that "when the Saurashtras settled in the south, they reproduced the
institutions of their mother country in the new land; but, owing to the
influence of the Southern Dravidians, some of the institutions became
extinct. During their migrations, the men were under the guidance of
their leader, and the process of migration tended to increase the power
of kinship. The people were divided into four heads, called Goundas
(chiefs), Saulins (elders), Voyddoos (physicians), and Bhoutuls
(religious men). Some traces of the division still survive in the
now neglected institution of Goundans. The Goundans were supposed
to be responsible for the acts and doings of their men. The masses
enjoyed the property under the joint undivided Hindu family system
as prescribed in the Code of Manu. The chiefs were the judges in
both civil and criminal affairs. They were aided in deciding cases
by a body of nobles called Saulins. The office of the Saulins is
to make enquiries, and try all cases connected with the community,
and to abide by the decision of the chiefs. The Voyddoos (pandits)
and Bhoutuls (Josis and Kavis also ranked with Voyddas and Bhoutuls)
had their honours on all important occasions, and they are placed in
the same rank with the elders. The Karestuns, or the Commons, are
the whole body of the masses. Their voice is necessary on certain
important occasions, as during the ceremonies of excommunication,
and prayaschittas for admitting renegades, and during periodical
meetings of the community. The Goundans at present are not exercising
any of their powers, except in some religious matters. Saurashtra
Brahmans were originally leading a purely religious life, but now
they have begun to do business of different descriptions fitted to
their position. Their chief occupation is agriculture, but some are
trading, dyeing and weaving; however, it can be safely affirmed that
their business interferes in no way with their religious creed and
ceremonies. The name Patnulgar means silk weavers, and is sometimes
erroneously applied to the Saurashtras too; but, on the contrary,
the term strictly applies to all classes of weavers in Southern
India, called Seniyars, Kaikkolars, Devangas, Kshatris (Khattris),
Parayas, Sengundas, Mudaliars, Saliyurs, Padmasalays, but not to the
Saurashtras in any way. The Saurashtras are now seen as a mercantile
community. They are brave but humble, god-fearing, hospitable, fond
of festivities and amusement. The Saurashtras, it is said, were
originally a class of sun worshippers, from soura meaning sun, but
the term Saurashtra means inhabitants of the fruitful kingdom. Their
religion is Hinduism, and they were originally Madhvas. After their
settlement in Southern India, some of them, owing to the preachings
of Sankaracharya and Ramanujacharya, were converted into Saivites and
Vaishnavites respectively. The Saurashtras belong to the Aksobhya and
Sankaracharya Matas. The Saurashtras, like other nations of India,
are divided into four great divisions, viz., Brahma, Kshatriya, Vaisya
and Sudra. The Vaisyas and Sudras are to be found in almost all towns
and villages, and especially at Tirupati, Nagari, Naranavanam, Arni,
Kottar, Palani, Palamcottah, Vilangudi, and Viravanallur."
The affairs of the Patnulkarans at Madura are managed by a Saurashtra
Sabha, which was started in 1895. Among the laudable objects for
which the Sabha was established, the following may be noted:--
(a) To manage the Madura Saurashtra school, and establish
reading-rooms, libraries, etc., with a view to enable members of the
Saurashtra community to receive, on moderate terms, a sound, liberal,
general and technical education.
(b) To manage the temple known as the Madura Sri Prasanna Venkateswara
Swami's temple, and contribute towards its maintenance by constructing,
repairing and preserving buildings in connection therewith, making
jewels, vehicles and other things necessary therefor, and conducting
the festivals thereof.
(c) To found charitable institutions, such as orphanages, hospitals,
poor-houses, choultries (resting-places for travellers), water-sheds,
and other things of a like nature for the good of the Saurashtra
community.
(d) To give succour to the suffering poor, and the maimed, the lame,
and the blind in the Saurashtra community.
(e) To give pecuniary grants in aid of upanayanams (thread marriages)
to the helpless in the Saurashtra community.
(f) To erect such works of utility as bathing ghauts, wells, water
fountains, and other works of utility for the benefit of the Saurashtra
community.
