The insigne of the caste at Conjeeveram is a spade. [181]

"In the Ceded Districts," Mr. F. S. Mullaly writes, [182] "some of

the Wudders are known as Donga Wuddiwars, or thieving Wudders, from

the fact of their having taken to crime as a profession. Those of

the tribe who have adopted criminal habits are skilful burglars and

inveterate robbers. They are chiefly to be found among the stone

Wudder class, who, besides their occupation of building walls,

are also skilful stone-cutters. By going about under the pretence

of mending grindstones, they obtain much useful information as to

the houses to be looted, or parties of travellers to be attacked. In

committing a highway robbery or dacoity, they are always armed with

stout sticks. Burglary by Wudders may usually be traced to them,

if careful observations are made of the breach in the wall. The

implement is ordinarily the crowbar used by them in their profession

as stone-workers, and the blunt marks of the crowbar are, as a rule,

noticeable. They will never confess, or implicate another of their

fraternity, and, should one of them be accused of a crime, the women

are most clamorous, and inflict personal injuries on themselves

and their children, to deter the police from doing their duty,

and then accuse them of torture. Women and children belonging to

criminal gangs are experts in committing grain thefts from kalams or

threshing-floors, where they are engaged in harvest time, and also in

purloining their neighbours' poultry. Stolen property is seldom found

with Wudders. Their receivers are legion, but they especially favour

liquor shopkeepers in the vicinity of their encampment. Instances have

been known of valuable jewellery being exchanged for a few drams of

arrack. In each Wudder community, there is a headman called the Ganga

Raja, and, in the case of criminal gangs of these people, he receives

two shares of spoil. Identifiable property is altered at once, many of

the Wudders being themselves able to melt gold and silver jewellery,

which they dispose of for about one-tenth of the value."

It has been said of the navvies in England that "many persons are quite

unaware that the migratory tribe of navvies numbers about 100,000, and

moves about from point to point, wherever construction works are going

forward, such as railways, harbour, canals, reservoirs and drainage

works. Generally the existence of these works is unknown to the public

until their completion. They then come into use, but the men who risked

their lives to make them are gone nobody knows where. They are public

servants, upon whose labours the facilities of modern civilised life

largely depend, and surely, therefore, their claim on our sympathies

is universal." And these remarks apply with equal force to the Oddes,

who numbered 498,388 in the Madras Presidency at the census, 1901.

In the Census Report, 1901, Odderazulu is given as a synonym of

Odde. One of the sections of the Yerukalas is also called Odde. Vadde

(Odde) Cakali (Tsakala) is recorded, in the Vizagapatam Manual, as

the name for those who wash clothes, and carry torches and palanquins.

Oddilu.--The Oddilu are described [183] by the Rev. J. Cain as

principally raftsmen on the Godavari river, who have raised themselves

in life, and call themselves Sishti Karanamalu. He states further that

they are Kois (or Koyis) who are regarded as more honourable than any

of the others, and have charge of the principal velpu (tribal gods).

Odhuvar (reader or reciter).--A name for Pandarams, who recite hymns

in temples.

Odisi.--A sub-division of Bhondari.

Odiya.--It is noted, in the Madras Census Report, 1891, that "this

is the principal Uriya caste of farmers in Ganjam. Odia and Uriya

are different forms of one and the same word, and this caste name

simply means a native of the Odia or Uriya country, as Telaga means

a man of the Telugu country. In both cases, therefore, we find

a number of persons included, who are in reality members of some

other caste. The total number of sub-divisions of Odia, according

to the census schedules, is 146, but a number of these are names

of various Uriya castes, and not true sub-divisions. The largest

sub-division is Benaito, which is returned by 62,391 persons. The Nunia

sub-division, the next largest, was returned by 9,356 individuals." It

is further recorded, in the Census Report, 1901, that Odiya, Oriya,

or Uriya "is one of the vaguest terms in the whole of Table XIII

(Caste and Tribe). The Odiyas are a race by themselves, split up

into many castes. 'Odiya' also often means merely a man who speaks

Oriya. The term is, however, so constantly returned by itself without

qualification, that Odiya has perforce figured in the tables of all

the censuses as a caste. The Odiyas of the hills differ, however,

from the Odiyas of the plains, the Odiyas of Ganjam from those of

Vizagapatam, and the customs of one muttah (settlement) from those

of the next." Mr. Narasing Doss writes to me that "Odiya literally

means an inhabitant of Odissa or Orissa. There is a separate caste

called Odiya, with several sub-divisions. They are cultivators by

profession. Marriage is infant or adult. They employ Brahmans at

ceremonials. Widows and divorcees are remarried. They eat fish and

meat, but not fowls or beef, and do not drink liquor. They burn

the dead. Members of the Nagabonso sept claim to be descendants of

Nagamuni, the serpent rishi."

I gather that there are three main sections among the Odiyas, viz.,

Benaito, Nuniya, and Baraghoria, of which the first-named rank above

the others in the social scale. From them Oriya Brahmans and Koronos

will accept water. The Benaitos and Nuniyas are found all over Ganjam,

whereas the Baraghorias are apparently confined to villages round about

Aska and Purushothapur. There are numerous exogamous gotras within

the caste, among which are Nagasira (cobra), Gonda (rhinoceros),

Kochipo (tortoise), and Baraha (boar). The gods of the gotra should

be worshipped at the commencement of any auspicious ceremony. The

Odiyas also worship Jagannatha, and Takuranis (village deities). A

number of titles occur in the caste, e.g., Bissoyi, Podhano, Jenna,

Bariko, Sahu, Swayi, Gaudo, Pulleyi, Chando, Dolei, and Torei.

When an unmarried girl is ill, a vow is taken that, if she recovers,

she shall be married to the dharma devata (sun), which is represented

by a brass vessel.

People of mixed origin sometimes call themselves Odiyas, and pass as

members of this caste. Some Bhayipuos, for example, who correspond

to the Telugu Adapapas, call themselves Odiyas or Beniya Odiyas.

Odiya Toti.--A Tamil synonym for Oriya Haddis employed as scavengers

in municipalities in the Tamil country.

Ojali.--The Ojali, Vojali, or Ozolu are summed up, in the Madras

Census Report, 1901, as being "Telugu blacksmiths in the Vizagapatam

Agency. They eat beef, but are somewhat superior to the Paidis and

Malas in social position. They are also called Mettu Kamsali." It

is stated in the Vizagapatam Manual that, during the reign of

Chola Chakravati, the Kamsalas (artisans) claimed to be equal

to Brahmans. This offended the sovereign, and he ordered their

destruction. Some only escaped death by taking shelter with people of

the 'Ozu' caste. As an acknowledgment of their gratitude many of the

Kamsalas have ozu affixed to their house-name, e.g., Kattozu, Lakkozu.

Okkiliyan.--Okkiliyan is the Tamil synonym for Vakkaliga, the large

caste of Canarese cultivators, and the name is derived from okkalu,

meaning cultivation or agriculture. In the Madras Census Report, 1901,

the Vakkaligas or Okkiliyans are described as "Canarese cultivators,

who originally belonged to Mysore, and are found mainly in Madura

and Coimbatore. The caste is split up into several sub-divisions,

the names of two of which, Nonaba and Gangadikara, are derived from

former divisions of the Mysore country. Each of these is again split up

into totemistic exogamous sections or kulas, some of which are Chinnada

(gold), Belli (silver), Khajjaya (cake), Yemme (buffalo), Alagi (pot),

Jola (cholum: a millet)." The Vakkaligas say they are descendants

of the Ballal Rajah of Anegundi, and that they left their homes in

pursuit of more suitable occupation, and settled themselves in Konganad

(Coimbatore). The Okkiliyans, whom I have investigated, were settled

in the Tamil country in the Coimbatore district, where they were

engaged as cultivators, bakers, milk-vendors, bricklayers, merchants,

cart-drivers, tailors, cigar manufacturers, and coolies. They returned

the following eight endogamous sub-divisions:--

(1) Gangadikara, or those who lived on the banks of the Ganges.

(2) Gudi, temple.

(3) Kire (Amarantus), which is largely cultivated by them.

(4) Kunchu, a tassel or bunch.

(5) Kamati, foolish. Said to have abandoned their original

occupation of cultivating the land, and adopted the

profession of bricklayer.

(6) Gauri, Siva's consort.

(7) Bai.

(8) Sanu.

Like other Canarese castes, the Okkiliyans have exogamous septs

(kuttam or kutta), such as Belli (silver), Kasturi (musk), Pattegara

(headman), Aruva, Hattianna, etc. By religion they are both Saivites

and Vaishnavites. Those of the Aruva sept are all Saivites, and

the Hatti sept are Vaishnavites. Intermarriage between Saivites and

Vaishnavites is permitted, even though the former be Lingayats. The

Okkiliyans also worship village deities, and sacrifice goats and

fowls to Magaliamma and Koniamma.

The Kiraikkarans of Coimbatore, whose main occupation is cultivating

kirai (Amarantus) and other vegetables, are said to be Kempati

Okkiliyans, i.e. Okkiliyans who emigrated from Kempampatti in Mysore.

The hereditary headman of the caste, at Coimbatore, is called

Pattakaran, who has under him a Chinna (little) Pattakaran. The

headman presides over the caste council meetings, settles disputes,

and inflicts fines and other forms of punishment. If a person is

accused of using coarse language, he is slapped on the cheek by the

Chinna Pattakaran. If, during a quarrel, one person beats the other

with shoes, he has to purify himself and his house, and feed some

of his fellow castemen. The man who has been slippered also has to

undergo purificatory ceremony, but has not to stand a feast. In cases

of adultery, the guilty persons have to carry a basket of sand on the

head round the quarters of the community, accompanied by the Chinna

Pattakaran, who beats them with a tamarind switch. In some places, I

am informed, there is a headman for the village, called Uru Goundan,

who is subject to the authority of the Nattu Goundan. Several nadus,

each composed of a number of villages, are subject to a Pattakar,

who is assisted by a Bandari. All these offices are hereditary.

