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

by Edgar Thurston

Malavarāyan.—A title of Ambalakkāran.

Malayāli.—The Malayālis or Malaiālis, whom I examined in the Salem district, dwell on the summits and slopes of the Shevaroy hills, and earn their living by cultivating grain, and working on coffee estates. Suspicious and superstitious to a degree, they openly expressed their fear that I was the dreaded settlement officer, and had come to take possession of their lands in the name of the Government, and transport them to the Andaman islands (the Indian penal settlement). When I was engaged in the innocent occupation of photographing a village, the camera was mistaken for a surveying instrument, and a protest raised. Many of them, while willing to part with their ornaments of the baser metals, were loth to sell or let me see their gold and silver jewelry, from fear lest I should use it officially as evidence of their too prosperous condition. One man told me to my face that he would rather have his throat cut than submit to my measuring operations, and fled precipitately. The women stolidly refused to entrust themselves in my hands. Nor would they bring their children (unwashed specimens of brown humanity) to me, lest they should fall sick under the influence of my evil eye.

In the account which follows I am largely indebted to Mr. H. LeFanu’s admirable, and at times amusing, Manual of the Salem district.

The word Malaiāli denotes inhabitant of the hills (malai = hill or mountain). The Malaiālis have not, however, like the Todas of the Nilgiris, any claim to be considered as an ancient hill tribe, but are a Tamil-speaking people, who migrated from the plains to the hills in comparatively recent times. As a shrewd, but unscientific observer put it concisely to me, they are Tamils of the plains with the addition of a kambli or blanket; which kambli is a luxury denied to the females, but does duty for males, young and old, in the triple capacity of great coat, waterproof, and blanket. According to tradition, the Malaiālis originally belonged to the Vellāla caste of cultivators, and emigrated from the sacred city of Kānchipuram (Conjeeveram) to the hills about ten generations ago, when Muhammadan rule was dominant in Southern India. When they left Kānchi, they took with them, according to their story, three brothers, of whom the eldest came to the Shevaroy hills, the second to the Kollaimalais, and the youngest to the Pachaimalais (green hills). The Malaiālis of the Shevaroys are called the Peria (big) Malaiālis, those of the Kollaimalais the Chinna (little) Malaiālis. According to another version “the Malaiāli deity Karirāman, finding himself uncomfortable at Kānchi, took up a new abode. Three of his followers, named Periyanan, Naduvanan, and Chinnanan (the eldest, the middle-man, and the youngest) started with their families to follow him from Kānchi, and came to the Salem district, where they took different routes, Periyanan going to the Shevaroys, Naduvanan to the Pachaimalais and Anjūr hills, and Chinnanan to Manjavādi.”

A further version of the legendary origin of the Malaiālis of the Trichinopoly district is given by Mr. F. R. Hemingway, who writes as follows. “Their traditions are embodied in a collection of songs (nāttukattu). The story goes that they are descended from a priest of Conjeeveram, who was the brother of the king, and, having quarrelled with the latter, left the place, and entered this country with his three sons and daughters. The country was then ruled by Vēdans and Vellālans, who resisted the new-comers. But ‘the conch-shell blew and the quoit cut,’ and the invaders won the day. They then spread themselves about the hills, the eldest son (Periyanan), whose name was Sadaya Kavundan, selecting the Shevaroys in Salem, the second son (Naduvanan, the middle brother) the Pachaimalais, and the youngest (Chinnanan) the Kollaimalais. They married women of the country, Periyanan taking a Kaikōlan, Naduvanan a Vēdan, and Chinnanan a ‘Dēva Indra’ Pallan. They gave their sister in marriage to a Tottiyan stranger, in exchange for some food supplied by him after their battle with the men of the country. Some curious customs survive, which are pointed to in support of this story. Thus, the women of the Pachaimalai Malaiyālis put aside a portion of each meal in honour of their Vēdan ancestors before serving their husbands, and, at their marriages, they wear a comb, which is said to have been a characteristic ornament of the Vēdans. Bridegrooms place a sword and an arrow in the marriage booth, to typify the hunting habits of the Vēdans, and their own conquest of the country. The Malaiyālis of the Kollaimalais are addressed by Pallan women as brother-in-law (macchān), though the Malaiyālis do not relish this. It is also said that Tottiyan men regard Malaiyālis as their brothers-in-law, and always treat them kindly, and that the Tottiyan women regard the Malaiyālis as their brothers, but treat them very coldly, in remembrance of their having sold their sister ‘for a mess of pottage.’”

