Telugu people

“ By Telugu people they are called Chenchu or Bontha Chenchu, though they have no connection with the Chenchus who inhabit the hills in Kurnool, and other parts of the Telugu country. The Bonthuks, however, like the Chenchus, claim Ahobila Narasimha as their tribal deity. ”

“ Francis * [1] as being "the chief Telugu trading caste, scattered throughout all parts of the Presidency. It is said to have two main sub-divisions, Dēsa (or Kōta, a fort) and Pēta (street) . The first of these includes those, whose ancestors are supposed to have been the Balija (Nāyak) kings of Madura, Tanjore and Vijayanagar, or provincial governors in those kingdoms; and to the second belong those, like the Gāzulu (bangle sellers) and Perike (salt- sellers) , who live by trade. In the Tamil districts Balijas are known as Vadugans (Telugu people) and Kavarais. ”

“ I do not suppose that the masses, or the people can have any partiality for an archaic and artificial literary dialect. Nor in fact, have the English educated laymen who constitute themselves knight-effants to fight the battle of old literary Telugu, shown any marked partiality for it.
No doubt, some memorials advocating the exclusive use of literary Telugu in literature and in schools were largely signed but there is little doubt that very few of the signatories understand the questions at issue. Such educational problems can be solved only by expert educationists and scholars. ”

“ The Lila being considered by bramins to be heretical, because opposed to their superstitions, we should obtain the assistance of any well educated Jangam in perusing it. Learning is not very general among the the Jangams who belong to the Telugu people, but some of them are men of superior attainments, and possess a liberality of mind which is remarkably pleasing. ”

“ Uniformity is no virtue unless it is accompanied by ease in acquisition. Sanskrit is uniform in the whole of India, but like literary Telugu it has to be acquired with great effort. The vernacular on the other hand, is acquired naturally.
214. Mr. J. Ramayya Pantulu opines that if Modern Telugu is cultivated, it will acquire fixity and deviate from speech. He quotes Lounsbury to show that the changes in English during the last five hundred years were ‘insignificant’. Why should then the language of a conversative oriental people like the Telugus change more? ”

“ Tsākala.— The Tsākalas, Sākalas, or Chākalas, who derive their name from chāku (to wash) , are the washermen of the Telugu country, and also act as torch and palanquin bearers. In the Census Report, 1901, Tellakula (the white class) is given as a synonym. The Rev. J. Cain writes* [1] that the "Tellakulavandlu are really washermen who, in consequence of having obtained employment as peons (orderlies) in Government offices, feel themselves to be superior to their old caste people. ”

“ They are a Telugu-speaking people, and the caste is organised on the same lines as many other Telugu castes. In each locality where they are settled, there is a headman called Kulampedda, who, with the assistance of the caste elders, settles disputes and affairs affecting the community. The caste is, like other Telugu castes, divided up into numerous intipērus or exogamous septs. The custom of mēnarikam, according to which a man marries his maternal uncle’s daughter, is the rule. ”

“ In big villages there are two or three Talayāris, in which case one is a Paraiyan, who officiates in the Paraiya quarter. In parts of the Telugu country, the Mutrāchas, who are the village watchmen, are known as Talārivallu, or watchman people, and, in like manner, the Bēdars are called Talārivāndlu in the Kurnool and Bellary districts. ”

“ The prevailing language of the district is Telugu, which is spoken by 96 per cent, of the people. Hindustani is the homespeech of 1.4 per cent, of them, and the small remainder talk Uriya, Yerukala, Marathi, and Koya, the vernacular of the hill tribe of that name.
The large majority of the people (1,411,573) are Hindus or Animists. Only 24,646 of them are Musalmans and only 5,497 Christians. There are hardly any Jains. Musalmans are found in the largest numbers in Rajahmundry, Cocanada and Amalapuram, and are fewest in Tuni and the Agency. ”

