Part 36

Malayan.--Concerning the Malayans, Mr. A. R. Loftus-Tottenham writes as follows. "The Malayans are a makkathayam caste, observing twelve days' pollution, found in North Malabar. Their name, signifying hill-men, points to their having been at one time a jungle tribe, but they have by no means the dark complexion and debased physiognomy characteristic of the classes which still occupy that position. They are divided into nine exogamous illams, five of which have the names Kotukudi, Velupa, Cheni, Palankudi, and Kalliath. The men do not shave their heads, but allow the hair to grow long, and either part it in the middle, or tie it into a knot behind, like the castes of the east coast, or tie it in a knot in front in the genuine Malayali fashion. The principal occupation of the caste is exorcism, which they perform by various methods.

"If any one is considered to be possessed by demons, it is usual, after consulting the astrologer in order to ascertain what murti (form, i.e., demon) is causing the trouble, to call in the Malayan, who performs a ceremony known as tiyattam, in which they wear masks, and, so disguised, sing, dance, tom-tom, and play on a rude and strident pipe. Another ceremony, known as ucchaveli, has several forms, all of which seem to be either survivals, or at least imitations of human sacrifice. One of these consists of a mock living burial of the principal performer, who is placed in a pit, which is covered with planks, on the top of which a sacrifice is performed, with a fire kindled with jack wood (Artocarpus integrifolia) and a plant called erinna. In another variety, the Malayan cuts his left forearm, and smears his face with the blood thus drawn. Malayans also take part with Peruvannans (big barbers) in various ceremonies at Badrakali and other temples, in which the performer impersonates, in suitable costume, some of the minor deities or demons, fowls are sacrificed, and a Velicchapad pronounces oracular statements."

As the profession of exorcists does not keep the Malayans fully occupied, they go about begging during the harvest season, in various disguises, of which that of a hobby-horse is a very common one. They further add to their income by singing songs, at which they are very expert. Like the Nalkes and Paravas of South Canara, the Malayans exorcise various kinds of devils, with appropriate disguises. For Nenaveli (bloody sacrifice), the performer smears the upper part of his body and face with a paste made of rice-flour reddened with turmeric powder and chunam (lime) to indicate a bloody sacrifice. Before the paste dries, parched paddy (unhusked rice) grains, representing small-pox pustules, are sprinkled over it. Strips of young cocoanut leaves, strung together so as to form a petticoat, are tied round the waist, a ball of sacred ashes (vibhuthi) is fixed on the tip of the nose, and two strips of palmyra palm leaf are stuck in the mouth to represent fangs. If it is thought that a human sacrifice is necessary to propitiate the devil, the man representing Nenaveli puts round his neck a kind of framework made of plantain leaf sheaths; and, after he has danced with it on, it is removed, and placed on the ground in front of him. A number of lighted wicks are stuck in the middle of the framework, which is sprinkled with the blood of a fowl, and then beaten and crushed. Sometimes this is not regarded as sufficient, and the performer is made to lie down in a pit, which is covered over by a plank, and a fire kindled. A Malayan, who acted the part of Nenaveli before me at Tellicherry, danced and gesticulated wildly, while a small boy, concealed behind him, sang songs in praise of the demon whom he represented, to the accompaniment of a drum. At the end of the performance, he feigned extreme exhaustion, and laid on the ground in a state of apparent collapse, while he was drenched with water brought in pots from a neighbouring well.

The disguise of Uchchaveli is also assumed for the propitiation of the demon, when a human sacrifice is considered necessary. The Malayan who is to take the part puts on a cap made of strips of cocoanut leaf, and strips of the same leaves tied to a bent bamboo stick round his waist. His face and chest are daubed with yellow paint, and designs are drawn thereon in red or black. Strings are tied tightly round the left arm near the elbow and wrist, and the swollen area is pierced with a knife. The blood spouts out, and the performer waves the arm, so that his face is covered with the blood. A fowl is waved before him, and decapitated. He puts the neck in his mouth, and sucks the blood.

The disguises are generally assumed at night. The exorcism consists in drawing complicated designs of squares, circles, and triangles, on the ground with white, black, and yellow flour. While the man who has assumed the disguise dances about to the accompaniment of drums, songs are sung by Malayan men and women.

Malayan.--A division of Panikkans in the Tamil country, whose exogamous septs are known by the Malayalam name illam (house).

Maldivi.--A territorial name, meaning a native of the Maldive islands, returned by twenty-two persons in Tanjore at the Census, 1901.

Male Kudiya.--A synonym of Kudiya, denoting those who live in the hills.