When a Gangadikara girl reaches puberty, her maternal uncle, or his

son, constructs a hut of stems of cocoanut leaves, reeds and branches

of Pongamia glabra. Every day her relations bring her a cloth,

fruits, and flowers. On alternate days she is bathed, and dressed

in a cloth supplied by the washerwoman. The hut is broken up, and a

new one constructed on the third, fifth, and seventh days. During

the marriage ceremony, the bridegroom carries a dagger (katar)

with a lime stuck on its tip, and partly covered with a cloth,

when he proceeds to the bride's house with a bamboo, new clothes,

the tali (marriage badge), jewels, wrist-thread (kankanam), fruits,

cocoanuts, rice, and a new mat, camphor, etc. He must have the

dagger with him till the wrist-threads are untied. The barber cuts

the nails of the bridegroom. The Pattakaran, or a Brahman priest,

takes round the tali to be blessed by those assembled, and gives it

to the bridegroom, who ties it on the bride's neck. The ends of the

cloths of the contracting couple, with betel leaves and areca nuts in

them, are tied together, and they link together the little finger of

their right hands. They then look at the sky, to see the pole-star,

Arundati, who was the wife of the ascetic Vasishta, and the emblem

of chastity. The marriage booth has four posts, and the milk-post is

made of the milk hedge (Euphorbia Tirucalli), to which are tied mango

leaves and a wrist-thread. At some Okkiliyan marriages, the caste

priest, called Kanigara (soothsayer), officiates at the tali-tying

ceremony. Very great importance is attached to the linking of the

fingers of the bridal couple by the Kanigara or maternal uncle. The

dowry is not given at the time of marriage, but only after the

birth of a child. For her first confinement, the woman is taken to

her parents' home, and, after delivery, is sent back to her husband

with the dowry. This is not given before the birth of a child, as,

in the event of failure of issue or death of his wife, the husband

might claim the property, which might pass to a new family.

Among some Okkiliyans the custom is maintained by which the father of a

young boy married to a grown-up girl cohabits with his daughter-in-law

until her husband has reached maturity.

A dead person, I was informed at Coimbatore, is buried in a sitting

posture, or, if young and unmarried, in a recumbent position. As

the funeral procession proceeds on its way to the burial-ground,

the relations and friends throw coins, fruits, cakes, cooked rice,

etc., on the road, to be picked up by poor people. If the funeral is

in high life, they may even throw flowers made of gold or silver,

but not images, as some of the higher classes do. At the south

end of the grave, a hollow is scooped out for the head and back to

rest in. A small quantity of salt is placed on the abdomen, and the

grave is filled in. Leaves of the arka plant (Calotropis gigantea),

or tangedu (Cassia auriculata), are placed in three corners, and a

stone is set up over the head. The son, having gone round the grave

with a pot of water and a fire-brand, breaks the pot on the stone

before he retires. The widow of the deceased breaks her bangles, and

throws them on the grave. The son and other mourners bathe, and return

home, where they worship a lighted lamp. On the third day, dried twigs

of several species of Ficus and jak tree (Artocarpus integrifolia),

milk, a new cloth, plantains, tender cocoanuts, cheroots, raw rice,

betel, etc., required for worship, are taken to the grave. The twigs

are burnt, and reduced to ashes, with which, mixed with water, the

figure of a human being is made. It is covered with a new cloth,

and flowers are thrown on it. Puja is done to plantains, cocoanut,

etc., placed on a plantain leaf, and milk is poured over the figure by

relations and friends. The widow breaks her tali string, and throws it

on the figure. The son, and the four bearers who carried the corpse

to the grave, are shaved. Each of the bearers is made to stand up,

holding a pestle. The barber touches their shoulders with holy grass

dipped in gingelly (Sesamum) oil. Raw rice, and other eatables, are

sent to the houses of the bearers by the son of the deceased. At

night the cloths, turban, and other personal effects of the dead

man are worshipped. Pollution is removed on the eleventh day by a

Brahman sprinkling holy water, and the caste people are fed. They

perform sradh. By some Okkiliyans, the corpse is, like that of a

Lingayat Badaga, etc., carried to the burial-ground in a structure

called teru kattu, made of a bamboo framework surmounted by a canopy,

whereon are placed five brass vessels (kalasam). The structure is

decorated with cloths, flags, and plantain trees.

The Morasu Vakkaligas, who sacrifice their fingers, are dealt with

separately (see Morasu).

Olai.--A sub-division of Palli, the members of which wear an ear

ornament called olai.

Olaro.--A sub-division of Gadaba.

Olekara.--See Vilyakara.

Olikala (pyre and ashes).--An exogamous sept of Devanga.

Omanaito.--The Omanaitos or Omaitos are an Oriya cultivating caste,

for the following account of which I am indebted to Mr. C. Hayavadana

Rao. According to a tradition, the ancestor of the caste was one

Amatya, a minister of Sri Rama at Ayodhya. After Rama had gone to

heaven, there was no one to take care of them, and they took to

agriculture. The caste is divided into two endogamous sections,

called Bodo (big) and Sanno (little). The latter are regarded as

illegitimate children of the former by a Bottada, Gaudo, or other

woman. The Bodo section is divided into septs, called Sva (parrot),

Bhag (tiger), Kochchimo (tortoise), Naga (cobra), Sila (stone), Dhudho

(milk), Kumda (Cucurbita maxima), and Kukru (dog).

The caste headman is called Bhatha Nayak, whose office is

hereditary. He arranges council meetings for settling social questions,

and takes a leading part in excommunicating members of the caste. Like

the Gonds, the Omanaitos cannot tolerate a man suffering from sores,

and he is formally excommunicated. To be received back into the caste,

he has to give a caste feast, of which the Bhatha Nayak is the first

to partake.

Girls are married before or after puberty. A man claims his paternal

aunt's daughter in marriage. As soon as a young man's parents think

it is time that he should get married, they set out, with some

sweets and jaggery (crude sugar), for the house of the paternal

aunt, where the hand of her daughter is asked for. A second visit

of a similar nature is made later on, when the marriage is decided

on. An auspicious day is fixed by the Desari. A messenger is sent to

the house of the bride-elect with some rice, three rupees, a sheep,

and a new cloth, which are presented to her parents, who invite the

bridegroom and his party to come on the appointed day. On that day,

the bridegroom is conducted in procession, sometimes on horseback,

to the bride's village. There, in front of her hut, a pandal (booth)

has been constructed of eight posts of the sal tree (Shorea robusta),

and a central post of the ippa (Bassia) tree, to which seven pieces of

turmeric and seven mango leaves are tied. At the auspicious moment, the

bridegroom is conducted in procession to the booth, and the messenger

says aloud to the paternal aunt "The bridegroom has come. Bring the

bride quickly." She stands by the side of the bridegroom, and the

Desari links together their little fingers, while the women throw

rice coloured with turmeric over them. Water, which has been brought

from the village stream at early morn, and coloured with turmeric,

is poured over the couple from five pots. They then dress themselves

in new cloths presented by their fathers-in-law. A feast is given by

the bride's party. On the following day, the bride is conducted to

the home of the bridegroom, at the entrance to which they are met by

the bridegroom's mother, who sprinkles rice coloured with turmeric

over them, and washes their feet with turmeric-water. Liquor is then

distributed, and a meal partaken of. The Desari takes seven grains

of rice and seven areca nuts and ties them up in the ends of the

cloths of the contracting couple. On the following day, a feast is

held, and, next day, the parties of the bride and bridegroom throw

turmeric-water over each other. All then repair to the stream, and

bathe. A feast follows, for which a sheep is killed.

It is noted, in the Gazetteer of the Vizagapatam District, that in

the course of an Omanaito wedding there is a free fight, with mud

for missiles.

The remarriage of widows is permitted, and a younger brother may marry

the widow of his elder brother. Divorce is allowed, and divorcées

may marry again.

The Omanaitos worship Takurani and Chamariya Devata, as priest of

whom a member of the caste officiates. An annual festival is held in

the month of Chaitro.

The dead are burnt. Pollution on account of a death in a family lasts

for ten days, during which the caste occupation is not carried out,

and the mourners are fed by people of another sept. On the eleventh

day a feast is held, at which liquor is forbidden.

The caste title, is usually Nayako, but the more prosperous take the

title Patro.

Ondipuli.--Recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as

Telugu-speaking cultivators and cattle-breeders in the Salem

district. The name is sometimes applied to the beggars attached to

the Palli caste.

Onnam Parisha (first party).--A section of Elayad.

Onne (Pterocarpus Marsupium).--An exogamous sept of Toreyas, who are

not allowed to mark their foreheads with the juice which exudes from

the trunk of this tree.

Onteddu.--Onteddu or Onti-eddu is the name of a sub-division of

Ganigas or Gandlas, who only use one bullock for their oil-mills.

Opoto.--Opoto or Apoto is the name of the palanquin-bearing section

of Gaudos.

Oppamtara.--A title conferred by the Raja of Cochin on some Nayars.

Oppanakkaran (trader).--Telugu traders and agriculturists. Recorded

as a sub-division of Balija.

Oppomarango (Achyranthes aspera).--An exogamous sept of Bhondari,

the members of which may not use the root as a tooth-brush.

Ore.--An honorific title of Nayars.

Origabhakthudu (saluting devotee).--A class of mendicants, who are

said to beg only from Perikes.

Oriya.--Oriya, or Uriya, is a general term for those who speak

the Oriya language. At times of census, it has been recorded as a

sub-division of various castes, e.g., Sondi and Dhobi.

Oruganti.--A sub-division of Kapu and Mutracha.

Orunul (one string).--A sub-division of Marans, whose widows do

not remarry.

Oshtama.--A corrupt form of the word Vaishnava, applied to Satanis,

who are called by illiterate folk Oishnamaru or Oshtamaru.

Osta.--Recorded, in the Travancore Census Report, 1901, as the name

of a caste of barbers for Muhammadans.

Otattu (tile-makers).--An occupational name for Nayars, who tile or

thatch temples and Brahman houses.

Ottaisekkan.--The name, indicating those who work their oil-mill with

a single bullock, of a sub-division of Vaniyan.

Ottikunda (empty pot).--An exogamous sept of Kamma.

