Chapter 17

3. Nattāti. Settled at the village of Nattāti near Sawyerpūram.4. Kodikkāl. Derived from kodi, a flag. Standard-bearers of the fighting men. According to another version, the word means a betel garden, in reference to those who were betel cultivators.5. Mēl-nātar (mēl, west). Those who live in the western part of Tinnevelly and in Travancore.At the census, 1891, Konga (territorial) and Madurai were returned as sub-divisions. The latter apparently receives its name, not from the town of Madura, but from a word meaning sweet juice. At the census, 1901, Tollakkādan (man with a big hole in his ears) was taken as being a sub-caste of Shānān, as the people who returned it, and sell husked rice in Madras, used the title Nādān. Madura and Tinnevelly are eminently the homes of dilated ear-lobes. Some Tamil traders in these two districts, who returned themselves as Pāndyan, were classified as Shānāns, as Nādān was entered as their title. In Coimbatore, some Shānāns, engaged as shop-keepers, have been known to adopt the name of Chetti. In Coimbatore, too, the title Mūppan occurs. This title, meaning headman or elder, is also used by the Ambalakāran, Valayan, Sudarmān, Sēnaikkudaiyān, and other castes. In the Tanjore Manual, the Shānāns are divided into Tennam, Panam, and Ichcham, according as they tap the cocoanut, palmyra, or wild date (Phœnix sylvestris). The name Enādi for Shānāns is derived from Enādi Nayanar, a Saivite saint. But it also means a barber.The community has, among its members, land-owners, and graduates in theology, law, medicine, and the arts. Nine-tenths of the Native clergy in Tinnevelly are said to be converted Shānāns, and Tinnevelly claims Native missionaries working in Madagascar, Natal, Mauritius, and the Straits. The occupationsof those whom I saw at Nazareth were merchant, cultivator, teacher, village munsif, organist, cart-driver, and cooly.The Shānāns have established a school, called Kshatriya Vidyasala, at Virudupati in Tinnevelly. This is a free school, for attendance at which no fee is levied on the pupils, for the benefit of the Shānān community, but boys of other castes are freely admitted to it. It is maintained by Shānāns from their mahimai fund, and the teachers are Brāhmans, Shānāns, etc. The word mahimai means greatness, glory, or respectability.Shānbōg.—The Māgane Shānbōg takes the place, in South Canara, of the village Karnam or accountant. There are also temple Shānbōgs, who are employed at the more important temples. When social disputes come up for decision at caste council meetings, the Shānbōg appointed by the caste records the evidence, and the Moktessor or Mukhtesar (chief man) of the caste decides upon the facts. In some places in South Canara Shānbōg is used as a synonym for Sārasvat Brāhman. In Mysore, the Shānbōg is said48to be “the village accountant, with hardly an exception of the Brāhman caste. The office is hereditary. In some places they hold land free of rent, and in others on light assessment. In some few places a fixed money allowance is given. In all instances there are certain fixed fees payable to them in money or kind by the ryots.”It is noted by Mr. W. Robinson, in a report on the Laccadive islands (1869), that “the Monegar has the assistance of one of the islanders as a Karany, to take down depositions, and to read them, for the character used is the Arabic. In addition to these duties, theKarany has those of the Shanbogue. He keeps the accounts of the trees, and the coir (cocoanut fibre) in the islands, and makes out and delivers the accounts of coir brought to the coast.”Shikāri.—Shikāri, meaning a sportsman or hunter, occurs as a synonym of Irula, and a sub-division of Korava. The name shikāri is also applied to a Native who “accompanies European sportsmen as a guide and aid, and to the European sportsman himself.”49Shōlaga.—In his account of the Shōlagas or Sōlagas, early in the last century, Buchanan50writes that they “speak a bad or old dialect of the Karnāta language, have scarcely any clothing, and sleep round a fire, lying on a few plantain leaves, and covering themselves with others. They live chiefly on the summits of mountains, where the tigers do not frequent, but where their naked bodies are exposed to a disagreeable cold. Their huts are most wretched, and consist of bamboos with both ends stuck into the ground, so as to form an arch, which is covered with plantain leaves.” The up-to-date Shōlaga, who inhabits the jungles of Coimbatore between Dimbhum and Kollegal near the Mysore frontier, is clad in a cotton loin-cloth, supplemented by a coat of English pattern with regimental buttons, and smears himself freely on special occasions, such as a visit to the Government anthropologist, with sacred ashes in mimicry of the Lingāyats.I gather from a correspondent that the following tradition concerning their origin is current. In days of yore there lived two brothers in the Geddesala hills, by name Kārayan and Billaya or Mādhēswara. The Uralis and Shōlagas are descended from Kārayan, and theSivachāris (Lingāyats) from Mādhēswara. The two brothers fell into the hands of a terrible Rākshasha (demon), by name Savanan, who made Kārayan a shepherd, but imprisoned Mādhēswara for not paying him sufficient respect, and extracted all kinds of menial work from him. Last of all he ordered him to make a pair of shoes, whereupon Mādhēswara asked for his liberty for a few days, to enable him to have the shoes well made. His request being granted, Mādhēswara betook himself to the god Krishnamurti, and asked him for his help in his troubles. The god was only too happy to assist, and suggested that the shoes should be made of wax. Helped by Krishnamurti, Mādhēswara made a very beautiful-looking pair of shoes. Krishnamurti then ordered him to pile up and light a huge bonfire on a bare rocky hill east of Geddesala, so as to make it nearly red-hot. The ashes were then cleared away, so as to leave no trace of their plot. Mādhēswara then took the shoes, and presented them to Savanan, who was much pleased with them, and willingly acceded to Mādhēswara’s request that he would put them on, and walk along the rock. But, as soon as he stepped upon it, the shoes melted, and Savanan fell heavily on the rock, clutching hold of Mādhēswara as he fell, and trying to strangle him. Krishnamurti had assembled all the gods to witness the carrying out of the plot, and, telling each of them to pile a stone onSavanan’shead, himself rescued Mādhēswara from his clutches, and all jumped upon the Rākshasha till no trace of him was left. While this was going on, Kārayan was tending Savanan’s herds in the forest, and, when he came to hear about it, was angry with his brother for not consulting him before destroying Savanan. Flying from Kārayan, who was armed with a knife, Mādhēswara implored Krishnamurti’shelp, by which he was able to leap from Kotriboli to the hill called Urugamalai, a distance of some ten miles. The force of the leap caused the hill to bend—hence its name meaning the bending hill. Finding that the hill was bending, and being still hotly pursued by his brother, knife in hand, Mādhēswara again appealed to Krishnamurti, and was enabled to make another leap of about five miles to a hill called Eggaraimalai, which immediately began to subside. Hence its name, meaning the subsiding hill. Thence he fled to Munikanal, and concealed himself under a rock, closely followed by Kārayan, who slashed the rock with his knife, and left marks which are visible to this day. From Munikanal he fled to the hill now known as Mādhēswaranamalai, and hid in a rat hole. Kārayan, not being able to unearth him, sent for a lot of shepherds, and made them pen their sheep and cattle over the hole. The effluvium became too strong for the fugitive, so he surrendered himself to his brother, who pardoned him on the understanding that, on deification, Kārayan should have prior claim to all votive offerings. To this Mādhēswara agreed, and to this day Sivachāris, when doing pūja, first make their offerings to Kārayan and afterwards to Mādhēswara. In connection with this legend, any one proceeding to the top of Kotriboli hill at the present day is expected to place a stone upon the rock, with the result that there are many piles of stones there. Even Europeans are asked to do this.The Shōlagas are said to call themselves men of five kulams, or exogamous septs, among which are Chalikiri, Tēneru, Belleri, Surya (the sun), and Aleru. By members of the twelve kulam class, everything is done by twelves. For example, on the twelfth day after a birth, twelve elders are invited to the house to bless the child.At a marriage, twelve of the bridegroom’s relations go and fetch the bride, and the wedding pandal (booth) has twelve posts. The parents of the bridegroom pay twelve rupees to the bride’s father, and a tāli (marriage badge) worth twelve annas is tied round the bride’s neck. In case of death, the body is borne on a stretcher made of twelve bamboos, and mourning lasts for twelve days.Tribal disputes,e.g., quarrelling and adultery, are decided by the Yejamāna, assisted by a Pattagara and a few leading men of the community. Under the orders of the two former is the Chalavāthi or village servant. The Yejamāna, Pattagara, and Chalavāthi must belong respectively to the Chalikiri, Teneri, and Surya septs.When a girl reaches puberty, she occupies a separate hut for five days, and then returns home after a bath. The maternal uncle should present her with a new cloth, betel leaves and areca nuts, and plantain fruits. In the formal marriage ceremony, the tāli is tied by the bridegroom inside a booth; the maternal uncle, if he can afford it, presents a new cloth to the bride, and a feast is held. Sometimes even this simple rite is dispensed with, and the couple, without any formality, live together as man and wife, on the understanding that, at some time, a feast must be given to a few of the community. I am told that the Shōlagas of the Burghur hills have a very extraordinary way of treating expectant mothers. A few days before the event is expected to take place, the husband takes his wife right away into the jungle, and leaves her there alone with three days’ supply of food. There she has to stay, and do the best she can for herself. If she does not come back at the end of the three days, the husband goes out and takes her more food. But she may not return to her village till the baby is born. When one of these unfortunate creatures comes backsafely, there is a great celebration in her honour, with beating of tom-tom, etc.The dead are buried with the body lying on its left side, and the head to the south. On their return home from a funeral, those who have been present thereat salute a lighted lamp. On the spot where the dead person breathed his last, a little rāgi (Eleusine Coracana) paste and water are placed, and here, on the fourth day, a goat is sacrificed, and offered up to the soul of the departed. After this the son proceeds to the burial ground, carrying a stone, and followed by men selected from each of the exogamous septs. Arrived near the grave, they sit down, while the son places the stone on the ground, and they then lift it in succession. The last man to do so is said to fall into a trance. On his recovery, leaves (plantain, teak, etc.) corresponding in number to the exogamous septs, are arranged round the stone, and, on each leaf, different kinds of food are placed. The men partake of the food, each from the leaf allotted to his sept. The meal concluded, the son holds the stone in his hands, while his companions pour rāgi and water over it, and then carries it away to the gopamane (burial-ground) of his sept, and sets it up there.On the occasion of a death in a Mala Vellāla village, the Shōlagas come in crowds, with clarionets and drums, and bells on their legs, and dance in front of the house. And the corpse is borne, in musical procession, to the burning-ground.The staple food of the Shōlagas is rāgi paste and yams (Dioscorea), which, like the Urālis, they supplement by sundry jungle animals and birds. Paroquets they will not eat, as they regard them as their children.Their main occupation is to collect minor forest produce, myrabolams, vembadam bark (Ventilagomadraspatana), avaram bark (Cassia auriculata), deers’ horns, tamarinds, gum, honey, soap-nuts, sheekoy (Acacia Concinna),etc. The forests have been divided into blocks, and a certain place within each block has been selected for the forest depôt. To this place the collecting agents, mostly Shōlagas and Urālis, bring the produce, and there it is sorted and paid for by special supervisors appointed for the work.Shōlaga.Shōlaga.In the Coimbatore district the Shōlagas are said to collect honey from rocky crevices. The combs are much larger than those found on trees, and are supposed to contain twice as much wax in proportion to the honey. On the Nilgiri hills honey-combs are collected by Jēn Kurumbas and Shōlagas. The supply of honey varies according to the nature of the season, and is especially plentiful and of good quality whenStrobilanthes Wightianus,S. Kunthiana, and other species are in flower.It has been said that even wild beasts will scent a Shōlaga, and flee before the aroma.The Shōlagas, who were examined by Dr. Rivers and myself, came to the conclusion that the object of our enquiry was to settle them in a certain place near London, and that the wools of different colours (used for testing colour vision) given to them for selection, were for tying them captive with. Others said that they could not understand why the different organs of their bodies were measured; perhaps to reduce or increase the size of their body to suit the different works, which they were expected to do near London. It has been pointed out to me, as an interesting fact, that a similarity of idea concerning the modification of different organs to suit men for the doing of special work has been arrived at by the jungle folk, and by Mr. Wells in his book,‘The first men in the moon,’ where the lunar inhabitants are described as carrying on the practice.Of the experiences of a Shōlaga when out with a European on a shooting expedition, the following account has recently been given.51“My husband was after a bear, and tracked Bruin to his cave. He had torches made, and these he ordered to be thrust into the cave in the hope of smoking the bear out, but, as nothing happened, he went into the cave, accompanied by a Sholigar carrying a torch. As soon as they got used to the light, they saw a small aperture leading into an inner cave, and the Sholigar was told to put the torch in there. Hardly was this done, when out rushed a large bear, knocking over the Sholigar, and extinguishing the torch. My husband could not get his gun up in time to fire, as the bear rushed through the cave into the jungle. Just as the Sholigar was picking himself up, out rushed another bear. This time my husband was ready, and fired. To the Sholigar’s horror, Bruin sank down wounded at the entrance to the outer cave, thus blocking the exit, and keeping both tracker and my husband prisoners. The Sholigar began whimpering, saying he was the father of a large family, and did not wish to leave the children fatherless. Soon the bear, though very badly wounded, managed to get to its feet, and crawl away into the jungle, so liberating the prisoners.”Concerning the Shōlagas of the Mysore Province,52I gather that they “inhabit the depths of the forests clothing the foot and slopes of the Biligirirangam hills. They cultivate with the hoe small patches of jungle clearings. Their chief god is Biligiri Rangasvāmi, but they also worship Kāraiyya, their tribal tutelary deity. Theirprincipal food is the rāgi, which they grow, supplemented by wild forest produce. They are partial to the flesh of deer, antelope, pigs, sheep and goats. A few of them have, in recent years, come to own lands. Like the Jēnu Kurumbas, they are perfect trackers of wild animals. Three kinds of marriage prevail among them. The first is affected by the more well-to-do, who perform the ceremony with much éclat under a shed with twelve pillars (bamboo posts), accompanied by music and festivities, which continue for three days. The second is more common, and seems to be a modified form of concubinage. The poorer members resort to the third kind, which consists in the couple eloping to a distant jungle, and returning home only after the bride has become a mother. They speak a patois, allied to old Canarese or Halē Kannada.”53Shōla Naiker.—A synonym of Jēn Kurumbas in the Wynād.Sibbi Dhompti(brass vessel offering).—A subdivision of Mādigas, who, at marriages, offer food to the god in brass vessels.Siddaru.—A synonym of Jōgi mendicants.Sika(kudumi or hair-knot).—An exogamous sept of Dēvānga.Sīkili(broom).—An exogamous sept of Mādiga.Sikligar.—In the Madras Census Report, 1901, eleven individuals are returned as belonging to an Upper India caste of knife-grinders (Sikligar). In the Madura Manual, Sikilkārars are described as knife-grinders, who wander about in quest of work from village to village.Sila(stone).—An exogamous sept of Omanaito.Sīlam(good conduct).—An exogamous sept of Māla.Sīlavant.—In the Madras Census Report, 1901, Sīlavant is recorded as meaning the virtuous, and as being a sub-sect of Lingāyats. In the Mysore Census Report, Sīlavanta is given as a name for Lingāyat Nayindas. For the following note on the Sīlavantalu or Sīlēvantalu of Vizagapatam, I am indebted to Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao.They are a sect of Lingāyats, who, though they do not admit it, appear to be an offshoot of Pattu Sālēs, who became converts to the Lingāyat religion. They are engaged in the manufacture of fine cloths for males and females. The religious observances which secured them their name, meaning those who practice or possess particular religious customs, have been thus described. In the seventh month of pregnancy, at the time of quickening, a small stone linga is enclosed in black lac, wrapped in a piece of silk cloth, and tied to the thread of the linga which is on the woman’s neck. The child is thus invested with the linga while stillin utero. When it is about a year old, and weaned, the linga is taken off the mother’s neck, and replaced by a silver locket. The linga is tied on the neck of the child. At the beginning of the twelfth year in the case of boys, and just before the marriage of girls, this linga is taken off, and a fresh one suspended round the neck by a guru.The Sīlavantalu are divided into exogamous septs, or intipērulu. The custom of mēnarikam, whereby a man marries his maternal uncle’s daughter, is the rule. But, if the maternal uncle has no daughter, he must find a suitable bride for his nephew. Girls are married before puberty, and a Jangam, known as Mahēsvara, officiates at weddings.The dead are buried in a sitting posture, facing north. The linga is suspended round the neck of thecorpse, and buried with it. Six small copper plates are made, each containing a syllable of the invocation Ōm na ma Si va ya. Two of these are placed on the thighs of the corpse, one on the head, one on the navel, and two on the shoulders, and stuck on with guggilam paste. The corpse is then tied up in a sack. The relatives offer flowers to it, and burn camphor before it. The grave is dug several feet deep, and a cavity or cell is made on the southern side of it, and lined with bamboo matting. The corpse is placed within the cell, and salt thrown into the grave before it is filled in. A Jangam officiates at the funeral. Monthly and annual death ceremonies are performed. A samāthi or monument is erected over the grave. Such a monument may be either in the form of a square mound (brindavan) with niches for lights and a hole in the top, in which a tulsi (Ocimum sanctum) is planted, or in the form of a small chamber. Relations go occasionally to the grave, whereon they deposit flowers, and place lights in the niches or chamber.The Sīlavantalu are strict vegetarians and total abstainers. Their titles are Ayya and Lingam.Silpa(artisan).—A sub-division of the Kammālans, Panchālas or Kamsalas, whose hereditary occupation is that of stone-masons. In the Silpa Sāstra, the measurements necessary in sculpture, the duties of a Silpi, etc., are laid down. I am informed that the carver of a stone idol has to select a male or female stone, according as the idol is to be a god or goddess, and that the sex of a stone can be determined by its ring when struck.Sindhu.—The Sindhuvāllu (drummers) are Mādigas, who go about acting scenes from the Rāmayana or Mahābhāratha, and the story of Ankamma. Sindhu also occurs as a gōtra of Kurni. The beating of the drum called sindhu is, I gather, sometimes a nuisance, for amissionary writes to the paper enquiring whether there is any order of Government against it, as the practice “causes much crime, and creates extra work for police and magistrates. Village officials believe they have no authority to suppress it, but there are some who assert that it is nominally forbidden.”Singamu-vāru.—Singam is described, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as a class of beggars, who beg only from Sālēs. They are, however, described by Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao as a class of itinerant mendicants attached to the Dēvāngas. “The name,” he writes, “is a variant of Simhamu-vāru, or lion-men,i.e., as valourous as a lion. They are paid a small sum annually by each Dēvānga village for various services which they render, such as carrying fire before a Dēvānga corpse to the burial-ground, acting as caste messengers, and cleaning the weaving instruments.”Sinnata(gold).—An exogamous sept of Kuruba.Sīolo.—A small class of Oriya toddy-drawers, whose touch conveys pollution. The Sondis, who are an Oriya caste of toddy-sellers, purchase their liquor from the Sīolos.Sipiti.—The Sipitis are described, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as “Oriya temple priests and drummers; a sub-caste of Rāvulo.” In an account of them as given to me, they are stated to be Smartas, and temple priests of village deities, who wear the sacred thread, but do not employ Brāhmans as purōhits, and are regarded as somewhat lower in the social scale than the Rāvulos. Some of their females are said to have been unrecognised prostitutes, but the custom is dying out. The caste title is Mūni. (SeeRāvulo.)Sir.—A sub-division of Kanakkan.Sirpādam.—A sub-division of Kaikōlan.Sirukudi.—A nādu or territorial division of Kallan.Siru Tāli.—The name, indicating those who wear a small tāli (marriage badge), of a sub-division of Kaikōlan and Maravan.Sītikan.—Recorded, in the Travancore Census Report, 1901, as an occupational sub-division of Mārān.Sitra.—SeePāno.Siva Brāhmana.—Recorded as a synonym of Stānika.Sivachāra.