An Izhuvan will eat rice cooked by a Tiyan, but a Tiyan will not eat rice cooked by an Izhuvan—a circumstance pointing to the inferiority of the Izhuvan. A Nāyar, as well as a Tiyan, will partake of almost any form of food or drink, which is prepared even by a Māppilla (Malabar Muhammadan), who is deemed inferior to both. But the line is drawn at rice, which must be prepared by one of equal caste or class, or by a superior. An Izhuvan, partaking of rice at a Tiyan’s house, must eat it in a verandah; he cannot do so in the house, as that would be defilement to the Tiyan. Not only must the Izhuvan eat the rice in the verandah, but he must wash the plates, and clean up the place where he has eaten. Again, an Izhuvan could have no objection to drinking from a Tiyan’s well. Further, there is practically no mixture in the distribution of Tiyans and Izhuvans. Where there are Izhuvans there are no Tiyans, and vice versâ. [In a photograph of a group of Izhuvan females of Palghat eating their meal, which was sent to me, they are all in a kneeling posture, with the buttocks supported on the heels. They are said to assume the same attitude when engaged in grinding and winnowing grain, and other occupations, with a resultant thickening of the skin over the knees.]

Differences, which might well come under the heading marriage, may be considered here, for the purpose of comparison between the Tiyans and Izhuvans. During the preliminaries to the marriage ceremony among the Tiyans, the date of the marriage having been fixed in the presence of the representatives of the bride and bridegroom, the following formula is repeated by the Tandān or headman of the bride’s party. Translated as accurately as possible, it runs thus. “The tara and changati of both sides having met and consulted; the astrologer having fixed an auspicious day after examining the star and porutham; permission having been obtained from the tara, the relations, the illam and kulam, the father, uncle, and the brothers, and from the eight and four (twelve illams) and the six and four (ten kiriyams); the conji and adayalam ceremonies and the four tazhus having been performed, let me perform the kanjikudi ceremony for the marriage of ... the son of ... with ... daughter of ... in the presence of muperium.” This formula, with slight variations here and there, is repeated at every Tiyan marriage in South Malabar. It is a solemn declaration, giving validity to the union, although, in the way that custom and ritual survive long after their original significance has been forgotten, the meaning of many of the terms used is altogether unknown. What, for instance, is the meaning of muperium? No one can tell. But a few of the terms are explainable.

Tara. The tara was the smallest unit in the ancient government system, which, for want of a better term, we may style feudal. It was not exactly a village, for the people lived apart. Each tara had its Nāyar chieftain, and also its Tiyan chief or Tandān, its astrologer, its washerman, its goldsmith, and other useful people, each serving the community for the sake of small advantages. Each tara was its own world.

Changati (friend). The friends of both parties which negotiated the marriage.

Porutham (agreement). Examination of the horoscopes of the boy and girl makes it possible to ascertain whether there is agreement between the two, and the union will be propitious.

Illam. Here intended to mean the father’s family.

Kulam. The name, derived from kula a branch, here denotes the mother’s family.

Twelve illams, ten kiriyams. The word illam, now used exclusively for the residence of a Nambūtiri, is supposed to have been used in days of old for the house of a person of any caste. And this supposition is said to find support in the way that a Tiyan coming from the south is often greeted in South Canara. Thus, a Malabar Tiyan, travelling to the celebrated temple at Gokarnam in South Canara, is at once asked “What is your illam and kiriyam?” He has heard these terms used in the foregoing formula during his own or another’s marriage ceremony, but attached no meaning to them. To the man of South Canara they have genuine meaning. One should be able to answer the question satisfactorily, and thus give a proper account of himself. If he cannot, he gets neither food nor water from the South Canara Tiyan. This also holds good, to some extent, in the case of a southern Tiyan visiting the northern parts of the Cherakal tāluk of Malabar.

The ten illams of South Malabar are as follows:—

Tala Kodan.
Nellika (Phyllanthus Emblica).
Paraka or Varaka.
Ala.
Ten Kudi or Tenan Kudi.
Padayan Kudi.
Kannan.
Varakat.
Kytatinferior.
Puzhampayi or Bavu