Publications
Overseas Telugus and a Need for
Documentation
by Bhaskar Teegela
Diaspora has now become a fashionable expression to many who use this term. With their presence in many countries for several
decades, and in some cases more than two centuries, Overseas Telugus have turned into an influential transnational diaspora
community. It would not be a surprise if this community is going define and influence, not only the economics and politics of the hostlands, but also of the socio-political and economic structures of the homeland, Andhra Pradesh. The present essay outlines the migration of Telugus to distant lands over centuries, and also introduces briefly to our new website
www.telugudiaspora.com
Telugus/Andhras have a rich legacy and history of migrating and exploring new places, inland and maritime. First mentioned in Aitareya Brahmana as exiled sons of Viswamitra, Andhras are always on move and
exile and migration is at the core of their
history. Battles and spread of religion, more
importantly, trade and commerce took them
to distant places beyond our boundaries and,
in due course some made these destinations
their homes. The ocean currents always
transported the inherent Telugu culture- the
language, values and beliefs, traditions and
practices- along with men, goods etc. The
migration of Andhras over centuries can be
classified into three kinds basing on the
historical time period- the pre-colonial, the
colonial and the post-colonial. The following
sections briefly describe each of the varieties.
Historical accounts of Andhra migration
can be traced back to the rule of Satavahanas
when maritime trade played a crucial role in
the migration of Andhras for commercialpurposes. The Greek text, Periplus of the
Erythrean Sea, gives and authentic account
of the Andhra’s maritime trade, the trade
routes, information on the ports like-Kantakossyla,
Koddura (Gudur), Allosygne, and Motupalli, the facilities for
incoming traders, and outgoing merchants etc.
The maritime travel to various other countries
also had religious and cultural reasons like
exploring new civilizations, the scriptures of
other countries etc.
The post Satavahana
period saw migrations to the SouthEast and
China. Many religious leaders went Sumatra,
Java, Borneo, Bali etc and spread the tenets of Buddhism and various aspects of Andhra
culture. Other instances of Andhra presence
is the Sailendra Vamsam of the Kalinga
Srisailam established the Sri Vijaya empire
in Palambangu (Sumatra island), carried
trade with Java, Malaya, Siam, Borneo and
Cambodia. The kingdom also propagated and
spread Mahayana Buddhism. Also, the King
Parameshwara of Sri Vijaya Empire
travelled from Palambangu to Singapore and
other areas in the SouthEast and ruled
effectively for five years. The work by Madini
Somunaidu refers to the availability of
sasanas (inscriptions) in Sanskrit, Vengi and
Pallava lipi, and the kansya idols of
Avalokateeshwara in Malacca city denote the
presence of Telugus and influence of art and
architecture in the SouthEast Asia. After Satavahanas, it was during the rule of
Kakatiyas that overseas commercial activity
flourished. The famous Motupalli (also called
as Desiyuyyakkondapattnam) inscription of Ganapatideva, the Abhaya Shasana,
mentions of assurance and concessions to the
merchants leaving the Indian coast and in
coming traders from abroad. The dynasties
in the ancient and medieval Andhra never
discouraged the maritime trade and overseas
travel was always boosted as it added to the
treasury of the kingdom. Neither there were
any caste regulations to travel nor was a
question of losing one’s caste identity with the
travel.
The rule of Bahmanis saw the arrival
of the first Europeans on the Indian soil, the
Portuguese traders on the West Coast, and
the rule of East India Company from 1600 in
eastern parts of India. It is during this period
that sea travel and losing caste identity was
linked. Any travel abroad was resulted in loss
of the caste identity (kalapani). Excommunication and purification ceremony
was followed in the case for travellers.
