The Īdigas claim to be descended from Vyāsa, the traditional compiler of the Mahābhārata. In a note by Mr. F. R. Hemingway on the Īdigas of the Godāvari district, they are said to worship a deity, to whom they annually offer fowls on New Year’s day, and make daily offerings of a few drops of toddy from the first pot taken from the tree. In this district they are commonly called Chetti.
The insigne of the Īdigas, as recorded at Conjeeveram, is a ladder.[9]
Idiya (pounder).—Recorded, in the Travancore Census Report, 1901, as a division of Konkani Sūdras. The Idiyans prepare rice in a special manner. Paddy is soaked in water, and roasted over a fire. While hot, it is placed in a mortar, and pounded with a pestle. This rice is called avil, which is said to be largely used as a delicacy in Travancore, and to be employed in certain religious ceremonies.
The Idiyans are stated to have left their native land near Cochin, and settled in Travancore at the invitation of a former sovereign. On arrival in the land of their adoption, they were given, free of tax, cocoanut gardens and rice land. In return, they were required to supply, free of charge, the palace of the Mahārājah and the temple of Sri Padmanabhaswāmi at Trivandrum with as much beaten rice (avil) as might be required from time to time.
Īga (fly).—An exogamous sept of Mutrācha. The equivalent Īgala occurs as an exogamous sept of Yānādi.
Ilai (leaf).—Ilai or Ele has been recorded as a sub-division of Tigalas and Toreyas who cultivate the betel vine (Piper betle). Elai Vāniyan occurs as a synonym of Senaikkudaiyans, who are betel leaf sellers in Tinnevelly.
Ilaiyāttakudi.—A sub-division of Nāttukōttai Chetti.
Ilakutiyan.—Recorded, in the Travancore Census Report, 1901, as a sub-division of Nāyar.
Ilamagan.—The Ilamagans are described by Mr. Francis[10] as “a cultivating caste found chiefly in the Zamindari taluk of Tiruppattūr in Madura. The word literally means a young man, but the young is interpreted by other castes in the sense of inferior. One says that it is made up of the sons of Vallamban females and Vellāla males, another that it is a mixture of outcasted Valaiyans, Kallans and Maravans, and a third that it is descended from illegitimate children of the Vellālas and Pallis. Like the Kallans and Valaiyans, the members of the caste stretch the lobes of their ears, and leave their heads unshaven. The caste is divided into two or three endogamous sections of territorial origin. They do not employ Brāhmans as purōhits; their widows may marry again; their dead are usually buried; and they will eat pork, mutton, fowls, and fish. They are thus not high in the social scale, and are, in fact, about on a par with the Kallans. The headmen of the caste are called Ambalam.” It is suggested, in the Census Report, 1891, that, from the fact that Ilamagan appears as a sub-division of the Maravans, it may perhaps be inferred that the two castes are closely allied.
Ilampi.—Recorded, in the Travancore Census Report, 1901, as a sub-division of Nāyar.