The Tamil Kammālans are divided into three endogamous territorial groups, Pāndya, Sōzia (or Chōla), and Kongan. The Pāndyas live principally in the Madura and Tinnevelly districts, and the Sōzias in the Trichinopoly, Tanjore, Chingleput, North and South Arcot districts, and Madras. The Kongas are found chiefly in the Salem and Coimbatore districts. In some places, there are still further sub-divisions of territorial origin. Thus, the Pāndya Tattāns are divided into Karakattar, Vambanattar, Pennaikku-akkarayar (those on the other side of the Pennaiyar river), Munnūru-vīttukārar (those of the three hundred families), and so forth. They are further divided into exogamous septs, the names of which are derived from places, e.g., Perugumani, Musiri, Oryanādu, Thiruchendurai, and Kalagunādu.
The Kammālans are made up of five occupational sections, viz., Tattān (goldsmith), Kannān (brass-smith), Tac’chan (carpenter), Kal-Tac’chan (stone-mason), and Kollan or Karumān (blacksmith). The name Pānchāla, which is sometimes used by the Tamil as well as the Canarese artisan classes, has reference to the fivefold occupations. The various sections intermarry, but the goldsmiths have, especially in towns, ceased to intermarry with the blacksmiths. The Kammālans, claiming, as will be seen later on, to be Brāhmans, have adopted Brāhmanical gōtras, and the five sections have five gōtras called Visvagu, Janagha, Ahima, Janardana, and Ubhēndra, after certain Rishis (sages). Each of these gōtras, it is said, has twenty-five subordinate gōtras attached to it. The names of these, however, are not forthcoming, and indeed, except some individuals who act as priests for the Kammālans, few seem to have any knowledge of them. In their marriages the Kammālans closely imitate the Brāhmanical ceremonial, and the ceremonies last for three or five days according to the means of the parties. The parisam, or bride’s money, is paid, as among other non-Brāhmanical castes. Widows are allowed the use of ordinary jewelry and betel, which is not the case among Brāhmans, and they are not compelled to make the usual fasts, or observe the feasts commonly observed by Brāhmans.
The Kammālan caste is highly organised, and its organisation is one of its most interesting features. Each of the five divisions has at its head a Nāttāmaikkāran or headman, and a Kāryasthan, or chief executive officer, under him, who are elected by members of the particular division. Over them is the Anjivīttu Nāttāmaikkāran (also known as Ainduvittu Periyathanakkāran or Anjijāti Nāttāmaikkāran), who is elected by lot by representatives chosen from among the five sub-divisions. Each of these chooses ten persons to represent it at the election. These ten again select one of their number, who is the local Nāttāmaikkāran, or one who is likely to become so. The five men thus selected meet on an appointed day, with the castemen, at the temple of the caste goddess Kāmākshi Amman. The names of the five men are written on five slips of paper, which, together with some blank slips, are thrown before the shrine of the goddess. A child, taken at random from the assembled crowd, is made to pick up the slips, and he whose name first turns up is proclaimed as Anjivīttu Nāttāmaikkāran, and a big turban is tied on his head by the caste priest. This is called Urumā Kattaradu, and is symbolic of his having been appointed the general head of the caste. Lots are then drawn, to decide which of the remaining four shall be the Anjivīttu Kāryasthan of the newly-elected chief. At the conclusion of the ceremony, betel leaf and areca nut are given first to the new officers, then to the local officers, and finally to the assembled spectators. With this, the installation ceremony, which is called pattam-kattaradu, comes to an end. The money for the expenses thereof is, if