Note 7 — U

Uppara.—For the following note, I am mainly indebted to Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao. Uppiliyan, Uppara, Uppāra or Uppaliga, are different names for a class of people, who followed the same professional occupation, the manufacture of salt (uppu), in various parts of Southern India. The Uppiliyans live in the Tamil country, and speak Tamil; the Upparas in the Telugu country, and speak Telugu; while the Uppāras inhabit the Mysore province and the districts bordering thereon, and speak Canarese. The Upparas are described by Mr. H. A. Stuart7 as “a caste of tank-diggers and earth-workers, corresponding to the Uppiliyans of the Tamil districts. They resemble greatly the Oddes (Voddas or Wudders) in appearance, customs, and manner of earning a living. Their traditional occupation is, as the name implies, manufacturing earth-salt. They profess to be Saivites and Vaishnavites, but practically worship village deities, e.g., Sunkalamma, Timmappa, and Jambulamma.” It is possible that the Uppiliyans, Upparas, and Uppāras were originally a homogeneous caste, the members of which, in course of time, migrated to different parts of the country, and adopted the language of the locality in which they settled. The causes, which may have led to the breaking up of the caste, are not far to seek. The original occupation thereof, according to the legendary story of its origin, was tank, channel, and well digging. Southern India depended in days gone by, as at the present time, mainly on its agricultural produce, and people were required, then as now, to secure, conserve, and distribute the water, which was essential for agricultural prosperity. Inscriptions, such as those quoted by Mr. V. Venkayya,8 bear testimony to the energy displayed by former rulers in Southern India in having tanks, wells, and irrigation channels constructed. Uppiliyans, Upparas or Uppāras, are, at the present day, found all over the Madras Presidency, from Ganjam in the north to Tinnevelley in the south. From early times they seem to have, in addition to the work already indicated, been engaged in bricklaying, house-building, the construction of forts, and every kind of earth-work.