Malabar. "The men are to be distinguished by the small cross worn round
the neck, and the women by their tali, which has 21 beads on it, set
in the form of a cross. Their churches are ugly rectangular buildings
with flat or arched wooden roofs and whitewashed facades. They have no
spire, but the chancel, which is at the east end, is usually somewhat
higher than the nave. Between the chancel and the body of the church
is a curtain, which is drawn while the priest consecrates the elements
at the mass. Right and left of the chancel are two rooms, the vestry
and the sacristy. At the west end is a gallery, in which the unmarried
priests sometimes live. Most churches contain three altars, one in the
chancel, and the other two at its western ends on each side. There are
no images in Jacobite or Reformed churches, but there are sometimes
pictures. Crucifixes are placed on the altars, and in other parts of
the churches. The clergy and men of influence are buried in the nave
just outside the chancel. The Syrian Bishops are called Metrans. They
are celibates, and live on the contributions of their churches. They
wear purple robes and black silk cowls figured with golden crosses, a
big gold cross round the neck, and a ring on the fourth finger of the
right hand. Bishops are nominated by their predecessors from the body
of Rambans, who are men selected by priests and elders in advance to
fill the Episcopate. Metrans are buried in their robes in a sitting
posture. Their priests are called Cattanars. They should strictly
pass through the seven offices of ostiary, reader, exorcist, acolyte,
sub-deacon and deacon before becoming priests; but the first three
offices practically no longer exist. The priestly office is often
hereditary, descending by the marumakkattayam system (inheritance
in the female line). Jacobite and St. Thomas' Syrian priests are
paid by contributions from their parishioners, fees at weddings,
and the like. Their ordinary dress consists of white trousers, and
a kind of long white shirt with short sleeves and a flap hanging
down behind, supposed to be in the form of a cross. Over this the
Jacobites now wear a black coat. Priests are allowed to marry, except
in the Romo-Syrian community; but, among the Jacobites, a priest may
not marry after he has once been ordained, nor may he re-marry or
marry a widow. Malpans, or teachers, are the heads of the religious
colleges, where priests are trained. Jacobites also now shave clean,
while other Syrian priests wear the tonsure. Every church has not
more than four Kaikkars or churchwardens, who are elected from the
body of parishioners. They are the trustees of the church property,
and, with the priest, constitute a disciplinary body, which exercises
considerable powers in religious and social matters over the members
of the congregation. The Romo-Syrians follow the doctrines and ritual
of the Roman Catholics, but they use a Syriac version [210] of the
Latin liturgy. Jacobites and St. Thomas' Christians use the Syriac
liturgy of St. James. Few even of the priests understand Syriac, and,
in the Reformed Syrian churches, a Malayalam translation of the Syriac
liturgy has now been generally adopted. The Jacobites say masses for
the dead, but do not believe in purgatory; they invoke the Virgin
Mary, venerate the cross and relics of saints; they recognise only
three sacraments, baptism, marriage (which they always celebrate on
Sundays) and the mass; they prescribe auricular confession before
mass, and at the mass administer the bread dipped in the wine; they
recite the Eastern form of the Nicene Creed, and discourage laymen
from studying the Bible. The Reformed Syrians differ from them in
most of these points. The Jacobites observe the ordinary festivals of
the church; the day of the patron saint of each church is celebrated
with special pomp, and on the offerings made on that day the priests
largely depend for their income. They keep Lent, which they call the
fifty days' fast, strictly from the Sunday before Ash Wednesday,
abjuring all meat, fish, ghee, and toddy; and on Maundy Thursday
they eat a special kind of unsweetened cake marked with a cross, in
the centre of which the karnavan of the family should drive a nail,
and drink a kanji of rice and cocoanut-milk (the meal is said to
symbolize the Passover and the Last Supper, and the nail is supposed
to be driven into the eye of Judas Iscariot).
