Variations of the name in use in the medieval era were Balanja, Bananja, Bananju, Banajiga and Banijiga, with probable cognates Balijiga, Valanjiyar, Balanji, Bananji and derivatives such as Baliga, all of which are said to be derived from the Sanskrit term Vanik or Vanij, for trader.[3][4]
Another version for etymology states that Balija is derived from the Sanskrit word Bali, a sacrifice made during 'Yagna' ritual and Ja meaning born. Therefore, Balija means 'born from sacrifice'.[5]
Origins
Beginning in the 9th century, references are found in inscriptions throughout the Kannada and Tamil areas to a trading network, which is sometimes referred to as a guild, called the Five Hundred Lords of Ayyavolu that provided trade links between trading communities in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.[6] From the 13th century, inscriptions referring to "Vira Balanjyas" (warrior merchants) started appearing in the Andhra country.[7] The Vira Balanjyas, whose origins are often claimed to lie in the Ayyavolu, represented long-distance trading networks that employed fighters to protect their warehouses and goods in transit. The traders were identified as nanadesi (of 'many countries') and as swadesi ('own country').[8] The terms balanjya-setti and balija were also used for these traders, and in later times naidu and chetti.[9] These traders formed collectives called pekkandru and differentiated themselves from other collectives called nagaram, which probably represented Komati merchants. The pekkandru collectives also included members of other communities with status titles reddi, boya and nayaka.[10] They spread all over South India, Sri Lanka, and also some countries in the Southeast Asia.[11][12]
Medieval history
Kakatiya period
Balija as a community is seen for the first time in an inscription of the Kakatiya period.[13] According to Prataparudra charitra and Siddheswara charitra mentioned that the balijas lived at Orugallu, the capital of the Kakatiya kingdom.[14]
Velcheru Narayana Rao et al. note that the Balijas were first mobilised politically by the Vijayanagara emperor Krishnadevaraya.[19] Later, in the 15th and 16th centuries, they colonised the Tamil country and established Nayaka chieftaincies. At this time, Balijas were leaders of the left-hand section of castes. These Balija warriors were noted as fearless and some stories speak of them assassinating kings who interfered with their affairs.[19] Cynthia Talbot believes that in Andhra the transformation of occupational descriptors into caste-based descriptors did not occur until at least the 17th century.[20]
British period
The classification of people as Balija was one of many challenges for the census enumerators of the British Raj era, whose desire was to reduce a complex social system to one of administrative simplicity using theories of evolutionary anthropology.[a] Early Raj census attempts in Madras Presidency recorded a wide variety of people claiming to be members of Balija subcastes but who appeared to share little in common and thus defied the administrative desire for what it considered to be a rational and convenient taxonomy. Those who claimed to be Chetty had an obvious connection through their engagement in trade and those who called themselves Kavarai were simply using the Tamil word for Balija but, for example, the Linga Balija based their claim to Balija status on a sectarian identification, the Gazula were bangle-makers by occupation, the Telaga had Telugu origins and the Rajamahendram also appeared to be a geographic claim based on their origins in the town of Rajahmundry. Subsequent attempts to rationalise the enumeration merely created other anomalies and caused upset.[21]
Balija branches
Balija Chettis (or Chetti Balija): Mentioned in several Vijayanagar accounts as wealthy merchants who controlled powerful trading guilds.[22] To secure their loyalty, the Vijayanagar kings made them Desais or "superintendents of all castes in the country."[23] They were classified as right-hand castes.[24] David Rudner claims that the Balija Chettis became a separate caste from the Balija Nayak warriors as recent as the 19th century; and accordingly they have closer kinship ties to the Nayak warriors than to Chetti merchants.[25]
