Chapter M (8)

"When a man dies, his body is undressed, and arranged so that the legs point to Mecca. The two big toes are tied together, and the hands crossed on the chest, the right over the left; the arms are also tied with a cloth. Mullas are called in to read the Koran over the corpse, and this has to be continued until it is removed to the cemetery. When the relatives have arrived, the body is washed and laid on the floor on mats, over which a cloth has been spread. Cotton wool is placed in the ears, and between the lips, the fingers, and the toes, and the body is shrouded in white cloths. It is then placed on a bier which is brought from the mosque, and borne thither. At the mosque the bier is placed near the western wall; the mourners arrange themselves in lines, and offer prayers (niskaram) standing. The bier is then taken to the grave, which is dug north and south; the body is lowered, the winding sheets loosened, and the body turned so as to lie on its right side facing Mecca. A handful of earth is placed below the right cheek. The grave is then covered with laterite stones, over which each of the mourners throws a handful of earth, reciting the Kalima and passages from the Koran. Laterite stones are placed at the head and foot of the grave, and some mailanji (henna: Lawsonia alba) is planted at the side. A Mulla then seats himself at the head of the grave, and reads certain passages of the Koran, intended to instruct the dead man how to answer the questions about his faith, which it is supposed that the angels are then asking him. The funeral concludes with distribution of money and rice to the poor. For three days, a week, or forty days, according to the circumstances of the deceased, Mullas should read the Koran over the grave without ceasing day and night. The Koran must also be read at home for at least three days. On the third day, a visit is made to the tomb, after which a maulad is performed, the Mullas are paid, alms are distributed, and a feast is given to the relations, including the deceased's relations by marriage, who should come to his house that day. A similar ceremony is performed on the fortieth day, which concludes the mourning; and by the rich on anniversaries. Widows should keep secluded in their own houses for three months and ten days, without seeing any of the male sex. After that period, they are at liberty to remarry."

Concerning the Mappillas of the Laccadives, Mr. H. A. Stuart writes as follows. [220] "The customs of the Mappillas of the Laccadive islands are peculiar. The people are not called Mappilas, but (1) Koya, (2) Malumi, (3) Urukkaran, (4) Takru, (5) Milikhan, and (6) Melac'cheri. No. 1 is the land and boat owning class, and is superior to the rest. Nos. 2 to 5 are pilots and sailors, and, where they are cultivators, cultivate under No. 1. No. 6 were the slaves of the first division; now they cultivate the Koyas' lands, take the produce of those lands in boats to the mainland, and pay 20 per cent. of the sale-proceeds to the Koya owners. The islanders generally dress like ordinary Mappilas. The Melac'cheris, however, may use only a coarser kind of cloth, and they are not allowed intermarriage with the other classes. If any such marriage takes place, the offender is put out of caste, but the marriage is deemed a valid one. The current tradition is that these Laccadive Mappilas were originally the inhabitants of Malabar--Nambudiris, Nayars, Tiyyas, etc.--who went in search of Cheraman Perumal when the latter left for Mecca, and were wrecked on these islands. The story goes that these remained Hindus for a long time, that Obeidulla, the disciple of Caliph Abu Bakr, having received instructions from the prophet in a dream to go and convert the unbelievers on these islands, left for the place and landed on Ameni island, that he was ill-treated by the people, who were all Brahmans, but that, having worked some miracles, he converted them. He then visited the other islands, and all the islanders embraced the Moslem faith. His remains are said to be interred in the island of Androth. Among this section of the Mappilas, succession is generally--in fact almost entirely--in the female line. Girls are married when they are six or seven years old. No dowry is given. They are educated equally with the boys, and, on marriage, they are not taken away from school, but continue there until they finish the course. In the island of Minicoy, the largest of the islands, the women appear in public, and take part in public affairs. The women generally are much more educated than the ordinary Mappila males of the mainland. The Koyas are said to be descendants of Nambudiris, Melach'cheris of Tiyyans and Mukkuvans, and the rest of Nayars. Whatever the present occupation of Koyas on these islands, the tradition that Koyas were originally Brahmans also confirms the opinion that they belong to the priestly class."

