C
Canji (gruel).--An exogamous sept of Padma Sale. Canji is the word "in
use all over India for the water, in which rice has been boiled. It
also forms the usual starch of Indian washermen." [1] As a sept of
the Sale weavers, it probably has reference to the gruel, or size,
which is applied to the warp.
Chacchadi.--Haddis who do scavenging work, with whom other Haddis do
not freely intermarry.
Chadarapu Dhompti (square space marriage offering).--A sub-division
of Madigas, who, at marriages, offer food to the god in a square space.
Chakala.--See Tsakala.
Chakkan.--Recorded in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as "a Malabar
caste of oil-pressers (chakku means an oil-mill). Followers of this
calling are known also as Vattakkadans in South Malabar, and as
Vaniyans in North Malabar, but the former are the higher in social
status, the Nayars being polluted by the touch of the Vaniyans
and Chakkans, but not by that of the Vattakkadans. Chakkans and
Vaniyans may not enter Brahman temples. Their customs and manners are
similar to those of the Nayars, who will not, however, marry their
women." Chakkingalavan appears as a synonym for Chakkan.
Chakkiliyan.--"The Chakkiliyans," Mr. H. A. Stuart writes, [2]
"are the leather-workers of the Tamil districts, corresponding to
the Madigas of the Telugu country. The Chakkiliyans appear to be
immigrants from the Telugu or Canarese districts, for no mention is
made of this caste either in the early Tamil inscriptions, or in early
Tamil literature. Moreover, a very large proportion of the Chakkiliyans
speak Telugu and Canarese. In social position the Chakkiliyans occupy
the lowest rank, though there is much dispute on this point between
them and the Paraiyans. Nominally they are Saivites, but in reality
devil-worshippers. The avaram plant (Cassia auriculata) is held in
much veneration by them, [3] and the tali is tied to a branch of it
as a preliminary to marriage. Girls are not usually married before
puberty. The bridegroom may be younger than the bride. Their widows
may remarry. Divorce can be obtained at the pleasure of either
party on payment of Rs. 12-12-0 to the other in the presence of
the local head of the caste. Their women are considered to be very
beautiful, and it is a woman of this caste who is generally selected
for the coarser form of Sakti worship. They indulge very freely in
intoxicating liquors, and will eat any flesh, including beef, pork,
etc. Hence they are called, par excellence, the flesh-eaters (Sanskrit
shatkuli)." It was noted by Sonnerat, in the eighteenth century, [4]
that the Chakkiliyans are in more contempt than the Pariahs, because
they use cow leather in making shoes. "The Chucklers or cobblers,"
the Abbé Dubois writes, [5] "are considered inferiors to the Pariahs
all over the peninsula. They are more addicted to drunkenness and
debauchery. Their orgies take place principally in the evening,
and their villages resound, far into the night, with the yells and
quarrels which result from their intoxication. The very Pariahs refuse
to have anything to do with the Chucklers, and do not admit them to
any of their feasts." In the Madura Manual, 1868, the Chakkiliyans are
summed up as "dressers of leather, and makers of slippers, harness,
and other leather articles. They are men of drunken and filthy habits,
and their morals are very bad. Curiously enough, their women are held
to be of the Padmani kind, i.e., of peculiar beauty of face and form,
and are also said to be very virtuous. It is well known, however, that
zamindars and other rich men are very fond of intriguing with them,
particularly in the neighbourhood of Paramagudi, where they live in
great numbers." There is a Tamil proverb that even a Chakkili girl
and the ears of the millet are beautiful when mature. In the Tanjore
district, the Chakkiliyans are said [6] to be "considered to be of the
very lowest status. In some parts of the district they speak Telugu and
wear the namam (Vaishnavite sect mark) and are apparently immigrants
from the Telugu country." Though they are Tamil-speaking people, the
Chakkiliyans, like the Telugu Madigas, have exogamous septs called
gotra in the north, and kilai in the south. Unlike the Madigas, they do
not carry out the practice of making Basavis (dedicated prostitutes).
The correlation of the most important measurements of the Madigas of
the Telugu country, and so-called Chakkiliyans of the city of Madras,
is clearly brought out by the following figures:--
Thirty Madigas. Fifty Chakkiliyans.
cm. cm.
Stature 163.1 162.2
Cephalic length 18.6 18.6
Cephalic breadth 13.9 13.9
Cephalic index 75. 75.
Nasal height 4.5 4.6
Nasal breadth 3.7 3.6
Nasal index 80.8 78.9
The Chakkiliyan men in Madras are tattooed not only on the forehead,
but also with their name, conventional devices, dancing-girls, etc.,
on the chest and upper extremities.
It has been noticed as a curious fact that, in the Madura district,
"while the men belong to the right-hand faction, the women belong to
and are most energetic supporters of the left. It is even said that,
during the entire period of a faction riot, the Chakkili women keep
aloof from their husbands and deny them their marital rights." [7]
In a very interesting note on the leather industry of the Madras
Presidency, Mr. A. Chatterton writes as follows. [8] "The position of
the Chakkiliyan in the south differs greatly from that of the Madiga
of the north, and many of his privileges are enjoyed by a 'sub-sect'
of the Pariahs called Vettiyans. These people possess the right of
removing dead cattle from villages, and in return have to supply
leather for agricultural purposes. The majority of Chakkiliyans
are not tanners, but leather-workers, and, instead of getting the
hides or skins direct from the Vettiyan, they prefer to purchase
them ready-tanned from traders, who bring them from the large tanning
centres. When the Chuckler starts making shoes or sandals, he purchases
the leather and skin which he requires in the bazar, and, taking
it home, first proceeds with a preliminary currying operation. The
leather is damped and well stretched, and dyed with aniline, the usual
colour being scarlet R.R. of the Badische Anilin Soda Fabrik. This
is purchased in the bazar in packets, and is dissolved in water,
to which a little oxalic acid has been added. The dye is applied
with a piece of rag on the grain side, and allowed to dry. After
drying, tamarind paste is applied to the flesh side of the skin,
and the latter is then rolled between the hands, so as to produce a
coarse graining on the outer side. In making the shoes, the leather is
usually wetted, and moulded into shape on wooden moulds or lasts. As
a rule, nothing but cotton is used for sewing, and the waxed ends of
the English cobbler are entirely unknown. The largest consumption of
leather in this Presidency is for water-bags or kavalais, which are
used for raising water from wells, and for oil and ghee (clarified
butter) pots, in which the liquids are transported from one place to
another. Of irrigation wells there are in the Presidency more than
600,000, and, though some of them are fitted with iron buckets, nearly
all of them have leather bags with leather discharging trunks. The
buckets hold from ten to fifty gallons of water, and are generally
made from fairly well tanned cow hides, though for very large buckets
buffalo hides are sometimes used. The number of oil and ghee pots
in use in the country is very large. The use of leather vessels for
this purpose is on the decline, as it is found much cheaper and more
convenient to store oil in the ubiquitous kerosine-oil tin, and it is
not improbable that eventually the industry will die out, as it has
done in other countries. The range of work of the country Chuckler
is not very extensive. Besides leather straps for wooden sandals, he
makes crude harness for the ryot's cattle, including leather collars
from which numerous bells are frequently suspended, leather whips for
the cattle drivers, ornamental fringes for the bull's forehead, bellows
for the smith, and small boxes for the barber, in which to carry his
razors. In some places, leather ropes are used for various purposes,
and it is customary to attach big coir (cocoanut fibre) ropes to the
bodies of the larger temple cars by leather harness, when they are
drawn in procession through the streets. Drum-heads and tom-toms are
made from raw hides by Vettiyans and Chucklers. The drums are often
very large, and are transported upon the back of elephants, horses,
bulls and camels. For them raw hides are required, but for the smaller
instruments sheep-skins are sufficient. The raw hides are shaved on
the flesh side, and are then dried. The hair is removed by rubbing
with wood-ashes. The use of lime in unhairing is not permissible,
as it materially decreases the elasticity of the parchment." The
Chakkiliyans beat the tom-tom for Kammalans, Pallis and Kaikolans,
and for other castes if desired to do so.
The Chakkiliyans do not worship Matangi, who is the special deity of
the Madigas. Their gods include Madurai Viran, Mariamma, Muneswara,
Draupadi and Gangamma. Of these, the last is the most important, and
her festival is celebrated annually, if possible. To cover the expenses
thereof, a few Chakkiliyans dress up so as to represent men and women
of the Marathi bird-catching caste, and go about begging in the streets
for nine days. On the tenth day the festival terminates. Throughout
it, Gangamma, represented by three decorated pots under a small pandal
(booth) set up on the bank of a river or tank beneath a margosa (Melia
azadirachta), or pipal (Ficus religiosa) tree, is worshipped. On the
last day, goats and fowls are sacrificed, and limes cut.
During the first menstrual period, the Chakkiliyan girl is kept under
pollution in a hut made of fresh green boughs, which is erected by her
husband or maternal uncle. Meat, curds, and milk are forbidden. On the
last day, the hut is burnt down. At marriages a Chakkiliyan usually
officiates as priest, or the services of a Valluvan priest may be
enlisted. The consent of the girl's maternal uncle to the marriage
is essential. The marriage ceremony closely resembles that of the
Paraiyans. And, at the final death ceremonies of a Chakkiliyan, as of a
Paraiyan, two bricks are worshipped, and thrown into a tank or stream.
