Boya (caste)

Boya (Naidu)
Boya (Naidu)
	Statue of a Boya chieftain
Location	Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu
Language	Telugu, Kannada, and Tamil
Religion	Hinduism

Valmiki is the author of the Indian epic Ramayana. Ramayana is the life of Lord Ram. Valmiki is the great man who made us know that if there was no Mahagrandha, we would not have known who Lord Rama was. Valmiki is the father of the Boya. Valmiki is worshipped as their God.

Valmiki Jayanti is celebrated on the full moon day in the month of Ashwija. Let us know about Valmiki Maharshi on this occasion. Valmiki was the first poet in Sanskrit. He is also said to have invented the process of chanting. Valmiki means birth. Since he came out of that birth, he is called Valmiki. There are many stories about Valmiki's parents. Ved Vyas, the author of the Mahabharata, claimed in his writings that he was the son of Parashara. But Valmiki did not mention his parents anywhere. However.... He mentioned about himself while handing over Sita to Lord Rama.

The thing is in Uttarakanda... I am the seventh son of Prachethana. For thousands of years, that i meditate and no sin and did not lie. Sita Devi knows no one else but you. "If I lie, all my meditate powers will be forgiven." ""

So far... Who is Prachethana? What family is he from? You have to know things like that. He was mentioned in the Srimad-Bhagavatam. This was written by a Vedic scholar Ved Vyas. If the Ramayana was written in the TretaYuga, Ved Vyas.. who wrote the Bhagavatam, was from the DvaparaYuga. The question is how to write it. Writers are considered as Gods. It's the same era. It is said that God himself was born as Valmiki and Vedavyasa and wrote Puranas. It is said that Narada sang in the Satrayaga performed by Prachetana. Who is he Who are his sons? This question appears when Vidura asks Maitreya. It is known here that Prachetana was a devotee of Vishnu. He is a Kshatriya. Narada instructed him about Yajnas.

Later in the story, Dhruva's meditate chant mantras and Srihari's appearance and boon led to the expansion of the Dhruva clan. Boyas are the Surya clans. Their lineages are Vatsa, Pushparna, Saiyankala, Chakshaka, Ulaka, Anga, Venu, Prithviraj, Vijitasva, Pavana, Havirdhana and Prachetana.

Pracheta had ten sons(prachetas) in this group. If we look at their birth annals, the suffering of Angu, the misdeeds of Venu, the highness of Prithviraj, Nishad goes into the forests and becomes the king of Kirata. Maharishi Valmiki was the seventh of the 10 Prachetas. With Narada's guidance, generations of devotional faith in his father, and devotion on Srihari, made Valmiki the Maharshi. This is the story of Valmiki.

Maharshi Valmiki introduced the mantra of Saraswati, Lakshmi and Maya to the world with the bijaksharas' Om and Hrim Cleo Shrio '. Bharadwaja, who was a disciple of Maharshi Valmiki, used to address Lava and Kusa as Bhagavan. There are also those who believe that Lord Brahma himself incarnated as Maharishi Valmiki to write the Ramayana. It was in those days that Adikavi Valmiki gave a wealth of knowledge like today's Encyclopedia of Britannica named 'Aksharalaksha'. Valmiki also wrote another book on yoga and meditation called Yogavasishtha. This book is a part of the Ramayana. When Rama was 10-12 years old, he was taught yoga and meditation by Vashishtha. Valmiki wrote what Vashishtha said. Valmiki is also the author of Aditya Hridayam. In the Valmiki Ramayana, Valmiki states that he was a contemporary of Lord Rama. It is said that Lord Rama met Valmiki in the forest and when Sita was sent to the forest, Valmiki was present in the sky. It was in this ashram that Sita gave birth to Lava and Kusha. According to the Ramayana, both of them were educated here under the discipleship of Valmiki. It is said that Valmiki, who became Maharishi, migrated to South India and then to Sri Lanka through Dandakaryana. It is said that he wrote his Ramayana in the Devanagari script while resting and eating wild leaves and tubers while staying at different places on the way. He describes the places he visited. After resting on the banks of the Godavari river in Andhra Pradesh, he entered Sri Lanka through a shoal on the seashore of Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu.

Researchers say that he ended his Ramayana in Sri Lanka with a battle sequence. Valmiki's life ended in SriLanka.

Boyas Social Status

The Boya (also referred to as Naidu, Valmiki, Boyan, Boyar / Naicker, Bedar / Nayakas)^[1] is a disparate Indian community found in the South Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu. They are traditionally considered as "militant caste",^[2] who ruled several regions and had served the ruling powers as administrators (Nayakas), raiders and had other martial pursuits.^[1]^[3]

In Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu they are classified as OBC.^[4]

History

Mentioned in the Sanskrit Mahabharata, is referred to as Boya in the Telugu translation. Sri Kambhampati Satyanarayana opined that the Boyas were "Bhogikulu" which means they used to occupy and enjoy lands with their bravery. Sri R. B. Kittura wrote in the Kannada publication "Valmiki Vamsadhara" that the Boyas of South India and the royal families of North India were brothers and cousins. Kambhampati Satyanarayana said that Boya was a title that glorified courage and adventure in that period. Acharya Chattopadhyay, a history researcher at Jawaharlal University, believes that the Boyas were Kshatriyas. It is said that the word Boya was given as an honorific title and was given to those who had courage (history-culture of Andhra). Hunting is their main source of livelihood according to the present conditions. They live in forests, on the slopes of hills and mountains.