—It is noted, in the Mysore Census Report, 1901, that the Lingāyats call themselves “Vīra Saivas, Sivabhaktas, or Sivachars. The Vīrasaiva religion consists of numerous castes. It is a religion consisting of representatives from almost every caste in Hindu society. People of all castes, from the highest to the lowest, have embraced the religion. There are Sivachar Brāhmins, Sivachar Kshatriyas, Sivachar Vaisyas, Sivachar carpenters, Sivachar weavers, Sivachar goldsmiths, Sivachar potters, Sivachar washermen, and Sivachar barbers, and other low castes who have all followed the popular religion in large numbers.”Sivadvija.—The name, denoting Saivite Brāhman, by which Mūssads like to be called. Also recorded as a synonym of Stānika.Sivarātri.—An exogamous sept of Oddē, named after the annual Mahāsivarātri festival in honour of Siva. Holy ashes, sacred to Siva, prepared by Smartas on this day, are considered to be very pure.Sivarchaka.—The word means those who do pūja (worship) to Siva. Priests at the temple of village deities are ordinarily known as Pūjāri, Pūsāli, Ōcchan, etc., but nowadays prefer the title of Ūmarchaka or Sivarchaka. The name Sivala occurs in the Madras Census Report, 1901.Siviyar.—Siviyar means literally a palanquin-bearer, and is an occupational name applied to those employed in that capacity. For this reason a sub-division of the Idaiyans is called Siviyar. The Siviyars of Coimbatore say that they have no connection with either Idaiyans or Toreyas, but are Besthas who emigrated from Mysore during the troublous times of the Muhammadan usurpation. The name Siviyar is stated to have been given to them by the Tamils, as they were palanquin-bearers to officers on circuit and others in the pre-railway days. They claim origin, on the authority of a book called Parvatharāja Charithum, from Parvatharāja. Their main occupations at the present day are tank and river fishing, but some are petty traders, physicians, peons, etc. Their language is Canarese, and their title Naickan. They have eighteen marriage divisions or gōtras, named after persons from whom the various gōtras are said to have been descended. On occasions of marriage, when betel leaf is distributed, it must be given to members of the different gōtras in their order of precedence. In cases of adultery, the guilty parties are tied to a post, and beaten with tamarind switches. When a grown-up but unmarried person dies, the corpse is made to go through a mock marriage with a human figure cut out of a palm leaf.Sōdabisiya.—A sub-division of Dōmb.Soi.—A title of Doluva. It is a form of Sui or Swayi.Sōlaga.—SeeShōlaga.Sōliyan.—Sōliyan or Sōliya is a territorial name, meaning an inhabitant of the Chōla country, recorded as a sub-division of Karnam, Idaiyan, Pallan, and Vellāla. The equivalent Sōlangal occurs as an exogamous sept of Vallamban, and Sōliya illam (Malayālam, house) asan exogamous sept of Panikkans in the Tamil country. Some Pallis style themselves Sōlakanar (descendants of Chōla kings), or Sōlakula Kshatriya. (SeeSōzhia.)Sōmakshatri.—A name sometimes adopted by Canarese Gānigas in South Canara.Sōmara.—Recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as a small class of potters in the Vizagapatam hills.Sōmari(idler).—A division of Yānādis, who do scavenging work, and eat the refuse food thrown away by people from the leaf plate after a meal.Sōma Vārada(Sunday).—The name of Kurubas who worship their god on Sundays.Sōnagan.—SeeJōnagan.Sonar.—The Sonars or Sonagāras of South Canara are described by Mr. H. A. Stuart54as a goldsmith caste, who “speak Konkani, which is a dialect of Marāthi, and are believed to have come from Goa. The community at each station has one or two Mukhtēsars or headmen, who enquire into, and settle the caste affairs. Serious offences are reported to the swāmy of Sode, who has authority to excommunicate, or to inflict heavy fines. They wear the sacred thread. Marriages within the same gōtra are strictly prohibited. Most of them are Vaishnavites, but a few follow Siva. The dead are burned, and the ashes are thrown into a river. They eat fish, but not flesh. Their title is Setti.” They consider it derogatory to work in metals other than gold and silver.In the Madras Census Report, 1901, the Sunnāri (or Sonnāri) are described as Oriya goldsmiths (seeRisley, Tribes and Castes of Bengal, Sonar). These goldsmiths,in the Oriya portion of the Madras Presidency, are, I am informed, Kamsalas from the Telugu country. Unlike the Oriyas, and like other Telugu classes, they invariably have a house-name, and their mother tongue is Telugu. They are Saivites, bury their dead, claim to be descendants of Viswakarma, and call themselves Viswa Brāhmans. They do not eat meals prepared by Brāhmans, or drink water at the hands of Brāhmans.In former times, goldsmiths held the post of Nottakāran (tester) or village shroff (money-changer). His function was to test the rupees tendered when the land revenue was being gathered in, and see that they were not counterfeit. There is a proverb, uncomplimentary to the goldsmiths, to the effect that a goldsmith cannot make an ornament even for his wife, without first secreting some of the gold or silver given him for working upon.It has been noted55that “in Madras, an exceedingly poor country, there is one male goldsmith to every 408 of the total population; in England, a very rich country, there is only one goldsmith to every 1,200 inhabitants. In Europe, jewellery is primarily for ornament, and is a luxury. In India it is primarily an investment, its ornamental purpose being an incident.”The South Indian goldsmith at work has been well described as follows.56“A hollow, scooped out in the middle of the mud floor (of a room or verandah), does duty for the fireplace, while, close by, there is raised a miniature embankment, semi-circular in shape, with a hole in the middle of the base for the insertion of the bellows. Crucibles of clay or cow-dung, baked hard in the sun, tongs and hammers, potsherds of charcoal, dirtytins of water, and little packets of sal-ammoniac, resin, or other similar substances, all lie scattered about the floor in picturesque confusion. Sitting, or rather crouching on their haunches, are a couple of the Pānchāla workmen. One of them is blowing a pan of charcoal into flame through an iron tube some eighteen inches long by one in diameter, and stirring up the loose charcoal. Another is hammering at a piece of silver wire on a little anvil before him. With his miserable tools the Hindu goldsmith turns out work that well might, and often deservedly does, rank with the greatest triumphs of the jeweller’s art.”Sondi.—The Sondis or Sundis are summed up in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as “Oriya toddy-selling caste. They do not draw toddy themselves, but buy it from Siolos, and sell it. They also distill arrack.” The word arrack or arak, it may be noteden passant, means properly “perspiration, and then, first the exudation of sap drawn from the date-palm; secondly, any strong drink, distilled spirit, etc.”57A corruption of the word is rack, which occurs,e.g., in rack punch.According to a Sanskrit work, entitled Parāsarapaddati, Soundikas (toddy-drawers and distillers of arrack) are the offspring of a Kaivarata male and a Gaudike female. Both these castes are pratiloma (mixed) castes. In the Matsya Purāna, the Soundikas are said to have been born to Siva of seven Apsara women on the bank of the river Son. Manu refers to the Soundikas, and says that a Snātaka58may not accept food from trainers of hunting dogs, Soundikas, a washerman, a dyer, pitiless man, and a man in whose house lives a paramour of his wife.In a note on the allied Sunris or Sundis of Bengal, Mr. Risley writes59that “according to Hindu ideas, distillers and sellers of strong drink rank among the most degraded castes, and a curious story in the Vaivarta Purāna keeps alive the memory of their degradation. It is said that when Sani, the Hindu Saturn, failed to adapt an elephant’s head to the mutilated trunk of Ganēsa, who had beenaccidentallybeheaded by Siva, Viswakarma, the celestial artificer, was sent for, and by careful dissection and manipulation he fitted the incongruous parts together, and made a man called Kedāra Sena from the slices cut off in fashioning his work. This Kedāra Sena was ordered to fetch a drink of water for Bhagavati, weary and athirst. Finding on the river’s bank a shell full of water, he presented it to her, without noticing that a few grains of rice left in it by a parrot had fermented and formed an intoxicating liquid. Bhagavati, as soon as she had drunk, became aware of the fact, and in her anger condemned the offender to the vile and servile occupation of making spirituous liquor for mankind. Another story traces their origin to a certain Bhāskar or Bhāskar Muni, who was created by Krishna’s brother, Balarām, to minister to his desire for strong drink. A different version of the same legend gives them for ancestor Niranjan, a boy found by Bhāskar floating down a river in a pot full of country liquor, and brought up by him as a distiller.”For the following note on the Sondis of Vizagapatam, I am indebted to Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao. According to a current tradition, there was, in days of old, a Brāhman, who was celebrated for his magical powers. The king, his patron, asked him if he could make thewater in a tank (pond) burn, and he replied in the affirmative. He was, however, in reality disconsolate, because he did not know how to do it. By chance he met a distiller, who asked him why he looked so troubled, and, on learning his difficulty, promised to help him on condition that he gave him his daughter in marriage. To this the Brāhman consented. The distiller gave him a quantity of liquor to pour into the tank, and told him to set it alight in the presence of the king. The Brāhman kept his word, and the Sondis are the descendants of the offspring of his daughter and the distiller. The caste is divided into several endogamous divisions, viz., Bodo Odiya, Madhya kūla, and Sanno kūla. The last is said to be made up of illegitimate descendants of the two first divisions.The Sondis distil liquor from the ippa (Bassia) flower, rice, and jaggery (crude sugar). There is a tradition that Brahma created the world, and pinched up from a point between his eyebrows a little mud, from which he made a figure, and endowed it with life. Thus Suka Muni was created, and authorised to distil spirit from the ippa flowers, which had hitherto been eaten by birds.When a girl reaches puberty, she is set apart in a room within a square enclosure made with four arrows connected together by a thread. Turmeric and oil are rubbed over her daily, and, on the seventh day, she visits the local shrine.Girls are married before puberty. Some days before a wedding, a sāl (Shorea robusta) orneredu (Eugenia Jambolana)post is set up in front of the bridegroom’s house, and a pandal (booth) erected round it. On the appointed day, a caste feast is held, and a procession of males proceeds to the bride’s house, carrying with themfinger rings, silver and glass bangles, and fifty rupees as the jholla tonka (bride price). On the following day, the bride goes to the house of the bridegroom. On the marriage day, the contracting couple go seven times round the central post of the pandal, and their hands are joined by the presiding Oriya Brāhman. They then sit down, and the sacred fire is raised. The females belonging to the bridegroom’s party sprinkle them with turmeric and rice. On the following day, a Bhondāri (barber) cleans the pandal, and draws patterns in it with rice flour. A mat is spread, and the couple play with cowry shells. These are five in number, and the bridegroom holds them tightly in his right hand, while the bride tries to wrest them from him. If she succeeds in so doing, her brothers beat the bridegroom, and make fun of him; if she fails, the bridegroom’s sisters beat and make fun of her. The bride then takes hold of the cowries, and the same performance is gone through. A basket of rice is brought, and some of it poured into a vessel. The bridegroom holds a portion of it in his hand, and the bride asks him to put it back. This, after a little coaxing, he consents to do. These ceremonies are repeated during the next five days. On the seventh day, small quantities of food are placed on twelve leaves, and twelve Brāhmans, who receive a present of money, sit down, and partake thereof. The marriage of widows is permitted, and a younger brother may marry the widow of an elder brother.The dead are burned, and death pollution lasts for ten days. Daily, during this period, cooked food is strewed on the way leading to the burning-ground. On the eleventh day, those under pollution bathe, and the sacred fire (hōmam) is raised by a Brāhman. As at a wedding, twelve Brāhmans receive food and money.Towards midnight, a new pot is brought, and holes are bored in it. A lighted lamp and food are placed in it, and it is taken towards the burning-ground and set down on the ground. The dead man’s name is then called out three times. He is informed that food is ready, and asked to come.Men, but not women, eat animal food. The women will not partake of the remnants of their husbands’ meal on days on which they eat meat, because, according to the legend, their female ancestor was a Brāhman woman.Among the Sondis of Ganjam, if a girl does not secure a husband before she reaches maturity, she goes through a form of marriage with an old man of the caste, or with her elder sister’s husband, and may not marry until the man with whom she has performed this ceremony dies. On the wedding day, the bridegroom is shaved, and his old waist-thread is replaced by a new one. The ceremonies commence with the worship of Ganēsa, and agree in the main with those of many other Oriya castes. The remarriage of widows is permitted. If a widow was the wife of the first-born or eldest son in a family, she may not, after his death, marry one of his younger brothers. She may, however, do so if she was married in the first instance to a second son.It is noted by Mr. C. F. MacCartie, in the Madras Census Report, 1881, that “a good deal of land has been sold by Khond proprietors to other castes. It was in this way that much territory was found some years ago to be passing into the hands of the Sundis or professional liquor distillers. As soon as these facts were brought to the notice of Government, no time was lost in the adoption of repressive measures, which have been completely successful, as the recent census shows a greatreduction in the numbers of these Sundis, who, now that their unscrupulous trade is abolished, have emigrated largely to Boad and other tracts. This is the only case to my knowledge in which a special trade has decayed, and with the best results, as, had it not been so, there is no doubt that the Khond population would very soon have degenerated into pureadscripti glebæ, and the Sundis become the landlords.”It is recorded, in the Gazetteer of the Vizagapatam district, that “besides ippa (liquor distilled from the blossom ofBassia latifolia), the hill people brew beer from rice, sāmai (the milletPanicum miliare), and rāgi (Eleusine Coracana). They mash the grain in the ordinary manner, add some more water to it, mix a small quantity of ferment with it, leave it to ferment three or four days, and then strain off the grain. The beer so obtained is often highly intoxicating, and different kinds of it go by different names, such as londa, pandiyam, and maddikallu. The ferment which is used is called the sāraiya-mandu (spirit drug) or Sondi-mandu (Sondi’s drug), and can be bought in the weekly market. There are numerous recipes for making it, but the ingredients are always jungle roots and barks.60It is sold made up into small balls with rice. The actual shop-keepers and still-owners in the hills, especially in the Parvatipur and Pālkonda agencies, are usually immigrants of the Sondi caste, a wily class who know exactly how to take advantage of the sin which doth so easily beset the hill man, and to wheedle from him, in exchange for the strong drink which he cannot do without, his ready money, his little possessions, his crops, and finally his land itself.“The Sondis are gradually getting much of the best land into their hands, and many of the guileless hill ryots into their power. Mr. Taylor stated in 1892 that ‘the rate of interest on loans extorted by these Sondis is 100 per cent. and, if this is not cleared off in the first year, compound interest at 100 per cent. is charged on the balance. The result is that, in many instances, the cultivators are unable to pay in cash or kind, and become the gōtis or serfs of the sowcars, for whom they have to work in return for mere batta (subsistence allowance), whilst the latter take care to manipulate their accounts in such a manner that the debt is never paid off. A remarkable instance of this tyranny was brought to my notice a few days since. A ryot some fifty years ago borrowed Rs. 20; he paid back Rs. 50 at intervals, and worked for the whole of his life, and died in harness. For the same debt the sowcar (money-lender) claimed the services of his son, and he too died in bondage, leaving two small sons aged 13 and 9, whose services were also claimed for an alleged arrear of Rs. 30 on a debt of Rs. 20 borrowed 50 years back, for which Rs. 50 in cash had been repaid in addition to the perpetual labour of a man for a similar period.’ This custom of gōti is firmly established, and, in a recent case, an elder brother claimed to be able to pledge for his own debts the services of his younger brother, and even those of the latter’s wife. Debts due by persons of respectability are often collected by the Sondis by an exasperating method, which has led to at least one case of homicide. They send Ghāsis, who are one of the lowest of all castes, and contact with whom is utter defilement entailing severe caste penalties, to haunt the house of the debtor who will not pay, insult and annoy him and his family, and threaten to drag him forcibly before theSondi.” A friend was, on one occasion, out after big game in the Jeypore hills, and shot a tiger. He asked his shikāri (tracker) what reward he should give him for putting him on to the beast. The shikāri replied that he would be quite satisfied with twenty-five rupees, as he wanted to get his younger brother out of pledge. Asked what he meant, he replied that, two years previously, he had purchased as his wife a woman who belonged to a caste higher than his own for a hundred rupees. He obtained the money by pledging his younger brother to a sowcar, and had paid it all back except twenty-five rupees. Meanwhile his brother was the bondsman of the sowcar, and cultivating his land in return for simple food.It is further recorded, in the Gazetteer of the Vizagapatam district, that Dombu (or Dōmb) dacoits “force their way into the house of some wealthy person (for choice the local Sondi liquor-seller and sowcar—usually the only man worth looting in an Agency village, and a shark who gets little pity from his neighbours when forced to disgorge), tie up the men, rape the women, and go off with everything of value.”The titles of the Ganjam Sondis are Bēhara, Chowdri, Podhāno, and Sāhu. In the Vizagapatam agency tracts, their title is said to be Bissōyi.Sonkari.—The Sonkaris are a small class of Oriya lac bangle (sonka) makers in Ganjam and Vizagapatam, who should not be confused with the Telugu Sunkaris. The men are engaged in agriculture, and the women manufacture the bangles, chains, chāmaras (fly-flappers), kolātam sticks (for stick play), and fans ornamented with devices in paddy (unhusked rice) grains, which are mainly sold to Europeans as curios.Sonkari girls are married before puberty. A man should marry his paternal aunt’s daughter, but at the present day this custom is frequently disregarded. Brāhmans officiate at their marriages. The dead are cremated. The caste title is Pātro.Sonkuva.—A sub-division of Māli.Sonti(dried ginger).—An exogamous sept of Asili.Soppu(leaf).—The name for Koragas, who wear leafy garments.Sōzhia.—A territorial name of sub-divisions of various Tamil classes who are settled in what was formerly the Chōla country,e.g., Brāhman, Chetti, Kaikōlan, Kammālan, Pallan, and Vellāla.Srishti Karnam.—A sub-division of Karnam. The name is variously spelt,e.g., Sristi, Sishta, Sishti. The name Sishti Karanamalu is said to have been assumed by Oddilu, who have raised themselves in life.61Stala(a place).—Lingāyats sometimes use the word Staladavāru, or natives of a place, to distinguish them from recent settlers.Stānika.—The Stānikas are summed up, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as being “Canarese temple servants. They claim to be Brāhmans, though other Brāhmans do not admit the claim; and, as the total of the caste has declined from 4,650 in 1891 to 1,469, they have apparently returned themselves as Brāhmans in considerable numbers.” The Stānikas are, in the South Canara Manual, said to be “the descendants of Brāhmins by Brāhmin widows and outcast Brāhmin women, corresponding with Manu’s Golaka. They however now claim to be Siva Brāhmins, forcibly dispossessed of authority by the Mādhvas, and state thatthe name Stānika is not that of a separate caste, but indicates their profession as managers of temples, with the title of Dēva Stānika. This claim is not generally conceded, and as a matter of fact the duties in which Stānikas are employed are clearly those of temple servants, namely, collecting flowers, sweeping the interiors of temples, looking after the lamps, cleaning the temple vessels, ringing bells, and the like. Many of them, however, are landowners and farmers. They are generally Sivites, and wear the sacred thread. Their special deities are Venkatrāmana and Ganapati. Drāvida Brāhmins officiate as their priests, but of late some educated men of the caste have assumed the priestly office. The caste has two sub-divisions, viz., Subramania and Kumbla. Girls must be married in infancy,i.e., before they attain puberty. Widow remarriage is neither permitted nor practiced. Their other customs are almost the same as those of the Kōta Brāhmans. They neither eat flesh nor drink liquor.” It is stated in the Manual that the Stānikas are called Shānbōgs and Mukhtesars. But I am informed that at an inquest or a search the Moktessors or Mukhtesars (chief men) of a village are assembled, and sign the inquest report or search list. The Moktessors of any caste can be summoned together. Some of the Moktessors of a temple may be Stānikas. In the case of social disputes decided at caste meetings, the Shānbōg (writer or accountant) appointed by the caste would record the evidence, and the Moktessor would decide upon the facts.Of the two sections Subramanya and Kumbla, the former claim superiority, and there is no intermarriage between them. The members of the Subramanya section state that they belong to Rig Sāka (Rig Vēda) and havegōtras, such as Viswamitra, Angirasa, and Bāradwaja, and twelve exogamous septs. Of these septs, the following are examples:—

