Part 37

"Mangalas," Mr. Stuart writes further, [177] "are also called Bajantri (in reference to their being musicians), Kalyanakulam (marriage people), and Angarakudu. The word angaramu means fire, charcoal, a live coal, and angarakudu is the planet Mars. Tuesday is Mars day, and one name for it is Angarakavaramu, but the other and more common name is Mangalavaramu. Now mangala is a Sanskrit word, meaning happiness, and mangala, with the soft l, is the Telugu for a barber. Mangalavaramu and Angarakavaramu being synonymous, it is natural that the barbers should have seized upon this, and given themselves importance by claiming to be the caste of the planet Mars. As a matter of fact, this planet is considered to be a star of ill omen, and Tuesday is regarded as an inauspicious day. Barbers are also considered to be of ill omen owing to their connection with deaths, when their services are required to shave the heads of the mourners. On an auspicious occasion, a barber would never be called a Mangala, but a Bajantri, or musician. Their titles are Anna and Gadu." Anna means brother, and Gadu is a common suffix to the names of Telugus, e.g., Ramigadu, Subbigadu. A further title is Ayya (father).

For the following note on the Mangalas, I am indebted to Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao. The caste is divided into two endogamous divisions, Telaga and Kapu, the ancestors of which were half brothers, by different mothers. They will eat together, but will not intermarry, as they regard themselves as cousins. The primary occupation of the caste is shaving the heads of people belonging to the non-polluting castes, and, for a small consideration, razors are lent to Madigas and Malas. A Mangala, in the Vizagapatam district, carries no pollution with him, when he is not actually engaged in his professional duties, and may often be found as storekeeper in Hindu households, and occupying the same position as the Bhondari, or Oriya barber, does in the Oriya country. Unlike the Tamil Ambattan, the Mangala has no objection to shaving Europeans. He is one of the village officials, whose duties are to render assistance to travellers, and massage their limbs, and, in many villages, he is rewarded for his services with a grant of land. He is further the village musician, and an expert at playing on the flute. Boys are taught the art of shaving when they are about eight years old. An old chatty (earthen pot) is turned upside down, and smeared with damp earth. When this is dry, the lad has to scrape it off under the direction of an experienced barber.

Mangala Pujari.--The title of the caste priest of the Mogers.

Mangalyam.--A sub-division of Marans, who, at the tali-kettu ceremony of the Nayars, carry the ashtamangalyam or eight auspicious things. These are rice, paddy (unhusked rice), tender leaves of the cocoanut, a mimic arrow, a metal looking-glass, a well-washed cloth, burning fire, and a small round wooden box called cheppu. Mangalyam occurs as the name for Marans in old Travancore records.

Mangalakkal.--This and Manigramam are recorded, in the Travancore Census Report, 1901, as sub-divisions of Nayar.

Manikala (a measure).--An exogamous sept of Yanadi.

Manikattal.--A synonym of Deva-dasi applied to dancing-girls in the Tamil country.

Maniyakkaran.--Maniyakkaran or Maniyagaran, meaning an overseer, occurs as a title or synonym of Parivaram and Sembadavan. As a name of a sub-division of the Idaiyan shepherds, the word is said to be derived from mani, a bell, such as is tied round the necks of cattle, sheep, and goats. Maniyakkaran has been corrupted into monegar, the title of the headman of a village in the Tamil country.

Manjaputtur.--A sub-division of Chettis, who are said to have emigrated to the Madura district from Cuddalore (Manjakuppam).

Manla (trees).--An exogamous sept of Chenchu.

Mannadi.--A title of Kunnavans of the Palni hills, often given as the caste name. Also a title of Pallans and Muttans.

Mannadiyar.--A trading sub-division of Nayar.

