The National Seminar on Rural Society, Culture and Economy in Telangana – Historical Perspective – held at the Kakatiya University on March 14th and 15th 2020 [1]

The National Seminar on Rural Society, Culture and Economy in Telangana –  Historical Perspective – held at the Kakatiya University on March 14^th and 15^th 2020 [1]

From Chennai to Kajipet: On March 14^th, I had to leave Chennai for Kakatiya University to attend the National Seminar on Rural Society, Culture and Economy in Telangana –  Historical Perspective to be held on March 14^th and 15^th 2020 at the Kakatiya University, Warangal, Telangana. However, there were calls from my friends and relatives from Hyderabad and other places informing to avoid going considering the prevailing conditions of Carona virus spread. I contacted Prof K. Vijaya Babu and he informed that there was no problem at KU and Warangal. As I had already booked tickets I decided to proceed. Some of my friends, who supposed to come, backed out on one or the other personal reasons. When I reached Central, I could find that the young persons, evidently working with IT industries, were conscious of and worried about, as they have to contact with foreigners, even in day-to-day dealings and interactions at the place work. In the compartments also, they were seen covering their faces with masks of different colours, varied shapes and various sizes. Of course, I too brought consciously, the regular one. Anyway, my conscious informed me that there was no necessity to get panic.

Kazipet Railway station, KU Guest House: I reached Kajipet in time. Slowly, I came out to get an auto. I reached the Guest House of Kakatiya University by auto, it was about 5 am. None was there. I went inside, switched on lights and fan and sat down. By 5.30, I contacted Prof Vijaya Babu and he informed that one student-volunteer would come to take to a room. After some time, one student came and he took to Room no.10. I started to complete my daily routine. But, I found that there was no heater and it was taken away cutting the wires and water connection tubes. So I informed the student-volunteer that as I have nervous problem and he changed my room to 9. Evidently, he knew that heater was not there etc., but yet, he had chosen it first and then changed. I got ready and came out by 9 am.

Prof K. Vijaya Babu, convenor, 11.00 to 11.07 am: The inaugural function was held at the Senate Hall. They were waiting for the Vice-Chancellor, but, he did not come. So they decided to start the function. The seminar coordinator Prof K. Vijaya Babu explained the theme of the seminar on March 14th at the time of inauguration[1].  During the Qutub Shahi (1518-1687), the Mughal (1687-1724) and the Asaf Jahi (1724-1947) rule several administrative reforms were introduced in Telangana. The Revenue Administration was redesigned and Revenue Farming (Contract) System was introduced by the Qutb Shahi and Asaf Jahi rulers. Their Revenue Reforms resulted in the emergence of dominant Sudhra Communities like Reddies and Velamas[2] as revenue farmers. The dominant landed gentry had established their power centers in the form of ‘Ghadies’ in all the villages throughout Telangana[3]. There was a concentration of revenue, and judicial powers in the hands of these aristocratic families and they established their firm control over the people. The village officials like Patwaries and Patels used to serve the Land Lords in revenue administration, collection of taxes and maintenance of law and order in the villages. The Jagirdars as they were powerful could grab the lands by fraud from the actual cultivators. There was a concentration of land in the hands of certain caste groups like Reddy and Velama communities. These Jagirdars (Doras) also exploited the village people with an evil practice of ‘Vetti’ or forced labour[4]. These ruling families enjoyed the position and privileges as Jagirdars, Deshmukhs[5] and Deshpandias. Traditionally the artisan and service castes were bound to the landlords in terms of certain caste obligations[6]: Carpenters and Blacksmiths (Vadla / Kammari) prepared and repaired agricultural implements, the Shepherds (Gollas) used to supply sheep and goats on the festival and other ceremonial occasions; the Washer men (Chakali) worked as messengers, the Mangalis served as barbers, the Toddy tappers (Goundla) supplied toddy, the Madigas used to provide leather goods. The Malas and Madigas worked as agricultural laborers. The agricultural communities, pastoral, communities, artisans, service castes, dalits, dependent castes a the rural areas, were leading a miserable life, though they were extending their services as per their traditional occupations. These poor people without any landed properties had become either tenants at will or landless labourers. Thus, the agrarian structure of Rural Telangana was marked by extreme inequalities in ownership of land and other means of production. Change taken place[7]: It is observed that in the specific context of Telangana, the evolution of land tenure systems and agrarian relations were shaped by certain historical developments which facilitated the concentration of landed property in the hands of certain castes. Since they owned landed property they could invest their surplus income in developing commercial and industrial establishments and emerged as modern capitalist class. These families have settled in urban areas and also developed modern educational Institutions with the support of the Government to provide advanced technical education to their children. After accumulating a lot of wealth as capitalists, they entered into democratic politics and became political leaders and have been enjoying the higher positions and privileges at the state and central level. The Weaker Sections and Dalits have also joined these modern educational institutions with the support of social welfare schemes introduced by the government. These modern educated youth entered into government services as subordinate staff. Some of them emerged as intellectuals and trying to bring social change in our society during the last several decades in independent India. Fairs and Festivals[8]:  In Telangana, one can clearly witness the composite, pluralistic and inclusive culture and traditions. Be it Bathukamma, Sankranthi, Moharram, or Christmas, the region is known for secular traditions. Bathukamma is a colourful and vibrant floral festival of Telangana, celebrated by women, with flowers. The festival is the pride of Telangana’s cultural identity. Vijayadashami, also known as Dussehra. The festival symbolizes the victory of good over evil, is celebrated with traditional fervour, devotion across Telangana. Mother goddess worship is very popular in all the villages of Telangana. Bonalu is a Hindu Festival where Goddess Mahakali is worshipped. It is celebrated in Telangana state, especially in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad. The Tribal people in Adilabad district celebrate Nagobha festival. Sammakka Saralamma Jatara is a world-renowned tribal festival celebrated at Medaram in Mulugu district. In Warangal Inavole, Kommala, Komaravelli Jataras are popular folk fairs. Seminar sub-themes[9]: The seminar brings to light the locally dominant castes and the kind of dominance they exercised over the Socio-Economic life of the people. The Rural society and Caste System in Telangana have to be analyzed from Political, Economic, Social and Cultural Perspectives. The Sub –Themes are : 1. The Geo- Historical aspects of Telangana. 2. Social Structure and Economic Conditions. nomadic groups, who were involved in the production process in 5. Dependent Castes and Folk Arts. 6. Tribes and their Culture. 7. Conditions of Weaker Sections, Dalits and Women. 8. Artisans and Handicrafts. 9. Fairs and Festivals. 10. Heritage Sites- Tourism Potential.   © K. V. Ramakrishna Rao 17-03-2020