In a note on the Laccadives and Minicoy, [221] Mr. C. W. E. Cotton writes that "while it would appear that the Maldives and Minicoy were long ago peopled by the same wave of Aryan immigration which overran Ceylon, tradition ascribes the first settlements in the northern group to an expedition shipwrecked on one of the Atolls so late as 825 A.D. This expedition is said to have set out from Kodungallur (Cranganore) in search of the last of the Perumal Viceroys of Malabar, a convert either to Buddhism or Islam, and included some Nambudris, commonly employed, as Duarte Barbosa tells us, on account of their persons being considered sacrosanct, as envoys and messengers in times of war, and perhaps also for dangerous embassies across the seas. Some support may be found for this tradition in the perpetuation of the name illam for some of the principal houses in Kalpeni, and in the existence of strongly marked caste divisions, especially remarkable among communities professing Mahomedanism, corresponding to the aristocrats, the mariners, and the dependants, of which such an expeditionary force would have been composed. The Tarwad islands, Ameni, Kalpeni, Androth, and Kavarathi, were probably peopled first, and their inhabitants can claim high-caste Hindu ancestry. There has been no doubt everywhere considerable voluntary immigration from the coast, and some infusion of pure Arab blood; but the strain of Negro introduced into the Maldives by Zanzibar slaves is nowhere traceable in Minicoy or the northern Archipelago."

In a further note, Mr. Cotton writes as follows. [222] "The inhabitants of Androth, Kalpeni, Kavaratti and Agatti, are Mappillas, almost undistinguishable, except in the matter of physical development, from those on the mainland. The admixture of Arab blood seems to be confined to a few of the principal families in the two 'tarwad' islands, Kalpeni and Androth. The islanders, though Muhammadans, perpetuate the old caste distinctions which they observed before their conversion to Islam. The highest caste is called Koya, in its origin merely a religious title. The Koyas represent the aristocracy of the original colonists, and in them vests the proprietorship of most of the cocoanut trees and the odams (ships), which constitute the chief outward and visible signs of wealth on the islands. They supply each Amin with a majority of his council of hereditary elders (Karanavans). The lowest and largest class is that of the Melacheris (lit. high climbers), also called Thandels in Kavaratti, the villeins in the quasi-feudal system of the islands, who do the tree-tapping, cocoanut plucking, and menial labour. They hold trees on kudiyan service, which involves the shipping of produce on their overlord's boat or odam, the thatching of his house and boat-shed, and an obligation to sail on the odam to the mainland whenever called upon. Intermediately come the Malumis (pilots), also called Urakars, who represent the skilled navigating class, to which many of the Karnavans in Kavaratti belong. Intermarriage between them and the less prosperous Koyis is now permitted. Monogamy is almost the universal rule, but divorces can be so easily obtained that the marriage tie can scarcely be regarded as more binding than the sambandham among the Hindus on the coast. The women go about freely with their heads uncovered. They continue to live after marriage in their family or tarwad houses, where they are visited by their husbands, and the system of inheritance in vogue is marumakkathayam as regards family property, and makkatayam as regards self-acquisitions. These are distinguished on the islands under the terms Velliyaricha (Friday) and Tingalaricha (Monday) property. The family house is invariably called pura in contradistinction to Vidu--the wife's house. Intermarriage between the inhabitants of different islands is not uncommon. The islanders are very superstitious, and believe in ghosts and hobgoblins, about the visible manifestations of which many stories are current; and there is an old mamul (established) rule on all the islands forbidding any one to go out after nightfall. Phantom steamers and sailing ships are sometimes seen in the lagoons or rowed out to on the open sea; and in the prayers by the graves of his ancestors, which each sailor makes before setting out on a voyage, we find something akin to the Roman worship of the Manes. The Moidin mosque at Kalpeni, and the big West Pandaram at Androth are believed to be haunted. There are Jarams (shrines) in Cheriyam and Cheriyakara, to which pilgrimages are made and where vows are taken, and it is usual to chant the fateah [223] on sighting the Jamath mosque in Androth, beneath the shadow of which is the tomb of Mumba Mulyaka, the Arab apostle to the Laccadives."

