occupation is stopped before the Sankramanam for ten days. Before
they start work again, the Pattu Sales meet at an appointed spot,
where they burn camphor, and wave it before a ball of thread, which
represents Bhavana Rishi. A more elaborate rite is performed by
the Padma Sales. They set apart a special day for the worship of
the deified ancestor, and hold a caste feast. A special booth is
erected, in which a ball of thread is placed. A caste-man acts as
pujari (priest), and fruits, flowers, camphor, etc., are offered to
the thread.
The Telugu Padma Sales, and Marathi-speaking Sukun and Suka Sales,
are, as will be seen from the following table, short of stature,
with high cephalic index:--
Stature. cm. Cephalic index.
Padma Sale 159.9 78.7
Suka Sale 161.1 81.8
Sukun Sale 160.3 82.2
The Padma and Karna Sales are dealt with in special articles.
Writing in the eighteenth century, Sonnerat remarks that the weaver
fixes his loom under a tree before his house in the morning, and at
night takes it home. And this observation holds good at the present
day. Weaving operations, as they may be seen going on at weaving
centres in many parts of Southern India, are thus described by
Mr. H. A. Stuart. [129] "The process of weaving is very simple. The
thread is first turned off upon a hand-spindle, and then the warp
is formed. Bamboo sticks, 120 in number, are fixed upright in the
ground, generally in the shade of a tope or grove, at a distance
of a cubit from one another, and ten women or children, carrying
ratnams (spindles) in their hands, walk up and down this line,
one behind the other, intertwining the thread between the bamboos,
until 1,920 threads of various colours, according to the pattern
desired, are thus arranged. For this work each gets half an anna--a
small remuneration for walking four miles. To form a warp sufficient
for eight women's cloths, forty miles have thus to be traversed. In
weaving silk cloths or the finer fabrics, the length of the warp is
less than sixty yards. As soon as the threads have been arranged,
the bamboos are plucked up, and rolled together with the threads
upon them. Trestles are then set out in the tope, and upon them
the warp with the bamboos is stretched horizontally, and sized by
means of large long brushes with ragi starch, and carried along by
two men. This having dried, the whole is rolled up, and placed in
the loom in the weaver's house. The weaving room is a long, narrow,
dark chamber, lighted by one small window close to where the workman
sits. The loom is constructed on the simplest principles, and can be
taken to pieces in a few minutes, forming a light load for a man. The
alternate threads of the warp are raised and depressed, to receive
the woof in the following manner. Two pairs of bamboos are joined
together by thin twine loops, and, being suspended from the roof, are
also joined to two pedals near the floor. Through the joining loops
of one pair of bamboos run half the threads, and through those of
the other run the other half. Thus, by depressing one pedal with the
foot and raising the other, one set of threads is depressed, and the
other raised so as to admit of the woof thread being shot across. This
thread is forced home by a light beam suspended from the roof, and
then, the position of the pedals being reversed, the woof thread is
shot back again between the reversed threads of the warp. In this way
about three yards can be woven in a day." Further Mr. J. D. Rees writes
as follows. [130] "As you enter a weaver's grove, it appears at first
sight as if those occupied in this industry were engaged in a pretty
game. Rows of women walk up and down the shady aisles, each holding
aloft in the left hand a spindle, and in the right a bamboo wand,
through a hook at the end of which the thread is passed. Alongside
are split bamboos reaching as high as their hips, and, as they pass,
they unwind the thread from the spindle by means of the wand, and
pass it over each alternate upright. The threads, thus separated,
are subsequently lifted with their bamboo uprights from the ground,
and, while extended from tree to tree in a horizontal position, are
washed with rice-water, and carefully brushed. The threads are now
ready to be made into cloth, and the actual weaving is carried on by
means of primitive hand looms inside the houses."