(g) To fix and raise subscriptions known as mahamais (a sort of
income-tax).
Among the subjects of the lectures delivered in connection with the
Saurashtra Upanyasa Sabha at Madura in 1901 were the life of Mrs. Annie
Besant, the Paris Exhibition of 1900, Mr. Tata and higher education,
Saurashtra bank, Columbus, and the Saurashtra reform hotel.
A few years ago, the Saurashtra community submitted a memorial to
the Governor of Madras to the effect that "as the backward Saurashtra
community have not the requisite capital of half a lakh of rupees for
imparting to their members both general and technical education, the
Saurashtra Sabha, Madura, suggests that a lottery office may be kept
for collecting shares at one rupee each from such of the public at
large as may be willing to give the same, on the understanding that,
every time the collections aggregate to Rs. 6,250, Rs. 250 should be
set apart for the expenses of working the said office, and two-thirds
of the remainder for educational purposes, and one-third should be
awarded by drawing lots among the subscribers in the shape of five
prizes, ranging from Rs. 1,000 to Rs. 125." In passing orders on this
sporting scheme, the Government stated that it was not prepared to
authorise the lottery. It has been well said [87] that the Patnulkarans
have a very strong esprit de corps, and this has stood them in good
stead in their weaving, which is more scientifically carried on,
and in a more flourishing condition than is usual elsewhere.
For the following note on the Patnulkaran weavers of Madura, I am
indebted to Mr. A. Chatterton, Director of Technical Enquiries:--"As
a general rule, they are in a flourishing condition, and much better
off than the Saurashtra weavers in Salem. This is probably due to
the fact that the bulk of the Madura trade is in a higher class of
cloth than at Salem, and the weavers are consequently less affected by
fluctuations in demand for their goods due to seasonal variations. In
various ways the Saurashtras of Madura have furnished evidence that
they are a progressive community, particularly in the attention
which they pay to education, and the keenness with which they are on
the look-out for improvements in the methods of carrying out their
hereditary craft. Nearly all the so-called improvements have been
tried at Madura, and the fact that they have rejected most of them may
be taken to some extent as evidence of their unsuitability for Indian
conditions. Some time ago, one A. A. Kuppusawmy Iyer invented certain
improvements in the native shedding apparatus, whereby ornamental
patterns are woven along the borders, and on the ends of the better
class of silk and cotton cloths. This apparatus was undoubtedly a
material improvement upon that which is ordinarily used by the weaver,
and it has been taken up extensively in the town. It is said that
there are 350 looms fitted with this shedding apparatus, and the
inventor, who has obtained a patent for it, is trying to collect a
royalty of Rs. 1-4-0 a month on each loom. But this claim is resisted
by a combination of the weavers using this shedding apparatus, and a
suit is at the present time (1907) pending in the District Court. One
of the most important weaving enterprises at Madura is the Meenakshi
Weaving Company, the partners of which are Ramachandra Iyer, Muthurama
Iyer, and Kuppusawmy Iyer. Their subscribed capital is Rs. 1,00,000,
of which they are spending no less than Rs. 40,000 on building a
weaving shed and office. The Madura dyeing industry is in the hands
of the Saurashtras, and the modern phase dates back only as far as
1895, when Mr. Tulsiram started dyeing grey yarn with alizarine red,
and, in the twelve years which have since elapsed, the industry has
grown to very large proportions. The total sales at Madura average
at present about 24 lakhs a year. There are from 30 to 40 dye-houses,
and upwards of 5,000 cwt. of alizarine red is purchased every year from
the Badische Aniline Soda Fabrik. The yarn is purchased locally, mainly
from the Madura Mills, but, to some extent, also from Coimbatore and
Tuticorin. The mordanting is done entirely with crude native earths,
containing a large percentage of potassium salts. Drying the yarn
presents considerable difficulty, especially in the wet weather. To
secure a fast even colour, the yarn is mordanted about ten times,
and dyed twice, or for very superior work three times, and between
each operation it is essential that the yarn should be dried. The
suburbs of Madura are now almost entirely covered with drying yards."