Mannan.--The Mannans are a hill tribe of Travancore, and are said to have been originally dependents of the kings of Madura, whom they, like the Uralis and Muduvans, accompanied to Neriyamangalam. "Later on, they settled in a portion of the Cardamom Hills called Makara-alum. One of the chiefs of Poonyat nominated three of these Mannans as his agents at three different centres in his dominions, one to live at Tollairamalai with a silver sword as badge and with the title of Varayilkizh Mannan, a second to live at Mannankantam with a bracelet and the title of Gopura Mannan, and a third at Utumpanchola with a silver cane and the title of Talamala Mannan. For these headmen, the other Mannans are expected to do a lot of miscellaneous services. It is only with the consent of the headmen that marriages may be contracted. Persons of both sexes dress themselves like Maravans. Silver and brass ear-rings are worn by the men. Necklets of white and red beads are worn on the neck, and brass bracelets on the wrist. Mannans put up the best huts among the hill-men. Menstrual and puerperal impurity is not so repelling as in the case of the Uralis. About a year after a child is born, the eldest member of the family ties a necklet of beads round its neck, and gives it a name. The Mannans bury their dead. The coffin is made of bamboo and reeds, and the corpse is taken to the grave with music and the beating of drums. The personal ornaments, if any, are not removed. Before filling in the grave, a quantity of rice is put into the mouth of the deceased. A shed is erected over the site of burial. After a year has passed, an offering of food and drink is made to the dead. The language of the Mannans is Tamil. They have neither washermen nor barbers, but wash clothes and shave for one another. The Mannans stand ahead of the other hill-men from their knowledge of medicine, though they resort more to Chattu than to herbs. Drinking is a very common vice. Marumakkathayam is the prevailing form of inheritance (in the female line); but it is customary to give a portion to the sons also. Marriage takes the form of tali-tying. The tali (marriage badge) is removed on the death of the husband. Women generally wait for two years to marry a second husband, after the death of the first. A Mannan claims the hand of his maternal uncle's daughter. The Sasta of Sabarimala and Periyar is devoutly worshipped. The Mannans are experts in collecting honey. They eat the flesh of the monkey, but not that of the crocodile, snake, buffalo or cow. They are fast decreasing in numbers, like the other denizens of the hills." [178]

Concerning the Mannans, Mr. O. H. Bensley writes as follows. [179] "I enjoy many pleasant reminiscences of my intercourse with these people. Their cheery and sociable disposition, and enjoyment of camp life, make it quite a pleasure to be thrown into contact with them. Short, sturdy, and hairless, the Mannans have all the appearances of an 'aboriginal' race. The Mannan country extends southward from the limit occupied by the Muduvans on the Cardamom Hills to a point south of the territory now submerged by the Periyar works. [180] They have, moreover, to keep to the east of the Periyar river. Smallpox ravages their villages, and fever lives in the air they breathe. Within the present generation, three of their settlements were at the point of extinction, but were recruited from other more fortunate bands. Very few attain to old age, but there were until lately three old patriarchs among them, who were the headmen of three of the most important sections of the tribe. The Muduvans and Mannans pursue the same destructive method of cultivation, but, as the latter are much fewer in numbers, their depredations are not so serious. None of the tribes east of the Periyar pay any tax to the Government, but are expected, in return for their holdings, to perform certain services in the way of building huts and clearing paths, for which they receive fixed payment. They have also to collect forest produce, and for this, too, they obtain fixed rates, so that their treatment by the Government is in reality of the most liberal kind. Mannans do not always look at things in quite the light one would expect. For example, the heir to an English Earldom, after a pleasant shooting trip in Travancore, bestowed upon a Mannan who had been with him a handsome knife as a memento. Next day, the knife was seen in the possession of a cooly on a coffee estate, and it transpired that the Mannan had sold it to him for three rupees, instead of keeping it as an heirloom. A remarkable trait in the character of the Mannans is the readiness with which they fraternise with Europeans. Most of the other tribes approach with reluctance, which requires considerable diplomacy to overcome. Not so the Mannan. He willingly initiates a tyro and a stranger into the mysteries of the chase. Though their language is Tamil, and the only communication they hold with the low country is on the Madura side, they have this custom in common with the Malayalis, that the chieftainship of their villages goes to the nephew, and not to the son. One does not expect to find heroic

## actions among these simple people. But how else could one describe

the following incident? A Mannan, walking with his son, a lad about twelve years old, came suddenly upon a rogue elephant. His first act was to place his son in a position of safety by lifting him up till he could reach the branch of a tree, and only then he began to think of himself. But it was too late. The elephant charged down upon him, and in a few seconds he was a shapeless mass."