Lean children, especially of the Mala, Madiga, and Chakkiliyan
classes, are made to wear a leather strap, specially made for them
by a Chakkiliyan, which is believed to help their growth.
At times of census, some Chakkiliyans have returned themselves as
Pagadaiyar, Madari (conceit or arrogance), and Ranaviran (brave
warrior).
Chakkiyar.--The Chakkiyars are a class of Ambalavasis, of whom the
following account is given in the Travancore Census Report, 1901. The
name is generally derived from Slaghyavakkukar (those with eloquent
words), and refers to the traditional function of the caste in Malabar
society. According to the Jatinirnaya, the Chakkiyars represent a caste
growth of the Kaliyuga. The offence to which the first Chakkiyar owes
his position in society was, it would appear, brought to light after
the due performance of the upanayanasamskara. Persons, in respect
of whom the lapse was detected before that spiritualizing ceremony
took place, became Nambiyars. Manu derives Suta, whose functions are
identical with the Malabar Chakkiyar, from a pratiloma union, i.e.,
of a Brahman wife with a Kshatriya husband. [9] The girls either
marry into their own caste, or enter into the sambandham form of
alliance with Nambutiris. They are called Illottammamar. Their jewelry
resembles that of the Nambutiris. The Chakkiyar may choose a wife
for sambandham from among the Nambiyars. They are their own priests,
but the Brahmans do the purification (punyaham) of house and person
after birth or death pollution. The pollution itself lasts for eleven
days. The number of times the Gayatri (hymn) may be repeated is ten.
The traditional occupation of the Chakkiyans is the recitation of
Puranic stories. The accounts of the Avataras have been considered
the highest form of scripture of the non-Brahmanical classes, and
the early Brahmans utilised the intervals of their Vedic rites, i.e.,
the afternoons, for listening to their recitation by castes who could
afford the leisure to study and narrate them. Special adaptations for
this purpose have been composed by writers like Narayana Bhattapada,
generally known as the Bhattatirippat, among whose works Dutavakya,
Panchalisvayamvara, Subhadrahana and Kaunteyashtaka are the most
popular. In addition to these, standard works like Bhogachampu and
Mahanataka are often pressed into the Chakkiyar's service. Numerous
upakathas or episodes are brought in by way of illustration, and the
marvellous flow of words, and the telling humour of the utterances,
keep the audience spell-bound. On the utsavam programme of every
important temple, especially in North Travancore, the Chakkiyarkuttu
(Chakkiyar's performance) is an essential item. A special building,
known as kuttampalam, is intended for this purpose. Here the Chakkiyar
instructs and regales his hearers, antiquely dressed, and seated on a
three-legged stool. He wears a peculiar turban with golden rim and silk
embossments. A long piece of cloth with coloured edges, wrapped round
the loins in innumerable vertical folds with an elaborateness of detail
difficult to describe, is the Chakkiyar's distinctive apparel. Behind
him stands the Nambiyar, whose traditional kinship with the Chakkiyar
has been referred to, with a big jar-shaped metal drum in front of
him called milavu, whose bass sound resembles the echo of distant
thunder. The Nambiyar is indispensable for the Chakkiyarkuttu, and
sounds his mighty instrument at the beginning, at the end, and also
during the course of his recitation, when the Chakkiyar arrives at
the middle and end of a Sanskrit verse. The Nangayar, a female of the
Nambiyar caste, is another indispensable element, and sits in front of
the Chakkiyar with a cymbal in hand, which she sounds occasionally. It
is interesting to note that, amidst all the boisterous merriment into
which the audience may be thrown, there is one person who has to sit
motionless like a statue. If the Nangayar is moved to a smile, the
kuttu must stop, and there are cases where, in certain temples, the
kuttu has thus become a thing of the past. The Chakkiyar often makes
a feint of representing some of his audience as his characters for
the scene under depictment. But he does it in such a genteel way that
rarely is offence taken. It is an unwritten canon of Chakkiyarkuttu
that the performance should stop at once if any of the audience so
treated should speak out in answer to the Chakkiyar, who, it may be
added, would stare at an admiring listener, and thrust questions on
him with such directness and force as to need an extraordinary effort
to resist a reply. And so realistic is his performance that a tragic
instance is said to have occurred when, by a cruel irony of fate,
his superb skill cost a Chakkiyar his life. While he was explaining
a portion of the Mahabharata with inimitable theatrical effect,
a desperate friend of the Pandavas rose from his seat in a fit of
uncontrollable passion, and actually knocked the Chakkiyar dead when,
in an attitude of unmistakable though assumed heartlessness, he, as
personating Duryodhana, inhumanely refused to allow even a pin-point
of ground to his exiled cousins. This, it is believed, occurred in
a private house, and thereafter kuttu was prohibited except at temples.
It is noted, in the Gazetteer of Malabar, that "Chakkiyars or
Slaghyar-vakukar are a caste following makkattayam (inheritance from
father to son), and wear the punul (thread). They are recruited
from girls born to a Nambudiri woman found guilty of adultery,
after the date at which such adultery is found to have commenced,
and boys of similar origin, who have been already invested with
the sacred thread. Boys who have not been invested with the punul
when their mother is declared an adulteress, join the class known
as Chakkiyar Nambiyars, who follow marumakkattayam (inheritance in
the female line), and do not wear the thread. The girls join either
caste indifferently. Chakkiyars may marry Nangiyars, but Chakkiyar
Nambiyars may not marry Illotammamar."
Chaliyan.--The Chaliyans are a caste of Malayalam cotton weavers,
concerning whom Mr. Francis writes as follows [10]:--"In dress and
manners they resemble the artisan castes of Malabar, but, like
the Pattar Brahmans, they live in streets, which fact probably
points to their being comparatively recent settlers from the east
coast. They have their own barbers called Potuvans, who are also
their purohits. They do not wear the sacred thread, as the Sale
weavers of the east coast do. They practise ancestor worship, but
without the assistance of Brahman priests. This is the only Malabar
caste which has anything to do with the right and left-hand faction
disputes, and both divisions are represented in it, the left hand
being considered the superior. Apparently, therefore, it settled in
Malabar some time after the beginnings of this dispute on the east
coast, that is, after the eleventh century A. D. Some of them follow
the marumakkatayam and others the makkatayam law of inheritance,
which looks as if the former were earlier settlers than the latter."
The Chaliyans are so called because, unlike most of the west coast
classes, they live in streets, and Teruvan (teru, a street) occurs
as a synonym for the caste name. The right-hand section are said to
worship the elephant god Ganesa, and the left Bhagavati.
The following account of the Chaliyans is given in the Gazetteer of the
Malabar district: "Chaliyans are almost certainly a class of immigrants
from the east coast. They live in regular streets, a circumstance
strongly supporting this view. The traditional account is to the same
effect. It is said that they were originally of a high caste, and were
imported by one of the Zamorins, who wished to introduce the worship
of Ganapathi, to which they are much addicted. The latter's minister,
the Mangatt Acchan, who was entrusted with the entertainment of the
new arrivals, and was nettled by their fastidiousness and constant
complaints about his catering, managed to degrade them in a body
by the trick of secretly mixing fish with their food. They do not,
like their counterparts on the east coast, wear the thread; but it is
noticeable that their priests, who belong to their own caste, wear it
over the right shoulder instead of over the left like the Brahman's
punul, when performing certain pujas (worship). In some parts, the
place of the regular punul is taken by a red scarf or sash worn in
the same manner. They are remarkable for being the only caste in
Malabar amongst whom any trace of the familiar east coast division
into right-hand and left-hand factions is to be found. They are so
divided; and those belonging to the right-hand faction deem themselves
polluted by the touch of those belonging to the left-hand sect, which
is numerically very weak. They are much addicted to devil-dancing,
which rite is performed by certain of their numbers called Komarams
in honour of Bhagavathi and the minor deities Vettekkorumagan and
Gulikan (a demon). They appear to follow makkatayam (descent from
father to son) in some places, and marumakkatayam (inheritance in
the female line) in others. Their pollution period is ten days,
and their purification is performed by the Talikunnavan (sprinkler),
who belongs to a somewhat degraded section of the caste."
The affairs of the caste are managed by headmen called Uralans, and
the caste barber, or Pothuvan, acts as the caste messenger. Council
meetings are held at the village temple, and the fines inflicted on
guilty persons are spent in celebrating puja (worship) thereat.
When a girl reaches puberty, the elderly females of Uralan families
take her to a tank, and pour water over her head from small cups
made of the leaves of the jak (Artocarpus integrifolia) tree. She is
made to sit apart on a mat in a room decorated with young cocoanut
leaves. Round the mat raw rice and paddy (unhusked rice) are spread,
and a vessel containing cocoanut flowers and cocoanuts is placed near
her. On the third evening, the washerman (Peruvannan) brings some
newly-washed cloths (mattu). He is presented with some rice and paddy,
which he ties up in a leaf, and does puja. He then places the cloths
on a plank, which he puts on his head. After repeating some songs
or verses, he sets it down on the floor. Some of the girl's female
relations take a lighted lamp, a pot of water, a measure of rice,
and go three times round the plank. On the following day, the girl
is bathed, and the various articles which have been kept in her room
are thrown into a river or tank.
