Part 32

Srishti Karnam.--A sub-division of Karnam. The name is variously spelt, e.g., Sristi, Sishta, Sishti. The name Sishti Karanamalu is said to have been assumed by Oddilu, who have raised themselves in life. [188]

Stala (a place).--Lingayats sometimes use the word Staladavaru, or natives of a place, to distinguish them from recent settlers.

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

Of the two sections Subramanya and Kumbla, the former claim superiority, and there is no intermarriage between them. The members of the Subramanya section state that they belong to Rig Saka (Rig Veda) and have gotras, such as Viswamitra, Angirasa, and Baradwaja, and twelve exogamous septs. Of these septs, the following are examples:--

Arli (Ficus religiosa). Konde, tassel or hair-knot. Aththi (Ficus glomerata). Adhikari. Bandi, cart. Pandita. Kethaki (Pandanus fascicularis). Heggade.

The famous temple of Subramanya is said to have been in charge of the Subramanya Stanikas, till it was wrested from them by the Shivalli Brahmans. In former times, the privilege of sticking a golden ladle into a heap of food piled up in the temple, on the Shasti day or sixth day after the new moon in December, is said to have belonged to the Stanikas. They also brought earth from an ant-hill on the previous day. Food from the heap and earth are received as sacred articles by devotees who visit the sacred shrine. A large number of Stanikas are still attached to temples, where they perform the duties of cleaning the vessels, washing rice, placing cooked food on the bali pitam (altar stone), etc. The food placed on the stone is eaten by Stanikas, but not by Brahmans. In the Mysore province, a Brahman woman who partakes of this food loses her caste, and becomes a prostitute.

At times of census, Sivadvija and Siva Brahman have been given as synonyms of Stanika.

Sthavara.--Recorded, at times of census, as a sub-division of Jangam. The lingam, which Lingayats carry on some part of the body, is called the jangama lingam or moveable lingam, to distinguish it from the sthavara or fixed lingam of temples.

Subuddhi.--A title, meaning one having good sense, among several Oriya castes.

Sudarman.--See Udaiyan.

Suddho.--Two distinct castes go by this name, viz., the Savaras who have settled in the plains, and a small class of agriculturists and paiks (servants) in the low country of Ganjam. The Suddhos who live in the hills eat fowls and drink liquor, which those in the plains abstain from. The caste name Suddho means pure, and is said to have its origin in the fact that Suddho paiks used to tie the turbans of the kings of Gumsur. Like other Oriya castes, the Suddhos have Podhano, Bissoyi, Behara, etc., as titles. The caste has apparently come into existence in recent times.

Sudra.--The fourth of the traditional castes of Manu. The Sudra Nayars supply the female servants in the houses of Nambutiris.

Sudra Kavutiyan.--A name adopted by barbers who shave Nayars, to distinguish them from other barbers.

Sudugadusiddha.--The name is derived from sudugadu, a burning-ground. In the Mysore Census Report, 1901, they are described as being "mendicants like the Jogis, like whom they itinerate. They were once lords of burning-grounds, to whom the Kulavadi (see Holeya), who takes the cloth of the deceased and a fee for every dead body burned, paid something as acknowledging their overlordship." These people are described by Mr. J. S. F. Mackenzie, [189] under the name Sudgudu Siddha, or lords of the burning-ground, as agents who originally belonged to the Gangadikara Vakkaliga caste, and have become a separate caste, called after their head Sudgudu Siddharu. They intermarry among themselves, and the office of agent is hereditary. They have particular tracts of country assigned to them, when on tour collecting burial fees. They can be recognised by the wooden bell in addition to the usual metal one, which they always carry about. Without this no one would acknowledge the agent's right to collect the fees.

Sugali.--Sugali and Sukali are synonyms of Lambadi.

Sugamanchi Balija.--A name said to mean the best of Balijas, and used as a synonym for Gazula Balija.

Sukka (star).--An exogamous sept of Yerukala. The equivalent Sukra occurs as a gotra of Oriya Kalinjis.