The colonial period and consequent
induction of Zamindari system during the
British rule worsened the plight of the
peasants, added to the misery resulted by
frequent famines and drought. The system was
designed to collect exuberant taxes in form
of ‘peshcush’ that finally affected the
peasants. High taxes, lack of effective
irrigational systems (except for anicuts on
Godavari and Krishna in 1847 and 1853
respectively) and frequent famines- the
Andhra famine of 1805-1807, Nellore famine-1811,
Guntur-1833, and the famous crop
failure of 1839, have left peasants in dire
situations. On the other hand, the destruction
of local handcraft industry, in light of
protectionism employed by European nations
to protect their local industry, had finally
ended the everlasting trade links with the
European market (where silk from
Berhampur, muslin from Srikakulam,
chintzes of Machilipatnam were traded
briskly). Heavy transit duties and
‘Moturpha’, corruption and inefficiency of
the East India Company (especially the
judiciary), negligence towards education too
have accelerated the misery of the peasant.
The suffering of the peasants was so severe
under the Crown that Lokaranjani, a Telugu
journal, complained in October 1875 that the
ryots were better off under the Company’s
administration than under the crown. Around
these decades, many Telugus left to the British
colonies as indenture, kangani, and maistry
labourers to work on the sugar and coffee
plantations. Telugu speaking areas of
Vizagapatnam and Ganjam were the main
recruiting districts in South India for the
indenture labour. As early as 1824, with the
annexation of the Lower Burma, the British
began to recruit labour for the economic
expansion of Burma. The recruitment process
included many Telugus. The following sections
briefly deal with each of the colonies where
Telugus emigrated in one of the forms-indenture
labour, kangani labour, maistry
labour, free or passage migrants, and assisted
labour emigration.
The migration to South Africa occurred as
a part of the indenture system from the Madras
Presidency. In fact the first ever-Indian
migrant to the colony was a Telugu, Baboo
Naidu, in July 1885Apart from a large number
of Naidus (Naidoos), the migrants included peasants, farm labourers, clerical, teachers,
Kamsala and Kummara. A few Komatis also
migrated but lost their caste identity in
subsequent generations. Apart from their
presence in the indenture labour, the Andhras
were known for their active involvement in
business networks along the coast of Natal,
Durban and Pietermartizburg. Subsequent
generation of Telugus were involved not only
in the distribution of food and household
goods but also owned cinema halls, garages,and some as transport operators and laundry
owners. Presently, they are into all professions
alongwith ventures in local business.
Telugus have migrated to the Mauritius
islands began as early as 1836 as a part of
the indenture labour system, to work on the
sugar plantations. It is often said that the first
ship that carried Telugus to Mauritius was one
Ganges from the port of Korangi in coastal
Andhra. Later on they spread all over the
island moving away from the erstwhile
plantations and settled in towns like Piton,
Rochewpire, Tyack, St. Pierre, Beau- Vallan
and Quatre- Bones, Riviere Du Rempart,
Chemin Grenier, Flacq, Mahebourg, Casis
(Port Louis), L’escaillier, and Goodlands.
Most of the Telegus in Mauritius have their
origins from the following places in the
erstwhile Madras Presidency-Bimli
(Bheemilipatnam/Bheemunipatnam),
Vizagapatam (Visakhapatnam or Vizag),
Thoonee (Tuni), Uncole (Ongole), Bimlipatam
(opp.cit), Oopada (Uppada), Alleepuram
(Alleepuram), Nabobpettah (Nawabpeta),
Ganzam (Ganjam), Vizianagaram
(Vizianagaram), Alamunda (Alamanda) and a
few from Hyderabad. They have completely
lost contact with their places of origin over
the years. Two centuries of life overseas have
not let them down and forget their origins. The
Telugu temple, the Telugus festivals and the
Telugu language have played an invaluable
role in the lives of the Telugus in Mauritius.
Temples like the St. Pierre Vishnu Mandiram,
the Simhadri Appanah temple at Beau Vallon,
and the Lau Lora Prasanna Venkateshwara
temple (considered as the chinna tirupathi).
