¹ A forthcoming full-length study by the author to be published by the Modern India Project, University of California (Berkeley), seeks to analyze the challenge presented by regional particularisms throughout India to the development of Indian nationalism.

² All-India Rural Credit Survey, Vol. 2: General Report (Bombay, 1954), p. 54 Google Scholar.

³ Bhargava, G. S. discusses this in A Study of the Communist Movement in Andhra (Delhi, Siddhartha Publications, 1955), pp. 2, 14, 22–34 Google Scholar; see also Choudary, K. B., A Brief History of the Kammas (Sangamjagarlamudi, Andhra: published by the author, 1955), pp. 98, 123 Google Scholar.

⁴ Choudary, , A Brief History of Kammas, p. 124 Google Scholar, notes that “the Second World War and the years that have followed have once again seen rocketing of the prices of paddy, pulses, turmeric, tobacco, and fruits. These have been very prosperous years for agricultural communities like Kammas.”

⁵ This is the private consensus of members of different Andhra castes. No official figures exist showing caste land ownership in Madras.

⁶ Katragadda Rajagopal Rao's role is noted in “The Future of Andhra,” Thought (New Delhi), Oct. 3, 1953, p. 4 Google ScholarPubMed.

⁷ The holdings of the six Katragadda brothers are described in Joshi, P. C., Among Kisan Patriots (Bombay, People's Publishing House, 1946), p. 4 Google Scholar. This pamphlet reviews the Vijayawada, Andhra, session of The All-India Kisan Sabha.

⁸ Kamma status in the delta is so described in “How Red is Andhra?,” The People (pro-Congress weekly, New Delhi), March 4, 1952, p. 8 Google ScholarPubMed.

⁹ For an excellent description of the manner in which a dominant caste can mold village behavior, see All-India Rural Credit Survey, pp. 56–58.

¹⁰ In an interview with an editor of the New Age, Feb. 13, 1955, p. 7 Google ScholarPubMed.

¹¹ These three have remained members of the secretariat of the Andhra Communist Committee in all reshuffles announced in the Communist press. The most recently declared (1954) membership of the Secretariat also included in its eight names four other Kammas: M. Hanumantha Rao, a member of the Indian Communist Central Committee; G. Satyanarayana; K. Gopal Rao, a member of the lower house of the Indian Parliament; and Krishna Rao.

This caste breakdown and the tables in this study showing castes of Congress and Communist candidates and legislators have been compiled through the cooperation of members of major Telugu castes. The compilation has included a cross-check test of the designations made by each cooperating informant by other persons of different castes.

¹² Kulak pettamdar recurs throughout Rao, C.V.K., Rashtra Communist. Navakalhwapu Bandaram [Bluff of the Andhra Communist Leadership] (Masulipatnam, Andhra, 1954)Google Scholar. Rao is a member of the Devadasi caste. Partially translated from Telugu for the author.

¹³ Reddi power in the Congress figures in Rao, D. V. Raja, “Election Lessons,” Swatantra, Feb. 15, 1952, p. 13 Google Scholar; Choudary, , A Brief History of the Kammas (cited in note 3), p. 97 Google Scholar; and an earlier article by the author, “How Nehru Did It in Andhra,” New Republic, March 21, 1955, p. 7 Google ScholarPubMed.

¹⁴ See Choudary, , A Brief History of the Kammas (cited in note 3), p. 55 Google Scholar, and his earlier three-volume history, Kammacharitra Sangraham (Sangamjagarlamudi, Andhra: published by the author, 1939), Vol. 1, p. 20 Google Scholar. Partially translated from Telugu for the author.

¹⁵ Bhargava, , A Study of the Communist Movement in Andhra (cited in note 3), p. 14 Google Scholar, traces the present degree of Kamma-Reddi enmity to the turn of the century.

¹⁶ Sat-(Good) Sudra status is accorded to Kammas, Reddis, Velamas, and other Telugu peasant proprietor subcastes to distinguish them from less prosperous Sudra subcastes, according to Francis, W., Census of India, 1901, Vol. 15: Madras, Part I (Calcutta: Superintendent of Government Printing, 1903), p. 136 Google Scholar.

¹⁷ See Thurston, Edgar, Castes and Tribes of Southern India, 14 vols. (Madras: Government Press, 1909), Vol. 3, p. 94 Google Scholar; MacKenzie, G., Manual of Kistna District (Madras, 1883), p. 53 Google Scholar; Census of India, 1901, Vol. 15, p. 159 Google Scholar; Hutton, J. H., Caste in India (London: Oxford University Press, 1946), p. 11 Google Scholar.

¹⁸ The last in which district caste tables for Madras are available.