"Amongst the Syrian Christians, as amongst the Mappillas, there
are many survivals of Hindu customs and superstitions, and caste
prejudices have by no means disappeared amongst the various sections
of the community. Southerners and Northerners will not intermarry,
and families who trace their descent from Brahmans and Nayars will, in
many cases, not admit lower classes to their houses, much less allow
them to cook for them or touch them. Most of the Syrians observe the
Onam and Vishnu festivals; the astrologer is frequently consulted to
cast horoscopes and tell omens; while it is a common custom for persons
suffering from diseases to seek a cure by buying silver or tin images
of the diseased limb, which their priest has blessed. Similar survivals
are to be noticed in their social ceremonies. A Pulikudi ceremony,
similar to that of the Hindus, was commonly performed till recently,
though it has now fallen into disuse. Immediately on the birth of a
child, three drops of honey in which gold has been rubbed are poured
into its mouth by its father, and the mother is considered to be under
pollution till the tenth day. Baptism takes place on the fourteenth
day amongst the Southern Jacobites, and amongst other divisions on
the fifty-sixth day. A rice-giving ceremony similar to the Hindu
Chorunnu is still sometimes performed in the fifth or sixth month,
when the child is presented by the mother with a gold cross, if a boy,
or a small gold coin or taluvam if a girl, to be worn round the neck.
"Among the Jacobites early marriage was the rule until comparatively
recently, boys being married at ten or twelve years of age, and girls
at six or seven. Now the more usual age for marriage is sixteen in the
case of boys, and twelve in the case of girls. Weddings take place on
Sundays, and, amongst the Northerners, may be celebrated in either
the bride's or the bridegroom's parish church. On the two Sundays
before the wedding, the banns have to be called in the two churches,
and the marriage agreements concluded in the presence of the parish
priests (Ottu kalyanam). The dowry, which is an essential feature of
Syrian weddings, is usually paid on the Sunday before the wedding. It
should consist of an odd number of rupees, and should be tied up in a
cloth. On the Thursday before the wedding day, the house is decorated
with rice flour, and on the Saturday the marriage pandal (booth), is
built. The first ceremonial takes place on Saturday night when bride
and bridegroom both bathe, and the latter is shaved. Next morning
both bride and bridegroom attend the ordinary mass, the bridegroom
being careful to enter the church before the bride. Now-a-days
both are often dressed more or less in European fashion, and it
is essential that the bride should wear as many jewels as she has
got, or can borrow for the occasion. Before leaving his house,
the bridegroom is blessed by his guru to whom he gives a present
(dakshina) of clothes and money. He is accompanied by a bestman,
usually his sister's husband, who brings the tali. After mass,
a tithe (pathuvaram) of the bride's dowry is paid to the church as
the marriage fee, a further fee to the priest (kaikasturi), and a fee
called kaimuttupanam for the bishop. The marriage service is then read,
and, at its conclusion, the bridegroom ties the tali round the bride's
neck with threads taken from her veil, making a special kind of knot,
while the priest holds the tali in front. The priest and the bridegroom
then put a veil (mantravadi) over the bride's head. The tali should
not be removed so long as the girl is married, and should be buried
with her. The veil should also be kept for her funeral. The bridal
party returns home in state, special umbrellas being held over the
bride and bridegroom. At the gate they are met by the bride's sister
carrying a lighted lamp, and she washes the bridegroom's feet. The
married couple then go to the pandal, where they are ceremonially
fed with sweets and plantains by the priest and by representatives
of their two families, to the accompaniment of the women's kurava
(cry), and in the presence of the guests, who are seated in order of
precedence, the chief persons having seats of honour covered with
black rugs and white cloths (vellayum karimbadavum), traditionally
a regal honour. The bride and bridegroom are then led into the house
by the bestman and bride's uncle, the bride being careful to enter it
right foot first; and the guests are feasted in order of rank. It is
a peculiar custom of the Syrian Christians at these feasts to double
up the ends of the plantain leaves which serve them as plates, and
is supposed to be symbolical of the royal privilege of eating off a
double plate. Until the following Wednesday, the bestman sleeps with
the bridegroom in the bridal chamber, the bride occupying another
room. On Wednesday evening comes the ceremony called nalam kuli,
or fourth day bath. The bridegroom and the bestman, who are in the
bridal chamber, lock the door; the bride's mother knocks and begs the
bridegroom to come out, which he at last does after she has sung a