3. Nattāti. Settled at the village of Nattāti near Sawyerpūram.4. Kodikkāl. Derived from kodi, a flag. Standard-bearers of the fighting men. According to another version, the word means a betel garden, in reference to those who were betel cultivators.5. Mēl-nātar (mēl, west). Those who live in the western part of Tinnevelly and in Travancore.At the census, 1891, Konga (territorial) and Madurai were returned as sub-divisions. The latter apparently receives its name, not from the town of Madura, but from a word meaning sweet juice. At the census, 1901, Tollakkādan (man with a big hole in his ears) was taken as being a sub-caste of Shānān, as the people who returned it, and sell husked rice in Madras, used the title Nādān. Madura and Tinnevelly are eminently the homes of dilated ear-lobes. Some Tamil traders in these two districts, who returned themselves as Pāndyan, were classified as Shānāns, as Nādān was entered as their title. In Coimbatore, some Shānāns, engaged as shop-keepers, have been known to adopt the name of Chetti. In Coimbatore, too, the title Mūppan occurs. This title, meaning headman or elder, is also used by the Ambalakāran, Valayan, Sudarmān, Sēnaikkudaiyān, and other castes. In the Tanjore Manual, the Shānāns are divided into Tennam, Panam, and Ichcham, according as they tap the cocoanut, palmyra, or wild date (Phœnix sylvestris). The name Enādi for Shānāns is derived from Enādi Nayanar, a Saivite saint. But it also means a barber.The community has, among its members, land-owners, and graduates in theology, law, medicine, and the arts. Nine-tenths of the Native clergy in Tinnevelly are said to be converted Shānāns, and Tinnevelly claims Native missionaries working in Madagascar, Natal, Mauritius, and the Straits. The occupationsof those whom I saw at Nazareth were merchant, cultivator, teacher, village munsif, organist, cart-driver, and cooly.The Shānāns have established a school, called Kshatriya Vidyasala, at Virudupati in Tinnevelly. This is a free school, for attendance at which no fee is levied on the pupils, for the benefit of the Shānān community, but boys of other castes are freely admitted to it. It is maintained by Shānāns from their mahimai fund, and the teachers are Brāhmans, Shānāns, etc. The word mahimai means greatness, glory, or respectability.Shānbōg.—The Māgane Shānbōg takes the place, in South Canara, of the village Karnam or accountant. There are also temple Shānbōgs, who are employed at the more important temples. When social disputes come up for decision at caste council meetings, the Shānbōg appointed by the caste records the evidence, and the Moktessor or Mukhtesar (chief man) of the caste decides upon the facts. In some places in South Canara Shānbōg is used as a synonym for Sārasvat Brāhman. In Mysore, the Shānbōg is said48to be “the village accountant, with hardly an exception of the Brāhman caste. The office is hereditary. In some places they hold land free of rent, and in others on light assessment. In some few places a fixed money allowance is given. In all instances there are certain fixed fees payable to them in money or kind by the ryots.”It is noted by Mr. W. Robinson, in a report on the Laccadive islands (1869), that “the Monegar has the assistance of one of the islanders as a Karany, to take down depositions, and to read them, for the character used is the Arabic. In addition to these duties, theKarany has those of the Shanbogue. He keeps the accounts of the trees, and the coir (cocoanut fibre) in the islands, and makes out and delivers the accounts of coir brought to the coast.”Shikāri.—Shikāri, meaning a sportsman or hunter, occurs as a synonym of Irula, and a sub-division of Korava. The name shikāri is also applied to a Native who “accompanies European sportsmen as a guide and aid, and to the European sportsman himself.”49Shōlaga.—In his account of the Shōlagas or Sōlagas, early in the last century, Buchanan50writes that they “speak a bad or old dialect of the Karnāta language, have scarcely any clothing, and sleep round a fire, lying on a few plantain leaves, and covering themselves with others. They live chiefly on the summits of mountains, where the tigers do not frequent, but where their naked bodies are exposed to a disagreeable cold. Their huts are most wretched, and consist of bamboos with both ends stuck into the ground, so as to form an arch, which is covered with plantain leaves.” The up-to-date Shōlaga, who inhabits the jungles of Coimbatore between Dimbhum and Kollegal near the Mysore frontier, is clad in a cotton loin-cloth, supplemented by a coat of English pattern with regimental buttons, and smears himself freely on special occasions, such as a visit to the Government anthropologist, with sacred ashes in mimicry of the Lingāyats.I gather from a correspondent that the following tradition concerning their origin is current. In days of yore there lived two brothers in the Geddesala hills, by name Kārayan and Billaya or Mādhēswara. The Uralis and Shōlagas are descended from Kārayan, and theSivachāris (Lingāyats) from Mādhēswara. The two brothers fell into the hands of a terrible Rākshasha (demon), by name Savanan, who made Kārayan a shepherd, but imprisoned Mādhēswara for not paying him sufficient respect, and extracted all kinds of menial work from him. Last of all he ordered him to make a pair of shoes, whereupon Mādhēswara asked for his liberty for a few days, to enable him to have the shoes well made. His request being granted, Mādhēswara betook himself to the god Krishnamurti, and asked him for his help in his troubles. The god was only too happy to assist, and suggested that the shoes should be made of wax. Helped by Krishnamurti, Mādhēswara made a very beautiful-looking pair of shoes. Krishnamurti then ordered him to pile up and light a huge bonfire on a bare rocky hill east of Geddesala, so as to make it nearly red-hot. The ashes were then cleared away, so as to leave no trace of their plot. Mādhēswara then took the shoes, and presented them to Savanan, who was much pleased with them, and willingly acceded to Mādhēswara’s request that he would put them on, and walk along the rock. But, as soon as he stepped upon it, the shoes melted, and Savanan fell heavily on the rock, clutching hold of Mādhēswara as he fell, and trying to strangle him. Krishnamurti had assembled all the gods to witness the carrying out of the plot, and, telling each of them to pile a stone onSavanan’shead, himself rescued Mādhēswara from his clutches, and all jumped upon the Rākshasha till no trace of him was left. While this was going on, Kārayan was tending Savanan’s herds in the forest, and, when he came to hear about it, was angry with his brother for not consulting him before destroying Savanan. Flying from Kārayan, who was armed with a knife, Mādhēswara implored Krishnamurti’shelp, by which he was able to leap from Kotriboli to the hill called Urugamalai, a distance of some ten miles. The force of the leap caused the hill to bend—hence its name meaning the bending hill. Finding that the hill was bending, and being still hotly pursued by his brother, knife in hand, Mādhēswara again appealed to Krishnamurti, and was enabled to make another leap of about five miles to a hill called Eggaraimalai, which immediately began to subside. Hence its name, meaning the subsiding hill. Thence he fled to Munikanal, and concealed himself under a rock, closely followed by Kārayan, who slashed the rock with his knife, and left marks which are visible to this day. From Munikanal he fled to the hill now known as Mādhēswaranamalai, and hid in a rat hole. Kārayan, not being able to unearth him, sent for a lot of shepherds, and made them pen their sheep and cattle over the hole. The effluvium became too strong for the fugitive, so he surrendered himself to his brother, who pardoned him on the understanding that, on deification, Kārayan should have prior claim to all votive offerings. To this Mādhēswara agreed, and to this day Sivachāris, when doing pūja, first make their offerings to Kārayan and afterwards to Mādhēswara. In connection with this legend, any one proceeding to the top of Kotriboli hill at the present day is expected to place a stone upon the rock, with the result that there are many piles of stones there. Even Europeans are asked to do this.The Shōlagas are said to call themselves men of five kulams, or exogamous septs, among which are Chalikiri, Tēneru, Belleri, Surya (the sun), and Aleru. By members of the twelve kulam class, everything is done by twelves. For example, on the twelfth day after a birth, twelve elders are invited to the house to bless the child.At a marriage, twelve of the bridegroom’s relations go and fetch the bride, and the wedding pandal (booth) has twelve posts. The parents of the bridegroom pay twelve rupees to the bride’s father, and a tāli (marriage badge) worth twelve annas is tied round the bride’s neck. In case of death, the body is borne on a stretcher made of twelve bamboos, and mourning lasts for twelve days.Tribal disputes,e.g., quarrelling and adultery, are decided by the Yejamāna, assisted by a Pattagara and a few leading men of the community. Under the orders of the two former is the Chalavāthi or village servant. The Yejamāna, Pattagara, and Chalavāthi must belong respectively to the Chalikiri, Teneri, and Surya septs.When a girl reaches puberty, she occupies a separate hut for five days, and then returns home after a bath. The maternal uncle should present her with a new cloth, betel leaves and areca nuts, and plantain fruits. In the formal marriage ceremony, the tāli is tied by the bridegroom inside a booth; the maternal uncle, if he can afford it, presents a new cloth to the bride, and a feast is held. Sometimes even this simple rite is dispensed with, and the couple, without any formality, live together as man and wife, on the understanding that, at some time, a feast must be given to a few of the community. I am told that the Shōlagas of the Burghur hills have a very extraordinary way of treating expectant mothers. A few days before the event is expected to take place, the husband takes his wife right away into the jungle, and leaves her there alone with three days’ supply of food. There she has to stay, and do the best she can for herself. If she does not come back at the end of the three days, the husband goes out and takes her more food. But she may not return to her village till the baby is born. When one of these unfortunate creatures comes backsafely, there is a great celebration in her honour, with beating of tom-tom, etc.The dead are buried with the body lying on its left side, and the head to the south. On their return home from a funeral, those who have been present thereat salute a lighted lamp. On the spot where the dead person breathed his last, a little rāgi (Eleusine Coracana) paste and water are placed, and here, on the fourth day, a goat is sacrificed, and offered up to the soul of the departed. After this the son proceeds to the burial ground, carrying a stone, and followed by men selected from each of the exogamous septs. Arrived near the grave, they sit down, while the son places the stone on the ground, and they then lift it in succession. The last man to do so is said to fall into a trance. On his recovery, leaves (plantain, teak, etc.) corresponding in number to the exogamous septs, are arranged round the stone, and, on each leaf, different kinds of food are placed. The men partake of the food, each from the leaf allotted to his sept. The meal concluded, the son holds the stone in his hands, while his companions pour rāgi and water over it, and then carries it away to the gopamane (burial-ground) of his sept, and sets it up there.On the occasion of a death in a Mala Vellāla village, the Shōlagas come in crowds, with clarionets and drums, and bells on their legs, and dance in front of the house. And the corpse is borne, in musical procession, to the burning-ground.The staple food of the Shōlagas is rāgi paste and yams (Dioscorea), which, like the Urālis, they supplement by sundry jungle animals and birds. Paroquets they will not eat, as they regard them as their children.Their main occupation is to collect minor forest produce, myrabolams, vembadam bark (Ventilagomadraspatana), avaram bark (Cassia auriculata), deers’ horns, tamarinds, gum, honey, soap-nuts, sheekoy (Acacia Concinna),etc. The forests have been divided into blocks, and a certain place within each block has been selected for the forest depôt. To this place the collecting agents, mostly Shōlagas and Urālis, bring the produce, and there it is sorted and paid for by special supervisors appointed for the work.Shōlaga.Shōlaga.In the Coimbatore district the Shōlagas are said to collect honey from rocky crevices. The combs are much larger than those found on trees, and are supposed to contain twice as much wax in proportion to the honey. On the Nilgiri hills honey-combs are collected by Jēn Kurumbas and Shōlagas. The supply of honey varies according to the nature of the season, and is especially plentiful and of good quality whenStrobilanthes Wightianus,S. Kunthiana, and other species are in flower.It has been said that even wild beasts will scent a Shōlaga, and flee before the aroma.The Shōlagas, who were examined by Dr. Rivers and myself, came to the conclusion that the object of our enquiry was to settle them in a certain place near London, and that the wools of different colours (used for testing colour vision) given to them for selection, were for tying them captive with. Others said that they could not understand why the different organs of their bodies were measured; perhaps to reduce or increase the size of their body to suit the different works, which they were expected to do near London. It has been pointed out to me, as an interesting fact, that a similarity of idea concerning the modification of different organs to suit men for the doing of special work has been arrived at by the jungle folk, and by Mr. Wells in his book,‘The first men in the moon,’ where the lunar inhabitants are described as carrying on the practice.Of the experiences of a Shōlaga when out with a European on a shooting expedition, the following account has recently been given.51“My husband was after a bear, and tracked Bruin to his cave. He had torches made, and these he ordered to be thrust into the cave in the hope of smoking the bear out, but, as nothing happened, he went into the cave, accompanied by a Sholigar carrying a torch. As soon as they got used to the light, they saw a small aperture leading into an inner cave, and the Sholigar was told to put the torch in there. Hardly was this done, when out rushed a large bear, knocking over the Sholigar, and extinguishing the torch. My husband could not get his gun up in time to fire, as the bear rushed through the cave into the jungle. Just as the Sholigar was picking himself up, out rushed another bear. This time my husband was ready, and fired. To the Sholigar’s horror, Bruin sank down wounded at the entrance to the outer cave, thus blocking the exit, and keeping both tracker and my husband prisoners. The Sholigar began whimpering, saying he was the father of a large family, and did not wish to leave the children fatherless. Soon the bear, though very badly wounded, managed to get to its feet, and crawl away into the jungle, so liberating the prisoners.”Concerning the Shōlagas of the Mysore Province,52I gather that they “inhabit the depths of the forests clothing the foot and slopes of the Biligirirangam hills. They cultivate with the hoe small patches of jungle clearings. Their chief god is Biligiri Rangasvāmi, but they also worship Kāraiyya, their tribal tutelary deity. Theirprincipal food is the rāgi, which they grow, supplemented by wild forest produce. They are partial to the flesh of deer, antelope, pigs, sheep and goats. A few of them have, in recent years, come to own lands. Like the Jēnu Kurumbas, they are perfect trackers of wild animals. Three kinds of marriage prevail among them. The first is affected by the more well-to-do, who perform the ceremony with much éclat under a shed with twelve pillars (bamboo posts), accompanied by music and festivities, which continue for three days. The second is more common, and seems to be a modified form of concubinage. The poorer members resort to the third kind, which consists in the couple eloping to a distant jungle, and returning home only after the bride has become a mother. They speak a patois, allied to old Canarese or Halē Kannada.”53Shōla Naiker.—A synonym of Jēn Kurumbas in the Wynād.Sibbi Dhompti(brass vessel offering).—A subdivision of Mādigas, who, at marriages, offer food to the god in brass vessels.Siddaru.—A synonym of Jōgi mendicants.Sika(kudumi or hair-knot).—An exogamous sept of Dēvānga.Sīkili(broom).—An exogamous sept of Mādiga.Sikligar.—In the Madras Census Report, 1901, eleven individuals are returned as belonging to an Upper India caste of knife-grinders (Sikligar). In the Madura Manual, Sikilkārars are described as knife-grinders, who wander about in quest of work from village to village.Sila(stone).—An exogamous sept of Omanaito.Sīlam(good conduct).—An exogamous sept of Māla.Sīlavant.—In the Madras Census Report, 1901, Sīlavant is recorded as meaning the virtuous, and as being a sub-sect of Lingāyats. In the Mysore Census Report, Sīlavanta is given as a name for Lingāyat Nayindas. For the following note on the Sīlavantalu or Sīlēvantalu of Vizagapatam, I am indebted to Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao.They are a sect of Lingāyats, who, though they do not admit it, appear to be an offshoot of Pattu Sālēs, who became converts to the Lingāyat religion. They are engaged in the manufacture of fine cloths for males and females. The religious observances which secured them their name, meaning those who practice or possess particular religious customs, have been thus described. In the seventh month of pregnancy, at the time of quickening, a small stone linga is enclosed in black lac, wrapped in a piece of silk cloth, and tied to the thread of the linga which is on the woman’s neck. The child is thus invested with the linga while stillin utero. When it is about a year old, and weaned, the linga is taken off the mother’s neck, and replaced by a silver locket. The linga is tied on the neck of the child. At the beginning of the twelfth year in the case of boys, and just before the marriage of girls, this linga is taken off, and a fresh one suspended round the neck by a guru.The Sīlavantalu are divided into exogamous septs, or intipērulu. The custom of mēnarikam, whereby a man marries his maternal uncle’s daughter, is the rule. But, if the maternal uncle has no daughter, he must find a suitable bride for his nephew. Girls are married before puberty, and a Jangam, known as Mahēsvara, officiates at weddings.The dead are buried in a sitting posture, facing north. The linga is suspended round the neck of thecorpse, and buried with it. Six small copper plates are made, each containing a syllable of the invocation Ōm na ma Si va ya. Two of these are placed on the thighs of the corpse, one on the head, one on the navel, and two on the shoulders, and stuck on with guggilam paste. The corpse is then tied up in a sack. The relatives offer flowers to it, and burn camphor before it. The grave is dug several feet deep, and a cavity or cell is made on the southern side of it, and lined with bamboo matting. The corpse is placed within the cell, and salt thrown into the grave before it is filled in. A Jangam officiates at the funeral. Monthly and annual death ceremonies are performed. A samāthi or monument is erected over the grave. Such a monument may be either in the form of a square mound (brindavan) with niches for lights and a hole in the top, in which a tulsi (Ocimum sanctum) is planted, or in the form of a small chamber. Relations go occasionally to the grave, whereon they deposit flowers, and place lights in the niches or chamber.The Sīlavantalu are strict vegetarians and total abstainers. Their titles are Ayya and Lingam.Silpa(artisan).—A sub-division of the Kammālans, Panchālas or Kamsalas, whose hereditary occupation is that of stone-masons. In the Silpa Sāstra, the measurements necessary in sculpture, the duties of a Silpi, etc., are laid down. I am informed that the carver of a stone idol has to select a male or female stone, according as the idol is to be a god or goddess, and that the sex of a stone can be determined by its ring when struck.Sindhu.—The Sindhuvāllu (drummers) are Mādigas, who go about acting scenes from the Rāmayana or Mahābhāratha, and the story of Ankamma. Sindhu also occurs as a gōtra of Kurni. The beating of the drum called sindhu is, I gather, sometimes a nuisance, for amissionary writes to the paper enquiring whether there is any order of Government against it, as the practice “causes much crime, and creates extra work for police and magistrates. Village officials believe they have no authority to suppress it, but there are some who assert that it is nominally forbidden.”Singamu-vāru.—Singam is described, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as a class of beggars, who beg only from Sālēs. They are, however, described by Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao as a class of itinerant mendicants attached to the Dēvāngas. “The name,” he writes, “is a variant of Simhamu-vāru, or lion-men,i.e., as valourous as a lion. They are paid a small sum annually by each Dēvānga village for various services which they render, such as carrying fire before a Dēvānga corpse to the burial-ground, acting as caste messengers, and cleaning the weaving instruments.”Sinnata(gold).—An exogamous sept of Kuruba.Sīolo.—A small class of Oriya toddy-drawers, whose touch conveys pollution. The Sondis, who are an Oriya caste of toddy-sellers, purchase their liquor from the Sīolos.Sipiti.—The Sipitis are described, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as “Oriya temple priests and drummers; a sub-caste of Rāvulo.” In an account of them as given to me, they are stated to be Smartas, and temple priests of village deities, who wear the sacred thread, but do not employ Brāhmans as purōhits, and are regarded as somewhat lower in the social scale than the Rāvulos. Some of their females are said to have been unrecognised prostitutes, but the custom is dying out. The caste title is Mūni. (SeeRāvulo.)Sir.—A sub-division of Kanakkan.Sirpādam.—A sub-division of Kaikōlan.Sirukudi.—A nādu or territorial division of Kallan.Siru Tāli.—The name, indicating those who wear a small tāli (marriage badge), of a sub-division of Kaikōlan and Maravan.Sītikan.—Recorded, in the Travancore Census Report, 1901, as an occupational sub-division of Mārān.Sitra.—SeePāno.Siva Brāhmana.—Recorded as a synonym of Stānika.Sivachāra.—It is noted, in the Mysore Census Report, 1901, that the Lingāyats call themselves “Vīra Saivas, Sivabhaktas, or Sivachars. The Vīrasaiva religion consists of numerous castes. It is a religion consisting of representatives from almost every caste in Hindu society. People of all castes, from the highest to the lowest, have embraced the religion. There are Sivachar Brāhmins, Sivachar Kshatriyas, Sivachar Vaisyas, Sivachar carpenters, Sivachar weavers, Sivachar goldsmiths, Sivachar potters, Sivachar washermen, and Sivachar barbers, and other low castes who have all followed the popular religion in large numbers.”Sivadvija.—The name, denoting Saivite Brāhman, by which Mūssads like to be called. Also recorded as a synonym of Stānika.Sivarātri.—An exogamous sept of Oddē, named after the annual Mahāsivarātri festival in honour of Siva. Holy ashes, sacred to Siva, prepared by Smartas on this day, are considered to be very pure.Sivarchaka.—The word means those who do pūja (worship) to Siva. Priests at the temple of village deities are ordinarily known as Pūjāri, Pūsāli, Ōcchan, etc., but nowadays prefer the title of Ūmarchaka or Sivarchaka. The name Sivala occurs in the Madras Census Report, 1901.Siviyar.—Siviyar means literally a palanquin-bearer, and is an occupational name applied to those employed in that capacity. For this reason a sub-division of the Idaiyans is called Siviyar. The Siviyars of Coimbatore say that they have no connection with either Idaiyans or Toreyas, but are Besthas who emigrated from Mysore during the troublous times of the Muhammadan usurpation. The name Siviyar is stated to have been given to them by the Tamils, as they were palanquin-bearers to officers on circuit and others in the pre-railway days. They claim origin, on the authority of a book called Parvatharāja Charithum, from Parvatharāja. Their main occupations at the present day are tank and river fishing, but some are petty traders, physicians, peons, etc. Their language is Canarese, and their title Naickan. They have eighteen marriage divisions or gōtras, named after persons from whom the various gōtras are said to have been descended. On occasions of marriage, when betel leaf is distributed, it must be given to members of the different gōtras in their order of precedence. In cases of adultery, the guilty parties are tied to a post, and beaten with tamarind switches. When a grown-up but unmarried person dies, the corpse is made to go through a mock marriage with a human figure cut out of a palm leaf.Sōdabisiya.—A sub-division of Dōmb.Soi.—A title of Doluva. It is a form of Sui or Swayi.Sōlaga.—SeeShōlaga.Sōliyan.—Sōliyan or Sōliya is a territorial name, meaning an inhabitant of the Chōla country, recorded as a sub-division of Karnam, Idaiyan, Pallan, and Vellāla. The equivalent Sōlangal occurs as an exogamous sept of Vallamban, and Sōliya illam (Malayālam, house) asan exogamous sept of Panikkans in the Tamil country. Some Pallis style themselves Sōlakanar (descendants of Chōla kings), or Sōlakula Kshatriya. (SeeSōzhia.)Sōmakshatri.—A name sometimes adopted by Canarese Gānigas in South Canara.Sōmara.—Recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as a small class of potters in the Vizagapatam hills.Sōmari(idler).—A division of Yānādis, who do scavenging work, and eat the refuse food thrown away by people from the leaf plate after a meal.Sōma Vārada(Sunday).—The name of Kurubas who worship their god on Sundays.Sōnagan.—SeeJōnagan.Sonar.—The Sonars or Sonagāras of South Canara are described by Mr. H. A. Stuart54as a goldsmith caste, who “speak Konkani, which is a dialect of Marāthi, and are believed to have come from Goa. The community at each station has one or two Mukhtēsars or headmen, who enquire into, and settle the caste affairs. Serious offences are reported to the swāmy of Sode, who has authority to excommunicate, or to inflict heavy fines. They wear the sacred thread. Marriages within the same gōtra are strictly prohibited. Most of them are Vaishnavites, but a few follow Siva. The dead are burned, and the ashes are thrown into a river. They eat fish, but not flesh. Their title is Setti.” They consider it derogatory to work in metals other than gold and silver.In the Madras Census Report, 1901, the Sunnāri (or Sonnāri) are described as Oriya goldsmiths (seeRisley, Tribes and Castes of Bengal, Sonar). These goldsmiths,in the Oriya portion of the Madras Presidency, are, I am informed, Kamsalas from the Telugu country. Unlike the Oriyas, and like other Telugu classes, they invariably have a house-name, and their mother tongue is Telugu. They are Saivites, bury their dead, claim to be descendants of Viswakarma, and call themselves Viswa Brāhmans. They do not eat meals prepared by Brāhmans, or drink water at the hands of Brāhmans.In former times, goldsmiths held the post of Nottakāran (tester) or village shroff (money-changer). His function was to test the rupees tendered when the land revenue was being gathered in, and see that they were not counterfeit. There is a proverb, uncomplimentary to the goldsmiths, to the effect that a goldsmith cannot make an ornament even for his wife, without first secreting some of the gold or silver given him for working upon.It has been noted55that “in Madras, an exceedingly poor country, there is one male goldsmith to every 408 of the total population; in England, a very rich country, there is only one goldsmith to every 1,200 inhabitants. In Europe, jewellery is primarily for ornament, and is a luxury. In India it is primarily an investment, its ornamental purpose being an incident.”The South Indian goldsmith at work has been well described as follows.56“A hollow, scooped out in the middle of the mud floor (of a room or verandah), does duty for the fireplace, while, close by, there is raised a miniature embankment, semi-circular in shape, with a hole in the middle of the base for the insertion of the bellows. Crucibles of clay or cow-dung, baked hard in the sun, tongs and hammers, potsherds of charcoal, dirtytins of water, and little packets of sal-ammoniac, resin, or other similar substances, all lie scattered about the floor in picturesque confusion. Sitting, or rather crouching on their haunches, are a couple of the Pānchāla workmen. One of them is blowing a pan of charcoal into flame through an iron tube some eighteen inches long by one in diameter, and stirring up the loose charcoal. Another is hammering at a piece of silver wire on a little anvil before him. With his miserable tools the Hindu goldsmith turns out work that well might, and often deservedly does, rank with the greatest triumphs of the jeweller’s art.”Sondi.—The Sondis or Sundis are summed up in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as “Oriya toddy-selling caste. They do not draw toddy themselves, but buy it from Siolos, and sell it. They also distill arrack.” The word arrack or arak, it may be noteden passant, means properly “perspiration, and then, first the exudation of sap drawn from the date-palm; secondly, any strong drink, distilled spirit, etc.”57A corruption of the word is rack, which occurs,e.g., in rack punch.According to a Sanskrit work, entitled Parāsarapaddati, Soundikas (toddy-drawers and distillers of arrack) are the offspring of a Kaivarata male and a Gaudike female. Both these castes are pratiloma (mixed) castes. In the Matsya Purāna, the Soundikas are said to have been born to Siva of seven Apsara women on the bank of the river Son. Manu refers to the Soundikas, and says that a Snātaka58may not accept food from trainers of hunting dogs, Soundikas, a washerman, a dyer, pitiless man, and a man in whose house lives a paramour of his wife.In a note on the allied Sunris or Sundis of Bengal, Mr. Risley writes59that “according to Hindu ideas, distillers and sellers of strong drink rank among the most degraded castes, and a curious story in the Vaivarta Purāna keeps alive the memory of their degradation. It is said that when Sani, the Hindu Saturn, failed to adapt an elephant’s head to the mutilated trunk of Ganēsa, who had beenaccidentallybeheaded by Siva, Viswakarma, the celestial artificer, was sent for, and by careful dissection and manipulation he fitted the incongruous parts together, and made a man called Kedāra Sena from the slices cut off in fashioning his work. This Kedāra Sena was ordered to fetch a drink of water for Bhagavati, weary and athirst. Finding on the river’s bank a shell full of water, he presented it to her, without noticing that a few grains of rice left in it by a parrot had fermented and formed an intoxicating liquid. Bhagavati, as soon as she had drunk, became aware of the fact, and in her anger condemned the offender to the vile and servile occupation of making spirituous liquor for mankind. Another story traces their origin to a certain Bhāskar or Bhāskar Muni, who was created by Krishna’s brother, Balarām, to minister to his desire for strong drink. A different version of the same legend gives them for ancestor Niranjan, a boy found by Bhāskar floating down a river in a pot full of country liquor, and brought up by him as a distiller.”For the following note on the Sondis of Vizagapatam, I am indebted to Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao. According to a current tradition, there was, in days of old, a Brāhman, who was celebrated for his magical powers. The king, his patron, asked him if he could make thewater in a tank (pond) burn, and he replied in the affirmative. He was, however, in reality disconsolate, because he did not know how to do it. By chance he met a distiller, who asked him why he looked so troubled, and, on learning his difficulty, promised to help him on condition that he gave him his daughter in marriage. To this the Brāhman consented. The distiller gave him a quantity of liquor to pour into the tank, and told him to set it alight in the presence of the king. The Brāhman kept his word, and the Sondis are the descendants of the offspring of his daughter and the distiller. The caste is divided into several endogamous divisions, viz., Bodo Odiya, Madhya kūla, and Sanno kūla. The last is said to be made up of illegitimate descendants of the two first divisions.The Sondis distil liquor from the ippa (Bassia) flower, rice, and jaggery (crude sugar). There is a tradition that Brahma created the world, and pinched up from a point between his eyebrows a little mud, from which he made a figure, and endowed it with life. Thus Suka Muni was created, and authorised to distil spirit from the ippa flowers, which had hitherto been eaten by birds.When a girl reaches puberty, she is set apart in a room within a square enclosure made with four arrows connected together by a thread. Turmeric and oil are rubbed over her daily, and, on the seventh day, she visits the local shrine.Girls are married before puberty. Some days before a wedding, a sāl (Shorea robusta) orneredu (Eugenia Jambolana)post is set up in front of the bridegroom’s house, and a pandal (booth) erected round it. On the appointed day, a caste feast is held, and a procession of males proceeds to the bride’s house, carrying with themfinger rings, silver and glass bangles, and fifty rupees as the jholla tonka (bride price). On the following day, the bride goes to the house of the bridegroom. On the marriage day, the contracting couple go seven times round the central post of the pandal, and their hands are joined by the presiding Oriya Brāhman. They then sit down, and the sacred fire is raised. The females belonging to the bridegroom’s party sprinkle them with turmeric and rice. On the following day, a Bhondāri (barber) cleans the pandal, and draws patterns in it with rice flour. A mat is spread, and the couple play with cowry shells. These are five in number, and the bridegroom holds them tightly in his right hand, while the bride tries to wrest them from him. If she succeeds in so doing, her brothers beat the bridegroom, and make fun of him; if she fails, the bridegroom’s sisters beat and make fun of her. The bride then takes hold of the cowries, and the same performance is gone through. A basket of rice is brought, and some of it poured into a vessel. The bridegroom holds a portion of it in his hand, and the bride asks him to put it back. This, after a little coaxing, he consents to do. These ceremonies are repeated during the next five days. On the seventh day, small quantities of food are placed on twelve leaves, and twelve Brāhmans, who receive a present of money, sit down, and partake thereof. The marriage of widows is permitted, and a younger brother may marry the widow of an elder brother.The dead are burned, and death pollution lasts for ten days. Daily, during this period, cooked food is strewed on the way leading to the burning-ground. On the eleventh day, those under pollution bathe, and the sacred fire (hōmam) is raised by a Brāhman. As at a wedding, twelve Brāhmans receive food and money.Towards midnight, a new pot is brought, and holes are bored in it. A lighted lamp and food are placed in it, and it is taken towards the burning-ground and set down on the ground. The dead man’s name is then called out three times. He is informed that food is ready, and asked to come.Men, but not women, eat animal food. The women will not partake of the remnants of their husbands’ meal on days on which they eat meat, because, according to the legend, their female ancestor was a Brāhman woman.Among the Sondis of Ganjam, if a girl does not secure a husband before she reaches maturity, she goes through a form of marriage with an old man of the caste, or with her elder sister’s husband, and may not marry until the man with whom she has performed this ceremony dies. On the wedding day, the bridegroom is shaved, and his old waist-thread is replaced by a new one. The ceremonies commence with the worship of Ganēsa, and agree in the main with those of many other Oriya castes. The remarriage of widows is permitted. If a widow was the wife of the first-born or eldest son in a family, she may not, after his death, marry one of his younger brothers. She may, however, do so if she was married in the first instance to a second son.It is noted by Mr. C. F. MacCartie, in the Madras Census Report, 1881, that “a good deal of land has been sold by Khond proprietors to other castes. It was in this way that much territory was found some years ago to be passing into the hands of the Sundis or professional liquor distillers. As soon as these facts were brought to the notice of Government, no time was lost in the adoption of repressive measures, which have been completely successful, as the recent census shows a greatreduction in the numbers of these Sundis, who, now that their unscrupulous trade is abolished, have emigrated largely to Boad and other tracts. This is the only case to my knowledge in which a special trade has decayed, and with the best results, as, had it not been so, there is no doubt that the Khond population would very soon have degenerated into pureadscripti glebæ, and the Sundis become the landlords.”It is recorded, in the Gazetteer of the Vizagapatam district, that “besides ippa (liquor distilled from the blossom ofBassia latifolia), the hill people brew beer from rice, sāmai (the milletPanicum miliare), and rāgi (Eleusine Coracana). They mash the grain in the ordinary manner, add some more water to it, mix a small quantity of ferment with it, leave it to ferment three or four days, and then strain off the grain. The beer so obtained is often highly intoxicating, and different kinds of it go by different names, such as londa, pandiyam, and maddikallu. The ferment which is used is called the sāraiya-mandu (spirit drug) or Sondi-mandu (Sondi’s drug), and can be bought in the weekly market. There are numerous recipes for making it, but the ingredients are always jungle roots and barks.60It is sold made up into small balls with rice. The actual shop-keepers and still-owners in the hills, especially in the Parvatipur and Pālkonda agencies, are usually immigrants of the Sondi caste, a wily class who know exactly how to take advantage of the sin which doth so easily beset the hill man, and to wheedle from him, in exchange for the strong drink which he cannot do without, his ready money, his little possessions, his crops, and finally his land itself.“The Sondis are gradually getting much of the best land into their hands, and many of the guileless hill ryots into their power. Mr. Taylor stated in 1892 that ‘the rate of interest on loans extorted by these Sondis is 100 per cent. and, if this is not cleared off in the first year, compound interest at 100 per cent. is charged on the balance. The result is that, in many instances, the cultivators are unable to pay in cash or kind, and become the gōtis or serfs of the sowcars, for whom they have to work in return for mere batta (subsistence allowance), whilst the latter take care to manipulate their accounts in such a manner that the debt is never paid off. A remarkable instance of this tyranny was brought to my notice a few days since. A ryot some fifty years ago borrowed Rs. 20; he paid back Rs. 50 at intervals, and worked for the whole of his life, and died in harness. For the same debt the sowcar (money-lender) claimed the services of his son, and he too died in bondage, leaving two small sons aged 13 and 9, whose services were also claimed for an alleged arrear of Rs. 30 on a debt of Rs. 20 borrowed 50 years back, for which Rs. 50 in cash had been repaid in addition to the perpetual labour of a man for a similar period.’ This custom of gōti is firmly established, and, in a recent case, an elder brother claimed to be able to pledge for his own debts the services of his younger brother, and even those of the latter’s wife. Debts due by persons of respectability are often collected by the Sondis by an exasperating method, which has led to at least one case of homicide. They send Ghāsis, who are one of the lowest of all castes, and contact with whom is utter defilement entailing severe caste penalties, to haunt the house of the debtor who will not pay, insult and annoy him and his family, and threaten to drag him forcibly before theSondi.” A friend was, on one occasion, out after big game in the Jeypore hills, and shot a tiger. He asked his shikāri (tracker) what reward he should give him for putting him on to the beast. The shikāri replied that he would be quite satisfied with twenty-five rupees, as he wanted to get his younger brother out of pledge. Asked what he meant, he replied that, two years previously, he had purchased as his wife a woman who belonged to a caste higher than his own for a hundred rupees. He obtained the money by pledging his younger brother to a sowcar, and had paid it all back except twenty-five rupees. Meanwhile his brother was the bondsman of the sowcar, and cultivating his land in return for simple food.It is further recorded, in the Gazetteer of the Vizagapatam district, that Dombu (or Dōmb) dacoits “force their way into the house of some wealthy person (for choice the local Sondi liquor-seller and sowcar—usually the only man worth looting in an Agency village, and a shark who gets little pity from his neighbours when forced to disgorge), tie up the men, rape the women, and go off with everything of value.”The titles of the Ganjam Sondis are Bēhara, Chowdri, Podhāno, and Sāhu. In the Vizagapatam agency tracts, their title is said to be Bissōyi.Sonkari.—The Sonkaris are a small class of Oriya lac bangle (sonka) makers in Ganjam and Vizagapatam, who should not be confused with the Telugu Sunkaris. The men are engaged in agriculture, and the women manufacture the bangles, chains, chāmaras (fly-flappers), kolātam sticks (for stick play), and fans ornamented with devices in paddy (unhusked rice) grains, which are mainly sold to Europeans as curios.Sonkari girls are married before puberty. A man should marry his paternal aunt’s daughter, but at the present day this custom is frequently disregarded. Brāhmans officiate at their marriages. The dead are cremated. The caste title is Pātro.Sonkuva.—A sub-division of Māli.Sonti(dried ginger).—An exogamous sept of Asili.Soppu(leaf).—The name for Koragas, who wear leafy garments.Sōzhia.—A territorial name of sub-divisions of various Tamil classes who are settled in what was formerly the Chōla country,e.g., Brāhman, Chetti, Kaikōlan, Kammālan, Pallan, and Vellāla.Srishti Karnam.—A sub-division of Karnam. The name is variously spelt,e.g., Sristi, Sishta, Sishti. The name Sishti Karanamalu is said to have been assumed by Oddilu, who have raised themselves in life.61Stala(a place).—Lingāyats sometimes use the word Staladavāru, or natives of a place, to distinguish them from recent settlers.Stānika.—The Stānikas are summed up, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as being “Canarese temple servants. They claim to be Brāhmans, though other Brāhmans do not admit the claim; and, as the total of the caste has declined from 4,650 in 1891 to 1,469, they have apparently returned themselves as Brāhmans in considerable numbers.” The Stānikas are, in the South Canara Manual, said to be “the descendants of Brāhmins by Brāhmin widows and outcast Brāhmin women, corresponding with Manu’s Golaka. They however now claim to be Siva Brāhmins, forcibly dispossessed of authority by the Mādhvas, and state thatthe name Stānika is not that of a separate caste, but indicates their profession as managers of temples, with the title of Dēva Stānika. This claim is not generally conceded, and as a matter of fact the duties in which Stānikas are employed are clearly those of temple servants, namely, collecting flowers, sweeping the interiors of temples, looking after the lamps, cleaning the temple vessels, ringing bells, and the like. Many of them, however, are landowners and farmers. They are generally Sivites, and wear the sacred thread. Their special deities are Venkatrāmana and Ganapati. Drāvida Brāhmins officiate as their priests, but of late some educated men of the caste have assumed the priestly office. The caste has two sub-divisions, viz., Subramania and Kumbla. Girls must be married in infancy,i.e., before they attain puberty. Widow remarriage is neither permitted nor practiced. Their other customs are almost the same as those of the Kōta Brāhmans. They neither eat flesh nor drink liquor.” It is stated in the Manual that the Stānikas are called Shānbōgs and Mukhtesars. But I am informed that at an inquest or a search the Moktessors or Mukhtesars (chief men) of a village are assembled, and sign the inquest report or search list. The Moktessors of any caste can be summoned together. Some of the Moktessors of a temple may be Stānikas. In the case of social disputes decided at caste meetings, the Shānbōg (writer or accountant) appointed by the caste would record the evidence, and the Moktessor would decide upon the facts.Of the two sections Subramanya and Kumbla, the former claim superiority, and there is no intermarriage between them. The members of the Subramanya section state that they belong to Rig Sāka (Rig Vēda) and havegōtras, such as Viswamitra, Angirasa, and Bāradwaja, and twelve exogamous septs. Of these septs, the following are examples:—

