Balija

Balija
Religions	Hinduism
Languages	Telugu, Kannada, Tamil
Country	India
Populated states	Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana, Kerala

The Balija are a Telugu-speaking mercantile community primarily living in the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and in smaller numbers in Telangana and Kerala. ^[1]

Etymology

Variations of the name in use in the medieval era were Balanja, Bananja, Bananju, Banajiga and Banijiga, with probable cognates Balijiga, Valanjiyar, Balanji, Bananji and derivatives such as Baliga, all of which are said to be derived from the Sanskrit term Vanik or Vanij, for trader. ^{[2] [3]}

Another version for etymology states that Balija is derived from the Sanskrit word Bali, a sacrifice made during 'Yagna' ritual and Ja meaning born. Therefore, Balija means 'born from sacrifice'. ^[4]

Origins

Beginning in the 9th century, references are found in inscriptions throughout the Kannada and Tamil areas to a trading network, which is sometimes referred to as a guild, called the Five Hundred Lords of Ayyavolu that provided trade links between trading communities in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. ^[5] From the 13th century, inscriptions referring to "Vira Balanjyas" (warrior merchants) started appearing in the Andhra country. ^[6] The Vira Balanjyas, whose origins are often claimed to lie in the Ayyavolu, represented long-distance trading networks that employed fighters to protect their warehouses and goods in transit. The traders were identified as nanadesi (of 'many countries') and as swadesi ('own country'). ^[7] The terms balanjya-setti and balija were also used for these traders, and in later times naidu and chetti. ^[8] These traders formed collectives called pekkandru and differentiated themselves from other collectives called nagaram, which probably represented Komati merchants. The pekkandru collectives also included members of other communities with status titles reddi, boya and nayaka. ^[9] They spread all over South India, Sri Lanka, and also some countries in the Southeast Asia. ^{[10] [11]}

Velcheru Narayana Rao et al. note that the Balijas were first mobilised politically by the Vijayanagara emperor Krishnadevaraya. ^[12] Later, in the 15th and 16th centuries, they colonised the Tamil country and established Nayaka chieftaincies. At this time, Balijas were leaders of the left-hand section of castes. These Balija warriors were noted as fearless and some stories speak of them assassinating kings who interfered with their affairs. ^[12] Cynthia Talbot believes that in Andhra the transformation of occupational descriptors into caste-based descriptors did not occur until at least the 17th century. ^[13]

The classification of people as Balija was one of many challenges for the census enumerators of the British Raj era, whose desire was to reduce a complex social system to one of administrative simplicity using theories of evolutionary anthropology. ^{[lower-alpha 1]} Early Raj census attempts in Madras Presidency recorded a wide variety of people claiming to be members of Balija subcastes but who appeared to share little in common and thus defied the administrative desire for what it considered to be a rational and convenient taxonomy. Those who claimed to be Chetty had an obvious connection through their engagement in trade and those who called themselves Kavarai were simply using the Tamil word for Balija but, for example, the Linga Balija based their claim to Balija status on a sectarian identification, the Gazula were bangle-makers by occupation, the Telaga had Telugu origins and the Rajamahendram also appeared to be a geographic claim based on their origins in the town of Rajahmundry. Subsequent attempts to rationalise the enumeration merely created other anomalies and caused upset. ^[14]

Balija branches

There are numerous branches, sub-divisions or social groups which make up the larger Balija social group.

• Balija Chettis (or Chetti Balija): Mentioned in several Vijayanagar accounts as wealthy merchants who controlled powerful trading guilds. ^[15] To secure their loyalty, the Vijayanagar kings made them Desais or "superintendents of all castes in the country." ^[16] They were classified as right-hand castes. ^[17] David Rudner claims that the Balija Chettis became a separate caste from the Balija Nayak warriors as recent as the 19th century; and accordingly they have closer kinship ties to the Nayak warriors than to Chetti merchants. ^[18]
• Gavara is a trading community and is a sub-caste of Balija. ^[19] They are present in Tamil Nadu. The Telugu-speaking Gavara community of Tamil Nadu is related to Balijas and is also known as Kavarai. ^[19] The often use the title Naidu. ^[20] Kavarai is the tamil name for Balijas, who have settled in Tamil Nadu. ^[19] That is the Tamilised rendition of Gavara. ^[19]
• Dasa Banajiga are also called as Jaina Kshatriya Ramanuja-Dasa Vaniyas and Sadu Banajiga as they were formerly Jain Kshatriyas who were converted into Vaishnavism by Ramanujacharya during the rein of Bitti Deva. They are mostly found in Channapatna near Bangalore. They are clean in their habits, pure vegetarians, follow the doctrines of Ramanujacharya, worship Vaishnava gods, speak Kannada, and cremate their dead. ^[21]

Caste titles

Some Balijas use surnames such as Naidu or Nayudu, and Naicker, which share a common root. Nayaka as a term was first used during the Vishnukundina dynasty that ruled from the Krishna and Godavari deltas during the 3rd century AD. During the Kakatiya dynasty, the Nayaka title was bestowed to warriors who had received land and the title as a part of the Nayankarapuvaram system for services rendered to the court. The Nayaka was noted to be an officer in the Kakatiya court; there being a correlation between holding the Nayankara, the possession of the administrative title Angaraksha and the status title Nayaka. ^{[22] [23]}

