m m m m ; ; ~ m m m : - ; l ~ m m t n m m m m m m m m m m m CHAPTER - VII m m m m m m SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION m m m mmn~mmm~m;-j r n~r,rnrnmmrnrnmmmrnmnmm~mmmmm

There a re many views on the o r i g i n of the Agnikula

Kshatriyas. According t o one version the P a l l i e s o r

Pal lavas of South India once held a very high pos i t i on

as r u l e r s of our country. A t the time of invasion of

Chalukyas, the Vannikulas of the T a m i l country o r

P a l l i e s of Telugu country are descendants of Agnikula

Kshatriyas and they have gradually f a l l e n t o their pre-

s e n t pos i t i on owing t o the downfall of t h e i r dominim

though there a re some, here and there , who hold very

respectable pos i t i on as landlords etc. By God's grace,

they regained t h e i r o r i g i n a l pos i t ion during the Br i t i sh

ru l e i n our country.

Actcording to Rekhada Samudra Rao the i e h a t r i y a s have

divided i n t o th ree divis ions . One is the s o l a r dynasty,

second the lunar dynasty and the t h i r d fire dynasty. The

Agnikula Kshatriyas do belong to f i r e dynasty., Again the

Agnikula Kshatriyas i n t e r n a l l y divided i n t o f o u r s u b

groups. They are Gangapallavalu, ~ a l a m b a ~ a d e p a l l a v a l u ~

Dravida Pa l l ava lu and Andhra Pallavalu. In Tamil Nadu

they a r e c a l l e d a s Vanikula Kshatriyas whereas i n t h e

S t a t e of Andhra Pradesh they a r e c a l l e d as Agnikula

Kshatriyas.

I n t h i s study the researcher has examined and

interviewed 480 respondents of Agnikula Kshatr iya caste

i n t h e d i s t r i c t of Nellore of Andhra Pradesh i n South

India.

The ob jec t ives of the study a r e t o make a d e t a i l e d

study of the Agnikula Kshatriyas and t h e i r s o c i a l , economi=,

p o l i t i c a l , r e l i g i o u s and welfare programmes of Agnikula

Ksha t r i y a s .

Se lec t ion of respondents was done according to the

method of purposive sampling, The primary as wsll as

the secondary method of da ta c o l l e c t Lon were adopted.

An interview schedule was administered t o c o l l e c t the

necessary information from the 480 respondents f o r t h i s

research work.

The observat ion method a l s o used to record his obser-

va t ion and reac t ions t o the cond i t ion of t h e Aqnikula

Kshatriyas. The secondary method of d a t a c o l l e c t i o n was

a l s o adopted regarding the m a t e r i a l of s o c i a l s e c u r i t y

and welfare programmes i n Ind ia p a r t i c u l a r l y d e a l i n g

with t he Agnikula Kshatr iyas. S t a t i s t i c a l method has

been used t o p r e s e n t and analyse t o q u a l i t a t i v e responses.

The data a r e presented i n the t a b l e s which have been

o a r t i c u l a r l y u s e f u l i n the a n a l y s i s of the respondents

views, a t t i t u d e and opinions, Besides the c o l l e c t e d d a t a

were poded through the keysquaire method.

The resea rcher has examined and interviewed 430 res-

pondencs belonging to Aqnikula ICshatriyas of Nellore dis-

t r i c t i n the S t a t e of Andhra Pradesh and c o l l e c t e d the

d a t a f o r t h i s work.

Age and sex wise o u t of 480 t o t a l respondents of

Agnikula Kshatr iyas, 260 i . e . 54.17 per c e n t of Agnikula

U h a t r i y a s were between age group of 31 - 45. 95 i .e.

19.79 per c e n t of Agnikula Kshatr iyas were found between

16 - 30 years . 82 i .e . 17.08 per cent were found between

46 - 60 years . 31 i . e . 6.46 p e r c e n t of respondents were

found beyond 61 years and 1 2 i , e . 2.50 p e r c e n t under the

category of below 15 years .

Education is one of the important de terminants of

person 's s o c i a1 s t a t u s . I l l i t e r a c y is most pronounced

among urban and r u r a l Agnikula Kshatr iyas. Out of 240

urban respondents 68.75 p e r c e n t were found ill i t e r a t e s

and remaining 31.25 p e r c e n t were found l i t e r a t e s .

Among the r u r a l Agnikula Kshatr iyas 16.67 p e r c e n t

were l i t e r a t e s and 83.33 were found under the ca-

gory of i l l i t e r a t e s . Therefore i l l i t e r a c y i s most pro-

found among Agnikula Kshatr iyas.