Gavara is a trading community and is a sub-caste of Balija.[26] They have marital relationship with the Balijas.[27]Kavarai is the Tamil name for Balijas who have settled in Tamil Nadu and is the Tamilised rendition of Gavara.[2] The often use the title Naidu and Chetti.[28]
24 Manai Telugu Chettiar are also called as Janappan. They seem to be a section of the Balijas, though now they are considered to be a distinct caste. They are also called Sadhu Chetty and Saluppa Chetty.[29]
Dasa Banajiga are also called as JainaKshatriya Ramanuja-Dasa Vaniyas and Sadu Banajiga as they were formerly Jain Kshatriyas who were converted into Vaishnavism by Ramanujacharya during the reign of Bitti Deva. They are mostly found in Channapatna near Bangalore. They are clean in their habits, pure vegetarians, follow the doctrines of Ramanujacharya, worship Vaishnava gods, speak Kannada, and cremate their dead.[30]
Various sources note the similarities between the communities of Kapu, Telaga, Balija, and Ontari. These terms are often used as synonyms and are mentioned as sections of each other.[33] Kapu, Telaga, and Balija are considered as variant names of the same community in different regions.[34] Andhra Pradesh government's Kapu Welfare and Development Corporation refers to Kapu, Telaga, Balija, and Ontari communities collectively as Kapu.[35]
Caste titles
Some Balijas use surnames such as Naidu or Nayudu, and Naicker, which share a common root. Nayaka as a term was first used during the Vishnukundina dynasty that ruled from the Krishna and Godavari deltas during the 3rd century AD. During the Kakatiya dynasty, the Nayaka title was bestowed to warriors who had received land and the title as a part of the Nayankarapuvaram system for services rendered to the court. The Nayaka was noted to be an officer in the Kakatiya court; there being a correlation between holding the Nayankara, the possession of the administrative title Angaraksha and the status title Nayaka.[36][37]
A more widespread usage of the Nayaka title amongst the Balijas appears to have happened during the Vijayanagara empire where the Balija merchant-warriors rose to political and cultural power and claimed Nayaka positions.[38]
Dynasties
The Vijayanagara empire was based on an expanding, cash-oriented economy enhanced by Balija tax-farming.[39] Some Balija families were appointed to supervise provinces as Nayaks (governors, commanders) by the Vijayanagara kings,[40] some of which are:
Velcheru Narayana Rao and Sanjay Subrahmanyam say that the emergence of left-hand caste Balijas as trader-warrior-kings in the Nayaka period is a consequence of conditions of new wealth produced by collapsing two varnas, Kshatriya and Vaishya, into one.[48] Based on the Brahmanical conceptualisation of caste during the British Raj period, Balijas were accorded the Sat Shudra position.[49] The fourfold Brahmanical varna concept has not been acceptable to non-Brahmin social groups and some of them challenged the authority of Brahmins who described them as Shudras.[50]
Jakka Parthasarathy, ed. (1984). Rural Population in Indian Urban Setting. B.R. Publishing Corporation. p. 52. ISBN9788170181392. Balija are the chief Telugu trading caste , scattered ! throughout Andhra Pradesh , Karnataka and Tamil Nadu
Gilbert Slater, ed. (1918). Economic studies-Some South Indian Villages. Vol. 1. H. Milford, Oxford University Press. p. 246. Balijas, the chief Telugu trading caste, found all over Madras Presidency. Many are landowners and cultivators
K. S. Singh, B. G. Halbar, ed. (2003). People of India:Karnataka, Part 1. Vol. 26. Anthropological Survey of India. p. 287. ISBN9788185938981. The Balija are a community of Telugu origin and are scattered all over Andhra Pradesh , Karnataka , Tamil Nadu and Kerala
R. Nagaswamy, ed. (1997). Studies in South Indian History and Culture. V.R. Ramachandra Dikshitar Centenary Committee. p. 321. Turning now to another Telugu group, the Balijas, also called Kavarai, it appears that although this was a trading caste, members could also take to textile manufacture.
Jawaharlal Nehru University. Centre for Historical Studies, ed. (1995). Studies in History. Vol. 11, 6. Sage. p. 8. English trade in Madras, the much sought after, and obviously lucrative, exclusive contracts for trading with the English Company (both for supplying textiles and other goods and buying the European goods) had been cornered by the Right side merchants, especially the Balijas (often referred to as the Kavarai in Tamil).