Mannan (Washerman caste).--See Vannan and Velan.

Mannedora (lord of the hills).--A title assumed by Konda Doras. Manne Sultan is a title of the Maharaja of Travancore and the Raja of Vizianagram. The Konda Doras also style themselves Mannelu, or those of the hills.

Mannepu-vandlu.--Said [181] to be the name, derived from mannemu, highland, for Malas in parts of the Godavari district.

Mannu (earth).--A sub-division of Oddes, who are earth-workers. Manti, which has also been returned by them at times of census, has a similar significance (earthen). Man Udaiyan occurs as a synonym of Kusavan, and Manal (sand) as an exogamous sept of Kappiliyan. Man Kavarai is recorded in the Salem Manual as the name of a class of salt makers from salt-earth.

Mantalayi.--Recorded, in the Travancore Census Report, 1901, as a sub-division of Nayar.

Mappilla.--The Mappillas, or Moplahs, are defined in the Census Report, 1871, as the hybrid Mahomedan race of the western coast, whose numbers are constantly being added to by conversion of the slave castes of Malabar. In 1881, the Census Superintendent wrote that "among some of them there may be a strain of Arab blood from some early generation, but the mothers throughout have been Dravidian, and the class has been maintained in number by wholesale adult conversion." Concerning the origin of the Mappillas, Mr. Lewis Moore states [182] that "originally the descendants of Arab traders by the women of the country, they now form a powerful community. There appears to have been a large influx of Arab settlers into Malabar in the ninth century A.D. and the numbers have been constantly increased by proselytism. The Mappillas came prominently forward at the time of the Portuguese invasion at the end of the fifteenth century A.D." "The Muhammadan Arabs," Dr. Burnell writes, [183] "appear to have settled first in Malabar about the beginning of the ninth century; there were heathen Arabs there long before that in consequence of the immense trade conducted by the Sabeans with India." "There are," Mr. B. Govinda Nambiar writes, [184] "many accounts extant in Malabar concerning the introduction of the faith of Islam into this district. Tradition says that, in the ninth century of the Christian era, a party of Moslem pilgrims, on their way to a sacred shrine in Ceylon, chanced to visit the capital of the Perumal or king of Malabar, that they were most hospitably entertained by that prince, and that he, becoming a convert to their faith, subsequently accompanied them to Arabia (where he died). It is further stated that the Perumal, becoming anxious of establishing his new faith in Malabar, with suitable places of worship, sent his followers with letters to all the chieftains whom he had appointed in his stead, requiring them to give land for mosques, and to endow them. The Perumal's instructions were carried out, and nine mosques were founded and endowed in various parts of Malabar. Whatever truth there may be in these accounts, it is certain that, at a very early period, the Arabs had settled for commercial purposes on the Malabar coast, had contracted alliances with the women of the country, and that the mixed race thus formed had begun to be known as the Mappillas. These Mappillas had, in the days of the Zamorin, played an important part in the political history of Malabar, and had in consequence obtained many valuable privileges. When Vasco da Gama visited Calicut during the closing years of the fifteenth century, we find their influence at court so powerful that the Portuguese could not obtain a commercial footing there. The numerical strength of the Mappillas was greatly increased by forcible conversions during the period when Tippu Sultan held sway over Malabar." [At the installation of the Zamorin, some Mappilla families at Calicut have certain privileges; and a Mappilla woman, belonging to a certain family, presents the Zamorin with betel nuts near the Kallai bridge, on his return from a procession through the town.] According to one version of the story of the Perumal, Cheraman Perumal dreamt that the full moon appeared at Mecca on the night of the new moon, and that, when on the meridian, it split into two, one half remaining in the air, and the other half descending to the foot of a hill called Abu Kubais, where the two halves joined together. Shortly afterwards, a party of pilgrims, on their way to the foot-print shrine at Adam's peak in Ceylon, landed in Cheraman Perumal's capital at Kodungallur, and reported that by the same miracle, Muhammad had converted a number of unbelievers to his religion.