I n response to the reasons f o r no t a t t end ing the

school major i ty of f a m i l i e s quoted the reasons of

poverty and t h e necess i ty of ea rn ing money b~ suppor t

their f a m i l i e s was the main reason.

Concerning with type of f a m i l i e s , ma jo r i ty of

Agnikula Kshatr iyas l i v e d i n nuclear f a m i l i e s i. e.

55.41 p e r c e n t , 41.46 were l i v i n g i n j o i n t farn i l ies and

only 3.13 p e r c e n t were l i v i n g i n s i n g l e f ami l i e s .

Regarding t h e family s i z e o u t of 480 t o t a l fami-

l i e s 39.79 p e r cent of the f a m i l i e s were found between

the size 4 - 5, 27.91 per c e n t were between the s i z e of

6 - 7, 17.71 per c e n t were found between the size of

2 - 3, and 7.92 p e r c e n t were found beyond 8 - 9.

With re fe rence t o accommodation of Pa t t apus and

P a l l i e s 135 i.e. 56.25 p e r c e n t , 9 i.e. 3.75 p e r c e n t

and 5 i . e . 2.08 p e r c e n t o u t of 240 urban responded to

the query i n p o s i t i v e (i.e, s u i t a b l e accommodation) and

the remaining 43 i .e . 17.92 p e r c e n t and 49 i .e. 20.00

p e r c e n t of t h e respondents comes under the category

of unsu i t ab le accommodation.

f n r u r a l a r e a 3 . 3 4 per cen t , 27.08 p e r c e n t and

10.00 p e r c e n t were represented t o s u i t a b l e and t h e re-

maining 49,17 p e r c e n t , 9.58 p e r c e n t and 0.83 per c e n t

were found under the categgry of unsui table accommoda-

t ion .

Concerning with occupational s t a t u s majority of

urban respondents mainly depend on non-farm labour as

a g a i n s t a major i ty of the mral respondents working as

a n a g r i c u l t u r a l labours and in f i s h e r i e s .

Coming t o the a t t i t u d e towards the t r a d i t i o n a l

occupation among the urban and r u r a l 45.42 p e r c e n t

claimed fa i th i n t r a d i t i o n a l occupation and 54.58 p e r

c e n t claimed no f a i t h i n t r a d i t i o n a l occupation.

Among the urban and r u r a l Agnikula Kshatr iyas a

major i ty (namely 59.54%) of those w i t h income of t h e i r

own f i e l d under the income group of less than Rs.400 p e r

rnofith, The remaining respondents ea rn ing more than Rs.430,

I t i s s i g n i f i c a n t t h a t major i ty of them comes under the

low income group.

I n a d i scuss ion of l i v i n g arrangements among the

Agnikula Kshatr iyas 390 i.e. 81.25 p e r c e n t of the res-

pondents l i v e d i n t h e i r own houses. 80 i .e . 16.67 per

c e n t of t h e respondents were l i v i n g i n r en ted houses and

1 0 i . e . 2.08 p e r c e n t of t h e respondents were l i v i n g i n

r e n t f r e e and r e l a t i v e s houses,

Type of the houses i n urban a r e a among t h e Agnikula

Kshatriyas o u t of 2 4 0 t o t a l f a m i l i e s 175 i , ~ , 72.92 per

c e n t were l i v i n g i n pucca h ~ u s e s and 65 i .e. 27.08 per

c e n t l i v e i n kucha houses. I n rural c o n t r o l 2 4 0 , 33 i , e

34 .59 p e r c e n t were l i v i n g i n aucca h ~ u s e s and 1 5 7 i . e .

65.42 per c e n t l i v e d i n kucha houses,

Regarding the pattern of rent house i n urban a r e a

o u t of 8 0 f a m i l i e s 16 i .e . 20.00 p e r c e n t of the respo*

den t s were paying l e s s than % , S O p e r month. 33 i .e.

41.25 per c e n t comes under the ca tegory of b.51-100.

The remaining 31 houses were found by on the 8 ,100 and

above p e r month.

Concerning d e b t s 22.56 p e r c e n t o f the urban res-

pondents have d e b t s below Rs.250 and 30.08 p e r c e n t were

found between b.250 - 500. B u t i n r u r a l areas 25; 00 per

c e n t have d e b t s below Rs.250, and 44.37 p e r c e n t f a l l unde r

t he c a t e g o r y of %.250 - 500. 4.51 p e r cent of urban res-

pondents a r e having mare t han 8.1000 and o n l y 3.35 per

c e n t of t h e r u r a l respondents f a l l under t h i s ca t ego ry .

