Thanda Palayan.Thanda Palayan.When a member of the tribe has died an unnatural death, a man, with a fowl and sword in his hands, places another man in a pit which has been dug, and walks thrice round it with a torch. After an hour or two, the man is taken out of the pit, and goes to a distance, where certain ceremonies are performed.The Thanda Pulayans worship the gods of Brāhmanical temples at a distance of nearly a quarter of a mile. A stone is set up in the ground, on which they place tender cocoanuts and a few puttans (Cochin coins). A temple servant takes these to the priest, who sends in return some sandal paste, holy water, and flowers. They worship, as has been already hinted, demons, and also the spirits of their ancestors, by which small brass figures of males and females representing the pretas (ghosts) are supposed to be possessed. They worship, among others, Kandakarnan, Kodunkāli, Bhairavan, and Arukola pretas, who are lodged in small huts, and represented by stones. In the month of May, they celebrate a festival, which lasts for several days. Chrysanthemum and thumba (apparentlyLeucas aspera) flowers are used in the performance of worship, and paddy, beaten rice,tender cocoanuts, toddy, etc., are offered up. There is a good deal of singing, drum-beating and devil-dancing by men and women, who on this occasion indulge liberally in toddy. The Pāndavas, whom they call Anju Thamburakkal, are favourite deities. They devise various plans for warding off the evil influence of demons. Some, for example, wear rolls of palm leaf, with incantations written on them, round their necks. Others hang baskets in the rice fields, containing peace offerings to the gods, and pray for the protection of the crop. Wherever there is a dense forest, Mātan and Kāli are supposed to dwell, and are worshipped. From the end of November to April, which is the slack season, the Thanda Pulayans go about dancing from hut to hut, and collecting money to purchase fowls, etc., for offerings. Club-dancing is their favourite amusement, and is often indulged in at night by the light of a blazing fire. The dancers, club in hand, go round in concentric circles, keeping time to the songs which they sing, striking each other’s clubs, now bending to ward off a blow on the legs, or rising to protect the head.The dead are buried, and lighted torches are set up all round the grave, on to which the relations of the dead person throw three handfuls of rice. Near it, squares are made in rice flour, in each of which a leaf with rice flour and paddy, and a lighted torch or wick is placed. The chief mourner, who should be the son or nephew, carrying a pot of water, goes several times round the grave, and breaks the pot over the spot where the head rests. A few grains of rice are placed at the four corners of the grave, and a pebble is laid on it, with mantrams to keep off jackals, and to prevent the spirit from molesting people. Every morning the chief mourner goes to the grave, and makes offerings of boiled rice,gingelly (Sesamum indicum) seeds, and karuka grass. On the fourteenth day, he has an oil-bath, and, on the following day, the Pulayans of the village (kara) have a feast, with singing and beating of drums. On the sixteenth day, which is pulakuli or day of purification, the chief mourner makes offerings of rice balls, the guests are fed, and make a present of small coin to the songster who has entertained them. Similar offerings of rice balls are made to the spirit of the deceased person on the new-moon day in the month of Kartigam. During the period of pollution, the chief mourner has to cook his own food. The spirits of deceased ancestors are called Chavar (the dead), and are said to manifest themselves in dreams, especially to near relations, who speak in the morning of what they have seen during the night. They even say that they have held conversation with the deceased. The Rev. W. J. Richards informs us that he once saw “a little temple, about the size of a large rabbit-hutch, in which was a plank for the spirits of the deceased ancestors to come and rest upon. The spirits are supposed to fish in the backwaters, and the phosphorescence, sometimes seen on the surface of the water, is taken as an indication of their presence.”12The Thanda Pulayans will not eat with the Ullādans or Parayans, but stand at a distance of ninety feet from Brāhmans and other high-caste people. They are short of stature and dark-skinned. Like the Cherumans, the women adorn their ears, necks, arms and fingers with masses of cheap jewellery.Thappata(drum).—An exogamous sept of Oddē.Thāthan(a Vaishnavite mendicant).—The equivalent of the Telugu Dāsari.Thātichettu(palmyra palm).—An exogamous sept of Karna Sālē and Oddē.Thāvadadāri.—The name of a section of the Valluvans (priests of the Paraiyans), who wear a necklace of tulsi beads (thāvadam, necklace, dhāri, wearer). The tulsi or basil (Ocimum sanctum) is a very sacred plant with Hindus, and bead necklaces or rosaries are made from its woody stem.Thēlu(scorpion).—Thēlu and Thēla are recorded as exogamous septs of Padma Sālē and Mādiga. The Canarese equivalent Chēlu occurs as a sept of Kuruba.Thenige Būvva.—A sub-division of Mādigas, who offer food (buvva) to the god in a dish or tray (thenige) at marriages.Thikka(simpleton).—A sub-division of Kuruba.Thippa(rubbish heap).—An exogamous sept of Karna Sālē.Thogamalai Korava.—Recorded13as a synonym of a thief class in the southern districts of the Madras Presidency. In a recent note on the Koravas, Mr. F. Fawcett writes that “a fact to be noted is that people such as the members of the well-known Thogamalai gang, who are always called Koravas by the police, are not Koravas at all. They are simply a criminal community, into which outsiders are admitted, who give their women in marriage outside the caste, and who adopt children of other castes.”Thogaru(bitter).—An exogamous sept of Mūsu Kamma.Thōka(tail).—An exogamous sept of Yerukala.Thonda(Cephalendra indica).—An exogamous sept of Mūsu Kamma, and gōtra of Janappans, members ofwhich abstain from using the fruit or leaves of the thonda plant.Thumma(bābūl:Acacia arabica).—An exogamous sept of Māla and Padma Sālē. The bark, pods, and leaves of the bābūl tree are used by tanners in the preparation of hides and skins, or as a dye.Thūmu(iron measure for measuring grain).—An exogamous sept of Mutrācha.Thupa(ghī, clarified butter).—An exogamous sept of Kuruba.Thūrpu(eastern).—A sub-division of Yerukala and Yānādi.Thūta(hole).—An exogamous sept of Dēvānga.Tigala.—Tigala is summed up, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as “a Canarese synonym for the Tamil Palli; applied also by the Canarese people to any Tamil Sūdras of the lower castes.” In parts of the Mysore country, the Tamil language is called Tigalu, and the Canarese Mādhva Brāhmans speak of Tamil Smarta Brāhmans as Tigalaru.Some of the Tigalas, who have settled in Mysore, have forgotten their mother-tongue, and speak only Canarese, while others,e.g., those who live round about Bangalore, still speak Tamil. In their type of cranium they occupy a position intermediate between the dolichocephalic Pallis and the sub-brachy cephalic Canarese classes.The difference in the type of cranium of the Tigalas and Tamil Pallis is clearly brought by the following tabular statements of their cephalic indices:—a. Tigala—68◆697071◆72◆◆◆◆◆73◆◆◆◆74◆75◆76◆◆◆◆◆77◆◆◆◆78◆◆◆◆◆79◆◆◆80◆◆◆81◆◆◆◆82◆8384◆◆b.Palli—64◆656667◆◆68◆69◆70◆71◆◆◆◆72◆◆◆◆◆73◆◆◆◆◆◆◆74◆◆◆◆75◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆76◆77◆78◆79◆◆80◆The Tigalas are kitchen and market gardeners, and cultivate the betel vine. They apparently have three divisions, called Ulli (garlic or onions), Elē (leaf), and Arava (Tamil). Among the Ulli Tigalas, several sub-divisions, and septs or budas named after deities or prominent members of the caste, exist,e.g.:—I. Lakkamma—Tōta dēvaru (garden god).Dodda dēvaru (big or chief god).Dodda Narasayya.Dodda Nanjappa.II. Ellammā—Narasayya.Muddanna.III. Sidde dēvaru.The Tigalas have a headman, whose office is hereditary, and who is assisted by a caste servant called Mudrē. Council meetings are usually held at a fixed spot, called gōni mara kattē or mudrē gōni mara kattē, because those summoned by the Mudrē assemble beneath a gōni (Ficus mysorensis) tree, round which a stone platform is erected. The tree and platform being sacred, no one may go there on wearing shoes or sandals. The members of council sit on a woollen blanket spread before the tree.Like the Pallis or Vanniyans, the Tigalas call themselves Agni Vanni, and claim to be descended from the fire-born hero Agni Bannirāya. In connection with the Tigalas who have settled in the Bombay Presidency, it is noted14that “they are a branch of the Mysore Tigalas, who are Tamil Palli emigrants from the Madras Presidency, and, like the Palli, claim a Kshatriya origin.” The Tigalas possess a manuscript, said to be a copy of a sāsana at Conjeeveram (Kānchi), from which the following extracts are taken. “This is a Kānchi sāsana published by Aswaththa Narayanswāmi, who was induced to do so by the god Varadarāja ofConjeeveram. This sāsana is written to acquaint the descendants of the Mahāpurusha Agni Bannirāya withthe origin, doings, and gōtra of their ancestor Bannirāya. This Bannirāya sprang from fire, and so is much beloved by Vishnu the many-armed, the many-eyed, and the bearer of the chank and chakram, and who is no other than Narayana, the lord of all the worlds great and small, and the originator of the Vēdas and Vedanta.... All those who see or worship this sāsana relating to Agni Bannirāya, who obtained boons from the Trimurthis, Dēvatas, and Rishis, and who is the ancestor of the Tigalas, will be prosperous, and have plenty of grain and children. Those who speak lightly of this caste will become subject to the curses of Bannirāya, Trimurthis, Rishis, and Dēvas. The glory of this sāsana is great, and is as follows:—The keeping and worshipping of this purāna will enable the Tigalas of the Karnataka country to obtain the merit of surapadavi (the state of Dēvas), merit of doing pūja to a thousand lingams, a lakh of cow gifts, and a hundred kannikadānams (gifts of virgins for marriage).” The sāsana is said to have been brought to the Canarese country because of a quarrel between the Pallis and the Tigalas at the time of a Tigala marriage. The Tigalas were prevented from bringing the various biruthus (insignia), and displaying them. The sāsana was brought by the Tigalas, at an expenditure of Rs. 215, which sum was subsequently recovered from the Pallis.Tigala occurs further as the name of a sub-division of Holeya.Tikkē(gem).—A gōtra of Kurni.Ti(fire)Kollan.—A sub-division of Kollan.Tinda(polluting).—A sub-division of Kanisan. Tinda Kuruppu, meaning a teacher who cannot approach, is a synonym of the Kāvutiyan barber caste.Tiperum(tī, fire).—A sub-division of Kollan blacksmiths.Tiragati Gantlavallu(wandering bell hunters).—Stated, in the Manual of the Vizagapatam district, to repair hand-mills, catch antelopes, and sell the skins thereof. In hunting, they use lights and bells.Tirlasetti(the name of a Balija Chetti).—An exogamous sept of Yānādi.Tirumalpād.—Tirumalpād has been summed up as “one of the four divisions of Kshatriyas in Travancore. The term, in its literal sense, conveys the idea of those who wait before kings. In mediæval times theTirumalpādswere commanders of armies.” By Mr. Wigram15Tirumalpād is defined as a member of a Royal Family. In the Madras Census Report, 1891, it is stated that “there are two Tirumalpāds, one a Sāmanta, and the other a so-called Kshatriya. The former observes customs and manners exactly similar to Erādis and Nedungādis. In fact, these are all more or less interchangeable terms, members of the same family calling themselves indifferently Erādi or Tirumalpād. The Kshatriya Tirumalpād wears the sacred thread, and the rites he performs are similar to those of Brāhmans, whose dress he has also adopted. He has, however, like Nāyars, tāli-kettu and sambandham separately. His females take Nambūdiri consorts by preference, but may have husbands of their own caste. Their inheritance is in the female line, as among Nāyars and Sāmantas. Generally the females of this caste furnish wives to Nambūdiris. The touch of these females does not pollute a Nambūdiri as does that of Nāyars and Sāmantas, and, what is more, Nambūdirismay eat their food. The females are called Nambashtādiri.”For the following note onTampānsand Tirumalpāds, I am indebted to the Travancore Census Report, 1901. “The Tampāns and Tirumalpāts come under the category of Malabar Kshatriyas.The word Tampān is a contraction of Tampurān, and at one time denoted a ruling people. When they were divested of that authority by the Ilayetattu Svarūpam, they are said to have fallen from the status of Tampurāns to Tampāns. Their chief seat is the Vaikam tāluk. The Tirumalpāts do not seem to have ruled at all. The word Tirumulpātu indicates those that wait before kings. There is an old Sanskrit verse, which describes eight classes of Kshatriyas as occupying Kērala from very early times, namely (1) Bhūpāla or Mahā Rāja, such as those of Travancore and Cochin, (2) Rājaka or Rājas, such as those of Mavelikara and Kotungallūr, (3) Kōsi or Kōiltampurān, (4) Puravān or Tampān, (5) Srīpurōgama or Tirumulpāt, (6) Bhandāri or Pantārattil, (7) Audvāhika or Tirumalpāt, (8) Chēta or Sāmanta. From this list it may be seen that two classes of Tirumulpāts are mentioned, namely, Srīpurōgamas who are the waiters at the Rāja’s palace, and the Audvāhikas who perform Udvāha or wedding ceremony for certain castes. Both these, however, are identical people, though varying in their traditional occupations. The chief seats of the Tirumulpāts are Shertallay and Tiruvalla.”The Tampāns and Tirumulpāts are, for all purposes of castes, identical with other Malabar Kshatriyas. Every Tampān in Travancore is related to every other Tampān, and all are included within one circle of death and birth pollution. Their manners and customs, too, are exactly like those of other Kshatriyas. They areinvested with the sacred thread at the sixteenth year of age, and recite the Gāyatri (hymn) ten times thrice a day. The Nambūtiri is the family priest, and (death) pollution lasts for eleven days. The Kettukālyanam, or tāli-tying ceremony, may be performed between the seventh and the fourteenth year of age. The tāli is tied by the Āryappattar, while the Nampūtiris recite the Vēdic hymns. Their consorts are usually Nampūtiris, and sometimes East Coast Brāhmans. Like all the Malabar Kshatriyas, they follow the marumakkathāyam system of inheritance (through the female line). Tampāns and Tirumulpāts are often the personal attendants of the Travancore Maharājas, whom they serve with characteristic fidelity and devotion.The Tirumulpāts further perform the tāli-tying ceremony of the Nāyar aristocracy.The names of the Tirumulpāts and Tampāns are the same as those of other classes of Kshatriyas. The title Varma is uniformly added to their names. A few families among these, who once had ruling authority, have the titular suffix Bhandārattil, which is corrupted into Pantārattil. The Tampāns call themselves in documents Kōviladhikārikal, as they once had authority in kōvils or palaces.Tirumān(holy deer).—An exogamous section of Kallan.Tirumudi(holy knot).—Recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as “bricklayers, whose women are usually prostitutes; found chiefly in Salem and Coimbatore. They are either Vēttuvans or Kaikōlans. Kaikōlan women, when they are dedicated to the temple, are supposed to be united in wedlock with the deity.Tiruvalluvan.—A sub-division of Valluvan. Tiruvalluvar, the author of the Kurāl, is said to have belonged to the Valluva caste.Tiru-vilakku-nagarattar(dwellers in the city of holy lamps).—A name assumed by Vāniyans (oil-pressers).Tiyadi.—A synonym of the Tiyāttunni section of Ambalavāsis (seeUnni).Tiyan.—The Tiyans, and Izhuvans or Iluvans, are the Malayālam toddy-drawing castes of Malabar, Cochin, and Travancore. The following note, except where otherwise indicated, is taken from an account of the Tiyans of Malabar by Mr. F. Fawcett.The Tiyans in Malabar number, according to the census returns, 512,063, or 19·3 per cent. of the total population. The corresponding figures for the Izhuvans are 101,638, or 3·8 per cent. The Tiyans have been summed up16as the middle class of the west coast, who cultivate the ground, take service as domestics, and follow trades and professions—anything but soldiering, of which they have an utter abhorrence.The marumakkatāyam system (inheritance through the female line), which obtains in North Malabar, has favoured temporary connections between European men and Tiyan women, the children belonging to the mother’s tarvad. Children bred under these conditions, European influence continuing, are often as fair as Europeans. It is recorded, in the Report of the Malabar Marriage Commission, 1894, that “in the early days of British rule, the Tiyan women incurred no social disgrace by consorting with Europeans, and, up to the last generation, if theSūdragirl could boast of herBrāhmanlover, the Tiyan girl could show more substantial benefits from her alliance with a white man of the ruling race. Happily, the progress of education, and the growth of a wholesome publicopinion, have made shameful the position of a European’s concubine; and both races have thus been saved from a mode of life equally demoralising to each.” On this point, Mr. L. K. Anantha Krishna Iyer writes as follows.17“It is true that there is an elevation both physically and mentally in the progeny of such a parentage. On making enquiries about this, I learn from a respectable and educated Tiyan gentleman that this union is looked upon with contempt by the respectable class of people, and by the orthodox community. I am further informed that such women and children, with their families, are under a ban, and that respectable Tiya gentlemen who have married the daughters of European parentage are not allowed to enjoy the privileges of the caste. There are, I hear, several such instances in Calicut, Tellicherry, and Cannanore. Women of respectable families do not enter into such connection with Europeans.”It is commonly supposed that the Tiyans and Izhuvans came from Ceylon. It is recorded, in the South Canara Manual, that “it is well known that both before and after the Christian era there were invasions and occupations of the northern part of Ceylon by the races then inhabiting Southern India, and Malabar tradition tells us that some of these Dravidians migrated again from Īram or Ceylon northwards to Travancore and other parts of the west coast of India, bringing with them the cocoanut or southern tree (tengina mara), and being known as Tīvars (islanders) or Īravars, which names have since been altered to Tīyars andIlavars. Dr. Caldwell derives Īram from the Sanskrit Simhala through the Pali Sihala by the omission of the initial S.” It is noted by Bishop Caldwell18that there are traces ofa common origin of the Iluvans and Shānars, Shānar (or Shēnēr), for instance, being a title of honour amongst the Travancore Ilavars. And it is further recorded19that there is a tradition that the Shānars came originally from Ceylon. The Izhuvans are supposed to derive their caste name from Izha dwipa (island) or Simhala dwipa (both denoting Ceylon). In a Tamil Puranic work, quoted by Mr. Anantha Krishna Iyer, mention is made of a King Illa of Ceylon, who went to Chidambaram in the Tamil country of Southern India, where a religious discussion took place between the Buddhist priests and the Saivite devotee Manickavachakar in the presence of King Illa, with the result that he was converted to the Saivite faith. From him the Iluvans are said to be descended.The Tiyans are always styled Izhuvan in documents concerning land, in which the Zamorin, or some Brāhman or Nāyar grandee, appears as landlord. The Tiyans look down on the Izhuvans, and repudiate the relationship. Yet they cannot but submit to be called Izhuvan in their documents, for their Nāyar or Brāhman landlord will not let them have the land to cultivate, unless they do so. It is a custom of the country for a man of a superior caste to pretend complete ignorance of the caste of an individual lower in the social scale. Thus, in the Wynād, where there are several jungle tribes, one is accustomed to hear a man of superior caste pretending that he does not know a Paniyan from a Kurumba, and deliberately miscalling one or the other, saying “This Paniyan,” when he knows perfectly well that he is a Kurumba. It is quite possible, therefore, that, though Tiyans are written down as Izhuvans, the two were not supposed to be identical. Stateregulations keep the Izhuvans of Cochin and Travancore in a position of marked social inferiority, and in Malabar they are altogether unlettered and uncultured. On the other hand, the Tiyans of Malabar provide Magistrates, Sub-Judges, and other officials to serve His Majesty’s Government. It may be noted that, in 1907, a Tiya lady matriculate was entertained as a clerk in the Tellicherry post-office.A divagation must be made, to bring the reader to a comprehension of the custom surrounding māttu, a word signifying change,i.e., change of cloth, which is of sufficient importance to demand explanation. When a man or woman is outcasted, the washerwoman (or man) and the barber of the community (and no other is available) are prohibited from performing their important parts in the ceremonies connected with birth, death, and menstruation. A person who is in a condition of impurity is under the same conditions; he or she is temporarily outcasted. This applies to Nambūtiris and Nāyars, as well as to the Tiyans. Now the washerwoman is invariably of the Tiyan caste. There are Mannāns, whose hereditary occupation is washing clothes for Nambūtiris and Nāyars, but, for the most part, the washerwoman who washes for the Nāyar lady is of the Tiyan caste. A woman is under pollution after giving birth to a child, after the death of a member of her tarvad, and during menstruation. And the pollution must be removed at the end of the prescribed period, or she remains an outcaste—a very serious thing for her. The impurity is removed by receiving a clean cloth from the washerwoman, and giving in exchange her own cloth to be washed. This is māttu, and, be it noted, the cloth which gives māttu is one belonging to the washerwoman, not to the person to be purified. The washerwomangives her own cloth to effect the purification. Theoretically, the Tiyan has the power to give or withhold māttu, and thus keep any one out of caste in a state of impurity; but it is a privilege which is seldom if ever exercised. Yet it is one which he admittedly holds, and is thus in a position to exercise considerable control over the Nambūtiri and Nāyar communities. It is odd that it is not a soiled cloth washed and returned to the person which gives purification, but one of the washerwoman’s own cloths. So the māttu may have a deeper meaning than lies in mere change of cloth, dressing in a clean one, and giving the soiled one to a person of inferior caste to wash. This māttu is second in importance to no custom. It must be done on the last day of pollution after birth and death ceremonies, and menstruation, or the person concerned remains outcasted. It is noteworthy that the Izhuvans know nothing of māttu.An Izhuvan will eat rice cooked by a Tiyan, but a Tiyan will not eat rice cooked by an Izhuvan—a circumstance pointing to the inferiority of the Izhuvan. A Nāyar, as well as a Tiyan, will partake of almost any form of food or drink, which is prepared even by a Māppilla (Malabar Muhammadan), who is deemed inferior to both. But the line is drawn at rice, which must be prepared by one of equal caste or class, or by a superior. An Izhuvan, partaking of rice at a Tiyan’s house, must eat it in a verandah; he cannot do so in the house, as that would be defilement to the Tiyan. Not only must the Izhuvan eat the rice in the verandah, but he must wash the plates, and clean up the place where he has eaten. Again, an Izhuvan could have no objection to drinking from a Tiyan’s well. Further, there is practically no mixture in the distribution of Tiyans and Izhuvans. Where there are Izhuvans thereare no Tiyans, andvice versâ. [In a photograph of a group of Izhuvan females of Palghat eating their meal, which was sent to me, they are all in a kneeling posture, with the buttocks supported on the heels. They are said to assume the same attitude when engaged in grinding and winnowing grain, and other occupations, with a resultant thickening of the skin over the knees.]Differences, which might well come under the heading marriage, may be considered here, for the purpose of comparison between the Tiyans and Izhuvans. During the preliminaries to the marriage ceremony among the Tiyans, the date of the marriage having been fixed in the presence of the representatives of the bride and