Part 35

To sum up the Yanadi. It is notorious that, in times of scarcity, he avoids the famine relief works, for the simple reason that he does not feel free on them. Nevertheless, a few are in the police service. Some are kavalgars (watchmen), farm labourers, scavengers, stone-masons or bricklayers, others are pounders of rice, or domestic servants, and are as a rule faithful. They earn a livelihood also in various subsidiary ways, by hunting, fishing, cobra-charming, collecting honey or fuel, rearing and selling pigs, practicing medicine as quacks, and by thieving. "An iron implement," Mr. F. S. Mullaly writes, [158] called the sikkaloo kol, is kept by them ostensibly for the purpose of digging roots, but it is really their jemmy, and used in the commission of burglary. It is an ordinary iron tool, pointed at both ends, one end being fitted in a wooden handle. With this they can dig through a wall noiselessly and quickly, and many houses are thus broken into in one night, until a good loot is obtained. House-breakings are usually committed during the first quarter of the moon. Yanadis confess their own crimes readily, but will never implicate accomplices.... Women are useful in the disposal of stolen property. At dusk they go round on their begging tours selling mats, which they make, and take the opportunity of dropping a word to the women of cheap things for sale, and the temptation is seldom resisted. Stolen property is also carried in their marketing baskets to the village grocer, the Komati. Among the wild (Adavi) Yanadis, women are told off to acquire information while begging, but they chiefly rely on the liquor-shopkeepers for news, which may be turned to useful account." [159]

Yanati.--The Yanatis, Yenetis, or Enetis, are a class of cultivators in the Ganjam and Vizagapatam districts, between whom and the Yanadis some confusion has arisen. For example, it is noted, in the Madras Census Report, 1891, that it is curious to find the Yanadi sub-division of the Velamas so strongly represented, for there is at the present day a wide gulf between Velamas and Yanadis. Again, in the Census Report, 1901, it is noticed under the heading Yanati that "entries of this name were clubbed with Yanadi, but it has since been reported that, in Bissumcuttack taluk of the Vizagapatam Agency, there is a separate caste called Yanati or Yeneti Dora, which is distinct from either Yanadi or Konda Dora."

It is said that the Yanatis of Ganjam also go by the name of Entamara and Gainta or Gayinta.

Yata.--The Yatas are the toddy-drawers of Ganjam and Vizagapatam. The caste name is a corrupt form of ita, meaning date palm, from which the toddy is secured. It is noted, in the Gazetteer of the Vizagapatam district, that "toddy is obtained from the palmyra (Borassus flabellifer) and date palm (Phoenix sylvestris). The toddy-drawers are usually of the Yata and Segidi castes. The palmyra is tapped by cutting off the end of the flower spathe, and the date palm by making an incision, like an inverted V, close under the crown of leaves. In the zamindaris, little care is taken to see that date trees are not over-tapped, and hundreds of trees may be seen ruined, and even killed by excessive tapping." Many members of the caste are engaged in the manufacture of baskets and boxes from palm leaves. The Yatas are said to be responsible for a good deal of the crime in portions of the Vizagapatam district.

For the following note on the Yatas of the Vizagapatam district, I am indebted to Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao. They are a Telugu-speaking people, and the caste is organised on the same lines as many other Telugu castes. In each locality where they are settled, there is a headman called Kulampedda, who, with the assistance of the caste elders, settles disputes and affairs affecting the community. The caste is, like other Telugu castes, divided up into numerous intiperus or exogamous septs. The custom of menarikam, according to which a man marries his maternal uncle's daughter, is the rule. If the girl, whom a man claims in accordance with this custom, is not given to him, his mother raises such a howl that her brother is compelled by the castemen to come to terms. If he still refuses to give up his daughter, and bestows her on another man, the protest of his sister is said to destroy the happiness of the pair. Girls are married before or after puberty. The marriage ceremonies last over three days, and are carried out either at the house of the bride or bridegroom, the former if the parents are prosperous and influential people in the community. A Brahman officiates, and ties the satamanam on the bride's neck. On the evening of the third day, at the bride's house, presents called katnam, in the shape of rings, waist-bands, and a gold bangle for the right upper arm, are given to the bridegroom. The value of these presents bears a fixed proportion to that of the voli or bride-price. The pair live for three days at the bride's house, and then proceed to the house of the bridegroom, where they stay during the next three days. They then return to the home of the bride, where they once more stay for three days, at the end of which the bridegroom returns to his house. The consummation ceremony is a separate event, and, if the girl has reached puberty, takes place a few days after the marriage ceremony. The remarriage of widows is permitted. The satamanam is tied on the bride's neck by the Kulampedda. Divorce is also recognised, and a man marrying a divorced woman has to pay twelve rupees, known as moganaltappu, or new husband's fine. The divorced woman has to return all the jewellery which was given to her by her former husband.

