History

A brief explanation of the roots of Gowda, Ediga, Settibalija, Sri Sayana and Yaata in Andhra Pradesh, is given below separately.

People belonging to toddy tapping as a profession are named as Gowdas in general and its sub-castes in different regions are called Ediga, Settibalija, Sri Sayana & Yaata. Of course, the percentage of Gowdas engaged in this profession at any point of time is hardly 20.

However, let us know in which region they are named as what caste and why, though all of them are being assigned the same profession.

GOWDA : A village head is called Gowda. A few people from this caste tap toddy from the palm, date and coconut trees as a family profession. They are concentrated in districts like Sri Potti Sriramulu Nellore, Prakasam, Guntur, Krishna, East, West, Visakhapatnam and the whole of Telangana region.
Ediga : It is a Dravidian Eezhava word and it conveys a man who taps the palmira, coconut and date trees and lives on selling the toddy. Gowdas are called by the name Ediga in Rayalaseema districts like Kadapa, Kurnool, Chitoor and Anantapur, though a few are found spreading in other districts also.
Settibalija : Ediga caste in East Godavari was not given its due respect, where kshatriyas and kapus dominated in the caste Hierarchy. This was noticed by Sri Dommeti Venkata Reddy Gowda who stayed a long time in Rangoon and came back to spend in his own district. Having revolted against the ill-treatement meted by the upper castes in the district, he gave a thought to change the name of his caste. Then he changed the name of Ediga to Settibalija in 1920 and started propagating “Education and Economic Development”are the only assets for self respect in the society. He not only started schools, but also one or two hostels for the poor & Meritorious. Since then with Sri Dommeti Venakta Reddy Gowda’s spirit behind them, changing the original name of Ediga to Settibalija, started their development in all fields. But, this development did not spread to other districts. In my observation settibalija community after the change of name from Ediga as a whole developed in all fields like education, industrial, political, trade & business when compared with the rest of the Gowdas in the state. This is a welcome change. Ofcourse, it does'nt mean that one should change ones own caste to develop in the society. This information is just to bring the facts to your notice. But, the present generation is not aware of this fact and are thinking that these two castes are different, each one feeling superior to one another. This is painful and I hope leaders will not create more gap for their self interest. But I appreciate the GESSY organistaion, the future hope of Gowdas & the highly educated youth of our state, who took the cause of education, Eco. Development and unity of Gowdas, Settibalijas, Edigas, Sri Sayana and Yaata of the state of Andhra Pradesh.
Sri Sayana : “Sri” has many meanings. One of them is “Sura”or “madhuvu”. It is a drink called toddy tapped from Palmira, coconut and date trees, which make people to enjoy, loosing rationality for a little time. Sayana means to lie down and sleep. Sri Sayana conveys that the people who tap toddy and sell it to people making them happy & joyful. History tells that king Asoka after embracing Buddhism, sent all his soldiers to spread Buddhism. This army (Sainyam) was named by him as Sri Saina”or “Sri Sena”. The Sri Sayanas who settled in the district of Srikakulam have the origin of Sri Senas, sent by the Emperor Asoka to spread Buddhism. This explanation was given by Sri Suravaram Pratap Reddy in his social history of Andhras.

Yaata or Sagadi : Presently our country is mainly protected by Army, Navy and Air force. In ancient days, kings used to have four types of forces to protect their kingdoms. They are “RATHA”(Chariot) “GAJA” (Elephant) “TURAGA”(Horses) and “PADAATHI” (Soldiers on foot).

Chariots are also called “Sakatas”. People who used to run chariots or Sakatas are called SAGADIS.Vijaya Nagar empire was invaded by Mohammdan Kings. Ganga Vamsa Kshatiyas used to be (Samanta) subordinate kings of Vijaya Nagar kings. They fought against Mohammaden kings and being defeated by them, they fled away to the nearby jungles to save themselves. They used to live on fruits and roots. Whereever the fruits and edible roots are not available, they used to cut the heads of Palmira and date trees and eat the softest part available in it. In this process, they found the trees oozing some juice and they collected it and found tasty and enjoyable.
Since then, they took up this as a profession.

 

This information was collected by Vendra divakar from the thesis of M. Phil collected by Sri G. Anajaneyulu Gowda.