K. Jesurathnam
Introduction
The Christian missionary activity of the
nineteenth century was a significant one as it brought several changes in the
socio-economic and religious fabric of the Indian society that impacted the
future Christianity in India. The Christian missionary activity among Dalit
Christians had seen three significant changes in particular. Firstly,
those converted gained a new social consciousness as Christians. Secondly,
those who continued to remain in the fold of Hinduism began to realize
that the dogma of untouchability in which they were made to subject their
daily living was no longer true and that the Christian missionaries do not
believe and follow that dogma. Thirdly, the work of the Christian
missionaries stimulated many Hindu socio-religious reformers to reform
Hinduism with a view to counter the caste based tendency and impression
of Hinduism. In all these endeavors, the missionary activity in all
parts of India, particularly in Andhra Pradesh, stirred the consciousness
of Dalits; and they became aware of their rights, realized the inequality of
their economic as well as ritual status and became the agents
of their own liberation and emancipation. Missionary activity took
advantage of prominent and yet simple Dalit figures to advance their cause
of conversion. One such honorable figure in the history of Andhra Pradesh
Christianity is of Yerraguntla Peraiah. This short presentation will attempt to
trace Peraiah's biography and his modest attempt to achieve a
great milestone in the history of Indian Church in coastal Andhra,
particularly in Ongole area of the present Prakasham district for the
development of Dalits after they were converted to Christianity.
Biographical Sketch of Peraiah
Peraiah was born in the year 1825 in the then
untouchable caste called Madiga. This community was and is branded as the
people involved in leather-work. He hailed from a village called
Thallakondapadu, situated forty miles from Ongole, the present headquarters of
Prakasham district. Pelea was fifteen years old when the Telugu Baptist Church
was founded in Ongole. Peraiah was learning the basic principles of Vaisnavism
in Hinduism from his grandfather. He was always interested in learning the
deep insights from religions, and had a deep yearning to learn from a
religion that did not consider caste.
He found his longing fulfilled at last in Sri
Pothuluri Veerabrahmam's Saivite sect. Veerabrahmam in his own time preached
radical ideas of casteless society and religion. This sect affirmed that there
is one God and all are God's children and there is no discrimination between
human beings on the basis of caste. Peraiah was also influenced by another
person called Bandihatla Veeramma, who was the faithful disciple of Veerabrahmam.
Peraiah found both these figures as models to follow because
they preached and practiced against untouchability and in this way wanted to
liberate Dalits from the bondage of caste system. Moreover Peraiah was
also in touch with other people like Ramanuja and Nazr Mohammad Mastan,
who also fought and preached against untouchability. Later Peraiah came in
contact with several Dalit leaders as well who vociferously argued against
untouchability. He learned much from all such contacts because of which the
seed against untouchabilitty got deeply rooted in his consciousness.
With this quest in his mind Peraiah had an
opportunity to visit Eluru, in Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh on his
business trip. Peraiah was a cobbler and a trader. Since many cattle were
dying in Godavari area, Peraiah travelled to that area along with his friend. A
distant relative of Peraiah, Ongole Abraham already settled in Eluru,
had embraced Christianity. Because Peraiah also wanted to get some
information about Jesus Christ, he met Mr. Alexander of Church Missionary
Society in Eluru. Later Peraiah went to another place called Palakollu and met
a person named Bowdea, who in turn suggested Peraiah to meet Dr. Jewett at
Ongole. Upon his return to Ongole, Peraiah met Jewett and this meeting
transformed Peraiah's life as he was enlightened with the message of the gospel
of Jesus Christ. Later he went back to his native place and put a lot of effort
into convincing his wife and other family members to embrace Christianity. Peraiah
thus became an epitome of true conversion. He worked hard in the following
years to expand his missionary activity.
Missionary Activity of Peraiah
Peraiah's missionary journey began with his
meeting the Andhra Baptist missionaries.
It was reported "in March 1866 Mrs.
and Mr. Jewett, Mr. Clough and Mr. Kanakaial visited Ongole and spoke
privately of meeting Peraiah, who wanted to meet the missionary and be baptized.
He was not in Ongole as had been expected, but returned in a few days. So
eager indeed was he to meet them that he left his meal unfinished
when the information of the arrival of the missionaries came to him."
