KAPU The Kaapu are a very large community in Andhra Pradesh primarily into agriculture today. They seem to be similar to farming peoples in neighbouring Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamilnadu, Orissa Rajasthan and also Madhya Pradesh -Bihar etc further away. 'Kaapu' or kapu means 'protector' and usually it is taken to be protector of a village or region. (uuru kaapu, praanta-kaapu, palle-kaapu, etc). Maybe it was a post, a title in ancient times. The Kapus are the bedrock of Andhra Pradesh. They form the largest community in AP, but as a matter of fact this is a broad grouping and regionally they seem to be of different stocks. All the same it appears they were earlier inhabitants than most other farmers here. According to old tradition the king lists refer to kapu dynasties ruling in earlier times. This is not well known, and some people don't like to hear this. Some kapu sections merge into the Reddis (another title) in parts of Andhra Pradesh. The reddis are