P

Paccha (green).--An exogamous sept of Kamma. The equivalent Pacchai

is a sub-division of Tamil Paraiyans, and of Malaiyalis who have

settled on the Pacchaimalais (green hills). Pacchi powaku (green

tobacco) occurs as an exogamous sept of Devanga. Pacchai Kutti is the

name given to Koravas who travel about the country as professional

tattooers, the operation of tattooing being known as pricking with

green. In like manner, Pacchai Botlu is the name for Oddes, who are

itinerant tattooers in the Ganjam, Vizagapatam, and Godavari districts.

Pachilia.--A sub-division of Oriya Gaudos.

Pada (fighting).--A sub-division of Nayar.

Padaharu Madala (sixteen madalas).--The name, indicating the amount

of the bride-price, of a section of Upparas. A madala is equal to two

rupees. Some say that the name has reference to the modas, or heaps

of earth, in which salt was formerly made.

Padaiyachi.--A synonym or title of Palli or Vanniyan, and Savalakkaran.

Padal.--A title of headmen of the Bagatas.

Padam.--Recorded, in the Travancore Census Report, 1901, as a

sub-division of Nayar. Padamangalum or Padamangalakkar is also

recorded as a sub-division of Nayars, who escort processions in

temples. Mr. N. Subramani Aiyar writes that "Padamangalam and the

Tamil Padam are recorded as a division of Nayars, but they are said

to be immigrants to Travancore from the Tamil country." Padam also

occurs as an exogamous sept of Moosu Kamma.

Padarti.--A title of pujaris (priests) in South Canara, and a name

by which Stanikas are called.

Padavala (boat).--An exogamous sept of Devanga.

Padiga Raju.--Recorded, in the Madras Census Report, as the same as

Bhatrazu. The Padiga Rajulu are, however, beggars attached to the Padma

Sales, and apparently distinct from Bhatrazus. The name is probably

derived from padiga, a kind of vessel, and may bear reference to the

vessel which they carry with them on their begging expeditions.

Padma (lotus).--A sub-division of Velama.

Padma Sale.--The Padma (lotus) Sales are a Telugu-speaking caste

of weavers, who are scattered all over the Madras Presidency. The

majority are engaged in their hereditary occupation, but only the

minority possess looms of their own, and they work, for the most

part, for the more prosperous owners of hand-looms. As a class they

are poor, being addicted to strong drinks, and in the hands of the

money-lenders, who take care that their customers always remain in

debt to them. Like the Kaikolans, the Padma Sales weave the coarser

kinds of cotton cloths, and cannot compete with the Patnulkarans and

Khatres in the manufacture of the finer kinds.

The Padma Sales have only one gotra, Markandeya. But, like other

Telugu castes, they have a number of exogamous septs or intiperus,

of which the following are examples:--

Bandari, treasurer. Bomma, an idol. Canji, gruel. Chinthaginjala,

tamarind seeds. Gorantla, Lawsonia alba. Jinka, gazelle. Kalava,

ditch. Kasulu, copper coins. Kongara, crane. Kadavala, pots. Manchi,

good. Nili, indigo. Nukalu, flour of grain or pulse. Nyayam,

justice. Utla, rope for hanging pots. Pothu, male. Paththi,

cotton. Putta, ant-hill. Thelu, scorpion. Tangedla, Cassia

auriculata. Tumma, Acacia arabica. Avari, indigo plant. Chinnam,

gold? Gurram, horse. Geddam, beard. Kota, fort. Meda, raised mound

Middala, storeyed house. Mamidla, mango. Narala, nerves. Pula,

flowers. Sadhu, quiet or meek.

The Padma Sales profess to be Vaishnavites, but some are Saivites. All

the families of the exogamous sept Sadhu are said to be lingam-wearing

Saivites. In addition to their house-god Venkateswara, they worship

Pulikondla Rangaswami, Maremma, Durgamma, Narasappa, Sunkalamma,

Urukundhi Viranna, Gangamma, Kinkiniamma, Mutyalamma, Kalelamma,

Ankamma, and Padvetiamma. Their caste deity is Bhavana Rishi, to whom,

in some places, a special temple is dedicated. A festival in honour of

this deity is celebrated annually, during which the god and goddess

are represented by two decorated pots placed on a model of a tiger

(vyagra vahanam), to which, on the last day of the ceremonial, large

quantities of rice and vegetables are offered, which are distributed

among the loom-owners, pujari, headman, fasting celebrants, etc.

The Padma Sales belong to the right-hand, and the Devangas to the

left-hand faction, and the latter aver that the Padma Sales took away

the body of the goddess Chaudeswari, leaving them the head.

Three kinds of beggars are attached to the Padma Sales, viz.,

Sadhana Surulu, Padiga Rajulu or Koonapilli vandlu, and Inaka-mukku

Bhatrazus. Concerning the Sadhana Surulu, Buchanan writes as

follows. [184] "The Vaishnavite section of the Samay Sale is called

Padma Sale. The whole Shalay formerly wore the linga, but, a house

having been possessed by a devil, and this sect having been called

on to cast him out, all their prayers were of no avail. At length

ten persons, having thrown aside their linga, and offered up their

supplications to Vishnu, they succeeded in expelling the enemy, and

ever afterwards they followed the worship of this god, in which they

have been initiated by their brethren. The descendants of these men,

who are called Sadana Asholu (Sadana Surulu), or the celebrated heroes,

never work, and, having dedicated themselves to god, live upon the

charity of the industrious part of the caste, with whom they disdain

to marry."

The Padiga Rajulu are supposed to be the descendants of three persons,

Adigadu, Padigadu and Baludu, who sprang from the sweat of Bhavana

Rishi, and the following legend is current concerning the origin of

the Padma Sales and Padiga Rajulu. At the creation of the world,

men were naked, and one Markandeya, who was sixteen years old,

was asked to weave cloths. To enable him to do so, he did thapas

(penance), and from the sacred fire arose Bhavana Rishi, bearing a

bundle of thread obtained from the lotus which sprang from Vishnu's

navel. Bhavana Rishi made cloths, and presented them to the Devatas,

and offered a cloth to Bhairava also. This he refused to accept, as

it was the last, and not the first, which is usually rolled up, and

kept on the loom. Finding it unsuitable for wearing, Bhairava uttered a

curse that the cloths made should wear out in six months. Accordingly,

Siva asked Bhavana to procure him a tiger's skin for wearing. Narada

came to the assistance of Bhavana, and told him to go to Udayagiri,

where Bhadravati, the daughter of Surya, was doing penance to

secure Bhavana as her husband. She promised to secure a skin,

if he would marry her. To this he consented, and, in due course,

received the tiger's skin. Making the tiger his vahanam (vehicle),

he proceeded to the abode of Siva (Kailasam), and on his way thither

met a Rakshasa, whom he killed in a fight, in the course of which

he sweated profusely. From the sweat proceeded Adigadu, Padigadu,

and Baludu. When he eventually reached Siva, the tiger, on the sacred

ashes being thrown over it, cast its skin, which Siva appropriated. In

consequence of this legend, tigers are held in reverence by the Padma

Sales, who believe that they will not molest them.

The legendary origin of the Padma Sales is given as follows in the

Baramahal Records. [185] "In former days, the other sects of weavers

used annually to present a piece of cloth to a rishi or saint, named

Markandeyulu. One year they omitted to make their offering at the

customary period, which neglect enraged the rishi, who performed a

yaga or sacrifice of fire, and, by the power of mantras or prayers,

he caused a man to spring up out of the fire of the sacrifice,

and called him Padma Saliwarlu, and directed him to weave a piece

of cloth for his use. This he did, and presented it to the rishi,

saying 'Oh! Swami, who is thy servant to worship, and how is he to

obtain moksham or admittance to the presence of the Supreme?' The

rishi answered 'Pay adoration to me, and thou wilt obtain moksham.'"

The office of headman (Setti or Gaudu) is hereditary. The headman

has under him an assistant, called Ummidi Setti or Ganumukhi, who

is the caste messenger, and is exempt from the various subscriptions

for temple festivals, etc.

When a girl reaches puberty, she is forbidden to eat meat or

Amarantus during the period of ceremonial pollution. In settling

the preliminaries of a marriage, a Brahman purohit takes part. With

some Padma Sales it is etiquette not to give direct answers when a

marriage is being fixed up. For example, those who have come to seek

the hand of a girl say "We have come for a sumptuous meal," to which

the girl's parents, if consenting to the match, will reply "We are

ready to feed you. You are our near relations." The marriage rites are

a blend of the Canarese and Telugu types. In the Ceded districts, the

bride is conveyed to the house of the bridegroom, seated on a bull,

after worship has been done to Hanuman. As she enters the house,

a cocoanut is waved, and thrown on the ground. She then bathes in an

enclosure with four posts, round which cotton thread has been wound

nine times. Wrist-threads of cotton and wool are tied on the bride and

bridegroom. The bottu (marriage badge) is tied round the bride's neck,

and she stands on a pile of cholum (Sorghum vulgare: millet) on the

floor or in a basket. The bridegroom stands on a mill-stone. While the

bottu is being tied, a screen is interposed between the contracting

couple. The bride's nose-screw ornament is dropped into a plate of

milk, from which she has to pick it out five times. Towards evening,

the bridal couple go in procession through the streets, and to the

temple, if there is one. On their return to the house, the bridegroom

picks up the bride, and dances for a short time before entering. This

ceremony is called dega-ata, and is performed by several Telugu castes.

Some Padma Sales bury their dead in the usual manner, others, like

the Lingayats, in a sitting posture. It is customary, in some places,

to offer up a fowl to the corpse before it is removed from the house,

and, if a death occurs on a Saturday or Sunday, a fowl is tied to

the bier, and burnt with the corpse. This is done in the belief that

otherwise another death would very soon take place. The Tamilians, in

like manner, have a proverb "A Saturday corpse will not go alone." On

the way to the burial-ground, the corpse is laid down, and water

poured into the mouth. The son takes a pot of water round the grave,

and holes are made in it by the Ummidi Setti, through which the water

trickles out. On the fifth day, a sheep is killed, and eaten. During

the evening the Satani comes, and, after doing puja (worship), gives

the relatives of the deceased sacred arrack (liquor) in lieu of holy

water (thirtham) and meat, for which he receives payment. On the last

day of the death ceremonies (karmandiram), the Satani again comes with

arrack, and, according to a note before me, all get drunk. (See Sale.)

