Stature, cm.Nasal index.Cephalic index.Average.Average.Average.Males157.578.173.9Females147.877.74.8Cheruppu-katti(shoemaker).—Said to be a Malayālam synonym for Mādiga.Chetti.—It is noted in the Census Report, 1891, that “the name Chetti is used both to denote a distinct caste, and also a title, and people bearing this title describe themselves loosely as belonging to the Chetti caste, in the same way as a Vellāla will say that he is a Mudali.This use of Chetti has caused some confusion in the returns, for the sub-divisions show that many other castes have been included as well as Chetti proper.” Again, in the Census Report, 1901, it is recorded that “Chetti means trader, and is one of those titular or occupational terms, which are often loosely employed as caste names. The weavers, oil pressers, and others use it as a title, and many more tack it on to their names, to denote that trade is their occupation. Strictly employed, it is nevertheless, the name of a true caste.” The Chettis are so numerous, and so widely distributed, that their many sub-divisions differ very greatly in their ways. The best known of them are the Bēri Chettis, the Nagarattu Chettis, the Kāsukkar Chettis, and the Nāttukōttai Chettis. Of these, the Bēri and Nāttukōttai Chettis are dealt with in special articles. The following divisions of Chettis, inhabiting the Madura district, are recorded in my notes:—(a) Men with head clean-shaved:—Ilavagai or Karnakudi.Sundaraththan.Ariyūr.Malampatti.Pālayapattu.Thedakōttai.Periyakōttai-vellān.Puliyangudi.Vallam or Tiruvappūr.Kurungalūr.(b) Men with kudumi (hair knot):—Puvaththukudi or Mannagudi.Kiramangalam.Vallanāttu.Mārayakkāra.Pandukudi or Manjapaththu.Of these, the Puvaththukudi Chettis, who receive their name from a village in the Tanjore district, are mostly itinerant petty traders and money-lenders, who travel about the country. They carry on their shoulders a bag containing their personal effects, except when theyare cooking and sleeping. I am informed that the Puvaththukudi women engage women, presumably with a flow of appropriate language ready for the occasion, to abuse those with whom they have a quarrel. Among the Puvaththukudi Chettis, marriages are, for reasons of economy, only celebrated at intervals of many years. Concerning this custom, a member of the community writes to me as follows. “In our village, marriages are performed only once in ten or fifteen years. My own marriage was celebrated in the year Nandana (1892–93). Then seventy or eighty marriages took place. Since that time, marriages have only taken place in the present year (1906). The god at Avadaiyar kōvil (temple) is our caste god. For marriages, we must receive from that temple garlands, sandal, and palanquins. We pay to the temple thirty-five rupees for every bridegroom through our Nagaraththar (village headmen). The expenses incurred in connection with the employment of washermen, barbers, nāgasaram (musical instrument) players, talayāris (watchmen), carpenters, potters, blacksmiths, gurukkals (priests), and garland-makers, are borne collectively and shared by the families in which marriages are to take place.” Another Chetti writes that this system of clubbing marriages together is practised at the villages of Puvaththukudi and Mannagudi, and that the marriages of all girls of about seven years of age and upwards are celebrated. The marriages are performed in batches, and the marriage season lasts over several months.Palayasengadam in the Trichinopoly district is the head-quarters of a section of the Chettis called the Pannirendām (twelfth) Chettis. “These are supposed to be descended from eleven youths who escaped long ago from Kāvēripatnam, a ruined city in Tanjore. AChōla king, says the legend, wanted to marry a Chetti; whereupon the caste set fire to the town, and only these eleven boys escaped. They rested on the Ratnagiri hill to divide their property; but however they arranged it, it always divided itself into twelve shares instead of eleven. The god of Ratnagiri then appeared, and asked them to give him one share in exchange for a part of his car. They did so, and they now call themselves the twelfth Chettis from the number of the shares, and at their marriages they carry the bridegroom round in a car. They are said to be common in Coimbatore district.”41At the census, 1871, some of the less fortunate traders returned themselves as “bankrupt Chettis.”The following castes and tribes are recorded as having assumed the title Chetti, or its equivalent Setti:—Balija. Telugu trading caste.Bant. Tulu cultivating caste.Bilimagga, Dēvānga, Patnūlkāran, Sāliyan, Sēdan, Seniyan. All weaving classes.Dhōbi. Oriya washermen.Gāniga. Oil pressers.Gamalla. Telugu toddy-drawers.Gauda. Canarese cultivators.Gudigar. Canarese wood-carvers.Jain.Janappan. Said to have been originally a section of the Balijas, and manufacturers of gunny-bags.Kavarai. Tamil equivalent of Balija.Kōmati. Telugu traders.Koracha. A nomad tribe.Kudumi. A Travancore caste, which does service in the houses of Konkani Brāhmans.Mandādan Chetti.Mēdara. Telugu cane splitters and mat makers.Nāyar. Occupational title of some Nāyars of Malabar.Pattanavan. Tamil fishermen.Pattapu. Fishermen in the Telugu country.Sēnaikkudaiyān. Tamil betel-vine growers and traders.Shānān. The great toddy-drawing class of the Tamil country.Sonar. Goldsmiths.Toreya. Canarese fishermen.Uppiliyan. Salt-workers. Some style themselves Karpura (camphor) Chetti, because they used to manufacture camphor.Vāniyan. Tamil oil-pressers.Wynaadan Chetti.Of proverbs relating to Chettis,42the following may be quoted:—He who thinks before he acts is a Chetti, but he who acts without thinking is a fool.When the Chetti dies, his affairs will become public.She keeps house like a merchant caste woman,i.e., economically.Though ruined, a Chetti is a Chetti, and, though torn, silk is still silk.The Chetti reduced the amount of advance, and the weaver the quantity of silk in the border of the cloth.From his birth a Chetti is at enmity with agriculture.In a note on secret trade languages Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao writes as follows.43“The most interesting of these, perhaps, is that spoken by petty shopkeepers and cloth merchants of Madras, who are mostly Moodellys and Chettis by caste. Their business mostly consists in ready-money transactions, and so we find that they havea regular table of numerals. Numbers one to ten have been given definite names, and they have been so long in use that most of them do not understand the meaning of the terms they use. Thus madi (mind) stands for one, mind being always represented in the Hindu shastras as a single thing. Venē (act or deed) stands for two, for venē is of two kinds only, nalvenē and thivenē or good and bad acts. Konam (quality) stands for three, since three different sorts of qualities are recognised in Hindu metaphysics. These are rājasam, thāmasam, and sāthmīkam. Shuruthi stands for four, for the Srutis or Vēdas are four in numbers. Sara (arrow) stands for five, after Panchasara, the five-arrowed, a well-known name of Manmatha, the Indian Cupid. Matha represents six, after the shan mathams or six systems of Hindu philosophy. Thērē stands for seven, after the seven oceans recognised by the Sanskrit geographers. Giri (mountain) represents eight, since it stands for ashtagiri or the eight mountains of the Hindus. Mani stands for nine, after navamani, the nine different sorts of precious stones recognised by the Hindus. Thisai represents ten, from the ten points of the compass. The common name for rupee is vellē or the white thing. Thangām vellē stands for half a rupee, pinji vellē for a quarter of a rupee, and pū vellē for an eighth of a rupee. A fanam (or 1¼ annas) is known as shulai. The principal objects with which those who use this language have to deal with are padi or measure, vellē or rupee, and madi anā, one anna, so that madi padi means one measure, madi vellē one rupee, and madi anā one anna. Similarly with the rest of the numerals. The merchants of Trichinopoly have nearly the same table of numerals, but the names for the fractions of a rupee vary considerably. Mūndri anā is, with them, one anna; ē anā is twoannas; pū anā is four annas; pani anā is eight annas and mūna anā is twelve annas. Among them also vellē stands for a rupee. They have besides another table of numerals in use, which is curious as being formed by certain letters of the Tamil alphabet. Thus pīna stands for one, lāna for two, laina for three, yāna for four, līna for five, māna for six, vāna for seven, nāna for eight, thīna for nine, and thuna for ten. These letters have been strung into the mnemonic phrase Pillayalam Vanthathu, which literally means ‘the children have come’. This table is also used in connection with measures, rupees, and annas. Dealers in coarse country-made cloths all over Madras and the Chingleput district have a table of their own. It is a very complete one from one pie to a thousand rupees. Occasionally Hindu merchants are found using a secret language based on Hindustani. This is the case in one part of Madras city. With them pāv khānē stands for one anna, ada khānē fortwoannas, pāvak ruppē for one rupee, and so on. Brokers have terms of their own. The Tamil phrase padiya par, when used by them, means ask less or say less, according as it is addressed to the purchaser or seller. Similarly, mudukka par means ask a higher price. When a broker says Sivan thāmbram, it is to be inferred that the price given out by the seller includes his own brokerage. Telugu brokers have similar terms. Among them, the phrase Malasu vakkādu and Nāsi vakkādu denote respectively increase the rate, and decrease the rate stated.”Chevvula(ears).—An exogamous sept of Bōya and Golla.Cheyyakkāran.—A Malayālam form of the Canarese Servēgāra.Chikala(broom).—An exogamous sept of Tōttiyan.Chikka(small).—A sub-division of Kurni.Chikkudu(Dolichos Lablab).—An exogamous sept of Mūka Dora.Chilakala(paroquet).—An exogamous sept of Bōya, Kāpu and Yānādi.Chilla(Strychnos potatorum: clearing-nut tree).—An exogamous sept of Kuruba, and sub-division of Tōttiyan.Chīmala(ant).—An exogamous sept of Bōya and Tsākala.Chimpiga(tailor).—Recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as a Lingāyat sub-caste of Rangāri. In the Mysore Census Report, 1901, Darjis are classified as follows:—”(1) Darji, Chippiga, or Namdev; (2) Rangāre.” The first three, known by the collective name of Darji, are professional tailors, while the Rangāres are also dyers and calico printers.Chimpiri(rags).—An exogamous sept of Bōya.Chinērigādu.—A class of mendicants connected with the Padma Sālēs. (SeeDēvānga.)Chinda.—Recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as a small caste of Oriya cultivators in Ganjam and Vizagapatam.Chinese-Tamil Cross.—Halting in the course of an anthropological expedition on the western side of the Nīlgiri plateau, I came across a small settlement of Chinese, who have squatted for some time on the slopes of the hills between Naduvatam and Gudalūr and developed, as the result of alliances with Tamil Pariah women, into a colony, earning a modest livelihood by cultivating vegetables and coffee.The original Chinese who arrived on the Nīlgiris were convicts from the Straits Settlement, where there was no sufficient prison accommodation, who were confinedin the Nīlgiri jail. It is recorded44that, in 1868, twelve of the Chinamen “broke out during a very stormy night, and parties of armed police were sent out to scour the hills for them. They were at last arrested in Malabar a fortnight later. Some police weapons were found in their possession, and one of the parties of police had disappeared—an ominous circumstance. Search was made all over the country for the party, and at length their four bodies were found lying in the jungle at Walaghāt, half way down the Sispāra ghāt path, neatly laid out in a row with their severed heads carefully placed on their shoulders.”The measurements of a single family are recorded in the following table:—Cephalic length.Cephalic breadth.Cephalic index.Nasal length.Nasal breadth.Nasal index.Tamil Paraiyan.Mother of children.18.113.976.84.73.778.7ChineseFather of children.18.614.678.55.33.871.7Chinese-TamilGirl, aged 1817.614.180.14.73.268.1Chinese-TamilBoy, aged 1018.114.3794.63.371.7Chinese-TamilBoy, aged 9171482.44.43.372.7Chinese-TamilBoy, aged 517.113.780.14.12.868.3The father was a typical Chinaman, whose only grievance was that, in the process of conversion to Christianity, he had been obliged to “cut him tail off.” The mother was a typical dark-skinned Tamil Paraiyan. The colour of the children was more closely allied to the yellowish tint of the father than to that of the mother; and the semi-Mongol parentage was betrayed in theslant eyes, flat nose and (in one case) conspicuously prominent cheek-bones.To have recorded the entire series of measurements of the children would have been useless for the purpose of comparison with those of the parents, and I selected from my repertoire the length and breadth of the head and nose, which plainly indicate the paternal influence on the external anatomy of the offspring. The figures given in the table bring out very clearly the great breadth, as compared with the length, of the heads of all the children, and the resultant high cephalic index. In other words, in one case a mesaticephalic (79), and, in the remaining three cases, a sub-brachycephalic head (80.1; 80.1; 82.4) has resulted from the union of a mesaticephalic Chinaman (78.5) with a sub-dolichocephalic Tamil Paraiyan (76.8). How great is the breadth of the head in the children may be emphasised by noting that the average head-breadth of the adult Tamil Paraiyan man is only 13.7 cm., whereas that of the three boys, aged ten, nine, and five only, was 14.3, 14, and 13.7 cm. respectively.Quite as strongly marked is the effect of paternal influence on the character of the nose; the nasal index, in the case of each child (68.1; 71.772; 7; 68.3), bearing a much closer relation to that of the long-nosed father (71.7) than to the typical Paraiyan nasal index of the broad-nosed mother (78.7).It will be interesting to note hereafter what is the future of the younger members of this quaint little colony, and to observe the physical characters, temperament, fecundity, and other points relating to the cross breed resulting from the blend of Chinese and Tamil.Chinna(little).