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MARAKKAYAR.—The Marakkayars are described, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as “a Tamil-speaking Musalman tribe of mixed Hindu and Musalman origin, the people of which are usually traders. They seem to be distinct from the Labbais (q.v.) in several respects, but the statistics of the two have apparently been confused, as the numbers of the Marakkayars are smaller than they should be.” Concerning the Marakkayars of the South Arcot district, Mr. Francis writes as follows.1 “The Marakkayars are largely big traders with other countries such as Ceylon and the Straits Settlements, and own most of the native coasting craft. They are particularly numerous in Porto Novo. The word Marakkayar is usually derived from the Arabic markab, a boat. The story goes that, when the first immigrants of this class (who, like the Labbais, were driven from their own country by persecutions) landed on the Indian shore, they were naturally asked who they were, and whence they came. In answer they pointed to their boats, and pronounced the word markab, and they became in consequence known to the Hindus as Marakkayars, or the people of markab. The Musalmans of pure descent hold themselves to be socially superior to the Marakkaayars, and the Marakkayars consider themselves better than the Labbais. There is, of course, no religious bar to intermarriages between these different sub-divisions, but such unions are rare, and are usually only brought about by the offer of strong financial inducements to the socially superior party. Generally speaking, the pure-bred Musalmans differ from those of mixed descent by dressing themselves and their women in the strict Musalman fashion, and by speaking Hindustani at home among themselves. Some of the Marakkayars are now following their example in both these matters, but most of them affect the high hat of plaited coloured grass and the tartan (kambayam) waist-cloth. The Labbais also very generally wear these, and so are not always readily distinguishable from the Marakkayars, but some of them use the Hindu turban and waist-cloth, and let their womankind dress almost exactly like Hindu women. In the same way, some Labbais insist on the use of Hindustani in their houses, while others speak Tamil. There seems to be a growing dislike to the introduction of Hindu rites into domestic ceremonies, and the processions and music, which were once common at marriages, are slowly giving place to a simpler ritual more in resemblance with the nikka ceremony of the Musalman faith.”

Of 13,712 inhabitants of Porto Novo returned at the census, 1901, as many as 3,805 were Muhammadans. “The ordinary vernacular name of the town is Farangipettai or European town, but the Musalmans call it Muhammad Bandar (Port). The interest of the majority of the inhabitants centres in matters connected with the sea. A large proportion of them earn their living either as owners of, or sailors in, the boats which ply between the place and Ceylon and other parts, and it is significant that the most popular of the unusually large number of Musalman saints who are buried in the town is one Malumiyar, who was apparently in his lifetime a notable sea-captain. His fame as a sailor has been magnified into the miraculous, and it is declared that he owned ten or a dozen ships, and used to appear in command of all of them simultaneously. He has now the reputation of being able to deliver from danger those who go down to the sea in ships, and sailors setting out on a voyage or returning from one in safety usually put an offering in the little box kept at his darga, and these sums are expended in keeping that building lighted and whitewashed. Another curious darga in the town is that of Araikasu Nachiyar, or the one pie lady. Offerings to her must on no account be worth more than one pie (1/192 of a rupee); tributes in excess of that value are of no effect. If sugar for so small an amount cannot be procured, the devotee spends the money on chunam (lime) for her tomb, and this is consequently covered with a superabundance of whitewash. Stories are told of the way in which the valuable offerings of rich men have altogether failed to obtain her favour, and have had to be replaced by others of the regulation diminutive dimensions. The chief mosque is well kept. Behind it are two tombs, which stand at an odd angle with one another, instead of being parallel as usual. The legend goes that once upon a time there was a great saint called Hafiz Mir Sahib, who had an even more devout disciple called Saiyad Shah. The latter died and was duly buried, and not long after the saint died also. The disciple had always asked to be buried at the feet of his master, and so the grave of this latter was so placed that his feet were opposite the head of his late pupil. But his spirit recognised that the pupil was really greater than the master, and when men came later to see the two graves they found that the saint had turned his tomb round so that his feet no longer pointed with such lack of respect towards the head of his disciple.”2

In the Madras Census Report, 1901, the Jonagans are separated from the Marakkayars, and are described as Musalman traders of partly Hindu parentage. And, in the Gazetteer of South Arcot, Mr. Francis says that “the term Jonagan or Sonagan, meaning a native of Sonagan or Arabia, is applied by Hindus to both Labbais and Marakkayars, but it is usually held to have a contemptuous flavour about it.” There is some little confusion concerning the exact application of the name Jonagan, but I gather that it is applied to sea-fishermen and boatmen, while the more prosperous traders are called Marakkayars. A point, in which the Labbais are said to differ from the Marakkayars, is that the former are Hanafis, and the latter Shafis.

The Marakkayars are said to admit converts from various Hindu classes, who are called Pulukkais, and may not intermarry with the Marakkayars for several generations, or until they have become prosperous.

In one form of the marriage rites, the ceremonial extends over four days. The most important items on the first day are fixing the mehr (bride-price) in the presence of the vakils (representatives), and the performance of the nikka rite by the Kazi. The nikka kudbha is read, and the hands of the contracting couple are united by male elders, the bride standing within a screen. During the reading of the kudbha, a sister of the bridegroom ties a string of black beads round the bride’s neck. All the women present set up a roar, called kulavi-idal. On the following day, the couple sit among women, and the bridegroom ties a golden tali on the bride’s neck. On the third or fourth day a ceremony called paparakkolam, or Brahman disguise, is performed. The bride is dressed like a Brahman woman, and holds a brass vessel in one hand, and a stick in the other. Approaching the bridegroom, she strikes him gently, and says “Did not I give you buttermilk and curds? Pay me for them.” The bridegroom then places a few tamarind seeds in the brass vessel, but the bride objects to this, and demands money, accompanying the demand with strokes of the stick. The man then places copper, silver, and gold coins in the vessel, and the bride retires in triumph to her chamber.

Like the Labbais, the Marakkayars write Tamil in Arabic characters, and speak a language called Arab-Tamil, in which the Kuran and other books have been published. (See Labbai.)

Maralu (sand).—A gotra of Kurni.

Maran or Marayan.—The Marayans are summed up, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as being “temple servants and drummers in Malabar. Like many of the Malabar castes, they must have come from the east coast, as their name frequently occurs in the Tanjore inscriptions of 1013 A.D. They followed then the same occupation as that by which they live to-day, and appear to have held a tolerably high social position. In parts of North Malabar they are called Oc’chan.”

“The development of this caste,” Mr. H. A. Stuart writes,3 “is interesting. In Chirakkal, the northernmost taluk of the Malabar district, and in the adjoining Kasargod taluk of South Canara, Marayans are barbers, serving Nayars and higher castes; in the Kottayam and Kurumbranad taluks they are barbers and drummers, and also officiate as purohits (priests) at the funeral ceremonies of Nayars. In the latter capacity they are known in those parts also as Attikurissi Marayan. Going still further south, we find the Nayar purohit called simply Attikurissi, omitting the Marayan, and he considers it beneath his dignity to shave. Nevertheless, he betrays his kinship with the Marayan of the north by the privilege which he claims of cutting the first hair when a Nayar is shaved after funeral obsequies. On the other hand, the drummer, who is called Marayan, or honorifically Marar, poses as a temple servant, and would be insulted if it were said that he was akin to the shaving Marayan of the north. He is considered next in rank only to Brahmans, and would be polluted by the touch of Nayars. He loses caste by eating the food of Nayars, but the Nayars also lose caste by eating his food. A proverb says that a Marayan has four privileges:—

  • 1. Pani, or drum, beaten with the hand.
  • 2. Koni, or bier, i.e., the making of the bier.
  • 3. Natumittam, or shaving.
  • 4. Tirumittam, or sweeping the temple courts.

“In North Malabar a Marayan performs all the above duties even now. In the south there appears to have been a division of labour, and there a Marayan is in these days only a drummer and temple servant. Funeral rites are conducted by an Attikurissi Marayan, otherwise known as simply Attikurissi, and shaving is the duty of the Velakattalavan. This appears to have been the case for many generations, but I have not attempted to distinguish between the two sections, and have classed all as barbers. Moreover, it is only in parts of South Malabar that the caste has entirely given up the profession of barber; and, curiously enough, these are the localities where Nambudiri influence is supreme. The Marayans there appear to have confined themselves to officiating as drummers in temples, and to have obtained the title of Ambalavasi; and, in course of time, they were even honoured with sambandham of Nambudiris. In some places an attempt is made to draw a distinction between Marayan and Marayar, the former denoting the barber, and the latter, which is merely the honorific plural, the temple servant. There can, however, be little doubt that this is merely an ex post facto argument in support of the alleged superiority of those Marayans who have abandoned the barber’s brush. It may be here noted that it is common to find barbers acting as musicians throughout the Madras Presidency, and that there are several other castes in Malabar, such as the Tiyyans, Mukkuvans, etc., who employ barbers as purohits at their funeral ceremonies.”

In the Cochin Census Report, 1901, Mr. M. Sankara Menon writes that the Marars are “Sudras, and, properly speaking, they ought to be classed along with Nayars. Owing, however, to their close connection with services in temples, and the absence of free interdining or intermarriage with Nayars, they are classed along with Ambalavasis. They are drummers, musicians, and storekeepers in temples. Like Tiyattu Nambiyars, some sections among them also draw figures of the goddess in Bhagavati temples, and chant songs. In some places they are also known as Kuruppus. Some sub-castes among them do not dine, or intermarry. As they have generally to serve in temples, they bathe if they touch Nayars. In the matter of marriage (tali-kettu and sambandham), inheritance, period of pollution, etc., they follow customs exactly like those of Nayars. In the southern taluks Elayads officiate as purohits, but, in the northern taluks, their own castemen take the part of the Elayads in their sradha ceremonies. The tali-kettu is likewise performed by Tirumalpads in the southern taluks, but by their own castemen, called Enangan, in the northern taluks. Their castemen or Brahmans unite themselves with their women in sambandham. As among Nayars, purificatory ceremonies after funerals, etc., are performed by Cheethiyans or Nayar priests.”

For the following detailed note on the Marans of Travancore I am indebted to Mr. N. Subramani Iyer, The name Maran has nothing to do with maranam or death, as has been supposed, but is derived from the Tamil root mar, to beat. In the Tanjore inscriptions of the eleventh century, the caste on the Coromandel coast appears to have been known by this name. The Marans correspond to the Occhans of the Tamil country, and a class of Marans in North Malabar are sometimes called by this designation. In the old revenue records of the Travancore State, Mangalyam appears to be the term made use of. The two well-known titles of the caste are Kuruppu and Panikkar, both conveying the idea of a person who has some allotted work to perform. In modern days, English-educated men appear to have given these up for Pillai, the titular affix added to the name of the Sudra population generally.

Marans may be divided into two main divisions, viz., Marans who called themselves Marars in North Travancore, and who now hesitate to assist other castes in the performance of their funeral rites; and Marans who do not convert their caste designation into an honorific plural, and act as priests for other castes. This distinction is most clearly marked in North Travancore, while to the south of Alleppey the boundary line may be said to remain only dim. In this part of the country, therefore, a fourfold division of the caste is the one best known to the people, namely Orunul, Irunul, Cheppat, and Kulanji. The Orunuls look upon themselves as higher than the Irunuls, basing their superiority on the custom obtaining among them of marrying only once in their lifetime, and contracting no second alliance after the first husband’s death. Living, however, with a Brahman, or one of a distinctly higher caste, is tolerated among them in the event of that calamity. The word Orunul means one string, and signifies the absence of widow marriage, Among the Irunuls (two strings) the tali-tier is not necessarily the husband, nor is a second husband forbidden after the death of the first. Cheppat and Kulanji were once mere local varieties, but have now become separate sub-divisions. The males of the four sections, but not the females, interdine. With what rapidity castes sub-divide and ramify in Travancore may be seen from the fact of the existence of a local variety of Marans called Muttal, meaning substitute or emergency employÉe, in the Kalkulam taluk, who are believed to represent an elevation from a lower to a higher class of Marans, rendered necessary by a temple exigency. The Marans are also known as Asupanis, as they alone are entitled to sound the two characteristic musical instruments, of Malabar temples, called asu and pani. In the south they are called Chitikans, a corruption of the Sanskrit chaitika, meaning one whose occupation relates to the funeral pile, and in the north Asthikkurichis (asthi, a bone), as they help the relations of the dead in the collection of the bones after cremation. The Marans are, further, in some places known as Potuvans, as their services are engaged at the funerals of many castes.

Before the days of Sankaracharya, the sole occupation of the Marans is said to have been beating the drum in Brahmanical temples. When Sankaracharya was refused assistance in the cremation of his dead mother by the Nambutiri Brahmans, he is believed to have sought in despair the help of one of these temple servants, with whose aid the corpse was divided into eight parts, and deposited in the pit. For undertaking this duty, which the Nambutiris repudiated from a sense of offended religious feeling, the particular Maran was thrown out of his caste by the general community, and a compromise had to be effected by the sage with the rest of the caste, who returned in a body on the day of purification along with the excommunicated man, and helped Sankaracharya to bring to a close his mother’s death ceremonies. In recognition of this timely help, Sankara is believed to have declared the Maran to be an indispensable functionary at the death ceremonies of Nambutiris and Ambalavasis. It has even been suggested that the original form of Maran was Muran, derived from mur (to chop off), in reference to the manner in which the remains of Sankara’s mother were disposed of.

The traditional occupation of the Marans is sounding or playing on the panchavadya or five musical instruments used in temples. These are the sankh or conch-shell, timila, chendu, kaimani, and maddalam. The conch, which is necessary in every Hindu temple, is loudly sounded in the early morning, primarily to wake the deity, and secondarily to rouse the villagers. Again, when the temple service commences, and when the nivedya or offering is carried, the music of the conch is heard from the northern side of the temple. On this account, many Marans call themselves Vadakkupurattu, or belonging to the northern side. The asu and pani are sounded by the highest dignitaries among them. The beating of the pani is the accompaniment of expiatory offerings to the Saptamata, or seven mothers of Hindu religious writings, viz., Brahmi, Mahesvari, Kaumari, Vaishnavi, Varahi, Indrani, and Chamunda. Offerings are made to these divine mothers during the daily sribali procession, and in important temples also during the sribhutabali hours, and on the occasion of the utsavabali at the annual utsava of the temple. There are certain well-established rules prescribing the hymns to be recited, and the music to be played. So religiously have these rules to be observed during the utsavabali, that the priest who makes the offering, the Variyar who carries the light before him and the Marans who perform the music all have to fast, and to dress themselves in orthodox Brahmanical fashion, with the uttariya or upper garment worn in the manner of the sacred thread. It is sincerely believed that the smallest violation of the rules would be visited with dire consequences to the delinquents before the next utsava ceremony.

In connection with the musical instrument called the timila, the following legend is current. There was a timila in the Sri Padmanabha temple made of kuruntotti, and there was a Maran attached to the temple, who was such an expert musician that the priest was unable to adjust his hymn recitation to the music of the Maran’s drum, and was in consequence the recipient of the divine wrath. It was contrived to get a Brahman youth to officiate as priest, and, as he could not recite the hymns in consonance with the sounds produced by the drum, a hungry spirit lifted him up from the ground to a height of ten feet. The father of the youth, hearing what had occurred, hastened to the temple, and cut one of his fingers, the blood of which he offered to the spirit. The boy was then set free, and the old man, who was more than a match for the Maran, began to recite the hymns. The spirits, raising the Maran on high, sucked away his blood, and vanished. The particular timila has since this event never been used by any Maran.

The higher classes of Marans claim six privileges, called pano, koni, tirumuttam, natumuttam, velichchor, and puchchor. Koni means literally a ladder, and refers to the stretcher, made of bamboo and kusa grass or straw, on which the corpses of high caste Hindus are laid. Tirumuttam is sweeping the temple courtyard, and natumuttam the erection of a small pandal (booth) in the courtyard of a Nambutiri’s house, where oblations are offered to the departed spirit on the tenth day after death. Velichchor, or sacrificial rice, is the right to retain the remains of the food offered to the manes, and puchchor the offering made to the deity, on whom the priest throws a few flowers as part of the consecration ceremony.

A large portion of the time of a Maran is spent within the temple, and all through the night some watch over it. Many functions are attended to by them in the houses of Nambutiris. Not only at the tonsure ceremony, and samavartana or closing of the Brahmacharya stage, but also on the occasion of sacrificial rites, the Maran acts as the barber. At the funeral ceremony, the preparation of the last bed, and handing the til (Sesamum) seeds, have to be done by him. The Chitikkans perform only the functions of shaving and attendance at funerals, and, though they may beat drums in temples, they are not privileged to touch the asu and pani. At Vechur there is a class of potters called Kusa Maran, who should be distinguished from the Marans proper, with whom they have absolutely nothing in common.

Many families of the higher division of the Marans regard themselves as Ambalavasis, though of the lowest type, and abstain from flesh and liquor. Some Marans are engaged in the practice of sorcery, while others are agriculturists. Drinking is a common vice, sanctioned by popular opinion owing to the notion that it is good for persons with overworked lungs.

In their ceremonies the Marans resemble the Nayars, as they do also in their caste government and religious worship. The annaprasana, or first food-giving ceremony, is the only important one before marriage, and the child is taken to the temple, where it partakes of the consecrated food. The Nayars, on the contrary, generally perform the ceremony at home. Purification by a Brahman is necessary to release the Maran from death pollution, which is not the case with the Nayars. In Travancore, at any rate, the Nayars are considered to be higher in the social scale than the Marans.

In connection with asu and pani, which have been referred to in this note, I gather that, in Malabar, the instruments called maram (wood), timila, shanku, chengulam, and chenda, if played together, constitute pani kottugu, or playing pani. Asu and maram are the names of an instrument, which is included in pani kottugu. Among the occasions when this is indispensable, are the dedication of the idol at a newly built temple, the udsavam puram and Sriveli festivals, and the carrying of the tadambu, or shield-like structure, on which a miniature idol (vigraham) is borne outside the temple,

Marasari.—Marasari or Marapanikkan, meaning carpenter or worker in wood, is an occupational sub-division of Malayalam Kammalas.

Maratha.—Marathas are found in every district of the Madras Presidency, but are, according to the latest census returns, most numerous in the following districts:—

South Canara 31,351
Salem 7,314
Tanjore 7,156
Bellary 6,311

It is recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1891, that “the term Marathi denotes the various Marathi non-Brahman castes, who came to the south either as soldiers or camp followers in the armies of the Marathi invaders; but in South Canara, in which district the caste is most numerous, it appears to be the same as Are, a class of Marathi cultivators. Of the total number of 65,961, as many as 40,871 have returned Marathi as both caste and sub-division. The number of sub-divisions returned by the rest is no less than 305, of which the majority are the names of other castes. Some of these castes are purely Dravidian, and the names have evidently been used in their occupational sense. For example, we have Bogam, Gandla, Mangala, etc.” Mr. H. A, Stuart writes further, in the South Canara Manual, that “Marathi, as a caste name, is somewhat open to confusion, and it is probable that many people of various castes, who speak Marathi, are shown as being of that caste. The true Marathi caste is said to have come from Goa, and that place is the head-quarters. The caste is divided into twelve wargs or balis, which are exogamous sub-divisions. Caste disputes are settled by headmen called Hontagaru, and allegiance is paid to the head of the Sringeri math. The favourite deity is the goddess Mahadevi. Brahmans, usually Karadis, officiate at their ceremonies. Marriage is both infant and adult. The dhare form of marriage is used (see Bant). Widows may remarry, but they cannot marry again into the family of the deceased husband—a rule which is just the reverse of the Levirate. In some parts, however, the remarriage of widows is prohibited. A husband or a wife can divorce each other at will, and both parties may marry again. Marathis are either farmers, labourers, or hunters. They eat fish and flesh (except that of cattle and animals generally regarded as unclean) and they use alcoholic liquors. They speak either the ordinary Marathi or the Konkami dialect of it.” The Marathis of South Canara call themselves Are and Are Kshatri.

In the North Arcot Manual, Mr, Stuart records that the term Marathi is “usually applied to the various Maratha Sudra castes, which have come south. Their caste affix is always Rao. It is impossible to discover to what particular Sudra division each belongs, for they do not seem to know, and take advantage of being away from their own country to assert that they are Kshatriyas—a claim which is ridiculed by other castes. In marriage they are particular to take a bride only from within the circle of their own family, so that an admixture of the original castes is thus avoided. Their language is Marathi, but they speak Telugu or Tamil as well, and engage in many professions. Many are tailors.4 Others enlist in the army, in the police, or as peons (orderlies or messengers), and some take to agriculture or trading.”

Of the history of Marathas in those districts in which they are most prevalent, an account will be found in the Manuals and Gazetteers.

The last Maratha King of Tanjore, Maharaja Sivaji, died in 1855. It is noted by Mr. M. J. Walhouse5 that “an eye-witness has recorded the stately and solemn spectacle of his funeral, when, magnificently arranged, and loaded with the costliest jewels, his body, placed in an ivory palanquin, was borne by night through the torchlit streets of his royal city amid the wail of vast multitudes lamenting the last of their ruling race. The nearest descendant, a boy of twelve, was carried thrice round the pile, and at the last circuit a pot of water was dashed to pieces on the ground. The boy then lit the pile, and loud long-sustained lament of a nation filled the air as the flames rose.” Upon the death of Sivaji, the Raj became, under the decision of the Court of Directors, extinct. His private estate was placed under the charge of the Collector of the district. In addition to three wives whom he had already married, Sivaji, three years before his death, married in a body seventeen girls. In 1907, three of the Ranis were still living in the palace at Tanjore. It is recorded6 by the Marchioness of Dufferin that, when the Viceroy visited the Tanjore palace in 1886 to speak with the Ranis, he was admitted behind the purdah, “The ladies had not expected him, and were not dressed out in their best, and no one could speak any intelligible language, However, a sort of chattering went on, and they made signs towards a chair, which, being covered with crimson cloth, Dufferin thought he was to sit down on. He turned and was just about to do so, when he thought he saw a slight movement, and he fancied there might be a little dog there, when two women pulled the cloth open, and there was the principal Rani—a little old woman who reached half way up the back of the chair, and whom the Viceroy had been within an act of squashing. He said it gave him such a turn!”

A classified index to the Sanskrit Manuscripts in the Tanjore palace was published by Mr. A. C. Burnell in 1880. In the introduction thereto, he states that “the library was first brought to the notice of European scholars by H.S.H. Count Noer, Prince Frederic of Schleswig-Holstein, who brought an account of it to the late Professor GoldstÜcker. But its full importance was not known till I was deputed, in 1871, to examine it by the then Governor of Madras, Lord Napier and Ettrick. The manuscripts are the result of perhaps 300 years’ collections; firstly, by the Nayaks of Tanjore; secondly, after about 1675, by the Mahratha princes. Some of the palm-leaf manuscripts belong to the earlier period, but the greater part were collected in the last and present centuries. All the Nagari Manuscripts belong to the Mahratha times, and a large number of these were collected at Benares by the Raja Serfojee (Carabhoji) about fifty years ago.”