Pagadala (trader in coral).--A sub-division or exogamous sept of

Balija and Kavarai. The Pagadala Balijas of the Vizagapatam district

are described as dealing in coral and pearls. Pagada Mukara (coral

nose-ring) has been returned as a sub-division of Kamma.

Pagati Vesham.--A class of Telugu beggars, who put on disguises

(vesham) while begging. [186] At the annual festival at Tirupati in

honour of the goddess Gangamma, custom requires the people to appear

in a different disguise every morning and evening. These disguises

include those of a Bairagi, serpent, etc. [187]

Paguththan.--A title of Sembadavan.

Paida (gold or money).--An exogamous sept of Mala. The equivalent

Paidam occurs as an exogamous sept of Devanga.

Paidi--The Paidis are summed up, in the Madras Census Report,

1891, as "a class of agricultural labourers and weavers, found in

the Vizagapatam district. Some of them are employed as servants and

village watchmen. They are closely akin to the Panos and Dombos of

the hills, and Malas of the plains. They speak a corrupt dialect of

Uriya." In the Census Report, 1901, Kangara (servant) is recorded as

a synonym for Paidi.

For the following note on the Paidis of the Vizagapatam district,

I am mainly indebted to Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao. There is a great deal

of confusion concerning this caste, and the general impression seems

to be that it is the same as Domb and Pano. I am informed that the

same man would be called Paidi by Telugus, Domb by the Savaras, and

Pano by the Konds. In the interior of the Jeypore Agency tracts the

Dombs and Paidis both repudiate the suggestion that they are connected

with each other. The Paidis, in some places, claim to belong to the

Valmiki kulam, and to be descended from Valmiki, the author of the

Ramayana. A similar descent, it may be noted, is claimed by the

Boyas. In the Vizagapatam Manual, the Paidimalalu or Paidi Malas

(hill Malas) are described as cultivating land, serving as servants

and village watchmen, and spinning cotton. It is said that they will

not eat food, which has been seen by Komatis. The Paidis stoutly deny

their connection with the Malas.

When a Paidi girl reaches puberty, she is kept under pollution for a

varying number of days, and, on the last day, a Madiga is summoned,

who cuts her finger and toe nails, after which she bathes. Girls are

married either before or after puberty. The menarikam custom is in

force, according to which a man should marry his maternal uncle's

daughter. If he does so, the bride-price (voli) is fixed at five

rupees; otherwise it is ten rupees. The marriage ceremonies last over

four days, and are of the low-country Telugu type. The remarriage of

widows and divorce are permitted.

The Paidis are Vaishnavites, and sing songs in praise of Rama during

the month Karthika (November-December). Each family feeds a few of

the castemen at least once during that month. They also observe the

Sankramanam festival, at which they usually wear new clothes. The

dead are either burnt or buried, and the chinna (small) and pedda rozu

(big day) death ceremonies are observed.

Some Paidis are cultivators, but a large number are prosperous traders,

buying up the hill produce, and bringing it to the low-country,

where it is sold at markets. Their children study English in the hill

schools. The caste titles are Anna and Ayya.

Some time ago some prisoners, who called themselves Billaikavu

(cat-eaters), were confined in the Vizagapatam jail. I am informed

that these people are Mala Paidis, who eat cat flesh.

The following note refers to the Paidis who live in the southern part

of Ganjam. Some have settled as watchmen, or in other capacities,

among the Savaras, whose language they speak in addition to their

own. In their marriage ceremonies, they conform to the Telugu type,

with certain variations adopted from the Oriya ceremonial. On the

first day, a pandal (booth) is set up, and supported on twelve

posts. A feast is given to males during the day, and to females at

night. Like the Oriya Dandasis, they bring water from seven houses

of members of castes superior to their own. The auspicious time for

tying the pushte (gold marriage badge) on the following day is fixed

so as to fall during the night. At the appointed time, the bridegroom

rushes into the house of the bride, and the contracting couple throw

rice over each other. Taking the bride by the hand, the bridegroom

conducts her to the pandal, wherein they take their seats on the

dais. The bride should be seated before the bridegroom, and there is

a mock struggle to prevent this, and to secure first place for the

bridegroom. He then ties a mokkuto (chaplet) on the bride's forehead,

a thread on her wrist, and the pushte on her neck. After this has been

done, the couple bathe with the water already referred to, and once

more come to the dais, where a small quantity of rice, sufficient to

fill a measure called adda, is placed before them. Some amusement is

derived from the bride abstracting a portion of the rice, so that,

when the bridegroom measures it, there is less than there should

be. The marriage ceremonies conclude on the third day with offerings

to ancestors, and distribution of presents to the newly married couple.

The death ceremonies are based on the Oriya type. On the day after

death, the funeral pyre is extinguished, and the ashes are thrown on

to a tree or an ant-hill. As they are being borne thither, the priest

asks the man who carries them what has become of the dead person,

and he is expected to reply that he has gone to Kasi (Benares) or

Jagannatham. A cloth is spread on the spot where the corpse was burnt,

and offerings of food are placed on it. On the fourth day, a pig is

killed and cooked. Before being cooked, one of the legs is hung up near

the spot where the deceased breathed his last. Death pollution is got

rid of by touching oil and turmeric, and the ceremonies conclude with a

feast. An annual offering of food is made, in the month of November, to

ancestors, unless a death takes place in the family during this month.

The Ganjam Paidis worship the Takuranis (village deities), and

sacrifice goats and sheep at local temples. As they are a polluting

caste, they stand at a distance opposite the entrance to the temple,

and, before they retire, take a pinch or two of earth. This, on their

return home, they place on a cloth spread on a spot which has been

cleansed, and set before it the various articles which have been

prepared as offerings to the Takurani. When a Paidi is seriously

ill, a male or female sorcerer (Bejjo or Bejjano) is consulted. A

square, divided into sixteen compartments, is drawn on the floor

with rice-flour. In each compartment are placed a leaf, cup of Butea

frondosa, a quarter-anna piece, and some food. Seven small bows and

arrows are set up in front thereof in two lines. On one side of the

square a big cup, filled with food, is placed. A fowl is sacrificed,

and its blood poured thrice round this cup. Then, placing water

in a vessel near the cup, the sorcerer or sorceress throws into it

a grain of rice, giving out at the same time the name of some god

or goddess. If the rice sinks, it is believed that the illness is

caused by the anger of the deity, whose name has been mentioned. If

the rice floats, the names of various deities are called out, until

a grain sinks.

It is recorded [188] that, in the Parvatipur country of the Vizagapatam

district, "the Paidis (Paidi Malas) do most of the crime, and often

commit dacoities on the roads. Like the Konda Doras, they have induced

some of the people to employ watchmen of their caste as the price

of immunity from theft. They are connected with the Dombus of the

Rayagada and Gunupur taluks, who are even worse."

Paik.--It is noted by Yule and Burnell, [189] under the heading Pyke

or Paik, that "Wilson gives only one original of the term so expressed

in Anglo-Indian speech. He writes 'Paik or Payik, corruptly Pyke,

Hind., etc. (from S. padatika), Paik or Payak, Mar., a footman, an

armed attendant, an inferior police and revenue officer, a messenger, a

courier, a village watchman. In Cuttack the Paiks formerly constituted

a local militia, holding land of the Zamindars or Rajas by the tenure

of military service.' But it seems clear to us that there are here

two terms rolled together: (a) Pers. Paik, a foot-runner or courier;

(b) Hind. paik and payik (also Mahr.) from Skt. padatika, and padika,

a foot-soldier."

In the Madras Census Report, 1891, Paiko is defined as "rather an

occupational than a caste name. It means a foot-soldier, and is

used to denote the retainers of the Uriya Chiefs of Ganjam and

Vizagapatam. These men were granted lands on feudal tenure, and

belonged to various castes. They are now ordinary agriculturists. Some

are employed in the police, and as peons in the various public

departments." In the records relating to human sacrifice and

infanticide, 1854, the Paiks are referred to as matchlock men,

by whom the Konds and Gonds are kept in abject servitude. In the

Vizagapatam Manual, 1869, various castes are referred to as being

"all paiks or fighting men. Formerly they were a very numerous body,

but their numbers are much diminished now, that is as fighting men,

for the old army used to be paid, some in money, and some in grants

of land. Now there are very few paiks kept up as fighting men; those

discharged from service have taken to trading with the coast, and to

cultivating their pieces of land. The fort at Kotapad on the Bustar

frontier always had a standing garrison of several hundred paiks. They

are gradually being disbanded since we have put police there. The men

are a fine race, brave, and capital shots with the matchlock." Paiko

has been recorded, at times of census, as a synonym or sub-division

of Rona. And Paikarayi occurs as a title of Badhoyis.

Paiki.--A division of Toda.

Pailman.--Pailman or Pailwan has been described [190] as "an

occupational term meaning a wrestler, used by all classes following

the occupation, whether they are Hindus or Musalmans. The Hindus

among them are usually Gollas or Jettis." In the Telugu country,

the Pailmans wrestle, and perform various mountebank, conjuring,

and juggling feats. A wandering troupe of Maratha Pailwans performed

before me various stick-exercises, acrobatic and contortionist feats,

and balancing feats on a bamboo pole supported in the kamerband

(belly-band) of a veteran member of the troupe. The performance wound

up with gymnastics on a lofty pole kept erect by means of ropes tied

to casual trees and tent-pegs, and surmounted by a pliant bamboo, on

which the performer swung and balanced himself while playing a drum,

or supporting a pile of earthen pots surmounted by a brass vessel

on his head. The entertainment took place amid the music of drum

and clarionet, and the patter of one of the troupe, the performers

playing the drum in the waits between their turns.

Painda.--A synonym of Paidi.

Pakanati (eastern territory).--A sub-division of various Telugu

classes, e.g., Balija, Golla, Kamsala, Kapu, Mala, and Tsakala.

Paki.--Recorded by the Rev. J. Cain [191] as a sweeper caste in the

Godavari district, members of which have come from the neighbourhood

of Vizagapatam, and are great sticklers for their caste rules.

