Chapter VII: Part 7

Balija.--The Balijas are described by Mr. Francis [92] as being "the chief Telugu trading caste, scattered throughout all parts of the Presidency. It is said to have two main sub-divisions, Desa (or Kota, a fort) and Peta (street). The first of these includes those, whose ancestors are supposed to have been the Balija (Nayak) kings of Madura, Tanjore and Vijayanagar, or provincial governors in those kingdoms; and to the second belong those, like the Gazulu (bangle sellers) and Perike (salt-sellers), who live by trade. In the Tamil districts Balijas are known as Vadugans (Telugu people) and Kavarais. The descendants of the Nayak or Balija Kings of Madura and Tanjore claim to be Kshatriyas and of the Kasyapa (a rishi) gotra, while the Vijayanagar Rais say they are lineal descendants of the sage Bharadwaja. Others trace their ancestry to the Kauravas of the Mahabharata. This Kshatriya descent is, however, not admitted by other castes, who say that Balijas are an offshoot of the Kammas or Kapus, or that they are a mixed community recruited from these and other Telugu castes. The members of the caste none of them now wear the sacred thread, or follow the Vedic ritual. The name Kartakkal (governors) was returned by those who claim to be descendants of the Nayak Kings of Madura and Tanjore."

In a letter submitted, from Coimbatore, to Mr. Francis in connection with the census, 1901, it was stated that "the Balija people are Kshatriyas of the Lunar Race, as can be proved by a reference to the Bahgavatham, Vishnupuranam, and Brahmmandapuranam, etc.... In this connection, it will be interesting to note that one Sevappa Naidu married Murthiammal, sister-in-law to Achuta Deva Rayulu of Narapathi Samasthanam of Vijayanagar, and as a marriage portion or dowry received the territory of Tanjore, over which he ruled as king for a long period. It was at this time that the celebrated Tirumalay Naidu of Madura took as wife one of the daughters of Sevappa Naidu's family. Tirumalay's grandson, one Chockalinga Naidu, married Mangammal, daughter of Vijiaragavulu Naidu, a grandson of the said Tanjore Sevappa Naidu. It will thus be seen that the Naidu rulers of Tanjore, Trichinopoly, and Madura, were all relations of Narapathi Samasthanam of Vijianagar. That these Narapathies of Vijianagaram were Kshatriyas of the Lunar Race can be clearly seen by a reference to Manucharithra, Parijathapaharanam, Prouda Prabanda Kavi Charitra, etc., and that they were direct descendants of the great Andra Kings can be proved with equal satisfaction by referring to Colonel Mackenzie's MSS., in the introduction of A. D. Campbell's Telugu Grammar, and James Prinsep's Useful Tables of Andra Kings will show that the Andras were immediate descendants of the well-known Yayathi Raja of the Lunar Race."

"The Balijas," Mr. H. A. Stuart writes, [93] "are the trading caste of the Telugu country, but they are now found in every part of the Presidency. Concerning the origin of this caste several traditions exist, but the most probable is that which represents them as a recent offshoot of the Kapu or Reddi caste. The caste is rather a mixed one, for they will admit, without much scruple, persons who have been expelled from their proper caste, or who are the result of irregular unions. The bulk of the Balijas are now engaged in cultivation, and this accounts for so many having returned Kapu as their main caste, for Kapu is also a common Telugu word used for a ryot (farmer). It is not improbable that there was once a closer connection than now between the Kapus and the Balijas, and the claim of the Balijas to belong to the Kapu caste may have a foundation in fact. In their customs there is very little difference between the Kapus and Balijas. Their girls are married both before and after puberty. The re-marriage of widows is forbidden. They eat flesh, and alcohol is said to be freely indulged in [There is a proverb 'If a man be born a Balija, he must crack the arrack bottle']. Like the Bogams and Sanis, the Balija females usually wear a petticoat instead of the long robe of ordinary Hindus. The general name of the caste is Naidu." "The Balija Naidu," it has been said, [94] "is to be met with in almost every walk of life--railway station-masters, head coolies, bakers, butlers, municipal inspectors, tappal (post) runners, hawkers, and hotel-keepers. The title Chetti is by some used in preference to Naidu." It is noted in the Bellary Manual that the Balijas "have by common consent obtained a high place in the social system of South India. Some are land-owners, residing on and working their own property with the help of members of inferior castes; but the majority live by trade." At Tirupati, a number of Balija families are engaged in the red sanders wood (Pterocarpus santalinus), carving industry. Figures of swamis (deities), mythological figures, elephants, and miniature temple cars with flying cherubs and winged horses, are most abundantly carved: but domestic utensils in the shape of chembus, kinnis, cups, plates, etc., are turned on the lathe. Large vessels are sometimes made of the wood of vepi or achamaram (Hardwickia binata), which resembles red sanders wood, but is more liable to crack. The carved figures are sold to pilgrims and others who visit Tirupati, and are also taken to Conjeeveram, Madura, and other places, at times when important temple festivals are celebrated. Vessels made of red sanders wood carry no pollution, and can be used by women during the menstrual period, and taken back to the house without any purification ceremony. For the same reason, Sanyasis (ascetics) use such vessels for doing puja.