In the Maratha Darbar Hall of the Tanjore palace are large pictures, of little artistic merit, of all the Maratha kings, and the palace also contains a fine statue of Sarabhoji by Chantrey. The small but splendid series of Maratha arms from this palace constitutes one of the most valuable assets of the Madras Museum. “The armoury,” Mr. Walhouse writes,7 “consisted of great heaps of old weapons of all conceivable descriptions, lying piled upon the floor of the Sangita Mahal (music-hall), which had long been occupied by many tons of rusty arms and weapons, in confused heaps, coated and caked together with thick rust. Hundreds of swords, straight, curved and ripple-edged, many beautifully damascened and inlaid with hunting or battle scenes in gold; many broad blades with long inscriptions in Marathi or Kanarese characters, and some so finely tempered as to bend and quiver like whalebone. There were long gauntlet-hilts, brass or steel, in endless devices, hilts inlaid with gold, and hilts and guards of the most tasteful and elaborate steel-work. There were long-bladed swords and executioners’ swords, two-handed, thick-backed, and immensely heavy. Daggers, knives, and poniards by scores, of all imaginable and almost unimaginable shapes, double and triple-bladed; some with pistols or spring-blades concealed in their handles, and the hilts of many of the kuttars of the most beautiful and elaborate pierced steel-work, in endless devices, rivalling the best medieval European metal-work, There was a profusion of long narrow thin-bladed knives, mostly with bone or ivory handles very prettily carved, ending in parrot-heads and the like, or the whole handle forming a bird or monster, with legs and wings pressed close to the body, all exquisitely carved. The use of these seemed problematical; some said they were used to cut fruit, others that they had been poisoned and struck about the roofs and walls of the women’s quarters, to serve the purpose of spikes or broken glass! A curious point was the extraordinary number of old European blades, often graven with letters and symbols of Christian meaning, attached to hilts and handles most distinctly Hindu, adorned with figures of gods and idolatrous emblems. There was an extraordinary number of long straight cut-and-thrust blades termed Phirangis, which Mr. Sinclair, in his interesting list of Dakhani weapons,8 says means the Portuguese, or else made in imitation of such imported swords. A kuttar, with a handsome steel hilt, disclosed the well-known name ANDREA FERARA (sic.). Sir Walter Elliot has informed me that, when a notorious freebooter was captured in the Southern MarÂth country many years ago, his sword was found to be an ‘Andrea Ferrara.’ Mr. Sinclair adds that both Grant Duff and Meadows Taylor have mentioned that RÂja SivÂji’s favourite sword BhavÂnÎ was a Genoa blade9.... Eventually the whole array (of arms) was removed to Trichinapalli and deposited in the Arsenal there, and, after a Committee of officers had sat upon the multifarious collection, and solemnly reported the ancient arms unfit for use in modern warfare, the Government, after selecting the best for the Museum, ordered the residue to be broken up and sold as old iron. This was in 1863.”

It is recorded, in the Gazetteer of the Bellary district, that “in 1790 Lord Cornwallis, then Governor-General of India, entered into an alliance with the Marathas and the Nizam to reduce Tipu to order, and it was agreed that whatever territories should be acquired by them from Tipu should be equally divided between them. Certain specified poligars, among whom were the chiefs of Bellary, Rayadrug and Harpanahalli, were, however, to be left in possession of their districts. Tipu was reduced to submission in 1792, and by the treaty of that year he ceded half his territories to the allies.10 Sandur was allotted to the Marathas, and a part of the Bellary district to the Nizam.” The present Maratha chief of the little hill-locked Sandur State is a minor, whose name and titles are Raja Venkata Rao Rao Sahib Hindu Rao Ghorpade Senapati Mamalikat Madar. Of the eleven thousand inhabitants of the State, the various castes of Marathas number over a thousand. “Three families of them are Brahmans, who came to Sandur as officials with Siddoji Rao when he took the State from the Jaramali poligar. Except for two short intervals, Siddoji’s descendants have held the State ever since. The others are grouped into three local divisions, namely, Khasgi, Kumbi, and Lekavali. The first of these consists of only some eight families, and constitutes the aristocracy of the State. Some of them came to Sandur from the Maratha country with Siva Rao and other rulers of the State, and they take the chief seats at Darbars and on other public occasions, and are permitted to dine and intermarry with the Raja’s family. They wear the sacred thread of the Kshatriyas, belong to the orthodox Brahmanical gotras, have Brahmans as their purohits, observe many of the Brahmanical ceremonies, burn their dead, forbid widow re-marriage, and keep their womankind gosha. On the other hand, they do not object to drinking alcohol or to smoking, and they eat meat, though not beef. Their family god is the same as that of the Raja’s family, namely, Martanda Manimallari, and they worship him in the temple in his honour which is in the Raja’s palace, and make pilgrimages to his shrine at Jejuri near Poona. [It is noted by Monier-Williams11 that ‘a deification, Khando-ba (also called Khande-Rao), was a personage who lived in the neighbourhood of the hill Jejuri, thirty miles from Poona. He is probably a deification of some powerful Raja or aboriginal chieftain, who made himself useful to the Brahmans. He is now regarded as an incarnation of Siva in his form Mallari. The legend is that the god Siva descended in this form to destroy a powerful demon named Mallasura, who lived on the hill, and was a terror to the neighbourhood. Parvati descended at the same time to become Khando-ba’s wife. His worship is very popular among the people of low caste in the Maratha country. Sheep are sacrificed at the principal temple on the Jejuri hill, and a bad custom prevails of dedicating young girls to the god’s service. Khando-ba is sometimes represented with his wife on horseback, attended by a dog. A sect existed in Sankara’s time, who worshipped Mallari as lord of dogs.’] At the marriages of the Khasgis, an unusual custom, called Vira Puja, or the worship of warriors, is observed. Before the ceremony, the men form themselves into two parties, each under a leader, and march to the banks of the Narihalla river, engaging in mock combat as they go. At the river an offering is made to Siva in his form as the warrior Martanda, and his blessing is invoked. The goddess Ganga is also worshipped, and then both parties march back, indulging on the way in more pretended fighting. The second division of the Marathas, the Kunbis, are generally agriculturists, though some are servants to the first division. They cannot intermarry with the Khasgis, or dine with them except in separate rows, and their womanfolk are not gosha; but they have Brahmanical gotras and Brahman purohits. Some of them use the Raja’s name of Ghorpade, but this is only because they are servants in his household. The third division, the Lekavalis, are said to be the offspring of irregular unions among other Marathas, and are many of them servants in the Raja’s palace. Whence they are also called Manimakkalu. They all call themselves Ghorpades, and members of the Raja’s (the Kansika) gotra. They thus cannot intermarry among themselves, but occasionally their girls are married to Kunbis. Their women are in no way gosha.”12

The cranial type of the Marathas is, as shown by the following table, like that of the Canarese, mesaticephalic or sub-brachycephalic:—

—— —— Cephalic Index
Av. Max.
Canarese 50 Holeyas 79.1 87.4
Marathi 30 Rangaris 79.8 92.2
Canarese 50 Vakkaligas 81.7 93.8
Marathi 30 Suka Sales 81.8 88.2
Marathi 30 Sukun Sales 82.2 84.4

Maravan.—“The Maravans,” Mr. H. A. Stuart writes,13 “are found chiefly in Madura and Tinnevelly, where they occupy the tracts bordering on the coast from Cape Comorin to the northern limits of the Ramnad zemindari. The proprietors of that estate, and of the great Sivaganga zemindari, are both of this caste. The Maravars must have been one of the first of the Dravidian tribes that penetrated to the south of the peninsula, and, like the Kallans, they have been but little affected by Brahmanical influence. There exists among them a picturesque tradition to the effect that, in consequence of their assisting Rama in his war against the demon Ravana, that deity gratefully exclaimed in good Tamil Maraven, or I will never forget, and that they have ever since been called Maravans. But, with more probability, the name may be connected with the word maram, which means killing, ferocity, bravery and the like, as pointing clearly to their unpleasant profession, that of robbing and slaying their neighbours. In former days they were a fierce and turbulent race, famous for their military prowess. At one time they temporarily held possession of the Pandya kingdom, and, at a later date, their armies gave valuable assistance to Tirumala Nayakkan. They gave the British much trouble at the end of last (eighteenth) century and the beginning of this (nineteenth) century, but they are now much the same as other ryots (cultivators), though perhaps somewhat more bold and lawless. Agamudaiyan and Kallan are returned as sub-divisions by a comparatively large number of persons. Maravan is also found among the sub-divisions of Kallan, and there can be little doubt that there is a very close connection between Kallans, Maravans, and Agamudaiyans.” This connection is dealt with in the article on the Kallans. But I may here quote the following legend relating thereto. “Once upon a time, Rishi Gautama left his house to go abroad on business. Devendra, taking advantage of his absence, debauched his wife, and three children were the result. When the Rishi returned, one of the three hid himself behind a door, and, as he thus acted like a thief, he was henceforward called Kallan. Another got up a tree, and was therefore called Maravan from maram, a tree, whilst the third brazened it out, and stood his ground, thus earning for himself the name of Ahamudeiyan, or the possessor of pride. This name was corrupted into Ahambadiyan.”14

“Some say the word Maravan is derived from marani, sin; a Maravan being one who commits sin by killing living creatures without feeling pity, and without fear of god.”15

The Maravans claim descent from Guha or Kuha, Rama’s boatman, who rowed him across to Ceylon. According to the legend, Rama promised Guha that he would come back at a fixed time. When he failed to return, Guha made a fire, whereon to burn himself to death. Hanuman, however, prevented him from committing suicide, and assured him that Rama would shortly return. This came to pass, and Rama, on learning what Guha had done, called him Maravan, a brave or reckless fellow. According to another legend, the god Indra, having become enamoured of Ahalya, set out one night to visit her in the form of a crow, and, seating himself outside the dwelling of the Rishi her husband, cawed loudly. The Rishi believing that it was dawn, went off to bathe, while Indra, assuming the form of her husband, went in to the woman, and satisfied his desire. When her husband reached the river, there were no signs of dawn, and he was much perturbed, but not for long, as his supernatural knowledge revealed to him how he had been beguiled, and he proceeded to curse Indra and his innocent wife. Indra was condemned to have a thousand female organs of generation all over his body, and the woman was turned into a stone. Indra repented, and the Rishi modified his disfigurement by arranging that, to the onlooker, he would seem to be clothed or covered with eyes, and the woman was allowed to resume her feminine form when Rama, in the course of his wanderings, should tread on her. The result of Indra’s escapade was a son, who was stowed away in a secret place (maravuidam). Hence his descendants are known as Maravan.16

The head of the Maravans is the Setupati (lord of the bridge), or Raja of Ramnad. “The Sethupati line, or Marava dynasty of Ramnad,” the Rev. J. E. Tracy writes,17 “claims great antiquity. According to popular legendary accounts, it had its rise in the time of the great Rama himself, who is said to have appointed, on his victorious return from Lanka (Ceylon), seven guardians of the passage or bridge connecting Ceylon with the mainland.... Another supposition places the rise of the family in the second or third century B.C. It rests its case principally upon a statement in the Mahawanso, according to which the last of the three Tamil invasions of Ceylon, which took place in the second or third century B.C., was under the leadership of seven chieftains, who are supposed, owing to the silence of the Pandyan records on the subject of South Indian dealings with Ceylon, to have been neither Cheras, Cholas, or Pandyans, but mere local adventurers, whose territorial proximity and marauding ambition had tempted them to the undertaking.... Another supposition places the rise of the family in the eleventh or twelfth century A.D. There are two statements of this case, differing according to the source from which they come. According to the one, which has its source in South India, the rise of the family took place in or about 1059 A.D., when Raja Raja, the Chola king, upon his invasion of Ceylon, appointed princes whom he knew to be loyal to himself, and who, according to some, had aided him in his conquest of all Pandya, to act as guardians of the passage by which his armies must cross to and fro, and supplies be received from the mainland. According to the other statement, which has its source in Sinhalese records, the family took its rise from the appointment of Parakrama Bahu’s General Lankapura, who, according to a very trustworthy Sinhalese epitome of the Mahawanso, after conquering Pandya, remained some time at Ramespuram, building a temple there, and, while on the island, struck kahapanas (coins similar to those of the Sinhalese series). Whichever of those statements we may accept, the facts seem to point to the rise of the family in the eleventh or twelfth century A.D., and inscriptions quoted from Dr. Burgess by Mr. Robert Sewell18 show that grants were made by Sethupati princes in 1414, again in 1489, still again in 1500, and finally as late as 1540. These bring the line down to within two generations of the time when Muttu Krishnappa Nayakka is said, in 1604, to have found affairs sadly disordered in the Marava country, and to have re-established the old family in the person of Sadaiyaka Tevar Udaiyar Sethupati. The coins of the Sethupatis divide themselves into an earlier and later series. The earlier series present specimens which are usually larger and better executed, and correspond in weight and appearance very nearly to the well-known coins of the Sinhalese series, together with which they are often found, ‘These coins’ Rhys Davids writes,19 ‘are probably, the very ones referred to as having been struck by Parakrama’s General Lankapura.’ The coins of the later series are very rude in device and execution. The one face shows only the Tamil legend of the word Sethupati, while the other side is taken up with various devices.”

A poet, in days of old, refers to “the wrathful and furious Maravar, whose curled beards resemble the twisted horns of the stag, the loud twang of whose powerful bowstrings, and the stirring sound of whose double-headed drums, compel even kings at the head of large armies to turn their back and fly.”20 The Maravans are further described as follows. “Of strong limbs and hardy frames, and fierce looking as tigers, wearing long and curled locks of hair, the blood-thirsty Maravans, armed with the bow bound with leather, ever ready to injure others, shoot their arrows at poor and defenceless travellers, from whom they can steal nothing, only to feast their eyes on the quivering limbs of their victims.”21 In a note on the Maravans of the Tinnevelly district, it is recorded22 that “to this class belonged most of the Poligars, or feudal chieftains, who disputed with the English the possession of Tinnevelly during the last, and first years of the present (nineteenth) century. As feudal chiefs and heads of a numerous class of the population, and one whose characteristics were eminently adapted for the roll of followers of a turbulent chieftain, bold, active, enterprising, cunning and capricious, this class constituted themselves, or were constituted by the peaceful cultivators, their protectors in time of bloodshed and rapine, when no central authority, capable of keeping the peace, existed. Hence arose the systems of Desha and Stalum Kaval, or the guard of a tract of country comprising a number of villages against open marauders in armed bands, and the guard of separate villages, their houses and crops, against secret theft. The feudal chief received a contribution from the area around his fort in consideration of protection afforded against armed invasion. The Maravars are chiefly the agricultural servants or sub-tenants of the wealthier ryots, under whom they cultivate, receiving a share of the crop. An increasing proportion of this caste are becoming the ryotwari owners of land by purchase from the original holders.”

Though the Maravans, Mr, Francis writes,23 “are usually cultivators, they are some of them the most expert cattle-lifters in the Presidency. In Madura, they have a particularly ingenious method of removing cattle. The actual thief steals the bullocks at night, and drives them at a gallop for half a dozen miles, hands them over to a confederate, and then returns and establishes an alibi. The confederate takes them on another stage, and does the same. A third and a fourth man keep them moving all that night. The next day they are hidden and rested, and thereafter they are driven by easier stages to the hills north of Madura, where their horns are cut and their brands altered, to prevent them from being recognised. They are then often sold at the great Chittrai cattle fair in Madura town. In some papers read in G.O., No. 535, Judicial, dated 29th March 1899, it was shown that, though, according to the 1891 census, the Maravans formed only 10 per cent. of the population of the district of Tinnevelly, yet they had committed 70 per cent. of the dacoities which have occurred in that district in the previous five years. They have recently (1899) figured prominently in the anti-Shanar riots in the same district.” (See Shanan.)

“The Maravans”, Mr. F. S. Mullaly writes,24 “furnish nearly the whole of the village police (kavilgars, watchmen), robbers and thieves of the Tinnevelly district. Very often the thief and the watchman are one and the same individual. The Maravans of the present time, of course, retain only a shadow of the power which their ancestors wielded under the poligars, who commenced the kavil system. Still the Marava of to-day, as a member of a caste which is numerous and influential, as a man of superior physique and bold independent spirit, thief and robber, village policeman and detective combined—is an immense power in the land.”

It is noted, in the Madras Police Report, 1903, that “a large section of the population in Tinnevelly—the Maravans—are criminal by predilection and training. Mr. Longden’s efforts have been directed to the suppression of a bad old custom, by which the police were in the habit of engaging the help of the Maravans themselves in the detection of crime. The natural result was a mass of false evidence and false charges, and, worst of all, a police indebted to the Maravan, who was certain to have his quid pro quo. This method being discountenanced, and the station-house officer being deprived of the aid of his tuppans (men who provide a clue), the former has found himself very much at sea, and, until sounder methods can be inculcated, will fail to show successful results. Still, even a failure to detect is better than a police in the hands of the Maravans.” Further information concerning tuppukuli, or clue hire, will be found in the note on Kallans.

From a very interesting note on the Maravans of the Tinnevelly district, the following extract is taken.25 “On the principle of setting a thief, to catch a thief, Maravars are paid blackmail to keep their hands from picking and stealing, and to make restitution for any thefts that may possibly take place, notwithstanding the vigilance of the watchmen. (A suit has been known to be instituted, in a Munsiff’s Court, for failure to make restitution for theft after receipt of the kudikaval money.) As a matter of fact, no robberies on a large scale can possibly take place without the knowledge, connivance, or actual co-operation of the Kavalgars. People living in country places, remote from towns, are entirely at the mercy of the Maravars, and every householder or occupier of a mud hut, which is dignified by being called a house, must pay the Maravars half a fanam, which is equal to one anna eight pies, yearly. Those who own cattle, and there are few who do not, must pay one fanam a year. At the time of the harvest, it is the custom in Southern India for an enemy to go and reap his antagonist’s crops as they are growing in the fields. He does this to bring matters to a climax, and to get the right side of his enemy, so that he may be forced to come to terms, reasonable or otherwise. Possession is nine points of the law. On occasions such as these, which are frequent, the advantage of the employment of Kavalgars can readily be understood. The Maravars are often true to their salt, though sometimes their services can be obtained by the highest bidder. The plan of keeping kaval, or going the rounds like a policeman on duty, is, for a village of, say, a hundred Maravars, to divide into ten sections. Each section takes a particular duty, and they are paid by the people living within their range. If a robbery takes place, and the value of the property does not exceed ten rupees, then this section of ten men will each subscribe one rupee, and pay up ten rupees. If, however, the property lost exceeds the sum of ten rupees, then all the ten sections of Maravars, the hundred men, will join together, and make restitution for the robbery. How they are able to do this, and to recoup themselves, can be imagined. Various attempts for many years have been made to put a stop to this system of kudi-kaval. At one time the village (Nunguneri) of the chief Maravar was burnt down, and for many years the police have been on their track, and numerous convictions are constantly taking place. Out of 150,000 Maravars in the whole district, 10,000 are professional thieves, and of these 4,000 have been convicted, and are living at the present time. The question arises whether some plan could not be devised to make honest men of these rogues. It has been suggested that their occupation as watchmen should be recognised by Government, and that they should be enlisted as subordinate officials, just as some of them are now employed as Talayaris and Vettiyans.... The villages of the Maravars exist side by side with the other castes, and, as boys and girls, all the different classes grow up together, so that there is a bond of sympathy and regard between them all. The Maravans, therefore, are not regarded as marauding thieves by the other classes. Their position in the community as Kavalgars is recognised, and no one actually fears them. From time immemorial it has been the mamool (custom) to pay them certain dues, and, although illegal, who in India is prepared to act contrary to custom? The small sum paid annually by the villagers is insignificant, and no one considers it a hardship to pay it, when he knows that his goods are in safety; and, if the Maravars did not steal, there are plenty of other roving castes (e.g., the Kuluvars, Kuravars, and Kambalatars) who would, so that, on the whole, ordinary unsophisticated natives, who dwell in the country side, rather like the Maravar than otherwise. When, however, these watchmen undertake torchlight dacoities, and attack travellers on the high-road, then they are no better than the professional thieves of other countries, and they deserve as little consideration. It must be borne in mind that, while robbery is the hereditary occupation of the Maravars, there are thousands of them who lead strictly honest, upright lives as husbandmen, and who receive no benefit whatever from the kudi-kaval system. Some of the most noted and earnest Native Christians have been, and still are, men and women of this caste, and the reason seems to be that they never do things by halves. If they are murderers and robbers, nothing daunts them, and, on the other hand, if they are honest men, they are the salt of the earth.” I am informed that, when a Maravan takes food in the house of a stranger, he will sometimes take a pinch of earth, and put it on the food before he commences his meal. This act frees him from the obligation not to injure the family which has entertained him.

In a note entitled Marava jati vernanam,26 from the Mackenzie Manuscripts, it is recorded that “there are seven sub-divisions in the tribe of the Maravas, respectively denominated Sembunattu, Agattha, Oru-nattu, Upukatti, and Kurichikattu. Among these sub-divisions, that of the Sembunattu Maravas is the principal one.” In the Madras Census Report, 1891, the following are returned as the most important sub-divisions:—Agamudaiyan, Kallan, Karana, Kondaikatti, Kottani, Sembanattu, and Vannikutti, Among the Sembanattus (or Sembanadus), the following septs or khilais have been recorded:—

  • Marikka.
  • Piccha.
  • Tondaman.
  • Sitrama.
  • Thanicha.
  • Karuputhra.
  • Katra.

“The Kondayamkottai Maravars,” Mr. F. Fawcett writes,27 “are divided into six sub-tribes, or, as they call them, trees. Each tree, or kothu, is divided into three khilais or branches. These I call septs. Those of the khilais belonging to the same tree or kothu are never allowed to intermarry. A man or woman must marry with one of a khilai belonging to another tree than his own, his or her own being that of his or her mother, and not of the father. But marriage is not permissible between those of any two trees or kothus: there are some restrictions. For instance, a branch of betel vine or leaves may marry with a branch of cocoanut, but not with areca nuts or dates. I am not positive what all the restrictions are, but restrictions of some kind, by which marriage between persons of all trees may not be made indiscriminately, certainly exist. The names of the trees or kothus and of the khilais or branches, as given to me from the Maraver Padel, a book considered to be authoritative, are these—

“Unfortunately I am unable to trace out the meanings of all these khilais. Agastya and Gautamar are, of course, sages of old. Viramudithanginan seems to mean a king’s crown-bearer. Alakhiya Pandiyan seems to be one of the old Pandiyan kings of Madura (alakhiya means beautiful). Akhili is perhaps intended to mean the wife of Gautama, Lokamurti, the one being of the world, and Jambhuvar, a monkey king with a bear’s face, who lived long, long ago. The common rule regulating marriages among Brahmans, and indeed people of almost every caste in Southern India, is that the proper husband for the girl is her mother’s brother or his son. But this is not so among the Kondayamkottai Maravars. A girl can never marry her mother’s brother, because they are of the same khilai. On the other hand, the children of a brother and sister may marry, and should do so, if this can be arranged, as, though the brother and sister are of the same khilai, their children are not, because the children of the brother belong perforce to that of their mother, who is of a different khilai. It very often happens that a man marries into his father’s khilai; indeed there seems to be some idea that he should do so if possible. The children of brothers may not marry with each other, although they are of different khilais, for two brothers may not marry into the same khilai. One of the first things to be done in connection with a marriage is that the female relations of the bridegroom must go and examine the intended bride, to test her physical suitability. She should not, as it was explained to me, have a flat foot; the calf of her leg should be slender, not so thick as the thigh; the skin on the throat should not form more than two wrinkles; the hair over the temple should grow crossways. The last is very important.” A curl on the forehead resembling the head of a snake is of evil omen.

In one form of the marriage rites as carried out by the Maravans, the bridegroom’s party proceed, on an auspicious day which has been fixed beforehand, to the home of the bride, taking with them five cocoanuts, five bunches of plantains, five pieces of turmeric, betel, and flowers, and the tali strung on a thread dyed with turmeric. At the auspicious hour, the bride is seated within the house on a plank, facing east. The bridegroom’s sister removes the string of black beads from her neck, and ties the tali thereon. While this is being done, the conch-shell is blown, and women indulge in what Mr. Fawcett describes as a shrill kind of keening (kulavi idal). The bride is taken to the house of the bridegroom, where they sit side by side on a plank, and the ceremony of warding off the evil eye is performed. Further, milk is poured by people with crossed hands over the heads of the couple. A feast is held, in which meat takes a prominent part. A Maravan, who was asked to describe the marriage ceremony, replied that it consists in killing a sheep or fowl, and the bringing of the bride by the bridegroom’s sister to her brother’s house after the tali has been tied. The Kondaikatti Maravans, in some places, substitute for the usual golden tali a token representing “the head of Indra fastened to a bunch of human hair, or silken strings representing his hair.”28

In another form of the marriage ceremony, the father of the bridegroom goes to the bride’s house, accompanied by his relations, with the following articles in a box made of plaited palmyra leaves:—

  • 5 bundles of betel.
  • 21 measures of rice.
  • 7 cocoanuts.
  • 70 plantains.
  • 7 lumps of jaggery (crude sugar).
  • 21 pieces of turmeric.
  • Flowers, sandal paste, etc.

