In a note on the Telagas and Vantaris (strong men), it is suggested that they should be classed with the Kāpus, of which caste they are an offshoot for the following reasons:—”(1) Members of the three classes admit that this is so; (2) a collation of the intipērulu or septs shows that the same names recur among the three classes; (3) all three interdine, and intermarriage between them is not rare. A poor Telaga or Vantari often gives his daughter in marriage to a rich Kāpu. The Telagas and Vantaris are highly Brāhmanised, and will have a Brāhman for their guru, and get themselves branded at his hands. A Kāpu is generally content with a Sātāni or Jangam. Though they do not differ in their marriage and funeral rites from the Kāpus, they usually marry their girls before puberty, and widow remarriage and divorce are disallowed. A Kāpu is invariably a cultivator; a Vantari was in olden days a sepoy, and, as such, owned inām (rent-free) lands. Even now he has a prejudice against ploughing jirāyati (ordinarily assessed) lands, which a Kāpu has no objection to do. Similarly, a Telaga takes pride in taking service under a Zamindar, but, unlike the Vantari, he will plough any land. Kāpu women will fetch their own water, and carry meals to the fields for their fathers and husbands. The women of the other classes affect the gōsha system, and the men carry their own food, and fetch water for domestic purposes, or, if well-to-do, employ Kāpus for these services. It may be added that rich Kāpus often exhibit a tendency to pass as Telagas.”
Tēlikula.—The Tēlikulas are summed up, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as “a Telugu oil-presser caste, which should not be confused with Tellakula, a synonym for Tsākala, or with Telli, a caste of Oriya oil-pressers.” Telikula is a synonym for the Gāniga or Gāndla caste of oil-pressers, derived from the oil (gingelly: Sesamum indicum), whereas the names Gāniga and Gāndla refer to the oil-mill. In the Northern Circars, the name Tēlikula is used in preference to Gāniga or Gāndla, and the oil-pressers in that part of the country are known as Tēlikula-vāndlu. The Tēlikulas are Onteddu, i.e., use a single bullock for working the oil-mill, whereas, among the Gānigas, there are both Onteddu and Rendeddu sections, which employ one and two bullocks respectively.
Tellakula (white clan).—Recorded, in the Census Report, 1901, as a synonym for Tsākala. According to the Rev. J. Cain,[8] the Tellakulas are Telugu washermen (Tsākalas), who, in consequence of having obtained employment as peons in Government offices, feel themselves to be superior to other members of their caste.
Telli.—The Tellis are the oil-pressers of the Oriya country, whose caste name is derived from telo, oil. They are apparently divided into three endogamous sections, named Holodia, Bolodia, and Khadi. The original occupation of the Holodias is said to have been the cultivation and sale of turmeric. They may not carry turmeric and other articles for sale on the back of bullocks, and consequently use carts as a medium of transport thereof. And it is further contrary to their caste rules even to assist in loading or unloading packs carried by bullocks. The Bolodias receive their name from the fact that they carry produce in the form of oil-seeds, etc., on pack bullocks, bolodo being Oriya for bullock. The Khadis are mainly engaged in expressing various oils in oil-mills, and this occupation is also carried on by some members of the other sections. All Tellis seem to belong to one gōtra, called Karthikēswara. The caste title is Sāhu. In social position the Tellis, unlike the Tamil Vāniyans (oil-pressers), are on a par with the agricultural castes, and are one of the panchapātako, or five castes from which individuals are selected to decide serious issues which arise among the Badhōyis. The headman of the Tellis is called Bēhara, and he is assisted by a Bhollobaya, and in some places apparently by another officer called Pento.
It is considered by the Tellis as a breach of caste rules to sail in a boat or ship. If a cow dies with a rope round its neck, or on the spot where it is tethered, the family which owned it is under pollution until purification has been effected by means of a pilgrimage, or by bathing in a sacred river. The Holodias will not rear male calves at their houses, and do not castrate their bulls. Male calves are disposed of by sale as speedily as possible. Those Holodias who are illiterate make the mark (nisāni) of a ball of turmeric paste as a substitute for their autograph on documents. In like manner, the nisānis of the Bolodias and Khadis respectively are the leather belt of a bullock and curved pole of the oil-mill. Among nisānis used by other Oriya castes, the following may be noted:—
- Korono (writer caste), style.
- Rāvulo (temple servants), trident.
- Bāvuri (basket-makers and earth-diggers), sickle.
- Dhōba (washermen) fork used for collecting firewood.
- Brāhman, ring of dharba grass, such as is worn on ceremonial occasions.
In their marriage ceremonies, the Tellis observe the standard Oriya type, with a few variations. On the day before the wedding, two young married women carry two new pots painted white on their heads. To support the pots thereon, a single cloth, with the two ends rolled up to form a head-pad, must be used. The two women, accompanied by another married woman carrying a new winnowing basket, and mokkuto (forehead chaplet), proceed, to the accompaniment of the music of a chank shell and pipes, to a temple, whereat they worship. On their way home, the two girls, according to the custom of other Oriyas castes, go to seven houses, at each of which water is poured into their pots. During the marriage ceremony, after the ends of the cloths of the bride and bridegroom have been tied together, they exchange myrabolams (Terminalia fruits) and areca nuts. Until the close of the ceremonies, they may not plunge into a tank (pond) or river, and, in bathing, may not wet the head.
Most of the Tellis are Paramarthos, and follow the Chaitanya form of Vaishnavism, but some are Smartas, and all worship Tākurānis (village deities).
Telugu.—Telugu or Telaga is used as a linguistic term indicating a person who speaks that language. It has, at recent times of census, been returned as a sub-division of various classes, e.g., Agasa, Balija, Banajiga, Bēdar, Bestha, Dēvānga, Holeya, Kumbāra, Rāchewar, Tsākala, and Uppara. Further, Telugu Vellāla appears as a synonym of Velama, and Telugu Chetti as a synonym of Saluppan.
Tēn (honey).—Tēn or Jēn has been recorded as a sub-division or exogamous sept of jungle Kurumbas and Holeyas. Some Irulas style themselves Tēn Padaiyāchi or Tēn Vanniyan, Padaiyāchi and Vanniyan being a title and synonym of the Pallis.