It is recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, that “the Nattamāns say they originally settled in South Arcot, and then spread to Tanjore and Trichinopoly, and finally to Madura, and this theory is supported by the fact that they have fifteen exogamous sub-divisions called kānis or fields, which are all named after villages (e.g., Ariyalūr, Puththūr) in the first three of these districts. A man has a right to marry the daughter of his father’s sister, and, if she is given to another man, the father’s sister has to return to her father or brother the dowry which she received at the time of her marriage, and this is given to the man who had the claim upon the girl. The same custom occurs among the Kuravans and the Kallans. The eldest son in each family has to be named after the god of the village which gives its name to the kāni or sept to which the family belongs, and the child is usually taken to that village to be named. Marriage is infant or adult. Widow marriage is forbidden. Brāhmans are employed for ceremonies, but these are not received on terms of equality by other Brāhmans. Both cremation and burial are practised. Vellālas will eat with Nattamāns. The caste title is Udaiyān.” Another title is Nayinar, which is also used by Pallis and Jains. There is a proverb “Nattumuththinal Nayinar”, i.e., when the Nattamān ripens, he is a Nayinar. At the census, 1901, some Nattamāns returned themselves as Natramiludaiyān, meaning the repository of chaste Tamil; and Ūr-Udaiyān (lord of a village) was given as their caste name. Nattamān also occurs as a sub-division of the Pallis.
Under the name Nattamādi, the Nattamāns are described in the Tanjore Manual as “peasant population. Some are ryotwari land-holders in their own right and possess large estates. The word is derived from nattam, village, and is used in three forms, Nattamakkal, Nattamar, and Nattamādi. A considerable proportion are converts to the Roman Catholic religion, and, in the neighbourhood of Vallam, there are very few who profess any other faith.” In the Madura Manual, the Nattambādiyans are further described as being “usually respectable cultivators. They are said to have emigrated into the Madura country not more than about eight years ago. They are an interesting class of Tamils, inasmuch as very many of them have adopted the Roman Catholic faith under the leadership of the Jesuit missionaries. They are said to be a fine race physically; finer even than the Vellālans. They are also called Udaiyans, and tradition says that they came from the Toreiyur nādu or district in Tanjore, from a village called Udeiyāpāleiyam. They are chiefly resident in the great zamindāris, and contrast favourably with the Maravans, being very orderly, frugal, and industrious.”
I am informed that Nattamān women will do cooly work and carry food for their husbands when at work in the fields, but that Malaimān women will not do so.
The Sudarmāns are described, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as “cultivators chiefly found in the districts of Tanjore and Trichinopoly. They are imitating the Brāhmans and Vellālas in their social customs, and some of them have left off eating meat, with the idea of raising themselves in general estimation; but they nevertheless eat in the houses of Kallans and Idaiyans. Their title is Mūppan.” Some Sudarmāns, I am told, have become Agamudaiyans.
Uddāri.—A synonym for the village Taliyāri.
Uddu (Phaseolus Mungo).—An exogamous sept of Kāppiliyan.
Udhdhandra.—A title conferred by Zamindars on some Kurumos.
Uduma.—Uduma or Udumala, meaning the lizard Varanus, has been recorded as an exogamous sept of Bōya, Kāpu, Tottiyan, and Yānādi.
Ugrāni.—A village servant in South Canara, appointed to watch the store-rooms (ugrāna), e.g., the village granary, treasury, or bhūta-sthāna. In 1907, the powers of village policeman were conferred on the Ugrāni, who now wears a brass badge on his arm, with the words Village Police in the vernacular engraved on it. It is the duty of the Ugrāni to report the following to the village magistrate:—
1. The commission of grave crimes, such as theft, house-breaking, robbery, dacoity, accidental deaths, suicides, etc.