Chapter III: Part 3

In 1907, rules were issued, under the Indian Fisheries Act, IV of 1897, for the protection of fish in the Bhavani and Moyar rivers. These rules referred to the erection and use of fixed engines, the construction of weirs, and the use of nets, the meshes of which are less than one and a half inches square for the capture or destruction of fish, and the prohibition of fishing between the 15th March and 15th September annually. Notice of the rules was given by beat of tom-tom (drum) in the villages lying on the banks of the rivers, to which the rules applied.

The Paniyan language is a debased Malayalam patois spoken in a curious nasal sing-song, difficult to imitate; but most of the Paniyans employed on estates can also converse in Kanarese.

Wholly uneducated and associating with no other tribes, the Paniyans have only very crude ideas of religion. Believing in devils of all sorts and sizes, and professing to worship the Hindu divinities, they reverence especially the god of the jungles, Kad Bhagavadi, or, according to another version, a deity called Kuli, a malignant and terrible being of neither sex, whose shrines take the form of a stone placed under a tree, or sometimes a cairn of stones. At their rude shrines they contribute as offerings to the swami (god) rice boiled in the husk, roasted and pounded, half-a-cocoanut, and small coins. The banyan and a lofty tree, apparently of the fig tribe, are reverenced by them, inasmuch as evil spirits are reputed to haunt them at times. Trees so haunted must not be touched, and, if the Paniyans attempt to cut them, they fall sick.

Some Paniyans are believed to be gifted with the power of changing themselves into animals; and there is a belief among the Paniyan dwellers in the plains that, if they wish to secure a woman whom they lust after, one of the men gifted with this special power goes to her house at night with a hollow bamboo, and encircles the house three times. The woman then comes out, and the man, changing himself into a bull or dog, works his wicked will. The woman, it is believed, dies in the course of two or three days.

In 1904 some Paniyans were employed by a Mappilla (Muhammadan) to murder his mistress, who was pregnant, and threatened that she would noise abroad his responsibility for her condition. He brooded over the matter, and one day, meeting a Paniyan, promised him ten rupees if he would kill the woman. The Paniyan agreed to commit the crime, and went with his brothers to a place on a hill, where the Mappilla and the woman were in the habit of gratifying their passions. Thither the man and woman followed the Paniyans, of whom one ran out, and struck his victim on the head with a chopper. She was then gagged with a cloth, carried some distance, and killed. The two Paniyans and the Mappilla were sentenced to be hanged.

Monogamy appears to be the general rule among the Paniyans, but there is no obstacle to a man taking unto himself as many wives as he can afford to support.

Apparently the bride is selected for a young man by his parents, and, in the same way that a wealthy European sometimes sends his betrothed a daily present of a bouquet, the more humble Paniyan bridegroom-elect has to take a bundle of firewood to the house of the fiancée every day for six months. The marriage ceremony (and the marriage knot does not appear to be very binding) is of a very simple nature. The ceremony is conducted by a Paniyan Chemmi (a corruption of Janmi). A present of sixteen fanams (coins) and some new cloths is given by the bridegroom to the Chemmi, who hands them over to the parents of the bride. A feast is prepared, at which the Paniyan women (Panichis) dance to the music of drum and pipe. The tali (or marriage badge) is tied round the neck of the bride by the female relations of the bridegroom, who also invest the bride with such crude jewelry as they may be able to afford. The Chemmi seals the contract by pouring water over the head and feet of the young couple. It is said [45] that a husband has to make an annual present to his wife's parents; and failure to do so entitles them to demand their daughter back. A man may, I was told, not have two sisters as wives; nor may he marry his deceased wife's sister. Remarriage of widows is permitted. Adultery and other forms of vice are adjudicated on by a panchayat (or council) of headmen, who settle disputes and decide on the fine or punishment to be inflicted on the guilty. At nearly every considerable Paniyan village there is a headman called Kuttan, who has been appointed by Nayar Janmi to look after his interests, and be responsible to him for the other inhabitants of the village. The investiture of the Kuttan with the powers of office is celebrated with a feast and dance, at which a bangle is presented to the Kuttan as a badge of authority. Next in rank to the Kuttan is the Mudali or head of the family, and they usually constitute the panchayat. Both Kuttan and Mudali are called Muppanmar or elders. The whole caste is sometimes loosely spoken of as Muppan. In a case of proved adultery, a fine of sixteen fanams (the amount of the marriage fee), and a sum equal to the expenses of the wedding, including the present to the parents of the bride, is the usual form of punishment.

The Chemmi or Shemmi is, I am informed, a sort of priest or minister. He was appointed, in olden days, by the chieftains under whom the Paniyans worked, and each Chemmi held authority over a group of villages. The office is hereditary, but, should a Chemmi family fail, it can be filled up by election.

No ceremony takes place in celebration of the birth of children. One of the old women of the village acts as midwife, and receives a small present in return for her services. As soon as a child is old enough to be of use, it accompanies its parents to their work, or on their fishing and hunting expeditions, and is initiated into the various ways of adding to the stock of provisions for the household.