“ Though the pure Tamil castes present a favourable contrast to the Telugu settlers in point of domestic morals, they are con sidered to be, and probably are, more untruthful and slippery. They are commonly regarded as the least scrupulous and as the most adventurous of Hindu races. One can hardly fail to read n their very look the habit of gaining their purpose by a circuitous path, and of overcoming opposition not by open resistance, but by a feigned, temporary compliance.
No Indian people, not even, I think, the Brahmans, have reached a higher point of civilization than the Tamilian Siidras ”

“ Our want of sufficient attention to their habits and customs, rather than any callous disregard for their prejudices, has occasionally driven others of this tribe to similar acts of self destruction, which are much to be deprecated, and which, indelibly imprinted on the minds of the people, materially affect the popularity of our Government. ↑ See the Adhurvana Vyacurnum, as given in the Audhra Cowmudi. (Telugu characters) The adherents of Anᶁhra Vishtnoo (before mentioned) who then resided on the banks of the Godavery spoke Tutsama words, (Sanscrit derivatives) . ”

“ The remarkable uniformity of Standard Telugu is due to physical, social and historical conditions. The Northern districts are isolated on one side by mountain ranges inhabited by uncivilised tribes, and on the other by the sea. The Brahmans who were repositories of culture and the creators of polite speech were constantly at requisition at the courts of kings and chiefs, and everywhere at ceremonials where sumptuous feeding and largess could be had. The proverb went, that a king was respected only in his kingdom, but a scholar everywhere. ”

“ Mala.—A low Telugu caste of labourers and cotton-weavers. They numbered nearly 14,000 persons in the Central Provinces in 1911, belonging mainly to the Chānda, Nāgpur, Jubbulpore, and Yeotmāl Districts, and the Bastar State. The Marāthas commonly call them Telugu Dhers, but they themselves prefer to be known as ‘Telangi Sadar Bhoi,’ which sounds a more respectable designation. They are also known as Mannepuwār and Netkāni. They are the Pariahs of the Telugu country, and are regarded as impure and degraded. ”

“ The literary dialect is very difficult to master. That is the reason why Telugus who have received the best Western culture are unable to cultivate composition in Telugu. They are afraid or committing blunders, and give up the attempt in despair. Spontaneous writing is out of the question, when one has to write a language which he has to learn from books and is in mortal dread of violating grammar or usage at every step. ”

“ I have given a short account of the Telugu literature, comprizing the names of the more celebrated poems. Probably many of these favourite volumes will be as unavailable to a foreigner as Shakspeare or Milton would be to a bramin, for no one can read the higher Telugu poems with pleasure, unless he possesses a familiar acquaintance with Sanscrit literature, and with the braminical mythology. It therefore becomes necessary (see page 246–7) to substitute a different course of study; less aspiring but more profitable ”

“ But at least we can focus the efforts of many who are striving to make the living Telugu a live and potent force, for the expression of the ferment of ideas which are abroad. We Telugus, we flatter overselves, are more receptive of thoughts of progress than the other peoples of Southern India. In matters of Social reform and of Education we are at any rate not backward; our educated men are in the forefront in all public discussions; we have the courage to attempt what we believe to be good; we do not merely talk about Social reform, we put into practice. ”

“ J. Ramayya Pantulu and his school. It is credited with a desire to “abolish by a single stroke of the pen the current literary language which is the result of the growth of centuries and to install in its place numerous colloquial dialects” (page 10 of the Defence) . Nothing can be farther from truth. The modern school advocates the teaching of polite spoken Telugu in schools, especially elementary schools, and its employment for literary purposes, especially for the creation of a Modern Prose. We take the Telugu of the Godavary and Krishna Districts as the standard. ”

“ Let us try to realize what exactly is this spoken language with which the majority of the Sub-Committee have shown a solicitude to harmonize the literary dialect-this spoken language which is used in the Telugu Country as a whole and is not the speech either confined to any particular area or to particular clan or tribe. Here Mr. Lakshmana Row’s memorandum must again come to our help. It says, “the contention that all the gramya (nongrammatical, dialectal and slang) forms are to be found current in every part of the country seems to be a gross exaggeration. ”

