Part 30
In the Madras Census Report, 1871, the Vellalas are described as "a peace-loving, frugal, and industrious people, and, in the cultivation of rice, betel, tobacco, etc., have perhaps no equals in the world. They will not condescend to work of a degrading nature. Some are well educated, and employed in Government service, and as clerks, merchants, shop-keepers, etc., but the greater part of them are the peasant proprietors of the soil, and confine their attention to cultivation." In the Madura Manual, it is recorded that "most Vellalans support themselves by husbandry, which, according to native ideas, is their only proper means of livelihood. But they will not touch the plough, if they can help it, and ordinarily they do everything by means of hired servants and predial slaves. In the Sathaga of Narayanan may be found a description of their duties and position in society, of which the following translation appears in Taylor's work, the Oriental MSS. The Vellalans, by the effect of their ploughing (or cultivation), maintain the prayers of the Brahmans, the strength of kings, the profits of merchants, the welfare of all. Charity, donations, the enjoyments of domestic life, and connubial happiness, homage to the gods, the Sastras, the Vedas, the Puranas, and all other books, truth, reputation, renown, the very being of the gods, things of good report or integrity, the good order of castes, and (manual) skill, all these things come to pass by the merit (or efficacy) of the Vellalan's plough. Those Vellalans who are not farmers, husbandmen, or gardeners, are employed in various ways more or less respectable; but none of them will condescend to do work of a degrading nature. Some of them are merchants, some shop-keepers, some Government servants, some sepoys, some domestic servants, some clerks, and so forth." In the Tanjore Manual, it is stated that "many Vellalars are found in the Government service, more especially as karnams or village accountants. As accountants they are unsurpassed, and the facility with which, in by-gone days, they used to write on cadjan or palmyra leaves with iron styles, and pick up any information on any given points from a mass of these leaves, by lamp-light no less than by daylight, was most remarkable. Running by the side of the Tahsildar's (native revenue officer) palanquin, they could write to dictation, and even make arithmetical calculations with strictest accuracy. In religious observances, they are more strict than the generality of Brahmans; they abstain from both intoxicating liquors and flesh meat." In the Coimbatore Manual, the Vellalas are summed up as "truly the backbone of the district. It is they who, by their industry and frugality, create and develop wealth, support the administration, and find the money for imperial and district demands. As their own proverb says:--The Vellalar's goad is the ruler's sceptre. The bulk of them call themselves Goundans." In the Salem Manual, the Vellala is described as "frugal and saving to the extreme; his hard-working wife knows no finery, and the Vellalichi, (Vellala woman) willingly wears for the whole year the one blue cloth, which is all that the domestic economy of the house allows her. If she gets wet, it must dry on her; and, if she would wash her sole garment, half is unwrapped to be operated upon, which in its turn relieves the other half, that is then and there similarly hammered against some stone by the side of the village tank (pond), or on the bank of the neighbouring stream. Their food is the cheapest of the 'dry' grains which they happen to cultivate that year, and not even the village feasts can draw the money out of a Vellalar's clutches. It is all expended on his land, if the policy of the revenue administration of the country be liberal, and the acts of Government such as to give confidence to the ryots or husbandmen; otherwise their hoarded gains are buried. The new moon, or some high holiday, may perhaps see the head of the house enjoy a platter of rice and a little meat, but such extravagance is rare." The Vellalas are summed up by 'A Native,' [136] as being "found in almost every station of life, from the labourer in the fields to the petty zamindar (landholder); from the owner of plantations to the cooly who works at coffee-picking; from the Deputy Collector to the peon in his office." It is recorded, in the Census Report, 1871, that a Vellala had passed the M.A. degree examination of the Madras University. The occupations of the Vellalas whom I examined in Madras were as follows:--
Cart-driver. Bricklayer. Cooly. Varnisher. Painter. Watchman. Cultivator. Gardener. Compositor. Railway fireman. Peon. Student.
In an excellent summary of the Vellalas [137] Mr. W. Francis writes as follows. "By general consent, the first place in social esteem among the Tamil Sudra castes is awarded to them. To give detailed descriptions of the varying customs of a caste which numbers, as this does, over two and a quarter millions, and is found all over the Presidency, is unnecessary, but the internal construction of the caste, its self-contained and distinct sub-divisions, and the methods by which its numbers are enhanced by accretions from other castes, are so typical of the corresponding characteristics of the Madras castes, that it seems to be worth while to set them out shortly.
