Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Vol. 4 of 7

by Edgar Thurston

Ladāf.—Recorded, at the census, 1901, as a synonym of Dūdēkula. A corruption of nad-dāf (a cotton-dresser).

Lādar.—It is noted, in the Mysore Census Report, 1901, that “the Lādars are a class of general merchants, found chiefly in the cities, where they supply all kinds of stores, glass-ware, etc.” I gather[7] that the “Lād or Suryavaunshi Vānis say that they are the children of Surya, the sun. They are said to have come from Benares to Maisur under pressure of famine about 700 years ago. But their caste name seems to show that their former settlement was not in Benares, but in South Gujarāt or Lāt Desh. They are a branch of the Lād community of Maisur, with whom they have social intercourse. They teach their boys to read and write Kanarese, and succeed as traders in grain, cloth, and groceries.”

Lāla.—The names of some Bondilis, or immigrants from Bandelkand, who have settled in the North Arcot district and other localities, terminate with Lāla. Lāla also occurs as a synonym for Kāyasth, the writer caste of Bengal, immigrants from Northern India, who have settled in Madras, where there are a number of families. “In Madras,” Mr. S. M. Natesa Sastri informs us,[8] “the Mahrattas and Lālas—mostly non-Brāhman—observe the Holi feast with all sorts of hideousness. The youngsters of the Lāla sect make, in each house or in common for a whole street, an image of Holika, sing obscene songs before it, offer sweetmeats, fruits and other things in mock worship of the image, exchange horseplay compliments by syringing coloured water on each other’s clothes, and spend the whole period of the feast singing, chatting, and abusing. Indecent language is allowed to be indulged in during the continuance of this jolly occasion. At about 1 A.M. on the full moon day, the image of Holika is burnt, and children sit round the embers, and beat their mouths, making a mock mourning sound. Tender children are swung over the fire for a second by the fond mothers, and this is believed to remove all kinds of danger from the babies.”

Lāligonda.—Recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as Lingāyats, consisting of Canarese-speaking Kāpus or Vakkaligas.

Lambādi.—The Lambādis are also called Lambāni, Brinjāri or Banjāri, Boipāri, Sugāli or Sukāli. By some Sugāli is said to be a corruption of supāri (betel nut), because they formerly traded largely therein.[9] “The Banjarās,” Mr. G. A. Grierson writes,[10] “are the well-known tribe of carriers who are found all over Western and Southern India.[11] One of their principal sub-castes is known under the name of Labhānī, and this name (or some related one) is often applied to the whole tribe. The two names appear each under many variations, such as Banjāri, Vanjārī, Brinjārī, Labhāni, Labānī, Labānā, Lambādi, and Lambānī. The name Banjāra and its congeners is probably derived from the Sanskrit Vānijyakārakas, a merchant, through the Prakrit Vānijjaāraō, a trader. The derivation of Labhānī or Labānī, etc., is obscure. It has been suggested that it means salt carrier from the Sanskrit lavanah, salt, because the tribe carried salt, but this explanation goes against several phonetic rules, and does not account for the forms of the word like Labhānī or Lambānī. Banjārī falls into two main dialects—that of the Panjab and Gujarat, and that of elsewhere (of which we may take the Labhānī of Berar as the standard). All these different dialects are ultimately to be referred to the language of Western Rajputana. The Labhānī of Berar possesses the characteristics of an old form of speech, which has been preserved unchanged for some centuries. It may be said to be based partly on Mārwāri and partly on Northern Gujarātī.” It is noted by Mr. Grierson that the Banjārī dialect of Southern India is mixed with the surrounding Dravidian languages. In the Census Report, 1901, Tanda (the name of the Lambādi settlements or camps), and Vāli Sugrīva are given as synonyms for the tribal name. Vāli and Sugrīva were two monkey chiefs mentioned in the Rāmāyana, from whom the Lambādis claim to be descended. The legend, as given by Mr. F. S. Mullaly,[12] is that “there were two brothers, Mōta and Mōla, descendants of Sugrīva. Mōla had no issue, so, being an adept in gymnastic feats, he went with his wife Radha, and exhibited his skill at ‘Rathanatch’ before three rājahs. They were so taken with Mōla’s skill, and the grace and beauty of Radha, and of her playing of the nagāra or drum, that they asked what they could do for them. Mōla asked each of the rājahs for a boy, that he might adopt him as his son. This request was accorded, and Mōla adopted three boys. Their names were Chavia, Lohia Panchar, and Ratāde. These three boys, in course of time, grew up and married. From Bheekya, the eldest son of Ratāde, started the clan known as the Bhutyas, and from this clan three minor sub-divisions known as the Maigavuth, Kurumtoths, and Kholas. The Bhutyas form the principal class among the Lambādis.” According to another legend,[13] “one Chāda left five sons, Mūla, Mōta, Nathād, Jōgdā, and Bhīmdā. Chavān (Chauhān), one of the three sons of Mūla, had six sons, each of whom originated a clan. In the remote past, a Brāhman from Ajmir, and a Marāta from Jōtpur in the north of India, formed alliances with, and settled among these people, the Marāta living with Rathōl, a brother of Chavān. The Brāhman married a girl of the latter’s family, and his offspring added a branch to the six distinct clans of Chavān. These clans still retain the names of their respective ancestors, and, by reason of cousinship, intermarriage between some of them is still prohibited. They do, however, intermarry with the Brāhman offshoot, which was distinguished by the name of Vadtyā, from Chavān’s family. Those belonging to the Vadtyā clan still wear the sacred thread. The Marāta, who joined the Rathōl family, likewise founded an additional branch under the name of Khamdat to the six clans of the latter, who intermarry with none but the former. It is said that from the Khamdat clan are recruited most of the Lambādi dacoits. The clan descended from Mōta, the second son of Chāda, is not found in the Mysore country. The descendants of Nathād, the third son, live by catching wild birds, and are known as Mirasikat, Paradi, or Vāgri (see Kuruvikkāran). The Jōgdās are people of the Jōgi caste. Those belonging to the Bhīmdā family are the peripatetic blacksmiths, called Bailu Kammāra. The Lambāni outcastes compose a sub-division called Thālya, who, like the Holayas, are drum-beaters, and live in detached habitations.”