A more widespread usage of the Nayaka title amongst the Balijas appears to have happened during the Vijayanagara empire where the Balija merchant-warriors rose to political and cultural power and claimed Nayaka positions. ^[24]

Dynasties

The Vijayanagara empire was based on an expanding, cash-oriented economy enhanced by Balija tax-farming. ^[25] Some Balija families were appointed to supervise provinces as Nayaks (governors, commanders) by the Vijayanagara kings, ^[26] some of which are:

• Madurai Nayaks ^{[27] [28]}
• Tanjavur Nayaks ^{[27] [29]}
• Gingee Nayaks / Senji Nayakas ^[30]
• Kandy Nayaks. ^[31] who ruled Sri Lanka
• Penukonda Nayaks ^[32]
• Channapatna Rayas ^[33]
• Later Keladi Nayaks ^[34]

Varna status

Velcheru Narayana Rao and Sanjay Subrahmanyam say that the emergence of left-hand caste Balijas as trader-warrior-kings in the Nayaka period is a consequence of conditions of new wealth produced by collapsing two varnas, Kshatriya and Vaishya, into one. ^[35] Based on the Brahmanical conceptualisation of caste during the British Raj period, Balijas were accorded the Sat Shudra position. ^[36] The fourfold Brahmanical varna concept has not been acceptable to non-Brahmin social groups and some of them challenged the authority of Brahmins who described them as Shudras. ^[37]

Notable people

Warriors

• Viswanatha Nayak - Founder of the Madurai Nayak dynasty. ^[38]
• Sevappa Nayak - Founder of the Thanjavur Nayak dynasty ^[29]
• Tupakula Krishnappa Nayak - Founder of the Gingee Nayak dynasty ^[30]
• Sri Vijaya Rajasinha - Founder of the Kandy Nayak dynasty ^[31]
• Tirumala Nayak - King of Madurai. ^[39]
• Raghunatha Nayak - King of Thanjavur. ^[40]
• Rana Jagadevaraya - King of Channapatna ^[33]

Zamindar

• Ramabadra Naidu, Zamindar of Vadagarai was a descendant of the famous warrior and diplomat Ramabhadra Nayak, who had held the post of Military Chief and Collector of Revenue under his close relative Viswanatha Nayak, the ruler of Madurai. ^[41]
• Sankariah Naidu, Zamindar of Chennappa Naicken Palayam was a descendant of Tupakula Krishnappa Nayak, the ruler of the Gingee. ^[42]

Social Activists

• Gazulu Lakshminarasu Chetty, freedom fighter ^[43]
• Periyar E. V. Ramasamy, social reformer ^[44]
• P. Varadarajulu Naidu, freedom fighter ^[45]
• S. P. Narasimhalu Naidu, social worker ^[46]
• M. S. Ramaiah, philanthropist ^[47]

See also

• Gavara
• Kapu
• Sanskritisation
• Five Hundred Lords of Ayyavolu

Notes

1. The Raj theories of evolutionary anthropology, typified by the work of H. H. Risley, are nowadays considered to be scientific racism.