"The caste is first of all split up into four main divisions, named after the tract of country in which the ancestors of each originally resided. These are (1) Tondamandalam, or the dwellers in the Pallava country, the present Chingleput and North Arcot districts, the titles of which division are Mudali, Reddi and Nainar; (2) Soliya (or Sozhia), or men of the Chola country, the Tanjore and Trichinopoly districts of the present day, the members of which are called Pillai; (3) Pandya, the inhabitants of the Pandyan Kingdom of Madura and Tinnevelly, which division also uses the title of Pillai; and (4) Konga, or those who resided in the Konga country, which corresponded to Coimbatore and Salem, the men of which are called Kavandans. The members of all these four main territorial divisions resemble one another in their essential customs. Marriage is either infant or adult, the Puranic wedding ceremonies are followed, and (except among the Konga Vellalas) Brahmans officiate. They all burn their dead, observe fifteen days' pollution, and perform the karumantaram ceremony to remove the pollution on the sixteenth day. There are no marked occupational differences amongst them, most of them being cultivators or traders. Each division contains both Vaishnavites and Saivites, and (contrary to the rule among the Brahmans) differences of sect are not of themselves any bar to intermarriage. Each division has Pandarams, or priests, recruited from among its members, who officiate at funerals and minor ceremonies, and some of these wear the sacred thread, while other Vellalas only wear it at funerals. All Vellalas perform sraddhas (memorial services), and observe the ceremony of invoking their ancestors on the Mahalaya days (a piece of ritual which is confined to the twice-born and the higher classes of Sudras); all of them decline to drink alcohol or to eat in the houses of any but Brahmans; and all of them may dine together. Yet no member of any of these four main divisions may marry into another, and, moreover, each of them is split into sub-divisions (having generally a territorial origin), the members of which again may not intermarry. Thus Tondamandalam are sub-divided into the Tuluvas, who are supposed to have come from the Tulu country; the Poonamallee (or Pundamalli) Vellalas, so called from the town of that name near Madras; and the Kondaikattis (those who tie their hair in a knot without shaving it). None of these three will intermarry. The Soliya Vellalas are sub-divided into the Vellan Chettis, meaning the Vellala merchants (who are again further split up into three or four other territorial divisions); the Kodikkals (betel-garden), who grow the betel-vine; and the Kanakkilinattar, or inhabitants of Kanakkilinadu. These three similarly may not intermarry, but the last is such a small unit, and girls in it are getting so scarce, that its members are now going to other sub-divisions for their brides. The Pandya Vellalas are sub-divided into the Karkattas or Karaikatus, who, notwithstanding the legends about their origin, are probably a territorial sub-division named from a place called Karaikadu; the Nangudis and Panjais, the origin of whom is not clear; the Arumburs and Sirukudis, so called from villages of those names in the Pandya country; the Agamudaiyans, who are probably recruits from the caste of that name; the Nirpusis, meaning the wearers of the sacred ashes; and the Kottai Vellalas or fort Vellalas. These last are a small sub-division, the members of which live in Srivaikuntam fort (in Tinnevelly), and observe the strictest gosha (seclusion of females). Though they are, as has been seen, a sub-division of a caste, yet their objection to marry outside their own circle is so strong that, though they are fast dying out because there are so few girls among them, they decline to go to the other sub-divisions for brides. [See Kottai Vellala.] The Kongas are sub-divided into the Sendalais (red-headed men), Paditalais (leaders of armies), Vellikkai (the silver hands), Pavalamkatti (wearers of coral), Malaiyadi (foot of the hills), Tollakadu (ears with big holes), Attangarais (river bank), and others, the origin of none of which is clearly known, but the members of which never intermarry. In addition to all these divisions and sub-divisions of the Vellala caste proper, there are nowadays many groups which really belong to quite distinct castes, but which call themselves Vellalas, and pretend that they