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] In Tamil Nadu, they are known as Gavarais. ^[2]

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. ^{[3] [4]}

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'. ^[5]

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. ^[6] From the 13th century, inscriptions referring to "Vira Balanjyas" (warrior merchants) started appearing in the Andhra country. ^[7] 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'). ^[8] The terms balanjya-setti and balija were also used for these traders, and in later times naidu and chetti. ^[9] 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. ^[10] They spread all over South India, Sri Lanka, and also some countries in the Southeast Asia. ^{[11] [12]}

Medieval history

Chalukya period

The earliest inscriptions mentioning the Balija community are from the Western Chalukya period, specifically during the reign of King Someshvara I. These inscriptions, found in the Shimoga region of present-day Karnataka. ^[13]

Kakatiya period

The Balija community is mentioned in Kakatiya inscriptions, particularly during the reign of King Prataparudra II. These inscriptions, found in the Nandyal region of present-day Andhra Pradesh. ^[14] According to Prataparudra charitra and Siddheswara charitra mentioned that the balijas lived at Orugallu, the capital of the Kakatiya kingdom. ^[15]

Post-Kakatiya period

In the caste-based hierarchy, Balijas hold a high position along with Kammas, Reddis and Velamas. they also served as military generals (Nayakas) and warriors under the Musunuri Nayakas and Kondavidu kingdom. ^[16]

Vijayanagara period

Balijas served as ministers, military generals, and provincial governors in the Vijayanagara Empire. ^[17] A number of the Nayaka dynasties of the Vijayanagara and post-Vijayanagara periods were of Balija origin, including the Nayaka rulers of Madurai, Thanjavur, Gingee, Belur, Channapatna, Rayadurgam and Kandy. ^{[18] [19]}

Velcheru Narayana Rao et al. note that the Balijas were first mobilised politically by the Vijayanagara emperor Krishnadevaraya. ^[20] 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. ^[20] Cynthia Talbot believes that in Andhra the transformation of occupational descriptors into caste-based descriptors did not occur until at least the 17th century. ^[21]

British period

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. ^[a] 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. ^[22]

Geographical distribution

Balijas are found in Rayalaseema region of Andhra Pradesh. ^[23] In Tamilnadu, Balijas are known as Gavarais. ^[2] The often use the title Naidu, Naicker and Chettiar. ^[24] In Karnataka, they have four sub sect based on occupations and territories, namely Dasa Balija, Gajula Balija, Dundi Balija and Goni Balija. while telugu is their mother tongue, they also speak kannada. ^[25]

Balija branches

• Balija Chettis (or Chetti Balija): Mentioned in several Vijayanagar accounts as wealthy merchants who controlled powerful trading guilds. ^[26] To secure their loyalty, the Vijayanagar kings made them Desais or "superintendents of all castes in the country." ^[27] They were classified as right-hand castes. ^[28] 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. ^[29]
• Gavara is a trading community and is a sub-caste of Balija. ^[30] They have marriage relationship with the Balijas. ^[31] Kavarai is the Tamil name for Balijas who have settled in Tamil Nadu and is the Tamilised rendition of Gavara. ^[2] The often use the title Naidu and Chetti. ^[32]
• 24 Manai Telugu Chettiar are also called as Janappan. They seem to be a section of the Balijas, though now they are considered to be a distinct caste. They are also called Sadhu Chetty and Saluppa Chetty. ^[33]
• 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 reign 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. ^[34]

Relation to Kapu

Kapus are closely related to Balijas and both are often enumerated together in government, sociological and psephological contexts. ^[35] Sri Andhra Vignanamu mentions four sections in Telaga community — Telagas (or Naidus), Ontaris (or Doras), Balijas, and Kapus. ^[36] Anthropological Survey of India notes that Kapus of Coastal Andhra are ethnically similar to Balijas of Rayalaseema.

Various sources note the similarities between the communities of Kapu, Telaga, Balija, and Ontari. These terms are often used as synonyms and are mentioned as sections of each other. ^[37] Kapu, Telaga, and Balija are considered as variant names of the same community in different regions. ^[38] Andhra Pradesh government's Kapu Welfare and Development Corporation refers to Kapu, Telaga, Balija, and Ontari communities collectively as Kapu. ^[39]

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. ^{[40] [41]}

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. ^[42]

Dynasties

The Vijayanagara empire was based on an expanding, cash-oriented economy enhanced by Balija tax-farming. ^[43] Some Balija families were appointed to supervise provinces as Nayaks (governors, commanders) by the Vijayanagara kings, ^[44] some of which are:

• Madurai Nayaks ^{[45] [46]}
• Tanjavur Nayaks ^{[45] [47]}
• Gingee Nayaks / Senji Nayaks ^[48]
• Belur Nayaks / Balam Nayaks ^[49]
• Kandy Nayaks. ^[19] who ruled Sri Lanka
• Penukonda Nayaks / Rayadurga Nayaks ^[50]
• Channapatna Nayaks / Baramahal Nayaks ^[51]

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. ^[52] Based on the Brahmanical conceptualisation of caste during the British Raj period, Balijas were accorded the Sat Shudra position. ^[53] 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. ^[54]

Notable people

Note: The list only includes people from Balija and sub-castes (Gavara, Gazula), not Kapu, Telaga, and other castes.

