Jalagadugu.—Defined, by Mr. C. P. Brown,[21] as “a caste of gold-finders, who search for gold in drains, and in the sweepings of goldsmiths’ shops.” A modest livelihood is also obtained, in some places, by extracting gold from the bed of rivers or nullahs (water-courses). The name is derived from jala, water, gadugu, wash. The equivalent Jalakāra is recorded, in the Bellary Gazetteer, as a sub-division of Kabbēra.
In the city of Madras, gold-washers are to be found working in the foul side drains in front of jewellers’ shops. The Health Officer to the Corporation informs me that he often chases them, and breaks their pots for obstructing public drains in their hunt for pieces of gold and other metals.
For the following note on the gold-washers of Madras, I am indebted to Dr. K. T. Mathew: “This industry is carried on in the city by the Oddars, and was practically monopolised by them till a few years back, when other castes, mostly of the lower orders, stepped in. The Oddars now form a population of several thousands in the city, their chief occupation being conservancy cooly work. The process of gold washing is carried out by women at home, and by the aged and adults in their spare hours. The ashes, sweepings, and refuse from the goldsmiths’ shops are collected on payment of a sum ranging from one rupee to ten rupees per mensem, and are brought in baskets to a convenient place alongside their huts, where they are stored for a variable time. The drain silts from streets where there are a large number of jewellers’ shops are similarly collected, but, in this case, the only payment to be made is a present to the Municipal peon. The materials so collected are left undisturbed for a few days or several months, and this storing away for a time is said to be necessary to facilitate the extraction of the gold, as any immediate attempt to wash the stuff results in great loss in the quantity obtained. From the heap as much as can be taken on an ordinary spade is put into a boat-shaped tub open at one end, placed close to the heap, and so arranged that the waste water from the tub flows away from the heap behind, and collects in a shallow pool in front. The water from the pool is collected in a small chatty (earthen vessel), and poured over the heap in the tub, which is continually stirred up with the other hand. All the lighter stuff in this way flows out of the tub, and all the hard stones are every now and then picked out and thrown away. This process goes on until about a couple of handfuls of dark sand, etc., are left in the tub. To this a small quantity of mercury is added, briskly rubbed for a minute or two, and the process of washing goes on, considerable care being taken to see that no particle of mercury escapes, until at last the mercury, with a great many particles of metallic dust attached, is collected in a small chatty—often a broken piece of a pot. The mercury, with the metallic particles in it, is then well washed with clean water, and put into a tiny bag formed of two layers of a piece of rag. The mass is then gently pressed until all the mercury falls into a chatty below, leaving a small flattened mass of dark substance in the bag, which is carefully collected, and kept in another dry chatty. The washing process is repeated until enough of the dark substance—about a third of a teaspoonful—is collected. This substance is then mixed with powdered common salt and brick-dust, put into a broken piece of a pot, and covered with another piece. The whole is placed in a large earthen vessel, with cow-dung cakes well packed above and below. A blazing fire is soon produced, and kept up till the mass is melted. This mass is carefully removed, and again melted with borax in a hole made in a piece of good charcoal, by blowing through a reed or hollow bamboo, until the gold separates from the mass. The fire is then suddenly quenched, and the piece of gold is separated and removed.”
Jālāri.—The Jālāris are Telugu fishermen, palanquin-bearers, and cultivators in Ganjam and Vizagapatam. The name, Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao writes, is derived from jāla, a net. Some are fresh-water fishermen, while others fish with a cast-net (visuru valalu) from the sea-shore, or on the open sea. They bear the name Gangavamsamu, or people of Ganga, in the same way that a division of the Kabbēra fishing caste is called Gangimakkalu. In caste organisation, ceremonial, etc., the Jālāris coincide with the Mīlas. They are called Noliyas by the Oriyas of Ganjam. They have house-names like other Telugus, and their females do not wear brass bangles, as low-caste Oriya women do.
The Jālāris have two endogamous divisions, called panrendu kotla (twelve posts), and edu kotla (seven posts), in reference to the number of posts for the booth. The former claim superiority over the latter, on the ground that they are illegitimate Jālāris, or recently admitted into the caste.
Like other Telugu castes, the Jālāris have a caste council under the control of a headman called Pilla. In imitation of the Oriyas, they have created an assistant headman called Dolobēhara, and they have the usual caste servant.
In their puberty, marriage and death ceremonies, they closely follow the Vādas and Palles. The prohibitions regarding marriage are of the Telugu form, but, like the Oriya castes, the Jālāris allow a widow to marry her deceased husband’s younger brother. The marriage ceremonies last for three days. On the first day, the pandal (booth), with the usual milk-post, is erected. For every marriage, representatives of the four towns Peddapatnam, Vizagapatam, Bimlipatam, and Revalpatnam, should be invited, and should be the first to receive pān-supāri (betel leaves and areca nuts) after the pandal has been set up. Peddapatnam is the first to be called out, and the respect may be shown to any person from that town. The representatives of the other towns must belong to particular septs, as follows:—
| Vizagapatam | Buguri sept. |
| Revalpatnam | Jonna sept. |
| Bimlipatam | Sundra sept. |
The Jālāris are unable to explain the significance of this “counting towns,” as they call it. Possibly Peddapatnam was their original home, from which particular septs emigrated to other towns. On the second day of the marriage ceremonies, the tying of the sathamānam (marriage badge) takes place. The bridegroom, after going in procession through the streets, enters the house at which the marriage is to be celebrated. At the entrance, the maternal uncle of the bride stands holding in his crossed hands two vessels, one of which contains water, and the other water with jaggery (crude sugar) dissolved in it. The bridegroom is expected to take hold of the vessel containing the sweetened water before he enters, and is fined if he fails to do so. When the bridegroom approaches the pandal, some married women hold a bamboo pole between him and the pandal, and a new earthen pot is carried thrice round the pole. While this is being done, the bride joins the bridegroom, and the couple enter the pandal beneath a cloth held up to form a canopy in front thereof. This ceremonial takes place towards evening, as the marriage badge is tied on the bride’s neck during the night. An interesting feature in connection with the procession is that a pole called digametlu (shoulder-pole), with two baskets tied to the ends, is carried. In one of the baskets a number of sieves and small baskets are placed, and in the other one or more cats. This digametlu is always referred to by the Vādas when they are questioned as to the difference between their marriage ceremonies and those of the Jālāris. Other castes laugh at this custom, and it is consequently dying out.
The Jālāris always marry young girls. One reason assigned for this is “the income to married young girls” at the time of the marriage ceremonies. Two or more married couples are invited to remain at the house in which the marriage takes place, to help the bridal couple in their toilette, and assist at the nalagu, evil eye waving, and other rites. They are rewarded for their services with presents. Another instance of infant marriage being the rule on account of pecuniary gain is found among the Dikshitar Brāhmans of Chidambaram. Only married males have a voice in temple affairs, and receive a share of the temple income. Consequently, boys are sometimes married when they are seven or eight years old. At every Jālāri marriage, meals must be given to the castemen, a rupee to the representatives of the patnams, twelve annas to the headman and his assistant, and three rupees to the Mālas.