3. Nattāti. Settled at the village of Nattāti near Sawyerpūram.4. Kodikkāl. Derived from kodi, a flag. Standard-bearers of the fighting men. According to another version, the word means a betel garden, in reference to those who were betel cultivators.5. Mēl-nātar (mēl, west). Those who live in the western part of Tinnevelly and in Travancore.At the census, 1891, Konga (territorial) and Madurai were returned as sub-divisions. The latter apparently receives its name, not from the town of Madura, but from a word meaning sweet juice. At the census, 1901, Tollakkādan (man with a big hole in his ears) was taken as being a sub-caste of Shānān, as the people who returned it, and sell husked rice in Madras, used the title Nādān. Madura and Tinnevelly are eminently the homes of dilated ear-lobes. Some Tamil traders in these two districts, who returned themselves as Pāndyan, were classified as Shānāns, as Nādān was entered as their title. In Coimbatore, some Shānāns, engaged as shop-keepers, have been known to adopt the name of Chetti. In Coimbatore, too, the title Mūppan occurs. This title, meaning headman or elder, is also used by the Ambalakāran, Valayan, Sudarmān, Sēnaikkudaiyān, and other castes. In the Tanjore Manual, the Shānāns are divided into Tennam, Panam, and Ichcham, according as they tap the cocoanut, palmyra, or wild date (Phœnix sylvestris). The name Enādi for Shānāns is derived from Enādi Nayanar, a Saivite saint. But it also means a barber.The community has, among its members, land-owners, and graduates in theology, law, medicine, and the arts. Nine-tenths of the Native clergy in Tinnevelly are said to be converted Shānāns, and Tinnevelly claims Native missionaries working in Madagascar, Natal, Mauritius, and the Straits. The occupationsof those whom I saw at Nazareth were merchant, cultivator, teacher, village munsif, organist, cart-driver, and cooly.The Shānāns have established a school, called Kshatriya Vidyasala, at Virudupati in Tinnevelly. This is a free school, for attendance at which no fee is levied on the pupils, for the benefit of the Shānān community, but boys of other castes are freely admitted to it. It is maintained by Shānāns from their mahimai fund, and the teachers are Brāhmans, Shānāns, etc. The word mahimai means greatness, glory, or respectability.Shānbōg.—The Māgane Shānbōg takes the place, in South Canara, of the village Karnam or accountant. There are also temple Shānbōgs, who are employed at the more important temples. When social disputes come up for decision at caste council meetings, the Shānbōg appointed by the caste records the evidence, and the Moktessor or Mukhtesar (chief man) of the caste decides upon the facts. In some places in South Canara Shānbōg is used as a synonym for Sārasvat Brāhman. In Mysore, the Shānbōg is said48to be “the village accountant, with hardly an exception of the Brāhman caste. The office is hereditary. In some places they hold land free of rent, and in others on light assessment. In some few places a fixed money allowance is given. In all instances there are certain fixed fees payable to them in money or kind by the ryots.”It is noted by Mr. W. Robinson, in a report on the Laccadive islands (1869), that “the Monegar has the assistance of one of the islanders as a Karany, to take down depositions, and to read them, for the character used is the Arabic. In addition to these duties, theKarany has those of the Shanbogue. He keeps the accounts of the trees, and the coir (cocoanut fibre) in the islands, and makes out and delivers the accounts of coir brought to the coast.”Shikāri.—Shikāri, meaning a sportsman or hunter, occurs as a synonym of Irula, and a sub-division of Korava. The name shikāri is also applied to a Native who “accompanies European sportsmen as a guide and aid, and to the European sportsman himself.”49Shōlaga.—In his account of the Shōlagas or Sōlagas, early in the last century, Buchanan50writes that they “speak a bad or old dialect of the Karnāta language, have scarcely any clothing, and sleep round a fire, lying on a few plantain leaves, and covering themselves with others. They live chiefly on the summits of mountains, where the tigers do not frequent, but where their naked bodies are exposed to a disagreeable cold. Their huts are most wretched, and consist of bamboos with both ends stuck into the ground, so as to form an arch, which is covered with plantain leaves.” The up-to-date Shōlaga, who inhabits the jungles of Coimbatore between Dimbhum and Kollegal near the Mysore frontier, is clad in a cotton loin-cloth, supplemented by a coat of English pattern with regimental buttons, and smears himself freely on special occasions, such as a visit to the Government anthropologist, with sacred ashes in mimicry of the Lingāyats.I gather from a correspondent that the following tradition concerning their origin is current. In days of yore there lived two brothers in the Geddesala hills, by name Kārayan and Billaya or Mādhēswara. The Uralis and Shōlagas are descended from Kārayan, and theSivachāris (Lingāyats) from Mādhēswara. The two brothers fell into the hands of a terrible Rākshasha (demon), by name Savanan, who made Kārayan a shepherd, but imprisoned Mādhēswara for not paying him sufficient respect, and extracted all kinds of menial work from him. Last of all he ordered him to make a pair of shoes, whereupon Mādhēswara asked for his liberty for a few days, to enable him to have the shoes well made. His request being granted, Mādhēswara betook himself to the god Krishnamurti, and asked him for his help in his troubles. The god was only too happy to assist, and suggested that the shoes should be made of wax. Helped by Krishnamurti, Mādhēswara made a very beautiful-looking pair of shoes. Krishnamurti then ordered him to pile up and light a huge bonfire on a bare rocky hill east of Geddesala, so as to make it nearly red-hot. The ashes were then cleared away, so as to leave no trace of their plot. Mādhēswara then took the shoes, and presented them to Savanan, who was much pleased with them, and willingly acceded to Mādhēswara’s request that he would put them on, and walk along the rock. But, as soon as he stepped upon it, the shoes melted, and Savanan fell heavily on the rock, clutching hold of Mādhēswara as he fell, and trying to strangle him. Krishnamurti had assembled all the gods to witness the carrying out of the plot, and, telling each of them to pile a stone onSavanan’shead, himself rescued Mādhēswara from his clutches, and all jumped upon the Rākshasha till no trace of him was left. While this was going on, Kārayan was tending Savanan’s herds in the forest, and, when he came to hear about it, was angry with his brother for not consulting him before destroying Savanan. Flying from Kārayan, who was armed with a knife, Mādhēswara implored Krishnamurti’shelp, by which he was able to leap from Kotriboli to the hill called Urugamalai, a distance of some ten miles. The force of the leap caused the hill to bend—hence its name meaning the bending hill. Finding that the hill was bending, and being still hotly pursued by his brother, knife in hand, Mādhēswara again appealed to Krishnamurti, and was enabled to make another leap of about five miles to a hill called Eggaraimalai, which immediately began to subside. Hence its name, meaning the subsiding hill. Thence he fled to Munikanal, and concealed himself under a rock, closely followed by Kārayan, who slashed the rock with his knife, and left marks which are visible to this day. From Munikanal he fled to the hill now known as Mādhēswaranamalai, and hid in a rat hole. Kārayan, not being able to unearth him, sent for a lot of shepherds, and made them pen their sheep and cattle over the hole. The effluvium became too strong for the fugitive, so he surrendered himself to his brother, who pardoned him on the understanding that, on deification, Kārayan should have prior claim to all votive offerings. To this Mādhēswara agreed, and to this day Sivachāris, when doing pūja, first make their offerings to Kārayan and afterwards to Mādhēswara. In connection with this legend, any one proceeding to the top of Kotriboli hill at the present day is expected to place a stone upon the rock, with the result that there are many piles of stones there. Even Europeans are asked to do this.The Shōlagas are said to call themselves men of five kulams, or exogamous septs, among which are Chalikiri, Tēneru, Belleri, Surya (the sun), and Aleru. By members of the twelve kulam class, everything is done by twelves. For example, on the twelfth day after a birth, twelve elders are invited to the house to bless the child.At a marriage, twelve of the bridegroom’s relations go and fetch the bride, and the wedding pandal (booth) has twelve posts. The parents of the bridegroom pay twelve rupees to the bride’s father, and a tāli (marriage badge) worth twelve annas is tied round the bride’s neck. In case of death, the body is borne on a stretcher made of twelve bamboos, and mourning lasts for twelve days.Tribal disputes,e.g., quarrelling and adultery, are decided by the Yejamāna, assisted by a Pattagara and a few leading men of the community. Under the orders of the two former is the Chalavāthi or village servant. The Yejamāna, Pattagara, and Chalavāthi must belong respectively to the Chalikiri, Teneri, and Surya septs.When a girl reaches puberty, she occupies a separate hut for five days, and then returns home after a bath. The maternal uncle should present her with a new cloth, betel leaves and areca nuts, and plantain fruits. In the formal marriage ceremony, the tāli is tied by the bridegroom inside a booth; the maternal uncle, if he can afford it, presents a new cloth to the bride, and a feast is held. Sometimes even this simple rite is dispensed with, and the couple, without any formality, live together as man and wife, on the understanding that, at some time, a feast must be given to a few of the community. I am told that the Shōlagas of the Burghur hills have a very extraordinary way of treating expectant mothers. A few days before the event is expected to take place, the husband takes his wife right away into the jungle, and leaves her there alone with three days’ supply of food. There she has to stay, and do the best she can for herself. If she does not come back at the end of the three days, the husband goes out and takes her more food. But she may not return to her village till the baby is born. When one of these unfortunate creatures comes backsafely, there is a great celebration in her honour, with beating of tom-tom, etc.The dead are buried with the body lying on its left side, and the head to the south. On their return home from a funeral, those who have been present thereat salute a lighted lamp. On the spot where the dead person breathed his last, a little rāgi (Eleusine Coracana) paste and water are placed, and here, on the fourth day, a goat is sacrificed, and offered up to the soul of the departed. After this the son proceeds to the burial ground, carrying a stone, and followed by men selected from each of the exogamous septs. Arrived near the grave, they sit down, while the son places the stone on the ground, and they then lift it in succession. The last man to do so is said to fall into a trance. On his recovery, leaves (plantain, teak, etc.) corresponding in number to the exogamous septs, are arranged round the stone, and, on each leaf, different kinds of food are placed. The men partake of the food, each from the leaf allotted to his sept. The meal concluded, the son holds the stone in his hands, while his companions pour rāgi and water over it, and then carries it away to the gopamane (burial-ground) of his sept, and sets it up there.On the occasion of a death in a Mala Vellāla village, the Shōlagas come in crowds, with clarionets and drums, and bells on their legs, and dance in front of the house. And the corpse is borne, in musical procession, to the burning-ground.The staple food of the Shōlagas is rāgi paste and yams (Dioscorea), which, like the Urālis, they supplement by sundry jungle animals and birds. Paroquets they will not eat, as they regard them as their children.Their main occupation is to collect minor forest produce, myrabolams, vembadam bark (Ventilagomadraspatana), avaram bark (Cassia auriculata), deers’ horns, tamarinds, gum, honey, soap-nuts, sheekoy (Acacia Concinna),etc. The forests have been divided into blocks, and a certain place within each block has been selected for the forest depôt. To this place the collecting agents, mostly Shōlagas and Urālis, bring the produce, and there it is sorted and paid for by special supervisors appointed for the work.Shōlaga.Shōlaga.In the Coimbatore district the Shōlagas are said to collect honey from rocky crevices. The combs are much larger than those found on trees, and are supposed to contain twice as much wax in proportion to the honey. On the Nilgiri hills honey-combs are collected by Jēn Kurumbas and Shōlagas. The supply of honey varies according to the nature of the season, and is especially plentiful and of good quality whenStrobilanthes Wightianus,S. Kunthiana, and other species are in flower.It has been said that even wild beasts will scent a Shōlaga, and flee before the aroma.The Shōlagas, who were examined by Dr. Rivers and myself, came to the conclusion that the object of our enquiry was to settle them in a certain place near London, and that the wools of different colours (used for testing colour vision) given to them for selection, were for tying them captive with. Others said that they could not understand why the different organs of their bodies were measured; perhaps to reduce or increase the size of their body to suit the different works, which they were expected to do near London. It has been pointed out to me, as an interesting fact, that a similarity of idea concerning the modification of different organs to suit men for the doing of special work has been arrived at by the jungle folk, and by Mr. Wells in his book,‘The first men in the moon,’ where the lunar inhabitants are described as carrying on the practice.Of the experiences of a Shōlaga when out with a European on a shooting expedition, the following account has recently been given.51“My husband was after a bear, and tracked Bruin to his cave. He had torches made, and these he ordered to be thrust into the cave in the hope of smoking the bear out, but, as nothing happened, he went into the cave, accompanied by a Sholigar carrying a torch. As soon as they got used to the light, they saw a small aperture leading into an inner cave, and the Sholigar was told to put the torch in there. Hardly was this done, when out rushed a large bear, knocking over the Sholigar, and extinguishing the torch. My husband could not get his gun up in time to fire, as the bear rushed through the cave into the jungle. Just as the Sholigar was picking himself up, out rushed another bear. This time my husband was ready, and fired. To the Sholigar’s horror, Bruin sank down wounded at the entrance to the outer cave, thus blocking the exit, and keeping both tracker and my husband prisoners. The Sholigar began whimpering, saying he was the father of a large family, and did not wish to leave the children fatherless. Soon the bear, though very badly wounded, managed to get to its feet, and crawl away into the jungle, so liberating the prisoners.”Concerning the Shōlagas of the Mysore Province,52I gather that they “inhabit the depths of the forests clothing the foot and slopes of the Biligirirangam hills. They cultivate with the hoe small patches of jungle clearings. Their chief god is Biligiri Rangasvāmi, but they also worship Kāraiyya, their tribal tutelary deity. Theirprincipal food is the rāgi, which they grow, supplemented by wild forest produce. They are partial to the flesh of deer, antelope, pigs, sheep and goats. A few of them have, in recent years, come to own lands. Like the Jēnu Kurumbas, they are perfect trackers of wild animals. Three kinds of marriage prevail among them. The first is affected by the more well-to-do, who perform the ceremony with much éclat under a shed with twelve pillars (bamboo posts), accompanied by music and festivities, which continue for three days. The second is more common, and seems to be a modified form of concubinage. The poorer members resort to the third kind, which consists in the couple eloping to a distant jungle, and returning home only after the bride has become a mother. They speak a patois, allied to old Canarese or Halē Kannada.”53Shōla Naiker.—A synonym of Jēn Kurumbas in the Wynād.Sibbi Dhompti(brass vessel offering).—A subdivision of Mādigas, who, at marriages, offer food to the god in brass vessels.Siddaru.—A synonym of Jōgi mendicants.Sika(kudumi or hair-knot).—An exogamous sept of Dēvānga.Sīkili(broom).—An exogamous sept of Mādiga.Sikligar.—In the Madras Census Report, 1901, eleven individuals are returned as belonging to an Upper India caste of knife-grinders (Sikligar). In the Madura Manual, Sikilkārars are described as knife-grinders, who wander about in quest of work from village to village.Sila(stone).—An exogamous sept of Omanaito.Sīlam(good conduct).—An exogamous sept of Māla.Sīlavant.—In the Madras Census Report, 1901, Sīlavant is recorded as meaning the virtuous, and as being a sub-sect of Lingāyats. In the Mysore Census Report, Sīlavanta is given as a name for Lingāyat Nayindas. For the following note on the Sīlavantalu or Sīlēvantalu of Vizagapatam, I am indebted to Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao.They are a sect of Lingāyats, who, though they do not admit it, appear to be an offshoot of Pattu Sālēs, who became converts to the Lingāyat religion. They are engaged in the manufacture of fine cloths for males and females. The religious observances which secured them their name, meaning those who practice or possess particular religious customs, have been thus described. In the seventh month of pregnancy, at the time of quickening, a small stone linga is enclosed in black lac, wrapped in a piece of silk cloth, and tied to the thread of the linga which is on the woman’s neck. The child is thus invested with the linga while stillin utero. When it is about a year old, and weaned, the linga is taken off the mother’s neck, and replaced by a silver locket. The linga is tied on the neck of the child. At the beginning of the twelfth year in the case of boys, and just before the marriage of girls, this linga is taken off, and a fresh one suspended round the neck by a guru.The Sīlavantalu are divided into exogamous septs, or intipērulu. The custom of mēnarikam, whereby a man marries his maternal uncle’s daughter, is the rule. But, if the maternal uncle has no daughter, he must find a suitable bride for his nephew. Girls are married before puberty, and a Jangam, known as Mahēsvara, officiates at weddings.The dead are buried in a sitting posture, facing north. The linga is suspended round the neck of thecorpse, and buried with it. Six small copper plates are made, each containing a syllable of the invocation Ōm na ma Si va ya. Two of these are placed on the thighs of the corpse, one on the head, one on the navel, and two on the shoulders, and stuck on with guggilam paste. The corpse is then tied up in a sack. The relatives offer flowers to it, and burn camphor before it. The grave is dug several feet deep, and a cavity or cell is made on the southern side of it, and lined with bamboo matting. The corpse is placed within the cell, and salt thrown into the grave before it is filled in. A Jangam officiates at the funeral. Monthly and annual death ceremonies are performed. A samāthi or monument is erected over the grave. Such a monument may be either in the form of a square mound (brindavan) with niches for lights and a hole in the top, in which a tulsi (Ocimum sanctum) is planted, or in the form of a small chamber. Relations go occasionally to the grave, whereon they deposit flowers, and place lights in the niches or chamber.The Sīlavantalu are strict vegetarians and total abstainers. Their titles are Ayya and Lingam.Silpa(artisan).—A sub-division of the Kammālans, Panchālas or Kamsalas, whose hereditary occupation is that of stone-masons. In the Silpa Sāstra, the measurements necessary in sculpture, the duties of a Silpi, etc., are laid down. I am informed that the carver of a stone idol has to select a male or female stone, according as the idol is to be a god or goddess, and that the sex of a stone can be determined by its ring when struck.Sindhu.—The Sindhuvāllu (drummers) are Mādigas, who go about acting scenes from the Rāmayana or Mahābhāratha, and the story of Ankamma. Sindhu also occurs as a gōtra of Kurni. The beating of the drum called sindhu is, I gather, sometimes a nuisance, for amissionary writes to the paper enquiring whether there is any order of Government against it, as the practice “causes much crime, and creates extra work for police and magistrates. Village officials believe they have no authority to suppress it, but there are some who assert that it is nominally forbidden.”Singamu-vāru.—Singam is described, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as a class of beggars, who beg only from Sālēs. They are, however, described by Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao as a class of itinerant mendicants attached to the Dēvāngas. “The name,” he writes, “is a variant of Simhamu-vāru, or lion-men,i.e., as valourous as a lion. They are paid a small sum annually by each Dēvānga village for various services which they render, such as carrying fire before a Dēvānga corpse to the burial-ground, acting as caste messengers, and cleaning the weaving instruments.”Sinnata(gold).—An exogamous sept of Kuruba.Sīolo.—A small class of Oriya toddy-drawers, whose touch conveys pollution. The Sondis, who are an Oriya caste of toddy-sellers, purchase their liquor from the Sīolos.Sipiti.—The Sipitis are described, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as “Oriya temple priests and drummers; a sub-caste of Rāvulo.” In an account of them as given to me, they are stated to be Smartas, and temple priests of village deities, who wear the sacred thread, but do not employ Brāhmans as purōhits, and are regarded as somewhat lower in the social scale than the Rāvulos. Some of their females are said to have been unrecognised prostitutes, but the custom is dying out. The caste title is Mūni. (SeeRāvulo.)Sir.—A sub-division of Kanakkan.Sirpādam.—A sub-division of Kaikōlan.Sirukudi.—A nādu or territorial division of Kallan.Siru Tāli.—The name, indicating those who wear a small tāli (marriage badge), of a sub-division of Kaikōlan and Maravan.Sītikan.—Recorded, in the Travancore Census Report, 1901, as an occupational sub-division of Mārān.Sitra.—SeePāno.Siva Brāhmana.—Recorded as a synonym of Stānika.Sivachāra.—It is noted, in the Mysore Census Report, 1901, that the Lingāyats call themselves “Vīra Saivas, Sivabhaktas, or Sivachars. The Vīrasaiva religion consists of numerous castes. It is a religion consisting of representatives from almost every caste in Hindu society. People of all castes, from the highest to the lowest, have embraced the religion. There are Sivachar Brāhmins, Sivachar Kshatriyas, Sivachar Vaisyas, Sivachar carpenters, Sivachar weavers, Sivachar goldsmiths, Sivachar potters, Sivachar washermen, and Sivachar barbers, and other low castes who have all followed the popular religion in large numbers.”Sivadvija.—The name, denoting Saivite Brāhman, by which Mūssads like to be called. Also recorded as a synonym of Stānika.Sivarātri.—An exogamous sept of Oddē, named after the annual Mahāsivarātri festival in honour of Siva. Holy ashes, sacred to Siva, prepared by Smartas on this day, are considered to be very pure.Sivarchaka.—The word means those who do pūja (worship) to Siva. Priests at the temple of village deities are ordinarily known as Pūjāri, Pūsāli, Ōcchan, etc., but nowadays prefer the title of Ūmarchaka or Sivarchaka. The name Sivala occurs in the Madras Census Report, 1901.Siviyar.—Siviyar means literally a palanquin-bearer, and is an occupational name applied to those employed in that capacity. For this reason a sub-division of the Idaiyans is called Siviyar. The Siviyars of Coimbatore say that they have no connection with either Idaiyans or Toreyas, but are Besthas who emigrated from Mysore during the troublous times of the Muhammadan usurpation. The name Siviyar is stated to have been given to them by the Tamils, as they were palanquin-bearers to officers on circuit and others in the pre-railway days. They claim origin, on the authority of a book called Parvatharāja Charithum, from Parvatharāja. Their main occupations at the present day are tank and river fishing, but some are petty traders, physicians, peons, etc. Their language is Canarese, and their title Naickan. They have eighteen marriage divisions or gōtras, named after persons from whom the various gōtras are said to have been descended. On occasions of marriage, when betel leaf is distributed, it must be given to members of the different gōtras in their order of precedence. In cases of adultery, the guilty parties are tied to a post, and beaten with tamarind switches. When a grown-up but unmarried person dies, the corpse is made to go through a mock marriage with a human figure cut out of a palm leaf.Sōdabisiya.—A sub-division of Dōmb.Soi.—A title of Doluva. It is a form of Sui or Swayi.Sōlaga.—SeeShōlaga.Sōliyan.—Sōliyan or Sōliya is a territorial name, meaning an inhabitant of the Chōla country, recorded as a sub-division of Karnam, Idaiyan, Pallan, and Vellāla. The equivalent Sōlangal occurs as an exogamous sept of Vallamban, and Sōliya illam (Malayālam, house) asan exogamous sept of Panikkans in the Tamil country. Some Pallis style themselves Sōlakanar (descendants of Chōla kings), or Sōlakula Kshatriya. (SeeSōzhia.)Sōmakshatri.—A name sometimes adopted by Canarese Gānigas in South Canara.Sōmara.—Recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as a small class of potters in the Vizagapatam hills.Sōmari(idler).—A division of Yānādis, who do scavenging work, and eat the refuse food thrown away by people from the leaf plate after a meal.Sōma Vārada(Sunday).—The name of Kurubas who worship their god on Sundays.Sōnagan.—SeeJōnagan.Sonar.—The Sonars or Sonagāras of South Canara are described by Mr. H. A. Stuart54as a goldsmith caste, who “speak Konkani, which is a dialect of Marāthi, and are believed to have come from Goa. The community at each station has one or two Mukhtēsars or headmen, who enquire into, and settle the caste affairs. Serious offences are reported to the swāmy of Sode, who has authority to excommunicate, or to inflict heavy fines. They wear the sacred thread. Marriages within the same gōtra are strictly prohibited. Most of them are Vaishnavites, but a few follow Siva. The dead are burned, and the ashes are thrown into a river. They eat fish, but not flesh. Their title is Setti.” They consider it derogatory to work in metals other than gold and silver.In the Madras Census Report, 1901, the Sunnāri (or Sonnāri) are described as Oriya goldsmiths (seeRisley, Tribes and Castes of Bengal, Sonar). These goldsmiths,in the Oriya portion of the Madras Presidency, are, I am informed, Kamsalas from the Telugu country. Unlike the Oriyas, and like other Telugu classes, they invariably have a house-name, and their mother tongue is Telugu. They are Saivites, bury their dead, claim to be descendants of Viswakarma, and call themselves Viswa Brāhmans. They do not eat meals prepared by Brāhmans, or drink water at the hands of Brāhmans.In former times, goldsmiths held the post of Nottakāran (tester) or village shroff (money-changer). His function was to test the rupees tendered when the land revenue was being gathered in, and see that they were not counterfeit. There is a proverb, uncomplimentary to the goldsmiths, to the effect that a goldsmith cannot make an ornament even for his wife, without first secreting some of the gold or silver given him for working upon.It has been noted55that “in Madras, an exceedingly poor country, there is one male goldsmith to every 408 of the total population; in England, a very rich country, there is only one goldsmith to every 1,200 inhabitants. In Europe, jewellery is primarily for ornament, and is a luxury. In India it is primarily an investment, its ornamental purpose being an incident.”The South Indian goldsmith at work has been well described as follows.56“A hollow, scooped out in the middle of the mud floor (of a room or verandah), does duty for the fireplace, while, close by, there is raised a miniature embankment, semi-circular in shape, with a hole in the middle of the base for the insertion of the bellows. Crucibles of clay or cow-dung, baked hard in the sun, tongs and hammers, potsherds of charcoal, dirtytins of water, and little packets of sal-ammoniac, resin, or other similar substances, all lie scattered about the floor in picturesque confusion. Sitting, or rather crouching on their haunches, are a couple of the Pānchāla workmen. One of them is blowing a pan of charcoal into flame through an iron tube some eighteen inches long by one in diameter, and stirring up the loose charcoal. Another is hammering at a piece of silver wire on a little anvil before him. With his miserable tools the Hindu goldsmith turns out work that well might, and often deservedly does, rank with the greatest triumphs of the jeweller’s art.”Sondi.—The Sondis or Sundis are summed up in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as “Oriya toddy-selling caste. They do not draw toddy themselves, but buy it from Siolos, and sell it. They also distill arrack.” The word arrack or arak, it may be noteden passant, means properly “perspiration, and then, first the exudation of sap drawn from the date-palm; secondly, any strong drink, distilled spirit, etc.”57A corruption of the word is rack, which occurs,e.g., in rack punch.According to a Sanskrit work, entitled Parāsarapaddati, Soundikas (toddy-drawers and distillers of arrack) are the offspring of a Kaivarata male and a Gaudike female. Both these castes are pratiloma (mixed) castes. In the Matsya Purāna, the Soundikas are said to have been born to Siva of seven Apsara women on the bank of the river Son. Manu refers to the Soundikas, and says that a Snātaka58may not accept food from trainers of hunting dogs, Soundikas, a washerman, a dyer, pitiless man, and a man in whose house lives a paramour of his wife.In a note on the allied Sunris or Sundis of Bengal, Mr. Risley writes59that “according to Hindu ideas, distillers and sellers of strong drink rank among the most degraded castes, and a curious story in the Vaivarta Purāna keeps alive the memory of their degradation. It is said that when Sani, the Hindu Saturn, failed to adapt an elephant’s head to the mutilated trunk of Ganēsa, who had beenaccidentallybeheaded by Siva, Viswakarma, the celestial artificer, was sent for, and by careful dissection and manipulation he fitted the incongruous parts together, and made a man called Kedāra Sena from the slices cut off in fashioning his work. This Kedāra Sena was ordered to fetch a drink of water for Bhagavati, weary and athirst. Finding on the river’s bank a shell full of water, he presented it to her, without noticing that a few grains of rice left in it by a parrot had fermented and formed an intoxicating liquid. Bhagavati, as soon as she had drunk, became aware of the fact, and in her anger condemned the offender to the vile and servile occupation of making spirituous liquor for mankind. Another story traces their origin to a certain Bhāskar or Bhāskar Muni, who was created by Krishna’s brother, Balarām, to minister to his desire for strong drink. A different version of the same legend gives them for ancestor Niranjan, a boy found by Bhāskar floating down a river in a pot full of country liquor, and brought up by him as a distiller.”For the following note on the Sondis of Vizagapatam, I am indebted to Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao. According to a current tradition, there was, in days of old, a Brāhman, who was celebrated for his magical powers. The king, his patron, asked him if he could make thewater in a tank (pond) burn, and he replied in the affirmative. He was, however, in reality disconsolate, because he did not know how to do it. By chance he met a distiller, who asked him why he looked so troubled, and, on learning his difficulty, promised to help him on condition that he gave him his daughter in marriage. To this the Brāhman consented. The distiller gave him a quantity of liquor to pour into the tank, and told him to set it alight in the presence of the king. The Brāhman kept his word, and the Sondis are the descendants of the offspring of his daughter and the distiller. The caste is divided into several endogamous divisions, viz., Bodo Odiya, Madhya kūla, and Sanno kūla. The last is said to be made up of illegitimate descendants of the two first divisions.The Sondis distil liquor from the ippa (Bassia) flower, rice, and jaggery (crude sugar). There is a tradition that Brahma created the world, and pinched up from a point between his eyebrows a little mud, from which he made a figure, and endowed it with life. Thus Suka Muni was created, and authorised to distil spirit from the ippa flowers, which had hitherto been eaten by birds.When a girl reaches puberty, she is set apart in a room within a square enclosure made with four arrows connected together by a thread. Turmeric and oil are rubbed over her daily, and, on the seventh day, she visits the local shrine.Girls are married before puberty. Some days before a wedding, a sāl (Shorea robusta) orneredu (Eugenia Jambolana)post is set up in front of the bridegroom’s house, and a pandal (booth) erected round it. On the appointed day, a caste feast is held, and a procession of males proceeds to the bride’s house, carrying with themfinger rings, silver and glass bangles, and fifty rupees as the jholla tonka (bride price). On the following day, the bride goes to the house of the bridegroom. On the marriage day, the contracting couple go seven times round the central post of the pandal, and their hands are joined by the presiding Oriya Brāhman. They then sit down, and the sacred fire is raised. The females belonging to the bridegroom’s party sprinkle them with turmeric and rice. On the following day, a Bhondāri (barber) cleans the pandal, and draws patterns in it with rice flour. A mat is spread, and the couple play with cowry shells. These are five in number, and the bridegroom holds them tightly in his right hand, while the bride tries to wrest them from him. If she succeeds in so doing, her brothers beat the bridegroom, and make fun of him; if she fails, the bridegroom’s sisters beat and make fun of her. The bride then takes hold of the cowries, and the same performance is gone through. A basket of rice is brought, and some of it poured into a vessel. The bridegroom holds a portion of it in his hand, and the bride asks him to put it back. This, after a little coaxing, he consents to do. These ceremonies are repeated during the next five days. On the seventh day, small quantities of food are placed on twelve leaves, and twelve Brāhmans, who receive a present of money, sit down, and partake thereof. The marriage of widows is permitted, and a younger brother may marry the widow of an elder brother.The dead are burned, and death pollution lasts for ten days. Daily, during this period, cooked food is strewed on the way leading to the burning-ground. On the eleventh day, those under pollution bathe, and the sacred fire (hōmam) is raised by a Brāhman. As at a wedding, twelve Brāhmans receive food and money.Towards midnight, a new pot is brought, and holes are bored in it. A lighted lamp and food are placed in it, and it is taken towards the burning-ground and set down on the ground. The dead man’s name is then called out three times. He is informed that food is ready, and asked to come.Men, but not women, eat animal food. The women will not partake of the remnants of their husbands’ meal on days on which they eat meat, because, according to the legend, their female ancestor was a Brāhman woman.Among the Sondis of Ganjam, if a girl does not secure a husband before she reaches maturity, she goes through a form of marriage with an old man of the caste, or with her elder sister’s husband, and may not marry until the man with whom she has performed this ceremony dies. On the wedding day, the bridegroom is shaved, and his old waist-thread is replaced by a new one. The ceremonies commence with the worship of Ganēsa, and agree in the main with those of many other Oriya castes. The remarriage of widows is permitted. If a widow was the wife of the first-born or eldest son in a family, she may not, after his death, marry one of his younger brothers. She may, however, do so if she was married in the first instance to a second son.It is noted by Mr. C. F. MacCartie, in the Madras Census Report, 1881, that “a good deal of land has been sold by Khond proprietors to other castes. It was in this way that much territory was found some years ago to be passing into the hands of the Sundis or professional liquor distillers. As soon as these facts were brought to the notice of Government, no time was lost in the adoption of repressive measures, which have been completely successful, as the recent census shows a greatreduction in the numbers of these Sundis, who, now that their unscrupulous trade is abolished, have emigrated largely to Boad and other tracts. This is the only case to my knowledge in which a special trade has decayed, and with the best results, as, had it not been so, there is no doubt that the Khond population would very soon have degenerated into pureadscripti glebæ, and the Sundis become the landlords.”It is recorded, in the Gazetteer of the Vizagapatam district, that “besides ippa (liquor distilled from the blossom ofBassia latifolia), the hill people brew beer from rice, sāmai (the milletPanicum miliare), and rāgi (Eleusine Coracana). They mash the grain in the ordinary manner, add some more water to it, mix a small quantity of ferment with it, leave it to ferment three or four days, and then strain off the grain. The beer so obtained is often highly intoxicating, and different kinds of it go by different names, such as londa, pandiyam, and maddikallu. The ferment which is used is called the sāraiya-mandu (spirit drug) or Sondi-mandu (Sondi’s drug), and can be bought in the weekly market. There are numerous recipes for making it, but the ingredients are always jungle roots and barks.60It is sold made up into small balls with rice. The actual shop-keepers and still-owners in the hills, especially in the Parvatipur and Pālkonda agencies, are usually immigrants of the Sondi caste, a wily class who know exactly how to take advantage of the sin which doth so easily beset the hill man, and to wheedle from him, in exchange for the strong drink which he cannot do without, his ready money, his little possessions, his crops, and finally his land itself.“The Sondis are gradually getting much of the best land into their hands, and many of the guileless hill ryots into their power. Mr. Taylor stated in 1892 that ‘the rate of interest on loans extorted by these Sondis is 100 per cent. and, if this is not cleared off in the first year, compound interest at 100 per cent. is charged on the balance. The result is that, in many instances, the cultivators are unable to pay in cash or kind, and become the gōtis or serfs of the sowcars, for whom they have to work in return for mere batta (subsistence allowance), whilst the latter take care to manipulate their accounts in such a manner that the debt is never paid off. A remarkable instance of this tyranny was brought to my notice a few days since. A ryot some fifty years ago borrowed Rs. 20; he paid back Rs. 50 at intervals, and worked for the whole of his life, and died in harness. For the same debt the sowcar (money-lender) claimed the services of his son, and he too died in bondage, leaving two small sons aged 13 and 9, whose services were also claimed for an alleged arrear of Rs. 30 on a debt of Rs. 20 borrowed 50 years back, for which Rs. 50 in cash had been repaid in addition to the perpetual labour of a man for a similar period.’ This custom of gōti is firmly established, and, in a recent case, an elder brother claimed to be able to pledge for his own debts the services of his younger brother, and even those of the latter’s wife. Debts due by persons of respectability are often collected by the Sondis by an exasperating method, which has led to at least one case of homicide. They send Ghāsis, who are one of the lowest of all castes, and contact with whom is utter defilement entailing severe caste penalties, to haunt the house of the debtor who will not pay, insult and annoy him and his family, and threaten to drag him forcibly before theSondi.” A friend was, on one occasion, out after big game in the Jeypore hills, and shot a tiger. He asked his shikāri (tracker) what reward he should give him for putting him on to the beast. The shikāri replied that he would be quite satisfied with twenty-five rupees, as he wanted to get his younger brother out of pledge. Asked what he meant, he replied that, two years previously, he had purchased as his wife a woman who belonged to a caste higher than his own for a hundred rupees. He obtained the money by pledging his younger brother to a sowcar, and had paid it all back except twenty-five rupees. Meanwhile his brother was the bondsman of the sowcar, and cultivating his land in return for simple food.It is further recorded, in the Gazetteer of the Vizagapatam district, that Dombu (or Dōmb) dacoits “force their way into the house of some wealthy person (for choice the local Sondi liquor-seller and sowcar—usually the only man worth looting in an Agency village, and a shark who gets little pity from his neighbours when forced to disgorge), tie up the men, rape the women, and go off with everything of value.”The titles of the Ganjam Sondis are Bēhara, Chowdri, Podhāno, and Sāhu. In the Vizagapatam agency tracts, their title is said to be Bissōyi.Sonkari.—The Sonkaris are a small class of Oriya lac bangle (sonka) makers in Ganjam and Vizagapatam, who should not be confused with the Telugu Sunkaris. The men are engaged in agriculture, and the women manufacture the bangles, chains, chāmaras (fly-flappers), kolātam sticks (for stick play), and fans ornamented with devices in paddy (unhusked rice) grains, which are mainly sold to Europeans as curios.Sonkari girls are married before puberty. A man should marry his paternal aunt’s daughter, but at the present day this custom is frequently disregarded. Brāhmans officiate at their marriages. The dead are cremated. The caste title is Pātro.Sonkuva.—A sub-division of Māli.Sonti(dried ginger).—An exogamous sept of Asili.Soppu(leaf).—The name for Koragas, who wear leafy garments.Sōzhia.—A territorial name of sub-divisions of various Tamil classes who are settled in what was formerly the Chōla country,e.g., Brāhman, Chetti, Kaikōlan, Kammālan, Pallan, and Vellāla.Srishti Karnam.—A sub-division of Karnam. The name is variously spelt,e.g., Sristi, Sishta, Sishti. The name Sishti Karanamalu is said to have been assumed by Oddilu, who have raised themselves in life.61Stala(a place).—Lingāyats sometimes use the word Staladavāru, or natives of a place, to distinguish them from recent settlers.Stānika.—The Stānikas are summed up, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as being “Canarese temple servants. They claim to be Brāhmans, though other Brāhmans do not admit the claim; and, as the total of the caste has declined from 4,650 in 1891 to 1,469, they have apparently returned themselves as Brāhmans in considerable numbers.” The Stānikas are, in the South Canara Manual, said to be “the descendants of Brāhmins by Brāhmin widows and outcast Brāhmin women, corresponding with Manu’s Golaka. They however now claim to be Siva Brāhmins, forcibly dispossessed of authority by the Mādhvas, and state thatthe name Stānika is not that of a separate caste, but indicates their profession as managers of temples, with the title of Dēva Stānika. This claim is not generally conceded, and as a matter of fact the duties in which Stānikas are employed are clearly those of temple servants, namely, collecting flowers, sweeping the interiors of temples, looking after the lamps, cleaning the temple vessels, ringing bells, and the like. Many of them, however, are landowners and farmers. They are generally Sivites, and wear the sacred thread. Their special deities are Venkatrāmana and Ganapati. Drāvida Brāhmins officiate as their priests, but of late some educated men of the caste have assumed the priestly office. The caste has two sub-divisions, viz., Subramania and Kumbla. Girls must be married in infancy,i.e., before they attain puberty. Widow remarriage is neither permitted nor practiced. Their other customs are almost the same as those of the Kōta Brāhmans. They neither eat flesh nor drink liquor.” It is stated in the Manual that the Stānikas are called Shānbōgs and Mukhtesars. But I am informed that at an inquest or a search the Moktessors or Mukhtesars (chief men) of a village are assembled, and sign the inquest report or search list. The Moktessors of any caste can be summoned together. Some of the Moktessors of a temple may be Stānikas. In the case of social disputes decided at caste meetings, the Shānbōg (writer or accountant) appointed by the caste would record the evidence, and the Moktessor would decide upon the facts.Of the two sections Subramanya and Kumbla, the former claim superiority, and there is no intermarriage between them. The members of the Subramanya section state that they belong to Rig Sāka (Rig Vēda) and havegōtras, such as Viswamitra, Angirasa, and Bāradwaja, and twelve exogamous septs. Of these septs, the following are examples:—

