a caste of Telugu cultivators settled in the districts of Madura,
Tinnevelly, Coimbatore and Salem. They are probably the descendants
of poligars and soldiers of the Nayakkan kings of Vijayanagar, who
conquered the Madura country about the beginning of the sixteenth
century. As regards the origin of their caste, the Tottiyans say with
pride that they are the descendants of the eight thousand gopastris
(milkmaids) of Krishna--a tradition which seems to indicate that their
original occupation was connected with the rearing and keeping of
cattle. The most important sub-divisions are Kollar and Erkollar, the
Tamil form of the Telugu Golla and Yerragolla, which are now shepherd
castes, though probably they formerly had as much to do with cattle
as sheep. Another large sub-division is Kille or Killavar, which I
take to be a corruption of the Telugu kilari, a herdman. The bride
and bridegroom, too, are always seated on bullock saddles. They do
not wear the sacred thread. Most of them are Vaishnavites, some of
whom employ Brahman priests, but the majority of them are guided
by gurus of their own, called Kodangi Nayakkan. [It is noted, in
the Gazetteer of the Madura district, that caste matters used to be
settled by the Mettu Nayakkan or headman, and a Kodangi Nayakkan,
or priest, so called because he carried a drum.] Each family has its
own household deity, which appears to be a sort of representation of
departed relations, chiefly women who have burned themselves on the
funeral pile of their husbands, or have led a chaste and continent
life, or died vestals. Their girls are married after they have attained
maturity. Adultery is no crime when committed within the family
circle, but a liaison with an outsider involves expulsion from the
caste. It is said that their newly married girls are even compelled
to cohabit with their husband's near relatives. [It is further said
to be believed that ill-luck will attend any refusal to do so, and
that, so far from any disgrace attaching to them in consequence, their
priests compel them to keep up the custom, if by any chance they are
unwilling. [60]] The pongu tree (Pongamia glabra) is the sacred tree
of the caste. Suttee was formerly very common, and the remarriage
of widows is discouraged, if not actually forbidden. The dead are
generally burned. Both men and women are supposed to practice magic,
and are on that account much dreaded by the people generally. They
are especially noted for their power of curing snake-bites by means
of mystical incantations, and the original inventor of this mode
of treatment has been deified under the name Pambalamman. They are
allowed to eat flesh. The majority speak Telugu in their houses."
The traditional story of the migration of the Tottiyans to the
Madura district is given in several of the Mackenzie manuscripts,
and is still repeated by the people of the caste. "Centuries ago,
says this legend, the Tottiyans lived to the north of the Tungabhadra
river. The Muhammadans there tried to marry their women, and make
them eat beef. So one fine night they fled southwards in a body. The
Muhammadans pursued them, and their path was blocked by a deep and
rapid river. They had just given themselves up for lost when a pongu
(Pongamia glabra) tree on either side of the stream leant forward, and,
meeting in the middle, made a bridge across it. Over this they hurried,
and, as soon as they had passed, the trees stood erect once more,
before the Mussulmans could similarly cross by them. The Tottiyans in
consequence still reverence the pongu tree, and their marriage pandals
(booths) are always made from its wood. They travelled on until they
came to the city of Vijayanagar, under whose king they took service,
and it was in the train of the Vijayanagar armies that they came to
Madura." [61]
The Tottiyans are most numerous in the Madura and Tinnevelly districts,
and include two grades in the social scale. Of these, one consists
of those who are engaged in cultivation, and petty Zamindars. The
other is made up of those who wander about begging, and doing
menial work. Between the two classes there is neither interdining
nor intermarriage. In districts other than Madura and Tinnevelly,
the name Tottiyan is applied by Tamil-speaking castes to the Jogis,
who are beggars and pig breeders, and, like the Tottiyans, speak
Telugu. The following legend is current, to account for the division
of the Tottiyans into two sections. They once gave a girl in marriage
to a Muhammadan ruler, and all the Tottiyans followed him. A large
number went to sleep on one side of a river, while the rest crossed,
and went away. The latter are represented today by the respectable
section, and the begging class is descended from the former. To this
day the Muhammadans and Tottiyans of the Trichinopoly district are
said to address each other as if they were relations, and to be on
terms of unusual intimacy.