R. Roque, K. Wagner, ed. (2011). Engaging Colonial Knowledge: Reading European Archives in World History. Springer. p. 170. ISBN9780230360075. Within the right hand division the leading individuals were from the communities of Vellalas and Kavarais. The former constituted, as in other parts of Tamil Nadu, the established agricultural elite, while the latter were Telugu-speaking Balija Chetties, who had settled in Tamil country.
Venkatesa Iyengar, ed. (1932). The Mysore Tribes and Castes. Mittal Publications. p. 102. In the Tamil Districts, Balijas are known as Kavarais
Baptist Missionary Review. Vol. 15. Methodist Publishing House. 1909. p. 441. Among the Nayudus there is a class called Balijas in Telugu and Kavarais in Tamil, many of whom are addicted to drinking - so much so that there is a Telugu proverb that if you are born a Balija it is your prerogative to drink, or, as it is sometimes put, you cannot enjoy the Bavarian bottle unless you are born a Balija.
P. Rajaraman, ed. (1988). The Justice Party: A Historical Perspective, 1916-37. Poompozhil Publishers. p. 19. The Balija Naidus, the chief Telugu trading caste were found scattered throughout the Presidency of Madras. In the Tamil districts they were known as Vadugan and Kavarais
Kumarasamy Rajaram, ed. (1982). History of Thirumalai Nayak. Ennes Publications. p. 82. Gavarais are also called Balijas.
^Devadatta Ramkrishna Bhandarkar; Archaeological Survey of India (1983). "Epigraphia Indica". Epigraphica. 18: 335. ISSN0013-9572. LCCNsa66006469. As regards the derivation of this word, the late Mr Venkayya says:- In Kanarese banajiga is still used to denote a class of merchants. In Telugu the word balija or balijiga has the same meaning. It is therefore probable that the words valañjiyam, valanjiyar, balañji, banañji, banajiga and balija are cognate, and derived from the Sanskrit vanij
T. Madhava Menon, ed. (2000). A Handbook of Kerala. Vol. 2. International School of Dravidian Linguistics. p. 668. ISBN978-81-85692-31-9. Balija literally means born out of sacrifice
Ravula Soma Reddy, ed. (2007). Studies in the Socio-economic History of Medieval: Andhra Desa. Research India Press. p. 149. ISBN9788189131142. The 75 Nayakas of Musunuri kingdom of Warangal probably included among them many Kammas, Velamas, Reddis and Balijas. Anitalli Epigraph mentions prolaya Vema Reddi as one of the 75 Nayakas of Kapaya's kingdom. The Nayakas of the Kondaviti kingdom belonged mostly to the Reddi, Velama, and Balija castes and some were Muslims.
N. S. Ramachandra Murthy, ed. (1996). Forts of Āndhra Pradesh: From the Earliest Times Upto 16th C. A.D. Bharatiya Kala Prakashan. p. 151. ISBN9788186050033. There were also appointed several officers to defend different forts, who belonged mostly to the Velama and Balija communities. There also appear to be Muslim officers in the service of the Reddis, which fact is supported by the names of the officers furnished by the dandakavile.
A. Satyanarayana, Mukkamala Radhakrishna Sarma, ed. (1996). Castes, Communities, and Culture in Andhra Desa, 17th & 18th Centuries, A.D. Osmania University. p. 111. The Balija merchants who had acquired good experience in administering justice and managing local administration were ideally suited for his purpose. They became chieftains of small principalities. They received Nayakattanas and Amaramaganis from the Vijayanagara rulers and administered many regions in various parts of the empire.
^Noboru Karashima, ed. (1999). Kingship in Indian History. Manohar Publishers & Distributors. p. 192. ISBN9788173043260. To understand the historical process of the reducing of the Nayakas as an open status group into a mere shell of what they had formerly been and the growth of respective caste identities, the Telugu Balija caste and its history may give an important clue. Many Nayakas, including the three major Nayakas in the Tamil area and the Nayakas of Cannapattana, Beluru, and Rayadurga in the Kannada area, are said to have been Telugu Balijas.
A.Ramaswami, ed. (1967). Madras District Gazetteers: Salem. Vol. 1. Director of Stationery and Print. p. 129. They are popularly classed as kota balijas, who are military in origin and claim kinship with the Emperors and Viceroys of Vijayanagar and the Kandyan Dynasty.