Pakinadu.--A territorial sub-division of Kamsalas and other Telugu

castes, corresponding to Pakanati.

Pakirithi.--Pakirithi or Parigiri, meaning Vaishnavite, is a

sub-division of Besthas, who, on ceremonial occasions, wear the

Vaishnava sect mark.

Pal (milk).--Pal or Pala has been recorded as a sub-division of

Idaiyan and Kurumba, and an exogamous sept of Mala. (See Halu.)

Palakala (planks).--An exogamous sept of Kamma.

Palamala.--Palama is recorded as a sub-division of the Kanikars of

Travancore and Palamalathillom, said to denote the mountain with

trees with milky juice, as an exogamous sept of the same tribe.

Palavili.--A gotra of Gollas, who are not allowed to erect palavili,

or small booths inside the house for the purpose of worship.

Palayakkaran.--See Mutracha.

Paligiri.--A sub-division of Mutracha.

Palissa (shield) Kollan.--A class of Kollans in Malabar, who make

leather shields. It is recorded, in the Gazetteer of Malabar, that,

at the tali-kettu ceremony, "the girl and manavalan (bridegroom)

go to the tank on the last day of the ceremony. The girl, standing

in the tank, ducks her whole body under water thrice. As she does

so for the third time, a pandibali or triangular platter made of

cocoanut fronds and pieces of plantain stem and leaf plaited together

and adorned with five lighted wicks, is thrown over her into the

water, and cut in half as it floats by an enangan, who sings a song

called Kalikkakam. Lastly, the girl chops in two a cocoanut placed

on the bank. She aims two blows at it, and failure to sever it with

a third is considered inauspicious. Among Palissa Kollans and some

other castes, the lucky dip ceremony is performed on the last day

(called nalam kalyanam or fourth marriage). An enangan, drawing out

the packets at random, distributes them to the manavalan, the girl,

and himself in turn. It is lucky for the manavalan to get the gold,

and the girl the silver. A significant finish to the ceremony in

the form of a symbolical divorce is not infrequent in South Malabar

at all events. Thus, among the Palissa Kollans the manavalan takes a

piece of thread from his mundu (cloth), and gives it, saying 'Here is

your sister's accharam' to the girl's brother, who breaks it in two

and puffs it towards him. In other cases, the manavalan gives the

girl a cloth on the first day, and cuts it in two, giving her one

half on the last; or the manavalan and an enangan of the girl hold

opposite ends of a cloth, which the manavalan cuts and tears in two,

and then gives both pieces to the girl."

Paliyans of Madura and Tinnevelly. In a note on the Malai (hill)

Paliyans of the Madura district, the Rev. J. E. Tracy writes

as follows. "I went to their village at the foot of the Periyar

hills, and can testify to their being the most abject, hopeless, and

unpromising specimens of humanity that I have ever seen. There were

about forty of them in the little settlement, which was situated in

a lovely spot. A stream of pure water was flowing within a few feet

of their huts, and yet they were as foul and filthy in their personal

appearance as if they were mere animals, and very unclean ones. Rich

land that produced a luxuriant crop of rank reeds was all around

them, and, with a little exertion on their part, might have been

abundantly irrigated, and produced continuous crops of grain. Yet

they lived entirely on nuts and roots, and various kinds of gum that

they gathered in the forest on the slopes of the hills above their

settlement. Only two of the community had ever been more than seven

miles away from their village into the open country below them. Their

huts were built entirely of grass, and consisted of only one room each,

and that open at the ends. The chief man of the community was an old

man with white hair. His distinctive privilege was that he was allowed

to sleep between two fires at night, while no one else was allowed

to have but one--a distinction that they were very complaisant about,

perhaps because with the distinction was the accompanying obligation

to see that the community's fire never went out. As he was also

the only man in the community who was allowed to have two wives,

I inferred that he delegated to them the privilege of looking after

the fires, while he did the sleeping, whereas, in other families,

the man and wife had to take turn and turn about to see that the fire

had not to be re-lighted in the morning. They were as ignorant as they

were filthy. They had no place of worship, but seemed to agree that

the demons of the forest around them were the only beings that they

had to fear besides the Forest Department. They were barely clothed,

their rags being held about them, in one or two cases, with girdles of

twisted grass. They had much the same appearance that many a famine

subject presented in the famine of 1877, but they seemed to have had

no better times to look back upon, and hence took their condition

as a matter of course. The forest had been their home from time

immemorial. Yet the forest seemed to have taught them nothing more

than it might have been supposed to have taught the prowling jackal

or the laughing hyæna. There were no domesticated animals about their

place: strange to say, not even a pariah dog. They appeared to have

no idea of hunting, any more than they had of agriculture. And, as

for any ideas of the beauty or solemnity of the place that they had

selected as their village site, they were as innocent of such things

as they were of the beauties of Robert Browning's verse."

In a note written in 1817, Mr. T. Turnbull states that the Madura

Pulliers "are never seen unless when they come down to travellers

to crave a piece of tobacco or a rag of cloth, for which they have a

great predilection. The women are said to lay their infants on warm

ashes after delivery, as a substitute for warm clothing and beds."

The Palayans, or Pulleer, are described by General Burton [192] as

"good trackers, and many of them carried bows and arrows, and a few

even possessed matchlocks. I met one of these villagers going out on

a sporting excursion. He had on his head a great chatty (earthen pot)

full of water, and an old brass-bound matchlock. It was the height

of the dry season. He was taking water to a hollow in a rock, which

he kept carefully replenished, and then ensconced himself in a clump

of bushes hard by, and waited all day, if necessary, with true native

patience, for hog, deer, or pea-fowl to approach his ambush."

In the Madura Manual, it is noted that "the Poleiyans have always been

the prædial slaves of the Kunuvans. According to the survey account,

they are the aborigines of the Palni hills. The marriage ceremony

consists merely of a declaration of consent made by both parties at

a feast, to which all their relatives are invited. As soon as a case

of small-pox occurs in one of their villages, a cordon is drawn round

it, and access to other villages is denied to all the inhabitants

of the infected locality, who at once desert their homes, and camp

out for a sufficiently long period. The individual attacked is left

to his fate, and no medicine is exhibited to him, as it is supposed

that the malady is brought on solely by the just displeasure of the

gods. They bury their dead."

The Paliyans are described, in the Gazetteer of the Madura district,

as a "very backward caste, who reside in small scattered parties

amid the jungles of the Upper Palnis and the Varushanad valley. They

speak Tamil with a peculiar intonation, which renders it scarcely

intelligible. They are much less civilised than the Pulaiyans, but do

not eat beef, and consequently carry no pollution. They sometimes build

themselves grass huts, but often they live on platforms up trees, in

caves, or under rocks. Their clothes are of the scantiest and dirtiest,

and are sometimes eked out with grass or leaves. They live upon roots

(yams), leaves, and honey. They cook the roots by putting them into

a pit in the ground, heaping wood upon them, and lighting it. The

fire is usually kept burning all night as a protection against wild

beasts, and it is often the only sign of the presence of the Paliyans

in a jungle, for they are shy folk, who avoid other people. They make

fire with quartz and steel, using the floss of the silk-cotton tree as

tinder. Weddings are conducted without ceremonies, the understanding

being that the man shall collect food and the woman cook it. When

one of them dies, the rest leave the body as it is, and avoid the

spot for some months.

A detailed account of the Paliyans of the Palni hills by the

Rev. F. Dahmen has recently been published, [193] to which I am

indebted for the following information. "The Paliyans are a nomadic

tribe, who for the most part rove in small parties through the

jungle-clad gorges that fringe the Upper Palnis plateau. There they

maintain themselves mostly on the products of the chase and on roots

(yams, etc.), leaves and wild fruits (e.g., of the wild date tree),

at times also by hiring their labour to the Kunnuvan or Mannadi

villagers. The find of a bee-hive in the hollow of some tree is a

veritable feast for them. No sooner have they smoked the bees out

than they greedily snatch at the combs, and ravenously devour them

on the spot, with wax, grubs, and all. Against ailments the Paliyans

have their own remedies: in fact, some Paliyans have made a name for

themselves by their knowledge of the medicinal properties of herbs and

roots. Thus, for instance, they make from certain roots (periya uri

katti ver) a white powder known as a very effective purgative. Against

snake-bite they always carry with them certain leaves (naru valli ver),

which they hold to be a very efficient antidote. As soon as one of them

is bitten, he chews these, and also applies them to the wound. Patience

and cunning above all are required in their hunting-methods. One of

their devices, used for big game, e.g., against the sambar (deer), or

against the boar, consists in digging pitfalls, carefully covered up

with twigs and leaves. On the animal being entrapped, it is dispatched

with clubs or the aruval (sickle). Another means consists in arranging

a heap of big stones on a kind of platform, one end of which is made

to rest on higher ground, the other skilfully equipoised by a stick

resting on a fork, where it remains fixed by means of strong twine so

disposed that the least movement makes the lever-like stick on the

fork fly off, while the platform and the stones come rapidly down

with a crash. The string which secures the lever is so arranged as

to unloose itself at the least touch, and the intended victim can

hardly taste the food that serves for bait without bringing the

platform with all its weight down upon itself. Similar traps, but

on a smaller scale, are used to catch smaller animals: hares, wild

fowl, etc. Flying squirrels are smoked out of the hollows of trees,

and porcupines out of their burrows, and then captured or clubbed to

death on their coming out. The first drops of blood of any animal the

Paliyans kill are offered to their god. A good catch is a great boon

for the famished Paliyan. The meat obtained therefrom must be divided

between all the families of the settlement. The skins, if valuable,

are preserved to barter for the little commodities they may stand in

need of, or to give as a tribute to their chief. One of their methods

for procuring fish consists in throwing the leaves of a creeper called

in Tamil karungakodi, after rubbing them, into the water. Soon the

fish is seen floating on the surface. Rough fashioned hooks are also

used. When not engaged on some expedition, or not working for hire,

the Paliyans at times occupy themselves in the fabrication of small

bird-cages, or in weaving a rough kind of mat, or in basket-making. The

small nicknacks they turn out are made according to rather ingenious

patterns, and partly coloured with red and green vegetable dyes. These,

with the skins of animals, and the odoriferous resin collected from

the dammer tree, are about the only articles which they barter or

sell to the inhabitants of the plains, or to the Mannadis."

