described as Oriya goldsmiths (see Risley, Tribes and Castes of
Bengal, Sonar). These goldsmiths, in the Oriya portion of the
Madras Presidency, are, I am informed, Kamsalas from the Telugu
country. Unlike the Oriyas, and like other Telugu classes, they
invariably have a house-name, and their mother tongue is Telugu. They
are Saivites, bury their dead, claim to be descendants of Viswakarma,
and call themselves Viswa Brahmans. They do not eat meals prepared
by Brahmans, or drink water at the hands of Brahmans.
In former times, goldsmiths held the post of Nottakaran (tester) or
village shroff (money-changer). His function was to test the rupees
tendered when the land revenue was being gathered in, and see that
they were not counterfeit. There is a proverb, uncomplimentary to the
goldsmiths, to the effect that a goldsmith cannot make an ornament
even for his wife, without first secreting some of the gold or silver
given him for working upon.
It has been noted [182] that "in Madras, an exceedingly poor country,
there is one male goldsmith to every 408 of the total population; in
England, a very rich country, there is only one goldsmith to every
1,200 inhabitants. In Europe, jewellery is primarily for ornament,
and is a luxury. In India it is primarily an investment, its ornamental
purpose being an incident."
The South Indian goldsmith at work has been well described as
follows. [183] "A hollow, scooped out in the middle of the mud
floor (of a room or verandah), does duty for the fireplace, while,
close by, there is raised a miniature embankment, semi-circular in
shape, with a hole in the middle of the base for the insertion of
the bellows. Crucibles of clay or cow-dung, baked hard in the sun,
tongs and hammers, potsherds of charcoal, dirty tins of water, and
little packets of sal-ammoniac, resin, or other similar substances,
all lie scattered about the floor in picturesque confusion. Sitting,
or rather crouching on their haunches, are a couple of the Panchala
workmen. One of them is blowing a pan of charcoal into flame through an
iron tube some eighteen inches long by one in diameter, and stirring
up the loose charcoal. Another is hammering at a piece of silver
wire on a little anvil before him. With his miserable tools the Hindu
goldsmith turns out work that well might, and often deservedly does,
rank with the greatest triumphs of the jeweller's art."
Sondi.--The Sondis or Sundis are summed up in the Madras Census Report,
1901, as "Oriya toddy-selling caste. They do not draw toddy themselves,
but buy it from Siolos, and sell it. They also distill arrack." The
word arrack or arak, it may be noted en passant, means properly
"perspiration, and then, first the exudation of sap drawn from the
date-palm; secondly, any strong drink, distilled spirit, etc." [184]
A corruption of the word is rack, which occurs, e.g., in rack punch.
According to a Sanskrit work, entitled Parasarapaddati, Soundikas
(toddy-drawers and distillers of arrack) are the offspring of a
Kaivarata male and a Gaudike female. Both these castes are pratiloma
(mixed) castes. In the Matsya Purana, the Soundikas are said to
have been born to Siva of seven Apsara women on the bank of the
river Son. Manu refers to the Soundikas, and says that a Snataka
[185] may not accept food from trainers of hunting dogs, Soundikas,
a washerman, a dyer, pitiless man, and a man in whose house lives a
paramour of his wife.
In a note on the allied Sunris or Sundis of Bengal, Mr. Risley writes
[186] that "according to Hindu ideas, distillers and sellers of strong
drink rank among the most degraded castes, and a curious story in the
Vaivarta Purana keeps alive the memory of their degradation. It is said
that when Sani, the Hindu Saturn, failed to adapt an elephant's head
to the mutilated trunk of Ganesa, who had been accidentally beheaded
by Siva, Viswakarma, the celestial artificer, was sent for, and by
careful dissection and manipulation he fitted the incongruous parts
together, and made a man called Kedara Sena from the slices cut off in
fashioning his work. This Kedara Sena was ordered to fetch a drink of
water for Bhagavati, weary and athirst. Finding on the river's bank a
shell full of water, he presented it to her, without noticing that a
few grains of rice left in it by a parrot had fermented and formed an
intoxicating liquid. Bhagavati, as soon as she had drunk, became aware
of the fact, and in her anger condemned the offender to the vile and
servile occupation of making spirituous liquor for mankind. Another
story traces their origin to a certain Bhaskar or Bhaskar Muni, who
was created by Krishna's brother, Balaram, to minister to his desire
for strong drink. A different version of the same legend gives them
for ancestor Niranjan, a boy found by Bhaskar floating down a river
in a pot full of country liquor, and brought up by him as a distiller."
