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

by Edgar Thurston

shall on conviction be punishable for every such offence with imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or with fine not exceeding five hundred rupees, or with both.

It is noted, in the Gazetteer of the Bellary district, that “at the time when the Company came into possession of the district, the salt consumed in it was of two kinds, namely, the earth-salt manufactured from saline soils by men of the Uppara caste, and the marine salt made on the west coast. The latter was imported by the Lambādis and Korachas, who brought it up the ghāts by means of large droves of pack-bullocks. The earth-salt was made in what were known as modas, which were peculiar to the Ceded Districts, and were especially common in Bellary. A heap of earth was piled up, and on the top of it were hollowed out one or more circular basins, some five feet in diameter and two feet deep. From the bottom of these basins, channels lined with chunam (lime) ran down to one or more reservoirs similarly lined. Salt-earth was collected in the places where it effloresced naturally in the dry months, and taken to the moda on pack-buffaloes. It was thrown into the basins, and then a quantity of water was poured upon it. The brine so obtained flowed through the channels at the bottom of the basins into the reservoirs. From these it was baled with chatties (pots) into a set of masonry evaporating pans, carefully levelled and plastered with chunam, where it was left to be converted into salt by solar evaporation. Each lot of salt-earth, which was thus lixiviated, was taken from the basins and thrown outside them, and this process constantly repeated gradually raised the level of the moda and the basins, which were perpetually being re-made on the top of it. Some of the modas gradually grew to be as much as twenty feet in height. When they became too high for the buffaloes to carry the salt-earth up to their summits with comfort, they were abandoned, and others started elsewhere. The earth-salt made in this manner was neither so good nor so strong as marine salt, but it was much used by the poorer classes and for cattle, and thus interfered with the profits of the Government salt monopoly, which was established in 1805. As early as 1806, therefore, it was proposed to prohibit its manufacture. The chief arguments against any such step were that it would inflict hardship upon the Upparas who made the salt, and upon the poorer classes who consumed it, and, for the next three quarters of a century, a wearisome correspondence dragged on regarding the course which it would be proper to pursue. In 1873, Mr. G. Thornhill, Member of the Board of Revenue, visited the Ceded Districts, to see how matters stood. He reported that it was not possible to check the competition of the earth-salt with the Government marine salt by imposing an excise duty, as the modas were numerous and scattered. For similar reasons, and also because all the Upparas were very poor, a license-tax was out of the question. At the same time he calculated that the loss to Government due to the system was from eight to ten lakhs annually, and, seeing that Government salt was obtainable in Bellary as cheaply as in other inland districts, he recommended that the industry should be gradually suppressed. Government agreed, and ordered that the opening of new modas should be prohibited, and that those in existence should be licensed, with reference to their productive capacity, at rates to increase by annual increments until 1879, when the full duty leviable on sea-salt should be imposed on their entire produce. These measures, though they checked the manufacture, failed to entirely protect the revenue, and, in 1876, the Madras Salt Commission and Board of Revenue concurred in recommending that the manufacture of earth-salt should be at once and entirely suppressed. The Government of India agreed, and in 1880 orders were given that the modas should all be destroyed, reasonable compensation being paid to their owners. The manufacture of earth-salt in the district is now entirely a thing of the past, though in many places the remains of the old modas may still be seen. Some of the Upparas, however, still go annually to the Nizam’s Dominions in the dry season, and make earth-salt by the old methods for sale there. Apparently they agree with the Nizam’s Government to pay a certain fee, one-fourth of which is paid in advance, for the privilege. If the season is sufficiently dry, they make a small profit, but if, on the other hand, it is wet, manufacture is impossible, and they lose the amount of the fee, and their labour as well.” A good deal of saltpetre is still made by members of the caste in various parts of the Madras Presidency by lixiviating the alkaline efflorescence of the earth. For this purpose, licenses are obtained annually from the Salt Department. Crude saltpetre is sold for manure on coffee estates, and also used in the manufacture of fireworks.

Speaking different languages, and living in different parts of the country, the Uppiliyans, Upparas, and Uppāras do not intermarry, though, where they are found close together, they interdine.

The caste recognises the authority of its headmen, who are called Periyathanakāran, Ejamān, etc., and are assisted in some places, for example Madras, by a Jātibidda (son of the caste), who does the duties of caste peon or messenger, summoning members to a caste council-meeting, and so on. The usual punishments inflicted by a caste council are excommunication, fine, and the giving of a caste dinner. I am informed that, among the Canarese Uppāras, a woman found guilty of adultery is punished as follows. A lock of her hair is cut off, and she is bathed in cold water, and made to drink a little cow-dung water. She is then taken to the temple, where the pūjāri (priest) sprinkles holy water over her head. A fine is paid by her family. A man, who is proved guilty of a similar offence, has one side of his moustache and one of his eyebrows shaved off, and the hair of his head is removed in three parallel lines. Seven small booths are constructed of straw, and set on fire. Through this the man has to pass. He is then plunged into a tank, and, after bathing therein, he is sprinkled with holy water. I am told that a woman has also to go through the fire ordeal.

