K
Kabbera.--The Kabberas are a caste of Canarese fishermen and
cultivators. "They are," Mr. W. Francis writes, [1] "grouped into
two divisions, the Gaurimakkalu or sons of Gauri (Parvati) and the
Gangimakkalu or sons of Ganga, the goddess of water, and they do not
intermarry, but will dine together. Each has its bedagus (exogamous
septs), and these seem to be different in the two sub-divisions. The
Gaurimakkalu are scarce in Bellary, and belong chiefly to Mysore. They
seem to be higher in the social scale (as such things are measured
among Hindus) than the Gangimakkalu, as they employ Brahmans as
priests instead of men of their own caste, burn their dead instead of
burying them, hold annual ceremonies in memory of them, and prohibit
the remarriage of widows. The Gangimakkalu were apparently engaged
originally in all the pursuits connected with water, such as propelling
boats, catching fish, and so forth, and they are especially numerous
in villages along the banks of the Tungabhadra." Coracles are still
used on various South Indian rivers, e.g., the Cauvery, Bhavani,
and Tungabhadra. Tavernier, on his way to Golgonda, wrote that
"the boats employed in crossing the river are like large baskets,
covered outside with ox-hides, at the bottom of which some faggots
are placed, upon which carpets are spread to put the baggage and
goods upon, for fear they should get wet." Bishop Whitehead has
recently [2] placed on record his experiences of coracles as a means
of conveyance. "We embarked," he writes, "in a boat (at Hampi on the
Tungabhadra) which exactly corresponds to my idea of the coracle of
the ancient Britons. It consists of a very large, round wicker basket,
about eight or nine feet in diameter, covered over with leather,
and propelled by paddles. As a rule, it spins round and round, but
the boatmen can keep it fairly straight, when exhorted to do so,
as they were on this occasion. Some straw had been placed in the
bottom of the coracle, and we were also allowed the luxury of chairs
to sit upon, but it is safer to sit on the straw, as a chair in a
coracle is generally in a state of unstable equilibrium. I remember
once crossing a river in the Trichinopoly district in a coracle, to
take a confirmation at a village on the other side. It was thought
more suitable to the dignity of the occasion that I should sit upon
a chair in the middle of the coracle, and I weakly consented to do
so. All the villagers were assembled to meet us on the opposite bank;
four policemen were drawn up as a guard of honour, and a brass band,
brought from Tanjore, stood ready in the background. As we came to the
shore, the villagers salaamed, the guard of honour saluted, the band
struck up a tune faintly resembling 'See the conquering hero comes,'
the coracle bumped heavily against the shelving bank, my chair tipped
up, and I was deposited, heels up, on my back in the straw!... We were
rowed for about two miles down the stream. The current was very swift,
and there were rapids at frequent intervals. Darkness overtook us,
and it was not altogether a pleasant sensation being whirled swiftly
over the rapids in our frail-looking boat, with ugly rocks jutting out
of the stream on either side. But the boatmen seemed to know the river
perfectly, and were extraordinarily expert in steering the coracle
with their paddles." The arrival in 1847 of the American Missionary,
John Eddy Chandler at Madura, when the Vaigai river was in flood, has
been described as follows. [3] "Coolies swimming the river brought
bread and notes from the brethren and sisters in the city. At last,
after three days of waiting, the new Missionaries safely reached
the mission premises in Madura. Messrs. Rendall and Cherry managed
to cross to them, and they all recrossed into the city by a large
basket boat, eight or ten feet in diameter, with a bamboo pole tied
across the top for them to hold on to. The outside was covered with
leather. Ropes attached to all sides were held by a dozen coolies
as they dragged it across, walking and swimming." In recent years,
a coracle has been kept at the traveller's bungalow at Paikara on
the Nilgiris for the use of anglers in the Paikara river.
"The Kabberas," Mr. Francis continues, "are at present engaged in a
number of callings, and, perhaps in consequence, several occupational
sub-divisions have arisen, the members of which are more often
known by their occupational title than as either Gangimakkalu or
Kabberas. The Barikes, for example, are a class of village servants
who keep the village chavadi (caste meeting house) clean, look
after the wants of officials halting in the village, and do other
similar duties. The Jalakaras are washers of gold-dust; the Madderu
are dyers, who use the root of the maddi (Morinda citrifolia) tree;
and apparently (the point is one which I have not had time to clear
up) the Besthas, who have often been treated as a separate caste,
are really a sub-division of the Gangimakkalu, who were originally
palanquin-bearers, but, now that these vehicles have gone out of
fashion, are employed in divers other ways. The betrothal is formally
evidenced by the partaking of betel-leaf in the girl's house, in the
manner followed by the Kurubas. As among the Madigas, the marriage
is not consummated for three months after its celebration. The caste
follow the Kuruba ceremony of calling back the dead." Consummation is,
as among the Kurubas and Madigas, postponed for three months, as it
is considered unlucky to have three heads of a family in a household
during the first year of marriage. By the delay, the birth of a child
should take place only in the second year, so that, during the first
year, there will be only two heads, husband and wife. In the ceremony
of calling back the dead, referred to by Mr. Francis, a pot of water
is worshipped in the house on the eleventh day after a funeral,
and taken next morning to some lonely place, where it is emptied.
For the following note on the Kabberas of the Bellary district, I
am indebted to Mr. Kothandram Naidu. The caste is sometimes called
Ambiga. Breaches of caste rules and customs are enquired into by a
panchayat presided over by a headman called Kattemaniavaru. If the fine
inflicted on the offender is a heavy one, half goes to the headman,
and half to the caste people, who spend it in drink. In serious cases,
the offender has to be purified by shaving and drinking holy water
(thirtam) given to him by the headman. Both infant and adult marriage
are practiced. Sexual license previous to marriage is tolerated, but,
before that takes place, the contracting couple have to pay a fine
to the headman. At the marriage ceremony, the tali is tied on the
bride's neck by a Brahman. Married women carry painted new pots with
lights, bathe the bride and bridegroom, etc. Widows are remarried
with a ceremonial called Udiki, which is performed at night in a
temple by widows, one of whom ties the tali. No married men or women
may be present, and music is not allowed. Divorce is said to be not
permitted. In religion the Kabberas are Vaishnavites, and worship
various village deities. The dead are buried. Cloths and food are
offered to ancestors during the Dasara festival, excepting those who
have died a violent death. Some unmarried girls are dedicated to the
goddess Hulugamma as Basavis (dedicated prostitutes).
Concerning an agricultural ceremony in the Bellary district, in which
the Kabberas take part, I gather that "on the first full-moon day
in the month of Bhadrapada (September), the agricultural population
celebrate a feast called Jokumara, to appease the rain-god. The Barikas
(women), who are a sub-division of the Kabbera caste belonging to the
Gaurimakkalu section, go round the town or village in which they live,
with a basket on their heads containing margosa (Melia Azadirachta)
leaves, flowers of various kinds, and holy ashes. They beg alms,
especially of the cultivating classes (Kapus), and, in return for
the alms bestowed (usually grain and food), they give some of the
margosa leaves, flowers, and ashes. The Kapus, or cultivators, take
the margosa leaves, flowers, and ashes to their fields, prepare cholum
(Andropogon Sorghum) kanji, mix these with it, and sprinkle this kanji,
or gruel, all round their fields. After this, the Kapu proceeds to
the potter's kiln in the village or town, fetches ashes from it, and
makes a figure of a human being. This figure is placed prominently
in some convenient spot in the field, and is called Jokumara, or
rain-god. It is supposed to have the power of bringing down the rain
in proper time. The figure is sometimes small, and sometimes big." [4]
Kabbili.--Kabbili or Kabliga, recorded as a sub-division of Bestha,
is probably a variant of Kabbera.