References

1. • Jakka Parthasarathy, ed. (1984). Rural Population in Indian Urban Setting. B.R. Publishing Corporation. p. 52. ISBN   9788170181392. Balija are the chief Telugu trading caste , scattered ! throughout Andhra Pradesh , Karnataka and Tamil Nadu
   • Narendra Nath Bhattacharyya, ed. (1980). Indian Puberty Rites. Munshiram Manoharlal. p. 23. ISBN   9780836407761. Balija , a class of Telugu merchants
   • Gilbert Slater, ed. (1918). Economic studies-Some South Indian Villages. Vol. 1. H. Milford, Oxford University Press. p. 246. Balijas, the chief Telugu trading caste, found all over Madras Presidency. Many are landowners and cultivators
   • K. S. Singh, B. G. Halbar, ed. (2003). People of India:Karnataka, Part 1. Vol. 26. Anthropological Survey of India. p. 287. ISBN   9788185938981. The Balija are a community of Telugu origin and are scattered all over Andhra Pradesh , Karnataka , Tamil Nadu and Kerala
2. Devadatta Ramkrishna Bhandarkar; Archaeological Survey of India (1983). "Epigraphia Indica". Epigraphica. 18: 335. ISSN   0013-9572. LCCN   sa66006469. As regards the derivation of this word, the late Mr Venkayya says:- In Kanarese banajiga is still used to denote a class of merchants. In Telugu the word balija or balijiga has the same meaning. It is therefore probable that the words valañjiyam, valanjiyar, balañji, banañji, banajiga and balija are cognate, and derived from the Sanskrit vanij
3. • B. Muddachari, ed. (1982). Economic History of Karnataka. Udaya Prakashana. p. 22.
   • T. V. Mahalingam, ed. (1967). South Indian Polity. University of Madras. p. 402.
4. • Arthur Maurice Hocart, ed. (1936). Kings and Councillors: An Essay in the Comparative Anatomy of Human Society. Printing office P. Barbey. p. 115.
   • Venkatesa Iyengar, ed. (1932). The Mysore Tribes and Castes. Vol. 2. Mittal Publications. p. 100.
   • T. Madhava Menon, ed. (2000). A Handbook of Kerala. Vol. 2. International School of Dravidian Linguistics. p. 668. ISBN   978-81-85692-31-9.
   • H. D. Singh, ed. (1996). 543 Faces of India: Guide to 543 Parliamentary Constituencies. Newmen Publishers. p. 28. ISBN   978-81-900669-0-7.
5. • Stein, Burton; Arnold, David (4 February 2010). A History of India. John Wiley & Sons. p. 120. ISBN   978-1444323511.
   • Aravind Kumar, ed. (2006). Studies in Kannada Inscriptions in Telangana. Department of History, Archaeology and Culture, Dravidian University. p. 88.
6. • K. Sundaram, ed. (1968). Studies in Economic and Social Conditions of Medieval Andhra, A. D. 1000-1600. Triveni Publishers. p. 69.
   • Kambhampati Satyanarayana, ed. (1975). A Study of the History and Culture of the Andhras: From stone age to feudalism. People's Publishing House. p. 334.
   • Itihas. Vol. 6. Government of Andhra Pradesh. 1978. p. 71.
   • Angadipuram Appadorai, ed. (1936). Economic Conditions in Southern India (1000-1500 A.D.). University of Madras. p. 394.
7. • Stein, Burton (4 February 2010). A History of India. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN   978-1-4443-2351-1.
   • James Ford Bell, John Parker, ed. (1965). Merchants & Scholars: Essays in the History of Exploration and Trade. University of Minnesota Press. p. 51. ISBN   9780816672578.
8. Talbot, Cynthia (2001). Pre-colonial India in Practice: Society, Region, and Identity in Medieval Andhra. Oxford University Press. p. 75. ISBN   978-0-19803-123-9.
9. Talbot, Cynthia (2001). Pre-colonial India in Practice: Society, Region, and Identity in Medieval Andhra. Oxford University Press. p. 81. ISBN   978-0-19803-123-9.
10. Sarma, M Somasekhara; Sōmaśēkharaśarma, Mallampalli (1948), History of the Reddi Kingdoms (circa. 1325 A.D. to Circa 1448 A.D.), Andhra University, p. 396
11. • Pierre-Yves Manguin, A. Mani, Geoff Wade, ed. (2011). Early Interactions Between South and Southeast Asia: Reflections on Cross-cultural Exchange. Vol. 2. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. p. 170. ISBN   9789814345101.
    • Upinder Singh, ed. (2009). A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century. Pearson Education India. p. 602. ISBN   9789332569966.
12. Rao, Velcheru Narayana; Shulman, David Dean; Subrahmanyam, Sanjay (1992). Symbols of substance: court and state in Nāyaka Period Tamilnadu. Oxford University Press. pp. 10, 74. ISBN   978-0-19-563021-3.
13. Talbot, Cynthia (2001). Pre-colonial India in Practice: Society, Region, and Identity in Medieval Andhra. Oxford University Press. p. 86. ISBN   978-0-19803-123-9.
14. Baker, Christopher John (1975). "Figures and Facts: Madras Government Statistics 1880-1940". In Baker, Christopher John; Washbrook, D. A. (eds.). South India. Springer. pp. 222–223. ISBN   978-1-34902-746-0.
15. • Stein, Burton (1989). Vijayanagara. The New Cambridge History of India. Cambridge University Press. p. 87. ISBN   978-0-521-26693-2.
    • Brimnes, Niels (1999). Constructing the Colonial Encounter: Right and Left Hand Castes in Early Colonial South India. Routledge. p. 3. ISBN   9780700711062.
    • Paul, John Jeya; Yandell, Keith E. (2000). Religion and Public Culture: Encounters and Identities in Modern South India. Psychology Press. pp. 33–34. ISBN   978-0-7007-1101-7.
    • Sinnappah Arasaratnam, ed. (1994). Maritime India in the Seventeenth Century. Oxford University Press. p. 208.
16. Brimnes, Niels (1999). Constructing the Colonial Encounter: Right and Left Hand Castes in Early Colonial South India. Routledge. p. 20. ISBN   9780700711062.