¹⁹ Census of India, 1921, Vol. 13: Madras, Part IT, by Boag, G. T. (Madras: Superintendent of Government Press, 1922), Table XIII, p. 119 Google Scholar.

²⁰ Reddis are also referred to by anthropologists as Kapus. However, this terminology is confusing in contemporary Andhra; Kapu is loosely applied to other non-Brahman peasant castes.

²¹ Census of India, 1921, Vol. 13, Table IX, p. 77 Google Scholar.

²² Choudary, , A Brief History of the Kammas (cited in note 3), p. 122 Google Scholar.

²³ A coalition of aggrieved non-Brahman castes throughout South India.

²⁴ Choudary, , A Brief History of the Kammas (cited in note 3), pp. 97–98 Google Scholar.

²⁵ A brilliant orator in Telugu, Sundarayya is the party's most popular mass leader in Andhra.

²⁶ “Delimitation of Madras Constituencies,” Government of India (Provincial Legislative Assemblies) Order, 1936, cited in Narain, Jagat, Law of Elections in India and Burma (Calcutta: Eastern Law House, 1937), pp. 250–58Google Scholar.

²⁷ Return Showing the Results of Elections to the Central Legislative Assembly and Provincial Legislatures, 1945–46 (New Delhi: Government of India, 1946)Google Scholar.

²⁸ The legislature was increased from 160 to 196 members before the 1955 elections in a new delimitation of constituencies.

²⁹ For example, The Hindu, March 10, 1955, p. 4 Google Scholar. This issue also contains detailed election statistics.

³⁰ Shea, Thomas, “Agrarian Unrest and Reform in South India,” Far Eastern Survey, Vol. 23, pp. 81–88, at pp. 84–85 (June, 1954)CrossRefGoogle Scholar. See also District Census (1951) Handbooks (Madras: Government Press, 1953)Google Scholar, Tables D-III: Krishna, p. 183; West Godavari, p. 168: East Godavari, p. 292; Guntur, p. 206.

³¹ For the history of the Andhra Communist party, see Sundarayya, P., Vishalandralu Prajarajvan [People's Rule in Vishalandhra] (Vijayawada: Vishalandhra Publishing House, 1946)Google Scholar, Ch. 6. Translated from Telugu for the author.

³² “The Struggle for People's Democracy and Socialism, Some Questions of Strategy and Tactics,” The Communist, Vol. 2, pp. 21–90, at p. 35 (June–July, 1949)Google Scholar. This was formerly the monthly organ of the Communist party of India.

For additional references to Communist organization of agricultural labor in Andhra, see Rao, N. Prasada, “Agricultural Laborers Association,” News Bulletin of the All-India Kisan Sabha, Oct.–Nov., 1952, p. 22 Google Scholar, which terms agricultural labor “the rock-like base of the [Communist] movement in Andhra”; and “Second Andhra Agricultural Labor Conference,” Aug., 1953, p. 6 Google Scholar, setting organized strength in the region then at 94,890.

³³ Imperial Gazeteer of India, Provincial Series, Madras I (Calcutta: Superintendent of Government Printing, 1908), p. 309 Google Scholar. See canal locations in frontispiece maps in District Census (1951) Handbooks; note also Cushing, S. W., “The Geography of Godavari,” Bulletin of Geographic Society of Philadelphia, Vol. 9, pp. 2–3 (Oct., 1911)Google Scholar, reprinted.

³⁴ The Hindu, March 3, 1952, p. 1 Google ScholarPubMed.

³⁵ Ghosh, Ajoy, “The Andhra Elections and the Communist Party,” New Age, March 4, 1955, p. 1 Google Scholar. New Age is the weekly organ of the Communist party in India.

³⁶ For example, see “Andhra Victory,” editorial in Times of India, March 10, 1955, p. 4 Google ScholarPubMed.

³⁷ Public General Acts and Measures, Vol. 1. Sixth Schedule, Part II: Madras (London, 1935–1936), pp. 256–57Google Scholar. H.M.S.O.

³⁸ For example, Ranga, N. G., Outlines of National Revolutionary Path (Bombay, Hind Kitabs, 1945), pp. 109–10Google Scholar.

³⁹ The Communist role during the war is summarized in The Communist Party of India, Publication No. 2681, Research and Analysis Branch, Office of Strategic Services, August, 1945, p. 21 Google Scholar; note also P. Sundarayya, op. cit., Ch. 6, where it is estimated that Andhra Communist membership rose from 1,000 in 1942 to 8,000 in 1945.

⁴⁰ Narayan, Jayaprakash, Towards Struggle (Bombay, Padma Publications, 1946), pp. 171, 174 Google Scholar.

⁴¹ P. Venkateswarulu in West Godavari-cum Kistna-cum Guntur (Non-union) Factory Labor constituency.