—A sub-division of Bōya, Kunnuvan, Konda Dora, Pattanavan, and Pattapu, and anexogamous sept of Māla. Chinna, chinnam, and chinnada, denoting gold, occur as exogamous septs of Kuruba, Padma Sālē, Toreya, and Vakkaliga.Chintala(tamarind:Tamarindus Indica).—An exogamous sept of Ghāsi, Golla, Mādiga, and Māla. Chintyakula, or tamarind sept, occurs among the Kōmatis; chintaginjala (tamarind seeds) as an exogamous sept of Padma Sālēs, and of Panta Reddis, who may not touch or use the seeds; and Chintakai or Chintakayala (tamarind fruit) as an exogamous sept of Bōyas and Devāngas.Chirla(woman’s cloth).—An exogamous sept of Kamma.Chitikan.—A synonym of Mārān, indicating one whose occupation relates to the funeral pyre. A Chitikan, for example, performs the funeral rites for the Mūssads.Chiti Karnam.—A name of the Oriya Karnam caste. A vulgar form of Sresta Karnam (Sreshto Korono).Chitra Ghāsi.—The Chitra Ghāsis, for the following note on whom I am indebted to Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao, are a class of artisans, whose name, meaning Ghāsis who make artistic things, bears reference to their occupation. They are employed in the manufacture of brass and bell-metal jewelry, such as is largely worn by the tribes inhabiting the Jeypore Agency tracts, and are generally found attached to Kond and Savara villages. They are a polluting class, and their dwellings are consequently situated at some distance from the huts of the villagers. Their language is a corrupt form of Oriya.Girls are usually married after puberty. A man can claim his paternal aunt’s daughter in marriage. When such a marriage is contemplated, his parents take alittle rice and a pot of liquor to the home of the paternal aunt. If they are accepted, it is taken as a sign that the match is agreed to, and the jholla tonka (bride-price) of twelve rupees is paid. After some time has elapsed, the bride is conducted to the home of her future husband, and the marriage is there celebrated. A younger brother may marry the widow of an elder brother, and, if such a woman contracts a marriage with some other man, her second husband has to give a cow to the younger brother who has been passed over. The dead are burnt, and death pollution is observed for three days, during which the caste occupation is not carried on. On the third day, the ashes are collected together, and a fowl is killed. The ashes are then buried, or thrown into running water.Chitrakāra or Chitrakāro.—The Chitrakāros of Ganjam, who are a class of Oriya painters (chitra, painting), are returned in the Census Report, 1901, as a sub-caste of Muchi. In the Mysore Census Report, 1891, the Chitragāras are said to be “also called Bannagāra of the Rāchevar (or Rāju) caste. They are painters, decorators and gilders, and make trunks, palanquins, ‘lacquer’ toys and wooden images for temples, cars, etc.” At Channapatna in Mysore, I interviewed a Telugu Chitrakāra, who was making toys out of the white wood ofWrightia tinctoria. The wood was turned on a primitive lathe, consisting of two steel spikes fixed into two logs of wood on the ground. Seated on the floor in front of his lathe, the artisan chucked the wood between the spikes, and rotated it by means of a bow held in the right hand, whereof the string was passed round the wood. The chisel was held between the sole of the right foot and palm of the left hand. Colours and varnish were applied to the rotating toy with sticksof paint like sealing-wax, and strips of palm leaf smeared with varnish. In addition to the turned toys, models of fruits were made from mud and sawdust, cane cradles made by Mēdaras were painted and idols manufactured for the Holi festival at Bangalore, and the figure of Sidi Vīranna for the local pseudo-hook-swinging ceremony. The Chitrakāras, whom I saw at Tumkūr, had given up making toys, as it did not pay. They manufacture big wooden idols (grāma dēvata),e.g., Ellamma and Māriamma, and vehicles for various deities in the shape of bulls, snakes, peacocks, lions, tigers, and horses. They further make painted figures of Lakshmi, and heads of Gauri, the wife of Siva, decorated with gold-leaf jewels, which are worshipped by Brāhmans, Vakkaligas, Kōmatis, and others at the annual Gauri pūja; and mandahāsa (god houses) with pillars carved with figures of Narasimha and conventional designs. These mandahāsas serve as a receptacle for the household gods (sālagrāma stone, lingam, etc.), which are worshipped daily by Smarta and Mādhva Brāhmans. These Chitrakāras claimed to be Suryavamsam, or of the lunar race of Kshatriyas, and wear the sacred thread.Chitravaliar.—A synonym of Alavan.Chōgan.—SeeIzhava.Chōlapuram or Shōlavaram.—A sub-division of Chetti.Chōliya Pattar.—A name for Pattar Brāhmans in Malabar.Chondi.—SeeSondi.Chōutagāra.—A corrupt form of Chaptēgāra.Chōvatton.—Priests of Mūttans and Tarakans.Chuditiya.—SeeKevuto.Chunam(lime).—A sub-division of Toreyas, who are manufacturers of lime. Chunam, made from calcinedshells, limestone, etc., is largely used for building purposes, and the chunam plaster of Madras has been long celebrated for its marble-like polish. Chunam is also chewed with betel.Chuvano.—Recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as a small Oriya cultivating caste, supposed to be of Kshatriya parentage.
Stature, cm.Nasal index.Cephalic index.Average.Average.Average.Males157.578.173.9Females147.877.74.8Cheruppu-katti(shoemaker).—Said to be a Malayālam synonym for Mādiga.Chetti.—It is noted in the Census Report, 1891, that “the name Chetti is used both to denote a distinct caste, and also a title, and people bearing this title describe themselves loosely as belonging to the Chetti caste, in the same way as a Vellāla will say that he is a Mudali.This use of Chetti has caused some confusion in the returns, for the sub-divisions show that many other castes have been included as well as Chetti proper.” Again, in the Census Report, 1901, it is recorded that “Chetti means trader, and is one of those titular or occupational terms, which are often loosely employed as caste names. The weavers, oil pressers, and others use it as a title, and many more tack it on to their names, to denote that trade is their occupation. Strictly employed, it is nevertheless, the name of a true caste.” The Chettis are so numerous, and so widely distributed, that their many sub-divisions differ very greatly in their ways. The best known of them are the Bēri Chettis, the Nagarattu Chettis, the Kāsukkar Chettis, and the Nāttukōttai Chettis. Of these, the Bēri and Nāttukōttai Chettis are dealt with in special articles. The following divisions of Chettis, inhabiting the Madura district, are recorded in my notes:—(a) Men with head clean-shaved:—Ilavagai or Karnakudi.Sundaraththan.Ariyūr.Malampatti.Pālayapattu.Thedakōttai.Periyakōttai-vellān.Puliyangudi.Vallam or Tiruvappūr.Kurungalūr.(b) Men with kudumi (hair knot):—Puvaththukudi or Mannagudi.Kiramangalam.Vallanāttu.Mārayakkāra.Pandukudi or Manjapaththu.Of these, the Puvaththukudi Chettis, who receive their name from a village in the Tanjore district, are mostly itinerant petty traders and money-lenders, who travel about the country. They carry on their shoulders a bag containing their personal effects, except when theyare cooking and sleeping. I am informed that the Puvaththukudi women engage women, presumably with a flow of appropriate language ready for the occasion, to abuse those with whom they have a quarrel. Among the Puvaththukudi Chettis, marriages are, for reasons of economy, only celebrated at intervals of many years. Concerning this custom, a member of the community writes to me as follows. “In our village, marriages are performed only once in ten or fifteen years. My own marriage was celebrated in the year Nandana (1892–93). Then seventy or eighty marriages took place. Since that time, marriages have only taken place in the present year (1906). The god at Avadaiyar kōvil (temple) is our caste god. For marriages, we must receive from that temple garlands, sandal, and palanquins. We pay to the temple thirty-five rupees for every bridegroom through our Nagaraththar (village headmen). The expenses incurred in connection with the employment of washermen, barbers, nāgasaram (musical instrument) players, talayāris (watchmen), carpenters, potters, blacksmiths, gurukkals (priests), and garland-makers, are borne collectively and shared by the families in which marriages are to take place.” Another Chetti writes that this system of clubbing marriages together is practised at the villages of Puvaththukudi and Mannagudi, and that the marriages of all girls of about seven years of age and upwards are celebrated. The marriages are performed in batches, and the marriage season lasts over several months.Palayasengadam in the Trichinopoly district is the head-quarters of a section of the Chettis called the Pannirendām (twelfth) Chettis. “These are supposed to be descended from eleven youths who escaped long ago from Kāvēripatnam, a ruined city in Tanjore. AChōla king, says the legend, wanted to marry a Chetti; whereupon the caste set fire to the town, and only these eleven boys escaped. They rested on the Ratnagiri hill to divide their property; but however they arranged it, it always divided itself into twelve shares instead of eleven. The god of Ratnagiri then appeared, and asked them to give him one share in exchange for a part of his car. They did so, and they now call themselves the twelfth Chettis from the number of the shares, and at their marriages they carry the bridegroom round in a car. They are said to be common in Coimbatore district.”41At the census, 1871, some of the less fortunate traders returned themselves as “bankrupt Chettis.”The following castes and tribes are recorded as having assumed the title Chetti, or its equivalent Setti:—Balija. Telugu trading caste.Bant. Tulu cultivating caste.Bilimagga, Dēvānga, Patnūlkāran, Sāliyan, Sēdan, Seniyan. All weaving classes.Dhōbi. Oriya washermen.Gāniga. Oil pressers.Gamalla. Telugu toddy-drawers.Gauda. Canarese cultivators.Gudigar. Canarese wood-carvers.Jain.Janappan. Said to have been originally a section of the Balijas, and manufacturers of gunny-bags.Kavarai. Tamil equivalent of Balija.Kōmati. Telugu traders.Koracha. A nomad tribe.Kudumi. A Travancore caste, which does service in the houses of Konkani Brāhmans.Mandādan Chetti.Mēdara. Telugu cane splitters and mat makers.Nāyar. Occupational title of some Nāyars of Malabar.Pattanavan. Tamil fishermen.Pattapu. Fishermen in the Telugu country.Sēnaikkudaiyān. Tamil betel-vine growers and traders.Shānān. The great toddy-drawing class of the Tamil country.Sonar. Goldsmiths.Toreya. Canarese fishermen.Uppiliyan. Salt-workers. Some style themselves Karpura (camphor) Chetti, because they used to manufacture camphor.Vāniyan. Tamil oil-pressers.Wynaadan Chetti.Of proverbs relating to Chettis,42the following may be quoted:—He who thinks before he acts is a Chetti, but he who acts without thinking is a fool.When the Chetti dies, his affairs will become public.She keeps house like a merchant caste woman,i.e., economically.Though ruined, a Chetti is a Chetti, and, though torn, silk is still silk.The Chetti reduced the amount of advance, and the weaver the quantity of silk in the border of the cloth.From his birth a Chetti is at enmity with agriculture.In a note on secret trade languages Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao writes as follows.43“The most interesting of these, perhaps, is that spoken by petty shopkeepers and cloth merchants of Madras, who are mostly Moodellys and Chettis by caste. Their business mostly consists in ready-money transactions, and so we find that they havea regular table of numerals. Numbers one to ten have been given definite names, and they have been so long in use that most of them do not understand the meaning of the terms they use. Thus