17. • Susan Margaret Neild, ed. (1977). Madras: The Growth of a Colonial City in India, 1780-1840. University of Chicago. p. 224.
    • Wilhelm Koppers, Leonard J. Jungblut, ed. (1976). Bowmen of Mid-India: A Monography of the Bhils of Jhabua M. P. and Adjoining Territories. Vol. 2. Elisabeth Stiglmayr. p. 243.
18. Rudner, David West (May 1987). "Religious Gifting and Inland Commerce in Seventeenth-Century South India". The Journal of Asian Studies. 46 (2): 361–379. doi:10.2307/2056019. JSTOR   2056019. S2CID   162764761.
19. • Mukund, Kanakalatha (1999). The Trading World of the Tamil Merchant: Evolution of Merchant Capitalism in the Coromandel. Orient Blackswan. p. 46. ISBN   978-81-250-1661-8. Kavarai (the Tamil word for Balija merchants)
    • Brimnes, Niels (1999). Constructing the Colonial Encounter: Right and Left Hand Castes in Early Colonial South India. Psychology Press. p. 106. ISBN   978-0-7007-1106-2. The Kavarais were Tamilized Balija Chettis of Telugu origin, returned in the census as 'Wadugas' or 'Northerners'.
    • Christopher John Baker, D. A. Washbrook, ed. (1976). South India: Political Institutions and Political Change. 1880-1940. Springer. p. 223. ISBN   978-1-349-02746-0. Kavarai was merely the Tamil equivalent of the Telugu word Balija
    • Census of India, 1901: Madras (3 v.). India Census Commissioner. 1902. p. 161. Kavarai - A Tamil synonym for Balija; probably a corrupt form of Gavara.
    • Venkatesa Iyengar, ed. (1932). The Mysore Tribes and Castes. Mittal Publications. p. 102. In the Tamil Districts , Balijas are known as Kavarais
    • Alpana Pandey, ed. (2015). Medieval Andhra: A Socio-Historical Perspective. Partridge Publishing. ISBN   9781482850178. The subsects of the Balijas indicate the professions pursued by them. some prominent subdivision were Gajula Balija, Gandhamvallu, Kavarai, etc.
    • Colburn's United Service Magazine and Naval and Military Journal. University of California. 1895. p. 286. Kavarai is the Tamil name for the great Telugu trading caste , Balija , who are spread throughout the Presidency
    • Kumari, A. Vijaya; Sepuri Bhaskar (1998). Social Change Among Balijas: Majority Community of Andhra Pradesh. M. D. Publications. p. 8. ISBN   978-81-7533-072-6. Kavarai is the name for Balijas ( Telugu Trading Caste ) , who have settled in Tamil Nadu
    • P. Rajaraman, ed. (1988). The Justice Party: A Historical Perspective, 1916-37. Poompozhil Publishers. p. 19. The Balija Naidus, the chief Telugu trading caste were found scattered throughout the Presidency of Madras. In the Tamil districts they were known as Vadugan and Kavarais
    • Ananda Ranga Pillai, ed. (1984). The Private Diary of Ananda Ranga Pillai, Dubash to Joseph François Dupleix, Governor of Pondicherry: A Record of Matters, Political, Historical, Social, and Personal, from 1736-1761. Vol. 2. Asian Educational Services. p. 67. The Kavarais, known also as Balijas, are the trading caste of the Telugus, and belong to the right hand.
    • Peter Francis, ed. (2002). Asia's Maritime Bead Trade: 300 B.C. to the Present. University of Hawaii Press. p. 36. ISBN   9780824823320. The Kavarai and the Balija are equivalent and occupied low positions ( Baines 1912 , 97 )
    • SirCharles Fawcett, ed. (2017). The Travels of the Abbarrn India and the Near East, 1672 to 1674. Routledge. p. 595. ISBN   9781351539890. The name 'Gavarai' may be a misspelling of 'Kavarai', which is now the Tamil name for Balijas (a Telegu trading caste) settled in the Tamil country
    • S. N. Sadasivan, ed. (2000). A Social History of India. APH Publishing. p. 284.
    • Jervoise Athelstane Baines, ed. (1912). Ethnography: Castes and Tribes. Vol. 28. K.J. Trübner. p. 36.
    • R. Nagaswamy, ed. (1997). Studies in South Indian History and Culture. V.R. Ramachandra Dikshitar Centenary Committee. p. 321.
    • N. Rajasekharan Nair, A. G. Natarajan, ed. (2007). Dravidian Phonology. Centre of Advanced Study in Linguistics, Annamalai University. p. 214.
20. Vijaya, M.; Kanthimathi, S.; Srikumari, C. R.; Reddy, P. Govinda; Majumder, P. P.; Ramesh, A. (2007). "A Study on Tamil – Speaking Immigrants of Andhra Pradesh, South India" (PDF). International Journal of Human Genetics. 7 (4): 303–306. doi:10.1080/09723757.2007.11886010. S2CID   55044174.
21. • Venkatesa Iyengar, ed. (1932). The Mysore Tribes and Castes. Mittal Publications. p. 104.
    • Mohinder Singh Randhawa, ed. (1959). Farmers of India. Indian Council of Agricultural Research. p. 261.
    • John Henry Hutton, ed. (1951). Caste in India: Its Nature, Function and Origins. G. Cumberlege, Oxford University Press. p. 275.
22. Talbot, Cynthia (September 1994). "Political intermediaries in Kakatiya Andhra, 1175-1325". The Indian Economic and Social History Review. 31 (3): 281. doi:10.1177/001946469403100301. S2CID   145225213.
23. • Radhika Seshan, Shraddha Kumbhojkar, ed. (2018). Re-searching Transitions in Indian History. Taylor & Francis. ISBN   9780429946301.
24. • Peter N. Stearns, William Leonard Langer, ed. (2001). The Encyclopedia of World History Ancient, Medieval, and Modern, Chronologically Arranged. Houghton Mifflin. p. 368.
