Yaxisdelhi at 05:26, 21 September 2025

2025-09-21T05:26:07Z

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{{short description|Caste of Brahmins in southern India}}
{{pp-extended|small=yes}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2019}}
{{Use Indian English|date=May 2019}}
{{Infobox caste
| caste_name=Dravida Brahmins
| classification=[[Forward caste]]
| subdivisions=
| populated_states=[[Andhra Pradesh]], [[Telangana]]
| languages=
| religions=[[Hinduism]]
}}
'''Dravida Brahmins''', or simply '''Dravidulu''', are [[Hinduism|Hindu]] [[Brahmin|brahmins]] and a sub-caste of the [[Telugu Brahmin|Telugu Brahmins]] of [[Andhra Pradesh]] in [[South India]], who migrated from Tamil-speaking regions.<ref>{{cite book |author=Kandavalli Balendu Sekaram |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dzduAAAAMAAJ&q=dravida+brahmin |title=The Andhras Through the Ages |publisher=Sri Saraswati Book Depot |year=1973 |page=29 |quote=One of the very important sections among the Telugu Brahmins are Dravida Brahmins. Their very name indicates their South Indian or Tamil origin. A very large number of Brahmin families migrated from Tamil Nadu to Andhra Pradesh}}</ref> They are further divided into sub-sects based on the places where they have settled such as Aaraama Dravidulu, Pudur Dravidulu, Konaseema Dravidulu, Peruru Dravidulu, Tummagunta Dravidulu and Dimili Dravidulu.<ref name=":1" /> They are primarily categorized as the Saiva Brahmins or followers of Shiva.<ref name=":1" />

==Origin==
During the reign of [[Rajaraja Narendra]] ({{reign|1022|1061 CE}}),<ref>{{Cite book |last=G. V. |first=Subrahmanyam |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KYLpvaKJIMEC&dq=pavuluri+Mallana&pg=PA536 |title=Medieval Indian Literature: Surveys and selections |date=1997 |publisher=[[Sahitya Akademi]] |isbn=978-81-260-0365-5 |editor-last=Paniker |editor-first=Ayyappa |editor-link=Ayyappa Paniker |pages=537 |language=en}}</ref> many [[Tamil Brahmin]] families settled in different parts of [[Andhra Pradesh]].<ref>{{cite book|title=India's communities, Volume 1; Volume 5|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Jw9uAAAAMAAJ|author=Kumar Suresh Singh|publisher=Oxford University Press|page=883|year=1998|quote=DRAVIDULU The 'Dravidulu' a subcaste of Telugu Brahman are said to have originated from the Dravida Brahman of Southern India. They belong to the Pancha Dravida Brahmans. They were brought from Thanjavur by Raja Narendra in the tenth century A.D. Tamil is their mother tongue, but all are conversant in Telugu|isbn = 9780195633542}}</ref> Under Narendra's son, [[Kulottunga I]] ({{reign|1061|1118 CE}}), the first [[Later Cholas|Chalukya-Chola]] emperor, several Brahmins migrated from the Tamil country.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last1=Durga |first1=P. S. Kanaka |last2=Reddy |first2=Y. A. Sudhakar |date=1992 |title=Kings, Temples and Legitimation of Autochthonous Communities. A Case Study of a South Indian Temple |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3632407 |journal=Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient |volume=35 |issue=2 |pages=160 |doi=10.2307/3632407 |jstor=3632407 |issn=0022-4995|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

His son Virachodadeva, the Viceroy of [[Vengi]], invited 546 Brahmin families and established them at ''Virachoda Chaturvedimangalam''. Several records of the Chalukya-Cholas register the gift of villages in the plains of [[Godavari River|Godavari]] river to Brahmins who migrated from ''Dravidadesa''.<ref name=":0" /> These Brahmins who had settled in [[Andhra Pradesh|Andhra]] region are known as the Dravida Brahmins.<ref name=":1">{{cite book|title=Sri Venkateswara University Oriental Journal, Volume 48|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qwJuAAAAMAAJ|publisher=Oriental Research Institute, Sri Venkateswara University|year=2005|page=64|quote=The Tamil brahmanas who had settled in the Andradesa are known as the Dravida brahmanas and they are referred to after their native village as i) Peruru Dravidulu ii) Arama Dravidulu iii) Puduru Dravidulu iv) Tummagunta Dravidulu etc.}}</ref>

==Classification==
They fall under the [[Pancha-Dravida|Pancha Dravida Brahmin]] classification of the [[Brahmin]] community in [[India]].<ref>{{cite book|title=People of India: Andhra Pradesh (3 pts.)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cvcejt9krDkC|author=Kumar Suresh Singh|publisher=Anthropological Survey of India|year=1992|page=565|isbn = 9788176710060}}</ref> Dravida Brahmins are divided into several sub-sects, which are named after the places in which they have settled such Aaraama Dravidulu, Puduru Dravidulu, Konaseema Dravidulu, Peruru Dravidulu, Tummagunta Dravidulu and Dimili Dravidulu.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{cite book |author=Chintamani Lakshmanna |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KyRDAQAAIAAJ |title=Caste Dynamics in Village India |publisher=Nachiketa Publications |year=1973 |page=59 |quote=On the other hand those who settled in Aramam are known as Arama Dravidulu and those who settled in Dimila in Yelamanchili are called Dimila Dravidulu. These latter two sects are looked down upon by the former.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Puduru Dravida Brahmins - A Short History |url=http://pudurdravida.com/2%20Puduru%20Dravidas%20-%20A%20Short%20History.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191124133410/http://pudurdravida.com/2%20Puduru%20Dravidas%20-%20A%20Short%20History.pdf |archive-date=24 November 2019 |access-date=26 December 2013}}</ref>