madi (mind) stands for one, mind being always represented in the Hindu shastras as a single thing. Venē (act or deed) stands for two, for venē is of two kinds only, nalvenē and thivenē or good and bad acts. Konam (quality) stands for three, since three different sorts of qualities are recognised in Hindu metaphysics. These are rājasam, thāmasam, and sāthmīkam. Shuruthi stands for four, for the Srutis or Vēdas are four in numbers. Sara (arrow) stands for five, after Panchasara, the five-arrowed, a well-known name of Manmatha, the Indian Cupid. Matha represents six, after the shan mathams or six systems of Hindu philosophy. Thērē stands for seven, after the seven oceans recognised by the Sanskrit geographers. Giri (mountain) represents eight, since it stands for ashtagiri or the eight mountains of the Hindus. Mani stands for nine, after navamani, the nine different sorts of precious stones recognised by the Hindus. Thisai represents ten, from the ten points of the compass. The common name for rupee is vellē or the white thing. Thangām vellē stands for half a rupee, pinji vellē for a quarter of a rupee, and pū vellē for an eighth of a rupee. A fanam (or 1¼ annas) is known as shulai. The principal objects with which those who use this language have to deal with are padi or measure, vellē or rupee, and madi anā, one anna, so that madi padi means one measure, madi vellē one rupee, and madi anā one anna. Similarly with the rest of the numerals. The merchants of Trichinopoly have nearly the same table of numerals, but the names for the fractions of a rupee vary considerably. Mūndri anā is, with them, one anna; ē anā is twoannas; pū anā is four annas; pani anā is eight annas and mūna anā is twelve annas. Among them also vellē stands for a rupee. They have besides another table of numerals in use, which is curious as being formed by certain letters of the Tamil alphabet. Thus pīna stands for one, lāna for two, laina for three, yāna for four, līna for five, māna for six, vāna for seven, nāna for eight, thīna for nine, and thuna for ten. These letters have been strung into the mnemonic phrase Pillayalam Vanthathu, which literally means ‘the children have come’. This table is also used in connection with measures, rupees, and annas. Dealers in coarse country-made cloths all over Madras and the Chingleput district have a table of their own. It is a very complete one from one pie to a thousand rupees. Occasionally Hindu merchants are found using a secret language based on Hindustani. This is the case in one part of Madras city. With them pāv khānē stands for one anna, ada khānē fortwoannas, pāvak ruppē for one rupee, and so on. Brokers have terms of their own. The Tamil phrase padiya par, when used by them, means ask less or say less, according as it is addressed to the purchaser or seller. Similarly, mudukka par means ask a higher price. When a broker says Sivan thāmbram, it is to be inferred that the price given out by the seller includes his own brokerage. Telugu brokers have similar terms. Among them, the phrase Malasu vakkādu and Nāsi vakkādu denote respectively increase the rate, and decrease the rate stated.”Chevvula(ears).—An exogamous sept of Bōya and Golla.Cheyyakkāran.—A Malayālam form of the Canarese Servēgāra.Chikala(broom).—An exogamous sept of Tōttiyan.Chikka(small).—A sub-division of Kurni.Chikkudu(Dolichos Lablab).—An exogamous sept of Mūka Dora.Chilakala(paroquet).—An exogamous sept of Bōya, Kāpu and Yānādi.Chilla(Strychnos potatorum: clearing-nut tree).—An exogamous sept of Kuruba, and sub-division of Tōttiyan.Chīmala(ant).—An exogamous sept of Bōya and Tsākala.Chimpiga(tailor).—Recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as a Lingāyat sub-caste of Rangāri. In the Mysore Census Report, 1901, Darjis are classified as follows:—”(1) Darji, Chippiga, or Namdev; (2) Rangāre.” The first three, known by the collective name of Darji, are professional tailors, while the Rangāres are also dyers and calico printers.Chimpiri(rags).—An exogamous sept of Bōya.Chinērigādu.—A class of mendicants connected with the Padma Sālēs. (SeeDēvānga.)Chinda.—Recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as a small caste of Oriya cultivators in Ganjam and Vizagapatam.Chinese-Tamil Cross.—Halting in the course of an anthropological expedition on the western side of the Nīlgiri plateau, I came across a small settlement of Chinese, who have squatted for some time on the slopes of the hills between Naduvatam and Gudalūr and developed, as the result of alliances with Tamil Pariah women, into a colony, earning a modest livelihood by cultivating vegetables and coffee.The original Chinese who arrived on the Nīlgiris were convicts from the Straits Settlement, where there was no sufficient prison accommodation, who were confinedin the Nīlgiri jail. It is recorded44that, in 1868, twelve of the Chinamen “broke out during a very stormy night, and parties of armed police were sent out to scour the hills for them. They were at last arrested in Malabar a fortnight later. Some police weapons were found in their possession, and one of the parties of police had disappeared—an ominous circumstance. Search was made all over the country for the party, and at length their four bodies were found lying in the jungle at Walaghāt, half way down the Sispāra ghāt path, neatly laid out in a row with their severed heads carefully placed on their shoulders.”The measurements of a single family are recorded in the following table:—Cephalic length.Cephalic breadth.Cephalic index.Nasal length.Nasal breadth.Nasal index.Tamil Paraiyan.Mother of children.18.113.976.84.73.778.7ChineseFather of children.18.614.678.55.33.871.7Chinese-TamilGirl, aged 1817.614.180.14.73.268.1Chinese-TamilBoy, aged 1018.114.3794.63.371.7Chinese-TamilBoy, aged 9171482.44.43.372.7Chinese-TamilBoy, aged 517.113.780.14.12.868.3The father was a typical Chinaman, whose only grievance was that, in the process of conversion to Christianity, he had been obliged to “cut him tail off.” The mother was a typical dark-skinned Tamil Paraiyan. The colour of the children was more closely allied to the yellowish tint of the father than to that of the mother; and the semi-Mongol parentage was betrayed in theslant eyes, flat nose and (in one case) conspicuously prominent cheek-bones.To have recorded the entire series of measurements of the children would have been useless for the purpose of comparison with those of the parents, and I selected from my repertoire the length and breadth of the head and nose, which plainly indicate the paternal influence on the external anatomy of the offspring. The figures given in the table bring out very clearly the great breadth, as compared with the length, of the heads of all the children, and the resultant high cephalic index. In other words, in one case a mesaticephalic (79), and, in the remaining three cases, a sub-brachycephalic head (80.1; 80.1; 82.4) has resulted from the union of a mesaticephalic Chinaman (78.5) with a sub-dolichocephalic Tamil Paraiyan (76.8). How great is the breadth of the head in the children may be emphasised by noting that the average head-breadth of the adult Tamil Paraiyan man is only 13.7 cm., whereas that of the three boys, aged ten, nine, and five only, was 14.3, 14, and 13.7 cm. respectively.Quite as strongly marked is the effect of paternal influence on the character of the nose; the nasal index, in the case of each child (68.1; 71.772; 7; 68.3), bearing a much closer relation to that of the long-nosed father (71.7) than to the typical Paraiyan nasal index of the broad-nosed mother (78.7).It will be interesting to note hereafter what is the future of the younger members of this quaint little colony, and to observe the physical characters, temperament, fecundity, and other points relating to the cross breed resulting from the blend of Chinese and Tamil.Chinna(little).—A sub-division of Bōya, Kunnuvan, Konda Dora, Pattanavan, and Pattapu, and anexogamous sept of Māla. Chinna, chinnam, and chinnada, denoting gold, occur as exogamous septs of Kuruba, Padma Sālē, Toreya, and Vakkaliga.Chintala(tamarind:Tamarindus Indica).—An exogamous sept of Ghāsi, Golla, Mādiga, and Māla. Chintyakula, or tamarind sept, occurs among the Kōmatis; chintaginjala (tamarind seeds) as an exogamous sept of Padma Sālēs, and of Panta Reddis, who may not touch or use the seeds; and Chintakai or Chintakayala (tamarind fruit) as an exogamous sept of Bōyas and Devāngas.Chirla(woman’s cloth).—An exogamous sept of Kamma.Chitikan.—A synonym of Mārān, indicating one whose occupation relates to the funeral pyre. A Chitikan, for example, performs the funeral rites for the Mūssads.Chiti Karnam.—A name of the Oriya Karnam caste. A vulgar form of Sresta Karnam (Sreshto Korono).Chitra Ghāsi.—The Chitra Ghāsis, for the following note on whom I am indebted to Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao, are a class of artisans, whose name, meaning Ghāsis who make artistic things, bears reference to their occupation. They are employed in the manufacture of brass and bell-metal jewelry, such as is largely worn by the tribes inhabiting the Jeypore Agency tracts, and are generally found attached to Kond and Savara villages. They are a polluting class, and their dwellings are consequently situated at some distance from the huts of the villagers. Their language is a corrupt form of Oriya.Girls are usually married after puberty. A man can claim his paternal aunt’s daughter in marriage. When such a marriage is contemplated, his parents take alittle rice and a pot of liquor to the home of the paternal aunt. If they are accepted, it is taken as a sign that the match is agreed to, and the jholla tonka (bride-price) of twelve rupees is paid. After some time has elapsed, the bride is conducted to the home of her future husband, and the marriage is there celebrated. A younger brother may marry the widow of an elder brother, and, if such a woman contracts a marriage with some other man, her second husband has to give a cow to the younger brother who has been passed over. The dead are burnt, and death pollution is observed for three days, during which the caste occupation is not carried on. On the third day, the ashes are collected together, and a fowl is killed. The ashes are then buried, or thrown into running water.Chitrakāra or Chitrakāro.—The Chitrakāros of Ganjam, who are a class of Oriya painters (chitra, painting), are returned in the Census Report, 1901, as a sub-caste of Muchi. In the Mysore Census Report, 1891, the Chitragāras are said to be “also called Bannagāra of the Rāchevar (or Rāju) caste. They are painters, decorators and gilders, and make trunks, palanquins, ‘lacquer’ toys and wooden images for temples, cars, etc.” At Channapatna in Mysore, I interviewed a Telugu Chitrakāra, who was making toys out of the white wood ofWrightia tinctoria. The wood was turned on a primitive lathe, consisting of two steel spikes fixed into two logs of wood on the ground. Seated on the floor in front of his lathe, the artisan chucked the wood between the spikes, and rotated it by means of a bow held in the right hand, whereof the string was passed round the wood. The chisel was held between the sole of the right foot and palm of the left hand. Colours and varnish were applied to the rotating toy with sticksof paint like sealing-wax, and strips of palm leaf smeared with varnish. In addition to the turned toys, models of fruits were made from mud and sawdust, cane cradles made by Mēdaras were painted and idols manufactured for the Holi festival at Bangalore, and the figure of Sidi Vīranna for the local pseudo-hook-swinging ceremony. The Chitrakāras, whom I saw at Tumkūr, had given up making toys, as it did not pay. They manufacture big wooden idols (grāma dēvata),e.g., Ellamma and Māriamma, and vehicles for various deities in the shape of bulls, snakes, peacocks, lions, tigers, and horses. They further make painted figures of Lakshmi, and heads of Gauri, the wife of Siva, decorated with gold-leaf jewels, which are worshipped by Brāhmans, Vakkaligas, Kōmatis, and others at the annual Gauri pūja; and mandahāsa (god houses) with pillars carved with figures of Narasimha and conventional designs. These mandahāsas serve as a receptacle for the household gods (sālagrāma stone, lingam, etc.), which are worshipped daily by Smarta and Mādhva Brāhmans. These Chitrakāras claimed to be Suryavamsam, or of the lunar race of Kshatriyas, and wear the sacred thread.Chitravaliar.—A synonym of Alavan.Chōgan.—SeeIzhava.Chōlapuram or Shōlavaram.—A sub-division of Chetti.Chōliya Pattar.—A name for Pattar Brāhmans in Malabar.Chondi.—SeeSondi.Chōutagāra.—A corrupt form of Chaptēgāra.Chōvatton.—Priests of Mūttans and Tarakans.Chuditiya.—SeeKevuto.Chunam(lime).—A sub-division of Toreyas, who are manufacturers of lime. Chunam, made from calcinedshells, limestone, etc., is largely used for building purposes, and the chunam plaster of Madras has been long celebrated for its marble-like polish. Chunam is also chewed with betel.Chuvano.—Recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as a small Oriya cultivating caste, supposed to be of Kshatriya parentage.
