Edgar Thurston

Canji (gruel).—An exogamous sept of Padma Sale. Canji is the word “in use all over India for the water, in which rice has been boiled. It also forms the usual starch of Indian washermen.”1 As a sept of the Sale weavers, it probably has reference to the gruel, or size, which is applied to the warp.

Chacchadi.—Haddis who do scavenging work, with whom other Haddis do not freely intermarry.

Chadarapu Dhompti (square space marriage offering).—A sub-division of Madigas, who, at marriages, offer food to the god in a square space.

Chakala.—See Tsakala.

Chakkan.—Recorded in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as “a Malabar caste of oil-pressers (chakku means an oil-mill). Followers of this calling are known also as Vattakkadans in South Malabar, and as Vaniyans in North Malabar, but the former are the higher in social status, the Nayars being polluted by the touch of the Vaniyans and Chakkans, but not by that of the Vattakkadans. Chakkans and Vaniyans may not enter Brahman temples. Their customs and manners are similar to those of the Nayars, who will not, however, marry their women.” Chakkingalavan appears as a synonym for Chakkan.

Chakkiliyan.—“The Chakkiliyans,” Mr. H. A. Stuart writes,2 “are the leather-workers of the Tamil districts, corresponding to the Madigas of the Telugu country. The Chakkiliyans appear to be immigrants from the Telugu or Canarese districts, for no mention is made of this caste either in the early Tamil inscriptions, or in early Tamil literature. Moreover, a very large proportion of the Chakkiliyans speak Telugu and Canarese. In social position the Chakkiliyans occupy the lowest rank, though there is much dispute on this point between them and the Paraiyans. Nominally they are Saivites, but in reality devil-worshippers. The avaram plant (Cassia auriculata) is held in much veneration by them,3 and the tali is tied to a branch of it as a preliminary to marriage. Girls are not usually married before puberty. The bridegroom may be younger than the bride. Their widows may remarry. Divorce can be obtained at the pleasure of either party on payment of Rs. 12–12–0 to the other in the presence of the local head of the caste. Their women are considered to be very beautiful, and it is a woman of this caste who is generally selected for the coarser form of Sakti worship. They indulge very freely in intoxicating liquors, and will eat any flesh, including beef, pork, etc. Hence they are called, par excellence, the flesh-eaters (Sanskrit shatkuli).” It was noted by Sonnerat, in the eighteenth century,4 that the Chakkiliyans are in more contempt than the Pariahs, because they use cow leather in making shoes. “The Chucklers or cobblers,” the AbbÉ Dubois writes,5 “are considered inferiors to the Pariahs all over the peninsula. They are more addicted to drunkenness and debauchery. Their orgies take place principally in the evening, and their villages resound, far into the night, with the yells and quarrels which result from their intoxication. The very Pariahs refuse to have anything to do with the Chucklers, and do not admit them to any of their feasts.” In the Madura Manual, 1868, the Chakkiliyans are summed up as “dressers of leather, and makers of slippers, harness, and other leather articles. They are men of drunken and filthy habits, and their morals are very bad. Curiously enough, their women are held to be of the Padmani kind, i.e., of peculiar beauty of face and form, and are also said to be very virtuous. It is well known, however, that zamindars and other rich men are very fond of intriguing with them, particularly in the neighbourhood of Paramagudi, where they live in great numbers.” There is a Tamil proverb that even a Chakkili girl and the ears of the millet are beautiful when mature. In the Tanjore district, the Chakkiliyans are said6 to be “considered to be of the very lowest status. In some parts of the district they speak Telugu and wear the namam (Vaishnavite sect mark) and are apparently immigrants from the Telugu country.” Though they are Tamil-speaking people, the Chakkiliyans, like the Telugu Madigas, have exogamous septs called gotra in the north, and kilai in the south. Unlike the Madigas, they do not carry out the practice of making Basavis (dedicated prostitutes).

The correlation of the most important measurements of the Madigas of the Telugu country, and so-called Chakkiliyans of the city of Madras, is clearly brought out by the following figures:—

	Thirty Madigas.	Fifty Chakkiliyans.
	cm.	cm.
Stature	163.1	162.2
Cephalic length	18.6	18.6
Cephalic breadth	13.9	13.9
Cephalic index	75.	75.
Nasal height	4.5	4.6
Nasal breadth	3.7	3.6
Nasal index	80.8	78.9

The Chakkiliyan men in Madras are tattooed not only on the forehead, but also with their name, conventional devices, dancing-girls, etc., on the chest and upper extremities.

It has been noticed as a curious fact that, in the Madura district, “while the men belong to the right-hand faction, the women belong to and are most energetic supporters of the left. It is even said that, during the entire period of a faction riot, the Chakkili women keep aloof from their husbands and deny them their marital rights.”7

In a very interesting note on the leather industry of the Madras Presidency, Mr. A. Chatterton writes as follows.8 “The position of the Chakkiliyan in the south differs greatly from that of the Madiga of the north, and many of his privileges are enjoyed by a ‘sub-sect’ of the Pariahs called Vettiyans. These people possess the right of removing dead cattle from villages, and in return have to supply leather for agricultural purposes. The majority of Chakkiliyans are not tanners, but leather-workers, and, instead of getting the hides or skins direct from the Vettiyan, they prefer to purchase them ready-tanned from traders, who bring them from the large tanning centres. When the Chuckler starts making shoes or sandals, he purchases the leather and skin which he requires in the bazar, and, taking it home, first proceeds with a preliminary currying operation. The leather is damped and well stretched, and dyed with aniline, the usual colour being scarlet R.R. of the Badische Anilin Soda Fabrik. This is purchased in the bazar in packets, and is dissolved in water, to which a little oxalic acid has been added. The dye is applied with a piece of rag on the grain side, and allowed to dry. After drying, tamarind paste is applied to the flesh side of the skin, and the latter is then rolled between the hands, so as to produce a coarse graining on the outer side. In making the shoes, the leather is usually wetted, and moulded into shape on wooden moulds or lasts. As a rule, nothing but cotton is used for sewing, and the waxed ends of the English cobbler are entirely unknown. The largest consumption of leather in this Presidency is for water-bags or kavalais, which are used for raising water from wells, and for oil and ghee (clarified butter) pots, in which the liquids are transported from one place to another. Of irrigation wells there are in the Presidency more than 600,000, and, though some of them are fitted with iron buckets, nearly all of them have leather bags with leather discharging trunks. The buckets hold from ten to fifty gallons of water, and are generally made from fairly well tanned cow hides, though for very large buckets buffalo hides are sometimes used. The number of oil and ghee pots in use in the country is very large. The use of leather vessels for this purpose is on the decline, as it is found much cheaper and more convenient to store oil in the ubiquitous kerosine-oil tin, and it is not improbable that eventually the industry will die out, as it has done in other countries. The range of work of the country Chuckler is not very extensive. Besides leather straps for wooden sandals, he makes crude harness for the ryot’s cattle, including leather collars from which numerous bells are frequently suspended, leather whips for the cattle drivers, ornamental fringes for the bull’s forehead, bellows for the smith, and small boxes for the barber, in which to carry his razors. In some places, leather ropes are used for various purposes, and it is customary to attach big coir (cocoanut fibre) ropes to the bodies of the larger temple cars by leather harness, when they are drawn in procession through the streets. Drum-heads and tom-toms are made from raw hides by Vettiyans and Chucklers. The drums are often very large, and are transported upon the back of elephants, horses, bulls and camels. For them raw hides are required, but for the smaller instruments sheep-skins are sufficient. The raw hides are shaved on the flesh side, and are then dried. The hair is removed by rubbing with wood-ashes. The use of lime in unhairing is not permissible, as it materially decreases the elasticity of the parchment.” The Chakkiliyans beat the tom-tom for Kammalans, Pallis and Kaikolans, and for other castes if desired to do so.

The Chakkiliyans do not worship Matangi, who is the special deity of the Madigas. Their gods include Madurai Viran, Mariamma, Muneswara, Draupadi and Gangamma. Of these, the last is the most important, and her festival is celebrated annually, if possible. To cover the expenses thereof, a few Chakkiliyans dress up so as to represent men and women of the Marathi bird-catching caste, and go about begging in the streets for nine days. On the tenth day the festival terminates. Throughout it, Gangamma, represented by three decorated pots under a small pandal (booth) set up on the bank of a river or tank beneath a margosa (Melia azadirachta), or pipal (Ficus religiosa) tree, is worshipped. On the last day, goats and fowls are sacrificed, and limes cut.

During the first menstrual period, the Chakkiliyan girl is kept under pollution in a hut made of fresh green boughs, which is erected by her husband or maternal uncle. Meat, curds, and milk are forbidden. On the last day, the hut is burnt down. At marriages a Chakkiliyan usually officiates as priest, or the services of a Valluvan priest may be enlisted. The consent of the girl’s maternal uncle to the marriage is essential. The marriage ceremony closely resembles that of the Paraiyans. And, at the final death ceremonies of a Chakkiliyan, as of a Paraiyan, two bricks are worshipped, and thrown into a tank or stream.

Lean children, especially of the Mala, Madiga, and Chakkiliyan classes, are made to wear a leather strap, specially made for them by a Chakkiliyan, which is believed to help their growth.

At times of census, some Chakkiliyans have returned themselves as Pagadaiyar, Madari (conceit or arrogance), and Ranaviran (brave warrior).

Chakkiyar.—The Chakkiyars are a class of Ambalavasis, of whom the following account is given in the Travancore Census Report, 1901. The name is generally derived from Slaghyavakkukar (those with eloquent words), and refers to the traditional function of the caste in Malabar society. According to the Jatinirnaya, the Chakkiyars represent a caste growth of the Kaliyuga. The offence to which the first Chakkiyar owes his position in society was, it would appear, brought to light after the due performance of the upanayanasamskara. Persons, in respect of whom the lapse was detected before that spiritualizing ceremony took place, became Nambiyars. Manu derives Suta, whose functions are identical with the Malabar Chakkiyar, from a pratiloma union, i.e., of a Brahman wife with a Kshatriya husband.9 The girls either marry into their own caste, or enter into the sambandham form of alliance with Nambutiris. They are called Illottammamar. Their jewelry resembles that of the Nambutiris. The Chakkiyar may choose a wife for sambandham from among the Nambiyars. They are their own priests, but the Brahmans do the purification (punyaham) of house and person after birth or death pollution. The pollution itself lasts for eleven days. The number of times the Gayatri (hymn) may be repeated is ten.

The traditional occupation of the Chakkiyans is the recitation of Puranic stories. The accounts of the Avataras have been considered the highest form of scripture of the non-Brahmanical classes, and the early Brahmans utilised the intervals of their Vedic rites, i.e., the afternoons, for listening to their recitation by castes who could afford the leisure to study and narrate them. Special adaptations for this purpose have been composed by writers like Narayana Bhattapada, generally known as the Bhattatirippat, among whose works Dutavakya, Panchalisvayamvara, Subhadrahana and Kaunteyashtaka are the most popular. In addition to these, standard works like Bhogachampu and Mahanataka are often pressed into the Chakkiyar’s service. Numerous upakathas or episodes are brought in by way of illustration, and the marvellous flow of words, and the telling humour of the utterances, keep the audience spell-bound. On the utsavam programme of every important temple, especially in North Travancore, the Chakkiyarkuttu (Chakkiyar’s performance) is an essential item. A special building, known as kuttampalam, is intended for this purpose. Here the Chakkiyar instructs and regales his hearers, antiquely dressed, and seated on a three-legged stool. He wears a peculiar turban with golden rim and silk embossments. A long piece of cloth with coloured edges, wrapped round the loins in innumerable vertical folds with an elaborateness of detail difficult to describe, is the Chakkiyar’s distinctive apparel. Behind him stands the Nambiyar, whose traditional kinship with the Chakkiyar has been referred to, with a big jar-shaped metal drum in front of him called milavu, whose bass sound resembles the echo of distant thunder. The Nambiyar is indispensable for the Chakkiyarkuttu, and sounds his mighty instrument at the beginning, at the end, and also during the course of his recitation, when the Chakkiyar arrives at the middle and end of a Sanskrit verse. The Nangayar, a female of the Nambiyar caste, is another indispensable element, and sits in front of the Chakkiyar with a cymbal in hand, which she sounds occasionally. It is interesting to note that, amidst all the boisterous merriment into which the audience may be thrown, there is one person who has to sit motionless like a statue. If the Nangayar is moved to a smile, the kuttu must stop, and there are cases where, in certain temples, the kuttu has thus become a thing of the past. The Chakkiyar often makes a feint of representing some of his audience as his characters for the scene under depictment. But he does it in such a genteel way that rarely is offence taken. It is an unwritten canon of Chakkiyarkuttu that the performance should stop at once if any of the audience so treated should speak out in answer to the Chakkiyar, who, it may be added, would stare at an admiring listener, and thrust questions on him with such directness and force as to need an extraordinary effort to resist a reply. And so realistic is his performance that a tragic instance is said to have occurred when, by a cruel irony of fate, his superb skill cost a Chakkiyar his life. While he was explaining a portion of the Mahabharata with inimitable theatrical effect, a desperate friend of the Pandavas rose from his seat in a fit of uncontrollable passion, and actually knocked the Chakkiyar dead when, in an attitude of unmistakable though assumed heartlessness, he, as personating Duryodhana, inhumanely refused to allow even a pin-point of ground to his exiled cousins. This, it is believed, occurred in a private house, and thereafter kuttu was prohibited except at temples.

It is noted, in the Gazetteer of Malabar, that “Chakkiyars or Slaghyar-vakukar are a caste following makkattayam (inheritance from father to son), and wear the punul (thread). They are recruited from girls born to a Nambudiri woman found guilty of adultery, after the date at which such adultery is found to have commenced, and boys of similar origin, who have been already invested with the sacred thread. Boys who have not been invested with the punul when their mother is declared an adulteress, join the class known as Chakkiyar Nambiyars, who follow marumakkattayam (inheritance in the female line), and do not wear the thread. The girls join either caste indifferently. Chakkiyars may marry Nangiyars, but Chakkiyar Nambiyars may not marry Illotammamar.”

Chaliyan.—The Chaliyans are a caste of Malayalam cotton weavers, concerning whom Mr. Francis writes as follows10:—“In dress and manners they resemble the artisan castes of Malabar, but, like the Pattar Brahmans, they live in streets, which fact probably points to their being comparatively recent settlers from the east coast. They have their own barbers called Potuvans, who are also their purohits. They do not wear the sacred thread, as the Sale weavers of the east coast do. They practise ancestor worship, but without the assistance of Brahman priests. This is the only Malabar caste which has anything to do with the right and left-hand faction disputes, and both divisions are represented in it, the left hand being considered the superior. Apparently, therefore, it settled in Malabar some time after the beginnings of this dispute on the east coast, that is, after the eleventh century A. D. Some of them follow the marumakkatayam and others the makkatayam law of inheritance, which looks as if the former were earlier settlers than the latter.”

The Chaliyans are so called because, unlike most of the west coast classes, they live in streets, and Teruvan (teru, a street) occurs as a synonym for the caste name. The right-hand section are said to worship the elephant god Ganesa, and the left Bhagavati.

The following account of the Chaliyans is given in the Gazetteer of the Malabar district: “Chaliyans are almost certainly a class of immigrants from the east coast. They live in regular streets, a circumstance strongly supporting this view. The traditional account is to the same effect. It is said that they were originally of a high caste, and were imported by one of the Zamorins, who wished to introduce the worship of Ganapathi, to which they are much addicted. The latter’s minister, the Mangatt Acchan, who was entrusted with the entertainment of the new arrivals, and was nettled by their fastidiousness and constant complaints about his catering, managed to degrade them in a body by the trick of secretly mixing fish with their food. They do not, like their counterparts on the east coast, wear the thread; but it is noticeable that their priests, who belong to their own caste, wear it over the right shoulder instead of over the left like the Brahman’s punul, when performing certain pujas (worship). In some parts, the place of the regular punul is taken by a red scarf or sash worn in the same manner. They are remarkable for being the only caste in Malabar amongst whom any trace of the familiar east coast division into right-hand and left-hand factions is to be found. They are so divided; and those belonging to the right-hand faction deem themselves polluted by the touch of those belonging to the left-hand sect, which is numerically very weak. They are much addicted to devil-dancing, which rite is performed by certain of their numbers called Komarams in honour of Bhagavathi and the minor deities Vettekkorumagan and Gulikan (a demon). They appear to follow makkatayam (descent from father to son) in some places, and marumakkatayam (inheritance in the female line) in others. Their pollution period is ten days, and their purification is performed by the Talikunnavan (sprinkler), who belongs to a somewhat degraded section of the caste.”

The affairs of the caste are managed by headmen called Uralans, and the caste barber, or Pothuvan, acts as the caste messenger. Council meetings are held at the village temple, and the fines inflicted on guilty persons are spent in celebrating puja (worship) thereat.

When a girl reaches puberty, the elderly females of Uralan families take her to a tank, and pour water over her head from small cups made of the leaves of the jak (Artocarpus integrifolia) tree. She is made to sit apart on a mat in a room decorated with young cocoanut leaves. Round the mat raw rice and paddy (unhusked rice) are spread, and a vessel containing cocoanut flowers and cocoanuts is placed near her. On the third evening, the washerman (Peruvannan) brings some newly-washed cloths (mattu). He is presented with some rice and paddy, which he ties up in a leaf, and does puja. He then places the cloths on a plank, which he puts on his head. After repeating some songs or verses, he sets it down on the floor. Some of the girl’s female relations take a lighted lamp, a pot of water, a measure of rice, and go three times round the plank. On the following day, the girl is bathed, and the various articles which have been kept in her room are thrown into a river or tank.

Like many other Malabar castes, the Chaliyans perform the tali kettu ceremony. Once in several years, the girls of the village who have to go through this ceremony are brought to the house of one of the Uralans, where a pandal (booth) has been set up. Therein a plank, made of the wood of the pala tree (Alstonia scholaris), a lighted lamp, betel leaves and nuts, a measure of raw rice, etc., are placed. The girl takes her seat on the plank, holding in her right hand a mimic arrow (shanthulkol). The Pothuvan, who receives a fanam (coin) and three bundles of betel leaves for his services, hands the tali to a male member of an Uralan family, who ties it on the girl’s neck.

