_Velama, Elama, Yelama._--A Telugu cultivating caste found in
large numbers in Vizagapatam and Ganjam, while in 1911 about 700
persons were returned from Chanda and other districts in the Central
Provinces. The caste frequently also call themselves by the honorific
titles of Naidu or Dora (lord). The Velamas are said formerly to
have been one with the Kamma caste, but to have separated on the
question of retaining the custom of _parda_ or _gosha_ which they had
borrowed from the Muhammadans. The Kammas abandoned _parda_, and,
signing a bond written on palm-leaf to this effect, obtained their
name from _kamma_, a leaf. The Velamas retained the custom, but a
further division has taken place on the subject, and one subcaste,
called the Adi or original Velamas, do not seclude their women. The
caste has at present a fairly high position, and several important
Madras chiefs are Velamas, as well as the zamindar of Sironcha in the
Central Provinces. They appear, however, to have improved their status,
and thus to have incurred the jealousy of their countrymen, as is
evidenced by some derogatory sayings current about the caste. Thus
the Balijas call them Guni Sakalvandlu or hunchbacked washermen,
because some of them print chintz and carry their goods in a bundle
on their backs. [714] According to another derivation _guna_ is
the large pot in which they dye their cloth. Another story is that
the name of the caste is Velimala, meaning those who are above or
better than the Dhers, and was a title conferred on them by the Raja
of Bastar in recognition of the bravery displayed by the Velamas in
his army. These stories are probably the outcome of the feeling of
jealousy which attaches to castes which have raised themselves in
the social scale. The customs of the Velamas do not indicate a very
high standard of ceremonial observance, as they eat fowls and pork
and drink liquor. They are said to take food from Bestas and Dhimars,
while Kunbis will take it from them. The men of the caste are tall and
strong, of a comparatively fair complexion and of a bold and arrogant
demeanour. It is said that a Velama will never do anything himself
which a servant can do for him, and a story is told of one of them who
was smoking when a spark fell on his moustache. He called his servant
to remove it, but by the time the man came, his master's moustache had
been burnt away. These stories and the customs of the Velamas appear
to indicate that they are a caste of comparatively low position, who
have gone up in the world, and are therefore tenacious in asserting
a social position which is not universally admitted. Their subcastes
show that a considerable difference in standing exists in the different
branches of the caste. Of these the Racha or royal Velamas, to whom
the chiefs and zamindars belong, are the highest. While others are the
Guna Velamas or those who use a dyer's pot, the Eku or 'Cotton-skein'
who are weavers and carders, and the Tellaku or white leaf Velamas,
the significance of this last name not being known. It is probable
that the Velamas were originally a branch of the great Kapu or Reddi
caste of cultivators, corresponding in the Telugu country to the Kurmis
and Kunbis, as many of their section names are the same as those of
the Kapus. The Velamas apparently took up the trades of weaving and
dyeing, and some of them engaged in military service and acquired
property. These are now landowners and cultivators and breed cattle,
while others dye and weave cloth. They will not engage themselves
as hired labourers, and they do not allow their women to work in
the fields.