Part 22

In a very interesting note [88] on couching of the lens as practiced by native practitioners, Major R. H. Elliot, I.M.S., writes as follows. "The ignorance and stupidity of the ryot (villager) is so great that he will not very infrequently try one eye in an English hospital, and one in a Vaithyan's hands. It is a very common thing for a native patient to deny ever having visited a native doctor, when he first comes to hospital. After the other eye has been successfully operated on, he will sometimes own up to the fact.... Here in the south, there appear to be two classes of operators, the resident men who live for long periods in one bazaar, and the travellers who move continuously from place to place. Both are Mahomedans. The former appear to get somewhat better results than the latter, and are spoken of as 'men of experience.' The latter seem never to stop long in one place. They collect a number of victims, operate on them, and then move on before their sins can find them out. Both kinds of operators seem to be innocent of any attempt at securing asepsis or antisepsis; they use a dirty needle or a sharp wooden skewer; no anæsthetic is employed; a bandage is kept on for ten days, and counter-irritation is freely resorted to, to combat iritis, etc. Many of the victims are ashamed to come to a European hospital after the failure of their hopes. It has been said that, if the Vaithyan did not get good results, he would be dropped, and the practice would die out. This remark can only have come from one who knew nothing of the Indian character, or the crass ignorance of the lower classes of the people. It is hard for those who have not lived and worked among them to realise how easily the ryot falls a dupe to impudent self-advertisement. He is a simple kindly person, whose implicit trust in confident self-assertion will bring him to grief for many another generation. The vision of these poor unfortunate people sitting down in a dusty bazaar to let an ignorant charlatan thrust a dirty needle into their blind eyes has evoked the indignation of the English surgeon from the time of our first occupation of the country. Side by side with a well-equipped English hospital, which turns out its ninety odd per cent. of useful vision, there sits in the neighbouring bazaar even to-day the charlatan, whose fee is fixed at anything from 3d. to 8 shillings, plus, in every case, a fowl or other animal. The latter is ostensibly for sacrificial purposes, but I understand ends uniformly in the Vaithyan's curry-pot. Weirdest, perhaps, of all the Vaithyan's methods is the use of the saffron-coloured rag, with which pus is wiped away from the patient's inflamed eye. On this colour, the pus, etc., cannot be seen, and therefore all is well. It is the fabled ostrich again, only this time in real life, with vital interests at stake."

It is noted [89] in connection with the various classes of Nambutiri Brahmans that "the Vaidyans or physicians, known as Mussads, are to study the medical science, and to practice the same. As the profession of a doctor necessitates the performance of surgical operations entailing the shedding of blood, the Mussads are considered as slightly degraded."

Further information concerning native medicine-men will be found in the articles on Kusavans and Mandulas.

Vaikhanasa.--Followers of the Rishi Vaikhanasa. They are Archaka Brahman priests in the Telugu country.

Vairavan Kovil.--An exogamous section or kovil (temple) of Nattukottai Chetti.

Vairavi.--The equivalent of Bairagi or Vairagi. Recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as "a sub-caste of Pandaram. They are found only in the Tinnevelly district, where they are measurers of grain, and pujaris in village temples." In the Madura district, Vairavis are members of the Melakkaran caste, who officiate as servants at the temples of the Nattukottai Chettis.

