Note 54 — V (continued 2)

“The caste is first of all split up into four main divisions, named after the tract of country in which the ancestors of each originally resided. These are (1) Tondamandalam, or the dwellers in the Pallava country, the present Chingleput and North Arcot districts, the titles of which division are Mudali, Reddi and Nainar; (2) Sōliya (or Sōzhia), or men of the Chōla country, the Tanjore and Trichinopoly districts of the present day, the members of which are called Pillai; (3) Pāndya, the inhabitants of the Pāndyan Kingdom of Madura and Tinnevelly, which division also uses the title of Pillai; and (4) Konga, or those who resided in the Konga country, which corresponded to Coimbatore and Salem, the men of which are called Kavandans. The members of all these four main territorial divisions resemble one another in their essential customs. Marriage is either infant or adult, the Purānic wedding ceremonies are followed, and (except among the Konga Vellālas) Brāhmans officiate. They all burn their dead, observe fifteen days’ pollution, and perform the karumāntaram ceremony to remove the pollution on the sixteenth day. There are no marked occupational differences amongst them, most of them being cultivators or traders. Each division contains both Vaishnavites and Saivites, and (contrary to the rule among the Brāhmans) differences of sect are not of themselves any bar to intermarriage. Each division has Pandārams, or priests, recruited from among its members, who officiate at funerals and minor ceremonies, and some of these wear the sacred thread, while other Vellālas only wear it at funerals. All Vellālas perform srāddhas (memorial services), and observe the ceremony of invoking their ancestors on the Mahālaya days (a piece of ritual which is confined to the twice-born and the higher classes of Sūdras); all of them decline to drink alcohol or to eat in the houses of any but Brāhmans; and all of them may dine together. Yet no member of any of these four main divisions may marry into another, and, moreover, each of them is split into sub-divisions (having generally a territorial origin), the members of which again may not intermarry. Thus Tondamandalam are sub-divided into the Tuluvas, who are supposed to have come from the Tulu country; the Poonamallee (or Pundamalli) Vellālas, so called from the town of that name near Madras; and the Kondaikattis (those who tie their hair in a knot without shaving it). None of these three will intermarry. The Sōliya Vellālas are sub-divided into the Vellān Chettis, meaning the Vellāla merchants (who are again further split up into three or four other territorial divisions); the Kodikkāls (betel-garden), who grow the betel-vine; and the Kānakkilināttār, or inhabitants of Kānakkilinādu. These three similarly may not intermarry, but the last is such a small unit, and girls in it are getting so scarce, that its members are now going to other sub-divisions for their brides. The Pāndya Vellālas are sub-divided into the Kārkattās or Kāraikātus, who, notwithstanding the legends about their origin, are probably a territorial sub-division named from a place called Kāraikādu; the Nangudis and Panjais, the origin of whom is not clear; the Arumbūrs and Sirukudis, so called from villages of those names in the Pāndya country; the Agamudaiyans, who are probably recruits from the caste of that name; the Nīrpusis, meaning the wearers of the sacred ashes; and the Kōttai Vellālas or fort Vellālas. These last are a small sub-division, the members of which live in Srīvaikuntam fort (in Tinnevelly), and observe the strictest gōsha (seclusion of females). Though they are, as has been seen, a sub-division of a caste, yet their objection to marry outside their own circle is so strong that, though they are fast dying out because there are so few girls among them, they decline to go to the other sub-divisions for brides. [See Kōttai Vellāla.] The Kongas are sub-divided into the Sendalais (red-headed men), Paditalais (leaders of armies), Vellikkai (the silver hands), Pavalamkatti (wearers of coral), Malaiyadi (foot of the hills), Tollakādu (ears with big holes), Attangarais (river bank), and others, the origin of none of which is clearly known, but the members of which never intermarry. In addition to all these divisions and sub-divisions of the Vellāla caste proper, there are nowadays many groups which really belong to quite distinct castes, but which call themselves Vellālas, and pretend that they belong to that caste, although in origin they had no connection with it. These nominally cannot intermarry with any of the genuine Vellālas, but the caste is so widely diffused that it cannot protect itself against these invasions, and, after a few generations, the origin of the new recruits is forgotten, and they have no difficulty in passing themselves off as real members of the community. The same thing occurs among the Nāyars in Malabar. It may be imagined what a mixture of blood arises from this practice, and how puzzling the variations in the cranial measurements of Vellālas taken at random are likely to become. Instances of members of other castes who have assumed the name and position of the Vellālas are the Vēttuva Vellālas, who are really Vēttuvans; the Pūluva Vellālas, who are only Pūluvans; the Illam Vellālas, who are Panikkans; the Karaiturai (lord of the shore) Vellālas, who are Karaiyāns; the Karukamattai (palmyra leaf-stem) Vellālas, who are Shānāns; the Gāzulu (bangle) Vellālas, who are Balijas; the Guha (Rāma’s boat-man) Vellālas, who are Sembadavans; and the Irkuli Vellālas, who are Vannāns. The children of dancing-girls also often call themselves Mudali, and claim in time to be Vellālas; and even Paraiyans assume the title Pillai, and trust to its eventually enabling them to pass themselves off as members of the caste.” The name Acchu Vellāla has been assumed by some Karaiyans, and Pattanavans call themselves Varunakula Vellāla or Varunakula Mudali, after Varuna, the god of the waters. At times of census, many hill Malayālis return themselves as Vellālas, in accordance with their tradition that they are Vellālas who migrated to the hills. Some thieving Koravas style themselves Aghambadiar Vellāla or Pillai, and have to some extent adopted the dress and manners of the Vellālas.54 In Travancore, to which State some Vellālas have migrated, males of the Dēva-dāsi (dancing-girl) caste sometimes call themselves Nanchinād Vellālas. There is a Tamil proverb to the effect that a Kallan may come to be a Maravan. By respectability he may develop into an Agamudaiyan, and, by slow degrees, become a Vellāla. According to another proverb, the Vellālas are compared to the brinjal (Solanum Melongena) fruit, which will mix palatably with anything.