The dead are buried in the following manner. A trench, four or five feet deep, and large enough to receive the body to be interred, is dug, due north and south, on a hill near the village. At the bottom of this excavation the earth is scooped out from the western side on a level with the floor throughout the length of the grave, so as to form a receptacle for the corpse, which, placed on a mat, is laid therein upon its left side with the head pointing to the south and the feet to the north. After a little cooked rice has been put into the grave for the use of the departed spirit, the mat, which has been made broad enough for the purpose, is folded up and tucked in under the roof of the cavity, and the trench filled up. It has probably been found by experience that the corpse, when thus protected, is safe from the ravages of scavenger jackals and pariah dogs. For seven days after death, a little rice gruel is placed at distance of from fifty to a hundred yards from the grave by the Chemmi, who claps his hands as a signal to the evil spirits in the vicinity, who, in the shape of a pair of crows, are supposed to partake of the food, which is hence called kaka conji or crow's rice.

The noombu or mourning ceremonies are the ti polay, seven days after death; the kaka polay or karuvelli held for three years in succession in the month of Magaram (January-February); and the matham polay held once in every three or four years, when possible, as a memorial service in honour of those who are specially respected. On all these occasions the Chemmi presides, and acts as a sort of master of the ceremonies. As the ceremonial carried out differs only in degree, an account of the kaka polay will do for all.

In the month of Magaram, the noombukarrans or mourners (who have lost relatives) begin to cook and eat in a pandal or shed set apart from the rest of the village, but otherwise go about their business as usual. They wash and eat twice a day, but abstain from eating meat or fish. On the last day of the month, arrangements are made, under the supervision of the Chemmi, for the ceremony which brings the period of mourning to a close. The mourners, who have fasted since daybreak, take up their position in the pandal, and the Chemmi, holding on his crossed arms two winnowing sieves, each containing a seer or two of rice, walks round three times, and finally deposits the sieves in the centre of the pandal. If, among the male relatives of the deceased, one is to be found sufficiently hysterical, or actor enough, to simulate possession and perform the functions of an oracle, well and good; but, should they all be of a stolid temperament, there is always at hand a professional corresponding to the Komaran or Vellichipad of other Hindus. This individual is called the Patalykaran. With a new cloth (mundu) on his head, and smeared on the body and arms with a paste made of rice flour and ghi (clarified butter), he enters on the scene with his legs girt with bells, the music of which is supposed to drive away the attendant evil spirits (payanmar). Advancing with short steps and rolling his eyes, he staggers to and fro, sawing the air with two small sticks which he holds in either hand, and works himself up into a frenzied state of inspiration, while the mourners cry out and ask why the dead have been taken away from them. Presently a convulsive shiver attacks the performer, who staggers more violently and falls prostrate on the ground, or seeks the support of one of the posts of the pandal, while he gasps out disjointed sentences, which are taken to be the words of the god. The mourners now make obeisance, and are marked on the forehead with the paste of rice flour and ghi. This done, a mat is spread for the accommodation of the headmen and Chemmi; and the Patalykaran, from whose legs the bells have been removed and put with the rice in the sieves, takes these in his hands, and, shaking them as he speaks, commences a funeral chant, which lasts till dawn. Meanwhile food has been prepared for all present except the mourners, and when this has been partaken of, dancing is kept up round the central group till daybreak, when the pandal is pulled down and the kaka polay is over. Those who have been precluded from eating make up for lost time, and relatives, who have allowed their hair to grow long, shave. The ordinary Paniyan does not profess to know the meaning of the funeral orations, but contents himself with a belief that it is known to those who are initiated. The women attend the ceremony, but do not take part in the dance. In fact, the nearest approach to a dance that they ever attempt (and this only on festive occasions) resembles the ordinary occupation of planting rice, carried out in dumb show to the music of a drum. The bodies of the performers stoop and move in time with the music, and the arms are swung from side to side as in the act of placing the rice seedlings in their rows. To see a long line of Paniyan women, up to their knees in the mud of a rice field, bobbing up and down and putting on the pace as the music grows quicker and quicker, and to hear the wild yells of Hou! Hou! like a chorus of hungry dogs, which form the vocal accompaniment as they dab the green bunches in from side to side, is highly amusing.

The foregoing account of the Paniyan death ceremonies was supplied by Mr. Colin Mackenzie, to whom, as also to Mr. F. Fawcett, Mr. G. Romilly, and Martelli, I am indebted for many of the facts recorded in the present note. From Mr. Fawcett the following account of a further ceremony was obtained:--

At a Paniyan village, on a coffee estate where the annual ceremony was being celebrated, men and boys were dancing round a wooden upright to the music of a small drum hanging at the left hip. Some of the dancers had bells round the leg below the knee. Close to the upright a man was seated, playing a pipe, which emitted sounds like those of a bagpipe. In dancing, the dancers went round against the sun. At some little distance a crowd of females indulged in a dance by themselves. A characteristic of the dance, specially noticeable among the women, was stooping and waving of the arms in front. The dancers perspired freely, and kept up the dance for many hours to rhythmic music, the tune of which changed from time to time. There were three chief dancers, of whom one represented the goddess, the others her ministers. They were smeared with streaks on the chest, abdomen, arms and legs, had bells on the legs, and carried a short stick about two feet in length in each hand. The sticks were held over the head, while the performers quivered as if in a religious frenzy. Now and again, the sticks were waved or beaten together. The Paniyans believe that, when the goddess first appeared to them, she carried two sticks in her hands. The mock goddess and her attendants, holding the sticks above the head and shivering, went to each male elder, and apparently received his blessing, the elder placing his hand on their faces as a form of salutation, and then applying his hand to his own face. The villagers partook of a light meal in the early morning, and would not eat again until the end of the ceremony, which concluded by the man-goddess seating himself on the upright, and addressing the crowd on behalf of the goddess concerning their conduct and morality.