necessary, taken from the funds of the temple, but a special collection is generally made for the occasion, and is, it is said, responded to with alacrity. The Anjivīttu Nāttāmaikkāran is theoretically invested with full powers over the caste, and all members thereof are expected to obey his orders. He is the final adjudicator of civil and matrimonial causes. The divisional heads have power to decide such causes, and they report their decisions to the Anjivīttu Nāttāmaikkāran, who generally confirms them. If, for any reason, the parties concerned do not agree to abide by the decision, they are advised to take their cause to one of the established courts. The Anjivīttu Nāttāmaikkāran has at times to nominate, and always the right to confirm or not, the selection of the divisional heads. In conjunction with the Kāryasthan and the local heads, he may appoint Nāttāmaikkārans and Kāryasthans to particular places, and delegate his powers to them. This is done in places where the caste is represented in considerable numbers, as at Sholavandan and Vattalagūndu in the Madura district. In this connection, a quaint custom may be noted. The Pallans, who are known as “the sons of the caste” in villages of the Madura and Tinnevelly districts, are called together, and informed that a particular village is about to be converted into a local Anjivīttu Nāttānmai, and that they must possess a Nāttāmaikkāran and Kāryasthan for themselves. These are nominated in practice by the Pallans, and the nomination is confirmed by the Anjivīttu Nāttāmaikkāran. From that day, they have a right to get new ploughs from the Kallans free of charge, and give them in return a portion of the produce of the land. The local Nāttāmaikkārans are practically under the control of the Kāryasthan of the Anjivīttu Nāttāmaikkāran, and, as the phrase goes, they are “bound down to” the words of this official, who possesses great power and influence with the community. The local officials may be removed from office by the Anjivīttu Nāttāmaikkāran or his Kāryasthan, but this is rarely done, and only when, for any valid reason, the sub-divisions insist on it. The mode of resigning office is for the Nāttāmaikkāran or Kāryasthan to bring betel leaf and areca nut, lay them before the Anjivīttu Nāttāmaikkāran, or his Kāryasthan, and prostrate himself in front of him. There is a tendency for the various offices to become hereditary, provided those succeeding to them are rich and respected by the community. The Anjivīttu Nāttāmaikkāran is entitled to the first betel at caste weddings, even outside his own jurisdiction. His powers are in striking contrast with those of the caste Guru, who resides in Tinnevelly, and occasionally travels northwards. He purifies, it is said, those who are charged with drinking intoxicating liquor, eating flesh, or crossing the sea, if such persons subject themselves to his jurisdiction. If they do not, he does not even exercise the power of excommunication, which he nominally possesses. He is not a Sanyāsi, but a Grihastha or householder. He marries his daughters to castemen, though he refrains from eating in their houses.
Kammālans.
The dead are, as a rule, buried in a sitting posture, but, at the present day, cremation is sometimes resorted to. Death pollution, as among some other non-Brāhmanical castes, lasts for sixteen days. It is usual for a Pandāram to officiate at the death ceremonies. On the first day, the corpse is anointed with oil, and given a soap-nut bath. On the third day, five lingams are made with mud, of which four are placed in the four corners at the spot where the corpse was buried, and the fifth is placed in the centre. Food is distributed on the fifth day to Pandārams and the castemen. Srādh (annual death ceremony) is not as a rule performed, except in some of the larger towns.