P. R. G. Mathur, ed. (1994). Applied Anthropology and Challenges of Development in India. Punthi-Pustak. p. 341. ISBN9788185094793. Similarly too the Balija community, with two sub-divisions, Gajalu Balija and Gavara Balija, migrated originally from Tamil Nadu. The Balija Gavarai are popularly known as Naidus and the other as Chetties Valai Chatties, Chettiars. It is said that they originally spoke Telugu. They are mainly traders and jewellers.
Pradip . K Bhowmick, ed. (2002). Man and Life. Vol. 28. Institute of Social Research and Applied Anthropology. p. 59. Balija, a Telugu speaking migrant caste to Kerala, is segmented into two sub-castes, viz., Gavara Naidu and Gajaiu Balija ( Vala Chetti ).
Alpana Pandey, ed. (2015). Medieval Andhra: A Socio-Historical Perspective. Partridge Publishing. p. 44. ISBN9781482850178. Balijas: Their main profession was and commerce. They added "Settis" to their names, which showed their supremacy over other castes in trade. The subsects of the Balijas indicate the professions pursued by them. some prominent subdivision were Gajula Balija, Gandhamvallu, Kavarai, etc.
Census of India, 1901: Madras (3 v.). India Census Commissioner. 1902. p. 161. Kavarai - A Tamil synonym for Balija; probably a corrupt form of Gavara.
Vijaya Ramaswamy, ed. (2017). Historical Dictionary of the Tamils. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 43. ISBN9781538106860. In recent years, migrant communities, like the Gajula Balijas—called Gavarai in the Tamil country—have joined the agricultural workforce, giving up their traditional profession as bangle sellers
R. Thirumalai, S. Manoharan, ed. (1997). People of India: Tamil Nadu. Affiliated East-West Press. p. 211. ISBN9788185938882. The Gajula Balija, called 'Gavarai' in Tamil, are popularly known as Naidu or Balija Naidu. Its members have such titles as Naidu, Chetty and Naicker.
Jervoise Athelstane Baines, ed. (1912). Ethnography: Castes and Tribes. Vol. 28. K.J. Trübner. p. 36. The largest trading community of the Telugu country is the Balija, which is widely spread over the Tamil districts also, and there called Vadugan, or Northerners, or Kavarai
^G. Karunanithi, ed. (1991). Caste and Class in Industrial Organisation. Commonwealth Publishers. p. 45. ISBN9788171691425. A section of the Naidu migrants in Tamilnadu call themselves Kavarais. They are included in the list of backward classes. They have marital relationship with the Balijas.
Agarala Easwara Reddi, D. Sundar Ram, ed. (1994). State Politics in India: Reflections on Andhra Pradesh. M.D. Publications Pvt. Ltd. p. 339. ISBN9788185880518. The Kapus, concentrated in Guntur, Krishna, West and East Godavari districts are listed among the forward castes. In Rayalaseema districts they are known as Balijas.
S. Gajrani, ed. (2004). History, Religion and Culture of India. Vol. 2. Gyan Publishing House. p. 29. ISBN9788182050617. There are various sub - castes within the Kapu category, such as Telaga, Balija, Kapu, Munnuru Kapu, Ontari, etc. Nowadays they want to be addressed as Kapus only.
The Eastern Anthropologist. Vol. 55. Ethnographic and Folk Culture Society. 2002. p. 184. The Kapus are known by different names, viz. Telaga, Balija, Naidu and Munnur Kapu and the name used depends on the area to which they belong.
D. Parthasarathy, ed. (1997). Collective Violence in a Provincial City. Oxford University Press. p. 47. ISBN9780195641394. The Kapu caste as currently referred to by the Kapunadu movement includes several castes Telaga , Ontari , Balija and Kapu besides other minor sects.
Janaki Ram, ed. (2004). Cops and Criminas. laxmi publications. p. 155. ISBN9781411622784. Balija known as Kapu or Telaga in coastal Andhra area and Munnuru Kapu in Telangana region; a large single community, with various sub-castes and surnames.