Weavers, like many other classes in Southern India, are eminently
conservative. Even so trifling an innovation as the introduction
of a new arrangement for maintaining tension in the warp during the
process of weaving gave rise a short time ago to a temporary strike
among the hand-loom weavers at the Madras School of Arts.
For the following note on the weaving industry, I am indebted to
Mr. A. Chatterton. "The hand-weavers may be divided into two great
classes--(1) plain weavers, who weave cloths or fabrics with a single
shuttle, which carries the weft from selvage to selvage; (2) bordered
cloth weavers, who weave cloths in which the threads of the weft of the
portion of the fabric forming the borders are distinct from the threads
of the weft of the main body of the cloth. To manufacture these cloths,
three shuttles are employed, and as yet no successful attempt has been
made to imitate them on the power loom. The bordered cloth weavers do
not suffer from the direct competition of machine-made piece-goods,
and the depression in their branch of the industry is due to changes
in the tastes of the people. [131] In the manufacture of a cloth
from the raw material there are three distinct processes: spinning,
warping, and weaving. Modern machinery has absolutely and completely
ousted hand-spinning; the primitive native methods of warping have
been to a large extent replaced by improved hand-machines, and power
looms have displaced hand looms to some extent; but there is still an
enormous hand-loom industry, some branches of which are in by no means
an unsatisfactory condition. In our efforts to place the hand-weaving
industry on a better footing, we are endeavouring to improve the
primitive methods of indigenous weavers both in regard to warping and
weaving. In respect to weaving we have met with considerable success,
as we have demonstrated that the output of the fly-shuttle loom is
fully double that of the native hand loom, and it is in consequence
slowly making its way in the weaving centres of Southern India. In
respect to warping, no definite solution has yet been effected, and
we are still experimenting. The problem is complicated by the fact
that the output of a warping mill must necessarily be sufficient to
keep at least a hundred hand looms at work, and at the present time
the hand-weaving industry is not organised on any basis, which gives
promise of development into co-operative working on so large a scale as
would give employment to this number of looms. In Madura, Coimbatore,
Madras and Salem, attempts are being made to establish organised
hand-loom weaving factories, and these represent the direction in which
future development must take place. At present all these factories
are running with fly-shuttle looms, and various modifications of
the old types of hand-warping machinery. The only experiments in
warping and sizing are now being conducted, at Government expense,
in the Government weaving factory at Salem, and in a small factory
established privately at Tondiarpet (Madras). A warping machinery,
suited to Indian requirements, has been specially designed for us in
England, and there is no doubt but that it will provide a solution
to the warping question, but whether it will be satisfactory or not
depends upon the efficiency of hank sizing. The superiority of native
cloths is commonly attributed to the fact that they are made in hand
looms, but in reality it is largely due to the methods of sizing
employed by native weavers, and it is still doubtful whether we can
attain the same results by any process which involves the production
of continuous warps of indefinite length. The ordinary native warp
is short, and it is stretched out to its full length in the street,
and the size carefully and thoroughly brushed into it. The warps
which our machines will produce may be thousands of yards in length,
and, if they are successful, will almost entirely do away with the
enormous waste of time involved in putting new warps into a loom at
frequent intervals. That they will be successful in a sense there is no
reasonable doubt, but whether the goods produced in our hand-weaving
factories will be what are now known as hand-woven goods, or whether
they will partake more of the nature of the power-loom productions,
remains to be seen. With the cheap labour available in Southern India,
there is probably a future for hand-weaving factories, but it will
depend almost entirely upon the successful training of the weavers, and
experience shows that they are not easily amenable to discipline, and
have very rigid objections to anything approaching a factory system."