Sule.--A Canarese name for professional prostitutes. Temple dancing-girls object to the name, as being low. They call themselves Vesyas or Besyas, Naiksani, or Naikini (Naik females).

Sullokondia.--The highest sub-division of the Gaudos, from whose hands Oriya Brahmans will accept water.

Sunar.--See Sonar.

Sundarattan.--A sub-division of Nattukottai Chetti.

Sundi.--See Sondi.

Sunkari.--The Sunkari or Sunkara-vandlu are cultivators, fishermen, and raftsmen in the Godavari district. According to the Rev. J. Cain [190] they come from some part of the Central Provinces, and are not regarded as outcasts, as stated in the Central Provinces Gazetteer.

Sunna Akki (thin rice).--A family name or bedagu of Donga Dasari.

Sunnambukkaran (lime man).--An occupational name for Paravas, Paraiyans, and other classes, who are employed as lime (chunam) burners. Sunnapu, meaning shell or quick-lime, occurs as an exogamous sept of Balija.

Sunnata.--A sub-division of Kurumbas, who are said to make only white blankets.

Surakkudi.--A section or kovil (temple) of Nattukottai Chetti.

Surti.--The name for domestic servants of Europeans in Bombay, who come from Surat.

Surya (the sun).--Recorded as a sept of Domb, Kuruba, and Pentiya, and a sub-division of Ambalakkaran. The equivalent Suryavamsam (people of the solar race) occurs as a sub-division of Razu, and as a synonym of the Konda Doras or Konda Kapus, some of whom style themselves Raja (= Razu) Kapus or Reddis.

Sutakulam.--A name by which the Besthas call themselves. They claim descent from the Rishi Suta Mahamuni. It has been suggested [191] as probable that the Besthas gained the name from their superiority in the culinary art, suta meaning cook.

Sutarlu.--Recorded by the Rev. J. Cain [192] as bricklayers and masons in the Godavari district.

Suthala (needle).--An exogamous sept of Kamma.

Svarupam.--Svarupam has been defined [193] as "a dynasty, usually confined to the four principal dynasties, termed the Kola, Nayaririppu, Perimbadappu, and Trippa Svarupam, represented by the Kolatiri or Chirakal Rajah, the Zamorin, and the Cochin and Travancore Rajahs." Svarupakkar or Svarupathil, meaning servants of Svarupams or kingly houses, is an occupational sub-division of Nayar.

Swayi.--A title of Alia, Aruva, Kalinji, and other Oriya classes.

Swetambara (clad in white).--One of the two main divisions of the Jains.

Syrian Christian.--The following note, containing a summary of the history of a community in connection with which the literature is considerable, is mainly abstracted from the Cochin Census Report, 1901, with additions.

The Syrian Christians have "sometimes been called the Christians of the Serra (a Portuguese word, meaning mountains). This arose from the fact of their living at the foot of the ghauts." [194] The glory of the introduction of the teachings of Christ to India is, by time-honoured tradition, ascribed to the apostle Saint Thomas. According to this tradition so dearly cherished by the Christians of this coast, about 52 A.D. the apostle landed at Malankara, or, more correctly, at Maliankara near Cranganur (Kodungallur), the Mouziris of the Greeks, or Muyirikode of the Jewish copper plates. Mouziris was a port near the mouth of a branch of the Alwaye river, much frequented in their early voyages by the Phoenician and European traders for the pepper and spices of this coast, and for the purpose of taking in fresh water and provisions. The story goes that Saint Thomas founded seven churches in different stations in Cochin and Travancore, and converted, among others, many Brahmans, notably the Cally, Calliankara, Sankarapuri, and Pakalomattam Nambudri families, the members of the last claiming the rare distinction of having been ordained as priests by the apostle himself. He then extended his labours to the Coromandel coast, where, after making many converts, he is said to have been pierced with a lance by some Brahmans, and to have been buried in the church of St. Thomé, in Mylapore, a suburb of the town of Madras. Writing concerning the prevalence of elephantiasis in Malabar, Captain Hamilton records [195] that "the old Romish Legendaries impute the cause of those great swell'd legs to a curse Saint Thomas laid upon his murderers and their posterity, and that was the odious mark they should be distinguished by." "Pretty early tradition associates Thomas with Parthia, [196] Philip with Phrygia, Andrew with Syria, and Bartholomew with India, but later traditions make the apostles divide the various countries between them by lot." [197] Even if the former supposition be accepted, there is nothing very improbable in Saint Thomas having extended his work from Parthia to India. Others argue that, even if there be any truth in the tradition of the arrival of Saint Thomas in India, this comprised the countries in the north-west of India, or at most the India of Alexander the Great, and not the southern portion of the peninsula, where the seeds of Christianity are said to have been first sown, because the voyage to this part of India, then hardly known, was fraught with the greatest difficulties and dangers, not to speak of its tediousness. It may, however, be observed that the close proximity of Alexandria to Palestine, and its importance at the time as the emporium of the trade between the East and West, afforded sufficient facilities for a passage to India. If the Roman line of traffic viâ Alexandria and the Red Sea was long and tedious, the route viâ the Persian Gulf was comparatively easy.