In his inspection report of the Laccadives, 1902, Mr. G. H. B. Jackson notes that "the caste barrier, on the island of Androth, between the Koya and the Malumi class and the Melacheris is as rigid as ever. It divides capital from labour, and has given the upper classes much of the appearance of an effete aristocracy." In a more recent inspection report (1905), Mr. C. W. E. Cotton writes as follows. "Muhammadans, owing to their inordinate love of dress, are apt to give an exaggerated impression of wealth, but I should think that, despite the laziness of all but the Melacheris, the majority of the inhabitants (of Androth) are well-to-do, and, in this respect, compare very favourably with those of the other islands. The Qazi and several other Karnavars, who have a smattering of the Koran, go to the mainland, and, in centres of superstition, earn considerable sums by their profession of extreme learning and piety. The long satin coats (a canary yellow is the fashionable tint) procured in Bombay or Mangalore are evidence of the financial success of their pilgrimages. It is perhaps fortunate that the Koyas have discovered this additional source of income, for, though they continue to own nearly all the cargo-carrying odams (boats), their position as jenmis (landlords) has been seriously jeopardised owing to the repudiation of their obligations as Kudians by many of the enterprising Melacheri community. The Melacheris are now alive to the fact that, as their tenure is not evidenced by documents and rests upon oral assertions, they have a very reasonable chance of freeing themselves of their overlords altogether. The Mukhyastars are quite a representative lot. Sheikindevittil Muthu Koya is a fine specimen of the sea-faring Moplah, and the Qazi, twenty-fourth in descent from Mumby Moolyaka, the Arab who converted the islanders to Islam, struck me as a man of very considerable attainments. In his report on the dispensary at Androth (1905), Mr. K. Ibrahim Khan, hospital assistant, states that "the quacks are said to be clever enough to treat cases both by their drugs and by their charms. They actually prevent other poor classes seeking medical and surgical treatment in the dispensary, and mislead them by their cunning words. Most of the quacks come to the dispensary, and take medicines such as santonine powders, quinine pills, purgatives, etc. They make use of these for their own cases, and thus earn their livelihood. The quacks are among the Koya class. The Koyas are jenmis, and the Malims and Melacheris are their tenants. The latter, being low classes, always believe them, and depend upon their landlords, who are also their physicians, to treat them when they fall sick. The islanders, as a rule, have no faith in English medical treatment. The rich folks who can afford it go to Malabar for native treatment; only the poorer classes, who have neither means to pay the quacks here nor to go to Malabar, attend the dispensary with half inclination."

Marakallu.--Marakallu or Marakadu, meaning fishermen, has been recorded as a sub-division of Pallis engaged as fishermen in the Telugu country. The equivalent of Mukku Marakkaleru is a title or synonym of Moger and Marakkan of Mukkuvan. Marakkayar is a title of Labbai boatmen.

NOTES

[1] Madras Census Report, 1891.

[2] Original Inhabitants of Bharatavarsa, 1893.

[3] Account of the Primitive Tribes and Monuments of the Nilgiris, 1873.

[4] Ind. Ant., II, 1873.

[5] Aboriginal Tribes of the Nilgiri hills, 1870.

[6] Tribes inhabiting the Neilgherry hills. By a German Missionary.

[7] The Todas, 1906.

[8] A Singular Aboriginal Race of the Nilagiris.

[9] Tribes of the Neilgherries, 1868.

[10] At Kotamale there are three temples, two dedicated to Kamataraya and one to Kalikai.