Stature, cm.Nasal index.Cephalic index.Average.Average.Average.Males157.578.173.9Females147.877.74.8Cheruppu-katti(shoemaker).—Said to be a Malayālam synonym for Mādiga.Chetti.—It is noted in the Census Report, 1891, that “the name Chetti is used both to denote a distinct caste, and also a title, and people bearing this title describe themselves loosely as belonging to the Chetti caste, in the same way as a Vellāla will say that he is a Mudali.This use of Chetti has caused some confusion in the returns, for the sub-divisions show that many other castes have been included as well as Chetti proper.” Again, in the Census Report, 1901, it is recorded that “Chetti means trader, and is one of those titular or occupational terms, which are often loosely employed as caste names. The weavers, oil pressers, and others use it as a title, and many more tack it on to their names, to denote that trade is their occupation. Strictly employed, it is nevertheless, the name of a true caste.” The Chettis are so numerous, and so widely distributed, that their many sub-divisions differ very greatly in their ways. The best known of them are the Bēri Chettis, the Nagarattu Chettis, the Kāsukkar Chettis, and the Nāttukōttai Chettis. Of these, the Bēri and Nāttukōttai Chettis are dealt with in special articles. The following divisions of Chettis, inhabiting the Madura district, are recorded in my notes:—(a) Men with head clean-shaved:—Ilavagai or Karnakudi.Sundaraththan.Ariyūr.Malampatti.Pālayapattu.Thedakōttai.Periyakōttai-vellān.Puliyangudi.Vallam or Tiruvappūr.Kurungalūr.(b) Men with kudumi (hair knot):—Puvaththukudi or Mannagudi.Kiramangalam.Vallanāttu.Mārayakkāra.Pandukudi or Manjapaththu.Of these, the Puvaththukudi Chettis, who receive their name from a village in the Tanjore district, are mostly itinerant petty traders and money-lenders, who travel about the country. They carry on their shoulders a bag containing their personal effects, except when theyare cooking and sleeping. I am informed that the Puvaththukudi women engage women, presumably with a flow of appropriate language ready for the occasion, to abuse those with whom they have a quarrel. Among the Puvaththukudi Chettis, marriages are, for reasons of economy, only celebrated at intervals of many years. Concerning this custom, a member of the community writes to me as follows. “In our village, marriages are performed only once in ten or fifteen years. My own marriage was celebrated in the year Nandana (1892–93). Then seventy or eighty marriages took place. Since that time, marriages have only taken place in the present year (1906). The god at Avadaiyar kōvil (temple) is our caste god. For marriages, we must receive from that temple garlands, sandal, and palanquins. We pay to the temple thirty-five rupees for every bridegroom through our Nagaraththar (village headmen). The expenses incurred in connection with the employment of washermen, barbers, nāgasaram (musical instrument) players, talayāris (watchmen), carpenters, potters, blacksmiths, gurukkals (priests), and garland-makers, are borne collectively and shared by the families in which marriages are to take place.” Another Chetti writes that this system of clubbing marriages together is practised at the villages of Puvaththukudi and Mannagudi, and that the marriages of all girls of about seven years of age and upwards are celebrated. The marriages are performed in batches, and the marriage season lasts over several months.Palayasengadam in the Trichinopoly district is the head-quarters of a section of the Chettis called the Pannirendām (twelfth) Chettis. “These are supposed to be descended from eleven youths who escaped long ago from Kāvēripatnam, a ruined city in Tanjore. AChōla king, says the legend, wanted to marry a Chetti; whereupon the caste set fire to the town, and only these eleven boys escaped. They rested on the Ratnagiri hill to divide their property; but however they arranged it, it always divided itself into twelve shares instead of eleven. The god of Ratnagiri then appeared, and asked them to give him one share in exchange for a part of his car. They did so, and they now call themselves the twelfth Chettis from the number of the shares, and at their marriages they carry the bridegroom round in a car. They are said to be common in Coimbatore district.”41At the census, 1871, some of the less fortunate traders returned themselves as “bankrupt Chettis.”The following castes and tribes are recorded as having assumed the title Chetti, or its equivalent Setti:—Balija. Telugu trading caste.Bant. Tulu cultivating caste.Bilimagga, Dēvānga, Patnūlkāran, Sāliyan, Sēdan, Seniyan. All weaving classes.Dhōbi. Oriya washermen.Gāniga. Oil pressers.Gamalla. Telugu toddy-drawers.Gauda. Canarese cultivators.Gudigar. Canarese wood-carvers.Jain.Janappan. Said to have been originally a section of the Balijas, and manufacturers of gunny-bags.Kavarai. Tamil equivalent of Balija.Kōmati. Telugu traders.Koracha. A nomad tribe.Kudumi. A Travancore caste, which does service in the houses of Konkani Brāhmans.Mandādan Chetti.Mēdara. Telugu cane splitters and mat makers.Nāyar. Occupational title of some Nāyars of Malabar.Pattanavan. Tamil fishermen.Pattapu. Fishermen in the Telugu country.Sēnaikkudaiyān. Tamil betel-vine growers and traders.Shānān. The great toddy-drawing class of the Tamil country.Sonar. Goldsmiths.Toreya. Canarese fishermen.Uppiliyan. Salt-workers. Some style themselves Karpura (camphor) Chetti, because they used to manufacture camphor.Vāniyan. Tamil oil-pressers.Wynaadan Chetti.Of proverbs relating to Chettis,42the following may be quoted:—He who thinks before he acts is a Chetti, but he who acts without thinking is a fool.When the Chetti dies, his affairs will become public.She keeps house like a merchant caste woman,i.e., economically.Though ruined, a Chetti is a Chetti, and, though torn, silk is still silk.The Chetti reduced the amount of advance, and the weaver the quantity of silk in the border of the cloth.From his birth a Chetti is at enmity with agriculture.In a note on secret trade languages Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao writes as follows.43“The most interesting of these, perhaps, is that spoken by petty shopkeepers and cloth merchants of Madras, who are mostly Moodellys and Chettis by caste. Their business mostly consists in ready-money transactions, and so we find that they havea regular table of numerals. Numbers one to ten have been given definite names, and they have been so long in use that most of them do not understand the meaning of the terms they use. Thus madi (mind) stands for one, mind being always represented in the Hindu shastras as a single thing. Venē (act or deed) stands for two, for venē is of two kinds only, nalvenē and thivenē or good and bad acts. Konam (quality) stands for three, since three different sorts of qualities are recognised in Hindu metaphysics. These are rājasam, thāmasam, and sāthmīkam. Shuruthi stands for four, for the Srutis or Vēdas are four in numbers. Sara (arrow) stands for five, after Panchasara, the five-arrowed, a well-known name of Manmatha, the Indian Cupid. Matha represents six, after the shan mathams or six systems of Hindu philosophy. Thērē stands for seven, after the seven oceans recognised by the Sanskrit geographers. Giri (mountain) represents eight, since it stands for ashtagiri or the eight mountains of the Hindus. Mani stands for nine, after navamani, the nine different sorts of precious stones recognised by the Hindus. Thisai represents ten, from the ten points of the compass. The common name for rupee is vellē or the white thing. Thangām vellē stands for half a rupee, pinji vellē for a quarter of a rupee, and pū vellē for an eighth of a rupee. A fanam (or 1¼ annas) is known as shulai. The principal objects with which those who use this language have to deal with are padi or measure, vellē or rupee, and madi anā, one anna, so that madi padi means one measure, madi vellē one rupee, and madi anā one anna. Similarly with the rest of the numerals. The merchants of Trichinopoly have nearly the same table of numerals, but the names for the fractions of a rupee vary considerably. Mūndri anā is, with them, one anna; ē anā is twoannas; pū anā is four annas; pani anā is eight annas and mūna anā is twelve annas. Among them also vellē stands for a rupee. They have besides another table of numerals in use, which is curious as being formed by certain letters of the Tamil alphabet. Thus pīna stands for one, lāna for two, laina for three, yāna for four, līna for five, māna for six, vāna for seven, nāna for eight, thīna for nine, and thuna for ten. These letters have been strung into the mnemonic phrase Pillayalam Vanthathu, which literally means ‘the children have come’. This table is also used in connection with measures, rupees, and annas. Dealers in coarse country-made cloths all over Madras and the Chingleput district have a table of their own. It is a very complete one from one pie to a thousand rupees. Occasionally Hindu merchants are found using a secret language based on Hindustani. This is the case in one part of Madras city. With them pāv khānē stands for one anna, ada khānē fortwoannas, pāvak ruppē for one rupee, and so on. Brokers have terms of their own. The Tamil phrase padiya par, when used by them, means ask less or say less, according as it is addressed to the purchaser or seller. Similarly, mudukka par means ask a higher price. When a broker says Sivan thāmbram, it is to be inferred that the price given out by the seller includes his own brokerage. Telugu brokers have similar terms. Among them, the phrase Malasu vakkādu and Nāsi vakkādu denote respectively increase the rate, and decrease the rate stated.”Chevvula(ears).—An exogamous sept of Bōya and Golla.Cheyyakkāran.—A Malayālam form of the Canarese Servēgāra.Chikala(broom).