3. Nattāti. Settled at the village of Nattāti near Sawyerpūram.4. Kodikkāl. Derived from kodi, a flag. Standard-bearers of the fighting men. According to another version, the word means a betel garden, in reference to those who were betel cultivators.5. Mēl-nātar (mēl, west). Those who live in the western part of Tinnevelly and in Travancore.At the census, 1891, Konga (territorial) and Madurai were returned as sub-divisions. The latter apparently receives its name, not from the town of Madura, but from a word meaning sweet juice. At the census, 1901, Tollakkādan (man with a big hole in his ears) was taken as being a sub-caste of Shānān, as the people who returned it, and sell husked rice in Madras, used the title Nādān. Madura and Tinnevelly are eminently the homes of dilated ear-lobes. Some Tamil traders in these two districts, who returned themselves as Pāndyan, were classified as Shānāns, as Nādān was entered as their title. In Coimbatore, some Shānāns, engaged as shop-keepers, have been known to adopt the name of Chetti. In Coimbatore, too, the title Mūppan occurs. This title, meaning headman or elder, is also used by the Ambalakāran, Valayan, Sudarmān, Sēnaikkudaiyān, and other castes. In the Tanjore Manual, the Shānāns are divided into Tennam, Panam, and Ichcham, according as they tap the cocoanut, palmyra, or wild date (Phœnix sylvestris). The name Enādi for Shānāns is derived from Enādi Nayanar, a Saivite saint. But it also means a barber.The community has, among its members, land-owners, and graduates in theology, law, medicine, and the arts. Nine-tenths of the Native clergy in Tinnevelly are said to be converted Shānāns, and Tinnevelly claims Native missionaries working in Madagascar, Natal, Mauritius, and the Straits. The occupationsof those whom I saw at Nazareth were merchant, cultivator, teacher, village munsif, organist, cart-driver, and cooly.The Shānāns have established a school, called Kshatriya Vidyasala, at Virudupati in Tinnevelly. This is a free school, for attendance at which no fee is levied on the pupils, for the benefit of the Shānān community, but boys of other castes are freely admitted to it. It is maintained by Shānāns from their mahimai fund, and the teachers are Brāhmans, Shānāns, etc. The word mahimai means greatness, glory, or respectability.Shānbōg.—The Māgane Shānbōg takes the place, in South Canara, of the village Karnam or accountant. There are also temple Shānbōgs, who are employed at the more important temples. When social disputes come up for decision at caste council meetings, the Shānbōg appointed by the caste records the evidence, and the Moktessor or Mukhtesar (chief man) of the caste decides upon the facts. In some places in South Canara Shānbōg is used as a synonym for Sārasvat Brāhman. In Mysore, the Shānbōg is said48to be “the village accountant, with hardly an exception of the Brāhman caste. The office is hereditary. In some places they hold land free of rent, and in others on light assessment. In some few places a fixed money allowance is given. In all instances there are certain fixed fees payable to them in money or kind by the ryots.”It is noted by Mr. W. Robinson, in a report on the Laccadive islands (1869), that “the Monegar has the assistance of one of the islanders as a Karany, to take down depositions, and to read them, for the character used is the Arabic. In addition to these duties, theKarany has those of the Shanbogue. He keeps the accounts of the trees, and the coir (cocoanut fibre) in the islands, and makes out and delivers the accounts of coir brought to the coast.”Shikāri.—Shikāri, meaning a sportsman or hunter, occurs as a synonym of Irula, and a sub-division of Korava. The name shikāri is also applied to a Native who “accompanies European sportsmen as a guide and aid, and to the European sportsman himself.”49Shōlaga.—In his account of the Shōlagas or Sōlagas, early in the last century, Buchanan50writes that they “speak a bad or old dialect of the Karnāta language, have scarcely any clothing, and sleep round a fire, lying on a few plantain leaves, and covering themselves with others. They live chiefly on the summits of mountains, where the tigers do not frequent, but where their naked bodies are exposed to a disagreeable cold. Their huts are most wretched, and consist of bamboos with both ends stuck into the ground, so as to form an arch, which is covered with plantain leaves.” The up-to-date Shōlaga, who inhabits the jungles of Coimbatore between Dimbhum and Kollegal near the Mysore frontier, is clad in a cotton loin-cloth, supplemented by a coat of English pattern with regimental buttons, and smears himself freely on special occasions, such as a visit to the Government anthropologist, with sacred ashes in mimicry of the Lingāyats.I gather from a correspondent that the following tradition concerning their origin is current. In days of yore there lived two brothers in the Geddesala hills, by name Kārayan and Billaya or Mādhēswara. The Uralis and Shōlagas are descended from Kārayan, and theSivachāris (Lingāyats) from Mādhēswara. The two brothers fell into the hands of a terrible Rākshasha (demon), by name Savanan, who made Kārayan a shepherd, but imprisoned Mādhēswara for not paying him sufficient respect, and extracted all kinds of menial work from him. Last of all he ordered him to make a pair of shoes, whereupon Mādhēswara asked for his liberty for a few days, to enable him to have the shoes well made. His request being granted, Mādhēswara betook himself to the god Krishnamurti, and asked him for his help in his troubles. The god was only too happy to assist, and suggested that the shoes should be made of wax. Helped by Krishnamurti, Mādhēswara made a very beautiful-looking pair of shoes. Krishnamurti then ordered him to pile up and light a huge bonfire on a bare rocky hill east of Geddesala, so as to make it nearly red-hot. The ashes were then cleared away, so as to leave no trace of their plot. Mādhēswara then took the shoes, and presented them to Savanan, who was much pleased with them, and willingly acceded to Mādhēswara’s request that he would put them on, and walk along the rock. But, as soon as he stepped upon it, the shoes melted, and Savanan fell heavily on the rock, clutching hold of Mādhēswara as he fell, and trying to strangle him. Krishnamurti had assembled all the gods to witness the carrying out of the plot, and, telling each of them to pile a stone onSavanan’shead, himself rescued Mādhēswara from his clutches, and all jumped upon the Rākshasha till no trace of him was left. While this was going on, Kārayan was tending Savanan’s herds in the forest, and, when he came to hear about it, was angry with his brother for not consulting him before destroying Savanan. Flying from Kārayan, who was armed with a knife, Mādhēswara implored Krishnamurti’shelp, by which he was able to leap from Kotriboli to the hill called Urugamalai, a distance of some ten miles. The force of the leap caused the hill to bend—hence its name meaning the bending hill. Finding that the hill was bending, and being still hotly pursued by his brother, knife in hand, Mādhēswara again appealed to Krishnamurti, and was enabled to make another leap of about five miles to a hill called Eggaraimalai, which immediately began to subside. Hence its name, meaning the subsiding hill. Thence he fled to Munikanal, and concealed himself under a rock, closely followed by Kārayan, who slashed the rock with his knife, and left marks which are visible to this day. From Munikanal he fled to the hill now known as Mādhēswaranamalai, and hid in a rat hole. Kārayan, not being able to unearth him, sent for a lot of shepherds, and made them pen their sheep and cattle over the hole. The effluvium became too strong for the fugitive, so he surrendered himself to his brother, who pardoned him on the understanding that, on deification, Kārayan should have prior claim to all votive offerings. To this Mādhēswara agreed, and to this day Sivachāris, when doing pūja, first make their offerings to Kārayan and afterwards to Mādhēswara. In connection with this legend, any one proceeding to the top of Kotriboli hill at the present day is expected to place a stone upon the rock, with the result that there are many piles of stones there. Even Europeans are asked to do this.The Shōlagas are said to call themselves men of five kulams, or exogamous septs, among which are Chalikiri, Tēneru, Belleri, Surya (the sun), and Aleru. By members of the twelve kulam class, everything is done by twelves. For example, on the twelfth day after a birth, twelve elders are invited to the house to bless the child.At a marriage, twelve of the bridegroom’s relations go and fetch the bride, and the wedding pandal (booth) has twelve posts. The parents of the bridegroom pay twelve rupees to the bride’s father, and a tāli (marriage badge) worth twelve annas is tied round the bride’s neck. In case of death, the body is borne on a stretcher made of twelve bamboos, and mourning lasts for twelve days.Tribal disputes,e.g., quarrelling and adultery, are decided by the Yejamāna, assisted by a Pattagara and a few leading men of the community. Under the orders of the two former is the Chalavāthi or village servant. The Yejamāna, Pattagara, and Chalavāthi must belong respectively to the Chalikiri, Teneri, and Surya septs.When a girl reaches puberty, she occupies a separate hut for five days, and then returns home after a bath. The maternal uncle should present her with a new cloth, betel leaves and areca nuts, and plantain fruits. In the formal marriage ceremony, the tāli is tied by the bridegroom inside a booth; the maternal uncle, if he can afford it, presents a new cloth to the bride, and a feast is held. Sometimes even this simple rite is dispensed with, and the couple, without any formality, live together as man and wife, on the understanding that, at some time, a feast must be given to a few of the community. I am told that the Shōlagas of the Burghur hills have a very extraordinary way of treating expectant mothers. A few days before the event is expected to take place, the husband takes his wife right away into the jungle, and leaves her there alone with three days’ supply of food. There she has to stay, and do the best she can for herself. If she does not come back at the end of the three days, the husband goes out and takes her more food. But she may not return to her village till the baby is born. When one of these unfortunate creatures comes backsafely, there is a great celebration in her honour, with beating of tom-tom, etc.The dead are buried with the body lying on its left side, and the head to the south. On their return home from a funeral, those who have been present thereat salute a lighted lamp. On the spot where the dead person breathed his last, a little rāgi (Eleusine Coracana) paste and water are placed, and here, on the fourth day, a goat is sacrificed, and offered up to the soul of the departed. After this the son proceeds to the burial ground, carrying a stone, and followed by men selected from each of the exogamous septs. Arrived near the grave, they sit down, while the son places the stone on the ground, and they then lift it in succession. The last man to do so is said to fall into a trance. On his recovery, leaves (plantain, teak, etc.) corresponding in number to the exogamous septs, are arranged round the stone, and, on each leaf, different kinds of food are placed. The men partake of the food, each from the leaf allotted to his sept. The meal concluded, the son holds the stone in his hands, while his companions pour rāgi and water over it, and then carries it away to the gopamane (burial-ground) of his sept, and sets it up there.On the occasion of a death in a Mala Vellāla village, the Shōlagas come in crowds, with clarionets and drums, and bells on their legs, and dance in front of the house. And the corpse is borne, in musical procession, to the burning-ground.The staple food of the Shōlagas is rāgi paste and yams (Dioscorea), which, like the Urālis, they supplement by sundry jungle animals and birds. Paroquets they will not eat, as they regard them as their children.Their main occupation is to collect minor forest produce, myrabolams, vembadam bark (Ventilagomadraspatana), avaram bark (Cassia auriculata), deers’ horns, tamarinds, gum, honey, soap-nuts, sheekoy (Acacia Concinna),etc. The forests have been divided into blocks, and a certain place within each block has been selected for the forest depôt. To this place the collecting agents, mostly Shōlagas and Urālis, bring the produce, and there it is sorted and paid for by special supervisors appointed for the work.Shōlaga.Shōlaga.In the Coimbatore district the Shōlagas are said to collect honey from rocky crevices. The combs are much larger than those found on trees, and are supposed to contain twice as much wax in proportion to the honey. On the Nilgiri hills honey-combs are collected by Jēn Kurumbas and Shōlagas. The supply of honey varies according to the nature of the season, and is especially plentiful and of good quality whenStrobilanthes Wightianus,S. Kunthiana, and other species are in flower.It has been said that even wild beasts will scent a Shōlaga, and flee before the aroma.The Shōlagas, who were examined by Dr. Rivers and myself, came to the conclusion that the object of our enquiry was to settle them in a certain place near London, and that the wools of different colours (used for testing colour vision) given to them for selection, were for tying them captive with. Others said that they could not understand why the different organs of their bodies were measured; perhaps to reduce or increase the size of their body to suit the different works, which they were expected to do near London. It has been pointed out to me, as an interesting fact, that a similarity of idea concerning the modification of different organs to suit men for the doing of special work has been arrived at by the jungle folk, and by Mr. Wells in his book,‘The first men in the moon,’ where the lunar inhabitants are described as carrying on the practice.Of the experiences of a Shōlaga when out with a European on a shooting expedition, the following account has recently been given.51“My husband was after a bear, and tracked Bruin to his cave. He had torches made, and these he ordered to be thrust into the cave in the hope of smoking the bear out, but, as nothing happened, he went into the cave, accompanied by a Sholigar carrying a torch. As soon as they got used to the light, they saw a small aperture leading into an inner cave, and the Sholigar was told to put the torch in there. Hardly was this done, when out rushed a large bear, knocking over the Sholigar, and extinguishing the torch. My husband could not get his gun up in time to fire, as the bear rushed through the cave into the jungle. Just as the Sholigar was picking himself up, out rushed another bear. This time my husband was ready, and fired. To the Sholigar’s horror, Bruin sank down wounded at the entrance to the outer cave, thus blocking the exit, and keeping both tracker and my husband prisoners. The Sholigar began whimpering, saying he was the father of a large family, and did not wish to leave the children fatherless. Soon the bear, though very badly wounded, managed to get to its feet, and crawl away into the jungle, so liberating the prisoners.”Concerning the Shōlagas of the Mysore Province,52I gather that they “inhabit the depths of the forests clothing the foot and slopes of the Biligirirangam hills. They cultivate with the hoe small patches of jungle clearings. Their chief god is Biligiri Rangasvāmi, but they also worship Kāraiyya, their tribal tutelary deity. Theirprincipal food is the rāgi, which they grow, supplemented by wild forest produce. They are partial to the flesh of deer, antelope, pigs, sheep and goats. A few of them have, in recent years, come to own lands. Like the Jēnu Kurumbas, they are perfect trackers of wild animals. Three kinds of marriage prevail among them. The first is affected by the more well-to-do, who perform the ceremony with much éclat under a shed with twelve pillars (bamboo posts), accompanied by music and festivities, which continue for three days. The second is more common, and seems to be a modified form of concubinage. The poorer members resort to the third kind, which consists in the couple eloping to a distant jungle, and returning home only after the bride has become a mother. They speak a patois, allied to old Canarese or Halē Kannada.”53Shōla Naiker.—A synonym of Jēn Kurumbas in the Wynād.Sibbi Dhompti(brass vessel offering).—A subdivision of Mādigas, who, at marriages, offer food to the god in brass vessels.Siddaru.—A synonym of Jōgi mendicants.Sika(kudumi or hair-knot).—An exogamous sept of Dēvānga.Sīkili(broom).—An exogamous sept of Mādiga.Sikligar.—In the Madras Census Report, 1901, eleven individuals are returned as belonging to an Upper India caste of knife-grinders (Sikligar). In the Madura Manual, Sikilkārars are described as knife-grinders, who wander about in quest of work from village to village.Sila(stone).—An exogamous sept of Omanaito.Sīlam(good conduct).—An exogamous sept of Māla.Sīlavant.—In the Madras Census Report, 1901, Sīlavant is recorded as meaning the virtuous, and as being a sub-sect of Lingāyats. In the Mysore Census Report, Sīlavanta is given as a name for Lingāyat Nayindas. For the following note on the Sīlavantalu or Sīlēvantalu of Vizagapatam, I am indebted to Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao.They are a sect of Lingāyats, who, though they do not admit it, appear to be an offshoot of Pattu Sālēs, who became converts to the Lingāyat religion. They are engaged in the manufacture of fine cloths for males and females. The religious observances which secured them their name, meaning those who practice or possess particular religious customs, have been thus described. In the seventh month of pregnancy, at the time of quickening, a small stone linga is enclosed in black lac, wrapped in a piece of silk cloth, and tied to the thread of the linga which is on the woman’s neck. The child is thus invested with the linga while stillin utero. When it is about a year old, and weaned, the linga is taken off the mother’s neck, and replaced by a silver locket. The linga is tied on the neck of the child. At the beginning of the twelfth year in the case of boys, and just before the marriage of girls, this linga is taken off, and a fresh one suspended round the neck by a guru.The Sīlavantalu are divided into exogamous septs, or intipērulu. The custom of mēnarikam, whereby a man marries his maternal uncle’s daughter, is the rule. But, if the maternal uncle has no daughter, he must find a suitable bride for his nephew. Girls are married before puberty, and a Jangam, known as Mahēsvara, officiates at weddings.The dead are buried in a sitting posture, facing north. The linga is suspended round the neck of thecorpse, and buried with it. Six small copper plates are made, each containing a syllable of the invocation Ōm na ma Si va ya. Two of these are placed on the thighs of the corpse, one on the head, one on the navel, and two on the shoulders, and stuck on with guggilam paste. The corpse is then tied up in a sack. The relatives offer flowers to it, and burn camphor before it. The grave is dug several feet deep, and a cavity or cell is made on the southern side of it, and lined with bamboo matting. The corpse is placed within the cell, and salt thrown into the grave before it is filled in. A Jangam officiates at the funeral. Monthly and annual death ceremonies are performed. A samāthi or monument is erected over the grave. Such a monument may be either in the form of a square mound (brindavan) with niches for lights and a hole in the top, in which a tulsi (Ocimum sanctum) is planted, or in the form of a small chamber. Relations go occasionally to the grave, whereon they deposit flowers, and place lights in the niches or chamber.The Sīlavantalu are strict vegetarians and total abstainers. Their titles are Ayya and Lingam.Silpa(artisan).—A sub-division of the Kammālans, Panchālas or Kamsalas, whose hereditary occupation is that of stone-masons. In the Silpa Sāstra, the measurements necessary in sculpture, the duties of a Silpi, etc., are laid down. I am informed that the carver of a stone idol has to select a male or female stone, according as the idol is to be a god or goddess, and that the sex of a stone can be determined by its ring when struck.Sindhu.—The Sindhuvāllu (drummers) are Mādigas, who go about acting scenes from the Rāmayana or Mahābhāratha, and the story of Ankamma. Sindhu also occurs as a gōtra of Kurni. The beating of the drum called sindhu is, I gather, sometimes a nuisance, for amissionary writes to the paper enquiring whether there is any order of Government against it, as the practice “causes much crime, and creates extra work for police and magistrates. Village officials believe they have no authority to suppress it, but there are some who assert that it is nominally forbidden.”Singamu-vāru.—Singam is described, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as a class of beggars, who beg only from Sālēs. They are, however, described by Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao as a class of itinerant mendicants attached to the Dēvāngas. “The name,” he writes, “is a variant of Simhamu-vāru, or lion-men,i.e., as valourous as a lion. They are paid a small sum annually by each Dēvānga village for various services which they render, such as carrying fire before a Dēvānga corpse to the burial-ground, acting as caste messengers, and cleaning the weaving instruments.”Sinnata(gold).—An exogamous sept of Kuruba.Sīolo.—A small class of Oriya toddy-drawers, whose touch conveys pollution. The Sondis, who are an Oriya caste of toddy-sellers, purchase their liquor from the Sīolos.Sipiti.—The Sipitis are described, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as “Oriya temple priests and drummers; a sub-caste of Rāvulo.” In an account of them as given to me, they are stated to be Smartas, and temple priests of village deities, who wear the sacred thread, but do not employ Brāhmans as purōhits, and are regarded as somewhat lower in the social scale than the Rāvulos. Some of their females are said to have been unrecognised prostitutes, but the custom is dying out. The caste title is Mūni. (SeeRāvulo.)Sir.—A sub-division of Kanakkan.Sirpādam.—A sub-division of Kaikōlan.Sirukudi.—A nādu or territorial division of Kallan.Siru Tāli.—The name, indicating those who wear a small tāli (marriage badge), of a sub-division of Kaikōlan and Maravan.Sītikan.—Recorded, in the Travancore Census Report, 1901, as an occupational sub-division of Mārān.Sitra.—SeePāno.Siva Brāhmana.—Recorded as a synonym of Stānika.Sivachāra.