THE PEOPLE.
The ancestors of the Aiyarakulu, yet another offshoot of the Kápus, are said to have been soldiers under Vizianagram, and stories of their military prowess are still recounted. In a campaign against Golconda, says one of these, 'they gave the Musalmans so much trouble that, when they were at last with difficulty exterminated, a Musalman general marched against their native villages to try and root out the whole brood once for all. But the Aiyarakulu women dressed and armed themselves like men and fell upon the invaders with such fury that the latter beat a liasty retreat. The people of the caste are now cultivators and cart-owners and number 17,000, or more than in any other district. They are commonest in the Srungavarapukóta taluk. They have the cobra and tortoise totems, and their marriage customs are similar to those of the Nagarálu.
The Bagatas (Bhaktas), who number 30,000 (more than in any other district), are a branch of the Kápus who chiefly reside in the Mádgole and Golgonda hills and form the aristocracy there. The Golgonda muttadars were usually of this caste. The Bagata inti pérulu are in several cases the same as those in the Kápu and Telaga castes and their marriage customs resemble generally those of the Nagarálu. They are both Vaishnavites and Saivites, but members of the two sects intermarry and dine together. The former own allegiance to, and are often branded with the Vaishnavite chank and chakram emblems by, a guru who lives in Gódávari; and the latter bury their dead in the usual sitting posture instead of burning them.
Another cultivating caste are the Gavaras, who live chiefly in the Anakápalle taluk and number some 47,000, or more than in any other district. They say that they fled from Végi near Ellore (p. 26) because the Eastern Chálukya kings molested their women, and came by sea to Púdimadaka, the port to the south of Anakápalle, and founded one or two villages between these two places. Páyaka Rao (p. 312) afterwards invited them to Anakápalle itself, where they founded the existing Gavarapálaiyam. They say they were originally traders (and some of their inti pérulu bear this out) but they are known nowadays as perhaps the most careful cultivators in all the district. They follow ménarikam and marriage is of the usual type and either infant or adult; widow remarriage is encouraged and divorce permitted; some are Vaishnavas and burn their dead, a Sátáni officiating as priest; and others are Saivas who have Jangam priests and bury in the sitting position. They pay especial reverence to the god Jagannátha of Puri, making frequent
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