Vaisya.--Vaisya is the third of the traditional castes of Manu. "It is," Mr. Francis writes, [90] "doubtful whether there are any true Dravidian Vaisyas, but some of the Dravidian trading castes (with the title Chetti), notably the Komatis, are treated as Vaisyas by the Brahmans, though the latter do not admit their right to perform the religious ceremonies which are restricted by the Vedas to the twice-born, and require them to follow only the Puranic rites. The Muttans (trading caste in Malabar) formerly claimed to be Nayars, but recently they have gone further, and some of them have returned themselves as Vaisyas, and added the Vaisya title of Gupta to their names. They do not, however, wear the sacred thread or perform any Vedic rites, and Nayars consider themselves polluted by their touch." Some Vellalas and Nattukottai Chettis describe themselves as being Bhu (earth) Vaisyas, and some Gollas claim to be regarded as Go(cow) Vaisyas. [90] Some Ganigas and Nagartas call themselves Dharmasivachar Vaisyas, [91] and, like the Canarese Ganigas (oil-pressers), the Tamil oil-pressers (Vaniyan) claim to rank as Vaisyas. Vaisya Brahman is noted [92] as being a curious hybrid name, by which the Konkani Vanis (traders) style themselves. A small colony of "Baniyans," who call themselves Jain Vaisyas, is said [93] to have settled in Native Cochin. Vaisya is recorded as the caste of various title-holders, whose title is Chetti or Chettiyar, in the Madras Quarterly Civil List.

Vajjira (diamond).--An exogamous sept of Toreya.

Vakkaliga.--See Okkiliyan.

Valagadava.--An occupational name for various classes in South Canara, e.g., Sappaligas, Mogilis, and Patramelas, who are engaged as musicians.

Valai (net).--The name, said to indicate those who hunt with nets, of a section of Paraiyans. The Ambalakkarans, who are also called Valaiyans, claim that, when Siva's ring was swallowed by a fish in the Ganges, one of their ancestors invented the first net made in the world.

Valaiyal.--A sub-division of Kavarai, i.e., the Tamil equivalent of Gazula (glass bangle) Balija.

Valaiyan.--The Valaiyans are described, in the Manual of Madura district (1868), as "a low and debased class. Their name is supposed to be derived from valai, a net, and to have been given to them from their being constantly employed in netting game in the jungles. Many of them still live by the net; some catch fish; some smelt iron. Many are engaged in cultivation, as bearers of burdens, and in ordinary cooly work. The tradition that a Valaiya woman was the mother of the Vallambans seems to show that the Valaiyans must be one of the most ancient castes in the country." In the Tanjore Manual they are described as "inhabitants of the country inland who live by snaring birds, and fishing in fresh waters. They engage also in agricultural labour and cooly work, such as carrying loads, husking paddy (rice), and cutting and selling fire-wood. They are a poor and degraded class." The Valaiyans are expert at making cunningly devised traps for catching rats and jungle fowl. They have "a comical fairy-tale of the origin of the war, which still goes on between them and the rat tribe. It relates how the chiefs of the rats met in conclave, and devised the various means for arranging and harassing the enemy, which they still practice with such effect." [94] The Valaiyans say that they were once the friends of Siva, but were degraded for the sin of eating rats and frogs.

In the Census Report, 1901, the Valaiyans are described as "a shikari (hunting) caste in Madura and Tanjore. In the latter the names Ambalakaran, Servaikaran, Vedan, Siviyan, and Kuruvikkaran are indiscriminately applied to the caste." There is some connection between Ambalakarans, Muttiriyans, Mutrachas, Uralis, Vedans, Valaiyans, and Vettuvans, but in what it exactly consists remains to be ascertained. It seems likely that all of them are descended from one common parent stock. Ambalakarans claim to be descended from Kannappa Nayanar, one of the sixty-three Saivite saints, who was a Vedan or hunter by caste. In Tanjore the Valaiyans declare themselves to have a similar origin, and in that district Ambalakaran and Muttiriyan seem to be synonymous with Valaiyan. Moreover, the statistics of the distribution of the Valaiyans show that they are numerous in the districts where Ambalakarans are few, and vice versâ, which looks as though certain sections had taken to calling themselves Ambalakarans. The upper sections of the Ambalakarans style themselves Pillai, which is a title properly belonging to Vellalas, but the others are usually called Muppan in Tanjore, and Ambalakaran, Muttiriyan, and Servaikaran in Trichinopoly. The usual title of the Valaiyans, so far as I can gather, is Muppan, but some style themselves Servai and Ambalakaran."