^Talbot, Cynthia (September 1994). "Political intermediaries in Kakatiya Andhra, 1175-1325". The Indian Economic and Social History Review. 31 (3): 281. doi:10.1177/001946469403100301. S2CID145225213.
Velcheru Narayana Rao; David Dean Shulman; Sanjay Subrahmanyam, eds. (1992). Symbols of Substance Court and State in Nāyaka Period Tamilnadu. Oxford University Press. p. 10. ISBN978-0-19-563021-3. Originally part of the great Telugu migrations southward into the Tamil country in the 15th and 16th centuries, the Balija merchant- warriors reveal the rise of hitherto marginal, and only recently politicized.. These mobile, aggressive, land-hungry, Telugu-speaking warriors...helped to build the Nāyaka state-system and to impregnate it with their particular cultural vision; strong surviving traditions; supported by contemporary evidence, assert Balija origins and / or marital connections for the major Nāyaka dynasties in the Tamil country quite apart from the well-known Balija role in restructuring the revenue systems of Nāyaka Tanjavur and Madurai
Peter N. Stearns, William Leonard Langer, ed. (2001). The Encyclopedia of World History Ancient, Medieval, and Modern, Chronologically Arranged. Houghton Mifflin. p. 368. ISBN9780395652374. The Vijayanagara Empire developed, in its second half, into what is known as the nayaka state-system, in which administrative and political relations differed significantly from what had gone before. While the Vijayanagara rulers continued to hold ultimate power over a broad belt of territory, they shared authority locally with a number of military chiefs, or nayakas. Originally part of the great Telugu migrations southward into the Tamil country in the 15th and 16th centuries, Balija merchant-warriors who claimed these nayaka positions rose to political and cultural power and supported an ethos that emphasized nonascriptive, heroic criteria in legitimizing political power.
Daniel D'Attilio, ed. (1995). The Last Vijayanagara Kings. University of Wisconsin--Madison. p. 81. ......many of the Telugu migrant groups who settled in Tamil Nadu from the fourteenth to sixteenth centuries were led by Balija warriors . These Balijas and their descendants became local rulers under the auspices of Vijayanagara.
Dr. B.Ramachndra Reddy R. Nata Rajan, ed. (2007). "Identity and Crisis of Telugu Migrants of Tamil Region". Itihas. 33. Andhra Pradesh State Archives and Research Institute: 145. ....It is told that the Nayak Kings of Madurai and Tanjore were Balijas , who had marital relations among themselves and with the Vijaya Nagara rulers, and so were appointed as the rulers of these regions.
A. Satyanarayana, Mukkamala Radhakrishna Sarma, ed. (1996). Castes, Communities, and Culture in Andhra Desa, 17th & 18th Centuries, A.D. Osmania University. p. 145. After the fall of the dynasty several Balija Nayudu chieftains rose into prominence. Tanjore and Madura kingdoms were the most important of such new kingdoms
Muzaffar Alam, ed. (1998). The Mughal State, 1526-1750. Oxford University Press. p. 35. ISBN978-0-19-563905-6. As an arrangement, the Golconda practice in the first half of the seventeenth century was quite similar in crucial respects to what obtained further south, in the territories of the Chandragiri ruler, and the Nayaks of Senji, Tanjavur and Madurai. Here too revenue-farming was common, and the ruling families were closely allied to an important semi-commercial, semi-warrior caste group, the Balija Naidus.
Biplab Auddya, ed. (2017). Research in Multidisciplinary Subjects. Vol. 6. The Hill Publication. p. 18. ISBN9788196477660. Many later rulers were also of different castes, such as the Madurai Nayaks, Balijas (traders) who ruled from 1559 to 1739
^ abN. Venkataramanayya (1951). Raghunatha Nayakabhyudayamu. T.M.S.S.M Library, Thanjavur. p. 21. The history of thé family, as described in the Raghunathabhyudayam and Raghunathanayakabhyudayam, begins practically with Pina-Chevva one of the four sons of Timma, who is otherwise unknown. It is sometimes said that the ancestors of Pina Chevva were related to the royal family of Vijayanagara and that they held high offices in the imperial army ; but this is mere speculation unsupported by evidence. Pina Chevva came of an obscure Balija family.