The Kammālans profess the Saiva form of the Brāhman religion, and reverence greatly Pillaiyar, the favourite son of Siva. A few have come under the Lingāyat influence. The caste, however, has its own special goddess Kāmākshi Amma, who is commonly spoken of as Vriththi Daivam. She is worshipped by all the sub-divisions, and female children are frequently named after her. She is represented by the firepot and bellows-fire at which the castemen work, and presides over them. On all auspicious occasions, the first betel and dakshina (present of money) are set apart in her name, and sent to the pūjāri (priest) of the local temple dedicated to her. Oaths are taken in her name, and disputes affecting the caste are settled before her temple. There also elections to caste offices are held. The exact connection of the goddess Kāmākshi with the caste is not known. There is, however, a vague tradition that she was one of the virgins who committed suicide by throwing herself into a fire, and was in consequence deified. Various village goddesses (grāma dēvata) are also worshipped, and, though the Kammālans profess to be vegetarians, animal sacrifices are offered to them. Among these deities are the Saptha Kannimar or seven virgins, Kōchadē Periyāndavan, and Periya Nayanar. Those who worship the Saptha Kannimar are known by the name of Mādāvaguppu, or the division that worships the mothers. Those who revere the other two deities mentioned are called Nādīkā Vamsathāl, or those descended from men who, through the seven virgins, attained eternal bliss. Kōchadē Periyāndavan is said to be a corruption of Or Jatē Periya Pāndyan, meaning the great Pāndya with the single lock. He is regarded as Vishnu, and Periya Nayanar is held to be a manifestation of Siva. The former is said to have been the person who invited the Tattāns (who called themselves Pāndya Tattāns) to settle in his kingdom. It is traditionally stated that they emigrated from the north, and settled in the Madura and Tinnevelly districts. An annual festival in honour of Kōchadē Periyāndavan is held in these districts, for the expenses in connection with which a subscription is raised among the five sub-divisions. The festival lasts over three days. On the first day, the image of the deified king is anointed with water, and a mixture of the juices of the mango, jāk (Artocarpus integrifolia), and plantain, called muppala pūjai. On the second day, rice is boiled, and offered to the god, and, on the last day, a healthy ram is sacrificed to him. This festival is said to be held, in order to secure the caste as a whole against evils that might overtake it. Tac’chans (carpenters) usually kill, or cut the ear of a ram or sheep, whenever they commence the woodwork of a new house, and smear the blood of the animal on a pillar or wall of the house.
The Kammālans claim to be descended from Visvakarma, the architect of the gods, and, in some places, claim to be superior to Brāhmans, calling the latter Gō-Brāhmans, and themselves Visva Brāhmans. Visvakarma is said to have had five sons, named Manu, Maya, Silpa, Tvashtra, and Daivagna. These five sons were the originators of the five crafts, which their descendants severally follow. Accordingly, some engage in smithy work, and are called Manus; others, in their turn, devote their attention to carpentry. These are named Mayas. Others again, who work at stone-carving, are known as Silpis. Those who do metal work are Tvashtras, and those who are engaged in making jewelry are known as Visvagnas or Daivagnas. According to one story of the origin of the Kammālans, they are the descendants of the issue of a Brāhman and a Bēri Chetti woman. Hence the proverb that the Kammālans and the Bēri Chettis are one. Another story, recorded in the Mackenzie manuscripts, which is current all over the Tamil country, is briefly as follows. In the town of Māndāpuri, the Kammālans of the five divisions formerly lived closely united together. They were employed by all sorts of people, as there were no other artificers in the country, and charged very high rates for their wares. They feared and respected no king. This offended the kings of the country, who combined against them. As the fort in which the Kammālans concealed themselves, called Kāntakkōttai, was entirely constructed of loadstone, all the weapons were drawn away by it. The king then promised a big reward to anyone who would burn down the fort, and at length the Dēva-dāsīs (courtesans) of a temple undertook to do this, and took betel and nut in signification of their promise. The king built a fort for them opposite Kāntakkōttai, and they attracted the Kammālans by their singing, and had children by them. One of the Dēva-dāsīs at length succeeded in extracting from a young Kammālan the secret that, if the fort was surrounded with varaghu straw and set on fire, it would be destroyed. The king ordered that this should be done, and, in attempting to escape from the sudden conflagration, some of the Kammālans lost their lives. Others reached the ships, and escaped by sea, or were captured and put to death. In consequence of this, artificers ceased to exist in the country. One pregnant Kammālan