On the day before the wedding-day the bridegroom, accompanied by his male relations, proceeds to the house of the bride, where a feast is held. On the following day the bride is bathed, and made to stand before a lighted lamp placed on the floor. The bridegroom’s father or uncle places two gold fanams (coins) in her hands, and a further feast takes place.

In the seventh month of pregnancy, the ceremony called puli kudi (or drinking tamarind) is performed. The woman’s brother brings a twig of a tamarind tree, and, after the leaves have been removed, plants it in the yard of the house. The juice is extracted from the leaves, and mixed with the juice of seven cocoanuts. The elderly female relations of the woman give her a little of the mixture. The ceremony is repeated during three days. Birth pollution is removed by a barber woman sprinkling water on the ninth day.

The dead are buried. The son carries a pot of water to the grave, round which he takes it three times. The barber makes a hole in the pot, which is then thrown down at the head of the grave. The barber also tears off a piece of the cloth, in which the corpse is wrapped. This is, on the tenth day, taken by the son and barber to the sea or a tank, and thrown into it. Three stones are set up over the grave.

Chaliyan also occurs as an occupational title or sub-division of Nayars, and Chaliannaya as an exogamous sept of Bant. In the Madras Census Report, 1901, Chaliyan is given as a sub-caste of Vaniyan (oil-pressers). Some Chaliyans are, however, oilmongers by profession.

Challa.—Challa, meaning apparently eaters of refuse, occurs as a sub-division of Yanadis, and meaning buttermilk as an exogamous sept of Devanga. Challakuti, meaning those who eat old or cold food, is an exogamous sept of Kapus.

Chamar.—Nearly three hundred members of this Bengal caste of tanners and workers in leather were returned at the census, 1901. The equivalent Chamura occurs as the name of leather-workers from the Central Provinces.

Chandala.—At the census, 1901, more than a thousand individuals returned themselves as Chandala, which is defined as a generic term, meaning one who pollutes, to many low castes. “It is,” Surgeon-Major W. R. Cornish writes,11 “characteristic of the Brahmanical intolerance of the compilers of the code that the origin of the lowest caste of all (the Chandala) should be ascribed to the intercourse of a Sudra man and a Brahman woman, while the union of a Brahman male with a Sudra woman is said to have resulted in one of the highest of the mixed classes.” By Manu it was laid down that “the abode of the Chandala and Swapaca must be out of the town. They must not have the use of entire vessels. Their sole wealth must be dogs and asses. Their clothes must be the mantles of the deceased; their dishes for food broken pots; their ornaments rusty iron; continually must they roam from place to place. Let no man who regards his duty, religious and civil, hold any intercourse with them, and let food be given to them in potsherds, but not by the hand of the giver.”

Chandra (moon).—An exogamous sept of Kuruba. The name Chandravamsapu (moon people) is taken by some Razus, who claim to be Kshatriyas, and to be descended from the lunar race of kings of the Mahabharata.

Chanipoyina (those who are dead).—An exogamous sept of Orugunta Kapu.

Chapa (mat).—An exogamous sept of Boya.

Chappadi (insipid).—An exogamous sept of Jogi.

Chapparam (a pandal or booth).—An exogamous sept of Devanga.

Chapparband.—The Chapparbands are manufacturers of spurious coin, who hail from the Bombay Presidency, and are watched for by the police. It is noted, in the Police Report, 1904, that good work was done in Ganjam in tracing certain gangs of these coiners, and bringing them to conviction.

For the following note I am indebted to a report12 by Mr. H. N. Alexander of the Bombay Police Department. The name Chapparband refers to their calling, chapa meaning an impression or stamp. “Among themselves they are known as Bhadoos, but in Hindustan, and among Thugs and cheats generally, they are known as Khoolsurrya, i.e., false coiners. While in their villages, they cultivate the fields, rear poultry and breed sheep, while the women make quilts, which the men sell while on their tours. But the real business of this class is to make and pass off false coin. Laying aside their ordinary Muhammadan dress, they assume the dress and appearance of fakirs of the Muddar section, Muddar being their Pir, and, unaccompanied by their women, wander from village to village. Marathi is their language, and, in addition, they have a peculiar slang of their own. Like all people of this class, they are superstitious, and will not proceed on an expedition unless a favourable omen is obtained. The following account is given, showing how the false coin is manufactured. A mould serves only once, a new one being required for every rupee or other coin. It is made of unslaked lime and a kind of yellow earth called shedoo, finely powdered and sifted, and patiently kneaded with water to about the consistency of putty. One of the coins to be imitated is then pressed with some of the preparation, and covered over, and, being cut all round, is placed in some embers. After becoming hardened, it is carefully laid open with a knife, and, the coin being taken out, its impression remains. The upper and lower pieces are then joined together with a kind of gum, and, a small hole being made on one side, molten tin is poured in, and thus an imitation of the coin is obtained, and it only remains to rub it over with dirt to give it the appearance of old money. The tin is purchased in any bazaar, and the false money is prepared on the road as the gang travels along. Chapparbands adopt several ways of getting rid of their false coin. They enter shops and make purchases, showing true rupees in the first instance, and substituting false ones at the time of payment. They change false rupees for copper money, and also in exchange for good rupees of other currencies. Naturally, they look out for women and simple people, though the manner of passing off the base coin is clever, being done by sleight of hand. The false money is kept in pockets formed within the folds of their langutis (loin-cloths), and also hidden in the private parts.”

The following additional information concerning Chapparbands is contained in the Illustrated Criminal Investigation and Law Digest13:—“They travel generally in small gangs, and their women never follow them. They consult omens before leaving their villages. They do not leave their villages dressed as fakirs. They generally visit some place far away from their residence, and there disguise themselves as Madari fakirs, adding Shah to their names. They also add the title Sahib, and imitate the Sawals, a sing-song begging tone of their class. Their leader, Khagda, is implicitly obeyed. He is the treasurer of the gangs, and keeps with him the instruments used in coining, and the necessary metal pieces. But the leader rarely keeps the coins with him. The duty of passing the false coins belongs to the Bhondars. A boy generally accompanies a gang. He is called Handiwal. He acts as a handy chokra (youngster), and also as a watch over the camp when the false coins are being prepared. They generally camp on high ground in close vicinity to water, which serves to receive the false coins and implements, should danger be apprehended. When moving from one camp to another, the Khagda and his chokra travel alone, the former generally riding a small pony. The rest of the gang keep busy passing the coins in the neighbourhood, and eventually join the pair in the place pre-arranged. If the place be found inconvenient for their purpose, another is selected by the Khagda, but sufficient indication is given to the rest that the rendezvous might be found out. This is done by making a mark on the chief pathway leading to the place settled first, at a spot where another pathway leads from it in the direction he is going. The mark consists of a mud heap on the side of the road, a foot in length, six inches in breadth, and six in height, with an arrow mark pointing in the direction taken. The Khagda generally makes three of these marks at intervals of a hundred yards, to avoid the chance of any being effaced. Moulds are made of Multani or some sticky clay. Gopichandan and badap are also used. The clay, after being powdered and sifted, is mixed with a little water and oil, and well kneaded. The two halves of the mould are then roughly shaped with the hand, and a genuine coin is pressed between them, so as to obtain the obverse on one half and the reverse impression on the other. The whole is then hardened in an extempore oven, and the hole to admit the metal is bored, so as to admit of its being poured in from the edge. The halves are then separated, and the genuine rupee is tilted out; the molten alloy of tin or pewter is poured in, and allowed to cool. According to the other method, badap clay brought from their own country is considered the most suitable for the moulds, though Multani clay may be used when they run out of badap. Two discs are made from clay kneaded with water. These discs are then highly polished on the inner surface with the top of a jvari stalk called danthal. A rupee, slightly oiled, is then placed between the discs, which are firmly pressed over it. The whole is then thoroughly hardened in the fire. The alloy used in these moulds differs from that used in the others, and consists of an alloy of lead and copper. In both cases, the milling is done by the hand with a knife or a piece of shell. The Chapperbands select their victims carefully. They seem to be fairly clever judges of persons from their physiognomy. They easily find out the duffer and the gull in both sexes, and take care to avoid persons likely to prove too sharp for them. They give preference to women over men. The commonest method is for the Bhondar to show a quantity of copper collected by him in his character of beggar, and ask for silver in its place. The dupe produces a rupee, which he looks at. He then shakes his head sadly, and hands back a counterfeit coin, saying that such coins are not current in his country, and moves on to try the same trick elsewhere. Their dexterity in changing the rupees is very great, the result of long practice when a Handiwal.”

Further information in connection with the Chapparbands has recently been published by Mr. M. Paupa Rao Naidu, from whose account14 the following extract is taken. “Chapperbands, as their name implies, are by profession builders of roofs, or, in a more general term, builders of huts. They are Sheikh Muhammadans, and originally belonged to the Punjab. During the Moghul invasion of the Carnatic, as far back as 1687–88, a large number of them followed the great Moghul army as builders of huts for the men. They appear to have followed the Moghul army to Aurangabad, Ahmednagar, and Seringapatam until the year 1714, when Bijapur passed into the hands of the Peshwas. The Chapperbands then formed part of the Peshwa’s army in the same capacity, and remained as such till the advent of the British in the year 1818, when it would appear a majority of them, finding their peculiar profession not much in demand, returned to the north. A part of those who remained behind passed into the Nizam’s territory, while a part settled down in the Province of Talikota. A legendary tale, narrated before the Superintendent of Police, Raipur, in 1904, by an intelligent Chapperband, shows that they learnt this art of manufacturing coins during the Moghul period. He said ‘In the time of the Moghul Empire, Chapperbands settled in the Bijapur district. At that time, a fakir named Pir Bhai Pir Makhan lived in the same district. One of the Chapperbands went to this fakir, and asked him to intercede with God, in order that Chapperbands might be directed to take up some profession or other. The fakir gave the man a rupee, and asked him to take it to his house quickly, and not to look backwards as he proceeded on his way. As the man ran home, some one called him, and he turned round to see who it was. When he reached his house, he found the rupee had turned into a false one. The man returned to the fakir, and complained that the rupee was a false one. The fakir was much enraged at the man’s account of having looked back as he ran, but afterwards said that Chapperbands would make a living in future by manufacturing false coins. Since that time, Chapperbands have become coiners of false money.’ On every Sunday, they collect all their false rupees, moulds, and other implements, and, placing these in front of them, they worship Pir Makhan, also called Pir Madar. They sacrifice a fowl to him, take out its eyes and tail, and fix them on three thorns of the trees babul, bir, and thalmakana; and, after the worship is over, they throw them in the direction in which they intend to start. The Chapperbands conceal a large number of rupees in the rectum, long misusage often forming a cavity capable of containing ten to twenty rupees. So also cavities are formed in the mouth below the tongue.”

In a case recorded by Mr. M. Kennedy,15 “when a Chapperband was arrested on suspicion, on his person being examined by the Civil Surgeon, no less than seven rupees were found concealed in a cavity in his rectum. The Civil Surgeon was of opinion that it must have taken some considerable time to form such a cavity.” A similar case came before the Sessions Judge in South Canara a few years ago.

The following case of swindling, which occurred in the Tanjore district, is recorded in the Police Report, 1903. “A gang of Muhammadans professed to be able to duplicate currency notes. The method was to place a note with some blank sheets of paper between two pieces of glass. The whole was then tied round with string and cloth, and smoked over a fire. On opening the packet, two notes were found, a second genuine one having been surreptitiously introduced. The success of the first operations with small notes soon attracted clients, some of them wealthy; and, when the bait had had time to work, and some very large notes had been submitted for operation, the swindlers declared that these large notes took longer to duplicate, and that the packet must not be opened for several days. Before the time appointed for opening, they disappeared, and the notes were naturally not found in the packets. One gentleman was fleeced in this way to the value of Rs. 4,600.” The administration of an enema to a false coiner will sometimes bring to light hidden treasure.

Chaptegara.—The Chaptegaras or Cheptegaras are described by Mr. H. A. Stuart16 as “carpenters who speak Konkani, and are believed to have come from the Konkan country. Caste affairs are managed by a Gurikar or headman, and the fines collected are paid to the Sringeri math. They wear the sacred thread, and employ Karadi Brahmans as purohits. Infant marriage is practised, and widow marriage is not permitted. The dead are burned if means allow; otherwise they are buried. They are Saivites, and worship Durga and Ganapati. They eat flesh and drink liquor. Their titles are Naik, Shenai, etc.” It is noted, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, that Saraswat Brahmans will eat with them. Choutagara has been recorded as a corrupt form of Chaptegara.

Charamurti.—A class of Jangams, who go from village to village preaching.

Charodi.—The Charodis have been described17 as “Canarese carpenters corresponding to the Konkani Cheptegaras (or Chaptegaras), and there is very little difference in the customs and manners of the two castes, except that the former employ Shivalli and Konkanashta Brahmans instead of Karadis. Their title is Naika.” In the Madras Census Report, 1901, Mesta is returned as a Konkani-speaking sub-caste of Charodi.

Chatla (winnow).—An exogamous sept of Madiga. Chatla Dhompti occurs as a sub-division of Madigas, who, at marriages, place the offering of food, etc. (dhompti), in a winnow.

Chatri.—Recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as an equivalent of Kshatriya. It occurs also as the name of an exogamous sept, meaning umbrella, of the Holeyas.

Chaturakshari.—A sub-division of Satanis, who believe in the efficacy of the four syllables Ra-ma-nu-ja.

Chaudari.—Chaudari, or Chowdari, is recorded as a title of Haddi, Kalingi, and Komati.

Chaya (colour) Kurup.—A class of Kollans in Malabar, who work in lacquer.

Cheli (goat).—An exogamous sept of Bottada and Mattiya.

Chelu (scorpion).—An exogamous sept of Kuruba. The equivalent thelu occurs among the Padma Sales.

Chembadi.—The Chembadis are a Telugu caste, the occupations of which are fresh-water fishing, and rowing boats or coracles. In fishing, unlike the Besthas who use a cast-net, they employ a large drag-net, called baithivala, the two ends of which are fastened to poles. When a new net is made, it is folded up, and placed on the edge of a pond or tank. Mud is spread over it, and on it are placed three masses of mud kneaded into a conical shape. These represent the God, and cakes, called kudumulu, are set before them. A male member of the caste, biting one of the cakes and keeping it between his teeth, goes round the net, and then drags it to the water, in which the conical masses become disintegrated. Like the Besthas, they smear a new net with the blood of the first fish caught in it, but they do not burn a mesh of the net.

Some Chembadis regard Gurappa Gurunathadu as their caste deity, and connect him, for some unknown reason, with the jammi tree (Prosopis spicigera). Jammi occurs as the name of a gotra, and some children are named Gurappa or Gurunathadu. When such children are five, seven, or nine years old, they are taken on an auspicious day to a jammi tree and shaved, after the tree has been worshipped with offerings of cooked food, etc.

At the betrothal ceremony in this caste, immediately after the girl has taken up areca nuts, placed them in her lap, and folded them in her cloth, the headman takes up the betel leaves and areca nuts (thambulam) before him with crossed hands. This ceremony corresponds to the thonuku thambulam of the lower classes, e.g., Malas and Mangalas. Among the Mangalas and Tsakalas, the thambulam is said to be taken up by a Balija Setti. For the funeral ceremonies, the Chembadis engage a Dasari of their own caste. During their performances, flesh and toddy may not be offered to the deceased person.

Chembian.—A name assumed by some Pallis or Vanniyans, who claim that they belong to the Chola race, on the supposition that Chembinadu is a synonym for Chola.

Chembillam (chembu, copper).—An exogamous section of Mukkuvan.

Chembotti.—In the Madras Census Report, 1901, it is stated that the name Chembotti is derived from “chembu, copper, and kotti, he who beats.” They are coppersmiths in Malabar, who are distinct from the Malabar Kammalans. They are supposed to be descendants of men who made copper idols for temples, and so rank above the Kammalans in social position, and about equally with the lower sections of the Nayars. The name is also used as an occupational term by the Konkan Native Christian coppersmiths. In the Cochin and Travancore Census Reports, Chembukotti is recorded as an occupational title or sub-caste of Nayars who work in copper, chiefly in temples and Brahman houses.

In the Gazetteer of the Malabar district, the Chembottis are described as copper-workers, whose traditional business is the roofing of the Sri-kovil, or inner shrine of the temple with that metal. They are said to have originally formed part of the Kammalan community. “When the great temple at Taliparamba was completed, it was purified on a scale of unprecedented grandeur, no less than a thousand Brahmans being employed. What was their dismay when the ceremony was well forward, to see a Chembotti coming from the Sri-kovil, where he had been putting finishing touches to the roof. This appeared to involve a recommencement of the whole tedious and costly ritual, and the Brahmans gave vent to their feelings of despair, when a vision from heaven reassured them, and thereafter the Chembottis have been raised in the social scale, and are not regarded as a polluting caste.”

Chembetti, or Chemmatti, meaning hammer, occurs as an exogamous sept of the Telugu Yanadis.

Chempakaraman.—Recorded, in the Travancore Census Report, 1901, as an honorific title of Nayars.

Chenchu.—The Chenchus or Chentsus are a Telugu-speaking jungle tribe inhabiting the hills of the Kurnool and Nellore districts. In a letter addressed to the Bengal Asiatic Society,18 transmitting vocabularies of various tribes inhabiting Vizagapatam, by Mr. Newill, it is stated that “the Chenchu tribe, whose language is almost entirely corrupt Hindi and Urdu with a few exceptions from Bengali, affords one more example to the many forthcoming of an uncultured aboriginal race having abandoned their own tongue.” The compiler of the Kurnool Manual (1885) remarks that Mr. Newill’s vocabulary “seems to belong to the dialect spoken by Lambadis, who sometimes wander about the hills, and it is not unlikely that he was misled as to the character of the persons from whom his list was taken.” As examples of the words given by Mr. Newill, the following may be quoted:—

Bone, had. Cat, billeyi. Ear, kan. Elephant, hate. Tiger, bag.

One, yek. Ten, das. Far, dur. Drink, pi. Sweet, mitha.