In a speech delivered at Salem in 1906, Sir Arthur Lawley, Governor
of Madras, spoke as follows. "I know something of the prosperity of
the weaving industry in days gone by, and I regret exceedingly to
learn that it is not in so flourishing a condition as at one time
it well claimed to be. Now, we have all of us heard a good deal of
Swadeshi, and the Government is being constantly urged, from time to
time, to do something to foster the industries of this country. We
made a beginning here by setting up a Weaving Institute. We believed
that by doing so we should put within the knowledge of the weavers
of this district methods whereby their output of cloth would be
greater, while the cost was reduced, and that thus their material
prosperity would be considerably advanced. Now it is somewhat of a
surprise, and considerable disappointment to me to learn that this
effort which we have made is regarded with suspicion, if not with
hostility. I am afraid our motives have been misunderstood, because
I need hardly assure you that the idea that the Government should
enter into competition with any of the industries of the country never
suggested itself to us. We desired simply and solely to infuse some
fresh spirit into an industry which was languishing."
In a note on the weaving industry, Mr. E. B. Havell writes thus. [132]
"The principle of the Danish co-operative system as applied to
dairy-farming is the combination of a number of small proprietors for
sending their products to a central factory, in which each of them
has a share proportionate to the quantity of his contributions. In
the management of the factory, each member has an absolutely equal
voice, irrespective of his holdings. Adapting such a system to the
Indian weaving industry, each weaving community would have a central
establishment under its own control, which would arrange the purchase
of material at wholesale rates, prepare warps for the weavers' looms,
and organise the sale of the finished products. The actual weaving
would be carried on as at present in the weavers' houses by the
master weavers and their apprentices. If a system of this kind would
retain the economic advantages of the factory system, and eliminate
its many evils, it is obvious that a factory, owned and controlled
by the weavers themselves, and worked only for their advantage, is
a very different thing to a factory controlled by capitalists only
for the purpose of exploiting the labour of their employees."
As bearing on the general condition of the weaving community,
the following extract from the Report of the Famine in the Madras
Presidency, 1896-97, may be quoted. "Among the people who felt the
distress at the beginning were the weavers. It is a well-known fact
that the people of the weaver castes, as well as Mussalman weavers,
are generally improvident, and consequently poor. In favourable times,
the weavers generally earn fair wages. They, however, spend all they
earn without caring to lay by anything, so that very few of their
caste are in well-to-do circumstances. The same is the case with the
Mussalman weavers. All these weavers are entirely in the hands of the
sowcars (money-lenders), who make advances to them, and get cloths in
return. The cloths thus obtained by the sowcars are exported to other
parts of the country. It may be taken as a general fact that most of
the professional weavers are indebted to the sowcars, and are bound to
weave for them. So long as the seasons are favourable, and sowcars get
indents for cloths from their customers, they continue their advances
to their dependent weavers. But when, owing to any cause, the demand
decreases, the sowcars curtail their advances proportionately, and
the weavers are at once put to difficulty. According to the fineness
and kind of fabrics turned out by the weavers, they may be divided
into fine cloth weavers and silk weavers, and weavers of coarse
cloths. It is the coarse cloth weavers that would be affected with
the first appearance of distress. The consumers of their manufactures
are the poorer classes, and, with the appearance of scarcity and high
prices, the demand for the coarser kinds of cloths would cease. Such
was actually the case at the beginning of the recent distress. The
weavers are, as a class, not accustomed to hard manual labour, nor
are they able to work exposed to heat and sun. If such people are put
on earth-work, they would certainly fail to turn out the prescribed
task, and consequently earn insufficient wages. They would thus be,
as it were, punished for no fault of theirs. This state of things
would last at least for some time, until the weavers got accustomed
to earth-work. Again, these people have, by constant work at their
own craft, attained to a certain degree of skill and delicacy, and,
if compelled to do earth-work during the temporary unfavourable
season, they would certainly lose, to some extent, their skill and
delicacy of hand, and would become unfit, in that degree, for their
accustomed work when favourable season returns. They would thus be put
to inconvenience doubly. During the first part of the distress, their
skill of hand, and delicacy of constitution would stand in their way,
and, after the return of good season, the loss of manual skill and
delicacy would place them at a disadvantage. It can be easily seen
that giving relief to the weavers in their own calling is the most
economical form of relief. In this form of special relief, Government
advances materials to the weavers to be woven into different kinds of
cloths. Government has no doubt to incur a large initial expenditure
in the shape of value of materials, and wages for weavers for making
these materials into cloths. But all the materials are returned woven
into cloths, so that, at the close of the operations, Government has
a stock of cloths, which can be disposed of without difficulty on the
return of favourable times, and the cost incurred recovered. In this
way, Government not only administers relief to a pretty large section
of its poor subjects, but keeps up, with little or no cost to itself,
the industrial skill of this section of the people."