Kadacchil (knife-grinder or cutler).--A sub-division of Kollan.
Kadaiyan.--The name, Kadaiyan, meaning last or lowest, occurs as a
sub-division of the Pallans. The Kadaiyans are described [5] as being
lime (shell) gatherers and burners of Ramesvaram and the neighbourhood,
from whose ranks the pearl-divers are in part recruited at the present
day. On the coasts of Madura and Tinnevelly they are mainly Christians,
and are said, like the Paravas, to have been converted through the
work of St. Francis Xavier. [6]
Kadaperi.--A sub-division of Kannadiyan.
Kadavala (pots).--An exogamous sept of Padma Sale.
Kadi (blade of grass).--A gotra of Kurni.
Kadir.--The Kadirs or Kadans inhabit the Anaimalai or elephant
hills, and the great mountain range which extends thence southward
into Travancore. A night journey by rail to Coimbatore, and forty
miles by road at the mercy of a typically obstinate jutka pony,
which landed me in a dense patch of prickly-pear (Opuntia Dillenii),
brought me to the foot of the hills at Sethumadai, where I came under
the kindly hospitality of Mr. H. A. Gass, Conservator of Forests, to
whom I am indebted for much information on forest and tribal matters
gathered during our camp life at Mount Stuart, situated 2,350 feet
above sea-level, in the midst of a dense bamboo jungle, and playfully
named after Sir Mountstuart Grant Duff, who visited the spot during
his quinquennium as Governor of Madras.
At Sethumadai I made the acquaintance of my first Kadir, not dressed,
as I hoped, in a primitive garb of leaves, but wearing a coloured
turban and the cast-off red coat of a British soldier, who had come
down the hill to carry up my camp bath, which acted as an excellent
umbrella, to protect him from the driving monsoon showers. Very
glad was I of his services in helping to convey my clothed, and
consequently helpless self, across the mountain torrents, swollen by
a recent burst of monsoon rain.
The Kadir forest guards, of whom there are several in Government
service, looked, except for their noses, very unjungle-like by
contrast with their fellow-tribesmen, being smartly dressed in
regulation Norfolk jacket, knickerbockers, pattis (leggings), buttons,
and accoutrements.
On arrival at the forest depôt, with its comfortable bungalows and
Kadir settlement, I was told by a native servant that his master was
away, as an "elephant done tumble in a fit." My memory went back to
the occasion many years ago, when, as a medical student, I took part
in the autopsy of an elephant, which died in convulsions at the London
Zoological Gardens. It transpired later in the day that a young and
grown-up cow elephant had tumbled, not in a fit, but into a pit made
with hands for the express purpose of catching elephants. The story
has a philological significance, and illustrates the difficulty which
the Tamulian experiences in dealing with the letter F. An incident
is still cherished at Mount Stuart in connection with a sporting
globe-trotter, who was accredited to the Conservator of Forests for
the purpose of putting him on to "bison" (the gaur, Bos gaurus), and
other big game. On arrival at the depôt, he was informed that his
host had gone to see the "ellipence." Incapable of translating the
pigeon-English of the native butler, and, concluding that a financial
reckoning was being suggested, he ordered the servant to pay the
baggage coolies their elli-pence, and send them away. To a crusted
Anglo-Indian it is clear that ellipence could only mean elephants. Sir
M. E. Grant Duff tells [7] the following story of a man, who was
shooting on the Anaimalais. In his camp was an elephant, who, in the
middle of the night, began to eat the thatch of the hut, in which he
was sleeping. His servant in alarm rushed in and awoke him, saying
"Elephant, Sahib, must, must (mad)." The sleeper, half-waking and
rolling over, replied "Oh, bother the elephant. Tell him he mustn't."
The salient characteristics of the Kadirs may be briefly summed up
as follows: short stature, dark skin, platyrhine. Men and women have
the teeth chipped. Women wear a bamboo comb in the back-hair. Those
whom I met spoke a Tamil patois, running up the scale in talking,
and finishing, like a Suffolker, on a higher note than they commenced
on. But I am told that some of them speak a mixture of debased Tamil
and Malayalam. I am informed by Mr. Vincent that the Kadirs have
a peculiar word Ali, denoting apparently a fellow or thing, which
they apply as a suffix to names, e.g., Karaman Ali, black fellow;
Mudi Ali, hairy fellow; Kutti Ali, man with a knife; Puv Ali, man
with a flower. Among nicknames, the following occur: white mother,
white flower, beauty, tiger, milk, virgin, love, breasts. The Kadirs
are excellent mimics, and give a clever imitation of the mode of
speech of the Muduvans, Malasars, and other hill tribes.
The Kadirs afford a typical example of happiness without
culture. Unspoiled by education, the advancing wave of which has not
yet engulfed them, they still retain many of their simple "manners
and customs." Quite refreshing was it to hear the hearty shrieks of
laughter of the nude curly-haired children, wholly illiterate, and
happy in their ignorance, as they played at funerals, or indulged in
the amusement of making mud pies, and scampered off to their huts
on my appearance. The uncultured Kadir, living a hardy out-door
life, and capable of appreciating to the full the enjoyment of an
"apathetic rest" as perfect bliss, has, I am convinced, in many
ways, the advantage over the poor under-fed student with a small-paid
appointment under Government as the narrow goal to which the laborious
passing of examination tests leads.
Living an isolated existence, confined within the thinly-populated
jungle, where Nature furnishes the means of obtaining all the
necessaries of life, the Kadir possesses little, if any, knowledge of
cultivation, and objects to doing work with a mamuti, the instrument
which serves the gardener in the triple capacity of spade, rake,
and hoe. But armed with a keen-edged bill-hook he is immense. As
Mr. O. H. Bensley says: [8] "The axiom that the less civilised men
are, the more they are able to do every thing for themselves, is well
illustrated by the hill-man, who is full of resource. Give him a simple
bill-hook, and what wonders he will perform. He will build houses out
of etâh, so neat and comfortable as to be positively luxurious. He
will bridge a stream with canes and branches. He will make a raft
out of bamboo, a carving knife out of etâh, a comb out of bamboo, a
fishing-line out of fibre, and fire from dry wood. He will find food
for you where you think you must starve, and show you the branch which,
if cut, will give you drink. He will set traps for beasts and birds,
which are more effective than some of the most elaborate products of
machinery." A European, overtaken by night in the jungle, unable to
light fire by friction or to climb trees to gather fruits, ignorant
of the edible roots and berries, and afraid of wild beasts, would,
in the absence of comforts, be quite as unhappy and ill-at-ease as
a Kadir surrounded by plenty at an official dinner party.