It is probable that Mr. Newill confused the Chenchus with the Bonthuk Savaras (q.v.) who speak corrupt Oriya, and are called Chenchu vandlu, and, like the Chenchus, believe that the god Narasimha of Ahobilam married a girl belonging to their tribe. As a further example of the confusion concerning the Chenchus, I may quote the remarks of Buchanan19 about the Irulas, who are a Tamil-speaking jungle tribe: “In this hilly tract there is a race of men called by the other natives Cad Eriligaru, but who call themselves Cat Chensu. The language of the Chensu is a dialect of the Tamil, with occasionally a few Karnata or Telinga words intermixed, but their accent is so different from that of Madras that my servants did not at first understand what they said. Their original country, they say, is the Animalaya forest below the ghats, which is confirmed by their dialect.” In the Census Report, 1901, Chenchu is said to be the name by which Irulas of North Arcot and the Mysore plateau are called sometimes, and, in the Census Report, 1891, Chenchu is given as a sub-division of the Yanadis. There can be little doubt that the Chenchus and Yanadis are descended from the same original stock. Mackenzie, in the local records collected by him, speaks of the Chenchus as being called Yanadi Chenchus. The Chenchus themselves at the present day say that they and the Yanadis are one and the same, and that the tribes intermarry.

In Scott’s ‘Ferishta,’ the Chenchus are described as they appeared before Prince Muhammad MasÚm, a son of Aurangzib, who passed through the Kurnool district in 1694, as “exceedingly black, with long hair, and on their heads wore caps made of the leaves of trees. Each man had with him unbarbed arrows and a bow for hunting. They molest no one, and live in caverns or under the shady branches of trees. The prince presented some of them with gold and silver, but they did not seem to put any value on either, being quite unconcerned at receiving it. Upon the firing of a gun, they darted up the mountains with a surprising swiftness uncommon to man. In Taylor’s ‘Catalogue raisonnÉ of Oriental Manuscripts,’ the Chenchus are described as people who “live to the westward of Ahobalam, Srisailam, and other places, in the woods or wilds, and go about, constantly carrying in their hands bows and arrows. They clothe themselves with leaves, and live on the sago or rice of the bamboo. They rob travellers, killing them if they oppose. This people afflict every living creature (kill for food is supposed to be meant).” It is noted in the Kurnool Manual that in former times the Chenchu headman used to “dispose of murder cases, the murderer, on proof of guilt, being put to death with the same weapons with which the murder was committed.20 Captain Newbold, writing in 1846, says that, passing through the jungle near Pacharla, he observed a skull bleached by the sun dangling from the branch of a tamarind tree, which he was informed was that of a murderer and hill-robber put to death by the headman. In the time of the Nabobs, some of the Chenchu murderers were caught and punished, but the practice seems to have prevailed among them more or less till the introduction of the new police in 1860, since which time all cases are said to be reported to the nearest police officer.”

A Chenchu Taliari (village watchman), who came to see me at Nandyal, was wearing a badge with his name engraved on it in Telugu, which had been presented to him by Government in recognition of his shooting with a double-barrelled gun two Donga Oddes who had robbed a village. Another aged Taliari had a silver bangle bearing a Telugu inscription, which had been given to him in acknowledgment of his capturing a murderer who was wanted by the police, and came to his hut. The casual visitor explained that he was on his way to Hyderabad, but the Chenchu, noticing blood on his clothes, tied him to a post, and gave information that he had secured him. The same man had also received presents for reporting cases of illicit distillation under the Abkari Act.

Chenchus.

In recent accounts of the Chenchus of the Nallamalai hills by a forest officer, it is noted that pilgrims, on their way to the Srisailam temple, “are exploited at every turn, the Chentzu being seen in his true colours at this period, and, being among the most active agents in the exactions, but not being by any means the only plunderer. In return for the protection, the Chentzu levies a toll per head, and as much more as he can extort. We had to interfere with the perquisites of one drugged specimen of this race, who drew a knife on a peon (orderly), and had to be sent down under escort.... It is commonly supposed that the Chentzus are a semi-wild, innocent, inoffensive hill tribe, living on roots, honey, wild fruits, and game. If this was so, we should have no difficulty in controlling them. They are actually a semi-wild, lazy, drinking set of brigands. They levy blackmail from every village along the foot of the hills, and, if any ryot (cultivator) refuses to pay up, his crop silently disappears on some moonless night. They levy blackmail from every pilgrim to the shrines in the hills. They levy blackmail from the graziers in the hills. They borrow money from Komatis and Buniahs (merchants and money-lenders), and repay it in kind—stolen timber, minor forest produce, etc. They are constantly in debt to the Komatis, and are practically their slaves as regards the supply of timber and other forest produce. They think nothing of felling a tree in order to collect its fruits, and they fire miles of forest in order to be able to collect with ease certain minor produce, or to trace game. They poison the streams throughout the hills, and in short do exactly as they please throughout the length and breadth of the Nallamalais.” The Conservator of Forests expressed his belief that this picture was not overdrawn, and added that the Chenchus are “a danger to the forest in many ways, and I have always thought it a pity that they were given some of the rights at settlement, which stand against their names. These rights were—

• (1) Rights of way, and to carry torches.
• (2) Rights to draw and drink water from, wash or bathe in all streams, springs, wells and pools.
• (3) Rights to forest produce for home use.
• (4) Rights to fish and shoot.
• (5) Rights to graze a limited number of cattle, sheep and goats.
• (6) Rights to collect for sale or barter certain minor produce.

In connection with right (3), the District Forest Officer suggested that “the quantity to be taken annually must be limited, especially in the case of wood, bamboos, fibre, firewood and honey. The quality of the wood and of other forest produce should be defined. Chenchus do not require teak or ebony beams or yegi (Pterocarpus Marsupium) spokes and felloes for domestic purposes; but, as the right now stands, they can fell whatever they like, and, though we may know it is for sale to merchants, the Chenchus have only to say it is for domestic use, and they cannot be punished. The wood should be limited to poles and smaller pieces of third-class and unclassified trees.”

In 1898 the Governor in Council made the following rules for regulating the exercise of the rights of the Chenchus living in the reserved forests on the Nallamalais:—

1. The carrying of torches, and the lighting of fires in fire-protected blocks during the fire season are prohibited.

2. There shall be no right to wash or bathe in such springs, wells, pools or portions of streams as are especially set apart for drinking purposes by the District Forest Officer.

3. No more than the quantity which the Collector may consider to be actually required for domestic use shall be removed in the exercise of the right to take wood, bamboos, fibre, thatching grass, firewood, roots, fruits, honey and other forest produce. The term “other forest produce” shall be taken to mean other minor forest produce, not including tusks and horns. No wood other than poles and smaller pieces of third class and unclassified trees shall be removed.

4. No gudem (Chenchu village) shall, without the special permission of the Collector, be allowed to keep a larger number of guns than that for which licenses had been taken out at the time of settlement. Every gun covered by a license shall be stamped with a distinctive mark or number. The use of poison and explosives in water, and the setting of cruives or fixed engines, or snares for the capture or destruction of fish, are strictly prohibited.

5. For purposes of re-generation, a portion of the area set apart for the grazing of cattle, not exceeding one-fifth, may be closed to grazing at any time, and for such length of time as the District Forest Officer deems fit.

6. The right of pre-emption of all minor forest produce collected by the Chenchus for sale or barter shall be reserved to the Forest department. The exercise of the right of collecting wood and other produce for domestic use, and of collecting minor produce for sale or barter, shall be confined to natural growth, and shall not include forest produce which is the result of special plantation or protection on the part of the Forest department.

In connection with a scheme for dealing with the minor forest produce in the Nallamalais, the Conservator of Forests wrote as follows in 1905. “I believe that it is generally recognised that it is imperative to obtain the good-will of the Chenchus even at a considerable loss, both from a political and from a forest point of view; the latter being that, if we do not do so, the whole of the Nallamalai forests will, at a not very remote date, be utterly destroyed by fire. The Chenchus, being a most abnormal type of men, must be treated in an abnormal way; and the proposals are based, therefore, on the fundamental principle of allowing the two District Forest Officers a very free hand in dealing with these people. What is mainly asked for is to make an experiment, of endeavouring to get the Chenchus to collect minor produce for the department, the District Forest Officers being allowed to fix the remuneration as they like, in money or barter, as they may from time to time find on the spot to be best.” In commenting on the scheme, the Board of Revenue stated that “action on the lines proposed is justified by the present state of the Nallamalais. These valuable forests certainly stand in danger of rapid destruction by fire, and, according to the local officers, the Chenchus are almost entirely responsible. The department has at present no means of bringing influence to bear on the Chenchus, or securing their assistance in putting out fires. Repressive measures will be worse than useless, as the Chenchus will merely hide themselves, and do more damage than ever. The only way of getting into touch with them is to enforce the right of pre-emption in the matter of minor produce reserved to Government at the time of forest settlement, and by dealing with them in a just and generous way to secure their confidence. If this is achieved, the department may hope to secure their co-operation and valuable assistance in preventing jungle fires. The department can certainly afford to sell at a profit, and at the same time give the Chenchus better prices than the sowcars (money-lenders), who are said invariably to cheat them. The Board believes that the ultimate loss from advances will not be serious, as advances will ordinarily be small in amount, except in cases where they may be required by Chenchus to pay off sowcars. It will be well, therefore, if the Collector and the District Forest Officers will ascertain as soon as possible how much the Chenchus are indebted to the sowcars, as it will probably be necessary for the success of the scheme to liquidate these debts.”

From a note on the Chenchus of the Nallamalai hills, I gather that “a striking contrast is afforded between those who inhabit the belt of forest stretching from Venkatapuram to Bairnuti, and those who dwell in the jungle on the skirts of the great trunk road, which formed the chief means of communication between the principal towns until the Southern Mahratta railway diverted traffic into another channel. In the former we behold the Chenchu semi-civilised and clothed. He possesses flocks and herds, smiling fields and even gardens, and evinces an aptitude for barter. The superiority of the Bairnuti Chenchu has been brought about by the influence, example, labours, and generosity of a single Englishman, who built a substantial stone dwelling in the depths of the great Bairnuti forest. There also he erected indigo vats, and planted indigo, and a grove of choice mango grafts, orange and lime trees. He bought buffaloes, and by careful selection and breeding evolved a magnificent type. These buffaloes have now become almost entirely fruit-eaters, and are engaged in seeking for and devouring the forest fruits, which—particularly the mowhra and forest fig—litter the ground in vast quantities. This habit of fruit-eating imparts to their milk a peculiarly rich nutty flavour, and the cream is of abnormally rich quality. The Chenchus manufacture this into ghee (clarified butter), which they turn to profitable account. The brethren of the Bairnuti Chenchus dwelling in the forest of Pacherla present very different conditions of life. They accentuate their nakedness by a narrow bark thread bound round the waist, into which are thrust their arrows and knife. This is their full dress. The hair, they aver, is the great and natural covering of mankind. Why, therefore, violate the ordinary laws of nature by inventing supererogatory clothing? A missionary sportsman was fairly non-plussed by these arguments, particularly when his interlocutors pointed to a celebrated pass or gorge, through which the amorous Kristna is averred to have pursued and captured a fascinating Chenchu damsel. ‘You see,’ said the Chenchu logician, ‘the beauty of her form was so manifest in its rude simplicity that even the god could not resist it.’ En passant it may be noted that, when a Chenchu wishes to express superlative admiration of a belle, he compares her to a monkey. In his eyes, the supremest beauty of femininity is agility. The girl who can shin up a lofty tree, and bring him down fruit to eat is the acme of feminine perfection. ‘Ah, my sweet monkey girl,’ said a demoralised Chenchu, who was too idle to climb up a tree himself, ‘she has been climbing trees all day, and throwing me fruit. There is not a man in the forest who can climb like my monkey girl.’ The Chenchus are wisely employed by the authorities as road-police or Taliaris, to prevent highway dacoities. This is an astute piece of diplomacy. The Chenchus themselves are the only dacoits thereabouts, and the salary paid them as road-police is virtually blackmail to induce them to guarantee the freedom of the forest highways. The Chenchu barters the produce of the forests in which he lives, namely, honey and wax, deer horns and hides, tamarinds, wood apples (Feronia elephantum), and mowhra (Bassia latifolia) fruit and flowers, and realises a very considerable income from these sources. He reaps annually a rich harvest of hides and horns. The sambur (Cervus unicolor) and spotted deer (Cervus axis) shed their horns at certain seasons. These horns are hidden in the rank luxuriant grass. But, when the heat of the dry weather has withered it, the Chenchu applies fire to it by rubbing two dried sticks together, and, walking in the wake of the flames, picks up the horns disclosed to view by the reduction of the vegetation to ashes. He supplements this method with his bow and rifle, and by the latter means alone obtains his hides. The Chenchu is every bit as bad a shot as the average aboriginal. He rarely stalks, but, when he does, he makes up by his skill in woodcraft for his inexpertness with his gun. He understands the importance of not giving the deer a slant of his wind, and, if they catch a glimpse of him, he will stand motionless and black as the tree trunks around. The ambush by the salt-lick or water-hole, however, is his favourite method of sport. Here, fortified with a supply of the pungent-smelling liquor which he illicitly distils from the mowhra flower he will lie night and day ruthlessly murdering sambur, spotted deer, nilgai (Boselaphus trÀgocamelus); four-horned antelope (Tetracerus quadricornis). Tigers often stalk down, and drink and roll in the pool, but the Chenchu dares not draw a bead on him. Perhaps the indifference of his shooting, of which he is conscious, deters him.” When in danger from tigers or leopards, the Chenchus climb a tree, and shout. The Chenchus recognise two distinct varieties of leopards called chirra puli and chirta puli, concerning which Blanford writes as follows.21 “Most of the sportsmen who have hunted in Central India, and many native shikaris (sportsmen) distinguish two forms, and in parts of the country there is some appearance of two races—a larger form that inhabits the hills and forests, and a smaller form commonly occurring in patches of grass and bushes amongst cultivated fields and gardens. The larger form is said to have a shorter tail, a longer head with an occipital crest, and clearly defined spots on a paler ground-colour. The smaller form has a comparatively longer tail, a rounder head, less clearly defined spots, and rougher fur. I cannot help suspecting that the difference is very often due to age.”

A Chenchu who was asked by me whether they kill wild beasts replied that they are wild beasts themselves. In devouring a feast of mutton provided for those who were my guests in camp, they certainly behaved as such, gnawing at the bones and tearing off the flesh. To the Chenchus a feast, on however liberal a scale the food may be, is nothing without a copious supply of toddy, of which even infants receive a small share. In the absence of toddy, they sometimes manufacture illicit liquor from the flower-buds of the mahua (or mowhra) tree. The man who gained the prize (a coarse cotton cloth) in a shooting match with bow and arrow, with the head of a straw scarecrow as bull’s-eye, was in an advanced stage of intoxication, and used his success as an argument in favour of drink. In a long distance shooting match, the prize was won with a carry of 144 yards, the arrow being shot high into the air. It was noted by Captain Newbold that the Chenchus are not remarkably expert as archers, to judge from the awkwardness they exhibited in dispatching an unfortunate sheep picketed for them at forty yards, which was held out to them as the prize for the best marksman. Some time ago a Chenchu, who was the bully of his settlement, beat another Chenchu and his wife. The injured man appealed to the District Forest Officer, and, explaining that he knew the law did not allow him to kill his enemy, applied for a written permit to go after him with a bow and arrow.

Some Chenchus bear on the head a cap made of wax-cloth, deer or hare skin. By the more fashionable the tufted ear or bushy tail-end of the large Indian squirrel (Sciurus Indicus) is attached by way of ornament to the string with which the hair of the head is tied into a bunch behind. Leafy garments have been replaced by white loin-cloths, and some of the women have adopted the ravike (bodice), in imitation of the female costume in the plains. Boys, girls, and women wear bracelets made of Phoenix or palmyra palm leaves. By some pieces of stick strung on a thread, or seeds of Givotia rottleriformis, are worn as a charm to ward off various forms of pain. Some of the women are tattooed on the forehead, corners of the eyes, and arms. And I saw a few men tattooed on the shoulder as a cure for rheumatism.

The huts of which a present day gudem is composed are either in the shape of bee-hives like those of the Yanadis, or oblong with sloping roof, and situated in a grove near a pond or stream. The staple food of the Chenchus consists of cereals, supplemented by yams (Dioscorea) which are uprooted with a digging-stick tipped with iron, forest fruits, and various animals such as peacock, crow, lizard (Varanus), bear, and black monkey. They are very fond of the young flowers and buds of the mahua tree, and tamarind fruits, the acidity of which is removed by mixing with them the ashes of the bark of the same tree.

The forest products collected by the Chenchus include myrabolams, fruits of the tamarind, Semecarpus anacardiÚm, Sapindus trifoliatus (soap-nut), Buchanania latifolia, Buchanania angustifolia, and Ficus glomerata; roots of Aristolochia Indica and Hemidesmus Indicus; seeds of Abrus precatorius; flowers of Bassia latifolia; horns, and honey.

The Chenchus recognise two kinds of bees, large and small, and gather honey from nests in trees or rocks. It is stated in the Cuddapah Manual that “the Yenadis or Chenchus alone are able to climb miraculously into difficult and apparently inaccessible places, and over perpendicular cliffs in some places from a hundred to two hundred feet high. This they do by means of a plaited rope made of young bamboos tied together. Accidents sometimes happen by the rope giving way. It is a nervous sight to watch them climbing up and down this frail support. From below the men look like little babies hanging midway. The rope being fastened on the top of the cliff by means of a peg driven into the ground or by a tree, the man swings suspended in the air armed with a basket and a stick. The Chenchu first burns some brushwood or grass under the hive, which is relinquished by most of the bees. This accomplished, he swings the rope, until it brings him close to the hive, which he pokes with his stick, at the same time holding out his basket to catch the pieces broken off from the hive. When the basket is full, he shakes the rope, and is drawn up (generally by his wife’s brother). The bamboo ropes are never taken away; nor are they used a second time, a fresh one being made on each occasion, and at each place. They are to be seen hanging for years, until they decay and fall down of themselves.”

Like other Telugu classes, the Chenchus have exogamous septs or intiperu, of which the following are examples:—gurram (horse), arati (plantain tree), manla (trees), tota (garden), mekala (goats), indla (houses), savaram (sovereign, gold coin), and gundam (pit).