—It is noted, in the Mysore Census Report, 1901, that the Lingāyats call themselves “Vīra Saivas, Sivabhaktas, or Sivachars. The Vīrasaiva religion consists of numerous castes. It is a religion consisting of representatives from almost every caste in Hindu society. People of all castes, from the highest to the lowest, have embraced the religion. There are Sivachar Brāhmins, Sivachar Kshatriyas, Sivachar Vaisyas, Sivachar carpenters, Sivachar weavers, Sivachar goldsmiths, Sivachar potters, Sivachar washermen, and Sivachar barbers, and other low castes who have all followed the popular religion in large numbers.”Sivadvija.—The name, denoting Saivite Brāhman, by which Mūssads like to be called. Also recorded as a synonym of Stānika.Sivarātri.—An exogamous sept of Oddē, named after the annual Mahāsivarātri festival in honour of Siva. Holy ashes, sacred to Siva, prepared by Smartas on this day, are considered to be very pure.Sivarchaka.—The word means those who do pūja (worship) to Siva. Priests at the temple of village deities are ordinarily known as Pūjāri, Pūsāli, Ōcchan, etc., but nowadays prefer the title of Ūmarchaka or Sivarchaka. The name Sivala occurs in the Madras Census Report, 1901.Siviyar.—Siviyar means literally a palanquin-bearer, and is an occupational name applied to those employed in that capacity. For this reason a sub-division of the Idaiyans is called Siviyar. The Siviyars of Coimbatore say that they have no connection with either Idaiyans or Toreyas, but are Besthas who emigrated from Mysore during the troublous times of the Muhammadan usurpation. The name Siviyar is stated to have been given to them by the Tamils, as they were palanquin-bearers to officers on circuit and others in the pre-railway days. They claim origin, on the authority of a book called Parvatharāja Charithum, from Parvatharāja. Their main occupations at the present day are tank and river fishing, but some are petty traders, physicians, peons, etc. Their language is Canarese, and their title Naickan. They have eighteen marriage divisions or gōtras, named after persons from whom the various gōtras are said to have been descended. On occasions of marriage, when betel leaf is distributed, it must be given to members of the different gōtras in their order of precedence. In cases of adultery, the guilty parties are tied to a post, and beaten with tamarind switches. When a grown-up but unmarried person dies, the corpse is made to go through a mock marriage with a human figure cut out of a palm leaf.Sōdabisiya.—A sub-division of Dōmb.Soi.—A title of Doluva. It is a form of Sui or Swayi.Sōlaga.—SeeShōlaga.Sōliyan.—Sōliyan or Sōliya is a territorial name, meaning an inhabitant of the Chōla country, recorded as a sub-division of Karnam, Idaiyan, Pallan, and Vellāla. The equivalent Sōlangal occurs as an exogamous sept of Vallamban, and Sōliya illam (Malayālam, house) asan exogamous sept of Panikkans in the Tamil country. Some Pallis style themselves Sōlakanar (descendants of Chōla kings), or Sōlakula Kshatriya. (SeeSōzhia.)Sōmakshatri.—A name sometimes adopted by Canarese Gānigas in South Canara.Sōmara.—Recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as a small class of potters in the Vizagapatam hills.Sōmari(idler).—A division of Yānādis, who do scavenging work, and eat the refuse food thrown away by people from the leaf plate after a meal.Sōma Vārada(Sunday).—The name of Kurubas who worship their god on Sundays.Sōnagan.—SeeJōnagan.Sonar.—The Sonars or Sonagāras of South Canara are described by Mr. H. A. Stuart54as a goldsmith caste, who “speak Konkani, which is a dialect of Marāthi, and are believed to have come from Goa. The community at each station has one or two Mukhtēsars or headmen, who enquire into, and settle the caste affairs. Serious offences are reported to the swāmy of Sode, who has authority to excommunicate, or to inflict heavy fines. They wear the sacred thread. Marriages within the same gōtra are strictly prohibited. Most of them are Vaishnavites, but a few follow Siva. The dead are burned, and the ashes are thrown into a river. They eat fish, but not flesh. Their title is Setti.” They consider it derogatory to work in metals other than gold and silver.In the Madras Census Report, 1901, the Sunnāri (or Sonnāri) are described as Oriya goldsmiths (seeRisley, Tribes and Castes of Bengal, Sonar). These goldsmiths,in the Oriya portion of the Madras Presidency, are, I am informed, Kamsalas from the Telugu country. Unlike the Oriyas, and like other Telugu classes, they invariably have a house-name, and their mother tongue is Telugu. They are Saivites, bury their dead, claim to be descendants of Viswakarma, and call themselves Viswa Brāhmans. They do not eat meals prepared by Brāhmans, or drink water at the hands of Brāhmans.In former times, goldsmiths held the post of Nottakāran (tester) or village shroff (money-changer). His function was to test the rupees tendered when the land revenue was being gathered in, and see that they were not counterfeit. There is a proverb, uncomplimentary to the goldsmiths, to the effect that a goldsmith cannot make an ornament even for his wife, without first secreting some of the gold or silver given him for working upon.It has been noted55that “in Madras, an exceedingly poor country, there is one male goldsmith to every 408 of the total population; in England, a very rich country, there is only one goldsmith to every 1,200 inhabitants. In Europe, jewellery is primarily for ornament, and is a luxury. In India it is primarily an investment, its ornamental purpose being an incident.”The South Indian goldsmith at work has been well described as follows.56“A hollow, scooped out in the middle of the mud floor (of a room or verandah), does duty for the fireplace, while, close by, there is raised a miniature embankment, semi-circular in shape, with a hole in the middle of the base for the insertion of the bellows. Crucibles of clay or cow-dung, baked hard in the sun, tongs and hammers, potsherds of charcoal, dirtytins of water, and little packets of sal-ammoniac, resin, or other similar substances, all lie scattered about the floor in picturesque confusion. Sitting, or rather crouching on their haunches, are a couple of the Pānchāla workmen. One of them is blowing a pan of charcoal into flame through an iron tube some eighteen inches long by one in diameter, and stirring up the loose charcoal. Another is hammering at a piece of silver wire on a little anvil before him. With his miserable tools the Hindu goldsmith turns out work that well might, and often deservedly does, rank with the greatest triumphs of the jeweller’s art.”Sondi.—The Sondis or Sundis are summed up in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as “Oriya toddy-selling caste. They do not draw toddy themselves, but buy it from Siolos, and sell it. They also distill arrack.” The word arrack or arak, it may be noteden passant, means properly “perspiration, and then, first the exudation of sap drawn from the date-palm; secondly, any strong drink, distilled spirit, etc.”57A corruption of the word is rack, which occurs,e.g., in rack punch.According to a Sanskrit work, entitled Parāsarapaddati, Soundikas (toddy-drawers and distillers of arrack) are the offspring of a Kaivarata male and a Gaudike female. Both these castes are pratiloma (mixed) castes. In the Matsya Purāna, the Soundikas are said to have been born to Siva of seven Apsara women on the bank of the river Son. Manu refers to the Soundikas, and says that a Snātaka58may not accept food from trainers of hunting dogs, Soundikas, a washerman, a dyer, pitiless man, and a man in whose house lives a paramour of his wife.In a note on the allied Sunris or Sundis of Bengal, Mr. Risley writes59that “according to Hindu ideas, distillers and sellers of strong drink rank among the most degraded castes, and a curious story in the Vaivarta Purāna keeps alive the memory of their degradation. It is said that when Sani, the Hindu Saturn, failed to adapt an elephant’s head to the mutilated trunk of Ganēsa, who had beenaccidentallybeheaded by Siva, Viswakarma, the celestial artificer, was sent for, and by careful dissection and manipulation he fitted the incongruous parts together, and made a man called Kedāra Sena from the slices cut off in fashioning his work. This Kedāra Sena was ordered to fetch a drink of water for Bhagavati, weary and athirst. Finding on the river’s bank a shell full of water, he presented it to her, without noticing that a few grains of rice left in it by a parrot had fermented and formed an intoxicating liquid. Bhagavati, as soon as she had drunk, became aware of the fact, and in her anger condemned the offender to the vile and servile occupation of making spirituous liquor for mankind. Another story traces their origin to a certain Bhāskar or Bhāskar Muni, who was created by Krishna’s brother, Balarām, to minister to his desire for strong drink. A different version of the same legend gives them for ancestor Niranjan, a boy found by Bhāskar floating down a river in a pot full of country liquor, and brought up by him as a distiller.”For the following note on the Sondis of Vizagapatam, I am indebted to Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao. According to a current tradition, there was, in days of old, a Brāhman, who was celebrated for his magical powers. The king, his patron, asked him if he could make thewater in a tank (pond) burn, and he replied in the affirmative. He was, however, in reality disconsolate, because he did not know how to do it. By chance he met a distiller, who asked him why he looked so troubled, and, on learning his difficulty, promised to help him on condition that he gave him his daughter in marriage. To this the Brāhman consented. The distiller gave him a quantity of liquor to pour into the tank, and told him to set it alight in the presence of the king. The Brāhman kept his word, and the Sondis are the descendants of the offspring of his daughter and the distiller. The caste is divided into several endogamous divisions, viz., Bodo Odiya, Madhya kūla, and Sanno kūla. The last is said to be made up of illegitimate descendants of the two first divisions.The Sondis distil liquor from the ippa (Bassia) flower, rice, and jaggery (crude sugar). There is a tradition that Brahma created the world, and pinched up from a point between his eyebrows a little mud, from which he made a figure, and endowed it with life. Thus Suka Muni was created, and authorised to distil spirit from the ippa flowers, which had hitherto been eaten by birds.When a girl reaches puberty, she is set apart in a room within a square enclosure made with four arrows connected together by a thread. Turmeric and oil are rubbed over her daily, and, on the seventh day, she visits the local shrine.Girls are married before puberty. Some days before a wedding, a sāl (Shorea robusta) orneredu (Eugenia Jambolana)post is set up in front of the bridegroom’s house, and a pandal (booth) erected round it. On the appointed day, a caste feast is held, and a procession of males proceeds to the bride’s house, carrying with themfinger rings, silver and glass bangles, and fifty rupees as the jholla tonka (bride price). On the following day, the bride goes to the house of the bridegroom. On the marriage day, the contracting couple go seven times round the central post of the pandal, and their hands are joined by the presiding Oriya Brāhman. They then sit down, and the sacred fire is raised. The females belonging to the bridegroom’s party sprinkle them with turmeric and rice. On the following day, a Bhondāri (barber) cleans the pandal, and draws patterns in it with rice flour. A mat is spread, and the couple play with cowry shells. These are five in number, and the bridegroom holds them tightly in his right hand, while the bride tries to wrest them from him. If she succeeds in so doing, her brothers beat the bridegroom, and make fun of him; if she fails, the bridegroom’s sisters beat and make fun of her. The bride then takes hold of the cowries, and the same performance is gone through. A basket of rice is brought, and some of it poured into a vessel. The bridegroom holds a portion of it in his hand, and the bride asks him to put it back. This, after a little coaxing, he consents to do. These ceremonies are repeated during the next five days. On the seventh day, small quantities of food are placed on twelve leaves, and twelve Brāhmans, who receive a present of money, sit down, and partake thereof. The marriage of widows is permitted, and a younger brother may marry the widow of an elder brother.The dead are burned, and death pollution lasts for ten days. Daily, during this period, cooked food is strewed on the way leading to the burning-ground. On the eleventh day, those under pollution bathe, and the sacred fire (hōmam) is raised by a Brāhman. As at a wedding, twelve Brāhmans receive food and money.Towards midnight, a new pot is brought, and holes are bored in it. A lighted lamp and food are placed in it, and it is taken towards the burning-ground and set down on the ground. The dead man’s name is then called out three times. He is informed that food is ready, and asked to come.Men, but not women, eat animal food. The women will not partake of the remnants of their husbands’ meal on days on which they eat meat, because, according to the legend, their female ancestor was a Brāhman woman.Among the Sondis of Ganjam, if a girl does not secure a husband before she reaches maturity, she goes through a form of marriage with an old man of the caste, or with her elder sister’s husband, and may not marry until the man with whom she has performed this ceremony dies. On the wedding day, the bridegroom is shaved, and his old waist-thread is replaced by a new one. The ceremonies commence with the worship of Ganēsa, and agree in the main with those of many other Oriya castes. The remarriage of widows is permitted. If a widow was the wife of the first-born or eldest son in a family, she may not, after his death, marry one of his younger brothers. She may, however, do so if she was married in the first instance to a second son.It is noted by Mr. C. F. MacCartie, in the Madras Census Report, 1881, that “a good deal of land has been sold by Khond proprietors to other castes. It was in this way that much territory was found some years ago to be passing into the hands of the Sundis or professional liquor distillers. As soon as these facts were brought to the notice of Government, no time was lost in the adoption of repressive measures, which have been completely successful, as the recent census shows a greatreduction in the numbers of these Sundis, who, now that their unscrupulous trade is abolished, have emigrated largely to Boad and other tracts. This is the only case to my knowledge in which a special trade has decayed, and with the best results, as, had it not been so, there is no doubt that the Khond population would very soon have degenerated into pureadscripti glebæ, and the Sundis become the landlords.”It is recorded, in the Gazetteer of the Vizagapatam district, that “besides ippa (liquor distilled from the blossom ofBassia latifolia), the hill people brew beer from rice, sāmai (the milletPanicum miliare), and rāgi (Eleusine Coracana). They mash the grain in the ordinary manner, add some more water to it, mix a small quantity of ferment with it, leave it to ferment three or four days, and then strain off the grain. The beer so obtained is often highly intoxicating, and different kinds of it go by different names, such as londa, pandiyam, and maddikallu. The ferment which is used is called the sāraiya-mandu (spirit drug) or Sondi-mandu (Sondi’s drug), and can be bought in the weekly market. There are numerous recipes for making it, but the ingredients are always jungle roots and barks.60It is sold made up into small balls with rice. The actual shop-keepers and still-owners in the hills, especially in the Parvatipur and Pālkonda agencies, are usually immigrants of the Sondi caste, a wily class who know exactly how to take advantage of the sin which doth so easily beset the hill man, and to wheedle from him, in exchange for the strong drink which he cannot do without, his ready money, his little possessions, his crops, and finally his land itself.“The Sondis are gradually getting much of the best land into their hands, and many of the guileless hill ryots into their power. Mr. Taylor stated in 1892 that ‘the rate of interest on loans extorted by these Sondis is 100 per cent. and, if this is not cleared off in the first year, compound interest at 100 per cent. is charged on the balance. The result is that, in many instances, the cultivators are unable to pay in cash or kind, and become the gōtis or serfs of the sowcars, for whom they have to work in return for mere batta (subsistence allowance), whilst the latter take care to manipulate their accounts in such a manner that the debt is never paid off. A remarkable instance of this tyranny was brought to my notice a few days since. A ryot some fifty years ago borrowed Rs. 20; he paid back Rs. 50 at intervals, and worked for the whole of his life, and died in harness. For the same debt the sowcar (money-lender) claimed the services of his son, and he too died in bondage, leaving two small sons aged 13 and 9, whose services were also claimed for an alleged arrear of Rs. 30 on a debt of Rs. 20 borrowed 50 years back, for which Rs. 50 in cash had been repaid in addition to the perpetual labour of a man for a similar period.’ This custom of gōti is firmly established, and, in a recent case, an elder brother claimed to be able to pledge for his own debts the services of his younger brother, and even those of the latter’s wife. Debts due by persons of respectability are often collected by the Sondis by an exasperating method, which has led to at least one case of homicide. They send Ghāsis, who are one of the lowest of all castes, and contact with whom is utter defilement entailing severe caste penalties, to haunt the house of the debtor who will not pay, insult and annoy him and his family, and threaten to drag him forcibly before theSondi.” A friend was, on one occasion, out after big game in the Jeypore hills, and shot a tiger. He asked his shikāri (tracker) what reward he should give him for putting him on to the beast. The shikāri replied that he would be quite satisfied with twenty-five rupees, as he wanted to get his younger brother out of pledge. Asked what he meant, he replied that, two years previously, he had purchased as his wife a woman who belonged to a caste higher than his own for a hundred rupees. He obtained the money by pledging his younger brother to a sowcar, and had paid it all back except twenty-five rupees. Meanwhile his brother was the bondsman of the sowcar, and cultivating his land in return for simple food.It is further recorded, in the Gazetteer of the Vizagapatam district, that Dombu (or Dōmb) dacoits “force their way into the house of some wealthy person (for choice the local Sondi liquor-seller and sowcar—usually the only man worth looting in an Agency village, and a shark who gets little pity from his neighbours when forced to disgorge), tie up the men, rape the women, and go off with everything of value.”The titles of the Ganjam Sondis are Bēhara, Chowdri, Podhāno, and Sāhu. In the Vizagapatam agency tracts, their title is said to be Bissōyi.Sonkari.—The Sonkaris are a small class of Oriya lac bangle (sonka) makers in Ganjam and Vizagapatam, who should not be confused with the Telugu Sunkaris. The men are engaged in agriculture, and the women manufacture the bangles, chains, chāmaras (fly-flappers), kolātam sticks (for stick play), and fans ornamented with devices in paddy (unhusked rice) grains, which are mainly sold to Europeans as curios.Sonkari girls are married before puberty. A man should marry his paternal aunt’s daughter, but at the present day this custom is frequently disregarded. Brāhmans officiate at their marriages. The dead are cremated. The caste title is Pātro.Sonkuva.—A sub-division of Māli.Sonti(dried ginger).—An exogamous sept of Asili.Soppu(leaf).—The name for Koragas, who wear leafy garments.Sōzhia.—A territorial name of sub-divisions of various Tamil classes who are settled in what was formerly the Chōla country,e.g., Brāhman, Chetti, Kaikōlan, Kammālan, Pallan, and Vellāla.Srishti Karnam.—A sub-division of Karnam. The name is variously spelt,e.g., Sristi, Sishta, Sishti. The name Sishti Karanamalu is said to have been assumed by Oddilu, who have raised themselves in life.61Stala(a place).—Lingāyats sometimes use the word Staladavāru, or natives of a place, to distinguish them from recent settlers.Stānika.—The Stānikas are summed up, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as being “Canarese temple servants. They claim to be Brāhmans, though other Brāhmans do not admit the claim; and, as the total of the caste has declined from 4,650 in 1891 to 1,469, they have apparently returned themselves as Brāhmans in considerable numbers.” The Stānikas are, in the South Canara Manual, said to be “the descendants of Brāhmins by Brāhmin widows and outcast Brāhmin women, corresponding with Manu’s Golaka. They however now claim to be Siva Brāhmins, forcibly dispossessed of authority by the Mādhvas, and state thatthe name Stānika is not that of a separate caste, but indicates their profession as managers of temples, with the title of Dēva Stānika. This claim is not generally conceded, and as a matter of fact the duties in which Stānikas are employed are clearly those of temple servants, namely, collecting flowers, sweeping the interiors of temples, looking after the lamps, cleaning the temple vessels, ringing bells, and the like. Many of them, however, are landowners and farmers. They are generally Sivites, and wear the sacred thread. Their special deities are Venkatrāmana and Ganapati. Drāvida Brāhmins officiate as their priests, but of late some educated men of the caste have assumed the priestly office. The caste has two sub-divisions, viz., Subramania and Kumbla. Girls must be married in infancy,i.e., before they attain puberty. Widow remarriage is neither permitted nor practiced. Their other customs are almost the same as those of the Kōta Brāhmans. They neither eat flesh nor drink liquor.” It is stated in the Manual that the Stānikas are called Shānbōgs and Mukhtesars. But I am informed that at an inquest or a search the Moktessors or Mukhtesars (chief men) of a village are assembled, and sign the inquest report or search list. The Moktessors of any caste can be summoned together. Some of the Moktessors of a temple may be Stānikas. In the case of social disputes decided at caste meetings, the Shānbōg (writer or accountant) appointed by the caste would record the evidence, and the Moktessor would decide upon the facts.Of the two sections Subramanya and Kumbla, the former claim superiority, and there is no intermarriage between them. The members of the Subramanya section state that they belong to Rig Sāka (Rig Vēda) and havegōtras, such as Viswamitra, Angirasa, and Bāradwaja, and twelve exogamous septs. Of these septs, the following are examples:—