At the forest depôt the Kadir settlement consists of neatly constructed
huts, made of bamboo deftly split with a bill-hook in their long
axis, thatched with leaves of the teak tree (Tectona grandis)
and bamboo (Ochlandra travancorica), and divided off into verandah
and compartments by means of bamboo partitions. But the Kadirs are
essentially nomad in habit, living in small communities, and shifting
from place to place in the jungle, whence they suddenly re-appear as
casually as if they had only returned from a morning stroll instead
of a long camping expedition. When wandering in the jungle, the
Kadirs make a rough lean-to shed covered over with leaves, and keep a
small fire burning through the night, to keep off bears, elephants,
tigers, and leopards. They are, I am told, fond of dogs, which they
keep chiefly as a protection against wild beasts at night. The camp
fire is lighted by means of a flint and the floss of the silk-cotton
tree (Bombax malabaricum), over which powdered charcoal has been
rubbed. Like the Kurumbas, the Kadirs are not, in a general way,
afraid of elephants, but are careful to get out of the way of a cow
with young, or a solitary rover, which may mean mischief. On the day
following my descent from Mount Stuart, an Odde cooly woman was killed
on the ghat road by a solitary tusker. Familiarity with wild beasts,
and comparative immunity from accident, have bred contempt for them,
and the Kadirs will go where the European, fresh to elephant land,
fears to tread, or conjures every creak of a bamboo into the approach
of a charging tusker. As an example of pluck worthy of a place in
Kipling's 'Jungle-book,' I may cite the case of a hill-man and his
wife, who, overtaken by night in the jungle, decided to pass it on
a rock. As they slept, a tiger carried off the woman. Hearing her
shrieks, the sleeping man awoke, and followed in pursuit in the vain
hope of saving his wife. Coming on the beast in possession of the
mangled corpse, he killed it at close quarters with a spear. Yet he
was wholly unconscious that he had performed an act of heroism worthy
of the bronze cross 'for valour.'
The Kadirs carry loads strapped on the back over the shoulders by
means of fibre, instead of on the head in the manner customary among
coolies in the plains; and women on the march may be seen carrying the
cooking utensils on their backs, and often have a child strapped on
the top of their household goods. The dorsal position of the babies,
huddled up in a dirty cloth, with the ends slung over the shoulders
and held in the hands over the chest, at once caught my eye, as it is
contrary to the usual native habit of straddling the infants across
the loins as a saddle.
Mr. Vincent informs me that "when the planters first came to the hills,
the Kadirs were found practically without clothes of any description,
with very few ornaments, and looking very lean and emaciated. All
this, however, changed with the advent of the European, as the Kadirs
then got advances in hard cash, clothes, and grain, to induce them
to work. For a few years they tried to work hard, but were failures,
and now I do not suppose that a dozen men are employed on the estates
on the hills. They would not touch manure owing to caste scruples;
they could not learn to prune; and with a mamoti (spade) they always
promptly proceeded to chop their feet about in their efforts to dig
pits." The Kadirs have never claimed, like the Todas, and do not
possess any land on the hills. But the Government has declared the
absolute right of the hill tribes to collect all the minor forest
produce, and to sell it to the Government through the medium of a
contractor, whose tender has been previously accepted. The contractor
pays for the produce in coin at a fair market rate, and the Kadirs
barter the money so obtained for articles of food with contractors
appointed by Government to supply them with their requirements at
a fixed rate, which will leave a fair, but not exorbitant margin of
profit to the vendor. The principal articles of minor forest produce
of the Anaimalai hills are wax, honey, cardamoms, myrabolams, ginger,
dammer, turmeric, deer horns, elephant tusks, and rattans. And of
these, cardamoms, wax, honey, and rattans are the most important. Honey
and wax are collected at all seasons, and cardamoms from September to
November. The total value of the minor produce collected, in 1897-98,
in the South Coimbatore division (which includes the Anaimalais) was
Rs. 7,886. This sum was exceptionally high owing to a good cardamom
crop. An average year would yield a revenue of Rs. 4,000-5,000, of
which the Kadirs receive approximately 50 per cent. They work for the
Forest Department on a system of short advances for a daily wage of 4
annas. And, at the present day, the interests of the Forest Department
and planters, who have acquired land on the Anaimalais, both anxious
to secure hill men for labour, have come into mild collision.
Some Kadirs are good trackers, and a few are good shikaris. A
zoological friend, who had nicknamed his small child his "little
shikari" (=little sportsman) was quite upset because I, hailing from
India, did not recognise the word with his misplaced accent. One Kadir,
named Viapoori Muppan, is still held in the memory of Europeans, who
made a good living, in days gone by, by shooting tuskers, and had
one arm blown off by the bursting of a gun. He is reputed to have
been a much married man, greatly addicted to strong drinks, and to
have flourished on the proceeds of his tusks. At the present day,
if a Kadir finds tusks, he must declare the find as treasure-trove,
and hand it over to Government, who rewards him at the rate of Rs. 15
to Rs. 25 per maund of 25 lb. according to the quality. Government
makes a good profit on the transaction, as exceptionally good tusks
have been known to sell for Rs. 5 per lb. If the find is not declared,
and discovered, the possessor thereof is punished for theft according
to the Act. By an elastic use of the word cattle, it is, for the
purposes of the Madras Forest Act, made to include such a heterogeneous
zoological collection of animals as elephants, sheep, pigs, goats,
camels, buffaloes, horses--and asses. This classification recalls to
mind the occasion on which the Flying-fox or Fox-bat was included in
an official list of the insectivorous birds of the Presidency; and,
further, a report on the wild animals of a certain district, which
was triumphantly headed with the "wild tattu," the long-suffering,
but pig-headed country pony.
I gather, from an account of the process by one who had considerable
knowledge of the Kadirs, that "they will only remove the hives of
bees during dark nights, and never in the daytime or on moonlight
nights. In removing them from cliffs, they use a chain made of
bamboo or rattan, fixed to a stake or a tree on the top. The man,
going down this fragile ladder, will only do so while his wife, or
son watches above to prevent any foul play. They have a superstition
that they should always return by the way they go down, and decline to
get to the bottom of the cliff, although the distance may be less,
and the work of re-climbing avoided. For hives on trees, they tie
one or more long bamboos to reach up to the branch required, and
then climb up. They then crawl along the branch until the hive is
reached. They devour the bee-bread and the bee-maggots or larvæ,
swallowing the wax as well." In a note on a shooting expedition in
Travancore, [9] Mr. J. D. Rees, describing the collection of honey
by the Kadirs of the southern hills, says that they "descend giddy
precipices at night, torch in hand, to smoke out the bees, and take
away their honey. A stout creeper is suspended over the abyss, and
it is established law of the jungle that no brother shall assist in
holding it. But it is more interesting to see them run a ladder a
hundred feet up the perpendicular stem of a tree, than to watch them
disappearing over a precipice. Axe in hand, the honey-picker makes
a hole in the bark for a little peg, standing on which he inserts a
second peg higher up, ties a long cane from one to the other, and by
night--for the darkness gives confidence--he will ascend the tallest
trees, and bring down honey without any accident." I have been told,
with how much of truth I know not, that, when a Kadir goes down the
face of a rock or precipice in search of honey, he sometimes takes
with him, as a precautionary measure, and guarantee of his safety,
the wife of the man who is holding the ladder above.
Often, when out on the tramp with the late Government Botanist,
Mr. M. A. Lawson, I have heard him lament that it is impossible to
train arboreal monkeys to collect specimens of the fruit and flowers
of lofty forest trees, which are inaccessible to the ordinary man. Far
superior to any trained Simian is the Kadir, who, by means of pegs or
notches, climbs even the tallest masts of trees with an agility which
recalls to memory the celebrated picture in "Punch," representing
Darwin's 'Habit of climbing plants.' For the ascent of comparatively
low trees, notches are made with a bill-hook, alternately right and
left, at intervals of about thirty inches. To this method the Kadir
will not have recourse in wet weather, as the notches are damp and
slippery, and there is the danger of an insecure foot-hold.