The Madura Valaiyans are said [95] to be "less brahmanised than those in Tanjore, the latter employing Brahmans as priests, forbidding the marriage of widows, occasionally burning their dead, and being

## particular what they eat. But they still cling to the worship of all

the usual village gods and goddesses." In some places, it is said, [96] the Valaiyans will eat almost anything, including rats, cats, frogs and squirrels.

Like the Pallans and Paraiyans, the Valaiyans, in some places, live in streets of their own, or in settlements outside the villages. At times of census, they have returned a large number of sub-divisions, of which the following may be cited as examples:--

Monathinni. Those who eat the vermin of the soil. Pasikatti (pasi, glass bead). Saragu, withered leaves. Vanniyan. Synonym of the Palli caste. Vellamputtu, white-ant hill.

In some places the Saruku or Saragu Valaiyans have exogamous kilais or septs, which, as among the Maravans and Kallans, run in the female line. Brothers and sisters belong to the same kilai as that of their mother and maternal uncle, and not of their father.

It is stated, in the Gazetteer of the Madura district, that "the Valaiyans are grouped into four endogamous sub-divisions, namely, Vahni, Valattu, Karadi, and Kangu. The last of these is again divided into Pasikatti, those who use a bead necklet instead of a tali (as a marriage badge), and Karaikatti, those whose women wear horsehair necklaces like the Kallans. The caste title is Muppan. Caste matters are settled by a headman called the Kambliyan (blanket man), who lives at Aruppukottai, and comes round in state to any village which requires his services, seated on a horse, and accompanied by servants who hold an umbrella over his head and fan him. He holds his court seated on a blanket. The fines imposed go in equal shares to the aramanai (literally palace, i.e., to the headman himself), and to the oramanai, that is, the caste people.

It is noted by Mr. F. R. Hemingway that "the Valaiyans of the Trichinopoly district say that they have eight endogamous sub-divisions, namely, Sarahu (or Saragu), Ettarai Koppu, Tanambanadu or Valuvadi, Nadunattu or Asal, Kurumba, Vanniya, Ambunadu, and Punal. Some of these are similar to those of the Kallans and Ambalakarans."

In the Gazetteer of the Tanjore district, it is recorded that the Valaiyans are said to possess "endogamous sub-divisions called Vedan, Sulundukkaran and Ambalakkaran. The members of the first are said to be hunters, those of the second torch-bearers, and those of the last cultivators. They are a low caste, are refused admittance into the temples, and pollute a Vellalan by touch. Their occupations are chiefly cultivation of a low order, cooly work, and hunting. They are also said to be addicted to crime, being employed by Kallans as their tools."

Adult marriage is the rule, and the consent of the maternal uncle is necessary. Remarriage of widows is freely permitted. At the marriage ceremony, the bridegroom's sister takes up the tali (marriage badge), and, after showing it to those assembled, ties it tightly round the neck of the bride. To tie it loosely so that the tali string touches the collar-bone would be considered a breach of custom, and the woman who tied it would be fined. The tali-tying ceremony always takes place at night, and the bridegroom's sister performs it, as, if it was tied by the bridegroom, it could not be removed on his death, and replaced if his widow wished to marry again. Marriages generally take place from January to May, and consummation should not be effected till the end of the month Adi, lest the first child should be born in the month of Chithre, which would be very inauspicious. There are two Tamil proverbs to the effect that "the girl should remain in her mother's house during Adi," and "if a child is born in Chithre, it is ruinous to the house of the mother-in-law."

In the Gazetteer of the Madura district, it is stated that "at weddings, the bridegroom's sister ties the tali, and then hurries the bride off to her brother's house, where he is waiting. When a girl attains maturity, she is made to live for a fortnight in a temporary hut, which she afterwards burns down. While she is there, the little girls of the caste meet outside it, and sing a song illustrative of the charms of womanhood, and its power of alleviating the unhappy lot of the bachelor. Two of the verses say:--

What of the hair of a man? It is twisted, and matted, and a burden. What of the tresses of a woman? They are as flowers in a garland, and a glory.