In a note on the Patnulkarans who have settled in Travancore,
Mr. N. Subramani Aiyar writes as follows. "The Patnulkarans are
generally of yellowish tinge, and in possession of handsomer and more
intellectual features than the Tamil castes, from which they may be
easily differentiated by even a casual observer. They are, however,
more fair than cleanly. They keep in Travancore, as elsewhere,
aloof from other castes, and live independently of general society,
speaking a foreign language. This they have preserved with astonishing
attachment, and recently a Saurashtra alphabet has been invented, and
elementary books have begun to be written in that dialect. They are a
very conservative class, religious enthusiasts of a very remarkable
order, and skilful and industrious workmen. They take a peculiar
pleasure in music, and many of them are excellent songsters. There
are many kinds of amusement for both men and women, who generally
spend their leisure in singing songs of a devotional nature. They
believe largely in omens, of which the following may be noted:--
Good.--A pot full of water, a burning light, no Brahmans, a Sudra,
a cow, a married woman, and gold.
Bad.--A barber, a patient, a person with some bodily defect, fuel,
oil, a donkey, a pick-axe, a broom, and a fan.
"On entering a Patnulkaran's house, we are led to a courtyard,
spacious and neat, where all the necessary arrangements are made for
weaving purposes. The Patnulkarans live in streets. A male Patnulkaran
resembles a Tamil Vaishnava Brahman in outward appearance, but the
women follow the custom of the Telugu Brahmans alike in their costume
and ornaments. Their jewels exactly resemble those of the Telugu
Brahman women, and indicate a temporary residence of the caste in the
Telugu country on the way from Gujarat to Madura. There is a Tamil
proverb to the effect that, if a male Patnulkaran is seen without his
wife, he will be taken for a Vaishnava Brahman, whereas, in the case
of the Tatan caste, a woman without her husband will be taken for an
Aiyangar. Children wear the karai round the neck. Tattooing prevails
on a very large scale.
"The Patnulkarans may be divided into three classes on a religious
basis, viz., (1) pure Vaishnavites, who wear the vertical Vaishnavite
mark, and call themselves Vadakalas or northerners; (2) those who are
mainly Smartas; (3) Sankara Vaishnavas, who wear gopi (sandal paste)
as their sect-mark. It is to the last of these religious sects that the
Travancore Patnulkarans belong, though, in recent times, a few Smartas
have settled at Kottar. All these intermarry and interdine, and the
religious difference does not create a distinction in the caste. The
chief divinity of the Patnulkarans is Venkatachalapati of Tirupati. The
month in which he is most worshipped is Kanni (September-October), and
all the Saturdays and the Tiruvonam star of the month are particularly
devoted to his adoration. One of their men becomes possessed on any of
these days, and, holding a burning torch-light in his hand, touches
the foreheads of the assembled devotees therewith. The Patnulkarans
fast on those days, and take an image of Garuda in procession through
the street. The Dipavali, Pannamasi in Chittiray, and the Vaikuntha
Ekadasi are other important religious days. The Dusserah is observed,
as also are the festivals of Sri Rama Navami, Ashtami, Rohini,
Avani Avittam, and Vara Lakshmivratam. Formal worship of deities
is done by those who have obtained the requisite initiation from a
spiritual preceptor. Women who have husbands fast on full-moon days,
Mondays, and Fridays. The serpent and the banyan tree are specially
worshipped. Women sing songs in praise of Lakshmi, and offer fruits
and cocoanuts to her. The Patnulkarans have a temple dedicated to
Sri Rama at Kottar. This temple is visited even by Brahmans, and the
priests are Aiyangars. The Acharya, or supreme religious authority of
the Patnulkarans, in Travancore is a Vaishnava Brahman known as Ubhaya
Vedanta Koti Kanyakadana Tatachariyar, who lives at Aravankulam near
Tinnevelly, and possesses a large number of disciples. Once a year
he visits his flock in Travancore, and is highly respected by them,
as also by the Maharaja, who makes a donation of money to him. Elders
are appointed to decide social disputes, and manage the common property
of the caste. In Travancore there are said to be only three families
of Patnulkaran priests. For the higher ceremonies, Brahman priests
are employed.