song (vathilturapattu) celebrating the attractions and virtues of the
bride. The bridegroom and bride then bathe, dress in new clothes,
and go to the pandal, where they perform paradakshinams round a
lighted lamp, and the bridegroom gives cloths to the bride's uncle,
mother, and grand-parents. The married couple are then escorted to the
bridal chamber, which has in the interval been cleaned and prepared for
them. The next morning they have to go to the bridegroom's or bride's
house as the case may be, and there eat together and go through a
ceremonial similar to that which they performed on the wedding day
in the other house. This concludes the marriage ceremonies, but on
Sunday the bridegroom and bride should attend mass together in the
bride's parish church if they were married in the bridegroom's, and
vice versâ. Amongst the Southern Jacobites, the ceremonies are very
similar, but the dowry is not paid till the marriage day, or till the
girl's first confinement. Half the pathuvaram is paid to the priest
instead of a kaikasturi, and the bridegroom puts a ring on the bride's
finger during the marriage service. After the church service, the
couple go to the bridegroom's house, where they are fed ceremonially
by the bride's mother, and the subsequent feast is at the expense of
the bride's people. On Monday morning, the bridegroom is ceremonially
fed by the bride's mother in the bridal chamber (manavalan choru),
and in the evening there is a ceremony called manavalan tazhukkal, in
which the bride and bridegroom are embraced in turn by their respective
parents and relations, after which there is a feast with singing of
hymns. Before the couple leave for the bride's house on Thursday,
there is a big feast, called kudivirunnu, given by the bridegroom to
the bride's people, followed by a ceremony called vilakku toduga, in
which men and women sing hymns and dance round a lighted lamp, which
they touch at intervals. Amongst the Romo-Syrians and the Reformed
sect, the marriage ceremonies have less trace of Hindu ritual; they
do not celebrate weddings on Sundays, and have no nalam kuli ceremony,
but a tali is usually tied in addition to the giving of a ring.
"At funerals (except amongst the Reformed sect) it is usual for
each of the dead man's connections to bring a cloth to serve as
a shroud. Before the body is lowered into the grave, holy oil is
poured into the eyes, nostrils and ears. The mourners are under
pollution, and fast till the day of the second funeral or pula kuli
(purification), and till then masses should be said daily for the
dead. The pula kuli is celebrated usually on the 11th day, but
may be deferred till the 15th, 17th or 21st, or sometimes to the
41st. The mourners are incensed, while hymns are sung and prayers
offered. Each then gives a contribution of money to the priest,
and receives in return a pinch of cummin. A feast is then given to
the neighbours and the poor. On the 40th day there is another feast,
at which meat is eaten by the mourners for the first time. A requiem
mass should be said each month on the day of death for twelve months,
and on the first anniversary the mourning concludes with a feast."
To the foregoing account of the Syrian Christians, a few stray notes
may be added.
It is recorded by Sir M. E. Grant Duff, formerly Governor of Madras,
[211] that "the interesting body known as the Syrian Christians or
Christians of St. Thomas is divided into several groups much opposed
to each other. In an excellent address presented to me they said
that this was the occasion which, for the first time after ages of
separation, witnessed the spectacle of all the different sects of
their community, following divergent articles of faith, sinking for
once their religious differences to do honour to their friend."
Some years ago, the wife of a District Judge of Calicut asked the
pupils of a school how long they had been Christians. "We were," came
the crushing reply, "Christians when you English were worshipping
Druids, and stained with woad." More recently, the master at a
college in Madras called on all Native Christians in his class to
stand up. Noticing that one boy remained seated, he called on him
for an explanation, when the youth explained that he was a Syrian
Christian, and not a Native Christian.
It is noted by the Rev. W. J. Richards that "at the very time that
our King John was pulling out Jews' teeth to make them surrender
their treasures, Hindu princes were protecting Jewish and Christian
subjects, whose ancestors had been honoured by Royal grants for
hundreds of years."
The Southerners say that they can be distinguished from the Northerners
by the red tinge of their hair. A man with reddish moustache, and
a dark-skinned baby with brilliant red hair, whose father had red
whiskers, were produced before me in support of the claim.
As examples of Old and New Testament names occurring, in a changed
form, among Syrian Christians, the following may be cited:--
Abraham, Abragam.
Joshua, Koshi.
Peter, Puthros, Ittiyerah, Itte.
Paul, Powlos.
John, Yohan, Sonanan, Chona.
