Telaga caste is surname of many people in southern India. Telaga caste meaning is The Telagas, Mr. H. A. Stuart writes,7 are a Telugu caste of cultivators, who were formerly soldiers in the armies of the Hindu sovereigns of Telingana. This may perhaps account for the name, for it is easy to see that the Telugu soldiers might come to be regarded as the Telugus or Telagas par excellence. The sub-divisions returned under this name show that there has been some confusion between the Telagas [14]proper, and persons who are members of other Telugu castes. The Telagas are Vaishnavites, and have Brahmans for their priests. Their customs closely resemble those of the Kapus. They eat flesh, but are not allowed to drink liquor. They are usually farmers now, but many still serve as soldiers, though their further recruitment has recently been stopped. Their common titles are Naidu and Dora.
In a note on the Telagas and Vantaris (strong men), it is suggested that they should be classed with the Kapus, 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 intiperulu 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 Kapu. The Telagas and Vantaris are highly Brahmanised, and will have a Brahman for their guru, and get themselves branded at his hands. A Kapu is generally content with a Satani or Jangam. Though they do not differ in their marriage and funeral rites from the Kapus, they usually marry their girls before puberty, and widow remarriage and divorce are disallowed. A Kapu is invariably a cultivator; a Vantari was in olden days a sepoy, and, as such, owned inam (rent-free) lands. Even now he has a prejudice against ploughing jirayati (ordinarily assessed) lands, which a Kapu 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. Kapu 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 gosha system, and the men carry their own food, and fetch [15]water for domestic purposes, or, if well-to-do, employ Kapus for these services. It may be added that rich Kapus often exhibit a tendency to pass as Telagas.
Telaga caste is one of the many castes subcastes of India.
India has thousands of castes and subcastes, they are in existence and practice since the Vedic times. They were created to solve the problem of division of labor. Telaga caste name could indicate the type of work people belonging to the Telaga caste do or did in earlier times. Many last names in India indicate the place the person originally belongs to. All castes sub castes are primarily divided into 4 categories:
1.Brahmins – The learned or priestly class
2.Khastriyas – The warrior class or those with governing functions
3.Vaishyas – The trader, agriculturalists or cattle rearers class
4.Shudra – The class that serves other three categories
Telaga caste belongs to one of the above 4 categories. Indian caste system is the best system to solve the problem of division of labor. In earlier times there was no rigidity in caste system. Indian caste system is still the best solution for the problem of division of labor, the only change that is needed as per changed times is that rather than having a vertical hierarchical system with Brahmins on top and Shudras at bottom, it would be good to have a horizontal socialist system with Brahmins, Khastriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras all at same level.
The caste system of India is in ruins at present. It is also cause of bloody quarrels in certain parts of the rural India. People of backward castes have reservations in government jobs, this facility is widely misused in India. Many of the backward caste people have become rich and still use the facility for their benefit. Many in India believe reservation in jobs should be given on the basis of poverty rather than caste because there are many poors in upper castes as well.
Many criticize the Indian caste system because of bad material condition of lower castes but if they observe in an unbiased way they would find that there are many in upper castes with bad material conditions. The problem lies in power not in castes, power can corrupt anyone be it from upper caste or lower caste.
All cultures, all countries, all religions have caste system in one form or the other. Christians have different churches depending on the region or language or skin color of people. Muslims have a priestly class that tries to control everything. Arab Muslims before the oil boom were so much divided among tribes that if you drank water from a well of a different tribe you could be shot dead. Tribal divisions still exists among Muslims. You can also see the caste system in a different form in your corporate companies. I had seen different food and drinking facilities for people at different levels.
Telaga caste is also known as Telaga Gotra.
Caste situation is quiet different in urban India, people in urban areas especially youngsters don?t bother about castes. Inter caste, inter religious, inter lingual marriages are quiet common in urban India. Inter caste, inter religious and inter lingual marriages in rural areas attract severe criticism and many times people are expelled from community for not marrying as per religious and caste rules.