The dead are cremated, and a man of the washerman caste usually assists in igniting the pyre. There is an annual ceremony in memory of the dead, at which the house is cleaned, and purified with cow-dung. A meal on a more than usually liberal scale is cooked, and incense and camphor are burnt before the entrance to the house. Food is then offered to the dead, who are invoked by name, and the celebrants of the rite partake of a hearty meal.

The usual caste titles are Naidu and Setti.

Yeddula (bulls).--An exogamous sept of Boya and Kapu.

Yedu Madala (seven madalas).--The name of a section of Upparas, indicating the amount of the bride-price. A madala is equivalent to two rupees.

Yelka Meti (good rat).--An exogamous sept of Boya.

Yemme.--Yemme, Emme, or Yemmalavaru, meaning buffalo or buffalo people, has been recorded as an exogamous sept of Bedar or Boya, Kurni, Kuruba, Madiga, and Vakkaliga.

Yenne (oil).--A sub-division of Ganiga.

Yenuga.--Yenuga or Yenigala, meaning elephant, has been recorded as an exogamous sept of Kapu, the members of which will not touch ivory.

Yenumala.--Yenumala or Yenamaloru, meaning buffalo or buffalo people, has been recorded as an exogamous sept of Balija, Boya, Madiga, and Odde.

Yeravallar.--See Eravallar.

Yerlam.--A division of Kapus, so called after a Brahman girl named Yerlamma, who was excommunicated for not being married, and bore children to a Kapu.

Yerra (red).--A sub-division of Golla and Kapu, and an exogamous sept of Devanga.

Yerudandi.--See Erudandi.

Yogi Gurukkal.--The Yogi Gurukkals are described in the Madras Census Report, 1891, as "a Malayalam-speaking beggar caste. They are also priests in Kali temples, and pial schoolmasters. They bury their dead in a sitting posture (like Sanyasis)." The pial, it may be noted, is a raised platform under the verandah, or on either side of the door of a house, in which village schools are held.

The Yogi Gurukkals are scattered about Malabar, and their chief occupation seems to be the performance of worship to Kali or Durga. They officiate as priests for Mukkuvans and Tiyans. Among the Mukkuvans, puja (worship) to Kali at the annual festival has to be done by a Yogi Gurukkal, whereas, on ordinary occasions, it may be done by a Mukkuvan, provided that he has been initiated by a Yogi Gurukkal. In their customs, the Yogi Gurukkals closely follow the Nayars.

It is recorded, in the Gazetteer of Malabar, that "the Yogi Gurukkals of North Malabar are a caste which, though low in the social scale, is not regarded as conveying distance pollution. They perform sakti puja in their own houses, to which no one outside the caste is allowed to attend; they also perform it for Nayars and Tiyans. They are celebrated sorcerers and exorcists, and are also schoolmasters by profession."

Zonnala (millet: Sorghum vulgare).--Zonnala, or the equivalent Zonnakuti, has been recorded as an exogamous sept of Kapu. The Koyis hold a festival when the zonna crop is ready to be cut, at which a fowl is killed in the field, and its blood sprinkled on a stone set up for the purpose.

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NOTES

[1] Ind. Ant. IV, 1875.

[2] Manners, Customs, and Observances.

[3] Malabar Law and Custom, 1905.

[4] Tarwad: a marumakkathayam family, consisting of all the descendants in the female line of one common female ancestor.

[5] The Todas, 1906.

[6] Malabar Law and Custom.

[7] Madras Census Report, 1891.

[8] Ind. Ant., VIII, 1879.

[9] Gazetteer of Malabar.

[10] Monograph Eth. Survey, Cochin No. 1, 1905.

[11] Ind. Ant., IX, 1880.

[12] Ind. Ant., IX. 1880.

