Uppara

Uppara is the name of a caste or minority group in India. The caste takes its name from the preparing of salt (uppu), which was the original community's primary economic activity.

Origins

As per Hindu mythology Only four major castes have been described  :

• Brahmins (priests)
• Kshatriyas (warriors)
• Vaishyas (commerce)
• Shudras (workmen)

The Upparas are classified as Kshatriyas.

The major Dravidian languages (Kannada, Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam) all use a variation of "uppu" to mean salt. Therefore, the persons engaged in the manufacture of salt are called Uppara in Kannada; Uppar or Upparollu in Telugu; Uppaliya, Uppaliyan and Upaliga in Tamil.

History

According to the history of Bagiratharaya they belong to the Kula Kshatriya and they are surya vamsa kshatriyas and somehow managed to escape from being killed by Lord Parashurama during his attempts to exterminate the Kshatriyas. By tradition, their occupation was stonecutting.^[1] The members of the Uppara (Sagara) community are the descendants of the Emperor Sagara of Suryavansha and spread throughout the country and all over the world. He is one of the six legendary emperors known as "Shat Chakravarthis". The story of King Sagara is narrated in the Vishnu Purana.

According to Buchanan, the most important occupation of the Telugu Upparas at the beginning of the nineteenth century was the manufacture of earth-salt and saltpetre (an important ingredient in the manufacture of gunpowder). The British Government in India prohibited the manufacture of earth-salt, thus causing the community members to divert to other occupations.

Some members of the caste are Vaishnavites and others Saivites. They also worship various village deities, which vary according to the place of residence.

The one man commission constituted by the Government of Andhra Pradesh, chaired by Sri Anantha Raman in its report in 1968 made certain observations and recommendations regarding the Uppara or Sagara community. Some of the points mentioned in the report are as follows:

• Uppara or Sagara is a caste of workers engaged in agriculture.
• It traces its descent from "Sagara Chakravarti" who was a Kshatriya.
• It is said that they were originally Kshatriyas but in course of time they became downtrodden. They were originally salt-workers and the name Uppara comes from Telugu word Uppu (Salt).
• When private manufacture of salt was forbidden by Government the people of the community caused the community members to divert to other occupations. The Uppara seem to have made little shifts in an agrarian context. Losing their castebased occupation as salt makers, they are predominantly agricultural or construction workers.

Demographics

The "Chinnappa Reddy Report (1990)" indicates that the Uppara make up about 1.18 percent of the population of Karnataka. In fact, although they have a sizeable presence in the district, they have not been able to have a MLA or MP from their community. It is only recently that four members of the community have been elected to the Zilla panchayat in the district. In addition to the new-found political awareness, there is an attempt by the leaders to align with the Mutts.

Puttaranga shetty is recent MLA elected from Chamarajnagar district.

References

1. Srinivasulu, K. "Caste, Class and Social Articulation in Andhra Pradesh: Mapping Differential Regional Trajectories" (PDF). Working Paper 179 (London: Overseas Development Institute). Retrieved 27 December 2009.