When we come to the second century, we read of Demetrius of Alexandria receiving a message from some natives of India, earnestly begging for a teacher to instruct them in the doctrines of Christianity. Hearing this, Pantænus, Principal of the Christian College of Alexandria, an Athenian stoic, an eminent preacher and "a very great gnosticus, who had penetrated most profoundly into the spirit of scripture," sailed from Berenice for Malabar between 180 and 190 A.D. He found his arrival "anticipated by some who were acquainted with the Gospel of Mathew, to whom Bartholomew, one of the apostles, had preached, and had left them the same Gospel in Hebrew, which also was preserved until this time. Returning to Alexandria, he presided over the College of Catechumens." Early in the third century, St. Hippolytus, Bishop of Portus, also assigns the conversion of India to the apostle Bartholomew. To Thomas he ascribes Persia and the countries of Central Asia, although he mentions Calamina, "a city of India," as the place where Thomas suffered death. The Rev. J. Hough [198] observes that "it is indeed highly problematical that Saint Bartholomew was ever in India." It may be remarked that there are no local traditions associating the event with his name, and, if Saint Bartholomew laboured at all on this coast, there is no reason why the earliest converts of Malabar should have preferred the name of Thomas to that of Bartholomew. Though Mr. Hough and Sir W. W. Hunter, [199] among others, discredit the mission of St. Thomas in the first century, they both accept the story of the mission of Pantænus. Mr. Hough says that "it is probable that these Indians (who appealed to Demetrius) were converts or children of former converts to Christianity." If, in the second century, there could be children of former converts in India, it is not clear why the introduction of Christianity to India in the first century, and that by St. Thomas, should be so seriously questioned and set aside as being a myth, especially in view of the weight of the subjoined testimony, associating the work with the name of the apostle.

In the Asiatic Journal (Vol. VI), Mr. Whish refutes the assertions made by Mr. Wrede in the Asiatic Researches (Vol. VII) that the Christians of Malabar settled in that country "during the violent persecution of the sect of Nestorius under Theodosius II, or some time after," and says, with reference to the date of the Jewish colonies in India, that the Christians of the country were settled long anterior to the period mentioned by Mr. Wrede. Referring to the acts and journeyings of the apostles, Dorotheus, Bishop of Tyre (254-313 A.D.), says "the Apostle Thomas, after having preached the Gospel to the Parthians, Medes, Persians, Germanians, Bactrians, and Magi, suffered martyrdom at Calamina, a town of India." It is said that, at the Council of Nice held in 325 A.D., India was represented by Johannes, Bishop of India Maxima and Persia. St. Gregory of Nazianzen (370-392 A.D.), in answering the reproach of his being a stranger, asks "Were not the apostles strangers? Granting that Judæa was the country of Peter, what had Paul in common with the Gentiles, Luke with Achaia, Andrew with Epirus, John with Ephesus, Thomas with India, Mark with Italy"? St. Jerome (390 A.D.) testifies to the general belief in the mission of St. Thomas to India. He too mentions Calamina as the town where the apostle met with his death. Baronius thinks that, when Theodoret, the Church historian (430-458 A.D.), speaks of the apostles, he evidently associates the work in India with the name of St. Thomas. St. Gregory of Torus relates that "in that place in India, where the body of Thomas lay before it was transferred to Edessa, there is a monastery and temple of great size." Florentius asserts that "nothing with more certainty I find in the works of the Holy Fathers than that St. Thomas preached the Gospel in India." Rufinus, who stayed twenty-five years in Syria, says that the remains of St. Thomas were brought from India to Edessa. Two Arabian travellers of the ninth century, referred to by Renaudot, assert that St. Thomas died at Mailapur.