[13] F. S. Mullaly. Criminal Classes of the Madras Presidency.

[14] Monograph, Eth. Survey, Bombay, No. 93, Tigala, 1907.

[15] Malabar Law and Custom.

[16] Lieutenant-General E. F. Burton. An Indian Olio.

[17] Monograph Ethnog. Survey of the Cochin State, No. 10, Izhuvas, 1905.

[18] The Tinnevelly Shanars, 1849.

[19] Madras Census Report, 1871.

[20] A fanam is a small gold coin, worth about four annas, which was formerly current in Southern India, but is no longer in circulation.

[21] Other kinds of necklaces are the mullapu (jasmine flower) mala, avil (beaten rice) mala, so called from the shape of the links, mani mala or bead necklace, and pavizham (coral) mala. These are all worn by women.

[22] Ordinarily, paddy is partly boiled before it is pounded to remove the husk. Raw rice is obtained by pounding the paddy, which has not undergone any boiling.

[23] There must in all be five or seven females.

[24] The taboot is a model of a Muhammadan mausoleum, intended to represent the tomb of Husain, which is carried in procession during the Moharram festival.

[25] Manavalan = bridegroom; Manavati = bride.

[26] An Indian Olio.

[27] The washerman of the Nambutiris and Nayars is called Veluthedan.

[28] Nayars are addressed as Kammal by Tiyans and artisans.

[29] The number twelve, so significant in Malabar.

[30] Nasrani (Nazarene) is a term for Christians on the west coast.

[31] Indian Review, Oct. 1906.

[32] The Todas. 1906.

[33] Ney = ghi or clarified butter.

[34] Aboriginal Tribes of the Nilgiri Hills.

[35] Madras Diocesan Magazine, November, 1907.

[36] See Madras Museum Bull., IV, 1896, pl. XII.

[37] Average 73.

[38] Op. cit., Appendix IV, 738.

[39] R. Bache. Royal Magazine, August 1901.

[40] Ind. Ant., III, 1874.

[41] Description of a singular Aboriginal Race inhabiting the summit of the Neilgherry Hills, 1832.

[42] Op. cit.

[43] A Phrenologist among the Todas, 1873.

[44] J. W. Breeks. Account of the Primitive Tribes and Monuments of the Nilgiris, 1873.

[45] Catalogue of the Prehistoric Antiquities, Government Museum, Madras, 1901.

[46] I have seen this plant growing on the grass in front of the Paikara bungalow.

[47] Op. cit.

[48] Ellis. History of Madagascar.

[49] Tribes inhabiting the Neilgherry Hills. By a German missionary, 1856.

[50] Proc. Cambridge Philosoph. Soc., XII, 1904.

[51] "Puzhutkina--Shall I throw earth?" Rivers.

[52] Called by Breeks ilata, which, Dr. Rivers suggests, is a Badaga name.

[53] Journey through Mysore, Canara, and Malabar.

[54] Gazetteer of the Anantapur district.

[55] A. Chatterton. Monograph on Tanning and Working in Leather. Madras, 1904.

[56] Cf. Tanti. Risley, Tribes and Castes of Bengal.

[57] Madras Mail, 1906.

[58] Mysore and Coorg Gazetteer.

[59] Madras Census Report, 1891.

[60] Manual of the Madura district.

[61] Gazetteer of the Madura district.

[62] Manual of the Madura district.

[63] Ind. Ant., VIII, 1879.

[64] Ibid.

[65] Manual of the North Arcot district.

[66] History of Travancore, 1878.

[67] Malabar and its Folk, Madras, 1900.

[68] Madras Census Report, 1891.

[69] Manual of the Madura district.

[70] Gazetteer of the South Arcot district.

[71] Gazetteer of the South Arcot district.

[72] Cf. Nayadi.

[73] Native Life in Travancore, 1883.

[74] Monograph, Eth. Survey, Cochin, No. 9, 1906.

[75] Manual of the Malabar district.

[76] Manual of the North Arcot district.

[77] Archæolog. Survey of India. Annual Report, 1902-1903.

[78] Journey through Mysore, Canara and Malabar. Ed., 1807.

[79] On the Weapons, Army Organization, and Political Maxims of the Ancient Hindus, with special reference to gunpowder and fire-arms, Madras, 1880.