bridegroom, the following formula is repeated by the Tandān or headman of the bride’s party. Translated as accurately as possible, it runs thus. “The tara and changati of both sides having met and consulted; the astrologer having fixed an auspicious day after examining the star and porutham; permission having been obtained from the tara, the relations, the illam and kulam, the father, uncle, and the brothers, and from the eight and four (twelve illams) and the six and four (ten kiriyams); the conji and adayalam ceremonies and the four tazhus having been performed, let me perform the kanjikudi ceremony for the marriage of ... the son of ... with ... daughter of ... in the presence of muperium.” This formula, with slight variations here and there, is repeated at every Tiyan marriage in South Malabar. It is a solemn declaration, giving validity to the union, although, in the way that custom and ritual survive long after their original significance has been forgotten, the meaning of many of the terms used is altogether unknown. What, for instance,is the meaning of muperium? No one can tell. But a few of the terms are explainable.Tara. The tara was the smallest unit in the ancient government system, which, for want of a better term, we may style feudal. It was not exactly a village, for the people lived apart. Each tara had its Nāyar chieftain, and also its Tiyan chief or Tandān, its astrologer, its washerman, its goldsmith, and other useful people, each serving the community for the sake of small advantages. Each tara was its own world.Changati (friend). The friends of both parties which negotiated the marriage.Porutham (agreement). Examination of the horoscopes of the boy and girl makes it possible to ascertain whether there is agreement between the two, and the union will be propitious.Illam. Here intended to mean the father’s family.Kulam. The name, derived from kula a branch, here denotes the mother’s family.Twelve illams, ten kiriyams. The word illam, now used exclusively for the residence of a Nambūtiri, is supposed to have been used in days of old for the house of a person of any caste. And this supposition is said to find support in the way that a Tiyan coming from the south is often greeted in South Canara. Thus, a Malabar Tiyan, travelling to the celebrated temple at Gokarnam in South Canara, is at once asked “What is your illam and kiriyam?” He has heard these terms used in the foregoing formula during his own or another’s marriage ceremony, but attached no meaning to them. To the man of South Canara they have genuine meaning. One should be able to answer the question satisfactorily, and thus give a proper account of himself. If he cannot, he gets neither food nor water from theSouth Canara Tiyan. This also holds good, to some extent, in the case of a southern Tiyan visiting the northern parts of the Cherakal tāluk of Malabar.The ten illams of South Malabar are as follows:—Tala Kodan.Nellika (Phyllanthus Emblica).Paraka or Varaka.Ala.Ten Kudi or Tenan Kudi.Padayan Kudi.Kannan.Varakat.Kytatinferior.Puzhampayi or BavuThe illams of North Malabar are said to be—Nellika.Pullanhi.Vangeri.Koyikkalan.Padayam Kudi.Tenan Kudi.Manan Kudi.Vilakkan Kudi.Marriage is strictly forbidden between two persons belonging to the same illam. The bride and bridegroom must belong to different illams. In fact, the illams are exogamous. Members of some of the illams were allowed certain privileges and dignities. Thus, the men of the Varakat illam (Varaka Tiyans) were in the old days permitted to travel in a mancheel (a hammock-cot slung on a pole). They were allowed this privilege of higher caste people, which was prohibited to the Tiyans of other illams. But, should one of them, when travelling in a mancheel, happen to see a Rājah or a Nāyar, he was obliged to hang one of his legs out of it in token of submission. The Varaka Tiyans were further allowed to wear gold jewels on the neck, to don silken cloths, to fasten a sword round the waist, and to carry a shield. The sword was made of thin pliable steel, and worn round the waist like a belt, the point being fastened to the hilt through a small hole near the point. A man, intending to damage another, might make an apparentlyfriendly call on him, his body loosely covered with a cloth, and to all appearances unarmed. In less than a second, he could unfasten the sword round his waist, and cut the other down. The well-known Mannanar belonged to the Varakat illam. Those who know Malabar will recall to mind the benevolent but strange institution which he initiated. He provided a comfortable home for Nambūtiri women who were thrown out of caste, and thus in the ordinary course of events doomed to every misery and degradation to be found in life. On being outcasted, the funeral ceremonies of Nambūtiri women were performed by her own people, and she became dead to them. She went to the Mannanar, and her birth ceremonies were performed, so that she might begin life anew in a state of purity. If, on arrival, she entered by the left door, she was his wife, if by the front door, his sister. It is said that, when their chief, Mannanar of the Aramana, is destitute of heirs, the Tiyans of Kolattanād go in procession to the Kurumattūr Nambūtiri (the chief of the Peringallūr Brāhmans) and demand a Brāhman virgin to be adopted as sister of Mannanar, who follows the marumakkatāyam rule of succession. This demand, it is said, used to be granted by the Nambūtiris assembling at a meeting, and selecting a maiden to be given to the Tiyans.Kiriyam is said to be a corrupt form of the Sanskrit word griham (house), but this seems rather fanciful. There are said to have been about two kiriyams for each village. The names of only three are known to me, viz., Karumana, Kaita, and Kampathi. There is a village called Karumana, near the temple of Lakshmipuram in South Canara. Karumana is applied as a term to signify a Tiyan during the ordinary devil-dancing in temples, when an oracular utterance is delivered. Theoracle always addresses the Tiyan as “my Karumana,”not as “my Tiyan.” The only other use of the word is in Karumana acharam (the customs of the Tiyans).Other outward and visible differences between Tiyan and Izhuvan marriages are these. The South Malabar Tiyan bridegroom, dressed as if for a wrestling match, with his cloth tied tight about his loins, carries a sword and shield, and is escorted by two companions similarly equipped, dancing their way along. The Izhuvan does not carry a sword under any circumstances. The chief feature of his wedding ceremony is a singing match. This, called the vatil-tura-pāttu, or open the door song, assumes the form of a contest between the parties of the bridegroom and bride. The story of Krishna and his wife Rukmini is supposed to be alluded to. We have seen it all under slightly different colour at Conjeeveram. Krishna asks Rukmini to open the door, and admit him. She refuses, thinking he has been gallivanting with some other lady. He beseeches; she refuses. He explains, and at length she yields. The song is more or less extempore, and each side must be ready with an immediate answer. The side which is reduced to the extremity of having no answer is beaten and under ignominy.I pass on to the subject of personal adornment of the Tiyans:—(a) North Malabar, Males—1. A horizontal dab made with white ashes on either side of the forehead and chest, and on the outside of each shoulder.2. Two gold ear-rings (kadakkan) in each ear. A silver chain hanging from the sheath of his knife, and fastened with a boss. Two tambak (copper, brass and silver) rings on the ring finger of the left hand.3. A gold kadakkan in each ear, and an iron ring on the ring finger of the left hand.4. A thorn in each ear (another was similarly ornamented). Not married.5. A gold ear-ring in each ear. An iron ring on the little finger of the left hand. Two silver rings, in which is set a piece of hair from an elephant’s tail, on the little finger of the right hand.A few individuals wore brass rings, and some had ear-rings, in which a red stone was set. Amulets were worn by some in little cylindrical cases on a string, to protect the wearer against enemies, the evil eye, or devils. One man wore a silver girdle, to which an amulet in a case was fastened, underneath his cloth, so that it was not in view to the public. One individual only is noted as having been tattooed, with a circular mark just above his glabella. The arms of a good many, and the abdomen of a few, bore cicatrices from branding, apparently for the purpose of making them strong and relieving pains.(b) South Malabar, Males.In the country parts, the waist cloth is always worn above the knee. About a third of the individuals examined wore ear-rings. The ears of all were pierced. Those who were without ear-rings had no scruples about wearing them, but were too poor to buy them.1. Blue spot tattooed over the glabella.2. Silver amulet-case, containing fifteen gold fanams, at the waist. He said that he kept the coins in the receptacle for security, but I think it was for good luck.3. Ear-ring (kadakkan) in each ear. A copper amulet-case, containing a yantram to keep off devils, at the waist.4. Four silver amulet-cases, containing yantrams on a copper sheet for curing some ailment, at the waist.5. Two gold kadakkans in each ear. A white spot over the glabella.(c) North Malabar, Females.In olden days, the women used to wear coloured and striped cloths round the waist, and hanging to the knees. The breast was not covered. The body above the waist was not allowed to be covered, except during the period of death pollution. Nowadays, white is generally the colour to be seen, and the body is seldom covered above the waist—never one may say, except (and then only sometimes) in the towns. The Izhuvan women in Malabar always wear blue cloths: just one cloth rolled tightly round the waist, and hanging to the knees. Of late, they have taken to wearing also a blue cloth drawn tight over the breast.Ornaments. The thōdu, which is now sometimes worn by Tiyan women, is not a Tiyan ornament. The ear-rings, called kathila and ananthod, are the Tiyan ornaments, and look like strings of gold beads with pendants. Discs of white metal or lead are used to stretch and keep open the dilated lobes of the ears, in which gold ornaments are worn when necessary or possible. Venetian sequins, real or imitation, known in Malabar as amāda, are largely used for neck ornaments. There is a Malabar proverb that one need not look for an insect’s burrow in amāda, meaning that you cannot find anything vile in a worthy person.Turning now to the subject of marriage. In the ordinary course of things, a marriage would not be made between a Tiyan girl of South Malabar and a Tiyan man of North Malabar, for the reason that the childrenof such a marriage would inherit no property from the family of either parent. The husband would have no share in the property of his family, which devolves through the women; nor would the wife have any share in that of her family, which is passed on through the men. So there would be nothing for the children. But, on the other hand, marriage between a girl of the north and a man of the south is a different thing. The children would inherit from both parents. As a rule, Tiyans of the north marry in the north, and those of the south in the south.It was generally admitted that it was formerly the custom among the Tiyans in South Malabar for several brothers—in fact all of them—to share one wife. Two existing instances of this custom were recorded.The arrangement of a marriage, and the ceremonial which will now be described, though pertaining strictly to the Calicut tāluk of South Malabar, are sufficiently representative of a Tiyan marriage anywhere. There is, however, this difference, that, in North Malabar, where inheritance through females obtains, and the wife invariably resides in her own tarwad or family home, there is never any stipulation concerning a girl’s dowry. In South Malabar, where inheritance is through the males, and where the wife lives in her husband’s house, the dowry in money, jewels, or furniture, is as a rule settled beforehand, and must be handed over on the wedding day. In the Calicut tāluk, we find an exception to this general rule of South Malabar, where the subject of the dowry is not usually mentioned. In North Malabar, gifts of jewels are made in proportion as the bride’s people are wealthy and generous. What is given is in the way of a gift, and forms no feature in the marital agreement.
Thanda Palayan.Thanda Palayan.When a member of the tribe has died an unnatural death, a man, with a fowl and sword in his hands, places another man in a pit which has been dug, and walks thrice round it with a torch. After an hour or two, the man is taken out of the pit, and goes to a distance, where certain ceremonies are performed.The Thanda Pulayans worship the gods of Brāhmanical temples at a distance of nearly a quarter of a mile. A stone is set up in the ground, on which they place tender cocoanuts and a few puttans (Cochin coins). A temple servant takes these to the priest, who sends in return some sandal paste, holy water, and flowers. They worship, as has been already hinted, demons, and also the spirits of their ancestors, by which small brass figures of males and females representing the pretas (ghosts) are supposed to be possessed. They worship, among others, Kandakarnan, Kodunkāli, Bhairavan, and Arukola pretas, who are lodged in small huts, and represented by stones. In the month of May, they celebrate a festival, which lasts for several days. Chrysanthemum and thumba (apparentlyLeucas aspera) flowers are used in the performance of worship, and paddy, beaten rice,tender cocoanuts, toddy, etc., are offered up. There is a good deal of singing, drum-beating and devil-dancing by men and women, who on this occasion indulge liberally in toddy. The Pāndavas, whom they call Anju Thamburakkal, are favourite deities. They devise various plans for warding off the evil influence of demons. Some, for example, wear rolls of palm leaf, with incantations written on them, round their necks. Others hang baskets in the rice fields, containing peace offerings to the gods, and pray for the protection of the crop. Wherever there is a dense forest, Mātan and Kāli are supposed to dwell, and are worshipped. From the end of November to April, which is the slack season, the Thanda Pulayans go about dancing from hut to hut, and collecting money to purchase fowls, etc., for offerings. Club-dancing is their favourite amusement, and is often indulged in at night by the light of a blazing fire. The dancers, club in hand, go round in concentric circles, keeping time to the songs which they sing, striking each other’s clubs, now bending to ward off a blow on the legs, or rising to protect the head.The dead are buried, and lighted torches are set up all round the grave, on to which the relations of the dead person throw three handfuls of rice. Near it, squares are made in rice flour, in each of which a leaf with rice flour and paddy, and a lighted torch or wick is placed. The chief mourner, who should be the son or nephew, carrying a pot of water, goes several times round the grave, and breaks the pot over the spot where the head rests. A few grains of rice are placed at the four corners of the grave, and a pebble is laid on it, with mantrams to keep off jackals, and to prevent the spirit from molesting people. Every morning the chief mourner goes to the grave, and makes offerings of boiled rice,gingelly (Sesamum indicum) seeds, and karuka grass. On the fourteenth day, he has an oil-bath, and, on the following day, the Pulayans of the village (kara) have a feast, with singing and beating of drums. On the sixteenth day, which is pulakuli or day of purification, the chief mourner makes offerings of rice balls, the guests are fed, and make a present of small coin to the songster who has entertained them. Similar offerings of rice balls are made to the spirit of the deceased person on the new-moon day in the month of Kartigam. During the period of pollution, the chief mourner has to cook his own food. The spirits of deceased ancestors are called Chavar (the dead), and are said to manifest themselves in dreams, especially to near relations, who speak in the morning of what they have seen during the night. They even say that they have held conversation with the deceased. The Rev. W. J. Richards informs us that he once saw “a little temple, about the size of a large rabbit-hutch, in which was a plank for the spirits of the deceased ancestors to come and rest upon. The spirits are supposed to fish in the backwaters, and the phosphorescence, sometimes seen on the surface of the water, is taken as an indication of their presence.”12The Thanda Pulayans will not eat with the Ullādans or Parayans, but stand at a distance of ninety feet from Brāhmans and other high-caste people. They are short of stature and dark-skinned. Like the Cherumans, the women adorn their ears, necks, arms and fingers with masses of cheap jewellery.Thappata(drum).—An exogamous sept of Oddē.Thāthan(a Vaishnavite mendicant).—The equivalent of the Telugu Dāsari.Thātichettu(palmyra palm).—An exogamous sept of Karna Sālē and Oddē.Thāvadadāri.—The name of a section of the Valluvans (priests of the Paraiyans), who wear a necklace of tulsi beads (thāvadam, necklace, dhāri, wearer). The tulsi or basil (Ocimum sanctum) is a very sacred plant with Hindus, and bead necklaces or rosaries are made from its woody stem.Thēlu(scorpion).—Thēlu and Thēla are recorded as exogamous septs of Padma Sālē and Mādiga. The Canarese equivalent Chēlu occurs as a sept of Kuruba.Thenige Būvva.—A sub-division of Mādigas, who offer food (buvva) to the god in a dish or tray (thenige) at marriages.Thikka(simpleton).—A sub-division of Kuruba.Thippa(rubbish heap).—An exogamous sept of Karna Sālē.Thogamalai Korava.—Recorded13as a synonym of a thief class in the southern districts of the Madras Presidency. In a recent note on the Koravas, Mr. F. Fawcett writes that “a fact to be noted is that people such as the members of the well-known Thogamalai gang, who are always called Koravas by the police, are not Koravas at all. They are simply a criminal community, into which outsiders are admitted, who give their women in marriage outside the caste, and who adopt children of other castes.”Thogaru(bitter).—An exogamous sept of Mūsu Kamma.Thōka(tail).—An exogamous sept of Yerukala.Thonda(Cephalendra indica).—An exogamous sept of Mūsu Kamma, and gōtra of Janappans, members ofwhich abstain from using the fruit or leaves of the thonda plant.Thumma(bābūl:Acacia arabica).—An exogamous sept of Māla and Padma Sālē. The bark, pods, and leaves of the bābūl tree are used by tanners in the preparation of hides and skins, or as a dye.Thūmu(iron measure for measuring grain).—An exogamous sept of Mutrācha.Thupa(ghī, clarified butter).—An exogamous sept of Kuruba.Thūrpu(eastern).—A sub-division of Yerukala and Yānādi.Thūta(hole).—An exogamous sept of Dēvānga.Tigala.—Tigala is summed up, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as “a Canarese synonym for the Tamil Palli; applied also by the Canarese people to any Tamil Sūdras of the lower castes.” In parts of the Mysore country, the Tamil language is called Tigalu, and the Canarese Mādhva Brāhmans speak of Tamil Smarta Brāhmans as Tigalaru.Some of the Tigalas, who have settled in Mysore, have forgotten their mother-tongue, and speak only Canarese, while others,e.g., those who live round about Bangalore, still speak Tamil. In their type of cranium they occupy a position intermediate between the dolichocephalic Pallis and the sub-brachy cephalic Canarese classes.The difference in the type of cranium of the Tigalas and Tamil Pallis is clearly brought by the following tabular statements of their cephalic indices:—a. Tigala—68◆697071◆72◆◆◆◆◆73◆◆◆◆74◆75◆76◆◆◆◆◆77◆◆◆◆78◆◆◆◆◆79◆◆◆80◆◆◆81◆◆◆◆82◆8384◆◆b.Palli—64◆656667◆◆68◆69◆70◆71◆◆◆◆72◆◆◆◆◆73◆◆◆◆◆◆◆74◆◆◆◆75◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆76◆77◆78◆79◆◆80◆The Tigalas are kitchen and market gardeners, and cultivate the betel vine. They apparently have three divisions, called Ulli (garlic or onions), Elē (leaf), and Arava (Tamil). Among the Ulli Tigalas, several sub-divisions, and septs or budas named after deities or prominent members of the caste, exist,e.g.:—I. Lakkamma—Tōta dēvaru (garden god).Dodda dēvaru (big or chief god).Dodda Narasayya.Dodda Nanjappa.II. Ellammā—Narasayya.Muddanna.III. Sidde dēvaru.The Tigalas have a headman, whose office is hereditary, and who is assisted by a caste servant called Mudrē. Council meetings are usually held at a fixed spot, called gōni mara kattē or mudrē gōni mara kattē, because those summoned by the Mudrē assemble beneath a gōni (Ficus mysorensis) tree, round which a stone platform is erected. The tree and platform being sacred, no one may go there on wearing shoes or sandals. The members of council sit on a woollen blanket spread before the tree.Like the Pallis or Vanniyans, the Tigalas call themselves Agni Vanni, and claim to be descended from the fire-born hero Agni Bannirāya. In connection with the Tigalas who have settled in the Bombay Presidency, it is noted14that “they are a branch of the Mysore Tigalas, who are Tamil Palli emigrants from the Madras Presidency, and, like the Palli, claim a Kshatriya origin.” The Tigalas possess a manuscript, said to be a copy of a sāsana at Conjeeveram (Kānchi), from which the following extracts are taken. “This is a Kānchi sāsana published by Aswaththa Narayanswāmi, who was induced to do so by the god Varadarāja ofConjeeveram. This sāsana is written to acquaint the descendants of the Mahāpurusha Agni Bannirāya withthe origin, doings, and gōtra of their ancestor Bannirāya. This Bannirāya sprang from fire, and so is much beloved by Vishnu the many-armed, the many-eyed, and the bearer of the chank and chakram, and who is no other than Narayana, the lord of all the worlds great and small, and the originator of the Vēdas and Vedanta.... All those who see or worship this sāsana relating to Agni Bannirāya, who obtained boons from the Trimurthis, Dēvatas, and Rishis, and who is the ancestor of the Tigalas, will be prosperous, and have plenty of grain and children. Those who speak lightly of this caste will become subject to the curses of Bannirāya, Trimurthis, Rishis, and Dēvas. The glory of this sāsana is great, and is as follows:—The keeping and worshipping of this purāna will enable the Tigalas of the Karnataka country to obtain the merit of surapadavi (the state of Dēvas), merit of doing pūja to a thousand lingams, a lakh of cow gifts, and a hundred kannikadānams (gifts of virgins for marriage).” The sāsana is said to have been brought to the Canarese country because of a quarrel between the Pallis and the Tigalas at the time of a Tigala marriage. The Tigalas were prevented from bringing the various biruthus (insignia), and displaying them. The sāsana was brought by the Tigalas, at an expenditure of Rs. 215, which sum was subsequently recovered from the Pallis.Tigala occurs further as the name of a sub-division of Holeya.Tikkē(gem).—A gōtra of Kurni.Ti(fire)Kollan.—A sub-division of Kollan.Tinda(polluting).—A sub-division of Kanisan. Tinda Kuruppu, meaning a teacher who cannot approach, is a synonym of the Kāvutiyan barber caste.Tiperum(tī, fire).—A sub-division of Kollan blacksmiths.Tiragati Gantlavallu(wandering bell hunters).—Stated, in the Manual of the Vizagapatam district, to repair hand-mills, catch antelopes, and sell the skins thereof. In hunting, they use lights and bells.Tirlasetti(the name of a Balija Chetti).—An exogamous sept of Yānādi.Tirumalpād.