Like many other Malabar castes, the Chaliyans perform the tali kettu
ceremony. Once in several years, the girls of the village who have
to go through this ceremony are brought to the house of one of the
Uralans, where a pandal (booth) has been set up. Therein a plank, made
of the wood of the pala tree (Alstonia scholaris), a lighted lamp,
betel leaves and nuts, a measure of raw rice, etc., are placed. The
girl takes her seat on the plank, holding in her right hand a mimic
arrow (shanthulkol). The Pothuvan, who receives a fanam (coin) and
three bundles of betel leaves for his services, hands the tali to a
male member of an Uralan family, who ties it on the girl's neck.
On the day before the wedding-day the bridegroom, accompanied by his
male relations, proceeds to the house of the bride, where a feast is
held. On the following day the bride is bathed, and made to stand
before a lighted lamp placed on the floor. The bridegroom's father
or uncle places two gold fanams (coins) in her hands, and a further
feast takes place.
In the seventh month of pregnancy, the ceremony called puli kudi
(or drinking tamarind) is performed. The woman's brother brings a
twig of a tamarind tree, and, after the leaves have been removed,
plants it in the yard of the house. The juice is extracted from the
leaves, and mixed with the juice of seven cocoanuts. The elderly
female relations of the woman give her a little of the mixture. The
ceremony is repeated during three days. Birth pollution is removed
by a barber woman sprinkling water on the ninth day.
The dead are buried. The son carries a pot of water to the grave, round
which he takes it three times. The barber makes a hole in the pot,
which is then thrown down at the head of the grave. The barber also
tears off a piece of the cloth, in which the corpse is wrapped. This
is, on the tenth day, taken by the son and barber to the sea or a tank,
and thrown into it. Three stones are set up over the grave.
Chaliyan also occurs as an occupational title or sub-division of
Nayars, and Chaliannaya as an exogamous sept of Bant. In the Madras
Census Report, 1901, Chaliyan is given as a sub-caste of Vaniyan
(oil-pressers). Some Chaliyans are, however, oilmongers by profession.
Challa.--Challa, meaning apparently eaters of refuse, occurs as
a sub-division of Yanadis, and meaning buttermilk as an exogamous
sept of Devanga. Challakuti, meaning those who eat old or cold food,
is an exogamous sept of Kapus.
Chamar.--Nearly three hundred members of this Bengal caste of
tanners and workers in leather were returned at the census, 1901. The
equivalent Chamura occurs as the name of leather-workers from the
Central Provinces.
Chandala.--At the census, 1901, more than a thousand individuals
returned themselves as Chandala, which is defined as a generic
term, meaning one who pollutes, to many low castes. "It is,"
Surgeon-Major W. R. Cornish writes, [11] "characteristic of the
Brahmanical intolerance of the compilers of the code that the origin
of the lowest caste of all (the Chandala) should be ascribed to the
intercourse of a Sudra man and a Brahman woman, while the union of
a Brahman male with a Sudra woman is said to have resulted in one of
the highest of the mixed classes." By Manu it was laid down that "the
abode of the Chandala and Swapaca must be out of the town. They must
not have the use of entire vessels. Their sole wealth must be dogs
and asses. Their clothes must be the mantles of the deceased; their
dishes for food broken pots; their ornaments rusty iron; continually
must they roam from place to place. Let no man who regards his duty,
religious and civil, hold any intercourse with them, and let food be
given to them in potsherds, but not by the hand of the giver."
Chandra (moon).--An exogamous sept of Kuruba. The name Chandravamsapu
(moon people) is taken by some Razus, who claim to be Kshatriyas,
and to be descended from the lunar race of kings of the Mahabharata.
Chanipoyina (those who are dead).--An exogamous sept of Orugunta Kapu.
Chapa (mat).--An exogamous sept of Boya.
Chappadi (insipid).--An exogamous sept of Jogi.
Chapparam (a pandal or booth).--An exogamous sept of Devanga.
Chapparband.--The Chapparbands are manufacturers of spurious coin,
who hail from the Bombay Presidency, and are watched for by the
police. It is noted, in the Police Report, 1904, that good work was
done in Ganjam in tracing certain gangs of these coiners, and bringing
them to conviction.
For the following note I am indebted to a report [12] by
Mr. H. N. Alexander of the Bombay Police Department. The name
Chapparband refers to their calling, chapa meaning an impression or
stamp. "Among themselves they are known as Bhadoos, but in Hindustan,
and among Thugs and cheats generally, they are known as Khoolsurrya,
i.e., false coiners. While in their villages, they cultivate the
fields, rear poultry and breed sheep, while the women make quilts,
which the men sell while on their tours. But the real business of this
class is to make and pass off false coin. Laying aside their ordinary
Muhammadan dress, they assume the dress and appearance of fakirs of the
Muddar section, Muddar being their Pir, and, unaccompanied by their
women, wander from village to village. Marathi is their language,
and, in addition, they have a peculiar slang of their own. Like all
people of this class, they are superstitious, and will not proceed
on an expedition unless a favourable omen is obtained. The following
account is given, showing how the false coin is manufactured. A mould
serves only once, a new one being required for every rupee or other
coin. It is made of unslaked lime and a kind of yellow earth called
shedoo, finely powdered and sifted, and patiently kneaded with water
to about the consistency of putty. One of the coins to be imitated
is then pressed with some of the preparation, and covered over,
and, being cut all round, is placed in some embers. After becoming
hardened, it is carefully laid open with a knife, and, the coin
being taken out, its impression remains. The upper and lower pieces
are then joined together with a kind of gum, and, a small hole being
made on one side, molten tin is poured in, and thus an imitation of
the coin is obtained, and it only remains to rub it over with dirt
to give it the appearance of old money. The tin is purchased in any
bazaar, and the false money is prepared on the road as the gang
travels along. Chapparbands adopt several ways of getting rid of
their false coin. They enter shops and make purchases, showing true
rupees in the first instance, and substituting false ones at the time
of payment. They change false rupees for copper money, and also in
exchange for good rupees of other currencies. Naturally, they look
out for women and simple people, though the manner of passing off
the base coin is clever, being done by sleight of hand. The false
money is kept in pockets formed within the folds of their langutis
(loin-cloths), and also hidden in the private parts."
The following additional information concerning Chapparbands is
contained in the Illustrated Criminal Investigation and Law Digest
[13]:--"They travel generally in small gangs, and their women never
follow them. They consult omens before leaving their villages. They do
not leave their villages dressed as fakirs. They generally visit some
place far away from their residence, and there disguise themselves as
Madari fakirs, adding Shah to their names. They also add the title
Sahib, and imitate the Sawals, a sing-song begging tone of their
class. Their leader, Khagda, is implicitly obeyed. He is the treasurer
of the gangs, and keeps with him the instruments used in coining, and
the necessary metal pieces. But the leader rarely keeps the coins with
him. The duty of passing the false coins belongs to the Bhondars. A
boy generally accompanies a gang. He is called Handiwal. He acts
as a handy chokra (youngster), and also as a watch over the camp
when the false coins are being prepared. They generally camp on high
ground in close vicinity to water, which serves to receive the false
coins and implements, should danger be apprehended. When moving
from one camp to another, the Khagda and his chokra travel alone,
the former generally riding a small pony. The rest of the gang keep
busy passing the coins in the neighbourhood, and eventually join the
pair in the place pre-arranged. If the place be found inconvenient
for their purpose, another is selected by the Khagda, but sufficient
indication is given to the rest that the rendezvous might be found
out. This is done by making a mark on the chief pathway leading to
the place settled first, at a spot where another pathway leads from it
in the direction he is going. The mark consists of a mud heap on the
side of the road, a foot in length, six inches in breadth, and six in
height, with an arrow mark pointing in the direction taken. The Khagda
generally makes three of these marks at intervals of a hundred yards,
to avoid the chance of any being effaced. Moulds are made of Multani
or some sticky clay. Gopichandan and badap are also used. The clay,
after being powdered and sifted, is mixed with a little water and
oil, and well kneaded. The two halves of the mould are then roughly
shaped with the hand, and a genuine coin is pressed between them,
so as to obtain the obverse on one half and the reverse impression on
the other. The whole is then hardened in an extempore oven, and the
hole to admit the metal is bored, so as to admit of its being poured
in from the edge. The halves are then separated, and the genuine
rupee is tilted out; the molten alloy of tin or pewter is poured in,
and allowed to cool. According to the other method, badap clay brought
from their own country is considered the most suitable for the moulds,
though Multani clay may be used when they run out of badap. Two discs
are made from clay kneaded with water. These discs are then highly
polished on the inner surface with the top of a jvari stalk called
danthal. A rupee, slightly oiled, is then placed between the discs,
which are firmly pressed over it. The whole is then thoroughly hardened
in the fire. The alloy used in these moulds differs from that used in
the others, and consists of an alloy of lead and copper. In both cases,
the milling is done by the hand with a knife or a piece of shell. The
Chapperbands select their victims carefully. They seem to be fairly
clever judges of persons from their physiognomy. They easily find
out the duffer and the gull in both sexes, and take care to avoid
persons likely to prove too sharp for them. They give preference to
women over men. The commonest method is for the Bhondar to show a
quantity of copper collected by him in his character of beggar, and
ask for silver in its place. The dupe produces a rupee, which he looks
at. He then shakes his head sadly, and hands back a counterfeit coin,
saying that such coins are not current in his country, and moves on to
try the same trick elsewhere. Their dexterity in changing the rupees
is very great, the result of long practice when a Handiwal."
