P.V. Narasimha Rao belongs to the Aaruvela Niyogi Brahmin sect. Aaruvela comes from the Telugu name Aaruvelanadu, the land of 6,000. The 6,000 denotes the shastahastravishaya of old inscriptions. Tenali, Guntur, and Repalli talukas of Andhra Pradesh constitute the “6,000 region”. A group of Brahmins originating from this area is believed to have at one point taken up secular, administrative professions. Hence their identification as Niyogis.
Historians feel many Niyogis are descendants of Desatha Brahmins who migrated from Maharashtra’s Desh region. At one time Rao maintained his ancestors were Kanyakubja Brahmins hailing from the north, presumably Uttar Pradesh.
This theory is unacceptable to many. At the peak of the Andhra movement in 1972 which dislodged Rao from the chief ministership, the late Tenneti Visvanatham told a press conference that Rao’s ancestors belonged to Bapatla, a supposed Niyogi stronghold, and that they shifted to Vishakhapatnam and finally to the present Karimnagar district. Visvanatham hails from the (Aru) Velanati Vaidiki Brahmin sect. His ancestors must have migrated from Aruvelanadu.
RSS origin: Telugu people whose surnames indicate their village do not usually discard them once they leave their place of origin. Pamulaparthi, the first name of the prime minister, is actually a derivative of Pamulaparru. Roughly translated it would mean “place of snakes”. It is often said Rao’s original village is located somewhere along the Andhra Coast.
A well known RSS member from Nagpur derived great pleasure in telling people that his original village and that of Rac were both in Nalgonda district. Hedgewar and Deoras, it should be remembered, are Brahmins of Telugu descent. Recently, Indian Express carried an article saying Rao’s native village was in Warangal district. A picture of his ancestral house was also published. I think Rao is romanticising his origins. It is possible he is related to the Kanyakubja Brahmins, but only by marriage. (Telegraph Sept. 16).