In the Madura district, the Tottiyans are apparently divided into
three endogamous sections, viz., Vekkili, Thokala, and Yerrakolla,
of which the last is considered inferior to the other two. Other names
for the Vekkili section are Kambalattar, or Raja Kambalattar. In some
places, e.g., in Tinnevelly, there seem to be six divisions, Thokala,
Chilla or Silla, Kolla, Narasilla, Kanthikolla and Pala. Of these,
Pala may intermarry with Chilla, but the other four are endogamous. As
examples of exogamous septs occurring among the Yerrakollas may be
noted Chikala (broom), and Udama (lizard, Varanus), of which the
latter also occurs as an exogamous sept of the Kapus.
In the neighbourhood of Nellakota in the Madura district,
the Yerrakollas have a group of seven septs called Revala,
Gollavirappa, Kambli-nayudi, Karadi (bear), Uduma, Chila, and
Gelipithi. Intermarriage between these is forbidden, as they are all
considered as blood-relations, and they must marry into a group of
seven other septs called Gundagala, Busala, Manni, Sukka, Alivirappa,
Sikka, and Madha. The names of these septs are remembered by a system
of mnemonics.
In a note on the Tottiyans of the Trichinopoly district,
Mr. F. R. Hemingway writes as follows. "Three endogamous sub-divisions
exist in the caste, namely, the Erra (red) Gollas or Pedda Inti
(big family), the Nalla (black) Gollas or Chinna Inti (small family),
and the Valus, who are also called Kudukuduppai Tottiyans. The Valus
are said to be a restless class of beggars and sorcerers. The red
Gollas are, as a rule, fairer than the blacks (whence perhaps the
names). The women of the former wear white cloths, while those of
the latter do not. Again, they tie their hair in different ways, and
their ornaments differ a good deal. The red women carry no emblem
of marriage at all, while the black women wear the pottu. The reds
allow their widows to remarry, but the blacks do not. Both sections
have exogamous sections, called Kambalams--the reds fourteen, and the
blacks nine. The reds are divided, for purposes of caste discipline,
into nine nadus and the blacks into fourteen mandais. Each village is
under a headman called the Ur-Nayakan, and each nadu or mandai under a
Pattakaran. The former decide petty disputes, and the latter the more
serious cases. The Pattakaran is treated with great deference. He is
always saluted with clasped hands, ought never to look on a corpse, and
is said to be allowed to consort with any married woman of the caste."
The Tottiyans are supposed to be one of the nine Kambalam (blanket)
castes, which, according to one version, are made up of Kappiliyans,
Anappans, Tottiyans, Kurubas, Kummaras, Parivarams, Urumikkarans,
Mangalas, and Chakkiliyans. According to another version, the nine
castes are Kappiliyan, Anappan, Tottiyan, Kolla Tottiyan, Kuruba,
Kummara, Medara, Odde, and Chakkiliyan. At tribal council-meetings,
representatives of each of the nine Kambalams should be present. But,
for the nine castes, some have substituted nine septs. The Vekkiliyans
seem to have three headmen, called Mettu Nayakan, Kodia Nayakan, and
Kambli Nayakan, of whom the first mentioned is the most important, and
acts as priest on various ceremonial occasions, such as puberty and
marriage rites, and the worship of Jakkamma and Bommakka. The Kambli
Nayakan attends to the purification of peccant or erring members of
the community, in connection with which the head of a sheep or goat
is taken into the house by the Kambli Nayakan. It is noted, in the
Gazetteer of the Madura district, that "persons charged with offences
are invited to prove their innocence by undergoing ordeals. These
are now harmless enough, such as attempting to cook rice in a pot
which has not been fired, but Turnbull says that he saw the boiling
oil ordeal in 1813 in Pudukkottai territory. Perhaps the most serious
caste offence is adultery with a man of another community. Turnbull
says that women convicted of this used to be sentenced to be killed
by Chakkiliyans, but nowadays rigid excommunication is the penalty."
The Kambalam caste is so called because, at caste council meetings, a
kambli (blanket) is spread, on which is placed a kalasam (brass vessel)
filled with water, and containing margosa (Melia Azadirachta) leaves,
and decorated with flowers. Its mouth is closed by mango leaves and
a cocoanut.