⁴² Ellore, 19.3; Bhimavaram, 19.4; Narsapur, 21.4; Bandar, 28.4; Bezwada, 31.9, Guntur, 26.9; Narasaropet, 17; Tenali, 16.6; Ongole, 14.4; Rajahmundry, 11.5; and Amalapuram, 18.4.

⁴³ The designation of Munagala as headquarters during this period is part of a colorful description of the Telengana movement as seen by delta Congress leaders in Charges against the Madras Ministry (by Certain M LAs), published by Rao, A. Kaleswara, (Madras, Renaissance Printers Ltd., 1948), p. 28 Google Scholar.

⁴⁴ An example of this characterization is in The Communist, Vol. 2, p. 71 (June–July, 1949)Google ScholarPubMed.

⁴⁵ Ibid., p. 34.

⁴⁶ The 1948 report appears in part in Self-Critical Report of the Andhra Communist Committee, January 1948–February 1952, Part Two, March 1949–March 1950, a party document not intended for publication.

⁴⁷ The Communist, June–July, 1949, p. 72 Google Scholar.

⁴⁸ Ibid., p. 60.

⁴⁹ Kautsky, John H., Moscow and the Communist Party of India (Cambridge, Mass., Center for International Studies, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1954), pp. 124, 128 Google Scholar.

⁵⁰ Editorial in For a Lasting Peace, for a People's Democracy, Jan. 27, 1950.

⁵¹ “Statement of Editorial Board on Anti-Leninist Criticism of Comrade Mao-Tsetung,” The Communist, Vol. 3, pp. 6–35, at pp. 6–7 (July–Aug., 1950)Google Scholar.

⁵² Masani, M. R., The Communist Party of India (New York, 1954), p. 110 Google Scholar.

⁵³ “For Settlement in Telengana,” editorial in the then national weekly of the Communist Party of India, Crossroads, Aug. 3, 1951, p. 1 Google ScholarPubMed.

⁵⁴ “Reds' Threat,” Congress Sandesh, Nov. 19, 1951, p. 4 Google Scholar.

⁵⁵ The decision to release the Communist detenus is generally attributed to Prime Minister Nehru. A high Indian official with responsibilities in this matter told the author at the time that Nehru felt the Communists would prosper more if permitted to increase their martyrdom behind bars than if out in the open where, given enough rope, they might eventually be their own undoing.

⁵⁶ Charges against the Madras Ministry (cited in note 43), pp. 6–7, 30–31.

⁵⁷ Choudary, , A Brief History of the Kammas (cited in note 3), p. 98 Google Scholar.

⁵⁸ C. V. K. Rao, op. cit. (in note 12), says that Dharma Rao, a brother-in-law of Basava Punniah, has enrolled hundreds of Kammas as actual party members on the promise that the caste group would benefit when the CP came to power. As an example of specific allusions to Communist Kamma support, see also “CPI May Win More Seats in Madras,” The Statesman, Jan. 8, 1952, p. 1 Google Scholar.

⁵⁹ The figure of 25 excludes six reserved constituencies in which Communists won in the delta.

⁶⁰ Census of India, 1921, Vol. 13, Table XIII, p. 119 Google Scholar, showa 109,969 Kammas and 208,018 Reddis in Nellore.

⁶¹ Venkatagiri, Gudur, and Rapur.

⁶² Kanigiri and Darsi.

⁶³ Kovur.

⁶⁴ Nandikotkur in Kurnool; Kamalapuram and Rajampet in Cuddapah; and Anantapur in Anantapur District were the sites of other Communist Reddi successes.

⁶⁵ Quoted by D. V. Raja Rao, op. cit. (in note 13), p. 13.

⁶⁶ “Congress Reverses in Madras,” Hindustan Standard, Jan. 14, 1952, p. 8 Google Scholar.

⁶⁷ “Ranga Keeps Out,” Times of India, Oct. 2, 1953, p. 1 Google ScholarPubMed.

⁶⁸ For example, see “Andhra Election Scene,” Times of India, Jan. 10, 1955, p. 6 Google Scholar.

⁶⁹ “We Demand Free and Fair Elections,” Parliament speech by Sundarayya, P., cited in For Victory in Andhra, CPI publication (Delhi, 1955), p. 13 Google Scholar.

⁷⁰ Times of India (Bombay), June 16, 1953, p. 7 Google Scholar.

⁷¹ In “The Future of Andhra,” Thought, Oct. 3, 1953 Google ScholarPubMed, G. S. Bhargava reports that Kamma property owners in Vijayawada had confidently based land investments on the expectation that the capital would be there, and suffered heavy losses.

⁷² “Rift in Andhra Congress,” Times of India, Jan. 1, 1955, p. 10 Google ScholarPubMed.

