{{pp|small=yes}} {{Short description|Hindu caste of balladeers and panegyrists}} {{Use Indian English|date=July 2023}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2023}} {{Infobox caste |caste_name=Bhatraju |image= |religions=Hinduism |languages=Telugu |country=India |region= |population= |populated_states=Andhra Pradesh, Telangana |classification=Other Backward Classes}}
'''Bhatraju''' (also transliterated as '''Bhatrazu''') is an Indian caste of Telugu-speaking ballad reciters, poets, panegyrists, and religious musicians.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lbIiAAAAMAAJ&q=Bhatraju|title=Journal of the Indian Anthropological Society|last=|first=|date=1977|publisher=The Society|isbn=|location=|pages=134|language=en|access-date=2022-02-19|archive-date=2023-04-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230401141228/https://books.google.com/books?id=lbIiAAAAMAAJ&q=Bhatraju|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Spurr |first=Michael James |year=2007 |title=Sathya Sai Baba as Avatar: "His Story" and the History of an Idea |url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/35458340.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171129041353/https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/35458340.pdf |archive-date=29 November 2017 |access-date= |website=University of Canterbury |pages=100–102}}</ref> They are primarily found in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and also in smaller numbers in the neighbouring states. They are also known as ''Bhatturaju'' or ''Bhataraju'' or ''Bhatrajulu''.<ref name=":0" />
Bhatrajus were originally a caste of court bards, eulogists, and reciters of family genealogy and tradition.<ref name=":0" /> After the fall of indigenous kingdoms, they became mendicants or switched to singing religious songs and praises of richer communities and their traditions at weddings and death ceremonies.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Singleton |first1=Mark |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GSpnAQAAQBAJ&dq=Bhat+raju&pg=PT368 |title=Gurus of Modern Yoga |last2=Goldberg |first2=Ellen |date=27 November 2013 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-937495-3 |language=en |author-link=Mark Singleton (yoga scholar) |access-date=19 February 2022}}</ref><ref name=":02">{{Cite journal |last=P. C. Venkatasubbaiah |date=30 December 2021 |title=Budubudakkalas, the Traditional Beggars in South India |url=https://arfjournals.com/image/catalog/Journals%20Papers/SKYLINES%20OF%20ANTHROPOLOGY/No%202%20(2021)/2_PC%20Venkatasubbaiah.pdf |journal=Skylines of Anthropology}}</ref> They are typically non-vegetarians and bury their dead.<ref name=":0" />
Bhatrajus are on the Other Backward Class (OBC) list in most states of Southern India.<ref>[http://www.bcmbcmw.tn.gov.in/obc/faq/andhrapradesh.pdf Central List of OBCs for the state of Andhra Pradesh] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161130151355/http://www.bcmbcmw.tn.gov.in/obc/faq/andhrapradesh.pdf|date=2016-11-30}}, p. 4 (64 - Bhataraju)</ref><ref name=":12">{{Cite web |date= |title=Guidance Bureau |url=https://backwardclasses.kar.nic.in/eng/guidance_bureau.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050415024806/https://backwardclasses.kar.nic.in/eng/guidance_bureau.htm |archive-date=15 April 2005 |access-date= |website=Department of Backward Classes - Karnataka}}</ref><ref>[http://www.bcmbcmw.tn.gov.in/obc/faq/tamilnadu.pdf Central List of OBCs for the state of Tamil Nadu] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150501061743/http://www.bcmbcmw.tn.gov.in/obc/faq/tamilnadu.pdf|date=1 May 2015}}, p. 1 (12 - Bhatraju)</ref> They use Raju as their caste title.<ref name=":0" />
== History == Bhatraju were originally attached to the courts of the Hindu princes as bards or professional troubadours, reciting ballads in poetry in glorification of the wondrous deeds of local princes and heroes.<ref name=":0" /> Rama Raja Bhushanadu, a 16th century poet in the court of Rama Raya of Vijayanagara Empire, is believed to be a Bhatraju.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":5" /><ref name=":62">{{Cite book |last=Kandukuri Veeresalingam |url=https://te.wikisource.org/wiki/%E0%B0%86%E0%B0%82%E0%B0%A7%E0%B1%8D%E0%B0%B0_%E0%B0%95%E0%B0%B5%E0%B1%81%E0%B0%B2_%E0%B0%9A%E0%B0%B0%E0%B0%BF%E0%B0%A4%E0%B1%8D%E0%B0%B0%E0%B0%AE%E0%B1%81_-_%E0%B0%B0%E0%B1%86%E0%B0%82%E0%B0%A1%E0%B0%B5_%E0%B0%AD%E0%B0%BE%E0%B0%97%E0%B0%AE%E0%B1%81/%E0%B0%B0%E0%B0%BE%E0%B0%AE%E0%B0%B0%E0%B0%BE%E0%B0%9C_%E0%B0%AD%E0%B1%82%E0%B0%B7%E0%B0%A3%E0%B1%81%E0%B0%A1%E0%B1%81 |title=ఆంధ్ర కవుల చరిత్రము - రెండవ భాగము |publisher=హితకారిణీ సమాజము |year=1949 |pages=126 |language=te |chapter=22. రామరాజ భూషణుడు |quote=ఈ గ్రామమును కృష్ణదేవరాయలు కవిత్వమునందు బ్రవీణులై ప్రబంధాంకమువారని బిరుదుపొందిన యీతని పూర్వులగు బట్టురాజుల కిచ్చెను. |author-link=Kandukuri Veeresalingam}}</ref>