The name Balija is said to be derived from the Sanskrit bali (a sacrifice) and ja (born), signifying that the Balijas owe their origin to the performance of a yagam. The legend is current that on one occasion Siva wanted his consort Parvati to appear before him in all her glory. But, when she stood before him, fully decorated, he laughed, and said that she was not as charming as she might be. On this, she prayed that Siva would help her to become so. From his braid of hair Siva created a being who descended on the earth, bearing a number of bangles and turmeric paste, with which Parvati adorned herself. Siva, being greatly pleased with her appearance, told her to look at herself in a looking-glass. The being, who brought the bangles, is believed to have been the ancestor of the Gazula Balijas. According to another version of the legend, Parvati was not satisfied with her appearance when she saw herself in the looking-glass, and asked her father to tell her how she was to make herself more attractive. He accordingly prayed to Brahma, who ordered him to perform a severe penance (thapas). From the sacrificial fire, kindled in connection therewith, arose a being leading a donkey laden with heaps of bangles, turmeric, palm leaf rolls for the ears, black beads, sandal powder, a comb, perfumes, etc. From this Maha Purusha who thus sprang from a sacrifice (bali), the Balijas derived their origin and name. To him, in token of respect, were given flags, torches, and certain musical instruments.

The Desayis, or leaders of the right-hand faction, are said to be Balijas by caste. In former days they had very great influences, and all castes belonging to the right-hand faction would obey the Desayi Chetti. Even at the present day, the Oddes and others refer their disputes to the Desayi, and not to their own caste headman. In former times there were three principal Desayis, who had their head-quarters at Conjeeveram, Cuddalore, and Walajapet. The head Desayi possesses a biruthu (insigne of office) in the form of a large brass ladle with a bell attached to it. On the occasion of Balija marriages and funerals, this is sent through the Chalavathi (a pariah), who is the servant of the Desayi, and has the right of allu eduththal (taking a handful) when he goes to the bazaar, where he receives meat from the butcher, vegetables, etc., as his perquisite. The Desayi's ladle is kept in the custody of the Chalavathi (See Desayi).

The Balijas, Mr. Stuart writes, [95] "employ Brahmans and Satanis as their priests. The chief object of their worship is Gauri, their caste deity. It is said that the Malas are the hereditary custodians of the idol of Gauri and her jewels, which the Balijas get from them whenever they want to worship her. The following story is told to account for this. The Kapus and Balijas, molested by the Muhammadan invaders on the north of the northern Pennar, migrated to the south when the Pennar was in full flood. Being unable to cross the river, they invoked their deity to make a passage for them, for which it demanded the sacrifice of a first-born child. While they stood at a loss what to do, the Malas who followed them boldly offered one of their children to the goddess. Immediately the river divided before them, and the Kapus and the Balijas crossed it, and were saved from the tyranny of the Muhammadans. Ever since that time, the Malas have been respected by the Kapus and Balijas, and the latter even deposited the images of Gauri, the bull and Ganesa, which they worshipped, in the house of a Mala. I am credibly informed that the practice of leaving these images in the custody of Malas is even now observed in some parts of the Cuddapah district and elsewhere."

Of the numerous sub-divisions of the Balijas, the following may be noticed:--

Gazula, glass bangles. Valaiyal or vala (bangle) Chetti is the
Tamil equivalent. By some the sight of a Gazula Balija with his
pile of bangles on his back is considered a good omen. In recent
years, a scare has arisen in connection with an insect, which
is said to take up its abode in imported German glass bangles,
which compete with the indigenous industry of the Gazulas. The
insect is believed to lie low in the bangle till it is purchased,
when it comes out and nips the wearer, after warning her to get
her affairs in order before succumbing. A specimen of a broken
bangle, from which the insect is stated to have burst forth and
stung a girl in the wrist, was sent to me. But the insect was
not forthcoming.

Gandavallu, or Gundapodi vandlu. Go about the villages,
hawking turmeric, kunkumam (colour powder), kamela (Mallotus
philippinensis) dye powder, beads, combs, cosmetics and other
articles. Supposed to have been originally Komatis.

Kavarai, Tamil synonym for Balija.

Linga.

Panchama.

Telugu or Telaga. A synonym for Balija in the Northern Circars.

Rajamahendram or Musu Kamma. The former denotes the town of
Rajahmundry, and the latter a special ear-ornament worn by women.

Tota, garden.

Ralla, precious stones.

Pagadala, coral.

Pusa, beads.

Racha, royal.

Vyasa. A sage (rishi) or hunter, whom the hunting classes claim
as their ancestor.

Other sub-divisions, classified as Balijas at the census, 1901, were:--

Jakkulas, among whom it was, at Tenali in the Kistna district,
formerly customary for each family to give up one girl for
prostitution. Under the influence of social reform, a written
agreement was a few years ago entered into to give up the practice.

Adapapa. Female attendants on the ladies of the families of
Zamindars, who, as they are not allowed to marry, lead a life of
prostitution. Their sons call themselves Balijas. In some places,
e.g., the Kistna and Godavari districts, this class is known as
Khasa or Khasavandlu.

Santa Kavarai. Returned as Balijas in the Chingleput district.

Ravut. Returned in the Salem district. Said to have been formerly
soldiers under the Poligars.

Like other Telugu castes, the Balijas have exogamous septs (intiperu) and gotras. Of the former, the following are examples:--

Tupakala, musket.
Samudram, ocean.
Pappu, split pulse.
Gantla, bell.
Puli, tiger.
Balli, lizard.
Avula, cow.
Gandham, sandal paste or powder.
Jilakara, cummin seeds.
Miriyala, pepper.
Mutyala, pearls.
Narikella, cocoanut.
Nemili, peacock.
Pagadala, coral.
Pattindla, silk house.
Ratnala, precious stones.
Ungarala, rings.
Yenumala, buffalo.

