Perike
Encyclopedia
Perike/Perika/Puragiri Kshatriya : The Perike Caste is a Social Grouping found in the State of Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh , is one of the 28 states of India, situated on the southeastern coast of India. It is India's fourth largest state by area and fifth largest by population. Its capital and largest city by population is Hyderabad.The total GDP of Andhra Pradesh is $100 billion and is ranked third...

. Literally they purely belongs to kshatriyas. Perikas were kings, agriculturists, peasants, warriors and landlords.

This community is known as Perkiwar / Perki in Maharashtra and Perki in Madhya Pradesh.

The Perikes are a subsect of Kshatriyas. The word Perike is said to be derived from Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...

 word "Vyaparak", meaning traders.

Origin

According to their mythology, when Parashurama
Parashurama
Parashurama , is the sixth avatar of Vishnu and belongs to the treta yuga, and is the son of a Brahmin father Jamadagni and mother Renuka. He is considered one of the seven immortal human. He received an axe after undertaking a terrible penance to please Shiva, from whom he learned the methods of...

 commanded the slaughter of the Kshatriya race, they saved themselves from the avenging Brahmin by declaring that they were traders.

The economy of Perika is agriculture, business and contractors. Therefore, the main resource is land. More than 50 percent of Perikas households have land ranging from 15 acre (0.0607029 km²) to 150 acre (0.607029 km²).

Some of them, however, have attained considerable wealth, and claim that they are the descendants
Lineal descendant
A lineal descendant, in legal usage, refers to a blood relative in the direct line of descent. The children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, etc...

 of the Kshatriyas who ran away (piriki, a coward) from the persecution of Parasurama. This is the reason they were called piriki rajus, with the word periki made up as in peraka kshatriyas.

Others again say they are Kshatriyas who went into retirement, and made the hills (giri) their abode (puri)." These Perike 'Kshatriyas' are known as "Puragiri Kshatriya".

The Perikas are described, in the Vizagapatam Manual, as chiefly carrying on cultivation and trade, and some of them are said to hold a high position at 'the Presidency' (Madras) and in the Vizagapatam district.

The usual titles of the Perikes are Anna and Ayya, but some style themselves Rao (= Raya, king) or Rayadu,Varma, Raju in reference to their alleged Kshatriya origin.

For the following note on the Perikes of the Godavari district, I am indebted to Mr. F. R. Hemingway. "Like some of the Kammas, they claim to be of Kshatriya stock, and say they are of the lineage of Parasu Rama, but were driven out by him for kidnapping
Kidnapping
In criminal law, kidnapping is the taking away or transportation of a person against that person's will, usually to hold the person in false imprisonment, a confinement without legal authority...

 his sister, while pretending to be traders. They say that they were brought to this country by King Nala of the Mahabharata
Mahabharata
The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....

, in gratitude for their having taken care of his wife Damayanti when he quit her during his misfortunes.

Notable Perika Rajulu

Maharajah Sir Goday Narayana Gajapathi Rao: (December 1, 1828 - May 1903) was an Indian aristocrat and politician who served as a member of the Madras Legislative Council from 1868 to 1884.

Gode Jagga Rao : He established Kodanda Ramalayam in Visakhapatnam in 1714.[2] His elder daughter Subhadrayamma was famous poetess.
Gode Suryaprakasha Rao : His widow established a Sanskrit School in Visakhapatnam in 1864.

Gode Venkata Jagga Rao : He has founded an Observatory in Visakhapatnam. Ankitam Venkata Narasinga Row, the founder of Mrs. A.V.N. College in Visakhapatnam married his only daughter Achayamma and inherited the entire estate of the father-in-law.

Madina Subhadramma: Telugu Poetess

Linganna Pujari
Linganna Pujari
Linganna "Anna" Puttal Pujari was a prominent political leader and social worker in Bombay , India.-Early life and background:Linganna Puttal Pujari was born into a Telugu-speaking...

: (died 1999, Mumbai) A social worker and political leader of the Congress party from Bombay.

Vilas Muttemwar
Vilas Muttemwar
Vilas Muttemwar is a member of the 14th Lok Sabha of India. He represents the Nagpur Loksabha constituency of Maharashtra and is a member of the Indian National Congress political party....

 : Minister of States,Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha representative from Nagpur.
MP (INC)is minister of state (independent charge) of Ministry of New and Renewable Energy of India. He is the MP from Nagpur, Maharashtra.

Beri Thimmappa / Thimmanna was the dubash (interpreter) and chief negotiator for Francis Day and Andrew Cogan, the agents of the British East India Company
British East India Company
The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...

, and was instrumental in the purchase of Madras from the Nayak brothers. Thimmappa Chetti migrated in the early 17th century to Chennai from Palacole, near Machilipatnam in Andhra Pradesh.[1] He established a Black Town outside the walls of the newly built Fort of Madras which later became Fort St George.[2] His families were chief merchants of East India Company for several decades. Tnimmappa's brother Beri Venkatadri owned Gunidy Lodge, which is present Tamil Nadu Raj Bhavan. They belong to Puragiri Kshatriya (Perike) / Perika caste.

Ketty Venkataswami Naidu grand son of Beri Thimmappa,K. Venkataswamy Naidu (also spelled as Venkataswami Naidu) was an Indian lawyer and politician from the Tamil Nadu, belonging to Indian National Congress. He served as the Mayor of Madras in the late 1930s. During 1952-54, he was the Minister for Religious endowments and Registration of Madras State(in C. Rajagopalachari's cabinet.

Bandla Ramaswamy Naik is a descendant of Beri Chinna Venkatadri and He played prominent part in the history of South India.
Sri A.V.Narasinga Row: is founder of Mrs. A.V.N. College,Vizag.

Smt. A.Indrani Jaggarow is a Vice-Chairperson & Correspondent of Mrs. A.V.N. College,Vizag

Gampa Govardhan: He is a MLA of TDP from Kamareddy, Nizamabad district AP in 1994-99 and 2009.

Allam Narayana:The chief editor of the Namasthe Telangana newspaper and is the well-known journalist and columnist .

Sreeram Bhadraiah: Ex MLA of Mahabubabad in Warangal district and famous political leader in Telangana region.

Source

This article incorporates text taken verbatim from Castes and Tribes of Southern India by Edgar Thurson and K. Rangachari
K. Rangachari
Diwan Bahadur Kadambi Rangachari was an Indian ethnologist who served as Assistant Superintendent of the Madras museum. He co-authored the 7-volume ethnographic encyclopedia Castes and Tribes of Southern India along with the British museologist Edgar Thurston. He was awarded the title Diwan...

, originally published in 1909 and in public domain. Text may have been altered to deviate from that original source. To compare with the original, please see http://books.google.com/books?id=Erin3nkU3ZUC&printsec=frontcover#PPA191,M1.

  • The castes and tribes of H.E.H. the Nizam's dominions (1920) http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924088964154.
  • The Golden Book Of India
  • VI(ZA)GNETTES : Sitarama Swami Temple in The Hindu.
  • A.V.Narasinga Rao: Dedicated to Education in The Hindu.
  • Eminent Families of Vizag.
  • Kurupam Zamindari in Indian Princely States.
  • Andra Samstanamulu Sahitya Poshanam (1969), Dr. Tumaati Donappa, pp. 134–152 [1].
  • K. C. Markandan (1964). Madras Legislative Council; Its constitution and working between 1861 and 1909. S. Chand & CO. pp. 148–188.
  • ANKAPALLI (Zamindari)
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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