—Tirumalpād has been summed up as “one of the four divisions of Kshatriyas in Travancore. The term, in its literal sense, conveys the idea of those who wait before kings. In mediæval times theTirumalpādswere commanders of armies.” By Mr. Wigram15Tirumalpād is defined as a member of a Royal Family. In the Madras Census Report, 1891, it is stated that “there are two Tirumalpāds, one a Sāmanta, and the other a so-called Kshatriya. The former observes customs and manners exactly similar to Erādis and Nedungādis. In fact, these are all more or less interchangeable terms, members of the same family calling themselves indifferently Erādi or Tirumalpād. The Kshatriya Tirumalpād wears the sacred thread, and the rites he performs are similar to those of Brāhmans, whose dress he has also adopted. He has, however, like Nāyars, tāli-kettu and sambandham separately. His females take Nambūdiri consorts by preference, but may have husbands of their own caste. Their inheritance is in the female line, as among Nāyars and Sāmantas. Generally the females of this caste furnish wives to Nambūdiris. The touch of these females does not pollute a Nambūdiri as does that of Nāyars and Sāmantas, and, what is more, Nambūdirismay eat their food. The females are called Nambashtādiri.”For the following note onTampānsand Tirumalpāds, I am indebted to the Travancore Census Report, 1901. “The Tampāns and Tirumalpāts come under the category of Malabar Kshatriyas.The word Tampān is a contraction of Tampurān, and at one time denoted a ruling people. When they were divested of that authority by the Ilayetattu Svarūpam, they are said to have fallen from the status of Tampurāns to Tampāns. Their chief seat is the Vaikam tāluk. The Tirumalpāts do not seem to have ruled at all. The word Tirumulpātu indicates those that wait before kings. There is an old Sanskrit verse, which describes eight classes of Kshatriyas as occupying Kērala from very early times, namely (1) Bhūpāla or Mahā Rāja, such as those of Travancore and Cochin, (2) Rājaka or Rājas, such as those of Mavelikara and Kotungallūr, (3) Kōsi or Kōiltampurān, (4) Puravān or Tampān, (5) Srīpurōgama or Tirumulpāt, (6) Bhandāri or Pantārattil, (7) Audvāhika or Tirumalpāt, (8) Chēta or Sāmanta. From this list it may be seen that two classes of Tirumulpāts are mentioned, namely, Srīpurōgamas who are the waiters at the Rāja’s palace, and the Audvāhikas who perform Udvāha or wedding ceremony for certain castes. Both these, however, are identical people, though varying in their traditional occupations. The chief seats of the Tirumulpāts are Shertallay and Tiruvalla.”The Tampāns and Tirumulpāts are, for all purposes of castes, identical with other Malabar Kshatriyas. Every Tampān in Travancore is related to every other Tampān, and all are included within one circle of death and birth pollution. Their manners and customs, too, are exactly like those of other Kshatriyas. They areinvested with the sacred thread at the sixteenth year of age, and recite the Gāyatri (hymn) ten times thrice a day. The Nambūtiri is the family priest, and (death) pollution lasts for eleven days. The Kettukālyanam, or tāli-tying ceremony, may be performed between the seventh and the fourteenth year of age. The tāli is tied by the Āryappattar, while the Nampūtiris recite the Vēdic hymns. Their consorts are usually Nampūtiris, and sometimes East Coast Brāhmans. Like all the Malabar Kshatriyas, they follow the marumakkathāyam system of inheritance (through the female line). Tampāns and Tirumulpāts are often the personal attendants of the Travancore Maharājas, whom they serve with characteristic fidelity and devotion.The Tirumulpāts further perform the tāli-tying ceremony of the Nāyar aristocracy.The names of the Tirumulpāts and Tampāns are the same as those of other classes of Kshatriyas. The title Varma is uniformly added to their names. A few families among these, who once had ruling authority, have the titular suffix Bhandārattil, which is corrupted into Pantārattil. The Tampāns call themselves in documents Kōviladhikārikal, as they once had authority in kōvils or palaces.Tirumān(holy deer).—An exogamous section of Kallan.Tirumudi(holy knot).—Recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as “bricklayers, whose women are usually prostitutes; found chiefly in Salem and Coimbatore. They are either Vēttuvans or Kaikōlans. Kaikōlan women, when they are dedicated to the temple, are supposed to be united in wedlock with the deity.Tiruvalluvan.—A sub-division of Valluvan. Tiruvalluvar, the author of the Kurāl, is said to have belonged to the Valluva caste.Tiru-vilakku-nagarattar(dwellers in the city of holy lamps).—A name assumed by Vāniyans (oil-pressers).Tiyadi.—A synonym of the Tiyāttunni section of Ambalavāsis (seeUnni).Tiyan.—The Tiyans, and Izhuvans or Iluvans, are the Malayālam toddy-drawing castes of Malabar, Cochin, and Travancore. The following note, except where otherwise indicated, is taken from an account of the Tiyans of Malabar by Mr. F. Fawcett.The Tiyans in Malabar number, according to the census returns, 512,063, or 19·3 per cent. of the total population. The corresponding figures for the Izhuvans are 101,638, or 3·8 per cent. The Tiyans have been summed up16as the middle class of the west coast, who cultivate the ground, take service as domestics, and follow trades and professions—anything but soldiering, of which they have an utter abhorrence.The marumakkatāyam system (inheritance through the female line), which obtains in North Malabar, has favoured temporary connections between European men and Tiyan women, the children belonging to the mother’s tarvad. Children bred under these conditions, European influence continuing, are often as fair as Europeans. It is recorded, in the Report of the Malabar Marriage Commission, 1894, that “in the early days of British rule, the Tiyan women incurred no social disgrace by consorting with Europeans, and, up to the last generation, if theSūdragirl could boast of herBrāhmanlover, the Tiyan girl could show more substantial benefits from her alliance with a white man of the ruling race. Happily, the progress of education, and the growth of a wholesome publicopinion, have made shameful the position of a European’s concubine; and both races have thus been saved from a mode of life equally demoralising to each.” On this point, Mr. L. K. Anantha Krishna Iyer writes as follows.17“It is true that there is an elevation both physically and mentally in the progeny of such a parentage. On making enquiries about this, I learn from a respectable and educated Tiyan gentleman that this union is looked upon with contempt by the respectable class of people, and by the orthodox community. I am further informed that such women and children, with their families, are under a ban, and that respectable Tiya gentlemen who have married the daughters of European parentage are not allowed to enjoy the privileges of the caste. There are, I hear, several such instances in Calicut, Tellicherry, and Cannanore. Women of respectable families do not enter into such connection with Europeans.”It is commonly supposed that the Tiyans and Izhuvans came from Ceylon. It is recorded, in the South Canara Manual, that “it is well known that both before and after the Christian era there were invasions and occupations of the northern part of Ceylon by the races then inhabiting Southern India, and Malabar tradition tells us that some of these Dravidians migrated again from Īram or Ceylon northwards to Travancore and other parts of the west coast of India, bringing with them the cocoanut or southern tree (tengina mara), and being known as Tīvars (islanders) or Īravars, which names have since been altered to Tīyars andIlavars. Dr. Caldwell derives Īram from the Sanskrit Simhala through the Pali Sihala by the omission of the initial S.” It is noted by Bishop Caldwell18that there are traces ofa common origin of the Iluvans and Shānars, Shānar (or Shēnēr), for instance, being a title of honour amongst the Travancore Ilavars. And it is further recorded19that there is a tradition that the Shānars came originally from Ceylon. The Izhuvans are supposed to derive their caste name from Izha dwipa (island) or Simhala dwipa (both denoting Ceylon). In a Tamil Puranic work, quoted by Mr. Anantha Krishna Iyer, mention is made of a King Illa of Ceylon, who went to Chidambaram in the Tamil country of Southern India, where a religious discussion took place between the Buddhist priests and the Saivite devotee Manickavachakar in the presence of King Illa, with the result that he was converted to the Saivite faith. From him the Iluvans are said to be descended.The Tiyans are always styled Izhuvan in documents concerning land, in which the Zamorin, or some Brāhman or Nāyar grandee, appears as landlord. The Tiyans look down on the Izhuvans, and repudiate the relationship. Yet they cannot but submit to be called Izhuvan in their documents, for their Nāyar or Brāhman landlord will not let them have the land to cultivate, unless they do so. It is a custom of the country for a man of a superior caste to pretend complete ignorance of the caste of an individual lower in the social scale. Thus, in the Wynād, where there are several jungle tribes, one is accustomed to hear a man of superior caste pretending that he does not know a Paniyan from a Kurumba, and deliberately miscalling one or the other, saying “This Paniyan,” when he knows perfectly well that he is a Kurumba. It is quite possible, therefore, that, though Tiyans are written down as Izhuvans, the two were not supposed to be identical. Stateregulations keep the Izhuvans of Cochin and Travancore in a position of marked social inferiority, and in Malabar they are altogether unlettered and uncultured. On the other hand, the Tiyans of Malabar provide Magistrates, Sub-Judges, and other officials to serve His Majesty’s Government. It may be noted that, in 1907, a Tiya lady matriculate was entertained as a clerk in the Tellicherry post-office.A divagation must be made, to bring the reader to a comprehension of the custom surrounding māttu, a word signifying change,i.e., change of cloth, which is of sufficient importance to demand explanation. When a man or woman is outcasted, the washerwoman (or man) and the barber of the community (and no other is available) are prohibited from performing their important parts in the ceremonies connected with birth, death, and menstruation. A person who is in a condition of impurity is under the same conditions; he or she is temporarily outcasted. This applies to Nambūtiris and Nāyars, as well as to the Tiyans. Now the washerwoman is invariably of the Tiyan caste. There are Mannāns, whose hereditary occupation is washing clothes for Nambūtiris and Nāyars, but, for the most part, the washerwoman who washes for the Nāyar lady is of the Tiyan caste. A woman is under pollution after giving birth to a child, after the death of a member of her tarvad, and during menstruation. And the pollution must be removed at the end of the prescribed period, or she remains an outcaste—a very serious thing for her. The impurity is removed by receiving a clean cloth from the washerwoman, and giving in exchange her own cloth to be washed. This is māttu, and, be it noted, the cloth which gives māttu is one belonging to the washerwoman, not to the person to be purified. The washerwomangives her own cloth to effect the purification. Theoretically, the Tiyan has the power to give or withhold māttu, and thus keep any one out of caste in a state of impurity; but it is a privilege which is seldom if ever exercised. Yet it is one which he admittedly holds, and is thus in a position to exercise considerable control over the Nambūtiri and Nāyar communities. It is odd that it is not a soiled cloth washed and returned to the person which gives purification, but one of the washerwoman’s own cloths. So the māttu may have a deeper meaning than lies in mere change of cloth, dressing in a clean one, and giving the soiled one to a person of inferior caste to wash. This māttu is second in importance to no custom. It must be done on the last day of pollution after birth and death ceremonies, and menstruation, or the person concerned remains outcasted. It is noteworthy that the Izhuvans know nothing of māttu.An Izhuvan will eat rice cooked by a Tiyan, but a Tiyan will not eat rice cooked by an Izhuvan—a circumstance pointing to the inferiority of the Izhuvan. A Nāyar, as well as a Tiyan, will partake of almost any form of food or drink, which is prepared even by a Māppilla (Malabar Muhammadan), who is deemed inferior to both. But the line is drawn at rice, which must be prepared by one of equal caste or class, or by a superior. An Izhuvan, partaking of rice at a Tiyan’s house, must eat it in a verandah; he cannot do so in the house, as that would be defilement to the Tiyan. Not only must the Izhuvan eat the rice in the verandah, but he must wash the plates, and clean up the place where he has eaten. Again, an Izhuvan could have no objection to drinking from a Tiyan’s well. Further, there is practically no mixture in the distribution of Tiyans and Izhuvans. Where there are Izhuvans thereare no Tiyans, andvice versâ. [In a photograph of a group of Izhuvan females of Palghat eating their meal, which was sent to me, they are all in a kneeling posture, with the buttocks supported on the heels. They are said to assume the same attitude when engaged in grinding and winnowing grain, and other occupations, with a resultant thickening of the skin over the knees.]Differences, which might well come under the heading marriage, may be considered here, for the purpose of comparison between the Tiyans and Izhuvans. During the preliminaries to the marriage ceremony among the Tiyans, the date of the marriage having been fixed in the presence of the representatives of the bride and bridegroom, the following formula is repeated by the Tandān or headman of the bride’s party. Translated as accurately as possible, it runs thus. “The tara and changati of both sides having met and consulted; the astrologer having fixed an auspicious day after examining the star and porutham; permission having been obtained from the tara, the relations, the illam and kulam, the father, uncle, and the brothers, and from the eight and four (twelve illams) and the six and four (ten kiriyams); the conji and adayalam ceremonies and the four tazhus having been performed, let me perform the kanjikudi ceremony for the marriage of ... the son of ... with ... daughter of ... in the presence of muperium.” This formula, with slight variations here and there, is repeated at every Tiyan marriage in South Malabar. It is a solemn declaration, giving validity to the union, although, in the way that custom and ritual survive long after their original significance has been forgotten, the meaning of many of the terms used is altogether unknown. What, for instance,is the meaning of muperium? No one can tell. But a few of the terms are explainable.Tara. The tara was the smallest unit in the ancient government system, which, for want of a better term, we may style feudal. It was not exactly a village, for the people lived apart. Each tara had its Nāyar chieftain, and also its Tiyan chief or Tandān, its astrologer, its washerman, its goldsmith, and other useful people, each serving the community for the sake of small advantages. Each tara was its own world.Changati (friend). The friends of both parties which negotiated the marriage.Porutham (agreement). Examination of the horoscopes of the boy and girl makes it possible to ascertain whether there is agreement between the two, and the union will be propitious.Illam. Here intended to mean the father’s family.Kulam. The name, derived from kula a branch, here denotes the mother’s family.Twelve illams, ten kiriyams. The word illam, now used exclusively for the residence of a Nambūtiri, is supposed to have been used in days of old for the house of a person of any caste. And this supposition is said to find support in the way that a Tiyan coming from the south is often greeted in South Canara. Thus, a Malabar Tiyan, travelling to the celebrated temple at Gokarnam in South Canara, is at once asked “What is your illam and kiriyam?” He has heard these terms used in the foregoing formula during his own or another’s marriage ceremony, but attached no meaning to them. To the man of South Canara they have genuine meaning. One should be able to answer the question satisfactorily, and thus give a proper account of himself. If he cannot, he gets neither food nor water from theSouth Canara Tiyan. This also holds good, to some extent, in the case of a southern Tiyan visiting the northern parts of the Cherakal tāluk of Malabar.The ten illams of South Malabar are as follows:—Tala Kodan.Nellika (Phyllanthus Emblica).Paraka or Varaka.Ala.Ten Kudi or Tenan Kudi.Padayan Kudi.Kannan.Varakat.Kytatinferior.Puzhampayi or BavuThe illams of North Malabar are said to be—Nellika.Pullanhi.Vangeri.Koyikkalan.Padayam Kudi.Tenan Kudi.Manan Kudi.Vilakkan Kudi.Marriage is strictly forbidden between two persons belonging to the same illam. The bride and bridegroom must belong to different illams. In fact, the illams are exogamous. Members of some of the illams were allowed certain privileges and dignities. Thus, the men of the Varakat illam (Varaka Tiyans) were in the old days permitted to travel in a mancheel (a hammock-cot slung on a pole). They were allowed this privilege of higher caste people, which was prohibited to the Tiyans of other illams. But, should one of them, when travelling in a mancheel, happen to see a Rājah or a Nāyar, he was obliged to hang one of his legs out of it in token of submission. The Varaka Tiyans were further allowed to wear gold jewels on the neck, to don silken cloths, to fasten a sword round the waist, and to carry a shield. The sword was made of thin pliable steel, and worn round the waist like a belt, the point being fastened to the hilt through a small hole near the point. A man, intending to damage another, might make an apparentlyfriendly call on him, his body loosely covered with a cloth, and to all appearances unarmed. In less than a second, he could unfasten the sword round his waist, and cut the other down. The well-known Mannanar belonged to the Varakat illam. Those who know Malabar will recall to mind the benevolent but strange institution which he initiated. He provided a comfortable home for Nambūtiri women who were thrown out of caste, and thus in the ordinary course of events doomed to every misery and degradation to be found in life. On being outcasted, the funeral ceremonies of Nambūtiri women were performed by her own people, and she became dead to them. She went to the Mannanar, and her birth ceremonies were performed, so that she might begin life anew in a state of purity. If, on arrival, she entered by the left door, she was his wife, if by the front door, his sister. It is said that, when their chief, Mannanar of the Aramana, is destitute of heirs, the Tiyans of Kolattanād go in procession to the Kurumattūr Nambūtiri (the chief of the Peringallūr Brāhmans) and demand a Brāhman virgin to be adopted as sister of Mannanar, who follows the marumakkatāyam rule of succession. This demand, it is said, used to be granted by the Nambūtiris assembling at a meeting, and selecting a maiden to be given to the Tiyans.Kiriyam is said to be a corrupt form of the Sanskrit word griham (house), but this seems rather fanciful. There are said to have been about two kiriyams for each village. The names of only three are known to me, viz., Karumana, Kaita, and Kampathi. There is a village called Karumana, near the temple of Lakshmipuram in South Canara. Karumana is applied as a term to signify a Tiyan during the ordinary devil-dancing in temples, when an oracular utterance is delivered. Theoracle always addresses the Tiyan as “my Karumana,”not as “my Tiyan.” The only other use of the word is in Karumana acharam (the customs of the Tiyans).Other outward and visible differences between Tiyan and Izhuvan marriages are these. The South Malabar Tiyan bridegroom, dressed as if for a wrestling match, with his cloth tied tight about his loins, carries a sword and shield, and is escorted by two companions similarly equipped, dancing their way along. The Izhuvan does not carry a sword under any circumstances. The chief feature of his wedding ceremony is a singing match. This, called the vatil-tura-pāttu, or open the door song, assumes the form of a contest between the parties of the bridegroom and bride. The story of Krishna and his wife Rukmini is supposed to be alluded to. We have seen it all under slightly different colour at Conjeeveram. Krishna asks Rukmini to open the door, and admit him. She refuses, thinking he has been gallivanting with some other lady. He beseeches; she refuses. He explains, and at length she yields. The song is more or less extempore, and each side must be ready with an immediate answer. The side which is reduced to the extremity of having no answer is beaten and under ignominy.I pass on to the subject of personal adornment of the Tiyans:—(a) North Malabar, Males—1. A horizontal dab made with white ashes on either side of the forehead and chest, and on the outside of each shoulder.2. Two gold ear-rings (kadakkan) in each ear. A silver chain hanging from the sheath of his knife, and fastened with a boss. Two tambak (copper, brass and silver) rings on the ring finger of the left hand.3. A gold kadakkan in each ear, and an iron ring on the ring finger of the left hand.4. A thorn in each ear (another was similarly ornamented). Not married.5. A gold ear-ring in each ear. An iron ring on the little finger of the left hand. Two silver rings, in which is set a piece of hair from an elephant’s tail, on the little finger of the right hand.A few individuals wore brass rings, and some had ear-rings, in which a red stone was set. Amulets were worn by some in little cylindrical cases on a string, to protect the wearer against enemies, the evil eye, or devils. One man wore a silver girdle, to which an amulet in a case was fastened, underneath his cloth, so that it was not in view to the public. One individual only is noted as having been tattooed, with a circular mark just above his glabella. The arms of a good many, and the abdomen of a few, bore cicatrices from branding, apparently for the purpose of making them strong and relieving pains.(b) South Malabar, Males.In the country parts, the waist cloth is always worn above the knee. About a third of the individuals examined wore ear-rings. The ears of all were pierced. Those who were without ear-rings had no scruples about wearing them, but were too poor to buy them.1. Blue spot tattooed over the glabella.2. Silver amulet-case, containing fifteen gold fanams, at the waist. He said that he kept the coins in the receptacle for security, but I think it was for good luck.3. Ear-ring (kadakkan) in each ear. A copper amulet-case, containing a yantram to keep off devils, at the waist.4. Four silver amulet-cases, containing yantrams on a copper sheet for curing some ailment, at the waist.5. Two gold kadakkans in each ear. A white spot over the glabella.(c) North Malabar, Females.In olden days, the women used to wear coloured and striped cloths round the waist, and hanging to the knees. The breast was not covered. The body above the waist was not allowed to be covered, except during the period of death pollution. Nowadays, white is generally the colour to be seen, and the body is seldom covered above the waist—never one may say, except (and then only sometimes) in the towns. The Izhuvan women in Malabar always wear blue cloths: just one cloth rolled tightly round the waist, and hanging to the knees. Of late, they have taken to wearing also a blue cloth drawn tight over the breast.Ornaments. The thōdu, which is now sometimes worn by Tiyan women, is not a Tiyan ornament. The ear-rings, called kathila and ananthod, are the Tiyan ornaments, and look like strings of gold beads with pendants. Discs of white metal or lead are used to stretch and keep open the dilated lobes of the ears, in which gold ornaments are worn when necessary or possible. Venetian sequins, real or imitation, known in Malabar as amāda, are largely used for neck ornaments. There is a Malabar proverb that one need not look for an insect’s burrow in amāda, meaning that you cannot find anything vile in a worthy person.Turning now to the subject of marriage. In the ordinary course of things, a marriage would not be made between a Tiyan girl of South Malabar and a Tiyan man of North Malabar, for the reason that the childrenof such a marriage would inherit no property from the family of either parent. The husband would have no share in the property of his family, which devolves through the women; nor would the wife have any share in that of her family, which is passed on through the men. So there would be nothing for the children. But, on the other hand, marriage between a girl of the north and a man of the south is a different thing. The children would inherit from both parents. As a rule, Tiyans of the north marry in the north, and those of the south in the south.It was generally admitted that it was formerly the custom among the Tiyans in South Malabar for several brothers—in fact all of them—to share one wife. Two existing instances of this custom were recorded.The arrangement of a marriage, and the ceremonial which will now be described, though pertaining strictly to the Calicut tāluk of South Malabar, are sufficiently representative of a Tiyan marriage anywhere. There is, however, this difference, that, in North Malabar, where inheritance through females obtains, and the wife invariably resides in her own tarwad or family home, there is never any stipulation concerning a girl’s dowry. In South Malabar, where inheritance is through the males, and where the wife lives in her husband’s house, the dowry in money, jewels, or furniture, is as a rule settled beforehand, and must be handed over on the wedding day. In the Calicut tāluk, we find an exception to this general rule of South Malabar, where the subject of the dowry is not usually mentioned. In North Malabar, gifts of jewels are made in proportion as the bride’s people are wealthy and generous. What is given is in the way of a gift, and forms no feature in the marital agreement.