As pointing to a distinction between Sukālis and Banjāris, it is noted by the Rev. J. Cain[14] that “the Sukālīlu do not travel in such large companies as the Banjārīlu, nor are their women dressed as gaudily as the Banjāri women. There is but little friendship between these two classes, and the Sukāli would regard it as anything but an honour to be called a Banjāri, and the Banjāri is not flattered when called a Sukāli.” It is, however, noted, in the Madras Census Report, 1891, that enquiries show that Lambādis and Sugālis are practically the same. And Mr. H. A. Stuart, writing concerning the inhabitants of the North Arcot district, states that the names Sugāli, Lambādi and Brinjāri “seem to be applied to one and the same class of people, though a distinction is made. The Sugālis are those who have permanently settled in the district; the Lambādis are those who commonly pass through from the coast to Mysore; and the Brinjāris appear to be those who come down from Hyderabad or the Central Provinces.” It is noted by Mr. W. Francis[15] that, in the Bellary district, the Lambādis do not recognise the name Sugāli.

Orme mentions the Lambādis as having supplied the Comte de Bussy with store, cattle and grain, when besieged by the Nizam’s army at Hyderabad. In an account of the Brinjāris towards the close of the eighteenth century, Moor[16] writes that they “associate chiefly together, seldom or never mixing with other tribes. They seem to have no home, nor character, but that of merchants, in which capacity they travel great distances to whatever parts are most in want of merchandise, which is the greatest part corn. In times of war they attend, and are of great assistance to armies, and, being neutral, it is a matter of indifference to them who purchase their goods. They marched and formed their own encampments apart, relying on their own courage for protection; for which purpose the men are all armed with swords or matchlocks. The women drive the cattle, and are the most robust we ever saw in India, undergoing a great deal of labour with apparent ease. Their dress is peculiar, and their ornaments are so singularly chosen that we have, we are confident, seen women who (not to mention a child at their backs) have had eight or ten pounds weight in metal or ivory round their arms and legs. The favourite ornaments appear to be rings of ivory from the wrist to the shoulder, regularly increasing in size, so that the ring near the shoulder will be immoderately large, sixteen or eighteen inches, or more perhaps in circumference. These rings are sometimes dyed red. Silver, lead, copper, or brass, in ponderous bars, encircle their shins, sometimes round, others in the form of festoons, and truly we have seen some so circumstanced that a criminal in irons would not have much more to incommode him than these damsels deem ornamental and agreeable trappings on a long march, for they are never dispensed with in the hottest weather. A kind of stomacher, with holes for the arms, and tied behind at the bottom, covers their breast, and has some strings of cowries,[17] depending behind, dangling at their backs. The stomacher is curiously studded with cowries, and their hair is also bedecked with them. They wear likewise ear-rings, necklaces, rings on the fingers and toes, and, we think, the nut or nose jewel. They pay little attention to cleanliness; their hair, once plaited, is not combed or opened perhaps for a month; their bodies or cloths are seldom washed; their arms are indeed so encased with ivory that it would be no easy matter to clean them. They are chaste and affable; any indecorum offered to a woman would be resented by the men, who have a high sense of honour on that head. Some are men of great property; it is said that droves of loaded bullocks, to the number of fifty or sixty thousand, have at different times followed the Bhow’s army.”

Lambādis.