An important ethnographic fact, and one which is significant,
is that the detailed description of tree-climbing by the Dyaks of
Borneo, as given by Wallace, [10] might have been written on the
Anaimalai hills, and would apply equally well in every detail to the
Kadir. "They drove in," Wallace writes, "a peg very firmly at about
three feet from the ground, and, bringing one of the long bamboos,
stood it upright close to the tree, and bound it firmly to the two
first pegs by means of a bark cord and small notches near the head
of each peg. One of the Dyaks now stood on the first peg and drove
in a third about level with his face, to which he tied the bamboo in
the same way, and then mounted another step, standing on one foot,
and holding by the bamboo at the peg immediately above him, while he
drove in the next one. In this manner he ascended about twenty feet,
when the upright bamboo became thin; another was handed up by his
companion, and this was joined on by tying both bamboos to three or
four of the pegs. When this was also nearly ended, a third was added,
and shortly after the lowest branch of the tree was reached, along
which the young Dyak scrambled. The ladder was perfectly safe, since,
if any one peg were loose or faulty, the strain would be thrown on
several others above and below it. I now understood the use of the
line of bamboo pegs sticking in trees, which I had often seen."
In their search for produce in the evergreen forests of the higher
ranges, with their heavy rainfall, the Kadirs became unpleasantly
familiar with leeches and blue bottle flies, which flourish in the
moist climate. And it is recorded that a Kadir, who had been gored
and wounded by a bull 'bison,' was placed in a position of safety
while a friend ran to the village to summon help. He was not away
for more than an hour, but, in that short time, flies had deposited
thousands of maggots in the wounds, and, when the man was brought into
camp, they had already begun burrowing into the flesh, and were with
difficulty extracted. On another occasion, the eye-witness of the
previous unappetising incident was out alone in the forest, and shot
a tiger two miles or so from his camp. Thither he went to collect
coolies to carry in the carcase, and was away for about two hours,
during which the flies had, like the child in the story, 'not been
idle,' the skin being a mass of maggots and totally ruined. I have
it on authority that, like the Kotas of the Nilgiris, the Kadirs will
eat the putrid and fly-blown flesh of carcases of wild beasts, which
they come across in their wanderings. To a dietary which includes
succulent roots, which they upturn with a digging stick, bamboo seed,
sheep, fowls, rock-snakes (python), deer, porcupines, rats (field,
not house), wild pigs, monkeys, etc., they do credit by displaying a
hard, well-nourished body. The mealy portion of the seeds of the Cycas
tree, which flourishes on the lower slopes of the Anaimalais, forms a
considerable addition to the ménu. In its raw state the fruit is said
to be poisonous, but it is evidently wholesome when cut into slices,
thoroughly soaked in running water, dried, and ground into flour for
making cakes, or baked in hot ashes. Mr. Vincent writes that, "during
March, April, and May, the Kadirs have a glorious time. They usually
manage to find some wild sago palms, called by them koondtha panai,
of the proper age, which they cut down close to the ground. They are
then cut into lengths of about 1 1/2 feet, and split lengthways. The
sections are then beaten very hard and for a long time with mallets,
and become separated into fibre and powder. The powder is thoroughly
wetted, tied in cloths and well beaten with sticks. Every now and
then, between the beatings, the bag of powder is dipped in water,
and well strained. It is then all put into water, when the powder
sinks, and the water is poured off. The residue is well boiled, with
constant stirring, and, when it is of the consistency of rubber,
and of a reddish brown colour, it is allowed to cool, and then cut
in pieces to be distributed. This food stuff is palatable enough,
but very tough." The Kadir is said to prefer roasting and eating the
flesh of animals with the skin on. For catching rats, jungle-fowl,
etc., he resorts to cunningly devised snares and traps made of
bamboo and fibre, as a substitute for a gun. Porcupines are caught
by setting fire to the scrub jungle round them as they lie asleep,
and thus smoking and burning them to death.
When a Kadir youth's thoughts turn towards matrimony, he is said to
go to the village of his bride-elect, and give her a dowry by working
there for a year. On the wedding day a feast of rice, sheep, fowls,
and other luxuries is given by the parents of the bridegroom, to which
the Kadir community is invited. The bride and bridegroom stand beneath
a pandal (arch) decorated with flowers, which is erected outside
the home of the bridegroom, while men and women dance separately to
the music of drum and fife. The bridegroom's mother or sister ties
the tali (marriage badge) of gold or silver round the bride's neck,
and her father puts a turban on the head of the bridegroom. The
contracting parties link together the little fingers of their right
hands as a token of their union, and walk in procession round the
pandal. Then, sitting on a reed mat of Kadir manufacture, they exchange
betel. The marriage tie can be dissolved for incompatibility of temper,
disobedience on the part of the wife, adultery, etc., without appeal
to any higher authority than a council of elders, who pronounce
judgment on the evidence. As an illustration of the manner in which
such a council of hill-men disposes of cases, Mr. Bensley cites the
case of a man who was made to carry forty basket loads of sand to the
house of the person against whom he had offended. He points out how
absolute is the control exercised by the council. Disobedience would
be followed by excommunication, and this would mean being turned out
into the jungle, to obtain a living in the best way one could.
By one Kadir informant I was assured, as he squatted on the floor
of my bungalow at "question time," that it is essential that a wife
should be a good cook, in accordance with a maxim that the way to the
heart is through the mouth. How many men in civilised western society,
who suffer from marrying a wife wholly incompetent, like the first
Mrs. David Copperfield, to conduct the housekeeping, might well be
envious of the system of marriage as a civil contract to be sealed or
unloosed according to the cookery results! Polygyny is indulged in by
the Kadirs, who agree with Benedick that "the world must be peopled,"
and hold more especially that the numerical strength of their own
tribe must be maintained. The plurality of wives seems to be mainly
with the desire for offspring, and the father-in-law of one of the
forest-guards informed me that he had four wives living. The first
two wives producing no offspring, he married a third, who bore him
a solitary male child. Considering the result to be an insufficient
contribution to the tribe, he married a fourth, who, more prolific
than her colleagues, gave birth to three girls and a boy, with which
he remained content. In the code of polygynous etiquette, the first
wife takes precedence over the others, and each wife has her own
cooking utensils.
Special huts are maintained for women during menstruation and
parturition. Mr. Vincent informs me that, when a girl reaches puberty,
the friends of the family gather together, and a great feast is
prepared. All her friends and relations give her a small present
of money, according to their means. The girl is decorated with the
family jewelry, and made to look as smart as possible. For the first
menstrual period, a special hut, called mutthu salai or ripe house,
is constructed for the girl to live in during the period of pollution;
but at subsequent periods, the ordinary menstruation hut, or unclean
house, is used. All girls are said to change their names when they
reach puberty. For three months after the birth of a child, the woman
is considered unclean. When the infant is a month old, it is named
without any elaborate ceremonial, though the female friends of the
family collect together. Sexual intercourse ceases on the establishment
of pregnancy, and the husband indulges in promiscuity. Widows are not
allowed to re-marry, but may live in a state of concubinage. Women are
said to suckle their children till they are two or three years old,
and a mother has been seen putting a lighted cigarette to the lips of
a year old baby immediately after suckling it. If this is done with
the intention of administering a sedative, it is less baneful than the
pellet of opium administered by ayahs (nurses) to Anglo-Indian babies
rendered fractious by troubles climatic, dental, and other. The Kadir
men are said to consume large quantities of opium, which is sold to
them illicitly. They will not allow the women or children to eat it,
and have a belief that the consumption thereof by women renders them
barren. The women chew tobacco. The men smoke the coarse tobacco as
sold in the bazars, and showed a marked appreciation of Spencer's
Torpedo cheroots, which I distributed among them for the purposes of
bribery and conciliation.
The religion of the Kadirs is a crude polytheism, and vague worship
of stone images or invisible gods. It is, as Mr. Bensley expresses
it, an ejaculatory religion, finding vent in uttering the names of
the gods and demons. The gods, as enumerated and described to me,
were as follows:--
(1) Paikutlatha, a projecting rock overhanging a slab of rock, on
which are two stones set up on end. Two miles east of Mount Stuart.
