Uppara

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Uppara
Classification	Backward Caste
Religions	Hinduism
Country	India
Populated states	Andhra Pradesh Tamil Nadu Telangana Karnataka

Uppara is a Hindu caste and is classified as Backward Class or OBC, predominately found in the states of Andhra Pradesh,^[1] Karnataka,^[2] Telangana,^[3] Tamil Nadu^[4] and Kerala.^{[5] [6]}

During the rule of King Maharayar of Vijayanagara Empire, Sagaras Ruled 24 nadus. They acquired the title Naicker during Vijayanagara rule as they ruled This 24 nadus (areas) Back then.^[7] Till today the caste is known by its alternate name Uppara Naicker in some areas.^[8]

The primary activity of sagaras in 19th century was preparation of salt ('uppu' in Kannada, Telugu, Malayalam and Tamil is the same, which is 'salt') so they are called upparas by profession.

History

According to Buchanan, the most important occupation of the Telugu Upparas at the beginning of the nineteenth century was the manufacture of salt..

Some members of the caste are

. 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^[who?] in its report in 1968 made certain observations and recommendations regarding the Uppara community. Some of the points mentioned in the report are as follows:

• Uppara is a caste of workers engaged in agriculture.
• They also engaged in manufacturing salt.
• When private manufacture of salt was forbidden during the British rule, the people of the community turned to other occupations. The Uppara seem to have made little shifts in an agrarian context. Losing their caste based occupation as salt makers, they mainly did agriculture.

Notable People

• C. Puttarangashetty - politician hailing from Karnataka and a member of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly, for the Chamarajanagar Assembly constituency

Demographics

The "Chinnappa Reddy Report (1990)" indicates that the Uppara make up about 1.18 percent of the population of Karnataka.

References