—An exogamous sept of Tōttiyan.Chikka(small).—A sub-division of Kurni.Chikkudu(Dolichos Lablab).—An exogamous sept of Mūka Dora.Chilakala(paroquet).—An exogamous sept of Bōya, Kāpu and Yānādi.Chilla(Strychnos potatorum: clearing-nut tree).—An exogamous sept of Kuruba, and sub-division of Tōttiyan.Chīmala(ant).—An exogamous sept of Bōya and Tsākala.Chimpiga(tailor).—Recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as a Lingāyat sub-caste of Rangāri. In the Mysore Census Report, 1901, Darjis are classified as follows:—”(1) Darji, Chippiga, or Namdev; (2) Rangāre.” The first three, known by the collective name of Darji, are professional tailors, while the Rangāres are also dyers and calico printers.Chimpiri(rags).—An exogamous sept of Bōya.Chinērigādu.—A class of mendicants connected with the Padma Sālēs. (SeeDēvānga.)Chinda.—Recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as a small caste of Oriya cultivators in Ganjam and Vizagapatam.Chinese-Tamil Cross.—Halting in the course of an anthropological expedition on the western side of the Nīlgiri plateau, I came across a small settlement of Chinese, who have squatted for some time on the slopes of the hills between Naduvatam and Gudalūr and developed, as the result of alliances with Tamil Pariah women, into a colony, earning a modest livelihood by cultivating vegetables and coffee.The original Chinese who arrived on the Nīlgiris were convicts from the Straits Settlement, where there was no sufficient prison accommodation, who were confinedin the Nīlgiri jail. It is recorded44that, in 1868, twelve of the Chinamen “broke out during a very stormy night, and parties of armed police were sent out to scour the hills for them. They were at last arrested in Malabar a fortnight later. Some police weapons were found in their possession, and one of the parties of police had disappeared—an ominous circumstance. Search was made all over the country for the party, and at length their four bodies were found lying in the jungle at Walaghāt, half way down the Sispāra ghāt path, neatly laid out in a row with their severed heads carefully placed on their shoulders.”The measurements of a single family are recorded in the following table:—Cephalic length.Cephalic breadth.Cephalic index.Nasal length.Nasal breadth.Nasal index.Tamil Paraiyan.Mother of children.18.113.976.84.73.778.7ChineseFather of children.18.614.678.55.33.871.7Chinese-TamilGirl, aged 1817.614.180.14.73.268.1Chinese-TamilBoy, aged 1018.114.3794.63.371.7Chinese-TamilBoy, aged 9171482.44.43.372.7Chinese-TamilBoy, aged 517.113.780.14.12.868.3The father was a typical Chinaman, whose only grievance was that, in the process of conversion to Christianity, he had been obliged to “cut him tail off.” The mother was a typical dark-skinned Tamil Paraiyan. The colour of the children was more closely allied to the yellowish tint of the father than to that of the mother; and the semi-Mongol parentage was betrayed in theslant eyes, flat nose and (in one case) conspicuously prominent cheek-bones.To have recorded the entire series of measurements of the children would have been useless for the purpose of comparison with those of the parents, and I selected from my repertoire the length and breadth of the head and nose, which plainly indicate the paternal influence on the external anatomy of the offspring. The figures given in the table bring out very clearly the great breadth, as compared with the length, of the heads of all the children, and the resultant high cephalic index. In other words, in one case a mesaticephalic (79), and, in the remaining three cases, a sub-brachycephalic head (80.1; 80.1; 82.4) has resulted from the union of a mesaticephalic Chinaman (78.5) with a sub-dolichocephalic Tamil Paraiyan (76.8). How great is the breadth of the head in the children may be emphasised by noting that the average head-breadth of the adult Tamil Paraiyan man is only 13.7 cm., whereas that of the three boys, aged ten, nine, and five only, was 14.3, 14, and 13.7 cm. respectively.Quite as strongly marked is the effect of paternal influence on the character of the nose; the nasal index, in the case of each child (68.1; 71.772; 7; 68.3), bearing a much closer relation to that of the long-nosed father (71.7) than to the typical Paraiyan nasal index of the broad-nosed mother (78.7).It will be interesting to note hereafter what is the future of the younger members of this quaint little colony, and to observe the physical characters, temperament, fecundity, and other points relating to the cross breed resulting from the blend of Chinese and Tamil.Chinna(little).—A sub-division of Bōya, Kunnuvan, Konda Dora, Pattanavan, and Pattapu, and anexogamous sept of Māla. Chinna, chinnam, and chinnada, denoting gold, occur as exogamous septs of Kuruba, Padma Sālē, Toreya, and Vakkaliga.Chintala(tamarind:Tamarindus Indica).—An exogamous sept of Ghāsi, Golla, Mādiga, and Māla. Chintyakula, or tamarind sept, occurs among the Kōmatis; chintaginjala (tamarind seeds) as an exogamous sept of Padma Sālēs, and of Panta Reddis, who may not touch or use the seeds; and Chintakai or Chintakayala (tamarind fruit) as an exogamous sept of Bōyas and Devāngas.Chirla(woman’s cloth).—An exogamous sept of Kamma.Chitikan.—A synonym of Mārān, indicating one whose occupation relates to the funeral pyre. A Chitikan, for example, performs the funeral rites for the Mūssads.Chiti Karnam.—A name of the Oriya Karnam caste. A vulgar form of Sresta Karnam (Sreshto Korono).Chitra Ghāsi.—The Chitra Ghāsis, for the following note on whom I am indebted to Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao, are a class of artisans, whose name, meaning Ghāsis who make artistic things, bears reference to their occupation. They are employed in the manufacture of brass and bell-metal jewelry, such as is largely worn by the tribes inhabiting the Jeypore Agency tracts, and are generally found attached to Kond and Savara villages. They are a polluting class, and their dwellings are consequently situated at some distance from the huts of the villagers. Their language is a corrupt form of Oriya.Girls are usually married after puberty. A man can claim his paternal aunt’s daughter in marriage. When such a marriage is contemplated, his parents take alittle rice and a pot of liquor to the home of the paternal aunt. If they are accepted, it is taken as a sign that the match is agreed to, and the jholla tonka (bride-price) of twelve rupees is paid. After some time has elapsed, the bride is conducted to the home of her future husband, and the marriage is there celebrated. A younger brother may marry the widow of an elder brother, and, if such a woman contracts a marriage with some other man, her second husband has to give a cow to the younger brother who has been passed over. The dead are burnt, and death pollution is observed for three days, during which the caste occupation is not carried on. On the third day, the ashes are collected together, and a fowl is killed. The ashes are then buried, or thrown into running water.Chitrakāra or Chitrakāro.—The Chitrakāros of Ganjam, who are a class of Oriya painters (chitra, painting), are returned in the Census Report, 1901, as a sub-caste of Muchi. In the Mysore Census Report, 1891, the Chitragāras are said to be “also called Bannagāra of the Rāchevar (or Rāju) caste. They are painters, decorators and gilders, and make trunks, palanquins, ‘lacquer’ toys and wooden images for temples, cars, etc.” At Channapatna in Mysore, I interviewed a Telugu Chitrakāra, who was making toys out of the white wood ofWrightia tinctoria. The wood was turned on a primitive lathe, consisting of two steel spikes fixed into two logs of wood on the ground. Seated on the floor in front of his lathe, the artisan chucked the wood between the spikes, and rotated it by means of a bow held in the right hand, whereof the string was passed round the wood. The chisel was held between the sole of the right foot and palm of the left hand. Colours and varnish were applied to the rotating toy with sticksof paint like sealing-wax, and strips of palm leaf smeared with varnish. In addition to the turned toys, models of fruits were made from mud and sawdust, cane cradles made by Mēdaras were painted and idols manufactured for the Holi festival at Bangalore, and the figure of Sidi Vīranna for the local pseudo-hook-swinging ceremony. The Chitrakāras, whom I saw at Tumkūr, had given up making toys, as it did not pay. They manufacture big wooden idols (grāma dēvata),e.g., Ellamma and Māriamma, and vehicles for various deities in the shape of bulls, snakes, peacocks, lions, tigers, and horses. They further make painted figures of Lakshmi, and heads of Gauri, the wife of Siva, decorated with gold-leaf jewels, which are worshipped by Brāhmans, Vakkaligas, Kōmatis, and others at the annual Gauri pūja; and mandahāsa (god houses) with pillars carved with figures of Narasimha and conventional designs. These mandahāsas serve as a receptacle for the household gods (sālagrāma stone, lingam, etc.), which are worshipped daily by Smarta and Mādhva Brāhmans. These Chitrakāras claimed to be Suryavamsam, or of the lunar race of Kshatriyas, and wear the sacred thread.Chitravaliar.—A synonym of Alavan.Chōgan.—SeeIzhava.Chōlapuram or Shōlavaram.—A sub-division of Chetti.Chōliya Pattar.—A name for Pattar Brāhmans in Malabar.Chondi.—SeeSondi.Chōutagāra.—A corrupt form of Chaptēgāra.Chōvatton.—Priests of Mūttans and Tarakans.Chuditiya.—SeeKevuto.Chunam(lime).—A sub-division of Toreyas, who are manufacturers of lime. Chunam, made from calcinedshells, limestone, etc., is largely used for building purposes, and the chunam plaster of Madras has been long celebrated for its marble-like polish. Chunam is also chewed with betel.Chuvano.—Recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as a small Oriya cultivating caste, supposed to be of Kshatriya parentage.