Titus, Tetos.
Matthew, Mathai, Mathen.
Philip, Philippos, Papi, Eippe, Eapen.
Thomas, Thoma, Thommi, Thommen.
Joseph, Ouseph.
Jacob, Yacob, Chako
Alexander, Chandi.
Samuel, Chamuel.
Mary, Maria, Mariam.
Sarah, Sara.
Susannah, Sosa.
Rebecca, Rabka, Raca.
Elizabeth, Elspeth, Elia, Elacha.
Rachael, Rachi, Raghael, Chacha.
Syrian Christians take the name of their father, their own name, and
that of their residence. Whence arise such names as Edazayhikkal Mathoo
Philippos, Kunnampuram Thommen Chandi, and Chandakadayil Joseph Chommi.
I have seen some Syrian Christian men tattooed with a cross on the
upper arm, and a cross and their initials on the forearm.
In conclusion, I may, for the sake of comparison, place on record the
averages of the more important physical measurements of Northerner
and Southerner Syrian Christians and Nayars.
30 Syrian 40 Nayars.
Christians.
Northerner. Southerner.
Stature 165.3 164.8 165.2
Cephalic length 18.7 18.9 18.7
Cephalic breadth 14.3 14.1 13.9
Cephalic index 76.3 74.8 74.4
Nasal height 4.9 4.9 4.9
Nasal breadth 3.5 3.5 3.5
Nasal index 72.3 71.6 71.1
It may be noted that, in his 'Letters from Malabar,' Canter Visscher,
in the middle of the eighteenth century, writes that the St. Thomas'
Christians "keep very strict genealogical records, and they will
neither marry nor in any way intermingle with the new low-caste
Christians, being themselves mostly Castade Naiross, that is, nobility
of the Nayar caste, in token of which they generally carry a sword
in the hand, as a mark of dignity."
It is stated by E. Petersen and F. V. Luschan [212] that "probably a
single people originally occupied the greater part of Asia Minor. They
are still represented as a compact group by the Armenians. The type
resembles the Dissentis type of His and Rütimeyer; the head extremely
short and high, stature moderate, skin dark, eyes dark, and hair dark
and smooth. It extends through the S. half of Asia Minor, N.E. to
the Caucasus, and E. to the Upper Euphrates. The Tachtadschy people,
a hill people living without serious mixture with other peoples,
give measurements closely like the Armenians." [The cephalic index
of Armenians is given by E. Chantre [213] as 85-86.]
In the following table, the averages of some of the more important
measurements of the Syrian Christians and Tachtadschy people are
recorded:--
Stature, Cephalic Cephalic Cephalic,
cm. length, cm. breadth, index.
cm.
Syrian 165.3 18.7 14.3 76.3
Christians,
Northerner
Syrian 164.8 18.9 14.1 74.8
Christians,
Southerner
Tachtadschy 168. 17.9 15.3 85.7
NOTES
[1] Manual of the North Arcot district.
[2] Pulikesin II, the Chalukyan King of Badami.
[3] Manual of the Madura district.
[4] South Indian Inscriptions, III, 31, page 82.
[5] In the Oriental Manuscripts Library, Madras.
[6] J. Burgess. Archæological Survey. Tamil and Sanskrit Inscriptions,
No. 11, p. 150.
[7] Ibid. No. 12, p. 152.
[8] History of the Military Transactions of the British Nation in
Indostan, 1861.
[9] Geographical, statistical, and historical description of Hindostan
and the adjacent countries, 1820.
[10] Ceylon, 1860.
[11] South Indian Inscriptions, 1, 86-7, 105, 136, and III, I,
121, 123.
[12] Madras Census Report, 1891.
[13] Madras Census Report, 1901.
[14] Vannikula Vilakkam.
[15] Gazetteer of the South Arcot district.
[16] Gazetteer of the South Arcot district.
[17] Vannikula Vilakkam.
[18] Gazetteer of the Tanjore district.
[19] Manual of the Salem district.
[20] Journey through Mysore, Canara, and Malabar.
[21] Manual of the North Arcot district.
[22] Gazetteer of the Tanjore district.
[23] Gazetteer of the Tanjore district.
[24] Manual of the North Arcot district.
[25] Madras Mail, 1906.