"A girl's marriage is usually celebrated before puberty, and
sometimes when she is a mere child of four or five. Great importance
is attached to gotras or exogamous septs, and it is said that the
septs of the bride and bridegroom are conspicuously inscribed on the
walls of a marriage house. In the selection of an auspicious hour
(muhurtam) for a marriage, two favourable planetary situations, one
closely following the other, are necessary; and, as such occasions
are rare, a number of marriages take place at one time. A man may
claim his maternal uncle's daughter as his wife, and polygamy is
permitted. The marriage ceremonial resembles the Brahmanical rites
in many points. On the fourth day, a ceremonial observed by Telugu
Brahmans, called Nagabali, is performed. The marriage badge, which
is tied on the bride's neck, is called bottu. [From a note on the
marriage ceremonies among the Patnulkarans of Madura, I gather that,
as among Telugu and Canarese castes, a number of pots are arranged,
and worshipped. These pots are smaller and fewer in number than at
a Telugu or Canarese wedding. A figure of a car is drawn on the wall
of the house with red earth or laterite. [88] On it the name of the
gotra of the bridegroom is written. On the fourth day, the nagavali
(or offering to Devas) is performed. The contracting couple sit near
the pots, and a number of lights are arranged on the floor. The pots,
which represent the Devas, are worshipped.]
"The namakarana, or name-giving ceremony, is performed on the eleventh
day after birth. An eighth child, whether male or female, is called
Krishna, owing to the tradition that Krishna was born as the eighth
child of Vasudeva. Babies are affectionately called Duddu (milk)
or Pilla (child). The annaprasana, or first feeding of the child,
is sometimes celebrated at the end of the first year, but usually as
a preliminary to some subsequent ceremony. Sometimes, in performance
of a vow, boys are taken to the shrine at Tirupati for the tonsure
ceremony. The upanayana is performed between the seventh and twelfth
years, but neither brahmacharya nor samavartana is observed.
"The dead are burnt, and the remains of the bones are collected and
deposited under water. Death pollution lasts only for ten days. The
sradh, or annual ceremony, when oblations are offered to ancestors,
is observed. Widows are allowed to retain their hair, but remove the
bottu. Unlike Brahman women, they chew betel, and wear coloured cloths,
even in old age."
The Patnulkarans have a secret trade language, concerning which
Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao writes as follows. "The most remarkable
feature about it is the number of terms and phrases borrowed from
the craft, to which special meanings are given. Thus a man of no
status is stigmatised as a rikhta khandu, i.e., a spindle without
the yarn. Similarly, a man of little sense is called a mhudha, the
name of a thick peg which holds one side of the roller. Likewise,
a talkative person is referred to as a rhetta, or roller used for
winding the thread upon spindles, which makes a most unpleasant
creaking noise. Kapiniker, from kapini, a technical term used for
cutting the loom off, means to make short work of an undesirable
person. A man who is past middle age is called porkut phillias, which,
in weavers' parlance, means that half the loom is turned."
Patra.--The Patras are an Oriya caste, which is divided into
two sections, one of which is engaged in the manufacture of silk
(pata) waist-threads, tassels, etc., and the other in weaving silk
cloths. The members of the two sections do not interdine. The former
have exogamous septs or bamsams, the names of which are also used as
titles, e.g., Sahu, Patro, and Prushti. The latter have exogamous
septs, such as Tenga, Jaggali, Telaga, and Mahanayako, and Behara
and Nayako as titles. The chief headman of the cloth-weaving section
is called Mahanayako, and there are other officers called Behara and
Bhollobaya. The headman of the other section is called Senapati, and
he is assisted by a Dhanapati. Infant marriage is the rule, and, if a
girl does not secure a husband before she reaches maturity, she must,
if she belongs to the cloth-weaving section, go through a form of
marriage with an old man, and, if to the other section, with an arrow.
