Castes and Tribes of Southern India/Rāchevar
Rāchevar.——It is noted, in the Mysore Census Report, 1901, that "there are three broad distinctions founded on the traditional occupation, but there are two main exclusive divisions of Telugu and Kannada Rāchevars. One set, called Ranagare, are military, and most of them are found employed in His Highness the Maharāja's Rāchevar and Bale forces. The second, consisting of the Chitragāras or Bannagāras, make good paintings, decorations, and lacquered ware and toys. The last consists of the Sarigē, or gold lace makers. These people claim to be Kshatriyas — a pretension not generally acquiesced in by the other castes. They trace their origin to a passage in Brahmānda Purāna, wherein it is said that, for an injury done to a Brāhman, they were condemned to follow mechanical occupations." In connection with recent Dasara festivities at Mysore, I read that there were wrestling matches, acrobatic feats, dumb-bell and figure exercises by Rāchevars.
In the Tanjore Manual it is noted that the Rāchevars are "descendants of immigrants from the Telugu country, who apparently followed the Nāyak viceroys of the Vijayanagar empire in the sixteenth century. They are more or less jealous of the purity of their caste. Their language is Telugu. They wear the sacred thread."
In the city of Madras, and in other places in Tamil country, the Rāchevars are called Rāzus or Mucchis, who must not be confused with the Mucchis of Mysore and the Ceded districts, who are shoe-makers, and speak Marāthi. In the Telugu country, there are two distinct sections of Rāchevars, viz., Saivite and Vaishnavite. The Saivite Rāchevars in the Kistna district style themselves Ārya Kshatriyalu, but they are commonly called Nakāsh-vāndlu, which is a Hindustani synonym of Chitrakāra or Jīnigiri-vāndlu. The Vaishnavites are known as Jīinigiri-vāndlu, and are said not to intermarry with the Saivites.