[26] Malabar and its Folk, 1900.
[27] Manual of Malabar.
[28] Madras Mus. Bull., III, 3, 1901.
[29] Monograph, Eth. Survey of Cochin.
[30] A. Chatterton. Monograph on Tanning and Working in Leather, 1904.
[31] Journey through Mysore, etc., 1807.
[32] How we teach the Paraiya, 3rd ed., Madras, 1906.
[33] Manual of the North Arcot district.
[34] Works, 1, 225, foot-note.
[35] History of Mysore.
[36] Op. cit.
[37] Madras Census Report, 1891.
[38] Madras Journ. Lit. and Science, XI, 1840.
[39] Native Life in Travancore.
[40] Yule and Burnell. Hobson-Jobson.
[41] Madras Census Report, 1901.
[42] Madras Census Report, 1901.
[43] Manual of the North Arcot district; Madras Census Report, 1891.
[44] Report on the Methods of Capture and Supply of Fish in the Rivers
of the Nilgiri district, 1907.
[45] Gazetteer of the Malabar district.
[46] Gazetteer of Malabar.
[47] Madras Census Report, 1881.
[48] Madras Mus. Bull., V, 2, 1906.
[49] Madras Census Report, 1891.
[50] Madras Census Report, 1901.
[51] Voyage to the East Indies, 1774 and 1781.
[52] Loc. cit.
[53] Ind. Ant., III, 1874.
[54] The name Black Town was changed to Georgetown to commemorate
the visit of H.R.H. the Prince of Wales to Madras in 1906.
[55] Gazetteer of the South Arcot district.
[56] Gazetteer of the South Arcot district.
[57] Ind. Ant. II, 1873.
[58] Gazetteer of the South Arcot district.
[59] Gazetteer of the South Arcot district.
[60] Gazetteer of the South Arcot district.
[61] Manual of the North Arcot district.
[62] A. P. Smith. Malabar Quart. Review, 1904.
[63] Gazetteer of the South Arcot district.
[64] Classified Collection of Tamil Proverbs, 1897.
[65] Manual of the North Arcot district.
[66] Op. cit.
[67] Gazetteer of the South Arcot district.
[68] Madras Census Report, 1871.
[69] Monograph Eth. Survey. Cochin.
[70] Malabar and its Folk, 1900.
[71] Journ. Roy. As. Soc., XVI.
[72] C.M. Record, 1850.
[73] Origin and History of the Paravas. Simon Casie
Chitty. Journ. Roy. As. Soc., IV, 1837.
[74] Occasional Essays on Native South Indian Life, 1901.
[75] A description of ye East India Coasts of Malabar and Coromandel,
1703.
[76] History of Tinnevelly.
[77] Report on the Indian Pearl Fisheries in the Gulf of Manaar, 1905.
[78] Shell of the gastropod mollusc, Turbinella rapa.
[79] "This," Mr. Hornell writes, "is most improbable. They are more
probably the descendants of Naga fishermen settled in the district
prior to the immigration of Tamil invaders."
[80] The Zamorin of Calicut.
[81] Madras Mail, 1907.
[82] Risley. Tribes and Castes of Bengal.
[83] Gazetteer of the Malabar district.
[84] Manual of the North Arcot district.
[85] Madras Mail, 1907.
[86] By the Saurashtra Literary Societies of Madura and Madras, 1891.
[87] Gazetteer of the Madura district.
[88] A reddish geological formation, found all over Southern India.
[89] Manual of the South Canara district.
[90] Letters from Madras. By a Lady, 1843.
[91] My Indian Journal, 1864.
[92] Our Viceregal Life in India, 1889.
[93] Roe and Fryer. Travels in India in the seventeenth century.
[94] See Civil Suit No. 102 of 1880.
[95] Manual of the South Canara district.
[96] Madras Census Report, 1901.
[97] Manuals of Nellore and Kurnool.
[98] Manual of Malabar.
[99] Malabar Quarterly Review. V, 4, 1907.
[100] Yule and Burnell. Hobson-Jobson.
[101] This note is from an account by Mr. N. Subramani Aiyar.
[102] Gazetteer of the Malabar district.
[103] Malabar Law and Custom.
[104] Ibid.
[105] Hobson-Jobson.