An a n a l y s i s of t h e reasons of debts 55.64 p e r c e n t

of urban P a t t a p u s and P a l l i e s have r a i s e d l oans t o t h e

domestic purpose whereas 57.69 p e r r:ent of t h e r u r a l

P a t t a p u s and Pal i i e s have taker] t o the domestic p u m o s e

i. e m , marr iages , medicines , e d u c a t i o n and b u s i ~ e s s .

Regarding t h e savicg of t h e Agnikula Ksha t r iyas of

both r u r a l and urban areas t h e m a j o r i t y of t h e respo*

d e n t s a r e having very less sav ings .

Regarding the m a r i t a l s t a t u s of the Agnikula

Ksha t r iyas o u t of 480 whose p a r t i c u l a r s have been men-

t i oned below, the mar r i ed respondents 401 i .e. 83.54 p e r

c e n t whi le 63 i.s. 14.17 p e r cent were widows o r widowers.

The remaining r,espondents 11 i . e . 2 .29 per c e n t i s a

s m a l l e s t group belongs to t h e s i n g l e pe r sons (unmarr ied) .

Coming t o the age a t marriage 284 i . e . 60.55 per c e n t

were f a l l e n under the age group of 16-18. The second fre-

quency found 70 i .e . 14.93 p e r c e n t between the age of

13 - 15, 28 i .e. 5.97 per c e n t were found between 22-24

years . 1 2 i .e . 2.56 p e r cent f a l l between 0 - 1 2 years

and the rest of 4 i.e. 0.35 per c e n t f a l l under t h e age

group of 2 8 years .

Regarding a t t i t u d e towards i n t e r c a s t e marriage among

the Agnikula Ibhatriyecs i n r u r a l a reas , o u t of 2 4 0 fami-

lies 8 2 (34.17) were acce~tecl and 153 ( 6 5 . 5 3 ) were not

accepted. I n urban 117 (48.75) were accepted and 123

were no t accepted.

I n the p r e s e n t study urban respondents have been

found more encouraged t h a n t h e r u r a l respondents.

Concerning to the a t t i t u d e towards family planning

methods among the 480 t o t a l respondents 290 i.e. 60.42

per cent respondents were found aware of t h i s method.

The remaining 190 i . e . 39.52 p e r c e n t were not having

any idea about the family p l a n n i n g methods.

Among the t o t a l respondents, it is observed t h a t

major i ty of them used tubectamy method i , e , 117 i . a . 60.31

p e r cent . T r a d i t i o n a l methods are not more predominant

i n both areas.

Regarding t h e p a r t i c u l a r s i n the community affairs

o u t of 480 respondents 135 i .e . 28 .13 per c e n t were i n t e

r e s t ed and the r e s t of 345 i.e. 71.87 p e r c e n t were no t

i n t e r e s t e d i n the community a f f a i r s .

An ana lys i s of r e l i g i o s i t y among t h e urban and r u r a l

79.58 p e r c e n t claimed t h e i r f a i t h i n r e l i g i o u s prayers

o r a c t i v i t i e s and t h e remaining 20 .42 Der c e n t claimed no

faith i n r e l i g i o u s a c t i v i t i e s .

As regards t o p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n r e l i g i o u s gervices ,

o u t of 430 respondents of 352 i.e. 73.58 per c e n t claimed

t h e i r f a i t h i n r ~ l i g i a u s a c t i v i t i e s .

Coming t o the a t t i t u d e towards l i f e a f t e r death, as

compared t o urban responilents with t h a t of the r u r a l of

the fol lowing a r e warranted. The r u r a l respondents a r e

having h igher percentage regarding the b e l i e f i n l i f e

a£ ter death when compared t o the urban respondents.

An a n a l y s i s reasons towards the choice of p o l i t i c a l

l eader s , 60.42 per c e n t of the urban were giving t h e i r

reasons t o t h e aPf i l i a t e d t o the p o l i t i c a l p a r t y whereas

40.00 p e r c e n t of the r u r a l respondents f a l l e n under the

same category. 13.33 p e r c e n t ant9 9.58 per c e n t of the

urban and r u r a l respondents r e spec t ive chose t h e i r l e a d e r

on the b a s i s of high education.

Corning t o vot ing percentage of Agnikula Kshat r iyas

near ly 87.08 p e r c e n t of the respondents were p a r t i c i p a -

ted i n r ecen t e l e c t i o n s and the remaining 8.96 per c e n t

did not p a r t i c ipate. Remaining 3.96 percentage n e i t h e r

p a r t i c i p a t e d nor p a r t i c i p a t e d i n votinq.