At the bride’s house, these presents are touched by those assembled there, and the box is handed over to the bride’s father. On the wedding day (which is four days afterwards), pongal (cooked rice) is offered to the house god early in the morning. Later in the day, the bridegroom is taken in a palanquin to the house of the bride. Betel is presented to him by her father or brother. The bride generally remains within the house till the time for tying the tali has arrived. The maternal uncle then blindfolds her with his hand, lifts her up, and carries her to the bridegroom, Four women stand round the contracting couple, and pass round a dish containing a broken cocoanut and a cake three times. The bride and bridegroom then spit into the dish, and the females set up their shrill keening. The maternal uncles join their hands together, and, on receiving the assent of those present, the bridegroom’s sister ties the tali on the bride’s neck. The tali consists of a ring attached to a black silk thread. After marriage, the “silk tali” is, for every day purposes, replaced by golden beads strung on a string, and the tali used at the wedding is often borrowed for the occasion. The tali having been tied, the pair are blessed, and, in some places, their knees, shoulders, heads, and backs are touched with a betel leaf dipped in milk, and blessed with the words “May the pair be prosperous, giving rise to leaves like a banyan tree, roots like the thurvi (Cynodon Dactylon) grass, and like the bamboo.” Of the thurvi grass it is said in the Atharwana Veda “May this grass, which rose from the water of life, which has a hundred roots and a hundred stems, efface a hundred of my sins, and prolong my existence on earth for a hundred years.”

Still further variants of the marriage ceremonial are described by Mr. Fawcett, in one of which “the Brahman priest (purohit) hands the tali to the bridegroom’s sister, who in turn hands it to the bridegroom, who ties a knot in it. The sister then ties two more knots in it, and puts it round the bride’s neck. After this has been done, and while the pair are still seated, the Brahman ties together the little fingers of the right hands of the pair, which are interlocked, with a silken thread. The pair then rise, walk thrice round the marriage seat (manavanai), and enter the house, where they sit, and the bridegroom receives present from the bride’s father. The fingers are then untied. While undergoing the ceremony, the bridegroom wears a thread smeared with turmeric tied round the right wrist. It is called kappu.”

In the manuscript already quoted,29 it is noted that “should it so happen, either in the case of wealthy rulers of districts or of poorer common people, that any impediment arises to prevent the complete celebration of the marriage with all attendant ceremonies according to the sacred books and customs of the tribe, then the tali only is sent, and the female is brought to the house of her husband. At a subsequent period, even after two or three children have been born, the husband sends the usual summons to a marriage of areca nut and betel leaf; and, when the relatives are assembled, the bride and bridegroom are publicly seated in state under the marriage pandal; the want of completeness in the former contract is made up; and, all needful ceremonies being gone through, they perform the public procession through the streets of the town, when they break the cocoanut in the presence of Vignesvara (Ganesa), and, according to the means possessed by the parties, the celebration of the marriage is concluded in one day, or prolonged to two, three or four days. The tali, being tied on, has the name of katu tali, and the name of the last ceremony is called the removal of the former deficiency. If it so happen that, after the first ceremony, the second be not performed, then the children of such an alliance are lightly regarded among the Maravas. Should the husband die during the continuance of the first relation, and before the second ceremony be performed, then the body of the man, and also the woman are placed upon the same seat, and the ceremonies of the second marriage, according to the customs of the tribe, being gone through, the tali is taken off; the woman is considered to be a widow, and can marry with some other man.” It is further recorded30 of the Orunattu Maravans that “the elder or younger sister of the bridegroom goes to the house of the bride, and, to the sound of the conch-shell, ties on the tali; and, early on the following morning, brings her to the house of the bridegroom. After some time, occasionally three or four years, when there are indications of offspring, in the fourth or fifth month, the relatives of the pair assemble, and perform the ceremony of removing the deficiency; placing the man and his wife on a seat in public, and having the sacrifice by fire and other matters conducted by the Prohitan (or Brahman); after which the relatives sprinkle seshai rice (or rice beaten out without any application of water) over the heads of the pair. The relatives are feasted and otherwise hospitably entertained; and these in return bestow donations on the pair, from one fanam to one pagoda. The marriage is then finished. Sometimes, when money for expenses is wanting, this wedding ceremony is postponed till after the birth of two or three children. If the first husband dies, another marriage is customary. Should it so happen that the husband, after the tying on of the tali in the first instance, dislikes the object of his former choice, then the people of their tribe are assembled; she is conducted back to her mother’s house; sheep, oxen, eating-plate, with brass cup, jewels, ornaments, and whatever else she may have brought with her from her mother’s house, are returned; and the tali, which was put on, is broken off and taken away. If the wife dislikes the husband, then the money he paid, the expenses which he incurred in the wedding, the tali which he caused to be bound on her, are restored to him, and the woman, taking whatsoever she brought with her, returns to her mother’s house, and marries again at her pleasure.”

It is recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1891, that “a special custom obtaining among the Marava zemindars of Tinnevelly is mentioned by the Registrar of that district. It is the celebration of marriage by means of a proxy for the bridegroom in the shape of a stick, which is sent by the bridegroom, and is set up in the marriage booth in his place. The tali is tied by some one representative of the bridegroom, and the marriage ceremony then becomes complete.... Widow re-marriage is freely allowed and practiced, except in the Sembunattu sub-division.” “A widow,” Mr. Fawcett writes, “may marry her deceased husband’s elder brother, but not a younger brother. If she does not like him, she may marry some one else.”

When a girl reaches puberty, news of the event is conveyed by a washerman. On the sixteenth day she comes out of seclusion, bathes, and returns home. At the threshold, her future husband’s sister is standing, and averts the evil eye by waving betel leaves, plantains, cocoanuts, cooked flour paste (puttu), a vessel filled with water, and an iron measure containing rice with a style (ambu) stuck in it. The style is removed by the girl’s prospective sister-in-law, who beats her with it as she enters the house. A feast is held at the expense of the girl’s maternal uncle, who brings a goat, and ties it to a pole at her house.

Both burial and cremation are practiced by the Maravans. The Sembunattu Maravans of Ramnad regard the Agamudaiyans as their servants, and the water, with which the corpse is washed, is brought by them. Further, it is an Agamudaiyan, and not the son of the deceased, who carries the fire-pot to the burial-ground. The corpse is carried thither on a bier or palanquin. The grave is dug by an Andi, never by a Pallan or Paraiyan. Salt, powdered brick, and sacred ashes are placed on the floor thereof and the corpse is placed in it in a sitting posture. The Kondaiyamkottai Maravans of Ramnad, who are stone and brick masons, burn their dead, and, on their way to the burning-ground, the bearers of the corpse walk over cloths spread on the ground. On the second or third day, lingams are made out of the ashes, or of mud from the grave if the corpse has been buried. To these, as well as to the soul of the deceased, and to the crows, offerings are made. On the sixteenth day, nine kinds of seed-grain are placed over the grave, or the spot where the corpse was burnt. A Pandaram sets up five kalasams (brass vessels), and does puja (worship). The son of the deceased, who officiated as chief mourner, goes to a Pillayar (Ganesa) shrine, carrying on his head a pot containing a lighted lamp made of flour. As he draws near the god, a screen is stretched in front thereof. He then takes a few steps backwards, the screen is removed, and he worships the god. He then retires, walking backwards. The flour is distributed among those present. Presents of new cloths are made to the sons and daughters of the deceased. In his account of the Kondaiyamkottai Maravans, Mr. Fawcett gives the following account of the funeral rites. “Sandals having been fastened on the feet, the corpse is carried in a recumbent position, legs first, to the place of cremation. A little rice is placed in the mouth, and the relatives put a little money into a small vessel which is kept beside the chest. The karma karta (chief mourner) walks thrice round the corpse, carrying an earthen vessel filled with water, in which two or three holes are pierced. He allows some water to fall on the corpse, and breaks the pot near the head, which lies to the south. No Brahman attends this part of the ceremony. When he has broken the pot, the karma karta must not see the corpse again; he goes away at once, and is completely shaved. The barber takes the cash which has been collected, and lights the pyre. When he returns to the house, the karma karta prostrates himself before a lighted lamp; he partakes of no food, except a little grain and boiled pulse and water, boiled with coarse palm sugar and ginger. Next day he goes to the place of cremation, picks up such calcined bones as he finds, and places them in a basket, so that he may some day throw them in water which is considered to be sacred. On the eleventh or twelfth day, some grain is sown in two new earthen vessels which have been broken, and there is continued weeping around these. On the sixteenth day, the young plants, which have sprouted, are removed, and put into water, weeping going on all the while; and, after this has been done, the relatives bathe and enjoy a festive meal, after which the karma karta is seated on a white cloth, and is presented with a new cloth and some money by his father-in-law and other relatives who are present. On the seventeenth day takes place the punyagavachanam or purification, at which the Brahman priest presides, and the karma karta takes an oil bath. The wood of the pipal tree (Ficus religiosa) is never used for purposes of cremation.”

Concerning the death ceremonies in the Trichinopoly district, Mr. F. R. Hemingway writes as follows. “Before the corpse is removed, the chief mourner and his wife take two balls of cow-dung, in which the barber has mixed various kinds of grain, and stick them on to the wall of the house. These are thrown into water on the eighth day. The ceremonial is called pattam kattugiradu, or investing with the title, and indicates the succession to the dead man’s estate. A rocket is fired when the corpse is taken out of the house. On the sixth day, a pandal (booth) of naval (Eugenia, Jambolana) leaves is prepared, and offerings are made in it to the manes of the ancestors of the family. It is removed on the eighth day, and the chief mourner puts a turban on, and merry-making and dances are indulged in. There are ordinarily no karumantaram ceremonies, but they are sometimes performed on the sixteenth day, a Brahman being called in. On the return home from these ceremonies, each member of the party has to dip his toe into a mortar full of cow-dung water, and the last man has to knock it down.”

Jallikattu bull.

Jallikattu bull.

Among some Kondaiyamkottai Maravans, a ceremony called palaya karmandhiram, or old death ceremony, is performed. Some months after the death of one who has died an unnatural death, the skull is exhumed, and placed beneath a pandal (booth) in an open space near the village. Libations of toddy are indulged in, and the villagers dance wildly round the head. The ceremony lasts over three days, and the final death ceremonies are then performed.

For the following account of the jellikattu or bull-baiting, which is practiced by the Maravans, I am indebted to a note by Mr. J. H. Nelson.31 “This,” he writes, “is a game worthy of a bold and free people, and it is to be regretted that certain Collectors (District Magistrates) should have discouraged it under the idea that it was somewhat dangerous. The jellikattu is conducted in the following manner. On a certain day in the year, large crowds of people, chiefly males, assemble together in the morning in some extensive open space, the dry bed of a river perhaps, or of a tank (pond), and many of them may be seen leading ploughing bullocks, of which the sleek bodies and rather wicked eyes afford clear evidence of the extra diet they have received for some days in anticipation of the great event. The owners of these animals soon begin to brag of their strength and speed, and to challenge all and any to catch and hold them; and in a short time one of the best beasts is selected to open the day’s proceedings. A new cloth is made fast round his horns, to be the prize of his captor, and he is then led out into the midst of the arena by his owner, and there left to himself surrounded by a throng of shouting and excited strangers. Unaccustomed to this sort of treatment, and excited by the gestures of those who have undertaken to catch him, the bullock usually lowers his head at once, and charges wildly into the midst of the crowd, who nimbly run off on either side to make way for him. His speed being much greater than that of the men, he soon overtakes one of his enemies and makes at him to toss him savagely. Upon this the man drops on the sand like a stone, and the bullock, instead of goring him, leaps over his body, and rushes after another. The second man drops in his turn, and is passed like the first; and, after repeating this operation several times, the beast either succeeds in breaking the ring, and galloping off to his village, charging every person he meets on the way, or is at last caught and held by the most vigorous of his pursuers. Strange as it may seem, the bullocks never by any chance toss or gore any one who throws himself down on their approach; and the only danger arises from their accidentally reaching unseen and unheard some one who remains standing. After the first two or three animals have been let loose one after the other, two or three, or even half a dozen are let loose at a time, and the scene quickly becomes most exciting. The crowd sways violently to and fro in various directions in frantic efforts to escape being knocked over; the air is filled with shouts, screams, and laughter; and the bullocks thunder over the plain as fiercely as if blood and slaughter were their sole occupation. In this way perhaps two or three hundred animals are run in the course of a day, and, when all go home towards evening, a few cuts and bruises, borne with the utmost cheerfulness, are the only results of an amusement which requires great courage and agility on the part of the competitors for the prizes—that is for the cloths and other things tied to the bullocks’ horns—and not a little on the part of the mere bystanders. The only time I saw this sport (from a place of safety) I was highly delighted with the entertainment, and no accident occurred to mar my pleasure. One man indeed was slightly wounded in the buttock, but he was quite able to walk, and seemed to be as happy as his friends.”

A further account of the jallikat or jellicut is given in the Gazetteer of the Madura district. “The word jallikattu literally means tying of ornaments. On a day fixed and advertised by beat of drums at the adjacent weekly markets, a number of cattle, to the horns of which cloths and handkerchiefs have been tied, are loosed one after the other, in quick succession, from a large pen or other enclosure, amid a furious tom-tomming and loud shouts from the crowd of assembled spectators. The animals have first to run the gauntlet down a long lane formed of country carts, and then gallop off wildly in every direction. The game consists in endeavouring to capture the cloths tied to their horns. To do this requires fleetness of foot and considerable pluck, and those who are successful are the heroes of the hour. Cuts and bruises are the reward of those who are less skilful, and now and again some of the excited cattle charge into the on-lookers, and send a few of them flying. The sport has been prohibited on more than one occasion. But, seeing that no one need run any risks unless he chooses, existing official opinion inclines to the view that it is a pity to discourage a manly amusement which is not really more dangerous than football, steeple-chasing, or fox-hunting. The keenness of the more virile sections of the community, especially the Kallans (q.v.), in this game is extraordinary, and, in many villages, cattle are bred and reared specially for it. The best jallikats are to be seen in the Kallan country in Tirumangalam, and next come those in Melur and Madura taluks.”

“Boomerangs,” Dr. G. Oppert writes,32 “are used by the Maravans and Kallans when hunting deer. The Madras Museum collection contains three (two ivory, one wooden) from the Tanjore armoury. In the arsenal of the Pudukottai Raja a stock of wooden boomerangs is always kept. Their name in Tamil is valai tade (bent stick).” To Mr. R. Bruce Foote, I am indebted for the following note on the use of the boomerang in the Madura district. “A very favourite weapon of the Madura country is a kind of curved throwing-stick, having a general likeness to the boomerang of the Australian aborigines. I have in my collection two of these Maravar weapons obtained from near Sivaganga. The larger measures 24? along the outer curve, and the chord of the arc 17?. At the handle end is a rather ovate knob 2¼ long and 1¼ in its maximum thickness. The thinnest and smallest part of the weapon is just beyond the knob, and measures 11/16 in diameter by 1? in width. From that point onwards its width increases very gradually to the distal end, where it measures 2? across and is squarely truncated. The lateral diameter is greatest three or four inches before the truncated end, where it measures 1. My second specimen is a little smaller than the above, and is also rather less curved. Both are made of hard heavy wood, dark reddish brown in colour as seen through the varnish covering the surface. The wood is said to be tamarind root. The workmanship is rather rude. I had an opportunity of seeing these boomerangs in use near Sivaganga in March, 1883. In the morning I came across many parties, small and large, of men and big boys who were out hare-hunting with a few dogs. The parties straggled over the ground, which was sparsely covered with low scrub jungle. And, whenever an unlucky hare started out near to the hunters, it was greeted with a volley of the boomerangs, so strongly and dexterously thrown that poor puss had little chance of escape. I saw several knocked out of time. On making enquiries as to these hunting parties, I was told that they were in observance of a semi-religious duty, in which every Maravar male, not unfitted by age or ill-health, is bound to participate on a particular day in the year. Whether a dexterous Maravar thrower could make his weapon return to him I could not find out. Certainly in none of the throws observed by me was any tendency to a return perceptible. But for simple straight shots these boomerangs answer admirably.”

The Maravans bear Saivite sectarian marks, but also worship various minor deities, among whom are included Kali, Karuppan, Muthu Karuppan, Periya Karuppan, Mathurai Viran, Aiyanar, and Munuswami.

The lobes of the ears of Marava females are very elongated as the result of boring and gradual dilatation during childhood. Mr. (now Sir) F. A. Nicholson, who was some years ago stationed at Ramnad, tells me that the young Maravan princesses used to come and play in his garden, and, as they ran races, hung on to their ears, lest the heavy ornaments should rend asunder the filamentous ear lobes.

It was recorded, in 1902, that a young Maravan, who was a member of the family of the Zemindar of Chokampatti, was the first non-Christian Maravan to pass the B.A. degree examination at the Madras University.

The general title of the Maravans is Tevan (god), but some style themselves Talaivan (chief), Servaikkaran (captain), Karaiyalan (ruler of the coast), or Rayarvamsam (Raja’s clan).

Marayan.—A synonym of Maran.

Mari.—Mari or Marimanisaru is a sub-division of Holeya.

Mariyan.—Said to be a sub-division of Kolayan.

Markandeya.—A gotra of Padma Sale and Seniyan (Devanga), named after the rishi or sage Markandeya, who was remarkable for his austerities and great age, and is also known as Dirghayus (the long-lived). Some Devangas and the Salapus claim him as their ancestor.

Marri. (Ficus bengalensis).—An exogamous sept of Mala and Mutracha. Marri-gunta (pond near a fig tree) occurs as an exogamous sept of Yanadi.

Marumakkathayam.—The Malayalam name for the law of inheritance through the female line.

Marvari.—A territorial name, meaning a native of Marwar. At times of census, Marvari has been returned as a caste of Jains, i.e., Marvaris, who are Jains by religion. The Marvaris are enterprising traders, who have settled in various parts of Southern India, and are, in the city of Madras, money-lenders.

Masadika.—A synonym for Nadava Bant.

Masila (masi, dirt).—An exogamous sept of Devanga.

Masthan.—A Muhammadan title, meaning a saint, returned at times of census.

Mastiga.—The Mastigas are described by the Rev. J. Cain33 as mendicants and bards, who beg from Gollas, Malas, and Madigas. I am informed that they are also known as Mala Mastigas, as they are supposed to be illegitimate descendants of the Malas, and usually beg from them. When engaged in begging, they perform various contortionist and acrobatic feats.

Matam (monastery, or religious institution).—An exogamous sept of Devanga.

Matanga.—Matanga or Matangi is a synonym of Madiga. The Madigas sometimes call themselves Matangi Makkalu, or children of Matangi, who is their favourite goddess. Matangi is further the name of certain dedicated prostitutes, who are respected by the Madiga community.

Matavan.—Recorded, in the Travancore Census Report, 1901, as a name for the Pulikkapanikkan sub-division of Nayar.

Matsya (fish).—A sept of Domb.

Mattiya.—The Mattiyas are summed up as follows in the Madras Census Report, 1901. “In Vizagapatam these are hill cultivators from the Central Provinces, who are stated in one account to be a sub-division of the Gonds. Some of them wear the sacred thread, because the privilege was conferred upon their families by former Rajas of Malkanagiri, where they reside. They are said to eat with Ronas, drink with Porojas, but smoke only with their own people. The name is said to denote workers in mud (matti), and in Ganjam they are apparently earth-workers and labourers. In the Census Report, 1871, it is noted that the Matiyas are ‘altogether superior to the Kois and to the Parjas (Porojas). They say they sprang from the soil, and go so far as to point out a hole, out of which their ancestor came. They talk Uriya, and farm their lands well’”

For the following note, I am indebted to Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao. The caste is divided into at least four septs, named Bhag (tiger), Nag (cobra), Cheli (goat), and Kochchimo (tortoise). A man may claim his paternal aunt’s daughter in marriage. Girls are, as a rule, married after puberty. When a match is contemplated, the would-be husband presents a pot of liquor to the girl’s parents. If this is accepted, a further present of liquor, rice, and a pair of cloths, is made later on. The liquor is distributed among the villagers, who, by accepting it, indicate their consent to the transfer of the girl to the man. A procession, with Dombs acting as musicians, is formed, and the girl is taken to the bridegroom’s village. A pandal (booth) has been erected in front of the bridegroom’s house, which the contracting couple enter on the following morning. Their hands are joined together by the presiding Desari, they bathe in turmeric water, and new cloths are given to them. Wearing these, they enter the house, the bridegroom leading the bride. Their relations then exhort them to be constant to each other, and behave well towards them. A feast follows, and the night is spent in dancing and drinking. Next day, the bride’s parents are sent away with a present of a pair of cows or bulls as jholla tonka. The remarriage of widows is allowed, and a younger brother usually marries the widow of his elder brother. Divorce is permitted, and, when a husband separates from his wife, he gives her a new cloth and a bullock as compensation. A divorced woman may remarry.

By the Mattiyas, and other Oriya castes, the ghorojavai (house son-in-law) custom is practiced. According to this custom, the poorer folk, in search of a wife, work, according to a contract, for their future father-in-law for a specified time, at the expiration of which they set up a separate establishment with his daughter. To begin married life with, presents are made to the couple by the father-in-law.

The dead are burnt, and the spot where cremation takes place is marked by setting up in the ground a bamboo pole, to which one of the dead man’s rags is attached. The domestic pots, which were used during his last illness, are broken there. Death pollution is observed for eight days. On the ninth day, the ashes, mixed with water, are cleared up, and milk is poured over the spot. The ashes are sometimes buried in a square hole, which is dug to a depth of about three feet, and filled in. Over it a small hut-like structure is raised. A few of these sepulchral monuments may be seen on the south side of the Pangam stream on the Jeypore-Malkangiri road. The personal names of the Mattiyas are often taken from the day of the week on which they are born.

Mavilan.—Described, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as a small tribe of shikaris (hunters) and herbalists, who follow makkathayam (inheritance from father to son), and speak corrupt Tulu. Tulumar (native of the Tulu country), and Chingattan (lion-hearted people) were returned as sub-divisions. “The name,” Mr. H. A. Stuart writes,34 “is said to be derived from mavilavu, a medicinal herb. I think, however, the real derivation must be sought in Tulu or Canarese, as it seems to be a Canarese caste. These people are found only in the Chirakkal taluk of Malabar. Their present occupation is basket-making. Succession is from father to son, but among some it is also said to be in the female line.”

It is recorded, in the Gazetteer of Malabar, that the Mavilons are “divided into Tulu Mavilons and Eda Mavilons, and sub-divided into thirty illams. They are employed as mahouts (drivers of elephants), and collect honey and other forest produce. Their headmen are called Chingam (simham, lion), and their huts Mapura.”

Mayalotilu (rascal).—Mayalotilu or Manjulotilu is said by the Rev. J. Cain to be a name given by the hill Koyis to the Koyis who live near the Godavari river.

Mayan.—Recorded, in the Madras Census Report, as a synonym of Kammalan. The Kamsali goldsmiths claim descent from Maya.

Meda, Medara, Medarlu, or Medarakaran.—The Medaras are workers in bamboo in the Telugu, Canarese, Oriya and Tamil countries, making sieves, baskets, cradles, mats, fans, boxes, umbrellas, and tatties (screens). Occasionally they receive orders for waste-paper baskets, coffins for Native Christian children, or cages for pigeons and parrots. In former days they made basket-caps for sepoys. They are said to cut the bamboos in the forest on dark nights, in the belief that they would be damaged if cut at any other time. They do not, like the Korachas, make articles from the leaf of the date-palm (Phoenix).

