The Nallamalai Hills which spread in the districts of Kurnool, Prakasham, Guntur, Mahaboobnagar and Nalgonda constitute the traditional habitat of Chenchus, the food gathering and hunting tribe of Andhra Pradesh. They are also found in a few villages of Ranga Reddy district.

The population of Chenchus is 40,869 as per 1991 census. The total literacy rate among them is 17.68 out of which male literacy rate is 24.90 and females is 10.11 as per 1991 census. Their mother tongue is Telugu.

The chenchu tribe is divided into a number of exogamous clans which are prefixed to their names. Some of the clans found among Chenchus are 'Mandli', 'Chigurla', 'Udathala', 'Tokala', 'Mekala', 'Bhumani', Katraju, Arthi, Dasari etc.

Family is nuclear. A very few joint families are also found. Chenchu tribe is patriarchal and patrilineal. Monogamy is the most prevalent form of marriage. Polygyny is also practised but it is rare. Marriage by negotiations and by elopement are found to be major methods of acquiring mates. Cross-cousin marriages are the most preferred. Marriage by service and by exchange are also practised. Levirate or marrying one's own elder brother's widow seems to have been practised in the past but now-a days it is on the wane. In addition to the payment of bride price, the groom or his parents have to bear the expenditure for the marriage.

Divorce is socially permitted on reasons such as sexual incompetency of the man or his drunkenness or ill treatment by him or illegal sexual intimacy with another person or barreness of the woman or mutual distrust due to marital infidelity.

They collect varieties of roots, tubers, wild fruits, edible leaves etc., and consume them. They are non-vegetarians but abstain from eating beef. The traditional house of a chenchu is a small conical or oblong hut with wattle walls and thatched roof.
Goats, sheep, buffaloes and cows are the domestic animals and there may be plough bullocks in the cultivating families.


Chenchus are adept in honey collection from honey combs perched on the mountain cliffs and caves. It is significant to note that in this arduous task of honey collection, the chenchus choose only brothers-in-law and not own brothers in view of the existence of levirate system of marriage. They also collect minor forest produce items like gum, tamarind, myrobalans, nuxvomica, honey wax, mohwa flowers, chironji, soap nuts, broom-sticks etc., and sell them to Girijan Co-operative Corporation.


The measures of social control are practised among chenchus through a council of elders of the village and is headed by a man called 'Peddamanishi'. Chenchus generally state that Peddamanishi is always succeeded in office by his eldest son but they also admit that this rule is by no means always followed and that any sensible man may become Peddamanishi even if there is a son to the deceased member. The disputes among Chenchus are generally settled by the traditional council.

A newborn child is named on the fourth day and the tonsure ceremony is performed when the child is three or four years old. A ceremony is performed when a girl attains puberty. Death pollution lasts for three to fifteen days and is terminated by performing the Peddadivasam ceremony. They observe ancestor worship annually.

They worship and believe in many deities and spirits both malevolent and benevolent and follow all Hindu festivals. Their religious pantheon include Mysamma, Rakta neeradu, Onti Veeradu, Peddamma, Lingamaiah, Mallanna, Narasimhaswamy, Pothuraju, Nagamaiah,Sunkulamma, Manthanalamma, Ankalamma etc.

The chenchu tribe is declared as primitive tribal group in 1975. A separate ITDA is functioning at Srisailam for the overall development of chenchus. This agency is implementing various development schemes in the fields of Agriculture, Irrigation, Education, Health, Nutrition, Horticulture, Supply of Drinking water, laying of Roads etc.