For the following note on the Sondis of Vizagapatam, I am indebted to
Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao. According to a current tradition, there was, in
days of old, a Brahman, who was celebrated for his magical powers. The
king, his patron, asked him if he could make the water in a tank (pond)
burn, and he replied in the affirmative. He was, however, in reality
disconsolate, because he did not know how to do it. By chance he met a
distiller, who asked him why he looked so troubled, and, on learning
his difficulty, promised to help him on condition that he gave him
his daughter in marriage. To this the Brahman consented. The distiller
gave him a quantity of liquor to pour into the tank, and told him to
set it alight in the presence of the king. The Brahman kept his word,
and the Sondis are the descendants of the offspring of his daughter and
the distiller. The caste is divided into several endogamous divisions,
viz., Bodo Odiya, Madhya kula, and Sanno kula. The last is said to
be made up of illegitimate descendants of the two first divisions.
The Sondis distil liquor from the ippa (Bassia) flower, rice, and
jaggery (crude sugar). There is a tradition that Brahma created the
world, and pinched up from a point between his eyebrows a little mud,
from which he made a figure, and endowed it with life. Thus Suka Muni
was created, and authorised to distil spirit from the ippa flowers,
which had hitherto been eaten by birds.
When a girl reaches puberty, she is set apart in a room within
a square enclosure made with four arrows connected together by a
thread. Turmeric and oil are rubbed over her daily, and, on the
seventh day, she visits the local shrine.
Girls are married before puberty. Some days before a wedding, a sal
(Shorea robusta) or neredu (Eugenia Jambolana) post is set up in
front of the bridegroom's house, and a pandal (booth) erected round
it. On the appointed day, a caste feast is held, and a procession
of males proceeds to the bride's house, carrying with them finger
rings, silver and glass bangles, and fifty rupees as the jholla tonka
(bride price). On the following day, the bride goes to the house of the
bridegroom. On the marriage day, the contracting couple go seven times
round the central post of the pandal, and their hands are joined by
the presiding Oriya Brahman. They then sit down, and the sacred fire
is raised. The females belonging to the bridegroom's party sprinkle
them with turmeric and rice. On the following day, a Bhondari (barber)
cleans the pandal, and draws patterns in it with rice flour. A mat
is spread, and the couple play with cowry shells. These are five
in number, and the bridegroom holds them tightly in his right hand,
while the bride tries to wrest them from him. If she succeeds in so
doing, her brothers beat the bridegroom, and make fun of him; if
she fails, the bridegroom's sisters beat and make fun of her. The
bride then takes hold of the cowries, and the same performance is
gone through. A basket of rice is brought, and some of it poured
into a vessel. The bridegroom holds a portion of it in his hand, and
the bride asks him to put it back. This, after a little coaxing, he
consents to do. These ceremonies are repeated during the next five
days. On the seventh day, small quantities of food are placed on
twelve leaves, and twelve Brahmans, who receive a present of money,
sit down, and partake thereof. The marriage of widows is permitted,
and a younger brother may marry the widow of an elder brother.
The dead are burned, and death pollution lasts for ten days. Daily,
during this period, cooked food is strewed on the way leading to the
burning-ground. On the eleventh day, those under pollution bathe,
and the sacred fire (homam) is raised by a Brahman. As at a wedding,
twelve Brahmans receive food and money. Towards midnight, a new pot
is brought, and holes are bored in it. A lighted lamp and food are
placed in it, and it is taken towards the burning-ground and set down
on the ground. The dead man's name is then called out three times. He
is informed that food is ready, and asked to come.
Men, but not women, eat animal food. The women will not partake of
the remnants of their husbands' meal on days on which they eat meat,
because, according to the legend, their female ancestor was a Brahman
woman.
Among the Sondis of Ganjam, if a girl does not secure a husband
before she reaches maturity, she goes through a form of marriage
with an old man of the caste, or with her elder sister's husband,
and may not marry until the man with whom she has performed this
ceremony dies. On the wedding day, the bridegroom is shaved, and his
old waist-thread is replaced by a new one. The ceremonies commence
with the worship of Ganesa, and agree in the main with those of many
other Oriya castes. The remarriage of widows is permitted. If a widow
was the wife of the first-born or eldest son in a family, she may not,
after his death, marry one of his younger brothers. She may, however,
do so if she was married in the first instance to a second son.
