Yerukala People - Ancient History

Ancient History

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=== Origins ===

The earliest reference of Yerukalas can be found in the Mahabharata, the great Indian epic. Ekalavya, the extraordinary expert and skilful archer of Mahabharata times, belongs to Yerukala society. Yekalavya achieves a skill level parallel to the great Arjuna despite Drona's rejection of him. As he was a member of a low caste, he was denied to study in the Gurukul of Dronacharya.

Many historians have stated that they found references on some pillars stating that the Kakatiyas were originated from the nomadic tribe called Erukala.

Ekalavya is one of the inspiring characters of the epic Mahabharata. Ekalavya is said to belong to Nishadha tribe of North India. The Nishadha caste is known as Erukula in Telugu speaking lands. This tribe is also known as Kiratas in some places of North India.

The Kiratas or Erukalas are expert hunters who can hit the running animals and the flying birds. It is widely accepted by historians that the Kakatiyas of Warangal and Bastar belonged to this Erukala caste to which the great archer Ekalavya belonged. The Erukalas are a variants or a branch of bhils of India.

In the Indian mythology, Eklavya occupies an important place as someone who exemplifies the nature of Guru-shishya tradition of teaching in India, showing extreme reverence for his guru. It is said that Ekalavya learned archery through the statue of Guru Dhronacharya and excelled Arjuna. .

Hanuman was a Rama bantu ( Faithful Servant to Sri Rama). Mudiraju Bantlu ( bants) who belong to vanara races are well known as members of suicide squads employed by their king masters. The very term Coolie was a modification of bhil tribe's name Koli. In Punjabi, Bande also means a faithful follower and they also belong to bhil - koli races. The Gypsy banjaras of Indian origin ( with roots of Vanaras ) are also known as Romanichal in Europe.

Koli => Cooli => Coolie Bantu ( Telugu language ) = Faithful Servant Bande( Punjabi language ) = Faithful follower Ramoshi = Ram vashi = Controlled by Sri Rama Romanichal (Romani ) = Faithful follower of Sri Rama

When Drona went to Ekalavya and demanded that Ekalavya turn over his right thumb as a teacher's fee ( Guru Dakshina ), the loyal Ekalavya crippled himself and thereby ruined his prospects as an archer by severing his thumb and giving it to Drona.This act of Ekalavya is nothing short of a suicide tendency which can be seen hidden in dravidian bhil races. For this reason, it is said that the bhil descendants of Ekalavya of Madhya Pradesh shoot their arrows using their middle finger instead of their thumbs. They are highly revengeful and can kill their enemy by secretly following them like a wild cates. Because of this ferocious behaviour of Erukalas, they were declared as criminal tribes by British

The Nishadhas are a branch of Dravidian Bhil races of North India. In the days of Ramayana and Mahabharata, the land from Sindhu to Sri Lanka was inhabited by dravidians and they spoke a language which was a mixture of present day Telugu & Tamil languages. This language was spoken from the country of Sumeria, Babylonia, Israel to India. In Telugu, the Ekalavya's caste is known as Erukala or Yerukula. In Telugu, Erukala means sooth sayer or fortune teller. In Telugu language, Bhil means bow. .

Bil = Bhil = Vhil = Vhillu = Bow Eruka = Fortune telling or Sooth saying Erukala = One who does the job of a fortune teller

The Bhils form an important group, which inhabits mainly the southern districts of Rajasthan and the surrounding regions of Udaipur and Chittaurgarh. The generic term, which describes their tribe apparently, derives its name from bil, meaning bow, which describes their original talent and strength.

History corroborates the legends, which tells about their superiority in archery. From the Mahabharata emerges Eklavya, a Bhil who surpassed the skill of Arjuna only to be repressed by the command of his guru. The Ramayana tells of Vail, the Bhil bandit who reformed with the blessings of the Saraswati, the goddess of learning, to become Valmiki, the renowned poet sage.

The Bhils gained in strength by intermingling with rebellious, outcast Rajputs who sought shelter with them. Most of the Rajaputs had their origins in the bhil - koli blood. Rajput rulers came to value the guerilla tactics of the Bhils, particularly since they were at ease in the hilly terrain. Various fierce invasions could not be repelled without their active support. Even today, the accepted head of all the Rajput clan of Rajasthan, the Maharana of Udaipur is crowned by anointing his forehead with blood drawn from the palm of a Bhil chieftain, affirming the alliance and loyalty of his tribe.