[11] Goa and the Blue Mountains, 1851.

[12] Tribes inhabiting the Neilgherry hills. By a German Missionary.

[13] Reise nach Süd-Indien, 1894.

[14] Mysore Census Report, 1891.

[15] Madras Census Report, 1901.

[16] Ind. Ant., III, 1874.

[17] Cf. Pendukkumekki and Valasu sub-divisions of the Idaiyan caste.

[18] The present note is mainly based on the articles by the Rev. J. Cain in the Indian Antiquary V, 1876, and VIII, 1879; and the Madras Christian College Magazine, V, 1887-8, and VI, 1888-9.

[19] Madras Census Report, 1891.

[20] Calcutta Christian Observer, May and June, 1853, Second Edition, by the Rev. J. M. Descombes and J. A. Grierson, Calcutta, 1900.

[21] Gazetteer of the Godavari district.

[22] Gazetteer of the Godavari district.

[23] Notes for a Lecture on the Tribes and Castes of Bombay, 1907.

[24] Manual of the Godavari district.

[25] Rev. W. Taylor. iii. 1862.

[26] This account is taken from a note by Mr. N. Subramani Aiyar.

[27] Ethnog. Survey of Cochin. Monograph No. II, Kshatriyas, 1906.

[28] Gazetteer of the Vizagapatam district.

[29] Monograph, Ethnog. Survey of Cochin, Kootan, 1905.

[30] Manual of the South Canara district.

[31] Indian Forester, XXXII, 1906.

[32] This account is taken from a note by Mr. N. Subramani Aiyar.

[33] Madras Mail, 1907.

[34] Ind. Ant., IV, 1875.

[35] Madras Census Report, 1891.

[36] Manual of the North Arcot district.

[37] Not collectors of art pottery, but Collectors or District Magistrates.

[38] Madras Mail, 1903.

[39] Manual of the South Canara district.

[40] Mysore Census Report, 1901.

[41] Mysore and Coorg Gazetteer.

[42] Manual of the Salem district.

[43] Ind. Ant., X, 1881.

[44] Manual of the Madura district.

[45] Madras Census Report, 1891.

[46] Manual of Malabar.

[47] Madras Census Report, 1901.

[48] Manual of the North Arcot district.

[49] Mysore Census Report, 1901.

[50] Gazetteer of the Anantapur district.

[51] Gazetteer of the Bellary district.

[52] Manual of the North Arcot district.

[53] W.F.S. Ind. Ant., VI, 1877.

[54] Madras Mail, November 1905.

[55] Manual of the North Arcot district.

[56] Manual of the Nilgiri district.

[57] Mysore Census Report, 1901.

[58] Journey through Mysore, Canara, and Malabar, 1807.

[59] Asian, 1902.

[60] Manual of the Nilgiri district.

[61] Aboriginal Race of the Neilgherry hills, 1832.

[62] Ind. Ant., VI, 1877.

[63] Rude Stone Monuments.

[64] Police Admn. Report, 1900.

[65] Agricult. Ledger Series, No. 47, 1904.

[66] Comptes rendus des Séances de la Société de Biologie, T. LVIII, 1019.

[67] Gazetteer of the Malabar district.

[68] Op. cit.

[69] Manual of the North Arcot district.

[70] Tennent, Ceylon.

[71] Madras Census Report, 1891.

[72] Gazetteer of the Madura district.

[73] Journ. Roy. Asiat. Soc., 1899, 267-8.

[74] Madras Pottery. Journ. Ind. Arts, VII, 1897.

[75] Brahmanism and Hinduism.

[76] Gazetteer of the Madura district.

[77] Ind. Law Reports, Madras Series, XVII, 1894.

[78] A Native. Pen and ink sketches of Native life in S. India.

[79] Madras Mail.

[80] Trans. S. Ind. branch, Brit. Med. Association, XIV, 1906.

[81] Classified Collection of Tamil Proverbs, 1897.

