Note 97 — P (Continued) (continued 3)

Pichigunta.—The name Pichigunta means literally an assembly of beggars, who are described97 as being, in the Telugu country, a class of mendicants, who are herbalists, and physic people for fever, stomach-ache, and other ailments. They beat the village drums, relate stories and legends, and supply the place of a Herald’s Office, as they have a reputation for being learned in family histories, and manufacture pedigrees and gōtras (house names) for Kāpus, Kammas, Gollas, and others.