There is a saying that a Balija who has no gotra must take the name of the Pasuleti, or Pasupuleti gotra. In like manner, a Brahman orphan, whose gotra cannot be traced, is made to adopt the Vathsa gotra.

Among the Musu Kammas, the consent of both the maternal uncle and elder sister's husband must be obtained before a girl is given in marriage. At the betrothal ceremony, the future bridegroom's relations proceed to the house of the girl, carrying the following articles on an odd number of trays beneath a cloth canopy (ulladam): mustard, fenugreek (Trigonella Foenumgræcum), cummin seeds, curds, jaggery, dhal (Cajanus indicus), balls of condiments, tamarinds, pepper, twenty-one cakes, eleven cocoanuts, salt, plantains, flowers, a new cloth, black beads, a palm-leaf roll for the ear lobe, turmeric, a comb, and kunkumam (colour powder). A few rupees, called kongu mudi, to be given to the future mother-in-law, are also placed on the tray. The contracting parties exchange betel and a cocoanut, of which the latter is taken away by a member of the bridegroom's party, tied up in his body-cloth. The girl is seated on a plank, goes through the ceremony (nalagu) of being anointed with oil and paste, and is presented with a new cloth. Wearing this, she sits on the plank, and betel, flowers, jewels, etc., are placed in her lap. A near female relation then ties a string of black beads round her neck. Among the Musu Kammas, the milk-post, consisting of a green bamboo, with sometimes a branch of Odina Wodier, must be set up two days before the commencement of the marriage ceremonies. It is worshipped, and to it are tied an iron ring, and a string of cotton and wool twisted together (kankanam). A small framework, called dhornam, made of two sticks, across which cotton threads or pieces of cloth are stretched, is brought by a washerwoman, and given to the maternal uncle of the bridegroom, who ties it to the marriage booth. The marriage pots are brought from a potter's house beneath a cloth canopy (ulladam), and given to married couples, closely related to the bridegroom, who fetch water, and place the pots on the dais. Some married women pour rice on a clean white cloth spread on the floor, and rub off the bran with their hands, while they sing songs. The cloth to be worn by the bridegroom is dipped in turmeric water by these women and dried. The Balijas are very particular about the worship of their female ancestors (perantalu) and no auspicious ceremony can be commenced until perantalu puja has been performed. Among the Musu Kammas, five women, who are closely related to the bridal couple, take only one meal a day, and try to keep free from pollution of all sorts. They go through the nalagu ceremony, and are presented with new cloths. Among other sections, the wall is simply painted with turmeric dots to represent the ancestors. The ancestor worship concluded, the finger and toe-nails of the bridegroom are cut, and a Musu Kamma bridegroom is conducted to a temple of Vigneswara (Ganesa), if there is one near at hand. By other sections it is considered sufficient, if Vigneswara worship is performed at the marriage booth. The Musu Kamma bridegroom is dressed up at the temple, and a bashingam (chaplet) tied on his forehead. An old-fashioned turban (paghai) is placed on his head, and a dagger (jimthadu) stuck into his waist-cloth. It is said that, in olden times, the Balijas used to worship the dagger, and sacrifice sheep or goats at marriages. The bridegroom is next brought to the house where the wedding is being celebrated, and his brother-in-law washes his feet, and, after throwing flowers and rice over them, puts toe-rings and shoes thereon. The Brahman purohit lights the sacred fire (homam), and pours ghi (clarified butter) therein, while he utters some verses, Vedic or other. He then ties the kankanam (thread) on the bridegroom's wrist. The parents of the bride next proceed with the dharadhattam (gift of the girl) by pouring water and grains of rice into the hands of the bridegroom. Vigneswara is then worshipped, and the bottu (marriage badge) is blessed by those assembled, and handed to the bridegroom. He, placing his right foot on that of the bride, who is separated from him by a screen, ties it round her neck. The couple then exchange seats, and rice is thrown in front of them. They next go thrice round the dais and milk-post, and, at the end of the first and second rounds, the foot of the bride is placed on a grinding stone. After the third round they gaze at the pole-star (Arundati). Into one of the marriage pots are put a pap-bowl, ring, and bracelet, which are picked out by the couple. If the pap-bowl is first got hold of by the bridegroom, the first-born child will be a boy; if the ring, it will be a girl. This rite concluded, the bridegroom makes a mark on the bride's forehead with collyrium. On the second day, the bridegroom makes a pretence of being angry, and stays in a garden or house near that in which the marriage ceremonies are conducted. The bride, and some of her relations, go to him in procession, and, treating him with great respect, bring him back. The sacred fire is lighted, and the bride enters the room in which the marriage pots (araveni) are kept. The bridegroom is stopped at the entrance thereto by a number of married women, and has to call his wife by her name, and pay a small sum of money for the arathi (coloured water), which is waved by the women, to ward off the evil eye. In some places, the sister of the bridegroom extracts a promise that his coral (daughter) shall be given in marriage to her pearl (son). He is then permitted to enter the room. On the third day, after homam has been performed by the Brahman priest, the newly married couple go through a burlesque imitation of domestic life, after they have worshipped the posts of the booth, and perform a mimic ploughing ceremony, the bridegroom stirring up some earth in a basket with a stick or miniature plough. This, in some places, his sister tries to prevent him from doing by covering the basket with a cloth, and he has to say "I will give my coral to your pearl." His brother-in-law tries to squeeze his fingers between a pair of sticks called kitti, which was, in former times, a very popular form of torture as a means of extracting confession. The bride gives her husband some conji (rice-gruel) to refresh him after his pretended labour.