Coming with p o l i t i c a l judgement given to p o l i t i c a l

p a r t i e s by Agnikula Kshatr lyas, i n rural a rea it is found

t h a t 55.19 per c e n t favoured t o Telugu Desam Party. I n

the s i m i l a r manner i n urban a r e a majori ty of them favou-

red Congress Pa r ty i . e . 65.53 p e r cent .

Regarding f i s h i n g ac t i v i t i s s , more o r less family

members are actively engaged d i r e c t l y o r i c d i r e c t l y i n

f i s h i n g occupation whereas i n urban a rea no one is found

among Agnikula Kshatr iyas i n t h i s category.

The p a t t e r n of f i s h i n g s a l e s o u t of 191 respondents

57.07, 23,04 and 19.99 per cent have found under the

ca tegory of Government s a l e s , s e l f o r individual and s a l e s

on the b a s i s of c o n t r a c t respect ive ly .

Concerning wi th awareness manufacture of boats among

t h e r u r a l Agnikula Kshatr iyas the women are having lower

awareness 11 i.e. 1 1 , 2 2 per c e n t than t h a t of men having

high 8 7 i , e . 88,78 p e r cent .

Regarding the ownership of t he boats 49.22 p e r c e n t

a r e not having any boats , a few r e s ~ o n d e n t s having t h e i r

own boats Lee . 21.29'per cen t . Those who a r e no t having

own boats f o r f i s h i n g purpose they take boats from their

f r i e n d s on r e n t a l basis.

Regarding awareness of the manufacturing ne t s i n r u r a l

a reas , 62.83 p e r c e n t were having awareness of manufacture

of nets and 37.17 per c e n t a r e not having any awareness

t o manufacture the ns ts.

Coming t o the problems of p r e s e n t l i f e of the Agnikula

Kshatr iyas, majority (28.13%) of t h e respondents were no t

y e t f r d e from the r e s p o n s i b i l i t y about f inance 26.24 p e r

c e n t pf t h e r e s ~ o n d e n t s were found under t h e problems of

debts due t o cons t ruc t ion of house, c e l e b r a t i n g t ? e mar-

r i ages of t h e i r chi lr l ren e*.

S o c i a l chanqes and susqes t ions

1. I n a n c i e n t per iod they were c a l l e d as

Pal lavas . A t p r e s e n t those who a r e

speaking Tamil they a r e c a l l e d

Vahnikula Kshatriyas. I n Andhra

those who are speaking Telugu they

a r e c a l l e d Agnikula Kshatriyas.

2 . The Agnikula K s h a t r i y a s have d i v i d e d into

f o u r c a t e g o r i e s (a) Gangupal lavalu , (b)

Dravida P a l l a v a l u , ( c ) Nalambavade

P a l l a v a l u , and ( 4 ) Andhra P a l l a v a l u .

3. I n this r e s e a r c h s t u d y , i t is examined

t h a t t h e y a r e two c a t e g o r i e s - one is

P a t t a p u s and t h e second one i s c a l l e d

P a l l i e s .

4. The i n v e s t i g a t i a n shows that out of 480

responden t s of Agnikula K s h a t r i y a s 2 6 0

i.e. 54.17 per c e n t w e r e found between

the age group of 31 - 45 y e a r s i s t h e

h i g h e s t f requancy.

5. I n e d u c a t i o n l i t e r a c y r a t e is very low

i . e . 23.96 p e r c e n t , and the i l l i t e r a c y

is v e l y h i g h 1 . w . 76.04 per c e n t . M a j e

r i t y of the responden t s have completed

o n l y primary e d u c a t i o n .

6 . Both i n r u r a l and urban a r e a s o n l y three

f a m i l i e s have been w e l l educated .

7. Out of 480 f a m i l i e s 2 6 6 i.e. 55.41 per

c e n t of t h e f a m i l i e s f a l l u n d e r the

c a t e g o r y o f n u c l e a r i n Agnikula

K s h a t r i y a community.

8. The housing accommodation problem among the

Pat tapus and P a l l i e s i s not s u f f i c i e n t i n

urban area. I n rural among the Agnikula

Kshatriyas majori ty of them a r e having

t h e i r own houses.

9 , Most of them i n r u r a l areas a r e depending

upon t r a d i t i o n a l occupation.

10. I n urban area , the Agnikula Kshatriyas

follows mainly non-tradi t Conal occupation

when compared w i t h those of rural areas

majority of them follow t h e i r t r a d i t i o n a l

occupation i . e . f i sh ing.

11. Among the 480 of the t o t a l respondents 8 0

i.e. 16.67 per cen t w e r e l i v e i n rented

houses.