belong to that caste, although in origin they had no connection with it. These nominally cannot intermarry with any of the genuine Vellalas, but the caste is so widely diffused that it cannot protect itself against these invasions, and, after a few generations, the origin of the new recruits is forgotten, and they have no difficulty in passing themselves off as real members of the community. The same thing occurs among the Nayars in Malabar. It may be imagined what a mixture of blood arises from this practice, and how puzzling the variations in the cranial measurements of Vellalas taken at random are likely to become. Instances of members of other castes who have assumed the name and position of the Vellalas are the Vettuva Vellalas, who are really Vettuvans; the Puluva Vellalas, who are only Puluvans; the Illam Vellalas, who are Panikkans; the Karaiturai (lord of the shore) Vellalas, who are Karaiyans; the Karukamattai (palmyra leaf-stem) Vellalas, who are Shanans; the Gazulu (bangle) Vellalas, who are Balijas; the Guha (Rama's boat-man) Vellalas, who are Sembadavans; and the Irkuli Vellalas, who are Vannans. The children of dancing-girls also often call themselves Mudali, and claim in time to be Vellalas; and even Paraiyans assume the title Pillai, and trust to its eventually enabling them to pass themselves off as members of the caste." The name Acchu Vellala has been assumed by some Karaiyans, and Pattanavans call themselves Varunakula Vellala or Varunakula Mudali, after Varuna, the god of the waters. At times of census, many hill Malayalis return themselves as Vellalas, in accordance with their tradition that they are Vellalas who migrated to the hills. Some thieving Koravas style themselves Aghambadiar Vellala or Pillai, and have to some extent adopted the dress and manners of the Vellalas. [138] In Travancore, to which State some Vellalas have migrated, males of the Deva-dasi (dancing-girl) caste sometimes call themselves Nanchinad Vellalas. There is a Tamil proverb to the effect that a Kallan may come to be a Maravan. By respectability he may develop into an Agamudaiyan, and, by slow degrees, become a Vellala. According to another proverb, the Vellalas are compared to the brinjal (Solanum Melongena) fruit, which will mix palatably with anything.
The account of the divisions and sub-divisions of the Vellalas recorded above may be supplemented from various sources:--
1. Arampukutti, or Arambukatti (those who tie flower-buds). According to Mr. J. A. Boyle, [139] the name indicates Vellalas with wreaths of the aram flower, which is one of the decorations of Siva. They are, he writes, "a tribal group established in a series of villages in the Ramnad territory. The family tradition runs that they emigrated five centuries ago from the Tondamandalam, and that the migration was made in devendra vimanam or covered cars; and this form of vehicle is invariably used in marriage ceremonies for the conveyance of the bride and bridegroom round the village. The women never wear a cloth above the waist, but go absolutely bare on breast and shoulders. The two rivers which bound this district on the north and south are rigid limits to the travels of the women, who are on no pretext allowed to cross them. It is said that, if they make vows to the deity of a celebrated temple in Tanjore, they have to perform their pilgrimage to the temple in the most perfect secrecy, and that, if detected, they are fined. Intermarriage is prohibited 'beyond the rivers.' It is, with the men, a tradition never to eat the salt of the Sirkar (Government), or take any service under Government."
2. Chetti. The members of the Vellalan subdivision of Chetti are "said to be pure Vellalas, who have taken the title of Chetti. In ancient times, they had the prerogative of weighing the person of kings on occasion of the Tulabharam ceremony. (See Tulabharam.) They were, in fact, the trading class of the Tamil nation in the south. But, after the immigration of the more skilful Telugu Komatis and other mercantile classes, the hereditary occupation of the Vellan Chettis gradually declined, and consequently they were obliged to follow different professions. The renowned poet Pattanattar is said to have belonged to this caste." [140]
3. Karaikkat or Karkatta. The name is said to mean Vellalas who saved or protected the clouds, or waiters for rain. Their original profession is said to have been rain-making. Their mythological origin is as follows.