Further information in connection with the Chapparbands has recently
been published by Mr. M. Paupa Rao Naidu, from whose account [14]
the following extract is taken. "Chapperbands, as their name implies,
are by profession builders of roofs, or, in a more general term,
builders of huts. They are Sheikh Muhammadans, and originally belonged
to the Punjab. During the Moghul invasion of the Carnatic, as far back
as 1687-88, a large number of them followed the great Moghul army as
builders of huts for the men. They appear to have followed the Moghul
army to Aurangabad, Ahmednagar, and Seringapatam until the year 1714,
when Bijapur passed into the hands of the Peshwas. The Chapperbands
then formed part of the Peshwa's army in the same capacity, and
remained as such till the advent of the British in the year 1818,
when it would appear a majority of them, finding their peculiar
profession not much in demand, returned to the north. A part of those
who remained behind passed into the Nizam's territory, while a part
settled down in the Province of Talikota. A legendary tale, narrated
before the Superintendent of Police, Raipur, in 1904, by an intelligent
Chapperband, shows that they learnt this art of manufacturing coins
during the Moghul period. He said 'In the time of the Moghul Empire,
Chapperbands settled in the Bijapur district. At that time, a fakir
named Pir Bhai Pir Makhan lived in the same district. One of the
Chapperbands went to this fakir, and asked him to intercede with God,
in order that Chapperbands might be directed to take up some profession
or other. The fakir gave the man a rupee, and asked him to take it to
his house quickly, and not to look backwards as he proceeded on his
way. As the man ran home, some one called him, and he turned round
to see who it was. When he reached his house, he found the rupee had
turned into a false one. The man returned to the fakir, and complained
that the rupee was a false one. The fakir was much enraged at the
man's account of having looked back as he ran, but afterwards said
that Chapperbands would make a living in future by manufacturing
false coins. Since that time, Chapperbands have become coiners of
false money.' On every Sunday, they collect all their false rupees,
moulds, and other implements, and, placing these in front of them,
they worship Pir Makhan, also called Pir Madar. They sacrifice a fowl
to him, take out its eyes and tail, and fix them on three thorns of
the trees babul, bir, and thalmakana; and, after the worship is over,
they throw them in the direction in which they intend to start. The
Chapperbands conceal a large number of rupees in the rectum, long
misusage often forming a cavity capable of containing ten to twenty
rupees. So also cavities are formed in the mouth below the tongue."
In a case recorded by Mr. M. Kennedy, [15] "when a Chapperband was
arrested on suspicion, on his person being examined by the Civil
Surgeon, no less than seven rupees were found concealed in a cavity
in his rectum. The Civil Surgeon was of opinion that it must have
taken some considerable time to form such a cavity." A similar case
came before the Sessions Judge in South Canara a few years ago.
The following case of swindling, which occurred in the Tanjore
district, is recorded in the Police Report, 1903. "A gang of
Muhammadans professed to be able to duplicate currency notes. The
method was to place a note with some blank sheets of paper between two
pieces of glass. The whole was then tied round with string and cloth,
and smoked over a fire. On opening the packet, two notes were found,
a second genuine one having been surreptitiously introduced. The
success of the first operations with small notes soon attracted
clients, some of them wealthy; and, when the bait had had time to
work, and some very large notes had been submitted for operation, the
swindlers declared that these large notes took longer to duplicate,
and that the packet must not be opened for several days. Before the
time appointed for opening, they disappeared, and the notes were
naturally not found in the packets. One gentleman was fleeced in this
way to the value of Rs. 4,600." The administration of an enema to a
false coiner will sometimes bring to light hidden treasure.
Chaptegara.--The Chaptegaras or Cheptegaras are described by
Mr. H. A. Stuart [16] as "carpenters who speak Konkani, and are
believed to have come from the Konkan country. Caste affairs are
managed by a Gurikar or headman, and the fines collected are paid
to the Sringeri math. They wear the sacred thread, and employ Karadi
Brahmans as purohits. Infant marriage is practised, and widow marriage
is not permitted. The dead are burned if means allow; otherwise they
are buried. They are Saivites, and worship Durga and Ganapati. They
eat flesh and drink liquor. Their titles are Naik, Shenai, etc." It
is noted, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, that Saraswat Brahmans
will eat with them. Choutagara has been recorded as a corrupt form
of Chaptegara.
Charamurti.--A class of Jangams, who go from village to village
preaching.
Charodi.--The Charodis have been described [17] as "Canarese carpenters
corresponding to the Konkani Cheptegaras (or Chaptegaras), and there
is very little difference in the customs and manners of the two castes,
except that the former employ Shivalli and Konkanashta Brahmans instead
of Karadis. Their title is Naika." In the Madras Census Report, 1901,
Mesta is returned as a Konkani-speaking sub-caste of Charodi.
Chatla (winnow).--An exogamous sept of Madiga. Chatla Dhompti occurs
as a sub-division of Madigas, who, at marriages, place the offering
of food, etc. (dhompti), in a winnow.
Chatri.--Recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as an equivalent
of Kshatriya. It occurs also as the name of an exogamous sept,
meaning umbrella, of the Holeyas.
Chaturakshari.--A sub-division of Satanis, who believe in the efficacy
of the four syllables Ra-ma-nu-ja.
Chaudari.--Chaudari, or Chowdari, is recorded as a title of Haddi,
Kalingi, and Komati.
Chaya (colour) Kurup.--A class of Kollans in Malabar, who work
in lacquer.
Cheli (goat).--An exogamous sept of Bottada and Mattiya.
Chelu (scorpion).--An exogamous sept of Kuruba. The equivalent thelu
occurs among the Padma Sales.
Chembadi.--The Chembadis are a Telugu caste, the occupations of which
are fresh-water fishing, and rowing boats or coracles. In fishing,
unlike the Besthas who use a cast-net, they employ a large drag-net,
called baithivala, the two ends of which are fastened to poles. When
a new net is made, it is folded up, and placed on the edge of a pond
or tank. Mud is spread over it, and on it are placed three masses of
mud kneaded into a conical shape. These represent the God, and cakes,
called kudumulu, are set before them. A male member of the caste,
biting one of the cakes and keeping it between his teeth, goes round
the net, and then drags it to the water, in which the conical masses
become disintegrated. Like the Besthas, they smear a new net with the
blood of the first fish caught in it, but they do not burn a mesh of
the net.
Some Chembadis regard Gurappa Gurunathadu as their caste deity, and
connect him, for some unknown reason, with the jammi tree (Prosopis
spicigera). Jammi occurs as the name of a gotra, and some children
are named Gurappa or Gurunathadu. When such children are five, seven,
or nine years old, they are taken on an auspicious day to a jammi
tree and shaved, after the tree has been worshipped with offerings
of cooked food, etc.
At the betrothal ceremony in this caste, immediately after the girl
has taken up areca nuts, placed them in her lap, and folded them
in her cloth, the headman takes up the betel leaves and areca nuts
(thambulam) before him with crossed hands. This ceremony corresponds
to the thonuku thambulam of the lower classes, e.g., Malas and
Mangalas. Among the Mangalas and Tsakalas, the thambulam is said to be
taken up by a Balija Setti. For the funeral ceremonies, the Chembadis
engage a Dasari of their own caste. During their performances, flesh
and toddy may not be offered to the deceased person.
Chembian.--A name assumed by some Pallis or Vanniyans, who claim that
they belong to the Chola race, on the supposition that Chembinadu is
a synonym for Chola.
Chembillam (chembu, copper).--An exogamous section of Mukkuvan.
Chembotti.--In the Madras Census Report, 1901, it is stated that
the name Chembotti is derived from "chembu, copper, and kotti, he
who beats." They are coppersmiths in Malabar, who are distinct from
the Malabar Kammalans. They are supposed to be descendants of men
who made copper idols for temples, and so rank above the Kammalans
in social position, and about equally with the lower sections of the
Nayars. The name is also used as an occupational term by the Konkan
Native Christian coppersmiths. In the Cochin and Travancore Census
Reports, Chembukotti is recorded as an occupational title or sub-caste
of Nayars who work in copper, chiefly in temples and Brahman houses.
In the Gazetteer of the Malabar district, the Chembottis are described
as copper-workers, whose traditional business is the roofing of the
Sri-kovil, or inner shrine of the temple with that metal. They are
said to have originally formed part of the Kammalan community. "When
the great temple at Taliparamba was completed, it was purified on a
scale of unprecedented grandeur, no less than a thousand Brahmans
being employed. What was their dismay when the ceremony was well
forward, to see a Chembotti coming from the Sri-kovil, where he had
been putting finishing touches to the roof. This appeared to involve
a recommencement of the whole tedious and costly ritual, and the
Brahmans gave vent to their feelings of despair, when a vision from
heaven reassured them, and thereafter the Chembottis have been raised
in the social scale, and are not regarded as a polluting caste."
Chembetti, or Chemmatti, meaning hammer, occurs as an exogamous sept
of the Telugu Yanadis.
Chempakaraman.--Recorded, in the Travancore Census Report, 1901,
as an honorific title of Nayars.