The cephalic index of the Mappillas is lower than that of the other Muhammadan classes in South India which I have examined, and this may probably be explained by their admixture with dolichocephalic Dravidians. The figures are as follows:--

Number examined. Cephalic index.

Mappilla 40 72.8 Sheik Muhammadan 40 75.6 Saiyad Muhammadan 40 75.6 Daira Muhammadan 50 75.6 Pathan Muhammadan 40 76.2

From the measurement of a very few Mappillas, members of the Hyderabad Contingent, and Marathas, who went to England for the Coronation in 1902, Mr. J. Gray arrived at the conclusion that "the people on the west coast and in the centre of the Deccan, namely the Moplas, Maharattas, and Hyderabad Contingent, differ considerably from the Tamils of the east coast. Their heads are considerably shorter. This points to admixture of the Dravidians with some Mongolian element. There is a tradition that the Moplas are descended from Arab traders, but the measurements indicate that the immigrants were Turkish, or of some other Mongolian element, probably from Persia or Baluchistan." [185]

The cephalic indices, as recorded by Mr. Gray, were:--

Number examined. Cephalic index.

Tamils 6 75.4 Moplas 6 77.5 Hyderabad Contingent 6 75 Maharattas 7 79

The number of individuals examined is, however, too small for the purpose of generalisation.

In the Census Report, 1891, it is noted that some Mappillas have returned "Putiya Islam," meaning new converts to Islam. These are mostly converts from the Mukkuvan or fisherman caste, and this process of conversion is still going on. Most of the fishermen of Tanur, where there is an important fish-curing yard, are Mukkuvan converts. They are sleek and well-nourished, and, to judge from the swarm of children who followed me during my inspection of the yard, eminently fertile. One of them, indeed, was polygynous to the extent of seven wives, each of whom had presented him with seven sons, not to mention a large consignment of daughters. On the east coast the occurrence of twins is attributed by the fishermen to the stimulating properties of fish diet. In Malabar, great virtue is attributed to the sardine or nalla mathi (good fish, Clupea longiceps), as an article of dietary.

"Conversion to Muhammadanism," Mr. Logan writes, [186] "has had a marked effect in freeing the slave caste in Malabar from their former burthens. By conversion a Cheruman obtains a distinct rise in the social scale, and, if he is in consequence bullied or beaten, the influence of the whole Muhammadan community comes to his aid." The same applies to the Nayadis, of whom some have escaped from their degraded position by conversion to Islam. In the scale of pollution, the Nayadi holds the lowest place, and consequently labours under the greatest disadvantage, which is removed with his change of religion.

As regards the origin and significance of the word Mappilla, according to Mr. Lewis Moore, it means, "(1) a bridegroom or son-in-law; (2) the name given to Muhammadan, Christian, or Jewish colonists in Malabar, who have intermarried with the natives of the country. The name is now confined to Muhammadans." It is noted by Mr. Nelson [187] that "the Kallans alone of all the castes of Madura call the Muhammadans Mappilleis, or bridegrooms." In criticising this statement, Yule and Burnell [188] state that "Nelson interprets the word as bridegroom. It should, however, rather be son-in-law. The husband of the existing Princess of Tanjore is habitually styled by the natives Mappillai Sahib, as the son-in-law of the late Raja." "Some," Mr. Padmanabha Menon writes, [189] "think that the word Mappila is a contracted form of maha (great) and pilla (child), an honorary title as among Nairs in Travancore (pilla or pillay). Mr. Logan surmises that maha pilla was probably a title of honour conferred on the early Muhammadans, or possibly on the still earlier Christian immigrants, who are also down to the present day called Mappilas. The Muhammadans generally go by the name of Jonaga Mappilas. Jonaka is believed to stand for Yavanaka, i.e., Greek!" [190] [In the Gazetteer of the Tanjore district, Yavana is recorded as meaning Ionia.] It is, indeed, remarkable that in the Payyanorepat, perhaps the earliest Malayalam poem extant, some of the sailors mentioned in it are called Chonavans. (The Jews are known as Juda Mappila.) Dr. Day derives the word Mapilla from Ma (mother) and pilla (child). [Wilson gives Mapilla, mother's son, as being sprung from the intercourse of foreign colonists, who were persons unknown, with Malabar women.] Duncan says that a Qazi derived the name from Ma (mother) and pilla a (puppy) as a term of reproach! Maclean, in the Asiatic Researches, considered that the word came from maha or mohai (mocha) and pilla (child), and therefore translated it into children or natives (perhaps outcasts) of Mohai or Mocha. A more likely, and perhaps more correct derivation is given by Mr. Percy Badger in a note to his edition of the Varthema. "I am inclined to think," he says, "that the name is either a corruption of the Arabic muflih (from the root fallah, to till the soil), meaning prosperous or victorious, in which sense it would apply to the successful establishment of those foreign Mussalmans on the western coast of India; or that it is a similar corruption of maflih (the active participial form of the same verb), an agriculturist--a still more appropriate designation of Moplahs, who, according to Buchanan, are both traders and farmers. In the latter sense, the term, though not usually so applied among the Arabs, would be identical with fella'h." By Mr. C. P. Brown the conviction was expressed that Mappilla is a Tamil mispronunciation of the Arabic mu'abbar, from over the water.