1 2 . Regarding the debts pos i t ion of the

Agnikula Kshatriyas ou t of 480 t o t a l res-

pondents 44.87 per c e n t f a l l s under the

category of Rs.250 - $00. 13. Savings a r e very l imited among the Agnikula

Kshatriyas i n both urban and ru r a l areas.

14 . In this study marital s ta tus out of 480

t o t a l respondents 8 3 . 5 4 per cent comes

under the group of married.

15 . The ideal age of the marriage for boys

and g i r l s also changed among the Agnikula

Kshatriyas. Most of them say the ideal

aga is for boys 2C years, and for g i r l s

la years.

1 6 . Attitude towards the intercas te marriage

also changed among the Agni?.:ula Kshatriyas.

Low percentage i n rur a1 areas accep tancs

of urban i s high pos i t ion .

17 . Grasshapper of Thali Bhottu i n P a l l i e s of

urban centres . Lunar shape of ' t ha l i

bhottu' the remaining i n a l l the people

of Agnikula Kshatriyas.

18 . Majority of people have followed family

planning methods.

19 . 7 1 . 8 7 per c e n t were not interested i n

community a f f a i r s .

2 0 . P o l i t i c a l p o s i t i o n of Agnikula K s h a t r i y a s

was i n r e c e n t e l e c t i o n s i n u rban a r e a majo-

r i t y o f them c a s t i n g t h e i r v o t e t o Congress

Party whereas i n r u r a l m a j o r i t y o f them

favoured t o Telugu Desam P a r t y .

2 1. A number of w e l f a r e schemes have imple-

mented by S t a t e an8 C e n t r a l Governments

f o r t h e i r u p l i f t m e n t .

2 2 . I n the f i e l d of i n v e s t i g a t i o n both urban

and r u r a l p r imary o r s e c o n d a r y e d u c a t e d

p e o p l e s . I n u rban o n l y two f a r n i l i e s a r e

w e 11 educated.

2 3 . Both u rban and rural ma . jo r i ty o f respon-

d e n t s a r e very poor and t h e i r economic

c o n d i t i o n s are a l s o low l e v e l .

2 4 . M a j o r i t y of the Agnikula K s h a t r i y a s c o u l d

n o t get any b e n e f i t s , due t o m a l p r a c t i c e

and c o n c e p t i o n by the god and the domi-

n a n t c a s t e .

25. M a j o r i t y of f a m i l i e s are hav ing o n l y one

man e a r n i n g and depending among the Agnikula

K s h a t r i y a s is v e r y h i g h when compared t o the

other caste peoples. I n this way they have

to face many problems.

2 6 . In t h e educational aspect t he Government

have s a n c t i o n e d many w e l f a r e schemes, b u t

they c o u l d no t u t i l i s e the b e n e f i t s due

t o their ignorance .

2 7 , I n t h e s e a - s h o r e a r e a 40 responden t s have

been t r a i n e d i n mechanised b o a t s a t

Visakhapatnam but they have n o t yet get

any f i n a n c i a l a s s i s t a n c e from the

Government.

29. Housing con8it ions is a l so ,Jery v u l n e r a b l e .

I n Mypadu area t h e y l i v e beside sea - shore

area.

2 9. Among t h e Agnikula G h a t r i y a s , awareness

towards fami ly p l a n n i n g methods is a major

change n o t only i n u rban b u t a l s o i n r u r a l

areas.

30. The f i s h e r i e s f r e q u e n t l y go t o urban cen-

tres for s e l l i n g their f is141esr owing to

this they a l s o change i n mode of d r e s s

pattern, s o c i a l i n t e r a c t i o n and food

habi ts .

31 31. P a t t e r n of housing cond i t ions also change

among the Agnikula Kshatr iyas p a r t i c u l a r l y

i n r u r a l a reas . The Government also sanc-

t ioned and const ructed more than 2 00

houses f o r this p a r t i c u l a r caste .

32. Majori ty of the f i s h e r i e s exp lo i t ed by the

dominant caste i n the case oE s e l l i n g

t h e i r fishes. NOW there i s a ' ' u n i ~ n among

the f i s h e r i e s namely f i s h e r i e s youth

a s s o c i a t i o n " and mainly so! ve t h e i r

pr2blems a t t h e i r reasonable r a t e s f o r

their f i s h e s .

3 3 . Those who come from Tamil Nadu S t a t e

t h e i r main language i s Tamil, bes ides they

a l s o speak Telugu language and c a l l e d as

Pat tapus . The person who speak only the

Telugu language i s c a l l e d as a P a l l i .