[1] From the brochure sent by the organizers. He read from the brochure, as I could follow him carefully.

[2] : Tradition says that the velamas were in race of Khastriya, who ruled over the country to the north of Narmada river. As they vanquished by a mightier people Raja Pratapa Rudra of Kakatiya dynasty attracted by their physique and commanding features welcomed them to his Kingdom and conferred on them the command of 77 forts in his kingdom. They gradually became agriculturists and traders. In Telangana their main occupation is agriculture. Many of them held lands and worked as tenants. A few of the velamas were rich landlords and village officers.

[3] The social conditions of Jagirdari village are revealed round the Gadee in 19th, and first half of the 20th century. Gadee is the residue place of Dora, in which he lives with his family members, Adabapa and Dasis (slave girls) and their children and a large number of vetti workers and bhagelas This place is the centre of political, social and economical activities. What decision was taken in Gadee is implemented in Jagir village. These Gadees persisted in 19th century and first half of the 20th century.

[4] This system prevails in Telangana during 19 th century and first half of the 20th century. By the 18th century in deccan, political stabilisation was established by Asafjahs. They initiated various tenures to bring the land under cultivation. “Like most of the Deccan states, in Telangana too “bara balutadars” played an important role in colonising the region and setting up villages and developing agriculture”

[5] The deshmukhs in the process of becoming landlords with their own patta lands practically usurped the authority of the state and kept the whole country side in their possession to establish their Rajyam. They established their authority over government property. They established their supremacy over wastelands, government lands, trees, tanks, steams in the village. They imposed restriction on peasants and shepherds grazing their cattle and on labourers collecting firewood from such common resource lands.

