Uppara

Uppara is the name of a caste or minority group in India. The caste takes its name from the preparing of salt (uppu), which was the original community's primary economic activity.

The major Dravidian languages (Kannada, Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam) all use a variation of "uppu" to mean salt. Therefore, the persons engaged in the manufacture of salt are called Uppara in Kannada; Uppar or Upparollu in Telugu; Uppaliya, Uppaliyan and Upaliga in Tamil.

According to Buchanan, the most important occupation of the Telugu Upparas at the beginning of the nineteenth century was the manufacture of earth-salt and saltpetre (an important ingredient in the manufacture of gunpowder). The British Government in India prohibited the manufacture of earth-salt, thus causing the community members to divert to other occupations.

Some members of the caste are Vaishnavites and others Saivites. They also worship various village deities, which vary according to the place of residence.

The one man commission constituted by the Government of Andhra Pradesh, chaired by Sri Anantha Raman in its report in 1968 made certain observations and recommendations regarding the Uppara or Sagara community. Some of the points mentioned in the report are as follows:

The "Chinnappa Reddy Report (1990)" indicates that the Uppara make up about 1.18 percent of the population of Karnataka. In fact, although they have a sizeable presence in the district, they have not been able to have a MLA or MP from their community.

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