Of proverbs relating to the weaver, one runs to the effect that, "if
you want to narrow the breadth of a river, you should plant reeds on
its margin; and, if you desire to destroy the sanitation of a village,
you should bring weavers to it, and settle them there." When the dyes
have to be fixed, and the dyed twist has to be washed, the weavers
generally resort to running water, and pollute it. The several
processes of twisting and untwisting threads, preparing skeins,
etc., make combined labour a necessity in the weaving industry;
and, wherever one finds a weaver settlement, he must find there a
large number of these people, as is explained by the proverb that
"the Chetti (merchant) lost by partnership, while the weaver came
to grief by isolation." When plying shuttles in the weaving process,
the weavers always use their feet in shifting the warp, by treading
on a press. Thus, if a weaver unfortunately happens to have a sore
on his foot, it means loss to him; or, as the proverb says, "If a
dog gets a sore on its head, it never recovers from it; and even so
a weaver who gets a sore on his foot." [133]
Salige (wire).--A gotra of Kurni.
Saliyan.--The Saliyan weavers of Kornad and Ayyampet, in the Tanjore
district, are a Tamil-speaking class, who must not be confused with
the Telugu Sales. They afford an interesting example of how a limited
number of families, following the same occupation, can crystallise
into a separate caste. They claim to have a Puranam relating to
their origin, which is said to be found in the Sthalapuranam of the
Nalladai temple. They believe that they are the descendants of one
Saliya Maha Rishi, a low-caste man, who did service for one Visakar,
who was doing penance near Nalladai. Through the grace of the rishi
Visakar, Saliya became a rishi, and married two wives. The Saliyans
are said to be descended from the offspring of the first wife, and
the Mottai Saliyans from the offspring of the second.
The Saliyans have taken to wearing the sacred thread, engage
Brahman purohits, and are guided by Brahman priests. They are said
to have had their own caste priests until a Brahman from Sendangudi,
near Mayavaram, accepted the office of priest. It is reported that,
in former days, the Saliyans were not allowed to sell their goods
except in a fixed spot called mamaraththumedu, where they set out
their cloths on bamboos. High-caste people never touched the cloths,
except with a stick. At the present day the Saliyans occupy a good
position in the social scale, and employ Brahman cooks, though no
other castes will eat in their houses.
A curious feature in connection with the Saliyans is that, contrary to
the usual rule among Tamil castes, they have exogamous septs or vidu
(house), of which the following are examples:--
Mandhi, black monkey.
Kottangkachchi, cocoanut shell.
Thuniyan, cloth.
Kachchandhi, gunny-bag.
Vellai parangi, white vegetable marrow.
Ettadiyan, eight feet.
Thadiyan, stout.
Kazhudhai, donkey.
Thavalai, frog.
Sappaikalan, crooked-legged.
Malaiyan, hill.
Kaththan, an attendant on Aiyanar.
Ozhakkan, a measure.
Thondhi, belly.
Munginazhi, bamboo measure.
Odakkazhinjan, one who defæcated when running.
Kamban, the Tamil poet.
Ottuvidu, tiled house.
Kalli, Euphorbia Tirucalli.
Sirandhan, a noble person.
Thambiran, master or lord.
Kollai, backyard.
Madividu, storeyed house.
Murugan, name of a person.