It is noted by Mr. C. F. MacCartie, in the Madras Census Report, 1881,
that "a good deal of land has been sold by Khond proprietors to other
castes. It was in this way that much territory was found some years
ago to be passing into the hands of the Sundis or professional liquor
distillers. As soon as these facts were brought to the notice of
Government, no time was lost in the adoption of repressive measures,
which have been completely successful, as the recent census shows a
great reduction in the numbers of these Sundis, who, now that their
unscrupulous trade is abolished, have emigrated largely to Boad
and other tracts. This is the only case to my knowledge in which a
special trade has decayed, and with the best results, as, had it not
been so, there is no doubt that the Khond population would very soon
have degenerated into pure adscripti glebæ, and the Sundis become
the landlords."
It is recorded, in the Gazetteer of the Vizagapatam district, that
"besides ippa (liquor distilled from the blossom of Bassia latifolia),
the hill people brew beer from rice, samai (the millet Panicum
miliare), and ragi (Eleusine Coracana). They mash the grain in the
ordinary manner, add some more water to it, mix a small quantity
of ferment with it, leave it to ferment three or four days, and
then strain off the grain. The beer so obtained is often highly
intoxicating, and different kinds of it go by different names,
such as londa, pandiyam, and maddikallu. The ferment which is used
is called the saraiya-mandu (spirit drug) or Sondi-mandu (Sondi's
drug), and can be bought in the weekly market. There are numerous
recipes for making it, but the ingredients are always jungle roots
and barks. [187] It is sold made up into small balls with rice. The
actual shop-keepers and still-owners in the hills, especially in the
Parvatipur and Palkonda agencies, are usually immigrants of the Sondi
caste, a wily class who know exactly how to take advantage of the sin
which doth so easily beset the hill man, and to wheedle from him, in
exchange for the strong drink which he cannot do without, his ready
money, his little possessions, his crops, and finally his land itself.
"The Sondis are gradually getting much of the best land into
their hands, and many of the guileless hill ryots into their
power. Mr. Taylor stated in 1892 that 'the rate of interest on loans
extorted by these Sondis is 100 per cent. and, if this is not cleared
off in the first year, compound interest at 100 per cent. is charged on
the balance. The result is that, in many instances, the cultivators
are unable to pay in cash or kind, and become the gotis or serfs
of the sowcars, for whom they have to work in return for mere batta
(subsistence allowance), whilst the latter take care to manipulate
their accounts in such a manner that the debt is never paid off. A
remarkable instance of this tyranny was brought to my notice a few
days since. A ryot some fifty years ago borrowed Rs. 20; he paid back
Rs. 50 at intervals, and worked for the whole of his life, and died
in harness. For the same debt the sowcar (money-lender) claimed the
services of his son, and he too died in bondage, leaving two small sons
aged 13 and 9, whose services were also claimed for an alleged arrear
of Rs. 30 on a debt of Rs. 20 borrowed 50 years back, for which Rs. 50
in cash had been repaid in addition to the perpetual labour of a man
for a similar period.' This custom of goti is firmly established, and,
in a recent case, an elder brother claimed to be able to pledge for
his own debts the services of his younger brother, and even those of
the latter's wife. Debts due by persons of respectability are often
collected by the Sondis by an exasperating method, which has led
to at least one case of homicide. They send Ghasis, who are one of
the lowest of all castes, and contact with whom is utter defilement
entailing severe caste penalties, to haunt the house of the debtor who
will not pay, insult and annoy him and his family, and threaten to
drag him forcibly before the Sondi." A friend was, on one occasion,
out after big game in the Jeypore hills, and shot a tiger. He asked
his shikari (tracker) what reward he should give him for putting him
on to the beast. The shikari replied that he would be quite satisfied
with twenty-five rupees, as he wanted to get his younger brother out
of pledge. Asked what he meant, he replied that, two years previously,
he had purchased as his wife a woman who belonged to a caste higher
than his own for a hundred rupees. He obtained the money by pledging
his younger brother to a sowcar, and had paid it all back except
twenty-five rupees. Meanwhile his brother was the bondsman of the
sowcar, and cultivating his land in return for simple food.
It is further recorded, in the Gazetteer of the Vizagapatam district,
that Dombu (or Domb) dacoits "force their way into the house of
some wealthy person (for choice the local Sondi liquor-seller and
sowcar--usually the only man worth looting in an Agency village,
and a shark who gets little pity from his neighbours when forced to
disgorge), tie up the men, rape the women, and go off with everything
of value."
