Part 31

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

Sindhu.--The Sindhuvallu (drummers) are Madigas, who go about

## acting scenes from the Ramayana or Mahabharatha, and the story of

Ankamma. Sindhu also occurs as a gotra of Kurni. The beating of the drum called sindhu is, I gather, sometimes a nuisance, for a missionary writes to the paper enquiring whether there is any order of Government against it, as the practice "causes much crime, and creates extra work for police and magistrates. Village officials believe they have no authority to suppress it, but there are some who assert that it is nominally forbidden."

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

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

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

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

Sir.--A sub-division of Kanakkan.

Sirpadam.--A sub-division of Kaikolan.

Sirukudi.--A nadu or territorial division of Kallan.

Siru Tali.--The name, indicating those who wear a small tali (marriage badge), of a sub-division of Kaikolan and Maravan.

Sitikan.--Recorded, in the Travancore Census Report, 1901, as an occupational sub-division of Maran.

Sitra.--See Pano.

Siva Brahmana.--Recorded as a synonym of Stanika.

Sivachara.--It is noted, in the Mysore Census Report, 1901, that the Lingayats call themselves "Vira Saivas, Sivabhaktas, or Sivachars. The Virasaiva religion consists of numerous castes. It is a religion consisting of representatives from almost every caste in Hindu society. People of all castes, from the highest to the lowest, have embraced the religion. There are Sivachar Brahmins, Sivachar Kshatriyas, Sivachar Vaisyas, Sivachar carpenters, Sivachar weavers, Sivachar goldsmiths, Sivachar potters, Sivachar washermen, and Sivachar barbers, and other low castes who have all followed the popular religion in large numbers."

Sivadvija.--The name, denoting Saivite Brahman, by which Mussads like to be called. Also recorded as a synonym of Stanika.

Sivaratri.--An exogamous sept of Odde, named after the annual Mahasivaratri festival in honour of Siva. Holy ashes, sacred to Siva, prepared by Smartas on this day, are considered to be very pure.

Sivarchaka.--The word means those who do puja (worship) to Siva. Priests at the temple of village deities are ordinarily known as Pujari, Pusali, Occhan, etc., but nowadays prefer the title of Umarchaka or Sivarchaka. The name Sivala occurs in the Madras Census Report, 1901.

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

Sodabisiya.--A sub-division of Domb.

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

Solaga.--See Sholaga.

Soliyan.--Soliyan or Soliya is a territorial name, meaning an inhabitant of the Chola country, recorded as a sub-division of Karnam, Idaiyan, Pallan, and Vellala. The equivalent Solangal occurs as an exogamous sept of Vallamban, and Soliya illam (Malayalam, house) as an exogamous sept of Panikkans in the Tamil country. Some Pallis style themselves Solakanar (descendants of Chola kings), or Solakula Kshatriya. (See Sozhia.)

Somakshatri.--A name sometimes adopted by Canarese Ganigas in South Canara.

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

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

Soma Varada (Sunday).--The name of Kurubas who worship their god on Sundays.

Sonagan.--See Jonagan.

Sonar.--The Sonars or Sonagaras of South Canara are described by Mr. H. A. Stuart [181] as a goldsmith caste, who "speak Konkani, which is a dialect of Marathi, and are believed to have come from Goa. The community at each station has one or two Mukhtesars or headmen, who enquire into, and settle the caste affairs. Serious offences are reported to the swamy of Sode, who has authority to excommunicate, or to inflict heavy fines. They wear the sacred thread. Marriages within the same gotra are strictly prohibited. Most of them are Vaishnavites, but a few follow Siva. The dead are burned, and the ashes are thrown into a river. They eat fish, but not flesh. Their title is Setti." They consider it derogatory to work in metals other than gold and silver.

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

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

It has been noted [182] that "in Madras, an exceedingly poor country, there is one male goldsmith to every 408 of the total population; in England, a very rich country, there is only one goldsmith to every 1,200 inhabitants. In Europe, jewellery is primarily for ornament, and is a luxury. In India it is primarily an investment, its ornamental purpose being an incident."