Chenchu.--The Chenchus or Chentsus are a Telugu-speaking jungle
tribe inhabiting the hills of the Kurnool and Nellore districts. In
a letter addressed to the Bengal Asiatic Society, [18] transmitting
vocabularies of various tribes inhabiting Vizagapatam, by Mr. Newill,
it is stated that "the Chenchu tribe, whose language is almost entirely
corrupt Hindi and Urdu with a few exceptions from Bengali, affords
one more example to the many forthcoming of an uncultured aboriginal
race having abandoned their own tongue." The compiler of the Kurnool
Manual (1885) remarks that Mr. Newill's vocabulary "seems to belong to
the dialect spoken by Lambadis, who sometimes wander about the hills,
and it is not unlikely that he was misled as to the character of the
persons from whom his list was taken." As examples of the words given
by Mr. Newill, the following may be quoted:--
Bone, had. One, yek.
Cat, billeyi. Ten, das.
Ear, kan. Far, dur.
Elephant, hate. Drink, pi.
Tiger, bag. Sweet, mitha.
It is probable that Mr. Newill confused the Chenchus with the Bonthuk
Savaras (q.v.) who speak corrupt Oriya, and are called Chenchu vandlu,
and, like the Chenchus, believe that the god Narasimha of Ahobilam
married a girl belonging to their tribe. As a further example of the
confusion concerning the Chenchus, I may quote the remarks of Buchanan
[19] about the Irulas, who are a Tamil-speaking jungle tribe: "In
this hilly tract there is a race of men called by the other natives
Cad Eriligaru, but who call themselves Cat Chensu. The language of
the Chensu is a dialect of the Tamil, with occasionally a few Karnata
or Telinga words intermixed, but their accent is so different from
that of Madras that my servants did not at first understand what they
said. Their original country, they say, is the Animalaya forest below
the ghats, which is confirmed by their dialect." In the Census Report,
1901, Chenchu is said to be the name by which Irulas of North Arcot and
the Mysore plateau are called sometimes, and, in the Census Report,
1891, Chenchu is given as a sub-division of the Yanadis. There can
be little doubt that the Chenchus and Yanadis are descended from the
same original stock. Mackenzie, in the local records collected by him,
speaks of the Chenchus as being called Yanadi Chenchus. The Chenchus
themselves at the present day say that they and the Yanadis are one
and the same, and that the tribes intermarry.
In Scott's 'Ferishta,' the Chenchus are described as they appeared
before Prince Muhammad Masúm, a son of Aurangzib, who passed through
the Kurnool district in 1694, as "exceedingly black, with long hair,
and on their heads wore caps made of the leaves of trees. Each man had
with him unbarbed arrows and a bow for hunting. They molest no one,
and live in caverns or under the shady branches of trees. The prince
presented some of them with gold and silver, but they did not seem
to put any value on either, being quite unconcerned at receiving
it. Upon the firing of a gun, they darted up the mountains with a
surprising swiftness uncommon to man. In Taylor's 'Catalogue raisonné
of Oriental Manuscripts,' the Chenchus are described as people who
"live to the westward of Ahobalam, Srisailam, and other places, in
the woods or wilds, and go about, constantly carrying in their hands
bows and arrows. They clothe themselves with leaves, and live on the
sago or rice of the bamboo. They rob travellers, killing them if they
oppose. This people afflict every living creature (kill for food is
supposed to be meant)." It is noted in the Kurnool Manual that in
former times the Chenchu headman used to "dispose of murder cases,
the murderer, on proof of guilt, being put to death with the same
weapons with which the murder was committed. [20] Captain Newbold,
writing in 1846, says that, passing through the jungle near Pacharla,
he observed a skull bleached by the sun dangling from the branch of
a tamarind tree, which he was informed was that of a murderer and
hill-robber put to death by the headman. In the time of the Nabobs,
some of the Chenchu murderers were caught and punished, but the
practice seems to have prevailed among them more or less till the
introduction of the new police in 1860, since which time all cases
are said to be reported to the nearest police officer."
A Chenchu Taliari (village watchman), who came to see me at Nandyal,
was wearing a badge with his name engraved on it in Telugu, which
had been presented to him by Government in recognition of his
shooting with a double-barrelled gun two Donga Oddes who had robbed
a village. Another aged Taliari had a silver bangle bearing a Telugu
inscription, which had been given to him in acknowledgment of his
capturing a murderer who was wanted by the police, and came to his
hut. The casual visitor explained that he was on his way to Hyderabad,
but the Chenchu, noticing blood on his clothes, tied him to a post,
and gave information that he had secured him. The same man had also
received presents for reporting cases of illicit distillation under
the Abkari Act.
In recent accounts of the Chenchus of the Nallamalai hills by a forest
officer, it is noted that pilgrims, on their way to the Srisailam
temple, "are exploited at every turn, the Chentzu being seen in his
true colours at this period, and, being among the most active agents in
the exactions, but not being by any means the only plunderer. In return
for the protection, the Chentzu levies a toll per head, and as much
more as he can extort. We had to interfere with the perquisites of one
drugged specimen of this race, who drew a knife on a peon (orderly),
and had to be sent down under escort.... It is commonly supposed that
the Chentzus are a semi-wild, innocent, inoffensive hill tribe, living
on roots, honey, wild fruits, and game. If this was so, we should
have no difficulty in controlling them. They are actually a semi-wild,
lazy, drinking set of brigands. They levy blackmail from every village
along the foot of the hills, and, if any ryot (cultivator) refuses
to pay up, his crop silently disappears on some moonless night. They
levy blackmail from every pilgrim to the shrines in the hills. They
levy blackmail from the graziers in the hills. They borrow money from
Komatis and Buniahs (merchants and money-lenders), and repay it in
kind--stolen timber, minor forest produce, etc. They are constantly
in debt to the Komatis, and are practically their slaves as regards
the supply of timber and other forest produce. They think nothing of
felling a tree in order to collect its fruits, and they fire miles of
forest in order to be able to collect with ease certain minor produce,
or to trace game. They poison the streams throughout the hills, and
in short do exactly as they please throughout the length and breadth
of the Nallamalais." The Conservator of Forests expressed his belief
that this picture was not overdrawn, and added that the Chenchus are
"a danger to the forest in many ways, and I have always thought it
a pity that they were given some of the rights at settlement, which
stand against their names. These rights were--
(1) Rights of way, and to carry torches.
(2) Rights to draw and drink water from, wash or bathe in all
streams, springs, wells and pools.
(3) Rights to forest produce for home use.
(4) Rights to fish and shoot.
(5) Rights to graze a limited number of cattle, sheep and goats.
(6) Rights to collect for sale or barter certain minor produce.
In connection with right (3), the District Forest Officer suggested
that "the quantity to be taken annually must be limited, especially
in the case of wood, bamboos, fibre, firewood and honey. The quality
of the wood and of other forest produce should be defined. Chenchus do
not require teak or ebony beams or yegi (Pterocarpus Marsupium) spokes
and felloes for domestic purposes; but, as the right now stands, they
can fell whatever they like, and, though we may know it is for sale
to merchants, the Chenchus have only to say it is for domestic use,
and they cannot be punished. The wood should be limited to poles and
smaller pieces of third-class and unclassified trees."
In 1898 the Governor in Council made the following rules for regulating
the exercise of the rights of the Chenchus living in the reserved
forests on the Nallamalais:--
1. The carrying of torches, and the lighting of fires in fire-protected
blocks during the fire season are prohibited.
2. There shall be no right to wash or bathe in such springs, wells,
pools or portions of streams as are especially set apart for drinking
purposes by the District Forest Officer.
3. No more than the quantity which the Collector may consider to be
actually required for domestic use shall be removed in the exercise of
the right to take wood, bamboos, fibre, thatching grass, firewood,
roots, fruits, honey and other forest produce. The term "other
forest produce" shall be taken to mean other minor forest produce,
not including tusks and horns. No wood other than poles and smaller
pieces of third class and unclassified trees shall be removed.
4. No gudem (Chenchu village) shall, without the special permission
of the Collector, be allowed to keep a larger number of guns than that
for which licenses had been taken out at the time of settlement. Every
gun covered by a license shall be stamped with a distinctive mark or
number. The use of poison and explosives in water, and the setting
of cruives or fixed engines, or snares for the capture or destruction
of fish, are strictly prohibited.
5. For purposes of re-generation, a portion of the area set apart
for the grazing of cattle, not exceeding one-fifth, may be closed
to grazing at any time, and for such length of time as the District
Forest Officer deems fit.
6. The right of pre-emption of all minor forest produce collected
by the Chenchus for sale or barter shall be reserved to the Forest
department. The exercise of the right of collecting wood and other
produce for domestic use, and of collecting minor produce for sale
or barter, shall be confined to natural growth, and shall not include
forest produce which is the result of special plantation or protection
on the part of the Forest department.