Girls are married either before or after puberty, but usually after. Among the Uppiliyans and Upparas, it is customary for a man to claim his paternal aunt’s daughter in marriage. The ceremonies in connection with marriage vary in accordance with the locality. Amongst the Uppiliyans of Madura, the tāli (marriage badge) is usually tied to the bride’s neck by a special woman, resident in her village, called Sīrkāri. In some places it is tied, as among some other Tamil castes, by the bridegroom’s sister. Among the Telugu and Canarese sections, it is tied by the bridegroom himself. By the Uppāras of South Canara, the dhāre marriage rite is performed, in which the father of the bride pours water from a vessel over the united hands of the contracting couple. I am told that, among some Canarese Uppāras, the bridegroom’s head is shaved, and, after bathing, he puts on a double brass wire corresponding to the sacred thread of the Brāhmans, which he wears for five days. Among the Telugu Upparas there are two sub-divisions, which are called, according to the amount of the bride-price, Yēdu (seven) Mādala and Padahāru (sixteen) Mādala, a māda being equal to two rupees. Some say that māda refers to the modas (heaps of earth) used in former times. At a marriage among some Uppiliyans, it is customary for the bride and bridegroom to sit inside a wall made of piled up water pots, with the ends of their cloths tied together, while some of the women present pour water from the pots over their heads. The remarriage of widows is permitted, and I gather that, among the Uppāras, a widow may only marry a widower, and vice versâ.

In a note on the Uppiliyans of the Trichinopoly district, Mr. F. R. Hemingway states that “some of the marriage ceremonies are peculiar. They allow an unborn boy to be betrothed to his unborn cousin. The bride has to be asked in marriage a number of times, before consent is given, lest it be thought that she is yielding too easily. The marriage is performed at her house, lest it should be thought that her parents are forcing her on the bridegroom. The caste does not use the marriage pole or pāligai pots. Instead of the usual turmeric threads, the wrists of the contracting couple are tied together with wool. A curious custom among the Tamil section is that, at the beginning of the ceremonies, both on the first and second day, three matrons wash their faces in turmeric water, and the bride and bridegroom are bathed with the water used by them. They also have unusual observances connected with a girl’s attainment of maturity. A husband may not look into his bride’s eyes until this occurs. When she has at length attained maturity, the husband comes to his bride’s house with a sheep and some vegetables, and kills the former. His brother-in-law then marks his forehead with the sheep’s blood. The husband eats some plantain and milk, and spits it out at his bride, who is made to stand behind a screen. If the girl has attained maturity before her marriage, the Tamil section of the caste make her walk over seven wooden hoops on the wedding day. The husband has to give his formal consent to the ceremony, and a washerman has to be present. The Telugus perform this rite on the last day of the girl’s first menstrual period, and her maternal uncle has to be present. The Uppiliyans allow the remarriage of widows and divorced women. A man may not shave until he marries a virgin, and, if he does not do so, he has to remain unshaved all his life.”

The dead are, as a rule, buried. Among the Uppiliyans, who occupy a higher social position than the Canarese and Telugu sections, death pollution is observed for seven days. Among the Uppāras, the period of pollution is sixteen days.

Concerning the death ceremonies, Mr. Hemingway writes as follows. “Widows of the Tamil section never remove their tāli, but leave it till it drops off of itself. When a man dies, his widow is made to pretend he is still alive, and bathes him with oil, and puts garlands on him. If a man is to be buried, the chief mourner pretends to dig the grave. The karumāntaram, or final death ceremony, of the Tamil section consists merely in taking some milk to an erukka (Calotropis gigantea) shrub on the sixteenth evening, just before the jackals begin to howl. They pour it over the shrub with the help of a barber, saying ‘Go to Swarga (the abode of Indra), and make your way to Kailāsam (heaven).’”

Some members of the caste are Vaishnavites, and others Saivites. In some places, the former are branded by their gurus, who are Vaishnava Brāhmans. They also worship various village deities, which vary according to the place of residence. In the Census Report, 1891, the worship of Sunkalamma, Jambulamma, and Timmappa is noted.

It is stated by Mr. Hemingway that “the Uppiliyans have a caste god, named Karuvandarāya Bommadēva. He has no temple, but all the Uppiliyans in a village join in offering him an annual sacrifice in Tai (January-February), before the earth is scraped for the first time in the season for making saltpetre. They use āvaram (Cassia auriculata) flowers and river sand in this worship. They also have three special caste goddesses, called Tīppanjāl, who are supposed to be women who committed sati. They have also Brāhman gurus, who visit them every year, and bless their salt pits.”