They believe that they came from Mahendrachala mountain, the mountain of Indra, and the following legend is current among them. Dakshudu, the father-in-law of Siva, went to invite his son-in-law to a devotional sacrifice, which he was about to perform. Siva was in a state of meditation, and did not visibly return the obeisance which Dakshudu made by raising his hands to his forehead. Dakshudu became angry, and told his people not to receive Siva or his wife, or show them any mark of respect. Parvati, Siva’s wife, went with her son Ganapati, against her husband’s order, to the sacrifice, and received no sign of recognition. Thereat she shed tears, and the earth opened, and she disappeared. She was again born of Himavant (Himalayas), and Siva, telling her who she was, remarried her. Siva, in reply to her enquiries, told her that she could avoid a further separation from him if she performed a religious vow, and gave cakes to Brahmans in a chata, or winnowing basket. She accordingly made a basket of gold, which was not efficacious, because, as Siva explained to her, it was not plaited, as bamboo baskets are. Taking his serpent, Siva turned it into a bamboo. He ordered Ganapati, and others, to become men, and gave them his trisula and ghada to work with on bamboo, from which they plaited a basket for the completion of Parvati’s vow. Ganapati and the Ganas remained on the Mahendrachala mountain, and married Gandarva women, who bore children to them. Eventually they were ordered by Siva to return, and, as they could not take their wives and families with them, they told them to earn their livelihood by plaiting bamboo articles. Hence they were called Mahendrulu or Medarlu. According to another legend,35 Parvati once wanted to perform the ceremony called gaurinomu, and, wanting a winnow, was at a loss to know how to secure one. She asked Siva to produce a man who could make one, and he ordered his riding-ox Vrishaban to produce such a person by chewing. Vrishaban complied, and the ancestor of the Medaras, being informed of the wish of the goddess, took the snake which formed Siva’s necklace, and, going to a hill, planted its head in the ground. A bamboo at once sprang up on the spot, which, after returning the snake to its owner, the man used for making a winnow. The snake-like root of the bamboo is regarded as a proof of the truth of the story.

As among many other castes, opprobrious names are given to children. For example, a boy, whose elder brother has died, may be called Pentayya (dung-heap). As a symbol of his being a dung-heap child, the infant, as soon as it is born, is placed on a leaf-platter. Other names are Thavvayya, or boy bought for bran, and Pakiru, mendicant. In a case where a male child had been ill for some months, a woman, under the influence of the deity, announced that he was possessed by the goddess Ankamma. The boy accordingly had the name of the goddess conferred on him.

The following are some of the gotras and exogamous septs of the Medaras:—

(a) Gotras.

Hanumanta (monkey-god). Bombadai (a fish).
Puli (tiger). Vinayaka (Ganesa).
Thagenilu (drinking water). Kasi (Benares).
Avisa (Sesbania grandiflora). Moduga (Butea frondosa).
Rela (Ficus). Kovila (koel or cuckoo).
Seshai (snake?).

(b) Exogamous septs.

Pilli (cat). Nuvvulu (gingelly).
Parvatham (mountain). Senagapapu (Bengal gram).
Putta (ant-hill). Tsanda (subscription).
Konda (mountain). Nila (blue).
Javadi (civet-cat). Sirigiri (a hill).
Nandikattu (bull’s mouth). Kanigiri (a hill).
Kandikattu (dhal soup). Pothu (male).
Kottakunda (new pot). Naginidu (snake).
Pooreti (a bird). Kola (ear of corn).
Kalluri (stone village).

A man most frequently marries his maternal uncle’s daughter, less frequently the daughter of his paternal aunt. Marriage with a deceased wife’s sister is regarded with special favour. Marriage with two living sisters, if one of them is suffering from disease, is common.

In a note on the Medaras of the Vizagapatam district, Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao writes that girls are married before or after puberty. A Brahman officiates at the marriage ceremonies. Widows are allowed to remarry once, and the sathamanam (marriage badge) is tied by the new husband on the neck of the bride, who has, as in the Gudala caste, to sit near a mortar.

Formerly all the Medaras were Saivites, but many are at the present day Vaishnavites, and even the Vaishnavites worship Siva. Every family has some special person or persons whom they worship, for example, Virullu, or boys who have died unmarried. A silver image is made, and kept in a basket. It is taken out on festive occasions, as before a marriage in a family, and offerings of milk and rice gruel are made to it. Bala Perantalu, or girls who have died before marriage, and Perantalu, or women who have died before their husbands, are worshipped with fruits, turmeric, rice, cocoanuts, etc.

Some of the Saivites bury their dead in a sitting posture, while others resort to cremation. All the Vaishnavites burn the dead, and, like the Saivites, throw the ashes into a river. The place of burning or burial is not as a rule marked by any stone or mound. But, if the family can afford it, a tulsi fort is built, and the tulsi (Ocimum sanctum) planted therein. In the Vizagapatam district, death pollution is said to last for three days, during which the caste occupation is not carried out. On the third day, a fowl is killed, and food cooked. It is taken to the spot where the corpse was burnt, on which a portion is thrown, and the remainder eaten.

The potency of charms in warding off evil spirits is believed in. For example, a figure of Hanuman the monkey-god, on a thin plate of gold, with cabalistic letters inscribed on it, is worn on the neck. And, on eclipse days, the root of the madar or arka plant (Calotropis gigantea), enclosed in a gold casket, is worn on the neck of females, and on the waist or arms of males. Some members of this, as of other castes, may be seen with cicatrices on the forehead, chest, back, or neck. These are the scars resulting from branding during infancy with lighted turmeric or cheroot, to cure infantile convulsions, resulting, it is believed, from inhaling tobacco smoke in small, ill-ventilated rooms.

Various legends are current in connection with tribal heroes. One Medara Chennayya is said to have fed some thousands of people with a potful of rice. His grandson, Medara Thodayya, used to do basket-making, and bathed three times daily. A Brahman, afflicted with leprosy, lost a calf. In searching for it, he fell into a ditch filled with water, in which the Medara had bathed, and was cured. One Medara Kethayya and his wife were very poor, but charitable. In order to test him, the god Iswara made grains of gold appear in large quantities in the hollow of a bamboo, which he cut. He avoided the bamboos as being full of vermin, and useless. At some distance, he found an ant-hill with a bamboo growing in it, and, knowing that bamboos growing on such a hill will not be attacked by vermin, cut it. In so doing, he cut off the head of a Rishi, who was doing penance. Detecting the crime of which he had been guilty, he cried “Siva, Siva.” His wife, who was miles away, heard him, and, knowing that he must be in some trouble, went to the spot. He asked her how he was to expiate his sin, and she replied. “You have taken a life, and must give one in return.” He thereon prepared to commit suicide, but his wife, taking the knife from him, was about to sacrifice herself when Iswara appeared, restored the Rishi to life, and took Medara Kethayya and his wife to heaven.

As among many other castes, the sthambamuhurtham (putting up the post) ceremony is performed when the building of a new house is commenced, and the deeparathana (lamp-worship) before it is occupied. In every settlement there is a Kulapedda, or hereditary caste headman, who has, among other things, the power of inflicting fines, sentencing to excommunication, and inflicting punishments for adultery, eating with members of lower castes, etc. Excommunication is a real punishment, as the culprit is not allowed to take bamboo, or mess with his former castemen. In the Kistna and Godavari districts, serious disputes, which the local panchayat (council) cannot decide, are referred to the headman at Masulipatam, who at present is a native doctor. There are no trials by ordeal. The usual form of oath is “Where ten are, there God is. In his presence I say.”

When a girl reaches puberty, she has to sit in a room on five fresh palmyra palm leaves, bathes in turmeric water, and may not eat salt. If there is “leg’s presentation” at childbirth, the infant’s maternal uncle should not hear the infant cry until the shanti ceremony has been performed. A Brahman recites some mantrams, and the reflection of the infant’s face is first seen by the uncle from the surface of oil in a plate. Widow remarriage is permitted. A widow can be recognised by her not wearing the tali, gazulu (glass bangles), and mettu (silver ring on the second toe).

The lowest castes with which the Medaras will eat are, they say, Komatis and Velamas. Some say that they will eat with Satanis,

In the Coorg country, the Medaras are said to subsist by umbrella-making. They are the drummers at Coorg festivals, and it is their privilege to receive annually at harvest-time from each Coorg house of their district as much reaped paddy as they can bind up with a rope twelve cubits in length. They dress like the Coorgs, but in poorer style.36

It is recorded by Bishop Whitehead37 that, “in Mercara taluk, in Ippanivolavade, and in Kadikeri in Halerinad, the villagers sacrifice a kona or male buffalo. Tied to a tree in a gloomy grove near the temple, the beast is killed by a Meda, who cuts off its head with a large knife, but no Coorgs are present at the time. The blood is spilled on a stone under a tree, and the flesh eaten by Medas.”

At the Census, 1901, Gauriga was returned as a sub-caste by some Medaras, The better classes are taking to call themselves Balijas, and affix the title Chetti to their names. The Godagula workers in split bamboo sometimes call themselves Odde (Oriya) Medara.38

Meda (raised mound).—An exogamous sept of Padma Sale.

Medam (fight).—An exogamous sept of Devanga.

Mehtar.—A few Mehtars are returned, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as a Central Provinces caste of scavengers. “This name,” Yule and Burnell write,39 “is usual in Bengal, especially for the domestic servant of this class. The word is Pers., comp. mihtar (Lat. major), a great personage, a prince, and has been applied to the class in question in irony, or rather in consolation. But the name has so completely adhered in this application, that all sense of either irony or consolation has perished. Mehtar is a sweeper, and nought else. His wife is the Matranee. It is not unusual to hear two Mehtars hailing each other as Maharaj!”

Meikaval (body-guard of the god).—A name for Pandarams.

Mekala (goats).—Recorded as an exogamous sept of Boya, Chenchu, Golla, Kamma, Kapu, Togata, and Yanadi. Nerigi Mekala (a kind of goat) is a further sept of Yanadi.

Mekhri.A sub-division of Navayat Muhammadans.

Melachcheri.A class of Muhammadans in the Laccadive islands (see Mappilla).

Meladava.Dancing-girls in South Canara.

Melakkaran.Concerning the Melakkarans, Mr. F. R. Hemingway writes as follows.40 “The name means musicians, and, as far as Tanjore is concerned, is applied to two absolutely distinct castes, the Tamil and Telugu Melakkarans (of whom the latter are barber musicians). These two will not eat in each other’s houses, and their views about dining with other castes are similar. They say they would mess (in a separate room) in a Vellalan’s house, and would dine with a Kallan, but it is doubtful whether any but the lower non-Brahman communities would eat with them. In other respects the two castes are quite different. The former speak Tamil, and, in most of their customs, resemble generally the Vellalans and other higher Tamil castes, while the latter speak Telugu, and follow domestic practices similar to those of the Telugu Brahmans. Both are musicians. The Telugus practice only the musician’s art or periyamelam (band composed of clarionet or nagasaram, pipe, drum, and cymbals), having nothing to do with dancing or dancing-girls, to whom the chinnamelam or nautch music is appropriate. The Tamil caste provides, or has adopted all the dancing-girls in the district. The daughters of these women are generally brought up to their mother’s profession, but the daughters of the men of the community rarely nowadays become dancing-girls, but are ordinarily married to members of the caste. The Tamil Melakkarans perform both the periyamelam and the nautch music. The latter consists of vocal music performed by a chorus of both sexes to the accompaniment of the pipe and cymbals. The class who perform it are called Nattuvans, and they are the instructors of the dancing-women. The periyamelam always finds a place at weddings, but the nautch is a luxury. Nowadays the better musicians hold themselves aloof from the dancing-women. Both castes have a high opinion of their own social standing. Indeed the Tamil section say they are really Kallans, Vellalans, Agamudaiyans, and so on, and that their profession is merely an accident.” The Vairavi, or temple servant of Nattukottai Chettis, must be a Melakkaran.

Mellikallu.Under the name Mellikallu or Mallekalu, seventy-six individuals are returned, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as “hill cultivators in Pedakota village of Viravalli taluk of the Vizagapatam Agency, who are reported to constitute a caste by themselves. They pollute by touch, have their own priests, and eat pork but not beef.”

Melnadu.Melnadu, or Melnatar, meaning western country, is the name of a territorial sub-division of Kallan and Shanan.

Melu Sakkare.A name, meaning western Sakkare, by which Upparas in Mysore style themselves. They claim descent from a mythical individual, named Sagara, who dug the Bay of Bengal. Some Upparas explain that they work in salt, which is more essential than sugar, and that Mel Sakkara means superior sugar.

Meman.More than three hundred members of this Muhammadan class of Bombay traders were returned at the Madras Census, 1901. It is recorded, in the Bombay Gazetteer, that many Cutch, Memans are prospering as traders in Kurrachee, Bombay, the Malabar coast, Hyderabad, Madras, Calcutta, and Zanzibar.

Menasu (pepper or chillies).—An exogamous sept of Kuruba, and gotra of Kurni.

Menokki (overseer).—Menokki and Menoki have been returned, in the Travancore and Cochin Census Reports, as a sub-division of Nayars, who are employed as accountants in temples. The name is derived from mel, above, nokki, from nokkunnu to look after.

Menon.By Wigram,41 Menon is defined as “a title originally conferred by the Zamorin on his agents and writers. It is now used by all classes of Nayars. In Malabar, the village karnam (accountant) is called Menon.” In the Travancore Census Report, 1901, Menon is said to be “a contraction of Menavan (a superior person). The title was conferred upon several families by the Raja of Cochin, and corresponds to Pillai down south. As soon as a person was made a Menon, he was presented with an ola (palmyra leaf for writing on) and an iron style, as symbolical of the office he was expected to fill, i.e., of an accountant. Even now, in British Malabar, each amsham or revenue village has a writer or accountant, who is called Menon.” Mr. F. Fawcett writes42 that “to those of the sub-clan attached to the Zamorin who were sufficiently capable to earn it, he gave the titular honour Menon, to be used as an affix to the name. The title Menon is in general hereditary, but, be it remarked, many who now use it are not entitled to do so. Properly speaking, only those whose investiture by the Zamorin or some other recognized chief is undisputed, and their descendants (in the female line) may use it. A man known to me was invested with the title Menon in 1895 by the Karimpuzha chief, who, in the presence of a large assembly, said thrice ‘From this day forward I confer on Krishnan Nayar the title of Krishna Menon.’ Nowadays be it said, the title Menon is used by Nayars of clans other than the Akattu Charna.” Indian undergraduates at the English Universities, with names such as Krishna Menon, Raman Menon, Ramunni Menon, are known as Mr. Menon. In the same way, Maratha students are called by their titular name Mr. Rao.

Mera.—A sub-division of Holeya.

Meria.—At the Madras Census, 1901, twenty-five individuals returned themselves as Meria or Merakaya. They were descendants of persons who were reserved for human (Meriah) sacrifice, but rescued by Government officials in the middle of the last century.

Mesta.A name taken by some Chaptegaras (carpenters) in South Canara.

Mestri.A title of Semmans and other Tamil classes. The Panan tailors are said to be also called Mestris. Concerning the word mestri, or maistry, Yule and Burnell write as follows.43 “This word, a corruption of the Portuguese Mestre, has spread into the vernaculars all over India, and is in constant Anglo-Indian use. Properly a foreman, a master-worker. In W. and S. India maistry, as used in the household, generally means the cook or the tailor.”

Mettu Kamsali.A synonym of Ojali blacksmith, Mettu means shoes or sandals.

Mhallo.A name for Konkani barbers.

Midathala (locust).—An exogamous sept of Boya and Madiga.

Middala or Meddala (storeyed house).—An exogamous sept of Padma Sale.

Midichi (locust).—A gotra of Kurni.

Mila.The Milas are a fishing caste in Ganjam and Vizagapatam, for the following note on whom I am indebted to Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao. The name Milavandlu, by which they are commonly known, means fishermen. They also call themselves Odavandlu, because they go out to sea, fishing from boats (oda). When they become wealthy, they style themselves Oda Balijas. The caste is divided into numerous exogamous septs, among which are dhoni (boat), and tota (garden). The custom of menarikam, according to which a man should marry his maternal uncle’s daughter, is in force, and a man may also marry his sister’s daughter. Girls are generally married after puberty. Gold jewellery is presented in lieu of money as the bride-price (voli). On the occasion of a marriage, half a dozen males and females go to the house of the bride, where they are entertained at a feast. She is conducted to the home of the bridegroom. A plank is placed at the entrance to the house, on which the bride and bridegroom take their seats. After they have bathed, new cloths are presented to them, and the old ones given to the barber. They then sit once more on the plank, and the caste headman, called the Ejaman, takes up the sathamanam (marriage badge), which is passed round among those assembled. It is finally tied by the bridegroom on the bride’s neck. The remarriage of widows is recognised. Each village has an Ejaman, who, in addition to officiating at weddings, presides over council meetings, collects fines, etc. The caste goddess is Polamma, to whom animal sacrifices are offered, and in whose honour an annual festival is held. The expenses thereof are met by public subscription and private donations. The dead are burnt, and a Satani officiates at funerals. Death pollution is not observed. On the twelfth day after death, the pedda rozu (big day) ceremony is performed. The caste titles are Anna and Ayya.

Milaku (pepper: Piper nigrum).—A tree or kothu of Kondaiyamkotti Maravans.

Milikhan.A class of Muhammadan pilots and sailors in the Laccadive Islands (see Mappilla).

Minalavaru (fish people).—An exogamous sept of Bedar or Boya. Min (fish) Palli occurs as a name for Pallis who have settled in the Telugu country, and adopted fishing as their profession.

Minchu (metal toe-ring).—An exogamous sept of Kuruba.

Mini (leather rope).—A gotra of Kurni.

Minpidi (fish-catching).—A sub-division of Panan.

Mirapakaya (Capsicum frutescens).—An exogamous sept of Boya.

Mirigani.—A sub-division of Domb.

Miriyala (pepper).—An exogamous sept of Balija.

Mir Shikari.—A synonym of Kurivikkaran.

Misala (whiskers).—An exogamous sept of Boya.

Mise (moustache).—An exogamous sept of Kuruba.

Mochi.—See Mucchi.

Modikaran.—The name sometimes applied to Nokkan mendicants, who dabble in jugglery. Modi is a trial of magical powers between two persons, in which the hiding of money is the essential thing.

Moduga (Butea frondosa).—A gotra of Medara.

Moger.—The Mogers are the Tulu-speaking fishermen of the South Canara district, who, for the most part, follow the aliya santana law of inheritance (in the female line), though some who are settled in the northern part of the district speak Canarese, and follow the makkala santana law (inheritance from father to son).

The Mogers are largely engaged in sea-fishing, and are also employed in the Government fish-curing yards. On the occasion of an inspection of one of these yards at Mangalore, my eye caught sight of the saw of a sawfish (Pristis) hanging on the wall of the office. Enquiry elicited that it was used as a “threatening instrument” in the yard. The ticket-holders were Mappillas and Mogers. I was informed that some of the Mogers used the hated thattu vala or achi vala (tapping net), in using which the sides of the boats are beaten with sticks, to drive the fish into the net. Those who object to this method of fishing maintain that the noise made with the sticks frightens away the shoals of mackerel and sardines. A few years ago, the nets were cut to pieces, and thrown into the sea, as a protest against their employment. A free fight ensued, with the result that nineteen individuals were sentenced to a fine of fifty rupees, and three months’ imprisonment. In connection with my inspections of fisheries, the following quaint official report was submitted. “The Mogers about the town of Udipi are bound to supply the revenue and magisterial establishment of the town early in the morning every day a number of fishes strung to a piece of rope. The custom was originated by a Tahsildar (Native revenue officer) about twenty years ago, when the Tahsildar wielded the powers of the magistrate and the revenue officer, and was more than a tyrant, if he so liked—when rich and poor would tremble at the name of an unscrupulous Tahsildar. The Tahsildar is divested of his magisterial powers, and to the law-abiding and punctual is not more harmful than the dormouse. But the custom continues, and the official, who, of all men, can afford to pay for what he eats, enjoys the privileges akin to those of the time of Louis XIV’s court, and the poor fisherman has to toil by night to supply the rich official’s table with a delicious dish about gratis.” A curious custom at Cannanore in Malabar may be incidentally referred to. Writing in 1873, Dr. Francis Day states44 that “at Cannanore, the Rajah’s cat appears to be exercising a deleterious influence on one branch at least of the fishing, viz., that for sharks. It appears that, in olden times, one fish daily was taken from each boat as a perquisite for the Rajah’s cat, or the poocha meen (cat fish) collection. The cats apparently have not augmented so much as the fishing boats, so this has been commuted into a money payment of two pies a day on each successful boat. In addition to this, the Rajah annually levies a tax of Rs. 2–4–0 on every boat. Half of the sharks’ fins are also claimed by the Rajah’s poocha meen contractor.”

Writing concerning the Mogers, Buchanan45 states that “these fishermen are called Mogayer, and are a caste of Tulava origin. They resemble the Mucuas (Mukkuvans) of Malayala, but the one caste will have no communion with the other. The Mogayer are boatmen, fishermen, porters, and palanquin-bearers, They pretend to be Sudras of a pure descent, and assume a superiority over the Halepecas (Halepaiks), one of the most common castes of cultivators in Tulava; but they acknowledge themselves greatly inferior to the Bunts.” Some Mogers have abandoned their hereditary profession of fishing, and taken to agriculture, oil-pressing, and playing on musical instruments. Some are still employed as palanquin-bearers. The oil-pressers call themselves Ganigas, the musicians Sappaligas, and the palanquin-bearers Bovis. These are all occupational names. Some Bestha immigrants from Mysore have settled in the Pattur taluk, and are also known as Bovis, The word Bovi is a form of the Telugu Boyi (bearer).

The Mogers manufacture the caps made from the spathe of the areca palm, which are worn by Koragas and Holeyas.

The settlements of the Moger fishing community are called pattana, e.g., Odorottu pattana, Manampade pattana. For this reason, Pattanadava is sometimes given as a synonym for the caste name. The Tamil fishermen of the City of Madras are, in like manner, called Pattanavan, because they live in pattanams or maritime villages.

Like other Tulu castes, the Mogers worship bhuthas (devils). The principal bhutha of the fishing community is Bobbariya, in whose honour the kola festival is held periodically. Every settlement, or group of settlements, has a Bobbariya bhuthasthana (devil shrine). The Matti Brahmans, who, according to local tradition, are Mogers raised to the rank of Brahmans by one Vathiraja Swami, a Sanyasi, also have a Bobbariya bhuthasthana in the village of Matti. The Mogers who have ceased to be fishermen, and dwell in land, worship the bhuthas Panjurli and Baikadthi. There is a caste priest, called Mangala pujari, whose head-quarters are at Bannekuduru near Barkur. Every family has to pay eight annas annually to the priest, to enable him to maintain the temple dedicated to Ammanoru or Mastiamma at Bannekuduru. According to some, Mastiamma is Mari, the goddess of small-pox, while others say that she is the same as Mohini, a female devil, who possesses men, and kills them.

For every settlement, there must be at least two Gurikaras (headmen), and, in some settlements, there are as many as four. All the Gurikaras wear, as an emblem of their office, a gold bracelet on the left wrist. Some wear, in addition, a bracelet presented by the members of the caste for some signal service. The office of headman is hereditary, and follows the aliya santana law of succession (in the female line).

The ordinary Tulu barber (Kelasi) does not shave the Mogers, who have their own caste barber, called Melantavam, who is entitled to receive a definite share of a catch of fish. The Konkani barbers (Mholla) do not object to shave Mogers, and, in some places where Mhollas are not available, the Billava barber is called in.

Like other Tulu castes, the Mogers have exogamous septs, or balis, of which the following are examples:—

  • Ane, elephant.
  • Bali, a fish.
  • Deva, god.
  • Dyava, tortoise.
  • Honne, Pterocarpus Marsupium.
  • Shetti, a fish.
  • Tolana, wolf.