The Paniyans "worship animistic deities, of which the chief is Kuli, whom they worship on a raised platform called Kulitara, offering cocoanuts, but no blood." [46] They further worship Kattu Bhagavati, or Bhagavati of the woods. "Shrines in her honour are to be found at most centres of the caste, and contain no image, but a box in which are kept the clothing and jewels presented to her by the devout. An annual ceremony lasting a week is held in her honour, at which the Komaran and a kind of priest, called Nolambukaran, take the chief parts. The former dresses in the goddess' clothing, and the divine afflatus descends upon him, and he prophesies both good and evil."

Games.--A long strip of cane is suspended from the branch of a tree, and a cross-bar fixed to its lower end. On the bar a boy sits, and swings himself in all directions. In another game a bar, twelve to fourteen feet in length, is balanced by means of a point in a socket on an upright reaching about four feet and-a-half above the ground. Over the end of the horizontal bar a boy hangs, and, touching the ground with the feet, spins himself round.

Some Paniyans have a thread tied round the wrist, ankle, or neck, as a charm to ward off fever and other diseases. Some of the men have the hair of the head hanging down in matted tails in performance of a vow. The men wear brass, steel, and copper rings on their fingers and brass rings in the ears.

The women, in like manner, wear finger rings, and, in addition, bangles on the wrist, and have the lobes of the ears widely dilated, and plugged with cadjan (palm leaf) rolls. In some the nostril is pierced, and plugged with wood.

The Paniyans, who dwell in settlements at the base of the ghats, make fire by what is known as the Malay or sawing method. A piece of bamboo, about a foot in length, in which two nodes are included, is split longitudinally into two equal parts. On one half a sharp edge is cut with a knife. In the other a longitudinal slit is made through about two-thirds of its length, which is stuffed with a piece of cotton cloth. It is then held firmly on the ground with its convex surface upwards, and the cutting edge drawn, with a gradually quickening sawing motion, rapidly to and fro across it by two men, until the cloth is ignited by the incandescent particles of wood in the groove cut by the sharp edge. The cloth is then blown with the lips into a blaze, and the tobacco or cooking fire can be lighted.

At Pudupadi an elephant mahout was jealously guarding a bit of bamboo stick with notches cut in it, each notch representing a day for which wages were due to him. The stick in question had six notches, representing six days' wages.

Average height 157.4 cm. Nasal index 95 (max. 108.6). The average distance from the tip of the middle finger to the top of the patella was 4.6 cm. relative to stature = 100, which approximates very closely to the recorded results of measurement of long-limbed African negroes.

Panjai.--Recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as a sub-division of Pandya Vellala. The name Panjai, indicating a poverty-stricken individual, is usually applied to mendicant Pandarams.

Panjaram.--Panjaram or Pancharamkatti is the name of a sub-division of the Idaiyans, derived from the peculiar gold ornament, which the women wear. It is said that, in this division, widow marriage is commonly practiced, because Krishna used to place a similar ornament round the necks of Idaiyan widows of whom he became enamoured, and that this sub-division was the result of his amours with them.

Panjukkara (cotton-man).--An occupational name of a sub-division of Vellalas, who are not at the present day connected with the cotton trade. They call themselves Panjukkara Chettis. The equivalent panjari (pinjari) or Panjukotti occurs as a Tamil synonym for Dudekula (Muhammadan cotton-cleaners).

Pannadai (sheath of the cocoanut leaf).--A sub-division of Vettuvan.

Pannaiyan.--A title of Alavan.

Pannara.--A sub-division of Mali.

Pannendu Nal (twelve days).--A name for those Pallis who, like Brahmans, perform the final death ceremonies on the twelfth day.

Pannirendam (twelfth) Chetti.--A section of the Chettis.