Coming to modern times, we have several authorities, who testify to the apostolic origin of the Indian Church, regarded as apocryphal by Mr. Milne Rae, Sir W. W. Hunter, and others. The historian of the 'Indian Empire,' while rejecting some of the strongest arguments advanced by Mr. Milne Rae, accepts his conclusions in regard to the apostolic origin. The Romanist Portuguese in their enthusiasm coloured the legends to such an extent as to make them appear incredible, and the Protestant writers of modern times, while distrusting the Portuguese version, are not agreed as to the rare personage that introduced Christianity to India. Mr. Wrede asserts that the Christians of Malabar settled in that country during the violent persecution of the sect of Nestorius under Theodosius II, or some time after. Dr. Burnell traces the origin to the Manichæan Thomas, who flourished towards the end of the third century. Mr. Milne Rae brings the occurrence of the event down to the sixth century of the Christian era. Sir William Hunter, without associating the foundation of the Malabar Church with the name of any particular person, states the event to have taken place some time in the second century, long before the advent of Thomas the Manichæan, but considers that the name St. Thomas Christians was adopted by the Christians in the eighth century. He observes that "the early legend of the Manichæan Thomas in the third century and the later labours of the Armenian Thomas, the rebuilder of the Malabar Church in the eighth century, endeared that name to the Christians of Southern India." [It has recently been stated, with reference to the tradition that it was St. Thomas the apostle who first evangelised Southern India, that, "though this tradition is no more capable of disproof than of proof, those authorities seem to be on safer ground, who are content to hold that Christianity was first imported into India by Nestorian or Chaldæan missionaries from Persia and Mesopotamia, whose apostolic zeal between the sixth and twelfth centuries ranged all over Asia, even into Tibet and Tartary. The seat of the Nestorian Patriarchate of Babylon was at Bagdad, and, as it claimed to be par excellence the Church of St. Thomas, this might well account for the fact that the proselytes it won over in India were in the habit of calling themselves Christians of St. Thomas. It is, to say the least, a remarkable coincidence that one of the three ancient stone crosses preserved in India bears an inscription and devices, which are stated to resemble those on the cross discovered near Singanfu in China, recording the appearance of Nestorian missionaries in Shenshi in the early part of the seventh century."]