The marriage ceremonial of the Mogers conforms to the customary Tulu type. A betrothal ceremony is gone through, and the sirdochi, or bride-price, varying from six to eight rupees, paid. The marriage rites last over two days. On the first day, the bride is seated on a plank or cot, and five women throw rice over her head, and retire. The bridegroom and his party come to the home of the bride, and are accommodated at her house, or elsewhere. On the following day, the contracting couple are seated together, and the bride’s father, or the Gurikara, pours the dhare water over their united hands. It is customary to place a cocoanut on a heap of rice, with some betel leaves and areca nuts at the side thereof. The dhare water (milk and water) is poured thrice over the cocoanut. Then all those assembled throw rice over the heads of the bride and bridegroom, and make presents of money. Divorce can be easily effected, after information of the intention has been given to the Gurikara. In the Udipi taluk, a man who wishes to divorce his wife goes to a certain tree with two or three men, and makes three cuts in the trunk with a bill-hook. This is called barahakodu, and is apparently observed by other castes. The Mogers largely adopt girls in preference to boys, and they need not be of the same sept as the adopter.

On the seventh day after the birth of a child a Madivali (washerwoman) ties a waist-thread on it, and gives it a name. This name is usually dropped after a time, and another name substituted for it.

The dead are either buried or cremated. If the corpse is burnt, the ashes are thrown into a tank (pond) or river on the third or fifth day. The final death ceremonies (bojja or savu) are performed on the seventh, ninth, eleventh, or thirteenth day, with details similar to those of the Billavas. Like other Tulu castes, some Mogers perform a propitiatory ceremony on the fortieth day.

The ordinary caste title of the Mogers is Marakaleru, and Gurikara that of members of the families to which the headmen belong. In the Kundapur taluk, the title Naicker is preferred to Marakaleru.

The cephalic index of the Mogers is, as shown by the following table, slightly less than that of the Tulu Bants and Billavas:—

Mogili (Pandanus fascicularis).—An exogamous sept of Kapu and Yerukala.

Mogotho.—A sub-division of Gaudo, the members of which are considered inferior because they eat fowls.

Mohiro (peacock).—An exogamous sept or gotra of Bhondari and Gaudo,

Moksham (heaven).—An exogamous sept of Devanga.

Moktessor or Mukhtesar.—See Stanika.

Mola (hare).—An exogamous sept of Gangadikara Holeya and Gangadikara Vakkaliga.

Molaya Devan.—A title of Kallan and Nokkan.

Moliko.—A title of Doluva and Kondra.

Monathinni.—The name, meaning those who eat the vermin of the earth, of a sub-division of Valaiyan.

Mondi.—For the following note I am indebted to Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao. Mondi, Landa, Kalladi-siddhan (q.v.), and Kalladi-mangam, are different names for one and the same class of mendicants. The first two names denote a troublesome fellow, and the last two one who beats himself with a stone. The Mondis speak Tamil, and correspond to the Bandas of the Telugu country, banda meaning an obstinate person or tricksy knave. [The name Banda is sometimes explained as meaning stone, in reference to these mendicants carrying about a stone, and threatening to beat out their brains, if alms are not forthcoming.] They are as a rule tall, robust individuals, who go about all but naked, with a jingling chain tied to the right wrist, their hair long and matted, a knife in the hand, and a big stone on the left shoulder. When engaged in begging, they cut the skin of the thighs with the knife, lie down and beat their chests with the stone, vomit, roll in the dust or mud, and throw dirt at those who will not contribute alms. In a note on the Mondis or Bandas,46 Mr. H. A. Stuart writes that these beggars “lay no claim to a religious character. Though regarded as Sudras, it is difficult to think them such, as they are black and filthy in their appearance, and disgusting in their habits. Happily their numbers are few. They wander about singing, or rather warbling, for they utter no articulate words, and, if money or grain be not given to them, they have recourse to compulsion. The implements of their trade are knives and ordure. With the former they cut themselves until they draw blood, and the latter they throw into the house or shop of the person who proves uncharitable. They appear to possess the power of vomiting at pleasure, and use it to disgust people into a compliance with their demands. Sometimes they lie in the street, covering the entire face with dust, keeping, it is said, their eyes open the while, and breathing through the dust. Eventually they always succeed by some of these means in extorting what they consider their dues.” Boys are regularly trained to vomit at will. They are made to drink as much hot water or conji (gruel) as they can, and taught how to bring it up. At first, they are made to put several fingers in the mouth, and tickle the base of the tongue, so as to give rise to vomiting. By constant practice, they learn how to vomit at any time. Just before they start on a begging round, they drink some fluid, which is brought up while they are engaged in their professional calling.

There are several proverbs relating to this class of mendicants, one of which is to the effect that the rough and rugged ground traversed by the Kalladi-siddhan is powdered to dust. Another gives the advice that, whichever way the Kalladi-mangam goes, you should dole out a measure of grain for him. Otherwise he will defile the road owing to his disgusting habits. A song, which the Mondi may often be heard warbling, runs as follows:—

Mother, mother, Oh! grandmother,

Grandmother, who gave birth.

Dole out my measure.

Their original ancestor is said to have been a shepherd, who had both his legs cut off by robbers in a jungle. The king of the country in compassion directed that every one should pay him and his descendants, called mondi or lame, a small amount of money or grain.

The caste is divided into a series of bands, each of which has the right to collect alms within a particular area. The merchants and ryots are expected to pay them once a year, the former in money, and the latter in grain at harvest time. Each band recognises a headman, who, with the aid of the caste elders, settles marital and other disputes.

Marriage is usually celebrated after puberty. In the North Arcot district, it is customary for a man to marry his maternal uncle’s daughter, and in the Madura district a man can claim his paternal aunt’s daughter in marriage. The caste is considered so low in the social scale that Brahmans will not officiate at marriages. Divorce is easy, and adultery with a man of higher caste is condoned more readily than a similar offence within the caste.

Mondolo.—Recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as an Oriya title given by Zamindars to the headmen of villages. It is also a title of various Oriya castes.

Mora Buvva.—A sub-division of Madigas, who offer food (buvva) to the god in a winnowing basket (mora) at marriage.

Morasu.—The following legendary account of the origin of the “Morsu Vellallu” is given in the Baramahal Records.47 “In the kingdom of Conjiveram, there was a village named Paluru, the residence of a chieftain, who ruled over a small district inhabited by the Morsu Vellallu. It so happened that one of them had a handsome daughter with whom the chieftain fell in love, and demanded her in marriage of her parents. But they would not comply with his demand, urging as an excuse the difference of caste, on which the inflamed lover determined on using force to obtain the object of his desires. This resolution coming to the knowledge of the parents of the girl, they held a consultation with the rest of the sect, and it was determined that for the present they should feign a compliance with his order, until they could meet with a favourable opportunity of quitting the country. They accordingly signified their consent to the matter, and fixed upon the nuptial day, and erected a pandal or temporary building in front of their house for the performance of the wedding ceremonies. At the proper time, the enamoured and enraptured chief sent in great state to the bride’s house the wedding ornaments and clothes of considerable value, with grain and every other delicacy for the entertainment of the guests, The parents, having in concert with the other people of the sect prepared everything for flight, they put the ornaments and clothes on the body of a dog, which they tied to the centre pillar of the pandal, threw all the delicacies on the ground before him, and, taking their daughter, fled. Their flight soon came to the ears of the chief, who, being vexed and mortified at the trick they had played him, set out with his attendants like a raging lion in quest of his prey. The fugitives at length came to the banks of the Tungabhadra river, which they found full and impassable, and their cruel pursuer nigh at hand. In the dreadful dilemma, they addressed to the God Vishnu the following prayer. ‘O! Venkatrama (a title of Vishnu), if thou wilt graciously deign to enable us to ford this river, and wilt condescend to assist us in crossing the water, as thou didst Hanumant in passing over the vast ocean, we from henceforth will adopt thee and thy ally Hanumant our tutelary deities.’ Vishnu was pleased to grant their prayer, and by his command the water in an instant divided, and left a dry space, over which they passed. The moment they reached the opposite bank, the waters closed and prevented their adversary from pursuing them, who returned to his own country. The sect settled in the provinces near the Tungabhadra river, and in course of time spread over the districts which now form the eastern part of the kingdom of Mysore then called Morsu, and from thence arose their surname.”

As in Africa, and among the American Indians, Australians, and Polynesians, so in Southern India artificial deformity of the hand is produced by chopping off some of the fingers. Writing in 1815, Buchanan (Hamilton)48 says that “near Deonella or Deonhully, a town in Mysore, is a sect or sub-division of the Murressoo Wocal caste, every woman of which, previous to piercing the ears of her eldest daughter, preparatory to her being betrothed in marriage, must undergo the amputation of the first joints of third and fourth fingers of her right hand. The amputation is performed by the blacksmith of the village, who, having placed the finger in a block, performs the operation with a chisel. If the girl to be betrothed is motherless, and the mother of the boy has not before been subjected to the amputation, it is incumbent on her to suffer the operation.” Of the same ceremony among the “Morsa-Okkala-Makkalu” of Mysore the AbbÉ Dubois49 says that, if the bride’s mother be dead, the bridegroom’s mother, or in default of her the mother of the nearest relative, must submit to the cruel ordeal. In an editorial foot-note it is stated that this custom is no longer observed. Instead of the two fingers being amputated, they are now merely bound together, and thus rendered unfit for use. In the Census Report, 1891, it is recorded that this type of deformity is found among the Morasus, chiefly in Cuddapah, North Arcot, and Salem. “There is a sub-section of them called Veralu Icche Kapulu, or Kapulu who give the fingers, from a curious custom which requires that, when a grandchild is born in a family, the wife of the eldest son of the grandfather must have the last two joints of the third and fourth fingers of her right hand amputated at a temple of Bhairava.” Further, it is stated in the Manual of the Salem district (1883) that “the practice now observed in this district is that, when a grandchild is born in a family, the eldest son of the grandfather, with his wife, appears at the temple for the ceremony of boring the child’s ear, and there the woman has the last two joints of the third and fourth fingers chopped off. It does not signify whether the father of the first grandchild born be the eldest son or not, as in any case it is the wife of the eldest son who has to undergo the mutilation. After this, when children are born to other sons, their wives in succession undergo the operation. When a child is adopted, the same course is pursued.”

The origin of the custom is narrated by Wilks,50 and is briefly this. Mahadeo or Siva, who was in great peril, after hiding successively in a castor-oil and jawari plantation, concealed himself in a linga-tonde shrub from a rakshasa who was pursuing him, to whom a Marasa Vakkaliga cultivator indicated, with the little finger of his right hand, the hiding-place of Siva, The god was only rescued from his peril by the interposition of Vishnu in the form of a lovely maiden meretriciously dressed, whom the lusty rakshasa, forgetting all about Siva, attempted to ravish, and was consumed to ashes. On emerging from his hiding-place, Siva decreed that the cultivator should forfeit the offending finger. The culprit’s wife, who had just arrived at the field with food for her husband, hearing this dreadful sentence, threw herself at Siva’s feet, and represented the certain ruin of her family if her husband should be disabled for some months from performing the labours of the farm, and besought the deity to accept two of her fingers instead of one from her husband. Siva, pleased with so sincere a proof of conjugal affection, accepted the exchange, and ordered that her family posterity in all future generations should sacrifice two fingers at his temple as a memorial of the transaction, and of their exclusive devotion to the god of the lingam. For the following account of the performance of the rite, as carried out by the Morasa Vakkaligaru of Mysore, I am indebted to an article by Mr. V. N. Narasimmiyengar.51 “These people are roughly classed under three heads, viz.: (1) those whose women offer the sacrifice; (2) those who substitute for the fingers a piece of gold wire, twisted round fingers in the shape of rings. Instead of cutting the fingers off, the carpenter removes and appropriates the rings; (3) those who do not perform the rite. The modus operandi is as nearly as possible the following. About the time of the new moon in Chaitra, a propitious day is fixed by the village astrologer, and the woman who is to offer the sacrifice performs certain ceremonies or puje in honour of Siva, taking food only once a day. For three days before the operation, she has to support herself with milk, sugar, fruits, etc., all substantial food being eschewed. On the day appointed, a common cart is brought out, painted in alternate strips with white and red ochre, and adorned with gay flags, flowers, etc., in imitation of a car. Sheep or pigs are slaughtered before it, their number being generally governed by the number of children borne by the sacrificing woman. The cart is then dragged by bullocks, preceded by music, the woman and her husband following, with new pots filled with water and small pieces of silver money, borne on their heads, and accompanied by a retinue of friends and relatives. The village washerman has to spread clean cloths along the path of the procession, which stops near the boundary of the village, where a leafy bower is prepared, with three pieces of stone installed in it, symbolising the god Siva. Flowers, fruits, cocoanuts, incense, etc., are then offered, varied occasionally by an additional sheep or pig. A wooden seat is placed before the image, and the sacrificing woman places upon it her right hand with the fingers spread out. A man holds her hand firmly, and the village carpenter, placing his chisel on the first joints of her ring and little fingers, chops them off with a single stroke. The pieces lopped off are thrown into an ant-hill, and the tips of the mutilated fingers, round which rags are bound, are dipped into a vessel containing boiling gingily (Sesamum indicum) oil. A good skin eventually forms over the stump, which looks like a congenital malformation. The fee of the carpenter is one kanthiraya fanam (four annas eight pies) for each maimed finger, besides presents in kind. The woman undergoes the barbarous and painful ceremony without a murmur, and it is an article of the popular belief that, were it neglected, or if nails grow on the stump, dire ruin and misfortune will overtake the recusant family. Staid matrons, who have had their fingers maimed for life in the above manner, exhibit their stumps with a pride worthy of a better cause. At the termination of the sacrifice, the woman is presented with cloths, flowers, etc., by her friends and relations, to whom a feast is given, Her children are placed on an adorned seat, and, after receiving presents of flowers, fruits, etc., their ears are pierced in the usual way. It is said that to do so before would be sacrilege.” In a very full account of deformation of the hand by the Berulu Kodo sub-sect of the Vakaliga or ryat caste in Mysore, Mr. F. Fawcett says that it was regularly practiced until the Commissioner of Mysore put a stop to it about twenty years ago. “At present some take gold or silver pieces, stick them on to the finger’s ends with flour paste, and either cut or pull them off. Others simply substitute an offering of small pieces of gold or silver for the amputation. Others, again, tie flowers round the fingers that used to be cut, and go through a pantomime of cutting by putting the chisel on the joint and taking it away again. All the rest of the ceremony is just as it used to be.” The introduction of the decorated cart, which has been referred to, is connected by Mr. Fawcett with a legend concerning a zemindar, who sought the daughters of seven brothers in marriage with three youths of his family. As carts were used in the flight from the zemindar, the ceremony is, to commemorate the event, called Bandi Devuru, or god of cars. As by throwing ear-rings into a river the fugitives passed through it, while the zemindar was drowned, the caste people insist on their women’s ears being bored for ear-rings. And, in honour of the girls who cared more for the honour of their caste than for the distinction of marriage into a great family, the amputation of part of two fingers of women of the caste was instituted.

“Since the prohibition of cutting off the fingers,” Mr. L. Rice writes,52 “the women content themselves with putting on a gold or silver finger-stall or thimble, which is pulled off instead of the finger itself.”

Morasa Kapulu women never touch the new grain of the year without worshipping the sun (Surya), and may not eat food prepared from this grain before this act of worship has been performed. They wrap themselves in a kambli (blanket) after a purificatory bath, prostrate themselves on the ground, raise their hands to the forehead in salutation, and make the usual offering of cocoanuts, etc. They are said, in times gone by, to have been lax in their morals and to have prayed to the sun to forgive them.

Morasu has further been returned as a sub-division of Holeya, Mala and Odde. The name Morasu Paraiyan probably indicates Holeyas who have migrated from the Canarese to the Tamil country, and whose women, like the Kallans, wear a horse-shoe thread round the neck.

Motati.—A sub-division of Kapu.

Moyili.—The Moyilis or Moilis of South Canara are said53 by Mr. H. A. Stuart to be “admittedly the descendants of the children of women attached to the temples, and their ranks are even now swelled in this manner. Their duties are similar to those of the Stanikas” (q.v.). In the Madras Census report, 1901, Golaka (a bastard) is clubbed with Moili. In the Mysore Census Report, this term is said to be applied to children of Brahmans by Malerus (temple servants in Mysore).

The following account of the origin of the Moylars was given by Buchanan at the beginning of the nineteenth century.54 “In the temples of Tuluva there prevails a very singular custom, which has given origin to a caste named Moylar. Any woman of the four pure castes—Brahman, Kshatriya, Vaisya or Sudra—who is tired of her husband, or who (being a widow, and consequently incapable of marriage) is tired of a life of celibacy, goes to a temple, and eats some of the rice that is offered to the idol. She is then taken before the officers of Government, who assemble some people of her caste to inquire into the cause of her resolution; and, if she be of the Brahman caste, to give her an option of living in the temple or out of its precincts. If she chooses the former, she gets a daily allowance of rice, and annually a piece of cloth. She must sweep the temple, fan the idol with a Tibet cow’s tail and confine her amours to the Brahmans. In fact she generally becomes a concubine to some officer of revenue who gives her a trifle in addition to her public allowance, and who will flog her severely if she grants favours to any other person. The male children of these women are called Moylar, but are fond of assuming the title of Stanika, and wear the Brahmanical thread. As many of them as can procure employment live about the temples, sweep the areas, sprinkle them with an infusion of cow-dung, carry flambeaus before the gods, and perform other similar low offices.”

The Moyilis are also called Devadigas, and should not be mixed with the Malerus (or Maleyavaru). Both do temple service, but the Maleru females are mostly prostitutes, whereas Moyili women are not. Malerus are dancing-girls attached to the temples in South Canara, and their ranks are swelled by Konkani, Shivalli, and other Brahman women of bad character.

The Moyilis have adopted the manners and customs of the Bants, and have the same balis (septs) as the Bants and Billavas.

Mucchi.—The Mucchis or Mochis are summed up, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as being a Marathi caste of painters and leather-workers. In the Mysore Census Report it is noted that “to the leather-working caste may be added a small body of Mochis, shoemakers and saddlers. They are immigrant Mahratas, who, it is said, came into Mysore with Khasim Khan, the general of Aurangzib. They claim to be Kshatriyas and Rajputs—pretensions which are not generally admitted. They are shoemakers and saddlers by trade, and are all Saivas by faith.” “The Mucchi,” Mr. A. Chatterton writes55 “is not a tanner, and as a leather-worker only engages in the higher branches of the trade. Some of them make shoes, but draw the line at sandals. A considerable number are engaged as menial servants in Government offices. Throughout the country, nearly every office has its own Mucchi, whose principal duty is to keep in order the supplies of stationery, and from raw materials manufacture ink, envelopes and covers, and generally make himself useful. A good many of the so-called Mucchis, however, do not belong to the caste, as very few have wandered south of Madras, and they are mostly to be found in Ganjam and the Ceded Districts.” The duties of the office Mucchi have further been summed up as “to mend pencils, prepare ink from powders, clean ink-bottles, stitch note-books, paste covers, rule forms, and affix stamps to covers and aid the despatch of tappals” (postal correspondence). In the Moochee’s Hand-book56 by the head Mucchi in the office of the Inspector-General of Ordnance, and contractor for black ink powder, it is stated that “the Rev. J. P. Rottler, in his Tamil and English dictionary, defines the word Mucchi as signifying trunk-maker, stationer, painter. Mucchi’s work comprises the following duties:—

To make black, red, and blue writing ink, also ink of other colours as may seem requisite.

To mend quills, rule lines, make envelopes, mount or paste maps or plans on cloth with ribbon edges, pack parcels in wax-cloth, waterproof or common paper, seal letters and open boxes or trunk parcels.

To take charge of boxes, issue stationery for current use, and supply petty articles.

To file printed forms, etc., and bind books.”

In the Fort St. George Gazette, 1906, applications were invited from persons who have passed the Matriculation examination of the Madras University for the post of Mucchi on Rs. 8 per mensem in the office of a Deputy Superintendent of Police.

In the District Manuals, the various occupations of the Mucchis are summed up as book-binding, working in leather, making saddles and trunks, painting, making toys, and pen-making. At the present day, Mucchis (designers) are employed by piece-goods merchants in Madras in devising and painting new patterns for despatch to Europe, where they are engraved on copper cylinders. When, as at the present day, the bazars of Southern India are flooded with imported piece-goods of British manufacture, it is curious to look back and reflect that the term piece-goods was originally applied in trade to the Indian cotton fabrics exported to England.

The term Mucchi is applied to two entirely different sets of people. In Mysore and parts of the Ceded Districts, it refers to Marathi-speaking workers in leather. But it is further applied to Telugu-speaking people, called Raju, Jinigara, or Chitrakara, who are mainly engaged in painting, making toys, etc., and not in leather-work. (See Rachevar.)

Mucherikala.—Recorded by Mr. F. S. Mullaly57 as a synonym of a thief class in the Telugu country.

Mudali.—The title Mudali is used chiefly by the offspring of Deva-dasis (dancing-girls), Kaikolans, and Vellalas. The Vellalas generally take the title Mudali in the northern, and Pillai in the southern districts. By some Vellalas, Mudali is considered discourteous, as it is also the title of weavers.58 Mudali further occurs as a title of some Jains, Gadabas, Occhans, Pallis or Vanniyans, and Panisavans. Some Pattanavans style themselves Varunakula Mudali.

Mudavandi.—The Mudavandis are said59 to be “a special begging class, descended from Vellala Goundans, since they had the immemorial privilege of taking possession, as of right, of any Vellala child that was infirm or maimed. The Modivandi made his claim by spitting into the child’s face, and the parents were then obliged, even against their will, to give it up. Thenceforward it was a Modivandi, and married among them. The custom has fallen into desuetude for the last forty or fifty years, as a complaint of abduction would entail serious consequences. Their special village is Modivandi Satyamangalam near Erode. The chief Modivandi, in 1887, applied for sanction to employ peons (orderlies) with belts and badges upon their begging tours, probably because contributions are less willingly made nowadays to idle men. They claim to be entitled to sheep and grain from the ryats.”

In a note on the Mudavandis, Mr. F. R. Hemingway writes that it is stated to be the custom that children born blind or lame in the Konga Vellala caste are handed over by their parents to become Mudavandis. If the parents hesitate to comply with the custom, the Mudavandis tie a red cloth round the head of the child, and the parents can then no longer withhold their consent. They have to give the boy a bullock to ride on if he is lame, or a stick if he is blind.

A Revenue Officer writes (1902) that, at the village of Andipalayam in the Salem district, there is a class of people called Modavandi, whose profession is the adoption of the infirm members of the Konga Vellalas. Andis are professional beggars. They go about among the Konga Vellalas, and all the blind and maimed children are pounced upon by them, and carried to their village. While parting with their children, the parents, always at the request of the children, give a few, sometimes rising to a hundred, rupees. The infirm never loses his status. He becomes the adopted child of the Andi, and inherits half of his property invariably. They are married among the Andis, and are well looked after. In return for their services, the Andis receive four annas a head from the Konga Vellala community annually, and the income from this source alone amounts to Rs. 6,400. A forty-first part share is given to the temple of Arthanariswara at Trichengodu. None of the Vellalas can refuse the annual subscription, on pain of being placed under the ban of social excommunication, and the Andi will not leave the Vellala’s house until the infirm child is handed over to him. One Tahsildar (revenue officer) asked himself why the Andi’s income should not be liable to income-tax, and the Andis were collectively assessed. Of course, it was cancelled on appeal.

Mudi (knot).—An exogamous sept of Mala.

Mudiya.—The name, derived from mudi, a preparation of fried rice, of a sub-division of Chuditiya.

Muduvar.—The Muduvars or Mudugars are a tribe of hill cultivators in Coimbatore, Madura, Malabar, and Travancore. For the following note on those who inhabit the Cardamom hills, I am indebted to Mr. Aylmer Ff. Martin.

The name of the tribe is usually spelt Muduvar in English, and in Tamil pronounced Muthuvar, or Muthuvanal. Outsiders sometimes call the tribe Thagappanmargal (a title sometimes used by low-caste people in addressing their masters). The Muduvars have a dialect of their own, closely allied to Tamil, with a few Malayalam words. Their names for males are mostly those of Hindu gods and heroes, but Kanjan (dry or stingy), Karupu Kunji (black chick), Kunjita (chicken) and Kar Megam (black cloud) are distinctive and common. For females, the names of goddesses and heroines, Karapayi (black), Koopi (sweepings), and Paychi (she-devil) are common. Boy twins are invariably Lutchuman and Raman, girl twins Lutchmi and Ramayi. Boy and girl twins are named Lutchman and Ramayi, or Lutchmi and Raman.