[106] Manual of the South Canara district.
[107] Madras Census Report, 1891.
[108] Linguistic Survey of India, IV, 1906.
[109] Ind. Ant., II, 1873.
[110] Loc. cit.
[111] Gazetteer of the Vizagapatam district.
[112] Gazetteer of the Tanjore district.
[113] Manual of the North Arcot district.
[114] Men and Women of India, February 1906.
[115] Malabar and its Folk, 1900.
[116] This account is mainly based on a note by Mr. L. K. Anantha
Krishna Aiyar.
[117] Madras Census Report, 1891.
[118] Manual of the Vizagapatam district.
[119] Manual of Malabar.
[120] Manual of the South Canara district.
[121] W. Crooke. Tribes and Castes of the North-Western Provinces
and Oudh.
[122] Madras Census Report, 1891.
[123] Manual of the North Arcot district.
[124] Gazetteer of the Vizagapatam district.
[125] Madras Census Report, 1891.
[126] Manual of the North Arcot district.
[127] Madras Census Report, 1871.
[128] Birds of India.
[129] Manual of the North Arcot district.
[130] Twelfth Tour of Lord Connemara, 1890.
[131] See Thurston. Monograph on the Cotton Industry of the Madras
Presidency, 1897.
[132] East and West, VI, 70, 1907.
[133] Madras Mail, 1904.
[134] Manual of the Chingleput district.
[135] Manual of the South Canara district.
[136] Ind. Ant., IV, 1875.
[137] Malayalam and English Dictionary.
[138] Sthanam = a station, rank or dignity. Moore: Malabar Law
and Custom.
[139] Original Suit No. 31, 1887, Court of Calicut. Appeal No. 202,
1888, High Court of Madras.
[140] Madras Census Report, 1891.
[141] See Malabar Quart. Review, II, 4, 1903.
[142] Historical Sketches of the South of India: Mysore.
[143] Moore: Malabar Law and Custom, 1905.
[144] Manu.
[145] Mysore Census Report, 1891, 1901.
[146] Yule and Burnell. Hobson-Jobson.
[147] Rev. H. Jensen. Classified Collection of Tamil Proverbs, 1897.
[148] Ind. Ant., VIII, 1879.
[149] South Indian Inscriptions, II, Part III, 1895.
[150] Linguistic Survey of India, IV, 1906.
[151] Journ. Anthrop. Soc., Bombay, 1, 1901.
[152] The Rev. W. Taylor, Vol. III, 1862.
[153] Occasional Essays on Native South Indian Life, 1901.
[154] Gazetteer of the Vizagapatam district.
[155] See Bishop Whitehead. Madras Museum Bull., Vol. 3, 136, 1907.
[156] Gazetteer of Vizagapatam district.
[157] Madras Museum Bulletin, V, 3, 1907.
[158] Lectures on Tinnevelly Missions, 1857.
[159] Viaggi, 1614-26.
[160] A New Account of East India and Persia, 1698.
[161] Manual of the North Arcot district.
[162] Gazetteer of the South Arcot district.
[163] Principles of Sociology.
[164] Manual of the South Canara district.
[165] Administration Report, 1899.
[166] Christianity in Travancore, 1901.
[167] Madras Museum Bull., III, 3, 1901.
[168] Rice. Mysore Inscriptions, p. 33.
[169] Madras Census Report, 1901.
[170] Madras Mail, 1901.
[171] Ind. Ant., IV, 1875.
[172] Christianity and Caste, 1893.
[173] Journ. Roy. As. Soc., XVI.
[174] Madras Mail, 1907.
[175] L. Rice, Mysore and Coorg Gazetteer.
[176] Yule and Burnell. Hobson-Jobson.
[177] Journey through Mysore, Canara, and Malabar, 1807.
[178] Madras Mail, 1907.
[179] Mysore Census Report, 1891.
[180] Mysore Census Report, 1891.
[181] Manual of the South Canara district.
[182] Madras Census Report, 1881.
[183] A Native. Pen-and-ink Sketches of Native Life in Southern
India, 1880.
[184] Yule and Burnell. Hobson-Jobson.
[185] A Snataka is a Brahman, who has just finished his student's
career.
[186] Tribes and Castes of Bengal.