In connection with a scheme for dealing with the minor forest produce
in the Nallamalais, the Conservator of Forests wrote as follows in
1905. "I believe that it is generally recognised that it is imperative
to obtain the good-will of the Chenchus even at a considerable loss,
both from a political and from a forest point of view; the latter being
that, if we do not do so, the whole of the Nallamalai forests will,
at a not very remote date, be utterly destroyed by fire. The Chenchus,
being a most abnormal type of men, must be treated in an abnormal way;
and the proposals are based, therefore, on the fundamental principle of
allowing the two District Forest Officers a very free hand in dealing
with these people. What is mainly asked for is to make an experiment,
of endeavouring to get the Chenchus to collect minor produce for the
department, the District Forest Officers being allowed to fix the
remuneration as they like, in money or barter, as they may from time
to time find on the spot to be best." In commenting on the scheme,
the Board of Revenue stated that "action on the lines proposed is
justified by the present state of the Nallamalais. These valuable
forests certainly stand in danger of rapid destruction by fire, and,
according to the local officers, the Chenchus are almost entirely
responsible. The department has at present no means of bringing
influence to bear on the Chenchus, or securing their assistance in
putting out fires. Repressive measures will be worse than useless,
as the Chenchus will merely hide themselves, and do more damage than
ever. The only way of getting into touch with them is to enforce
the right of pre-emption in the matter of minor produce reserved
to Government at the time of forest settlement, and by dealing with
them in a just and generous way to secure their confidence. If this
is achieved, the department may hope to secure their co-operation
and valuable assistance in preventing jungle fires. The department
can certainly afford to sell at a profit, and at the same time give
the Chenchus better prices than the sowcars (money-lenders), who are
said invariably to cheat them. The Board believes that the ultimate
loss from advances will not be serious, as advances will ordinarily be
small in amount, except in cases where they may be required by Chenchus
to pay off sowcars. It will be well, therefore, if the Collector and
the District Forest Officers will ascertain as soon as possible how
much the Chenchus are indebted to the sowcars, as it will probably
be necessary for the success of the scheme to liquidate these debts."
From a note on the Chenchus of the Nallamalai hills, I gather that
"a striking contrast is afforded between those who inhabit the belt of
forest stretching from Venkatapuram to Bairnuti, and those who dwell
in the jungle on the skirts of the great trunk road, which formed the
chief means of communication between the principal towns until the
Southern Mahratta railway diverted traffic into another channel. In
the former we behold the Chenchu semi-civilised and clothed. He
possesses flocks and herds, smiling fields and even gardens, and
evinces an aptitude for barter. The superiority of the Bairnuti
Chenchu has been brought about by the influence, example, labours,
and generosity of a single Englishman, who built a substantial stone
dwelling in the depths of the great Bairnuti forest. There also he
erected indigo vats, and planted indigo, and a grove of choice mango
grafts, orange and lime trees. He bought buffaloes, and by careful
selection and breeding evolved a magnificent type. These buffaloes
have now become almost entirely fruit-eaters, and are engaged in
seeking for and devouring the forest fruits, which--particularly the
mowhra and forest fig--litter the ground in vast quantities. This
habit of fruit-eating imparts to their milk a peculiarly rich nutty
flavour, and the cream is of abnormally rich quality. The Chenchus
manufacture this into ghee (clarified butter), which they turn to
profitable account. The brethren of the Bairnuti Chenchus dwelling in
the forest of Pacherla present very different conditions of life. They
accentuate their nakedness by a narrow bark thread bound round the
waist, into which are thrust their arrows and knife. This is their
full dress. The hair, they aver, is the great and natural covering
of mankind. Why, therefore, violate the ordinary laws of nature by
inventing supererogatory clothing? A missionary sportsman was fairly
non-plussed by these arguments, particularly when his interlocutors
pointed to a celebrated pass or gorge, through which the amorous
Kristna is averred to have pursued and captured a fascinating Chenchu
damsel. 'You see,' said the Chenchu logician, 'the beauty of her form
was so manifest in its rude simplicity that even the god could not
resist it.' En passant it may be noted that, when a Chenchu wishes
to express superlative admiration of a belle, he compares her to a
monkey. In his eyes, the supremest beauty of femininity is agility. The
girl who can shin up a lofty tree, and bring him down fruit to eat is
the acme of feminine perfection. 'Ah, my sweet monkey girl,' said a
demoralised Chenchu, who was too idle to climb up a tree himself, 'she
has been climbing trees all day, and throwing me fruit. There is not
a man in the forest who can climb like my monkey girl.' The Chenchus
are wisely employed by the authorities as road-police or Taliaris, to
prevent highway dacoities. This is an astute piece of diplomacy. The
Chenchus themselves are the only dacoits thereabouts, and the salary
paid them as road-police is virtually blackmail to induce them to
guarantee the freedom of the forest highways. The Chenchu barters
the produce of the forests in which he lives, namely, honey and wax,
deer horns and hides, tamarinds, wood apples (Feronia elephantum),
and mowhra (Bassia latifolia) fruit and flowers, and realises a very
considerable income from these sources. He reaps annually a rich
harvest of hides and horns. The sambur (Cervus unicolor) and spotted
deer (Cervus axis) shed their horns at certain seasons. These horns
are hidden in the rank luxuriant grass. But, when the heat of the dry
weather has withered it, the Chenchu applies fire to it by rubbing two
dried sticks together, and, walking in the wake of the flames, picks
up the horns disclosed to view by the reduction of the vegetation to
ashes. He supplements this method with his bow and rifle, and by the
latter means alone obtains his hides. The Chenchu is every bit as bad
a shot as the average aboriginal. He rarely stalks, but, when he does,
he makes up by his skill in woodcraft for his inexpertness with his
gun. He understands the importance of not giving the deer a slant of
his wind, and, if they catch a glimpse of him, he will stand motionless
and black as the tree trunks around. The ambush by the salt-lick or
water-hole, however, is his favourite method of sport. Here, fortified
with a supply of the pungent-smelling liquor which he illicitly
distils from the mowhra flower he will lie night and day ruthlessly
murdering sambur, spotted deer, nilgai (Boselaphus tràgocamelus);
four-horned antelope (Tetracerus quadricornis). Tigers often stalk
down, and drink and roll in the pool, but the Chenchu dares not draw
a bead on him. Perhaps the indifference of his shooting, of which he
is conscious, deters him." When in danger from tigers or leopards, the
Chenchus climb a tree, and shout. The Chenchus recognise two distinct
varieties of leopards called chirra puli and chirta puli, concerning
which Blanford writes as follows. [21] "Most of the sportsmen who
have hunted in Central India, and many native shikaris (sportsmen)
distinguish two forms, and in parts of the country there is some
appearance of two races--a larger form that inhabits the hills and
forests, and a smaller form commonly occurring in patches of grass
and bushes amongst cultivated fields and gardens. The larger form is
said to have a shorter tail, a longer head with an occipital crest,
and clearly defined spots on a paler ground-colour. The smaller form
has a comparatively longer tail, a rounder head, less clearly defined
spots, and rougher fur. I cannot help suspecting that the difference
is very often due to age."
A Chenchu who was asked by me whether they kill wild beasts replied
that they are wild beasts themselves. In devouring a feast of
mutton provided for those who were my guests in camp, they certainly
behaved as such, gnawing at the bones and tearing off the flesh. To
the Chenchus a feast, on however liberal a scale the food may be,
is nothing without a copious supply of toddy, of which even infants
receive a small share. In the absence of toddy, they sometimes
manufacture illicit liquor from the flower-buds of the mahua (or
mowhra) tree. The man who gained the prize (a coarse cotton cloth)
in a shooting match with bow and arrow, with the head of a straw
scarecrow as bull's-eye, was in an advanced stage of intoxication,
and used his success as an argument in favour of drink. In a long
distance shooting match, the prize was won with a carry of 144 yards,
the arrow being shot high into the air. It was noted by Captain
Newbold that the Chenchus are not remarkably expert as archers,
to judge from the awkwardness they exhibited in dispatching an
unfortunate sheep picketed for them at forty yards, which was held out
to them as the prize for the best marksman. Some time ago a Chenchu,
who was the bully of his settlement, beat another Chenchu and his
wife. The injured man appealed to the District Forest Officer, and,
explaining that he knew the law did not allow him to kill his enemy,
applied for a written permit to go after him with a bow and arrow.
Some Chenchus bear on the head a cap made of wax-cloth, deer or hare
skin. By the more fashionable the tufted ear or bushy tail-end of
the large Indian squirrel (Sciurus Indicus) is attached by way of
ornament to the string with which the hair of the head is tied into a
bunch behind. Leafy garments have been replaced by white loin-cloths,
and some of the women have adopted the ravike (bodice), in imitation
of the female costume in the plains. Boys, girls, and women wear
bracelets made of Phoenix or palmyra palm leaves. By some pieces of
stick strung on a thread, or seeds of Givotia rottleriformis, are
worn as a charm to ward off various forms of pain. Some of the women
are tattooed on the forehead, corners of the eyes, and arms. And I
saw a few men tattooed on the shoulder as a cure for rheumatism.
The huts of which a present day gudem is composed are either in the
shape of bee-hives like those of the Yanadis, or oblong with sloping
roof, and situated in a grove near a pond or stream. The staple food
of the Chenchus consists of cereals, supplemented by yams (Dioscorea)
which are uprooted with a digging-stick tipped with iron, forest
fruits, and various animals such as peacock, crow, lizard (Varanus),
bear, and black monkey. They are very fond of the young flowers and
buds of the mahua tree, and tamarind fruits, the acidity of which is
removed by mixing with them the ashes of the bark of the same tree.
The forest products collected by the Chenchus include myrabolams,
fruits of the tamarind, Semecarpus anacardiúm, Sapindus trifoliatus
(soap-nut), Buchanania latifolia, Buchanania angustifolia, and Ficus
glomerata; roots of Aristolochia Indica and Hemidesmus Indicus; seeds
of Abrus precatorius; flowers of Bassia latifolia; horns, and honey.
