Our ancestral history shows
our footprints extended up to Africa and deep into Persian Gulf.
Zimbabwe an African country has a small province Ehlanzeni District
Municipality with a sea port called as Komati Port. Historians conclude
this got its name because of the early habitants and migration from
India. The earliest record of human occupation is in the form of San
rock paintings. They got the Red ochre used for their paintings at
Dumaneni and probably used this site as long ago as 30'000 to 45'000
years ago.
Some have speculated that some stone terraced walls,
religious icons and grave sites found in the area have similarities with
Hindu designs. Also, the name of the broader area, Komati, is similar
to Indian caste name of the Setty or Komati, which is the trading
(Vysya) caste (Arya Vysya) of the of Indian Hindu caste system. If this
is true, it means that Indian travelers must have visited the area many
centuries ago.
Note that northern Indians traded as widely as
with Iran and China as long ago as 200BC. Around 1000BC even the Chinese
traded along the East African coast. It is thus quite possible that
there were indeed Indian settlers in this area.
Present situation:
1)
Vysya Dharma Prakasika, 1890 says it clearly that Arya Vysyas are
strict vegetarian and who ever doesn't follow vegetarianism should be
excommunicated from the caste. Even now Arya Vysyas are the single most
caste denomination that is strictly vegetarian.
2) Arya Vysyas
are Komatis but not all Komatis are Arya Vysyas. Arya Vysyas are only
those who belong to the 102 gotras and who have Aryan origin. This is
what has caused us to name ourselves as Arya Vysyas in the early 1900
and keep ourselves apart from the rest of the Komatis (Kalinga, Beri
etc).
3)We never stepped on Africa and if you find such
literature anywhere online or in books, please take it from your fellow
AryaVysya that it is concocted and corrupted. We do not have anything to
do with Komatis or the word Komati in Africa. There have been several
concocted and false theories to put us on the Africa map so that there
could be some confusion as to where our origin is from.
4)
Shetty and shettelu belong to Karnataka and they are low castes in
Karnataka and they are not Arya Vysyas or Komatis. Likewise Chetty and
Chettiar are not Arya Vysyas. Only "Settis or Settys" are true Arya
Vysyas. Please be careful with Shetty and Setti. Even some of the kapu
community members use the Setti title.
5) Arya Vysyas are not
Dravidian. Please note that "Komatis or Arya Vysyas as renamed later are
proud Dravidians with comparatively dark complexion who take great
pride in their Telugu language and speak it in other states as well.".
Please visit histories of other castes. Other castes have always tried
to portray themselves as Aryans because Dravidians are considered
Rakshashas. We are higher caste and we are Aryan. Please take out the
word Dravidian from our history.
6) Vysyas follow the Vasavi
Puranas and employ Brahmins with no distinctions for their rituals. Sri
Vasavi Kanyaka Parameswari Devi is the Goddess or Kula Devata of Arya
Vysyas.
A large number of Komatis are said to have originally
lived and still live in large numbers on the banks of the Gomati River.
So the people who lived on the banks are called as Gomati, corrupted in
Telugu as Komati, when these trading people moved south, their Dravidian
brothers intermarried with their woman and dravidianised them and even
to this day Sanskrit languages are not spoken by them and they speak the
adopted language of their neighbors. The Dravidians could not speak
Sanskrit and hence addressed them as Komati in a corrupted way."
"They are also called as Guptas, Chettiar, Setty and Chetty. "****
Please
delete it, it has been written by a hacker and a vandalizer. We are
Aryan in origin. Please visit articles on Castes like Kapu, Kamma,
Reddy, Brahmin etc. They have written there history with Aryan origin in
mind. We have not taken care of our article and that's why people have
written ill about us.
7) In the "Vasavi History" section please edit
***"They
approached their Kula guru (family Teacher) Bhaskara Acharya also a
Komati who was well versed in shastras and by virtue of his profession
was treated as a Komati Brahman. He advised them to perform Puthra
Kamesti Yaga, which Dasharatha had observed."***
Bhaskaracharya was a
Brahmin and he was our guru. He was not a Komati. It is written clearly
in our Vysya Dharma Prakasika, 1890. People from a particular caste
have tried to shun their guru from our caste and hence have hacked our
history and called Bhaskara as Komati but he was a Brahmin.
According to Wikipedia
Arya
Vysya is a trading community of the South Indian Hindu Caste System.
Arya Vysyas are called Setti, Shetty, Shettulu, Komati or Komatlu
cumulatively. Setty is also used as an honorific title by traders of
several other castes. Hence any one with a suffix surname of Setty
doesn’t mean they belong to Komati caste. During the early 19th century
Komatis registered themselves as Arya Vysyas with help from madras
presidency which distinguished them from the other castes for reasons of
identity and matrimonial clarity. This should not be confused as a
racial term but only bestowing honor on account of wealth and social
mobility. Komatis or Arya Vysyas as renamed later are proud Dravidians
with comparatively dark complexion who take great pride in their Telugu
language and speak it in other states as well. Arya Vysyas are located
in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Orissa. The
people of this caste were mainly into business and trade and now have
diversified doing many occupations. The Komatis have established
monopolies in trading activities in south India, by virtue of their
birth, thus becoming south India’s corporate and business class.