The South Indian goldsmith at work has been well described as follows. [183] "A hollow, scooped out in the middle of the mud floor (of a room or verandah), does duty for the fireplace, while, close by, there is raised a miniature embankment, semi-circular in shape, with a hole in the middle of the base for the insertion of the bellows. Crucibles of clay or cow-dung, baked hard in the sun, tongs and hammers, potsherds of charcoal, dirty tins of water, and little packets of sal-ammoniac, resin, or other similar substances, all lie scattered about the floor in picturesque confusion. Sitting, or rather crouching on their haunches, are a couple of the Panchala workmen. One of them is blowing a pan of charcoal into flame through an iron tube some eighteen inches long by one in diameter, and stirring up the loose charcoal. Another is hammering at a piece of silver wire on a little anvil before him. With his miserable tools the Hindu goldsmith turns out work that well might, and often deservedly does, rank with the greatest triumphs of the jeweller's art."

Sondi.--The Sondis or Sundis are summed up in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as "Oriya toddy-selling caste. They do not draw toddy themselves, but buy it from Siolos, and sell it. They also distill arrack." The word arrack or arak, it may be noted en passant, means properly "perspiration, and then, first the exudation of sap drawn from the date-palm; secondly, any strong drink, distilled spirit, etc." [184] A corruption of the word is rack, which occurs, e.g., in rack punch.

According to a Sanskrit work, entitled Parasarapaddati, Soundikas (toddy-drawers and distillers of arrack) are the offspring of a Kaivarata male and a Gaudike female. Both these castes are pratiloma (mixed) castes. In the Matsya Purana, the Soundikas are said to have been born to Siva of seven Apsara women on the bank of the river Son. Manu refers to the Soundikas, and says that a Snataka [185] may not accept food from trainers of hunting dogs, Soundikas, a washerman, a dyer, pitiless man, and a man in whose house lives a paramour of his wife.

In a note on the allied Sunris or Sundis of Bengal, Mr. Risley writes [186] that "according to Hindu ideas, distillers and sellers of strong drink rank among the most degraded castes, and a curious story in the Vaivarta Purana keeps alive the memory of their degradation. It is said that when Sani, the Hindu Saturn, failed to adapt an elephant's head to the mutilated trunk of Ganesa, who had been accidentally beheaded by Siva, Viswakarma, the celestial artificer, was sent for, and by careful dissection and manipulation he fitted the incongruous parts together, and made a man called Kedara Sena from the slices cut off in fashioning his work. This Kedara Sena was ordered to fetch a drink of water for Bhagavati, weary and athirst. Finding on the river's bank a shell full of water, he presented it to her, without noticing that a few grains of rice left in it by a parrot had fermented and formed an intoxicating liquid. Bhagavati, as soon as she had drunk, became aware of the fact, and in her anger condemned the offender to the vile and servile occupation of making spirituous liquor for mankind. Another story traces their origin to a certain Bhaskar or Bhaskar Muni, who was created by Krishna's brother, Balaram, to minister to his desire for strong drink. A different version of the same legend gives them for ancestor Niranjan, a boy found by Bhaskar floating down a river in a pot full of country liquor, and brought up by him as a distiller."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

It is recorded, in the Gazetteer of the Vizagapatam district, that "besides ippa (liquor distilled from the blossom of Bassia latifolia), the hill people brew beer from rice, samai (the millet Panicum miliare), and ragi (Eleusine Coracana). They mash the grain in the ordinary manner, add some more water to it, mix a small quantity of ferment with it, leave it to ferment three or four days, and then strain off the grain. The beer so obtained is often highly intoxicating, and different kinds of it go by different names, such as londa, pandiyam, and maddikallu. The ferment which is used is called the saraiya-mandu (spirit drug) or Sondi-mandu (Sondi's drug), and can be bought in the weekly market. There are numerous recipes for making it, but the ingredients are always jungle roots and barks. [187] It is sold made up into small balls with rice. The actual shop-keepers and still-owners in the hills, especially in the Parvatipur and Palkonda agencies, are usually immigrants of the Sondi caste, a wily class who know exactly how to take advantage of the sin which doth so easily beset the hill man, and to wheedle from him, in exchange for the strong drink which he cannot do without, his ready money, his little possessions, his crops, and finally his land itself.

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

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

The titles of the Ganjam Sondis are Behara, Chowdri, Podhano, and Sahu. In the Vizagapatam agency tracts, their title is said to be Bissoyi.

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

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

Sonkuva.--A sub-division of Mali.

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

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

Sozhia.--A territorial name of sub-divisions of various Tamil classes who are settled in what was formerly the Chola country, e.g., Brahman, Chetti, Kaikolan, Kammalan, Pallan, and Vellala.