Note 68 — M (Continued) (continued 2)

Concerning the Mutrāchas, Mr. H. A. Stuart writes as follows.68 “This is a Telugu caste most numerous in the Kistna, Nellore, Cuddapah, and North Arcot districts. The Mutrāchas were employed by the Vijayanagar kings to defend the frontiers of their dominions, and were honoured with the title of pāligars (cf. Pālaiyakkāran). The word Mutrācha is derived from the Dravidian roots mudi, old, and rācha, a king; but another derivation is from Mutu Rāja, a sovereign of some part of the Telugu country. They eat flesh, and drink liquor. Their titles are Dora and Naidu.” Mr. Stuart writes further69 that in the North Arcot district they are “most numerous in the Chendragiri tāluk, but found all over the district in the person of the village taliāri or watchman, for which reason it is often called the taliāri caste. They proudly call themselves pāligars, and in Chendragiri doralu or lords, because several of the Chittoor pālaiyams (villages governed by pāligars) were in possession of members of their caste. They seem to have entered the country in the time of the Vijayanagar kings, and to have been appointed as its kāvilgars (watchmen). The caste is usually esteemed by others as a low one. Most of its members are poor, even when they have left the profession of taliāri, and taken to agriculture. They eat in the houses of most other castes, and are not trammelled by many restrictions. In Chendragiri they rarely marry, but form connections with women of their caste, which are often permanent, though not sanctioned by the marriage ceremony, and the offspring of such associations are regarded as legitimate.”