Thanda Palayan.Thanda Palayan.When a member of the tribe has died an unnatural death, a man, with a fowl and sword in his hands, places another man in a pit which has been dug, and walks thrice round it with a torch. After an hour or two, the man is taken out of the pit, and goes to a distance, where certain ceremonies are performed.The Thanda Pulayans worship the gods of Brāhmanical temples at a distance of nearly a quarter of a mile. A stone is set up in the ground, on which they place tender cocoanuts and a few puttans (Cochin coins). A temple servant takes these to the priest, who sends in return some sandal paste, holy water, and flowers. They worship, as has been already hinted, demons, and also the spirits of their ancestors, by which small brass figures of males and females representing the pretas (ghosts) are supposed to be possessed. They worship, among others, Kandakarnan, Kodunkāli, Bhairavan, and Arukola pretas, who are lodged in small huts, and represented by stones. In the month of May, they celebrate a festival, which lasts for several days. Chrysanthemum and thumba (apparentlyLeucas aspera) flowers are used in the performance of worship, and paddy, beaten rice,tender cocoanuts, toddy, etc., are offered up. There is a good deal of singing, drum-beating and devil-dancing by men and women, who on this occasion indulge liberally in toddy. The Pāndavas, whom they call Anju Thamburakkal, are favourite deities. They devise various plans for warding off the evil influence of demons. Some, for example, wear rolls of palm leaf, with incantations written on them, round their necks. Others hang baskets in the rice fields, containing peace offerings to the gods, and pray for the protection of the crop. Wherever there is a dense forest, Mātan and Kāli are supposed to dwell, and are worshipped. From the end of November to April, which is the slack season, the Thanda Pulayans go about dancing from hut to hut, and collecting money to purchase fowls, etc., for offerings. Club-dancing is their favourite amusement, and is often indulged in at night by the light of a blazing fire. The dancers, club in hand, go round in concentric circles, keeping time to the songs which they sing, striking each other’s clubs, now bending to ward off a blow on the legs, or rising to protect the head.The dead are buried, and lighted torches are set up all round the grave, on to which the relations of the dead person throw three handfuls of rice. Near it, squares are made in rice flour, in each of which a leaf with rice flour and paddy, and a lighted torch or wick is placed. The chief mourner, who should be the son or nephew, carrying a pot of water, goes several times round the grave, and breaks the pot over the spot where the head rests. A few grains of rice are placed at the four corners of the grave, and a pebble is laid on it, with mantrams to keep off jackals, and to prevent the spirit from molesting people. Every morning the chief mourner goes to the grave, and makes offerings of boiled rice,gingelly (Sesamum indicum) seeds, and karuka grass. On the fourteenth day, he has an oil-bath, and, on the following day, the Pulayans of the village (kara) have a feast, with singing and beating of drums. On the sixteenth day, which is pulakuli or day of purification, the chief mourner makes offerings of rice balls, the guests are fed, and make a present of small coin to the songster who has entertained them. Similar offerings of rice balls are made to the spirit of the deceased person on the new-moon day in the month of Kartigam. During the period of pollution, the chief mourner has to cook his own food. The spirits of deceased ancestors are called Chavar (the dead), and are said to manifest themselves in dreams, especially to near relations, who speak in the morning of what they have seen during the night. They even say that they have held conversation with the deceased. The Rev. W. J. Richards informs us that he once saw “a little temple, about the size of a large rabbit-hutch, in which was a plank for the spirits of the deceased ancestors to come and rest upon. The spirits are supposed to fish in the backwaters, and the phosphorescence, sometimes seen on the surface of the water, is taken as an indication of their presence.”12The Thanda Pulayans will not eat with the Ullādans or Parayans, but stand at a distance of ninety feet from Brāhmans and other high-caste people. They are short of stature and dark-skinned. Like the Cherumans, the women adorn their ears, necks, arms and fingers with masses of cheap jewellery.Thappata(drum).—An exogamous sept of Oddē.Thāthan(a Vaishnavite mendicant).—The equivalent of the Telugu Dāsari.Thātichettu(palmyra palm).—An exogamous sept of Karna Sālē and Oddē.Thāvadadāri.—The name of a section of the Valluvans (priests of the Paraiyans), who wear a necklace of tulsi beads (thāvadam, necklace, dhāri, wearer). The tulsi or basil (Ocimum sanctum) is a very sacred plant with Hindus, and bead necklaces or rosaries are made from its woody stem.Thēlu(scorpion).—Thēlu and Thēla are recorded as exogamous septs of Padma Sālē and Mādiga. The Canarese equivalent Chēlu occurs as a sept of Kuruba.Thenige Būvva.—A sub-division of Mādigas, who offer food (buvva) to the god in a dish or tray (thenige) at marriages.Thikka(simpleton).—A sub-division of Kuruba.Thippa(rubbish heap).—An exogamous sept of Karna Sālē.Thogamalai Korava.—Recorded13as a synonym of a thief class in the southern districts of the Madras Presidency. In a recent note on the Koravas, Mr. F. Fawcett writes that “a fact to be noted is that people such as the members of the well-known Thogamalai gang, who are always called Koravas by the police, are not Koravas at all. They are simply a criminal community, into which outsiders are admitted, who give their women in marriage outside the caste, and who adopt children of other castes.”Thogaru(bitter).—An exogamous sept of Mūsu Kamma.Thōka(tail).—An exogamous sept of Yerukala.Thonda(Cephalendra indica).—An exogamous sept of Mūsu Kamma, and gōtra of Janappans, members ofwhich abstain from using the fruit or leaves of the thonda plant.Thumma(bābūl:Acacia arabica).—An exogamous sept of Māla and Padma Sālē. The bark, pods, and leaves of the bābūl tree are used by tanners in the preparation of hides and skins, or as a dye.Thūmu(iron measure for measuring grain).—An exogamous sept of Mutrācha.Thupa(ghī, clarified butter).—An exogamous sept of Kuruba.Thūrpu(eastern).—A sub-division of Yerukala and Yānādi.Thūta(hole).—An exogamous sept of Dēvānga.Tigala.—Tigala is summed up, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as “a Canarese synonym for the Tamil Palli; applied also by the Canarese people to any Tamil Sūdras of the lower castes.” In parts of the Mysore country, the Tamil language is called Tigalu, and the Canarese Mādhva Brāhmans speak of Tamil Smarta Brāhmans as Tigalaru.Some of the Tigalas, who have settled in Mysore, have forgotten their mother-tongue, and speak only Canarese, while others,e.g., those who live round about Bangalore, still speak Tamil. In their type of cranium they occupy a position intermediate between the dolichocephalic Pallis and the sub-brachy cephalic Canarese classes.The difference in the type of cranium of the Tigalas and Tamil Pallis is clearly brought by the following tabular statements of their cephalic indices:—a. Tigala—68◆697071◆72◆◆◆◆◆73◆◆◆◆74◆75◆76◆◆◆◆◆77◆◆◆◆78◆◆◆◆◆79◆◆◆80◆◆◆81◆◆◆◆82◆8384◆◆b.Palli—64◆656667◆◆68◆69◆70◆71◆◆◆◆72◆◆◆◆◆73◆◆◆◆◆◆◆74◆◆◆◆75◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆76◆77◆78◆79◆◆80◆The Tigalas are kitchen and market gardeners, and cultivate the betel vine. They apparently have three divisions, called Ulli (garlic or onions), Elē (leaf), and Arava (Tamil). Among the Ulli Tigalas, several sub-divisions, and septs or budas named after deities or prominent members of the caste, exist,e.g.:—I. Lakkamma—Tōta dēvaru (garden god).Dodda dēvaru (big or chief god).Dodda Narasayya.Dodda Nanjappa.II. Ellammā—Narasayya.Muddanna.III. Sidde dēvaru.The Tigalas have a headman, whose office is hereditary, and who is assisted by a caste servant called Mudrē. Council meetings are usually held at a fixed spot, called gōni mara kattē or mudrē gōni mara kattē, because those summoned by the Mudrē assemble beneath a gōni (Ficus mysorensis) tree, round which a stone platform is erected. The tree and platform being sacred, no one may go there on wearing shoes or sandals. The members of council sit on a woollen blanket spread before the tree.Like the Pallis or Vanniyans, the Tigalas call themselves Agni Vanni, and claim to be descended from the fire-born hero Agni Bannirāya. In connection with the Tigalas who have settled in the Bombay Presidency, it is noted14that “they are a branch of the Mysore Tigalas, who are Tamil Palli emigrants from the Madras Presidency, and, like the Palli, claim a Kshatriya origin.” The Tigalas possess a manuscript, said to be a copy of a sāsana at Conjeeveram (Kānchi), from which the following extracts are taken. “This is a Kānchi sāsana published by Aswaththa Narayanswāmi, who was induced to do so by the god Varadarāja ofConjeeveram. This sāsana is written to acquaint the descendants of the Mahāpurusha Agni Bannirāya withthe origin, doings, and gōtra of their ancestor Bannirāya. This Bannirāya sprang from fire, and so is much beloved by Vishnu the many-armed, the many-eyed, and the bearer of the chank and chakram, and who is no other than Narayana, the lord of all the worlds great and small, and the originator of the Vēdas and Vedanta.... All those who see or worship this sāsana relating to Agni Bannirāya, who obtained boons from the Trimurthis, Dēvatas, and Rishis, and who is the ancestor of the Tigalas, will be prosperous, and have plenty of grain and children. Those who speak lightly of this caste will become subject to the curses of Bannirāya, Trimurthis, Rishis, and Dēvas. The glory of this sāsana is great, and is as follows:—The keeping and worshipping of this purāna will enable the Tigalas of the Karnataka country to obtain the merit of surapadavi (the state of Dēvas), merit of doing pūja to a thousand lingams, a lakh of cow gifts, and a hundred kannikadānams (gifts of virgins for marriage).” The sāsana is said to have been brought to the Canarese country because of a quarrel between the Pallis and the Tigalas at the time of a Tigala marriage. The Tigalas were prevented from bringing the various biruthus (insignia), and displaying them. The sāsana was brought by the Tigalas, at an expenditure of Rs. 215, which sum was subsequently recovered from the Pallis.Tigala occurs further as the name of a sub-division of Holeya.Tikkē(gem).—A gōtra of Kurni.Ti(fire)Kollan.—A sub-division of Kollan.Tinda(polluting).—A sub-division of Kanisan. Tinda Kuruppu, meaning a teacher who cannot approach, is a synonym of the Kāvutiyan barber caste.Tiperum(tī, fire).—A sub-division of Kollan blacksmiths.Tiragati Gantlavallu(wandering bell hunters).—Stated, in the Manual of the Vizagapatam district, to repair hand-mills, catch antelopes, and sell the skins thereof. In hunting, they use lights and bells.Tirlasetti(the name of a Balija Chetti).—An exogamous sept of Yānādi.Tirumalpād.—Tirumalpād has been summed up as “one of the four divisions of Kshatriyas in Travancore. The term, in its literal sense, conveys the idea of those who wait before kings. In mediæval times theTirumalpādswere commanders of armies.” By Mr. Wigram15Tirumalpād is defined as a member of a Royal Family. In the Madras Census Report, 1891, it is stated that “there are two Tirumalpāds, one a Sāmanta, and the other a so-called Kshatriya. The former observes customs and manners exactly similar to Erādis and Nedungādis. In fact, these are all more or less interchangeable terms, members of the same family calling themselves indifferently Erādi or Tirumalpād. The Kshatriya Tirumalpād wears the sacred thread, and the rites he performs are similar to those of Brāhmans, whose dress he has also adopted. He has, however, like Nāyars, tāli-kettu and sambandham separately. His females take Nambūdiri consorts by preference, but may have husbands of their own caste. Their inheritance is in the female line, as among Nāyars and Sāmantas. Generally the females of this caste furnish wives to Nambūdiris. The touch of these females does not pollute a Nambūdiri as does that of Nāyars and Sāmantas, and, what is more, Nambūdirismay eat their food. The females are called Nambashtādiri.”For the following note onTampānsand Tirumalpāds, I am indebted to the Travancore Census Report, 1901. “The Tampāns and Tirumalpāts come under the category of Malabar Kshatriyas.The word Tampān is a contraction of Tampurān, and at one time denoted a ruling people. When they were divested of that authority by the Ilayetattu Svarūpam, they are said to have fallen from the status of Tampurāns to Tampāns. Their chief seat is the Vaikam tāluk. The Tirumalpāts do not seem to have ruled at all. The word Tirumulpātu indicates those that wait before kings. There is an old Sanskrit verse, which describes eight classes of Kshatriyas as occupying Kērala from very early times, namely (1) Bhūpāla or Mahā Rāja, such as those of Travancore and Cochin, (2) Rājaka or Rājas, such as those of Mavelikara and Kotungallūr, (3) Kōsi or Kōiltampurān, (4) Puravān or Tampān, (5) Srīpurōgama or Tirumulpāt, (6) Bhandāri or Pantārattil, (7) Audvāhika or Tirumalpāt, (8) Chēta or Sāmanta. From this list it may be seen that two classes of Tirumulpāts are mentioned, namely, Srīpurōgamas who are the waiters at the Rāja’s palace, and the Audvāhikas who perform Udvāha or wedding ceremony for certain castes. Both these, however, are identical people, though varying in their traditional occupations. The chief seats of the Tirumulpāts are Shertallay and Tiruvalla.”The Tampāns and Tirumulpāts are, for all purposes of castes, identical with other Malabar Kshatriyas. Every Tampān in Travancore is related to every other Tampān, and all are included within one circle of death and birth pollution. Their manners and customs, too, are exactly like those of other Kshatriyas. They areinvested with the sacred thread at the sixteenth year of age, and recite the Gāyatri (hymn) ten times thrice a day. The Nambūtiri is the family priest, and (death) pollution lasts for eleven days. The Kettukālyanam, or tāli-tying ceremony, may be performed between the seventh and the fourteenth year of age. The tāli is tied by the Āryappattar, while the Nampūtiris recite the Vēdic hymns. Their consorts are usually Nampūtiris, and sometimes East Coast Brāhmans. Like all the Malabar Kshatriyas, they follow the marumakkathāyam system of inheritance (through the female line). Tampāns and Tirumulpāts are often the personal attendants of the Travancore Maharājas, whom they serve with characteristic fidelity and devotion.The Tirumulpāts further perform the tāli-tying ceremony of the Nāyar aristocracy.The names of the Tirumulpāts and Tampāns are the same as those of other classes of Kshatriyas. The title Varma is uniformly added to their names. A few families among these, who once had ruling authority, have the titular suffix Bhandārattil, which is corrupted into Pantārattil. The Tampāns call themselves in documents Kōviladhikārikal, as they once had authority in kōvils or palaces.Tirumān(holy deer).—An exogamous section of Kallan.Tirumudi(holy knot).—Recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as “bricklayers, whose women are usually prostitutes; found chiefly in Salem and Coimbatore. They are either Vēttuvans or Kaikōlans. Kaikōlan women, when they are dedicated to the temple, are supposed to be united in wedlock with the deity.Tiruvalluvan.—A sub-division of Valluvan. Tiruvalluvar, the author of the Kurāl, is said to have belonged to the Valluva caste.Tiru-vilakku-nagarattar(dwellers in the city of holy lamps).—A name assumed by Vāniyans (oil-pressers).Tiyadi.—A synonym of the Tiyāttunni section of Ambalavāsis (seeUnni).Tiyan.—The Tiyans, and Izhuvans or Iluvans, are the Malayālam toddy-drawing castes of Malabar, Cochin, and Travancore. The following note, except where otherwise indicated, is taken from an account of the Tiyans of Malabar by Mr. F. Fawcett.The Tiyans in Malabar number, according to the census returns, 512,063, or 19·3 per cent. of the total population. The corresponding figures for the Izhuvans are 101,638, or 3·8 per cent. The Tiyans have been summed up16as the middle class of the west coast, who cultivate the ground, take service as domestics, and follow trades and professions—anything but soldiering, of which they have an utter abhorrence.The marumakkatāyam system (inheritance through the female line), which obtains in North Malabar, has favoured temporary connections between European men and Tiyan women, the children belonging to the mother’s tarvad. Children bred under these conditions, European influence continuing, are often as fair as Europeans. It is recorded, in the Report of the Malabar Marriage Commission, 1894, that “in the early days of British rule, the Tiyan women incurred no social disgrace by consorting with Europeans, and, up to the last generation, if theSūdragirl could boast of herBrāhmanlover, the Tiyan girl could show more substantial benefits from her alliance with a white man of the ruling race. Happily, the progress of education, and the growth of a wholesome publicopinion, have made shameful the position of a European’s concubine; and both races have thus been saved from a mode of life equally demoralising to each.” On this point, Mr. L. K. Anantha Krishna Iyer writes as follows.17“It is true that there is an elevation both physically and mentally in the progeny of such a parentage. On making enquiries about this, I learn from a respectable and educated Tiyan gentleman that this union is looked upon with contempt by the respectable class of people, and by the orthodox community. I am further informed that such women and children, with their families, are under a ban, and that respectable Tiya gentlemen who have married the daughters of European parentage are not allowed to enjoy the privileges of the caste. There are, I hear, several such instances in Calicut, Tellicherry, and Cannanore. Women of respectable families do not enter into such connection with Europeans.”It is commonly supposed that the Tiyans and Izhuvans came from Ceylon. It is recorded, in the South Canara Manual, that “it is well known that both before and after the Christian era there were invasions and occupations of the northern part of Ceylon by the races then inhabiting Southern India, and Malabar tradition tells us that some of these Dravidians migrated again from Īram or Ceylon northwards to Travancore and other parts of the west coast of India, bringing with them the cocoanut or southern tree (tengina mara), and being known as Tīvars (islanders) or Īravars, which names have since been altered to Tīyars andIlavars. Dr. Caldwell derives Īram from the Sanskrit Simhala through the Pali Sihala by the omission of the initial S.” It is noted by Bishop Caldwell18that there are traces ofa common origin of the Iluvans and Shānars, Shānar (or Shēnēr), for instance, being a title of honour amongst the Travancore Ilavars. And it is further recorded19that there is a tradition that the Shānars came originally from Ceylon. The Izhuvans are supposed to derive their caste name from Izha dwipa (island) or Simhala dwipa (both denoting Ceylon). In a Tamil Puranic work, quoted by Mr. Anantha Krishna Iyer, mention is made of a King Illa of Ceylon, who went to Chidambaram in the Tamil country of Southern India, where a religious discussion took place between the Buddhist priests and the Saivite devotee Manickavachakar in the presence of King Illa, with the result that he was converted to the Saivite faith. From him the Iluvans are said to be descended.The Tiyans are always styled Izhuvan in documents concerning land, in which the Zamorin, or some Brāhman or Nāyar grandee, appears as landlord. The Tiyans look down on the Izhuvans, and repudiate the relationship. Yet they cannot but submit to be called Izhuvan in their documents, for their Nāyar or Brāhman landlord will not let them have the land to cultivate, unless they do so. It is a custom of the country for a man of a superior caste to pretend complete ignorance of the caste of an individual lower in the social scale. Thus, in the Wynād, where there are several jungle tribes, one is accustomed to hear a man of superior caste pretending that he does not know a Paniyan from a Kurumba, and deliberately miscalling one or the other, saying “This Paniyan,” when he knows perfectly well that he is a Kurumba. It is quite possible, therefore, that, though Tiyans are written down as Izhuvans, the two were not supposed to be identical. Stateregulations keep the Izhuvans of Cochin and Travancore in a position of marked social inferiority, and in Malabar they are altogether unlettered and uncultured. On the other hand, the Tiyans of Malabar provide Magistrates, Sub-Judges, and other officials to serve His Majesty’s Government. It may be noted that, in 1907, a Tiya lady matriculate was entertained as a clerk in the Tellicherry post-office.A divagation must be made, to bring the reader to a comprehension of the custom surrounding māttu, a word signifying change,i.e., change of cloth, which is of sufficient importance to demand explanation. When a man or woman is outcasted, the washerwoman (or man) and the barber of the community (and no other is available) are prohibited from performing their important parts in the ceremonies connected with birth, death, and menstruation. A person who is in a condition of impurity is under the same conditions; he or she is temporarily outcasted. This applies to Nambūtiris and Nāyars, as well as to the Tiyans. Now the washerwoman is invariably of the Tiyan caste. There are Mannāns, whose hereditary occupation is washing clothes for Nambūtiris and Nāyars, but, for the most part, the washerwoman who washes for the Nāyar lady is of the Tiyan caste. A woman is under pollution after giving birth to a child, after the death of a member of her tarvad, and during menstruation. And the pollution must be removed at the end of the prescribed period, or she remains an outcaste—a very serious thing for her. The impurity is removed by receiving a clean cloth from the washerwoman, and giving in exchange her own cloth to be washed. This is māttu, and, be it noted, the cloth which gives māttu is one belonging to the washerwoman, not to the person to be purified. The washerwomangives her own cloth to effect the purification. Theoretically, the Tiyan has the power to give or withhold māttu, and thus keep any one out of caste in a state of impurity; but it is a privilege which is seldom if ever exercised. Yet it is one which he admittedly holds, and is thus in a position to exercise considerable control over the Nambūtiri and Nāyar communities. It is odd that it is not a soiled cloth washed and returned to the person which gives purification, but one of the washerwoman’s own cloths. So the māttu may have a deeper meaning than lies in mere change of cloth, dressing in a clean one, and giving the soiled one to a person of inferior caste to wash. This māttu is second in importance to no custom. It must be done on the last day of pollution after birth and death ceremonies, and menstruation, or the person concerned remains outcasted. It is noteworthy that the Izhuvans know nothing of māttu.An Izhuvan will eat rice cooked by a Tiyan, but a Tiyan will not eat rice cooked by an Izhuvan—a circumstance pointing to the inferiority of the Izhuvan. A Nāyar, as well as a Tiyan, will partake of almost any form of food or drink, which is prepared even by a Māppilla (Malabar Muhammadan), who is deemed inferior to both. But the line is drawn at rice, which must be prepared by one of equal caste or class, or by a superior. An Izhuvan, partaking of rice at a Tiyan’s house, must eat it in a verandah; he cannot do so in the house, as that would be defilement to the Tiyan. Not only must the Izhuvan eat the rice in the verandah, but he must wash the plates, and clean up the place where he has eaten. Again, an Izhuvan could have no objection to drinking from a Tiyan’s well. Further, there is practically no mixture in the distribution of Tiyans and Izhuvans. Where there are Izhuvans thereare no Tiyans, andvice versâ. [In a photograph of a group of Izhuvan females of Palghat eating their meal, which was sent to me, they are all in a kneeling posture, with the buttocks supported on the heels. They are said to assume the same attitude when engaged in grinding and winnowing grain, and other occupations, with a resultant thickening of the skin over the knees.]Differences, which might well come under the heading marriage, may be considered here, for the purpose of comparison between the Tiyans and Izhuvans. During the preliminaries to the marriage ceremony among the Tiyans, the date of the marriage having been fixed in the presence of the representatives of the bride and bridegroom, the following formula is repeated by the Tandān or headman of the bride’s party. Translated as accurately as possible, it runs thus. “The tara and changati of both sides having met and consulted; the astrologer having fixed an auspicious day after examining the star and porutham; permission having been obtained from the tara, the relations, the illam and kulam, the father, uncle, and the brothers, and from the eight and four (twelve illams) and the six and four (ten kiriyams); the conji and adayalam ceremonies and the four tazhus having been performed, let me perform the kanjikudi ceremony for the marriage of ... the son of ... with ... daughter of ... in the presence of muperium.” This formula, with slight variations here and there, is repeated at every Tiyan marriage in South Malabar. It is a solemn declaration, giving validity to the union, although, in the way that custom and ritual survive long after their original significance has been forgotten, the meaning of many of the terms used is altogether unknown. What, for instance,is the meaning of muperium? No one can tell. But a few of the terms are explainable.Tara. The tara was the smallest unit in the ancient government system, which, for want of a better term, we may style feudal. It was not exactly a village, for the people lived apart. Each tara had its Nāyar chieftain, and also its Tiyan chief or Tandān, its astrologer, its washerman, its goldsmith, and other useful people, each serving the community for the sake of small advantages. Each tara was its own world.Changati (friend). The friends of both parties which negotiated the marriage.Porutham (agreement). Examination of the horoscopes of the boy and girl makes it possible to ascertain whether there is agreement between the two, and the union will be propitious.Illam. Here intended to mean the father’s family.Kulam. The name, derived from kula a branch, here denotes the mother’s family.Twelve illams, ten kiriyams. The word illam, now used exclusively for the residence of a Nambūtiri, is supposed to have been used in days of old for the house of a person of any caste. And this supposition is said to find support in the way that a Tiyan coming from the south is often greeted in South Canara. Thus, a Malabar Tiyan, travelling to the celebrated temple at Gokarnam in South Canara, is at once asked “What is your illam and kiriyam?” He has heard these terms used in the foregoing formula during his own or another’s marriage ceremony, but attached no meaning to them. To the man of South Canara they have genuine meaning. One should be able to answer the question satisfactorily, and thus give a proper account of himself. If he cannot, he gets neither food nor water from theSouth Canara Tiyan. This also holds good, to some extent, in the case of a southern Tiyan visiting the northern parts of the Cherakal tāluk of Malabar.The ten illams of South Malabar are as follows:—Tala Kodan.Nellika (Phyllanthus Emblica).Paraka or Varaka.Ala.Ten Kudi or Tenan Kudi.Padayan Kudi.Kannan.Varakat.Kytatinferior.Puzhampayi or BavuThe illams of North Malabar are said to be—Nellika.Pullanhi.Vangeri.Koyikkalan.Padayam Kudi.Tenan Kudi.Manan Kudi.Vilakkan Kudi.Marriage is strictly forbidden between two persons belonging to the same illam. The bride and bridegroom must belong to different illams. In fact, the illams are exogamous. Members of some of the illams were allowed certain privileges and dignities. Thus, the men of the Varakat illam (Varaka Tiyans) were in the old days permitted to travel in a mancheel (a hammock-cot slung on a pole). They were allowed this privilege of higher caste people, which was prohibited to the Tiyans of other illams. But, should one of them, when travelling in a mancheel, happen to see a Rājah or a Nāyar, he was obliged to hang one of his legs out of it in token of submission. The Varaka Tiyans were further allowed to wear gold jewels on the neck, to don silken cloths, to fasten a sword round the waist, and to carry a shield. The sword was made of thin pliable steel, and worn round the waist like a belt, the point being fastened to the hilt through a small hole near the point. A man, intending to damage another, might make an apparentlyfriendly call on him, his body loosely covered with a cloth, and to all appearances unarmed. In less than a second, he could unfasten the sword round his waist, and cut the other down. The well-known Mannanar belonged to the Varakat illam. Those who know Malabar will recall to mind the benevolent but strange institution which he initiated. He provided a comfortable home for Nambūtiri women who were thrown out of caste, and thus in the ordinary course of events doomed to every misery and degradation to be found in life. On being outcasted, the funeral ceremonies of Nambūtiri women were performed by her own people, and she became dead to them. She went to the Mannanar, and her birth ceremonies were performed, so that she might begin life anew in a state of purity. If, on arrival, she entered by the left door, she was his wife, if by the front door, his sister. It is said that, when their chief, Mannanar of the Aramana, is destitute of heirs, the Tiyans of Kolattanād go in procession to the Kurumattūr Nambūtiri (the chief of the Peringallūr Brāhmans) and demand a Brāhman virgin to be adopted as sister of Mannanar, who follows the marumakkatāyam rule of succession. This demand, it is said, used to be granted by the Nambūtiris assembling at a meeting, and selecting a maiden to be given to the Tiyans.Kiriyam is said to be a corrupt form of the Sanskrit word griham (house), but this seems rather fanciful. There are said to have been about two kiriyams for each village. The names of only three are known to me, viz., Karumana, Kaita, and Kampathi. There is a village called Karumana, near the temple of Lakshmipuram in South Canara. Karumana is applied as a term to signify a Tiyan during the ordinary devil-dancing in temples, when an oracular utterance is delivered. Theoracle always addresses the Tiyan as “my Karumana,”not as “my Tiyan.” The only other use of the word is in Karumana acharam (the customs of the Tiyans).Other outward and visible differences between Tiyan and Izhuvan marriages are these. The South Malabar Tiyan bridegroom, dressed as if for a wrestling match, with his cloth tied tight about his loins, carries a sword and shield, and is escorted by two companions similarly equipped, dancing their way along. The Izhuvan does not carry a sword under any circumstances. The chief feature of his wedding ceremony is a singing match. This, called the vatil-tura-pāttu, or open the door song, assumes the form of a contest between the parties of the bridegroom and bride. The story of Krishna and his wife Rukmini is supposed to be alluded to. We have seen it all under slightly different colour at Conjeeveram. Krishna asks Rukmini to open the door, and admit him. She refuses, thinking he has been gallivanting with some other lady. He beseeches; she refuses. He explains, and at length she yields. The song is more or less extempore, and each side must be ready with an immediate answer. The side which is reduced to the extremity of having no answer is beaten and under ignominy.I pass on to the subject of personal adornment of the Tiyans:—(a) North Malabar, Males—1. A horizontal dab made with white ashes on either side of the forehead and chest, and on the outside of each shoulder.2. Two gold ear-rings (kadakkan) in each ear. A silver chain hanging from the sheath of his knife, and fastened with a boss. Two tambak (copper, brass and silver) rings on the ring finger of the left hand.3. A gold kadakkan in each ear, and an iron ring on the ring finger of the left hand.4. A thorn in each ear (another was similarly ornamented). Not married.5. A gold ear-ring in each ear. An iron ring on the little finger of the left hand. Two silver rings, in which is set a piece of hair from an elephant’s tail, on the little finger of the right hand.A few individuals wore brass rings, and some had ear-rings, in which a red stone was set. Amulets were worn by some in little cylindrical cases on a string, to protect the wearer against enemies, the evil eye, or devils. One man wore a silver girdle, to which an amulet in a case was fastened, underneath his cloth, so that it was not in view to the public. One individual only is noted as having been tattooed, with a circular mark just above his glabella. The arms of a good many, and the abdomen of a few, bore cicatrices from branding, apparently for the purpose of making them strong and relieving pains.(b) South Malabar, Males.In the country parts, the waist cloth is always worn above the knee. About a third of the individuals examined wore ear-rings. The ears of all were pierced. Those who were without ear-rings had no scruples about wearing them, but were too poor to buy them.1. Blue spot tattooed over the glabella.2. Silver amulet-case, containing fifteen gold fanams, at the waist. He said that he kept the coins in the receptacle for security, but I think it was for good luck.3. Ear-ring (kadakkan) in each ear. A copper amulet-case, containing a yantram to keep off devils, at the waist.4. Four silver amulet-cases, containing yantrams on a copper sheet for curing some ailment, at the waist.5. Two gold kadakkans in each ear. A white spot over the glabella.(c) North Malabar, Females.In olden days, the women used to wear coloured and striped cloths round the waist, and hanging to the knees. The breast was not covered. The body above the waist was not allowed to be covered, except during the period of death pollution. Nowadays, white is generally the colour to be seen, and the body is seldom covered above the waist—never one may say, except (and then only sometimes) in the towns. The Izhuvan women in Malabar always wear blue cloths: just one cloth rolled tightly round the waist, and hanging to the knees. Of late, they have taken to wearing also a blue cloth drawn tight over the breast.Ornaments. The thōdu, which is now sometimes worn by Tiyan women, is not a Tiyan ornament. The ear-rings, called kathila and ananthod, are the Tiyan ornaments, and look like strings of gold beads with pendants. Discs of white metal or lead are used to stretch and keep open the dilated lobes of the ears, in which gold ornaments are worn when necessary or possible. Venetian sequins, real or imitation, known in Malabar as amāda, are largely used for neck ornaments. There is a Malabar proverb that one need not look for an insect’s burrow in amāda, meaning that you cannot find anything vile in a worthy person.Turning now to the subject of marriage. In the ordinary course of things, a marriage would not be made between a Tiyan girl of South Malabar and a Tiyan man of North Malabar, for the reason that the childrenof such a marriage would inherit no property from the family of either parent. The husband would have no share in the property of his family, which devolves through the women; nor would the wife have any share in that of her family, which is passed on through the men. So there would be nothing for the children. But, on the other hand, marriage between a girl of the north and a man of the south is a different thing. The children would inherit from both parents. As a rule, Tiyans of the north marry in the north, and those of the south in the south.It was generally admitted that it was formerly the custom among the Tiyans in South Malabar for several brothers—in fact all of them—to share one wife. Two existing instances of this custom were recorded.The arrangement of a marriage, and the ceremonial which will now be described, though pertaining strictly to the Calicut tāluk of South Malabar, are sufficiently representative of a Tiyan marriage anywhere. There is, however, this difference, that, in North Malabar, where inheritance through females obtains, and the wife invariably resides in her own tarwad or family home, there is never any stipulation concerning a girl’s dowry. In South Malabar, where inheritance is through the males, and where the wife lives in her husband’s house, the dowry in money, jewels, or furniture, is as a rule settled beforehand, and must be handed over on the wedding day. In the Calicut tāluk, we find an exception to this general rule of South Malabar, where the subject of the dowry is not usually mentioned. In North Malabar, gifts of jewels are made in proportion as the bride’s people are wealthy and generous. What is given is in the way of a gift, and forms no feature in the marital agreement.