Festivals like Rama Bhajanamu, Simhadri
Appanah Puja, Govinda Puja (or Govinda
Mala) and the Ammoru pandaga have become
the symbols of Telugu culture and tradition in
Mauritius. Lately ugadi and Andhra day are
celebrated with pomp and joy. Early teachers
like Somanah Somiah, Veerabhadroo Elliah,
Linga Ramasamy, Venkatasami Veerasamy
have took inspiration from their teacher Pandit
Gunnayaa Ottoo whose life was dedicated to
the spread of Telugu language. Telugu is taught
in more than 100 schools at primary level and
nearly 8 at Secondary level. Currently there
are 70000 Telugus on the island and Mauritius
Andhra Maha Sabha is an umbrella
organisation for their cultural life, with more
than 85 branches. Of late, Mauritius Telugu
Cultural Centre Trust’s foundation stone was
laid on Ugadi Day by our Hon. Chief Minister
Chandrababu Naidu in his recent visit to
Mauritius. This trust is going to play a vital
role in the promotion of Telugu culture on the
island.
Telugus formed a part of the kangani
labour to migrate along with Tamilians and
Malayalese to the Malay Peninsula. The main
recruiting centres were Vizagapatnam and
Nagapatnam. The labourers mainly worked
on the rubber plantations, oil palms, and
coconut plantations. There were also
instances of the labour working on the road
construction, drainage, sanitation, electricity
board and railways too. The whole process
of recruitment was based on systematic
network among villagers (generally from same
family or family and extended kin- kinship was
also a factor), maistry and the agent. Most
of the migrants are from the castes- Gavara,
Kapu (sometimes called as Telaga also in
coastal Andhra) and Velama (the richer
section among them are called Velama dora).
The remaining is from chakali (washer man),
mangali (barber) and others. The word
maistry usually denotes head of a group of
construction/ repair/ or coolie workers in
coastal Andhra. Another word/ term
mentioned is ‘Dandelu’ or ‘ Tandelu’ which
literally means ‘dandunu elevadu’ (one who
rules/directs the group). The Telugu Association of Malaysia was initially formed
in the Lower Perak, Perak on the 17 th August
1955 under the banner of Malaysia Andhra
Sangamu. The official registration (17th Feb
1956) and the Inaugural General (14 th Oct
1958) followed. From 16 th December 1963
it was known as Malaysia Andhra Sangamu
and later from 1983 as Telugu Association of
Malaysia. The association has been very
active over years to encourage generations of
Telugus to learn Telugu and use it in daily life
and is actively promoting its ideals through its
branches.
The first batch of Telugus arrived in Fiji
along with other south Indians on the vessel
ELBE in 1903 to the Nakulau Depot as
indenture labourers. Like all other Telugu
emigrants, the Fiji Telugus too promoted their
culture. Language was one dominant factor
that separated Telugus from other Indian
communities, and caused certain rifts in the
Indian community. The sirdars who are
generally from the north India could not
comprehend the south Indian languages until
they could speak broken Hindustani. At last
on 20 th April, 1941 under the chairmanship
of David Robert “ The Dakshina India Andhra
Sangam of Fiji” was given birth to promote
Telugu language.
Migration of Telugus to the West,
especially to the US is a post-colonial
phenomenon. In the post-great war period,
the post-colonial societies emphasized on the
technical and professional competence that
required manpower to run various institutions.
On the other hand, many independent nations
from the colonial rule suffered with one major
problem- underemployment. This period also
saw the emergence of a favourable
immigration 1 climate to the US, institution of
scholarships funding the research/study of the
meritorious and recruitment of the qualified
technical manpower from India. The major
factor that facilitated and favoured the
recruitment of Indians was their capabilities
of comprehending good English, which by
then has become a universal link language for
communication. Telugus formed a part of this
recruitment process and migrated to the US
beginning as early as 1950s as students and
engineers initially. The later years saw the
migration of doctors (the Vietnam War crisis),
family reunion and the software engineers. The
post-1990 Telugu emigration to the US saw
migration of the software engineers on a large
scale on the widely known H1 B visa
programme.
As many of the readers of this article are
well aware of the activities of the US Telugu,
I will only briefly touch on them. Telugu
associations like TANA and ATA, (I have a
list of 40 plus such associations in the US in the section here on
Associations) and
many others are trying to promote Telugu
culture among the successive generations.