[6] From the brochure sent by the organizers. He read from the brochure, as I could follow him carefully

[7] From the brochure sent by the organizers. He read from the brochure, as I could follow him carefully

[8] From the brochure sent by the organizers. He read from the brochure, as I could follow him carefully

[9] From the brochure sent by the organizers. He read from the brochure, as I could follow him carefully

[10] Komatis are an integral part of the peasant society. This is the name for Telugu traders, shopkeepers and money lenders mostly found in Telangana. They played crucial role in agricultural finance and benefitted immensely. It is considered to be a wealthy and prosperous caste. They were mainly found in their traditional occupation i.e. trade, commerce and money lending. Very few of them worked as cultivators and agricultural labourers.

[11] During late nineteenth century the deshmukhs in the process of becoming land lords usurped the authority of the state and kept the whole country side in their possession and established Dorala rajyam. In Nalgonda District the most notorious, dora families were Rapaka, Janna Reddy, Nukala, Rama Sahayam, Pingali and Lingala. The number of families increased in last quarter of nineteenth century through the matrimonial relations established with the doras and following the doras practices. New Doras converted these services castes as “Vetti workers”. Untouchables and low caste peoples were converted as “bhagela”s. As the landlords owned large land fields due to reforms of Salarjung and they were forced to cultivate commercial crops like castor and groundnut by the British. These circumstances forced the landlords to introduce vetti and bhagela system.

The Fourth session of Telangana History Congress held at the Kakatiya University on January 27th and 28th 2019 [2]

The Fourth session of Telangana History Congress held at the Kakatiya University on January 27^th and 28^th 2019 [2]

1. S. S. Seshan’s paper continues………………………………………………..

Judicial Enquiry Commission: The Resident, instituted a Commission of Enquiry consisting of 6 members; three were nominated by the Resident and the other three were the nominees of the Nizam’s administration. The Commission finally found that Mubarez was engaged in a conspiracy with the Nawab of Kurnool and several others with a view to overthrow the Nizam and declare himself as the ruler and also to bring an insurrection against the British.

Network of spies[1]: The Enquiry Commission became central in unearthing the contemplated insurrection of the Nawab of Kurnool. There was a letter written by Mubarez to the Nawab of Kurnool that was intercepted by the British agents. Mubarez in that letter had spelled out his plans for the final assault on the British requesting the Nawab to dispatch the needed arms for such an attack. If only that letter has reached the Nawab, and had he acted, the Enquiry Commission felt, “the results would have been very disastrous”. The letter was concealed in an amulet and was to be delivered to the Nawab of Kurnool. But on the way to Kurnool, fearing the capture by the British, Muhammad Khan the spy, tied the amulet to the hand of an old beggar woman living in a sarai, where he himself took shelter in the guise of a traveller. The amulet was recovered by the guards while combing the area and thus the entire conspiracy came to light. The letter thus brought to light the role of the Nawab of Kurnool, in the conspiracy against the English. The British at Madras, immediately sent a large military contingent to deal with Kurnool. The Nawab’s armies were defeated in October, 1839 and the Nawab was deported to Tiruchirapalle (formerly Trichinopoly in English), where he was imprisoned and Kurnool was taken over by the Company administration. Rasool Khan was murdered by one of his own servants in the prison. The Enquiry Commission also felt that Mubarez, apart from being a hand in glove with the Nawab of Kurnool, also tried to spread sedition among the Muslim sepoys stationed in Secunderabad. As a result, Mubarez had to spend the rest of his life as a prisoner in the Golconda fort till he died on June 25, 1854[2].

27-09-2019- after lunch session – Dr Raja Reddy

Raja Reddy on the richest Nizam of the world: Osman Ali Khan, Mukarram Jahs grandfather, was crowned the eighth Nizam of Hyderabad to become the richest ruler in the world with an inheritance worth US $2 billion, lost a wife to AIDS and turned his incredible fortune to dust in the Australian outback, all in the course of 30 years.

 

Now a balding 72-year-old Mukarram Jah, leads a secret life, with very few people in his own neighbourhood in Turkey aware of his existence or his whereabouts. Mukarram Jah was anointed the Nizam of Hyderabad and Berar, the richest and most powerful state in the sub-continent. It is said that Mukarram could trace his lineage back 34 generations on his fathers side to the First Caliph of Islam, Abu Bakr. According to Zubrzycki, Mukarram Jahs grandfather Osman Ali Khan, was once described as being richer than all the Fords, Rockefellers and Morgans put together. Ironically, says Zubrzycki, Jah was short of cash. There were very few rupees in the kitty to pay maintenance for the 14,792 relatives, harems with 42 ageing concubines, hundreds of illegitimate children, and 14,000 staff consisting of retainers, guards, cooks and other employees his grandfather had been caring for.

