Papadu - Historical Context

Historical Context

Papadu was born in the seventeenth century to a Telegu family of a caste whose occupation was that of toddy tapping. Which of the several Telegu toddy tapping castes he may have belonged to is uncertain. It had been suggested, in 1874, that the name Papadu indicated membership of the Kapu or Nayadu communities but Eaton believes that he was a Gamalla or Goundla, and other modern scholars such as the Metcalfs refer only to the occupation. Eaton has noted that numerous castes recite the Papadu folklore and that this infers his later actions and the support for them were not caste-based. Eaton also notes that there are versions of the ballad still recited today that suggest his family may have attained positions in society outside those usually assigned to their caste: his father may have been headman of a village and his brother a minor commander in an army, whilst his sister married into considerable wealth.

Papadu's family lived in the Golkonda region and his birthplace may have been Tarikonda, a village around 25 miles (40 km) southwest of Warangal. Until 1323 this region had been ruled by a Hindu maharajah and thereafter was under the control of Muslim Mughal Emperors. The Bahmani Sultanate broke up into five smaller kingdoms in the sixteenth century and Golkonda came under the control of the Qutb Shahi dynasty. They inherited an area that was relatively easy to govern as, even prior to the sultanate, there was a sound social structure which included warrior-cultivator groups and chieftains as well as a shared use of the Telegu language and literature. Sultans such as Ibrahim Qutb Shah (r. 1550–1580) patronised Hindu society and customs, as well as investing in projects to improve irrigation, all of which cemented a relationship reasonably similar to that which might have existed had they been Hindu rulers themselves. The native people of Golkonda or, at least, those in positions of influence, were won over and this was particularly significant with regard to the Nayaka chieftains, whom Eaton describes as having "an ethic of courage and steadfast loyalty to their political overlords."

The mutual respect that ensued enabled Golkonda to become an extremely wealthy region, as evidenced by the construction of Hyderabad. However, by the 1630s it was apparent that troubles lay ahead. Shah Jahan, who was the Mughal emperor at Delhi began to exact tribute from the Qutb Shahi sultan and then sent his son, Aurangzeb, to represent him in Golkonda. Aurangzeb eventually succeeded in gaining total control of the region in 1687, making it the last of the independent sultanates to be annexed to that of Delhi. Many changes followed this event, and they generally caused a reduction in the influence of those people who had once been notable within Golkonda. Furthermore, the conquest had caused or coincided with crop failures, famine, cholera epidemics and other forms of disaster, between 1686 and 1690, while the post-conquest era saw Aurangzeb bleeding Golkonda in order to finance projects elsewhere.