A correspondent writes to me that "the Zamindars in the western parts
of Madura, and parts of Tinnevelly, are known as Kambala Palayapat. If
a man belongs to a Zamindar's family, he is said to be of the Raja
Kambala caste. The marriage ceremony is carried out in two temporary
huts erected outside the village, one for the bridegroom, the other
for the bride. The tali is tied round the bride's neck by an elderly
female or male belonging to the family. If the marriage is contracted
with a woman of an inferior class, the bridegroom's hut is not made
use of, and he does not personally take part in the ceremony. A dagger
(kattar), or rude sword, is sent to represent him, and the tali is
tied in the presence thereof."
In a zamindari suit, details of which are published in the Madras
Law Reports, Vol. XVII, 1894, the Judge found that the plaintiff's
mother was married to the plaintiff's father in the dagger form;
that a dagger is used by the Saptur Zamindars, who are called Kattari
Kamaya, in the case of inequality in the caste or social position of
the bride; that, though the customary rites of the Kambala caste were
also performed, yet the use of the dagger was an essential addition;
and that, though she was of a different and inferior caste to that of
the plaintiff's father, yet that did not invalidate the marriage. The
defendant's argument was that the dagger was used to represent
the Zamindar bridegroom as he did not attend in person, and that,
by his non-attendance, there could have been no joining of hands,
or other essential for constituting a valid marriage. The plaintiff
argued that the nuptial rites were duly performed, the Zamindar
being present; that the dagger was there merely as an ornament; and
that it was customary for people of the Zamindar's caste to have a
dagger paraded on the occasion of marriages. The Judge found that the
dagger was there for the purpose of indicating that the two ladies,
whom the Zamindar married, were of an inferior caste and rank.
It is recorded, in the Gazetteer of the Madura district, that, when
a Tottiyan girl attains maturity, "she is kept in a separate hut,
which is watched by a Chakkiliyan. Marriage is either infant or
adult. A man has the usual claim to his paternal aunt's daughter,
and so rigorously is this rule followed that boys of tender years are
frequently married to grown women. These latter are allowed to consort
with their husband's near relations, and the boy is held to be the
father of any children which may be born. Weddings last three days,
and involve very numerous ceremonies. They take place in a special
pandal erected in the village, on either side of which are smaller
pandals for the bride and bridegroom. Two uncommon rites are the
slaughtering of a red ram without blemish, and marking the foreheads
of the couple with its blood, and the pursuit by the bridegroom, with a
bow and arrow, of a man who pretends to flee, but is at length captured
and bound. The ram is first sprinkled with water, and, if it shivers,
this, as usual, is held to be a good omen. The bride-price is seven
kalams of kumbu (Pennisetum typhoideum), and the couple may eat only
this grain and horse-gram until the wedding is over. A bottu (marriage
badge) is tied round the bride's neck by the bridegroom's sister."
Concerning the marriage ceremonies of the Yerrakollas, I gather that,
on the betrothal day, kumbu must be cooked. Food is given to seven
people belonging to seven different septs. They are then presented
with betel leaves and areca nuts and four annas tied in a cloth, and
the approaching marriage is announced. On the wedding day, the bride
and bridegroom are seated on planks on the marriage dais, and milk is
sprinkled over them by people of their own sex. A few hours later,
the bridegroom takes his seat in the pandal, whither the bride is
brought in the arms of her maternal uncle. She sits by the side of the
bridegroom, and the Mettu Nayakan links together the little fingers
of the contracting couple, and tells them to exchange rings. This
is the binding portion of the ceremony, and no bottu is tied round
the bride's neck. At a marriage among the Vekkiliyans, two huts are
constructed in an open space outside the village, in front of which
a pandal is erected, supported by twelve posts, and roofed with leafy
twigs of the pongu tree and Mimusops hexandra. On the following day,
the bride and bridegroom are conducted to the huts, the bride being
sometimes carried in the arms of her maternal uncle. They worship the
ancestral heroes, who are represented by new cloths folded, and placed
on a tray. The bridegroom's sister ties the bottu on the bride's neck
inside her hut, in front of which kumbu grain is scattered. Betel and
a fanam (coin) are placed in the bride's lap. On the third day the
bridegroom is dressed up, and, mounting a horse, goes, accompanied
by the marriage pots, three times round the huts. He then enters
the bride's hut, and she is carried in the arms of the cousins of
the bridegroom thrice round the huts. The contracting couple then
sit on planks, and the cousins, by order of the Mettu Nayakan, link
their little fingers together. They then enter the bridegroom's hut,
and a mock ploughing ceremony is performed. Coming out from the hut,
they take up a child, and carry it three times round the huts. This
is, it is said, done because, in former days, the Tottiyan bride and
bridegroom had to remain in the marriage huts till a child was born,
because the Mettu Nayakan was so busy that he had no time to complete
the marriage ceremony until nearly a year had elapsed.
