Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "Telugu Brahmin" in English language version.
The Brahmins of Andhra Pradesh who speak Telugu can be divided into Vaishnavites, Smarthas and Madhwas. They are strictly vegetarians.
(pg 552) In Andhra Pradesh, all the Brahman groups except the Oriya Sahu Brahman are Pancha Dravida and are divided into Tamil Srivaishnava, Andhra Srivaishnava, Kamme Brahman and Maharashtra Desastha Brahman.
The Madhwas are followers of the Dwaitha philosophy of Madhwacharya and have sub-sects like the Badaganadu, Aravelu, Aravathuvokkalu, Deshastha, etc.
In Tamil Nadu, the Madhwa Brahmins are migrants from Karnataka. They have six sub-groups, they are Aruvela, Aruvanththuvakkalu, Badaganadu, Pennaththurar, Prathamasaki and Desastha and Badaga. They are concentrated in the Madras, Coimbatore, Coonoor and in Ooty.
The Nanda Vaidikas come from the Telugu country and include both Smarthas and Madhvas.
The Brahmans were either Smartas, Vaishnavas or Madhwas accordingly as they are followers of Sankaracharya, Ramanujacharya and Madhvacharya.
Among the Niyogis, there are Aruvela Niyogis, Pakanati Niyogis and others.
The Deshatha Brahman in Andhra Pradesh have two groups, namely Smartha and Madhva which are divided into exogamous surnames (intiperu) to indicate one's ancestry and regulate marriage alliances.
The Maharashtra Desastha Brahman are distributed in the districts of Telangana.
Marriage alliance between Deshastha Rigvedi and Telugu and Karnataka Brahmins takes place quite frequently.
One of the very important sections among the Telugu Brahmins are Dravida Brahmins. Their very name indicates their South Indian or Tamil origin. A very large number of Brahmin families migrated from Tamil Nadu to Andhra Pradesh
There are also a few Dravida Brahmin migrants especially from the Tamilnad speaking either Tamil or Telugu or both.
Traditionally, the Dravidulu were engaged as priests by the local rulers, zamindars and chieftains, and donated to them Agraharams. Some of them followed the vedic texts and engaged themselves as purohits and acharyas.
In Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, for instance, the brahmins represented about 3 percent of the population according to the 1931 census.
Dr. Hedgewar, a Telugu Brahmin, was a trained medical practitioner, and founded the RSS in 1925
P. V. Narasimha Rao Congress (IP) 1921 2004 Jun. 1991–May 1996 Brahmin (Hindu) Telugu, South (AP)
The third head of RSS, Balasaheb Deoras was another Telugu Brahmin.
