she has given following information......
I was married to a velama, Dr. Narayan Rao. Inuganti from Srikakulam. In my inlaws family to a great surprise I heard most of our yellapu surnames in and around Srikakakulam, Vijayanagaram......esp in a village called Palakonda.
I enquired about this with grand elders in my inlaws family. To surprisingly they know very very well about our Yellapu caste details and they were speaking great about Yellapu's honesty, loyality and bravery. Esp about yellapu women. It was said by one old person that.......velmas and yellapus were like relatives in ancient days and many matrimonials were in between velmas and yellapus which suggest the presence of our yellapu surnames in velmas of Srikakulam.
After the downfall of bobbili ........velmas along with yellapus, made their agricultural lands around Palakonda and lived together happily. and it was said that Yellapu girls were most beautiful, multitalentedl among those times for which Velamas preferred to marry yellapu girls it seems.she has appreciated the research I made.
The following are my logical conclusion on the information provided by her.
The velama and yellapu castes relations were started from the kakatiya period. Prataparudra -2 gave a lot of priority to velamas. It caused irritation among the other castes.At the time of last war with Delhi sulthans in 1332, other people did not cooperate.But, Yellapus and Velamas fought valiantly. This has improved the relations between both castes. (Elucidated in other blog"Origin and History")
After kakatiya downfall, many yellapu families moved to Rachakonda dynasty to work under the velamas.Yellapus were present on the borders of Rachakonda, as there are villages on the surnames and caste name such as yellagiri, malkapur . This clearly reveals the service by yellapus in Rachakonda Velamas.
During the vijayanagara times, yellapus, Velamas and Gavaras moved to Tamilnadu. The surnames of kotta/kottai and Naidu in velamas and yellapus suggest the mutual relations in TN also.
After vijayanagara period , Yellapus worked under Bobbili. I heard the information of stay of yellapus in vijayanagaram and srikakulam district is learnt from other friends also. It requires the consolidation of surnames and compare them to substantiate the view.I try to collect during my Stay at bobbili.Koppula is a famous surname both exists in Yellapus and velamas of North coastal area.The other surnames common among the both castes are Bethi, Jampala,Kaluvala,Oruganti,Muppala ,Saini and Recherla. These names reveal the relations between both castes.
On one hand the relations of these castes have been cordial in north coastal area , as they know the value of valor, honesty of yellapu people. More particularly the extraordinary talent shown by the bairushetty and other women belongs to yellapu caste during the war,which may be still alive in the minds of velamas of North coastal area. These women killed about 200 soldiers with stones, as per micheal katten.
On the other hand, in telangana, velamas down played the yellapus and not regarded for their honesty, though provided Jobs in their Gadis. However, some elderly persons regarded the honesty. There were matrimonial relations between these castes in two places. But most of the higher level persons among the Yellapus merged with velamas only, since the ages of kakatiyas up to the times of Bobbili. This merger also transferred the some cultural aspects of Rajasthani origin disseminated in to Velamas and followed widely, though velamas are originally belongs to Bihar area.
It is believed in the caste by elders that tandra papanna, brother of queen of Bobbili is yellapu only. So many of his loyal soldiers are from telagas.
Hence, the yellapu surnames are naturally present in Velamas. This is also one of the reasons for the less number of yellapus. During and after the bobbili war, migrations of yellapus were taken place to telangana area. Some people migrated independently. It is elucidated in the blog "from bobbili to bonagiri unveiled ".Some people migrated with velamas and most of them reached karimnagar in the end.
The independently migrated persons stayed in Warangal and Nalgonda district. Some of them lately reached the Karimnagar district. However, some people of both these castes are dispersed to the different parts of srikakulam and vijayanagaram districts after Great War of bobbili.On the other hand the people who lost their employment and could not get any lands, etc. are still living nomadically.
Marrying the Girls of yellapus is a great technique to merge yellapus in to their castes. It is not only due to their beauty but also to make use of their valor for their safety.During the needy times Velamas claim that both the velama and yellapu castes are related and one same.Hence, yellapus has to serve for their cause.However, there are cordial relations are existing in many places between these people.
The most important thing I observe is that the people living in U.S and other countries are showing great interest in providing information to build the history than people living in a.p.She is the first women to evince interest on the history of yellapus and to provide information.
Some people have misconception that Yellapus are telagas migrated from north coastal area to telangana area. But still the yellapus have been maintaining their identity both in north coastal area and telangana, though some people are merged with telagas, kapus and velamas and maintaining good relations including matrimonial relations.It is clarified by the information provided by madhurima.
References:
1.Story informed by Madhurima vodnala
2.Oral stories told by elders of both yellapu and Velamas.
3.Velama website
4.
No comments:
Post a Comment