25. • Velcheru Narayana Rao; David Dean Shulman; Sanjay Subrahmanyam, eds. (1992). Symbols of Substance Court and State in Nāyaka Period Tamilnadu. Oxford University Press. p. 10. ISBN   978-0-19-563021-3. Originally part of the great Telugu migrations southward into the Tamil country in the 15th and 16th centuries, the Balija merchant- warriors reveal the rise of hitherto marginal, and only recently politicized.. These mobile, aggressive, land-hungry, Telugu-speaking warriors...helped to build the Nāyaka state-system and to impregnate it with their particular cultural vision; strong surviving traditions; supported by contemporary evidence, assert Balija origins and / or marital connections for the major Nāyaka dynasties in the Tamil country quite apart from the well-known Balija role in restructuring the revenue systems of Nāyaka Tanjavur and Madurai
    • Hans T. Bakker, ed. (1992). The Sacred Centre as the Focus of Political Interest. Vol. 6. E. Forsten. p. 201. ISBN   9789069800363.
26. • Daniel D'Attilio, ed. (1995). The Last Vijayanagara Kings. University of Wisconsin--Madison. p. 81. ......many of the Telugu migrant groups who settled in Tamil Nadu from the fourteenth to sixteenth centuries were led by Balija warriors . These Balijas and their descendants became local rulers under the auspices of Vijayanagara.
    • Christopher Chekuri, ed. (1997). All in the Family: Nayaka Strategies in the Making of the Vijayanagara Empire, South India. University of Wisconsin--Madison. p. 29. Balija trading families in South India had significant influence in the outcome of seventeenth century Vijayanagara politics
27. • Sheldon Pollock, ed. (2003). Literary Cultures in History: Reconstructions from South Asia. University of California Press. p. 413. ISBN   9780520228214. .... in the seventeenth century, when warriors/traders from the Balija caste acquired kingship of the southern kingdoms of Madurai and Tanjavur.
    • David Dean Shulman, ed. (2020). Classical Telugu Poetry. University of California Press. p. 57. ISBN   9780520344525. ..... in the Tamil country, where Telugu Balija families had established local Nāyaka states (in Senji, Tanjavur, Madurai, and elsewhere) in the course of the sixteenth century.
    • Eugene F. Irschick, ed. (1969). Politics and Social Conflict in South India. University of California Press. p. 8. The successors of the Vijayanagar empire, the Nayaks of Madura and Tanjore, were Balija Naidus
    • Andhra Pradesh Archives, Andhra Pradesh State Archives & Research Institute, ed. (2007). Itihas. Vol. 33. Director of State Archives, Government of Andhra Pradesh. p. 145. ....It is told that the Nayak Kings of Madurai and Tanjore were Balijas , who had marital relations among themselves and with the Vijaya Nagara rulers
    • G. S. Ghurye, ed. (1969). Caste and Race in India. Popular Prakashan. p. 106. ISBN   9788171542055. The Nayak kings of Madura and Tanjore were Balijas , traders by caste
    • A. Satyanarayana, Mukkamala Radhakrishna Sarma, ed. (1996). Castes, Communities, and Culture in Andhra Desa, 17th & 18th Centuries, A.D. Osmania University. p. 145. After the fall of the dynasty several Balija Nayudu chieftains rose into prominence. Tanjore and Madura kingdoms were the most important of such new kingdoms
    • Muzaffar Alam, ed. (1998). The Mughal State, 1526-1750. Oxford University Press. p. 35. ISBN   978-0-19-563905-6. As an arrangement, the Golconda practice in the first half of the seventeenth century was quite similar in crucial respects to what obtained further south, in the territories of the Chandragiri ruler, and the Nayaks of Senji, Tanjavur and Madurai. Here too revenue-farming was common, and the ruling families were closely allied to an important semi-commercial, semi-warrior caste group, the Balija Naidus.
28. • Antje Flüchter, Rouven Wirbser, ed. (2017). Translating Catechisms, Translating Cultures: The Expansion of Catholicism in the Early Modern World. BRILL. p. 229. ISBN   9789004353060. Madurai was a prosperous city ruled by Nāyaka kings who were Telugu warriors with Balija cultivators and merchant-caste affiliations
    • Gita V. Pai, ed. (2023). Architecture of Sovereignty: Stone Bodies, Colonial Gazes, and Living Gods in South India. Cambridge University Press. pp. 36, 51. ISBN   9781009150156. Madurai rulers were of likely Balija heritage, merchant-warriors, who came from the relatively less-stratified arid zones of the Andhra region
    • Biplab Auddya, ed. (2017). Research in Multidisciplinary Subjects. Vol. 6. The Hill Publication. p. 18. ISBN   9788196477660. Many later rulers were also of different castes, such as the Madurai Nayaks, Balijas (traders) who ruled from 1559 to 1739
29. N. Venkataramanayya (1951). Raghunatha Nayakabhyudayamu. T.M.S.S.M Library, Thanjavur. p. 21. The history of thé family, as described in the Raghunathabhyudayam and Raghunathanayakabhyudayam, begins practically with Pina-Chevva one of the four sons of Timma, who is otherwise unknown. It is sometimes said that the ancestors of Pina Chevva were related to the royal family of Vijayanagara and that they held high offices in the imperial army ; but this is mere speculation unsupported by evidence. Pina Chevva came of an obscure Balija family.
30. • Joseph Jerome Brennig, ed. (1987). The Textile Trade of Seventeenth Century Northern Coromandel: A Study of a Pre-modern Asian Export Industry. University of Wisconsin-Madison. p. 65.
    • Sanjay Subrahmanyam (2002). The Political Economy of Commerce: Southern India 1500–1650 (Reprinted ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 304. ISBN   9780521892261.