The Telugu Patras are summed up, in the Madras Census Report, 1901,
as "a Telugu caste of hunters and cultivators, found chiefly in the
districts of Cuddapah and Kurnool. It has two divisions, the Doras
(chiefs), and Gurikalas (marksmen), the former of which is supposed
to be descended from the old Poligars (feudal chiefs), and the latter
from their followers and servants. This theory is supported by the
fact that, at the weddings of Gurikalas, the Doras receive the first
pan-supari (betel leaf and areca nut). Widows may not remarry, nor
is divorce recognised. They usually employ Brahmans at marriages, and
Satanis at funerals. Though they are Vaishnavites, they also worship
village deities, such as Gangamma and Ellamma. They bury their dead,
and perform annual sraddhas (memorial services for the dead). They
will eat with Gollas. Their title is Naidu."
Patramela.--Patramela, or Patradeva, is the name of a class of
dancing girls in South Canara. Patramela, Mr. H. A. Stuart writes,
[89] is the name by which the Konkani Kalavants (courtezans) are
known above the ghauts.
Patro.--The title of the head of a group of villages in Ganjam, and
also recorded, at times of census, as a title of Alia, Kalinga Komati,
Dolai, and Jaggala. The conferring of a cloth (sadhi) on a Patro
is said to be emblematic of conferring an estate. The Patro, among
other perquisites, is entitled to a fee on occasions of marriage. I
am informed that, in the Ganjam Maliahs, if a Kondh was unable to
pay the fee, he met his love at night beneath two trysting trees,
and retired with her into the jungle for three days and nights.
Patrudu.--The title, meaning those who are fit to receive a gift,
of Aiyarakulu and Nagaralu.
Pattadhikari.--A class of Jangams, who have settled head-quarters.
Pattan.--The equivalent of the Brahman Bhatta. A name by which some
Kammalans, especially goldsmiths, style themselves.
Pattanavada.--A synonym for the Moger fishing caste, the settlements
of which are called pattana.
Pattanavan.--The fishermen on the east coast, from the Kistna to
the Tanjore district, are popularly called Karaiyan, or sea-shore
people. Some Karaiyans have, at times of census, returned themselves
as Taccha (carpenter) Karaiyans.
Pattanavan means literally a dweller in a town or pattanam, which
word occurs in the names of various towns on the sea-coast, e.g.,
Nagapattanam (Negapatam), Chennapattanam (Madras). The Pattanavans
have two main divisions, Periya (big) and Chinna (small), and, in some
places, for example, at Nadukuppam in the Nellore district, exogamous
septs, e.g., Gengananga, Peyananga, Kathananga (children of Ganga,
Peyan, and Kathanar), and Kullananga (children of dwarfs). In the
Telugu country, they go by the name of Pattapu or Tulivandlu.
Some Pattanavans give themselves high-sounding caste titles, e.g.,
Ariyar, Ayyayiraththalaivar (the five thousand chiefs), Ariya Nattu
Chetti (Chettis of the Ariyar country), Acchu Vellala, Karaiturai
(sea-coast) Vellala, Varunakula Vellala or Varunakula Mudali after
Varuna, the god of the waters, or Kurukula vamsam after Kuru, the
ancestor of the Kauravas. Some Pattanavans have adopted the title
Pillai.
The Pattanavans are said to be inferior to the Sembadavans, who will
not accept food at their hands, and discard even an earthen pot which
has been touched by a Pattanavan.
