Castes and Tribes of Southern India/Agaru

by Edgar Thurston

Agaru.—Agaru, or Avaru, is recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as a small caste of Telugu cultivators in Vizagapatam and Ganjam, who are also sellers of vegetables and betel leaves. Agaru is said to mean betel in their language, which they call Bhāsha, and contains a good deal of Oriya. An extensive colony of Agarus is settled at Nellimerla near Vizianagram. Both males and females engage in the cultivation of the betel vine, and different kinds of greens,which find a ready sale in the Vizianagram market. Marriage is usually after puberty, and an Oriya Brahman officiates. The dead are burnt.