Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Vol. 6 of 7

by Edgar Thurston

The Sāliyans have further acquired gōtras named after rishis, and, when questioned as to their gōtra, refer to the Brāhman purōhits.

The Sāliyan weavers of silk Kornād women’s cloths, who have settled at Mayāvaram in the Tanjore district, neither intermarry nor interdine with the Sāliyans of the Tinnevelly district, though they belong to the same linguistic division. The Tinnevelly Sāliyans closely follow the Kaikōlans in their various ceremonials, and in their social organisation, and interdine with them. Sāliya women wear three armlets on the upper arm, whereas Kaikōla women only wear a single armlet. The Sāliyans may not marry a second wife during the lifetime of the first wife, even if she does not bear children. They may, however, adopt children. Some of the Tinnevelly Sāliyans have taken to trade and agriculture, while others weave coarse cotton cloths, and dye cotton yarn.

In the Census Report, 1901, Ataviyar is recorded as “a synonym for, or rather title of the Tinnevelly Sālēs.” Further, Pattāriyar is described as a Tamil corruption of Pattu Sāliyan, returned by some of the Tinnevelly Sālēs. The Adaviyar or Pattalia Settis are Tamilians, probably an offshoot of the Kaikōlans, and have no connection with the Telugu Pattu Sālēs, who, like the Padma Sālēs, retain their mother-tongue wherever they settle. It is recorded[7] in connection with the Sāliyar of the Chingleput district, many of whom are Kaikōlans, that “a story is current of their persecution by one Salva Naik (said to have been a Brāhman). The result of this was that large bodies of them were forced to flee from Conjeeveram to Madura, Tanjore, and Tinnevelly, where their representatives are still to be found.”

The Adaviyars follow the Tamil Purānic type of marriage ceremonies, and have a sirutāli (small tāli) as a marriage badge. The caste deity is Mukthākshiamman. The dead are always cremated.

Saluppan.—The Tamil equivalent of the Telugu Janappan, which is derived from janapa, the sunn hemp (Crotolaria juncea).

Samagāra.—The Samagāras have been described[8] as “the principal class of leather-workers in the South Canara district. They are divided into two endogamous groups, the Canarese Samagāras and the Ārya Samagāras. The latter speak Marāthi. Though the Samagāras are in the general estimation as low a caste as the Holeyas, and do not materially differ from them in their religious and other ceremonies and customs, they are, as a rule, of much fairer complexion, and the women are often very handsome. The tanning industry is chiefly carried on by the Samagāras, and their modus operandi is as follows. The hides are soaked for a period of one month in large earthen vats containing water, to which chunam is added at the rate of two seers per hide. After the expiry of the above period, they are soaked in fresh water for three days, in view to the chunam being removed. They are then put into an earthen vessel filled with water and the leaves of Phyllanthus Emblica, in which they remain for twelve days. After this, they are removed and squeezed, and replaced in the same vessel, where they are allowed to remain for about a month, after which period they are again removed, washed and squeezed. They are then sewn up and stuffed with the bark of cashew, daddala, and neralē trees, and hung up for a day. After this, the stitching is removed, and the hides are washed and exposed to the sun to dry for a day, when they become fit for making sandals. Some of the hides rot in this process to such an extent as to become utterly unfit for use.”

The badge of the Ārē Samagāra at Conjeeveram is said[9] to be the insignia of the Mochis (or Mucchis), a boy’s kite.

Sāmantan.—“This,” the Census Superintendent, 1891, writes, “may be called the caste of Malayālam Rājahs and chieftains, but it is hardly a separate caste at all, at any rate at present, for those Nāyars and others who have at any time been petty chieftains in the country, call themselves Sāmantas. The primary meaning of the word Sāmanta is given by Dr. Gundert[10] as the chief of a district.” The number of people who returned themselves as Sāmantas (including a few Sāmantan Brāhmans) at the Census, 1881, was 1,611, and in 1901 they increased to 4,351.