They are also helping the motherland, A.P,
through their foundations. Recently, all these
associations are trying to link up with the
Government of AP for several of its
development works (many of you know about
the TANA’s collaboration with Naandi, and
ATA’s collaboration with CII). There are other
kinds of platforms like the Vanguri Foundation,
AVK Foundation, Texas Sahiti Sadassu, Silicon Andhra and
many other literary bodies which are trying to
promote the literary activities, both in
homeland and the US. Along with the above,the online activism of US Telugus is evident
from their participation on e-groups like
Racchabanda, which has become the centre
of literary-activities promotion among US and
other Telugus. This reminds me of also, the
Ganasudha radio programme in the US, which
is trying to encourage the younger generations
to participate in its programmes, and thus
promote the Telugudanam.
Although many Telugus to UK migrated as
doctors and spread in almost all cities of the
UK, there is this section of Telugus in Preston,
which I would like to mention. The first
generation of Telugus who migrated to Preston
migrated mostly from Burma as industrial
workforce in the woolen mills and cotton
industries of Preston and Bradford- as
supervisors, managers, mechanics, fitters,
spinners, winders etc. The main villages from
where the majority of Telugus have come to
Preston are Rameswaram, Aravalli, Juttika,
Penumantra, Mallepudi (all from West
Godavari district), and Ravulapalem (in East
Godavari district). They have Andhra Social
and Cultural Organisation, which also is the
place of worship, the Venkateshwara temple.
The successive generations are into almost all
professions- lawyers, doctors, engineers etc.
The European Telugu Association acts as the
platform for all the Telugus in Europe and UK,
and France. It is very interesting to note that
many of these European nations has two kinds
of Telugus- the direct migrants from Andhra
Pradesh, and the descendents of old migrants
from Mauritius, South Africa, Malaysia etc.
Telugu migration to Australia is entirely a
post-colonial type as researchers, teachers,
on exchange programme beginning from
1960s. They formed a part of the India
League. The later years saw the birth of the
South Indian Students Association (unregistered). Usually meet on the weekends
for common cooking, celebrate festivals. By
1985, there are nearly 60 Telugu families in
Sydney and as many in Melbourne too.
Celebrating Ugadi, Deepavali in a rented hall
was a custom. Some families volunteer to
organise initially. But as families grew in
number, it was thought an association is a
must.
In the year 1978, both Telugus and Tamils wanted to build the Sri Venkateshwara Temple
in Sydney, and was finished in 1985. But as
late as 1992, there was no Telugu Association
in Australia. In 1988, Telugu Paluku
magazine and Telugu schools by families in
Melbourne. In 1992, 200 each Telugu families
in both Sydney and Melbourne started the
Telugu associations. Presently there are two
prominent Telugu associations- Telugu
Association of Australia in Melbourne and
Telugu Association in Sydney. The Sydney
association released a quarterly newsletter in
English called Vahini.
The advancements in the field of
communication technology have accelerated
the emerging networks among overseas
Telugus. The networks build bridges to link
the overseas Telugus and its diaspora that
extends from Fiji on the east to USA on the
west, and also with the motherland, Andhra
Pradesh. This has resulted in a strong affiliation
towards each other and helps s in reinforcing
the Telugu identity among the diaspora. With
a view to provide a single platform for all the
information and resources on Overseas
Telugus, we recently activated the site
www.telugudiaspora.com. The main
purpose of this site is to make it an information
resource . The site would be a platform for
information on --
History of Telugu diaspora (origins,
destinations, population figures,Telugu associations, Foundations,Literary organisations and people associated)
Telugu culture and Identity in countries
with considerable number of Telugus
Networks and Linkages between the Telugus overseas and Andhra Pradesh
(political, business and socio-cultural)
Helping the old Telugu diaspora
members to trace their roots
Making the site a resourceful platform
for information on Telugu diaspora
I thank Dr. David Bala Lingiah, a person
of Telugu origin, born in Mauritius, migrated
to Scotland, for his encouragement in writing
this article.
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