Of the marriage customs the following account is given in the Kurnool Manual. “The Chenchus do not follow a uniform custom in respect to marriage ceremonies. Their marriage is performed in three ways. A man wishing to marry selects his own bride, and both retire for one night by mutual consent from the gudem. On the following morning, when they return, their parents invite their friends and relatives, and by formally investing them with new clothes, declare them duly married. To complete the ceremony, a meal is given to those assembled. The second method is as follows. A small space, circular in form, is cleaned and besmeared with cowdung. In the centre a bow and arrow tied together are fixed in the ground, and the bride and bridegroom are made to move round it, when the men assembled bless them by throwing some rice over them, and the marriage is complete. According to the third mode, a Brahmin is consulted by the elders of the family. An auspicious day is fixed, and a raised pial (platform) is formed, on which the bride and bridegroom being seated, a tali (marriage badge) is tied, and rice poured over their heads. The services of the Brahmin are engaged for three or four days, and are rewarded with a piece of new cloth and some money. This ceremony resembles that of the ryot (cultivating) class among the Hindus. It is evidently a recent Brahminical innovation. On marriage occasions generally tom-toms, if available, are beaten, and a dance takes place.” In the second form of marriage, as described to me, the bride and bridegroom sit opposite each other with four arrows stuck in the ground between them. In Mackenzie’s record it is stated that the Chenchus make the bridal pair sit with a single arrow between them, and, when there is no shadow, some elderly men and women throw rice over their heads. The importance of the arrow with the Chenchus, as with the Yanadis, is that the moment when it casts no shadow is the auspicious time for the completion of the marriage rite. The remarriage of widows is permitted, and the second husband is said to be in most cases a brother of the deceased one.

As an example of the Chenchu songs, the following marriage song, sung by two men and a woman, and recorded by my phonograph, may be cited:—

At a dance in my honour, men and women executed a series of step dances in time with a drum (thappata) resembling a big tambourine, which, at the conclusion of each dance, was passed to and fro through a blazing fire of cholum straw to bring it up to the proper pitch. An elderly hag went through a variety of gesticulations like those of a Deva-dasi (dancing-girl). A man dressed up in straw and fragments of mats picked up near my camp, and another disguised as a woman, with bells round his ankles, supplied the comic business.

In the Kurnool Manual it is stated that “as soon as a child is born, the umbilical cord is cut (with a knife or arrow), and the child is washed in cold or hot water, according as the season is hot or cold. On the third day, all the women of the tribe are invited, and served with betel nut. On the fourth day, an old woman gives a name to the child. The baby is generally laid in a cradle made of deer skins, and suspended from a bamboo by means of strings or dusara creepers.”

The dead are carried to the burial-place in a cloth slung on a pole. The body, after it has been laid in the grave, is covered over with leafy twigs, and the grave is filled in. The spot is marked by a mound of earth and stones piled up. On the second or third day, some cooked food is offered to the soul of the deceased person, near the grave, and, after some of it has been set apart for the crows, the remainder is buried in the mound or within the grave. The same rite is repeated after the eighth day.

The Chenchus are said25, like the Yanadis, to worship a god called Chenchu Devata, to whom offerings of honey and fruits are sometimes made. They believe, as has been mentioned already, that the god Narasimha of Ahobilam, whom they call Obalesudu, carried off a beautiful Chenchu girl, named Chenchita, and married her. To prevent the occurrence of a similar fate to other females of the tribe, Chenchita ordained that they should in future be born ugly, and be devoid of personal charms. The Chenchus claim Obalesudu as their brother-in-law, and, when they go to the temple for the annual festival, carry cloths as presents for the god and goddess. The legend of their origin is told as follows by Captain Newbold. “Previous to the incarnation of Sri Krishna in the Dwapara Yug (the third of the great ages), the Chenchwars were shepherds of the Yerra Golla caste. Obal Iswara, the swami (deity) of Obalam, a celebrated hill shrine in the Nalla Mallas, having taken away and kept as a Chenchita a maid of the Yerra Golla family, begat upon her children, of whom they are descendants.” Among other minor deities, the Chenchus are said to worship Ankalamma, Potu Razu, Sunkalamma, Mallamma, and Guruppa.

In the absence of lucifer matches, the Chenchus make fire with flint and steel, and the slightly charred floss of the white cotton tree, Eriodendron anfractuosum, I am informed that, like the Paniyans of Malabar, they also obtain fire by friction, by means of the horizontal or sawing method, with two pieces of split bamboo.

Some Chenchus still exhibit the primitive short stature and high nasal index, which are characteristic of other jungle tribes such as the Kadirs, Paniyans, and Kurumbas. But there is a very conspicuous want of uniformity in their physical characters, and many individuals are to be met with, above middle height or tall, with long narrow noses. A case is noted in the Kurnool Manual, in which a brick-maker married a Chenchu girl. And I was told of a Boya man who had married into the tribe, and was living in a gudem. In this way is the pure type of Chenchu metamorphosed.

By the dolichocephalic type of head which has persisted, and which the Chenchus possess in common with various other jungle tribes, they are, as shown by the following table, at once differentiated from the mesaticephalic dwellers in the plains near the foot of the Nallamalais:—

The visual acuity of the Chenchus was tested with Cohn’s letter E, No. 6. For clinical purposes, the visual acuity would be represented by a fraction, of which 6 is the denominator, and the number of metres at which the position of the letter was recognised by the individual tested is the numerator, e.g.,

The average distances in metres, at which the letter was recognised by the various castes and tribes examined by myself and Dr. W. H. R. Rivers, were as follows:—

In all classes, it may be noted, the average acuity was between 12 and 13 metres (13 to 14 yards), and ranged between V.A. = 2·15 and V.A. = 2·03. The maxima distances, at which the position of the letter was recognised, were:—Sholaga, 18m; Paraiyan, 19m; Badaga and Dikshitar Brahman, 20m. No cases of extraordinary hyper-acuity were met with. The nine classes, or groups of classes examined, cover a wide range of degrees of civilisation from the wild jungle Chenchus, Sholagas, and Uralis, to the cultured Brahman. And, though the jungle man, who has to search for his food and mark the tracks and traces of wild beasts, undoubtedly possesses a specially trained keenness of vision for the exigencies of his primitive life, the figures show that, as regards ordinary visual acuity, he has no advantage over the more highly civilised classes.

There were, in 1904–05, two Board upper primary schools for the Chenchus of the Kurnool district, which were attended by seventy-three pupils, who were fed and clothed, and supplied with books and slates free of charge.

Chenu (dry field).—An exogamous sept of Kamma.

Cheppat.—A sub-division of Maran.

Cherukara.—Recorded, in the Travancore Census Report, 1901, as a sub-division of Nayar.

Cheruku.—Cheruku (sugar-cane) or Cherukula has been recorded as an exogamous sept of Boya, Jogi and Odde.

Cheruman.—The Cherumans or Cherumukkal have been defined as a Malayalam caste of agricultural serfs, and as members of an inferior caste in Malabar, who are, as a rule, toilers attached to the soil. In the Madras Census Report, 1891, it is stated that “this caste is called Cheruman in South Malabar and Pulayan in North Malabar. Even in South Malabar where they are called Cheruman, a large sub-division numbering over 30,000 is called Pula Cheruman. The most important of the sub-divisions returned are Kanakkan, Pula Cheruman, Eralan, Kudan and Rolan. Kanakkan and Pula Cheruman are found in all the southern taluks, Kudan almost wholly in Walluvanad, and Eralan in Palghat and Walluvanad.” In the Census Report, 1901, Alan (slave), and Paramban are given as sub-castes of Cheruman.

According to one version, the name Cheruma or Cheramakkal signifies sons of the soil; and, according to another, Cheriamakkal means little children, as Parasurama directed that they should be cared for, and treated as such. The word Pulayan is said to be derived from pula, meaning pollution.

Of the Cherumans, the following account is given in the Gazetteer of Malabar. “They are said to be divided into 39 divisions, the more important of which are the Kanakka Cherumans, the Pula Cherumans or Pulayas, the Era Cherumans or Eralans, the Roli Cherumans or Rolans, and the Kudans. Whether these sub-divisions should be treated as separate castes or not, it is hardly possible to determine; some of them at least are endogamous groups, and some are still further sub-divided. Thus the Pulayas of Chirakkal are said to be divided into one endogamous and eleven exogamous groups, called Mavadan, Elamanam, Tacchakudiyan, Kundaton, Cheruvulan, Mulattan, Talan, Vannatam, Eramalodiyan, Mullaviriyan, Egudan, and Kundon. Some at least of these group names obviously denote differences of occupation. The Kundotti, or woman of the last group, acts as midwife; and in consequence the group is considered to convey pollution by touch to members of the other groups, and they will neither eat nor marry with those belonging to it. Death or birth pollution is removed by a member of the Mavadan class called Maruttan, who sprinkles cowdung mixed with water on the feet, and milk on the head of the person to be purified. At weddings, the Maruttan receives 32 fanams, the prescribed price of a bride, from the bridegroom, and gives it to the bride’s people. The Era Cherumans and Kanakkans, who are found only in the southern taluks of the district, appear to be divided into exogamous groups called Kuttams, many of which seem to be named after the house-name of the masters whom they serve. The Cherumans are almost solely employed as agricultural labourers and coolies; but they also make mats and baskets.”

It is noted26 by Mr. L. K. Anantha Krishna Iyer that “from traditions current among the Pulayas, it would appear that, once upon a time, they had dominion over several parts of the country. A person called Aikkara Yajaman, whose ancestors were Pulaya kings, is still held in considerable respect by the Pulayas of North Travancore, and acknowledged as their chieftain and lord, while the Aikkaranad in the Kunnethnad taluk still remains to lend colour to the tale. In Trivandrum, on the banks of the Velli lake, is a hill called Pulayanar Kotta, where it is believed that a Pulaya king once ruled. In other places, they are also said to have held sway. As a Paraya found at Melkota the image of Selvapillai, as a Savara was originally in possession of the sacred stone which became the idol in the temple of Jaganath, so also is the worship of Padmanabha at Trivandrum intimately connected with a Pulayan. Once a Pulaya woman, who was living with her husband in the Ananthan kadu (jungle), suddenly heard the cry of a baby. She rushed to the spot, and saw to her surprise a child lying on the ground, protected by a snake. She took pity on it, and nursed it like her own child. The appearance of the snake intimated to her the divine origin of the infant. This proved to be true, for the child was an incarnation of Vishnu. As soon as the Raja of Travancore heard of the wonderful event, he built a shrine on the spot where the baby had been found, and dedicated it to Padmanabha. The Pulayas round Trivandrum assert to this day that, in former times, a Pulaya king ruled, and had his castle not far from the present capital of Travancore. The following story is also current among them. The Pulayas got from the god Siva a boon, with spade and axe, to clear forests, own lands, and cultivate them. When other people took possession of them, they were advised to work under them.”

According to Mr. Logan,27 the Cherumans are of two sections, one of which, the Iraya, are of slightly higher social standing than the Pulayan. “As the names denote, the former are permitted to come as far as the eaves (ira) of their employers’ houses, while the latter name denotes that they convey pollution to all whom they meet or approach.” The name Cheruman is supposed to be derived from cheru, small, the Cheruman being short of stature, or from chera, a dam or low-lying rice field. Mr. Logan, however, was of opinion that there is ample evidence that “the Malabar coast at one time constituted the kingdom or Empire of Chera, and the nad or county of Cheranad lying on the coast and inland south-east of Calicut remains to the present day to give a local habitation to the ancient name. Moreover, the name of the great Emperor of Malabar, who is known to every child on the coast as Cheraman Perumal, was undoubtedly the title and not the name of the Emperor, and meant the chief (literally, big man) of the Chera people.”

Of the history of slavery in Malabar an admirable account is given by Mr. Logan, from which the following extracts are taken. “In 1792, the year in which British rule commenced, a proclamation was issued against dealing in slaves. In 1819, the principal Collector wrote a report on the condition of the Cherumar, and received orders that the practice of selling slaves for arrears of revenue be immediately discontinued. In 1821, the Court of Directors expressed considerable dissatisfaction at the lack of precise information which had been vouchsafed to them, and said ‘We are told that part of the cultivators are held as slaves: that they are attached to the soil, and marketable property.’ In 1836, the Government ordered the remission in the Collector’s accounts of Rs. 927–13–0, which was the annual revenue from slaves on the Government lands in Malabar, and the Government was at the same time ‘pleased to accede to the recommendation in favour of emancipating the slaves on the Government lands in Malabar.’ In 1841, Mr. E. B. Thomas, the Judge at Calicut, wrote in strong terms a letter to the Sadr Adalat, in which he pointed out that women in some taluks (divisions) fetched higher prices, in order to breed slaves; that the average cost of a young male under ten years was about Rs. 3–8–0, of a female somewhat less; that an infant ten months old was sold in a court auction for Rs. 1–10–6 independent of the price of its mother; and that, in a recent suit, the right to twenty-seven slaves was the ‘sole matter of litigation, and was disposed of on its merits.’ In a further letter, Mr. Thomas pointed out that the slaves had increased in numbers from 144,000 at the Census, 1835, to 159,000 at the Census, 1842. It was apparently these letters which decided the Board of Directors to send out orders to legislate. And the Government of India passed Act V of 1843, of which the provisions were widely published through Malabar. The Collector explained to the Cherumar that it was in their interest, as well as their duty, to remain with their masters, if kindly treated. He proclaimed that ‘the Government will not order a slave who is in the employ of an individual to forsake him and go to the service of another claimant; nor will the Government interfere with the slave’s inclination as to where he wishes to work.’ And again, ‘Any person claiming a slave as janmam, kanam or panayam, the right of such claim or claims will not be investigated into at any one of the public offices or courts.’ In 1852, and again in 1855, the fact that traffic in slaves still continued was brought to the notice of Government, but on full consideration no further measures for the emancipation of the Cherumar were deemed to be necessary. The Cherumar even yet have not realised what public opinion in England would probably have forced down their throats fifty years ago, and there is reason to think that they are still, even now, with their full consent bought and sold and hired out, although, of course, the transaction must be kept secret for fear of the penalties of the Penal Code, which came into force in 1862, and was the real final blow at slavery in India. The slaves, however, as a caste will never understand what real freedom means, until measures are adopted to give them indefeasible rights in the small orchards occupied by them as house-sites.” It is noted by Mr. Anantha Krishna Iyer that “though slavery has been abolished many years ago, the name valliyal (a person receiving valli, i.e., paddy given to a slave) still survives.”

By the Penal Code it is enacted that—

“Very low indeed,” Mr. S. Appadorai Iyer writes,28 “is the social position of these miserable beings. When a Cherumar meets a person of superior caste; he must stand at a distance of thirty feet. If he comes within this prohibited distance, his approach is said to cause pollution, which is removed only by bathing in water. A Cherumar cannot approach a Brahman village or temple, or tank. If he does so, purification becomes necessary. Even while using the public road, if he sees his lord and master, he has to leave the ordinary way and walk, it may be in the mud, to avoid his displeasure by accidentally polluting him. To avoid polluting the passer-by, he repeats the unpleasant sound ‘O, oh, O—’. [In some places, e.g., Palghat, one may often see a Cheruman with a dirty piece of cloth spread on the roadside, and yelling in a shrill voice ‘Ambrane, Ambarane, give me some pice, and throw them on the cloth.’] His position is intolerable in the Native States of Cochin and Travancore, where Brahman influence is in the ascendant; while in the Palghat taluk the Cherumars cannot, even to this day, enter the bazaar.” A melancholy picture has been drawn of the Cherumans tramping along the marshes in mud, often wet up to their waists, to avoid polluting their superiors. In 1904, a Cheruman came within polluting distance of a Nayar, and was struck with a stick. The Cheruman went off and fetched another, whereupon the Nayar ran away. He was, however, pursued by the Cherumans. In defending himself with a spade, the Nayar struck the foremost Cheruman on the head, and killed him.29 In another case, a Cheruman, who was the servant of a Mappilla, was fetching grass for his master, when he inadvertently approached some Tiyans, and thereby polluted them. The indignant Tiyans gave not only the Cheruman, but his master also, a sound beating by way of avenging the insult offered to them.