At a marriage among the Perikes (q.v.), a gunny-bag is said to be worshipped before the bottu is tied. A quantity of rice is measured on the first day of the ceremonies and tied up in a cloth. On the third day, the cloth is opened, and it is considered an auspicious sign if the quantity of rice exceeds that which was originally put into it. Among the Rajamahendram Balijas, just before the nalagu ceremony, the knees, shoulders, and cheeks of the bride and bridegroom are touched with a pestle, while the names of their septs are called out. On the third day, the same process is repeated, but in the reverse order. A Gazula Balija bride must, when the bottu is tied, be dressed in a white cloth with red stripes, called sanna pappuli. With other sections, a white cloth dyed with turmeric is de rigeur.

Balija, it may be noted, is, in the North Arcot Manual, returned as a division of Dasaris and Idigas. The better classes of Medaras (cane-splitters and mat-makers) are also taking to calling themselves Balijas, and assume the title Chetti. Oddes and Upparas sometimes style themselves Odde Balija and Uppara Balija. They belong to the right-hand section, which is headed by the Desayi, who is a Balija, and so describe themselves as belonging to the Setti or Chetti samayam (section). Some members of the Mila and Vada fishing castes have adopted Oda or Vada (boat) Balija as their caste name.

Ballala.--Ballala, or Bellala, was returned, at the census, 1901, as the caste name of a number of individuals, indicating their claim to descent from the Hoysal Ballal kings of Mysore. Ballal is a title assumed by Bant families of position. There is a proverb that, when a Bant becomes powerful, he becomes a Ballal. [96]

Ballem (spear).--An exogamous sept of Mala.

Balli (lizard).--An exogamous sept of Balija.

Balolika.--A synonym of Rajapuri.

Balu (bear).--A sept of Domb.

Bana (big pot).--An exogamous sept of Togatas, and a name for Telugu washermen, who are sometimes called Bana Tsakala. Bana is the Telugu name for the pot which they use for boiling the clothes in.

Banajiga (vanik, tradesman).--Canarese traders, many of whom are Lingayats. See Linga Balija.

Banda.--Banda, as applied to the Mondi mendicant class, seems to be used in the sense of an obstinate fellow. Some, however, maintain that it refers to a beggar who carries about a stone, and threatens to beat his brains out, if alms are not forthcoming. Banda, meaning a rock, also occurs as an exogamous sept of Odde.

Bandari.--Bandari, denoting apparently the shrub Dodondæa viscosa, is an exogamous sept of Odde. It further occurs, in the sense of a temple treasurer, as an exogamous sept of Devangas and Padma Sales, for whom the Bandari acts as caste messenger. It is also the name of the assistant to the headman, or Pattakar, of the Okkiliyans, a title of Konkani Brahmans, and a synonym of Kelasis.

Bandekara.--A synonym for Konkani Vanis (traders), who are said, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, to ape the Brahmanical customs, and call themselves by the curious hybrid name of Vasiya (or Vaisya) Brahman.

Bandi (cart).--An exogamous sept of Kapu, Kavarai, Korava, Kumbara, Kurni, Kuruba, Mala, Odde, Stanika, and Yanadi. It further occurs as a name for Koravas, who drag the temple car at times of religious festival. Vandikkaran (cartmen) is an occupational name for Nayars, who work as cartmen for carrying fuel.

Bangaru Mukkara (gold nose ornament).--A sub-division of Kamma.

Baniya.--The Baniyas or Bunyas are immigrant traders and money-lenders (sowcars) from Northern India, who have settled down in the southern bazars, where they carry on a lucrative business, and wax sleek and wealthy. Bania also occurs as a synonym for the South Indian trading caste, the Komatis.

It may be noted, as a little matter of history, that, in 1677, the Court of Directors, in a letter to Fort St. George, offered "twenty pounds reward to any of our servants or soldiers as shall be able to speak, write, and translate the Banian language, and to learn their arithmetic." [97]

Banjari.--A synonym of Lambadi.

Banka (gum).--An exogamous sept of Motati Kapu.

Bannagara (a painter).--A synonym of Chitrakara.

Bannan.--A synonym of Vannan or Mannan, recorded at times of census. In like manner Bannata occurs as a Canarese form of the Malayalam Veluttedan or Vannattan.

Banni or Vanni (Prosopis spicigera).--An exogamous sept of Kuruba and Kurni. The tree is worshipped because on it "the five Pandava princes hung up their arms when they entered Virat Nagra in disguise. On the tree the arms turned to snakes, and remained untouched till the owners returned." (Lisboa.)

Bant.--For the following account of the Bants I am mainly indebted to Mr. H. A. Stuart's description of them in the Manual of South Canara. The name Bant, pronounced Bunt, means in Tulu a powerful man or soldier, and indicates that the Bants were originally a military class corresponding to the Nayars of Malabar. The term Nadava instead of Bant in the northern portions of South Canara points, among other indications, to a territorial organisation by nads similar to that described by Mr. Logan as prevailing in Malabar. "The Nayars," he writes, "were, until the British occupied the country, the militia of the district. Originally they seem to have been organised into 'Six Hundreds,' and each six hundred seems to have had assigned to it the protection of all the people in a nad or country. The nad was in turn split up into taras, a Dravidian word signifying originally a foundation, the foundation of a house, hence applied collectively to a street, as in Tamil teru, in Telugu teruvu, and in Canarese and Tulu teravu. The tara was the Nayar territorial unit for civil purposes." It has been stated that "the Malabar Nair chieftain of old had his nad or barony, and his own military class; and the relics of this powerful feudal system still survive in the names of some of the taluks (divisions) of modern Malabar, and in the official designations of certain Nair families, whose men still come out with quaint-looking swords and shields to guard the person of the Zamorin on the occasion of the rice-throwing ceremony, which formally constitutes him the ruler of the land. Correspondingly, the Bants of the northern parts of Canara still answer to the territorial name of Nad Bants, or warriors of the nad or territory. It is necessary to explain that, in both ancient Keralam and Tulu, the functions of the great military and dominant classes were so distributed that only certain classes were bound to render military service to the ruling prince. The rest were lairds or squires, or gentleman farmers, or the labourers and artisans of their particular community, though all of them cultivated a love of manly sports." [98]