The Chenchus recognise two kinds of bees, large and small, and
gather honey from nests in trees or rocks. It is stated in the
Cuddapah Manual that "the Yenadis or Chenchus alone are able to
climb miraculously into difficult and apparently inaccessible places,
and over perpendicular cliffs in some places from a hundred to two
hundred feet high. This they do by means of a plaited rope made of
young bamboos tied together. Accidents sometimes happen by the rope
giving way. It is a nervous sight to watch them climbing up and down
this frail support. From below the men look like little babies hanging
midway. The rope being fastened on the top of the cliff by means of
a peg driven into the ground or by a tree, the man swings suspended
in the air armed with a basket and a stick. The Chenchu first burns
some brushwood or grass under the hive, which is relinquished by most
of the bees. This accomplished, he swings the rope, until it brings
him close to the hive, which he pokes with his stick, at the same
time holding out his basket to catch the pieces broken off from the
hive. When the basket is full, he shakes the rope, and is drawn up
(generally by his wife's brother). The bamboo ropes are never taken
away; nor are they used a second time, a fresh one being made on each
occasion, and at each place. They are to be seen hanging for years,
until they decay and fall down of themselves."
Like other Telugu classes, the Chenchus have exogamous septs or
intiperu, of which the following are examples:--gurram (horse), arati
(plantain tree), manla (trees), tota (garden), mekala (goats), indla
(houses), savaram (sovereign, gold coin), and gundam (pit).
Of the marriage customs the following account is given in the Kurnool
Manual. "The Chenchus do not follow a uniform custom in respect to
marriage ceremonies. Their marriage is performed in three ways. A
man wishing to marry selects his own bride, and both retire for one
night by mutual consent from the gudem. On the following morning, when
they return, their parents invite their friends and relatives, and by
formally investing them with new clothes, declare them duly married. To
complete the ceremony, a meal is given to those assembled. The second
method is as follows. A small space, circular in form, is cleaned and
besmeared with cowdung. In the centre a bow and arrow tied together
are fixed in the ground, and the bride and bridegroom are made to
move round it, when the men assembled bless them by throwing some rice
over them, and the marriage is complete. According to the third mode,
a Brahmin is consulted by the elders of the family. An auspicious day
is fixed, and a raised pial (platform) is formed, on which the bride
and bridegroom being seated, a tali (marriage badge) is tied, and rice
poured over their heads. The services of the Brahmin are engaged for
three or four days, and are rewarded with a piece of new cloth and some
money. This ceremony resembles that of the ryot (cultivating) class
among the Hindus. It is evidently a recent Brahminical innovation. On
marriage occasions generally tom-toms, if available, are beaten, and
a dance takes place." In the second form of marriage, as described
to me, the bride and bridegroom sit opposite each other with four
arrows stuck in the ground between them. In Mackenzie's record it
is stated that the Chenchus make the bridal pair sit with a single
arrow between them, and, when there is no shadow, some elderly men and
women throw rice over their heads. The importance of the arrow with
the Chenchus, as with the Yanadis, is that the moment when it casts
no shadow is the auspicious time for the completion of the marriage
rite. The remarriage of widows is permitted, and the second husband
is said to be in most cases a brother of the deceased one.
As an example of the Chenchu songs, the following marriage song, sung
by two men and a woman, and recorded by my phonograph, may be cited:--
The tali was of avaram [22] leaves,
Oh! the lord of the Chenchus.
The bashingham [23] was made of the leaf of a wild tree,
Oh! the lord of the Chenchus.
Wild turmeric was used for the kankanam [24],
Oh! the lord of the Chenchus.
Wearing a garment made of the leaves of the paru tree,
Oh! the lord of the Chenchus.
Wearing a bodice made of the leaves of the pannu tree,
Oh! the lord of the Chenchus.
Roaming over inaccessible hills,
Oh! the lord of the Chenchus.
Wandering through dense forests,
Oh! the lord of the Chenchus.
Committing acts that ought not to be done,
Oh! the lord of the Chenchus.
Obalesa's marriage was celebrated,
Oh! the lord of the Chenchus.
A four-cornered dais was made,
Oh! the lord of the Chenchus.
On the dais arrows were stuck,
Oh! the lord of the Chenchus.
Bamboo rice was used to throw on the heads of the pair,
Oh! the lord of the Chenchus.
Cocoanut cups were stuck on the points of the arrow,
Oh! the lord of the Chenchus.
The marriage was thus celebrated.
At a dance in my honour, men and women executed a series of step
dances in time with a drum (thappata) resembling a big tambourine,
which, at the conclusion of each dance, was passed to and fro through
a blazing fire of cholum straw to bring it up to the proper pitch. An
elderly hag went through a variety of gesticulations like those of
a Deva-dasi (dancing-girl). A man dressed up in straw and fragments
of mats picked up near my camp, and another disguised as a woman,
with bells round his ankles, supplied the comic business.
In the Kurnool Manual it is stated that "as soon as a child is born,
the umbilical cord is cut (with a knife or arrow), and the child
is washed in cold or hot water, according as the season is hot or
cold. On the third day, all the women of the tribe are invited, and
served with betel nut. On the fourth day, an old woman gives a name to
the child. The baby is generally laid in a cradle made of deer skins,
and suspended from a bamboo by means of strings or dusara creepers."
The dead are carried to the burial-place in a cloth slung on a
pole. The body, after it has been laid in the grave, is covered over
with leafy twigs, and the grave is filled in. The spot is marked by
a mound of earth and stones piled up. On the second or third day,
some cooked food is offered to the soul of the deceased person, near
the grave, and, after some of it has been set apart for the crows,
the remainder is buried in the mound or within the grave. The same
rite is repeated after the eighth day.
The Chenchus are said [25], like the Yanadis, to worship a god
called Chenchu Devata, to whom offerings of honey and fruits are
sometimes made. They believe, as has been mentioned already, that
the god Narasimha of Ahobilam, whom they call Obalesudu, carried
off a beautiful Chenchu girl, named Chenchita, and married her. To
prevent the occurrence of a similar fate to other females of the
tribe, Chenchita ordained that they should in future be born ugly,
and be devoid of personal charms. The Chenchus claim Obalesudu as
their brother-in-law, and, when they go to the temple for the annual
festival, carry cloths as presents for the god and goddess. The legend
of their origin is told as follows by Captain Newbold. "Previous to the
incarnation of Sri Krishna in the Dwapara Yug (the third of the great
ages), the Chenchwars were shepherds of the Yerra Golla caste. Obal
Iswara, the swami (deity) of Obalam, a celebrated hill shrine in the
Nalla Mallas, having taken away and kept as a Chenchita a maid of
the Yerra Golla family, begat upon her children, of whom they are
descendants." Among other minor deities, the Chenchus are said to
worship Ankalamma, Potu Razu, Sunkalamma, Mallamma, and Guruppa.
In the absence of lucifer matches, the Chenchus make fire with flint
and steel, and the slightly charred floss of the white cotton tree,
Eriodendron anfractuosum, I am informed that, like the Paniyans of
Malabar, they also obtain fire by friction, by means of the horizontal
or sawing method, with two pieces of split bamboo.
Some Chenchus still exhibit the primitive short stature and high
nasal index, which are characteristic of other jungle tribes such as
the Kadirs, Paniyans, and Kurumbas. But there is a very conspicuous
want of uniformity in their physical characters, and many individuals
are to be met with, above middle height or tall, with long narrow
noses. A case is noted in the Kurnool Manual, in which a brick-maker
married a Chenchu girl. And I was told of a Boya man who had married
into the tribe, and was living in a gudem. In this way is the pure
type of Chenchu metamorphosed.
===============================================
Stature, cm. | Nasal index.
-----------------------+-----------------------
AV. | MAX. | MIN. | AV. | MAX. | MIN.
-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------
162.5 | 175 | 149.6 | 81.9 | 95.7 | 68.1
===============================================
By the dolichocephalic type of head which has persisted, and which
the Chenchus possess in common with various other jungle tribes,
they are, as shown by the following table, at once differentiated
from the mesaticephalic dwellers in the plains near the foot of the
Nallamalais:--
================================================
| Cephalic | Number of cases
---- | Index. | in which index
| | exceeded 80.
-------------------+----------+-----------------
40 Chenchus | 74.3 | 1
60 Gollas | 77.5 | 9
50 Boyas | 77.9 | 14
39 Tota Balijas | 78. | 10
49 Motati Kapus | 78. | 16
19 Upparas | 78.8 | 4
16 Mangalas | 78.8 | 7
17 Yerukalas | 78.6 | 6
12 Medaras | 80.7 | 8
================================================
The visual acuity of the Chenchus was tested with Cohn's letter E,
No. 6. For clinical purposes, the visual acuity would be represented
by a fraction, of which 6 is the denominator, and the number of metres
at which the position of the letter was recognised by the individual
tested is the numerator, e.g.,
V.A. = 13m/6 = 2.16.