"The chief characteristic of the Mappillas," Mr. Govinda Nambiar writes, "as of all Mussalmans, is enthusiasm for religious practices. They are either Sunnis or Shiahs. The Sunnis are the followers of the Ponnani Tangal, the chief priest of the orthodox party, while the Shiahs acknowledge the Kondotti Tangal as their religious head. There are always religious disputes between these sects, and the criminal courts are not seldom called in to settle them." In an account of the Mappillas, [191] Mr. P. Kunjain, a Mappilla Government official (the first Mappilla Deputy Collector), states that "there are a few Moplahs in the Ernad and Waluwanad taluks who are the followers of the Kondotti Tangal, and are, therefore, believed to be heretics (Shias). The number of these is dwindling. The reason why they are believed to be heretics, and as such outcasted, is that they are enjoined by their preceptor (the Tangal) to prostrate before him. Prostration (sujud), according to strict doctrines, is due to God alone." At Mulliakurichi in the Walluwanad taluk there are two mosques. One, the Pazhaya Palli, or old mosque, belongs to, or is regarded as belonging to the Kondotti sect of Mappillas. The other is called Puthan Palli, or new mosque. This mosque is asserted by the Ponnani sect of Mappillas to have been erected for their exclusive use. The Kondotti sect, on the other hand, claim that it was erected by them, as the old mosque was not large enough for the growing congregation. They do not claim exclusive use of the new mosque, but a right to worship there, just like any other Muhammadan. The Ponnani sect, however, claim a right to exclude the Kondotti people from the new mosque altogether. In September, 1901, there was a riot at the mosque between members of the rival sects. The Mappillas have a college at Ponnani, the chief seat of their religious organisation, where men are trained in religious offices. This institution, called the Jammat mosque, was, it is said, founded in the twelfth or thirteenth century A.D. by an Arab divine for the purpose of imparting religious instruction to youths of the Muhammadan community. The head of the institution selects the ablest and most diligent from among the students, and confers on him the title of Musaliar. He is then appointed to preach in mosques, and to explain the meaning of the Koran and other sacred writings. There are other religious offices, as those of the Kazi, Katib, and Mulla. The highest personages of divinity among them are known as Tangals. In the middle of the last century there was a very influential Tangal (Mambram Tangal), who was suspected of fomenting outbreaks, and who conferred his blessing on the murderous projects of his disciples. Of him it is stated that he was regarded as imbued with a portion of divinity, and that the Mappillas swore by his foot as their most solemn oath. Earth on which he had spat or walked was treasured up, and his blessing was supremely prized. Even among the higher class of Mappillas, his wish was regarded as a command.

Mr. A. R. Loftus-Tottenham informs me that "it is quite common now for Mappillas to invoke Mambram Tangal when in difficulties. I have heard a little Mappilla, who was frightened at my appearance, and ran away across a field, calling out 'Mambram Tangal, Mambram Tangal.' The Tangal, who had to be induced to leave Malabar, went off to Constantinople, and gained great influence with the Sultan."