Pano.--In the Madras Census Report, 1891, the Panos are described as "a caste of weavers found in the Ganjam district. This caste is no doubt identical with the Pans, a weaving, basket-making, and servile caste of Orissa and Chota Nagpore. The Panos occupy the same position among the Khonds of Ganjam as the Dombs hold among the inhabitants of the Vizagapatam hills, and the words Pano and Dombo are generally regarded as synonyms [See Domb]. The members of the Sitra sub-division are workers in metal." It is further noted, in the Census Report, 1901, that the Panos are "an extensive caste of hill weavers found chiefly in the Ganjam Agency. The Khond synonym for this word is Domboloko, which helps to confirm the connection between this caste and the Dombas of Vizagapatam. They speak Khond and Oriya." In a note on the Panos, I read that "their occupations are trading, weaving, and theft. They live on the ignorance and superstition of the Khonds as brokers, pedlars, sycophants, and cheats. In those parts where there are no Oriyas, they possess much influence, and are always consulted by the Khonds in questions of boundary disputes." In a brief account of the Panos, Mr. C. F. MacCartie writes [47] that "the Panos, also known by the title of Dombo or Sitra in some parts, are supposed to be Paraiya [Telugu Mala] emigrants from the low country. Their profession is weaving or brass work, the monotony of which they vary by petty trading in horns, skins and live cattle, and occasionally enliven by house-breaking and theft at the expense of the Khonds, who have an incautious trick of leaving their habitations utterly unguarded when they go off to the hills to cultivate. [In the Madras Census Report, 1901, the Sitras are said to be supposed to be the progeny of a Khond man and a Haddi woman, who manufacture the brass rings and bangles worn by the Khonds.] The Panos are drunken, immoral, and dirty in their habits. The Khonds refuse to eat with them, but I do not find that this objection extends to drinking, at which both Khond and Pano display surprising capabilities. Panos are also the professional musicians of the country, and attend weddings, deaths and sacrifices in this character, for which they are recompensed with food, liquor, and cloths. The generality of Khond and Pano houses are constructed of broad sâl (Shorea robusta) logs, hewn out with the axe and thatched with jungle grass, which is impervious to white-ants. In bamboo jungles, of course, bamboo is substituted for sâl. The Panos generally affect a detached quarter, known as Dombo sai. Intermarriage between Khonds, Panos, and Uriyas is not recognised, but cases do occur when a Pano induces a Khond woman to go off with him. She may live with him as his wife, but no ceremony takes place. [A few years ago, a young Khond was betrothed to the daughter of another Khond, and, after a few years, managed to pay up the necessary number of gifts. He then applied to the girl's father to name the day for the marriage. Before the wedding took place however, a Pano went to the girl's father, and said that she was his daughter (she had been born before her parents were married), and that he was the man to whom the gifts should have been paid. The case was referred to a council, which decided in favour of the Pano.] If a Pano commits adultery with a Khond married woman, he has to pay a paronjo, or a fine of a buffalo to the husband (who retains his wife), and in addition a goat, a pig, a basket of paddy (rice), a rupee, and a load of pots. There is close communication between the Panos and the Khonds, as the former act as the advisers of the latter in all cases of doubt or difficulty. The Uriyas live apart from both, and mix but little with either, except on the occasion of sacrifices or other solemn assemblages, when buffaloes are slaughtered for Panos and Khonds, and goats or sheep for Uriya visitors. [It is noted, in the Ganjam Manual, in connection with Khond death ceremonies, that "if a man has been killed by a tiger, purification is made by the sacrifice of a pig, the head of which is cut off with a tangi (axe) by a Pano, and passed between the legs of the men in the village, who stand in a line astraddle. It is a bad omen to him, if the head touches any man's legs.] Among the products of the jungles may be included myrabolams (Terminalia fruits), tasar silk cocoons, and dammer, all of which are bartered by the finders to trading Panos in small quantities, generally for salt." In the Ganjam Maliahs, the jungles are said to be searched by Panos for tasar cocoons, and, just across the border in Boad, the collection of these cocoons is a regular industry among them. Small portions of jungle are regularly reserved, and divided up into small allotments. Each of these is given to a Pano for rent, and here he cultivates the silkworms, and collects the silk, which is sent to Berhampur and Sambalpur for manufacture.

The Panos are divided into two distinct sections, viz., the Khonda Panos who live amidst the Khonds, and the Desa Panos of the plains. The former have adopted some of the customs of the Khonds, while the latter follow the customs of the Uriya castes which dwell in the lowland. The Khond Panos are governed by the Molikos (headmen) of the Khonds. In some cases, the fines inflicted for breach of caste rules are rather severe. For example, in the neighbourhood of Baliguda, a man who is convicted of adultery has to pay two rupees, and give two buffaloes to the council which tries the case. Further south, for a similar offence twelve buffaloes are demanded, and the culprit has to pay twice the amount of the bride-price to the injured husband. The Desa Panos conform to the standard Uriya type of caste council, and have a headman called Behara, who is assisted by a Nayako, and caste servants entitled Bhollobaya or Gonjari.

The marriage ceremonies of the Desa Panos are closely allied to those of the Dandasis and Haddis, whereas those of the Khonda Panos bear a close resemblance to the ceremonies of the Khonds. Like Khond girls, unmarried Khond Pano girls sleep in quarters (dhangadi) specially set apart for them, and, as among the Khonds, wedding presents in the form of gontis are given. It is noted with reference to the Khonds, in the Ganjam Manual, that "the bride is looked upon as a commercial speculation, and is paid for in gontis. A gonti is one of anything, such as a buffalo, a pig, or a brass pot; for instance, a hundred gontis might consist of ten bullocks, ten buffaloes, ten sacks of corn, ten sets of brass, twenty sheep, ten pigs, and thirty fowls." At a Khond Pano marriage, the fingers of the contracting couple are linked together, and an important item of the ceremonial, which adds dignity thereto, is placing in front of the house at which a marriage is being celebrated a big brass vessel containing water, with which the guests wash their feet.

The Panos pay reverence to ancestors, to whom, when a death occurs in a family, food is offered. In some Pano villages, when a child is born, it is customary to consult a pujari (priest) as to whether the grandfather or great-grandfather is re-born in it. If the answer is in the affirmative, pigs are sacrificed to the ancestors. Some Panos have adopted the worship of Takuranis (village deities), to whom rice and turmeric are offered by placing them before the image in the form of a figure-of-eight. A fowl is sacrificed, and its blood allowed to flow on to one loop of the figure. In some places, Dharmadevata and Gagnasuni are worshipped, a castrated goat being sacrificed annually to the former, and fowls and an entire goat to the latter.