(2) Athuvisariamma, a stone enclosure, ten to fifteen feet square,
almost level with the ground. It is believed that the walls were
originally ten feet high, and that the mountain has grown up round
it. Within the enclosure there is a representation of the god. Eight
miles north of Mount Stuart.
(3) Vanathavathi. Has no shrine, but is worshipped anywhere as an
invisible god.
(4) Iyappaswami, a stone set up beneath a teak tree, and worshipped
as a protector against various forms of sickness and disease. In the
act of worshipping, a mark is made on the stone with ashes. Two miles
and a half from Mount Stuart, on the ghat road to Sethumadai.
(5) Masanyatha, a female recumbent figure in stone on a masonry wall
in an open plain near the village of Anaimalai, before which trial by
ordeal is carried out. The goddess has a high repute for her power
of detecting thieves or rogues. Chillies are thrown into a fire in
her name, and the guilty person suffers from vomiting and diarrhoea.
According to Mr. L. K. Anantha Krishna Iyer, [11] the Kadirs are
"worshippers of Kali. On the occasion of the offering to Kali, a number
of virgins are asked to bathe as a preliminary to the preparation of
the offering, which consists of rice and some vegetables cooked in
honey, and made into a sweet pudding. The rice for this preparation
is unhusked by these girls. The offering is considered to be sacred,
and is partaken of by all men, women, and children assembled."
When Kadirs fall sick, they worship the gods by saluting them with
their hands to the face, burning camphor, and offering up fruits,
cocoanuts, and betel. Mr. Vincent tells me that they have a horror
of cattle, and will not touch the ordure, or other products of the
cow. Yet they believe that their gods occasionally reside in the body
of a "bison," and have been known to do puja (worship) when a bull
has been shot by a sportsman. It is noted by Mr. Anantha Krishna
Iyer that wild elephants are held in veneration by them, but tame
ones are believed to have lost the divine element.
The Kadirs are said, during the Hindu Vishu festival, to visit the
plains, and, on their way, pray to any image which they chance to
come across. They are believers in witchcraft, and attribute all
diseases to the miraculous workings thereof. They are good exorcists,
and trade in mantravadam or magic. Mr. Logan mentions [12] that "the
family of famous trackers, whose services in the jungles were retained
for H.R.H. the Prince of Wales' (now King Edward) projected sporting
tour in the Anamalai mountains, dropped off most mysteriously, one
by one, shortly afterwards, stricken down by an unseen hand, and all
of them expressing beforehand their conviction that they were under
a certain individual's spell, and were doomed to certain death at
an early date. They were probably poisoned, but how it was managed
remains a mystery, although the family was under the protection of
a European gentleman, who would at once have brought to light any
ostensible foul play."
The Kadir dead are buried in a grave, or, if death occurs in the
depths of the jungles, with a paucity of hands available for digging,
the corpse is placed in a crevice between the rocks, and covered over
with stones. The grave is dug from four to five feet deep. There
is no special burial-ground, but some spot in the jungle, not far
from the scene of death, is selected. A band of music, consisting of
drum and fife, plays weird dirges outside the hut of the deceased,
and whistles are blown when it is carried away therefrom. The old
clothes of the deceased are spread under the corpse, and a new cloth
is put on it. It is tied up in a mat, which completely covers it, and
carried to the burial-ground on a bamboo stretcher. As it leaves the
hut, rice is thrown over it. The funeral ceremony is simple in the
extreme. The corpse is laid in the grave on a mat in the recumbent
posture, with the head towards the east, and with split bamboo and
leaves placed all round it, so that not a particle of earth can touch
it. No stone, or sepulchral monument of any kind, is set up to mark the
spot. The Kadir believes that the dead go to heaven, which is in the
sky, but has no views as to what sort of place it is. The story that
the Kadirs eat their dead originated with Europeans, the origin of it
being that no one had ever seen a dead Kadir, a grave, or sign of a
burial-place. The Kadirs themselves are reticent as to their method
of disposing of the dead, and the story, which was started as a joke,
became more or less believed. Mr. Vincent tells me that a well-to-do
Kadir family will perform the final death ceremonies eight days after
death, but poorer folk have to wait a year or more, till they have
collected sufficient money for the expenses thereof. At cock-crow on
the morning of the ceremonies, rice, called polli chor, is cooked,
and piled up on leaves in the centre of the hut of the deceased. Cooked
rice, called tullagu chor, is then placed in each of the four corners
of the hut, to propitiate the gods, and to serve as food for them
and the spirit of the dead person. At a short distance from the hut,
rice, called kanal chor, is cooked for all Kadirs who have died,
and been buried. The relations and friends of the deceased commence
to cry, and make lamentations, and proclaim his good qualities, most
of which are fictitious. After an hour or so, they adjourn to the
hut of the deceased, where the oldest man present invokes the gods,
and prays to them and to the heaped up food. A pinch from each of
the heaps is thrown into the air as a gift of food to the gods, and
those present fall to, and eat heartily, being careful to partake of
each of the food-stuffs, consisting of rice, meat, and vegetables,
which have been prepared.
On a certain Monday in the months of Adi and Avani, the Kadirs observe
a festival called nombu, during which a feast is held, after they have
bathed and anointed themselves with oil. It was, they say, observed
by their ancestors, but they have no definite tradition as to its
origin or significance. It is noted by Mr. Anantha Krishna Iyer that,
at the Onam festival, presents in the shape of rice, cloths, coats,
turbans, caps, ear-rings, tobacco, opium, salt, oil and cocoanuts
are distributed among the Kadirs by the Forest Department.
According to Mr. Bensley, "the Kadir has an air of calm dignity,
which leads one to suppose that he had some reason for having a
more exalted opinion of himself than that entertained for him by
the outside world. A forest officer of a philanthropic turn had
a very high opinion of the sturdy independence and blunt honesty
of the Kadir, but he once came unexpectedly round a corner, to
find two of them exploring the contents of his port-manteau, from
which they had abstracted a pair of scissors, a comb, and a looking
glass." "The Kadirs," Mr. (now Sir F. A.) Nicholson writes, [13]
"are, as a rule, rather short in stature, and deep-chested, like
most mountaineers; and, like many true mountaineers, they rarely walk
with a straight leg. Hence their thigh muscles are often abnormally
developed at the expense of those of the calf. Hence, too, in part,
their dislike to walking long distances on level ground, though their
objection, mentioned by Colonel Douglas Hamilton, to carrying loads
on the plains, is deeper-rooted than that arising from mere physical
disability. This objection is mainly because they are rather a timid
race, and never feel safe out of the forests. They have also affirmed
that the low-country air is very trying to them." As a matter of fact,
they very rarely go down to the plains, even as far as the village of
Anaimalai, only fifteen miles distant from Mount Stuart. One woman,
whom I saw, had been as far as Palghat by railway from Coimbatore,
and had returned very much up-to-date in the matter of jewelry and
the latest barbarity in imported piece-good body-cloth.
With the chest-girth of the Kadirs, as well as their general muscular
development, I was very much impressed. Their hardiness, Mr. Conner
writes, [14] has given rise to the observation among their neighbours
that the Kadir and Kad Anai (wild elephant) are much the same sort
of animal.
