'The Rajus were sent to maintain law and order as commandants and administrators of the Vijayanagar empire!'(1600-1650).When and by whom from the empire can be verified from known conflicts in history.
The period is full of instances where commanders,governors and local chiefs time and again tried to declare their independence,and establish their own kingdoms,or expand their territory,if a neighbour became weak.Complaints reached Vijayanagar and an army was sent to resolve the issue!This is how the Tamil country came to be ruled by the Telugu people.
Nagama nayaka settled disputes among the Pandyas,and tried to become king himself!
His son Viswanatha Nayaka fought him and took him back!(1528)
Viswanatha Nayaka was a governor,or king?This is debated,as he came and went thrice!(1529-1563)
Sellappa said to be a corruption of Saluva Virasinga Raya father of sevappa of Tanjore tried to revolt,and when defeated fled to Travancore.
Achyutha Raya himself led an army to check Travancore's expansion!Salakam Thimmaraju fought this battle
and took sellappa and Travancore chief prisoners.(1530)
Aliya Rama Raya sent Vithala Rama Raya his cousin and four of his brothers to check Travancore and stop Portugese conversion of the coastal folk to Christianity.These five princes stayed in the region for 10 years.Vithala ruled in Madurai for 12 years.(1546-1558).This is a noticeable presence of Telugu kshathriya Rajus in Madurai,when Aliya Rama Raya was controlling affairs in Vijayanagar!
Was a miltary camp left behind by Salakam or Vithala ?Did a group of war weary kshathriya rajus decide to settle down to agriculture in an area familiar to them on the way to Travancore?
Did the nayaks offer an asylum to Jaggaraya and followers fleeing Vellore,after massacring the royal family?
Was the Jagga Raya faction sheltered by the Madurai nayaks,post Thoppur war?(1616)
Is this a probable trace of the origin of Rajapalayam?Or were they recruited by the east India company and Yussuf Khan in Vellore Arani and Pulicat region to fight in the Polyger wars?(1765 )One or many of these must hold the answer,as the Rajus are kshathriyas and have lived here for years in a tightly knit regiment fashion.A better than vague guess is due and just waiting to be found!
That was some nice introspection. My house name is segoori and the patresfamilias chart at chavadi says that i'm the twelfth generation and having born at 1988, going back 12 generations would be not less than 300 years back in time. So that makes it 1688AD. Moreover the segoori patresfamilias chart starts with just one person. My guess is that since they started recording the successor and the information is still intact with about 300 families at present, they should have planned to settle from the start.
ReplyDeleteMaybe interpolating the data of other chavadi house names we may be able to get the date of settlement pretty well. I have been wondering about what could be the possible reasons...well i need the most probable one to sleep on right now so here is my shot at it.
Since there are no historic places or route or any place that may be of strategic interests for a ruler nearby Rajapalayam, the settlement must have happened out of need for an asylum especially because there is no threat from the west or south and maybe only from two direction i.e, from north / east. Then the rajus population could have been about three hundred people (including womenfolk and children)..if at all they were being under threat they could retreat towards the western ghats and avoid any annihilation given during the unstable political scenario. So i would say they chose to settle down for good and maybe the land bank they enjoyed was really a conquer in a less populated region. As the agriculture was clearly developed by deforesting towards west. Moreover since the British came they had also developed the pathway in the estates of western ghats and towards Kerala for spices. The rajus most probably have helped with the same and also have gained some estates at the end of it. Since the rajus have also come from many villages (within about 150km) it shows that there has been a selection process that has happened or there has been a gathering of chieftains out of a situation that was sudden, how else could people from so far unite with their families. So the impulse to move far had to come from high in command or else imagine it would be hard to combine such a small group of members from so far away places that would take a few days to travel. This is my imagination of what could have happened. There was no exodus of telugu people into south during vijayanagar period and if it did happen there would have been a much higher population that what it is today. So whatever reasons there was ...rajus had come here on command and decided to move away further down south near the mountain where waterfall could be seen and water source was good and the dangers of conflict was less. Now i can sleep on this for some time ..unless there is a better explanation. Thanks
Thank you!So you do have some records in chavadi! I have no access to it!If you are losing sleep over this issue,may be you will find an answer,with records and stories told and retold through generations.Of late I have been looking at the asylum angle,rather than a military invasion!And your thinking on the lines of spice trade and cultivation in the ghats connects.With this difference!Could there be a spill from kerala down western ghats,through the passes??Look at Marthanda Verma's annexing of Meenachil.They were Rajputs of Sisodia clan!