Pano women, who live among the Khonds, tattoo their faces in like manner, and in other respects resemble Khond women.

I am informed that, on more than one occasion, Panos have been known to rifle the grave of a European, in the belief that buried treasure will be found.

Panta (a crop).--A sub-division of Kapu and Yanadi. In the Gazetteer of South Arcot, Pan Reddi is recorded as a caste of Telugu-speaking ryots (Kapus).

Pantala.--Recorded, in Travancore, as a sub-division of Samantan. The name is said to be derived from Bhandarattil, or belonging to the royal treasury.

Pantari.--Recorded, in the Travancore Census Report, as synonymous with the Idacheri sub-division of Nayar. Pantrantu Vitan is also there recorded as a sub-division of Nayar.

Pappadam.--People calling themselves Pappadam Chetti are largely found in Malabar, living by the manufacture and sale of cakes called pappadam, which are purchased by all classes, including Nambutiri Brahmans.

Pappini.--A name for Brahmanis, a class of Ambalavasi.

Pappu (split pulse).--An exogamous sept of Balija.

Paradesi.--Recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as a class of Malayalam beggars. The name indicates strangers (paradesa, a foreign country), and is applied to the White Jews of Cochin, in connection with whom it occurs in Sirkar (State) accounts and royal writs granted to them.

Paraiya Tada.--Recorded, in the North Arcot Manual, as a name for those who are considered impure Valluvans. The name literally means Paraiya Tadan or Dasari.

Paraiyan.--The Paraiyans or, as they are commonly termed, Pariahs of the Tamil country number, according to recent census returns, over two million souls, and a large proportion of those who returned themselves as Native Christians are said also to belong to this class. For the following note I am mainly indebted to an account of the Paraiyans by the Rev. A. C. Clayton. [48]

The late Bishop Caldwell derived the name Paraiyan from the Tamil word parai a drum, as certain Paraiyans act as drummers at marriages, funerals, village festivals, and on occasions when Government or commercial announcements are proclaimed. Mr. H. A. Stuart, however, seems to question this derivation, remarking [49] that "it is only one section of Paraiyans that act as drummers. Nor is the occupation confined to Paraiyans. It seems in the highest degree improbable that a large, and at one time powerful, community should owe its name to an occasional occupation, which one of its divisions shares with other castes. The word Paraiyan is not found in Divakaram, a Tamil dictionary of the eleventh century A.D., and the word Pulayan was then used to denote this section of the population, as it is still in Malayalam to this day." In the legend of the Saivite saint, Nandan is, in the prose version of the Periya Puranam, called a Pulayan, though a native of Sholamandalam, which was a distinctly Tamil kingdom. Mr. W. Francis writes [50] that "the old Tamil poems and works of the early centuries of the Christian era do not mention the name Paraiyan, but contain many descriptions of a tribe called the Eyinas, who seem to have been quite distinct from the rest of the population, and did not live in the villages, but in forts of their own. Ambur and Vellore are mentioned as the sites of two of these. They may perhaps have been the ancestors of the Paraiyans of to-day."

In a note on the Paraiyans, Sonnerat, writing [51] in the eighteenth century, says that "they are prohibited from drawing water from the wells of other castes; but have particular wells of their own near their inhabitations, round which they place the bones of animals, that they may be known and avoided. When an Indian of any other caste permits a Paraiya to speak to him, this unfortunate being is obliged to hold his hand before his mouth, lest the Indian may be contaminated with his breath; and, if he is met on the highway, he must turn on one side to let the other pass. If any Indian whatever, even a Choutre, by accident touches a Paraiya, he is obliged to purify himself in a bath. The Brahmans cannot behold them, and they are obliged to fly when they appear. Great care is taken not to eat anything dressed by a Paraiya, nor even to drink out of the vessel he has used; they dare not enter the house of an Indian of another caste; or, if they are employed in any work, a door is purposely made for them; but they must work with their eyes on the ground; for, if it is perceived they have glanced at the kitchen, all the utensils must be broken. The infamy of the Paraiyas is reflected on the Europeans: last are held in more detestation, because, setting aside the little respect they have for the cow, whose flesh they eat, the Indians reproach them with spitting in their houses, and even their temples: that when drinking they put the cup to their lips, and their fingers to their mouths in such a manner that they are defiled with the spittle."

Paraiyans are to be found throughout the Tamil districts from North Arcot to Tinnevelly, and in the southern extremity of the Native State of Travancore. In the Telugu country the Malas and Madigas and in the Canarese country the Holeyas take their place.

Some of the most common names of Paraiyan males are--

Kanni or Kanniyappan.
Raman or Ramaswami.
Raju.
Velu.
Muttan.
Mari.
Kanagan.
Subban.
Nondi.
Tambiran.
Perumal.
Viran.
Sellan.
Amavasi.

Among females the most common names are Tai, Parpathi, Ammai, Kanni, Muttammal, Rajammal, Ammani, Selli, Gangammal. In one village, where the Paraiyans were almost all Vaishnavas, by profession not by practice, Mr. Clayton found the inhabitants all named after heroes of the Mahabharata, and dirty naked children answered to the names of Ikshvakan, Karnan, Bhiman, and Draupadi. It is usual to give the father's name when distinguishing one Paraiyan from another, e.g., Tamburan, son of Kannan. In legal documents the prefix Para denotes a Paraiyan, e.g., Para Kanni, the Paraiyan Kanni, but this is a purely clerical formula. The Paraiyan delights in nicknames, and men sometimes grow so accustomed to these that they have almost forgotten their real names. The following nicknames are very common :--

Nondi, lame.
Kallan, thief.
Kullan, dwarf.
Vellei, white or light complexioned.
Kannan, with eyes.
Muthalai, crocodile.
Kudiyan, drunkard.