Maleru.--It is noted, in the Mysore Census Report, 1901, that "in some temples of the Malnad there exists a set of females, who, though not belonging to the Natuva class, are yet temple servants like them, and are known by the name of Maleru. Any woman who eats the sacrificial rice strewn on the balipitam (sacrificial altar) at once loses caste, and becomes a public woman, or Maleru." The children of Malerus by Brahmans are termed Golakas. Any Maleru woman cohabiting with one of a lower caste than her own is degraded into a Gaudi. In the Madras Census Report, 1901, Male or Malera is returned as a sub-caste of Stanika. They are said, however, not to be equal to Stanikas. They are attached to temples, and their ranks are swelled by outcaste Brahman and Konkani women.

Maleyava.--Recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as a small Canarese-speaking caste of beggars. In the South Canara Manual, it is stated that they are "classed as mendicants, as there is a small body of Malayalam gypsies of that name. But there may have been some confusion with Malava and Male Kudiya."

Mali.--"The Malis," Mr. H. A. Stuart writes, [174] "are now mostly cultivators, but their traditional occupation (from which the caste name is derived) is making garlands, and providing flowers for the service of Hindu temples. They are especially clever in growing vegetables. Their vernacular is Uriya." It is noted, in the Census Report, 1901, that the temple servants wear the sacred thread, and employ Brahmans as priests. It is further recorded, in the Census Report, 1871, that "the Malis are, as their name denotes, gardeners. They chose for their settlements sites where they were able to turn a stream to irrigate a bit of land near their dwellings. Here they raise fine crops of vegetables, which they carry to the numerous markets throughout the country. Their rights to the lands acquired from the Parjas (Porojas) are of a substantial nature, and the only evidence to show their possessions were formerly Parja bhumi (Poroja lands) is perhaps a row of upright stones erected by the older race to the memory of their village chiefs."

For the following note, I am indebted to Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao. The Malis say that their ancestors lived originally at Kasi (Benares), whence they emigrated to serve under the Raja of Jeypore. They are divided into the following sub-divisions:--Bodo, Pondra, Kosalya, Pannara, Sonkuva, and Dongrudiya. The name Pondra is said to be derived from podoro, a dry field. I am informed that, if a Pondra is so prosperous as to possess a garden which requires the employment of a picottah, he is bound to entertain as many men of his caste as choose to go to his house. A man without a picottah may refuse to receive such visits. A picottah is the old-fashioned form of a machine still used for raising water, and consists of a long lever or yard pivotted on an upright post, weighted on the short arm, and bearing a line and bucket on the long arm.

Among the Bodo Malis, a man can claim his paternal aunt's daughter in marriage, which takes place before the girl reaches puberty. A jholla tonka (bride-price) of forty rupees is paid, and the girl is conducted to the house of the bridegroom, in front of which a pandal (booth) has been erected, with nine pots, one above the other, placed at the four corners and in the centre. In the middle of the pandal a mattress is spread, and to the pandal a cloth, with a myrabolam (Terminalia fruit), rice, and money tied up in it, is attached. The contracting couple sit together, and a sacred thread is given to the bridegroom by the officiating priest. The bride is presented with necklaces, nose-screws, and other ornaments by the bridegroom's party. They then repair to the bridegroom's house. The ceremonies are repeated during the next three days, and on the fifth day the pair are bathed with turmeric water, and repair to a stream, in which they bathe. On their return home, the bridegroom is presented with some cheap jewelry.

Among the Pondra Malis, if a girl is not provided with a husband before she reaches puberty, a mock marriage is performed. A pandal (booth) is erected in front of her house, and she enters it, carrying a fan in her right hand, and sits on a mattress. A pot, containing water and mango leaves, is set in front of her, and the females throw turmeric-rice over her. They then mix turmeric powder with castor-oil, and pour it over her from mango leaves. She next goes to the village stream, and bathes. A caste feast follows after this ceremonial has been performed. The girl is permitted to marry in the ordinary way. A Bodo Mali girl, who does not secure a husband before she reaches puberty, is said to be turned out of the caste.

In the regular marriage ceremony among the Pondra Malis, the bridegroom, accompanied by his party, proceeds to the bride's village, where they stay in a house other than that of the bride. They send five rupees, a new cloth for the bride's mother, rice, and other things necessary for a meal, as jholla tonka (present) to the bride's house. Pandals, made of four poles, are erected in front of the houses of the bride and bridegroom. Towards evening, the bridegroom proceeds to the house of the bride, and the couple are blessed by the assembled relations within the pandal. On the following day, the bridegroom conducts the bride to her pandal. They take their seat therein, separated by a screen, with the ends of their cloths tied together. Ornaments, called maguta, corresponding to the bashinga, are tied on their foreheads. At the auspicious moment fixed by the presiding Desari, the bride stretches out her right hand, and the bridegroom places his thereon. On it some rice and myrabolam fruit are laid, and tied up with rolls of cotton thread by the Desari. On the third day, the couple repair to a stream, and bathe. They then bury the magutas. After a feast, the bride accompanies the bridegroom to his village, but, if she has not reached puberty, returns to her parents.