The Muduvars do not believe themselves to be indigenous to the hills; the legend, handed down from father to son, is that they originally lived in Madura. Owing to troubles, or a war in which the Pandyan Raja of the times was engaged, they fled to the hills. When at Bodinayakanur, the pregnant women (or, as some say, a pregnant woman) were left behind, and eventually went with the offspring to the Nilgiris, while the bulk of the tribe came to the High Range of North Travancore. There is supposed to be enmity between these rather vague Nilgiri people and the Muduvars. The Nilgiri people are said occasionally to visit Bodinayakanur, but, if by chance they are met by Muduvars, there is no speech between them, though each is supposed instinctively or intuitively to recognise the presence of the other. Those that came to the High Range carried their children up the ghats on their backs, and it was thereupon decided to name the tribe Muduvar, or back people. According to another tradition, when they left Madura, they carried with them on their back the image of the goddess Minakshi, and brought it to Neriyamangalam. It is stated by Mr. P. E. Conner60 that the Muduvars “rank high in point of precedency among the hill tribes. They were originally Vellalas, tradition representing them as having accompanied some of the Madura princes to the Travancore hills.” The approximate time of the exodus from Madura cannot even be guessed by any of the tribe, but it was possibly at the time when the Pandyan Rajas entered the south, or more probably when the Telugu Naickers took possession of Bodinayakanur in the fourteenth century. It has also been suggested that the Muduvars were driven to the hills by the Muhammadan invaders in the latter part of the eighteenth century. Judging from the two distinct types of countenance, their language, and their curious mixture of customs, I hazard the conjecture that, when they arrived on the hills, they found a small tribe in possession, with whom they subsequently intermarried, this tribe having affinities with the west coast, while the new arrivals were connected with the east.

The tribe is settled on the northern and western portion of the Cardamom Hills, and the High Range of Travancore, known as the Kanan Devan hills, and there is, I believe, one village on the Anaimalai hills. They wander to some extent, less so now than formerly, owing to the establishment of the planting community in their midst. The head-quarters at present may be said to be on the western slopes of the High Range. The present Mel Vaken or headman lives in a village on the western slope of the High Range at about 2,000 feet elevation, but villages occur up to 6,000 feet above sea level, the majority of villages being about 4,000 feet above the sea. The wandering takes place between the reaping of the final crop on one piece of land, and the sowing of the next. About November sees the breaking up of the old village, and February the establishment of the new. On the plateau of the High Range their dwellings are small rectangular, rather flat-roofed huts, made of jungle sticks or grass (both walls and root), and are very neat in appearance. On the western slopes, although the materials lend themselves to even neater building, their houses are usually of a rougher type. The materials used are the stems and leaves of the large-leaved ita (bamboo: Ochlandra travancorica) owing to the absence of grass-land country. The back of the house has no wall, the roof sloping on to the hillside behind, and the other walls are generally made of a rough sort of matting made by plaiting split ita stems.

Outsiders are theoretically not received into the caste, but a weaver caste boy and girl who were starving (in the famine of 1877, as far as I can make out), and deserted on the hills, were adopted, and, when they grew up, were allowed the full privileges of the caste. Since then, a ‘Thotiya Naicker’ child was similarly adopted, and is now a full-blown Muduvar with a Muduvar wife. On similar occasions, adoptions from similar or higher castes might take place, but the adoption of Pariahs or low-caste people would be quite impossible. In a lecture delivered some years ago by Mr. O. H. Bensley, it was stated that the Muduvars permit the entry of members of the Vellala caste into their community, but insist upon a considerable period of probation before finally admitting the would-be Muduvar into their ranks.

If any dispute arises in the community, it is referred to the men of the village, who form an informal panchayat (council), with the eldest or most influential man at its head. References are sometimes, but only seldom, made to the Muppen, a sort of sub-headman of the tribe, except, perhaps, in the particular village in which he resides. The office of both Muppen and Mel Vaken is hereditary, and follows the marumakkatayam custom, i.e., descent to the eldest son of the eldest sister. The orders of the panchayat, or of the headman, are not enforceable by any specified means. A sort of sending a delinquent to Coventry exists, but falls through when the matter has blown over. Adjudications only occur at the request of the parties concerned, or in the case of cohabitation between the prohibited degrees of consanguinity, when, on it becoming known, the guilty pair are banished to the jungle, but seem nevertheless to be able to visit the village at will. When disputes between parties are settled against any one, he may be fined, generally in kind—a calf, a cow, a bull, or grain. There is no trial by ordeal. Oaths by the accuser, the accused, and partisans of both, are freely taken. The form of oath is to call upon God that the person swearing, or his child, may die within so many days if the oath is untrue, at the same time stepping over the Rama kodu, which consists of lines drawn on the ground, one line for each day. It may consist of any number of lines, but three, five, or seven are usual. Increasing the number of lines indefinitely would be considered to be trifling with the subject.

There do not seem to be any good omens, but evil omens are numerous. The barking of ‘jungle sheep’ (barking deer) or sambar, the hill robin crossing the path when shifting the village, are examples. Oracles, magic, sorcery, witchcraft, and especially the evil eye, are believed in very firmly, but are not practiced by Muduvars. I was myself supposed to have exercised the evil eye at one time. It once became my duty to apportion to Muduvars land for their next year’s cultivation, and I went round with some of them for this purpose, visiting the jungle they wished to clear. A particular friend of mine, called Kanjan, asked for a bit of secondary growth very close to a cinchona estate; it was, in fact, situated between Lower Nettigudy and Upper Nettigudy, and the main road passed quite close. I told him that there was no objection, except that it was most unusual, and that probably the estate coolies would rob the place; and I warned him very distinctly that, if evil came of his choice, he was not to put the blame on me. Shortly afterwards I left India, and was absent about three months, and, when I returned, I found that small-pox had practically wiped out that village, thirty-seven out of forty inhabitants having died, including Kanjan. I was, of course, very sorry; but, as I found a small bit of the land in question had been felled, and there being no claimants, I planted it up with cinchona. As the smallpox had visited all the Muduvar villages, and had spread great havoc among them, I was not surprised at their being scarce, but I noticed, on the few occasions when I did see them, that they were always running away. When I got the opportunity, I cornered a man by practically riding him down, and asked for an explanation. He then told me that, of course, the tribe had been sorely troubled, because I told Kanjan in so many words that evil would come. I had then disappeared (to work my magic, no doubt), and returned just in time to take that very bit of land for myself. That was nearly five years ago, and confidence in me is only now being gradually restored.

The Muduvans have lucky days for starting on a journey—

  • Monday, start before sunrise.
  • Tuesday, start in the forenoon.
  • Wednesday start before 7 A.M.
  • Thursday, start after eating the morning meal.
  • Friday, never make a start; it is a bad day.
  • Saturday and Sunday, start as soon as the sun has risen.

When boys reach puberty, the parents give a feast to the village. In the case of a girl, a feast is likewise given, and she occupies, for the duration of the menstrual period, a hut set apart for all the women in the village to occupy during their uncleanness. When it is over, she washes her clothes, and takes a bath, washing her head. This is just what every woman of the village always does. There is no mutilation, and the girl just changes her child’s dress for that of a woman. The married women of the village assist at confinements. Twins bring good luck. Monsters are said to be sometimes born, bearing the form of little tigers, cows, monkeys, etc. On these occasions, the mother is said generally to die, but, when she does not die, she is said to eat the monster. Monstrosities must anyway be killed. Childless couples are dieted to make them fruitful, the principal diet for a man being plenty of black monkey, and for a woman a compound of various herbs and spices.

A man may not marry the daughter of his brother or sister; he ought to marry his uncle’s daughter, and he may have two or three wives, who may or may not be sisters. Among the plateau Muduvars, both polygamy and polyandry are permitted, the former being common, and the latter occasional. In the case of the latter, brothers are prohibited from having a common wife, as also are cousins on the father’s side. In the case of polygamy, the first married is the head wife, and the others take orders from her, but she has no other privileges. If the wives are amicably disposed, they live together, but, when inclined to disagree, they are given separate houses for the sake of peace and harmony. With quarrelsome women, one wife may be in one village, and the others in another. A man may be polygamous in one village, and be one of a polyandrous lot of men a few miles off. On the Cardamom Hills, and on the western slopes, where the majority of the tribe live, they are monogamous, and express abhorrence of both the polygamous and polyandrous condition, though they admit, with an affectation of amused disgust, that both are practiced by their brethren on the high lands.

Marriages are arranged by the friends, and more often by the cousins on the mother’s side of the bridegroom, who request the hand of a girl or woman from her parents. If they agree, the consent of the most remote relatives has also to be obtained, and, if everyone is amicable, a day is fixed, and the happy couple leave the village to live a few days in a cave by themselves. On their return, they announce whether they would like to go on with it, or not. In the former case, the man publicly gives ear-rings, a metal (generally brass) bangle, a cloth, and a comb to the woman, and takes her to his hut. The comb is a poor affair made of split ita or perhaps of bamboo, but it is the essential part of the ceremony. If the probationary period in the cave has not proved quite satisfactory to both parties, the marriage is put off, and the man and the woman are both at liberty to try again with some one else. Betrothal does not exist as a ceremony, though families often agree together to marry their children together, but this is not binding in any way. The tying of the tali (marriage badge) is said to have been tried in former days as part of the marriage ceremony, but, as the bride always died, the practice was discontinued. Remarriage of widows is permitted, and the widow by right belongs to, or should be taken over by her deceased husband’s maternal aunt’s son, and not, under any circumstances, by any of his brothers. In practice she marries almost any one but one of the brothers. No man should visit the house of his younger brother’s wife, or even look at that lady. This prohibition does not extend to the wives of his elder brothers, but sexual intercourse even here would be incest. The same ceremonies are gone through at the remarriage of a widow as in an ordinary marriage, the ear-rings and bangles, which she discarded on the death of the previous husband, being replaced. Widows do not wear a special dress, but are known by the absence of jewelry. Elopements occur. When a man and woman do not obtain the consent of the proper parties, they run away into the jungle or a cave, visiting the village frequently, and getting grain, etc., from sympathisers. The anger aroused by their disgraceful conduct having subsided, they quietly return to the village, and live as man and wife. [It is noted, in the Travancore Census Report, 1901, that, after a marriage is settled, the bridegroom forcibly takes away the maiden from her mother’s house when she goes out for water or firewood, and lives with her separately for a few days or weeks in some secluded part of the forest. They then return, unless in the meantime they are searched for, and brought back by their relations.] In theory, a man may divorce his wife at will, but it is scarcely etiquette to do so, except for infidelity, or in the case of incompatibility of temper. If he wants to get rid of her for less horrible crimes, he can palm her off on a friend. A woman cannot divorce her husband at all in theory, but she can make his life so unbearable that he gladly allows her to palm herself off on somebody else. Wives who have been divorced marry again freely.

The tribe follow the west coast or marumakkatayam law of inheritance with a slight difference, the property descending to an elder or younger sister’s son. Property, which seldom consists of more than a bill-hook, a blanket, and a few cattle, always goes to a nephew, and is not divided in any way.

The tribe professes to be Hindu, and the chief gods are Panaliandavar (a corruption of Palaniandi) and Kadavallu, who are supposed to live in the Madura temple with Minakshiammal and her husband Sokuru. They are also said to worship Chantiattu Bhagavati and Neriyamangalam Sasta. Suryan (the sun) is a beneficent deity. The deities which are considered maleficent are numerous, and all require propitiation. This is not very taxing, as a respectful attitude when passing their reputed haunts seems to suffice. They are alluded to as Karapu (black ones). One in particular is Nyamaru, who lives on Nyamamallai, the jungles round which were said to be badly haunted. At present they are flourishing tea estates, so Nyamaru has retired to the scrub at the top of the mountain. Certain caves are regarded as shrines, where spear-heads, a trident or two, and copper coins are placed, partly to mark them as holy places, and partly as offerings to bring good luck, good health, or good fortune. They occur in the most remote spots. The only important festival is Thai Pongal, when all who visit the village, be they who they may, must be fed. It occurs about the middle of January, and is a time of feasting and rejoicing.

The tribe does not employ priests of other castes to perform religious ceremonies. Muduvars who are half-witted, or it may be eccentric, are recognised as Swamyars or priests. If one desires to get rid of a headache or illness, the Swamyar is told that he will get four annas or so if the complaint is soon removed, but he is not expected to perform miracles, or to make any active demonstration over the matter. Swamyars who spend their time in talking to the sun and moon as their brethren, and in supplications to mysterious and unknown beings, are the usual sort, and, if they live a celibate life, they are greatly esteemed. For those who live principally on milk, in addition to practicing the other virtue, the greatest reverence is felt. Such an one occurs only once or twice in a century.

The dead are buried lying down, face upwards, and placed north and south. The grave has a little thatched roof, about six feet by two, put over it. A stone, weighing twenty or thirty pounds, is put at the head, and a similar stone at the feet. These serve to mark the spot when the roof perishes, or is burnt during the next grass fire. The depth of the grave is, for a man, judged sufficient if the gravedigger, standing on the bottom, finds the level of the ground up to his waist, but, for a woman, it must be up to his armpits. The reason is that the surviving women do not like to think that they will be very near the surface, but the men are brave, and know that, if they lie north and south, nothing can harm them, and no evil approach. The ghosts of those killed by accident or dying a violent death, haunt the spot till the memory of the occurrence fades from the minds of the survivors and of succeeding generations. These ghosts are not propitiated, but the haunted spots are avoided as much as possible. The Muduvars share with many other jungle-folk the idea that, if any animal killed by a tiger or leopard falls so as to lie north and south, it will not be eaten by the beast of prey. Nor will it be re-visited, so that sitting over a “kill” which has fallen north and south, in the hopes of getting a shot at the returning tiger or leopard, is a useless proceeding.

Totemism does not exist, but, in common with other jungle tribes, the tiger is often alluded to as jackal.

Fire is still often made by means of the flint and steel, though match-boxes are common enough. Some dry cotton (generally in a dirty condition) is placed along the flint, the edge of which is struck with the steel. The spark generated ignites the cotton, and is carefully nursed into flame in dead and dry grass. The Muduvars also know how to make fire by friction, but nowadays this is very seldom resorted to. A rotten log of a particular kind of tree has first to be found, the inside of which is in an extremely dry and powdery condition, while the outside is still fairly hard. Some of the top of the topmost side of the recumbent log having been cut away at a suitable place, and most of the inside removed, a very hard and pointed bit of wood is rapidly rotated against the inner shell of the log where the powdery stuff is likely to ignite, and this soon begins to smoke, the fire being then nursed much in the same way as with the fire generated by the flint and steel.

By the men, the languti and leg cloth of the Tamils are worn. A turban is also worn, and a cumbly or blanket is invariably carried, and put on when it rains. [It is noted, in the Travancore Census Report, 1901, that males dress themselves like the Maravans of the low country. A huge turban is almost an invariable portion of the toilette. The chief of the Mudavars is known as Vakka, without whose consent the head-dress is not to be worn.] I have seen a Muduvar with an umbrella. Nowadays, the discarded coats of planters, and even trousers and tattered riding-breeches are common, and a Muduvar has been seen wearing a blazer. The men wear ear-rings, supposed to be, and sometimes in reality, of gold, with bits of glass of different colours in them, and also silver or brass finger and toe rings, and sometimes a bangle on each arm or on one leg. The women go in very largely for beads, strings of them adorning their necks, white and blue being favourite colours. Rings for the ears, fingers and toes, and sometimes many glass bangles on the arms, and an anklet on each leg, are the usual things, the pattern of the metal jewelry being often the same as seen on the women of the plains. The cloth, after being brought round the waist, and tucked in there, is carried over the body, and two corners are knotted on the right shoulder. Unmarried girls wear less jewelry than the married women, and widows wear no jewelry till they are remarried, when they can in no way be distinguished from their sisters. Tattooing is not practiced. Sometimes a stout thread is worn on the arm, with a metal cylinder containing some charm against illness or the evil eye, but only the wise men or elders of the caste lay much store on, or have knowledge of these things.

The Muduvars believe that they were originally cultivators of the soil, and their surroundings and tastes have made them become hunters and trappers, since coming to the hills. At the present day, they cut down a bit of secondary jungle or cheppukad, and, after burning it off, sow ragi (millet), or, where the rainfall is sufficient, hill-rice, which is weeded and tended by the women, the men contenting themselves by trying to keep out the enemies to their crops. After harvest there is not much to be done, except building a new village perhaps, making traps, and shooting. All they catch is game to them, though we should describe some of the animals as vermin. They catch rats, squirrels, quail, jungle fowl, porcupines, mouse-deer, and fish. They kill, with a blowpipe and dart, many small birds. The traps in use are varied, but there are three principal ones, one of which looks like a big bow. It is fixed upright in the ground as a spring to close with a snap a small upright triangle of sharp-edged bamboo, to which it is connected, and into which any luckless small game may have intruded its head, induced to do so by finding all other roads closed with a cunningly made fence. Another is a bent sapling, from which a loop of twine or fibre hangs on what appears to be the ground, but is really a little platform on which the jungle fowl treads, and immediately finds itself caught by both legs, and hanging in mid-air. The third is very much the same, but of stouter build. The loop is upright, and set in a hedge constructed for the purpose of keeping the fretful porcupine in the path, passing along which the beast unconsciously releases a pin, back flies the sapling, and the porcupine is hung. If fouled in any way, he generally uses his teeth to advantage, and escapes. The Muduvars are also adepts at catching ‘ibex’ (wild goat), which are driven towards a fence with nooses set in it at proper points, which cause the beasts to break their necks. Fish are caught in very beautifully constructed cruives, and also on the hook, while, on the larger rivers below the plateau, the use of the night-line is understood. With the gun, sambar, ‘ibex,’ barking deer, mungooses, monkeys, squirrels, and martens are killed. Besides being a good shot, the Muduvar, when using his own powder, takes no risks. The stalk is continued until game is approached, sometimes to within a few yards, when a charge of slugs from the antiquated match-lock has the same effect as the most up-to-date bullet from the most modern weapon. Mr. Bensley records how, on one occasion, two English planters went out with two Muduvars after ‘bison.’ One of the Muduvars, carrying a rifle, tripped, and the weapon exploded, killing one of the planters on the spot. The two Muduvars immediately took to their heels. The other planter covered them with his rifle, and threatened to shoot them if they did not return, which they at last did. Mr. Bensley held the magisterial enquiry, and the Muduvars were amazed at escaping capital punishment.

In their agricultural operations, the Muduvars are very happy-go-lucky. They have no scare-crows to avert injury to crops or frighten away demons, but they employ many devices for keeping off pigs, sambar, and barking deer from their crops, none of which appear to be efficacious for long. The implement par excellence of the Muduvar is the bill-hook, from which he never parts company, and with which he can do almost anything, from building a house to skinning a rat, or from hammering sheet-lead into bullets to planting maize.

The bulk of the tribe live on ragi or hill-rice, and whatever vegetables they can grow, and whatever meat they trap or shoot. They esteem the flesh of the black monkey (Semnopithecus johni) above everything, and lust after it. I have seen a Muduvar much pulled down by illness seize an expiring monkey, and suck the blood from its jugular vein. Muduvars will not eat beef, dog, jackals, or snakes, but will eat several sorts of lizards, and rats, ‘ibex,’ and all the deer tribe, fish, fowl, and other birds, except kites and vultures, are put into the pot. The plateau Muduvars, and those on the eastern slopes, will not eat pig in any shape or form. Those on the western slopes are very keen on wild pig, and this fact causes them to be somewhat looked down upon by the others. I think this pork-eating habit is due to the absence of sambar or other deer in the heart of the forests. Muduvars are fond of alcohol in any shape or form. They take a liquor from a wild palm which grows on the western slopes, and, after allowing it to become fermented, drink it freely. Some members of the tribe, living in the vicinity of these palms, are more or less in a state of intoxication during the whole time it is in season. Their name for the drink is tippily-kal, and the palm resembles the kittul (Caryota urens). The western slope Muduvars are acquainted with opium from the west coast, and some of them are slaves to the habit. The Muduvars do not admit that any other caste is good enough to eat, drink, or smoke with them. They say that, once upon a time, they permitted these privileges to Vellalans, but this fact induced so many visitors to arrive that they really could not afford it any more, so they eat, drink, and smoke with no one now, but will give uncooked food to passing strangers.

I have never heard any proverb, song, or folk-tale of the Muduvars, and believe the story of their arrival on the hills to be their stock tale. They have a story, which is more a statement of belief than anything else, that, when a certain bamboo below Pallivasal flowers, a son of the Maharaja of Travancore turns into a tiger or puli-manisan, and devours people. Men often turn into puli-manisan owing chiefly to witchcraft on the part of others, and stories of such happenings are often told. The nearest approach to a proverb I have heard is Tingakilamei nalla tingalam, which sounds rather tame and meaningless in English, “On Monday you can eat well”—the play on the words being quite lost.

The Muduvars make a miniature tom-tom by stretching monkey skin over a firm frame of split bamboo or ita, on which the maker thereof will strum by the hour much to his own enjoyment.

In former days, the whole tribe were very shy of strangers, and it is only within the last thirty years that they have become used to having dealings with outsiders. Old men still tell of the days when robbers from the Coimbatore side used to come up, burn the Muduvar villages, and carry off what cattle or fowls they could find. Even now, there are some of the men in whom this fear of strangers seems to be innate, and who have never spoken to Europeans. In the women this feeling is accentuated, for, when suddenly met with, they make themselves scarce in the most surprising way, and find cover as instinctively as a quail chick. There are now and again men in the tribe who aspire to read, but I do not know how far any of them succeed.

The Muduvars are becoming accustomed to quite wonderful things—the harnessing of water which generates electricity to work machinery, the mono-rail tram which now runs through their country, and, most wonderful of all, the telephone. An old man described how he would raise envy and wonder in the hearts of his tribe by relating his experience. “I am the first of my caste to speak and hear over five miles,” said he, with evident delight.

I have alluded to the two different types of countenance; perhaps there is a third resulting from a mixture of the other two. The first is distinctly aquiline-nosed and thin-lipped, and to this type the men generally belong. The second is flat-nosed, wide-nostrilled, and thick-lipped, and this fairly represents the women, who compare most unfavourably with the men in face. I have never seen men of the second type, but of an intermediate type they are not uncommon. On the Cardamom Hills there may still exist a tribe of dwarfs, of which very little is known. The late Mr. J. D. Munro had collected a little information about them. Mr. A. W. Turner had the luck to come across one, who was caught eating part of a barking deer raw. Mr. Turner managed to do a little conversation with the man by signs, and afterwards he related the incident to Srirangam, a good old Muduvar shikari (sportsman), who listened thoughtfully, and then asked “Did you not shoot him?” The question put a new complexion on to the character of the usually peaceful and timid Muduvar.

I know the Muduvars to be capable of real affection. Kanjan was very proud of his little son, and used to make plans for wounding an ibex, so that his boy might finish it off, and thus become accustomed to shooting.

In South Coimbatore, “honey-combs are collected by Irulas, Muduvars, and Kadirs. The collection is a dangerous occupation. A hill-man, with a torch in his hand and a number of bamboo tubes suspended from his shoulders, descends by means of ropes or creepers to the vicinity of the comb. The sight of the torch drives away the bees, and he proceeds to fill the bamboos with the comb, and then ascends to the top of the rock.” 61

Mugi (dumb).—An exogamous sept of Golla.

Muka.—A sub-division of Konda Razu.

Muka Dora.—Muka is recorded, in the Madras Census Reports, 1891 and 1901, as a sub-division and synonym of Konda Dora, and I am informed that the Muka Doras, in Vizagapatam, hold a high position, and most of the chiefs among the Konda Doras are Muka Doras. Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao, to whom I am indebted to the following note, inclines to the opinion that the Muka Doras form a caste distinct from the Konda Doras. They are traditionally regarded as one of the primitive hill tribes, but their customs at the present day exhibit a great deal of low-country influence. They speak Telugu, their personal names are pure Telugu, and their titles are Anna and Ayya as well as Dora. They recognize one Vantari Dora of Padmapuram as their head.

