Note 40 — V (continued 2)

(1) Pedda or Padma found chiefly in the Bobbili tāluk. Those composing it are said to be the descendants of the military followers and dependents of Pedda Rājudu, the founder of the Bobbili family, who received a territorial grant in 1652 from Shēr Muhammad Khān, the Moghul Fauzdar of Chicacole. It is to this sub-division that Orme refers, when he says40 that they “esteem themselves the highest blood of Native Indians, next to the Brāhmans, equal to the Rajpoots, and support their pre-eminence by the haughtiest observances, insomuch that the breath of a different religion, and even of the meaner Indians, requires ablution; their women never transfer themselves to a second, but burn with the husband of their virginity.” The remarriage of widows is forbidden, and women remain gōsha (in seclusion), and wear gold or silver bangles on both wrists, unlike those of the Koppala section. The title of members of this sub-division is Dora.