Most of them speak Telugu as their native language after centuries of assimilation, while many Puduru Dravidulu (mainly reside in Nellore district) speak Tamil at home.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Radhakrsnasarma |first=Challa |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k48OAAAAYAAJ&q=Puduru+Dravidas |title=Ramblings in Telugu Literature |date=1978 |publisher=Lakshminarayana Granthamala |pages=33 |language=en |quote=Among the Dravida families settled in the Telugu country, the following are worth mentioning: Aaraama Dravida; Timila Dravida and Puduru Dravida. Several of the Puduru Dravida families, even today speak Tamil at home though they ....}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Andhra Pradesh District Gazetteers: Kurnool|author=Bh. Sivasankaranarayana|year=1967|publisher=Director of Print. and Stationery at the Government Secretariat Press|page=150|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cpxhAAAAIAAJ|quote=There are also a few Dravida Brahmin migrants especially from the Tamilnad speaking either Tamil or Telugu or both.}}</ref>

== Notable people ==

* [[Avadhanum Paupiah]]<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bP4dAQAAIAAJ&q=Avadhanum+Paupiah+dravida |title=Proceedings of Meetings |publisher=Indian Historical Records Commission |year=1930 |volume=12 |pages=28 |language=en |quote=Avadhanum Paupiah belonged to a poor but learned Brahmin family in Nellore District. His community is known as the Tummagunta Dravida Community.}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Rao |first=P. Rajeswar |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=04tDyxmNOhsC&pg=PA106 |title=The Great Indian Patriots |date=1991 |publisher=Mittal Publications |isbn=978-81-7099-288-2 |pages=105–106 |language=en}}</ref>
* [[Vavilla Ramaswamy Sastrulu]]<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Sekaram |first=Kandavalli Balendu |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dzduAAAAMAAJ&q=dravida+brahmin |title=The Andhras Through the Ages |date=1973 |publisher=Sri Saraswati Book Depot |pages=29 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":2" />
* [[Vedam Venkataraya Sastry]]<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":2" />
* [[Chadalavada Sundararamasastri]]<ref name=":2" />
* [[Chilakamarti Lakshmi Narasimham]]<ref name=":02">{{Cite book |last=Narasiṃhārāvu |first=Vi Vi Yal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2dzi7x0glOEC&dq=Chilakamarti+Lakshmi+Narasimham+dravida&pg=PA10 |title=Chilakamarti Lakshmi Narasimham |date=1993 |publisher=[[Sahitya Akademi]] |isbn=978-81-7201-499-5 |pages=10 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":3" />
* [[Chellapilla Venkata Sastry]]<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":2" />
* [[Ganapati Muni]]<ref name=":2" />
* [[:te:తాతా_సుబ్బరాయశాస్త్రి|Mahamahopadhyaya Tata Subbaraya Sastri]]
* [[Alladi Krishnaswamy Iyer|Alladi Krishnaswamy]]<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":2" />
* [[V. S. Ramachandran]]<ref name="Observer">{{cite web |first=Andrew |last = Anthony |title=VS Ramachandran: The Marco Polo of neuroscience |url=https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2011/jan/30/observer-profile-vs-ramachandran|quote=Among amputees, 90% suffer from phantom limb pain, which can often cause excruciating discomfort.|date=30 January 2011 |access-date=5 July 2019 |work=The Guardian}}</ref><ref name="Colapinto">{{Cite magazine |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2009/05/11/brain-games|title=Brain Games: The Marco Polo of neuroscience |last= Colapinto |first=John |author-link= John Colapinto |magazine=The New Yorker |quote=In 1991, he became interested in the work of Tim Pons, a neuroscientist at the National Institute of Mental Health, who had been investigating the ability of neurons in the sensory cortex to adapt to change. |date=4 May 2009 |access-date=25 January 2022 }}</ref>
* [[Mamidipudi Venkatarangayya]]<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SItkAAAAMAAJ&q=Mamidipudi+Venkatarangayya+brahmin |title=Unilit |date=1991 |publisher=Andhra Viswa Sahiti. |volume=30 |pages=1 |language=en |quote=Professor Mamidipudi Venkata Rangayya has a cultured pedigree and he is the descendant of Puduru Dravidian Brahmin family reputed and recognized for Vedic lore.}}</ref><ref name=":2" />
* [[Ayyalasomayajula Lalitha]]
* [[Adibhatla Narayana Dasu]]
* [[Dokka Seethamma|Dokka Seetamma Garu]]
* [[A. S. Rao|Ayyagari Sambasiva Rao]]
* [[Sri Sri (writer)|Sri Sri (Srirangam Srinivasa Rao)]]
* [[Aarudra|Arudra (Bhagavatula Sadasiva Sankara Sastri)]]
*[[:te:విశ్వనాథ_గోపాలకృష్ణ_శాస్త్రి|Mahamahopadhyaya Vishvanatha Gopala Krishna Sastri]]
*[[Ganti Prasada Rao]]
*[[Ganti Jogi Somayaji]]
*

== See also ==
* [[Forward Castes]]
* [[Iyer]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Telugu Brahmin communities]]
[[Category:Social groups of Andhra Pradesh]]
[[Category:Tamil Brahmins]]

Dravida Brahmin - Revision history

Yaxisdelhi at 05:26, 21 September 2025