Thanda Palayan.Thanda Palayan.When a member of the tribe has died an unnatural death, a man, with a fowl and sword in his hands, places another man in a pit which has been dug, and walks thrice round it with a torch. After an hour or two, the man is taken out of the pit, and goes to a distance, where certain ceremonies are performed.The Thanda Pulayans worship the gods of Brāhmanical temples at a distance of nearly a quarter of a mile. A stone is set up in the ground, on which they place tender cocoanuts and a few puttans (Cochin coins). A temple servant takes these to the priest, who sends in return some sandal paste, holy water, and flowers. They worship, as has been already hinted, demons, and also the spirits of their ancestors, by which small brass figures of males and females representing the pretas (ghosts) are supposed to be possessed. They worship, among others, Kandakarnan, Kodunkāli, Bhairavan, and Arukola pretas, who are lodged in small huts, and represented by stones. In the month of May, they celebrate a festival, which lasts for several days. Chrysanthemum and thumba (apparentlyLeucas aspera) flowers are used in the performance of worship, and paddy, beaten rice,tender cocoanuts, toddy, etc., are offered up. There is a good deal of singing, drum-beating and devil-dancing by men and women, who on this occasion indulge liberally in toddy. The Pāndavas, whom they call Anju Thamburakkal, are favourite deities. They devise various plans for warding off the evil influence of demons. Some, for example, wear rolls of palm leaf, with incantations written on them, round their necks. Others hang baskets in the rice fields, containing peace offerings to the gods, and pray for the protection of the crop. Wherever there is a dense forest, Mātan and Kāli are supposed to dwell, and are worshipped. From the end of November to April, which is the slack season, the Thanda Pulayans go about dancing from hut to hut, and collecting money to purchase fowls, etc., for offerings. Club-dancing is their favourite amusement, and is often indulged in at night by the light of a blazing fire. The dancers, club in hand, go round in concentric circles, keeping time to the songs which they sing, striking each other’s clubs, now bending to ward off a blow on the legs, or rising to protect the head.The dead are buried, and lighted torches are set up all round the grave, on to which the relations of the dead person throw three handfuls of rice. Near it, squares are made in rice flour, in each of which a leaf with rice flour and paddy, and a lighted torch or wick is placed. The chief mourner, who should be the son or nephew, carrying a pot of water, goes several times round the grave, and breaks the pot over the spot where the head rests. A few grains of rice are placed at the four corners of the grave, and a pebble is laid on it, with mantrams to keep off jackals, and to prevent the spirit from molesting people. Every morning the chief mourner goes to the grave, and makes offerings of boiled rice,gingelly (Sesamum indicum) seeds, and karuka grass. On the fourteenth day, he has an oil-bath, and, on the following day, the Pulayans of the village (kara) have a feast, with singing and beating of drums. On the sixteenth day, which is pulakuli or day of purification, the chief mourner makes offerings of rice balls, the guests are fed, and make a present of small coin to the songster who has entertained them. Similar offerings of rice balls are made to the spirit of the deceased person on the new-moon day in the month of Kartigam. During the period of pollution, the chief mourner has to cook his own food. The spirits of deceased ancestors are called Chavar (the dead), and are said to manifest themselves in dreams, especially to near relations, who speak in the morning of what they have seen during the night. They even say that they have held conversation with the deceased. The Rev. W. J. Richards informs us that he once saw “a little temple, about the size of a large rabbit-hutch, in which was a plank for the spirits of the deceased ancestors to come and rest upon. The spirits are supposed to fish in the backwaters, and the phosphorescence, sometimes seen on the surface of the water, is taken as an indication of their presence.”12The Thanda Pulayans will not eat with the Ullādans or Parayans, but stand at a distance of ninety feet from Brāhmans and other high-caste people. They are short of stature and dark-skinned. Like the Cherumans, the women adorn their ears, necks, arms and fingers with masses of cheap jewellery.Thappata(drum).—An exogamous sept of Oddē.Thāthan(a Vaishnavite mendicant).—The equivalent of the Telugu Dāsari.Thātichettu(palmyra palm).—An exogamous sept of Karna Sālē and Oddē.Thāvadadāri.—The name of a section of the Valluvans (priests of the Paraiyans), who wear a necklace of tulsi beads (thāvadam, necklace, dhāri, wearer). The tulsi or basil (Ocimum sanctum) is a very sacred plant with Hindus, and bead necklaces or rosaries are made from its woody stem.Thēlu(scorpion).—Thēlu and Thēla are recorded as exogamous septs of Padma Sālē and Mādiga. The Canarese equivalent Chēlu occurs as a sept of Kuruba.Thenige Būvva.—A sub-division of Mādigas, who offer food (buvva) to the god in a dish or tray (thenige) at marriages.Thikka(simpleton).—A sub-division of Kuruba.Thippa(rubbish heap).—An exogamous sept of Karna Sālē.Thogamalai Korava.—Recorded13as a synonym of a thief class in the southern districts of the Madras Presidency. In a recent note on the Koravas, Mr. F. Fawcett writes that “a fact to be noted is that people such as the members of the well-known Thogamalai gang, who are always called Koravas by the police, are not Koravas at all. They are simply a criminal community, into which outsiders are admitted, who give their women in marriage outside the caste, and who adopt children of other castes.”Thogaru(bitter).—An exogamous sept of Mūsu Kamma.Thōka(tail).—An exogamous sept of Yerukala.Thonda(Cephalendra indica).—An exogamous sept of Mūsu Kamma, and gōtra of Janappans, members ofwhich abstain from using the fruit or leaves of the thonda plant.Thumma(bābūl:Acacia arabica).—An exogamous sept of Māla and Padma Sālē. The bark, pods, and leaves of the bābūl tree are used by tanners in the preparation of hides and skins, or as a dye.Thūmu(iron measure for measuring grain).—An exogamous sept of Mutrācha.Thupa(ghī, clarified butter).—An exogamous sept of Kuruba.Thūrpu(eastern).—A sub-division of Yerukala and Yānādi.Thūta(hole).—An exogamous sept of Dēvānga.Tigala.—Tigala is summed up, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as “a Canarese synonym for the Tamil Palli; applied also by the Canarese people to any Tamil Sūdras of the lower castes.” In parts of the Mysore country, the Tamil language is called Tigalu, and the Canarese Mādhva Brāhmans speak of Tamil Smarta Brāhmans as Tigalaru.Some of the Tigalas, who have settled in Mysore, have forgotten their mother-tongue, and speak only Canarese, while others,e.g., those who live round about Bangalore, still speak Tamil. In their type of cranium they occupy a position intermediate between the dolichocephalic Pallis and the sub-brachy cephalic Canarese classes.The difference in the type of cranium of the Tigalas and Tamil Pallis is clearly brought by the following tabular statements of their cephalic indices:—a. Tigala—68◆697071◆72◆◆◆◆◆73◆◆◆◆74◆75◆76◆◆◆◆◆77◆◆◆◆78◆◆◆◆◆79◆◆◆80◆◆◆81◆◆◆◆82◆8384◆◆b.Palli—64◆656667◆◆68◆69◆70◆71◆◆◆◆72◆◆◆◆◆73◆◆◆◆◆◆◆74◆◆◆◆75◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆76◆77◆78◆79◆◆80◆The Tigalas are kitchen and market gardeners, and cultivate the betel vine. They apparently have three divisions, called Ulli (garlic or onions), Elē (leaf), and Arava (Tamil). Among the Ulli Tigalas, several sub-divisions, and septs or budas named after deities or prominent members of the caste, exist,e.g.:—I. Lakkamma—Tōta dēvaru (garden god).Dodda dēvaru (big or chief god).Dodda Narasayya.Dodda Nanjappa.II. Ellammā—Narasayya.Muddanna.III. Sidde dēvaru.The Tigalas have a headman, whose office is hereditary, and who is assisted by a caste servant called Mudrē. Council meetings are usually held at a fixed spot, called gōni mara kattē or mudrē gōni mara kattē, because those summoned by the Mudrē assemble beneath a gōni (Ficus mysorensis) tree, round which a stone platform is erected. The tree and platform being sacred, no one may go there on wearing shoes or sandals. The members of council sit on a woollen blanket spread before the tree.Like the Pallis or Vanniyans, the Tigalas call themselves Agni Vanni, and claim to be descended from the fire-born hero Agni Bannirāya. In connection with the Tigalas who have settled in the Bombay Presidency, it is noted14that “they are a branch of the Mysore Tigalas, who are Tamil Palli emigrants from the Madras Presidency, and, like the Palli, claim a Kshatriya origin.” The Tigalas possess a manuscript, said to be a copy of a sāsana at Conjeeveram (Kānchi), from which the following extracts are taken. “This is a Kānchi sāsana published by Aswaththa Narayanswāmi, who was induced to do so by the god Varadarāja ofConjeeveram. This sāsana is written to acquaint the descendants of the Mahāpurusha Agni Bannirāya withthe origin, doings, and gōtra of their ancestor Bannirāya. This Bannirāya sprang from fire, and so is much beloved by Vishnu the many-armed, the many-eyed, and the bearer of the chank and chakram, and who is no other than Narayana, the lord of all the worlds great and small, and the originator of the Vēdas and Vedanta.... All those who see or worship this sāsana relating to Agni Bannirāya, who obtained boons from the Trimurthis, Dēvatas, and Rishis, and who is the ancestor of the Tigalas, will be prosperous, and have plenty of grain and children. Those who speak lightly of this caste will become subject to the curses of Bannirāya, Trimurthis, Rishis, and Dēvas. The glory of this sāsana is great, and is as follows:—The keeping and worshipping of this purāna will enable the Tigalas of the Karnataka country to obtain the merit of surapadavi (the state of Dēvas), merit of doing pūja to a thousand lingams, a lakh of cow gifts, and a hundred kannikadānams (gifts of virgins for marriage).” The sāsana is said to have been brought to the Canarese country because of a quarrel between the Pallis and the Tigalas at the time of a Tigala marriage. The Tigalas were prevented from bringing the various biruthus (insignia), and displaying them. The sāsana was brought by the Tigalas, at an expenditure of Rs. 215, which sum was subsequently recovered from the Pallis.Tigala occurs further as the name of a sub-division of Holeya.Tikkē(gem).—A gōtra of Kurni.Ti(fire)Kollan.—A sub-division of Kollan.Tinda(polluting).—A sub-division of Kanisan. Tinda Kuruppu, meaning a teacher who cannot approach, is a synonym of the Kāvutiyan barber caste.Tiperum(tī, fire).—A sub-division of Kollan blacksmiths.Tiragati Gantlavallu(wandering bell hunters).—Stated, in the Manual of the Vizagapatam district, to repair hand-mills, catch antelopes, and sell the skins thereof. In hunting, they use lights and bells.Tirlasetti(the name of a Balija Chetti).—An exogamous sept of Yānādi.Tirumalpād.—Tirumalpād has been summed up as “one of the four divisions of Kshatriyas in Travancore. The term, in its literal sense, conveys the idea of those who wait before kings. In mediæval times theTirumalpādswere commanders of armies.” By Mr. Wigram15Tirumalpād is defined as a member of a Royal Family. In the Madras Census Report, 1891, it is stated that “there are two Tirumalpāds, one a Sāmanta, and the other a so-called Kshatriya. The former observes customs and manners exactly similar to Erādis and Nedungādis. In fact, these are all more or less interchangeable terms, members of the same family calling themselves indifferently Erādi or Tirumalpād. The Kshatriya Tirumalpād wears the sacred thread, and the rites he performs are similar to those of Brāhmans, whose dress he has also adopted. He has, however, like Nāyars, tāli-kettu and sambandham separately. His females take Nambūdiri consorts by preference, but may have husbands of their own caste. Their inheritance is in the female line, as among Nāyars and Sāmantas. Generally the females of this caste furnish wives to Nambūdiris. The touch of these females does not pollute a Nambūdiri as does that of Nāyars and Sāmantas, and, what is more, Nambūdirismay eat their food. The females are called Nambashtādiri.”For the following note onTampānsand Tirumalpāds, I am indebted to the Travancore Census Report, 1901. “The Tampāns and Tirumalpāts come under the category of Malabar Kshatriyas.The word Tampān is a contraction of Tampurān, and at one time denoted a ruling people. When they were divested of that authority by the Ilayetattu Svarūpam, they are said to have fallen from the status of Tampurāns to Tampāns. Their chief seat is the Vaikam tāluk. The Tirumalpāts do not seem to have ruled at all. The word Tirumulpātu indicates those that wait before kings. There is an old Sanskrit verse, which describes eight classes of Kshatriyas as occupying Kērala from very early times, namely (1) Bhūpāla or Mahā Rāja, such as those of Travancore and Cochin, (2) Rājaka or Rājas, such as those of Mavelikara and Kotungallūr, (3) Kōsi or Kōiltampurān, (4) Puravān or Tampān, (5) Srīpurōgama or Tirumulpāt, (6) Bhandāri or Pantārattil, (7) Audvāhika or Tirumalpāt, (8) Chēta or Sāmanta. From this list it may be seen that two classes of Tirumulpāts are mentioned, namely, Srīpurōgamas who are the waiters at the Rāja’s palace, and the Audvāhikas who perform Udvāha or wedding ceremony for certain castes. Both these, however, are identical people, though varying in their traditional occupations. The chief seats of the Tirumulpāts are Shertallay and Tiruvalla.”The Tampāns and Tirumulpāts are, for all purposes of castes, identical with other Malabar Kshatriyas. Every Tampān in Travancore is related to every other Tampān, and all are included within one circle of death and birth pollution. Their manners and customs, too, are exactly like those of other Kshatriyas. They areinvested with the sacred thread at the sixteenth year of age, and recite the Gāyatri (hymn) ten times thrice a day. The Nambūtiri is the family priest, and (death) pollution lasts for eleven days. The Kettukālyanam, or tāli-tying ceremony, may be performed between the seventh and the fourteenth year of age. The tāli is tied by the Āryappattar, while the Nampūtiris recite the Vēdic hymns. Their consorts are usually Nampūtiris, and sometimes East Coast Brāhmans. Like all the Malabar Kshatriyas, they follow the marumakkathāyam system of inheritance (through the female line). Tampāns and Tirumulpāts are often the personal attendants of the Travancore Maharājas, whom they serve with characteristic fidelity and devotion.The Tirumulpāts further perform the tāli-tying ceremony of the Nāyar aristocracy.The names of the Tirumulpāts and Tampāns are the same as those of other classes of Kshatriyas. The title Varma is uniformly added to their names. A few families among these, who once had ruling authority, have the titular suffix Bhandārattil, which is corrupted into Pantārattil. The Tampāns call themselves in documents Kōviladhikārikal, as they once had authority in kōvils or palaces.Tirumān(holy deer).—An exogamous section of Kallan.Tirumudi(holy knot).—Recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as “bricklayers, whose women are usually prostitutes; found chiefly in Salem and Coimbatore. They are either Vēttuvans or Kaikōlans. Kaikōlan women, when they are dedicated to the temple, are supposed to be united in wedlock with the deity.Tiruvalluvan.—A sub-division of Valluvan. Tiruvalluvar, the author of the Kurāl, is said to have belonged to the Valluva caste.Tiru-vilakku-nagarattar(dwellers in the city of holy lamps).—A name assumed by Vāniyans (oil-pressers).Tiyadi.—A synonym of the Tiyāttunni section of Ambalavāsis (seeUnni).Tiyan.—The Tiyans, and Izhuvans or Iluvans, are the Malayālam toddy-drawing castes of Malabar, Cochin, and Travancore. The following note, except where otherwise indicated, is taken from an account of the Tiyans of Malabar by Mr. F. Fawcett.The Tiyans in Malabar number, according to the census returns, 512,063, or 19·3 per cent. of the total population. The corresponding figures for the Izhuvans are 101,638, or 3·8 per cent. The Tiyans have been summed up16as the middle class of the west coast, who cultivate the ground, take service as domestics, and follow trades and professions—anything but soldiering, of which they have an utter abhorrence.The marumakkatāyam system (inheritance through the female line), which obtains in North Malabar, has favoured temporary connections between European men and Tiyan women, the children belonging to the mother’s tarvad. Children bred under these conditions, European influence continuing, are often as fair as Europeans. It is recorded, in the Report of the Malabar Marriage Commission, 1894, that “in the early days of British rule, the Tiyan women incurred no social disgrace by consorting with Europeans, and, up to the last generation, if theSūdragirl could boast of herBrāhmanlover, the Tiyan girl could show more substantial benefits from her alliance with a white man of the ruling race. Happily, the progress of education, and the growth of a wholesome publicopinion, have made shameful the position of a European’s concubine; and both races have thus been saved from a mode of life equally demoralising to each.” On this point, Mr. L. K. Anantha Krishna Iyer writes as follows.17“It is true that there is an elevation both physically and mentally in the progeny of such a parentage. On making enquiries about this, I learn from a respectable and educated Tiyan gentleman that this union is looked upon with contempt by the respectable class of people, and by the orthodox community. I am further informed that such women and children, with their families, are under a ban, and that respectable Tiya gentlemen who have married the daughters of European parentage are not allowed to enjoy the privileges of the caste. There are, I hear, several such instances in Calicut, Tellicherry, and Cannanore. Women of respectable families do not enter into such connection with Europeans.”It is commonly supposed that the Tiyans and Izhuvans came from Ceylon. It is recorded, in the South Canara Manual, that “it is well known that both before and after the Christian era there were invasions and occupations of the northern part of Ceylon by the races then inhabiting Southern India, and Malabar tradition tells us that some of these Dravidians migrated again from Īram or Ceylon northwards to Travancore and other parts of the west coast of India, bringing with them the cocoanut or southern tree (tengina mara), and being known as Tīvars (islanders) or Īravars, which names have since been altered to Tīyars andIlavars. Dr. Caldwell derives Īram from the Sanskrit Simhala through the Pali Sihala by the omission of the initial S.” It is noted by Bishop Caldwell18that there are traces ofa common origin of the Iluvans and Shānars, Shānar (or Shēnēr), for instance, being a title of honour amongst the Travancore Ilavars. And it is further recorded19that there is a tradition that the Shānars came originally from Ceylon. The Izhuvans are supposed to derive their caste name from Izha dwipa (island) or Simhala dwipa (both denoting Ceylon). In a Tamil Puranic work, quoted by Mr. Anantha Krishna Iyer, mention is made of a King Illa of Ceylon, who went to Chidambaram in the Tamil country of Southern India, where a religious discussion took place between the Buddhist priests and the Saivite devotee Manickavachakar in the presence of King Illa, with the result that he was converted to the Saivite faith. From him the Iluvans are said to be descended.The Tiyans are always styled Izhuvan in documents concerning land, in which the Zamorin, or some Brāhman or Nāyar grandee, appears as landlord. The Tiyans look down on the Izhuvans, and repudiate the relationship. Yet they cannot but submit to be called Izhuvan in their documents, for their Nāyar or Brāhman landlord will not let them have the land to cultivate, unless they do so. It is a custom of the country for a man of a superior caste to pretend complete ignorance of the caste of an individual lower in the social scale. Thus, in the Wynād, where there are several jungle tribes, one is accustomed to hear a man of superior caste pretending that he does not know a Paniyan from a Kurumba, and deliberately miscalling one or the other, saying “This Paniyan,” when he knows perfectly well that he is a Kurumba. It is quite possible, therefore, that, though Tiyans are written down as Izhuvans, the two were not supposed to be identical. Stateregulations keep the Izhuvans of Cochin and Travancore in a position of marked social inferiority, and in Malabar they are altogether unlettered and uncultured. On the other hand, the Tiyans of Malabar provide Magistrates, Sub-Judges, and other officials to serve His Majesty’s Government. It may be noted that, in 1907, a Tiya lady matriculate was entertained as a clerk in the Tellicherry post-office.A divagation must be made, to bring the reader to a comprehension of the custom surrounding māttu, a word signifying change,i.e., change of cloth, which is of sufficient importance to demand explanation. When a man or woman is outcasted, the washerwoman (or man) and the barber of the community (and no other is available) are prohibited from performing their important parts in the ceremonies connected with birth, death, and menstruation. A person who is in a condition of impurity is under the same conditions; he or she is temporarily outcasted. This applies to Nambūtiris and Nāyars, as well as to the Tiyans. Now the washerwoman is invariably of the Tiyan caste. There are Mannāns, whose hereditary occupation is washing clothes for Nambūtiris and Nāyars, but, for the most part, the washerwoman who washes for the Nāyar lady is of the Tiyan caste. A woman is under pollution after giving birth to a child, after the death of a member of her tarvad, and during menstruation. And the pollution must be removed at the end of the prescribed period, or she remains an outcaste—a very serious thing for her. The impurity is removed by receiving a clean cloth from the washerwoman, and giving in exchange her own cloth to be washed. This is māttu, and, be it noted, the cloth which gives māttu is one belonging to the washerwoman, not to the person to be purified. The washerwomangives her own cloth to effect the purification. Theoretically, the Tiyan has the power to give or withhold māttu, and thus keep any one out of caste in a state of impurity; but it is a privilege which is seldom if ever exercised. Yet it is one which he admittedly holds, and is thus in a position to exercise considerable control over the Nambūtiri and Nāyar communities. It is odd that it is not a soiled cloth washed and returned to the person which gives purification, but one of the washerwoman’s own cloths. So the māttu may have a deeper meaning than lies in mere change of cloth, dressing in a clean one, and giving the soiled one to a person of inferior caste to wash. This māttu is second in importance to no custom. It must be done on the last day of pollution after birth and death ceremonies, and menstruation, or the person concerned remains outcasted. It is noteworthy that the Izhuvans know nothing of māttu.An Izhuvan will eat rice cooked by a Tiyan, but a Tiyan will not eat rice cooked by an Izhuvan—a circumstance pointing to the inferiority of the Izhuvan. A Nāyar, as well as a Tiyan, will partake of almost any form of food or drink, which is prepared even by a Māppilla (Malabar Muhammadan), who is deemed inferior to both. But the line is drawn at rice, which must be prepared by one of equal caste or class, or by a superior. An Izhuvan, partaking of rice at a Tiyan’s house, must eat it in a verandah; he cannot do so in the house, as that would be defilement to the Tiyan. Not only must the Izhuvan eat the rice in the verandah, but he must wash the plates, and clean up the place where he has eaten. Again, an Izhuvan could have no objection to drinking from a Tiyan’s well. Further, there is practically no mixture in the distribution of Tiyans and Izhuvans. Where there are Izhuvans thereare no Tiyans, andvice versâ. [In a photograph of a group of Izhuvan females of Palghat eating their meal, which was sent to me, they are all in a kneeling posture, with the buttocks supported on the heels. They are said to assume the same attitude when engaged in grinding and winnowing grain, and other occupations, with a resultant thickening of the skin over the knees.]Differences, which might well come under the heading marriage, may be considered here, for the purpose of comparison between the Tiyans and Izhuvans. During the preliminaries to the marriage ceremony among the Tiyans, the date of the marriage