What of the life of a man? It is that of the dog at the palace gate. What of the days of a woman? They are like the gently waving leaves in a festoon.

"Divorce is readily permitted on the usual payments, and divorcées and widows may remarry. A married woman who goes astray is brought before the Kambliyan, who delivers a homily, and then orders the man's waist-string to be tied round her neck. This legitimatises any children they may have." The Valaiyans of Pattukkottai in the Tanjore district say that intimacy between a man and woman before marriage is tolerated, and that the children of such a union are regarded as members of the caste, and permitted to intermarry with others, provided the parents pay a nominal penalty imposed by the caste council.

In connection with the Valaiyans of the Trichinopoly district, Mr. Hemingway writes that "they recognise three forms of marriage, the most usual of which consists in the bridegroom's party going to the girl's house with three marakkals of rice and a cock on an auspicious day, and in both parties having a feast there. Sometimes the young man's sister goes to the girl's house, ties a tali round her neck, and takes her away. The ordinary form of marriage, called big marriage, is sometimes used with variations, but the Valaiyans do not like it, and say that the two other forms result in more prolific unions. They tolerate unchastity before marriage, and allow parties to marry even after several children have been born, the marriage legitimatising them. They permit remarriage of widows and divorced women. Women convicted of immorality are garlanded with erukku (Calotropis gigantea) flowers, and made to carry a basket of mud round the village. Men who too frequently offend in this respect are made to sit with their toes tied to the neck by a creeper. When a woman is divorced, her male children go to the husband, and she is allowed to keep the girls."

The tribal gods of the Valaiyans are Singa Pidari (Aiyanar) and Padinettampadi Karuppan. Once a year, on the day after the new-moon in the month Masi (February to March), the Valaiyans assemble to worship the deity. Early in the morning they proceed to the Aiyanar temple, and, after doing homage to the god, go off to the forest to hunt hares and other small game. On their return they are met by the Valaiyan matrons carrying coloured water or rice (alam), garlands of flowers, betel leaves and areca nuts. The alam is waved over the men, some of whom become inspired and are garlanded. While they are under inspiration, the mothers appeal to them to name their babies. The products of the chase are taken to the house of the headman and distributed. At a festival, at which Mr. K. Rangachari was present, at about ten o'clock in the morning all the Valaiya men, women, and children, dressed up in holiday attire, swarmed out of their huts, and proceeded to a neighbouring grove. The men and boys each carried a throwing stick, or a digging stick tipped with iron. On arrival at the grove, they stood in a row, facing east, and, throwing down their sticks, saluted them, and prostrated themselves before them. Then all took up their sticks, and some played on reed pipes. Some of the women brought garlands of flowers, and placed them round the necks of four men, who for a time stood holding in their hands their sticks, of which the ends were stuck in the ground. After a time they began to shiver, move quickly about, and kick those around them. Under the influence of their inspiration, they exhibited remarkable physical strength, and five or six men could not hold them. Calling various people by name, they expressed a hope that they would respect the gods, worship them, and offer to them pongal (boiled rice) and animal sacrifices. The women brought their babies to them to be named. In some places, the naming of infants is performed at the Aiyanar temple by any one who is under the influence of inspiration. Failing such a one, several flowers, each with a name attached to it, are thrown in front of the idol. A boy, or the pujari (priest) picks up one of the flowers, and the infant receives the name which is connected with it.

The Valaiyans are devoted to devil worship, and, at Orattanadu in the Tanjore district, every Valaiyan backyard is said to contain an odiyan (Odina Wodier) tree, in which the devil is supposed to live. [97] It is noted by Mr. W. Francis [98] that "certain of the Valaiyans who live at Ammayanayakkanur are the hereditary pujaris to the gods of the Sirumalai hills. Some of these deities are uncommon, and one of them, Papparayan, is said to be the spirit of a Brahman astrologer whose monsoon forecast was falsified by events, and who, filled with a shame rare in unsuccessful weather prophets, threw himself off a high point on the range."

