Pandito.—Pandit or Pundit (pandita, a learned man) has been defined[40] as “properly a man learned in Sanskrit lore. The Pundit of the Supreme Court was a Hindu law-officer, whose duty it was to advise the English Judges when needful on questions of Hindu law. The office became extinct on the constitution of the High Court (in 1862). In the Mahratta and Telugu countries, the word Pandit is usually pronounced Pant (in English colloquial Punt).” In the countries noted, Pant occurs widely as a title of Brāhmans, who are also referred to as Pantulu vāru. The titles Sanskrit Pundit, Telugu Pundit, etc., are still officially recognised at several colleges in the Madras Presidency. Pandit sometimes occurs as an honorific prefix, e.g., Pandit S. M. Natesa Sastri, and Panditan is a name given to Tamil barbers (Ambattan). In some parts of the Tamil country, Panditar is used as a name for Mādhva Brāhmans, because, it is said, many of them were formerly engaged as pandits at the Law Courts.
Pandito is further the name of “an Oriya caste of astrologers and physicians. They wear the sacred thread, and accept drinking water only from Brāhmans and Gaudos. Infant marriage is practiced, and widow marriage is prohibited.”[41] I am informed that these Panditos engage Brāhmans for their ceremonials, do not drink liquor, and eat fish and mutton, but not fowls or beef. The females wear glass bangles. They are known by the name of Khodikāro, from khodi, a kind of stone, with which they write figures on the floor, when making astrological calculations. The stone is said to be something like soapstone.
Pandita occurs as an exogamous sept of Stānikas.
Pāndya.—The territorial name Pāndya, Pāndiya, Pāndiyan, or Pāndi has been returned, at recent times of census, as a sub-division of various Tamil classes, e.g., Ambattan, Kammālan, Ōcchan, Pallan, Vannān, and Vellāla. Pāndiya is further a title of some Shānāns. In Travancore, Pāndi has been returned by some Izhavans. The variant Pāndiangal occurs as an exogamous sept of the Tamil Vallambans, and Pāndu as a Tamil synonym for Kāpu or Reddi.
Panikkar.—Panikkar, meaning teacher or worker, has been recorded, in the Malayālam country, as a title of barbers, Kammālan, Mārān, Nāyar, Pānān, and Paraiyan. In former times, the name was applied, in Malabar, to fencing-masters, as the following quotations show :—
1518. “And there are very skilful men who teach this art (fencing), and they are called Panicars.”—Barbosa.
1553. “And when the Naire comes to the age of 7 years, he is obliged to go to the fencing-school, the master of which (whom they call Panical) they regard as a father, on account of the instruction he gives them.”—Barros.
1583. “The maisters which teach them be graduates in the weapons which they teach, and they be called in their language Panycaes.”—Castaneda.
A class of people called Panikkan are settled in the Madura and Tinnevelly districts. Some of them are barbers to Shānāns. Others have taken to weaving as a profession, and will not intermarry with those who are employed as barbers. “The Panikkans are,” Mr. Francis writes,[42] “weavers, agriculturists, and traders. They employ Brāhmans as priests, but these are apparently not received on terms of equality by other Brāhmans. The Panikkans now frequently call themselves Illam Vellālas, and change their title in deeds and official papers from Panikkan to Pillai. They are also taking to wearing the sacred thread and giving up eating meat. The caste is divided into three vagais or endogamous classes, namely, Mitāl, Pattanam, and Malayālam, and each of these again has five partly exogamous septs or illams (families), namely, Mūttillam, Tōranattillam, Pallikkillam, Manjanāttillam, and Sōliya-illam. It is stated that the Mitāl and Pattanam sections will eat together though they do not intermarry, but that the Malayālam section can neither dine with nor marry into the other two. They are reported to have an elaborate system of caste government, under which eleven villages form a gadistalam (or stage), and send representatives to its council to settle caste matters; and eleven gadistalams form a nādu (or country), and send representatives to a chief council, which decides questions which are beyond the competence of the gadistalams.” The occurrence of Malayām as the name of a sub-division, and of the Malayālam word illam as that of the exogamous septs, would seem to indicate that the Panikkans are immigrants from the westward into the Tamil country.
Panimagan (work children).—A name for Mukkuvans who are employed as barbers for members of their caste.