The average distances in metres, at which the letter was
recognised by the various castes and tribes examined by myself and
Dr. W. H. R. Rivers, were as follows:--
16 Sholagas (Rivers) 12.9
94 Kotas 12.8
180 Badagas 12.6
50 Paraiyans 12.5
58 Telugu ryats 12.4
28 Chenchus 12.3
55 Uralis (Rivers) 12.2
30 Brahmans, Mysore 12.2
30 Non-Brahmans, Mysore 12.2
In all classes, it may be noted, the average acuity was between 12 and
13 metres (13 to 14 yards), and ranged between V.A. = 2·15 and V.A. =
2·03. The maxima distances, at which the position of the letter was
recognised, were:--Sholaga, 18m; Paraiyan, 19m; Badaga and Dikshitar
Brahman, 20m. No cases of extraordinary hyper-acuity were met with. The
nine classes, or groups of classes examined, cover a wide range of
degrees of civilisation from the wild jungle Chenchus, Sholagas, and
Uralis, to the cultured Brahman. And, though the jungle man, who has
to search for his food and mark the tracks and traces of wild beasts,
undoubtedly possesses a specially trained keenness of vision for the
exigencies of his primitive life, the figures show that, as regards
ordinary visual acuity, he has no advantage over the more highly
civilised classes.
There were, in 1904-05, two Board upper primary schools for the
Chenchus of the Kurnool district, which were attended by seventy-three
pupils, who were fed and clothed, and supplied with books and slates
free of charge.
Chenu (dry field).--An exogamous sept of Kamma.
Cheppat.--A sub-division of Maran.
Cherukara.--Recorded, in the Travancore Census Report, 1901, as a
sub-division of Nayar.
Cheruku.--Cheruku (sugar-cane) or Cherukula has been recorded as an
exogamous sept of Boya, Jogi and Odde.
Cheruman.--The Cherumans or Cherumukkal have been defined as a
Malayalam caste of agricultural serfs, and as members of an inferior
caste in Malabar, who are, as a rule, toilers attached to the soil. In
the Madras Census Report, 1891, it is stated that "this caste is
called Cheruman in South Malabar and Pulayan in North Malabar. Even
in South Malabar where they are called Cheruman, a large sub-division
numbering over 30,000 is called Pula Cheruman. The most important
of the sub-divisions returned are Kanakkan, Pula Cheruman, Eralan,
Kudan and Rolan. Kanakkan and Pula Cheruman are found in all the
southern taluks, Kudan almost wholly in Walluvanad, and Eralan in
Palghat and Walluvanad." In the Census Report, 1901, Alan (slave),
and Paramban are given as sub-castes of Cheruman.
According to one version, the name Cheruma or Cheramakkal signifies
sons of the soil; and, according to another, Cheriamakkal means little
children, as Parasurama directed that they should be cared for, and
treated as such. The word Pulayan is said to be derived from pula,
meaning pollution.
Of the Cherumans, the following account is given in the Gazetteer
of Malabar. "They are said to be divided into 39 divisions, the more
important of which are the Kanakka Cherumans, the Pula Cherumans or
Pulayas, the Era Cherumans or Eralans, the Roli Cherumans or Rolans,
and the Kudans. Whether these sub-divisions should be treated as
separate castes or not, it is hardly possible to determine; some
of them at least are endogamous groups, and some are still further
sub-divided. Thus the Pulayas of Chirakkal are said to be divided into
one endogamous and eleven exogamous groups, called Mavadan, Elamanam,
Tacchakudiyan, Kundaton, Cheruvulan, Mulattan, Talan, Vannatam,
Eramalodiyan, Mullaviriyan, Egudan, and Kundon. Some at least of these
group names obviously denote differences of occupation. The Kundotti,
or woman of the last group, acts as midwife; and in consequence the
group is considered to convey pollution by touch to members of the
other groups, and they will neither eat nor marry with those belonging
to it. Death or birth pollution is removed by a member of the Mavadan
class called Maruttan, who sprinkles cowdung mixed with water on the
feet, and milk on the head of the person to be purified. At weddings,
the Maruttan receives 32 fanams, the prescribed price of a bride, from
the bridegroom, and gives it to the bride's people. The Era Cherumans
and Kanakkans, who are found only in the southern taluks of the
district, appear to be divided into exogamous groups called Kuttams,
many of which seem to be named after the house-name of the masters whom
they serve. The Cherumans are almost solely employed as agricultural
labourers and coolies; but they also make mats and baskets."
It is noted [26] by Mr. L. K. Anantha Krishna Iyer that "from
traditions current among the Pulayas, it would appear that, once upon
a time, they had dominion over several parts of the country. A person
called Aikkara Yajaman, whose ancestors were Pulaya kings, is still
held in considerable respect by the Pulayas of North Travancore,
and acknowledged as their chieftain and lord, while the Aikkaranad
in the Kunnethnad taluk still remains to lend colour to the tale. In
Trivandrum, on the banks of the Velli lake, is a hill called Pulayanar
Kotta, where it is believed that a Pulaya king once ruled. In other
places, they are also said to have held sway. As a Paraya found
at Melkota the image of Selvapillai, as a Savara was originally in
possession of the sacred stone which became the idol in the temple of
Jaganath, so also is the worship of Padmanabha at Trivandrum intimately
connected with a Pulayan. Once a Pulaya woman, who was living with
her husband in the Ananthan kadu (jungle), suddenly heard the cry
of a baby. She rushed to the spot, and saw to her surprise a child
lying on the ground, protected by a snake. She took pity on it, and
nursed it like her own child. The appearance of the snake intimated
to her the divine origin of the infant. This proved to be true,
for the child was an incarnation of Vishnu. As soon as the Raja of
Travancore heard of the wonderful event, he built a shrine on the spot
where the baby had been found, and dedicated it to Padmanabha. The
Pulayas round Trivandrum assert to this day that, in former times,
a Pulaya king ruled, and had his castle not far from the present
capital of Travancore. The following story is also current among
them. The Pulayas got from the god Siva a boon, with spade and axe,
to clear forests, own lands, and cultivate them. When other people
took possession of them, they were advised to work under them."
According to Mr. Logan, [27] the Cherumans are of two sections, one
of which, the Iraya, are of slightly higher social standing than the
Pulayan. "As the names denote, the former are permitted to come as
far as the eaves (ira) of their employers' houses, while the latter
name denotes that they convey pollution to all whom they meet or
approach." The name Cheruman is supposed to be derived from cheru,
small, the Cheruman being short of stature, or from chera, a dam or
low-lying rice field. Mr. Logan, however, was of opinion that there
is ample evidence that "the Malabar coast at one time constituted the
kingdom or Empire of Chera, and the nad or county of Cheranad lying on
the coast and inland south-east of Calicut remains to the present day
to give a local habitation to the ancient name. Moreover, the name of
the great Emperor of Malabar, who is known to every child on the coast
as Cheraman Perumal, was undoubtedly the title and not the name of the
Emperor, and meant the chief (literally, big man) of the Chera people."
Of the history of slavery in Malabar an admirable account is given
by Mr. Logan, from which the following extracts are taken. "In 1792,
the year in which British rule commenced, a proclamation was issued
against dealing in slaves. In 1819, the principal Collector wrote
a report on the condition of the Cherumar, and received orders that
the practice of selling slaves for arrears of revenue be immediately
discontinued. In 1821, the Court of Directors expressed considerable
dissatisfaction at the lack of precise information which had been
vouchsafed to them, and said 'We are told that part of the cultivators
are held as slaves: that they are attached to the soil, and marketable
property.' In 1836, the Government ordered the remission in the
Collector's accounts of Rs. 927-13-0, which was the annual revenue from
slaves on the Government lands in Malabar, and the Government was at
the same time 'pleased to accede to the recommendation in favour of
emancipating the slaves on the Government lands in Malabar.' In 1841,
Mr. E. B. Thomas, the Judge at Calicut, wrote in strong terms a letter
to the Sadr Adalat, in which he pointed out that women in some taluks
(divisions) fetched higher prices, in order to breed slaves; that the
average cost of a young male under ten years was about Rs. 3-8-0, of
a female somewhat less; that an infant ten months old was sold in a
court auction for Rs. 1-10-6 independent of the price of its mother;
and that, in a recent suit, the right to twenty-seven slaves was the
'sole matter of litigation, and was disposed of on its merits.' In a
further letter, Mr. Thomas pointed out that the slaves had increased in
numbers from 144,000 at the Census, 1835, to 159,000 at the Census,
1842. It was apparently these letters which decided the Board of
Directors to send out orders to legislate. And the Government of India
passed Act V of 1843, of which the provisions were widely published
through Malabar. The Collector explained to the Cherumar that it was
in their interest, as well as their duty, to remain with their masters,
if kindly treated. He proclaimed that 'the Government will not order a
slave who is in the employ of an individual to forsake him and go to
the service of another claimant; nor will the Government interfere
with the slave's inclination as to where he wishes to work.' And
again, 'Any person claiming a slave as janmam, kanam or panayam,
the right of such claim or claims will not be investigated into at
any one of the public offices or courts.' In 1852, and again in 1855,
the fact that traffic in slaves still continued was brought to the
notice of Government, but on full consideration no further measures
for the emancipation of the Cherumar were deemed to be necessary. The
Cherumar even yet have not realised what public opinion in England
would probably have forced down their throats fifty years ago, and
there is reason to think that they are still, even now, with their
full consent bought and sold and hired out, although, of course,
the transaction must be kept secret for fear of the penalties of the
Penal Code, which came into force in 1862, and was the real final
blow at slavery in India. The slaves, however, as a caste will never
understand what real freedom means, until measures are adopted to
give them indefeasible rights in the small orchards occupied by them
as house-sites." It is noted by Mr. Anantha Krishna Iyer that "though
slavery has been abolished many years ago, the name valliyal (a person
receiving valli, i.e., paddy given to a slave) still survives."