Note 27 — C

According to Mr. Logan,27 the Cherumans are of two sections, one of which, the Iraya, are of slightly higher social standing than the Pulayan. “As the names denote, the former are permitted to come as far as the eaves (ira) of their employers’ houses, while the latter name denotes that they convey pollution to all whom they meet or approach.” The name Cheruman is supposed to be derived from cheru, small, the Cheruman being short of stature, or from chera, a dam or low-lying rice field. Mr. Logan, however, was of opinion that there is ample evidence that “the Malabar coast at one time constituted the kingdom or Empire of Chēra, and the nād or county of Chēranād lying on the coast and inland south-east of Calicut remains to the present day to give a local habitation to the ancient name. Moreover, the name of the great Emperor of Malabar, who is known to every child on the coast as Chēramān Perumal, was undoubtedly the title and not the name of the Emperor, and meant the chief (literally, big man) of the Chēra people.”