Stature, cm.Nasal index.Cephalic index.Average.Average.Average.Males157.578.173.9Females147.877.74.8Cheruppu-katti(shoemaker).—Said to be a Malayālam synonym for Mādiga.Chetti.—It is noted in the Census Report, 1891, that “the name Chetti is used both to denote a distinct caste, and also a title, and people bearing this title describe themselves loosely as belonging to the Chetti caste, in the same way as a Vellāla will say that he is a Mudali.This use of Chetti has caused some confusion in the returns, for the sub-divisions show that many other castes have been included as well as Chetti proper.” Again, in the Census Report, 1901, it is recorded that “Chetti means trader, and is one of those titular or occupational terms, which are often loosely employed as caste names. The weavers, oil pressers, and others use it as a title, and many more tack it on to their names, to denote that trade is their occupation. Strictly employed, it is nevertheless, the name of a true caste.” The Chettis are so numerous, and so widely distributed, that their many sub-divisions differ very greatly in their ways. The best known of them are the Bēri Chettis, the Nagarattu Chettis, the Kāsukkar Chettis, and the Nāttukōttai Chettis. Of these, the Bēri and Nāttukōttai Chettis are dealt with in special articles. The following divisions of Chettis, inhabiting the Madura district, are recorded in my notes:—(a) Men with head clean-shaved:—Ilavagai or Karnakudi.Sundaraththan.Ariyūr.Malampatti.Pālayapattu.Thedakōttai.Periyakōttai-vellān.Puliyangudi.Vallam or Tiruvappūr.Kurungalūr.(b) Men with kudumi (hair knot):—Puvaththukudi or Mannagudi.Kiramangalam.Vallanāttu.Mārayakkāra.Pandukudi or Manjapaththu.Of these, the Puvaththukudi Chettis, who receive their name from a village in the Tanjore district, are mostly itinerant petty traders and money-lenders, who travel about the country. They carry on their shoulders a bag containing their personal effects, except when theyare cooking and sleeping. I am informed that the Puvaththukudi women engage women, presumably with a flow of appropriate language ready for the occasion, to abuse those with whom they have a quarrel. Among the Puvaththukudi Chettis, marriages are, for reasons of economy, only celebrated at intervals of many years. Concerning this custom, a member of the community writes to me as follows. “In our village, marriages are performed only once in ten or fifteen years. My own marriage was celebrated in the year Nandana (1892–93). Then seventy or eighty marriages took place. Since that time, marriages have only taken place in the present year (1906). The god at Avadaiyar kōvil (temple) is our caste god. For marriages, we must receive from that temple garlands, sandal, and palanquins. We pay to the temple thirty-five rupees for every bridegroom through our Nagaraththar (village headmen). The expenses incurred in connection with the employment of washermen, barbers, nāgasaram (musical instrument) players, talayāris (watchmen), carpenters, potters, blacksmiths, gurukkals (priests), and garland-makers, are borne collectively and shared by the families in which marriages are to take place.” Another Chetti writes that this system of clubbing marriages together is practised at the villages of Puvaththukudi and Mannagudi, and that the marriages of all girls of about seven years of age and upwards are celebrated. The marriages are performed in batches, and the marriage season lasts over several months.Palayasengadam in the Trichinopoly district is the head-quarters of a section of the Chettis called the Pannirendām (twelfth) Chettis. “These are supposed to be descended from eleven youths who escaped long ago from Kāvēripatnam, a ruined city in Tanjore. AChōla king, says the legend, wanted to marry a Chetti; whereupon the caste set fire to the town, and only these eleven boys escaped. They rested on the Ratnagiri hill to divide their property; but however they arranged it, it always divided itself into twelve shares instead of eleven. The god of Ratnagiri then appeared, and asked them to give him one share in exchange for a part of his car. They did so, and they now call themselves the twelfth Chettis from the number of the shares, and at their marriages they carry the bridegroom round in a car. They are said to be common in Coimbatore district.”41At the census, 1871, some of the less fortunate traders returned themselves as “bankrupt Chettis.”The following castes and tribes are recorded as having assumed the title Chetti, or its equivalent Setti:—Balija. Telugu trading caste.Bant. Tulu cultivating caste.Bilimagga, Dēvānga, Patnūlkāran, Sāliyan, Sēdan, Seniyan. All weaving classes.Dhōbi. Oriya washermen.Gāniga. Oil pressers.Gamalla. Telugu toddy-drawers.Gauda. Canarese cultivators.Gudigar. Canarese wood-carvers.Jain.Janappan. Said to have been originally a section of the Balijas, and manufacturers of gunny-bags.Kavarai. Tamil equivalent of Balija.Kōmati. Telugu traders.Koracha. A nomad tribe.Kudumi. A Travancore caste, which does service in the houses of Konkani Brāhmans.Mandādan Chetti.Mēdara. Telugu cane splitters and mat makers.Nāyar. Occupational title of some Nāyars of Malabar.Pattanavan. Tamil fishermen.Pattapu. Fishermen in the Telugu country.Sēnaikkudaiyān. Tamil betel-vine growers and traders.Shānān. The great toddy-drawing class of the Tamil country.Sonar. Goldsmiths.Toreya. Canarese fishermen.Uppiliyan. Salt-workers. Some style themselves Karpura (camphor) Chetti, because they used to manufacture camphor.Vāniyan. Tamil oil-pressers.Wynaadan Chetti.Of proverbs relating to Chettis,42the following may be quoted:—He who thinks before he acts is a Chetti, but he who acts without thinking is a fool.When the Chetti dies, his affairs will become public.She keeps house like a merchant caste woman,i.e., economically.Though ruined, a Chetti is a Chetti, and, though torn, silk is still silk.The Chetti reduced the amount of advance, and the weaver the quantity of silk in the border of the cloth.From his birth a Chetti is at enmity with agriculture.In a note on secret trade languages Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao writes as follows.43“The most interesting of these, perhaps, is that spoken by petty shopkeepers and cloth merchants of Madras, who are mostly Moodellys and Chettis by caste. Their business mostly consists in ready-money transactions, and so we find that they havea regular table of numerals. Numbers one to ten have been given definite names, and they have been so long in use that most of them do not understand the meaning of the terms they use. Thus madi (mind) stands for one, mind being always represented in the Hindu shastras as a single thing. Venē (act or deed) stands for two, for venē is of two kinds only, nalvenē and thivenē or good and bad acts. Konam (quality) stands for three, since three different sorts of qualities are recognised in Hindu metaphysics. These are rājasam, thāmasam, and sāthmīkam. Shuruthi stands for four, for the Srutis or Vēdas are four in numbers. Sara (arrow) stands for five, after Panchasara, the five-arrowed, a well-known name of Manmatha, the Indian Cupid. Matha represents six, after the shan mathams or six systems of Hindu philosophy. Thērē stands for seven, after the seven oceans recognised by the Sanskrit geographers. Giri (mountain) represents eight, since it stands for ashtagiri or the eight mountains of the Hindus. Mani stands for nine, after navamani, the nine different sorts of precious stones recognised by the Hindus. Thisai represents ten, from the ten points of the compass. The common name for rupee is vellē or the white thing. Thangām vellē stands for half a rupee, pinji vellē for a quarter of a rupee, and pū vellē for an eighth of a rupee. A fanam (or 1¼ annas) is known as shulai. The principal objects with which those who use this language have to deal with are padi or measure, vellē or rupee, and madi anā, one anna, so that madi padi means one measure, madi vellē one rupee, and madi anā one anna. Similarly with the rest of the numerals. The merchants of Trichinopoly have nearly the same table of numerals, but the names for the fractions of a rupee vary considerably. Mūndri anā is, with them, one anna; ē anā is twoannas; pū anā is four annas; pani anā is eight annas and mūna anā is twelve annas. Among them also vellē stands for a rupee. They have besides another table of numerals in use, which is curious as being formed by certain letters of the Tamil alphabet. Thus pīna stands for one, lāna for two, laina for three, yāna for four, līna for five, māna for six, vāna for seven, nāna for eight, thīna for nine, and thuna for ten. These letters have been strung into the mnemonic phrase Pillayalam Vanthathu, which literally means ‘the children have come’. This table is also used in connection with measures, rupees, and annas. Dealers in coarse country-made cloths all over Madras and the Chingleput district have a table of their own. It is a very complete one from one pie to a thousand rupees. Occasionally Hindu merchants are found using a secret language based on Hindustani. This is the case in one part of Madras city. With them pāv khānē stands for one anna, ada khānē fortwoannas, pāvak ruppē for one rupee, and so on. Brokers have terms of their own. The Tamil phrase padiya par, when used by them, means ask less or say less, according as it is addressed to the purchaser or seller. Similarly, mudukka par means ask a higher price. When a broker says Sivan thāmbram, it is to be inferred that the price given out by the seller includes his own brokerage. Telugu brokers have similar terms. Among them, the phrase Malasu vakkādu and Nāsi vakkādu denote respectively increase the rate, and decrease the rate stated.”Chevvula(ears).—An exogamous sept of Bōya and Golla.Cheyyakkāran.—A Malayālam form of the Canarese Servēgāra.Chikala(broom).—An exogamous sept of Tōttiyan.Chikka(small).—A sub-division of Kurni.Chikkudu(Dolichos Lablab).—An exogamous sept of Mūka Dora.Chilakala(paroquet).—An exogamous sept of Bōya, Kāpu and Yānādi.Chilla(Strychnos potatorum: clearing-nut tree).—An exogamous sept of Kuruba, and sub-division of Tōttiyan.Chīmala(ant).—An exogamous sept of Bōya and Tsākala.Chimpiga(tailor).—Recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as a Lingāyat sub-caste of Rangāri. In the Mysore Census Report, 1901, Darjis are classified as follows:—”(1) Darji, Chippiga, or Namdev; (2) Rangāre.” The first three, known by the collective name of Darji, are professional tailors, while the Rangāres are also dyers and calico printers.Chimpiri(rags).—An exogamous sept of Bōya.Chinērigādu.—A class of mendicants connected with the Padma Sālēs. (SeeDēvānga.)Chinda.—Recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as a small caste of Oriya cultivators in Ganjam and Vizagapatam.Chinese-Tamil Cross.