“ A familiarity with the spoken Telugu as already alluded to, gives so little aid in reading the superior language used in poems, that some have hence imagined the latter to be obsolete: just as the Telugus, Canarese or Tamils, however fluent in colloquial English, are unable to read English poems; which we look upon as perfectly easy. And yet their poets are read with delight by persons of ordinary education: a fact which led me to the conclusion that the “high or Sanscrit dialect” was neither obsolete nor in general pedantic. ”

“ The Kavya dialect was no doubt the dialect of the earliest and the best of the poets, and the dialect with which the grammarians busied themselves, but the employment of the term grammatical dialect has led some persons to believe, or make others believe, that the spoken dialects are ungrammatical.
The term classical Telugu may lead a foreigner to associate with Telugu poetical literature those qualities which distinguish the great literatures of ancient Greece and Rome. The modern school employs polite speech. ”

“ In the English words art, part, short, hard, curl, girl, pearl we do not pronounce the R because followed by another consonant. But in the languages of India the R in such places must be distinctly enunciated, (in the Scoth manner) or natives will not understand what we say. Example:— కర్త​ carta, lord కర్మం carmam deed, (Telugu characters) purn'a full సర్పం sarpam a serpent (Telugu characters) archacudu a priest.
Some ancient Telugu grammarians wish to exclude the sign (Telugu characters) for R, or desire to confine it to Sanscrit words alone. ”

“ They commit much the same class of crime as the Donga Dāsaris, frequenting railway trains and crowded gatherings, and they avert suspicion by their respectable appearance and pleasant manners. Their house-language is Telugu. ”

“ But they seldom reflect that much which is quite easy to them, is disheartening to a foreigner who is far from familiar with the Sanscrit dialect, who does not understand the mythology, and who cannot enter into the beauties of mysticism. The wild superstitious fables which delight the taste of a Hindu often excite unmingled disgust in the minds of our countrymen: and as all aliment to be nutritious must be in a measure agreeable, I have in the present list, first recommended those popular poems which may most agreeably conduct us to the higher portions of Telugu literature. ”

“ The words are Sanscrit: but in some Telugu words the letter ఁ called the half sunna, or semicircle is used by some grammarians, but in common use the circle alone is used: though it sometimes is pronounced full N as in the English word son, and elsewhere as half N as in the French word son.
In the ancient pronunciation of Telugu, which the rustic and uncultivated classes still retain, the nasal sound was very prevalent in Telugu: as it is to this day among the rural population of England. But in each country the educated classes have laid aside this disagreeable accent. ”

“ To aid them in English has been one of my principle objects in writing this grammar. It may be worth while to remark that household servants at Madras talk a broken English with fluency; but the learner will find it profitable to employ only those domesticks who will speak to him in the language he is studying; such are always to be had. Our initiatory native instructors also speak English: but we should as soon as possible lay aside such aid and employ a teacher who speaks Telugu alone. ”

“ Intelligibility — Intelligibility which the old school claim as the saving merit of the Neo-Kavya school is best secured by the employment of Modern Telugu in literature. Local variations are slight; and even if they were considerable, they could not prove a bar to intelligibility, as the countless variations from standard speech which the poetic dialect presents. In his Defence, Mr. J. Ramayya Pantulu mentions that Chinnaya Sun gives no less than 16 forms of g (one man) and no less than 29 forms of its plural! “We have no less than sixteen forms of this single word 5? ”

“ Of the three meanings given by the grammarians to the word gramya only one, the first, applies to that portion of polite spoken Telugu which was not utilised by the early poets. The very term ‘polite’ excludes slang and vulgar. Slang is evanescent and disreputable, Polite Telugu is not. The vulgar of English rhetoricians generally corresponds to the second meaning of the word gramya and canies low class associations with it. Let us honestly call Polite spoken Telugu by its correct name ”