[82] J. S. F. Mackenzie. Ind. Ant., IV, 1875.

[83] Historical Sketches of the South of India, Mysore, 1810-17.

[84] Mem. Asiat. Soc., Bengal, Miscellanea Ethnographica, I, 1906.

[85] Journ. and Proc. Asiatic Society of Bengal, I, No. 9, 1905.

[86] Gazetteer of the South Arcot district.

[87] Manual of the North Arcot district.

[88] Mysore Census Report, 1891, 1901.

[89] Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency, XV, Part I, 1883.

[90] Hindu Feasts, Fasts and Ceremonies, 1903.

[91] Manual of the North Arcot district.

[92] Linguistic Survey of India, IX, 1907.

[93] From Kashmir to the Madras Presidency.

[94] Notes on Criminal Classes of the Madras Presidency.

[95] Mysore Census Report, 1891.

[96] Ind. Ant. VIII, 1879.

[97] Gazetteer of the Bellary district.

[98] Narrative of the Operations of Little's Detachment against Tippoo Sultan, 1794.

[99] Shells of Cypræa moneta.

[100] S. M. Natesa Sastri, Calcutta Review, 1905.

[101] Narrative of a Journey through the Upper Provinces of India, 1844.

[102] Hindu Manners, Customs, and Ceremonies.

[103] Historical Sketches of the South of India: Mysore.

[104] Gazetteer of the Vizagapatam district.

[105] Report on Public Instruction, Mysore, 1901-02; and Mysore Census Report, 1891.

[106] Manual of the Cuddapah district.

[107] Jeypur, Breklum, 1901.

[108] Manual of the North Arcot district.

[109] Mysore Census Report, 1901.

[110] Gazetteer of the Anantapur district.

[111] Ind. Ant., VIII., 1879.

[112] Ind. Ant., XXX., 1901.

[113] Narrative of Little's Detachment, 1784.

[114] Gazetteer of the Vizagapatam district.

[115] Madras Census Report, 1891.

[116] Section III, Inhabitants, Madras Government Press, 1907.

[117] Manual of the North Arcot district.

[118] Manual of Mysore and Coorg.

[119] Lilly, Renaissance Types.

[120] J. F. Fleet, Epigraphia Indica. V, 1898-99.

[121] The Proceedings, partly in Canarese and partly in English, were published at the Star Press, Mysore, in 1905.

[122] Madras Journal of Literature and Science, XI, 1840.

[123] R. Sewell. A Forgotten Empire, Vijayanagar, 1900.

[124] Indian Review, May, 1907.

[125] Madras Series, VII, 1884.

[126] Madras Series, VIII, 1885.

[127] Bombay Gazetteer.

[128] Manual of the Nellore district.

[129] Manual of the Kurnool district, 1886.

[130] Madras Census Report, 1891.

[131] Madras Mail, 1902.

[132] While Wearing Sandals, or Tales of a Telugu Pariah Tribe.

[133] Madras Christ. Coll. Mag., XXIII (New Series V), 1906.

[134] Manual of the North Arcot district.

[135] A. Chatterton, Monograph of tanning and working in Leather, Madras, 1904.

[136] Manual of the Kurnool district.

[137] Manual of the Bellary district.

[138] Madras Museum Bull. V. 3, 1907.

[139] Madras Census Report, 1891.

[140] Dynasties of the Kanarese Districts of the Bombay Presidency, 1882.

[141] Manual of the Cuddapah district.

[142] Manual of the Bellary district.

[143] Manual of the Bellary district.

[144] Manual of the Bellary district.

[145] Gazetteer of the Anantapur district.

[146] Mysore Census Report, 1901.

[147] Manual of the North Arcot district.

[148] Notes from a Diary, 1881-1886.

[149] Manual of the Kurnool district.

[150] Madras Census Report, 1891.

[151] Madras Diocesan Record, 1905.

[152] Gazetteer of the Godavari district.