Warriors

• Viswanatha Nayak - Founder of the Madurai Nayak dynasty. ^[55]
• Sevappa Nayak - Founder of the Thanjavur Nayak dynasty ^[47]
• Tupakula Krishnappa Nayak - Founder of the Gingee Nayak dynasty ^[48]
• Sri Vijaya Rajasinha - Founder of the Kandy Nayak dynasty ^[19]
• Mangammal - Queen of Madurai
• Tirumala Nayak - King of Madurai. ^[56]
• Era Krishnappa Nayaka, King of Belur ^[49]
• Raghunatha Nayak - King of Thanjavur. ^[57]
• Pedda Koneti Nayak, King of Penukonda ^[50]
• Rana Jagadevaraya - King of Channapatna ^[51]

Royal descent

• Social reformer Pattukkottai Alagiri was a descendant of the Royal Family of Kandy. ^[58]
• Sankariah Naidu, Zamindar of Chennappa Naicken Palayam was a descendant of Tupakula Krishnappa Nayak, the ruler of the Gingee. ^[59]
• 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. ^[60]

Social Activists

• Periyar E. V. Ramasamy, social reformer ^[61]
• Padmaja Naidu, freedom fighter ^[62]
• P. Varadarajulu Naidu, freedom fighter ^[63]
• Kanneganti Hanumanthu, freedom fighter ^[64]
• Gazulu Lakshminarasu Chetty, freedom fighter ^[65]

Spiritual

• Jaggi Vasudev, Indian yoga guru

Film

• M. R. Radha, actor
• Vijayakanth, actor and politician
• Radhika, actress and producer
• Dhanush, actor and director
• Sneha, actress
• Mann Vasanai Pandiyan, actor
• Darshan, actor