Perhaps the most interesting custom of the Kadirs is that of chipping
all or some of the incisor teeth, both upper and lower, into the form
of a sharp-pointed, but not serrated cone. The operation, which is
performed with a chisel or bill-hook and file by members of the tribe
skilled therein, on boys and girls, has been thus described. The
girl to be operated on lies down, and places her head against a
female friend, who holds her head firmly. A woman takes a sharpened
bill-hook, and chips away the teeth till they are shaded to a point,
the girl operated on writhing and groaning with the pain. After the
operation she appears dazed, and in a very few hours the face begins
to swell. Swelling and pain last for a day or two, accompanied by
severe headache. The Kadirs say that chipped teeth make an ugly man
or woman handsome, and that a person, whose teeth have not been thus
operated on, has teeth and eats like a cow. Whether this practice
is one which the Kadir, and Mala Vedar of Travancore, have hit on
spontaneously in comparatively recent times, or whether it is a relic
of a custom resorted to by their ancestors of long ago, which remains
as a stray survival of a custom once more widely practiced by the
remote inhabitants of Southern India, cannot be definitely asserted,
but I incline to the latter view.
A friendly old woman, with huge discs in the widely dilated lobes of
the ears, and a bamboo five-pronged comb in her back-hair, who acted
as spokesman on the occasion of a visit to a charmingly situated
settlement in a jungle of magnificent bamboos by the side of a
mountain stream, pointed out to me, with conscious pride, that the
huts were largely constructed by the females, while the men worked
for the sircar (Government). The females also carry water from the
streams, collect firewood, dig up edible roots, and carry out the
sundry household duties of a housewife. Both men and women are clever
at plaiting bamboo baskets, necklets, etc. I was told one morning by
a Kadir man, whom I met on the road, as an important item of news,
that the women in his settlement were very busy dressing to come and
see me--an event as important to them as the dressing of a débutante
for presentation at the Court of St. James'. They eventually turned
up without their husbands, and evidently regarded my methods as a huge
joke organised for the amusement of themselves and their children. The
hair was neatly parted, anointed with a liberal application of cocoanut
oil, and decked with wild flowers. Beauty spots and lines had been
painted with coal-tar dyes on the forehead, and turmeric powder freely
sprinkled over the top of the heads of the married women. Some had
even discarded the ragged and dirty cotton cloth of every-day life
in favour of a colour-printed imported sari. One bright, good-looking
young woman, who had already been through the measuring ordeal, acted
as an efficient lady-help in coaching the novices in the assumption
of the correct positions. She very readily grasped the situation,
and was manifestly proud of her temporary elevation to the rank of
standard-bearer to Government.
Dr. K. T. Preuss has drawn my attention to an article in Globus,
1899, entitled 'Die Zauberbilder Schriften der Negrito in Malaka,'
wherein he describes in detail the designs on the bamboo combs worn
by the Negritos of Malacca, and compares them with the strikingly
similar design on the combs worn by the Kadir women. Dr. Preuss
works out in detail the theory that the design is not, as I have
elsewhere called it, a geometrical pattern, but consists of a series of
hieroglyphics. The collection of Kadir combs in the Madras Museum shows
very clearly that the patterns thereon are conventional designs. The
bamboo combs worn by the Semang women are stated [15] to serve as
talismans, to protect them against diseases which are prevalent, or
most dreaded by them. Mr. Vincent informs me that, so far as he knows,
the Kadir combs are not looked on as charms, and the markings thereon
have no mystic significance. A Kadir man should always make a comb,
and present it to his intended wife just before marriage, or at the
conclusion of the marriage ceremony, and the young men vie with each
other as to who can make the nicest comb. Sometimes they represent
strange articles on the combs. Mr. Vincent has, for example, seen a
comb with a very good imitation of the face of a clock scratched on it.
It is sometimes difficult to distinguish adolescent Kadir youths with
curly fringe, chests covered by a cotton cloth, and wearing necklets
made of plaited grass or glass and brass beads, from girls. And I was
myself several times caught in an erroneous diagnosis of sex. Many of
the infants have a charm tied round the neck, which takes the form of a
dried tortoise foot; the tooth of a crocodile mimicking a phallus, and
supposed to ward off attacks from a mythical water elephant which lives
in the mountain streams; or wooden imitations of tiger's claws. One
baby wore a necklet made of the seeds of Coix Lachryma-Jobi (Job's
tears). Males have the lobes of the ears adorned with brass ornaments,
and the nostril pierced, and plugged with wood. The ear-lobes of the
females are widely dilated with palm-leaf rolls or huge wooden discs,
and they wear ear-rings, brass or steel bangles and finger-rings,
and bead necklets.
It is recorded by Mr. Anantha Krishna Iyer that the Kadirs are attached
to the Raja of Cochin "by the strongest ties of personal affection and
regard. Whenever His Highness tours in the forests, they follow him,
carry him from place to place in manjals or palanquins, carry saman
(luggage), and in fact do everything for him. His Highness in return
is much attached to them, feeds them, gives them cloths, ornaments,
combs, and looking-glasses."
The Kadirs will not eat with Malasars, who are beef-eaters, and will
not carry boots made of cow-hide, except under protest.
Average stature 157.7 cm.; cephalic index 72.9; nasal index 89.
Kadle.--Kadle, Kalle, and Kadale meaning Bengal gram (Cicer arietinum)
have been recorded as exogamous septs or gotras of Kurubas and Kurnis.
Kadu.--Kadu or Kattu, meaning wild or jungle, has been recorded as a
division of Golla, Irula, Korava, Kurumba, and Tottiyan. Kadu also
occurs as an exogamous sept or gotra of the Kurnis. Kadu Konkani
is stated, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, to mean the bastard
Konkanis, as opposed to the God or pure Konkanis. Kattu Marathi is
a synonym for the bird-catching Kuruvikarans. In the Malabar Wynaad,
the jungle Kurumbas are known as Kattu Nayakan.
Kadukuttukiravar.--A synonym, meaning one who bores a hole in the ear,
for Koravas who perform the operation of piercing the lobes of the
ears for various castes.
Kaduppattan.--The Kadupattans are said, [16] according to the
traditional account of their origin, to have been Pattar Brahmans
of Kadu gramam, who became degraded owing to their supporting
the introduction of Buddhism. "The members of this caste are,"
Mr. H. A. Stuart writes, [17] "at present mostly palanquin-bearers,
and carriers of salt, oil, etc. The educated among them follow the
profession of teaching, and are called Ezhuttacchan, i.e., master of
learning. Both titles are used in the same family. In the Native State
of Cochin, the Kaduppattan is a salt-worker. In British Malabar he is
not known to have followed that profession for some generations past,
but it may be that, salt manufacture having long ago been stopped in
South Malabar, he has taken to other professions, one of which is the
carriage of salt. In manners and customs Kaduppattans resemble Nayars,
but their inheritance follows the male line." The Kaduppattans are
described [18] by Mr. Logan as "a caste hardly to be distinguished from
the Nayars. They follow a modified makkatayam system of inheritance,
in which the property descends from father to son, but not from
father to daughter. The girls are married before attaining puberty,
and the bridegroom, who is to be the girl's real husband in after
life, arranges the dowry and other matters by means of mediators
(enangan). The tali is tied round the girl's neck by the bridegroom's
sister or a female relative. At the funeral ceremonies of this class,
the barber caste perform priestly functions, giving directions and
preparing oblation rice. A widow without male issue is removed on the
twelfth day after her husband's death from his house to that of her
own parents. And this is done even if she has female issue. But, on
the contrary, if she has borne sons to the deceased, she is not only
entitled to remain at her husband's house, but she continues to have,
in virtue of her sons, a joint right over his property."
Kahar.--In the Madras Census Report, 1901, the Kahars are returned as
a Bengal caste of boatmen and fishermen. In the Mysore Census Report,
it is noted that Kahar means in Hindustani a blacksmith, and that
those censused were immigrants from the Bombay Presidency.