[153] Madras Museum Bull. V. 3, 1907.

[154] East and West, 6th May 1907.

[155] Gazetteer of the Anantapur district.

[156] Madras and Tinnevelly Dioces. Mag., June, 1908.

[157] Gochi, a clout, a truss or flap; a waist-cloth. C. P. Brown, Telugu Dictionary.

[158] Gazetteer of the Godavari district.

[159] Ind. Ant., III, 1874; VI, 1877.

[160] Native Life in Travancore, 1883.

[161] Journey from Madras through the countries of Mysore, Canara, and Malabar, 1807.

[162] Calcutta Review, 1902.

[163] Manual of the South Canara district.

[164] Manual of the North Arcot district.

[165] Gazetteer of the South Arcot district.

[166] Darakhast: application for land for purposes of cultivation; or bid at an auction.

[167] Gazetteer of the South Arcot district.

[168] Madras Mail, 1904.

[169] Madras Mail, 1908.

[170] Gazetteer of the South Arcot district.

[171] C. Hayavadana Rao, MS.

[172] Manual of the North Arcot district.

[173] Manual of the South Arcot district.

[174] Madras Census Report, 1891.

[175] Madras Diocesan Magazine, 1906.

[176] Manual of the North Arcot district.

[177] Madras Census Report, 1891.

[178] Travancore Census Report, 1901.

[179] Lecture delivered at Trivandrum.

[180] See A. T. Mackenzie. History of the Periyar Project. Madras, 1899.

[181] Rev. J. Cain. Ind. Ant., VIII, 1879.

[182] Malabar Law and Custom. 3rd ed., 1905.

[183] Elements of South Indian Palæography.

[184] Madras Review, 1896.

[185] Man, 1903.

[186] Manual of Malabar.

[187] Manual of the Madura district.

[188] Hobson-Jobson.

[189] Ind. Ant., XXXI, 1902.

[190] Cf. Javan, Genesis X, 2; Isaiah, LXVI, 19; Ezekiel, XXVII, 13, 19.

[191] Malabar Quart. Review, 1903.

[192] Vide Correspondence on Moplah Outrages, 1849-53.

[193] Madras Census Report, 1891.

[194] Madras Mail, 1908.

[195] Malabar Quart. Review, 1906.

[196] When not officially attached to a mosque, the Mulla is said to be called Nattu (country) Mulla.

[197] Ind. Ant., XXX, 1901.

[198] P. V. Ramunni, loc. cit.

[199] The taboot is "a kind of shrine, or model of a Mahomedan mausoleum, of flimsy material, intended to represent the tomb of Husain at Kerbela, which is carried in procession during the Mohurram." Yule and Burnell, Hobson-Jobson.

[200] Gazetteer of the Malabar district.

[201] Fanatical (fanum, a temple). Possessed by a deity or devil, frantic, mad, furious. Murray. New English Dictionary.

[202] Major Holland-Pryor, 1904.

[203] See also Government Orders, Judicial Department, Nos. 1267, 24th May, 1894; 2186, 8th September, 1894; 1567, 30th September, 1896; and 819, 25th May, 1898.

[204] Forbes' Oriental Memoirs.

[205] Manual of Malabar, 1887, p. 102.

[206] Ind. Ant., XXX, 1901.

[207] General Burton. An Indian Olio.

[208] Calcutta Review, 1897.

[209] Calcutta Review, 1897.

[210] Ibid.

[211] Manual of Malabar.

[212] Monograph on Tanning and Working in Leather, 1904.

[213] Gazetteer of Malabar.

[214] General Burton. Op. cit.

[215] Loc. cit.

[216] Op. cit.

[217] Manual of Malabar.

[218] Loc. cit.

[219] Gazetteer of the Malabar district.

[220] Madras Census Report, 1891.

[221] Malabar Quarterly Review, Vol. 3, 1906.

[222] Gazetteer of the Malabar district.

[223] The recital of the first chapter of the Koran.