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Suvarna Karnataka Rajya Gangamathastha Samajada Kshemabhivrudhi Sangha (R.)

The Bestha's are summed up, in the Madras Census Report, 1891, as "a Telugu caste, the hereditary occupation of which is hunting and fishing, but they have largely taken to agriculture and the professions of bearers and cooks." Later in the Census Report, 1901, it is stated that "the fisherman caste in the Deccan districts are called Besthas and Kabbēras, while those in some parts of the Coimbatore and Salem districts style themselves Toreyar, Siviyar, and Parivārattar. There are two endogamous sub-divisions in the Bestha caste, namely the Telaga and the Parigirti. Some say that the Kabbili or Kabbēravāndlu is a third. The Parigirti section traces their descent from Sūtudu, the famous expounder of the Māhābhārata. Bestha's employ Brāhmans and Sātānis (or Jangams, if Saivites) for their domestic ceremonies, and imitate the Brāhman customs, prohibiting widow remarriage." It is suggested, in the Gazetteer of the Bellary district, that the Bestha's are really a sub-division of the Gangimakkalu Kabbēras, who were originally palanquin-bearers, but, now that these vehicles have gone out of fashion, are employed in diverse other ways. It may be noted that the Siviyars of Coimbatore say that they are Bestha's who emigrated from Mysore in the troubled times of the Muhammadan usurpation. The name Siviyar, they say, was given to them by the Tamils, as, being strong and poor, they were palanquin-bearers to officers on circuit and others in the pre-railway days. Their main occupations at the present day are tank and river fishing