Rājāmakan.—A Tamil synonym for the Telugu Rāzu.
Rājavāsal.—The name, denoting those who are servants of Rājas, of a sub-division of Agamudaiyans, which has been transformed into Rājavamsu, meaning those of kingly parentage. The equivalent Rājavamsam is recorded, in the Census Report, 1901, as being returned by some Maravans in Madura and Kurumbans in Trichinopoly. Rājakulam, Rājabāsha, or Rājaboga occurs as a sub-division of Agamudaiyan.
Rājpinde.—See Arasu.
Rājpuri.—The Rājpuris, or Rājāpuris, are a Konkani-speaking caste of traders and cultivators in South Canara. Concerning them, Mr. H. A. Stuart writes as follows.[1] “The Rājāpuris, also called Bālōlikars, were originally traders, and perhaps have some claim to be considered Vaisyas. In social status they admit themselves to be inferior only to Brāhmans. They wear the sacred thread, profess the Saiva faith, and employ Karādi Brāhmans as priests in all their ceremonies. Their girls should be married before the age of puberty, and marriage of widows is not permitted. The marriage ceremony chiefly consists in the hands of the bride and bridegroom being united together, and held by the bride’s father while her mother pours water over them. The water should first fall on the bride’s hands, and then flow on to those of the bridegroom. This takes place at the bride’s house. A curious feature in the ceremony is that for four days either the bride or bridegroom should occupy the marriage bed; it must never be allowed to become vacant. [This ceremony is called pajamadmai, or mat marriage.] On the fourth day, the couple go to the bridegroom’s house, where a similar ‘sitting’ on the marriage bed takes place. They are mostly vegetarians, rice being their chief food, but some use fish, and rear fowls and goats for sale as food. Many are now cultivators.”
It may be noted that, among the Shivalli Brāhmans, the mat is taken to a tank in procession. The bride and bridegroom make a pretence of catching fish, and, with linked hands, touch their foreheads.
In the Madras Census Report, 1891, Rājāpuri Konkanasta is given as a synonym of the Rājapuris, who are said to be one of the sixty-six classes of Konkanasta people, who inhabited the sixty-six villages of the Konkan. In the Census Report, 1901, Kudāldēshkara and Kūdlukāra are returned as sub-divisions of Rājāpuri. The Kūdlukāras are Konkani-speaking confectioners, who follow the Brāhmanical customs.
Rājput.—The Rājputs (Sanskrit, rāja-putra, son of a king) have been defined[2] as “the warrior and land-owning race of Northern India, who are also known as Thākur, lord, or Chhatri, the modern representative of the ancient Kshatriya.” At the Madras census, 1891 and 1901, the number of individuals, who returned themselves as Rājputs, was 13,754 and 15,273. “It needs,” Mr. H. A. Stuart writes,[3] “but a cursory examination of the sub-divisions returned under the head Rājput to show that many of these individuals have no claim whatever to the title of Rājput. The number of pure Rājputs in this Presidency must be very small indeed, and I only mention the caste in order to explain that the number of persons returning it is far in excess of the actual number of Rājputs.” Mr. Stuart writes further[4] concerning the Rājputs of the North Arcot district that “there are but few of this caste in the district, and they chiefly reside in Vellore; a few families are also found in Chittoor and Tirupati. They assert that they are true Kshatriyas who came from Rājputāna with the Muhammadan armies, and they, more than any other claimants to a Kshatriya descent, have maintained their fondness for military service. Almost all are sepoys or military pensioners. Their names always end with Singh, and in many of their customs they resemble the Muhammadans, speaking Hindustani, and invariably keeping their wives gosha. They are often erroneously spoken of by the people as Bondilis, a term which is applicable only to the Vaisya and Sūdra immigrants from Northern India; but doubtless many of these lower classes have taken the title Singh, and called themselves Rājputs. Members of the caste are, therefore, very suspicious of strangers professing to be Rājputs. Their cooking apartment, called chowka, is kept most religiously private, and a line is drawn round it, beyond which none but members of the family itself may pass. At marriages and feasts, for the same reason, cooked food is never offered to the guests, but raw grain is distributed, which each cooks in a separate and private place.”
It is noted,[5] in connection with the battle of Padmanābham in the Vizagapatam district, in 1794, that “no correct list of the wounded was ever procured, but no less than three hundred and nine were killed. Of these two hundred and eight were Rājputs, and the bodies of forty Rājputs, of the first rank in the country, formed a rampart round the corpse of Viziarāma Rāzu. Padmanābham will long be remembered as the Flodden of the Rājputs of Vizianagram.”
Rākshasa (a mythological giant).—An exogamous sept of Toreya.
Rālla (precious stones).—A sub-division of Balijas who cut, polish, and trade in precious stones. A further sub-division into Mutiāla (pearl) and Kempulu (rubies) is said to exist.