Concerning the religion and superstitions of the Paliyans, the

Rev. F. Dahmen writes as follows. "The principal religious ceremony

takes place about the beginning of March. Mayandi (the god) is usually

represented by a stone, preferably one to which nature has given

some curious shape, the serpent form being especially valued. I said

'represented,' for, according to our Paliyans, the stone itself is not

the god, who is supposed to live somewhere, they do not exactly know

where. The stone that represents him has its shrine at the foot of

a tree, or is simply sheltered by a small thatched covering. There,

on the appointed day, the Paliyans gather before sunrise. Fire is

made in a hole in front of the sacred stone, a fine cock brought in,

decapitated amidst the music of horn and drum and the blood made to

drip on the fire. The head of the fowl ought to be severed at one

blow, as this is a sign of the satisfaction of the god for the past,

and of further protection for the future. Should the head still

hang, this would be held a bad omen, foreboding calamities for

the year ensuing. The instrument used in this sacred operation is

the aruval, but the sacrificial aruval cannot be used but for this

holy purpose. Powers of witchcraft and magic are attributed to the

Paliyans by other castes, and probably believed in by themselves. The

following device adopted by them to protect themselves from the

attacks of wild animals, the panther in particular, may be given as an

illustration. Four jackals' tails are planted in four different spots,

chosen so as to include the area within which they wish to be safe

from the claws of the brute. This is deemed protection enough: though

panthers should enter the magic square, they could do the Paliyans

no harm; their mouths are locked." It is noted by the Rev. F. Dahmen

that Paliyans sometimes go on a pilgrimage to the Hindu shrine of

Subrahmaniyam at Palni.

Writing concerning the Paliyans who live on the Travancore frontier

near Shenkotta, Mr. G. F. D'Penha states [194] that they account for

their origin by saying that, at some very remote period, an Eluvan

took refuge during a famine in the hills, and there took to wife

a Palliyar woman, and that the Palliyars are descended from these

two. "The Palliyar," he continues, "is just a shade lower than the

Eluvan. He is permitted to enter the houses of Eluvans, Elavanians

(betel-growers), and even of Maravars, and in the hills, where the

rigour of the social code is relaxed to suit circumstances, the

higher castes mentioned will even drink water given by Palliyars,

and eat roots cooked by them. The Palliyars regard sylvan deities

with great veneration. Kurupuswami is the tribe's tutelary god, and,

when a great haul of wild honey is made, offerings are given at some

shrine. They pretend to be followers of Siva, and always attend the Adi

Amavasai ceremonies at Courtallum. The Palliyar cultivates nothing,

not even a sweet potato. He keeps no animal, except a stray dog or

two. An axe, a knife, and a pot are all the impedimenta he carries. An

expert honey-hunter, he will risk his neck climbing lofty precipices

or precipitous cliffs. A species of sago-palm furnishes him with a

glairy glutinous fluid on which he thrives, and such small animals

as the iguana (Varanus), the tortoise, and the larvae of hives are

never-failing luxuries."

The Paliyans, whom I investigated in North Tinnevelly, were living

in the jungles near the base of the mountains, in small isolated

communities separated from each other by a distance of several

miles. They speak Tamil with a peculiar intonation, which recalls

to mind the Irulas. They are wholly illiterate, and only a few can

count up to ten. A woman has been known to forget her own name. At

a marriage, the father, taking the hand of the bride, and putting it

into that of the bridegroom, says "I give this girl to you. Give her

roots and leaves, and protect her." The value of a bride or bridegroom

depends very much on the quantity of roots, etc., which he or she can

collect. When a widow does not remarry, the males of the community

supply her with roots and other products of the jungle. Marriages

are, as a rule, contracted within the settlement, and complications

occasionally occur owing to the absence of a girl of suitable age for

a young man. Indeed, in one settlement I came across two brothers, who

had for this reason resorted to the adelphous form of polyandry. It

would be interesting to note hereafter if this custom, thus casually

introduced, becomes established in the tribe. As an exception to the

rule of marriage within the settlement, it was noted that a party

of Paliyans had wandered from the Gandamanaikanur forests to the

jungle of Ayanarkoil, and there intermarried with the members of the

local tribe, with which they became incorporated. The Paliyans admit

members of other castes into their ranks. A case was narrated to me,

in which a Maravan cohabited for some time with a Paliya woman, who

bore children by him. In this way is the purity of type among the

jungle tribes lost as the result of civilisation, and their nasal

index reduced from platyrhine to mesorhine dimensions.

The Tinnevelly Paliyans say that Valli, the wife of the god

Subramaniya, was a Paliyan woman. As they carry no pollution, they

are sometimes employed, in return for food, as night watchmen at

the Vaishnavite temple known as Azhagar Koil at the base of the

hills. They collect for the Forest Department minor produce in the

form of root-bark of Ventilago madraspatana and Anisochilus carnosus,

the fruit of Terminalia Chebula (myrabolams), honey, bees-wax, etc.,

which are handed over to a contractor in exchange for rice, tobacco,

betel leaves and nuts, chillies, tamarinds and salt. The food thus

earned as wages is supplemented by yams (tubers of Dioscorea) and

roots, which are dug up with a digging-stick, and forest fruits. They

implicitly obey the contractor, and it was mainly through his influence

that I was enabled to interview them, and measure their bodies, in

return for a banquet, whereof they partook seated on the grass in

two semicircles, the men in front and women in the rear, and eating

off teak leaf plates piled high with rice and vegetables. Though

the prodigious mass of food provided was greedily devoured till

considerable abdominal distension was visible, dissatisfaction was

expressed because it included no meat (mutton), and I had not brought

new loin-cloths for them. They laughed, however, when I expressed a

hope that they would abandon their dirty cloths, turkey-red turbans

and European bead necklaces, and revert to the primitive leafy garment

of their forbears. A struggle ensued for the limited supply of sandal

paste, with which a group of men smeared their bodies, in imitation

of the higher classes, before they were photographed. A feast given

to the Paliyans by some missionaries was marred at the outset by the

unfortunate circumstance that betel and tobacco were placed by the

side of the food, these articles being of evil omen as they are placed

in the grave with the dead. A question whether they eat beef produced

marked displeasure, and even roused an apathetic old woman to grunt

"Your other questions are fair. You have no right to ask that." If a

Paliyan happens to come across the carcase of a cow or buffalo near a

stream, it is abandoned, and not approached for a long time. Leather

they absolutely refuse to touch, and one of them declined to carry

my camera box, because he detected that it had a leather strap.

They make fire with a quartz strike-a-light and steel and the floss

of the silk-cotton tree (Bombax malabaricum). They have no means

of catching or killing animals, birds, or fish with nets, traps, or

weapons, but, if they come across the carcase of a goat or deer in the

forest, they will roast and eat it. They catch "vermin" (presumably

field rats) by smoking them out of their holes, or digging them out

with their digging-sticks. Crabs are caught for eating by children,

by letting a string with a piece of cloth tied to the end down the

hole, and lifting it out thereof when the crab seizes hold of the

cloth with its claws. Of wild beasts they are not afraid, and scare

them away by screaming, clapping the hands, and rolling down stones

into the valleys. I saw one man, who had been badly mauled by a tiger

on the buttock and thigh when he was asleep with his wife and child in

a cave. During the dry season they live in natural caves and crevices

in rocks, but, if these leak during the rains, they erect a rough shed

with the floor raised on poles off the ground, and sloping grass roof,

beneath which a fire is kept burning at night, not only for warmth,

but also to keep off wild beasts. They are expert at making rapidly

improvised shelters at the base of hollow trees by cutting away the

wood on one side with a bill-hook. Thus protected, they were quite

snug and happy during a heavy shower, while we were miserable amid

the drippings from an umbrella and a mango tree.

Savari is a common name among the Tinnevelly Paliyans as among other

Tamils. It is said to be a corruption of Xavier, but Savari or Sabari

are recognised names of Siva and Parvati. There is a temple called

Savarimalayan on the Travancore boundary, whereat the festival takes

place at the same time as the festival in honour of St. Xavier among

Roman Catholics. The women are very timid in the presence of Europeans,

and suffer further from hippophobia; the sight of a horse, which they

say is as tall as a mountain, like an elephant, producing a regular

stampede into the depths of the jungle. They carry their babies

slung in a cloth on the back, and not astride the hips according to

the common practice of the plains. The position, in confinement, is

to sit on a rock with legs dependent. Many of these Paliyans suffer

from jungle fever, as a protection against which they wear a piece

of turmeric tied round the neck. The dead are buried, and a stone is

placed on the grave, which is never re-visited.

Like other primitive tribes, the Paliyans are short of stature

and dolichocephalic, and the archaic type of nose persists in some

individuals.

Average height 150.9 cm. Nasal index 83 (max. 100).

Pallan.--The Pallans are "a class of agricultural labourers found

chiefly in Tanjore, Trichinopoly, Madura and Tinnevelly. They are also

fairly numerous in parts of Salem and Coimbatore, but in the remaining

Tamil districts they are found only in very small numbers." [195]

The name is said to be derived from pallam, a pit, as they were

standing on low ground when the castes were originally formed. It

is further suggested that the name may be connected with the

wet cultivation, at which they are experts, and which is always

carried out on low ground. In the Manual of the Madura district

(1868), the Pallans are described as "a very numerous, but a most

abject and despised race, little, if indeed at all, superior to the

Paraiyas. Their principal occupation is ploughing the lands of more

fortunate Tamils, and, though nominally free, they are usually slaves

in almost every sense of the word, earning by the ceaseless sweat

of their brow a bare handful of grain to stay the pangs of hunger,

and a rag with which to partly cover their nakedness. They are to be

found in almost every village, toiling and moiling for the benefit

of Vellalans and others, and with the Paraiyas doing patiently nearly

all the hard and dirty work that has to be done. Personal contact with

them is avoided by all respectable men, and they are never permitted

to dwell within the limits of a village nattam. Their huts form a

small detached hamlet, the Pallacheri, removed from a considerable

distance from the houses of the respectable inhabitants, and barely

separated from that of the Paraiyas, the Parei-cheri. The Pallans

are said by some to have sprung from the intercourse of a Sudra and

a Brahman woman. Others say Devendra created them for the purpose of

labouring in behalf of Vellalans. Whatever may have been their origin,

it seems to be tolerably certain that in ancient times they were the

slaves of the Vellalans, and regarded by them merely as chattels, and

that they were brought by the Vellalans into the Pandya-mandala." Some

Pallans say that they are, like the Kallans, of the lineage of Indra,

and that their brides wear a wreath of flowers in token thereof. They

consider themselves superior to Paraiyans and Chakkiliyans, as they

do not eat beef.