Noboru Karashima, ed. (1999). Kingship in Indian History. Manohar Publishers & Distributors. p. 192. ISBN9788173043260. To understand the historical process of the reducing of the Nayakas as an open status group into a mere shell of what they had formerly been and the growth of respective caste identities, the Telugu Balija caste and its history may give an important clue. Many Nayakas, including the three major Nayakas in the Tamil area and the Nayakas of Cannapattana, Beluru, and Rayadurga in the Kannada area, are said to have been Telugu Balijas.
M.M.Kalburgi, ed. (1994). Karnatakada Kaifiyattugalu (in Kannada). Kannada University , Hampi. p. 118.
B. Lewis Rice, ed. (1998). Epigraphia Carnatica. Vol. 11. Mysore: Kannada Adhyayana Samsthe, Mysore University. p. XVI. Belur chiefs who are sometimes called Balam chiefs
V.R. Acarya, ed. (1954). Sri Prasanna Venkatesvara Vilasamu. Bulletin of the Government Oriental Manuscripts Library, Madras. p. 49. The above said Peda Kōnēti Nṛpati ( Nayak ) First , king of Penukonda . ( 1635 A.D. ) then of Kundurti ( 1652 A.D. ) and of Rayadurga ( 1661 A.D. ) was a Balija by caste , having the surname Vānarāsi . His father Kastūri Nāyak and grand father bencama Nayak had enjoyed high favour with the fallen kings of Vijayanagar who were ruling at Chandragiri. Kōnēti Nayak himself had married the daughter of ( apparently the fruit of left handed marriage ) Āraviti Vīra Venkatapati Rāyalu of Vijayanagar family.
K. A. Nilakanta Sastri, ed. (1946). Further Sources of Vijayanagara History. University of Madras. p. 302. A description of the way in which Venkatapatiraya of Raya-Veluru granted the government of Penugonda to the Raya-dalavayi Pedakoneti Nayadu. On Sravana ba. 10 of Yuva of 146 years ago corresponding to S. S. 1558, (the Raya) granted the government of Penugonda to Koneti Nayadu, the son. of Kastuiri Nayadu, the son of Akkapa Nayadu, who was the son of Canca(ma) Nayadu of Candragiri, a member of the Vasarasi family of the Balija caste. The ayakat of the territories of Rajaraja Sri Raya-dalavayi who ruled the forts of Penugonda, Kundurpi, Rayadurgam..... great prosperity.
Benjamin Lewis Rice, ed. (1909). Mysore and Coorg from the Inscriptions. A. Constable & Company, Limited. p. 164. ISBN978-0-598-51081-5. The Channapatna chiefs generally bore the name Rana . Jagadēva - Rāya , after the founder of the family in Mysore. He was of the Telugu Banajiga caste and had possessions in Bāramahāl . His daughter was married to the Vijayanagar king
Noboru Karashima, ed. (1999). Kingship in Indian History. Manohar Publishers & Distributors. p. 192. ISBN9788173043260. To understand the historical process of the reducing of the Nayakas as an open status group into a mere shell of what they had formerly been and the growth of respective caste identities, the Telugu Balija caste and its history may give an important clue. Many Nayakas, including the three major Nayakas in the Tamil area and the Nayakas of Cannapattana, Beluru, and Rayadurga in the Kannada area, are said to have been Telugu Balijas.
T. Chandrasekharan, ed. (1951). A Descriptive Catalogue of the Telugu Manuscripts(PDF). Vol. 13. The Government Oriental Manuscripts Library, Madras. p. 2863. No.2607 KOTIKAMVARI KAIFIYATU - A Kaifiyat relating to Garikipati Viswanathanayaka of Balijakula who was given Pandya kingdom by Atchutadevaraya.
