Konda Reddi Tribe

About Konda Reddi Tribe:

• Konda Reddis is a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group inhabiting the banks of the river Godavari and also in the hilly forest tracts of Godavari and Khammam districts of Andhra Pradesh.
• Their mother tongue is Telugu, with a unique accent.
• Subdivisions:
  • The Konda Reddy tribe is divided into exogamous septs for regulating matrimonial relations.
  • Like other Telugu-speaking people, their surnames are prefixed to individual names.
  • Generally, each sept is exogamous, but certain septs are considered as brother septs and marriage alliances with brother septs (agnate relations) are prohibited.
• Family and Marriage:
  • The family is patriarchal and patrilocal. Monogamy is a rule, but polygamous families are also found.
  • Marriage by negotiations, by love and elopement, by service, by capture and by exchange are socially accepted ways of acquiring mates. 
• Religion: The primary religion practiced by the Konda Reddi is Folk Hinduism, characterized by local traditions and cults of local deities worshiped at the community level.
• Political Organization:
  • They have their own institution of social control called ‘Kula Panchayat’.
  • Each village has a traditional headman called ‘Pedda Kapu’.
  • The office of the headman is hereditary, and the headman is also the Pujari (priest) of the village deities.
• Livelihood:
  • They are primarily shifting cultivators and largely depend on flora and fauna of forest for their livelihood.
  • They collect and sell non timber forest produce like tamarind, adda leaves, myrobolan, broom sticks, etc., to supplement their meagre income. 
  • They cultivate largely jowar, which is their staple food.