"In old times, a quarrel happened between the Raja of Pandya desa and the god Devendra, and things went to such lengths that the angry god commanded the clouds not to send down any rain on Pandya desa, so that the inhabitants were sorely distressed by the severe drought, and laid their complaints before the Raja, who flew into a rage, marched his army against Devendra, defeated him in battle, seized on the clouds and put them in prison, in consequence of which not a drop of rain fell on any part of the Bhuloka or earthly world, which threw the people into a great consternation, and the whole with one accord addressed their prayers to Devendra, the god of the firmament, and beseeched him to relieve them from their present distress. Devendra sent an ambassador to the Raja of Pandya desa, and requested that he would release the clouds, but he refused to do it unless they gave security for their future good behaviour, and likewise promise that they would never again withhold the rain from falling in due season on his kingdom. At this juncture, the Vellal caste of Pandya desa became security for the clouds, and, from that circumstance, were surnamed Karakava Vellal Waru, or redeemers of the clouds." [141] In an interesting account of the Karaikat Vellalas of the Palni hills by Lieutenant Ward in 1824, [142] it is recorded that "their ceremonies, it is said, are performed by Pandarams, although Brahmans usually officiate as priests in their temples. They associate freely with the Kunnavans, and can eat food dressed by them, as also the latter can eat food dressed by a Karakat Vellalan. But, if a Kunnavan is invited to the house of a Karakat Vellalan, he must not touch the cooking utensils, or enter the cooking-room. Wives are accustomed, it is supposed, to grant the last favor to their husband's relations. Adultery outside the husband's family entails expulsion from caste, but the punishment is practically not very severe, inasmuch as a Kunnavan can always be found ready to afford protection and a home to the divorcée. A man who disgraces himself by an illicit connection with a woman of a lower caste than his own is punished in a similar manner. Formerly the punishment was in either case death." It is recorded [143] that "in 1824 the Karakat Vellalas were accustomed to purchase and keep predial slaves of the Poleiya caste, giving thirty fanams for a male, and fifty for a female. The latter was held to be the more valuable, as being likely to produce children for the benefit of her owner." It is said that, among the Karaikkat Vellalas, a peculiar ceremony, called vilakkidu kalyanam, or the auspicious ceremony of lighting the light, is performed for girls in the seventh or ninth year or later, but before marriage. The ceremony consists in worshipping Ganesa and the Sun at the house of the girls' parents. Her maternal uncle gives her a necklace of gold beads and coral, and a new cloth. All the relations, who are invited to be present, make gifts to the girl. The women of this section wear this ornament, which is called kodachimani (hooked jewel), even after marriage.
4. Kondaikatti. Said [144] to consider themselves as the highest and proudest of the Vellalas, because, during the Nabob's Government, they were employed in the public service. They are extremely strict in their customs, not allowing their women to travel by any public conveyance, and punishing adultery with the utmost severity.
Kondaikatti literally means one who ties his hair in a knob on the top of his head, but the name is sometimes derived from kondai, a crown, in connection with the following legend. A quarrel arose between the Komatis and Vellalas, as to which of them should be considered Vaisyas. They appeared before the king, who, being unable to decide the point at issue, gave each party five thousand rupees, and told them to return after trading for five years. The Vellalas spent one-fifth of the sum which they received in cultivating land, while the Komatis spent the whole sum in trading. At the end of the allotted time, the Vellalas had a bumper crop of sugar-cane, and all the canes contained pearls. The Komatis showed only a small profit. The king was so pleased with the Vellalas, that he bestowed on them the right to crown kings.
5. Kumbakonam. Vellalas, who migrated from Kumbakonam in the Tanjore district to Travancore.
6. Kummidichatti. Recorded, in the Manual of the North Arcot district, as a sub-division, regarded as low in position, which carried the pot (chatti) of fire at Vellala funerals. It is said that, in default of Kummidichattis, ordinary Vellalas now have to carry their own fire at funerals.
7. Nangudi or Savalai Pillaimar. (See Nangudi.)
8. Tendisai (southern country). They are found in the Coimbatore district, and it has been suggested that they are only a branch of the Konga Vellalas.
9. Tenkanchi. Vellalas, who migrated from Tenkasi in the Tinnevelly district to Travancore. (See Todupuzha Vellala.)
10. Tuluva. Immigrants from the Tulu country, a part of the modern district of South Canara. Mr. Nelson [145] is of opinion that these are the original Vellalas, who were invited to Tondamandalam after its conquest by the Chola King Adondai Chakravarti. They are now found in all the Tamil districts, but are most numerous in North and South Arcot and Chingleput. It is noted, in Carr's "Descriptive and historical papers relating to the Seven Pagodas," that "Adondai chiefly distinguished Kanchipuram (Conjeeveram) and Tripati as his place of residence or capital. The era of Adondai is not higher up than the seventh century of our reckoning. He is said to have brought the Brahmans from Sri Sailam in Telingana, and certainly attracted a large colony of Sudra Vellalas, or agriculturists, from Tuluva or northern Canara." At Conjeeveram, there are a Nattar and a Desayi, whose authority, in olden times, extended over the whole Presidency. The Nattar must be a Tuluva Vellala, and the Desai a Ralla Balija. The two offices conjointly are known as the Nadu Desam. The authority of these officers has in great measure ceased, but some still go to the Nadu Desam for appeal. For purposes of caste organisation, Conjeeveram is regarded as the head-quarters. All sections of the Tondamandalam Vellalas are divided into twenty-four kottams and seventy-nine nadus. The latter are subject to the former.