—Halting in the course of an anthropological expedition on the western side of the Nīlgiri plateau, I came across a small settlement of Chinese, who have squatted for some time on the slopes of the hills between Naduvatam and Gudalūr and developed, as the result of alliances with Tamil Pariah women, into a colony, earning a modest livelihood by cultivating vegetables and coffee.The original Chinese who arrived on the Nīlgiris were convicts from the Straits Settlement, where there was no sufficient prison accommodation, who were confinedin the Nīlgiri jail. It is recorded44that, in 1868, twelve of the Chinamen “broke out during a very stormy night, and parties of armed police were sent out to scour the hills for them. They were at last arrested in Malabar a fortnight later. Some police weapons were found in their possession, and one of the parties of police had disappeared—an ominous circumstance. Search was made all over the country for the party, and at length their four bodies were found lying in the jungle at Walaghāt, half way down the Sispāra ghāt path, neatly laid out in a row with their severed heads carefully placed on their shoulders.”The measurements of a single family are recorded in the following table:—Cephalic length.Cephalic breadth.Cephalic index.Nasal length.Nasal breadth.Nasal index.Tamil Paraiyan.Mother of children.18.113.976.84.73.778.7ChineseFather of children.18.614.678.55.33.871.7Chinese-TamilGirl, aged 1817.614.180.14.73.268.1Chinese-TamilBoy, aged 1018.114.3794.63.371.7Chinese-TamilBoy, aged 9171482.44.43.372.7Chinese-TamilBoy, aged 517.113.780.14.12.868.3The father was a typical Chinaman, whose only grievance was that, in the process of conversion to Christianity, he had been obliged to “cut him tail off.” The mother was a typical dark-skinned Tamil Paraiyan. The colour of the children was more closely allied to the yellowish tint of the father than to that of the mother; and the semi-Mongol parentage was betrayed in theslant eyes, flat nose and (in one case) conspicuously prominent cheek-bones.To have recorded the entire series of measurements of the children would have been useless for the purpose of comparison with those of the parents, and I selected from my repertoire the length and breadth of the head and nose, which plainly indicate the paternal influence on the external anatomy of the offspring. The figures given in the table bring out very clearly the great breadth, as compared with the length, of the heads of all the children, and the resultant high cephalic index. In other words, in one case a mesaticephalic (79), and, in the remaining three cases, a sub-brachycephalic head (80.1; 80.1; 82.4) has resulted from the union of a mesaticephalic Chinaman (78.5) with a sub-dolichocephalic Tamil Paraiyan (76.8). How great is the breadth of the head in the children may be emphasised by noting that the average head-breadth of the adult Tamil Paraiyan man is only 13.7 cm., whereas that of the three boys, aged ten, nine, and five only, was 14.3, 14, and 13.7 cm. respectively.Quite as strongly marked is the effect of paternal influence on the character of the nose; the nasal index, in the case of each child (68.1; 71.772; 7; 68.3), bearing a much closer relation to that of the long-nosed father (71.7) than to the typical Paraiyan nasal index of the broad-nosed mother (78.7).It will be interesting to note hereafter what is the future of the younger members of this quaint little colony, and to observe the physical characters, temperament, fecundity, and other points relating to the cross breed resulting from the blend of Chinese and Tamil.Chinna(little).—A sub-division of Bōya, Kunnuvan, Konda Dora, Pattanavan, and Pattapu, and anexogamous sept of Māla. Chinna, chinnam, and chinnada, denoting gold, occur as exogamous septs of Kuruba, Padma Sālē, Toreya, and Vakkaliga.Chintala(tamarind:Tamarindus Indica).—An exogamous sept of Ghāsi, Golla, Mādiga, and Māla. Chintyakula, or tamarind sept, occurs among the Kōmatis; chintaginjala (tamarind seeds) as an exogamous sept of Padma Sālēs, and of Panta Reddis, who may not touch or use the seeds; and Chintakai or Chintakayala (tamarind fruit) as an exogamous sept of Bōyas and Devāngas.Chirla(woman’s cloth).—An exogamous sept of Kamma.Chitikan.—A synonym of Mārān, indicating one whose occupation relates to the funeral pyre. A Chitikan, for example, performs the funeral rites for the Mūssads.Chiti Karnam.—A name of the Oriya Karnam caste. A vulgar form of Sresta Karnam (Sreshto Korono).Chitra Ghāsi.—The Chitra Ghāsis, for the following note on whom I am indebted to Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao, are a class of artisans, whose name, meaning Ghāsis who make artistic things, bears reference to their occupation. They are employed in the manufacture of brass and bell-metal jewelry, such as is largely worn by the tribes inhabiting the Jeypore Agency tracts, and are generally found attached to Kond and Savara villages. They are a polluting class, and their dwellings are consequently situated at some distance from the huts of the villagers. Their language is a corrupt form of Oriya.Girls are usually married after puberty. A man can claim his paternal aunt’s daughter in marriage. When such a marriage is contemplated, his parents take alittle rice and a pot of liquor to the home of the paternal aunt. If they are accepted, it is taken as a sign that the match is agreed to, and the jholla tonka (bride-price) of twelve rupees is paid. After some time has elapsed, the bride is conducted to the home of her future husband, and the marriage is there celebrated. A younger brother may marry the widow of an elder brother, and, if such a woman contracts a marriage with some other man, her second husband has to give a cow to the younger brother who has been passed over. The dead are burnt, and death pollution is observed for three days, during which the caste occupation is not carried on. On the third day, the ashes are collected together, and a fowl is killed. The ashes are then buried, or thrown into running water.Chitrakāra or Chitrakāro.—The Chitrakāros of Ganjam, who are a class of Oriya painters (chitra, painting), are returned in the Census Report, 1901, as a sub-caste of Muchi. In the Mysore Census Report, 1891, the Chitragāras are said to be “also called Bannagāra of the Rāchevar (or Rāju) caste. They are painters, decorators and gilders, and make trunks, palanquins, ‘lacquer’ toys and wooden images for temples, cars, etc.” At Channapatna in Mysore, I interviewed a Telugu Chitrakāra, who was making toys out of the white wood ofWrightia tinctoria. The wood was turned on a primitive lathe, consisting of two steel spikes fixed into two logs of wood on the ground. Seated on the floor in front of his lathe, the artisan chucked the wood between the spikes, and rotated it by means of a bow held in the right hand, whereof the string was passed round the wood. The chisel was held between the sole of the right foot and palm of the left hand. Colours and varnish were applied to the rotating toy with sticksof paint like sealing-wax, and strips of palm leaf smeared with varnish. In addition to the turned toys, models of fruits were made from mud and sawdust, cane cradles made by Mēdaras were painted and idols manufactured for the Holi festival at Bangalore, and the figure of Sidi Vīranna for the local pseudo-hook-swinging ceremony. The Chitrakāras, whom I saw at Tumkūr, had given up making toys, as it did not pay. They manufacture big wooden idols (grāma dēvata),e.g., Ellamma and Māriamma, and vehicles for various deities in the shape of bulls, snakes, peacocks, lions, tigers, and horses. They further make painted figures of Lakshmi, and heads of Gauri, the wife of Siva, decorated with gold-leaf jewels, which are worshipped by Brāhmans, Vakkaligas, Kōmatis, and others at the annual Gauri pūja; and mandahāsa (god houses) with pillars carved with figures of Narasimha and conventional designs. These mandahāsas serve as a receptacle for the household gods (sālagrāma stone, lingam, etc.), which are worshipped daily by Smarta and Mādhva Brāhmans. These Chitrakāras claimed to be Suryavamsam, or of the lunar race of Kshatriyas, and wear the sacred thread.Chitravaliar.—A synonym of Alavan.Chōgan.—SeeIzhava.Chōlapuram or Shōlavaram.—A sub-division of Chetti.Chōliya Pattar.—A name for Pattar Brāhmans in Malabar.Chondi.—SeeSondi.Chōutagāra.—A corrupt form of Chaptēgāra.Chōvatton.—Priests of Mūttans and Tarakans.Chuditiya.—SeeKevuto.Chunam(lime).—A sub-division of Toreyas, who are manufacturers of lime. Chunam, made from calcinedshells, limestone, etc., is largely used for building purposes, and the chunam plaster of Madras has been long celebrated for its marble-like polish. Chunam is also chewed with betel.Chuvano.—Recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as a small Oriya cultivating caste, supposed to be of Kshatriya parentage.
Stature, cm.Nasal index.Cephalic index.Average.Average.Average.Males157.578.173.9Females147.877.74.8
Cheruppu-katti(shoemaker).—Said to be a Malayālam synonym for Mādiga.
Chetti.—It is noted in the Census Report, 1891, that “the name Chetti is used both to denote a distinct caste, and also a title, and people bearing this title describe themselves loosely as belonging to the Chetti caste, in the same way as a Vellāla will say that he is a Mudali.This use of Chetti has caused some confusion in the returns, for the sub-divisions show that many other castes have been included as well as Chetti proper.” Again, in the Census Report, 1901, it is recorded that “Chetti means trader, and is one of those titular or occupational terms, which are often loosely employed as caste names. The weavers, oil pressers, and others use it as a title, and many more tack it on to their names, to denote that trade is their occupation. Strictly employed, it is nevertheless, the name of a true caste.” The Chettis are so numerous, and so widely distributed, that their many sub-divisions differ very greatly in their ways. The best known of them are the Bēri Chettis, the Nagarattu Chettis, the Kāsukkar Chettis, and the Nāttukōttai Chettis. Of these, the Bēri and Nāttukōttai Chettis are dealt with in special articles. The following divisions of Chettis, inhabiting the Madura district, are recorded in my notes:—
Of these, the Puvaththukudi Chettis, who receive their name from a village in the Tanjore district, are mostly itinerant petty traders and money-lenders, who travel about the country. They carry on their shoulders a bag containing their personal effects, except when theyare cooking and sleeping. I am informed that the Puvaththukudi women engage women, presumably with a flow of appropriate language ready for the occasion, to abuse those with whom they have a quarrel. Among the Puvaththukudi Chettis, marriages are, for reasons of economy, only celebrated at intervals of many years. Concerning this custom, a member of the community writes to me as follows. “In our village, marriages are performed only once in ten or fifteen years. My own marriage was celebrated in the year Nandana (1892–93). Then seventy or eighty marriages took place. Since that time, marriages have only taken place in the present year (1906). The god at Avadaiyar kōvil (temple) is our caste god. For marriages, we must receive from that temple garlands, sandal, and palanquins. We pay to the temple thirty-five rupees for every bridegroom through our Nagaraththar (village headmen). The expenses incurred in connection with the employment of washermen, barbers, nāgasaram (musical instrument) players, talayāris (watchmen), carpenters, potters, blacksmiths, gurukkals (priests), and garland-makers, are borne collectively and shared by the families in which marriages are to take place.” Another Chetti writes that this system of clubbing marriages together is practised at the villages of Puvaththukudi and Mannagudi, and that the marriages of all girls of about seven years of age and upwards are celebrated. The marriages are performed in batches, and the marriage season lasts over several months.
Palayasengadam in the Trichinopoly district is the head-quarters of a section of the Chettis called the Pannirendām (twelfth) Chettis. “These are supposed to be descended from eleven youths who escaped long ago from Kāvēripatnam, a ruined city in Tanjore. AChōla king, says the legend, wanted to marry a Chetti; whereupon the caste set fire to the town, and only these eleven boys escaped. They rested on the Ratnagiri hill to divide their property; but however they arranged it, it always divided itself into twelve shares instead of eleven. The god of Ratnagiri then appeared, and asked them to give him one share in exchange for a part of his car. They did so, and they now call themselves the twelfth Chettis from the number of the shares, and at their marriages they carry the bridegroom round in a car. They are said to be common in Coimbatore district.”41
At the census, 1871, some of the less fortunate traders returned themselves as “bankrupt Chettis.”
The following castes and tribes are recorded as having assumed the title Chetti, or its equivalent Setti:—
Of proverbs relating to Chettis,42the following may be quoted:—
He who thinks before he acts is a Chetti, but he who acts without thinking is a fool.When the Chetti dies, his affairs will become public.She keeps house like a merchant caste woman,i.e., economically.Though ruined, a Chetti is a Chetti, and, though torn, silk is still silk.The Chetti reduced the amount of advance, and the weaver the quantity of silk in the border of the cloth.From his birth a Chetti is at enmity with agriculture.
He who thinks before he acts is a Chetti, but he who acts without thinking is a fool.
When the Chetti dies, his affairs will become public.
She keeps house like a merchant caste woman,i.e., economically.
Though ruined, a Chetti is a Chetti, and, though torn, silk is still silk.
The Chetti reduced the amount of advance, and the weaver the quantity of silk in the border of the cloth.
From his birth a Chetti is at enmity with agriculture.
