. p. 124. ISBN 0-7546-3950-9.
^ ^a ^b Harrison, Caste and the Andhra Communists (1956)
^ Narayanarau, V.; Shulman, D. D.; Subrahmanyam, S. (2003). Textures of Time: Writing History in South India. Other Press LLC. p. 264. ISBN 1-59051-044-5.
^ Kumar, P. Pratap (2013). "Andhra Pradesh: Economic and social relations". In Berger, Peter; Heidemann, Frank (eds.). The Modern Anthropology of India: Ethnography, Themes and Theory. Routledge. p. 18. ISBN 9781134061112.
^ Keiko, Politics and representation of caste identity (2008), p. 357.
^ Keiko, Politics and representation of caste identity (2008), pp. 358–359.
^ Keiko, Politics and representation of caste identity (2008), pp. 360–361.
^ Keiko, Politics and representation of caste identity (2008), p. 356.
^ Murty, K. R. (2001). Parties, Elections and Mobilisation. New Delhi: Anmol Publications. p. 20.
^ Bhattacharya, Sabyasachi (2002). Education and the disprivileged: nineteenth and twentieth century India. Orient Blackswan. p. 58. ISBN 978-81-250-2192-6.
^ Stein, Burton (1989). Vijayanagara. Cambridge University Press. p. 46. ISBN 0-521-26693-9.
^ Chari, Sharad (2004). Fraternal Capital. Stanford University Press. p. 162. ISBN 0-8047-4873-X.
^ Fox, Richard G. (January 1969), "Varna Schemes and Ideological Integration in Indian Society", Comparative Studies in Society and History, 11 (01): 27–45, doi:10.1017/S0010417500005132: "When recognition of a regional varna scheme has been unavoidable—such as the tripartite division into Brahmins, non-Brahmins, and Untouchables in much of the South— it has been explained in terms of an historical corruption or breakdown of the standard four-class system, rather than regarded as a functional entity in its own right."
^ Gopi, K. N. (1978), Process of Urban Fringe Development: A Model, Concept Publishing Company, p. 35
^ Kumar, P. Pratap (2013). "Andhra Pradesh: Economic and social relations". In Berger, Peter; Heidemann, Frank (eds.). The Modern Anthropology of India: Ethnography, Themes and Theory. Routledge. p. 14. ISBN 9781134061112.
^ Bhattacharya, Sabyasachi (2002). Education and the disprivileged: nineteenth and twentieth century India. Orient Blackswan. p. 17. ISBN 978-81-250-2192-6.
^ Ayres, Alyssa; Oldenburg, Philip (2002). India briefing: quickening the pace of change. M. E. Sharpe. p. 138. ISBN 978-0-7656-0813-0.
^ Keiko, Politics and representation of caste identity (2008), pp. 364:
^ Political Parties in South Asia, S. K. Mitra and M. Enskat, 2004, Praeger/Greenwood, p.115, ISBN 0-275-96832-4
^ http://templesinindiainfo.com/b-munuswamy-naidu/
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "Khammas of AP have money power, so they just go get it". Retrieved 7 September 2016.

Bibliography

Benbabaali, Dalel (2018), "Caste Dominance and Territory in South India: Understanding Kammas' socio-spatial mobility", Modern Asian Studies, 52 (06): 1938–1976, doi:10.1017/S0026749X16000755, ISSN 0026-749X
Keiko, Yamada (2008), "Politics and representation of caste identity in regional historiography: A case study of Kammas in Andhra", The Indian Economic and Social History Review, 45 (3): 353–380, doi:10.1177/001946460804500302
Harrison, Selig S. (June 1956). "Caste and the Andhra Communists". The American Political Science Review. 50 (2): 378–404. JSTOR 1951675. (subscription required)

@@ Line 25: / Line 25: @@
 | related                =
 }}
-'''Kamma''' is a [[Caste system in India|caste]] that is concentrated in the South Indian states of [[Andhra Pradesh]] and [[Telangana]]. Kammas are classified as a Forward Caste, and they mainly use three titles: [[Chowdhury|Chowdary]], [[Rao]], and [[Naidu]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_r9DDwAAQBAJ|title=Within the Limits: Moral Boundaries of Class and Gender in Urban India|last=Gilbertson|first=Amanda|date=2017-12-21|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=|isbn=9780199091621|location=|pages=111|language=en}}</ref>
+'''Kamma''' is a [[Caste system in India|caste]] that is concentrated in the South Indian states of [[Andhra Pradesh]] and [[Telangana]]. Kammas are classified as a Forward Caste, and they mainly use three titles: [[Chowdhury|Chowdary]], [[Rao (title)|Rao]], and [[Naidu]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_r9DDwAAQBAJ|title=Within the Limits: Moral Boundaries of Class and Gender in Urban India|last=Gilbertson|first=Amanda|date=2017-12-21|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=|isbn=9780199091621|location=|pages=111|language=en}}</ref>
 The community of Kammas is that of agricultural families originating from the ''[[Kammanadu]]'' region of the [[Guntur district|Guntur]] and [[Prakasam district|Prakasam]] districts in Andhra Pradesh.<ref name="TeluguUni">{{citation |last1=Nāgabhūṣaṇaśarma |first1=M. |last2=Sastry |first2=M. V. |last3=Śēṣagirirāvu |first3=C. |title=History and culture of the Andhras |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HTluAAAAMAAJ |year=1995 |publisher=Telugu University |p=80}} Quote: "Next to birth and profession, it was region which accounted for sectarian sub-divisions in all the castes like those of Kammanadu being called Kamma-Brahmana, Kamma-Kapu, Kamma-Sresthi and so on."