Sports

• M. Buchi Babu Naidu, Father of Madras Cricket.
• Dinesh Karthik, cricketer

See also

• 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. • Kumarasamy Rajaram, ed. (1982). History of Thirumalai Nayak. Ennes Publications. p. 82. Kamma, Gavarai, Padma Velama and Kambalathar are the Telugu speaking communities. Gavarais are also called Balijas or bangle merchants. Kambalathars are called Tottiars (those with a Kambalam or blanket). The Kamma and the Gavarai topped the list as merchants and agriculturists par excellence. The Padma Velamas are good agriculturists.
   • 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)
   • Niels Brimnes, ed. (2019). Constructing the Colonial Encounter: Right and Left Hand Castes in Early Colonial South India. Routledge. p. 189. ISBN   9781136819209. The deserters, who defined themselves as maga nadu tesattar, consisted of right hand castes and were headed by Vellalas and Tamilized Balijas, known as Kavarais.
   • R. Nagaswamy, ed. (1997). Studies in South Indian History and Culture. V.R. Ramachandra Dikshitar Centenary Committee. p. 321. Turning now to another Telugu group, the Balijas, also called Kavarai, it appears that although this was a trading caste, members could also take to textile manufacture.
   • Jawaharlal Nehru University. Centre for Historical Studies, ed. (1995). Studies in History. Vol. 11, 6. Sage. p. 8. English trade in Madras, the much sought after, and obviously lucrative, exclusive contracts for trading with the English Company (both for supplying textiles and other goods and buying the European goods) had been cornered by the Right side merchants, especially the Balijas (often referred to as the Kavarai in Tamil).
   • Ananda Ranga Pillai, John Frederick Price, 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.
   • R. Roque, K. Wagner, ed. (2011). Engaging Colonial Knowledge: Reading European Archives in World History. Springer. p. 170. ISBN   9780230360075. Within the right hand division the leading individuals were from the communities of Vellalas and Kavarais. The former constituted, as in other parts of Tamil Nadu, the established agricultural elite, while the latter were Telugu-speaking Balija Chetties, who had settled in Tamil country.
   • 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
   • Venkatesa Iyengar, ed. (1932). The Mysore Tribes and Castes. Mittal Publications. p. 102. In the Tamil Districts, Balijas are known as Kavarais
   • Raju Kalidos, ed. (1976). History and Culture of the Tamils: From Prehistoric Times to the President's Rule. Vijay Publications. pp. 239, 240. Chief among the Telugu speaking communities in Tamilaham are the Kammavar, Kavarai or Balijas (bangle merchants), Uppuliya (salt merchants), Seniya (textile workers), Tottiar or Kambalattar (those with a kambalam or blanket), Oddar, Sakkiliar (the menial jobbed), Dombas (acrobats) etc. The Kavarai and Kammavar topped the list as merchants and agriculturists par excellence. In contemporary times they take the name suffix like Naidu and Naicker. The Chettis and Komatis among the Telugu speaking were (and are) noted for their subtle and ingenious practices in trade.
   • Baptist Missionary Review. Vol. 15. Methodist Publishing House. 1909. p. 441. Among the Nayudus there is a class called Balijas in Telugu and Kavarais in Tamil, many of whom are addicted to drinking - so much so that there is a Telugu proverb that if you are born a Balija it is your prerogative to drink, or, as it is sometimes put, you cannot enjoy the Bavarian bottle unless you are born a Balija.
   • 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
   • Verinder Grover, ed. (1989). Political system in India. Vol. 1. Deep & Deep Publ. p. 47. ISBN   9788171001163.
   • Thomas Burrow, Murray Barnson Emeneau, ed. (1984). A Dravidian Etymological Dictionary. Clarendon Press. p. 124. ISBN   9780198643265.
   • Alpana Pandey, ed. (2015). Medieval Andhra: A Socio-Historical Perspective. Partridge Publishing. p. 82. ISBN   9781482850178.
3. 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
4. • 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.
   • K. Lalitamba, ed. (1976). Virasaivism in Andhra. P.R. Krishnamurty. p. 69.
   • B. S. L. Hanumantha Rao, ed. (1995). Social Mobility in Medieval Andhra. Telugu University. p. 170.
5. • 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. Balija literally means born out of sacrifice
   • H. D. Singh, ed. (1996). 543 Faces of India: Guide to 543 Parliamentary Constituencies. Newmen Publishers. p. 28. ISBN   978-81-900669-0-7. The name Balija is derived from the Sanskrit word Bali meaning sacrifice and Ja meaning born . They owe their origin to the performance of Yagnam .
6. • 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.
   • The Indian Antiquary. Vol. 56. Popular Prakashan. 1927. p. 197.
7. • 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.
   • Hem Chandra Ray, K. M. De Silva, ed. (1960). History of Ceylon. Vol. 1. Ceylon University Press. p. 550.
   • Angadipuram Appadorai, ed. (1936). Economic Conditions in Southern India (1000-1500 A.D.). University of Madras. p. 394.
8. • 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.
9. 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.
10. 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.
11. Sarma, M Somasekhara; Sōmaśēkharaśarma, Mallampalli (1948), History of the Reddi Kingdoms (circa. 1325 A.D. to Circa 1448 A.D.), Andhra University, p. 396
12. • Perret, Daniel; Surachman, Heddy (2011). "South Asia and the Tapanuli Area (North-West Sumatra): Ninth-Fourteenth Centuries CE". In Manguin, Pierre-Yves; Mani, A.; Wade, Geoff (eds.). 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.