woman, however, took refuge in the house of a Bēri Chetti, and escaped decapitation by being passed off as his daughter. The country was sorely troubled owing to the want of artificers, and agriculture, manufactures, and weaving suffered a great deal. One of the kings wanted to know if any Kammālan escaped the general destruction, and sent round his kingdom a piece of coral possessing a tortuous aperture running through it, and a piece of thread. A big reward was promised to anyone who should succeed in passing the thread through the coral. At last, the boy born of the Kammālan woman in the Chetti’s house undertook to do it. He placed the coral over the mouth of an ant-hole, and, having steeped the thread in sugar, laid it down at some distance from the hole. The ants took the thread, and drew it through the coral. The king, being pleased with the boy, sent him presents, and gave him more work to do. This he performed with the assistance of his mother, and satisfied the king. The king, however, grew suspicious, and, having sent for the Chetti, enquired concerning the boy’s parentage. The Chetti thereon detailed the story of his birth. The king provided him with the means for making ploughshares on a large scale, and got him married to the daughter of a Chetti, and made gifts of land for the maintenance of the couple. The Chetti woman bore him five sons, who followed the five branches of work now carried out by the Kammālan caste. The king gave them the title of Panchayudhattar, or those of the five kinds of weapons. They now intermarry with each other, and, as children of the Chetti caste, wear the sacred thread. The members of the caste who fled by sea are said to have gone to China, or, according to another version, to Chingaladvīpam, or Ceylon, where Kammālans are found at the present day. In connection with the above story, it may be noted that, though ordinarily two different castes do not live in the same house, yet Bēri Chettis and Kammālans so live together. There is a close connection between the Kammālans and Acharapākam Chettis, who are a section of the Bēri Chetti caste. Kammālans and Acharapākam Chettis interdine; both bury their dead in a sitting posture; and the tāli (marriage badge) used by both is alike in size and make, and unlike that used by the generality of the Bēri Chetti caste. The Acharapākam Chettis are known as Malighe Chettis, and are considered to be the descendants of those Bēri Chettis who brought up the Kammālan children, and intermarried with them. Even now, in the city of Madras, when the Bēri Chettis assemble for the transaction of caste business, the notice summoning the meeting excludes the Malighe Chettis, who can neither vote nor receive votes at elections, meetings, etc., of the Kandasāmi temple, which every other Bēri Chetti has a right to.
It may be noted that the Dēva-dāsīs, whose treachery is said to have led to the destruction of the Kammālan caste, were Kaikōlans by caste, and that their illegitimate children, like their progenitors, became weavers. The weavers of South India, according to old Tamil poems, were formerly included in the Kammiyan or Kammālan caste.[70] Several inscriptions show that, as late as 1013 A.D., the Kammālans were treated as an inferior caste, and, in consequence, were confined to particular parts of villages.[71] A later inscription gives an order of one of the Chōla kings that they should be permitted to blow conches, and beat drums at their weddings and funerals, wear sandals, and plaster their houses.[72] “It is not difficult,” Mr. H. A. Stuart writes,[73] “to account for the low position held by the Kammālans, for it must be remembered that, in those early times, the military castes in India, as elsewhere, looked down upon all engaged in labour, whether skilled or otherwise. With the decline of the military power, however, it was natural that a useful caste like the Kammālans should generally improve its position, and the reaction from their long oppression has led them to make the exaggerated claims described above, which are ridiculed by every other caste, high or low.” The claims here referred to are that they are descended from Visvakarma, the architect of the gods, and are Brāhmans.
From a note by Mr. F. R. Hemingway, I gather that the friendship between the Muhammadans and Kammālans, who call each other māni (paternal uncle) “originated in the fact that a holy Muhammadan, named Ibrahim Nabi, was brought up in the house of a Kammālan, because his father was afraid that he would be killed by a Hindu king named Namadūta, who had been advised by his soothsayers that he would thus avoid a disaster, which was about to befall his kingdom. The Kammālan gave his daughter to the father of Ibrahim in exchange. Another story (only told by Kammālans) is to the effect that the Kammālans were once living in a magnetic castle, called Kānda Kōttai, which could only be destroyed by burning it with varagu straw; and that the Musalmans captured it by sending Musalman prostitutes into the town, to wheedle the secret out of the Kammālans. The friendship, according to the story, sprang up because the Kammālans consorted with the Musalman women.”