No name, indicating virtue or merit, is given, lest the wrath of malevolent spirits should be aroused.

At the census, 1891, 348 sub-divisions were returned, of which the following were strongest in point of numbers :--Amma found chiefly in Tanjore and Madura; Katti in Salem and Trichinopoly; Kizhakkatti (eastern) in Salem; Koliyan (weavers) in Chingleput, Tanjore and Trichinopoly; Konga in Salem; Korava in Coimbatore; Kottai (fort) in South Arcot; Morasu (drum) in Salem; Mottai in Madura; Pacchai (green) in Coimbatore; Samban in South Arcot; Sangidum (sanku, conch, or chank shell) in Coimbatore; Sozhia (natives of the Sozha or Chola country) in Tanjore and Madura; Tangalan in North and South Arcot, Chingleput, Salem, and Trichinopoly; and Valangamattu in South Arcot. The members of the various sub-divisions do not intermarry.

It has been suggested to me that the Morasu Paraiyans, included in the above list, are Canarese Holeyas, who have settled in the Tamil country. In the south their women, like the Kallans, wear a horsehair thread round the neck. As additional sub-divisions, the following may be noted :--

Aruththukattatha, or those who, having once cut the tali-string, do not tie it a second time, i.e., those who do not permit remarriage of widows.

Valai (a net).--Paraiyans who hunt.

Sanku (conch-shell).--Those who act as conch-blowers at funerals.

Thatha.--Thathan is the name given to mendicants who profess Vaishnavism. Such Paraiyans are Vaishnavites, and some are beggars.

In the Census Report, 1901, Mr. Francis notes that the term Paraiyan "is now almost a generic one, and the caste is split up into many sub-divisions, which differ in manners and ways. For example, the Koliyans, who are weavers, and the Valluvans, who are medicine men and priests and wear the sacred thread, will not intermarry or eat with the others, and are now practically distinct castes." As occupational titles of Paraiyans Mr. Francis gives Urumikkaran and Pambaikkaran, or those who play on drums (urumi and pambai), and Podarayan or Podara Vannan, who are washermen. The title Valangamattan, or people of the right-hand division, is assumed by some Paraiyans.

Mr. Clayton states that he knows of no legend or popular belief among the Paraiyans, indicating that they believe themselves to have come from any other part of the country than that where they now find themselves. There is, however, some evidence that the race has had a long past, and one in which they had independence, and possibly great importance in the peninsula. Mr. Stuart mentions [52] that the Valluvans were priests to the Pallava kings before the introduction of the Brahmans, and even for some time after it. He quotes an unpublished Vatteluttu inscription, believed to be of the ninth century, in which it is noted that "Sri Valluvam Puvanavan, the Uvacchan (or temple ministrant), will employ six men daily, and do the temple service." The inference is that the Valluvan was a man of recognised priestly rank, and of great influence. The prefix Sri is a notable honorific. By itself this inscription would prove little, but the whole legendary history of the greatest of all Tamil poets, Tiruvalluvar, "the holy Valluvan," confirms all that can be deduced from it. His date can only be fixed approximately, but it is probable that he flourished not later than the tenth century A.D. It is safe to say that this extraordinary sage could not have attained the fame he did, or have received the honours that were bestowed upon him, had not the Valluvans, and therefore the Paraiyans, been in the circle of respectable society in his day. This conjecture is strengthened by the legend that he married a Vellala girl. The same hypothesis is the only one that will account for the education and the vogue of the sister of the poet, the aphoristic poetess Avvei.

In the Census Report, 1901, Mr. Francis mentions an inscription of the Chola King Raja Raja, dated about the eleventh century A.D., in which the Paraiyan caste is called by its own name. It had then two sub-divisions, the Nesavu or weavers, and Ulavu or ploughmen. The caste had even then its own hamlets, wells and burning-grounds.