The Muka Doras are agriculturists and pushing petty traders. They may be seen travelling about the country with pack bullocks at the rice harvest season. They irrigate their lands with liquid manure in a manner similar to the Kunnuvans of the Palni hills in the Madura country.

They are divided into two sections, viz., Kora-vamsam, which reveres the sun, and Naga-vamsam, which reveres the cobra, and have further various exogamous septs or intiperulu, such as vemu or nim tree (Melia Azadirachta), chikkudi (Dolickos Lablab), velanga (Feronia elephantum), kakara (Momordica Charantia).

Girls are married either before or after puberty. The menarikam system is in force, according to which a man should marry his maternal uncle’s daughter. On an auspicious day, some of the elders of the future bridegroom’s family take a cock or goat, a new cloth for the girl’s mother, rice and liquor to the girl’s house. The presents are usually accepted, and the pasupu (turmeric) ceremony, practiced by many Telugu castes, is performed. On an appointed day, the bridegroom’s party repair to the house of the bride, and bring her in procession to the house of the bridegroom. Early next morning, the contracting couple enter a pandal (booth), the two central pillars of which are made of the neredi (Eugenia Jambolana) and relli (Cassia Fistula) trees. The maternal uncle, who officiates, links their little fingers together. Their bodies are anointed with castor-oil mixed with turmeric powder, and they bathe. New cloths are then given to them by their fathers-in-law. Some rice is poured over the floor of the house, and the bride and bridegroom measure this three times. The ends of their cloths are tied together, and a procession is formed, which proceeds to the bank of a stream, where the bride fetches tooth-cleaning sticks three times, and gives them to the bridegroom, who repeats the process. They then sit down together, and clean their teeth. After a bath in the stream, the ends of their clothes are once more tied together, and the procession returns to the bridegroom’s house. The bride cooks some of the rice which has already been measured with water brought from the stream, and the pair partake thereof. A caste feast, with much drinking, is held on this and the two following days. The newly-married couple then proceed, in the company of an old man, to the bride’s house, and remain there from three to five days. If the girl is adult, she then goes to the home of her husband.

When a girl reaches puberty, she is placed apart in a room, and sits within a triangular enclosure made by means of three arrows stuck in the ground, and connected together by three rounds of thread. From the roof a cradle, containing a stone, is placed. On the last day, a twig of the neredi tree is plucked, planted on the way to the village stream, and watered. As she passes the spot, the girl pulls it out of the ground, and takes it to the stream, into which she throws it. She then bathes therein.

The dead are, as a rule, burnt, and death pollution is observed for three days, during which the caste occupation is not carried out. On the fourth day, a ceremony, called pasupu muttukovadam, or touching turmeric, is performed. The relations of the deceased repair to the spot where the corpse was burnt, collect the ashes, and sprinkle cow-dung, neredi and tamarind water over the spot. Some food is cooked, and three handfuls are thrown to the crows. They then perform a ceremonial ablution. The ceremony corresponds to the chinnarozu, or little day ceremony, of the low-country castes. The more well-to-do Muka Doras perform the peddarozu, or big day ceremony, on the twelfth day, or later on. The relations of the deceased then plant a plantain on the spot where he was burnt, and throw turmeric, castor-oil, and money according to their means. The coins are collected, and used for the purchase of materials for a feast.

Mukkara (nose or ear ornament).—An exogamous sept of Boya.

Mukkuvan.—The Mukkuvans are the sea fishermen of the Malabar coast, who are described as follows by Buchanan.62 “The Mucua, or in the plural Mucuar, are a tribe who live near the sea-coast of Malayala, to the inland parts of which they seldom go, and beyond its limits any way they rarely venture. Their proper business is that of fishermen, as palanquin-bearers for persons of low birth, or of no caste; but they serve also as boatmen. The utmost distance to which they will venture on a voyage is to Mangalore. In some places they cultivate the cocoanut. In the southern parts of the province most of them have become Mussulmans, but continue to follow their usual occupations. These are held in the utmost contempt by those of the north, who have given up all communication with the apostates. Those here do not pretend to be Sudras, and readily acknowledge the superior dignity of the Tiars. They have hereditary chiefs called Arayan, who settle disputes, and, with the assistance of a council, punish by fine or excommunication those who transgress the rules of the caste. The deity of the caste is the goddess Bhadra-Kali, who is represented by a log of wood, which is placed in a hut that is called a temple. Four times a year the Mucuas assemble, sacrifice a cock, and make offerings of fruit to the log of wood. One of the caste acts as priest (pujari). They are not admitted to enter within the precincts of any of the temples of the great gods who are worshipped by the Brahmans; but they sometimes stand at a distance, and send their offerings by more pure hands.”

It is recorded by Captain Hamilton63 that he saw “at many Muchwa Houses, a square Stake of Wood, with a few Notches cut about it, and that Stake drove into the Ground, about two Foot of it being left above, and that is covered with Cadjans or Cocoanut Tree Leaves, and is a Temple and a God to that Family.”

In the Gazetteer of Malabar (1908), the following account of the Mukkuvans is given. “A caste, which according to a probably erroneous tradition came originally from Ceylon, is that of the Mukkuvans, a caste of fishermen following marumakkatayam (inheritance through the female line) in the north, and makkattayam (inheritance from father to son) in the south. Their traditional occupations also include chunam (lime) making, and manchal-bearing (a manchal is a kind of hammock slung on a pole, and carried by four men, two at each end). In the extreme south of the district they are called Arayans,64 a term elsewhere used as a title of their headmen. North of Cannanore there are some fishermen, known as Mugavars or Mugayans, who are presumably the same as the Mugayars of South Canara. Another account is that the Mugayans are properly river-fishers, and the Mukkuvans sea-fishers; but the distinction does not seem to hold good in fact. The Mukkuvans rank below the Tiyans and the artisan classes; and it is creditable to the community that some of its members have recently risen to occupy such offices as that of Sub-magistrate and Sub-registrar. The caste has supplied many converts to the ranks of Muhammadanism. In North Malabar the Mukkuvans are divided into four exogamous illams, called Ponillam (pon, gold), Chembillam (chembu, copper), Karillam, and Kachillam, and are hence called Nalillakkar, or people of the four illams; while the South Malabar Mukkuvans and Arayans have only the three latter illams, and are therefore called Munillakkar, or people of the three illams. There is also a section of the caste called Kavuthiyans, who act as barbers to the others, and are sometimes called Panimagans (work-children). The Nalillakkar are regarded as superior to the Munillakkar and the Kavuthiyans, and exact various signs of respect from them. The Kavuthiyans, like other barber castes, have special functions to perform in connection with the removal of ceremonial pollution; and it is interesting to note that sea-water is used in the ritual sprinklings for this purpose. The old caste organisation seems to have persisted to the present day among the Mukkuvans to an extent which can be paralleled amongst few other castes. They have assemblies (rajiams) of elders called Kadavans, or Kadakkodis, presided over by presidents called Arayans or Karnavans, who settle questions of caste etiquette, and also constitute a divorce court. The position of the Arayans, like that of the Kadavans, is hereditary. It is said to have been conferred by the different Rajas in their respective territories, with certain insignia, a painted cadjan (palm leaf) umbrella, a stick, and a red silk sash. The Arayans are also entitled to the heads of porpoises captured in their jurisdictions, and to presents of tobacco and pan supari when a girl attains puberty or is married. Their consent is necessary to all regular marriages. The Mukkuvans have their oracles or seers called Ayittans or Attans; and, when an Arayan dies, these select his successor from his Anandravans, while under the influence of the divine afflatus, and also choose from among the younger members of the Kadavan families priests called Manakkans or Banakkans, to perform puja in their temples.

“Fishing is the hereditary occupation of the Mukkuvans. Their boats, made of aini (Artocarpus hirsuta) or mango wood, and fitted with a mat sail, cost from Rs. 200 to Rs. 500, and carry a crew of 5 or 8 men according to size. Their nets are of all shapes and sizes, ranging from a fine net with a ? mesh for sardines and such small fry to a stout valiya sravuvala or shark net with a 6½ or 7 mesh; and for a big Badagara boat a complete equipment is said to cost Rs. 1,000. The nets are generally made of fibre, cotton thread being used only for nets with the finest mesh. Salt is not usually carried in the boats, and the fish decompose so rapidly in the tropical sun that the usual fishing grounds are comparatively close to the shore; but boats sometimes venture out ten, fifteen, or even twenty miles. Shoals of the migratory sardine, which are pursued by predaceous sharks, kora, and cat-fish, yield the richest harvest of fishes great and small to the Mukkuvan. Huge quantities of mackerel or aila are also caught, and seir, white and black pomfret, prawns, whiting, and soles are common. The arrival of the boats is the great event of the day in a fishing village. Willing hands help to drag them up the beach, and an eager crowd gathers round each boat, discussing the catch and haggling over the price. The pile of fish soon melts away, and a string of coolies, each with a basket of fish on his head, starts off at a sling trot into the interior, and soon distributes the catch over a large area. Relays of runners convey fresh fish from Badagara and Tellicherry even as far as the Wynaad. All that is left unsold is taken from the boats to the yards to be cured under the supervision of the Salt Department with Tuticorin salt supplied at the rate of 10 annas per maund. The fisherman is sometimes also the curer, but usually the two are distinct, and the former disposes of the fish to the latter ‘on fixed terms to a fixed customer,’ and ‘looks to him for support during the slack season, the rainy and stormy south-west monsoon.’ The salt fish is conveyed by coasting steamers to Ceylon, and by the Madras Railway to Coimbatore, Salem, and other places. Sardines are the most popular fish, and are known as kudumbam pulartti, or the family blessing. In a good year, 200 sardines can be had for a single pie. Sun-dried, they form valuable manure for the coffee planter and the cocoanut grower, and are exported to Ceylon, the Straits Settlements, and occasionally to China and Japan; and, boiled with a little water, they yield quantities of fish oil for export to Europe and Indian ports. Salted shark is esteemed a delicacy, particularly for a nursing woman. Sharks’ fins find a ready sale, and are exported to China by way of Bombay. The maws or sounds of kora and cat-fishes are dried, and shipped to China and Europe for the preparation of isinglass.”65 It will be interesting to watch the effect of the recently instituted Fishery Bureau in developing the fishing industry and system of fish-curing in Southern India.

Mukkuvans work side by side with Mappillas both at the fishing grounds and in the curing yards, and the two classes will eat together. It is said that, in former times, Mappillas were allowed to contract alliances with Mukkuva women, and that male children born as a result thereof on Friday were handed over to the Mappilla community. It is recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1891, that “conversion to Islam is common among this caste. The converts are called Puislam or Putiya Islam66 (new Islam). All Puislams follow the occupation of fishing. In the northernmost taluks there is a rule that Mukkuva females during their periods cannot remain in the house, but must occupy the house of a Mappilla, which shows that the two castes live on very close terms.” The fishermen at Tanur are for the most part Puislamites, and will not go out fishing on Fridays.

From a recent note (1908), I gather that the Mukkuvas and Puislams of Tanur have been prospering of late years and would appear to be going in for a display of their prosperity by moving about arrayed in showy shirts, watch-chains, shoes of the kind known as Arabi cherippu, etc. This sort of ostentation has evidently not been appreciated by the Moplahs, who, it is said sent round the Mukkuva village, known as Mukkadi some Cherumas, numbering over sixty, to notify by beat of kerosene tins that any Mukkuva or Puislam who went into the Moplah bazaar wearing a shirt or coat or shoes would go in peril of his life. Some days after this alleged notification, two Mukkuvas and a Mukkuva woman complained to the Tirur Sub-Magistrate that they had been waylaid by several Moplahs on the public road in the Tanur bazaar, and had been severely beaten, the accused also robbing the woman of some gold ornaments which were on her person. I am informed that Tanur is the only place where this feeling exists. Puislams and Mappillas settle down together peacefully enough elsewhere.

There are two titles in vogue among the Mukkuvans, viz., Arayan and Marakkan. Of these, the former is the title of the headmen and members of their families, and the latter a title of ordinary members of the community. The caste deity is said to be Bhadrakali, and the Mukkuvans have temples of their own, whereat worship is performed by Yogi Gurukkals, or, it is said, by the Karanavans of certain families who have been initiated by a Yogi Gurukkal.

At Tellicherry there are two headmen, called Arayanmar belonging to the Kachillam and Ponillam sections. In addition to the headmen, there are caste servants called Manakkan. It is stated, in the Manual of the South Canara district, that “there is an hereditary headman of the caste called the Ayathen, who settles disputes. For trifling faults the ordinary punishment is to direct the culprit to supply so much oil for lights to be burnt before the caste demon.” The Velichapads, or oracles who become possessed by the spirit of the deity among the Mukkuvans, are called Ayathen, which is probably an abbreviation of Ayuthathan, meaning a sword or weapon-bearer, as the oracle, when under the influence of the deity, carries a sword or knife.

As among other Malayalam castes, Mukkuva girls must go through a ceremony before they attain puberty. This is called pandal kizhikkal, and corresponds to the tali-kettu kalyanam of the other castes. The consent of the Arayan is necessary for the performance of this ceremony. On the night previous thereto, the girl is smeared with turmeric paste and oil. Early on the following morning, she is brought to the pandal (booth), which is erected in front of the house, and supported by four bamboo posts. She is bathed by having water poured over her by girls of septs other than her own. After the bath, she stands at the entrance to the house, and a Kavuthiyachi (barber woman) sprinkles sea-water over her with a tuft of grass (Cynodon Dactylon). A cloth is thrown over her, and she is led into the house. The barber woman receives as her fee a cocoanut, some rice, and condiments. A tali (marriage badge) is tied on the girl’s neck by her prospective husband’s sister if a husband has been selected for her, or by a woman of a sept other than her own. The girl must fast until the conclusion of the ceremony, and should remain indoors for seven days afterwards. At the time of ceremony, she receives presents of money at the rate of two vellis per family. The Arayan receives two vellis, a bundle of betel leaves, areca nuts, and tobacco.

Girls are married after puberty according to one of two forms of rite, called kodi-udukkal (tying the cloth) and vittil-kudal. The former is resorted to by the more prosperous members of the community, and lasts over two days. On the first day, the bridegroom goes to the home of the bride, accompanied by his relations and friends, and sweets, betel leaves and areca nuts, etc., are given to them. They then take their departure, and return later in the day, accompanied by musicians, in procession. At the entrance to the bride’s house they stand while someone calls out the names of the eleven Arayans of the caste, who, if they are present, come forward without a body-cloth or coat. Betel leaves and areca nuts are presented to the Arayans or their representatives, and afterwards to the Rajyakkar, or chief men of the village. The bridegroom then goes inside, conducted by two men belonging to the septs of the contracting parties, to the bride’s room. The bridegroom sits down to a meal with nine or eleven young men in a line, or in the same room. On the second day, the bride is brought to the pandal. Two persons are selected as representatives of the bridegroom and bride, and the representative of the former gives thirty-nine vellis to the representative of the latter. Some sweetened water is given to the bridegroom’s relations. A woman who has been married according to the kodi-udukkal rite ties a new cloth round the waist of the bride, after asking her if she is willing to marry the bridegroom, and obtaining the consent of those assembled. Sometimes a necklace, composed of twenty-one gold coins, is also tied on the bride’s neck. At night, the bridal couple take their departure for the home of the bridegroom. In South Canara, the ceremonial is spread over three days, and varies from the above in some points of detail. The bridegroom goes in procession to the bride’s house, accompanied by a Sangayi or Munan (best or third man) belonging to a sept other than that of the bridal couple. The bride is seated in a room, with a lamp and a tray containing betel leaves, areca nuts, and flowers. The Sangayi takes a female cloth in which some money is tied, and throws it on a rope within the room. On the third day, the bride puts on this cloth, and, seated within the pandal, receives presents.

The vittil-kudal marriage rite is completed in a single day. The bridegroom comes to the home of the bride, and goes into her room, conducted thither by two men belonging to the septs of the contracting couple. The newly-married couple may not leave the bride’s house until the seventh day after the marriage ceremony, and the wife is not obliged to live at her husband’s house.

There is yet another form of alliance called vechchirukkal, which is an informal union with the consent of the parents and the Arayans. It is recorded, in the Gazetteer of Malabar, that “amongst Mukkuvas the vidaram marriage obtains, but for this no ceremony is performed. The vidaram wife is not taken to her husbands house, and her family pay no stridhanam. A vidaram marriage can at any time be completed, as it were, by the performance of the kalyanam ceremonies. Even if this be not done, however, a child by a vidaram wife has a claim to inherit to his father in South Malabar, if the latter recognises him by paying to the mother directly after her delivery a fee of three fanams called mukkapanam. A curious custom is that which prescribes that, if a girl be married after attaining puberty, she must remain for a period in the status of a vidaram wife, which may subsequently be raised by the performance of the regular kalyanam.”

Divorce is easily effected by payment of a fine, the money being divided between the husband or wife as the case may be, the temple, the Arayans, and charity.

A pregnant woman has to go through a ceremony called puli or ney-kudi in the fifth or seventh month. A ripe cocoanut, which has lost its water, is selected, and heated over a fire. Oil is then expressed from it, and five or seven women smear the tongue and abdomen of the pregnant woman with it. A barber woman is present throughout the ceremony. The husband lets his hair grow until his wife has been delivered, and is shaved on the third day after the birth of the child. At the place where he sits for the operation, a cocoanut, betel leaves and areca nuts are placed. The cocoanut is broken in pieces by some one belonging to the same sept as the father of the child. Pollution is got rid of on this day by a barber woman sprinkling water at the houses of the Mukkuvans. A barber should also sprinkle water at the temple on the same day.

The dead are, as a rule, buried. Soon after death has taken place, the widow of the deceased purchases twenty-eight cubits of white cloth. A gold ring is put into the hand of the corpse, and given to the widow or her relations, to be returned to the relations of the dead man. The corpse is bathed in fresh water, decorated, and placed on a bier. The widow then approaches, and, with a cloth over her head, cuts her tali off, and places it by the side of the corpse. Sometimes the tali is cut off by a barber woman, if the widow has been married according to the kodi-udukkal rite. In some places, the bier is kept in the custody of the barber, who brings it whenever it is required. In this case, the articles requisite for decorating the corpse, e.g., sandal paste and flowers, are brought by the barber, and given to the son of the deceased. Some four or five women belonging to the Kadavar families are engaged for mourning. The corpse is carried to the burial-ground, where a barber tears a piece of cloth from the winding-sheet, and gives it to the son. The bearers anoint themselves, bathe in the sea, and, with wet cloths, go three times round the corpse, and put a bit of gold, flowers, and rice, in its nose. The relations then pour water over the corpse, which is lowered into the grave. Once more the bearers, and the son, bathe in the sea, and go three times round the grave. The son carries a pot of water, and, at the end of the third round, throws it down, so that it is broken. On their return home, the son and bearers are met by a barber woman, who sprinkles them with rice and water. Death pollution is observed for seven days, during which the son abstains from salt and tamarind. A barber woman sprinkles water over those under pollution. On the eighth, or sometimes the fourteenth day, the final death ceremony is performed. Nine or eleven boys bathe in the sea, and offer food near it. They then come to the house of the deceased, and, with lamps on their heads, go round seven or nine small heaps of raw rice or paddy (unhusked rice), and place the lamps on the heaps. The eldest son is expected to abstain from shaving his head for six months or a year. At the end of this time, he is shaved on an auspicious day. The hair, plantains, and rice, are placed in a small new pot, which is thrown into the sea. After a bath, rice is spread on the floor of the house so as to resemble the figure of a man, over which a green cloth is thrown. At one end of the figure, a light in a measure is placed. Seven or nine heaps of rice or paddy are made, on which lights are put, and the son goes three times round, throwing rice at the north, south, east, and west corners. This brings the ceremonial to a close.

Mulaka (Solanum xanthocarpum).—A sept of Balija. The fruit of this plant is tied to the big toe of Brahman corpses.

Muli.—Recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as a class of blacksmiths in Ganjam, and stone-cutters in Vizagapatam. It is said to be a sub-division of Lohara. Muli also occurs as an occupational sub-division of Savara.

Muli Kurava.—A name for Kuravas in Travancore.

Mullangi(radish).—An exogamous sept of Komati.

Mullu (thorn).—A gotra of Kurni. Mullu also occurs as a sub-division of Kurumba.

Multani.—A territorial name, meaning a native of Multan in the Punjab. They are described, in the Mysore Census Report, 1901, as immigrant traders, found in the large towns, whose business consists chiefly of banking and money-lending.

Mundala,—A sub-division of Holeya.

Mundapotho.—Mundapotho (mundo, head; potho, bury) is the name of a class of mendicants who wander about Ganjam, and frequent the streets of Jagannath (Puri). They try to arouse the sympathy of pilgrims by burying their head in the sand or dust, and exposing the rest of the body. They generally speak Telugu.

Mungaru (woman’s skirt).—An exogamous sept of Kapu.

Muni.—See Ravulo.

Munillakkar (people of the three illams).—A section of Mukkuvans, which is divided into three illams.

Munnuti Gumpu.—Recorded, in the Kurnool Manual, as “a mixed caste, comprising the illegitimate descendants of Balijas, and the male children of dancing-girls.” It is not a caste name, but an insulting name for those of mixed origin.

Munnuttan (men of the three hundred).—Recorded, at times of census, as a synonym of Velan, and sub-caste of Panan, among the latter of whom Anjuttan (men of five hundred) also occurs. In the Gazetteer of Malabar, Munnuttan appears as a class of Mannans, who are closely akin to the Velans. In Travancore, Munnutilkar is a name for Kumbakonam Vellalas, who have settled there.

Muppan.—Muppan has been defined as “an elder, the headman of a class or business, one who presides over ploughmen and shepherds, etc. The word literally means an elder: mukkiradu, to grow old, and muppu, seniority.” At recent times of census, Muppan has been returned as a title by many classes, which include Alavan, Ambalakaran, Kudumi, Pallan, Paraiyan and Tandan in Travancore, Senaikkudaiyan, Saliyan, Shanan, Sudarman and Valaiyan. It has further been returned as a division of Konkana Sudras in Travancore.

During my wanderings in the Malabar Wynad, I came across a gang of coolies, working on a planter’s estate, who called themselves Muppans. They were interesting owing to the frequent occurrence among them of a very simple type of finger-print impression (arches).

Muppil (chief).—A sub-division of Nayar.

Murikinadu.—Murikinadu or Murikinati is a territorial name, which occurs as a division of Telugu Brahmans, and of various Telugu classes, e.g., Kamsala, Mala, Mangala, Razu, and Tsakala.

Muriya.—A small class in Ganjam, who are engaged in making a preparation of fried rice (muri) and in cultivation.

Muru Balayanoru (three-bangle people).—A sub-division of Kappiliyan.

Musaliar.—An occupational term, denoting a Muhammadan priest, returned at times of census in the Tamil country.

Musari.—A division of Malayalam Kammalans, whose occupation is that of brass and copper smiths. The equivalent Musarlu occurs among the Telugu Kamsalas.

Mushika (rat).—A gotra of Nagaralu. The rat is the vehicle of the Elephant God, Vignesvara or Ganesa.

Mushtiga.—An exogamous sept of the Gollas, who may not use the mushtiga tree (Strychnos Nux-vomica). It also occurs as a synonym of Jetti.

Mushti Golla.—A class of mendicants, usually of mixed extraction. Mushti means alms.