ReplyDeleteREFERRENCES ON RAJUS ( The Telugu speaking Kshatriyas)
ReplyDelete" Those who claim themselves to be Kshatriyas are in fact known by local names, in the Punjab - the Khatris; in Bihar,U.P.,Rajastan and Madhya Pradesh - The Rajputs or the Thakurs; and in Andhra Pradesh the Rajus"
- Page Nos. 239,240 A social history of India by S.N.sadasivan. Published by APH Publishing.
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." The Rāzus, Mr. Stuart writes further, ...... .. 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"
- source : 'Castes and Tribes of Southern India' by Edgar Thuston
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Sri V. Ramachandra Rao's article "A Brief note on the RAJU community of Andhra Pradesh" is available on the net.
which provides good info. on the Raju community.
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ANOTHER LINK OF INFORMATION ON RAJUS ( Telugu Speaking Kshatriyas)
http://www.kostalife.com/anything-everything/ffive-amazing-qualities-of-the-kshatriya-rajus-of-andhra/
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About RAJUS ( the Telugu speaking Kshatriyas)
ReplyDeleteUnlike other Telugu community people, the Telugu Kshatriyas (Rajus) have Rishi Gothras and Raja Pravaras also ( which indicate/describe their Royal lineage).
Rishi Pravara indicates to which Rishi ( Sage) disciples they have been.
Raja Pravara indicates to which Royal Race or lineage they belong.
At Rajus' ceremonies the Brahmins and Bhatrajus/Bhattus ( Bards / Minstrels ) recite their Rishi and Raja Pravaras.
Rajus have four Gothras ( Vashishta, Dhananjaya, Koundinya and Kashyapa). The ' Pashupati' Gothra which is seen among the Rayalaseema and Nellore Rajus could be synonym of Koundinya Gothra. . 'Surname' plays important role in Telugus' culture. Surname and Gothra both are equally important. Because some surnames are common in all the castes and in some cases Gothras are also common.
But usually Gothra and Surname combination of a caste person need not be the same of other caste person.
Rajus claim that they are descendants of Four Dynasties that ruled the Telugu land.
These 4 Dynasties are :
a) PARICHEDIS ( Guhila , Vishnukundin Clan )
b) KOTA/ DHARANI KOTA ( Kubja Vishnuvardhana , Eastern Chalukya Clan )
c) KAKATI/KAKATIYA ( Karikala Chola, Kakati Prola Raju Clan).
d) VARNATA ( Aditya chola, Varnata Rajendra Chola /Rajendra Choda Clan).
Information available on this topic in Telugu book " Andhra Samsthanamulu - Sahitya Poshana" published by Andhra University. This book was published form of Ph.D thesis submitted by Dr. Thoomati Donappa ( Former Vice Chancellor of Telugu University).
Another reference book on this subject is " Sri Andhra Kshatriya Vamsa Ratnakaram" by Budharaju Varahalaraju.
Another Telugu language book ' KSHATRIYANVAYAMANJUSHA' by Sri. Duvvuri Jagannadha Sharma.
In fact there are several references/ refrence books available on this subject.
AFTER FALL OF THE DYNASTIES PARICHCHEDI, KOTA/ DHARANI KOTA, VARNATA, SAAGI, EASTERN CHALUKYA, KAKATIYA etc. the Rajus emerged as Zamindars .