13. Dr. K. Munirathnam, ed. (2018). Annual Report on Indian Epigraphy (2017-2018). Archaeological Survey of India, Delhi. pp. 4, 86. No. B 346 from Beguru, in Shikaripura taluk, Shimoga district, Karnataka is a Kannada record, engraved on a slab set up to the right side of Sri Mallikarjuna temple. It belongs to the reign of the king Trailokyamalladeva (Someshvara I) and is dated Saka 988, Parabhava, Bhadrapada Su. 15, lunar eclipse, Monday, corresponding to 1066 A.D, September 6 and the weekday being Wednesday. The purport of the record is to register the grant of land for feeding the students of the alms house belonging to the matha of Mallikarjuna temple by a certain person (name not mentioned), son of Soma and grandson of Kontada Віrа of Balija kula. The land was obtained from Lakshmarasa, the ruler of Banavasi - 12000, after getting the consent of Manneya Jogayya, Santa gavunda of Beluru and Keta gavunda. The land was entrusted to Trilochana Panditadeva. The donee also constructed several tanks and named one of them as sarvajna gatta.
14. J. Ramayya Pantulu, Lakshminarayan rao, ed. (1948). South Indian Inscriptions (Texts) Telugu Inscriptions from the Madras Presidency. Vol. 10. pp. 285, 286. Inscription no. 528
15. • C. V. Ramachandra Rao, ed. (1984). Ekamranathuni Prataparudra Caritramu. Andhra Pradesh Sahitya Akademi. pp. 73, 74.
    • Kase Sarvappa, Khandavalli Lakshmi Ranjanam, ed. (1960). Sri Siddhesvara Caritramu. Andhra Racayitala Sanghamu. p. LXXVII.
    • K. Satyamurthy, ed. (1991). Handbook of Indian Architecture. Ashish Publishing House. p. 148. ISBN   9788170243892. For instance Prataparudra Caritra of Ekamranatha says the fort of Ekasilanagara is shining like Alakapuri (the capital of Kubera, the God of Wealth) and it is having the house of the Brahmanas, the counsellors of the king, the members of Kshatriya origin, the Vaisyas of different economic orders, chiefs of Sudra originally called Padmanayakas, the members of the eighteen castes like goldsmiths (Visvakarma), oilmonger (Tenugu - a corrupt form of Telaka), stone - cutters (Uppera), Bruisers (Idiga), Basketeer (Medara), Washermen (Rajaka), herdsmen (Golla), Potters (Kummari), Mongers of colours (Bukka), general merchants (Balija), sectarian priests of Saiva religion (Siva brahmana), fishermen (Besta) and carpenters (Sangara) besides the weavers of silk sarees and cotton fabrics (Padmasale) and the householders who feed the outsiders.
    • Modali Nagabhushana Sarma, Mudigonda Veerabhadra Sastry, ed. (1995). History and Culture of the Andhras. Komarraju Venkata Lakshmana Rau Vijnana Sarvaswa Sakha, Telugu University. p. 81. ISBN   9788186073070. Prataparudra Charitra, though a later work, furnishes some idea of the urban population of the capital, Orugallu. The list given in it includes Brahmins, ministers and other dignitaries, warriors, ordinary merchants or Vaisyas, rich merchants, Padmanayakas (Velamas), Visvakarmas (goldsmiths), Gollas (cowherds), Kapus (cultivators), Edigas (tappers), Siva Brahmanas, Kumbhakaras (potters), Pattusales (silk weavers), Padma sales (ordinary weavers), Medaras (basket makers), Upparas (earth excavators), Meras (tailors), Bestas (fishermen), Tenugus, Bukkas and Samgaras (their specific profession not known), Rajakas (washermen), Vesyas (prostitutes), Putakutivaru (hoteliers), Balijas (aslo called Bananja), and others.
    • Pedarapu Chenna Reddy, A. Satyanarayana, ed. (2005). Recent Trends in Historical Studies. Research India Press. p. 87. ISBN   9788189131029. 1)Brahmanas-18000, 2)Manthris-2000, 3)kshatriyas-2000, 4)vaisyaas-30000, 5)Among them vaisyas who were crorepatis-420, 6)Padmanayakulu-77, 7)Astadasa varnambulu-150000, 8)Visvakarma Vamsajulu (Craftmen)-20000, 9)Gollavaru (Shepherds)-4000, 10)Kapulu (cultivators)-16000, 11)Idugulu (toddy tappers)-3000, 12)Sivabrahmanas-15000, 13)Kummarlu (potters)-4500, 14)Pattunese Salevaru (silk weavers)-9000, 15)Medara (basket makers)-2000, 16)Chittaru vrasevaru (Painters)-2500, 17)Upparas (those who dig tanks)-15900, 18)Bestavandlu (fisherman)-16000, 19)Tenugus-6500, 20)Bukkas-6300, 21)Sangaras-13000, 22)Rajakas (washerman)-50000, 23)Vesyalu (Prostitutes)-127000, 24)Balijas-15000 Apart from the above number of houses the Prataparudra Charitramu gives the number of big shops as 700, soldiers houses as 300, and putakutillu or vantalakkalaidlu and so on.
    • The Quarterly Journal of the Mythic Society. Vol. 69. Mythic Society. 1978. p. 136.
    • Kandavalli Balendu Sekaram, ed. (1973). The Andhras Through the Ages, Parts 1-2. Sri Saraswati Book Depot. p. 53.
    • Andhra Pradesh Government Archaeological Series. Vol. 52. Government of Andhra Pradesh. 1978. p. 270.
    • Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. Vol. 64. Indian History Congress. 2004. p. 590.
16. • Ravula Soma Reddy, ed. (2007). Studies in the Socio-economic History of Medieval: Andhra Desa. Research India Press. p. 149. ISBN   9788189131142. The 75 Nayakas of Musunuri kingdom of Warangal probably included among them many Kammas, Velamas, Reddis and Balijas. Anitalli Epigraph mentions prolaya Vema Reddi as one of the 75 Nayakas of Kapaya's kingdom. The Nayakas of the Kondaviti kingdom belonged mostly to the Reddi, Velama, and Balija castes and some were Muslims.
    • N. S. Ramachandra Murthy, ed. (1996). Forts of Āndhra Pradesh: From the Earliest Times Upto 16th C. A.D. Bharatiya Kala Prakashan. p. 151. ISBN   9788186050033. There were also appointed several officers to defend different forts, who belonged mostly to the Velama and Balija communities. There also appear to be Muslim officers in the service of the Reddis, which fact is supported by the names of the officers furnished by the dandakavile.
    • K. K. Kusuman, ed. (1995). Proceedings Volume of The Fourteenth Annual Session of South Indian History Congress. Vol. 14. The Congress. pp. 309, 310.
    • Mackenzie Manuscripts, ed. (1982). Grama Kaifiyathulu, Gunturu Thaluka. Vol. 2. Andhra Pradesh State Archives & Research Institute. pp. 34–35, 52.