Few traces of any such organisation as has been indicated now prevail, great changes having been made when the Vijayanagar Government introduced, more than five hundred years ago, a system of administration under which the local Jain chiefs, though owing allegiance to an overlord, became more independent in their relations with the people of the country. Under the Bednur kings, and still more under the Mysore rule, the power of the chiefs was also swept away, but the old organisation was not reverted to.

The Bants are now the chief land-owning and cultivating class in South Canara, and are, with the exception of the Billavas or toddy-drawers, the most numerous caste in the district. "At the present day, the Bants of Canara are largely the independent and influential landed gentry, some would say, perhaps, the substantial yeomanry. They still retain their manly independence of character, their strong and well developed physique, and they still carry their heads with the same haughty toss as their forefathers did in the stirring fighting days when, as an old proverb had it, 'The slain rested in the yard of the slayer,' and when every warrior constantly carried his sword and shield. Both men and women of the Bant community are among the comeliest of Asiatic races, the men having high foreheads and well-turned aquiline noses."

In a note on the agricultural economy of South Canara, Rao Sahib T. Raghaviah writes [99] that "the ryot (cultivator) of South Canara loves to make his land look attractive, and every field is lined with the lovely areca, and the stately palm. The slopes adjoining the rich fields are studded with plantations of jack, mango, cashew, plantain and other fruit and shade trees, and the ryot would not even omit to daub his trees with the alternate white and red bands, with which the east coast women love to adorn a marriage house or temple wall. These, with the regularly laid out and carefully embanked water-courses and streams, lend an air of enchantment to the whole scene. The ignorance prevailing among the women of the richer section of the landed classes (on the east coast) is so great that it is not uncommon to ridicule a woman by saying that what she knows about paddy (rice) is that it grows on a tree. But, in a district like South Canara, the woman that does not know agriculture is the exception. I have often come across respectable women of the landed classes like the Bants, Shivallis, and Nairs, managing large landed estates as efficiently as men. The South Canara woman is born on the land, and lives on it. She knows when to sow, and when to reap; how much seed to sow, and how much labour to employ to plough, to weed, or to reap. She knows how to prepare her seed, and to cure her tobacco, to garner her grain, and to preserve her cucumbers through the coming monsoon. She knows further how to feed her cow, and to milk it, to treat it when sick, and to graze it when hale. She also knows how to make her manure, and how to use it without wasting a bit of it. She knows how to collect green leaves for her manure, and to help the fuel reserve on the hill slope above her house grow by a system of lopping the branches and leaving the standards. She knows also how to collect her areca nuts, and to prepare them for the market, and to collect her cocoanuts, and haggle for a high price for them with her customers. There is, in fact, not a single thing about agriculture which the South Canara man knows, and which the South Canara woman does not know. It is a common sight, as one passes through a paddy flat or along the adjoining slope, to see housewives bringing out handfuls of ashes collected in the oven over night, and depositing them at the root of the nearest fruit tree on their land."

Most of the Bants are Hindus by religion, and rank as Sudras, but about ten thousand of them are Jains. Probably they originally assumed Jainism as a fashionable addition to the ancestral demon worship, to which they all still adhere, whether they profess to be Vaishnavites, Saivites, or Jains. It is probable that, during the political supremacy of the Jains, a much larger proportion of the Bants professed adherence to that religion than now-a-days.

There are four principal sub-divisions of the caste, viz., Masadika, who are the ordinary Bants of Tuluva; Nadava or Nad, who speak Canarese, and are found in the northern part of South Canara; the Parivara, who do not follow the aliya santana system of inheritance; and the Jains. Members of these sub-divisions may not intermarry, but instances have occurred of marriage between members of the Masadika and Nad sub-divisions.