Kaikatti (one who shows the hand).--A division of the Kanakkans
(accountants). The name has its origin in a custom, according to which
a married woman is never allowed to communicate with her mother-in-law
except by signs. [19]
Kaikolan.--The Kaikolans are a large caste of Tamil weavers found
in all the southern districts, who also are found in considerable
numbers in the Telugu country, where they have adopted the Telugu
language. A legend is current that the Nayakkan kings of Madura were
not satisfied with the workmanship of the Kaikolans, and sent for
foreign weavers from the north (Patnulkarans), whose descendants
now far out-number the Tamil weavers. The word Kaikolan is the
Tamil equivalent of the Sanskrit Virabahu, a mythological hero,
from whom both the Kaikolans and a section of the Paraiyans claim
descent. The Kaikolans are also called Sengundar (red dagger) in
connection with the following legend. "The people of the earth,
being harassed by certain demons, applied to Siva for help. Siva
was enraged against the giants, and sent forth six sparks of fire
from his eyes. His wife, Parvati, was frightened, and retired to her
chamber, and, in so doing, dropped nine beads from her anklets. Siva
converted the beads into as many females, to each of whom was born
a hero with full-grown moustaches and a dagger. These nine heroes,
with Subramanya at their head, marched in command of a large force,
and destroyed the demons. The Kaikolans or Sengundar are said to be the
descendants of Virabahu, one of these heroes. After killing the demon,
the warriors were told by Siva that they should become musicians,
and adopt a profession, which would not involve the destruction or
injury of any living creature, and, weaving being such a profession,
they were trained in it." [20] According to another version, Siva told
Parvati that the world would be enveloped in darkness if he should
close his eyes. Impelled by curiosity, Parvati closed her husband's
eyes with her hands. Being terrified by the darkness, Parvati ran to
her chamber, and, on the way thither, nine precious stones fell from
her anklets, and turned into nine fair maidens, with whom Siva became
enamoured and embraced them. Seeing later on that they were pregnant,
Parvati uttered a curse that they should not bring forth children
formed in their wombs. One Padmasura was troubling the people in this
world, and, on their praying to Siva to help them, he told Subramanya
to kill the Asura. Parvati requested Siva not to send Subramanya by
himself, and he suggested the withdrawal of her curse. Accordingly,
the damsels gave birth to nine heroes, who, carrying red daggers,
and headed by Subramanya, went in search of the Asura, and killed
him. The word kaikol is said to refer to the ratnavel or precious
dagger carried by Subramanya. The Kaikolans, on the Sura Samharam day
during the festival of Subramanya, dress themselves up to represent
the nine warriors, and join in the procession.
The name Kaikolan is further derived from kai (hand), and kol
(shuttle). The Kaikolans consider the different parts of the loom
to represent various Devatas and Rishis. The thread is said to have
been originally obtained from the lotus stalk rising from Vishnu's
navel. Several Devas formed the threads, which make the warp; Narada
became the woof; and Vedamuni the treadle. Brahma transformed himself
into the plank (padamaram), and Adisesha into the main rope.
In some places, the following sub-divisions of the caste are
recognised:--Sozhia; Rattu; Siru-tali (small marriage badge); Peru-tali
(big marriage badge); Sirpadam, and Sevaghavritti. The women of the
Siru and Peru-tali divisions wear a small and large tali respectively.
In religion, most of the Kaikolans are Saivites, and some have taken
to wearing the lingam, but a few are Vaishnavites.
The hereditary headman of the caste is called Peridanakaran or
Pattakaran, and is, as a rule, assisted by two subordinates entitled
Sengili or Gramani, and Ural. But, if the settlement is a large one,
the headman may have as many as nine assistants.
According to Mr. H. A. Stuart, [21] "the Kaikolans acknowledge the
authority of a headman, or Mahanattan, who resides at Conjeeveram,
but itinerates among their villages, receiving presents, and settling
caste disputes. Where his decision is not accepted without demur,
he imposes upon the refractory weavers the expense of a curious
ceremony, in which the planting of a bamboo post takes part. From the
top of this pole the Mahanattan pronounces his decision, which must be
acquiesced in on pain of excommunication." From information gathered
at Conjeeveram, I learn that there is attached to the Kaikolans a class
of mendicants called Nattukattada Nayanmar. The name means the Nayanmar
who do not plant, in reference to the fact that, when performing, they
fix their bamboo pole to the gopuram of a temple, instead of planting
it in the ground. They are expected to travel about the country, and,
if a caste dispute requires settlement, a council meeting is convened,
at which they must be present as the representatives of the Mahanadu,
a chief Kaikolan head-quarters at Conjeeveram. If the dispute is a
complicated one, the Nattukattada Nayanmar goes to all the Kaikolan
houses, and makes a red mark with laterite [22] on the cloth in the
loom, saying "Andvaranai," as signifying that it is done by order
of the headman. The Kaikolans may, after this, not go on with their
work until the dispute is settled, for the trial of which a day is
fixed. The Nattukattada Nayanmars set up on a gopuram their pole,
which should have seventy-two internodes, and measure at least as many
feet. The number of internodes corresponds to that of the nadus into
which the Kaikolan community is divided. Kamatchiamma is worshipped,
and the Nattukattada Nayanmars climb up the pole, and perform various
feats. Finally, the principal actor balances a young child in a tray on
a bamboo, and, letting go of the bamboo, catches the falling child. The
origin of the performance is said to have been as follows. The demon
Suran was troubling the Devas and men, and was advised by Karthikeya
(Subramanya) and Virabahu to desist from so doing. He paid no heed,
and a fight ensued. The demon sent his son Vajrabahu to meet the enemy,
and he was slain by Virabahu, who displayed the different parts of
his body in the following manner. The vertebral column was made to
represent a pole, round which the other bones were placed, and the guts
tightly wound round them. The connective tissues were used as ropes to
support the pole. The skull was used as a jaya-mani (conquest bell),
and the skin hoisted as a flag. The trident of Virabahu was fixed to
the top of the pole, and, standing over it, he announced his victory
over the world. The Nattukattada Nayanmars claim to be the descendants
of Virabahu. Their head-quarters are at Conjeeveram. They are regarded
as slightly inferior to the Kaikolans, with whom ordinarily they do
not intermarry. The Kaikolans have to pay them as alms a minimum
fee of four annas per loom annually. Another class of mendicant,
called Ponnambalaththar, which is said to have sprung up recently,
poses as true caste beggars attached to the Kaikolans, from whom,
as they travel about the country, they solicit alms. Some Kaikolans
gave Ontipuli as the name of their caste beggars. The Ontipulis,
however, are Nokkans attached to the Pallis.
The Kaikolan community is, as already indicated, divided into
seventy-two nadus or desams, viz., forty-four mel (western)
and twenty-eight kil (eastern) nadus. Intermarriages take place
between members of seventy-one of these nadus. The great Tamil
poet Ottaikuththar is said to have belonged to the Kaikolan caste
and to have sung the praises of all castes except his own. Being
angry on this account, the Kaikolans urged him to sing in praise of
them. This he consented to do, provided that he received 1,008 human
heads. Seventy-one nadus sent the first-born sons for the sacrifice,
but one nadu (Tirumarudhal) refused to send any. This refusal led
to their isolation from the rest of the community. All the nadus are
subject to the authority of four thisai nadus, and these in turn are
controlled by the mahanadu at Conjeeveram, which is the residence of
the patron deity Kamatchiamman. The thisai nadus are (1) Sivapuram
(Walajabad), east of Conjeeveram, where Kamatchiamman is said to
have placed Nandi as a guard; (2) Thondipuram, where Thondi Vinayakar
was stationed; (3) Virinjipuram to the west, guarded by Subramanya;
(4) Sholingipuram to the south, watched over by Bairava. Each of the
seventy-one nadus is sub-divided into kilai gramams (branch villages),
perur (big) and sithur (little) gramams. In Tamil works relating
to the Sengundar caste, Conjeeveram is said to be the mahanadu,
and those belonging thereto are spoken of as the nineteen hundred,
who are entitled to respect from other Kaikolans. Another name for
Kaikolans of the mahanadu seems to be Andavar; but in practice this
name is confined to the headman of the mahanadu, and members of
his family. They have the privilege of sitting at council meetings
with their backs supported by pillows, and consequently bear the
title Thindusarndan (resting on pillows). At present there are two
sections of Kaikolans at Conjeeveram, one living at Ayyampettai,
and the other at Pillaipalayam. The former claim Ayyampettai as the
mahanadu, and refuse to recognise Pillaipalayam, which is in the heart
of Conjeeveram, as the mahanadu. Disputes arose, and recourse was had
to the Vellore Court in 1904, where it was decided that Ayyampettai
possesses no claim to be called the mahanadu.