The British referred to the Boyas as "Warriors and Rulers." According to the "Raya Vachakam," King Krishnadevaraya of the Vijayanagara Empire, along with his minister Appaji, took the help of the incomparable Boya Doralu and 11 other princely states in archery to defeat the enemies. In the course of time, Boya Doras became the rulers of the forts of Rayadurgam in Karnataka and Kalyanadurgam in Andhra Pradesh and made them vassals of the Vijayanagara Empire. Between the 10th and 18th centuries, along with the Rashtrakutas, Hoysalas and Chalukyas, the Boyapalegars were also involved in the construction of the Chitradurga Fort in Karnataka. The Boyas played an important role as soldiers in the armies of the Eastern Chalukyas, Vishnukundins and Kakatiyas.

The earliest reference to "Boyas" is found in an inscription of the Eastern Chalukya ruler Vishnuvardhana II, where land grants are made to several people from a variety of different villages, all with Boya appended to their name. Earlier colonial scholars thought it simply meant an "inhabitant of," but more recent scholarship suggests otherwise, meaning the recipients could have been from the Boya community.^[1] The early Boyas were thought to have been a tribal community who were gradually acculturated into caste society. This is based on evidence from clan names in both inscriptions and in present-day, which seem to be occupational in nature.^[2] By the seventh century CE, grants of villages in the Nellore-Guntur region were being made to Boyas, and a chieftain described as Nishada (most likely Boya) was ruling the fringes of Nellore as a feudal lord of Vishnuvardhana II. Nandi speculated these land grants were given because of the Boyas' predominance in what is today Southern Andhra Pradesh, a frontier region vulnerable to Pallava attacks.

The earliest references to them in Karnataka, starting from 700 CE, portray them as looters and raiders of settled villages. These references continue throughout the Medieval period. Under the name parivaras, the Bedars are mentioned as troops in use by the Cholas during the Battle of Takkolam.^[5]

After the death of Vishnuvardhana V, the Boyas rose up against the Chalukyas and quickly captured Vengi, in modern-day Coastal Andhra Pradesh. The new king sent Pandranga, a general, to defeat the Boyas. Pandranga successfully retook Vengi and conquered 12 Boya estates, and to prevent a recurrence, was made governor of the whole region.

In Kannada areas in the Medieval period, the Bedars were originally known as "Billavas" (lit. bow people) and had some power, enough to give land grants. Others had titles such as arasa and nayaka, indicating they were part of the ruling class. To further their interests, inscriptions also reveal Bedars formed associations to promote their welfare and glorify themselves. Many others were often glorified in viragallu.^[5]

At the fall of the Vijayanagara empire, the power vacuum that ensued allowed many communities to come forward. Many Bedar chieftains, who had previously been suboordinate now began to control territory more openly. Many of these polygars began to amass large forces of Boya troops. The entirety of Bellary was under their control at the time of its accession to the East India Company. The Bedars were heavily recruited into the armies of Mysore during the reigns of Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan.^[6]

Status

The early status of the Boyas is hard to pin down. As they most likely originated as a tribe, they were outside the caste system and within the same community its members could pursue different occupations. However different sections of the community who were pursuing different occupations would identify themselves with their occupation in Brahminical society, such as Boya-Brahmanas, who were generally accepted. However, they did not accept all the claims of the varnas they were in.^[7] Some inscriptions indicate some Boya clans officiated as priests for the entire community, traces of which can still be found in the relations between the Myasa-boyas and Uru-boyas. This practice is also preserved in the rite of Bhuta-bali, where a Boya priest sacrifices an animal to the village goddess and receives a cloth in return, as well as an inam (tax-free) land plot.^[8]^[6] Today, however, no Boyas are accepted as Brahmins although they claim descent from Brahminic rishis like Valmiki.^[8]

The Bedars worked in a variety of fields. Although some remained raiders and huntsmen, many others were granted high administrative positions such as collection of revenue.^[5]

Dynasties

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Nandi, R. N. (1968). "The Boyas—Transformation of a Tribe into Caste". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 30: 94–103. ISSN 2249-1937. JSTOR 44141458."Boya, in Telugu, means a savage, barbarian, inhabitant of the forest, huntsman, fisherman, etc, but it is never used in the sense of inhabitant."
^ ^a ^b Nandi, R. N. (1968). "The Boyas—Transformation of a Tribe into Caste". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 30: 94–103. ISSN 2249-1937. JSTOR 44141458. Similarly, the Pulavanaboyas meaning flower-men and Minalavaru meaning fishermen were florists and fishermen catering to the needs of rural or urban population.
^ Satyamurthy, K. (1991). Medieval Indian culture and political geography. ISBN 9788170244424.
^ "List of Backward Classes approved by Government of Tamil Nadu". Department of Backward Classes Most Backward Classes and Minorities Welfare (Tamil Nadu). Retrieved 10 January 2023.
^ ^a ^b ^c Nayaka, Hanuma (2010). "Situating Tribals in the Early History of Karnataka". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 71: 97–109. JSTOR 44147477. Retrieved 23 February 2021.
^ ^a ^b Thurston, Edgar. Castes and Tribes of Southern India.
^ Nandi, R. N. (1968). "The Boyas—Transformation of a Tribe into Caste". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 30: 94–103. ISSN 2249-1937. JSTOR 44141458. But more striking is tke absence of any gotra-name in the case of a majority of boya brāhmaņas.
^ ^a ^b Nandi, R. N. (1968). "The Boyas—Transformation of a Tribe into Caste". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 30: 94–103. ISSN 2249-1937. JSTOR 44141458.

Boyas Social Status

History

Status

Dynasties

References

Further reading