There are certain privileges possessed by Paraiyans, which they could never have gained for themselves from orthodox Hinduism. They seem to be survivals of a past, in which Paraiyans held a much higher position than they do now. It is noted by Mr. M. J. Walhouse [53] that "in the great festival of Siva at Trivalur in Tanjore the headman of the Pareyars is mounted on the elephant with the god, and carries his chauri (yak-tail fly fan). In Madras, at the annual festival of Egatta, the goddess of the Black, [54] now George, Town, when a tali is tied round the neck of the idol in the name of the entire community, a Pareyan is chosen to represent the bridegroom. At Melkotta in Mysore, the chief seat of the followers of Ramanuja Acharya, and at the Brahman temple at Belur, the Holeyas or Pareyars have the right of entering the temple on three days in the year specially set apart for them." At Melkote, the Holeyas and Madigas are said to have been granted the privilege of entering the sanctum sanctorum along with Brahmans and others on three days by Ramanuja. In 1799, however, the right to enter the temple was stopped at the dhvajastambham, or consecrated monolithic column. At both Belur and Melkote, as soon as the festival is over, the temples are ceremonially purified. At Sriperumbudur in the Chingleput district, the Paraiyans enjoy a similar privilege to those at Tiruvalur, in return for having sheltered an image of the locally-worshipped incarnation of Vishnu during a Muhammadan raid. It is noted by Mr. Stuart that the lower village offices, the Vettiyan, Taliari, Dandasi or Barike, and the Toti, are, in the majority of Madras villages, held by persons of the Paraiyan caste. Paraiyans are allowed to take part in pulling the cars of the idols in the great festivals at Conjeeveram, Kumbakonam, and Srivilliputtur. Their touch is not reckoned to defile the ropes used, so that other Hindus will pull with them. With this may be compared the fact that the Telugu Malas are custodians of the goddess Gauri, the bull Nandi, and Ganesa, the chief gods of the Saiva Kapus and Balijas. It may also be noted that the Komatis, who claim to be Vaisyas, are bound to invite Madigas to their marriages, though they take care that the latter do not hear the invitation. Mr. Clayton records that he has heard well-authenticated instances of Brahman women worshipping at Paraiyan shrines in order to procure children, and states that he once saw a Paraiyan exorciser treating a Brahman by uttering mantrams (consecrated formulæ), and waving a sickle up and down the sufferer's back, as he stood in a threshing floor.

In a note on the Paraiyans of the Trichinopoly district, Mr. F. R. Hemingway writes as follows. "They have a very exalted account of their lineage, saying that they are descended from the Brahman priest Sala Sambavan, who was employed in a Siva temple to worship the god with offerings of beef, but who incurred the anger of the god by one day concealing a portion of the meat, to give it to his pregnant wife, and was therefore turned into a Paraiyan. The god appointed his brother to do duty instead of him, and the Paraiyans say that Brahman priests are their cousins. For this reason they wear a sacred thread at their marriages and funerals. At the festival of the village goddesses, they repeat an extravagant praise of their caste, which runs as follows. 'The Paraiyans were the first creation, the first who wore the sacred thread, the uppermost in the social scale, the differentiators of castes, the winners of laurels. They have been seated on the white elephant, the Vira Sambavans who beat the victorious drum.' It is a curious fact that, at the feast of the village goddess, a Paraiyan is honoured by being invested with a sacred thread for the occasion by the pujari (priest) of the temple, by having a turmeric thread tied to his wrists, and being allowed to head the procession. This, the Paraiyans say, is owing to their exalted origin."

In times of drought some of the lower orders, instead of addressing their prayers to the rain god Varuna, try to induce a spirit or devata named Kodumpavi (wicked one) to send her paramour Sukra to the affected area. The belief seems to be that Sukra goes away to his concubine for about six months, and, if he does not then return, drought ensues. The ceremony consists in making a huge figure of Kodumpavi in clay, which is placed on a cart, and dragged through the streets for seven to ten days. On the last day, the final death ceremonies of the figure are celebrated. It is disfigured, especially in those parts which are usually concealed. Vettiyans (Paraiyan grave-diggers), who have been shaved, accompany the figure, and perform the funeral ceremonies. This procedure is believed to put Kodumpavi to shame, and to get her to induce Sukra to return, and stay the drought. Paraiyans are said [55] to wail as though they were at a funeral, and to beat drums in the funeral time.

The Paraiyans are said by Mr. Francis [56] to have a curious share in the ceremonies in connection with the annual buffalo sacrifice at the Kali shrine at Mangalam in South Arcot. "Eight men of this community are chosen from eight adjoining villages, and one of them is selected as leader. His wife must not be with child at the' time, and she is made to prove that she is above all suspicion by undergoing the ordeal of thrusting her hand into boiling gingelly (Sesamum) oil. On each of ten days for which the festival lasts, this Paraiyan has to go round some part of the boundaries of the eight villages, and he is fed gratis by the villagers during this time. On the day of the sacrifice itself, he marches in front of the priest as the latter kills the buffaloes. The Paraiyans of the eight villages have the right to the carcases of the slaughtered animals."

The Paraiyans know the village boundaries better than anyone else, and are very expert in this matter, unerringly pointing out where boundaries should run, even when the Government demarcation stones are completely overgrown by prickly-pear, or have been removed. Mr. Stuart records a custom which prevails in some parts of making a Paraiyan walk the boundaries of a field with a pot of water on his head, when there is any dispute about their exact position. He thinks that the only satisfactory explanation of this is that the connection of the Paraiyans with the soil is of much longer standing than that of other castes. The admitted proprietary right which Paraiyans have in the site known as cheri-nattam, on which their huts stand, is a confirmation of this. These sites are entered as such on the official village maps. They cannot be taken from the Paraiyans, and date from time immemorial. Throughout the whole of the Tamil country it is usual to find that the land allotted for house-site (nattam) is in two portions in every village (Ur). One part is known by the Sanskrit name gramam (village), the inhabited place. The other is called by the Dravidian name cheri (gathering place).