In a note on secret trade languages Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao writes as follows.43“The most interesting of these, perhaps, is that spoken by petty shopkeepers and cloth merchants of Madras, who are mostly Moodellys and Chettis by caste. Their business mostly consists in ready-money transactions, and so we find that they havea regular table of numerals. Numbers one to ten have been given definite names, and they have been so long in use that most of them do not understand the meaning of the terms they use. Thus madi (mind) stands for one, mind being always represented in the Hindu shastras as a single thing. Venē (act or deed) stands for two, for venē is of two kinds only, nalvenē and thivenē or good and bad acts. Konam (quality) stands for three, since three different sorts of qualities are recognised in Hindu metaphysics. These are rājasam, thāmasam, and sāthmīkam. Shuruthi stands for four, for the Srutis or Vēdas are four in numbers. Sara (arrow) stands for five, after Panchasara, the five-arrowed, a well-known name of Manmatha, the Indian Cupid. Matha represents six, after the shan mathams or six systems of Hindu philosophy. Thērē stands for seven, after the seven oceans recognised by the Sanskrit geographers. Giri (mountain) represents eight, since it stands for ashtagiri or the eight mountains of the Hindus. Mani stands for nine, after navamani, the nine different sorts of precious stones recognised by the Hindus. Thisai represents ten, from the ten points of the compass. The common name for rupee is vellē or the white thing. Thangām vellē stands for half a rupee, pinji vellē for a quarter of a rupee, and pū vellē for an eighth of a rupee. A fanam (or 1¼ annas) is known as shulai. The principal objects with which those who use this language have to deal with are padi or measure, vellē or rupee, and madi anā, one anna, so that madi padi means one measure, madi vellē one rupee, and madi anā one anna. Similarly with the rest of the numerals. The merchants of Trichinopoly have nearly the same table of numerals, but the names for the fractions of a rupee vary considerably. Mūndri anā is, with them, one anna; ē anā is twoannas; pū anā is four annas; pani anā is eight annas and mūna anā is twelve annas. Among them also vellē stands for a rupee. They have besides another table of numerals in use, which is curious as being formed by certain letters of the Tamil alphabet. Thus pīna stands for one, lāna for two, laina for three, yāna for four, līna for five, māna for six, vāna for seven, nāna for eight, thīna for nine, and thuna for ten. These letters have been strung into the mnemonic phrase Pillayalam Vanthathu, which literally means ‘the children have come’. This table is also used in connection with measures, rupees, and annas. Dealers in coarse country-made cloths all over Madras and the Chingleput district have a table of their own. It is a very complete one from one pie to a thousand rupees. Occasionally Hindu merchants are found using a secret language based on Hindustani. This is the case in one part of Madras city. With them pāv khānē stands for one anna, ada khānē fortwoannas, pāvak ruppē for one rupee, and so on. Brokers have terms of their own. The Tamil phrase padiya par, when used by them, means ask less or say less, according as it is addressed to the purchaser or seller. Similarly, mudukka par means ask a higher price. When a broker says Sivan thāmbram, it is to be inferred that the price given out by the seller includes his own brokerage. Telugu brokers have similar terms. Among them, the phrase Malasu vakkādu and Nāsi vakkādu denote respectively increase the rate, and decrease the rate stated.”
Chevvula(ears).—An exogamous sept of Bōya and Golla.
Cheyyakkāran.—A Malayālam form of the Canarese Servēgāra.
Chikala(broom).—An exogamous sept of Tōttiyan.
Chikka(small).—A sub-division of Kurni.
Chikkudu(Dolichos Lablab).—An exogamous sept of Mūka Dora.
Chilakala(paroquet).—An exogamous sept of Bōya, Kāpu and Yānādi.
Chilla(Strychnos potatorum: clearing-nut tree).—An exogamous sept of Kuruba, and sub-division of Tōttiyan.
Chīmala(ant).—An exogamous sept of Bōya and Tsākala.
Chimpiga(tailor).—Recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as a Lingāyat sub-caste of Rangāri. In the Mysore Census Report, 1901, Darjis are classified as follows:—”(1) Darji, Chippiga, or Namdev; (2) Rangāre.” The first three, known by the collective name of Darji, are professional tailors, while the Rangāres are also dyers and calico printers.
Chimpiri(rags).—An exogamous sept of Bōya.
Chinērigādu.—A class of mendicants connected with the Padma Sālēs. (SeeDēvānga.)
Chinda.—Recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as a small caste of Oriya cultivators in Ganjam and Vizagapatam.
Chinese-Tamil Cross.—Halting in the course of an anthropological expedition on the western side of the Nīlgiri plateau, I came across a small settlement of Chinese, who have squatted for some time on the slopes of the hills between Naduvatam and Gudalūr and developed, as the result of alliances with Tamil Pariah women, into a colony, earning a modest livelihood by cultivating vegetables and coffee.
The original Chinese who arrived on the Nīlgiris were convicts from the Straits Settlement, where there was no sufficient prison accommodation, who were confinedin the Nīlgiri jail. It is recorded44that, in 1868, twelve of the Chinamen “broke out during a very stormy night, and parties of armed police were sent out to scour the hills for them. They were at last arrested in Malabar a fortnight later. Some police weapons were found in their possession, and one of the parties of police had disappeared—an ominous circumstance. Search was made all over the country for the party, and at length their four bodies were found lying in the jungle at Walaghāt, half way down the Sispāra ghāt path, neatly laid out in a row with their severed heads carefully placed on their shoulders.”
The measurements of a single family are recorded in the following table:—
Cephalic length.Cephalic breadth.Cephalic index.Nasal length.Nasal breadth.Nasal index.Tamil Paraiyan.Mother of children.18.113.976.84.73.778.7ChineseFather of children.18.614.678.55.33.871.7Chinese-TamilGirl, aged 1817.614.180.14.73.268.1Chinese-TamilBoy, aged 1018.114.3794.63.371.7Chinese-TamilBoy, aged 9171482.44.43.372.7Chinese-TamilBoy, aged 517.113.780.14.12.868.3
The father was a typical Chinaman, whose only grievance was that, in the process of conversion to Christianity, he had been obliged to “cut him tail off.” The mother was a typical dark-skinned Tamil Paraiyan. The colour of the children was more closely allied to the yellowish tint of the father than to that of the mother; and the semi-Mongol parentage was betrayed in theslant eyes, flat nose and (in one case) conspicuously prominent cheek-bones.
To have recorded the entire series of measurements of the children would have been useless for the purpose of comparison with those of the parents, and I selected from my repertoire the length and breadth of the head and nose, which plainly indicate the paternal influence on the external anatomy of the offspring. The figures given in the table bring out very clearly the great breadth, as compared with the length, of the heads of all the children, and the resultant high cephalic index. In other words, in one case a mesaticephalic (79), and, in the remaining three cases, a sub-brachycephalic head (80.1; 80.1; 82.4) has resulted from the union of a mesaticephalic Chinaman (78.5) with a sub-dolichocephalic Tamil Paraiyan (76.8). How great is the breadth of the head in the children may be emphasised by noting that the average head-breadth of the adult Tamil Paraiyan man is only 13.7 cm., whereas that of the three boys, aged ten, nine, and five only, was 14.3, 14, and 13.7 cm. respectively.
Quite as strongly marked is the effect of paternal influence on the character of the nose; the nasal index, in the case of each child (68.1; 71.772; 7; 68.3), bearing a much closer relation to that of the long-nosed father (71.7) than to the typical Paraiyan nasal index of the broad-nosed mother (78.7).
It will be interesting to note hereafter what is the future of the younger members of this quaint little colony, and to observe the physical characters, temperament, fecundity, and other points relating to the cross breed resulting from the blend of Chinese and Tamil.
Chinna(little).—A sub-division of Bōya, Kunnuvan, Konda Dora, Pattanavan, and Pattapu, and anexogamous sept of Māla. Chinna, chinnam, and chinnada, denoting gold, occur as exogamous septs of Kuruba, Padma Sālē, Toreya, and Vakkaliga.
Chintala(tamarind:Tamarindus Indica).—An exogamous sept of Ghāsi, Golla, Mādiga, and Māla. Chintyakula, or tamarind sept, occurs among the Kōmatis; chintaginjala (tamarind seeds) as an exogamous sept of Padma Sālēs, and of Panta Reddis, who may not touch or use the seeds; and Chintakai or Chintakayala (tamarind fruit) as an exogamous sept of Bōyas and Devāngas.
Chirla(woman’s cloth).—An exogamous sept of Kamma.
Chitikan.—A synonym of Mārān, indicating one whose occupation relates to the funeral pyre. A Chitikan, for example, performs the funeral rites for the Mūssads.
Chiti Karnam.—A name of the Oriya Karnam caste. A vulgar form of Sresta Karnam (Sreshto Korono).
Chitra Ghāsi.—The Chitra Ghāsis, for the following note on whom I am indebted to Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao, are a class of artisans, whose name, meaning Ghāsis who make artistic things, bears reference to their occupation. They are employed in the manufacture of brass and bell-metal jewelry, such as is largely worn by the tribes inhabiting the Jeypore Agency tracts, and are generally found attached to Kond and Savara villages. They are a polluting class, and their dwellings are consequently situated at some distance from the huts of the villagers. Their language is a corrupt form of Oriya.
Girls are usually married after puberty. A man can claim his paternal aunt’s daughter in marriage. When such a marriage is contemplated, his parents take alittle rice and a pot of liquor to the home of the paternal aunt. If they are accepted, it is taken as a sign that the match is agreed to, and the jholla tonka (bride-price) of twelve rupees is paid. After some time has elapsed, the bride is conducted to the home of her future husband, and the marriage is there celebrated. A younger brother may marry the widow of an elder brother, and, if such a woman contracts a marriage with some other man, her second husband has to give a cow to the younger brother who has been passed over. The dead are burnt, and death pollution is observed for three days, during which the caste occupation is not carried on. On the third day, the ashes are collected together, and a fowl is killed. The ashes are then buried, or thrown into running water.
Chitrakāra or Chitrakāro.—The Chitrakāros of Ganjam, who are a class of Oriya painters (chitra, painting), are returned in the Census Report, 1901, as a sub-caste of Muchi. In the Mysore Census Report, 1891, the Chitragāras are said to be “also called Bannagāra of the Rāchevar (or Rāju) caste. They are painters, decorators and gilders, and make trunks, palanquins, ‘lacquer’ toys and wooden images for temples, cars, etc.” At Channapatna in Mysore, I interviewed a Telugu Chitrakāra, who was making toys out of the white wood ofWrightia tinctoria. The wood was turned on a primitive lathe, consisting of two steel spikes fixed into two logs of wood on the ground. Seated on the floor in front of his lathe, the artisan chucked the wood between the spikes, and rotated it by means of a bow held in the right hand, whereof the string was passed round the wood. The chisel was held between the sole of the right foot and palm of the left hand. Colours and varnish were applied to the rotating toy with sticksof paint like sealing-wax, and strips of palm leaf smeared with varnish. In addition to the turned toys, models of fruits were made from mud and sawdust, cane cradles made by Mēdaras were painted and idols manufactured for the Holi festival at Bangalore, and the figure of Sidi Vīranna for the local pseudo-hook-swinging ceremony. The Chitrakāras, whom I saw at Tumkūr, had given up making toys, as it did not pay. They manufacture big wooden idols (grāma dēvata),e.g., Ellamma and Māriamma, and vehicles for various deities in the shape of bulls, snakes, peacocks, lions, tigers, and horses. They further make painted figures of Lakshmi, and heads of Gauri, the wife of Siva, decorated with gold-leaf jewels, which are worshipped by Brāhmans, Vakkaligas, Kōmatis, and others at the annual Gauri pūja; and mandahāsa (god houses) with pillars carved with figures of Narasimha and conventional designs. These mandahāsas serve as a receptacle for the household gods (sālagrāma stone, lingam, etc.), which are worshipped daily by Smarta and Mādhva Brāhmans. These Chitrakāras claimed to be Suryavamsam, or of the lunar race of Kshatriyas, and wear the sacred thread.
Chitravaliar.—A synonym of Alavan.
Chōgan.—SeeIzhava.
Chōlapuram or Shōlavaram.—A sub-division of Chetti.
Chōliya Pattar.—A name for Pattar Brāhmans in Malabar.
Chondi.—SeeSondi.
Chōutagāra.—A corrupt form of Chaptēgāra.
Chōvatton.—Priests of Mūttans and Tarakans.
Chuditiya.—SeeKevuto.
Chunam(lime).—A sub-division of Toreyas, who are manufacturers of lime. Chunam, made from calcinedshells, limestone, etc., is largely used for building purposes, and the chunam plaster of Madras has been long celebrated for its marble-like polish. Chunam is also chewed with betel.
Chuvano.—Recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as a small Oriya cultivating caste, supposed to be of Kshatriya parentage.