Nothing very definite is known of the origin of the Bants, but Tuluva seems, in the early centuries of the Christian era, to have had kings who apparently were sometimes independent and sometimes feudatories of overlords, such as the Pallavas, the early Kadambas, the early Chalukyans, the later Kadambas, the western Chalukyans, the Kalachurians, and the Hoysal Ballals. This indicates a constant state of fighting, which would account for an important class of the population being known as Bantaru or warriors; and, as a matter of course, they succeeded in becoming the owners of all the land which did not fall to the share of the priestly class, the Brahmans. Ancient inscriptions speak of kings of Tuluva, and the Bairasu Wodears of Karakal, whose inscriptions have been found at Kalasa as early as the twelfth century, may have exercised power throughout Tuluva or the greater part of it. But, when the Vijayanagar dynasty became the overlords of Canara in 1336, there were then existing a number of minor chiefs who had probably been in power long before, and the numerous titles still remaining among the Bants and Jains, and the local dignities known as Pattam and Gadi, point to the existence from very early times of a number of more or less powerful local chieftains. The system peculiar to the west coast under which all property vests in females, and is managed by the seniors of the family, was also favourable to the continuance of large landed properties, and it is probable that it is only within comparatively recent times that sub-division of landed property became anything like as common as it is now. All the Bants, except the Parivara and a few Jains follow this aliya santana system of inheritance, [100] a survival of a time when the military followers of conquering invaders or local chiefs married women of the local land-owning classes, and the most important male members of the family were usually absent in camp or at court, while the women remained at the family house on the estate, and managed the farms. The titles and the pattams or dignities have always been held by the male members, but, as they also go with the landed property, they necessarily devolve on the sister's son of a deceased holder, whence has arisen the name aliya santana, which means sister's son lineage. A story is embodied in local traditions, attributing the origin of the system to the fiat of a king named Bhutal Pandya, until whose time makkala santana, or inheritance from father to son, generally obtained. "It is said that the maternal uncle of this prince, called Deva Pandya, wanted to launch his newly constructed ships with valuable cargo in them, when Kundodara, king of demons demanded a human sacrifice. Deva Pandya asked his wife's permission to offer one of his sons, but she refused, while his sister Satyavati offered her son Jaya Pandya for the purpose. Kundodara, discovering in the child signs of future greatness, waived the sacrifice, and permitted the ships to sail. He then took the child, restored to him his father's kingdom of Jayantika, and gave him the name of Bhutal Pandya. Subsequently, when some of the ships brought immense wealth, the demon again appeared, and demanded of Deva Pandya another human sacrifice. On the latter again consulting his wife, she refused to comply with the request, and publicly renounced her title and that of her children to the valuable property brought in the ships. Kundodara then demanded the Deva Pandya to disinherit his sons of the wealth which had been brought in the ships, as also of the kingdom, and to bestow all on his sister's son, Jaya or Bhutal Pandya. This was accordingly done. And, as this prince inherited his kingdom from his maternal uncle and not from his father, he ruled that his own example should be followed by his subjects, and it was thus that the aliya santana law was established about A.D. 77." [101]

It is noted by Mr. L. Moore [102] that various judicial decisions relating to the aliya santana system are based to a great extent on a book termed Aliya Santanada Kattu Kattale, which was alleged to be the work of Bhutala Pandiya, who, according to Dr. Whitley Stokes, the learned scholar who edited the first volume of the Madras High Court Reports, lived about A.D. 78, but which is in reality a very recent forgery compiled about 1840. As to this, Dr. A. C. Burnell observes as follows in a note in his law of partition and succession. "One patent imposture yet accepted by the Courts as evidence is the Aliya Santanada Kattu Kattale, a falsified account of the customs of South Canara. Silly as many Indian books are, a more childish or foolish tract it would be impossible to discover; it is about as much worthy of notice in a law court as 'Jack the Giant Killer.' That it is a recent forgery is certain.... The origin of the book in its present state is well-known; it is satisfactorily traced to two notorious forgers and scoundrels about thirty years ago, and all copies have been made from the one they produced. I have enquired in vain for an old manuscript, and am informed, on the best authority, that not one exists. A number of recent manuscripts are to be found, but they all differ essentially one from another. A more clumsy imposture it would be hard to find, but it has proved a mischievous one in South Canara, and threatens to render a large amount of property quite valueless. The forgers knew the people they had to deal with, the Bants, and, by inserting a course that families which did not follow the Aliya Santana shall become extinct, have effectually prevented an application for legislative interference, though the poor superstitious folk would willingly (it is said) have the custom abolished." [103]

As a custom similar to aliya santana prevails in Malabar, it no doubt originated before Tuluva and Kerala were separated. The small body of Parivara Bants, and the few Jain Bants that do not follow the aliya santana system, are probably the descendants of a few families who allowed their religious conversion to Hinduism or Jainism to have more effect on their social relations than was commonly the case. Now that the ideas regarding marriage among the Bants are in practice assimilated to a great extent to those of most other people, the national rule of inheritance is a cause of much heart-burning and quarrelling, fathers always endeavouring to benefit their own offspring at the cost of the estate. A change would be gladly welcomed by many, but vested interests in property constitute an almost insuperable obstacle.

The Bants do not usually object to the use of animal food, except, of course, the flesh of the cow, and they do not as a rule wear the sacred thread. But there are some families of position called Ballals, amongst whom heads of families abstain from animal food, and wear the sacred thread. These neither eat nor intermarry with the ordinary Bants. The origin of the Ballals is explained by a proverb, which says that when a Bant becomes powerful, he becomes a Ballal. Those who have the dignity called Pattam, and the heads of certain families, known as Shettivalas or Heggades, also wear the sacred thread, and are usually managers or mukhtesars of the temples and bhutasthans or demon shrines within the area over which, in former days, they are said to have exercised a more extended jurisdiction, dealing not only with caste disputes, but settling numerous civil and criminal matters. The Jain Bants are strict vegetarians, and they abstain from the use of alcoholic liquors, the consumption of which is permitted among other Bants, though the practice is not common. The Jain Bants avoid taking food after sunset.

The more well-to-do Bants usually occupy substantial houses on their estates, in many of which there is much fine wood-work, and, in some cases, the pillars of the porches and verandahs, and the doorways are artistically and elaborately carved. These houses have been described as being well built, thatched with palm, and generally prettily situated with beautiful scenic prospects stretching away on all sides.

The Bants have not as a rule largely availed themselves of European education, and consequently there are but few of them in the Government service, but among these few some have attained to high office, and been much respected. As is often the case among high spirited people of primitive modes of thought, party and faction feeling run high, and jealousy and disputes about landed property often lead to hasty acts of violence. Now-a-days, however, the last class of disputes more frequently lead to protracted litigation in the Courts.