The titles of the Ganjam Sondis are Behara, Chowdri, Podhano,
and Sahu. In the Vizagapatam agency tracts, their title is said to
be Bissoyi.
Sonkari.--The Sonkaris are a small class of Oriya lac bangle (sonka)
makers in Ganjam and Vizagapatam, who should not be confused with the
Telugu Sunkaris. The men are engaged in agriculture, and the women
manufacture the bangles, chains, chamaras (fly-flappers), kolatam
sticks (for stick play), and fans ornamented with devices in paddy
(unhusked rice) grains, which are mainly sold to Europeans as curios.
Sonkari girls are married before puberty. A man should marry his
paternal aunt's daughter, but at the present day this custom is
frequently disregarded. Brahmans officiate at their marriages. The
dead are cremated. The caste title is Patro.
Sonkuva.--A sub-division of Mali.
Sonti (dried ginger).--An exogamous sept of Asili.
Soppu (leaf).--The name for Koragas, who wear leafy garments.
Sozhia.--A territorial name of sub-divisions of various Tamil classes
who are settled in what was formerly the Chola country, e.g., Brahman,
Chetti, Kaikolan, Kammalan, Pallan, and Vellala.
Srishti Karnam.--A sub-division of Karnam. The name is variously spelt,
e.g., Sristi, Sishta, Sishti. The name Sishti Karanamalu is said to
have been assumed by Oddilu, who have raised themselves in life. [188]
Stala (a place).--Lingayats sometimes use the word Staladavaru,
or natives of a place, to distinguish them from recent settlers.
Stanika.--The Stanikas are summed up, in the Madras Census Report,
1901, as being "Canarese temple servants. They claim to be Brahmans,
though other Brahmans do not admit the claim; and, as the total of the
caste has declined from 4,650 in 1891 to 1,469, they have apparently
returned themselves as Brahmans in considerable numbers." The Stanikas
are, in the South Canara Manual, said to be "the descendants of
Brahmins by Brahmin widows and outcast Brahmin women, corresponding
with Manu's Golaka. They however now claim to be Siva Brahmins,
forcibly dispossessed of authority by the Madhvas, and state that
the name Stanika is not that of a separate caste, but indicates their
profession as managers of temples, with the title of Deva Stanika. This
claim is not generally conceded, and as a matter of fact the duties
in which Stanikas are employed are clearly those of temple servants,
namely, collecting flowers, sweeping the interiors of temples, looking
after the lamps, cleaning the temple vessels, ringing bells, and the
like. Many of them, however, are landowners and farmers. They are
generally Sivites, and wear the sacred thread. Their special deities
are Venkatramana and Ganapati. Dravida Brahmins officiate as their
priests, but of late some educated men of the caste have assumed the
priestly office. The caste has two sub-divisions, viz., Subramania and
Kumbla. Girls must be married in infancy, i.e., before they attain
puberty. Widow remarriage is neither permitted nor practiced. Their
other customs are almost the same as those of the Kota Brahmans. They
neither eat flesh nor drink liquor." It is stated in the Manual that
the Stanikas are called Shanbogs and Mukhtesars. But I am informed that
at an inquest or a search the Moktessors or Mukhtesars (chief men)
of a village are assembled, and sign the inquest report or search
list. The Moktessors of any caste can be summoned together. Some of
the Moktessors of a temple may be Stanikas. In the case of social
disputes decided at caste meetings, the Shanbog (writer or accountant)
appointed by the caste would record the evidence, and the Moktessor
would decide upon the facts.
Of the two sections Subramanya and Kumbla, the former claim
superiority, and there is no intermarriage between them. The members of
the Subramanya section state that they belong to Rig Saka (Rig Veda)
and have gotras, such as Viswamitra, Angirasa, and Baradwaja, and
twelve exogamous septs. Of these septs, the following are examples:--
Arli (Ficus religiosa). Konde, tassel or hair-knot.
Aththi (Ficus glomerata). Adhikari.
Bandi, cart. Pandita.
Kethaki (Pandanus fascicularis). Heggade.