Sometimes the latter is called by the fuller title paracheri (Anglice parcheri, parcherry), i.e., the gathering place of the Paraiyans. In the gramam live the Brahmans, who sometimes dwell, in a quarter by themselves known as the agrahara, and also other Hindus. In the paracheri live the Paraiyans. The paracheri and the gramam are always separated, at least by a road or lane, and often by several fields. And not only is it usual thus to find that, in every village, the Paraiyans as a community possess a house-site, but there are many cases in which more than one cheri is attached to a gramam. This seems to repudiate the suggestion that at some period or periods the higher castes relegated the Paraiyans to these cheris. Indeed, in some cases, the very names of the cheris suggest what appears to be the more correct view, viz., that the cheris had a distinct origin. For instance, the whole revenue village of Teiyar near Chingleput consists of one Sudra gramam and seven Paraiyan cheris, each with a name of its own, Periyapilleri, Komancheri, etc. In other cases, e.g., Ideipalayam in the north of the district, and Varadarajapuram near Vandalur, only Paraiyan hamlets exist; there is no gramam. In South Arcot there are at least two villages, Govindanallur and Andapet, inhabited only by Paraiyans, where even the Maniyakkaran (munsiff or village headman) is a Paraiyan. Other instances might be quoted in proof of the same opinion. And, when the ceremonial antipathy between Brahman and Paraiyan is examined, it points in the same direction. It is well known that a Brahman considers himself polluted by the touch, presence, or shadow of a Paraiyan, and will not allow him to enter his house, or even the street in which he lives, if it is an agrahara. But it is not so well known that the Paraiyans will not allow a Brahman to enter the cheri. Should a Brahman venture into the Paraiyan's quarter, water with which cow-dung has been mixed is thrown on his head, and he is driven out. It is stated [57] by Captain J. S. F. Mackenzie that "Brahmans in Mysore consider that great luck will await them if they can manage to pass through the Holeya quarter of a village unmolested, and that, should a Brahman attempt to enter their quarters, they turn out in a body and slipper him, in former times it is said to death." Some Brahmans consider a forsaken paracheri an auspicious site for an agrahara. A very peculiar case is that of the gramam founded for, and occupied by the clerks of the earliest Collectors (district magistrates) of the jagir of Karunguli from 1795 to 1825 A.D. These clerks were Brahmans, and it was called the agraharam. It was deserted when the head-quarters of the Collector were removed to Conjeeveram. It is now occupied by Paraiyans, but is still called the agraharam.

The facts, taken together, seem to show that the Paraiyan priests (Valluvans), and therefore the Paraiyans as a race, are very ancient, that ten centuries ago they were a respectable community, and that many were weavers. The privileges they enjoy are relics of an exceedingly long association with the land. The institution of the paracheri points to original independence, and even to possession of much of the land. If the account of the colonisation of Tondeimandalam by Vellalans in the eighth century A.D. is historic, then it is possible that at that time the Paraiyans lost the land, and that their degradation as a race began.

The Paraiyans have long been a settled race. And, though a number of them emigrate to Ceylon, Mauritius, South Africa, the West Indies, the Straits Settlements, and even to Fiji, the vast majority live and die within a mile or two of the spot where they were born. The houses in which they live are not temporary erections, or intended for use during certain seasons of the year only. The rudest form is a hut made by tying a few leaves of the palmyra palm on to a framework of poles or bamboos. The better class of houses are a series of rooms with low mud walls and thatched roof, but generally without doors, surrounding a small courtyard, in which the family goats, buffaloes, and fowls have their homes. The cooking is done anywhere where it is convenient either indoors or out, as there is no fear of pollution from the glance or shadow of any passer-by. Very occasionally the walls of the house, especially those facing the street, are whitewashed, or decorated with variegated patterns or figures in red and white. Paraiya women, like higher caste women, are much given to tracing exceedingly intricate symmetrical designs (kolam) with rice flour on the smooth space or pathway immediately before the doors of their houses, it is said, to prevent the entrance of evil spirits. Mr. S. P. Rice writes to me that the patterns on the floor or threshold are generally traced with white powder, e.g., chalk, as rice is too costly; and that the original object of the custom was not to drive away evil spirits, but to provide food for the lowest creatures of creation--ants, insects, etc.

Admissions to the Paraiyan caste from higher castes sometimes occur. Mr. Clayton records having met an Aiyangar Brahman who was working as a cooly with some Paraiyan labourers at Kodaikanal on the Palni hills. He had become infatuated with a Paraiya woman, and had consequently been excommunicated, and became a Paraiyan.

In every Paraiya settlement a small number of the more important men are known as Panakkaran (money-man). The application of the term may, Mr. Clayton suggests, be due to their comparative opulence, or may have arisen from the custom of paying them a small sum (panam) for various services to the community. But Panikkar or Panakkar is usually said to be derived from pani, meaning work. They form a committee or council to decide ordinary quarrels, and to amerce the damages in cases of assault, seduction, rape, and adultery. They have power to dissolve marriages on account of the wife, or if the husband has deserted his wife. In these cases their authority is really based on the public opinion of the paracheri, and goes no further than that public opinion will enforce it. There is no headman in a Paraiya hamlet corresponding to the munsiff or village magistrate of the Hindu village (grama). In modern practice the Paraiyans are, for police purposes, under the authority of the munsiff of the grama, and there is a growing tendency on their part to refer all disputes and assaults to the munsiff, or even directly to the police. On the other hand, cases of a more domestic nature, such as disputes about betrothals, seduction, etc., are still dealt with, generally acutely and fairly, by the village council. It should be added that the rank of Panakkaran is hereditary, and is regarded as honourable.