The Indian caste system is arduous to understand. It raised uncountable questions and created plenty of problems in Indian society and one such was the creation of untouchables. The typical character of caste system in India in general and particular in Andhra Pradesh within each caste there are a number of sub- divisions including the dependent community. They are panegyrists, preservers of the origin myths and the bygone traditions of their patron castes and by virtue of it they depend on them for their livelihood. Andhra Pradesh has a number of untouchable castes amongst the Mala and the Madiga are numerous presently called them as the Dalits. The Mala community is one of the numerically superior Dalit groups of Andhra Pradesh and having their own servicing and dependent castes known as Mala Mashti, Mala Jangam, Chalwadi (messengers of death news), Bhat Mala, Gurram Mala etc. Syed Siraj-ul- Hassan also attests that there were thirty seven Mala sub-groups in the erstwhile Nizam territory. The paper focused to study life, culture and relation with their patron caste of the Mala Mastis and the manuscript is written based on the colonial ethnographic records coupled with field study.

Keywords : Panegyrists, Chalwadi (Messengers of Death News), Preservers, Mala- Mashti.