having been fixed in the presence of the representatives of the bride and bridegroom, the following formula is repeated by the Tandān or headman of the bride’s party. Translated as accurately as possible, it runs thus. “The tara and changati of both sides having met and consulted; the astrologer having fixed an auspicious day after examining the star and porutham; permission having been obtained from the tara, the relations, the illam and kulam, the father, uncle, and the brothers, and from the eight and four (twelve illams) and the six and four (ten kiriyams); the conji and adayalam ceremonies and the four tazhus having been performed, let me perform the kanjikudi ceremony for the marriage of ... the son of ... with ... daughter of ... in the presence of muperium.” This formula, with slight variations here and there, is repeated at every Tiyan marriage in South Malabar. It is a solemn declaration, giving validity to the union, although, in the way that custom and ritual survive long after their original significance has been forgotten, the meaning of many of the terms used is altogether unknown. What, for instance,is the meaning of muperium? No one can tell. But a few of the terms are explainable.Tara. The tara was the smallest unit in the ancient government system, which, for want of a better term, we may style feudal. It was not exactly a village, for the people lived apart. Each tara had its Nāyar chieftain, and also its Tiyan chief or Tandān, its astrologer, its washerman, its goldsmith, and other useful people, each serving the community for the sake of small advantages. Each tara was its own world.Changati (friend). The friends of both parties which negotiated the marriage.Porutham (agreement). Examination of the horoscopes of the boy and girl makes it possible to ascertain whether there is agreement between the two, and the union will be propitious.Illam. Here intended to mean the father’s family.Kulam. The name, derived from kula a branch, here denotes the mother’s family.Twelve illams, ten kiriyams. The word illam, now used exclusively for the residence of a Nambūtiri, is supposed to have been used in days of old for the house of a person of any caste. And this supposition is said to find support in the way that a Tiyan coming from the south is often greeted in South Canara. Thus, a Malabar Tiyan, travelling to the celebrated temple at Gokarnam in South Canara, is at once asked “What is your illam and kiriyam?” He has heard these terms used in the foregoing formula during his own or another’s marriage ceremony, but attached no meaning to them. To the man of South Canara they have genuine meaning. One should be able to answer the question satisfactorily, and thus give a proper account of himself. If he cannot, he gets neither food nor water from theSouth Canara Tiyan. This also holds good, to some extent, in the case of a southern Tiyan visiting the northern parts of the Cherakal tāluk of Malabar.The ten illams of South Malabar are as follows:—Tala Kodan.Nellika (Phyllanthus Emblica).Paraka or Varaka.Ala.Ten Kudi or Tenan Kudi.Padayan Kudi.Kannan.Varakat.Kytatinferior.Puzhampayi or BavuThe illams of North Malabar are said to be—Nellika.Pullanhi.Vangeri.Koyikkalan.Padayam Kudi.Tenan Kudi.Manan Kudi.Vilakkan Kudi.Marriage is strictly forbidden between two persons belonging to the same illam. The bride and bridegroom must belong to different illams. In fact, the illams are exogamous. Members of some of the illams were allowed certain privileges and dignities. Thus, the men of the Varakat illam (Varaka Tiyans) were in the old days permitted to travel in a mancheel (a hammock-cot slung on a pole). They were allowed this privilege of higher caste people, which was prohibited to the Tiyans of other illams. But, should one of them, when travelling in a mancheel, happen to see a Rājah or a Nāyar, he was obliged to hang one of his legs out of it in token of submission. The Varaka Tiyans were further allowed to wear gold jewels on the neck, to don silken cloths, to fasten a sword round the waist, and to carry a shield. The sword was made of thin pliable steel, and worn round the waist like a belt, the point being fastened to the hilt through a small hole near the point. A man, intending to damage another, might make an apparentlyfriendly call on him, his body loosely covered with a cloth, and to all appearances unarmed. In less than a second, he could unfasten the sword round his waist, and cut the other down. The well-known Mannanar belonged to the Varakat illam. Those who know Malabar will recall to mind the benevolent but strange institution which he initiated. He provided a comfortable home for Nambūtiri women who were thrown out of caste, and thus in the ordinary course of events doomed to every misery and degradation to be found in life. On being outcasted, the funeral ceremonies of Nambūtiri women were performed by her own people, and she became dead to them. She went to the Mannanar, and her birth ceremonies were performed, so that she might begin life anew in a state of purity. If, on arrival, she entered by the left door, she was his wife, if by the front door, his sister. It is said that, when their chief, Mannanar of the Aramana, is destitute of heirs, the Tiyans of Kolattanād go in procession to the Kurumattūr Nambūtiri (the chief of the Peringallūr Brāhmans) and demand a Brāhman virgin to be adopted as sister of Mannanar, who follows the marumakkatāyam rule of succession. This demand, it is said, used to be granted by the Nambūtiris assembling at a meeting, and selecting a maiden to be given to the Tiyans.Kiriyam is said to be a corrupt form of the Sanskrit word griham (house), but this seems rather fanciful. There are said to have been about two kiriyams for each village. The names of only three are known to me, viz., Karumana, Kaita, and Kampathi. There is a village called Karumana, near the temple of Lakshmipuram in South Canara. Karumana is applied as a term to signify a Tiyan during the ordinary devil-dancing in temples, when an oracular utterance is delivered. Theoracle always addresses the Tiyan as “my Karumana,”not as “my Tiyan.” The only other use of the word is in Karumana acharam (the customs of the Tiyans).Other outward and visible differences between Tiyan and Izhuvan marriages are these. The South Malabar Tiyan bridegroom, dressed as if for a wrestling match, with his cloth tied tight about his loins, carries a sword and shield, and is escorted by two companions similarly equipped, dancing their way along. The Izhuvan does not carry a sword under any circumstances. The chief feature of his wedding ceremony is a singing match. This, called the vatil-tura-pāttu, or open the door song, assumes the form of a contest between the parties of the bridegroom and bride. The story of Krishna and his wife Rukmini is supposed to be alluded to. We have seen it all under slightly different colour at Conjeeveram. Krishna asks Rukmini to open the door, and admit him. She refuses, thinking he has been gallivanting with some other lady. He beseeches; she refuses. He explains, and at length she yields. The song is more or less extempore, and each side must be ready with an immediate answer. The side which is reduced to the extremity of having no answer is beaten and under ignominy.I pass on to the subject of personal adornment of the Tiyans:—(a) North Malabar, Males—1. A horizontal dab made with white ashes on either side of the forehead and chest, and on the outside of each shoulder.2. Two gold ear-rings (kadakkan) in each ear. A silver chain hanging from the sheath of his knife, and fastened with a boss. Two tambak (copper, brass and silver) rings on the ring finger of the left hand.3. A gold kadakkan in each ear, and an iron ring on the ring finger of the left hand.4. A thorn in each ear (another was similarly ornamented). Not married.5. A gold ear-ring in each ear. An iron ring on the little finger of the left hand. Two silver rings, in which is set a piece of hair from an elephant’s tail, on the little finger of the right hand.A few individuals wore brass rings, and some had ear-rings, in which a red stone was set. Amulets were worn by some in little cylindrical cases on a string, to protect the wearer against enemies, the evil eye, or devils. One man wore a silver girdle, to which an amulet in a case was fastened, underneath his cloth, so that it was not in view to the public. One individual only is noted as having been tattooed, with a circular mark just above his glabella. The arms of a good many, and the abdomen of a few, bore cicatrices from branding, apparently for the purpose of making them strong and relieving pains.(b) South Malabar, Males.In the country parts, the waist cloth is always worn above the knee. About a third of the individuals examined wore ear-rings. The ears of all were pierced. Those who were without ear-rings had no scruples about wearing them, but were too poor to buy them.1. Blue spot tattooed over the glabella.2. Silver amulet-case, containing fifteen gold fanams, at the waist. He said that he kept the coins in the receptacle for security, but I think it was for good luck.3. Ear-ring (kadakkan) in each ear. A copper amulet-case, containing a yantram to keep off devils, at the waist.4. Four silver amulet-cases, containing yantrams on a copper sheet for curing some ailment, at the waist.5. Two gold kadakkans in each ear. A white spot over the glabella.(c) North Malabar, Females.In olden days, the women used to wear coloured and striped cloths round the waist, and hanging to the knees. The breast was not covered. The body above the waist was not allowed to be covered, except during the period of death pollution. Nowadays, white is generally the colour to be seen, and the body is seldom covered above the waist—never one may say, except (and then only sometimes) in the towns. The Izhuvan women in Malabar always wear blue cloths: just one cloth rolled tightly round the waist, and hanging to the knees. Of late, they have taken to wearing also a blue cloth drawn tight over the breast.Ornaments. The thōdu, which is now sometimes worn by Tiyan women, is not a Tiyan ornament. The ear-rings, called kathila and ananthod, are the Tiyan ornaments, and look like strings of gold beads with pendants. Discs of white metal or lead are used to stretch and keep open the dilated lobes of the ears, in which gold ornaments are worn when necessary or possible. Venetian sequins, real or imitation, known in Malabar as amāda, are largely used for neck ornaments. There is a Malabar proverb that one need not look for an insect’s burrow in amāda, meaning that you cannot find anything vile in a worthy person.Turning now to the subject of marriage. In the ordinary course of things, a marriage would not be made between a Tiyan girl of South Malabar and a Tiyan man of North Malabar, for the reason that the childrenof such a marriage would inherit no property from the family of either parent. The husband would have no share in the property of his family, which devolves through the women; nor would the wife have any share in that of her family, which is passed on through the men. So there would be nothing for the children. But, on the other hand, marriage between a girl of the north and a man of the south is a different thing. The children would inherit from both parents. As a rule, Tiyans of the north marry in the north, and those of the south in the south.It was generally admitted that it was formerly the custom among the Tiyans in South Malabar for several brothers—in fact all of them—to share one wife. Two existing instances of this custom were recorded.The arrangement of a marriage, and the ceremonial which will now be described, though pertaining strictly to the Calicut tāluk of South Malabar, are sufficiently representative of a Tiyan marriage anywhere. There is, however, this difference, that, in North Malabar, where inheritance through females obtains, and the wife invariably resides in her own tarwad or family home, there is never any stipulation concerning a girl’s dowry. In South Malabar, where inheritance is through the males, and where the wife lives in her husband’s house, the dowry in money, jewels, or furniture, is as a rule settled beforehand, and must be handed over on the wedding day. In the Calicut tāluk, we find an exception to this general rule of South Malabar, where the subject of the dowry is not usually mentioned. In North Malabar, gifts of jewels are made in proportion as the bride’s people are wealthy and generous. What is given is in the way of a gift, and forms no feature in the marital agreement.
Thanda Palayan.Thanda Palayan.
Thanda Palayan.
When a member of the tribe has died an unnatural death, a man, with a fowl and sword in his hands, places another man in a pit which has been dug, and walks thrice round it with a torch. After an hour or two, the man is taken out of the pit, and goes to a distance, where certain ceremonies are performed.
The Thanda Pulayans worship the gods of Brāhmanical temples at a distance of nearly a quarter of a mile. A stone is set up in the ground, on which they place tender cocoanuts and a few puttans (Cochin coins). A temple servant takes these to the priest, who sends in return some sandal paste, holy water, and flowers. They worship, as has been already hinted, demons, and also the spirits of their ancestors, by which small brass figures of males and females representing the pretas (ghosts) are supposed to be possessed. They worship, among others, Kandakarnan, Kodunkāli, Bhairavan, and Arukola pretas, who are lodged in small huts, and represented by stones. In the month of May, they celebrate a festival, which lasts for several days. Chrysanthemum and thumba (apparentlyLeucas aspera) flowers are used in the performance of worship, and paddy, beaten rice,tender cocoanuts, toddy, etc., are offered up. There is a good deal of singing, drum-beating and devil-dancing by men and women, who on this occasion indulge liberally in toddy. The Pāndavas, whom they call Anju Thamburakkal, are favourite deities. They devise various plans for warding off the evil influence of demons. Some, for example, wear rolls of palm leaf, with incantations written on them, round their necks. Others hang baskets in the rice fields, containing peace offerings to the gods, and pray for the protection of the crop. Wherever there is a dense forest, Mātan and Kāli are supposed to dwell, and are worshipped. From the end of November to April, which is the slack season, the Thanda Pulayans go about dancing from hut to hut, and collecting money to purchase fowls, etc., for offerings. Club-dancing is their favourite amusement, and is often indulged in at night by the light of a blazing fire. The dancers, club in hand, go round in concentric circles, keeping time to the songs which they sing, striking each other’s clubs, now bending to ward off a blow on the legs, or rising to protect the head.
The dead are buried, and lighted torches are set up all round the grave, on to which the relations of the dead person throw three handfuls of rice. Near it, squares are made in rice flour, in each of which a leaf with rice flour and paddy, and a lighted torch or wick is placed. The chief mourner, who should be the son or nephew, carrying a pot of water, goes several times round the grave, and breaks the pot over the spot where the head rests. A few grains of rice are placed at the four corners of the grave, and a pebble is laid on it, with mantrams to keep off jackals, and to prevent the spirit from molesting people. Every morning the chief mourner goes to the grave, and makes offerings of boiled rice,gingelly (Sesamum indicum) seeds, and karuka grass. On the fourteenth day, he has an oil-bath, and, on the following day, the Pulayans of the village (kara) have a feast, with singing and beating of drums. On the sixteenth day, which is pulakuli or day of purification, the chief mourner makes offerings of rice balls, the guests are fed, and make a present of small coin to the songster who has entertained them. Similar offerings of rice balls are made to the spirit of the deceased person on the new-moon day in the month of Kartigam. During the period of pollution, the chief mourner has to cook his own food. The spirits of deceased ancestors are called Chavar (the dead), and are said to manifest themselves in dreams, especially to near relations, who speak in the morning of what they have seen during the night. They even say that they have held conversation with the deceased. The Rev. W. J. Richards informs us that he once saw “a little temple, about the size of a large rabbit-hutch, in which was a plank for the spirits of the deceased ancestors to come and rest upon. The spirits are supposed to fish in the backwaters, and the phosphorescence, sometimes seen on the surface of the water, is taken as an indication of their presence.”12
The Thanda Pulayans will not eat with the Ullādans or Parayans, but stand at a distance of ninety feet from Brāhmans and other high-caste people. They are short of stature and dark-skinned. Like the Cherumans, the women adorn their ears, necks, arms and fingers with masses of cheap jewellery.
Thappata(drum).—An exogamous sept of Oddē.
Thāthan(a Vaishnavite mendicant).—The equivalent of the Telugu Dāsari.
Thātichettu(palmyra palm).—An exogamous sept of Karna Sālē and Oddē.
Thāvadadāri.—The name of a section of the Valluvans (priests of the Paraiyans), who wear a necklace of tulsi beads (thāvadam, necklace, dhāri, wearer). The tulsi or basil (Ocimum sanctum) is a very sacred plant with Hindus, and bead necklaces or rosaries are made from its woody stem.
Thēlu(scorpion).—Thēlu and Thēla are recorded as exogamous septs of Padma Sālē and Mādiga. The Canarese equivalent Chēlu occurs as a sept of Kuruba.
Thenige Būvva.—A sub-division of Mādigas, who offer food (buvva) to the god in a dish or tray (thenige) at marriages.
Thikka(simpleton).—A sub-division of Kuruba.
Thippa(rubbish heap).—An exogamous sept of Karna Sālē.
Thogamalai Korava.—Recorded13as a synonym of a thief class in the southern districts of the Madras Presidency. In a recent note on the Koravas, Mr. F. Fawcett writes that “a fact to be noted is that people such as the members of the well-known Thogamalai gang, who are always called Koravas by the police, are not Koravas at all. They are simply a criminal community, into which outsiders are admitted, who give their women in marriage outside the caste, and who adopt children of other castes.”
Thogaru(bitter).—An exogamous sept of Mūsu Kamma.
Thōka(tail).—An exogamous sept of Yerukala.
Thonda(Cephalendra indica).—An exogamous sept of Mūsu Kamma, and gōtra of Janappans, members ofwhich abstain from using the fruit or leaves of the thonda plant.
Thumma(bābūl:Acacia arabica).—An exogamous sept of Māla and Padma Sālē. The bark, pods, and leaves of the bābūl tree are used by tanners in the preparation of hides and skins, or as a dye.
Thūmu(iron measure for measuring grain).—An exogamous sept of Mutrācha.
Thupa(ghī, clarified butter).—An exogamous sept of Kuruba.
Thūrpu(eastern).—A sub-division of Yerukala and Yānādi.
Thūta(hole).—An exogamous sept of Dēvānga.
Tigala.—Tigala is summed up, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as “a Canarese synonym for the Tamil Palli; applied also by the Canarese people to any Tamil Sūdras of the lower castes.” In parts of the Mysore country, the Tamil language is called Tigalu, and the Canarese Mādhva Brāhmans speak of Tamil Smarta Brāhmans as Tigalaru.
Some of the Tigalas, who have settled in Mysore, have forgotten their mother-tongue, and speak only Canarese, while others,e.g., those who live round about Bangalore, still speak Tamil. In their type of cranium they occupy a position intermediate between the dolichocephalic Pallis and the sub-brachy cephalic Canarese classes.
The difference in the type of cranium of the Tigalas and Tamil Pallis is clearly brought by the following tabular statements of their cephalic indices:—
a. Tigala—
68◆697071◆72◆◆◆◆◆73◆◆◆◆74◆75◆76◆◆◆◆◆77◆◆◆◆78◆◆◆◆◆79◆◆◆80◆◆◆81◆◆◆◆82◆8384◆◆
b.Palli—
64◆656667◆◆68◆69◆70◆71◆◆◆◆72◆◆◆◆◆73◆◆◆◆◆◆◆74◆◆◆◆75◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆76◆77◆78◆79◆◆80◆
The Tigalas are kitchen and market gardeners, and cultivate the betel vine. They apparently have three divisions, called Ulli (garlic or onions), Elē (leaf), and Arava (Tamil). Among the Ulli Tigalas, several sub-divisions, and septs or budas named after deities or prominent members of the caste, exist,e.g.:—
The Tigalas have a headman, whose office is hereditary, and who is assisted by a caste servant called Mudrē. Council meetings are usually held at a fixed spot, called gōni mara kattē or mudrē gōni mara kattē, because those summoned by the Mudrē assemble beneath a gōni (Ficus mysorensis) tree, round which a stone platform is erected. The tree and platform being sacred, no one may go there on wearing shoes or sandals. The members of council sit on a woollen blanket spread before the tree.
Like the Pallis or Vanniyans, the Tigalas call themselves Agni Vanni, and claim to be descended from the fire-born hero Agni Bannirāya. In connection with the Tigalas who have settled in the Bombay Presidency, it is noted14that “they are a branch of the Mysore Tigalas, who are Tamil Palli emigrants from the Madras Presidency, and, like the Palli, claim a Kshatriya origin.” The Tigalas possess a manuscript, said to be a copy of a sāsana at Conjeeveram (Kānchi), from which the following extracts are taken. “This is a Kānchi sāsana published by Aswaththa Narayanswāmi, who was induced to do so by the god Varadarāja ofConjeeveram. This sāsana is written to acquaint the descendants of the Mahāpurusha Agni Bannirāya withthe origin, doings, and gōtra of their ancestor Bannirāya. This Bannirāya sprang from fire, and so is much beloved by Vishnu the many-armed, the many-eyed, and the bearer of the chank and chakram, and who is no other than Narayana, the lord of all the worlds great and small, and the originator of the Vēdas and Vedanta.... All those who see or worship this sāsana relating to Agni Bannirāya, who obtained boons from the Trimurthis, Dēvatas, and Rishis, and who is the ancestor of the Tigalas, will be prosperous, and have plenty of grain and children. Those who speak lightly of this caste will become subject to the curses of Bannirāya, Trimurthis, Rishis, and Dēvas. The glory of this sāsana is great, and is as follows:—The keeping and worshipping of this purāna will enable the Tigalas of the Karnataka country to obtain the merit of surapadavi (the state of Dēvas), merit of doing pūja to a thousand lingams, a lakh of cow gifts, and a hundred kannikadānams (gifts of virgins for marriage).” The sāsana is said to have been brought to the Canarese country because of a quarrel between the Pallis and the Tigalas at the time of a Tigala marriage. The Tigalas were prevented from bringing the various biruthus (insignia), and displaying them. The sāsana was brought by the Tigalas, at an expenditure of Rs. 215, which sum was subsequently recovered from the Pallis.
Tigala occurs further as the name of a sub-division of Holeya.
Tikkē(gem).—A gōtra of Kurni.
Ti(fire)Kollan.—A sub-division of Kollan.
Tinda(polluting).—A sub-division of Kanisan. Tinda Kuruppu, meaning a teacher who cannot approach, is a synonym of the Kāvutiyan barber caste.
Tiperum(tī, fire).—A sub-division of Kollan blacksmiths.
Tiragati Gantlavallu(wandering bell hunters).—Stated, in the Manual of the Vizagapatam district, to repair hand-mills, catch antelopes, and sell the skins thereof. In hunting, they use lights and bells.
Tirlasetti(the name of a Balija Chetti).—An exogamous sept of Yānādi.
Tirumalpād.—Tirumalpād has been summed up as “one of the four divisions of Kshatriyas in Travancore. The term, in its literal sense, conveys the idea of those who wait before kings. In mediæval times theTirumalpādswere commanders of armies.” By Mr. Wigram15Tirumalpād is defined as a member of a Royal Family. In the Madras Census Report, 1891, it is stated that “there are two Tirumalpāds, one a Sāmanta, and the other a so-called Kshatriya. The former observes customs and manners exactly similar to Erādis and Nedungādis. In fact, these are all more or less interchangeable terms, members of the same family calling themselves indifferently Erādi or Tirumalpād. The Kshatriya Tirumalpād wears the sacred thread, and the rites he performs are similar to those of Brāhmans, whose dress he has also adopted. He has, however, like Nāyars, tāli-kettu and sambandham separately. His females take Nambūdiri consorts by preference, but may have husbands of their own caste. Their inheritance is in the female line, as among Nāyars and Sāmantas. Generally the females of this caste furnish wives to Nambūdiris. The touch of these females does not pollute a Nambūdiri as does that of Nāyars and Sāmantas, and, what is more, Nambūdirismay eat their food. The females are called Nambashtādiri.”