Widow remarriage is permitted, and a younger brother usually marries the widow of his elder brother.

The dead are burnt, and death pollution lasts for ten days, during which those who are polluted refrain from their usual employment. On the ninth day, a hole is dug in the house of the deceased, and a lamp placed in it. The son, or some other close relative, eats a meal by the side of the hole, and, when it is finished, places the platter and the remains of the food in the hole, and buries them with the lamp. On the tenth day, an Oriya Brahman purifies the house by raising the sacred fire (homam). He is, in return for his services, presented with the utensils of the deceased, half a rupee, rice, and other things.

Mali further occurs as the name of an exogamous sept of Holeya. (See also Ravulo.)

Maliah (hill).--A sub-division of Savaras who inhabit the hill-country.

Malighai Chetti.--A synonym of Acharapakam Chettis. In the city of Madras, the Malighai Chettis cannot, like other Beri Chettis, vote or receive votes at elections or meetings of the Kandasami temple.

Malik.--A sect of Muhammadans, who are the followers of the Imam Abu 'Abdi 'llah Malik ibn Anas, the founder of one of the four orthodox sects of Sunnis, who was born at Madinah, A.H. 94 (A.D. 716).

Malle.--Malle, Malli, Mallela, or Mallige, meaning jasmine, has been recorded as an exogamous sept of Bestha, Holeya, Kamma, Korava, Kurni, Kuruba, Madiga, Mala, Odde, and Tsakala. The Tsakalas, I am informed, will not use jasmine flowers, or go near the plant. In like manner, Besthas of the Malle gotra may not touch it.

Malumi.--A class of Muhammadan pilots and sailors in the Laccadive islands. (See Mappilla.)

Mamidla (mango).--An exogamous sept of Padma Sale.

Mana (a measure).--An exogamous sept of Kuruba.

Manavalan (bridegroom).--A sub-division of Nayar.

Manayammamar.--The name for Mussad females. Mana means a Brahman's house.

Mancha.--Recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as a Musalman tribe in the Laccadive islands.

Manchala (cots).--An exogamous sept of Odde. The equivalent mancham occurs as a sept of Panta Reddis, the members of which avoid sleeping on cots.

Manchi (good).--An exogamous sept of Padma Sale and Yanadi.

Mandadan Chetti.--There are at Gudalur near the boundary between the Nilgiri district and Malabar, and in the Wynad, two classes called respectively Mandadan Chettis and Wynad Chettis (q.v.).

The following account of the Mandadan Chettis is given in the Gazetteer of the Nilgiris. "They speak a corrupt Canarese, follow the makkatayam law of inheritance (from father to son), and seem always to have been natives of the Wynaad. Mandadan is supposed to be a corruption of Mahavalinadu, the traditional name still applied to the country between Nellakottai and Tippakadu, in which these Chettis principally reside. These Chettis recognise as many as eight different headmen, who each have names and a definite order of precedence, the latter being accurately marked by the varying lengths of the periods of pollution observed when they die. They are supposed to be the descendants in the nearest direct line of the original ancestors of the caste, and they are shown special respect on public occasions, and settle domestic and caste disputes. Marriages take place after puberty, and are arranged through go-betweens called Madhyastas. When matters have been set in train, the contracting parties meet, and the boy's parents measure out a certain quantity of paddy (unhusked rice), and present it to the bride's people, while the Madhyastas formally solicit the approval to the match of all the nearest relatives. The bride is bathed and dressed in a new cloth, and the couple are then seated under a pandal (booth). The priest of the Nambalakod temple comes with flowers, blesses the tali, and hands it to the bridegroom, who ties it round the bride's neck. Sometimes the young man is made to work for the girl as Jacob did for Rachael, serving her father for a period (generally of from one to four years), the length of which is settled by a panchayat (council). In such cases, the father-in-law pays the expenses of the wedding, and sets up the young couple with a house and some land. Married women are not prohibited from conferring favours on their husbands' brothers, but adultery outside the caste is severely dealt with. Adoption seems to be unknown. A widow may remarry. If she weds her deceased husband's brother, the only ceremony is a dinner, after which the happy pair are formally seated on the same mat; but, if she marries any one else, a pandal and tali are provided. Divorce is allowed to both parties, and divorcées may remarry. In their cases, however, the wedding rites are much curtailed. The dead are usually burnt, but those who have been killed by accidents or epidemics are buried. When any one is at death's door, he or she is made to swallow a little water from a vessel in which some rice and a gold coin have been placed. The body is bathed and dressed in a new cloth, sometimes music is played and a gun fired, and in all cases the deceased's family walk three times round the pyre before it is fired by the chief mourner. When the period of pollution is over, holy water is fetched from the Nambalakod temple, and sprinkled all about the house. These Chettis are Saivites, and worship Betarayasvami of Nambalakod, the Airu Billi of the Kurumbas, and one or two other minor gods, and certain deified ancestors. These minor gods have no regular shrines, but huts provided with platforms for them to sit upon, in which lamps are lit in the evenings, are built for them in the fields and jungles. Chetti women are often handsome. In the house they wear only a waist-cloth, but they put on an upper cloth when they venture abroad. They distend the lobes of their ears, and for the first few years after marriage wear in them circular gold ornaments somewhat resembling those affected by the Nayar ladies. After that period they substitute a strip of rolled-up palm leaf. They have an odd custom of wearing a big chignon made up of plaits of their own hair cut off at intervals in their girlhood."