The status of the Pulayas of the Cochin State is thus described by Mr. Anantha Krishna Iyer. “They abstain from eating food prepared by the Velakkathalavans (barbers), Mannans (washermen), Panans, Vettuvans, Parayans, Nayadis, Ulladans, Malayans, and Kadars. The Pulayas in the southern parts of the State have to stand at a distance of 90 feet from Brahmans and 64 feet from Nayars, and this distance gradually diminishes towards the lower castes. They are polluted by Pula Cherumas, Parayas, Nayadis, and Ulladans. [The Pula Cherumas are said to eat beef, and sell the hides of cattle.] The Kanakka Cherumas of the Chittur taluk pollute Era Cherumas and Konga Cherumas by touch, and by approach within a distance of seven or eight feet, and are themselves polluted by Pula Cherumas, Parayas, and Vettuvans, who have to stand at the same distance. Pulayas and Vettuvans bathe when they approach one another, for their status is a point of dispute as to which is superior to the other. When defiled by the touch of a Nayadi, a Cheruman has to bathe in seven tanks, and let a few drops of blood flow from one of his fingers. A Brahman who enters the compound of a Pulayan has to change his holy thread, and take panchagavyam (the five products of the cow) so as to be purified from pollution. The Valluva Pulayan of the Trichur taluk fasts for three days, if he happens to touch a cow that has been delivered of a calf. He lives on toddy and tender cocoanuts. He has also to fast three days after the delivery of his wife.” In ordinary conversation in Malabar, such expressions as Tiya-pad or Cheruma-pad (that is, the distance at which a Tiyan or Cheruman has to keep) are said to be commonly used.30

By Mr. T. K. Gopal Panikkar the Cherumans are described31 as “a very inferior race, who are regarded merely as agricultural instruments in the hands of the landlords their masters, who supply them with houses on their estates. Their daily maintenance is supplied to them by their masters themselves. Every morning the master’s agent summons them to his house, and takes them away to work in the fields, in ploughing, drawing water from wells, and in short doing the whole of the cultivation. In the evening a certain quantity of paddy (unhusked rice) is distributed to them as wages. Both theory and practice, in the great majority of cases, are that they are fed at the master’s cost the whole year round, whether they work in the fields or not. But it is very seldom that they can have a holiday, regard being had to the nature of agriculture in Malabar. It is the Cheruma that should plough the land, sow the seed, transplant the seedlings, regulate the flow of water in the fields, uproot the weeds, and see that the crops are not destroyed by animals, or stolen. When the crops ripen, he has to keep watch at night. The sentry house consists of a small oval-shaped portable roof, constructed of palmyra and cocoanut leaves, supported by four posts, across which are tied bamboos, which form the watchman’s bed. Wives sometimes accompany their husbands in their watches. When the harvest season approaches, the Cheruman’s hands are full. He has to cut the crops, carry them to the barn (kalam), separate the corn from the stalk, and winnow it. The second crop operations immediately follow, and the Cheruma has to go through all these processes again. It is in the summer season that his work is light, when he is set to prepare vegetable gardens, or some odd job is found for him by his master. The old, infirm, and the children look after their master’s cattle. Receiving his daily pittance of paddy, the Cheruman enters his hut, and reserves a portion of it for the purchase of salt, chillies, toddy, tobacco, and dried fish. The other portion is reserved for food. The Cheruman spends the greater part of his wages on toddy. It is a very common sight in Malabar to see a group of Cherumans, including women and children, sitting in front of a toddy shop, the Cheruman transferring the unfinished portion of the toddy to his wife, and the latter to the children. A Cheruman, however, rarely gets intoxicated, or commits crime. No recess is allowed to the Cherumans, except on national holidays and celebrated temple festivals observed in honour of the goddess Bhagavati or Kali, when they are quite free to indulge in drink. On these days, their hire is given in advance. With this they get intoxicated, and go to the poora-paramba or temple premises, where the festival is celebrated, in batches of four, each one tying his hands to another’s neck, and reciting every two seconds the peculiar sound:

Lalle lalle lalle ho.

Lalle lalle lalle ho.

“On the European plantations in the Wynad the Cherumans are in great request, and many are to be seen travelling nowadays without fear in railway carriages on their way to the plantations. A few also work in the gold mines of Mysore.”

Like other servile classes, the Cherumans possess special privileges on special occasions. For example, at the chal (furrow) ceremony in Malabar “the master of the house, the cultivating agent, and Cherumans assemble in the barn, a portion of the yard in front of the building is painted with rice-water, and a lighted bell-lamp is placed near at hand with some paddy and rice, and several cups made of the leaves of the kanniram (Strychnos nux-vomica)—as many cups as there are varieties of seed in the barn. Then, placing implicit faith in his gods, and deceased ancestors, the master of the house opens the barn door, followed by the Cheruman with a new painted basket containing the leaf cups. The master then takes a handful of seed from a seed-basket, and fills one of the cups, and the cultivating agent, head Cheruman, and others who are interested in a good harvest, fill the cups till the seeds are exhausted. The basket, with the cups, is next taken to the decorated portion of the yard. A new ploughshare is fastened to a new plough, and a pair of cattle are brought on to the scene. Plough, cattle, and basket are all painted with rice-water. A procession proceeds to the fields, on reaching which the head Cheruman lays down the basket, and makes a mound of earth with the spade. To this a little manure is added, and the master throws a handful of seed into it. The cattle are then yoked, and one turn is ploughed by the head Cheruman. Inside this at least seven furrows are made, and the plough is dropped to the right. An offering is made to Ganapathi (the elephant god), and the master throws some seed into a furrow. Next the head Cheruman calls out ‘May the gods on high and the deceased ancestors bless the seed, which has been thrown broadcast, and the cattle which are let loose; the mother and children of the house, the master, and the slaves, may they also vouchsafe to us a good crop, good sunshine, and good harvest.’ A cocoanut is then cut on the ploughshare, and from the cut portions several deductions are made. If the hinder part is larger than the front one, the harvest will be moderate. If the cut passes through the eyes of the nut, or if no water is left in the cut portions, certain misfortune is foreboded. The cut fragments are then taken with a little water inside them, and a leaf of the tulsi plant (Ocimum sanctum) dropped in. If the leaf turns to the right, a prosperous harvest is assured; whereas, if it turns to the left, certain calamity will follow. This ceremonial concluded, there is much shouting, and the names of all the gods may be heard called out in a confused prayer. The party then breaks up, and the unused seeds are divided among the workmen.”32 At the ceremony in Malabar, when the transplantation of rice is completed, during which a goat is sacrificed to Muni, the protector of cattle and field labourers, the officiating priest is generally the cultivation agent of the family, who is a Nayar, or sometimes a Cheruman.

In connection with the harvest ceremonial in Cochin, Mr. Anantha Krishna Iyer writes as follows. “There are some curious customs connected with the harvest, prevailing among the Pulayas of the southern parts of the State. Before reaping, the Pulaya headman asks his master whether he may begin to reap. With his permission, he faces the east, and puts the sickle to the stalks. The first bundle he reserves for the gods of his master, and the second for those of his castemen. Before thrashing, the same headman takes a few bundles of corn from the sheaf intended for their gods, and sprinkles toddy on them. Another Pulayan does the same for the various reapers, and says, as he does so ‘Come, thrashing corn, increase.’ This is called filling the thrashing floor, and each man thrashes his own sheaves. When the thrashing is over, the headman puts his master’s sheaf in the centre of the floor, and his own at a short distance outside, in order that the two sets of gods may look kindly on them. The headman is privileged to measure the corn sitting with his two assistants, saying ‘Come, paddy, increase,’ as he counts. He also calls out ‘Good paddy, one’, ‘bad paddy, two’, and so on, until he counts ten. The eleventh is the share for the reaper. He takes a handful, and places it in a basket, half of which falls to him, his assistants and the watchman, while the other half is given away in charity to the poor men that come to the thrashing place. In the northern parts of the State, before reaping, offerings of goats, fowls, and cocoanuts, are made to Mallan and Muni. The Cheruma headman faces east, and applies his sickle to the stalks, reserving the first stalk for the deities above mentioned. The corn is thrashed and measured by one of them, and, as he does so, he says ‘Labham’ (profit) for one, ‘Chetham’ (loss) for two, and counts up to ten. The eleventh goes to the share of the reapers. Thus they get one para for every ten paras of corn. The poor people that attend are also given a handful of the grain. After reaping, the members of the castes named in the table below receive a small portion of the corn for their services rendered to the farmers in the course of the months during which cultivation has been carried on:—

“The Pulayans receive, in return for watching, a small portion of the field near the watchman’s rest-hut, which is left unreaped for him. It fetches him a para of paddy.

“The Cherumas who are engaged in reaping get two bundles of corn each for every field. For measuring the corn from the farmyard, a Cheruman gets an edangazhy of paddy, in addition to his daily wage. Three paras of paddy are set apart for the local village deity. During the month of Karkadakam, the masters give every Cheruman a fowl, some oil, garlic, mustard, anise seeds, pepper, and turmeric. They prepare a decoction of seeds, and boil the flesh of the fowl in it, which they take for three days, during which they are allowed to take rest. Three days’ wages are also given in advance.”

In Travancore, a festival named Macam is held, of which the following account has been published.33 “The Macam (tenth constellation Regulus, which follows Thiru Onam in August), is regarded by Hindus as a day of great festivity. One must enjoy it even at the cost of one’s children, so runs an adage. The day is considered to be so lucky that a girl born under the star Regulus is verily born with a silver spoon in her mouth. It was on Macam, some say, that the Devas, to free themselves from the curse they were put under by a certain sage, had to churn the sea of milk to procure ambrosia. Be the cause which led to the celebration what it may, the Hindus of the present day have ever been enthusiastic in its observance; only some of the rude customs connected with it have died out in the course of time, or were put a stop to by Government. Sham fights were, and are still, in some places a feature of the day. Such a sham fight used to be carried on at Pallam until, about a hundred years ago, it was stopped through the intervention of Colonel Munro, the British Resident in Travancore. The place is still called Patanilam (battle field), and the tank, on opposite sides of which the contending parties assembled, Chorakulam (pool of blood). The steel swords and spears, of curious and various shapes, and shields large enough to cover a man, are even now preserved in the local temple. Many lives were lost in these fights. It is not generally known, even to people in these parts, that a sham fight takes place on Macam and the previous day every year at a place called Wezhapra, between the Changanacherry and Ambalapuzha taluks. Three banyan trees mark the place. People, especially Pulayas and Pariahs, to the number of many thousands, collect round the outside trees with steel swords, spears, and slings in their hands. A small bund (embankment) separates the two parties. They have to perform certain religious rites near the tree which stands in the middle, and, in doing so, make some movements with their swords and spears to the accompaniment of music. If those standing on one side of the bund cross it, a regular fight is the result. In order to avoid such things, without at the same time interfering with their liberty to worship at the spot, the Government this year made all the necessary arrangements. The Police were sent for the purpose. Everything went off smoothly but for one untoward event. The people had been told not to come armed with steel weapons, but with wooden ones. They had to put them down, and were then allowed to go and worship.”

Of conversion to Muhammadanism at the present time, a good example is afforded by the Cherumans. “This caste,” the Census Superintendent, 1881, writes, “numbered 99,009 in Malabar at the census of 1871, and, in 1881, is returned as only 64,735. There are 40,000 fewer Cherumans than there would have been but for some disturbing influence, and this is very well known to be conversion to Muhammadanism. The honour of Islam once conferred on the Cheruman, he moves at one spring several places higher than that which he originally occupied.” “Conversion to Muhammadanism,” Mr. Logan writes, “has had a marked effect in freeing the slave caste in Malabar from their former burthens. By conversion a Cheruman obtains a distinct rise in the social scale, and, if he is in consequence bullied or beaten, the influence of the whole Muhammadan community comes to his aid.” It has been noted34 that Cheruman converts to Islam take part in the Moplah (Mappilla) outbreaks, which from time to time disturb the peace of Malabar.

The home of the Cheruman is called a chala or hut, which has a thatched roof of grass and palm-leaves resembling an immense bee-hive. A big underground cell, with a ceiling of planks, forms the granary of the occupants of these huts. The chief house furniture consists of a pestle and mortar, and two or three earthenware pots.

The habitations of the Pulayas of Cochin are thus described by Mr. Anantha Krishna Iyer. “Their huts are generally called madams, which are put up on the banks of fields, in the middle of rice flats, or on trees along their borders, so as to enable them to watch the crops after the toils of the day. They are discouraged from erecting better huts, under the idea that, if settled more comfortably, they would be less inclined to move as cultivation required. The madams are very poor huts, supported on four small posts, and thatched with leaves. The sides are protected with the same kind of leaves. There is only one room, and the floor, though slightly raised, is very damp during the rainy months. These temporary buildings are removed after the harvest, and put up in places where cultivation has to be carried on. All the members of the family sleep together in the same hut. Small temporary huts are sometimes erected, which are little better than inverted baskets. These are placed in the rice field while the crop is on the ground, and near the stacks while it is being thrashed. In the northern parts of the State, the Pulaya huts are made of mud walls, and provided with wooden doors. The roofs are of bamboo framework thatched with palmyra palm leaves. The floor is raised, and the huts are provided with pyals (raised platforms) on three sides. They have also small compounds (grounds) around them. There is only one room inside, which is the sleeping apartment of the newly married youngsters. The others, I am told, sleep on the verandahs. The utensils consist of a few earthen pots for cooking and keeping water, and a few earthen dishes for taking food. In addition to these, I found a wooden mortar, a few pestles, two pans, two winnowing pans, a fish basket for each woman, a few cocoanut shells for keeping salt and other things, a few baskets of their own making, in one of which a few dirty cloths were placed, some mats of their own making, a bamboo vessel for measuring corn, and a vessel for containing toddy.”

“During the rainy season, the Cherumas in the field wear a few green leaves, especially those of the plantain tree, tied round their waists, and a small cone-shaped cap, made of plantain leaf, is worn on the head. This practice, among the females, has fallen into disuse in Malabar, though it is to some extent still found in the Native States. The Cherumi is provided with one long piece of thick cloth, which she wraps round her waist, and which does not even reach the knees. She does not cover the chest.”35 The Cheruma females have been described as wearing, when at work in the open, a big oval-shaped handleless umbrella covered with palm leaves, which they place on their back, and which covers the whole of their person in the stooping attitude. The men use, during the rainy season, a short-handled palm-leaf umbrella.

The women are profusely decorated with cheap jewelry of which the following are examples:

1. Lobes of both ears widely dilated by rolled leaden ornaments. Brass, and two glass bead necklets, string necklet with flat brass ornaments, the size of a Venetian sequin, with device as in old Travancore gold coins, with two brass cylinders pendent behind, and tassels of red cotton. Three brass rings on right little finger; two on left ring finger, one brass and two steel bangles on left wrist.

2. Several bead necklets, and a single necklet of many rows of beads. Brass necklet like preceding, with steel prong and scoop, for removing wax from the ears and picking teeth, tied to one of the necklets. Attached to, and pendent from one necklet, three palm leaf rolls with symbols and Malayalam inscription to act as a charm in driving away devils. Three ornamental brass bangles on right forearm, two on left. Iron bangle on left wrist. Thin brass ring in helix of each ear. Seventy thin brass rings (alandoti) with heavy brass ornament (adikaya) in dilated lobe of each ear.

3. In addition to glass bead necklets, a necklet with heavy heart-shaped brass pendants. String round neck to ward off fever.

4. String necklet with five brass cylinders pendent; five brass bangles on right wrist; six brass and two iron bangles on left wrist.

Right hand, one copper and five brass rings on middle finger; one iron and three brass rings on little finger.

Left hand, one copper and five brass rings on middle finger; three brass and two copper rings on ring finger; one brass ring on little finger.

5. Trouser button in helix of left ear.

6. Brass bead necklet with pendent brass ornament with legend “Best superior umbrella made in Japan, made for Fazalbhoy Peeroo Mahomed, Bombay.”

A Cheruman, at Calicut, had his hair long and unkempt, as he played the drum at the temple. Another had the hair arranged in four matted plaits, for the cure of disease in performance of a vow. A man who wore a copper cylinder on his loin string, containing a brass strip with mantrams (consecrated formulÆ) engraved on it, sold it to me for a rupee with the assurance that it would protect me from devils.

Concerning the marriage ceremony of the Cherumans in Malabar, Mr. Appadorai Iyer writes that “the bridegroom’s sister is the chief performer. It is she who pays the bride’s price, and carries her off. The consent of the parents is required, and is signified by an interchange of visits between the parents of the bride and bridegroom. During these visits, rice-water (conji) is sipped. Before tasting the conji, they drop a fanam (local coin) into the vessel containing it, as a token of assent to the marriage. When the wedding party sets out, a large congregation of Cherumans follow, and at intervals indulge in stick play, the women singing in chorus to encourage them ‘Let us see, let us see the stick play (vadi tallu), Oh! Cheruman.’ The men and women mingle indiscriminately in the dance during the wedding ceremony. On the return to the bridegroom’s hut, the bride is expected to weep loudly, and deplore her fate. On entering the bridegroom’s hut, she must tread on a pestle placed across the threshold.” During the dance, the women have been described as letting down their hair, and dancing with a tolerable amount of rhythmic precision amid vigorous drumming and singing. According to another account, the bridegroom receives from his brother-in-law a kerchief, which the giver ties round his waist, and a bangle which is placed on his arm. The bride receives a pewter vessel from her brother. Next her cousin ties a kerchief round the groom’s forehead, and sticks a betel leaf in it. The bride is then handed over to the bridegroom.

Of the puberty and marriage ceremonies of the Pulayas of Cochin, the following detailed account is given by Mr. Anantha Krishna Iyer. “When a Pulaya girl comes of age, she is located in a separate hut. Five Vallons (headmen), and the castemen of the kara (settlement), are invited to take part in the performance of the ceremony. A song, called malapattu, is sung for an hour by a Parayan to the accompaniment of drum and pipe. The Parayan gets a para of paddy, and his assistants three annas each. As soon as this is over, seven cocoanuts are broken, and the water thereof is poured over the head of the girl, and the broken halves are distributed among the five Vallons and seven girls who are also invited to be present. Some more water is also poured on the girl’s head at the time. She is lodged in a temporary hut for seven days, during which food is served to her at a distance. She is forbidden to go out and play with her friends. On the morning of the seventh day, the Vallons of the kara and the castemen are again invited. The latter bring with them some rice, vegetables, and toddy, to defray the expenses of the feast. At dawn, the mother of the girl gives oil to the seven Pulaya maidens, and to her daughter for an oil-bath. They then go to a neighbouring tank (pond) or stream to bathe, and return home. The girl is then neatly dressed, and adorned in her best. Her face is painted yellow, and marked with spots of various colours. She stands before a few Parayas, who play on their flute and drum, to cast out the demons, if any, from her body. The girl leaps with frantic movements, if she is possessed by them. In that case, they transfer them to a tree close by driving a nail into the trunk after due offerings. If she is not possessed, she remains unmoved, and the Parayas bring the music to a close. The girl is again bathed with her companions, who are all treated to a dinner. The ceremony then comes to an end with a feast to the castemen. The ceremony described is performed by the Valluva Pulayas in the southern parts, near and around the suburbs of Cochin, but is unknown among other sub-tribes elsewhere. The devil-driving by the Parayas is not attended to. Nor is a temporary hut erected for the girl to be lodged in. She is allowed to remain in a corner of the hut, but is not permitted to touch others. She is bathed on the seventh day, and the castemen, friends and relations, are invited to a feast.

“Marriage is prohibited among members of the same koottam (family group). In the Chittur taluk, members of the same village do not intermarry, for they believe that their ancestors may have been the slaves of some local landlord, and, as such, the descendants of the same parents. A young man may marry among the relations of his father, but not among those of his mother. In the Palghat taluk, the Kanakka Cherumas pride themselves on the fact that they avoid girls within seven degrees of relationship. The marriage customs vary according to the sub-division. In the southern parts of the State, Pulaya girls are married before puberty, while in other places, among the Kanakka Cherumas and other sub-tribes, they are married both before and after puberty. In the former case, when a girl has not been married before puberty, she is regarded as having become polluted, and stigmatised as a woman whose age is known. Her parents and uncles lose all claim upon her. They formally drive her out of the hut, and proceed to purify it by sprinkling water mixed with cow-dung both inside and outside, and also with sand. She is thus turned out of caste. She was, in former times, handed over to the Vallon, who either married her to his own son, or sold her to a slave master. If a girl is too poor to be married before puberty, the castemen of the kara raise a subscription, and marry her to one of themselves.