The Bants are fond of out-door sports, football and buffalo-racing being amongst their favourite amusements. But the most popular of all is cock-fighting. Every Bant, who is not a Jain, takes an interest in this sport, and large assemblages of cocks are found at every fair and festival throughout South Canara. "The outsider," it has been said, [104] "cannot fail to be struck with the tremendous excitement that attends a village fair in South Canara. Large numbers of cocks are displayed for sale, and groups of excited people may be seen huddled together, bending down with intense eagerness to watch every detail in the progress of a combat between two celebrated village game-cocks." Cock fights on an elaborate scale take place on the day after the Dipavali, Sankaranthi or Vinayakachathurthi, and Gokalashtami festivals, outside the village boundary. At Hiriadaka, in October, 1907, more than a hundred birds were tethered by the leg to the scrub jungle composed of the evergreen shrub Ixora coccinea, or carried in the arms of their owners or youngsters. Only males, from the town and surrounding villages, were witnesses of the spectacle. The tethered birds, if within range of each other, excited by the constant crowing and turmoil, indulged in an impromptu fight. Grains of rice and water were poured into the mouths and over the heads of the birds before the fight, and after each round. The birds were armed with cunningly devised steel spurs, constituting a battery of variously curved and sinuous weapons. It is believed that the Bhuta (demon) is appeased, if the blood from the wounds drops on the ground. The men, whose duty it is to separate the birds at the end of a round, sometimes receive nasty wounds from the spurs. The tail feathers of a wounded bird are lifted up, and a palm leaf fan or towel is waved to and fro over the cloacal orifice to revive it. The owner of a victorious bird becomes the possessor of the vanquished bird, dead or alive. At an exhibition of the products of South Canara, during a recent visit of the Governor of Madras to Mangalore, a collection of spurs was exhibited in the class "household implements."

For the following note on buffalo races, I am indebted to Mr. H. O. D. Harding. "This is a sport that has grown up among a race of cultivators of wet land. It is, I believe, peculiar to South Canara, where all the cultivation worth mentioning is wet. The Bants and Jains, and other landowners of position, own and run buffaloes, and the Billava, or toddy drawer, has also entered the racing world. Every rich Bant keeps his kambla field consecrated to buffalo-racing, and his pair of racing buffaloes, costing from Rs. 150 to Rs. 500, are splendid animals; and, except for an occasional plough-drawing at the beginning of the cultivation season, are used for no purpose all the year, except racing. The racing is for no prize or stakes, and there is no betting, starter, judge, or winning post. Each pair of buffaloes runs the course alone, and is judged by the assembled crowd for pace and style, and, most important of all, the height and breadth of the splash which they make. Most people know the common levelling plank used by the ryots (cultivators) all over India to level the wet field after ploughing. It is a plank some 4 or 5 feet long by 1 or 1 1/2 feet broad, and on it the driver stands to give it weight, and the buffaloes pull it over the mud of a flooded rice-field. This is the prototype of the buffalo-racing car, and any day during the cultivating season in the Tulu country one may see two boys racing for the love of the sport, as they drive their levelling boards. From this the racing car has been specialised, and, if a work of art for its own purpose, is not a car on which any one could or would wish to travel far. The leveller of utility is cut down to a plank about 1 1/2 by 1 foot, sometimes handsomely carved, on which is fixed a gaily decorated wooden stool about 6 inches high and 10 inches across each way, hollowed out on the top, and just big enough to afford good standing for one foot. In the plank, on each side, are holes to let the mud and water through. The plank is fixed to a pole, which is tied to the buffalo's yoke. The buffaloes are decorated with coloured jhuls and marvellous head-pieces of brass and silver (sometimes bearing the emblems of the sun and moon), and ropes which make a sort of bridle. The driver, stripping himself to the necessary minimum of garments, mounts, while some of his friends cling, like ants struggling round a dead beetle, to the buffaloes. When he is fairly up, they let go, and the animals start. The course is a wet rice-field, about 150 yards long, full of mud and water. All round are hundreds, or perhaps thousands of people, including Pariahs who dance in groups in the mud, play stick-game, and beat drums. In front of the galloping buffaloes the water is clear and still, throwing a powerful reflection of them as they gallop down the course, raising a perfect tornado of mud and water. The driver stands with one foot on the stool, and one on the pole of the car. He holds a whip aloft in one hand, and one of the buffaloes' tails in the other. He drives without reins, with nothing but a waggling tail to hold on to and steer by. Opening his mouth wide, he shouts for all he is worth, while, to all appearances, a deluge of mud and water goes down his throat. So he comes down the course, the plank on which he stands throwing up a sort of Prince of Wales' feathers of mud and water round him. The stance on the plank is no easy matter, and not a few men come to grief, but it is soft falling in the slush. Marks are given for pace, style, sticking to the plank, and throwing up the biggest and widest splash. Sometimes a kind of gallows, perhaps twenty feet high, is erected on the course, and there is a round of applause if the splash reaches up to or above it. Sometimes the buffaloes bolt, scatter the crowd, and get away into the young rice. At the end of the course, the driver jumps off with a parting smack at his buffaloes, which run up the slope of the field, and stop of themselves in what may be called the paddock. At a big meeting perhaps a hundred pairs, brought from all over the Tulu country, will compete, and the big men always send their buffaloes to the races headed by the local band. The roads are alive with horns and tom-toms for several days. The proceedings commence with a procession, which is not infrequently headed by a couple of painted dolls in an attitude suggestive of that reproductiveness, which the races really give thanks for. They are a sort of harvest festival, before the second or sugge crop is sown, and are usually held in October and November. Devils must be propitiated, and the meeting opens with a devil dance. A painted, grass-crowned devil dancer, riding a hobby-horse, proceeds with music round the kambla field. Then comes the buffalo procession, and the races commence. At a big meeting near Mangalore, the two leading devil dancers were dressed up in masks, and coat and trousers of blue mission cloth, and one had the genitalia represented by a long piece of blue cloth tipped with red, and enormous testes. Buffaloes, young and old, trained and untrained, compete, some without the plank attached to them, and others with planks but without drivers. Accidents sometimes happen, owing to the animals breaking away among the crowd. On one occasion, a man who was in front of a pair of buffaloes which were just about to start failed to jump clear of them. Catching hold of the yoke, he hung on to it by his hands, and was carried right down the course, and was landed safely at the other end. If he had dropped, he would have fallen among four pairs of hoofs, not to mention the planks, and would probably have been brained. It is often a case of owners up, and the sons and nephews of big Bants, worth perhaps Rs. 10,000 a year, drive the teams."

