It is noted by Mr. Francis[63] that in the South Arcot district, “their numbers, and the comparative wealth which ground-nut (Arachis hypogæa) cultivation has brought them, have caused them to take a rather better social position here than elsewhere, and they are actually beginning to copy the social ways of the higher castes, sometimes burning their dead (though those who have died of cholera or small-pox are still always buried), marrying their children when infants, and looking with disfavour on the remarriage of widows.”

Current Tamil speech and custom divide the landless labouring Paraiyans into padiyāl and kūliyāl. The padiyāl is definitely and hereditarily attached to some land-holding family in the Hindu grāma. He can work for no one else, and cannot change masters. His privilege is that in times of drought and famine his master must support him. The kūliyāl is a mere day labourer, only employed, and therefore only receiving pay (kūli) when required. He has no claim for maintenance in seasons of scarcity, and, though no man’s serf, is worse off than the padiyāl.

Three communal servants, the grave-digger (Vettiyān), watchman (Talaiyāri), and scavenger (Tōti) are all Paraiyans. The Vettiyān officiates when a corpse is buried or burned. Hence the proverb against meddling in what ought to be left to some one else:—“Let the Vettiyān and the corpse struggle together.” The Rev. H. Jensen notes[64] in connection with this proverb that “when fire is applied to the pyre at the burning-ground, it sometimes happens that the muscles of the corpse contract in such a fashion that the body moves, and the grave-digger has to beat it down into the fire. It looks as if the two were engaged in a struggle. But no one else should interfere. The grave-digger knows his own work best.”

It is noted by Mr. H. A. Stuart[65] that “among the lower class of Vellām Paraiyans, who are the village tōtis, the following legend is current, accounting for the perquisites which they get for performing the menial work of the village. When Adi Sēsha was supporting the earth, he became weary, and prayed to Siva for assistance. Siva ordered a Paraiyan to beat upon his drum, and cry ‘Let the ripe decay.’ The Paraiyan enquired what should be his reward, and was granted the following privileges, viz., mankūli (reward for burning corpses), sān tuni (a span cloth), vāykkarisi (the rice in the corpse’s mouth), pinda sōru (morsel of boiled rice), and sūttu kūli (fee for bringing firewood). This seemed to the Paraiya very little, and so, to increase the death-rate and consequently his perquisites, he cried ‘Let the ripe and the unripe decay.’ The swāmi (god) remonstrated with him, for the result of his cry was that children and the middle-aged among men died. The man pleaded poverty, and was given four additional privileges, viz., a merkal to measure grain, a rod to measure the ground, a scythe to cut grass, and the privilege of carrying the karagam-pot when annually running over the village boundary. All the above privileges still belong to the village vettis, who receive fees for performing the duties referred to in the legend.”

Some Paraiyans eat carrion, and Mr. Clayton has known them dig up a buffalo which had been buried some hours, and eat its flesh. It is said that even the lowest Paraiyans will not eat the flesh of cows, but leave that to the leather-dressers (Chakkiliyans). Mr. Stuart, however, states[66] that “the Konga Paraiyans and the Vellām Paraiyans, who do scavenging work, will eat cows that have died a natural death, while Tangalāns only eat such as have been slaughtered.” In time of famine, the Paraiyans dig into ant-hills to rob the ants of their store of grass seed. This is called pillarisi or grass rice.

There are many proverbs in Tamil, which refer to Paraiyans, from which the following are selected:—

The term Paraiya, it may be noted, is applied to the common dog of Indian towns and villages, and to the scavenger kite, Milvus Govinda.

The Paraiyans are included by Mr. F. S. Mullaly in his ‘Notes on Criminal Classes of the Madras Presidency.’ “The local criminals,” he writes, “throughout the Presidency in all villages are the Paraiyas, and, though they cannot be considered de facto a criminal tribe, yet a very large proportion of the criminals of the Presidency are of this caste, notable among them being the Vēpūr Paraiyas of South Arcot.” For an account of these Vēpur Paraiyas and their methods I must refer the reader to Mr. Mullaly’s description thereof. Concerning these criminal Paraiyans, Mr. Francis writes as follows.[67] “There is one branch of them in Suttukulam, a hamlet of Cuddalore. They are often known as the Tiruttu (thieving) Paraiyans. The crimes to which they are most addicted are house-breaking and the theft of cattle, sheep and goats, and the difficulty of bringing them to book is increased by the organised manner in which they carry on their depredations. They are, for example, commonly in league with the very heads of villages, who ought to be doing their utmost to secure their arrest, and they have useful allies in some of the Udaiyans of these parts. It is commonly declared that their relations are sometimes of a closer nature, and that the wives of Vēpur Paraiyans who are in enforced retirement are cared for by the Udaiyans. To this is popularly attributed the undoubted fact that these Paraiyans are often much fairer in complexion than other members of that caste.” It is said to be traditional among the Vēpur Paraiyans that the tālis (marriage badges) of Hindu women and lamps should not be stolen from a house, and that personal violence should not be resorted to, except when unavoidably necessary for the purpose of escape or self-defence.

In a kindly note on the Paraiya classes, Surgeon-Major W. R. Cornish sums them up as follows.[68] “A laborious, frugal, and pleasure-loving people, they are the very life-blood of the country, in whatever field of labour they engage in. The British administration has freed them, as a community, from the yoke of hereditary slavery, and from the legal disabilities under which they suffered; but they still remain in the lowest depths of social degradation. The Christian missionaries, to their undying honour be it said, have, as a rule, persevered in breaking through the time-honoured custom of treating the Paraiya as dirt, and have admitted him to equal rights and privileges in their schools and churches, and, whatever may be the present position of the Paraiya community in regard to education, intelligence, and ability to hold a place for themselves, they owe it almost wholly to the Christian men and women who have given up their lives to win souls for their great Master.”