“When a young Pulayan wishes to marry, he applies to his master, who is bound to defray the expenses. He gives seven fanams36 to the bride’s master, one fanam worth of cloth to the bride-elect, and about ten fanams for the marriage feast. In all, his expenses amount to ten rupees. The ceremony consists in tying a ring attached to a thread round the neck of the bride. This is provided by her parents. When he becomes tired of his wife, he may dispose of her to any other person who will pay the expenses incurred at the marriage. There are even now places where husband and wife serve different masters, but more frequently they serve the same master. The eldest male child belongs to the master of the mother. The rest of the family remain with the mother while young, but, being the property of the owner, revert to him when of an age to be useful. She also follows them, in the event of her becoming a widow. In some places, a man brings a woman to his master, and says that he wishes to keep her as his wife. She receives her allowance of rice, but may leave her husband as she likes, and is not particular in changing one spouse for another. In other places, the marriage ceremonies of the Era Cherumas are more formal. The bridegroom’s party goes to the bride’s hut, and presents rice and betel leaf to the head of the family, and asks for the bride. Consent is indicated by the bride’s brother placing some rice and cloth before the assembly, and throwing rice on the headman of the caste, who is present. On the appointed day, the bridegroom goes to the hut with two companions, and presents the girl with cloth and twelve fanams. From that day he is regarded as her husband, and cohabitation begins at once. But the bride cannot accompany him until the ceremony called mangalam is performed. The bridegroom’s party goes in procession to the bride’s hut, where a feast awaits them. The man gives sweetmeats to the girl’s brother. The caste priest recites the family history of the two persons, and the names of their masters and deities. They are then seated before a lamp and a heap of rice in a pandal (booth). One of the assembly gets up, and delivers a speech on the duties of married life, touching on the evils of theft, cheating, adultery, and so forth. Rice is thrown on the heads of the couple, and the man prostrates himself at the feet of the elders. Next day, rice is again thrown on their heads. Then the party assembled makes presents to the pair, a part of which goes to the priest, and a part to the master of the husband. Divorce is very easy, but the money paid must be returned to the woman.

“In the Ooragam proverthy of the Trichur taluk, I find that the marriage among the Pulayas of that locality and the neighbouring villages is a rude form of sambandham (alliance), somewhat similar to that which prevails among the Nayars, whose slaves a large majority of them are. The husband, if he may be so called, goes to the woman’s hut with his wages, to stay therein with her for the night. They may serve under different masters. A somewhat similar custom prevails among the Pula Cherumas of the Trichur taluk. The connection is called Merungu Kooduka, which means to tame, or to associate with.

“A young man, who wishes to marry, goes to the parents of the young woman, and asks their consent to associate with their daughter. If they approve, he goes to her at night as often as he likes. The woman seldom comes to the husband’s hut to stay with him, except with the permission of the thamar (landlord) on auspicious occasions. They are at liberty to separate at their will and pleasure, and the children born of the union belong to the mother’s landlord. Among the Kanakka Cherumas in the northern parts of the State, the following marital relations are in force. When a young man chooses a girl, the preliminary arrangements are made in her hut, in the presence of her parents, relations, and the castemen of the village. The auspicious day is fixed, and a sum of five fanams is paid as the bride’s price. The members assembled are treated to a dinner. A similar entertainment is held at the bridegroom’s hut to the bride’s parents, uncles, and others who come to see the bridegroom. On the morning of the day fixed for the wedding, the bridegroom and his party go to the bride’s hut, where they are welcomed, and seated on mats in a small pandal put up in front of the hut. A muri (piece of cloth), and two small mundus (cloths) are the marriage presents to the bride. A vessel full of paddy (unhusked rice), a lighted lamp, and a cocoanut are placed in a conspicuous place therein. The bride is taken to the booth, and seated by the side of the bridegroom. Before she enters it, she goes seven times round it, with seven virgins before her. With prayers to their gods for blessings on the couple, the tali (marriage badge) is tied round the bride’s neck. The bridegroom’s sister completes the knot. By a strange custom, the bride’s mother does not approach the bridegroom, lest it should cause a ceremonial pollution. The ceremony is brought to a close with a feast to those assembled. Toddy is an indispensable item of the feast. During the night, they amuse themselves by dancing a kind of wild dance, in which both men and women joyfully take part. After this, the bridegroom goes along to his own hut, along with his wife and his party, where also they indulge in a feast. After a week, two persons from the bride’s hut come to invite the married couple. The bride and bridegroom stay at the bride’s hut for a few days, and cannot return to his hut unless an entertainment, called Vathal Choru, is given him.

“The marriage customs of the Valluva Pulayas in the southern parts of the State, especially in the Cochin and Kanayannur taluks, are more formal. The average age of a young man for marriage is between fifteen and twenty, while that of a girl is between ten and twelve. Before a young Pulayan thinks of marriage, he has to contract a formal and voluntary friendship with another young Pulayan of the same age and locality. If he is not sociably inclined, his father selects one for him from a Pulaya of the same or higher status, but not of the same illam (family group). If the two parents agree among themselves, they meet in the hut of either of them to solemnise it. They fix a day for the ceremony, and invite their Vallon and the castemen of the village. The guests are treated to a feast in the usual Pulaya fashion. The chief guest and the host eat together from the same dish. After the feast, the father of the boy, who has to obtain a friend for his son, enquires of the Vallon and those assembled whether he may be permitted to buy friendship by the payment of money. They give their permission, and the boy’s father gives the money to the father of the selected friend. The two boys then clasp hands, and they are never to quarrel. The new friend becomes from that time a member of the boy’s family. He comes in, and goes out of their hut as he likes. There is no ceremony performed at it, or anything done without consulting him. He is thus an inseparable factor in all ceremonies, especially in marriages. I suspect that the friend has some claims on a man’s wife. The first observance in marriage consists in seeing the girl. The bridegroom-elect, his friend, father and maternal uncle, go to the bride’s hut, to be satisfied with the girl. If the wedding is not to take place at an early date, the bridegroom’s parents have to keep up the claim on the bride-elect by sending presents to her guardians. The presents, which are generally sweetmeats, are taken to her hut by the bridegroom and his friends, who are well fed by the mother of the girl, and are given a few necessaries when they take leave of her the next morning. The next observance is the marriage negotiation, which consists in giving the bride’s price, and choosing an auspicious day in consultation with the local astrologer (Kaniyan). On the evening previous to the wedding, the friends and relations of the bridegroom are treated to a feast in his hut. Next day at dawn, the bridegroom and his friend, purified by a bath, and neatly dressed in a white cloth with a handkerchief tied over it, and with a knife stuck in their girdles, go to the hut of the bride-elect accompanied by his party, and are all well received, and seated on mats spread on the floor. Over a mat specially made by the bride’s mother are placed three measures of rice, some particles of gold, a brass plate, and a plank with a white and red cover on it. The bridegroom, after going seven times round the pandal, stands on the plank, and the bride soon follows making three rounds, when four women hold a cloth canopy over her head, and seven virgins go in front of her. The bride then stands by the side of the bridegroom, and they face each other. Her guardian puts on the wedding necklace a gold bead on a string. Music is played, and prayers are offered up to the sun to bless the necklace which is tied round the neck of the girl. The bridegroom’s friend, standing behind, tightens the knot already made. The religious part of the ceremony is now over, and the bridegroom and bride are taken inside the hut, and food is served to them on the same leaf. Next the guests are fed, and then they begin the poli or subscription. A piece of silk, or any red cloth, is spread on the floor, or a brass plate is placed before the husband. The guests assembled put in a few annas, and take leave of the chief host as they depart. The bride is soon taken to the bridegroom’s hut, and her parents visit her the next day, and get a consideration in return. On the fourth day, the bridegroom and bride bathe and worship the local deity, and, on the seventh day, they return to the bride’s hut, where the tali (marriage badge) is formally removed from the neck of the girl, who is bedecked with brass beads round her neck, rings on her ears, and armlets. The next morning, the mother-in-law presents her son-in-law and his friend with a few necessaries of life, and sends them home with her daughter.

“During the seventh month of pregnancy, the ceremony of puli kuti, or tamarind juice drinking, is performed as among other castes. This is also an occasion for casting out devils, if any, from the body. The pregnant woman is brought back to the hut of her own family. The devil-driver erects a tent-like structure, and covers it with plantain bark and leaves of the cocoanut palm. The flower of an areca palm is fixed at the apex. A cocoanut palm flower is cut out and covered with a piece of cloth, the cut portion being exposed. The woman is seated in front of the tent-like structure with the flower, which symbolises the yet unborn child in the womb, in her lap. The water of a tender cocoanut in spoons made of the leaf of the jack tree (Artocarpus integrifolia) is poured over the cut end by the Vallon, guardian, and brothers and sisters present. The devil-driver then breaks open the flower, and, by looking at the fruits, predicts the sex of the child. If there are fruits at the end nearest the stem, the child will live and, if the number of fruits is even, there will be twins. There will be deaths if any fruit is not well formed. The devil-driver repeats an incantation, whereby he invokes the aid of Kali, who is believed to be present in the tent. He fans the woman with the flower, and she throws rice and a flower on it. He repeats another incantation, which is a prayer to Kali to cast out the devil from her body. This magical ceremony is called Garbha Bali (pregnancy offering). The structure, with the offering, is taken up, and placed in a corner of the compound reserved for gods. The devotee then goes through the remaining forms of the ceremony. She pours into twenty-one leaf spoons placed in front of the tent a mixture of cow’s milk, water of the tender cocoanut, flower, and turmeric powder. Then she walks round the tent seven times, and sprinkles the mixture on it with a palm flower. Next she throws a handful of rice and paddy, after revolving each handful round her head, and then covers the offering with a piece of cloth. She now returns, and her husband puts into her mouth seven globules of prepared tamarind. The devil-driver rubs her body with Phlomis (?) petals and paddy, and thereby finds out whether she is possessed or not. If she is, the devil is driven out with the usual offerings. The devil-driver gets for his services twelve measures and a half of paddy, and two pieces of cloth. The husband should not, during this period, get shaved.

“When a young woman is about to give birth to a child, she is lodged in a small hut near her dwelling, and is attended by her mother and a few elderly women of the family. After the child is born, the mother and the baby are bathed. The woman is purified by a bath on the seventh day. The woman who has acted as midwife draws seven lines on the ground at intervals of two feet from one another, and spreads over them aloe leaves torn to shreds. Then, with burning sticks in the hand, the mother with the baby goes seven times over the leaves backwards and forwards, and is purified. For these seven days, the father should not eat anything made of rice. He lives on toddy, fruits, and other things. The mother remains with her baby in the hut for sixteen days, when she is purified by a bath so as to be free from pollution, after which she goes to the main hut. Her enangathi (relation by marriage) sweeps the hut and compound, and sprinkles water mixed with cow-dung on her body as she returns after the bath. In some places, the bark of athi (Ficus glomerata) and ithi (Ficus Tsiela?) is well beaten and bruised, and mixed with water. Some milk is added to this mixture, which is sprinkled both inside and outside the hut. Only after this do they think that the hut and compound are purified. Among the Cherumas of Palghat, the pollution lasts for ten days.

“The ear-boring ceremony is performed during the sixth or seventh year. The Vallon, who is invited, bores the ears with a sharp needle. The wound is healed by applying cocoanut oil, and the hole is gradually widened by inserting cork, a wooden plug, or a roll of palm leaves. The castemen of the village are invited, and fed. The landlord gives the parents of the girl three paras of paddy, and this, together with what the guests bring, goes to defray the expenses of the ceremony. After the meal they go, with drum-beating, to the house of the landlord, and present him with a para of beaten rice, which is distributed among his servants. The ear-borer receives eight edangazhis of paddy, a cocoanut, a vessel of rice, and four annas.

“A woman found to be having intercourse with a Paraya is outcasted. She becomes a convert to Christianity or Mahomedanism. If the irregularity takes place within the caste, she is well thrashed, and prevented from resorting to the bad practice. In certain cases, when the illicit connection becomes public, the castemen meet with their Vallon, and conduct a regular enquiry into the matter, and pronounce a verdict upon the evidence. If a young woman becomes pregnant before marriage, her lover, should he be a Pulaya, is compelled to marry her, as otherwise she would be placed under a ban. If both are married, the lover is well thrashed, and fined. The woman is taken before a Thandan (Izhuva headman), who, after enquiry, gives her the water of a tender cocoanut, which she is asked to drink, when she is believed to be freed from the sin. Her husband may take her back again as his wife, or she is at liberty to marry another. The Thandan gets a few annas, betel leaves and areca nuts, and tobacco. Both the woman’s father and the lover are fined, and the fine is spent in the purchase of toddy, which is indulged in by those present at the time. In the northern parts of the State, there is a custom that a young woman before marriage mates with one or two paramours with the connivance of her parents. Eventually one of them marries her, but this illicit union ceases at once on marriage.”

Of the death ceremonies among the Cherumas of South Malabar, I gather that “as soon as a Cheruman dies, his jenmi or landlord is apprised of the fact, and is by ancient custom expected to send a field spade, a white cloth, and some oil. The drummers of the community are summoned to beat their drums in announcement of the sad event. This drumming is known as parayadikka. The body is bathed in oil, and the near relatives cover it over with white and red cloths, and take it to the front yard. Then the relatives have a bath, after which the corpse is removed to the burying ground, where a grave is dug. All those who have come to the interment touch the body, which is lowered into the grave after some of the red cloths have been removed. A mound is raised over the grave, a stone placed at the head, another at the feet, and a third in the centre. The funeral cortÈge, composed only of males, then returns to the house, and each member takes a purificatory bath. The red cloths are torn into narrow strips, and a strip handed over as a sacred object to a relative of the deceased. Meanwhile, each relative having on arrival paid a little money to the house people, toddy is purchased, and served to the assembly. The mourners in the house have to fast on the day of the death. Next morning they have a bath, paddy is pounded, and gruel prepared for the abstainers. An elder of the community, the Avakasi, prepares a little basket of green palm leaves. He takes this basket, and hangs it on a tree in the southern part of the compound (grounds). The gruel is brought out, and placed on a mortar in the same part of the compound. Spoons are made out of jack (Artocarpus integrifolia) leaves, and the elder serves out the gruel. Then the relatives, who have gathered again, make little gifts of money and rice to the house people. Vegetable curry and rice are prepared, and served to the visitors. A quaint ceremony called ooroonulka is next gone through. A measure of rice and a measure of paddy in husk are mixed, and divided into two shares. Four quarter-anna pieces are placed on one heap, and eight on the other. The former share is made over to the house people, and from the latter the Avakasi removes four of the coins, and presents one to each of the four leading men present. These four men must belong to the four several points of the compass. The remaining copper is taken by the elder. From his share of rice and paddy he gives a little to be parched and pounded. This is given afterwards to the inmates. The visitors partake of betel and disperse, being informed that the Polla or post-obituary ceremony will come off on the thirteenth day. On the forenoon of this day, the relatives again gather at the mourning place. The inmates of the house bathe, and fish and rice are brought for a meal. A little of the fish is roasted over a fire, and each one present just nibbles at it. This is done to end pollution. After this the fish may be freely eaten. Half a seer or a measure of rice is boiled, reduced to a pulpy mass, and mixed with turmeric powder. Parched rice and the powder that remains after the rice has been pounded, a cocoanut and tender cocoanut, some turmeric powder, plantain leaves, and the rice that was boiled and coloured with turmeric, are then taken to the burial ground by the Avakasi, a singer known as a Kalladi or Moonpatkaren, and one or two close relatives of the departed. With the pulped rice the elder moulds the form of a human being. At the head of the grave a little mound is raised, cabalistic lines are drawn across it with turmeric, and boiled rice powder and a plantain leaf placed over the lines. The cocoanut is broken, and its kernel cut out in rings, each of which is put over the effigy, which is then placed recumbent on the plantain leaf. Round the mound, strings of jungle leaves are placed. Next the elder drives a pole into the spot where the chest of the dead person would be, and it is said that the pole must touch the chest. On one side of the pole the tender cocoanut is cut and placed, and on the other a shell containing some toddy. Then a little copper ring is tied on to the top of the pole, oil from a shell is poured over the ring, and the water from the tender cocoanut and toddy are in turn similarly poured. After this mystic rite, the Kalladi starts a mournful dirge in monotone, and the other actors in the solemn ceremony join in the chorus. The chant tells of the darkness and the nothingness that were before the creation of the world, and unfolds a fanciful tale of how the world came to be created. The chant has the weird refrain Oh! ho! Oh! ho. On its conclusion, the effigy is left at the head of the grave, but the Kalladi takes away the pole with him. The performers bathe and return to the house of mourning, where the Kalladi gets into a state of afflation. The spirit of the departed enters into him, and speaks through him, telling the mourners that he is happy, and does not want them to grieve over much for him. The Kalladi then enters the house, and, putting a heap of earth in the corner of the centre room, digs the pole into it. A light is brought and placed there, as also some toddy, a tender cocoanut, and parched rice. The spirit of the deceased, speaking again through the Kalladi, thanks his people for their gifts, and beseeches them to think occasionally of him, and make him periodical offerings. The assembly then indulge in a feed. Rice and paddy are mixed together and divided into two portions, to one of which eight quarter-annas, and to the other twelve quarter-annas are added. The latter share falls to the Avakasi, while from the former the mixture and one quarter-anna go to the Kalladi, and a quarter-anna to each of the nearest relatives. The basket which had been hung up earlier in the day is taken down and thrown away, and the jenmi’s spade is returned to him.”37

It is noted by Mr. Logan that “the Cherumans, like other classes, observe death pollution. But, as they cannot at certain seasons afford to be idle for fourteen days consecutively, they resort to an artifice to obtain this end. They mix cow-dung and paddy, and make it into a ball, and place the ball in an earthen pot, the mouth of which they carefully close with clay. The pot is laid in a corner of the hut, and, as long as it remains unopened, they remain free from pollution, and can mix among their fellows. On a convenient day they open the pot, and are instantly seized with pollution, which continues for forty days. Otherwise fourteen days consecutive pollution is all that is required. On the forty-first or fifteenth day, as the case may be, rice is thrown to the ancestors, and a feast follows.”