To the above account, I may add a few notes made at a buffalo race-meeting near Udipi, at which I was present. Each group of buffaloes, as they went up the track to the starting-point, was preceded by the Koraga band playing on drum, fife and cymbals, Holeyas armed with staves and dancing, and a man holding a flag (nishani). Sometimes, in addition to the flag, there is a pakke or spear on the end of a bamboo covered with strips of cloth, or a makara torana, i.e., festooned cloths between two bamboos. The two last are permitted only if the buffaloes belong to a Bant or Brahman, not if they are the property of a Billava. At the end of the races, the Ballala chief, in whose field they had taken place, retired in procession, headed by a man carrying his banner, which, during the races, had been floating on the top of a long bamboo pole at the far end of the track. He was followed by the Koraga band, and the Holeyas attached to him, armed with clubs, and dancing a step dance amid discordant noises. Two Nalkes (devil-dancers), dressed up in their professional garb, and a torch-bearer also joined in the procession, in the rear of which came the Ballala beneath a decorated umbrella. In every village there are rakshasas (demons), called Kambla-asura, who preside over the fields. The races are held to propitiate them, and, if they are omitted, it is believed that there will be a failure of the crop. According to some, Kambla-asura is the brother of Maheshasura, the buffalo-headed giant, from whom Mysore receives its name. The Koragas sit up through the night before the Kambla day, performing a ceremony called panikkuluni, or sitting under the dew. They sing songs to the accompaniment of the band, about their devil Nicha, and offer toddy and a rice-pudding boiled in a large earthen pot, which is broken so that the pudding remains as a solid mass. This pudding is called kandel adde, or pot pudding. On the morning of the races, the Holeyas scatter manure over the field, and plough it. On the following day, the seedlings are planted, without, as in ordinary cases, any ploughing. To propitiate various devils, the days following the races are devoted to cock-fighting. The Kamblas, in different places, have various names derived from the village deity, the chief village devil, or the village itself, e.g., Janardhana Devara, Daivala, or Udiyavar. The young men, who have the management of the buffaloes, are called Bannangayi Gurikara (half-ripe cocoanut masters) as they have the right of taking tender cocoanuts, as well as beaten rice to give them physical strength, without the special permission of their landlord. At the village of Vandar, the races take place in a dry field, which has been ploughed, and beaten to break up the clods of earth. For this reason they are called podi (powder) Kambla.

A pair of buffaloes, belonging to the field in which the races take place, should enter the field first, and a breach of this observance leads to discussion and quarrels. On one occasion, a dispute arose between two Bants in connection with the question of precedence. One of them brought his own pair of buffaloes, and the other a borrowed pair. If the latter had brought his own animals, he would have had precedence over the former. But, as his animals were borrowed, precedence was given to the man who brought his own buffaloes. This led to a dispute, and the races were not commenced until the delicate point at issue was decided. In some places, a long pole, called pukare, decorated with flags, flowers, and festoons of leaves, is set up in the Kambla field, sometimes on a platform. Billavas are in charge of this pole, which is worshipped, throughout the races, and others may not touch it.

Fines inflicted by the Bant caste council are, I am informed, spent in the celebration of a temple festival. In former days, those found guilty by the council were beaten with tamarind switches, made to stand exposed to the sun, or big red ants were thrown over their bodies. Sometimes, to establish the innocence of an accused person, he had to take a piece of red-hot iron (axe, etc.) in his hand, and give it to his accuser.

At a puberty ceremony among some Bants the girl sits in the courtyard of her house on five unhusked cocoanuts covered with the bamboo cylinder which is used for storing paddy. Women place four pots filled with water, and containing betel leaves and nuts, round the girl, and empty the contents over her head. She is then secluded in an outhouse. The women are entertained with a feast, which must include fowl and fish curry. The cocoanuts are given to a washerwoman. On the fourth day, the girl is bathed, and received back at the house. Beaten rice, and rice flour mixed with jaggery (crude sugar) are served out to those assembled. The girl is kept gosha (secluded) for a time, and fed up with generous diet.

Under the aliya santana system of inheritance, the High Court has ruled that there is no marriage within the meaning of the Penal Code. But, though divorce and remarriage are permitted to women, there are formal rules and ceremonies observed in connection with them, and amongst the well-to-do classes divorce is not looked upon as respectable, and is not frequent. The fictitious marriage prevailing amongst the Nayars is unknown among the Bants, and a wife also usually leaves the family house, and resides at her husband's, unless she occupies so senior a position in her own family as to make it desirable that she should live on the family estate.