For the following note onTampānsand Tirumalpāds, I am indebted to the Travancore Census Report, 1901. “The Tampāns and Tirumalpāts come under the category of Malabar Kshatriyas.The word Tampān is a contraction of Tampurān, and at one time denoted a ruling people. When they were divested of that authority by the Ilayetattu Svarūpam, they are said to have fallen from the status of Tampurāns to Tampāns. Their chief seat is the Vaikam tāluk. The Tirumalpāts do not seem to have ruled at all. The word Tirumulpātu indicates those that wait before kings. There is an old Sanskrit verse, which describes eight classes of Kshatriyas as occupying Kērala from very early times, namely (1) Bhūpāla or Mahā Rāja, such as those of Travancore and Cochin, (2) Rājaka or Rājas, such as those of Mavelikara and Kotungallūr, (3) Kōsi or Kōiltampurān, (4) Puravān or Tampān, (5) Srīpurōgama or Tirumulpāt, (6) Bhandāri or Pantārattil, (7) Audvāhika or Tirumalpāt, (8) Chēta or Sāmanta. From this list it may be seen that two classes of Tirumulpāts are mentioned, namely, Srīpurōgamas who are the waiters at the Rāja’s palace, and the Audvāhikas who perform Udvāha or wedding ceremony for certain castes. Both these, however, are identical people, though varying in their traditional occupations. The chief seats of the Tirumulpāts are Shertallay and Tiruvalla.”
The Tampāns and Tirumulpāts are, for all purposes of castes, identical with other Malabar Kshatriyas. Every Tampān in Travancore is related to every other Tampān, and all are included within one circle of death and birth pollution. Their manners and customs, too, are exactly like those of other Kshatriyas. They areinvested with the sacred thread at the sixteenth year of age, and recite the Gāyatri (hymn) ten times thrice a day. The Nambūtiri is the family priest, and (death) pollution lasts for eleven days. The Kettukālyanam, or tāli-tying ceremony, may be performed between the seventh and the fourteenth year of age. The tāli is tied by the Āryappattar, while the Nampūtiris recite the Vēdic hymns. Their consorts are usually Nampūtiris, and sometimes East Coast Brāhmans. Like all the Malabar Kshatriyas, they follow the marumakkathāyam system of inheritance (through the female line). Tampāns and Tirumulpāts are often the personal attendants of the Travancore Maharājas, whom they serve with characteristic fidelity and devotion.The Tirumulpāts further perform the tāli-tying ceremony of the Nāyar aristocracy.
The names of the Tirumulpāts and Tampāns are the same as those of other classes of Kshatriyas. The title Varma is uniformly added to their names. A few families among these, who once had ruling authority, have the titular suffix Bhandārattil, which is corrupted into Pantārattil. The Tampāns call themselves in documents Kōviladhikārikal, as they once had authority in kōvils or palaces.
Tirumān(holy deer).—An exogamous section of Kallan.
Tirumudi(holy knot).—Recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as “bricklayers, whose women are usually prostitutes; found chiefly in Salem and Coimbatore. They are either Vēttuvans or Kaikōlans. Kaikōlan women, when they are dedicated to the temple, are supposed to be united in wedlock with the deity.
Tiruvalluvan.—A sub-division of Valluvan. Tiruvalluvar, the author of the Kurāl, is said to have belonged to the Valluva caste.
Tiru-vilakku-nagarattar(dwellers in the city of holy lamps).—A name assumed by Vāniyans (oil-pressers).
Tiyadi.—A synonym of the Tiyāttunni section of Ambalavāsis (seeUnni).
Tiyan.—The Tiyans, and Izhuvans or Iluvans, are the Malayālam toddy-drawing castes of Malabar, Cochin, and Travancore. The following note, except where otherwise indicated, is taken from an account of the Tiyans of Malabar by Mr. F. Fawcett.
The Tiyans in Malabar number, according to the census returns, 512,063, or 19·3 per cent. of the total population. The corresponding figures for the Izhuvans are 101,638, or 3·8 per cent. The Tiyans have been summed up16as the middle class of the west coast, who cultivate the ground, take service as domestics, and follow trades and professions—anything but soldiering, of which they have an utter abhorrence.
The marumakkatāyam system (inheritance through the female line), which obtains in North Malabar, has favoured temporary connections between European men and Tiyan women, the children belonging to the mother’s tarvad. Children bred under these conditions, European influence continuing, are often as fair as Europeans. It is recorded, in the Report of the Malabar Marriage Commission, 1894, that “in the early days of British rule, the Tiyan women incurred no social disgrace by consorting with Europeans, and, up to the last generation, if theSūdragirl could boast of herBrāhmanlover, the Tiyan girl could show more substantial benefits from her alliance with a white man of the ruling race. Happily, the progress of education, and the growth of a wholesome publicopinion, have made shameful the position of a European’s concubine; and both races have thus been saved from a mode of life equally demoralising to each.” On this point, Mr. L. K. Anantha Krishna Iyer writes as follows.17“It is true that there is an elevation both physically and mentally in the progeny of such a parentage. On making enquiries about this, I learn from a respectable and educated Tiyan gentleman that this union is looked upon with contempt by the respectable class of people, and by the orthodox community. I am further informed that such women and children, with their families, are under a ban, and that respectable Tiya gentlemen who have married the daughters of European parentage are not allowed to enjoy the privileges of the caste. There are, I hear, several such instances in Calicut, Tellicherry, and Cannanore. Women of respectable families do not enter into such connection with Europeans.”
It is commonly supposed that the Tiyans and Izhuvans came from Ceylon. It is recorded, in the South Canara Manual, that “it is well known that both before and after the Christian era there were invasions and occupations of the northern part of Ceylon by the races then inhabiting Southern India, and Malabar tradition tells us that some of these Dravidians migrated again from Īram or Ceylon northwards to Travancore and other parts of the west coast of India, bringing with them the cocoanut or southern tree (tengina mara), and being known as Tīvars (islanders) or Īravars, which names have since been altered to Tīyars andIlavars. Dr. Caldwell derives Īram from the Sanskrit Simhala through the Pali Sihala by the omission of the initial S.” It is noted by Bishop Caldwell18that there are traces ofa common origin of the Iluvans and Shānars, Shānar (or Shēnēr), for instance, being a title of honour amongst the Travancore Ilavars. And it is further recorded19that there is a tradition that the Shānars came originally from Ceylon. The Izhuvans are supposed to derive their caste name from Izha dwipa (island) or Simhala dwipa (both denoting Ceylon). In a Tamil Puranic work, quoted by Mr. Anantha Krishna Iyer, mention is made of a King Illa of Ceylon, who went to Chidambaram in the Tamil country of Southern India, where a religious discussion took place between the Buddhist priests and the Saivite devotee Manickavachakar in the presence of King Illa, with the result that he was converted to the Saivite faith. From him the Iluvans are said to be descended.
The Tiyans are always styled Izhuvan in documents concerning land, in which the Zamorin, or some Brāhman or Nāyar grandee, appears as landlord. The Tiyans look down on the Izhuvans, and repudiate the relationship. Yet they cannot but submit to be called Izhuvan in their documents, for their Nāyar or Brāhman landlord will not let them have the land to cultivate, unless they do so. It is a custom of the country for a man of a superior caste to pretend complete ignorance of the caste of an individual lower in the social scale. Thus, in the Wynād, where there are several jungle tribes, one is accustomed to hear a man of superior caste pretending that he does not know a Paniyan from a Kurumba, and deliberately miscalling one or the other, saying “This Paniyan,” when he knows perfectly well that he is a Kurumba. It is quite possible, therefore, that, though Tiyans are written down as Izhuvans, the two were not supposed to be identical. Stateregulations keep the Izhuvans of Cochin and Travancore in a position of marked social inferiority, and in Malabar they are altogether unlettered and uncultured. On the other hand, the Tiyans of Malabar provide Magistrates, Sub-Judges, and other officials to serve His Majesty’s Government. It may be noted that, in 1907, a Tiya lady matriculate was entertained as a clerk in the Tellicherry post-office.
A divagation must be made, to bring the reader to a comprehension of the custom surrounding māttu, a word signifying change,i.e., change of cloth, which is of sufficient importance to demand explanation. When a man or woman is outcasted, the washerwoman (or man) and the barber of the community (and no other is available) are prohibited from performing their important parts in the ceremonies connected with birth, death, and menstruation. A person who is in a condition of impurity is under the same conditions; he or she is temporarily outcasted. This applies to Nambūtiris and Nāyars, as well as to the Tiyans. Now the washerwoman is invariably of the Tiyan caste. There are Mannāns, whose hereditary occupation is washing clothes for Nambūtiris and Nāyars, but, for the most part, the washerwoman who washes for the Nāyar lady is of the Tiyan caste. A woman is under pollution after giving birth to a child, after the death of a member of her tarvad, and during menstruation. And the pollution must be removed at the end of the prescribed period, or she remains an outcaste—a very serious thing for her. The impurity is removed by receiving a clean cloth from the washerwoman, and giving in exchange her own cloth to be washed. This is māttu, and, be it noted, the cloth which gives māttu is one belonging to the washerwoman, not to the person to be purified. The washerwomangives her own cloth to effect the purification. Theoretically, the Tiyan has the power to give or withhold māttu, and thus keep any one out of caste in a state of impurity; but it is a privilege which is seldom if ever exercised. Yet it is one which he admittedly holds, and is thus in a position to exercise considerable control over the Nambūtiri and Nāyar communities. It is odd that it is not a soiled cloth washed and returned to the person which gives purification, but one of the washerwoman’s own cloths. So the māttu may have a deeper meaning than lies in mere change of cloth, dressing in a clean one, and giving the soiled one to a person of inferior caste to wash. This māttu is second in importance to no custom. It must be done on the last day of pollution after birth and death ceremonies, and menstruation, or the person concerned remains outcasted. It is noteworthy that the Izhuvans know nothing of māttu.
An Izhuvan will eat rice cooked by a Tiyan, but a Tiyan will not eat rice cooked by an Izhuvan—a circumstance pointing to the inferiority of the Izhuvan. A Nāyar, as well as a Tiyan, will partake of almost any form of food or drink, which is prepared even by a Māppilla (Malabar Muhammadan), who is deemed inferior to both. But the line is drawn at rice, which must be prepared by one of equal caste or class, or by a superior. An Izhuvan, partaking of rice at a Tiyan’s house, must eat it in a verandah; he cannot do so in the house, as that would be defilement to the Tiyan. Not only must the Izhuvan eat the rice in the verandah, but he must wash the plates, and clean up the place where he has eaten. Again, an Izhuvan could have no objection to drinking from a Tiyan’s well. Further, there is practically no mixture in the distribution of Tiyans and Izhuvans. Where there are Izhuvans thereare no Tiyans, andvice versâ. [In a photograph of a group of Izhuvan females of Palghat eating their meal, which was sent to me, they are all in a kneeling posture, with the buttocks supported on the heels. They are said to assume the same attitude when engaged in grinding and winnowing grain, and other occupations, with a resultant thickening of the skin over the knees.]
Differences, which might well come under the heading marriage, may be considered here, for the purpose of comparison between the Tiyans and Izhuvans. During the preliminaries to the marriage ceremony among the Tiyans, the date of the marriage having been fixed in the presence of the representatives of the bride and bridegroom, the following formula is repeated by the Tandān or headman of the bride’s party. Translated as accurately as possible, it runs thus. “The tara and changati of both sides having met and consulted; the astrologer having fixed an auspicious day after examining the star and porutham; permission having been obtained from the tara, the relations, the illam and kulam, the father, uncle, and the brothers, and from the eight and four (twelve illams) and the six and four (ten kiriyams); the conji and adayalam ceremonies and the four tazhus having been performed, let me perform the kanjikudi ceremony for the marriage of ... the son of ... with ... daughter of ... in the presence of muperium.” This formula, with slight variations here and there, is repeated at every Tiyan marriage in South Malabar. It is a solemn declaration, giving validity to the union, although, in the way that custom and ritual survive long after their original significance has been forgotten, the meaning of many of the terms used is altogether unknown. What, for instance,is the meaning of muperium? No one can tell. But a few of the terms are explainable.
Tara. The tara was the smallest unit in the ancient government system, which, for want of a better term, we may style feudal. It was not exactly a village, for the people lived apart. Each tara had its Nāyar chieftain, and also its Tiyan chief or Tandān, its astrologer, its washerman, its goldsmith, and other useful people, each serving the community for the sake of small advantages. Each tara was its own world.
Changati (friend). The friends of both parties which negotiated the marriage.
Porutham (agreement). Examination of the horoscopes of the boy and girl makes it possible to ascertain whether there is agreement between the two, and the union will be propitious.
Illam. Here intended to mean the father’s family.
Kulam. The name, derived from kula a branch, here denotes the mother’s family.
Twelve illams, ten kiriyams. The word illam, now used exclusively for the residence of a Nambūtiri, is supposed to have been used in days of old for the house of a person of any caste. And this supposition is said to find support in the way that a Tiyan coming from the south is often greeted in South Canara. Thus, a Malabar Tiyan, travelling to the celebrated temple at Gokarnam in South Canara, is at once asked “What is your illam and kiriyam?” He has heard these terms used in the foregoing formula during his own or another’s marriage ceremony, but attached no meaning to them. To the man of South Canara they have genuine meaning. One should be able to answer the question satisfactorily, and thus give a proper account of himself. If he cannot, he gets neither food nor water from theSouth Canara Tiyan. This also holds good, to some extent, in the case of a southern Tiyan visiting the northern parts of the Cherakal tāluk of Malabar.
The ten illams of South Malabar are as follows:—
Tala Kodan.Nellika (Phyllanthus Emblica).Paraka or Varaka.Ala.Ten Kudi or Tenan Kudi.Padayan Kudi.Kannan.Varakat.Kytatinferior.Puzhampayi or Bavu
The illams of North Malabar are said to be—
Marriage is strictly forbidden between two persons belonging to the same illam. The bride and bridegroom must belong to different illams. In fact, the illams are exogamous. Members of some of the illams were allowed certain privileges and dignities. Thus, the men of the Varakat illam (Varaka Tiyans) were in the old days permitted to travel in a mancheel (a hammock-cot slung on a pole). They were allowed this privilege of higher caste people, which was prohibited to the Tiyans of other illams. But, should one of them, when travelling in a mancheel, happen to see a Rājah or a Nāyar, he was obliged to hang one of his legs out of it in token of submission. The Varaka Tiyans were further allowed to wear gold jewels on the neck, to don silken cloths, to fasten a sword round the waist, and to carry a shield. The sword was made of thin pliable steel, and worn round the waist like a belt, the point being fastened to the hilt through a small hole near the point. A man, intending to damage another, might make an apparentlyfriendly call on him, his body loosely covered with a cloth, and to all appearances unarmed. In less than a second, he could unfasten the sword round his waist, and cut the other down. The well-known Mannanar belonged to the Varakat illam. Those who know Malabar will recall to mind the benevolent but strange institution which he initiated. He provided a comfortable home for Nambūtiri women who were thrown out of caste, and thus in the ordinary course of events doomed to every misery and degradation to be found in life. On being outcasted, the funeral ceremonies of Nambūtiri women were performed by her own people, and she became dead to them. She went to the Mannanar, and her birth ceremonies were performed, so that she might begin life anew in a state of purity. If, on arrival, she entered by the left door, she was his wife, if by the front door, his sister. It is said that, when their chief, Mannanar of the Aramana, is destitute of heirs, the Tiyans of Kolattanād go in procession to the Kurumattūr Nambūtiri (the chief of the Peringallūr Brāhmans) and demand a Brāhman virgin to be adopted as sister of Mannanar, who follows the marumakkatāyam rule of succession. This demand, it is said, used to be granted by the Nambūtiris assembling at a meeting, and selecting a maiden to be given to the Tiyans.
Kiriyam is said to be a corrupt form of the Sanskrit word griham (house), but this seems rather fanciful. There are said to have been about two kiriyams for each village. The names of only three are known to me, viz., Karumana, Kaita, and Kampathi. There is a village called Karumana, near the temple of Lakshmipuram in South Canara. Karumana is applied as a term to signify a Tiyan during the ordinary devil-dancing in temples, when an oracular utterance is delivered. Theoracle always addresses the Tiyan as “my Karumana,”not as “my Tiyan.” The only other use of the word is in Karumana acharam (the customs of the Tiyans).
Other outward and visible differences between Tiyan and Izhuvan marriages are these. The South Malabar Tiyan bridegroom, dressed as if for a wrestling match, with his cloth tied tight about his loins, carries a sword and shield, and is escorted by two companions similarly equipped, dancing their way along. The Izhuvan does not carry a sword under any circumstances. The chief feature of his wedding ceremony is a singing match. This, called the vatil-tura-pāttu, or open the door song, assumes the form of a contest between the parties of the bridegroom and bride. The story of Krishna and his wife Rukmini is supposed to be alluded to. We have seen it all under slightly different colour at Conjeeveram. Krishna asks Rukmini to open the door, and admit him. She refuses, thinking he has been gallivanting with some other lady. He beseeches; she refuses. He explains, and at length she yields. The song is more or less extempore, and each side must be ready with an immediate answer. The side which is reduced to the extremity of having no answer is beaten and under ignominy.
I pass on to the subject of personal adornment of the Tiyans:—
(a) North Malabar, Males—
A few individuals wore brass rings, and some had ear-rings, in which a red stone was set. Amulets were worn by some in little cylindrical cases on a string, to protect the wearer against enemies, the evil eye, or devils. One man wore a silver girdle, to which an amulet in a case was fastened, underneath his cloth, so that it was not in view to the public. One individual only is noted as having been tattooed, with a circular mark just above his glabella. The arms of a good many, and the abdomen of a few, bore cicatrices from branding, apparently for the purpose of making them strong and relieving pains.
(b) South Malabar, Males.
In the country parts, the waist cloth is always worn above the knee. About a third of the individuals examined wore ear-rings. The ears of all were pierced. Those who were without ear-rings had no scruples about wearing them, but were too poor to buy them.
(c) North Malabar, Females.
In olden days, the women used to wear coloured and striped cloths round the waist, and hanging to the knees. The breast was not covered. The body above the waist was not allowed to be covered, except during the period of death pollution. Nowadays, white is generally the colour to be seen, and the body is seldom covered above the waist—never one may say, except (and then only sometimes) in the towns. The Izhuvan women in Malabar always wear blue cloths: just one cloth rolled tightly round the waist, and hanging to the knees. Of late, they have taken to wearing also a blue cloth drawn tight over the breast.
Ornaments. The thōdu, which is now sometimes worn by Tiyan women, is not a Tiyan ornament. The ear-rings, called kathila and ananthod, are the Tiyan ornaments, and look like strings of gold beads with pendants. Discs of white metal or lead are used to stretch and keep open the dilated lobes of the ears, in which gold ornaments are worn when necessary or possible. Venetian sequins, real or imitation, known in Malabar as amāda, are largely used for neck ornaments. There is a Malabar proverb that one need not look for an insect’s burrow in amāda, meaning that you cannot find anything vile in a worthy person.
Turning now to the subject of marriage. In the ordinary course of things, a marriage would not be made between a Tiyan girl of South Malabar and a Tiyan man of North Malabar, for the reason that the childrenof such a marriage would inherit no property from the family of either parent. The husband would have no share in the property of his family, which devolves through the women; nor would the wife have any share in that of her family, which is passed on through the men. So there would be nothing for the children. But, on the other hand, marriage between a girl of the north and a man of the south is a different thing. The children would inherit from both parents. As a rule, Tiyans of the north marry in the north, and those of the south in the south.
It was generally admitted that it was formerly the custom among the Tiyans in South Malabar for several brothers—in fact all of them—to share one wife. Two existing instances of this custom were recorded.
The arrangement of a marriage, and the ceremonial which will now be described, though pertaining strictly to the Calicut tāluk of South Malabar, are sufficiently representative of a Tiyan marriage anywhere. There is, however, this difference, that, in North Malabar, where inheritance through females obtains, and the wife invariably resides in her own tarwad or family home, there is never any stipulation concerning a girl’s dowry. In South Malabar, where inheritance is through the males, and where the wife lives in her husband’s house, the dowry in money, jewels, or furniture, is as a rule settled beforehand, and must be handed over on the wedding day. In the Calicut tāluk, we find an exception to this general rule of South Malabar, where the subject of the dowry is not usually mentioned. In North Malabar, gifts of jewels are made in proportion as the bride’s people are wealthy and generous. What is given is in the way of a gift, and forms no feature in the marital agreement.