In a suit brought against the Collector of Malabar (Mr. Logan) some years ago by one Nilambūr Thachara Kōvil Mana Vikrama, alias Elaya Tirumalpād, the plaintiff entered an objection to his being said by the Collector to be of “a caste (Nāyar), who are permitted to eat fish and flesh, except of course beef.” He stated in court that he was “a Sāmantan by caste, and a Sāmantan is neither a Brāhman, nor a Kshatriya, nor a Vaisya, nor a Sūdra.” Sāmantan, according to him, is a corruption of Sāmantran, which, he stated, meant one who performs ceremonies without mantrams. He said that his caste observes all the ceremonies that Brāhmans do, but without mantrams. And he gave the following as the main points in which his caste differs from that of the Nāyars. Brāhmans can take their food in the houses of members of his caste, while they cannot do so in those of Nāyars. At the performance of srādhs in his caste, Brāhmans are fed, while this is not done in the case of Nāyars. Brāhmans can prepare water for the purpose of purification in his house, but not in that of a Nāyar. If a Nāyar touches a Sāmantan, he has to bathe in the same way as a Brāhman would have to do. For the performance of marriages and other ceremonies in his caste, Malabar Brāhmans are absolutely necessary. At marriages the tāli is tied by Kshatriyas. A Sāmantan has fourteen days’ pollution, while a Nāyar has fifteen. He can only eat what a Brāhman can eat. He added that he was of the same caste as the Zamorin of Calicut. A number of witnesses, including the author of the Kēralavakhsha Kramam, were examined in support of his assertions. It was noted by the District Judge that no documentary evidence was produced, or reference to public records or works of authority made in support of the theory as to the existence of a caste of Sāmantas who are not Nāyars, and are classed under Kshatriyas, and above the Vaisyas. The following account is given by the author of the Kēralavakhsha Kramam of the origin of the Sāmantas. Some Kshatriyas who, being afraid of Parasu Rāma, were wandering in foreign parts, and not observing caste rules, came to Malabar, visited Chēraman Perumāl, and asked for his protection. On this Chēraman Perumāl, with the sanction of the Brāhmans, and in pursuance of the rules laid down by the Maharājas who had preceded him, classed these people as members of the Sāmantra caste. “That this book,” the Judge observed, “can be looked on as being in any way an authority on difficult and obscure historical questions, or that the story can be classed as more than a myth, there are no grounds for supposing.” No linguistic work of recognised authority was produced in support of the derivation of the word Sāmantan from Sāmantran, meaning without mantrams.

One exhibit in the case above referred to was an extract from the report of a commission appointed to inspect the state and condition of the province of Malabar. It is dated 11th October, 1793, and in it allusion is made to the ‘Tichera Tiroopaar’ who is described as a chief Nāyar of Nilambūr in the southern division of the country. Evidence was given to show that Tichera Tiroopaar is the Nilambūr Tirumulpād. And, in a letter from the Supervisor of Malabar, dated 15th November, 1793, allusion is made to Tichera Tiroopaar as a Nāyar. Two extracts from Buchanan’s well-known work on Mysore, Canara and Malabar, were also filed as exhibits. In one Buchanan relates what was told him by the Brāhmans of the history of ‘Malayāla’. Among other things, he mentions that Chēraman Perumāl, having come to the resolution of retiring to Mecca, went to Calicut. “He was there met by a Nāyar who was a gallant chief, but who, having been absent at the division, had obtained no share of his master’s dominions. Chēraman Perumāl thereupon gave him his sword, and desired him to keep all that he could conquer. From this person’s sisters are descended the Tamuri Rajahs or Zamorins.” In the second extract, Buchanan sums up the result of enquiries that he had made concerning the Zamorin and his family. He states that the head of the family is the Tamuri Rajah, called by Europeans the Zamorin, and adds: “The Tamuri pretends to be of a higher rank than the Brāhmans, and to be inferior only to the invisible gods, a pretension that was acknowledged by his subjects, but which is held as absurd and abominable by the Brāhmans, by whom he is only treated as a Sūdra.”