Many
Arya Vysyas are vegetarians. Vysyas follow the Vasavi Puranas and
employ Brahmins with no distinctions for their rituals. Sri Vasavi
Kanyaka Parameswari Devi is the Goddess or Kula Devata of Arya Vysyas.
A
large number of Komatis are said to have originally lived and still
live in large numbers on the banks of the Gomati River. So the people
who lived on the banks are called as Gomati, corrupted in Telugu as
Komati, when these trading people moved south, their Dravidian brothers
intermarried with their woman and dravidianised them and even to this
day Sanskrit languages are not spoken by them and they speak the adopted
language of their neighbors. The Dravidians could not speak Sanskrit
and hence addressed them as Komati in a corrupted way.
Between
1921 & 1931, the Viceroy of Madras Presidency had implemented a
commission which helped the people in their community to register their
community with changes in the name if any. The Telugu linguistic Vysya
Association (1905) registered their community as Arya Vysyas.
Caste wise Arya Vysya Population in India is 22,952,000
Catagories in Komati Kula
Why is our community
called Komati?
The name komati has been derived in many ways.The Komatis
are said to have originally lived and still live in large numbers on the banks
of Godavari river. One of the local names
there of is Gomati or Gomti and the sanskrit name is Gomati for river Godavari .So
people lived in the banks are called as gomati, would in Telgu, Corrupted as Komati .
others again ,say that it is from
go-mati,meaning cow-minded. Also as per our epics Vysyas are supposed to
worship and take care of cows also as one of their main profession,
hence the relevance.
Reference :- ' Castes and Tribes of southern India',
Vol 3 K, 1909-Courtsey Muthunarayan.Trichy
In all there are about 80 groups of Vysyas in Komati Kula or Komati Group in India. They are
1. Aryavysya's
2. Agarwal
3. Oswal
4. Khandewal
5. Pareliwal
6. Purawal
7. Bhatia
8. Maheshwar
9. Agrahari
10. Doosar
11. Umar
12. Rastogi
13. Kesandan
14. Lohia
15. Sonia
16. Suraseni
17. Baraseni
18. Bharanwal
19. Kesarwani
20. Ayodhya Bhansi
21. Jaiswar
22. Mahobia
23. Mourya
24. Baasi Baniya
25. Kota Bania
26. Rounias
27. Janarya
28. Mathur Vyshya
29. Ayodhyawasi Vyshya
30. Lohana
31. Revari Baniya
32. Kama
33. Vijayavargi
34. Srimali
35. Baderwal
36. Dwadasha Shreni
37. Oswal Vyshya's
38. Kobe
39. Desawal
40. Gurjar
41. Laad
42. Souratia
43. Harisora
44. Ukkar
45. Vayaad
46. Baniya
47. Suvarnavanik
48. Patotia
49. Kadeslia
50. Gandhavanik
51. Kaarusha
52. Shah
53. Sunar Baniya
54. Natakota
55. Gorara
56. Narasimha Pura Mahajanulu
57. Gayoya
58. Kumwar Vyshya's
59. Purawaal
60. Mode
61. Garal
62. Badiyala
63. Kafal
64. Putili Baniya
65. Vanik
66. Naagar(Dasa-Bis)
67. Diswala
68. Jarola
69. Soratia
70. Khadaitha
71. Harsara
72. Kapola
73. Urlaava
74. Patolia
75. Vayodha
76. Gavaaru
77. Kalinga Komati
78. Beri Komati
79. Balie Komati
80. Naagar Komati
In
south India Vysyas are called Arya Vysyas. They are also called as
Guptas, Chettiar, Setty and Chetty. This Arya Vysyas are 102 Gotras
Vysyas who jumped into the fire-pit along with Vasavi Kanyaka
Parameshwari Devi.
Most Arya Vysya's of Andhra Pradesh
are vegetarians. Orthodox Vysyas follow the rituals as prescribed in
Vasavi puranas as Brahmins. Sri Vasavi Kanyaka Parameswari Devi is the
Goddess or Kula Devatha of Arya Vysya's.
Vysyas keep off furious,
proud, and quarrel. They mostly concentrate on welfare programs for the
society with their soul. With their Divinity they also proved and
positioned as first in the world. Vysyas placed in first by building the
Temples, doing HOMAAS AND YAGAAS.
Even though Vysyas are only
permitted to trading activities, but they are encouraging education by
developing more educational institutes for the society. This proves
their love and effection towards education. King Sri Harsha was ruler of
vysyas had built Nalanda University and Library, which were most
popular in his kingdom.
Patriotic people had used Peace and
Patience as their weapons to get independence for the Indians. Vysyas
are pride to say that Father of Nation Mahatma Gandhi was also belongs
to Vysya who released Indians from Britishers, Amarajeevi. Sri.Potti.
SriRamulu who struggled a lot for the formation of AP is also belonged
to Vysyas. Recently General Mayer Kariyappa who fought against Pakistan
also belonged to Vysya. Similarly many vysyas are proved themselves by
serving to the Society which was marked by outstanding performance,
demonstrated effective leadership, prolonged and committed service,
devotion, enthusiasm and faithfulness.
Vysyas got great history because they pursued loyality, trust, devotion, education, morale and customs-values.
thanks to