    • Muzaffar Alam, ed. (1998). The Mughal State, 1526-1750. Oxford University Press. p. 35. ISBN   978-0-19-563905-6.
    • David Dean Shulman, Velcheru Narayana Rao, ed. (2020). Classical Telugu Poetry (Reprinted ed.). University of California Press. p. 57. ISBN   9780520344525.
31. • A.Ramaswami, ed. (1967). Madras District Gazetteers: Salem. Vol. 1. Director of Stationery and Print. p. 129. They are popularly classed as kota balijas, who are military in origin and claim kinship with the Emperors and Viceroys of Vijayanagar and the Kandyan Dynasty.
    • Markus Vink, ed. (2015). Encounters on the Opposite Coast: The Dutch East India Company and the Nayaka State of Madurai in the Seventeenth Century. Brill. p. 75 & 56. ISBN   9789004272620.
32. • K. A. Nilakanta Sastri, ed. (1946). Further Sources of Vijayanagara History. University of Madras. p. 302. On Sravana ba. 10 of Yuva of 146 years ago corresponding to S. S. 1558, (the Raya) granted the government of Penugonda to Koneti Nayadu, the son. of Kastuiri Nayadu, the son of Akkapa Nayadu, who was the son of Canca(ma) Nayadu of Candragiri, a member of the Vasarasi family of the Balija caste.
    • Bulletin of the Government Oriental Manuscripts Library, Madras. Superintendent Government Press. 1954. p. 49. The above said Peda Kōnēti Nṛpati ( Nayak ) First , king of Penukonda . ( 1635 A.D. ) then of Kundurti ( 1652 A.D. ) and of Rayadurga ( 1661 A.D. ) was a Balija by caste , having the surname Vānarāsi . His father Kastūri Nāyak and grand father bencama Nayak had enjoyed high favour with the fallen kings of Vijayanagar who were ruling at Chandragiri
33. • Benjamin Lewis Rice, ed. (1909). Mysore and Coorg from the Inscriptions. A. Constable & Company, Limited. p. 164. ISBN   978-0-598-51081-5. The Channapatna chiefs generally bore the name Rana . Jagadēva - Rāya , after the founder of the family in Mysore. He was of the Telugu Banajiga caste and had possessions in Bāramahāl . His daughter was married to the Vijayanagar king
    • Traffic Management Plans for Major Towns in Bangalore Metropolitan Region (PDF). Bangalore Metropolitan Region Development Authority. 2010. p. 170. CHANNAPATNA: The village was ruled by the King Timmapparaja urs. Later Rana Jagadevaraya of Telugu Banajiga Balija Community chooses it as his Capital city. Rana Jagadeva Raya and his family ruled the territory of Baramahal along with Mysore.
    • Ranjit Kumar Bhattacharya, S. B. Chakrabarti, ed. (2002). Indian Artisans: Social Institutions and Cultural Values. Ministry of Culture, Youth Affairs and Sports, Department of Culture, Government of India. p. 36. ISBN   978-81-85579-56-6.
34. • The Quarterly Journal of the Mythic Society (Bangalore, India). Vol. 11–12. The Society. 1920. p. 47. Then Virabhadrappa Nayaka ascended the Gadi and retiring to Bidarur ruled over his country more peacefully than before. His rule lasted for 15 years from 1551 to 1566. During his reign the rule of Vokkaligas came to an end and was replaced by the rule of Banajigas. Sivappanayaka , grandson of Chikkasankanna Nayaka , was the head of administration as Yuvaraja under Virabhadra Nayaka.
    • Leelavati N. Pujar, Dr.S.S.Wani, ed. (2021). Review of Research, volume - 10, issue - 12 (PDF). lbp.world. p. 1. The Keladi rulers were of the Vokkaliga and Banajiga ranks and were Veerashaivas by faith.
35. Rao, Velchuru Narayana; Subrahmanyam, Sanjay (January 2009). "Notes on Political Thought in Medieval and Early Modern South India". Modern Asian Studies. 43 (1): 204. doi:10.1017/s0026749x07003368. JSTOR   20488076. S2CID   145396092.
36. • Pollock, Sheldon I. (2003). Literary Cultures in History: Reconstructions from South Asia. University of California Press. p. 414. ISBN   9780520228214.
    • Indo-British Review. Indo-British Historical Society. 1987. p. 52.
    • Robert Eric Frykenberg, ed. (2008). Christianity in India: From Beginnings to the Present. OUP Oxford. p. 317. ISBN   9780191544194.
    • సి. పాపయ్యశాస్త్రి, ed. (1960). ఆంధ్ర సాహిత్య పరిషత్ పత్రిక - Journal of the Telugu Academy (in Telugu). Vol. 49. p. 92.
37. • Krishnan-Kutty, G. (1999). The political economy of underdevelopment in India. Northern Book Centre. p. 172. ISBN   978-81-7211-107-6.
    • Krishnan-Kutty, G. (1986). Peasantry in India. Abhinav Publications. p. 10. ISBN   978-81-7017-215-4.
38. • K. A. Nilakanta Sastri, ed. (1946). Further Sources of Vijayanagara History. University of Madras. p. 176. Moreover, Acyutadeva Maharaya formally crowned Viswanatha Nayadu of the Garikepati family of the Balija caste as the king of Pandya country yielding a revenue of 2 and 1/2 crores of varahas; and he presented him the golden idols of Durga, Laksmi and Lakshmi-Narayana and sent him with ministers, councillors and troops to the south. Visvanatha Nayudu reached the city of Madhura, from which he began to govern the country entrusted to his care. - taken from the Kaifiyat of Karnata-Kotikam Kings, LR8, pp.319-22
    • Lennart Bes (2022). The Heirs of Vijayanagara: Court Politics in Early Modern South India (PDF). Leiden University Press. p. 79. The dynasty's first ruler was Vishvanatha Nayaka, son of the imperial courtier and military officer Nagama Nayaka. He belonged to one of the Balija castes, which originated in the Telugu region and whose members undertook both military and mercantile activities. Vishvanatha was possibly installed at Madurai around 1530 and reigned until c. 1563