The following account of the death ceremonies is given by Mr. Anantha Krishna Iyer. “When a Pulayan is dead, the castemen in the neighbourhood are informed. An offering is made to the Kodungallur Bhagavati, who is believed by the Pulayas to watch over their welfare, and is regarded as their ancestral deity. Dead bodies are generally buried. The relatives, one by one, bring a new piece of cloth, with rice and paddy tied at its four corners, for throwing over the corpse. The cloth is placed thereon, and they cry aloud three times, beating their breasts, after which they retire. A few Parayas are invited to beat drums, and play on their musical instruments—a performance which is continued for an hour or two. After this, a few bits of plantain leaves, with rice flour and paddy, are placed near the corpse, to serve as food for the spirit of the dead. The bier is carried to the graveyard by six bearers, three on each side. The pit is dug, and the body covered with a piece of cloth. After it has been lowered into it, the pit is filled in with earth. Twenty-one small bits of leaves are placed over the grave, above the spot where the mouth of the dead man is, with a double-branched twig fixed to the centre, a cocoanut is cut open, and its water is allowed to flow in the direction of the twig which represents the dead man’s mouth. Such of the members of the family as could not give him kanji (rice gruel) or boiled rice before death, now give it to him. The six coffin-bearers prostrate themselves before the corpse, three on each side of the grave. The priest then puts on it a ripe and tender cocoanut for the spirit of the dead man to eat and drink. Then all go home, and indulge in toddy and aval (beaten rice). The priest gets twelve measures of rice, the grave-diggers twelve annas, the Vallon two annas, and the coffin-bearers each an anna. The son or nephew is the chief mourner, who erects a mound of earth on the south side of the hut, and uses it as a place of worship. For seven days, both morning and evening, he prostrates himself before it, and sprinkles the water of a tender cocoanut on it. On the eighth day, his relatives, friends, the Vallon, and the devil-driver assemble together. The devil-driver turns round and blows his conch, and finds out the position of the ghost, whether it has taken up its abode in the mound, or is kept under restraint by some deity. Should the latter be the case, the ceremony of deliverance has to be performed, after which the spirit is set up as a household deity. The chief mourner bathes early in the morning, and offers a rice-ball (pinda bali) to the departed spirit. This he continues for fifteen days. On the morning of the sixteenth day, the members of the family bathe to free themselves from pollution, and their enangan cleans the hut and the compound by sweeping and sprinkling water mixed with cow-dung. He also sprinkles the members of the family, as they return after the bath. The chief mourner gets shaved, bathes, and returns to the hut. Some boiled rice, paddy, and pieces of cocoanut, are placed on a plantain leaf, and the chief mourner, with the members of his family, calls on the spirit of the dead to take them. Then they all bathe, and return home. The castemen, who have assembled there by invitation, are sumptuously fed. The chief mourner allows his hair to grow as a sign of mourning (diksha), and, after the expiry of the year, a similar feast is given to the castemen.”

The Cherumans are said by Mr. Gopal Panikkar to “worship certain gods, who are represented by rude stone images. What few ceremonies are in force amongst them are performed by priests selected from their own ranks, and these priests are held in great veneration by them. They kill cocks as offerings to these deities, who are propitiated by the pouring on some stones placed near them of the fresh blood that gushes from the necks of the birds.” The Cherumans are further said to worship particular sylvan gods, garden deities, and field goddesses. In a note on cannibalism,38 the writer states that “some sixteen years ago a Nair was murdered in Malabar by some Cherumans. The body was mutilated, and, on my asking the accused (who freely confessed their crime) why had this been done? they answered ‘Tinnal papam tirum, i.e., if one eats, the sin will cease’.” It is a common belief among various castes of Hindus that one may kill, provided it is done for food, and this is expressed in the proverb Konnapavam thinnal thirum, or the sin of killing is wiped away by eating. The Cheruman reply probably referred only to the wreaking of vengeance, and consequent satisfaction, which is often expressed by the lower classes in the words pasi thirndadu, or hunger is satisfied.

Concerning the religion of the Pulayas, Mr. Anantha Krishna Iyer writes as follows. “The Pulayas are animists, but are slowly coming on to the higher forms of worship. Their gods are Parakutty, Karinkutty, Chathan, and the spirits of their ancestors. Offerings to these gods are given on Karkadaka and Makara Sankrantis, Onam, Vishu, and other auspicious days, when one of the Pulayas present turns Velichapad (oracle), and speaks to the assembly as if by inspiration. They are also devout worshippers of Kali or Bhagavati, whose aid is invoked in all times of danger and illness. They take part in the village festivals celebrated in honour of her. Kodungallur Bhagavati is their guardian deity. The deity is represented by an image or stone on a raised piece of ground in the open air. Their priest is one of their own castemen, and, at the beginning of the new year, he offers to the goddess fowls, fruits, and toddy. The Pulayas also believe that spirits exercise an influence over the members of their families, and therefore regular offerings are given to them every year on Sankranti days. The chief festivals in which the Pulayas take part are the following:—

1. Pooram Vela.—This, which may be described as the Saturnalia of Malabar, is an important festival held at the village Bhagavati temple. It is a festival, in which the members of all castes below Brahmans take part. It takes place either in Kumbham (February–March), or Meenam (March–April). The Cherumas of the northern part, as well as the Pulayas of the southern parts of the State, attend the festival after a sumptuous meal and toddy drinking, and join the procession. Toy horses are made, and attached to long bamboo poles, which are carried to the neighbourhood of the temple. As they go, they leap and dance to the accompaniment of pipe and drum. One among them who acts as a Velichapad (devil-dancer) goes in front of them, and, after a good deal of dancing and loud praying in honour of the deity, they return home.

2. Vittu Iduka.—This festival consists in putting seeds, or bringing paddy seeds to the temple of the village Bhagavati. This also is an important festival, which is celebrated on the day of Bharani, the second lunar day in Kumbham. Standing at a distance assigned to them by the village authorities, where they offer prayers to Kali, they put the paddy grains, which they have brought, on a bamboo mat spread in front of them, after which they return home. In the Chittur taluk, there is a festival called Kathiru, celebrated in honour of the village goddess in the month of Vrischikam (November-December), when these people start from the farms of their masters, and go in procession, accompanied with the music of pipe and drum. A special feature of the Kathiru festival is the presence, at the temple of the village goddess, of a large number of dome-like structures made of bamboo and plantain stems, richly ornamented, and hung with flowers, leaves, and ears of corn. These structures are called sarakootams, and are fixed on a pair of parallel bamboo poles. These agrestic serfs bear them in grand processions, starting from their respective farms, with pipe and drum, shouting and dancing, and with fireworks. Small globular packets of palmyra leaves, in which are packed handfuls of paddy rolled up in straw, are also carried by them in huge bunches, along with the sarakootams. These packets are called kathirkootoos (collection of ears of corn), and are thrown among the crowd of spectators all along the route of the procession, and also on arrival at the temple. The spectators, young and old, scramble to obtain as many of the packets as possible, and carry them home. They are then hung in front of the houses, for it is believed that their presence will help in promoting the prosperity of the family until the festival comes round again next year. The greater the number of these trophies obtained for a family by its members, the greater, it is believed, will be the prosperity of the family. The festival is one of the very few occasions on which Pulayas and other agrestic serfs, who are supposed to impart, so to speak, a long distant atmospheric pollution, are freely allowed to enter villages, and worship in the village temples, which generally occupy central positions in the villages. Processions carrying sarakootams and kathirkootoos start from the several farms surrounding the village early enough to reach the temple about dusk in the evening, when the scores of processions that have made their way to the temple merge into one great concourse of people. The sarakootams are arranged in beautiful rows in front of the village goddess. The Cherumas dance, sing, and shout to their hearts content. Bengal lights are lighted, and fireworks exhibited. Kathirkootoos are thrown by dozens and scores from all sides of the temple. The crowd then disperses. All night, the Pulayas and other serfs, who have accompanied the procession to the temple, are, in the majority of cases, fed by their respective masters at their houses, and then all go back to the farms.

3. Mandalam Vilakku.—This is a forty-one days’ festival in Bhagavati temples, extending from the first of Vrischikam (November-December) to the tenth of Dhanu (December-January), during which temples are brightly illuminated both inside and outside at night. There is much music and drum-beating at night, and offerings of cooked peas or Bengal gram, and cakes, are made to the goddess, after which they are distributed among those present. The forty-first day, on which the festival terminates, is one of great celebration, when all castemen attend at the temple. The Cherumas, Malayars, and Eravallars attend the festival in Chittur. They also attend the Konga Pata festival there. In rural parts of the State, a kind of puppet show performance (olapava koothu) is acted by Kusavans (potters) and Tamil Chettis, in honour of the village deity, to which they contribute their share of subscription. They also attend the cock festival of Cranganore, and offer sacrifices of fowls.”

For the following note on the religion of the Pulayas of Travancore, I am indebted to Mr. N. Subramani Iyer. “The Pulayas worship the spirits of deceased ancestors, known as Chavars. The Matan, and the Anchu Tamprakkal, believed by the better informed section of the caste to be the five Pandavas, are specially adored. The Pulayas have no temples, but raise squares in the midst of groves, where public worship is offered. Each Pulaya places three leaves near each other, containing raw rice, beaten rice, and the puveri (flowers) of the areca palm. He places a flower on each of these leaves, and prays with joined hands. Chavars are the spirits of infants, who are believed to haunt the earth, harassed by a number of unsatisfied cravings. This species of supernatural being is held in mingled respect and terror by Pulayas, and worshipped once a year with diverse offerings. Another class of deities is called Tevaratumpuran, meaning gods whom high caste Hindus are in the habit of worshipping at Parassalay; the Pulayas are given certain special concessions on festival days. Similar instances may be noted at Ochira, Kumaranallur, and Nedumangad. At the last mentioned shrine, Mateer writes,39 ‘where two or three thousand people, mostly Sudras and Izhuvas, attend for the annual festival in March, one-third of the whole are Parayas, Kuravas, Vedars, Kanikkars, and Pulayas, who come from all parts around. They bring with them wooden models of cows, neatly hung over, and covered, in imitation of shaggy hair, with ears of rice. Many of these images are brought, each in a separate procession from its own place. The headmen are finely dressed with cloths stained purple at the edge. The image is borne on a bamboo frame, accompanied by a drum, and men and women in procession, the latter wearing quantities of beads, such as several strings of red, then several of white, or strings of beads, and then a row of brass ornaments like rupees, and all uttering the Kurava cry. These images are carried round the temple, and all amuse themselves for the day.’ By far the most curious of the religious festivals of the Pulayas is what is known as the Pula Saturday in Makaram (January-February) at Sastamkotta in the Kunnattur taluk. It is an old observance, and is most religiously gone through by the Pulayas every year. The Valluvan, or caste priest, leads the assembled group to the vicinity of the banyan tree in front of the temple, and offerings of a diverse nature, such as paddy, roots, plantain fruits, game, pulse, coins, and golden threads are most devoutly made. Pulayas assemble for this ceremony from comparatively distant places. A deity, who is believed to be the most important object of worship among the Pulayas, is Utaya Tampuran, by which name they designate the rising sun. Exorcism and spirit-dancing are deeply believed in, and credited with great remedial virtues. The Kokkara, or iron rattle, is an instrument that is freely used to drive out evil spirits. The Valluvan who offers animal sacrifices becomes immediately afterwards possessed, and any enquiries may be put to him without it being at all difficult for him to furnish a ready answer. In North Travancore, the Pulayas have certain consecrated buildings of their own, such as Kamancheri, Omkara Bhagavathi, Yakshi Ampalam, Pey Koil, and Valiyapattu Muttan, wherein the Valluvan performs the functions of priesthood. The Pulayas believe in omens. To see another Pulaya, to encounter a Native Christian, to see an Izhuva with a vessel in the hand, a cow behind, a boat containing rice or paddy sacks, etc., are regarded as good omens. On the other hand, to be crossed by a cat, to see a fight between animals, to be encountered by a person with a bundle of clothes, to meet people carrying steel instruments, etc., are looked upon as very bad omens. The lizard is not believed to be a prophet, as it is by members of the higher castes.”

Concerning the caste government of the Pulayas of Travancore, Mr. Subramania Iyer writes as follows. “The Ayikkara Yajamanan, or Ayikkara Tamara (king) is the head of the Pulaya community. He lives at Vayalar in the Shertalley taluk in North Travancore, and takes natural pride in a lace cap, said to have been presented to one of his ancestors by the great Cheraman Perumal. Even the Parayas of North Travancore look upon him as their legitimate lord. Under the Tamara are two nominal headmen, known as Tatteri Achchan and Mannat Koil Vallon. It is the Ayikkara Tamara who appoints the Valluvans, or local priests, for every kara, for which they are obliged to remunerate him with a present of 336 chuckrams. The Pulayas still keep accounts in the earliest Travancorean coins (chuckrams). The Valluvan always takes care to obtain a written authority from the Tamara, before he begins his functions. For every marriage, a sum of 49 chuckrams and four mulikkas40 have to be given to the Tamara, and eight chuckrams and one mulikka to the Valluvan. The Valluvan receives the Tamara’s dues, and sends them to Vayalar once or twice a year. Beyond the power of appointing Valluvans and other office-bearers, the authority of the Tamara extends but little. The Valluvans appointed by him prefer to call themselves Head Valluvans, as opposed to the dignitaries appointed in ancient times by temple authorities and other Brahmans, and have a general supervising power over the Pulayas of the territory that falls under their jurisdiction. Every Valluvan possesses five privileges, viz., (1) the long umbrella, or an umbrella with a long bamboo handle; (2) the five-coloured umbrella; (3) the bracelet of honour; (4) a long gold ear-ring; (5) a box for keeping betel leaves. They are also permitted to sit on stools, to make use of carpets, and to employ kettle-drums at marriage ceremonials. The staff of the Valluvan consists of (1) the Kuruppan or accountant, who assists the Valluvan in the discharge of his duties; (2) the Komarattan or exorciser; (3) the Kaikkaran or village representative; (4) the Vatikkaran, constable or sergeant. The Kuruppan has diverse functions to perform, such as holding umbrellas, and cutting cocoanuts from trees, on ceremonial occasions. The Vatikkaran is of special importance at the bath that succeeds a Pulaya girl’s first menses. Adultery is looked upon as the most heinous of offences, and used to be met with condign punishment in times of old. The woman was required to thrust her hand into a vessel of boiling oil, and the man was compelled to pay a fine of 336 or 64 chuckrams, according as the woman with whom he connected himself was married or not, and was cast out of society after a most cruel rite called Ariyum Pirayum Tittukka, the precise nature of which does not appear to be known. A married woman is tried by the Valluvan and other officers, when she shows disobedience to her husband.”

It is noted by Mr. Anantha Krishna Iyer, that, “in the Palghat taluk of South Malabar, it is said that the Cherumas in former times used to hold grand meetings for cases of theft, adultery, divorce, etc., at Kannati Kutti Vattal. These assemblies consisted of the members of their caste in localities between Valayar forests and Karimpuzha (in Valluvanad taluk), and in those between the northern and southern hills. It is also said that their deliberations used to last for several days together. In the event of anybody committing a crime, the punishment inflicted on him was a fine of a few rupees, or sometimes a sound thrashing. To prove his innocence, a man had to swear ‘By Kannati Swarupam (assembly) I have not done it.’ It was held so sacred that no Cheruman who had committed a crime would swear falsely by this assembly. As time went on, they found it difficult to meet, and so left off assembling together.”

In connection with the amusements of the Pulayas, Mr. Anantha Krishna Iyer writes that “their games appear to be connected in some way with their religious observances. Their favourite dance is the kole kali, or club dance. A party of ten or twelve men, provided with sticks, each a yard in length, stand in a circle, and move round, striking at the sticks, keeping time with their feet, and singing at the same time. The circle is alternately widened and narrowed. Vatta kali is another wild dance. This also requires a party of ten or twelve men, and sometimes young women join them. The party move in a circle, clapping their hands while they sing a kind of rude song. In thattinmel kali, four wooden poles are firmly stuck in the ground, two of which are connected by two horizontal pieces of wood, over which planks are arranged. A party of Pulayas dance on the top of this, to the music of their pipe and drum. This is generally erected in front of the Bhagavati temple, and the dancing takes place immediately after the harvest. This is intended to propitiate the goddess. Women perform a circular dance on the occasions of marriage celebrations.”

The Cherumas and Pulayas are, like the Koragas of South Canara, short of stature, and dark-skinned. The most important measurements of the Cherumans whom I investigated at Calicut were as follows:—

Cheruppu-katti (shoemaker).—Said to be a Malayalam synonym for Madiga.

Chetti.—It is noted in the Census Report, 1891, that “the name Chetti is used both to denote a distinct caste, and also a title, and people bearing this title describe themselves loosely as belonging to the Chetti caste, in the same way as a Vellala will say that he is a Mudali. This use of Chetti has caused some confusion in the returns, for the sub-divisions show that many other castes have been included as well as Chetti proper.” Again, in the Census Report, 1901, it is recorded that “Chetti means trader, and is one of those titular or occupational terms, which are often loosely employed as caste names. The weavers, oil pressers, and others use it as a title, and many more tack it on to their names, to denote that trade is their occupation. Strictly employed, it is nevertheless, the name of a true caste.” The Chettis are so numerous, and so widely distributed, that their many sub-divisions differ very greatly in their ways. The best known of them are the Beri Chettis, the Nagarattu Chettis, the Kasukkar Chettis, and the Nattukottai Chettis. Of these, the Beri and Nattukottai Chettis are dealt with in special articles. The following divisions of Chettis, inhabiting the Madura district, are recorded in my notes:—

• (a) Men with head clean-shaved:—
  • Ilavagai or Karnakudi.
  • Sundaraththan.
  • Ariyur.
  • Malampatti.
  • Palayapattu.
  • Thedakottai.
  • Periyakottai-vellan.
  • Puliyangudi.
  • Vallam or Tiruvappur.
  • Kurungalur.
• (b) Men with kudumi (hair knot):—
  • Puvaththukudi or Mannagudi.
  • Kiramangalam.
  • Vallanattu.
  • Marayakkara.
  • Pandukudi or Manjapaththu.