Concerning the origin of the caste, there is a legend that the
Pattanavans were giving silk thread to Siva, and were hence called
Pattanavar, a corruption of Pattanaivor, meaning knitters of silk
thread. They were at the time all bachelors, and Siva suggested the
following method of securing wives for them. They were told to go out
fishing in the sea, and make of their catch as many heaps as there
were bachelors. Each of them then stood before a heap, and called for
a wife, who was created therefrom. According to another story, some
five thousand years ago, during the age of the lunar race, there was
one Dasa Raja, who was ruling near Hastinapura, and was childless. To
secure offspring, he prayed to god, and did severe penance. In answer
to his prayer, God pointed out a tank full of lotus flowers, and told
the king to go thither, and call for children. Thereon, five thousand
children issued forth from the flowers, to the eldest of whom the king
bequeathed his kingdom, and to the others money in abundance. Those who
received the money travelled southward in ships, which were wrecked,
and they were cast ashore. This compelled them to make friends of local
sea fishermen, whose profession they adopted. At the present day, the
majority of Pattanavans are sea-fishermen, and catch fish with nets
from catamarans. "Fancy," it has been written, [90] "a raft of only
three logs of wood, tied together at each end when they go out to sea,
and untied and left to dry on the beach when they come in again. Each
catamaran has one, two or three men to manage it; they sit crouched on
it upon their heels, throwing their paddles about very dexterously,
but remarkably unlike rowing. In one of the early Indian voyager's
log-books there is an entry concerning a catamaran: 'This morning,
6 A.M., saw distinctly two black devils playing at single stick. We
watched these infernal imps about an hour, when they were lost in
the distance. Surely this doth portend some great tempest.' It is
very curious to watch these catamarans putting out to sea. They get
through the fiercest surf, sometimes dancing at their ease on the
top of the waters, sometimes hidden under the waters; sometimes the
man completely washed off his catamaran, and man floating one way
and catamaran another, till they seem to catch each other again by
magic." In 1906, a fisherman was going out in his catamaran to fish
outside the Madras harbour, and was washed off his craft, and dashed
violently against a rock. Death was instantaneous. Of the catamaran,
the following account is given by Colonel W. Campbell. [91] "Of all
the extraordinary craft which the ingenuity of man has ever invented,
a Madras catamaran is the most extraordinary, the most simple, and yet,
in proper hands, the most efficient. It is merely three rough logs of
wood, firmly lashed together with ropes formed from the inner bark of
the cocoanut tree. Upon this one, two, or three men, according to the
size of the catamaran, sit on their heels in a kneeling posture, and,
defying wind and weather, make their way through the raging surf which
beats upon the coast, and paddle out to sea at times when no other
craft can venture to face it. At a little distance, the slight fabric
on which these adventurous mariners float becomes invisible, and a
fleet of them approaching the land presents the absurd appearance
of a host of savage-looking natives wading out towards the ship,
up to their middle in water." "A catamaran," Lady Dufferin writes,
[92] in an account of a state arrival at Madras, "is two logs of wood
lashed together, forming a very small and narrow raft. The rower wears
a 'fool's cap,' in which he carries letters (also betel and tobacco),
and, when he encounters a big wave, he leaves his boat, slips through
the wave himself, and picks up his catamaran on the other side of
it. Some very large deep barges (masula boats), the planks of which
are sewn together to give elasticity, and the interstices stuffed
with straw, came out for us, with a guard of honour of the mosquito
fleet, as the catamarans are called, on either side of them; two of
the fool's cap men, and a flag as big as the boat itself, on each
one." The present day masula or mussoola boat, or surf boat of the
Coromandel Coast, is of the same build as several centuries ago. It
is recorded, [93] in 1673, that "I went ashore in a Mussoola, a boat
wherein ten men paddle, the two aftermost of whom are the Steers-men,
using their Paddles instead of a Rudder: The Boat is not strengthened
with knee-timber, as ours are; the bended Planks are sowed together
with Rope-yarn of the Cocoe, and calked with Dammar so artificially
that it yields to every ambitious surf. Otherwise we could not get
ashore, the Bar knocking in pieces all that are inflexible." The
old records of Madras contain repeated references to Europeans being
drowned from overturning of masula boats in the surf, through which
a landing had to be effected before the harbour was built.
In 1907, two Madras fishermen were invested with silver wrist bangles,
bearing a suitable inscription, which were awarded by the Government
in recognition of their bravery in saving the lives of a number of
boatmen during a squall in the harbour.
The following are the fishes, which are caught by the fishermen off
Madras and eaten by Europeans:--