In medieval times there was only a very small standing army of any kingdom. Most of the armies mustered belonged to the feudatories and subordinate nobles and Dukes. These soldiers were basically farmers. Then there were the retainers of the many land holders, the "camp followers" who assisted in transport and logistics. But a section of the kingdom's official army was specialised professional infantry. These groups were exclusively concerned with techniques of warfare, and here too one section were called Ekattalu, or Ontari (individual hand to hand fighters). In a sense they were commando type soldiers. Among the Mudiraju are these sections. They were usually in the service of Velama kingdoms. Today also the Mudiraju farmers are found today in the vicinity of old Velama controlled areas.
It is said a section of the old Mudiraj were interior palace guards "suicide squads" i.e. the last line of defence of the Velama castles. While they mostly have a connection with the Velamas they are a distinct community, and it is likely they were active in earlier times too. In the Kakatiya times they used to spend most of their time developing Marital arts. Similar martial arts tradition is found in Orissa, Tamil Nadu and of course the well known Kalaaripayat of Kerala.
In some places the Mudirajus acquired large properties and were "Zamindars" in Tamil Nadu. There is a tradition that Mudirajus were kings under Pallava emperors in Tanjore area of Tamil Nadu, until Vijayalaya Chola took over the area. Even long afterwards, some of them retained large estates. In fact one of them set up a college during early English times. But on the whole Mudirajus today are middle and small farmers.
The word "Mutharacha" was a professional designation for those people who used to administer "Muthass" in Dravidian Tribal Society since prehistoric times. The Mutha system of administration continued till British people imposed their system of administration in British India.
- Mutha: is a Koya word. It means a cluster of villages equal to a Mandal / Taluka, which formed the smallest administrative unit in tribal society.
- Racha (Raja): Racha is also a Koya word. Racha indicates the people of ruling class who used to administer the Muthas in Dravidian tribal society. The powers were transferred from one generation to another.
- Thus the Mutharachas were born administrators having warrior qualities as they were like sub kings with all military and judicial powers to administer Muthas. They were directly answerable to their King.
The word Muthracha lost its value in the society as the system of Mutha died down and the Mutharachas became jobless. A large population of Mutharachas became farm laborers and coolis. They became one of poor backward class people.
ReligionThe Kolis who worship the Souls of their warrior ancestors were known as "Veerkars". The Mudiraj also worship the Souls of their ancestors and the call the function as "Veerla Kolupu". The Kolis who worship the God / Goddess were known as "Devkars". The Mudiraj people also worship the God/ Goddess and the function is known as "Devara Kolupu". The Mudiraj are Shiva worshipers with vibhoothi (ash) on their foreheads. While Mudiraj people are known to worship Ankamma in Andhra Pradesh, the counter part people of Kolis in Maharastra worship Mumba Devi = Maha Amba Devi).
Goddess AnkammaMudiraju's popular deity is mother Goddess Ankamma. Ankamma is also known as Angamma, Ankalamma, Angalamma, Ankali, Angali, Ankala Parameswari, Angala Parameswari and Veerla Ankamma which is the same as Kali. She is worshipped with these names in Andhra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. She was a royal deity of Chola and Muthrayar kings of South India. Rajendra Chola daughter Angamma Devi married an Eastern Chalukyan prince. Angalamman temple of Kaveripattinam is one among many holy places in Krishnagiri District of Tamil Nadu which were built during Chola and Vijayanagar periods. Ankamma is considered to be the mother of Trimurtis. The most important part of Ankamma Kolupu is that a midnight puja was performed with the help of ballads by making a colorful Rangoli with wheat flour, turmaric powder, kumkum, black charcoal powder, etc. At the end of the puja, the devotees sacrifice a goat. The Devara Kolupu / Veerla Kolupu is normally performed on some special occasions by individuals or by community as a whole.
During the worship singers recite historical stories about warrior ancestors. In those stories, there is a reference to Dharma Choda Chari and his six brothers belonging solar race from Devagiri City in Maharastra. Kakatiyas who worshiped Goddess Kakati hailed from Maharastra Kaikadi Erukala branch of bhil community belonging to solar race. Devagiri was a capital city of Yadava kings in Maharashtra.