According to Mr. Hemingway, the Valaiyans have a special caste god, named Muttal Ravuttan, who is the spirit of a dead Muhammadan, about whom nothing seems to be known.

The dead are as a rule buried with rites similar to those of the Kallans and Agamudaiyans. The final death ceremonies (karmandhiram) are performed on the sixteenth day. On the night of the previous day, a vessel filled with water is placed on the spot where the deceased breathed his last, and two cocoanuts, with the pores ('eyes') open, are deposited near it. On the following morning, all proceed to a grove or tank (pond). The eldest son, or other celebrant, after shaving and bathing, marks out a square space on the ground, and, placing a few dry twigs of Ficus religiosa and Ficus bengalensis therein, sets fire to them. Presents of rice and other food-stuffs are given to beggars and others. The ceremony closes with the son and sapindas, who have to observe pollution, placing new cloths on their heads. Mr. Francis records that, at the funeral ceremonies, "the relations go three times round a basket of grain placed under a pandal (booth), beating their breasts and singing:--

For us the kanji (rice gruel): kailasam (the abode of Siva) for thee; Rice for us; for thee Svargalokam,

and then wind turbans round the head of the deceased's heir, in recognition of his new position as chief of the family. When a woman loses her husband, she goes three times round the village mandai (common), with a pot of water on her shoulder. After each of the first two journeys, the barber makes a hole in the pot, and at the end of the third he hurls down the vessel, and cries out an adjuration to the departed spirit to leave the widow and children in peace." It is noted, in the Gazetteer of the Tanjore district, that "one of the funeral ceremonies is peculiar, though it is paralleled by practices among the Paraiyans and Karaiyans. When the heir departs to the burning-ground on the second day, a mortar is placed near the outer door of his house, and a lamp is lit inside. On his return, he has to upset the mortar, and worship the light."

Valan.--For the following note on the Valan and Katal Arayan fishing castes of the Cochin State, I am indebted to Mr. L. K. Anantha Krishna Aiyar.

The name Valan is derived from vala, meaning fish in a tank. Some consider the word to be another form of Valayan, which signifies a person who throws a net for fishing. According to the tradition and current belief of these people, they were brought to Kerala by Parasurama for plying boats and conveying passengers across the rivers and backwaters on the west coast. Another tradition is that the Valans were Arayans, and they became a separate caste only after one of the Perumals had selected some of their families for boat service, and conferred on them special privileges. They even now pride themselves that their caste is one of remote antiquity, and that Vedavyasa, the author of the Puranas, and Guha, who rendered the boat service to the divine Rama, Sita, and Lakshmana, across the Ganges in the course of their exile to the forest, were among the caste-men.

There are no sub-divisions in the caste, but the members thereof are said to belong to four exogamous illams (houses of Nambutiris), namely, Alayakad, Ennalu, Vaisyagiriam, and Vazhapally, which correspond to the gotras of the Brahmans, or to four clans, the members of each of which are perhaps descended from a common ancestor. According to a tradition current among them, they were once attached to the four Nambutiri illams above mentioned for service of some kind, and were even the descendants of the members of the illams, but were doomed to the present state of degradation on account of some misconduct. Evidently, the story is looked up to to elevate themselves in social status. I am inclined to believe that they must have been the Atiyars (slaves) of the four aforesaid Brahman families, owing a kind of allegiance (nambikooru) like the Kanakkans to the Chittur Manakkal Nambutripad in Perumanam of the Trichur taluk. Even now, these Brahman families are held in great respect by the Valans, who, when afflicted with family calamities, visit the respective illams with presents of a few packets of betel leaves and a few annas, to receive the blessings of their Brahman masters, which, according to their belief, may tend to avert them.