    • "Sri Venkateswara University Oriental Journal". Sri Venkateswara University Oriental Journal. 17–20: 66. 1977.
17. • Peter Fibiger Bang, Dariusz Kolodziejczyk, ed. (2012). Universal Empire: A Comparative Approach to Imperial Culture and Representation in Eurasian History. Cambridge University Press. p. 225. ISBN   9781139560955.
    • Ravula Soma Reddy, ed. (2007). Studies in the Socio-economic History of Medieval: Andhra Desa. Research India Press. p. 151. ISBN   9788189131142.
    • Daniel D'Attilio, ed. (1995). The Last Vijayanagara Kings. University of Wisconsin--Madison. p. 81.
    • 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.
    • A. Satyanarayana, Mukkamala Radhakrishna Sarma, ed. (1996). Castes, Communities, and Culture in Andhra Desa, 17th & 18th Centuries, A.D. Osmania University. p. 111. The Balija merchants who had acquired good experience in administering justice and managing local administration were ideally suited for his purpose. They became chieftains of small principalities. They received Nayakattanas and Amaramaganis from the Vijayanagara rulers and administered many regions in various parts of the empire.
18. Noboru Karashima, ed. (1999). Kingship in Indian History. Manohar Publishers & Distributors. p. 192. ISBN   9788173043260. To understand the historical process of the reducing of the Nayakas as an open status group into a mere shell of what they had formerly been and the growth of respective caste identities, the Telugu Balija caste and its history may give an important clue. Many Nayakas, including the three major Nayakas in the Tamil area and the Nayakas of Cannapattana, Beluru, and Rayadurga in the Kannada area, are said to have been Telugu Balijas.
19. • 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.
20. 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.
21. Cynthia Talbot (2001). Pre-colonial India in Practice: Society, Region, and Identity in Medieval Andhra. Oxford University Press. p. 86. ISBN   978-0-19803-123-9.
22. 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.
23. D. Padmavthi, ed. (1980). "Folktales of the Bangle making caste of andhra pradesh". Folk-lore. 21. Indian Publications: 57. Balija caste is one of the Castes in the Sudra category of Chatur Varna. They are referred to by different names in Andhra Pradesh . In Rayalaseema region they are called as Balija and in Telangana region they are known as Thelage and Pariki Castes . Desai and Gayakward are cognate castes of Balija in Western India (Andhra Matha, May 1972).
24. R. Thirumalai, S. Manoharan, ed. (1997). People of India: Tamil Nadu. Affiliated East-West Press. p. 211. ISBN   9788185938882.
25. K. S. Singh, B. G. Halbar, ed. (2003). People of India: Karnataka. Vol. 1. Anthropological Survey of India. p. 287. ISBN   9788185938981.
26. • 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. ISBN   978-0-19-563424-2.
27. Brimnes, Niels (1999). Constructing the Colonial Encounter: Right and Left Hand Castes in Early Colonial South India. Routledge. p. 20. ISBN   9780700711062.
28. • 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.
29. Rudner, David West (1987). David West Rudner (ed.). "Religious Gifting and Inland Commerce in Seventeenth-Century South India". Journal of Asian Studies. 46 (2). University of California Press: 361–379. doi:10.2307/2056019. JSTOR   2056019. Thus Balija Chettis, for example, are actually a caste that fissioned off from the Balija Nayak ('warrior') caste as recently as the nineteenth century. Accordingly, they have closer kinship ties to these Nayak "warriors" than to Chetti merchants.
30. • P. R. G. Mathur, ed. (1994). Applied Anthropology and Challenges of Development in India. Punthi-Pustak. p. 341. ISBN   9788185094793. Similarly too the Balija community, with two sub-divisions, Gajalu Balija and Gavara Balija, migrated originally from Tamil Nadu. The Balija Gavarai are popularly known as Naidus and the other as Chetties Valai Chatties, Chettiars. It is said that they originally spoke Telugu. They are mainly traders and jewellers.
    • Pradip . K Bhowmick, ed. (2002). Man and Life. Vol. 28. Institute of Social Research and Applied Anthropology. p. 59. Balija, a Telugu speaking migrant caste to Kerala, is segmented into two sub-castes, viz., Gavara Naidu and Gajaiu Balija (Vala Chetti).
    • Vijaya Ramaswamy, ed. (2017). Historical Dictionary of the Tamils. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 43. ISBN   9781538106860. In recent years, migrant communities, like the Gajula Balijas—called Gavarai in the Tamil country—have joined the agricultural workforce, giving up their traditional profession as bangle sellers
31. G. Karunanithi, ed. (1991). Caste and Class in Industrial Organisation. Commonwealth Publishers. p. 45. ISBN   9788171691425. A section of the Naidu migrants in Tamilnadu call themselves Kavarais. They are included in the list of backward classes. They have marital relationship with the Balijas.
32. • David Arnold, ed. (1986). Police Power and Colonial Rule, Madras, 1859-1947. Oxford University Press. p. 114. ISBN   9780195618938.
    • L. Ramamoorthy, ed. (2000). Language Loyalty and Displacement: Among Telugu Minorities in Pondicherry. Pondicherry Institute of Linguistics and Culture. p. 8. ISBN   9788185452104.
    • 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.
33. • Sir James George Frazer, ed. (1986). Marriage and Worship in the Early Societies A Treatise on Totemism and Exogamy. Mittal Publications. p. 238. Janappans or Saluppans were originally a section of the Balijas, but they have developed into a distinct caste.