Ekalavya, belonged to the Nishadha clan, but Drona rejected him because he did not belong to the Kshatriya Varna. Prince Ekalavya was undaunted by this rebuff from Drona and practiced archery in front of a clay model of Dronacharya, his Manaseega Guru. By this application of mind, body and determination, Ekalavya became a warrior of exceptional prowess, at par with the young Arjuna.

Ekalavya was a young prince of the Nishadha tribes. The Mahabharata speaks of Nishaad (or Shabara) as forest hunters. The main profession of Nishaads were hunting the birds. . When A Nishaad killed one bird from a pair the other bird was crying and that inspired Valmiki to write the true story of Rama and Sita known as Ramayana. Ramayana the king of Nishaad named Guha was a very close friend of Rama. He helps Rama and Sita to cross Ganges river during exile to forests There were several Nishadha Dravidian kingdoms during Ramayana and Mahabharata periods. King Nala of Nala Damayanti was also a Nishadha king. King of Nishadha lost his kingdom in a game of dice and deserted his wife Damayanti because of a curse. They were all related to Mudiraj - koli - bhil people.

Ekalavya was born to Devashrava, who was the brother of Vasudeva. Since Vasudeva was the father of Krishna, Ekalavya was blood related brother to Sri Krishna. Ekalavya was raised by Hiranyadhanus, the leader (King) of the Nishadhas, who was a commander in the army of Jarasandha, the king of Magadha. Ekalavya's mother could be a Dravidian Bhil Nishadha woman. Nishadhas were treated as low caste people, as they were mixed race people.

Ekalavya wanted to learn advanced skills of archery from Dronacharya,, the legendary weaponsmaster of and instructor of Arjuna and his brothers. Drona, however, rejected Ekalavya on account of the prince's humble origins and low caste.

After being rejected by Drona, Ekalavya embarks upon a program of self-study in the presence of a clay image of Drona. He achieves a level of skill equal to that of Arjuna, Drona's favorite and most accomplished pupil. Fearful that Ekalavya will excel him, Arjuna begs Drona to take action. Drona goes to Ekalavya and demands that Ekalavya turn over his right thumb as a teacher's fee. The loyal Ekalavya cripples himself, and thereby ruins his prospects as an archer, by severing his thumb and giving it to Drona.

According to some, Drona wanted to hamper Ekalavya's archery skills because he feared that Ekalavya would use them against Drona's employer, the King of Hastinapur (Ekalavya's father worked for Jarasandh, who was an adversary of the Hastinapur kingdom).

Others have alleged that Ekalavya learned all the archery skills by secretly observing the training sessions of Dronacharya. When Dronacharaya found out, he visited Ekalavya to verify his suspicions. Although Drona could have demanded an even greater punishment under the laws in effect at that time, he asked only for Ekalavya's right thumb, thus making useless the archery skills which he had learned secretly.

Others still have said that Dronacharya demanded Ekalavya's thumb because the latter was not a Kshatriya, and in those days only Kshatriyas were supposed to get a military education.

Later, Ekalavya worked as a confidant of King Jarasandh. At the time of Rukmini's Swayamvar, he acted as the messenger between Shishupala and Rukmini's father Bhishmaka, at Jarasandh's behest. Bhishmaka decides that Rukmini should marry Shishupala, but instead Rukmini elopes with Krishna. Ekalavya is later killed by Krishna, who hurls a rock against him, in a conflict against Jarasandh's army.

Various theories were propounded by various historians in respect of the origin and evolution of the 16 "ancient communities" or "Janapadas" in the Himalayan region. Saklani points out that there is strong evidence that they are in fact Raghuvanshi Rajputs, the descendants of the Bhill-Kirata tribe.

The people of Erukala or Nishadha tribes were also known as Kiratas in some places of North and North-East. Hidimbi was the sister of Hidimba. She later married Bhima and begot a son named Ghatotkaca. India. Hidamba and Hidimbi are said to belong to Kirata tribe.