It is stated in the Manual of Tanjore (1883) that the "Pallan and

Paraiya are rival castes, each claiming superiority over the other; and

a deadly and never-ending conflict in the matter of caste privileges

exists between them. They are prædial labourers, and are employed

exclusively in the cultivation of paddy (rice) lands. Their women

are considered to be particularly skilled in planting and weeding,

and, in most parts of the delta, they alone are employed in those

operations. The Palla women expose their body above the waist--a

distinctive mark of their primitive condition of slavery, of which,

however, no trace now exists." It is noted by Mr. G. T. Mackenzie

[196] that "in the first quarter of the nineteenth century, the female

converts to Christianity in the extreme south ventured, contrary to

the old rules for the lower castes, to clothe themselves above the

waist. This innovation was made the occasion for threats, violence,

and a series of disturbances. Similar disturbances arose from the same

cause nearly thirty years later, and, in 1859, Sir Charles Trevelyan,

Governor of Madras, interfered, and granted permission to the women

of lower caste to wear a cloth over the breasts and shoulders."

In connection with disputes between the right-hand and left-hand

factions, it is stated [197] that "whatever the origin of the factions,

feeling still runs very high, especially between the Pallans and the

Paraiyans. The violent scenes which occurred in days gone by [198]

no longer occur, but quarrels occur when questions of precedence

arise (as when holy food is distributed at festivals to the village

goddesses), or if a man of one faction takes a procession down a

street inhabited chiefly by members of the other. In former times,

members of the opposite faction would not live in the same street,

and traces of this feeling are still observable. Formerly also the

members of one faction would not salute those of the other, however

much their superiors in station; and the menials employed at funerals

(Paraiyans, etc.) would not salute the funeral party if it belonged

to the rival faction."

In the Coimbatore Manual it is noted that "the Pallan has in all

times been a serf, labouring in the low wet lands (pallam) for his

masters, the Brahmans and Goundans. The Pallan is a stout, shortish

black man, sturdy, a meat-eater, and not over clean in person or

habit; very industrious in his favourite wet lands. He is no longer a

serf." The occupations of the Pallans, whom I examined at Coimbatore,

were cultivator, gardener, cooly, blacksmith, railway porter, tandal

(tax-collector, etc.), and masalchi (office peon, who looks after

lamps, ink-bottles, etc.). Some Pallans are maniyagarans (village

munsifs or magistrates).

In some places a Pallan family is attached to a land-holder, for

whom they work, and, under ordinary conditions, they do not change

masters. The attachment of the Pallan to a particular individual is

maintained by the master paying a sum of money as an advance, which

the Pallan is unable to repay.

The Pallans are the Jati Pillais of the Pandya Kammalans, or Kammalans

of the Madura country. The story goes that a long while ago the

headman of the Pallans came begging to the Kollan section of the

Pandya Kammalans, which was employed in the manufacture of ploughs

and other agricultural implements, and said "Worshipful sirs, we are

destitute to the last degree. If you would but take pity on us, we

would become your slaves. Give us ploughs and other implements, and

we shall ever afterwards obey you." The Kollans, taking pity on them,

gave them the implements and they commenced an agricultural life. When

the harvest was over, they brought the best portion of the crop,

and gave it to the Kollans. From that time, the Pallans became the

"sons" of the Pandya Kammalans, to whom even now they make offerings

in gratitude for a bumper crop.

At times of census the Pallans return a number of sub-divisions,

and there is a proverb that one can count the number of varieties of

rice, but it is impossible to count the divisions of the Pallans. As

examples of the sub-divisions, the following may be quoted:--

Aiya, father.

Amma, mother.

Anja, father.

Atta, mother.

Devendra.--The sweat of Devendra, the king of gods, is said to

have fallen on a plant growing in water from which arose a child,

who is said to have been the original ancestor of the Pallans.

Kadaiyan, lowest or last.

Konga.--The Kongas of Coimbatore wear a big marriage tali, said to

be the emblem of Sakti, while the other sections wear a small tali.

Manganadu, territorial.

Sozhia, territorial.

Tondaman, territorial.

These sub-divisions are endogamous, and Aiya and Amma Pallans of the

Sivaganga zemindari and adjacent parts of the Madura district possess

exogamous septs or kilais, which, like those of the Maravans, Kallans,

and some other castes, run in the female line. Children belong to

the same kilai as that of their mother and maternal uncle, and not

of their father.

The headman of the Pallans is, in the Madura country, called

Kudumban, and he is assisted by a Kaladi, and, in large settlements,

by a caste messenger entitled Variyan, who summons people to attend

council-meetings, festivals, marriages and funerals. The offices of

Kudumban and Kaladi are hereditary. When a family is under a ban of

excommunication, pending enquiry, the caste people refuse to give them

fire, and otherwise help them, and even the barber and washerman are

not permitted to work for them. As a sign of excommunication, a bunch

of leafy twigs of margosa (Melia Azadirachta) is stuck in the roof

over the entrance to the house. Restoration to caste necessitates

a purificatory ceremony, in which cow's urine is sprinkled by the

Variyan. When a woman is charged with adultery, the offending man

is brought into the midst of the assembly, and tied to a harrow or

hoeing plank. The woman has to carry a basket of earth or rubbish, with

her cloth tied so as to reach above her knees. She is sometimes, in

addition, beaten on the back with tamarind switches. If she confesses

her guilt, and promises not to misconduct herself again, the Variyan

cuts the waist-thread of her paramour, who ties it round her neck as

if it was a tali (marriage badge). On the following day, the man and

woman are taken early in the morning to a tank (pond) or well, near

which seven small pits are made, and filled with water. The Variyan

sprinkles some of the water over their heads, and has subsequently to

be fed at their expense. If the pair are in prosperous circumstances,

a general feast is insisted on.

At Coimbatore, the headman is called Pattakaran, and he is assisted

by various subordinate officers and a caste messenger called

Odumpillai. In cases of theft, the guilty person has to carry a man

on his back round the assembly, while two persons hang on to his

back-hair. He is beaten on the cheeks, and the Odumpillai may be

ordered to spit in his face. A somewhat similar form of punishment

is inflicted on a man proved guilty of having intercourse with a

married woman.

In connection with the caste organisation of the Pallans in the

Trichinopoly district, Mr. F. R. Hemingway writes as follows. "They

generally have three or more headmen for each village, over whom is

the Nattu Muppan. Each village also has a peon called Odumpillai (the

runner). The main body of the caste, when attending council-meetings,

is called ilam katchi (the inexperienced). The village councils are

attended by the Muppans and the Nattu Muppan. Between the Nattu

Muppan and the ordinary Muppans, there is, in the Karur taluk,

a Pulli Muppan. All these offices are hereditary. In this taluk a

rather different organisation is in force, to regulate the supply of

labour to the landholders. Each of the village Muppans has a number

of karais or sections of the wet-land of the village under him,

and he is bound to supply labourers for all the land in his karai,

and is remunerated by the landowner with 1 1/4 marakkals of grain

for every 20 kalams harvested. The Muppans do not work themselves,

but maintain discipline among their men by flogging or expulsion

from the caste. In the Karur taluk, the ordinary Pallans are called

Manvettaikarans (mamoty or digging-tool men)."

The Pallans have their own washermen and barbers, who are said to

be mainly recruited from the Sozhia section, which, in consequence,

holds an inferior position; and a Pallan belonging to another section

would feel insulted if he was called a Sozhian.

When a Pallan girl, at Coimbatore, attains puberty, she is bathed,

dressed in a cloth brought by a washerwoman, and presented with

flowers and fruits by her relations. She occupies a hut constructed

of cocoanut leaves, branches of Pongamia glabra, and wild sugarcane

(Saccharum arundinaceum). Her dietary includes jaggery (crude sugar)

and milk and plantains. On the seventh day she is again bathed, and

presented with another cloth. The hut is burnt down, and for three days

she occupies a corner of the pial of her home. On the eleventh day

she is once more bathed, presented with new cloths by her relations,

and permitted to enter the house.

It is stated by Dr. G. Oppert [199] that "at a Pallan wedding, before

the wedding is actually performed, the bridegroom suddenly leaves

his house and starts for some distant place, as if he had suddenly

abandoned his intention of marrying, in spite of the preparations that

had been made for the wedding. His intended father-in-law intercepts

the young man on his way, and persuades him to return, promising to

give his daughter as a wife. To this the bridegroom consents." I have

not met with this custom in the localities in which the Pallans have

been examined.

In one form of marriage among the Pallans of the Madura district, the

bridegroom's sister goes to the house of the bride on an auspicious

day, taking with her the tali string, a new cloth, betel, fruits and

flowers. She ties the tali round the neck of the bride, who, if a

milk-post has been set up, goes round it. The bride is then conducted

to the house of the bridegroom, where the couple sit together on the

marriage dais, and coloured water, or coloured rice balls with lighted

wicks, are waved round them. They then go, with linked fingers, thrice

round the dais. In a more complicated form of marriage ceremonial,

the parents and maternal uncle of the bridegroom, proceed, on the

occasion of the betrothal, to the bride's house with rice, fruit,

plantains, a cocoanut, sandal paste, and turmeric. These articles

are handed over, with the bride's money, to the Kudumban or Kaladi

of her village. Early in the morning of the wedding day, a pandal

(booth) is erected, and the milk-post, made of Thespesia populnea

or Mimusops hexandra, is set up by the maternal uncles of the

contracting couple. The bride and bridegroom bring some earth,with

which the marriage dais is made. These preliminaries concluded,

they are anointed by their maternal uncles, and, after bathing, the

wrist-threads (kankanam) are tied to the bridegroom's wrist by his

brother-in-law, and to that of the bride by her sister-in-law. Four

betel leaves and areca nuts are placed at each corner of the dais, and

the pair go round it three times, saluting the betel as they pass. They

then take their place on the dais, and two men stretch a cloth over

their heads. They hold out their hands, into the palms of which the

Kudumban or Kaladi pours a little water from a vessel, some of which

is sprinkled over their heads. The vessel is then waved before them,

and they are garlanded by the maternal uncles, headmen, and others. The

bride is taken into the house, and her maternal uncle sits at the

entrance, and measures a new cloth, which he gives to her. She clads

herself in it, and her uncle, lifting her in his arms, carries her

to the dais, where she is placed by the side of the bridegroom. The

fingers of the contracting couple are linked together beneath a cloth

held by the maternal uncles. The tali is taken up by the bridegroom,

and placed by him round the bride's neck, to be tightly tied thereon

by his sister. Just before the tali is tied, the headman bawls out

"May I look into the bride's money and presents"? and, on receiving

permission to do so, says thrice "Seven bags of nuts, seven bags of

rice, etc., have been brought."