Many Kaikolan families have now abandoned their hereditary employment
as weavers in favour of agriculture and trade, and some of the poorer
members of the caste work as cart-drivers and coolies. At Coimbatore
some hereditary weavers have become cart-drivers, and some cart-drivers
have become weavers de necessité in the local jail.
In every Kaikolan family, at least one girl should be set apart for,
and dedicated to temple service. And the rule seems to be that,
so long as this girl or her descendants, born to her or adopted,
continue to live, another girl is not dedicated. But, when the line
becomes extinct, another girl must be dedicated. All the Kaikolans
deny their connection with the Deva-dasi (dancing-girl) caste. But
Kaikolans freely take meals in Dasi houses on ceremonial occasions,
and it would not be difficult to cite cases of genuine Dasis who have
relationship with rich Kaikolans.
Kaikolan girls are made Dasis either by regular dedication to a temple,
or by the headman tying the tali (nattu pottu). The latter method is
at the present day adopted because it is considered a sin to dedicate
a girl to the god after she has reached puberty, and because the
securing of the requisite official certificate for a girl to become
a Dasi involves considerable trouble.
"It is said," Mr. Stuart writes, [23] "that, where the head of a house
dies, leaving only female issue, one of the girls is made a Dasi in
order to allow of her working like a man at the loom, for no woman
not dedicated in this manner may do so."
Of the orthodox form of ceremonial in connection with a girl's
initiation as a Dasi, the following account was given by the Kaikolans
of Coimbatore. The girl is taught music and dancing. The dancing master
or Nattuvan, belongs to the Kaikolan caste, but she may be instructed
in music by Brahman Bhagavathans. At the tali-tying ceremony, which
should take place after the girl has reached puberty, she is decorated
with jewels, and made to stand on a heap of paddy (unhusked rice). A
folded cloth is held before her by two Dasis, who also stand on heaps
of paddy. The girl catches hold of the cloth, and her dancing master,
who is seated behind her, grasping her legs, moves them up and down
in time with the music, which is played. In the course of the day,
relations and friends are entertained, and, in the evening, the girl,
seated astride a pony, is taken to the temple, where a new cloth for
the idol, the tali, and various articles required for doing puja,
have been got ready. The girl is seated facing the idol, and the
officiating Brahman gives sandal and flowers to her, and ties the tali,
which has been lying at the feet of the idol, round her neck. The tali
consists of a golden disc and black beads. Betel and flowers are then
distributed among those present, and the girl is taken home through
the principal streets. She continues to learn music and dancing, and
eventually goes through a form of nuptial ceremony. The relations
are invited for an auspicious day, and the maternal uncle, or his
representative, ties a gold band on the girl's forehead, and, carrying
her, places her on a plank before the assembled guests. A Brahman
priest recites the mantrams, and prepares the sacred fire (homam). The
uncle is presented with new cloths by the girl's mother. For the actual
nuptials a rich Brahman, if possible, and, if not, a Brahman of more
lowly status is invited. A Brahman is called in, as he is next in
importance to, and the representative of the idol. It is said that,
when the man who is to receive her first favours, joins the girl, a
sword must be placed, at least for a few minutes, by her side. When a
Dasi dies, her body is covered with a new cloth removed from the idol,
and flowers are supplied from the temple, to which she belonged. No
puja is performed in the temple till the body is disposed of, as the
idol, being her husband, has to observe pollution.
Writing a century ago (1807) concerning the Kaikolan Dasis,
Buchanan says [24] that "these dancing women, and their musicians,
now form a separate kind of caste; and a certain number of them are
attached to every temple of any consequence. The allowances which the
musicians receive for their public duty is very small, yet, morning and
evening, they are bound to attend at the temple to perform before the
image. They must also receive every person travelling on account of
the Government, meet him at some distance from the town, and conduct
him to his quarters with music and dancing. All the handsome girls
are instructed to dance and sing, and are all prostitutes, at least
to the Brahmans. In ordinary sets they are quite common; but, under
the Company's government, those attached to temples of extraordinary
sanctity are reserved entirely for the use of the native officers,
who are all Brahmans, and who would turn out from the set any girl
that profaned herself by communication with persons of low caste,
or of no caste at all, such as Christians or Mussulmans. Indeed,
almost every one of these girls that is tolerably sightly is taken
by some officer of revenue for his own special use, and is seldom
permitted to go to the temple, except in his presence. Most of these
officers have more than one wife, and the women of the Brahmans are
very beautiful; but the insipidity of their conduct, from a total
want of education or accomplishment, makes the dancing women to be
sought after by all natives with great avidity. The Mussulman officers
in particular were exceedingly attached to this kind of company,
and lavished away on these women a great part of their incomes. The
women very much regret their loss, as the Mussulmans paid liberally,
and the Brahmans durst not presume to hinder any girl who chose,
from amusing an Asoph, or any of his friends. The Brahmans are not
near so lavish of their money, especially where it is secured by the
Company's government, but trust to their authority for obtaining
the favour of the dancers. To my taste, nothing can be more silly
and unanimated than the dancing of the women, nor more harsh and
barbarous than their music. Some Europeans, however, from long habit,
I suppose, have taken a liking to it, and have even been captivated
by the women. Most of them I have had an opportunity of seeing have
been very ordinary in their looks, very inelegant in their dress,
and very dirty in their persons; a large proportion of them have the
itch, and a still larger proportion are most severely diseased."
Though the Kaikolans are considered to belong to the left-hand faction,
Dasis, except those who are specially engaged by the Beri Chettis
and Kammalans, are placed in the right-hand faction. Kaikolan Dasis,
when passing through a Kammalan street, stop dancing, and they will
not salute Kammalans or Beri Chettis.
A peculiar method of selecting a bride, called siru tali kattu (tying
the small tali), is said to be in vogue among some Kaikolans. A
man, who wishes to marry his maternal uncle's or paternal aunt's
daughter, has to tie a tali, or simply a bit of cloth torn from her
clothing, round her neck, and report the fact to his parents and the
headman. If the girl eludes him, he cannot claim her, but, should
he succeed, she belongs to him. In some places, the consent of the
maternal uncle to a marriage is signified by his carrying the bride
in his arms to the marriage pandal (booth). The milk-post is made of
Erythrina indica. After the tali has been tied, the bridegroom lifts
the bride's left leg, and places it on a grinding-stone. Widows are
stated by Mr. Stuart to be "allowed to remarry if they have no issue,
but not otherwise; and, if the prevalent idea that a Kaikola woman
is never barren be true, this must seldom take place."
On the final day of the death ceremonies, a small hut is erected,
and inside it stones, brought by the barber, are set up, and offerings
made to them.