RAJU ( Telugu Kshatriya ) ZAMINDARIS / ESTSATES :
• Charmahal / Mogalthur : Kalidindi ( Koundinya Gothra)
• Golugonda : Bhupathiraju clan ( Dhananjaya Gothra)
• Kota Uratla-Thangedu ( East Godavari) : Saagi / Sagi ( Vashishta Gothra)
• Ongole : Mandapati ( Kashyapa Gothra)
• Padmanabham : Saagi/ Sagi clan (Vashishta Gothra)
• Peddapuram : Vatsavayi / Vatsavaya ( Vashishta Gothra)
• Rajamundry : Pusapati /Poospati (Vashishta Gothra)
• Ramachandrapuram ( Kota Ramachandra Puram) : Kakarlapudi ( Vashishta Gothra)
• Tanuku ( West Godavari) : Uppalapati ( Kasyapa gothra ),
but later this zamindari was trasferred to Mullapudi ( Kamma caste) family.
• TUNI , East Godavari : Dantuluri ( Dhananjaya Gothra)
• Vizianagaram : Pusapati / Poosapati ( Vashishta Gothra)
• Thettu ( Nellore district) : Vezendla/ Vejella ( Vashishta Gothra)
• Thoyyeru ,Koppuram : Nallaparaju ( Dhananjaya gothra)
And others like Moida ( Penumatsa, Dhananjaya Gothra),Karvetinagar ( Chittoor District near Tirupati), Owk ( Cuddapah Dist.), Anegondi ( Karnataka) ……… and many more.
Madam
ReplyDeleteI think you have nailed it correctly.
The period of migration may be narrowed down from 1531-1538 during Achutadevaraya's Southern military expedition under Commander Sakkala Cinna Thirumala Raya.
I am adding further an answer to a question,
Quote:
Why are Telugu people able to dominate Karnataka and Tamil Nadu politics but not Kerala politics? How is Kerala effective in stopping Telugu grain from getting boiled in Kerala?
You are wrong.
1. Contrary to what you have stated, Kerala was very much under Vijayanagara Empire.
2. Travancore became feaudatory after Kumara Kampanna, Son of Bukkaraya, defeated Madurai Sultanates in 14th century. Tenkasi Pandyas become Governors on behalf of the Empire.
3. Malabar became feaudatory overseen by a Governor from Vijayanagara.
When the famous emperor Krishna Devaraya was ill, there was a rebellion in Chozha country; Travancore attacked and defeated Tenkasi Pandyas, occupied Tamirabharani region, Malabar declared independence.
There was a considerable delay due to change in reign and Jadavarma Pandyan of Tenkasi sought help from the new emperor Achuta Devaraya.
He made the expedition.
1. With Chozhas hiding, Achuta Devaraya made his commander Sevappa Naicker as the King of Thanjavur and it give birth to Tanjavur Naicker Kingdom. During his stay, he Achuta Deva Raya offered his Sister in law to marry Sevappanaicker. Thanjavur as well as Mysore Kingdoms were loyal to the empire till it met is due to their marital alliances.
2. One of the houses who supported the dynasty, Ravillas were made Governors of country lying between Travancore to Calicut, though it did not last more than 5 decades. Currently the descendants are in Ilayarasanendal, Tirunelveli.
3. Achuta Devarayas army went with his brother in law Saluka Cinna Tirumala (brother of Patta Mahishi Varadamma) defeated Travancore and made it to a feadatory. Pleased Pandyan Jadavarman SriVallabha offered Tenkasi Princess as Third Raja Mahishi to the emperor.
Kerala under Vijayanagara Empire but two different regions were annexed to other feaudatory kingdoms.
Meanwhile, after defeat of Talikota in 1547, it changed the capitals to Penugonda, Chandragiri, Vellore and ended in 1646 with Sri Ranga- an emperor with no empire, but its feaudatoris last long.
Source: Achuta Devarayas Military Expeditions.
PS: Achuta Devarayas second wife is a Sanskrit Scholar (Sister in law of Tanjore King) raised to the ranks of Raja Mahishi, due to her commentary over Sanskrit on his rule.
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