At a wedding among the nomad Tottiyans, a fowl is killed near
the marriage (araveni) pots, and with its blood a mark is made on
the foreheads of the bride and bridegroom on their entry into the
booths. The Vekkiliyans sacrifice a goat or sheep instead of a fowl,
and the more advanced among them substitute the breaking of a cocoanut
for the animal sacrifice.
In connection with marriage, Mr. Hemingway writes that "the Tottiyans
very commonly marry a young boy to a grown woman, and, as among the
Konga Vellalas, the boy's father takes the duties of a husband upon
himself until the boy is grown up. Married women are allowed to bestow
their favours upon their husbands' relations, and it is said to be an
understood thing that a man should not enter his dwelling, if he sees
another's slippers placed outside as a sign that the owner of them
is with the mistress of the house. Intercourse with men of another
caste is, however, punished by expulsion, and widows and unmarried
girls who go astray are severely dealt with. Formerly, it is said,
they were killed."
At a Tottiyan funeral, fire is carried to the burning-ground by a
Chakkiliyan, and the pyre is lighted, not by the sons, but by the
sammandhis (relations by marriage).
The Tottiyans of the Madura district observe the worship of ancestors,
who are represented by a number of stones set up somewhere within
the village boundaries. Such places are called male. According to
Mr. Hemingway, when a member of the caste dies, some of the bones are
buried in this shed, along with a coin, and a stone is planted on the
spot. The stones are arranged in an irregular circle. The circles of
the Yerrakollas are exceedingly simple, and recall to mind those of
the Nayadis of Malabar, but without the tree. The stones are set up
in an open space close to the burning-ground. When a death occurs,
a stone is erected among the ashes of the deceased on the last day
of the funeral ceremonies (karmandhiram), and worshipped. It is
immediately transferred to the ancestral circle. The male of the
Vekkiliyan section of the Tottiyans consists of a massive central
wooden pillar, carved with male and female human figures, set up in
a cavity in a round boulder, and covered over by a conical canopy
supported on pillars. When this canopy is set in motion, the central
pillar appears to be shaking. This illusion, it is claimed, is due
to the power of the ancestral gods. All round the central pillar,
which is about ten feet high, a number of stones of different sizes
are set up. The central pillar represents Jakkamma and other remote
ancestors. The surrounding stones are the representatives of those
who have died in recent times. Like the Yerrakollas, the Vekkiliyans
erect a stone on the karmandhiram day at the spot where the body was
cremated, but, instead of transferring it at once to the ancestral
circle, they wait till the day of periodical male worship, which, being
an expensive ceremonial, may take place only once in twelve years. If
the interval is long, the number of stones representing those who
have died meanwhile may be very large. News of the approaching male
worship is sent to the neighbouring villages, and, on the appointed
day, people of all castes pour in, bringing with them several hundred
bulls. The hosts supply their guests with fodder, pots, and a liberal
allowance of sugar-cane. Refusal to bestow sugar-cane freely would
involve failure of the object of the ceremonial. After the completion
of the worship, the bulls are let loose, and the animal which reaches
the male first is decorated, and held in reverence. Its owner is
presented with cloths, money, etc. The ceremony may be compared with
that of selecting the king bull among the Kappiliyans.