    • K. M. Venkataramaiah, ed. (1996). A handbook of Tamil Nadu. International School of Dravidian Linguistics. p. 424. ISBN   9788185692203. Janappan: They seem to be a section of the Balijas, though now they are considered to be a distinct caste. As they manufacture gunny bags of hemp (janapa) fibre (canal in Tamil), they are called Janappans, who are also called Caluppan. They usually speak Telugu. In Madural, the women speak Tamil. In North Arcot district they are called Chettis (chetti). They are enterprising and are brokers in cattle fairs. They have 24 gotras. Kappal gotra people do not injure frogs (kappa means frog). The thonda (thonda) people do not eat the fruit of tondai creeper Vamma gotra people do not eat fish. On the day of betrothal, they expect to hear the chirping of the lizard and if it is not heard, they stop the alliance. Some are Saivites and some are Vaishnavites (vaisnavite).
    • John Vincent Ferreira, ed. (1965). Totemism in India. Oxford University Press. p. 213.
    • S. N. Sadasivan, ed. (2000). A Social History of India. APH Publishing. p. 284. ISBN   978-81-7648-170-0.
34. • 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.
35. • Agarala Easwara Reddi, D. Sundar Ram, ed. (1994). State Politics in India: Reflections on Andhra Pradesh. M.D. Publications Pvt. Ltd. p. 339. ISBN   9788185880518. The Kapus, concentrated in Guntur, Krishna, West and East Godavari districts are listed among the forward castes. In Rayalaseema districts they are known as Balijas.
    • Christophe Jaffrelot, Sanjay Kumar, ed. (2012). Rise of the Plebeians?: The Changing Face of the Indian Legislative Assemblies. Routledge. p. 279. ISBN   9781136516627. Another significant social group is that of the Kapus (also known under different names such as Telaga, Naidu, Balija, Munnuru Kapu).
    • S. Gajrani, ed. (2004). History, Religion and Culture of India. Vol. 2. Gyan Publishing House. p. 29. ISBN   9788182050617. There are various sub - castes within the Kapu category, such as Telaga, Balija, Kapu, Munnuru Kapu, Ontari, etc. Nowadays they want to be addressed as Kapus only.
    • The Eastern Anthropologist. Vol. 55. Ethnographic and Folk Culture Society. 2002. p. 184. The Kapus are known by different names, viz. Telaga, Balija, Naidu and Munnur Kapu and the name used depends on the area to which they belong.
    • D. Parthasarathy, ed. (1997). Collective Violence in a Provincial City. Oxford University Press. p. 47. ISBN   9780195641394. The Kapu caste as currently referred to by the Kapunadu movement includes several castes Telaga, Ontari, Balija and Kapu besides other minor sects.
    • Nimmagadda Bhargav, ed. (2023). Stringers and the Journalistic Field: Marginalities and Precarious News Labour in Small-Town India. Taylor & Francis. p. 40. ISBN   9781000840353. The Kapus in the Telugu - speaking states do not form a neat homogenous category, as they comprise castes such as Kapu, Telaga, Balija and Ontari among many other variants.
    • Newton Ennis Morton, ed. (1973). Genetic Structure of Populations. Vol. 3. University Press of Hawaii. p. 93.
36. Prasada Bhoopaludu, ed. (1939). Andhra Vignanamu. Vol. 3. The Razan Electric Press. pp. 1381–1383.
37. • Naidu, D. Suran (July 1980). "Andhra Pradesh: A Repeat Performance of the 1977 Election?". In Singh, Harnam (ed.). The Indian Political Science Review. Vol. XIV. Indian Political Science Review. pp. 250–251.
    • Fishman, Alvin Texas (1941). Culture Change and the Underprivileged: A Study of Madigas in South India Under Christian Guidance. Christian Literature Society for India. p. 138.
    • "NCBC Andhra Pradesh Bench Findings" (PDF). 2002. p. 13. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 February 2013.
    • Ambagudia, Jagannath; Xaxa, Virginius (1 December 2020). Handbook of Tribal Politics in India. SAGE Publishing India. p. 177. ISBN   978-93-5388-460-4.
38. • కావు మహా సభ (in Telugu). Andhra Patrika. 16 April 1913. p. 44.
    • Janaki Ram, ed. (2004). Cops and Criminas. laxmi publications. p. 155. ISBN   9781411622784. Balija known as Kapu or Telaga in coastal Andhra area and Munnuru Kapu in Telangana region; a large single community, with various sub-castes and surnames.
    • "Nandyal bypoll: In Caste Matrix, Muslims, Vysyas Hold The Key". The Times of India. 20 August 2017. ISSN   0971-8257 . Retrieved 26 May 2023. .... as there are good number of Balija voters in the constituency. The community is the equivalent of the Kapu community in the Rayalaseema region.
39. • "'State committed to welfare of Kapus, Balijas'". The Hindu. 17 May 2016. ISSN   0971-751X . Retrieved 23 May 2023.
    • "₹490.86 crore credited into accounts of Kapu Nestham beneficiaries". The Hindu. 22 July 2021. ISSN   0971-751X . Retrieved 23 May 2023.
40. 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.
41. • Radhika Seshan, Shraddha Kumbhojkar, ed. (2018). Re-searching Transitions in Indian History. Taylor & Francis. ISBN   9780429946301.
42. • Peter N. Stearns, William Leonard Langer, ed. (2001). The Encyclopedia of World History Ancient, Medieval, and Modern, Chronologically Arranged. Houghton Mifflin. p. 368. ISBN   9780395652374.
43. • 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. (2023). The Sacred Centre as the Focus of Political Interest. Vol. 6. Brill Publishers. p. 184. ISBN   9789004646612.
    • H. L. Seneviratne, ed. (1997). Identity, Consciousness and the Past: Forging of Caste and Community in India and Sri Lanka. Oxford University Press. p. 99. ISBN   9780195640014.
    • Shyam Singh Shashi, ed. (1996). Encyclopaedia Indica: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh. Vol. 129. Anmol Publications. p. 838. ISBN   9788170418597.
    • Social Analysis, Issues 25-28. University of Adelaide. 1989. p. 116.
44. • Peter N. Stearns, William Leonard Langer, ed. (2001). The Encyclopedia of World History Ancient, Medieval, and Modern, Chronologically Arranged. Houghton Mifflin. p. 368. ISBN   9780395652374. The Vijayanagara Empire developed, in its second half, into what is known as the nayaka state-system, in which administrative and political relations differed significantly from what had gone before. While the Vijayanagara rulers continued to hold ultimate power over a broad belt of territory, they shared authority locally with a number of military chiefs, or nayakas. Originally part of the great Telugu migrations southward into the Tamil country in the 15th and 16th centuries, Balija merchant-warriors who claimed these nayaka positions rose to political and cultural power and supported an ethos that emphasized nonascriptive, heroic criteria in legitimizing political power.