The famous temple of Subramanya is said to have been in charge of the
Subramanya Stanikas, till it was wrested from them by the Shivalli
Brahmans. In former times, the privilege of sticking a golden ladle
into a heap of food piled up in the temple, on the Shasti day or sixth
day after the new moon in December, is said to have belonged to the
Stanikas. They also brought earth from an ant-hill on the previous
day. Food from the heap and earth are received as sacred articles by
devotees who visit the sacred shrine. A large number of Stanikas are
still attached to temples, where they perform the duties of cleaning
the vessels, washing rice, placing cooked food on the bali pitam (altar
stone), etc. The food placed on the stone is eaten by Stanikas, but
not by Brahmans. In the Mysore province, a Brahman woman who partakes
of this food loses her caste, and becomes a prostitute.
At times of census, Sivadvija and Siva Brahman have been given as
synonyms of Stanika.
Sthavara.--Recorded, at times of census, as a sub-division of
Jangam. The lingam, which Lingayats carry on some part of the body,
is called the jangama lingam or moveable lingam, to distinguish it
from the sthavara or fixed lingam of temples.
Subuddhi.--A title, meaning one having good sense, among several
Oriya castes.
Sudarman.--See Udaiyan.
Suddho.--Two distinct castes go by this name, viz., the Savaras who
have settled in the plains, and a small class of agriculturists and
paiks (servants) in the low country of Ganjam. The Suddhos who live
in the hills eat fowls and drink liquor, which those in the plains
abstain from. The caste name Suddho means pure, and is said to have its
origin in the fact that Suddho paiks used to tie the turbans of the
kings of Gumsur. Like other Oriya castes, the Suddhos have Podhano,
Bissoyi, Behara, etc., as titles. The caste has apparently come into
existence in recent times.
Sudra.--The fourth of the traditional castes of Manu. The Sudra Nayars
supply the female servants in the houses of Nambutiris.
Sudra Kavutiyan.--A name adopted by barbers who shave Nayars, to
distinguish them from other barbers.
Sudugadusiddha.--The name is derived from sudugadu, a
burning-ground. In the Mysore Census Report, 1901, they are
described as being "mendicants like the Jogis, like whom they
itinerate. They were once lords of burning-grounds, to whom the
Kulavadi (see Holeya), who takes the cloth of the deceased and a fee
for every dead body burned, paid something as acknowledging their
overlordship." These people are described by Mr. J. S. F. Mackenzie,
[189] under the name Sudgudu Siddha, or lords of the burning-ground,
as agents who originally belonged to the Gangadikara Vakkaliga caste,
and have become a separate caste, called after their head Sudgudu
Siddharu. They intermarry among themselves, and the office of agent is
hereditary. They have particular tracts of country assigned to them,
when on tour collecting burial fees. They can be recognised by the
wooden bell in addition to the usual metal one, which they always
carry about. Without this no one would acknowledge the agent's right
to collect the fees.
Sugali.--Sugali and Sukali are synonyms of Lambadi.
Sugamanchi Balija.--A name said to mean the best of Balijas, and used
as a synonym for Gazula Balija.
Sukka (star).--An exogamous sept of Yerukala. The equivalent Sukra
occurs as a gotra of Oriya Kalinjis.
Sule.--A Canarese name for professional prostitutes. Temple
dancing-girls object to the name, as being low. They call themselves
Vesyas or Besyas, Naiksani, or Naikini (Naik females).
Sullokondia.--The highest sub-division of the Gaudos, from whose
hands Oriya Brahmans will accept water.
Sunar.--See Sonar.
Sundarattan.--A sub-division of Nattukottai Chetti.
Sundi.--See Sondi.
Sunkari.--The Sunkari or Sunkara-vandlu are cultivators, fishermen,
and raftsmen in the Godavari district. According to the Rev. J. Cain
[190] they come from some part of the Central Provinces, and are not
regarded as outcasts, as stated in the Central Provinces Gazetteer.
Sunna Akki (thin rice).--A family name or bedagu of Donga Dasari.
Sunnambukkaran (lime man).--An occupational name for Paravas,
Paraiyans, and other classes, who are employed as lime (chunam)
burners. Sunnapu, meaning shell or quick-lime, occurs as an exogamous
sept of Balija.
Sunnata.--A sub-division of Kurumbas, who are said to make only
white blankets.
Surakkudi.--A section or kovil (temple) of Nattukottai Chetti.
Surti.--The name for domestic servants of Europeans in Bombay, who
come from Surat.
Surya (the sun).--Recorded as a sept of Domb, Kuruba, and Pentiya,
and a sub-division of Ambalakkaran. The equivalent Suryavamsam (people
of the solar race) occurs as a sub-division of Razu, and as a synonym
of the Konda Doras or Konda Kapus, some of whom style themselves Raja
(= Razu) Kapus or Reddis.