Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 3.djvu/259

Rh the bridegroom's party, and the bride's friends reply that they are Mithila Reddis. Balija. The chief Telugu trading caste. Many of the Balijas are now engaged in cultivation, and this accounts for so many having returned Kāpu as their main caste, for Kāpu is a common Telugu word for a ryot or cultivator. It is not improbable that there was once a closer connection than now between the Kāpus and Balijas. Bhūmanchi (good earth). Dēsūr. Possibly residents originally of a place called Dēsūr, though some derive the word from dēha, body, and sūra, valour, saying that they were renowned for their courage. Gandi Kottai. Found in Madura and Tinnevelly. Named after Gandi Kōta in the Ceded districts, whence they are said to have emigrated southward. Gāzula (glass bangle makers). A sub-division of the Balijas. They are said to have two sections, called Nāga (cobra) and Tābēlu (tortoise), and, in some places, to keep their women gōsha. Kammapuri. These seem to be Kammas, who, in some places, pass as Kāpus. Some Kammas, for example, who have settled in the city of Madras, call themselves Kāpu or Reddi. Morasa. A sub-division of the Vakkaligas. The Verala icche Kāpulu, or Kāpus who give the fingers, have a custom which requires that, when a grandchild is born in a family, the wife of the eldest son of the grand-father must have the last two joints of the third and fourth fingers of her right hand amputated at a temple of Bhairava. Nerati, Nervati, or Neradu. Most numerous in Kurnool, and the Ceded districts,