    • Konduri Sarojini Devi, ed. (1990). Religion in Vijayanagara Empire. Sterling Publishers. p. 100. ISBN   978-81-207-1167-9. According to the Kaifiyat of the Karnata Kotikam Kings, "Acyutadeva Maharaya formally crowned Visvanatha Nayadu of the Garikepati family of the Balija caste as the King of Pandya country yielding a revenue of 2 and 1/2 crores of varahas; and he presented him with golden idols of Durga, Lakshmi and Lakshminarayana and sent him with ministers, councillors and troops to the South."
39. • Gita V. Pai, ed. (2023). Architecture of Sovereignty: Stone Bodies, Colonial Gazes, and Living Gods in South India. Cambridge University Press. p. 36. ISBN   9781009150156.
    • C. Hayavadana Rao, ed. (1915). The Indian Biographical Dictionary. Forgotten Books. p. 344.
    • Jaidev (2022). Thaamba. Notion Press. p. 35. ISBN   9798887493114.
40. Richman, Paula (2001). Questioning Ramayanas: A South Asian Tradition. University of California Press. p. 166. ISBN   978-0-520-22074-4. Raghunathanayaka, a Balija who ruled Tanjavur during the early seventeenth century, also wrote a Ramayana.
41. • The Feudatory and zemindari India. Vol. 9. the University of California. 1938. p. 250. He was a lineal descendant of the famous warrior and diplomat Rama- bhadra Nayak who had held the post of Fouzdar or Military Chief and Collector of Revenue under his relative Viswanatha Nayak of the House of Vijianagar , King of the Pandyan country
    • A. Vadivelu, ed. (1915). The Ruling Chiefs, Nobles and Zamindars of India. Vol. 1. G.C. Loganadham. p. 679. The Honourable Diwan Bahadur V. Rama Bhadra Naick Garu is one of the most prominent noblemen of South India . As a representative of the zamindari interests of the Southern Group , he has , since 1910 , been in the reformed Legislative Council of Madras. He represents the ancient house of Vadagarai , and is the lineal descendant of the famous Rama Bhadra Naick . To trace the ancestry of the founder of this well - known ancient family we have to go back to the events that had occurred three centuries ago , that is , to the period when the power of the once famous kingdom of Vijianagar was at its height , Rama Bhadra Naick I is said to have been a follower as well as a close relation of the well - known Kottiya Nagama Naick , the Revenue Collector and Commander of the Vijianagar army in the South.
    • The Who's who in Madras: ... A Pictorial Who's who of Distinguished Personages, Princes, Zemindars and Noblemen in the Madras Presidency. Pearl Press. 1938. p. 52. Dewan Bahadur V. Ramabhadra Naidu , member of a family which had close relations with the ruling house of Madura , the Great Tirumal Nayak. Belongs to an ancient Palayagar family of Madura.
    • Vuppuluri Lakshminarayana Sastri, ed. (1920). Encyclopaedia of the Madras Presidency and the Adjacent States. University of Minnesota. p. 450.
    • A. Vadivelu, ed. (2016). The Aristocracy of Southern India. Mittal Publications. p. 245.
    • C. Hayavadana Rao, ed. (1915). The Indian Biographical Dictionary. Forgotten Books. p. 344.
42. Vuppuluri Lakshminarayana Sastri, ed. (1920). Encyclopaedia of the Madras Presidency and the Adjacent States. University of Minnesota. p. 453. The illustrious House of the great Komarappa Naidu of the South Arcot District traces its ancestry to Tupakula Krishnappa Naidu, the ruler of the Ginji Fort under the aegis of the now Forgotten Empire of Vijayanagar. This ruler of Ginji constructed many new temples and renovated the old and time-honoured temple of Tirukoilur. We find inscriptions bearing the name of Tupakula Krishnappa in several temples of the South Arcot District. Komarappa Naidu belonged to the Kshatriya Balija caste; and his caste- men, who had been warriors till the advent of the Muhammadans, took up trade as their profession thereafter. It can be seen from the existing records that as early as 1752 Komarappa Naidu was carrying on his trade, which mainly consisted in the export of Indian goods to foreign countries in his ships and the import of precious stones, horses, elephants and the products of other countries. He owned sixteen ships and in a few years he made enormous profits. He constructed the Komarappa Naickenpettai, a suburb of Tiruvendipuram in 1780 to attract weavers from other parts of the country. He rendered substantial pecuniary help to the weavers and thus enabled them to purchase the looms and other necessary appliances. The East India Company, which had just settled in India for carrying on trade between India and England, sought the help of the famous overseas merchant, Komarappa Naidu and established commercial relations with him which remained cordial throughout. Komarappa Naidu, who had been religiously disposed from his boyhood, left his entire business in the hands of his son Sankariah Naidu, shortly after the latter came of age and spent the remaining years of his life in religious study. It was during this, his age of retirement, that he built many new temples and gave a fresh lease of life to the old ones in the district. The pious Komarappa used to feed large numbers of Brahmins and pandits daily and more so on festive occasions. He breathed his last in peace in 1819 at the age of eighty-five. We find the image of Komarappa carved on the stone pillars in the Mantapams of the