    • 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
45. • 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
    • Dr. B.Ramachndra Reddy R. Nata Rajan, ed. (2007). "Identity and Crisis of Telugu Migrants of Tamil Region". Itihas. 33. Andhra Pradesh State Archives and Research Institute: 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, and so were appointed as the rulers of these regions.
    • 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
    • Francine R. Frankel, M. S. A. Rao, ed. (1989). Dominance and State Power in Modern India: Decline of a Social Order. Oxford University Press. p. 30. ISBN   9780195620986. The Nayak kings of Madura and Tanjore were balijas (traders)
    • 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.
    • South Asia Politics. Vol. 5. Rashtriya Jagriti Sansthan. 2006. p. 14.
46. • 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
    • Markus Vink (2015). Encounters on the Opposite Coast: The Dutch East India Company and the Nayaka State of Madurai in the Seventeenth Century. BRILL. p. 57. ISBN   9789004272620.
47. 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.
48. • David Dean Shulman, Velcheru Narayana Rao, ed. (2020). Classical Telugu Poetry (Reprinted ed.). 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.
    • Sanjay Subrahmanyam (2001). Penumbral Visions: Making Polities in Early Modern South India. University of Michigan Press. p. 198. ISBN   9780472112166.
    • 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.
    • Muzaffar Alam, ed. (1998). The Mughal State, 1526-1750. Oxford University Press. p. 35. ISBN   978-0-19-563905-6.
    • Indira Malapaka, ed. (2021). "Telugu Inscriptions In Karnataka A Socio Cultural Study". University. Sri Venkateswara University: 96.
49. • Noboru Karashima, ed. (1999). Kingship in Indian History. Manohar Publishers & Distributors. p. 192. ISBN   9788173043260. To understand the historical process of the reducing of the Nayakas as an open status group into a mere shell of what they had formerly been and the growth of respective caste identities, the Telugu Balija caste and its history may give an important clue. Many Nayakas, including the three major Nayakas in the Tamil area and the Nayakas of Cannapattana, Beluru, and Rayadurga in the Kannada area, are said to have been Telugu Balijas.
    • M.M.Kalburgi, ed. (1994). Karnatakada Kaifiyattugalu (in Kannada). Kannada University, Hampi. p. 118.
    • Runga Char, ed. (17 July 1895). Sree Mukkam (Guru's Certificate) Granted By His Holiness Sree Brahma Tantra Sree Parakala Swamigalavaru Of Mysore. Parakala Matha. This Sreemukhm, (certificate) granted to Krishnadeva Murthi, eldest son of Venkatadri Naik, Pallegar of Munjarabad, who is a chief and devout disciple of this Sree Mutt and who belongs to Kasyapa gotra Apasthambha Sutra is as follows:- You, (Kristnadeva Murthi) and your remote ancestors Viz Bailur Venkatadri Naik, and Krishnappa Naik, your ancestors, Venkatadri Naik, grand son of the said Krishnappa Naik, and Krishnappa Naik, son of the said Venkatadri Naik, have been the chief and devuot disciples of this Mutt, and have shown great zeal and attachment in the service of God. You, (Krishnadeva Murthi) and Puttammanni, wife of Venkatadri Naik, who belong to the family of the said Pallegar, have been the disciples of this Mutt and belong to Telugu Banajiga Naik cast. There is no objection whatever for you to contract aliences in your Telugu Banjiga Naik caste in accordance with your ancient customs In accordance with the wishes of the Swamigalavaru of this Mutt, I have informed of this to you, this day of Ashadha Bhahula Dasami, Wednesday of Munmatha year.
    • B. Lewis Rice, ed. (1998). Epigraphia Carnatica. Vol. 11. Mysore: Kannada Adhyayana Samsthe, Mysore University. p. XVI. Belur chiefs who are sometimes called Balam chiefs
50. • V.R. Acarya, ed. (1954). Sri Prasanna Venkatesvara Vilasamu. Bulletin of the Government Oriental Manuscripts Library, Madras. 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. Kōnēti Nayak himself had married the daughter of (apparently the fruit of left handed marriage) Āraviti Vīra Venkatapati Rāyalu of Vijayanagar family.
    • K. A. Nilakanta Sastri, ed. (1946). Further Sources of Vijayanagara History. University of Madras. p. 302. A description of the way in which Venkatapatiraya of Raya-Veluru granted the government of Penugonda to the Raya-dalavayi Pedakoneti Nayadu. 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. The ayakat of the territories of Rajaraja Sri Raya-dalavayi who ruled the forts of Penugonda, Kundurpi, Rayadurgam..... great prosperity.
    • Peram Sivaiah, ed. (2021). Vijayanagara Forts in Rayalaseema: A Study. LAP Lambert Academic Publishing. p. 254. ISBN   9786203410815.
51. • 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
    • Noboru Karashima, ed. (1999). Kingship in Indian History. Manohar Publishers & Distributors. p. 192. ISBN   9788173043260. To understand the historical process of the reducing of the Nayakas as an open status group into a mere shell of what they had formerly been and the growth of respective caste identities, the Telugu Balija caste and its history may give an important clue. Many Nayakas, including the three major Nayakas in the Tamil area and the Nayakas of Cannapattana, Beluru, and Rayadurga in the Kannada area, are said to have been Telugu Balijas.
    • Jan Brouwer, ed. (1995). The Makers of the World: Caste, Craft, and Mind of South Indian Artisans. Oxford University Press. p. 293. ISBN   9780195630916.