Helen Simmons asked Mukarram for a divorce but was soon diagnosed as being HIV-positive, like her homosexual friends. She died of AIDS in 1989, the first Australian woman to do so, at the age of 41, but Mukarram was cleared of the virus after tests in Switzerland. Nizam used to send convicts to Andaman and Nicobar islands and the British collected transport and maintenance charges from him. For more details on the Nizam with photographs etc., read here[3].

5.00 to 7.00 pm – Y. Sudharshan Rao: He delivered the Prof Mukkamala Radhakrishna Sarma Memorial lecture. He was talking with philosophical sting and much abstract issues, the students obviously did not like. Based on Benard Lewis book, he started interpreting as to how, “history – is remembered, recovered and invented” in the context of Telangana. He concluded[4], “Again, there was a great spurt in writing history of Telugu people when the linguistic states were formed. Regional histories and local histories are pursued with cultural, social and political themes. While mainstream Indian historiography has changed its perspective from national to Marxist, the regional histories continued to be biographic, sectional and local. With the recent division of the state into Telangana and Andhra Pradesh sharing Telugu population, perhaps, the entry of third genre of ‘invented history’ as rampant in the West may have to wait in our regional sphere”.

27-09-2019- Memorial lecture.VIPs stand together

In fact, they were busy with their cellphones, but he continued for two hours. As I used to listen to many-many such memorial lectures, I find that this has become a ritual as the speaker goes on talks or reads from his paper without caring for others. And  mostly, the listeners were forced to sit and listen to him, of course, 50% of them would be sleeping also. Later, he himself expressed that his speech was taken by the students differently!

7.00 to 8.30 pm – Cultural programme: The troupe depicted in an emotional way, “The origin of Telangana state,” projecting K. Chandrasekhara Rao since his early days, as to how he spearheaded the movement. However, too much “separatist” ideology injected in their narrative made others uncomfortable. Particularly, those who come from other states might not find any difference between the Telugu speaking people of  both states.

The second day 28-01-2019 proceedings – 10.00 to 10.42 am: Jaikishan gave a lengthy presentation on iron, steel, paper etc of Telangana. He claimed that he was the only archaeo-metallurgist doing research in industrial archaeology etc. First he was telling about the iron and steel manufactured in India that were famous in the medieval period. He was telling the story of “Damascus sword,” how it roused the interests of the Europeans to test for anti-rustic properties etc. He pointed out based on Pliny as to how Romans decided not to buy Indian steel and so on. He was mentioning about “kotla” paper manufactured in the villages of Telangana that was used by the Moghuls and also nexported to London. Most the paper manufacturers had been Muslims. The ingredients for paper manufacture were soaked and kept for 24-30 hours and then used for rolling. When I pointed out that he did not mention that Indian steel as “Wootz” and also about Dr S. Kalyanaraman who has done exhaustive research in these areas, he tried to manage and told that he knew him and he has all the books of him. Meanwhile, somebody intervened and said that he had been an expert in the field and he could talk hours together on the subject!

10.53 to 11.08 am – Kurra Jitendra Babu: He asserted that, “The papers presented so far has been useless…” Yesterday, one expert talked more than one-and-half hours and when the students were asked  what they has understood, they replied “nothing…..,” and some commented that, “…….they could have gone for a movie………………” Then, he tried show that Indians knew everything before westerners. Neils Bohr and others were indebted to Acharya Nagarjuna, Einestein dedicated his work to Thikkanna for his E = mc², and so on. He went on to assert[5], that “Sanskrit itself is a refinement of different types of Prakrit used by the different people of India…The very fact that there are no Sanskrit manuscripts found in Kalinga kingdom (modern day Odisha) is evidence enough to say that Sanskrit is not the linguistic ancestor of Telugu…… No research is being done to prove or disprove these new theories,……..unless the material is available to scholars of both the States there will be no more research”. Itappears that he has been voicing in this way at other places also[6]. The Telangana dancers have been depicted in the gopuram of Big temple Tanjore. Giriraja kavi’s grand son of Tyagaraja went to Thanjavur and thus, they were also influenced by the people of Telangana[7].  And thus, he tried to glorify Telanga for origin of everything. While Pali was the linguistic ancestor of Telugu spoken in Andhra region, a form of Prakrit was the linguistic ancestor of Telugu spoken in Telangana, he said.