K. A. Nilakanta Sastri, ed. (1946). Further Sources of Vijayanagara History. University of Madras. p. 176. Moreover, Acyutadeva Maharaya formally crowned Viswanatha Nayadu of the Garikepati family of the Balija caste as the king of Pandya country yielding a revenue of 2 and 1/2 crores of varahas; and he presented him the golden idols of Durga, Laksmi and Lakshmi-Narayana and sent him with ministers, councillors and troops to the south. Visvanatha Nayudu reached the city of Madhura, from which he began to govern the country entrusted to his care. - taken from the Kaifiyat of Karnata-Kotikam Kings, LR8, pp.319-22
Lennart Bes (2022). The Heirs of Vijayanagara: Court Politics in Early Modern South India. Leiden University Press. p. 79. ISBN9789087283711. The dynasty's first ruler was Vishvanatha Nayaka, son of the imperial courtier and military officer Nagama Nayaka. He belonged to one of the Balija castes, which originated in the Telugu region and whose members undertook both military and mercantile activities. Vishvanatha was possibly installed at Madurai around 1530 and reigned until c. 1563
Konduri Sarojini Devi, ed. (1990). Religion in Vijayanagara Empire. Sterling Publishers. p. 100. ISBN978-81-207-1167-9. According to the Kaifiyat of the Karnata Kotikam Kings, "Acyutadeva Maharaya formally crowned Visvanatha Nayadu of the Garikepati family of the Balija caste as the King of Pandya country yielding a revenue of 2 and 1/2 crores of varahas; and he presented him with golden idols of Durga, Lakshmi and Lakshminarayana and sent him with ministers, councillors and troops to the South."
A. Vadivelu, ed. (1915). The Ruling Chiefs, Nobles and Zamindars of India. Vol. 1. G.C. Loganadham. p. 679. The Honourable Diwan Bahadur V. Rama Bhadra Naick Garu is one of the most prominent noblemen of South India . As a representative of the zamindari interests of the Southern Group , he has , since 1910 , been in the reformed Legislative Council of Madras. He represents the ancient house of Vadagarai , and is the lineal descendant of the famous Rama Bhadra Naick . To trace the ancestry of the founder of this well - known ancient family we have to go back to the events that had occurred three centuries ago , that is , to the period when the power of the once famous kingdom of Vijianagar was at its height , Rama Bhadra Naick I is said to have been a follower as well as a close relation of the well - known Kottiya Nagama Naick , the Revenue Collector and Commander of the Vijianagar army in the South.
Vuppuluri Lakshminarayana Sastri, ed. (1920). Encyclopaedia of the Madras Presidency and the Adjacent States. University of Minnesota. p. 450. The present Zamindar is a descendant of the famous Ramabhadra Naick I, a follower and relation of Kottiya Nagama Naick , the famous Collector of Revenue and Commander of the Southern forces of the Vijayanagar Empire.
The Feudatory and zemindari India. Vol. 9. the University of California. 1938. p. 250. He was a lineal descendant of the famous warrior and diplomat Rama- bhadra Nayak who had held the post of Fouzdar or Military Chief and Collector of Revenue under his relative Viswanatha Nayak of the House of Vijianagar , King of the Pandyan country
^Vuppuluri Lakshminarayana Sastri, ed. (1920). Encyclopaedia of the Madras Presidency and the Adjacent States. University of Minnesota. p. 453. The illustrious House of the great Komarappa Naidu of the South Arcot District traces its ancestry to Tupakula Krishnappa Naidu, the ruler of the Ginji Fort under the aegis of the now Forgotten Empire of Vijayanagar. This ruler of Ginji constructed many new temples and renovated the old and time-honoured temple of Tirukoilur. We find inscriptions bearing the name of Tupakula Krishnappa in several temples of the South Arcot District. Komarappa Naidu belonged to the Kshatriya Balija caste; and his caste- men, who had been warriors till the advent of the Muhammadans, took up trade as their profession thereafter. It can be seen from the existing records that as early as 1752 Komarappa Naidu was carrying on his trade, which mainly consisted in the export of Indian goods to foreign countries in his ships and the import of precious stones, horses, elephants and the products of other countries. He owned sixteen ships and in a few years he made enormous profits. He constructed the Komarappa Naickenpettai, a suburb of Tiruvendipuram in 1780 to attract weavers from other parts of the