The account, which the Malaiālis of the Javādi hills in North Arcot give of their origin, is as follows.[37] “In S.S. 1055 (1132 A.D.) some of the Vēdars of Kangundi asked that wives should be given them by the Karaikkāt Vellālas of Conjeeveram. They were scornfully refused, and in anger kidnapped seven young Vellāla maidens, whom they carried away to Kangundi. To recover them, seven Vellāla men set out with seven dogs, leaving instructions with their wives that, if the dogs returned alone, they should consider that they had perished, and should cause the funeral ceremonies to be performed. Arriving at the Pālār, they found the river in flood, and crossed it with difficulty ; but their dogs, after swimming half way, turned back and returned to Conjeeveram. The men, however, continued their journey, and killed the Vēdars who had taken away their maidens, after which they went back to their homes, but found that they had been given up as lost, their wives had become widows, their funeral ceremonies performed, and they were in consequence outcastes. Under these circumstances, they contracted marriages with some Vēdar women, and retired to the Javādis, where they took to cultivation, and became the ancestors of the Malaiāli caste. This account has been preserved by the Malaiālis in a small palm-leaf book.” There is, Mr. Francis writes,[38] a tradition in the South Arcot district that “the hills were inhabited by Vēdans, and that the Malaiālis killed the men, and wedded the women; and at marriages a gun is still fired in the air to represent the death of the Vēdan husband.” The Malaiālis returned themselves, at the last census, as Karaikkāt Vellālas. The Malaiālis of South Arcot call themselves Kongu Vellālas. All the branches of the community agree in saying that they are Vellālans, who emigrated from Kānchipuram, bringing with them their god Karirāman, and, at the weddings of the Kalrāyans in South Arcot, the presiding priest sings a kind of chant just before the tāli is tied, which begins with the words Kānchi, the (sacred) place, and Karirāman in front. Copper sāsanams show that the migration occurred at least as early as the beginning of the sixteenth century.

The Malaiālis of the Shevaroys call themselves Kānchimandalam. Many, at the last census, returned themselves as Vellāla and Kārālan. Malakkāran and Mala Nāyakkan are also used as synonyms for Malaiāli. All have Goundan as their second name, which is universally used in hailing them. The first name is sometimes derived from a Hindu god, and my notes record Mr. Green, Mr. Black, Mr. Little, Mr. Short, Mr. Large, and Mr. Big nose.

As regards the conditions under which the Malaiālis of the Salem district hold land, I learn from the Manual that, in 1866, the Collector fixed an area around each village for the cultivation of the Malaiālis exclusively, and, in view to prevent aggression on the part of the planters, had the boundaries of these areas surveyed and demarcated. This area is known as the “village green.” With this survey the old system of charging the Malaiālis on ploughs and hoes appears to have been discontinued, and they are now charged at one rupee per acre on the extent of their holdings. The lands within the green are given under the ordinary darakhāst[39] rules to the Malaiālis, but outside it they are sold under the special waste land rules of 1863. In 1870 the Board of Revenue decided that, where the lands within the green are all occupied, and the Malaiālis require more land for cultivation, land outside the limits of the green may be given them under the ordinary darakhāst rules. In 1871 it was discovered that the planters tried to get lands outside the green by making the Malaiālis first apply for it, thereby evading the waste land rules. The Board then ordered that, if there was reason to suspect that a Malaiāli was applying for lands outside the green on account of the planters, the patta (deed of lease) might be refused.

Subscribing vaguely to the Hindu religion, the Malaiālis, who believe that their progenitors wore the sacred thread, give a nominal allegiance to both Siva and Vishnu, as well as to a number of minor deities, and believe in the efficacy of a thread to ward off sickness and attacks by devils or evil spirits. “In the year 1852,” Mr. LeFanu writes, “a searching enquiry into the traditions, customs, and origin of these Malaiālis was made. They then stated that smearing the face with ashes indicates the religion of Siva, and putting nāmam that of Vishnu, but that there is no difference between the two religions; that, though Sivarātri sacred to Siva, and Srirāmanavami and Gōkulāshtami sacred to Vishnu, appear outwardly to denote a difference, there is really none. Though they observe the Saturdays of the month Peratāsi sacred to Vishnu, still worship is performed without reference to Vishnu or Siva. They have, indeed, certain observances, which would seem to point to a division into Vaishnavas and Saivas, the existence of which they deny; as for instance, some, out of respect to Siva, abstain from sexual intercourse on Sundays and Mondays; and others, for the sake of Vishnu, do the same on Fridays and Saturdays. So, too, offerings are made to Vishnu on Fridays and Saturdays, and to Siva on Sundays and Mondays; but they denied the existence of sects among them.”

“On the Kalrāyans,” Mr. Francis writes,[40] “are very many shrines to the lesser gods. The Malaiālis themselves do the pūja (worship). The deities include Māriamma, Draupadi, and many other village goddesses. In some of the temples are placed the prehistoric celts and other stone implements which are found on these hills. The people do not understand what these are, and reverence them accordingly. The practice of taking oaths before these shrines to settle disputes is common. The party makes a solemn affidavit of the truth of his case in the presence of the god, holding some burning camphor in his hand. Having made his statement, he blows out the flame to signify that, if he is lying, the god is welcome to snuff him out in the same sudden manner.”