⁷³ V. Visweswara Rao in Mylavaram constituency, Krishna District.

⁷⁴ New Age, Dec. 26, 1954, p. 16 Google Scholar.

⁷⁵ This phrase is attributed to the Communists in “Caste Factor,” Times of India, Feb. 1, 1955. p. 6 Google Scholar.

⁷⁶ While the popular vote increased in Krishna, for the Communists their increase did not keep pace with the overall increase; the Communist percentage of the total in the district dropped from 48 per cent in 1951 to 44 in 1955.

⁷⁷ New Age, Jan. 17, 1955, p. 3 Google ScholarPubMed.

⁷⁸ Bhargava, G. S., “Verdict on Communism,” Ambala Tribune, March 15, 1955, p. 4 Google Scholar.

⁷⁹ Analysis prepared for the author, dated Feb. 19, 1955, Vijayawada. Rao has served on the All-India Congress Committee for over 30 years. He was elected a member of the Andhra legislature from the Vijayawada constituency in the 1955 election.

⁸⁰ Times of India, Jan. 16, 1955, p. 4 Google ScholarPubMed.

⁸¹ The Hindu, Feb. 8, 1955, p. 4 Google ScholarPubMed.

⁸² See “Nehru's Congress Filth,” New Age, Feb. 6, 1955 Google Scholar.

⁸³ Cited in Times of India, Feb. 1, 1955, p. 3 Google ScholarPubMed. The editorial also stated that the Indian Republic was “a peace-loving state upholding its national independence,” which has “set itself to the grim task of gradually eliminating colonialism.”

⁸⁴ Karve, Irawati, in Kinship Organization in India, Deccan College Monograph Series (Poona, 1953)Google Scholar, discusses the conjunction of caste and language region at length (esp. pp. 1–24); Ghurye, G. S., Caste and Class in India (Bombay: Popular Book Depot, 1950), p. 23 Google Scholar, says that “in the beginning of the 19th century, the linguistic boundaries fixed the caste limits.” See also pp. 19 and 32; and Hutton, J. H., Caste in India (cited in note 17), p. 10 Google Scholar.

⁸⁵ Ambedkar, B. R., “Linguistic States—Need for Checks and Balances,” Times of India, April 23, 1953, p. 4 Google Scholar.

⁸⁶ “Ambedkar's Plea for Amendment of Constitution,” Hindustan Times, Sept. 3. 1953, p. 3 Google ScholarPubMed.

⁸⁷ B. R. Ambedkar, “Linguistic States—Need for Checks and Balances” (cited in note 85).

⁸⁸ “KLP to Join the Congress,” The Hindu, March 1, 1955, p. 4 Google ScholarPubMed.

⁸⁹ Latchanna is a member of the Sree-Sainaa, a Srikakulam subcaste group kindred to the delta Kammas and organized politically by Ranga's KLP.

⁹⁰ A Communist-backed toddy-tappers' agitation in the summer of 1954 is noted in Windmiller, Marshall, “The Andhra Election,” Far Eastern Survey, Vol. 24, pp. 27–28 (April, 1955)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

⁹¹ The Congress government in Andhra appears to be assured its tenure until 1960 under Article 172 of the Indian Constitution, providing for five-year duration of state legislative assemblies. Under this provision Andhra need not elect a new legislature when the next general elections are held throughout India, probably in 1957. The formation of a united Andhra, incorporating Telugu districts now in Hyderabad state, could necessitate earlier elections.

⁹² West Godavari, 195,024 in 1951 to 265,193 in 1955; Guntur, 289,932 to 392,268.

⁹³ “Andhra Verdict,” The Hindu, March 9, 1955, p. 4 Google Scholar.

⁹⁴ While the Congress margin of victory averaged 13 per cent in Krishna and West Godavari district constituencies, 16 per cent in Guntur, and 21 per cent in East Godavari, these margins do not represent crushing defeat when it is kept in mind that these were straight fights pitting a three-party Congress coalition on one side against the Communists on the other.

Moreover, the per cent of voting in delta constituencies for Communist candidates Bhows an average decline in Krishna only, from an average 48 per cent of the constituency vote in 1951 to an average 43 in 1955. In Guntur, it increased from 40 to 41; in East Godavari, from 38 to 39; in West Godavari, from 32 to 41.

Outside the delta, where the Communists made virtually no effort in 1951, they emerged in 1955 with an average 22 per cent of the votes in 18 Vizagapatnam constituencies where they contested; 23 per cent in 12 constituencies, Srikakulam; 35 in 13, Anantapur; 26 in 8, Cuddapah; 30 in 11, Kurnool; 37 in 19, Nellore; and 34 in 11, Chittoor.