Mandadi.--A title of Golla.

Mandai.--An exogamous section of Kallan named after Mandai Karuppan, the god of the village common (Mandai).

Mandha.--Mandha or Mandhala, meaning a village common, or herd of cattle collected thereon, has been recorded as an exogamous sept of Bedar, Karna Sale, and Madiga.

Mandi (cow).--A sept of Poroja.

Mandiri.--A sub-division of Domb.

Mandula.--The Mandulas (medicine men) are a wandering class, the members of which go about from village to village in the Telugu country, selling drugs (mandu, medicine) and medicinal powders. Some of their women act as midwives. Of these people an interesting account is given by Bishop Whitehead, [175] who writes as follows. "We found an encampment of five or six dirty-looking huts made of matting, each about five feet high, eight feet long and six feet wide, belonging to a body of Mandalavaru, whose head-quarters are at Masulipatam. They are medicine men by profession, and thieves and beggars by choice. The headman showed us his stock of medicines in a bag, and a quaint stock it was, consisting of a miscellaneous collection of stones and pieces of wood, and the fruits of trees. The stones are ground to powder, and mixed up as a medicine with various ingredients. He had a piece of mica, a stone containing iron, and another which contained some other metal. There was also a peculiar wood used as an antidote against snake-bite, a piece being torn off and eaten by the person bitten. One common treatment for children is to give them tiles, ground to powder, to eat. In the headman's hut was a picturesque-looking woman sitting up with an infant three days old. It had an anklet, made of its mother's hair, tied round the right ankle, to keep off the evil eye. The mother, too, had a similar anklet round her own left ankle, which she put on before her confinement. She asked for some castor-oil to smear over the child. They had a good many donkeys, pigs, and fowls with them, and made, they said, about a rupee a day by begging. Some time ago, they all got drunk, and had a free fight, in which a woman got her head cut open. The police went to enquire into the matter, but the woman declared that she only fell against a bamboo by accident. The whole tribe meet once a year, at Masulipatam, at the Sivaratri festival, and then sacrifice pigs and goats to their various deities. The goddess is represented by a plain uncarved stone, about four-and-a-half or five feet high, daubed with turmeric and kunkuma (red powder). The animals are killed in front of the stone, and the blood is allowed to flow on the ground. They believe that the goddess drinks it. They cook rice on the spot, and present some of it to the goddess. They then have a great feast of the rest of the rice and the flesh of the victims, get very drunk with arrack, and end up with a free fight. We noted that one of the men had on an anklet of hair, like the woman's. He said he had been bitten by a snake some time ago, and had put on the anklet as a charm."

The Mandula is a very imposing person, as he sits in a conspicuous place, surrounded by paper packets piled up all round him. His method of advertising his medicines is to take the packets one by one, and, after opening them and folding them up, to make a fresh pile. As he does so, he may be heard repeating very rapidly, in a sing-song tone, "Medicine for rheumatism," etc. Mandulas are sometimes to be seen close to the Moore Market in the city of Madras, with their heaps of packets containing powders of various colours.

Mangala.--"The Mangalas and Ambattans," Mr. H. A. Stuart writes, [176] "are the barber castes, and are probably of identical origin, but, like the potters, they have, by difference of locality, separated into Telugus and Tamilians, who do not intermarry. Both are said to be the offspring of a Brahman by a Vaisya woman. The Telugu name is referred to the word mangalam, which means happiness and also cleansing, and is applied to barbers, because they take part in marriage ceremonies, and add to the happiness on the occasion by the melodious sounds of their flutes (nagasaram), while they also contribute to the cleanliness of the people by shaving their bodies. The Telugus are divided into the Reddibhumi, Murikinadu, and Kurichinadu sub-divisions, and are mostly Vaishnavites. They consider the Tamilians as lower than themselves, because they consent to shave the whole body, while the Telugus only shave the upper portions. Besides their ordinary occupation, the members of this caste pretend to some knowledge of surgery and of the properties of herbs and drugs. Their females practice midwifery in a barbarous fashion, not scrupling also to indulge largely in criminal acts connected with their profession. Flesh-eating is allowed, but not widow marriage."