Hunter when he speaks of the non-Brahmanical ryot class of Mysore as “the peasant Brahmans.” Thus, the high aspirations of certain low castes had provoked the Aryan Brahmans, who out of jealousy and anger managed with the assistance of their kings, to class such men in the left-hand division, so that there might crop up unceasing quarrels, in almost all of which they were requested by the heads of respective factions to sit as judges for settling disputes. It is significant that this feud is very strong in the districts where there is a large number of Lingayats.
In addition to the two sources already explained, Dr. Oppert suggests a third one. He says 'the imminent decay of the Jaina power opened a fair prospect to the Brahmans of which they were not slow to take advantage. They gathered round them their followers, while their opponents, who represented in certain respects the national parly did the same ... The influence of Jains was perhaps strongest in towns, where the artizan classes form an important portion of the population, while the Brahmana appealed to the land owning and agricultural classes'. This is a cause, but not the cause of the dispute. Because firstly, the struggle for Brahman supremacy had almost been over in the south before the tenth century AD. ; and had this been the only cause for the division into rival hands, it would have taken place prior to that period. But it is not mentioned in any work or inscription of that date. Secondly,