Upon meeting them Peraiah and his wife Nagamma shared their personal testimony
in a simple language yet in a profound manner. Peraiah's testimony made a
deep impression on the missionaries and at once they decided to baptize Peraiah
and his wife. On March 26, 1866 Peraiah and his wife were baptized in
a tank near Ongole. With this a new journey of Peraiah's missionary activity
began. He worked hard day and night to bring many converts from Madiga
community to Christianity. He adopted out-reach method by going and regularly
visiting people in every village by preaching and baptizing every convert
openly in the public.
Peraiah adopted three principles as a policy in
his preaching during his missionary activity. The principles were: Do not work
on Sundays; Do not eat carrion (flesh of dead animals or birds); Do not worship
idols. As a result of these principles it was reported that: “the new
Christian community started securing their liberty, delinking themselves
from the Hindu mythological inhuman system, and started becoming a people with
culture and dignity. Peraiah's dreams slowly started to come true, and
he was striving tirelessly to achieve this."?
Because of such unprecedented and hard labour
that Peraiah put into his missionary activity along with other Baptist
missionaries, the converts to Christianity began to grow rapidly. To
substantiate this with the data it was reported that from 1841 till the
entry of Peraiah in 1866 through the efforts of Andhra Mission there were only
38 converts. But the year 1878 was remarkable in terms of the number of
converts to Christianity. In June 1878, 1168 were baptized, in July 7513 (222
in one day!), 466 in August, 59 in November, 400 in December.3 All this became
possible through the tireless efforts made by Peraiah and Clough. Further
in the year 1880, 3000 converts were baptized. The years 1890 and 1891 had seen
another mass revival that included 1671 baptisms in one day. Peraiah's
Dalit Consciousness
The work of Peraiah had not only impacted
Christianity and brought many converts from Hinduism, but also gave identity
and recognition to a large section of Dalits, particularly of the Madiga community
to which Periah belonged. Periah and his associate converts implemented
three precepts on all those Dalits who embraced Christianity so that they
were able to get clear consciousness which would hold them with high dignity in
the society.
The first precept 'Do not work on Sundays' saved
the Madiga community from the oppressive bondage of the high caste
landlords. Through this precept Madiga community declared their independence
and claimed their human right and defied the rule imposed on them by the
high caste landlords. Periah initiated this move as an important
step forward for Dalits to assert their independence from the rigid
caste system and oppressive landlordism prevailing at that time.
Dalits could now work on their own with their own terms and conditions.
The second precept 'Do not eat
carrion' (flesh of dead animals or birds), was one more step taken by
Madigas to defy the social custom imposed on them by their caste oppressors.
Madigas were engaged in cutting the animals and birds on important
religious ceremonies and later the dead animals were given to them and
they were asked by the caste people to sew the sandals for them from the
hide of the dead animals. For this purpose in front of every Madiga
hut there was tannery tub present used for cleaning the skins. This not
only created a foul smell in the surrounding areas but created
disgust and hatred among others towards Madiga community's hygiene habits.
Peraiah and Clough worked hard to remove this practice thus making the lives of
Dalits free from the bondage of caste system and evil practices imposed by
the caste people upon the innocent Dalits for several centuries.
The third precept 'Do not worship idols' is yet
another practice Peraiah and his associates implemented upon the converts
to give them freedom from the bondage of caste evils. The duties of Dalits
according to the strictures imposed on them by the caste communities also
included the beating of the drum and perform dance before the idols while
the animals were being slaughtered for sacrifice. Dalits were
required to hack the animal's head and hold it in their hands and go before the
idols in a procession through the village streets. By not participating in such
village festivals Peraiah prepared Dalits to defy the rules imposed on them by
the caste system and its guardians.
By practicing and implementing the above three
precepts Peraiah created a new Dalit consciousness among the converts through
which they could assert their new-found liberty and independence and take
a firm stand against the evils of caste system prevailing at that
time. Conclusion
Yerraguntala Peraiah was certainly an important
figure and an honorable Dalit Christian missionary who worked tirelessly for
the dignity and honor of Dalits in his own day. He felt the call of God as a
mission call and totally dedicated his life for the purpose of creating a
spirit of obedience to the Savior Jesus Christ and simultaneously fought
against all evil schemes and high-handed practices of caste people against
innocent Dalits. Thus Yerraguntala Peraiah has not only secured a
permanent place in the missionary history but also in the heart of every
Dalit Christian in Andhra Pradesh.
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