3. Nattāti. Settled at the village of Nattāti near Sawyerpūram.

4. Kodikkāl. Derived from kodi, a flag. Standard-bearers of the fighting men. According to another version, the word means a betel garden, in reference to those who were betel cultivators.

5. Mēl-nātar (mēl, west). Those who live in the western part of Tinnevelly and in Travancore.

At the census, 1891, Konga (territorial) and Madurai were returned as sub-divisions. The latter apparently receives its name, not from the town of Madura, but from a word meaning sweet juice. At the census, 1901, Tollakkādan (man with a big hole in his ears) was taken as being a sub-caste of Shānān, as the people who returned it, and sell husked rice in Madras, used the title Nādān. Madura and Tinnevelly are eminently the homes of dilated ear-lobes. Some Tamil traders in these two districts, who returned themselves as Pāndyan, were classified as Shānāns, as Nādān was entered as their title. In Coimbatore, some Shānāns, engaged as shop-keepers, have been known to adopt the name of Chetti. In Coimbatore, too, the title Mūppan occurs. This title, meaning headman or elder, is also used by the Ambalakāran, Valayan, Sudarmān, Sēnaikkudaiyān, and other castes. In the Tanjore Manual, the Shānāns are divided into Tennam, Panam, and Ichcham, according as they tap the cocoanut, palmyra, or wild date (Phœnix sylvestris). The name Enādi for Shānāns is derived from Enādi Nayanar, a Saivite saint. But it also means a barber.

The community has, among its members, land-owners, and graduates in theology, law, medicine, and the arts. Nine-tenths of the Native clergy in Tinnevelly are said to be converted Shānāns, and Tinnevelly claims Native missionaries working in Madagascar, Natal, Mauritius, and the Straits. The occupationsof those whom I saw at Nazareth were merchant, cultivator, teacher, village munsif, organist, cart-driver, and cooly.

The Shānāns have established a school, called Kshatriya Vidyasala, at Virudupati in Tinnevelly. This is a free school, for attendance at which no fee is levied on the pupils, for the benefit of the Shānān community, but boys of other castes are freely admitted to it. It is maintained by Shānāns from their mahimai fund, and the teachers are Brāhmans, Shānāns, etc. The word mahimai means greatness, glory, or respectability.

Shānbōg.—The Māgane Shānbōg takes the place, in South Canara, of the village Karnam or accountant. There are also temple Shānbōgs, who are employed at the more important temples. When social disputes come up for decision at caste council meetings, the Shānbōg appointed by the caste records the evidence, and the Moktessor or Mukhtesar (chief man) of the caste decides upon the facts. In some places in South Canara Shānbōg is used as a synonym for Sārasvat Brāhman. In Mysore, the Shānbōg is said48to be “the village accountant, with hardly an exception of the Brāhman caste. The office is hereditary. In some places they hold land free of rent, and in others on light assessment. In some few places a fixed money allowance is given. In all instances there are certain fixed fees payable to them in money or kind by the ryots.”

It is noted by Mr. W. Robinson, in a report on the Laccadive islands (1869), that “the Monegar has the assistance of one of the islanders as a Karany, to take down depositions, and to read them, for the character used is the Arabic. In addition to these duties, theKarany has those of the Shanbogue. He keeps the accounts of the trees, and the coir (cocoanut fibre) in the islands, and makes out and delivers the accounts of coir brought to the coast.”

Shikāri.—Shikāri, meaning a sportsman or hunter, occurs as a synonym of Irula, and a sub-division of Korava. The name shikāri is also applied to a Native who “accompanies European sportsmen as a guide and aid, and to the European sportsman himself.”49

Shōlaga.—In his account of the Shōlagas or Sōlagas, early in the last century, Buchanan50writes that they “speak a bad or old dialect of the Karnāta language, have scarcely any clothing, and sleep round a fire, lying on a few plantain leaves, and covering themselves with others. They live chiefly on the summits of mountains, where the tigers do not frequent, but where their naked bodies are exposed to a disagreeable cold. Their huts are most wretched, and consist of bamboos with both ends stuck into the ground, so as to form an arch, which is covered with plantain leaves.” The up-to-date Shōlaga, who inhabits the jungles of Coimbatore between Dimbhum and Kollegal near the Mysore frontier, is clad in a cotton loin-cloth, supplemented by a coat of English pattern with regimental buttons, and smears himself freely on special occasions, such as a visit to the Government anthropologist, with sacred ashes in mimicry of the Lingāyats.

I gather from a correspondent that the following tradition concerning their origin is current. In days of yore there lived two brothers in the Geddesala hills, by name Kārayan and Billaya or Mādhēswara. The Uralis and Shōlagas are descended from Kārayan, and theSivachāris (Lingāyats) from Mādhēswara. The two brothers fell into the hands of a terrible Rākshasha (demon), by name Savanan, who made Kārayan a shepherd, but imprisoned Mādhēswara for not paying him sufficient respect, and extracted all kinds of menial work from him. Last of all he ordered him to make a pair of shoes, whereupon Mādhēswara asked for his liberty for a few days, to enable him to have the shoes well made. His request being granted, Mādhēswara betook himself to the god Krishnamurti, and asked him for his help in his troubles. The god was only too happy to assist, and suggested that the shoes should be made of wax. Helped by Krishnamurti, Mādhēswara made a very beautiful-looking pair of shoes. Krishnamurti then ordered him to pile up and light a huge bonfire on a bare rocky hill east of Geddesala, so as to make it nearly red-hot. The ashes were then cleared away, so as to leave no trace of their plot. Mādhēswara then took the shoes, and presented them to Savanan, who was much pleased with them, and willingly acceded to Mādhēswara’s request that he would put them on, and walk along the rock. But, as soon as he stepped upon it, the shoes melted, and Savanan fell heavily on the rock, clutching hold of Mādhēswara as he fell, and trying to strangle him. Krishnamurti had assembled all the gods to witness the carrying out of the plot, and, telling each of them to pile a stone onSavanan’shead, himself rescued Mādhēswara from his clutches, and all jumped upon the Rākshasha till no trace of him was left. While this was going on, Kārayan was tending Savanan’s herds in the forest, and, when he came to hear about it, was angry with his brother for not consulting him before destroying Savanan. Flying from Kārayan, who was armed with a knife, Mādhēswara implored Krishnamurti’shelp, by which he was able to leap from Kotriboli to the hill called Urugamalai, a distance of some ten miles. The force of the leap caused the hill to bend—hence its name meaning the bending hill. Finding that the hill was bending, and being still hotly pursued by his brother, knife in hand, Mādhēswara again appealed to Krishnamurti, and was enabled to make another leap of about five miles to a hill called Eggaraimalai, which immediately began to subside. Hence its name, meaning the subsiding hill. Thence he fled to Munikanal, and concealed himself under a rock, closely followed by Kārayan, who slashed the rock with his knife, and left marks which are visible to this day. From Munikanal he fled to the hill now known as Mādhēswaranamalai, and hid in a rat hole. Kārayan, not being able to unearth him, sent for a lot of shepherds, and made them pen their sheep and cattle over the hole. The effluvium became too strong for the fugitive, so he surrendered himself to his brother, who pardoned him on the understanding that, on deification, Kārayan should have prior claim to all votive offerings. To this Mādhēswara agreed, and to this day Sivachāris, when doing pūja, first make their offerings to Kārayan and afterwards to Mādhēswara. In connection with this legend, any one proceeding to the top of Kotriboli hill at the present day is expected to place a stone upon the rock, with the result that there are many piles of stones there. Even Europeans are asked to do this.

The Shōlagas are said to call themselves men of five kulams, or exogamous septs, among which are Chalikiri, Tēneru, Belleri, Surya (the sun), and Aleru. By members of the twelve kulam class, everything is done by twelves. For example, on the twelfth day after a birth, twelve elders are invited to the house to bless the child.At a marriage, twelve of the bridegroom’s relations go and fetch the bride, and the wedding pandal (booth) has twelve posts. The parents of the bridegroom pay twelve rupees to the bride’s father, and a tāli (marriage badge) worth twelve annas is tied round the bride’s neck. In case of death, the body is borne on a stretcher made of twelve bamboos, and mourning lasts for twelve days.

Tribal disputes,e.g., quarrelling and adultery, are decided by the Yejamāna, assisted by a Pattagara and a few leading men of the community. Under the orders of the two former is the Chalavāthi or village servant. The Yejamāna, Pattagara, and Chalavāthi must belong respectively to the Chalikiri, Teneri, and Surya septs.

When a girl reaches puberty, she occupies a separate hut for five days, and then returns home after a bath. The maternal uncle should present her with a new cloth, betel leaves and areca nuts, and plantain fruits. In the formal marriage ceremony, the tāli is tied by the bridegroom inside a booth; the maternal uncle, if he can afford it, presents a new cloth to the bride, and a feast is held. Sometimes even this simple rite is dispensed with, and the couple, without any formality, live together as man and wife, on the understanding that, at some time, a feast must be given to a few of the community. I am told that the Shōlagas of the Burghur hills have a very extraordinary way of treating expectant mothers. A few days before the event is expected to take place, the husband takes his wife right away into the jungle, and leaves her there alone with three days’ supply of food. There she has to stay, and do the best she can for herself. If she does not come back at the end of the three days, the husband goes out and takes her more food. But she may not return to her village till the baby is born. When one of these unfortunate creatures comes backsafely, there is a great celebration in her honour, with beating of tom-tom, etc.

The dead are buried with the body lying on its left side, and the head to the south. On their return home from a funeral, those who have been present thereat salute a lighted lamp. On the spot where the dead person breathed his last, a little rāgi (Eleusine Coracana) paste and water are placed, and here, on the fourth day, a goat is sacrificed, and offered up to the soul of the departed. After this the son proceeds to the burial ground, carrying a stone, and followed by men selected from each of the exogamous septs. Arrived near the grave, they sit down, while the son places the stone on the ground, and they then lift it in succession. The last man to do so is said to fall into a trance. On his recovery, leaves (plantain, teak, etc.) corresponding in number to the exogamous septs, are arranged round the stone, and, on each leaf, different kinds of food are placed. The men partake of the food, each from the leaf allotted to his sept. The meal concluded, the son holds the stone in his hands, while his companions pour rāgi and water over it, and then carries it away to the gopamane (burial-ground) of his sept, and sets it up there.

On the occasion of a death in a Mala Vellāla village, the Shōlagas come in crowds, with clarionets and drums, and bells on their legs, and dance in front of the house. And the corpse is borne, in musical procession, to the burning-ground.

The staple food of the Shōlagas is rāgi paste and yams (Dioscorea), which, like the Urālis, they supplement by sundry jungle animals and birds. Paroquets they will not eat, as they regard them as their children.

Their main occupation is to collect minor forest produce, myrabolams, vembadam bark (Ventilagomadraspatana), avaram bark (Cassia auriculata), deers’ horns, tamarinds, gum, honey, soap-nuts, sheekoy (Acacia Concinna),etc. The forests have been divided into blocks, and a certain place within each block has been selected for the forest depôt. To this place the collecting agents, mostly Shōlagas and Urālis, bring the produce, and there it is sorted and paid for by special supervisors appointed for the work.

Shōlaga.Shōlaga.

Shōlaga.

In the Coimbatore district the Shōlagas are said to collect honey from rocky crevices. The combs are much larger than those found on trees, and are supposed to contain twice as much wax in proportion to the honey. On the Nilgiri hills honey-combs are collected by Jēn Kurumbas and Shōlagas. The supply of honey varies according to the nature of the season, and is especially plentiful and of good quality whenStrobilanthes Wightianus,S. Kunthiana, and other species are in flower.

It has been said that even wild beasts will scent a Shōlaga, and flee before the aroma.

The Shōlagas, who were examined by Dr. Rivers and myself, came to the conclusion that the object of our enquiry was to settle them in a certain place near London, and that the wools of different colours (used for testing colour vision) given to them for selection, were for tying them captive with. Others said that they could not understand why the different organs of their bodies were measured; perhaps to reduce or increase the size of their body to suit the different works, which they were expected to do near London. It has been pointed out to me, as an interesting fact, that a similarity of idea concerning the modification of different organs to suit men for the doing of special work has been arrived at by the jungle folk, and by Mr. Wells in his book,‘The first men in the moon,’ where the lunar inhabitants are described as carrying on the practice.

Of the experiences of a Shōlaga when out with a European on a shooting expedition, the following account has recently been given.51“My husband was after a bear, and tracked Bruin to his cave. He had torches made, and these he ordered to be thrust into the cave in the hope of smoking the bear out, but, as nothing happened, he went into the cave, accompanied by a Sholigar carrying a torch. As soon as they got used to the light, they saw a small aperture leading into an inner cave, and the Sholigar was told to put the torch in there. Hardly was this done, when out rushed a large bear, knocking over the Sholigar, and extinguishing the torch. My husband could not get his gun up in time to fire, as the bear rushed through the cave into the jungle. Just as the Sholigar was picking himself up, out rushed another bear. This time my husband was ready, and fired. To the Sholigar’s horror, Bruin sank down wounded at the entrance to the outer cave, thus blocking the exit, and keeping both tracker and my husband prisoners. The Sholigar began whimpering, saying he was the father of a large family, and did not wish to leave the children fatherless. Soon the bear, though very badly wounded, managed to get to its feet, and crawl away into the jungle, so liberating the prisoners.”

Concerning the Shōlagas of the Mysore Province,52I gather that they “inhabit the depths of the forests clothing the foot and slopes of the Biligirirangam hills. They cultivate with the hoe small patches of jungle clearings. Their chief god is Biligiri Rangasvāmi, but they also worship Kāraiyya, their tribal tutelary deity. Theirprincipal food is the rāgi, which they grow, supplemented by wild forest produce. They are partial to the flesh of deer, antelope, pigs, sheep and goats. A few of them have, in recent years, come to own lands. Like the Jēnu Kurumbas, they are perfect trackers of wild animals. Three kinds of marriage prevail among them. The first is affected by the more well-to-do, who perform the ceremony with much éclat under a shed with twelve pillars (bamboo posts), accompanied by music and festivities, which continue for three days. The second is more common, and seems to be a modified form of concubinage. The poorer members resort to the third kind, which consists in the couple eloping to a distant jungle, and returning home only after the bride has become a mother. They speak a patois, allied to old Canarese or Halē Kannada.”53

Shōla Naiker.—A synonym of Jēn Kurumbas in the Wynād.

Sibbi Dhompti(brass vessel offering).—A subdivision of Mādigas, who, at marriages, offer food to the god in brass vessels.

Siddaru.—A synonym of Jōgi mendicants.

Sika(kudumi or hair-knot).—An exogamous sept of Dēvānga.

Sīkili(broom).—An exogamous sept of Mādiga.

Sikligar.—In the Madras Census Report, 1901, eleven individuals are returned as belonging to an Upper India caste of knife-grinders (Sikligar). In the Madura Manual, Sikilkārars are described as knife-grinders, who wander about in quest of work from village to village.

Sila(stone).—An exogamous sept of Omanaito.

Sīlam(good conduct).—An exogamous sept of Māla.

Sīlavant.—In the Madras Census Report, 1901, Sīlavant is recorded as meaning the virtuous, and as being a sub-sect of Lingāyats. In the Mysore Census Report, Sīlavanta is given as a name for Lingāyat Nayindas. For the following note on the Sīlavantalu or Sīlēvantalu of Vizagapatam, I am indebted to Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao.