As already said, there are those who attribute the introduction of the Gospel to a certain Thomas, a disciple of Manes, who is supposed to have come to India in 277 A.D., finding in this an explanation of the origin of the Manigramakars (inhabitants of the village of Manes) of Kayenkulam near Quilon. Coming to the middle of the fourth century, we read of a Thomas Cana, an Aramæan or Syrian merchant, or a divine, as some would have it, who, having in his travels seen the neglected conditions of the flock of Christ on the Malabar coast, returned to his native land, sought the assistance of the Catholics of Bagdad, came back with a train of clergymen and a pretty large number of Syrians, and worked vigorously to better their spiritual condition. He is said to have married two Indian ladies, the disputes of succession between whose children appear, according to some writers, to have given rise to the two names of Northerners (Vadakkumbagar) and Southerners (Thekkumbagar)--a distinction which is still jealously kept up. The authorities are, however, divided as to the date of his arrival, for, while some assign 345 A.D., others give 745 A.D. It is just possible that this legend but records the advent of two waves of colonists from Syria at different times, and their settlement in different stations; and Thomas Cana was perhaps the leader of the first migration. The Syrian tradition explains the origin of the names in a different way, for, according to it, the foreigners or colonists from Syria lived in the southern street of Cranganur or Kodungallur, and the native converts in the northern street. After their dispersion from Cranganur, the Southerners kept up their pride and prestige by refusing to intermarry, while the name of Northerners came to be applied to all Native Christians other than the Southerners. At their wedding feasts, the Southerners sing songs commemorating their colonization at Kodungallur, their dispersion from there, and settlement in different places. They still retain some foreign tribe names, to which the original colony is said to have belonged. A few of these names are Baji, Kojah, Kujalik, and Majamuth. Their leader Thomas Cana is said to have visited the last of the Perumals and to have obtained several privileges for the benefit of the Christians. He is supposed to have built a church at Mahadevarpattanam, or more correctly Mahodayapuram, near Kodungallur in the Cochin State, the capital of the Perumals or Viceroys of Kerala, and, in their documents, the Syrian Christians now and again designate themselves as being inhabitants of Mahadevarpattanam.

In the Syrian seminary at Kottayam are preserved two copper-plate charters, one granted by Vira Raghava Chakravarthi,and the other by Sthanu Ravi Gupta, supposed to be dated 774 A.D. and 824 A.D. Specialists, who have attempted to fix approximately the dates of the grants, however, differ, as will be seen from a discussion of the subject by Mr. V. Venkayya in the Epigraphia Indica. [200]

Concerning the plate of Vira Raghava, Mr. Venkayya there writes as follows. "The subjoined inscription is engraved on both sides of a single copper-plate, which is in the possession of the Syrian Christians at Kottayam. The plate has no seal, but, instead, a conch is engraved about the middle of the left margin of the second side. This inscription has been previously translated by Dr. Gundert. [201] Mr. Kookel Keloo Nair has also attempted a version of the grant. [202] In the translation I have mainly followed Dr. Gundert."

Translation.

Hari! Prosperity! Adoration to the great Ganapati! On the day of (the Nakshatra) Rohini, a Saturday after the expiration of the twenty-first (day) of the solar month Mina (of the year during which) Jupiter (was) in Makara, while the glorious Vira-Raghava-Chakravartin,--(of the race) that has been wielding the sceptre for several hundred thousands of years in regular succession from the glorious king of kings, the glorious Vira-Kerala-Chakravartin--was ruling prosperously:--

While (we were) pleased to reside in the great palace, we conferred the title of Manigramam on Iravikorttan, alias Seramanloka-pperun-jetti of Magodaiyarpattinam.

We (also) gave (him the right of) festive clothing, house pillars, the income that accrues, the export trade (?), monopoly of trade, (the right of) proclamation, forerunners, the five musical instruments, a conch, a lamp in day-time, a cloth spread (in front to walk on), a palanquin, the royal parasol, the Telugu (?) drum, a gateway with an ornamental arch, and monopoly of trade in the four quarters.

We (also) gave the oilmongers and the five (classes of) artisans as (his) slaves.

We (also) gave, with a libation of water--having (caused it to be) written on a copper-plate--to Iravikorttan, who is the lord of the city, the brokerage on (articles) that may be measured with the para, weighed by the balance or measured with the tape, that may be counted or weighed, and on all other (articles) that are intermediate--including salt, sugar, musk (and) lamp oil--and also the customs levied on these (articles) between the river mouth of Kodungallur and the gate (gopura)--chiefly between the four temples (tali) and the village adjacent to (each) temple.

We gave (this) as property to Sêramân-lôka-pperun-jetti, alias Iravikorttan, and to his children's children in due succession.

(The witnesses) who know this (are):--We gave (it) with the knowledge of the villagers of Panniyûr and the villagers of Sôgiram. We gave (it) with the knowledge (of the authorities) of Vênâdu and Odunâdu. We gave (it) with the knowledge (of the authorities) of Eranâdu and Valluvanâdu. We gave (it) for the time that the moon and the sun shall exist.