At a marriage among the Konga Pallans of Coimbatore, the

bridegroom's wrist-thread is tied on at his home, after a lamp

has been worshipped. He and his party proceed to the house of

the bride, taking with them a new cloth, a garland of flowers,

and the tali. The milk-post of the pandal is made of milk-hedge

(Euphorbia Tirucalli). The bride and bridegroom sit side by side and

close together on planks within the pandal. The bridegroom ties the

wrist-thread on the bride's wrist, and the caste barber receives

betel from their mouths in a metal vessel. In front of them are

placed a Pillayar (figure of Ganesa) made of cow-dung, two plantains,

seven cocoanuts, a measure of paddy, a stalk of Andropogen Sorghum,

with a betel leaf stuck on it, and seven sets of betel leaves and

areca nuts. Camphor is burnt, and two cocoanuts are broken, and placed

before the Pillayar. The tali is taken round to be blessed in a piece

of one of the cocoanuts. The Mannadi (assistant headman) hands over the

tali to the bridegroom, who ties it round the bride's neck. Another

cocoanut is then broken. Three vessels containing, respectively,

raw rice, turmeric water and milk, each with pieces of betel leaf,

are brought. The hands of the contracting couple are then linked

together beneath a cloth, and the fourth cocoanut is broken. The

Mannadi, taking up a little of the rice, turmeric water, milk, and

betel leaves, waves them before the bride and bridegroom, and throws

them over their heads. This is likewise done by five other individuals,

and the fifth cocoanut is broken. The bride and bridegroom go round

the plank, and again seat themselves. Their hands are unlinked,

the wrist-threads are untied, and thrown into a vessel of milk. The

sixth cocoanut is then broken. Cooked rice with plantains and ghi

(clarified butter) is offered to Alli Arasani, the wife of Arjuna,

who was famed for her virtue. The rice is offered three times to

the contracting couple, who do not eat it. The caste barber brings

water, with which they cleanse their mouths. They exchange garlands,

and the seventh cocoanut is broken. They are then taken within the

house, and sit on a new mat. The bridegroom is again conducted to the

pandal, where cooked rice and other articles are served to him on a

tripod stool. They are handed over to the Odumpillai as a perquisite,

and all the guests are fed. In the evening a single cloth is tied to

the newly married couple, who bathe, and pour water over each other's

heads. The Pillayar, lamp, paddy, Andropogon stalk, and two trays with

betel, are placed before the guests. The Mannadi receives four annas

from the bridegroom's father, and, after mentioning the names of the

bridegroom, his father and grandfather, places it in one of the trays,

which belongs to the bride's party. He then receives four annas from

the bride's father, and mentions the names of the bride, her father

and grandfather, before placing the money in the tray which belongs

to the bridegroom's party. The relations then make presents of money

to the bride and bridegroom. When a widow remarries, her new husband

gives her a white cloth, and ties a yellow string round her neck in

the presence of some of the castemen.

At a marriage among the Kadaiya Pallans of Coimbatore, the wrist-thread

of the bride is tied on by the Mannadi. She goes to a Pillayar shrine,

and brings back three trays full of sand from the courtyard thereof,

which is heaped up in the marriage pandal. Three painted earthen

pots, and seven small earthen trays, are brought in procession from

the Mannadi's house by the bridegroom, and placed in the pandal. To

each of the two larger pots a piece of turmeric and betel leaf are

tied, and nine kinds of grain are placed in them. The bridegroom has

brought with him the tali tied to a cocoanut, seven rolls of betel,

seven plantains, seven pieces of turmeric, a garland, a new cloth

for the bride, etc. The linked fingers of the contracting couple are

placed on a tray containing salt and a ring. They go thrice round

a lamp and the plank within the pandal, and retire within the house

where the bridegroom is served with food on a leaf. What remains after

he has partaken thereof is given to the bride on the same leaf. The

wrist-threads are untied on the third day, and a Pillayar made of

cow-dung is carried to a river, whence the bride brings back a pot

of water.

In some places, the bridegroom is required to steal something from

the bride's house when they return home after the marriage, and the

other party has to repay the compliment on some future occasion.

When a death occurs among the Konga Pallans of Coimbatore, the big

toes and thumbs of the corpse are tied together. A lighted lamp,

a metal vessel with raw rice, jaggery, and a broken cocoanut are

placed near its head. Three pieces of firewood, arranged in the

form of a triangle, are lighted, and a small pot is placed on them,

wherein some rice is cooked in turmeric water. The corpse is bathed,

and placed in a pandal made of four plantain trees, and four green

leafy branches. The nearest relations place a new cloth over it. If

the deceased has left a widow, she is presented with a new cloth by

her brother. The corpse is laid on a bier, the widow washes its feet,

and drinks some of the water. She then throws her tali-string on the

corpse. Her face is covered with a cloth, and she is taken into the

house. The corpse is then removed to the burial-ground, where the son

is shaved, and the relations place rice and water in the mouth of the

corpse. It is then laid in the grave, which is filled in, and a stone

and some thorny twigs are placed over it. An earthen pot full of water

is placed on the right shoulder of the son, who carries it three times

round the grave. Each time that he reaches the head end thereof,

a hole is made in the pot with a knife by one of the elders. The

pot is then thrown down, and broken near the spot beneath which the

head lies. Near this spot the son places a lighted firebrand, and

goes away without looking back. He bathes and returns to the house,

where he touches a little cow-dung placed at the entrance with his

right foot, and worships a lamp. On the third day, three handfuls

of rice, a brinjal (Solanum Melongena) fruit cut into three pieces,

and leaves of Sesbania grandiflora are cooked in a pot, and carried

to the grave together with a tender cocoanut, cigar, betel, and other

things. The son places three leaves on the grave, and spreads the

various articles thereon. Crows are attracted by clapping the hands,

and it is considered a good omen if they come and eat. On the fourth

day the son bathes, and sits on a mat. He then bites, and spits

out some roasted salt fish three times into a pot of water. This is

supposed to show that mourning has been cast away, or at the end. He

is then presented with new cloths by his uncle and other relations. On

the ninth or eleventh day, cooked rice, betel, etc., are placed near a

babul (Acacia arabica) or other thorny tree, which is made to represent

the deceased. Seven small stones, representing the seven Hindu sages,

are set up. A cocoanut is broken, and puja performed. The rice is

served on a leaf, and eaten by the son and other near relations.

The Pallans are nominally Saivites, but in reality devil worshippers,

and do puja to the Grama Devata (village deities), especially those

whose worship requires the consumption of flesh and liquor.

It is recorded, [200] in connection with a biennial festival in

honour of the local goddess at Attur in the Madura district, that

"some time before the feast begins, the Pallans of the place go

round to the adjoining villages, and collect the many buffaloes,

which have been dedicated to the goddess during the last two years,

and have been allowed to graze unmolested, and where they willed,

in the fields. These are brought in to Attur, and one of them is

selected, garlanded, and placed in the temple. On the day of the

festival, this animal is brought out, led round the village in state,

and then, in front of the temple, is given three cuts with a knife

by a Chakkiliyan, who has fasted that day, to purify himself for

the rite. The privilege of actually killing the animal belongs by

immemorial usage to the head of the family of the former poligar

of Nilakkottai, but he deputes certain Pallans to take his place,

and they fall upon the animal and slay it."

It is noted by Mr. Hemingway [201] that the Valaiyans and the class of

Pallans known as Kaladis who live in the south-western portion of the

Pudukkottai State are professional cattle-lifters. They occasionally

take to burglary for a change.

The common titles of the Pallans are said [202] to be "Muppan and

Kudumban, and some style themselves Mannadi. Kudumban is probably

a form of Kurumban, and Mannadi is a corruption of Manradi, a title

borne by the Pallava (Kurumban) people. It thus seems not improbable

that the Pallas are representatives of the old Pallavas or Kurumbas."

Pallavarayan.--The title, meaning chief of the Pallavas, of the leader

of the Krishnavakakkar in Travancore. Also a sub-division of Occhans.

Palle.--In the Telugu country, there are two classes of Palles,

which are employed respectively in sea-fishing and agriculture. The

former, who are the Min (fish) Palles of previous writers, are also

known as Palle Kariyalu, and do not mingle or intermarry with the

latter. They claim for themselves a higher position than that which

is accorded to them by other castes, and call themselves Agnikula

Kshatriyas. Their title is, in some places, Reddi. All belong to one

gotra called Ravikula.

The caste headman is entitled Pedda Kapu,' and he is assisted by

an Oomadi.

In puberty, marriage, and death ceremonies, the Palles follow the

Telugu form of ceremonial. There is, however, one rite in the marriage

ceremonies, which is said to be peculiar to the fishing section. On

the fifth day after marriage, a Golla perantalu (married woman) is

brought to the house in procession, walking on cloths spread on the

ground (nadapavada). She anoints the bridal couple with ghi (clarified

butter), and after receiving a cloth as a present, goes away.

The fishing class worship the Akka Devatalu (sister gods) periodically

by floating on the surface of the water a flat framework made of

sticks tied together, on which the various articles used in the

worship are placed.