Bhatrajus were described as "having a wonderful faculty in speaking improvisatore, on any subject proposed to them. But their profession is that of chanting the exploits of former days in front of the troops while marshalling them for battle, and inciting them to emulate the glory of their ancestors."<ref name=":0" /> ''Castes and Tribes of Southern India'' (1909) notes that Bhatrazus were the only non-Brahmin caste, except Jangams and Pandārams, which performs the duties of guru or religious instructor.<ref name=":03">{{Cite web |last=Spurr |first=Michael James |year=2007 |title=Sathya Sai Baba as Avatar: "His Story" and the History of an Idea |url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/35458340.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171129041353/https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/35458340.pdf |archive-date=29 November 2017 |access-date= |website=University of Canterbury |pages=100–102}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Citation |last1=Thurston |first1=Edgar |title=Bhatrāzu |date=1909 |url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Castes_and_Tribes_of_Southern_India/Bhatr%C4%81zu |work=Castes and Tribes of Southern India |last2=K. Rangachari |author-link=Edgar Thurston |author-link2=K. Rangachari}}</ref>
Michael James Spurr researched on the community and analysed old census reports and other anthropological data. In Madras Census Report, 1871, they were described as, "a wandering class, gaining a living by attaching themselves to the establishments of great men, or in chanting the folklore of the people."<ref name=":0" /> Madras Census Report, 1891, describes them as, "being a class of professional bards, spread all over the Telugu districts. They are well versed in folklore, and in the family histories and legends of the ancient Rājahs. Under the old Hindu Rājahs the Bhatrāzus were employed as bards, eulogists, and reciters of family genealogy and tradition. Most of them are now cultivators, and only a few are ballad-reciters."<ref name=":03" />
In the present-day, Bhatrajus are also found in smaller numbers in the states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.<ref>{{Cite book |last= |first= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rmVDAAAAYAAJ&q=Bhatrajus |title=Report of the Backward Classes Commission, Tamil Nadu, 1970 |date=1975 |publisher=Government of Tamil Nadu |pages=10, 11, 173 |language=en |access-date=2023-04-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230401141139/https://www.google.co.in/books/edition/Report_of_the_Backward_Classes_Commissio/rmVDAAAAYAAJ?hl=te&gbpv=1&bsq=Bhatrajus&dq=Bhatrajus&printsec=frontcover |archive-date=2023-04-01 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":12"/> In December 2022, Government of Andhra Pradesh banned the phrase ''Bhatraju Pogadtalu'' ({{Translation|Bhatraju paeans}}) in all spheres including media, film, TV, and political meetings. People using the phrase would be liable to legal action.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rao |first=Chandrasekhar |date=21 December 2022 |title=ఏపీలో ఆ పదం పలకడం నేరం- నిషేధించిన ప్రభుత్వం: సినిమాలు, సీరియళ్లల్లో కూడా..!! |url=https://telugu.oneindia.com/news/andhra-pradesh/ap-government-ban-on-the-using-the-word-of-bhatraju-pogadthalu-including-tv-serials-and-movies-333241.html |access-date=1 May 2023 |website=Oneindia |language=te}}</ref>
== Notable people == * Rama Raja Bhushanadu ({{Floruit|16th century CE}}), Telugu poet in the Vijayanagara court<ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last=G. Nagayya |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MUXpAAAAIAAJ&q=ramarajabhushanudu+Bhatraju |title=Telugu Sahitya Samiksha |date=1983 |publisher=Navyapariśōdhaka Prachuraṇalu |pages=163 |language=te |quote=రామరాజభూషణుని (క్రీ. శ. 1510–1580) అసలు పేరు మూర్తి. భట్రాజు కులము వాడగుటచే అతనిని భట్టుమూర్తి అందురు. శ్రీకృష్ణ దేవరాయల అల్లుడగు ఆళియ రామరాజు ఆస్థానమునకు భూషణ మగుటచే అతడు రామరాజ భూషణుడైనాడు. రామరాజ భూషణుడనునది బిరుదు నామము.}}</ref><ref name=":5">{{Cite book |last=Vellanki Umakantha Sastri |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kb_rAAAAIAAJ&q=ramarajabhushanudu+Bhatraju |title=Sri Visvakalyana Bhagavatamu: Drusya Kavyamu |date=1994 |publisher=Visalandhra Publishing House |page=11 |language=te |quote=అతను భట్రాజు కులంవాడు.}}</ref><ref name=":62" /> * Sathya Sai Baba (1926–2011), spiritual guru<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6fHFLQDOEuYC&q=bhat+raju|title=Winged Faith: Rethinking Globalization and Religious Pluralism through the Sathya Sai Movement|last=Srinivas|first=Tulasi|date=2010-06-10|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=978-0-231-52052-2|location=|pages=54|language=en|access-date=2022-02-19|archive-date=2023-04-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230401141220/https://books.google.com/books?id=6fHFLQDOEuYC&q=bhat+raju|url-status=live}}</ref>
== References == {{reflist}}
Category:Indian castes Category:South Indian communities Category:Social groups of Andhra Pradesh Category:Social groups of Telangana Category:Other Backward Classes