[80] Vide F. Hall's edition of H. H. Wilson's Vishnu Purana, 1864. III. 289-303.

[81] Ind. Ant., VIII, 1879.

[82] Native Life in Travancore.

[83] Madras Census Report, 1901.

[84] Madras Census Report, 1901.

[85] Malabar Law and Custom, 3rd ed., 1905.

[86] Father Coleridge's Life and Letters of St. Francis Xavier.

[87] History of Tinnevelly.

[88] Indian Medical Gazette, XLI, 8, 1906.

[89] Cochin Census Report, 1901.

[90] Madras Census Report, 1901.

[91] Mysore Census Report, 1891.

[92] Madras Census Report, 1901.

[93] N. Sankuni Wariar, Ind. Ant. XXI, 1892.

[94] Gazetteer of the Madura district.

[95] Madras Census Report, 1901.

[96] Ibid., 1891.

[97] Gazetteer of the Tanjore district.

[98] Gazetteer of the Madura district.

[99] The land of the Permauls, or Cochin, its past and its present, 1863.

[100] Manual of the Madura district.

[101] Manual of the Madura district.

[102] Madras Census Report, 1891, and Manual of the North Arcot district.

[103] See Divakaram and Chudamani Nikhandu.

[104] See Life of Tiruvalluvar, in Lazarus' edition of the Kural.

[105] Madras Census Report, 1891.

[106] Gazetteer of Malabar.

[107] Manual of the South Canara District.

[108] Madras Census Report, 1901.

[109] Manual of the North Arcot district.

[110] Madras Census Report, 1901.

[111] Manual of the Tanjore district.

[112] Manual of the North Arcot district; Madras Census Report, 1891.

[113] Madras Census Report, 1901.

[114] Malabar and its Folk, 1900.

[115] Madras Dioc: Magazine, 1906.

[116] Manual of Malabar.

[117] Madras Museum Bull. III, 3. 1901.

[118] Manual of the Salem district.

[119] Native Life in Travancore.

[120] Madras Museum, Bull. III, I, 1900.

[121] Crawley. The Mystic Rose. Fide Jagor. Zeitsch: Ethnol. XI, 164.

[122] Manual of the North Arcot district.

[123] Ind. Ant. VIII, 1879.

[124] History of the Military Transactions in Indostan.

[125] Ind. Ant. VIII, 1879.

[126] Ind. Ant. XX, 1891.

[127] Monograph Eth. Survey of Cochin, No. 12, 1907.

[128] Madras Museum Bull. III, 3, 1901.

[129] Rev. J. Cain, Ind. Ant., VIII, 1879.

[130] Madras Census Report, 1891, and Manual of the North Arcot District.

[131] Madras Journal of Literature and Science, 188-788, p. 134, where the etymology of the name Vellala is fully discussed.

[132] Section III. Inhabitants, Government Press, Madras, 1907.

[133] Thondai-nandalap-paddiyam.

[134] The zamindars of Cheyur, Chunampet, etc., in the Chingleput district.

[135] Manual of the Madura district.

[136] Pen and Ink Sketches of South India.

[137] Madras Census Report, 1901.

[138] M. Paupa Rao Naidu. History of Railway Thieves, 1900.

[139] Ind. Ant. III, 1874.

[140] Madras Census Report, 1891.

[141] Baramahal Records.

[142] Manual of the Madura district.

[143] Manual of the Madura district.

[144] Manual of the North Arcot district.

[145] Manual of the Madura district.

[146] Madras Museum Bull., V. 3, 1907.

[147] Manual of the Salem district, 1883.

[148] A. Chatterton. Monograph on Tanning and Working in Leather, 1904.

[149] Madras Mail, 1907.

[150] Ibid.

[151] Malabar and its Folk, 1900.

[152] Monograph, Ethnological Survey of Cochin, 1905.

[153] Gazetteer of Malabar.

[154] Monograph, Eth. Survey of Cochin.

[155] Ind. Ant., X, 1881, p. 69.

[156] Manual of the Kurnool district.

[157] Catalogue Raisonné of Oriental Manuscripts, III, 1862.

[158] Notes on Criminal Classes of the Madras Presidency, 1892.

[159] This note is based on an article by Mr. Ranga Rao, with additions.

[160] Agent for sale of the Legislative Department publications.