Mussad.—For the following note on the Mussads or Muttatus of Travancore, I am indebted to Mr. N. Subramani Aiyar. They are known as Muttatus or Mussatus in Travancore and Cochin, and Potuvals (or Poduvals) or Akapotuvals in North Malabar. The word Muttatu means elder, and is generally taken to indicate a community, which is higher than the Ambalavasi castes, as Ilayatu (or Elayad), or younger, denotes a sub-caste slightly lower than the Brahmans. In early records, the word Mupputayor, which has an identical meaning, is met with. Potuval means a common person, i.e., the representative of a committee, and a Muttatu’s right to this name is from the fact that, in the absence of the Nambutiri managers of a temple, he becomes their agent, and is invested with authority to exercise all their functions. The work of an Akapotuval always lies within the inner wall of the shrine, while that of the Purapotuval or Potuval proper lies outside. The castemen themselves prefer the name Sivadvija or Saivite Brahman. A few families possess special titles, such as Nambi and Nambiyar. Their women are generally known as Manayammamar, mana meaning the house of a Brahman. There are no divisions or septs among the Muttatus.

The origin of the Muttatus, and their place in Malabar society, are questions on which a good deal of discussion has been of late expended. In the Jatinirnaya, an old Sanskrit work on the castes of Kerala attributed to Sankaracharya, it is said that the four kinds of Ambalavasis, Tantri, Bharatabhattaraka, Agrima, and Slaghyavakku, are Brahmans degraded in the Krita, Treta, Dvapara, and Kali ages, respectively, and that those who were so degraded in the Dvapara Yuga—the Agrimas or Muttatus—and whose occupation is to cleanse the stone steps of shrines—are found in large numbers in Kerala. According to Kerala Mahatmya, another Sanskrit work on Malabar history and customs, these Muttatus are also known as Sivadvijas, or Brahmans dedicated to the worship of Siva, occupying a lower position in Malabar society than that of the Brahmans. One of them, disguised as a Nambutiri, married a Nambutiri’s daughter, but his real status became known before the marriage was consummated, and the pair were degraded, and allotted a separate place in society. This tradition is not necessary to account for the present position of the Muttatus in Kerala, as, all over India, worship of fixed images was viewed with disfavour even in the days of Manu. Worship in Saivite temples was not sought by Brahmans, and was even considered as despiritualising on account of the divine displeasure which may be expected as the result of misfeasance. It was for a similar reason that the Nambiyans of even Vaishnavite temples on the east coast became degraded in society. The Illayatus and Muttatus have been long known in Malabar as Nyunas or castes slightly lower than the Brahmans, and Avantaras or castes intermediate between Brahmans and Ambalavasis. As, in subsequent days, the Brahmans themselves undertook with impunity the priestly profession in Hindu temples, Saivite as well as Vaishnavite, the Muttatus had to be content with a more lowly occupation, viz., that of guarding the temples and images. According to Suchindra Mahatmyam, eleven Brahmans were ordered by Parasu Rama to partake of the remnants of the food offered to Siva, and to bear the Saivite image in procession round the shrine on occasions of festivals; and, according to the Vaikam Sthalapuranam, three families of Sivadvijas were brought over by the same sage from eastern districts for service at that temple. Whatever may be said in regard to the antiquity or authenticity of many of these Sthalapuranams, corroborative evidence of the Brahmanical origin of the Muttatus may be amply found in their manners and customs. A fresh colony of Sivadvijas is believed to have been invited to settle at Tiruvanchikkulam in Cranganore from Chidambaram by one of the Perumals of Kerala, in connection with the establishment of Saivite temples there. They have preserved their original occupation faithfully enough down to the present day.

The houses of Muttatus are known as illams and mattams, the former being the name of all Nambutiri houses. They are generally built beside some well-known shrine, with which the inmates are professionally connected. The dress of both men and women resembles that of the Nambutiri Brahmans, the injunction to cover the whole of the body when they go out of doors being applicable also to the Manayammamar. Girls before marriage wear a ring and kuzal on the neck, and, on festive occasions, a palakka ring. The chuttu in the ears, and pozhutu tali on the neck are worn only after marriage, the latter being the symbol which distinguishes married women from widows and maidens. Widows are prohibited from wearing any ornament except the chuttu. In food and drink the Muttatus are quite like the Nambutiris.

The Muttatus are the custodians of the images, which they take in procession, and wash the stone steps leading to the inner sanctuary. They live by the naivedya or cooked food offering which they receive from the temple, and various other emoluments. It may be noted that one of the causes of their degradation was the partaking of this food, which Brahmans took care not to do. The Muttatus are generally well-read in Sanskrit, and study astrology, medicine, and sorcery. The social government of the Muttatus rests wholly with the Nambutiris, who enforce the smartavicharam or enquiry into a suspected case of adultery, as in the case of a Nambutiri woman. When Nambutiri priests are not available, Muttatus, if learned in the Vedas, may be employed, but punyaham, or purification after pollution, can only be done by a Nambutiri.

Like the Nambutiris, the Muttatus strictly observe the rule that only the eldest male member in a family can marry. The rest form casual connections with women of most of the Ambalavasi classes. They are, like the Brahmans, divided into exogamous septs or gotras. A girl is married before or after puberty. Polygamy is not uncommon, though the number of wives is never more than four. Widows do not remarry. In their marriage ceremonies, the Muttatus resemble the Nambutiris, with some minor points of difference. They follow two sutras, those of Asvalayana and Baudhayana, the former being members of the Rig Veda and the latter of the Yajur Veda. The former omit a number of details, such as the panchamehani and dasamehani, which are observed by the latter. According to a territorial distinction, Mussad girls of North Malabar cannot become the daughters-in-law of South Malabar families, but girls of South Malabar can become the daughters-in-law of North Malabar families.

The Muttatus observe all the religious rites of the Nambutiris. The rule is that the eldest son should be named after the paternal grandfather, the second after the maternal grandfather, and the third after that of the father. The upanayana ceremony is celebrated between the ages of seven and eleven, and the Gayatri hymn may only be repeated ten times thrice daily. In the funeral rites, the help of the Maran called Chitikan (a corruption of Chaitika, meaning one who is connected with the funeral pyre) is sought. Pollution lasts only ten days.

The Muttatus stand above all sections of the Ambalavasi group, and below every recognised section of the Brahman and Kshatriya communities, with whom they do not hold commensal relations in any part of Kerala. They are thus on a par with the Illayatus, but the latter have their own hierarchy, and lead a social life almost independent of the Brahmans. The Muttatus seek their help and advice in all important matters. The Muttatus are, however, privileged to take their food within the nalampalam (temple courts), and the leaf-plates are afterwards removed by temple servants. The Ambalavasis do not possess a right of this kind. At Suchindram, the Nambutiri by whom the chief image is served is not privileged to give prasada (remains of offerings) to any worshipper, this privilege being confined to the Muttatus engaged to serve the minor deities of the shrine. The washing of the stone steps leading to the inner sanctuary, the mandapa, kitchen, feeding rooms, and bali stones, both inside and outside the shrine, are done by Muttatus at temples with which they are connected. All Ambalavasis freely receive food from Muttatus.

It is further noted, in the Cochin Census Report, 1901, that “there is a pithy saying in Malayalam, according to which the Muthads are to be regarded as the highest of Ambalavasis, and the Elayads as the lowest of Brahmans. Considerable difference of opinion exists as to the exact social status of Muthads. For, while some hold that they are to be regarded as degraded Brahmans, others maintain that they are only the highest class of Ambalavasis. In the opinion, however, of the most learned Vydikan who was consulted on the subject, the Muthads are to be classed as degraded Brahmans. They are supposed to have suffered social degradation by their having tattooed their bodies with figures representing the weapons of the god Siva, and partaking of the offerings made to that god.”

A correspondent, who has made enquiry into caste questions in Malabar, writes to me as follows. There are several ways of spelling the name, e.g., Mussu, Mussad, and Muttatu. Some people tried to discriminate between these, but I could not work out any distinctions. In practice, I think, all the classes noted below are called by either name indifferently, and most commonly Mussad. There are several classes, viz.:—

(1) BRAHMAN OR QUASI-BRAHMAN.

(a) Ashtavaidyanmar, or eight physicians, are eight families of hereditary physicians. They are called Jatimatrakaras (barely caste people), and it is supposed that they are Nambudiris slightly degraded by the necessity they may, as surgeons, be under of shedding blood. Most of them are called Mussad, but one at least is called Nambi.

(b) Urili Parisha Mussad, or assembly in the village Mussad, who are said to be degraded because they accepted gifts of land from Parasu Rama, and agreed to take on themselves the sin he had contracted by slaying the Kshetriyas. This class, as a whole, is called Sapta or Saptagrastan.

(2) AMBALAVASI.

(c) Mussad or Muttatu.—They appear to be identical with the Agapothuvals, or inside Pothuvals, as distinguished from the Pura, or outside Pothuvals, in North Malabar. They are said to be the descendants of a Sivadvija man and pure Brahman girl. According to another account, they lost caste because they ate rice offered to Siva, which is prohibited by one of the anacharams, or rules of conduct peculiar to Kerala. They perform various duties in temples, and escort the idol when it is carried in procession on an arrangement called tadambu, which is like an inverted shield with a shelf across it, on which the idol is placed. They wear the punul, or sacred thread.

(d) Karuga Mussad.—So called from the karuga grass (Cynodon Dactylon), which is used in ceremonies. Their exact position is disputed. They wear the sacred thread (cf. Karuga Nambudiris in North Malabar), who cook rice for the sradh (memorial ceremony) of Sudras,

(e) Tiruvalayanath or Kovil (temple) Mussad.—They also wear the sacred thread, but perform puja in Bhadrakali temples, incidents of which are the shedding of blood and use of liquor. They seem to be almost identical with the caste called elsewhere Adigal or Pidaran, but, I think, Adigals are a little higher, and do not touch liquor, while Pidarans are divided into two classes, the lower of which does not wear the thread or perform the actual puja, but only attends to various matters subsidiary thereto.

In an account of the annual ceremony at the Pishari temple near Quilandy in Malabar in honour of Bhagavati, Mr. F. Fawcett informs67 that the Mussad priests repeat mantrams (prayers) over the goats for an hour as a preliminary to the sacrifice. Then the chief priest, with a chopper-like sword, decapitates the goats, and sacrifices several cocks. The Mussads cook some of the flesh of the goats, and one or two of the cocks with rice. This rice, when cooked, is taken to the kavu (grove) to the north of the temple, and there the Mussads again ply their mantrams.

Musu Kamma.—The name of a special ear ornament worn by the Musu Kamma sub-division of Balijas. In the Salem District Manual, Musuku is recorded as a sub-division of this caste.

Musu Kamma woman.

Musu Kamma woman.

Mutalpattukar.—A synonym of Tandan in Travancore, indicating those who received an allowance for the assistance they were called on to render to carpenters.

Mutracha.—Mutracha appears, in published records, in a variety of forms, such as Muttaracha, Muttirajulu, Muttarasan, and Mutratcha. The caste is known by one of these names in the Telugu country, and in the Tamil country as Muttiriyan or Palaiyakkaran.

Concerning the Mutrachas, Mr. H. A. Stuart writes as follows.68 “This is a Telugu caste most numerous in the Kistna, Nellore, Cuddapah, and North Arcot districts. The Mutrachas were employed by the Vijayanagar kings to defend the frontiers of their dominions, and were honoured with the title of paligars (cf. Palaiyakkaran). The word Mutracha is derived from the Dravidian roots mudi, old, and racha, a king; but another derivation is from Mutu Raja, a sovereign of some part of the Telugu country. They eat flesh, and drink liquor. Their titles are Dora and Naidu.” Mr. Stuart writes further69 that in the North Arcot district they are “most numerous in the Chendragiri taluk, but found all over the district in the person of the village taliari or watchman, for which reason it is often called the taliari caste. They proudly call themselves paligars, and in Chendragiri doralu or lords, because several of the Chittoor palaiyams (villages governed by paligars) were in possession of members of their caste. They seem to have entered the country in the time of the Vijayanagar kings, and to have been appointed as its kavilgars (watchmen). The caste is usually esteemed by others as a low one. Most of its members are poor, even when they have left the profession of taliari, and taken to agriculture. They eat in the houses of most other castes, and are not trammelled by many restrictions. In Chendragiri they rarely marry, but form connections with women of their caste, which are often permanent, though not sanctioned by the marriage ceremony, and the offspring of such associations are regarded as legitimate.”

In the Nellore Manual, the Mutrachas are summed up as being hunters, fishermen, bearers, palanquin-bearers, and hereditary watchmen in the villages. At times of census, Mutracha or Mutarasan has been recorded as a sub-division of Urali, and a title of Ambalakkaran. Muttiriyan, which is simply a Tamil form of Mutracha, appears as a title and sub-division of Ambalakkaran (q.v.). Further, Tolagari is recorded as a sub-division of Mutracha. The Tolagaris are stated70 to be a small cultivating caste, who were formerly hunters, like the Palayakkarans. Most of the Mutrachas are engaged in agriculture. At Paniyam, in the Kurnool district, I found some employed in collecting winged white-ants (Termites), which they sun-dry, and store in large pots as an article of food. They are said to make use of some special powder as a means of attracting the insects, in catching which they are very expert.

In some places, the relations between the Mutrachas and Gollas, both of which castes belong to the left-hand section, are strained. On occasions of marriage among the Madigas, some pan-supari (betel leaves and areca nuts), is set apart for the Mutrachas, as a mark of respect.

In consequence of the fact that some Mutrachas have been petty chieftains, they claim to be Kshatriyas, and to be descended from Yayathi of the Mahabaratha. According to the legend, Devayana, the daughter of Sukracharya, the priest of the Daityas (demons and giants), went to a well with Charmanishta, the daughter of the Daitya king. A quarrel arose between them, and Charmanishta pushed Devayana into a dry well, from which she was rescued by king Yayathi. Sukracharya complained to the Daitya king, who made his daughter become a servant to Yayathi’s wife, Devayana. By her marriage Devayana bore two sons. Subsequently, Yayathi became enamoured of Charmanishta, by whom he had an illegitimate son. Hearing of this, Sukracharya cursed Yayathi that he should be subject to old age and infirmity. This curse he asked his children to take on themselves, but all refused except his illegitimate child Puru. He accordingly cursed his legitimate sons, that they should only rule over barren land overrun by Kiratas. One of them, Durvasa by name, had seven children, who were specially favoured by the goddess Ankamma. After a time, however, they were persuaded to worship Maheswara or Virabhadra instead of Ankamma. This made the goddess angry, and she caused all flower gardens to disappear, except her own. Flowers being necessary for the purpose of worship, the perverts stole them from Ankamma’s garden, and were caught in the act by the goddess. As a punishment for their sin, they had to lose their lives by killing themselves on a stake. One of the seven sons had a child named Ravideviraju, which was thrown into a well as soon as it was born. The Naga Kannikas of the nether regions rescued the infant, and tended it with care. One day, while Ankamma was traversing the Naga lokam (country), she heard a child crying, and sent her vehicle, a jackal (nakka), to bring the child, which, however, would not allow the animal to take it The goddess accordingly herself carried it off. The child grew up under her care, and eventually had three sons, named Karnam Raju, Gangi Raju, and Bhupathi Raju, from whom the Mutrachas are descended. In return for the goddess protecting and bringing up the child, she is regarded as the special tutelary deity of the caste.

There is a saying current among the Mutrachas that the Mutracha caste is as good as a pearl, but became degraded as its members began to catch fish. According to a legend, the Mutrachas, being Kshatriyas, wore the sacred thread. Some of them, on their way home after a hunting expedition, halted by a pond, and were tempted by the enormous number of fish therein to fish for them, using their sacred threads as lines. They were seen by some Brahmans while thus engaged, and their degradation followed.

In the Telugu country, two divisions, called Paligiri and Oruganti, are recognised by the Mutrachas, who further have exogamous septs or intiperulu, of which the following are examples:—

  • Avula, cow.
  • Arigala, a dish carried in processions.
  • Busi, dirt.
  • Ella, boundary.
  • Guvvala, doves.
  • Indla, house.
  • Iga, fly.
  • Koppula, hair-knot.
  • Katari, dagger.
  • Marri, Ficus bengalensis.
  • Nakka, jackal.
  • Puli, tiger.
  • Talari, watchman.
  • Tota, garden.
  • Uyyala, a swing.
  • Thumu, iron measure for measuring grain.

During the first menstrual seclusion of a girl, she may not have her meals served on a metal plate, but uses an earthen cup, which is eventually thrown away. When she reaches puberty, a girl does up her hair in a knot called koppu.

In the case of confinement, pollution ends on the tenth day. But, if a woman loses her infant, especially a first-born, the pollution period is shortened, and, at every subsequent time of delivery, the woman bathes on the seventh or ninth day. Every woman who visits her on the bathing day brings a pot of warm water, and pours it over her head.

Muttal (substitute).—A sub-division of Maran.

Muttan.—In the Madras Census Report, 1901, the Muttans are summed up as “a trading caste in Malabar. The better educated members of it have begun to claim a higher social status than that usually accorded them. Formerly they claimed to be Nayars, but recently they have gone further, and, in the census schedules, some of them returned themselves as Vaisyas, and added the Vaisya title Gupta to their names. They do not, however, wear the sacred thread, or perform any Vedic rites, and Nayars consider themselves polluted by their touch.”

It is recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1891, under the conjoint heading Muttan and Tarakan, that “these two are allied castes, but the latter would consider it a disgrace to acknowledge any affinity with the former. Tarakan literally means a broker. Dr. Gundert says that these were originally warehouse-keepers at Palghat. Muttan is probably from Muttavan, an elder, Tarakans have returned Muttan as a sub-division, and vice versÂ, and both appear as sub-divisions of Nayar. We have in our schedules instances of persons who have returned their caste as Tarakan, but with their names Krishna Muttan (male) and Lakshmi Chettichiar (female). A Muttan may, in course of time, become a Tarakan, and then a Nayar. Both these castes follow closely the customs and manners of Nayars, but there are some differences. I have not, however, been able to get at the real state of affairs, as the members of the caste are very reticent on the subject, and simply assert that they are in all respects the same as Nayars. One difference is that a Brahmani does not sing at their tali-kettu marriages. Again, instead of having a Marayan, Attikurissi, or Elayad as their priest, they employ a man of their own caste, called Choratton. This man assists at their funeral ceremonies, and purifies them at the end of pollution, just as the Attikurissi does for Nayars. Kali temples seem to be specially affected by this caste, and these Chorattons are also priests in these temples. The Muttan and Tarakan castes are practically confined to Palghat and Walluvanad taluks.”

In a note on some castes in Malabar which are most likely of foreign origin, it is stated, in the Gazetteer of Malabar, that “this is certainly true of the Muttans, who are found only in the Palghat taluk and in the parts of Walavanad bordering on it, a part of the country where there is a large admixture of Tamils in the population. They are now advancing a claim to be Vaisyas, and some of them have adopted the title Gupta which is proper to that caste, while a few have the title Ezhutacchan. Some Muttans in Palghat are called Mannadiars, a title also apparently borne by some Taragans. The Muttans follow makkattayam (inheritance from father to son), and do not enter into the loose connections known as sambandhams; their women are called Chettichiars, clearly indicating their eastern origin; and their period of pollution is ten days, according to which test they would rank as a high caste. On the other hand, they may eat meat and drink liquor. Their purificatory ceremonies are performed by a class known as Chorttavans (literally, sprinklers), who are said to be identical with Kulangara Nayars, and not by Attikurrissi Nayars as in the case with Nambudris, Ambalavasis, and Nayars. There is considerable antagonism between the Palghat and Walavanad sections of the caste. Another caste of traders, which has now been practically incorporated in the Nayar body, is the class known as Taragans (literally, brokers) found in Palghat and Walavanad, some of whom have considerable wealth and high social position. The Taragans of Angadippuram and the surrounding neighbourhood claim to be immigrants from Travancore, and to be descendants of Ettuvittil Pillamar of Quilon, who are high caste Nayars. They can marry Kiriyattil women, and their women occasionally have sambandham with Samantan Rajas. The Palghat Taragans on the other hand can marry only in their caste.”

Muttasari.—Recorded, in the Travancore Census Report, 1901, as a name by which Kammalans are addressed.

Muttiriyan.—See Mutracha.

Mutyala (pearl).—An exogamous sept, and name of a sub-division of Balijas who deal in pearls. The Ambalakarans say that they were born of the sweat (muttu, a pearl or bead of perspiration) of Paramasiva.

Muvvari.—Recorded71 as “a North Malabar caste of domestic servants under the Embrantiri Brahmans. Their customs resemble those of the Nayars, but the Elayads and the Marayans will not serve them.”

Myasa.—Myasa, meaning grass-land or forest, is one of the two main divisions, Uru (village) and Myasa, of the Bedars and Boyas. Among the Myasa Bedars, the rite of circumcision is practiced, and is said to be the survival of a custom which originated when they were included in the army of Haidar Ali

1 Gazetteer of the South Arcot District.

2 Gazetteer of the South Arcot district.

3 Madras Census Report, 1891.

4 The Rangaris are Maratha dyers and tailors.

5 Ind. Ant., VII, 1878.

6 Our Viceregal Life in India, 1884–88.

7 Loc. cit.

8 Ind. Ant., II, 1874.

9 The word Genoa occurs on several blades in the Madras Museum collection.

10 The bas-relief of the statue of Lord Cornwallis in the Connemara Public library, Madras, represents him receiving Tipu’s two youthful sons as hostages.

11 Brahmanism and Hinduism.

12 Gazetteer of the Bellary district.

13 Madras Census Report, 1891.

14 Madras Review, 1899.

15 F. Fawcett. Journ. Anthrop. Inst., XXXIII, 1903.

16 F. Fawcett, loc. cit.

17 Madras Journ. Lit. Science, 1890.

18 Sketch of the Dynasties of South India.

19 Numismata Orient. Ancient Coins and Measures of Ceylon.

20 Kalith-thokai.

21 Kanakasabhai Pillai. The Tamils Eighteen Hundred Years ago. 1904.

22 Manual of the Tinnevelly district, 1879.

23 Madras Census Report, 1901.

24 Notes on Criminal Classes of the Madras Presidency.

25 Tinnevelly, being an account of the district, the people, and the missions. Mission Field, 1897.

26 Madras Journ. Lit. Science, IV, 1836.

27 Journ. Anthrop. Inst., XXXIII, 1903.

28 F. Fawcett, loc. cit.

29 Madras Journ. Lit. Science, IV, 1836.

30 Madras Journ. Lit. Science, IV, 1836.

31 Manual of the Madura district.

32 Madras Journ. Lit, Science, XXV.

33 Ind. Ant., VIII, 1879.

34 Madras Census Report, 1891.

35 Manual of the North Arcot district.

36 G. Richter. Manual of Coorg.

37 Madras Museum Bull., V, 3, 1907.

38 For portions of this article I am indebted to a note by Mr. J. D. Samuel.

39 Hobson-Jobson.

40 Gazetteer of the Tanjore district.

41 Malabar Law and Custom.

42 Madras Museum Bull. III, 3, 1901.

43 Hobson-Jobson.

44 Sea Fisheries of India.

45 Journey from Madras through Mysore, Canara, and Malabar, 1807.

46 Manual of the North Arcot district.

47 Section III, Inhabitants, Government Press, Madras, 1907.

48 East India Gazette.

49 Hindu Manners, Customs, and Ceremonies Ed., 1897.

50 History of Mysore.

51 Ind. Antiquary, II, 1873.

52 Mysore.

53 Manual of the South Canara district.

54 Journey through Mysore, etc.

55 Monograph of Tanning and Working in Leather, Madras, 1904.

56 G. D. Iyah Pillay, Madras, 1878.

57 Notes on Criminal Classes of the Madras Presidency.

58 Manual of the North Arcot district.

59 Manual of the Coimbatore district.

60 Madras Journ. Lit. Science, I, 1833.

61 Agricult: Ledger Series, Calcutta, No. 7, 1904.

62 Journey through Mysore, Canara, and Malabar, 1807.

63 A New Account of the East Indies, 1744.

64 I am informed that the Mukkuvans claim to be a caste distinct from the Arayans.

65 For further details concerning the fisheries and fish-curing operations of the West Coast, see Thurston, Madras Museum Bull. III, 2, 1900.

66 Spelt Pusler in a recent educational report.

67 Madras Museum Bull., III, 3, 1901.

68 Madras Census Report, 1891.

69 Manual of the North Arcot district.

70 Manual of the North Arcot district.

71 Madras Census Report, 1901.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

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