They are a sect of Lingāyats, who, though they do not admit it, appear to be an offshoot of Pattu Sālēs, who became converts to the Lingāyat religion. They are engaged in the manufacture of fine cloths for males and females. The religious observances which secured them their name, meaning those who practice or possess particular religious customs, have been thus described. In the seventh month of pregnancy, at the time of quickening, a small stone linga is enclosed in black lac, wrapped in a piece of silk cloth, and tied to the thread of the linga which is on the woman’s neck. The child is thus invested with the linga while stillin utero. When it is about a year old, and weaned, the linga is taken off the mother’s neck, and replaced by a silver locket. The linga is tied on the neck of the child. At the beginning of the twelfth year in the case of boys, and just before the marriage of girls, this linga is taken off, and a fresh one suspended round the neck by a guru.

The Sīlavantalu are divided into exogamous septs, or intipērulu. The custom of mēnarikam, whereby a man marries his maternal uncle’s daughter, is the rule. But, if the maternal uncle has no daughter, he must find a suitable bride for his nephew. Girls are married before puberty, and a Jangam, known as Mahēsvara, officiates at weddings.

The dead are buried in a sitting posture, facing north. The linga is suspended round the neck of thecorpse, and buried with it. Six small copper plates are made, each containing a syllable of the invocation Ōm na ma Si va ya. Two of these are placed on the thighs of the corpse, one on the head, one on the navel, and two on the shoulders, and stuck on with guggilam paste. The corpse is then tied up in a sack. The relatives offer flowers to it, and burn camphor before it. The grave is dug several feet deep, and a cavity or cell is made on the southern side of it, and lined with bamboo matting. The corpse is placed within the cell, and salt thrown into the grave before it is filled in. A Jangam officiates at the funeral. Monthly and annual death ceremonies are performed. A samāthi or monument is erected over the grave. Such a monument may be either in the form of a square mound (brindavan) with niches for lights and a hole in the top, in which a tulsi (Ocimum sanctum) is planted, or in the form of a small chamber. Relations go occasionally to the grave, whereon they deposit flowers, and place lights in the niches or chamber.

The Sīlavantalu are strict vegetarians and total abstainers. Their titles are Ayya and Lingam.

Silpa(artisan).—A sub-division of the Kammālans, Panchālas or Kamsalas, whose hereditary occupation is that of stone-masons. In the Silpa Sāstra, the measurements necessary in sculpture, the duties of a Silpi, etc., are laid down. I am informed that the carver of a stone idol has to select a male or female stone, according as the idol is to be a god or goddess, and that the sex of a stone can be determined by its ring when struck.

Sindhu.—The Sindhuvāllu (drummers) are Mādigas, who go about acting scenes from the Rāmayana or Mahābhāratha, and the story of Ankamma. Sindhu also occurs as a gōtra of Kurni. The beating of the drum called sindhu is, I gather, sometimes a nuisance, for amissionary writes to the paper enquiring whether there is any order of Government against it, as the practice “causes much crime, and creates extra work for police and magistrates. Village officials believe they have no authority to suppress it, but there are some who assert that it is nominally forbidden.”

Singamu-vāru.—Singam is described, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as a class of beggars, who beg only from Sālēs. They are, however, described by Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao as a class of itinerant mendicants attached to the Dēvāngas. “The name,” he writes, “is a variant of Simhamu-vāru, or lion-men,i.e., as valourous as a lion. They are paid a small sum annually by each Dēvānga village for various services which they render, such as carrying fire before a Dēvānga corpse to the burial-ground, acting as caste messengers, and cleaning the weaving instruments.”

Sinnata(gold).—An exogamous sept of Kuruba.

Sīolo.—A small class of Oriya toddy-drawers, whose touch conveys pollution. The Sondis, who are an Oriya caste of toddy-sellers, purchase their liquor from the Sīolos.

Sipiti.—The Sipitis are described, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as “Oriya temple priests and drummers; a sub-caste of Rāvulo.” In an account of them as given to me, they are stated to be Smartas, and temple priests of village deities, who wear the sacred thread, but do not employ Brāhmans as purōhits, and are regarded as somewhat lower in the social scale than the Rāvulos. Some of their females are said to have been unrecognised prostitutes, but the custom is dying out. The caste title is Mūni. (SeeRāvulo.)

Sir.—A sub-division of Kanakkan.

Sirpādam.—A sub-division of Kaikōlan.

Sirukudi.—A nādu or territorial division of Kallan.

Siru Tāli.—The name, indicating those who wear a small tāli (marriage badge), of a sub-division of Kaikōlan and Maravan.

Sītikan.—Recorded, in the Travancore Census Report, 1901, as an occupational sub-division of Mārān.

Sitra.—SeePāno.

Siva Brāhmana.—Recorded as a synonym of Stānika.

Sivachāra.—It is noted, in the Mysore Census Report, 1901, that the Lingāyats call themselves “Vīra Saivas, Sivabhaktas, or Sivachars. The Vīrasaiva religion consists of numerous castes. It is a religion consisting of representatives from almost every caste in Hindu society. People of all castes, from the highest to the lowest, have embraced the religion. There are Sivachar Brāhmins, Sivachar Kshatriyas, Sivachar Vaisyas, Sivachar carpenters, Sivachar weavers, Sivachar goldsmiths, Sivachar potters, Sivachar washermen, and Sivachar barbers, and other low castes who have all followed the popular religion in large numbers.”

Sivadvija.—The name, denoting Saivite Brāhman, by which Mūssads like to be called. Also recorded as a synonym of Stānika.

Sivarātri.—An exogamous sept of Oddē, named after the annual Mahāsivarātri festival in honour of Siva. Holy ashes, sacred to Siva, prepared by Smartas on this day, are considered to be very pure.

Sivarchaka.—The word means those who do pūja (worship) to Siva. Priests at the temple of village deities are ordinarily known as Pūjāri, Pūsāli, Ōcchan, etc., but nowadays prefer the title of Ūmarchaka or Sivarchaka. The name Sivala occurs in the Madras Census Report, 1901.

Siviyar.—Siviyar means literally a palanquin-bearer, and is an occupational name applied to those employed in that capacity. For this reason a sub-division of the Idaiyans is called Siviyar. The Siviyars of Coimbatore say that they have no connection with either Idaiyans or Toreyas, but are Besthas who emigrated from Mysore during the troublous times of the Muhammadan usurpation. The name Siviyar is stated to have been given to them by the Tamils, as they were palanquin-bearers to officers on circuit and others in the pre-railway days. They claim origin, on the authority of a book called Parvatharāja Charithum, from Parvatharāja. Their main occupations at the present day are tank and river fishing, but some are petty traders, physicians, peons, etc. Their language is Canarese, and their title Naickan. They have eighteen marriage divisions or gōtras, named after persons from whom the various gōtras are said to have been descended. On occasions of marriage, when betel leaf is distributed, it must be given to members of the different gōtras in their order of precedence. In cases of adultery, the guilty parties are tied to a post, and beaten with tamarind switches. When a grown-up but unmarried person dies, the corpse is made to go through a mock marriage with a human figure cut out of a palm leaf.

Sōdabisiya.—A sub-division of Dōmb.

Soi.—A title of Doluva. It is a form of Sui or Swayi.

Sōlaga.—SeeShōlaga.

Sōliyan.—Sōliyan or Sōliya is a territorial name, meaning an inhabitant of the Chōla country, recorded as a sub-division of Karnam, Idaiyan, Pallan, and Vellāla. The equivalent Sōlangal occurs as an exogamous sept of Vallamban, and Sōliya illam (Malayālam, house) asan exogamous sept of Panikkans in the Tamil country. Some Pallis style themselves Sōlakanar (descendants of Chōla kings), or Sōlakula Kshatriya. (SeeSōzhia.)

Sōmakshatri.—A name sometimes adopted by Canarese Gānigas in South Canara.

Sōmara.—Recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as a small class of potters in the Vizagapatam hills.

Sōmari(idler).—A division of Yānādis, who do scavenging work, and eat the refuse food thrown away by people from the leaf plate after a meal.

Sōma Vārada(Sunday).—The name of Kurubas who worship their god on Sundays.

Sōnagan.—SeeJōnagan.

Sonar.—The Sonars or Sonagāras of South Canara are described by Mr. H. A. Stuart54as a goldsmith caste, who “speak Konkani, which is a dialect of Marāthi, and are believed to have come from Goa. The community at each station has one or two Mukhtēsars or headmen, who enquire into, and settle the caste affairs. Serious offences are reported to the swāmy of Sode, who has authority to excommunicate, or to inflict heavy fines. They wear the sacred thread. Marriages within the same gōtra are strictly prohibited. Most of them are Vaishnavites, but a few follow Siva. The dead are burned, and the ashes are thrown into a river. They eat fish, but not flesh. Their title is Setti.” They consider it derogatory to work in metals other than gold and silver.

In the Madras Census Report, 1901, the Sunnāri (or Sonnāri) are described as Oriya goldsmiths (seeRisley, Tribes and Castes of Bengal, Sonar). These goldsmiths,in the Oriya portion of the Madras Presidency, are, I am informed, Kamsalas from the Telugu country. Unlike the Oriyas, and like other Telugu classes, they invariably have a house-name, and their mother tongue is Telugu. They are Saivites, bury their dead, claim to be descendants of Viswakarma, and call themselves Viswa Brāhmans. They do not eat meals prepared by Brāhmans, or drink water at the hands of Brāhmans.

In former times, goldsmiths held the post of Nottakāran (tester) or village shroff (money-changer). His function was to test the rupees tendered when the land revenue was being gathered in, and see that they were not counterfeit. There is a proverb, uncomplimentary to the goldsmiths, to the effect that a goldsmith cannot make an ornament even for his wife, without first secreting some of the gold or silver given him for working upon.

It has been noted55that “in Madras, an exceedingly poor country, there is one male goldsmith to every 408 of the total population; in England, a very rich country, there is only one goldsmith to every 1,200 inhabitants. In Europe, jewellery is primarily for ornament, and is a luxury. In India it is primarily an investment, its ornamental purpose being an incident.”

The South Indian goldsmith at work has been well described as follows.56“A hollow, scooped out in the middle of the mud floor (of a room or verandah), does duty for the fireplace, while, close by, there is raised a miniature embankment, semi-circular in shape, with a hole in the middle of the base for the insertion of the bellows. Crucibles of clay or cow-dung, baked hard in the sun, tongs and hammers, potsherds of charcoal, dirtytins of water, and little packets of sal-ammoniac, resin, or other similar substances, all lie scattered about the floor in picturesque confusion. Sitting, or rather crouching on their haunches, are a couple of the Pānchāla workmen. One of them is blowing a pan of charcoal into flame through an iron tube some eighteen inches long by one in diameter, and stirring up the loose charcoal. Another is hammering at a piece of silver wire on a little anvil before him. With his miserable tools the Hindu goldsmith turns out work that well might, and often deservedly does, rank with the greatest triumphs of the jeweller’s art.”

Sondi.—The Sondis or Sundis are summed up in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as “Oriya toddy-selling caste. They do not draw toddy themselves, but buy it from Siolos, and sell it. They also distill arrack.” The word arrack or arak, it may be noteden passant, means properly “perspiration, and then, first the exudation of sap drawn from the date-palm; secondly, any strong drink, distilled spirit, etc.”57A corruption of the word is rack, which occurs,e.g., in rack punch.

According to a Sanskrit work, entitled Parāsarapaddati, Soundikas (toddy-drawers and distillers of arrack) are the offspring of a Kaivarata male and a Gaudike female. Both these castes are pratiloma (mixed) castes. In the Matsya Purāna, the Soundikas are said to have been born to Siva of seven Apsara women on the bank of the river Son. Manu refers to the Soundikas, and says that a Snātaka58may not accept food from trainers of hunting dogs, Soundikas, a washerman, a dyer, pitiless man, and a man in whose house lives a paramour of his wife.

In a note on the allied Sunris or Sundis of Bengal, Mr. Risley writes59that “according to Hindu ideas, distillers and sellers of strong drink rank among the most degraded castes, and a curious story in the Vaivarta Purāna keeps alive the memory of their degradation. It is said that when Sani, the Hindu Saturn, failed to adapt an elephant’s head to the mutilated trunk of Ganēsa, who had beenaccidentallybeheaded by Siva, Viswakarma, the celestial artificer, was sent for, and by careful dissection and manipulation he fitted the incongruous parts together, and made a man called Kedāra Sena from the slices cut off in fashioning his work. This Kedāra Sena was ordered to fetch a drink of water for Bhagavati, weary and athirst. Finding on the river’s bank a shell full of water, he presented it to her, without noticing that a few grains of rice left in it by a parrot had fermented and formed an intoxicating liquid. Bhagavati, as soon as she had drunk, became aware of the fact, and in her anger condemned the offender to the vile and servile occupation of making spirituous liquor for mankind. Another story traces their origin to a certain Bhāskar or Bhāskar Muni, who was created by Krishna’s brother, Balarām, to minister to his desire for strong drink. A different version of the same legend gives them for ancestor Niranjan, a boy found by Bhāskar floating down a river in a pot full of country liquor, and brought up by him as a distiller.”

For the following note on the Sondis of Vizagapatam, I am indebted to Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao. According to a current tradition, there was, in days of old, a Brāhman, who was celebrated for his magical powers. The king, his patron, asked him if he could make thewater in a tank (pond) burn, and he replied in the affirmative. He was, however, in reality disconsolate, because he did not know how to do it. By chance he met a distiller, who asked him why he looked so troubled, and, on learning his difficulty, promised to help him on condition that he gave him his daughter in marriage. To this the Brāhman consented. The distiller gave him a quantity of liquor to pour into the tank, and told him to set it alight in the presence of the king. The Brāhman kept his word, and the Sondis are the descendants of the offspring of his daughter and the distiller. The caste is divided into several endogamous divisions, viz., Bodo Odiya, Madhya kūla, and Sanno kūla. The last is said to be made up of illegitimate descendants of the two first divisions.

The Sondis distil liquor from the ippa (Bassia) flower, rice, and jaggery (crude sugar). There is a tradition that Brahma created the world, and pinched up from a point between his eyebrows a little mud, from which he made a figure, and endowed it with life. Thus Suka Muni was created, and authorised to distil spirit from the ippa flowers, which had hitherto been eaten by birds.

When a girl reaches puberty, she is set apart in a room within a square enclosure made with four arrows connected together by a thread. Turmeric and oil are rubbed over her daily, and, on the seventh day, she visits the local shrine.

Girls are married before puberty. Some days before a wedding, a sāl (Shorea robusta) orneredu (Eugenia Jambolana)post is set up in front of the bridegroom’s house, and a pandal (booth) erected round it. On the appointed day, a caste feast is held, and a procession of males proceeds to the bride’s house, carrying with themfinger rings, silver and glass bangles, and fifty rupees as the jholla tonka (bride price). On the following day, the bride goes to the house of the bridegroom. On the marriage day, the contracting couple go seven times round the central post of the pandal, and their hands are joined by the presiding Oriya Brāhman. They then sit down, and the sacred fire is raised. The females belonging to the bridegroom’s party sprinkle them with turmeric and rice. On the following day, a Bhondāri (barber) cleans the pandal, and draws patterns in it with rice flour. A mat is spread, and the couple play with cowry shells. These are five in number, and the bridegroom holds them tightly in his right hand, while the bride tries to wrest them from him. If she succeeds in so doing, her brothers beat the bridegroom, and make fun of him; if she fails, the bridegroom’s sisters beat and make fun of her. The bride then takes hold of the cowries, and the same performance is gone through. A basket of rice is brought, and some of it poured into a vessel. The bridegroom holds a portion of it in his hand, and the bride asks him to put it back. This, after a little coaxing, he consents to do. These ceremonies are repeated during the next five days. On the seventh day, small quantities of food are placed on twelve leaves, and twelve Brāhmans, who receive a present of money, sit down, and partake thereof. The marriage of widows is permitted, and a younger brother may marry the widow of an elder brother.

The dead are burned, and death pollution lasts for ten days. Daily, during this period, cooked food is strewed on the way leading to the burning-ground. On the eleventh day, those under pollution bathe, and the sacred fire (hōmam) is raised by a Brāhman. As at a wedding, twelve Brāhmans receive food and money.Towards midnight, a new pot is brought, and holes are bored in it. A lighted lamp and food are placed in it, and it is taken towards the burning-ground and set down on the ground. The dead man’s name is then called out three times. He is informed that food is ready, and asked to come.

Men, but not women, eat animal food. The women will not partake of the remnants of their husbands’ meal on days on which they eat meat, because, according to the legend, their female ancestor was a Brāhman woman.

Among the Sondis of Ganjam, if a girl does not secure a husband before she reaches maturity, she goes through a form of marriage with an old man of the caste, or with her elder sister’s husband, and may not marry until the man with whom she has performed this ceremony dies. On the wedding day, the bridegroom is shaved, and his old waist-thread is replaced by a new one. The ceremonies commence with the worship of Ganēsa, and agree in the main with those of many other Oriya castes. The remarriage of widows is permitted. If a widow was the wife of the first-born or eldest son in a family, she may not, after his death, marry one of his younger brothers. She may, however, do so if she was married in the first instance to a second son.

It is noted by Mr. C. F. MacCartie, in the Madras Census Report, 1881, that “a good deal of land has been sold by Khond proprietors to other castes. It was in this way that much territory was found some years ago to be passing into the hands of the Sundis or professional liquor distillers. As soon as these facts were brought to the notice of Government, no time was lost in the adoption of repressive measures, which have been completely successful, as the recent census shows a greatreduction in the numbers of these Sundis, who, now that their unscrupulous trade is abolished, have emigrated largely to Boad and other tracts. This is the only case to my knowledge in which a special trade has decayed, and with the best results, as, had it not been so, there is no doubt that the Khond population would very soon have degenerated into pureadscripti glebæ, and the Sundis become the landlords.”

It is recorded, in the Gazetteer of the Vizagapatam district, that “besides ippa (liquor distilled from the blossom ofBassia latifolia), the hill people brew beer from rice, sāmai (the milletPanicum miliare), and rāgi (Eleusine Coracana). They mash the grain in the ordinary manner, add some more water to it, mix a small quantity of ferment with it, leave it to ferment three or four days, and then strain off the grain. The beer so obtained is often highly intoxicating, and different kinds of it go by different names, such as londa, pandiyam, and maddikallu. The ferment which is used is called the sāraiya-mandu (spirit drug) or Sondi-mandu (Sondi’s drug), and can be bought in the weekly market. There are numerous recipes for making it, but the ingredients are always jungle roots and barks.60It is sold made up into small balls with rice. The actual shop-keepers and still-owners in the hills, especially in the Parvatipur and Pālkonda agencies, are usually immigrants of the Sondi caste, a wily class who know exactly how to take advantage of the sin which doth so easily beset the hill man, and to wheedle from him, in exchange for the strong drink which he cannot do without, his ready money, his little possessions, his crops, and finally his land itself.

“The Sondis are gradually getting much of the best land into their hands, and many of the guileless hill ryots into their power. Mr. Taylor stated in 1892 that ‘the rate of interest on loans extorted by these Sondis is 100 per cent. and, if this is not cleared off in the first year, compound interest at 100 per cent. is charged on the balance. The result is that, in many instances, the cultivators are unable to pay in cash or kind, and become the gōtis or serfs of the sowcars, for whom they have to work in return for mere batta (subsistence allowance), whilst the latter take care to manipulate their accounts in such a manner that the debt is never paid off. A remarkable instance of this tyranny was brought to my notice a few days since. A ryot some fifty years ago borrowed Rs. 20; he paid back Rs. 50 at intervals, and worked for the whole of his life, and died in harness. For the same debt the sowcar (money-lender) claimed the services of his son, and he too died in bondage, leaving two small sons aged 13 and 9, whose services were also claimed for an alleged arrear of Rs. 30 on a debt of Rs. 20 borrowed 50 years back, for which Rs. 50 in cash had been repaid in addition to the perpetual labour of a man for a similar period.’ This custom of gōti is firmly established, and, in a recent case, an elder brother claimed to be able to pledge for his own debts the services of his younger brother, and even those of the latter’s wife. Debts due by persons of respectability are often collected by the Sondis by an exasperating method, which has led to at least one case of homicide. They send Ghāsis, who are one of the lowest of all castes, and contact with whom is utter defilement entailing severe caste penalties, to haunt the house of the debtor who will not pay, insult and annoy him and his family, and threaten to drag him forcibly before theSondi.” A friend was, on one occasion, out after big game in the Jeypore hills, and shot a tiger. He asked his shikāri (tracker) what reward he should give him for putting him on to the beast. The shikāri replied that he would be quite satisfied with twenty-five rupees, as he wanted to get his younger brother out of pledge. Asked what he meant, he replied that, two years previously, he had purchased as his wife a woman who belonged to a caste higher than his own for a hundred rupees. He obtained the money by pledging his younger brother to a sowcar, and had paid it all back except twenty-five rupees. Meanwhile his brother was the bondsman of the sowcar, and cultivating his land in return for simple food.

It is further recorded, in the Gazetteer of the Vizagapatam district, that Dombu (or Dōmb) dacoits “force their way into the house of some wealthy person (for choice the local Sondi liquor-seller and sowcar—usually the only man worth looting in an Agency village, and a shark who gets little pity from his neighbours when forced to disgorge), tie up the men, rape the women, and go off with everything of value.”

The titles of the Ganjam Sondis are Bēhara, Chowdri, Podhāno, and Sāhu. In the Vizagapatam agency tracts, their title is said to be Bissōyi.

Sonkari.—The Sonkaris are a small class of Oriya lac bangle (sonka) makers in Ganjam and Vizagapatam, who should not be confused with the Telugu Sunkaris. The men are engaged in agriculture, and the women manufacture the bangles, chains, chāmaras (fly-flappers), kolātam sticks (for stick play), and fans ornamented with devices in paddy (unhusked rice) grains, which are mainly sold to Europeans as curios.

Sonkari girls are married before puberty. A man should marry his paternal aunt’s daughter, but at the present day this custom is frequently disregarded. Brāhmans officiate at their marriages. The dead are cremated. The caste title is Pātro.

Sonkuva.—A sub-division of Māli.

Sonti(dried ginger).—An exogamous sept of Asili.

Soppu(leaf).—The name for Koragas, who wear leafy garments.

Sōzhia.—A territorial name of sub-divisions of various Tamil classes who are settled in what was formerly the Chōla country,e.g., Brāhman, Chetti, Kaikōlan, Kammālan, Pallan, and Vellāla.

Srishti Karnam.—A sub-division of Karnam. The name is variously spelt,e.g., Sristi, Sishta, Sishti. The name Sishti Karanamalu is said to have been assumed by Oddilu, who have raised themselves in life.61

Stala(a place).—Lingāyats sometimes use the word Staladavāru, or natives of a place, to distinguish them from recent settlers.

Stānika.—The Stānikas are summed up, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as being “Canarese temple servants. They claim to be Brāhmans, though other Brāhmans do not admit the claim; and, as the total of the caste has declined from 4,650 in 1891 to 1,469, they have apparently returned themselves as Brāhmans in considerable numbers.” The Stānikas are, in the South Canara Manual, said to be “the descendants of Brāhmins by Brāhmin widows and outcast Brāhmin women, corresponding with Manu’s Golaka. They however now claim to be Siva Brāhmins, forcibly dispossessed of authority by the Mādhvas, and state thatthe name Stānika is not that of a separate caste, but indicates their profession as managers of temples, with the title of Dēva Stānika. This claim is not generally conceded, and as a matter of fact the duties in which Stānikas are employed are clearly those of temple servants, namely, collecting flowers, sweeping the interiors of temples, looking after the lamps, cleaning the temple vessels, ringing bells, and the like. Many of them, however, are landowners and farmers. They are generally Sivites, and wear the sacred thread. Their special deities are Venkatrāmana and Ganapati. Drāvida Brāhmins officiate as their priests, but of late some educated men of the caste have assumed the priestly office. The caste has two sub-divisions, viz., Subramania and Kumbla. Girls must be married in infancy,i.e., before they attain puberty. Widow remarriage is neither permitted nor practiced. Their other customs are almost the same as those of the Kōta Brāhmans. They neither eat flesh nor drink liquor.” It is stated in the Manual that the Stānikas are called Shānbōgs and Mukhtesars. But I am informed that at an inquest or a search the Moktessors or Mukhtesars (chief men) of a village are assembled, and sign the inquest report or search list. The Moktessors of any caste can be summoned together. Some of the Moktessors of a temple may be Stānikas. In the case of social disputes decided at caste meetings, the Shānbōg (writer or accountant) appointed by the caste would record the evidence, and the Moktessor would decide upon the facts.

Of the two sections Subramanya and Kumbla, the former claim superiority, and there is no intermarriage between them. The members of the Subramanya section state that they belong to Rig Sāka (Rig Vēda) and havegōtras, such as Viswamitra, Angirasa, and Bāradwaja, and twelve exogamous septs. Of these septs, the following are examples:—

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