Self-cremation is said [62] to have been "habitually practiced by
Tottiya widows in the times anterior to British domination; and
great respect was always shown to the memory of such as observed the
custom. Small tombs termed thipanjankovil (fire-torch temple) were
erected in their honour on the high-roads, and at these oblations
were once a year offered to the manes of the deceased heroines. Sati
was not, however, compulsory among them, and, if a widow lived at all
times a perfectly chaste and religious life, she was honoured equally
with such as performed the rite." It is noted, in the Gazetteer of
the Madura district, that "sati was formerly very common in the caste,
and the two caste goddesses, Jakkamma and Bommayya, are deifications of
women who thus sacrificed themselves. Every four years a festival is
held in their honour, one of the chief events in which is a bullock
race. The owner of the winning animal receives a prize, and gets
the first betel and nut during the feast. The caste god is Perumal,
who is worshipped in the form of a curry-grinding stone. The story
goes that, when the Tottiyans were fleeing to the south, one of their
women found her grinding-stone so intolerably heavy that she threw
it away. It, however, re-appeared in her basket. Thrown away again,
it once more re-appeared, and she then realised that the caste god
must be accompanying them."
"The Tottiyans," Mr. Hemingway writes, "do not recognise the
superiority of Brahmans, or employ them as priests at marriages or
funerals. They are deeply devoted to their own caste deities. Some of
these are Bommaka and Mallamma (the spirits of women who committed
sati long ago), Virakaran or Viramati (a bridegroom who was killed
in a fight with a tiger), Pattalamma (who helped them in their flight
from the north), and Malai Tambiran, the god of ancestors. Muttalamma
and Jakkamma are also found. Malai Tambiran is worshipped in the
male. The Tottiyans are known for their uncanny devotion to sorcery
and witchcraft. All of them are supposed to possess unholy powers,
especially the Nalla Gollas, and they are much dreaded by their
neighbours. They do not allow any stranger to enter their villages with
shoes on, or on horseback, or holding up an umbrella, lest their god
should be offended. It is generally believed that, if any one breaks
this rule, he will be visited with illness or some other punishment."
The Tottiyans have attached to them a class of beggars called Pichiga
vadu, concerning whose origin the following legend is narrated. There
were, once upon a time, seven brothers and a sister belonging to the
Irrivaru exogamous sept. The brothers went on a pilgrimage to Benares,
leaving their sister behind. One day, while she was bathing, a sacred
bull (Nandi) left its sperm on her cloth, and she conceived. Her
condition was noticed by her brothers on their return, and, suspecting
her of immorality, they were about to excommunicate her. But they
discovered some cows in calf as the result of parthenogenesis, and
six of the brothers were satisfied as to the girl's innocence. The
seventh, however, required further proof. After the child was born,
it was tied to a branch of a dead chilla tree (Strychnos potatorum),
which at once burst into leaf and flower. The doubting brother became
a cripple, and his descendants are called Pichiga varu, and those of
the baby Chilla varu.
Traivarnika (third caste men).--Recorded, in the Madras Census Report,
1901, as a section of Komatis (who claim to be Vaisyas, or members
of the third caste of Manu), who follow the details of Brahmanical
customs more scrupulously than the others. They are described, in
the Vizagapatam Manual, as followers of the Ramanuja faith, who deal
chiefly in gold and silver, and ornaments made thereof.
Triputa (Ipomæa Turpethum, Indian jalap).--A sept of Viramushti.
Tsakala.--The Tsakalas, Sakalas, or Chakalas, who derive their name
from chaku (to wash), are the washermen of the Telugu country, and
also act as torch and palanquin bearers. In the Census Report, 1901,
Tellakula (the white class) is given as a synonym. The Rev. J. Cain
writes [63] that the "Tellakulavandlu are really washermen who,
in consequence of having obtained employment as peons (orderlies)
in Government offices, feel themselves to be superior to their
old caste people. In their own towns or villages they acknowledge
themselves to be washermen, but in other places they disclaim all
such connection." It is noted in the Kurnool Manual (1886) that,
in the Cumbum division, "they serve as palanquin-bearers, and are
always at the mercy of Government officials, and are compelled to
carry baggage for little or no wage. Some are Inamdars (landholders),
while others work for wages."