Tiruvendipuram and Tirupapuliyur temples. A monumental Shaivite temple has been erected over his remains in one of his gardens on the bank of the Gadilam river, in which Archana is daily performed. His wife, Mangammal, has renovated the shrine of Sri Dagaleswar Perumal at Tirukoilur, in a prominent part of which we find an inscription bearing her name. Sankariah Naidu, who was sixty-five years of age at the time of his father's demise, had already risen to prominence. He considerably improved the trade of the family, particularly that with the East India Company and constructed more ships. He acquired considerable landed property in the South Arcot, Chinglepet and Tanjore districts. In 1809 he purchased the small Zamindari of Chennappa Naiken Poliem, a few miles to the west of Cuddalore, which also includes the village of Naduvirapattu. To facilitate his export and import trade, he established ports at Cuddalore, Pondicherry, Porto-Novo and Karaikal. He had a big firm at Madras, on the grounds of which now stand the Madras Christian College, the Anderson Hall and the buildings of Messrs. Parry and Company. He constructed a number of choultries among which those at Chidambaram and Tirupapuliyur deserve special mention. Sankariah Naidu married two wives. He had one son, Devanayagam Naidu by his first wife and four sons by his second wife, Ramaswami, Chandrasekhara, Balakrishna and Chinna Devanayagam. Sankariah Naidu died in 1826.
43. • M. L. Kantha Rao (1999). A Study of the Socio-Political Mobility of the Kapu Caste in Modern Andhra. University of Hyderabad. p. 93. hdl:10603/25437. One of the earliest organisers in Madras was Gazula Lakshmi Narasu Setty, (hereafter G.L.N. Setty) who had founded the first Indian owned news paper in 1844 entitled the Crescent. He came from a Balija mercantile family that founded one of the Madras Telugu Agency houses dealing in cloth and indigo
    • Kumari, A. Vijaya; Sepuri Bhaskar (1998). Social Change Among Balijas: Majority Community of Andhra Pradesh. M. D. Publications. p. 14. ISBN   978-81-7533-072-6.
    • Alok Kumar Kanungo, Laure Dussubieux, ed. (2021). Ancient Glass of South Asia: Archaeology, Ethnography and Global Connections. Springer Nature. p. 283. ISBN   9789811636561.
44. • Viswanathan , E. Sa (1983). The political career of E.V. Ramasami Naicker: a study in the politics of Tamil Nadu, 1920-1949. Ravi & Vasanth Publishers. p. 18. Ramasami Naicker was born to non - Brahman parents of Balija Naidu community on 28th September 1879 at Erode in Coimbatore district .
    • Gurucharan Gollerkeri, Renuka Raja Rao, ed. (2024). The Making of India, 1947-2022: Pivotal People, Events, and Institutions. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 105. ISBN   9781527561410.
    • Sarkar, Sumit; Sarkar, Tanika (2008). Women and Social Reform in Modern India: A Reader. Indiana University Press. p. 401. ISBN   9780253352699.
    • Subramanian, Ajantha (2019). The Caste of Merit: Engineering Education in India. Harvard University Press. p. 100. ISBN   9780674987883.
    • Mahapatra, Subhasini (2001). Women and Politics. Rajat Publications. p. 211. ISBN   9788178800233.
45. • Antony R. H. Copley (1986). C. Rajagopalachari, Gandhi's southern commander. Indo-British Historical Society. p. 240. P. VARADARAJULU 1887-1957 : Balija Naidu . Successful medical practice in indigenous medicine . Journalist . Arrested for sedition at Madura Mill strike , 1918. Imprisoned 1918 , 1922 , 1923. T.N.C.C. Vice - President 1922-23. President 1924-25 . Left Congress 1930. General - Secretary, Hindu Maha Sabha 1940, Vice - President 1942-44
    • David Arnold (2017). The Congress in Tamilnad: Nationalist Politics in South India, 1919-1937. Routledge. ISBN   978-1-315-29419-3.
    • Eugene F. Irschick, ed. (1969). Politics and Social Conflict in South India. University of California Press. p. 270.
    • Viswanathan , E. Sa (1983). The political career of E.V. Ramasami Naicker: a study in the politics of Tamil Nadu, 1920-1949. Ravi & Vasanth Publishers. pp. 23, 32.
46. S.V. Subramanian, ed. (1981). Literary Heritage of the Tamils. International Institute of Tamil Studies. p. 783.
47. • Rekha Kaul, ed. (1993). Caste, Class and Education: Politics of the Capitation Fee Phenomenon in Karnataka. SAGE Publications. p. 177. ISBN   9780803994720. M.S. Ramaiah belonged to the Balija community , a backward trading class.
    • Bi Rama Raju, ed. (2005). Telugu Saints and Sages. Vol. 1. Sri Sai Publications. p. 164.

Further reading

• Jaffrelot, Christophe (2003). India's silent revolution: the rise of the lower castes in North India. London: C. Hurst & Co. ISBN   978-1-85065-670-8 . Retrieved 16 August 2011.
• Mukund, Kanakalatha (2005). The View from Below: Indigenous Society, Temples, and the Early Colonial State in Tamilnadu, 1700–1835. Orient Blackswan. ISBN   9788125028000.
• Subrahmanyam, Sanjay (2001). Penumbral Visions: Making Polities in Early Modern South India. University of Michigan Press. ISBN   9780472112166.
• Swarnalatha, P. (2005). The World of the Weaver in Northern Coromandel, c. 1750 – c. 1850. New Delhi: Orient Blackswan. ISBN   9788125028680.
• Caste politics in the North, West and South India before Mandal
• Konduru: structure and integration in a South Indian village, Paul G. Hiebert, pp. 21–22.
• The Warrior Merchants, Mittison Mines
• Religion and Public Culture, John Jeya Paul