The Saliyans have further acquired gotras named after rishis, and,
when questioned as to their gotra, refer to the Brahman purohits.
The Saliyan weavers of silk Kornad women's cloths, who have settled at
Mayavaram in the Tanjore district, neither intermarry nor interdine
with the Saliyans of the Tinnevelly district, though they belong
to the same linguistic division. The Tinnevelly Saliyans closely
follow the Kaikolans in their various ceremonials, and in their
social organisation, and interdine with them. Saliya women wear three
armlets on the upper arm, whereas Kaikola women only wear a single
armlet. The Saliyans may not marry a second wife during the lifetime
of the first wife, even if she does not bear children. They may,
however, adopt children. Some of the Tinnevelly Saliyans have taken
to trade and agriculture, while others weave coarse cotton cloths,
and dye cotton yarn.
In the Census Report, 1901, Ataviyar is recorded as "a synonym for,
or rather title of the Tinnevelly Sales." Further, Pattariyar
is described as a Tamil corruption of Pattu Saliyan, returned
by some of the Tinnevelly Sales. The Adaviyar or Pattalia Settis
are Tamilians, probably an offshoot of the Kaikolans, and have no
connection with the Telugu Pattu Sales, who, like the Padma Sales,
retain their mother-tongue wherever they settle. It is recorded [134]
in connection with the Saliyar of the Chingleput district, many of
whom are Kaikolans, that "a story is current of their persecution
by one Salva Naik (said to have been a Brahman). The result of this
was that large bodies of them were forced to flee from Conjeeveram
to Madura, Tanjore, and Tinnevelly, where their representatives are
still to be found."
The Adaviyars follow the Tamil Puranic type of marriage ceremonies,
and have a sirutali (small tali) as a marriage badge. The caste deity
is Mukthakshiamman. The dead are always cremated.
Saluppan.--The Tamil equivalent of the Telugu Janappan, which is
derived from janapa, the sunn hemp (Crotolaria juncea).
Samagara.--The Samagaras have been described [135] as "the principal
class of leather-workers in the South Canara district. They are
divided into two endogamous groups, the Canarese Samagaras and the
Arya Samagaras. The latter speak Marathi. Though the Samagaras are
in the general estimation as low a caste as the Holeyas, and do not
materially differ from them in their religious and other ceremonies
and customs, they are, as a rule, of much fairer complexion, and the
women are often very handsome. The tanning industry is chiefly carried
on by the Samagaras, and their modus operandi is as follows. The
hides are soaked for a period of one month in large earthen vats
containing water, to which chunam is added at the rate of two seers
per hide. After the expiry of the above period, they are soaked in
fresh water for three days, in view to the chunam being removed. They
are then put into an earthen vessel filled with water and the leaves
of Phyllanthus Emblica, in which they remain for twelve days. After
this, they are removed and squeezed, and replaced in the same vessel,
where they are allowed to remain for about a month, after which
period they are again removed, washed and squeezed. They are then
sewn up and stuffed with the bark of cashew, daddala, and nerale
trees, and hung up for a day. After this, the stitching is removed,
and the hides are washed and exposed to the sun to dry for a day,
when they become fit for making sandals. Some of the hides rot in
this process to such an extent as to become utterly unfit for use."
The badge of the Are Samagara at Conjeeveram is said [136] to be the
insignia of the Mochis (or Mucchis), a boy's kite.
Samantan.--"This," the Census Superintendent, 1891, writes, "may be
called the caste of Malayalam Rajahs and chieftains, but it is hardly
a separate caste at all, at any rate at present, for those Nayars and
others who have at any time been petty chieftains in the country, call
themselves Samantas. The primary meaning of the word Samanta is given
by Dr. Gundert [137] as the chief of a district." The number of people
who returned themselves as Samantas (including a few Samantan Brahmans)
at the Census, 1881, was 1,611, and in 1901 they increased to 4,351.