Of these, the Puvaththukudi Chettis, who receive their name from a village in the Tanjore district, are mostly itinerant petty traders and money-lenders, who travel about the country. They carry on their shoulders a bag containing their personal effects, except when they are cooking and sleeping. I am informed that the Puvaththukudi women engage women, presumably with a flow of appropriate language ready for the occasion, to abuse those with whom they have a quarrel. Among the Puvaththukudi Chettis, marriages are, for reasons of economy, only celebrated at intervals of many years. Concerning this custom, a member of the community writes to me as follows. “In our village, marriages are performed only once in ten or fifteen years. My own marriage was celebrated in the year Nandana (1892–93). Then seventy or eighty marriages took place. Since that time, marriages have only taken place in the present year (1906). The god at Avadaiyar kovil (temple) is our caste god. For marriages, we must receive from that temple garlands, sandal, and palanquins. We pay to the temple thirty-five rupees for every bridegroom through our Nagaraththar (village headmen). The expenses incurred in connection with the employment of washermen, barbers, nagasaram (musical instrument) players, talayaris (watchmen), carpenters, potters, blacksmiths, gurukkals (priests), and garland-makers, are borne collectively and shared by the families in which marriages are to take place.” Another Chetti writes that this system of clubbing marriages together is practised at the villages of Puvaththukudi and Mannagudi, and that the marriages of all girls of about seven years of age and upwards are celebrated. The marriages are performed in batches, and the marriage season lasts over several months.

Palayasengadam in the Trichinopoly district is the head-quarters of a section of the Chettis called the Pannirendam (twelfth) Chettis. “These are supposed to be descended from eleven youths who escaped long ago from Kaveripatnam, a ruined city in Tanjore. A Chola king, says the legend, wanted to marry a Chetti; whereupon the caste set fire to the town, and only these eleven boys escaped. They rested on the Ratnagiri hill to divide their property; but however they arranged it, it always divided itself into twelve shares instead of eleven. The god of Ratnagiri then appeared, and asked them to give him one share in exchange for a part of his car. They did so, and they now call themselves the twelfth Chettis from the number of the shares, and at their marriages they carry the bridegroom round in a car. They are said to be common in Coimbatore district.”41

At the census, 1871, some of the less fortunate traders returned themselves as “bankrupt Chettis.”

The following castes and tribes are recorded as having assumed the title Chetti, or its equivalent Setti:—

• Balija. Telugu trading caste.
• Bant. Tulu cultivating caste.
• Bilimagga, Devanga, Patnulkaran, Saliyan, Sedan, Seniyan. All weaving classes.
• Dhobi. Oriya washermen.
• Ganiga. Oil pressers.
• Gamalla. Telugu toddy-drawers.
• Gauda. Canarese cultivators.
• Gudigar. Canarese wood-carvers.
• Jain.
• Janappan. Said to have been originally a section of the Balijas, and manufacturers of gunny-bags.
• Kavarai. Tamil equivalent of Balija.
• Komati. Telugu traders.
• Koracha. A nomad tribe.
• Kudumi. A Travancore caste, which does service in the houses of Konkani Brahmans.
• Mandadan Chetti.
• Medara. Telugu cane splitters and mat makers.
• Nayar. Occupational title of some Nayars of Malabar.
• Pattanavan. Tamil fishermen.
• Pattapu. Fishermen in the Telugu country.
• Senaikkudaiyan. Tamil betel-vine growers and traders.
• Shanan. The great toddy-drawing class of the Tamil country.
• Sonar. Goldsmiths.
• Toreya. Canarese fishermen.
• Uppiliyan. Salt-workers. Some style themselves Karpura (camphor) Chetti, because they used to manufacture camphor.
• Vaniyan. Tamil oil-pressers.
• Wynaadan Chetti.

Of proverbs relating to Chettis,42 the following may be quoted:—

In a note on secret trade languages Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao writes as follows.43 “The most interesting of these, perhaps, is that spoken by petty shopkeepers and cloth merchants of Madras, who are mostly Moodellys and Chettis by caste. Their business mostly consists in ready-money transactions, and so we find that they have a regular table of numerals. Numbers one to ten have been given definite names, and they have been so long in use that most of them do not understand the meaning of the terms they use. Thus madi (mind) stands for one, mind being always represented in the Hindu shastras as a single thing. Vene (act or deed) stands for two, for vene is of two kinds only, nalvene and thivene or good and bad acts. Konam (quality) stands for three, since three different sorts of qualities are recognised in Hindu metaphysics. These are rajasam, thamasam, and sathmikam. Shuruthi stands for four, for the Srutis or Vedas are four in numbers. Sara (arrow) stands for five, after Panchasara, the five-arrowed, a well-known name of Manmatha, the Indian Cupid. Matha represents six, after the shan mathams or six systems of Hindu philosophy. There stands for seven, after the seven oceans recognised by the Sanskrit geographers. Giri (mountain) represents eight, since it stands for ashtagiri or the eight mountains of the Hindus. Mani stands for nine, after navamani, the nine different sorts of precious stones recognised by the Hindus. Thisai represents ten, from the ten points of the compass. The common name for rupee is velle or the white thing. Thangam velle stands for half a rupee, pinji velle for a quarter of a rupee, and pu velle for an eighth of a rupee. A fanam (or 1¼ annas) is known as shulai. The principal objects with which those who use this language have to deal with are padi or measure, velle or rupee, and madi ana, one anna, so that madi padi means one measure, madi velle one rupee, and madi ana one anna. Similarly with the rest of the numerals. The merchants of Trichinopoly have nearly the same table of numerals, but the names for the fractions of a rupee vary considerably. Mundri ana is, with them, one anna; e ana is two annas; pu ana is four annas; pani ana is eight annas and muna ana is twelve annas. Among them also velle stands for a rupee. They have besides another table of numerals in use, which is curious as being formed by certain letters of the Tamil alphabet. Thus pina stands for one, lana for two, laina for three, yana for four, lina for five, mana for six, vana for seven, nana for eight, thina for nine, and thuna for ten. These letters have been strung into the mnemonic phrase Pillayalam Vanthathu, which literally means ‘the children have come’. This table is also used in connection with measures, rupees, and annas. Dealers in coarse country-made cloths all over Madras and the Chingleput district have a table of their own. It is a very complete one from one pie to a thousand rupees. Occasionally Hindu merchants are found using a secret language based on Hindustani. This is the case in one part of Madras city. With them pav khane stands for one anna, ada khane for two annas, pavak ruppe for one rupee, and so on. Brokers have terms of their own. The Tamil phrase padiya par, when used by them, means ask less or say less, according as it is addressed to the purchaser or seller. Similarly, mudukka par means ask a higher price. When a broker says Sivan thambram, it is to be inferred that the price given out by the seller includes his own brokerage. Telugu brokers have similar terms. Among them, the phrase Malasu vakkadu and Nasi vakkadu denote respectively increase the rate, and decrease the rate stated.”

Chevvula (ears).—An exogamous sept of Boya and Golla.

Cheyyakkaran.—A Malayalam form of the Canarese Servegara.

Chikala (broom).—An exogamous sept of Tottiyan.

Chikka (small).—A sub-division of Kurni.

Chikkudu (Dolichos Lablab).—An exogamous sept of Muka Dora.

Chilakala (paroquet).—An exogamous sept of Boya, Kapu and Yanadi.

Chilla (Strychnos potatorum: clearing-nut tree).—An exogamous sept of Kuruba, and sub-division of Tottiyan.

Chimala (ant).—An exogamous sept of Boya and Tsakala.

Chimpiga (tailor).—Recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as a Lingayat sub-caste of Rangari. In the Mysore Census Report, 1901, Darjis are classified as follows:—”(1) Darji, Chippiga, or Namdev; (2) Rangare.” The first three, known by the collective name of Darji, are professional tailors, while the Rangares are also dyers and calico printers.

Chimpiri (rags).—An exogamous sept of Boya.

Chinerigadu.—A class of mendicants connected with the Padma Sales. (See Devanga.)

Chinda.—Recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as a small caste of Oriya cultivators in Ganjam and Vizagapatam.

Chinese-Tamil Cross.—Halting in the course of an anthropological expedition on the western side of the Nilgiri plateau, I came across a small settlement of Chinese, who have squatted for some time on the slopes of the hills between Naduvatam and Gudalur and developed, as the result of alliances with Tamil Pariah women, into a colony, earning a modest livelihood by cultivating vegetables and coffee.

The original Chinese who arrived on the Nilgiris were convicts from the Straits Settlement, where there was no sufficient prison accommodation, who were confined in the Nilgiri jail. It is recorded44 that, in 1868, twelve of the Chinamen “broke out during a very stormy night, and parties of armed police were sent out to scour the hills for them. They were at last arrested in Malabar a fortnight later. Some police weapons were found in their possession, and one of the parties of police had disappeared—an ominous circumstance. Search was made all over the country for the party, and at length their four bodies were found lying in the jungle at Walaghat, half way down the Sispara ghat path, neatly laid out in a row with their severed heads carefully placed on their shoulders.”

The measurements of a single family are recorded in the following table:—

The father was a typical Chinaman, whose only grievance was that, in the process of conversion to Christianity, he had been obliged to “cut him tail off.” The mother was a typical dark-skinned Tamil Paraiyan. The colour of the children was more closely allied to the yellowish tint of the father than to that of the mother; and the semi-Mongol parentage was betrayed in the slant eyes, flat nose and (in one case) conspicuously prominent cheek-bones.

To have recorded the entire series of measurements of the children would have been useless for the purpose of comparison with those of the parents, and I selected from my repertoire the length and breadth of the head and nose, which plainly indicate the paternal influence on the external anatomy of the offspring. The figures given in the table bring out very clearly the great breadth, as compared with the length, of the heads of all the children, and the resultant high cephalic index. In other words, in one case a mesaticephalic (79), and, in the remaining three cases, a sub-brachycephalic head (80.1; 80.1; 82.4) has resulted from the union of a mesaticephalic Chinaman (78.5) with a sub-dolichocephalic Tamil Paraiyan (76.8). How great is the breadth of the head in the children may be emphasised by noting that the average head-breadth of the adult Tamil Paraiyan man is only 13.7 cm., whereas that of the three boys, aged ten, nine, and five only, was 14.3, 14, and 13.7 cm. respectively.

Quite as strongly marked is the effect of paternal influence on the character of the nose; the nasal index, in the case of each child (68.1; 71.772; 7; 68.3), bearing a much closer relation to that of the long-nosed father (71.7) than to the typical Paraiyan nasal index of the broad-nosed mother (78.7).

It will be interesting to note hereafter what is the future of the younger members of this quaint little colony, and to observe the physical characters, temperament, fecundity, and other points relating to the cross breed resulting from the blend of Chinese and Tamil.

Chinna (little).—A sub-division of Boya, Kunnuvan, Konda Dora, Pattanavan, and Pattapu, and an exogamous sept of Mala. Chinna, chinnam, and chinnada, denoting gold, occur as exogamous septs of Kuruba, Padma Sale, Toreya, and Vakkaliga.

Chintala (tamarind: Tamarindus Indica).—An exogamous sept of Ghasi, Golla, Madiga, and Mala. Chintyakula, or tamarind sept, occurs among the Komatis; chintaginjala (tamarind seeds) as an exogamous sept of Padma Sales, and of Panta Reddis, who may not touch or use the seeds; and Chintakai or Chintakayala (tamarind fruit) as an exogamous sept of Boyas and Devangas.

Chirla (woman’s cloth).—An exogamous sept of Kamma.

Chitikan.—A synonym of Maran, indicating one whose occupation relates to the funeral pyre. A Chitikan, for example, performs the funeral rites for the Mussads.

Chiti Karnam.—A name of the Oriya Karnam caste. A vulgar form of Sresta Karnam (Sreshto Korono).

Chitra Ghasi.—The Chitra Ghasis, for the following note on whom I am indebted to Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao, are a class of artisans, whose name, meaning Ghasis who make artistic things, bears reference to their occupation. They are employed in the manufacture of brass and bell-metal jewelry, such as is largely worn by the tribes inhabiting the Jeypore Agency tracts, and are generally found attached to Kond and Savara villages. They are a polluting class, and their dwellings are consequently situated at some distance from the huts of the villagers. Their language is a corrupt form of Oriya.

Girls are usually married after puberty. A man can claim his paternal aunt’s daughter in marriage. When such a marriage is contemplated, his parents take a little rice and a pot of liquor to the home of the paternal aunt. If they are accepted, it is taken as a sign that the match is agreed to, and the jholla tonka (bride-price) of twelve rupees is paid. After some time has elapsed, the bride is conducted to the home of her future husband, and the marriage is there celebrated. A younger brother may marry the widow of an elder brother, and, if such a woman contracts a marriage with some other man, her second husband has to give a cow to the younger brother who has been passed over. The dead are burnt, and death pollution is observed for three days, during which the caste occupation is not carried on. On the third day, the ashes are collected together, and a fowl is killed. The ashes are then buried, or thrown into running water.

Chitrakara or Chitrakaro.—The Chitrakaros of Ganjam, who are a class of Oriya painters (chitra, painting), are returned in the Census Report, 1901, as a sub-caste of Muchi. In the Mysore Census Report, 1891, the Chitragaras are said to be “also called Bannagara of the Rachevar (or Raju) caste. They are painters, decorators and gilders, and make trunks, palanquins, ‘lacquer’ toys and wooden images for temples, cars, etc.” At Channapatna in Mysore, I interviewed a Telugu Chitrakara, who was making toys out of the white wood of Wrightia tinctoria. The wood was turned on a primitive lathe, consisting of two steel spikes fixed into two logs of wood on the ground. Seated on the floor in front of his lathe, the artisan chucked the wood between the spikes, and rotated it by means of a bow held in the right hand, whereof the string was passed round the wood. The chisel was held between the sole of the right foot and palm of the left hand. Colours and varnish were applied to the rotating toy with sticks of paint like sealing-wax, and strips of palm leaf smeared with varnish. In addition to the turned toys, models of fruits were made from mud and sawdust, cane cradles made by Medaras were painted and idols manufactured for the Holi festival at Bangalore, and the figure of Sidi Viranna for the local pseudo-hook-swinging ceremony. The Chitrakaras, whom I saw at Tumkur, had given up making toys, as it did not pay. They manufacture big wooden idols (grama devata), e.g., Ellamma and Mariamma, and vehicles for various deities in the shape of bulls, snakes, peacocks, lions, tigers, and horses. They further make painted figures of Lakshmi, and heads of Gauri, the wife of Siva, decorated with gold-leaf jewels, which are worshipped by Brahmans, Vakkaligas, Komatis, and others at the annual Gauri puja; and mandahasa (god houses) with pillars carved with figures of Narasimha and conventional designs. These mandahasas serve as a receptacle for the household gods (salagrama stone, lingam, etc.), which are worshipped daily by Smarta and Madhva Brahmans. These Chitrakaras claimed to be Suryavamsam, or of the lunar race of Kshatriyas, and wear the sacred thread.

Chitravaliar.—A synonym of Alavan.

Chogan.—See Izhava.

Cholapuram or Sholavaram.—A sub-division of Chetti.

Choliya Pattar.—A name for Pattar Brahmans in Malabar.

Chondi.—See Sondi.

Choutagara.—A corrupt form of Chaptegara.

Chovatton.—Priests of Muttans and Tarakans.

Chuditiya.—See Kevuto.

Chunam (lime).—A sub-division of Toreyas, who are manufacturers of lime. Chunam, made from calcined shells, limestone, etc., is largely used for building purposes, and the chunam plaster of Madras has been long celebrated for its marble-like polish. Chunam is also chewed with betel.

Chuvano.—Recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as a small Oriya cultivating caste, supposed to be of Kshatriya parentage.

1 Yule and Burnell. Hobson-Jobson.

2 Manual of the North Arcot district.

3 The bark of the avaram plant is one of the most valuable Indian tanning agents.

4 Voyage to the East Indies, 1774 and 1781.

5 Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies.

6 Manual of the Tanjore district, 1883.

7 Manual of the Madura district.

8 Monograph of Tanning and Working in Leather, 1904.

9 Pratiloma, as opposed to an anuloma union, is the marriage of a female of a higher caste with a man of a lower one.

10 Madras Census Report, 1901.

11 Madras Census Report, 1871.

12 Madras Police Gazette, 1902.

13 I. No. 4. 1908, Vellore.

14 Criminal Tribes of India, No. III, 1907.

15 Criminal Classes in the Bombay Presidency.

16 Manual of the South Canara district.

17 Manual of the South Canara district.

18 Journal Asiatic Society, XXV, 1857.

19 Journey through Mysore, Canara, and Malabar.

20 Journal Royal Asiatic Society, VIII, 1846.

21 Fauna, British India, Mammalia.

22 Cassia auriculata.

23 Marriage chaplet worn on the forehead.

24 Wrist-threads dyed with turmeric.

25 Madras Census Report, 1891.

26 Monograph, Eth. Survey of Cochin, No. 6, 1906.

27 Manual of Malabar.

28 Calcutta Review, 1900.

29 Madras Police Report, 1904.

30 Gazetteer of the Malabar district.

31 Malabar and its Folk, 1900.

32 Karunakara Menon, Madras Mus. Bull., V. 2, 1906.

33 Madras Mail, 1908.

34 S. Appadorai Iyer.

35 Calcutta Review, 1900.

36 One fanam = four annas eight pies.

37 Madras Mail, 1895.

38 Ind. Ant., VIII, 1879.

39 Native Life in Travancore.

40 A mulikka is the collective name for a present of five betel leaves, one areca nut, and two tobacco leaves.

41 Gazetteer of the Trichinopoly district.

42 Rev. H. Jensen, Classified Collection of Tamil Proverbs, 1897.

43 Madras Mail, 1904.

44 Gazetteer of the Nilgiris.