I thank my friend Sudhakar Kundur for providing the following four photographs of my presentation

KVR presenting paper – locating Telangana- on “Kunjarakunjadesa of South India and its connection with the South East Asian Civilization”

 

11.00 to 11.30 am – K. V. Ramakrishna Rao: I resented my paper on “Kunjarakunjadesa of South India and its connection with the South East Asian Civilization,” and located it at the border of Andhra and Kalinga with the following conclusion:

1. The Changgal inscription proves the close, well-connected maritime trade contacts of the importers-exporters one side and the warriors, religious groups on the other side.
2. The language used, grantha script applied and the grammar-syntax exploited prove that the migration of such knowledge transfer must have taken place at least 50-100 years to attain such status far away from India. However, such transfer must have taken place natural, peaceful and acceptable to the local people.
3. Kunjarakunjadesa expression has been used associating with elephants, elephant like wrestlers and great architects. As the elephants have been used significantly connected with forest-wooden industry, building temples and other secular structures, such elephant connected experts were adorned with titles of Kunjaramallar, Kunjaramallan, Kunjaramalla Peruntacchan and so on.
4. Elephant (Kunjaram) and dwarf (Kunjaran) have been associated with Siva, as here, Agastya was associated with the building of temples on the hill and creator of Lingam, acting as Dhaksha, Architect, Brahma, or Viswakarma.
5. Cholas engaged elephant army, as they required for battles and as well as for infrastructure development.
6. The Andhra-Kalinga area had been centrally located on the Coromandel Coast between the Sri Lanka and numerous islands and Bengal and beyond, the Cholas wanted to control and exploit the area strategically. The erection of victory pillar on the Mahendragiri hill can also be noted in the context.
7. The Cholas knew evidently, the Sailendras’ connection with Sumatra / Java / Kedah and also with the Palas and the Chinese, and hence had cardial relationship initially, through the Buddhists (Vihara constructed at Nagappattinam).
8. As during the first centuries, the Palavas had been so active in those areas, they had all sorts of experts migrated already there and settled down. Here, Kalinga-Andhra coastal areas played a crucial role.
9. The Satavahanas and the Pallavas were dominating the coastal areas and as well as maritime areas till the first centuries ton 7^th-8^thcenturies and the Cholas thereafter till 13^th century.
10. Thus, the study of Kunjarakunjadesa, clarifies the cultural, commercial, religious and maritime contacts of the Coromandel Coast with that of SEA countries during the first centuries to the medieval period.

KVR responding to querries

There were querries and I answered.

© K. V. Ramakrishna Rao

02-03-2019

My PPT presentation

I thank my friend Sudhakar Kundur for providing the above four photographs of my presentation

[1] K S S Seshan Mubarez-ud-Daulah’s era: Of passion, rebellion and conspiracy, in The Hindu, Hyderabad, JUNE 10, 2017 15:32 IST; UPDATED: JUNE 10, 2017 15:32 IST.

[2] https://www.thehindu.com/society/history-and-culture/mubarez-ud-daulahs-era-of-passion-rebellion-and-conspiracy/article18955189.ece

[3] His Exalted Highness Prince Mukarram Jah Bahadur, 8th Nizam of Hyderabad- Interviews and feature stories from American, Australian, British and Indian newspapers and magazines, http://cvxmelody.50webs.com/

[4] Based on the paper circulated to the delegates of THC on 27-01-2019 evening in the hall.

[5] The Hindu, Call for common Telugu research centre, by G. Venkataramana Rao Vijayawada:, AUGUST 19, 2014 00:21 IST; UPDATED: MAY 08, 2017 12:00 IST

[6] https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Vijayawada/call-for-common-telugu-research-centre/article11205607.ece

[7] Giriraja was born in Kakarla village, Cumbum taluk in Prakasham district (AP) has produced many of the important cultural figures of South India. Among the greatest of those was Tyagaraja, whose mother was a daughter of Giriraja Kavi. Giriraja Kavi played a major role in influencing the formative years of his celebrated grandson Tyagaraja. He was instrumental in securing a place at court for his grandson, a position that Tyagaraja soon abjured. It is to Tyagaraja’s credit that Giriraja Kavi’s musical work, created during an era that was dominated by the trinity of Carnatic music, has secured him a lasting place of honour among the greats of Carnatic music.