country. He rendered substantial pecuniary help to the weavers and thus enabled them to purchase the looms and other necessary appliances. The East India Company, which had just settled in India for carrying on trade between India and England, sought the help of the famous overseas merchant, Komarappa Naidu and established commercial relations with him which remained cordial throughout. Komarappa Naidu, who had been religiously disposed from his boyhood, left his entire business in the hands of his son Sankariah Naidu, shortly after the latter came of age and spent the remaining years of his life in religious study. It was during this, his age of retirement, that he built many new temples and gave a fresh lease of life to the old ones in the district. The pious Komarappa used to feed large numbers of Brahmins and pandits daily and more so on festive occasions. He breathed his last in peace in 1819 at the age of eighty-five. We find the image of Komarappa carved on the stone pillars in the Mantapams of the Tiruvendipuram and Tirupapuliyur temples. A monumental Shaivite temple has been erected over his remains in one of his gardens on the bank of the Gadilam river, in which Archana is daily performed. His wife, Mangammal, has renovated the shrine of Sri Dagaleswar Perumal at Tirukoilur, in a prominent part of which we find an inscription bearing her name. Sankariah Naidu, who was sixty-five years of age at the time of his father's demise, had already risen to prominence. He considerably improved the trade of the family, particularly that with the East India Company and constructed more ships. He acquired considerable landed property in the South Arcot, Chinglepet and Tanjore districts. In 1809 he purchased the small Zamindari of Chennappa Naiken Poliem, a few miles to the west of Cuddalore, which also includes the village of Naduvirapattu. To facilitate his export and import trade, he established ports at Cuddalore, Pondicherry, Porto-Novo and Karaikal. He had a big firm at Madras, on the grounds of which now stand the Madras Christian College, the Anderson Hall and the buildings of Messrs. Parry and Company. He constructed a number of choultries among which those at Chidambaram and Tirupapuliyur deserve special mention. Sankariah Naidu married two wives. He had one son, Devanayagam Naidu by his first wife and four sons by his second wife, Ramaswami, Chandrasekhara, Balakrishna and Chinna Devanayagam. Sankariah Naidu died in 1826.
David Shulman, ed. (2016). Tamil: A Biography. Harvard University Press. p. 310. ISBN9780674059924. This was the Self Respect Movement, cuyamariyatai iyakkam, of a maverick genius, E. V. Ramasami Naicker, popularly known as the Great One, Periyar. It is of some significance that this fearless iconoclast came from Erode, in the west of the Tamil country or, better , in the southern reaches of the early modern Deccani culture, and from a Kannada Balija Naidu community.
John J. Paul, Keith Yandell, ed. (2013). Religion and Public Culture: Encounters and Identities in Modern South India. Routledge. p. 180. ISBN9781136818080. E.V. Ramaswami Naicker, a non-Brahman, a Kannada Balija Naidu from Erode, had been one of the first members in 1917 of the Madras Presidency Congress Committee which was against British rule and in support of the policies of the national Congress Party
Antony R. H. Copley, ed. (1986). C. Rajagopalachari, Gandhi's southern commander. Indo-British Historical Society. p. 240. P. VARADARAJULU 1887-1957 : Balija Naidu . Successful medical practice in indigenous medicine . Journalist . Arrested for sedition at Madura Mill strike , 1918. Imprisoned 1918 , 1922 , 1923. T.N.C.C. Vice - President 1922-23. President 1924-25 . Left Congress 1930. General - Secretary, Hindu Maha Sabha 1940, Vice - President 1942-44
^Arvind P. Jamkhedkar, ed. (2018). Dictionary of Martyrs: India's Freedom Struggle (1857-1947)(PDF). Vol. 5. Indian Council of Historical Research. p. 90. Kanneganti Hanumayya: Popularly known as Kanneganti Hanumanthu, he was a resident of v. Minchalapadu, t. Palnad, distt. Guntur, Andhra Pradesh. An agriculturist belonging to Balija community, he became the leader of his village and took part in the Non Cooperation movement (1921-22) and the Forest Satyagraha in 1922. Over sending cattle into the forest without paying the grazing fees, in response to the No Tax campaign, he was shot dead by a police Sub Inspector on 26 February 1922.
