In 1909, Edgar Thurston noted that Malas were originally a tribe of freelance hill warriors and paid mercenaries who raided and looted under the Polygars of Vijayanagara.
In 1917, Bhagya Reddy Varma & Aringe Ramaswamy organised Adi-Andhra movement led Malas alongside Madigas to be part of Dravidian ideology.
Influenced by Ambedkarite and Marxist thought, the Dalit Mahasabha, with charismatic leaders such as Katti Padma Rao and Bhojja Tarakam sought the annihilation of caste and untouchability through social transformation, very different from the Gandhian ideals of "upliftment."
Rao's dreams were shattered by the assembly elections of 1994, where the TDP promised a slew of populist schemes to counter the mobilization of subaltern castes and won decisively.
[6] The Mala of Andhra Pradesh are considered a righthand community (valangai - agricultural basis), whilst the Madiga of the region are the left-hand (idangai - castes based on manufacturing, eg., leatherwork).
[8] A significant section of the Mala, and almost all in Coastal Andhra, turned to Christianity but after noticing the similar caste politics in the Telugu Catholic church, shifted to Protestantism instead.
[9] They made good use of the Christian educational programs, elevating some of their social position and now form part of the upper middle class.