    • 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.
52. 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.
53. • 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.
54. • 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.
55. • T. Chandrasekharan, ed. (1951). A Descriptive Catalogue of the Telugu Manuscripts (PDF). Vol. 13. The Government Oriental Manuscripts Library, Madras. p. 2863. No.2607 KOTIKAMVARI KAIFIYATU - A Kaifiyat relating to Garikipati Viswanathanayaka of Balijakula who was given Pandya kingdom by Atchutadevaraya.
    • 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. Leiden University Press. p. 79. ISBN   9789087283711. 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."
56. • 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.
57. 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.
58. • Kanchi Kalyanasundaram, ed. (1950). Latchiyavaadhi Azhagirisamy (PDF). Pagutharivu Pasarai, Chennai. p. 10.
    • Pavai Chandran, ed. (2010). Eezha Thamizharin Poraatta Varalaru (PDF). Vol. 1. Kanmani Creative Waves, Chennai.
    • Kanchi Manimozhiar, M.Ilanchezhian, ed. (25 March 1950). Editorial : Azhagirisamy (in Tamil). Por Vaal magazine.
    • Alandur Mohanarangan, ed. (2002). Maaveeran Anjanenjan Alagiri. Meena Gopal Pathippagam. p. 196.
59. 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.
60. • 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. The present Zamindar is a descendant of the famous Ramabhadra Naick I, a follower and relation of Kottiya Nagama Naick, the famous Collector of Revenue and Commander of the Southern forces of the Vijayanagar Empire.
    • Parthiban Rajukalidoss, ed. (2013). The Spice Road 'Vaṭakarai Zamīndāri' Its Historicity and Architectural Remains. Vol. 74. Acta Orientalia. p. 97.
    • 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
    • T. V. Mahalingam, Colin Mackenzie, ed. (1972). Mackenzie Manuscripts; Summaries of the Historical Manuscripts in the Mackenzie Collection: Tamil and Malayalam. University of Madras. p. 153.
    • C. Hayavadana Rao, ed. (1915). The Indian Biographical Dictionary. Forgotten Books. p. 344.
61. • E. Sa. Viswanathan, ed. (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
    • David Shulman, ed. (2016). Tamil: A Biography. Harvard University Press. p. 310. ISBN   9780674059924. This was the Self Respect Movement, cuyamariyatai iyakkam, of a maverick genius, E. V. Ramasami Naicker, popularly known as the Great One, Periyar. It is of some significance that this fearless iconoclast came from Erode, in the west of the Tamil country or, better, in the southern reaches of the early modern Deccani culture, and from a Kannada Balija Naidu community.
    • 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. EVR was born on September 17, 1879, in Erode, Madras Presidency, into a Kannada Balija Naidu family.
    • John J. Paul, Keith Yandell, ed. (2013). Religion and Public Culture: Encounters and Identities in Modern South India. Routledge. p. 180. ISBN   9781136818080. E.V. Ramaswami Naicker, a non-Brahman, a Kannada Balija Naidu from Erode, had been one of the first members in 1917 of the Madras Presidency Congress Committee which was against British rule and in support of the policies of the national Congress Party
    • Ajantha Subramanian, ed. (2019). The Caste of Merit: Engineering Education in India. Harvard University Press. p. 100. ISBN   9780674987883.
62. • NMML Manuscripts: An Introduction. Nehru Memorial Museum and Library. 2003. p. 358. ISBN   978-81-87614-05-0.
    • Sri G. D. Kameswara Rao, ed. (1978). Sarojini Naidu The Nightingale Of India. Vol. 23. Director of Information and Public Relations, Andhra Pradesh. p. 8.
    • Padmini Sengupta, ed. (1966). Sarojini Naidu: A Biography. Asia Publishing House for the. p. 34.
    • G.A. Natesan, ed. (1972). The Indian Review. Vol. 67. G.A. Natesan & Company. pp. 18, 20.
63. • Antony R. H. Copley, ed. (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, ed. (2017). The Congress in Tamilnad: Nationalist Politics in South India, 1919-1937. Routledge. p. 23. ISBN   978-1-315-29419-3.
    • Eugene F. Irschick, ed. (1969). Politics and Social Conflict in South India. University of California Press. p. 270.
    • S. Babu, P. Kandaswamy, ed. (2002). Dr. P. Varadarajulu Naidu and the Sermadevi Gurukulam Controversy. Vol. 21. The Congress. p. 97.
    • E. Sa. Viswanathan, ed. (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.
64. Arvind P. Jamkhedkar, ed. (2018). Dictionary of Martyrs: India's Freedom Struggle (1857-1947) (PDF). Vol. 5. Indian Council of Historical Research. p. 90. Kanneganti Hanumayya: Popularly known as Kanneganti Hanumanthu, he was a resident of v. Minchalapadu, t. Palnad, distt. Guntur, Andhra Pradesh. An agriculturist belonging to Balija community, he became the leader of his village and took part in the Non Cooperation movement (1921-22) and the Forest Satyagraha in 1922. Over sending cattle into the forest without paying the grazing fees, in response to the No Tax campaign, he was shot dead by a police Sub Inspector on 26 February 1922.
65. • Alok Kumar Kanungo, Laure Dussubieux, ed. (2021). Ancient Glass of South Asia: Archaeology, Ethnography and Global Connections. Springer Nature. p. 283. ISBN   9789811636561.
    • K.H.S.S. Sundar, ed. (1994). Origins and growth of political consciousness in Andhra during the nineteenth century. University of Hyderabad. p. 153.
    • A. Vijaya Kumari, Sepuri Bhaskar, ed. (1998). Social Change Among Balijas: Majority Community of Andhra Pradesh. M.D. Publications Pvt. Ltd. p. 14. ISBN   9788175330726.
    • M.L.Kantha Rao, ed. (1999). "A study of the socio political mobility of the kapu caste in modern Andhra". INFLIBNET. University of Hyderabad: 93.

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