Castes and Tribes of Southern India/Bāsala
Bāsala.— Recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as Telugu beggars and soothsayers in Vizagapatam. The word is apparently a corruption of Bāsa-vālu, a sage. The Bāsa-vālu pretend to be messengers of Indra, the chief of the Dēvatas, and prognosticate coming events.