In the story of Kwoten we find that the Tarthar hero is accompanied by Erten of Keadr, a Teivali man, and the latter was said to have been the servant of the former. This suggests the possibility that at one time the Teivaliol may have acted as servants to the Tartharol, even more definitely than at present.
At the present time there are some features of the social organisation and social life which might be held to weigh strongly against the idea that the Teivaliol are the inferior division. The monegar of the Todas is one of the Teivaliol, and the most influential member of the naim, or council, at the present time is a Teivali man. I believe the monegarship, however, to be a recent institution, possibly dating only from the advent of Europeans to the hills. The chief duty of the monegar is the collection of the assessment made by the Government, and it is quite consistent with Toda ideas that this troublesome, and from their point of view menial duty should be handed over to one of the Teivaliol. The great power of the Teivaliol in the naim is probably still more recent and due to the influence of one man. The Teivaliol should have only one representative on the naim, while the Tartharol should have three, and it is entirely owing to the powerful personality of Kuriolv that this balance has been disturbed, and that the influence of the Teivaliol is so predominant. It is possible that Kuriolv will do much to obliterate the social inequality of the two divisions, though I suspect from what the Todas told me that it is intended to revert to the old order as soon as he dies.
There is one custom which shows very clearly that it is only as dairymen that the Teivaliol have any sanctity. If the sacred buffaloes (pasthir) of the Teivaliol go to a Tarthar village, they may be milked either at a wursuli or a tarvali, and the [[683]]Tarthar people may use the milk. If Tarthar buffaloes, however, go to a Teivali village, the Teivaliol may neither milk them nor use their milk or its products. Thus buffaloes which are normally milked by a Teivali dairyman when at their own village may not be milked by Teivaliol at a Teivali village, while there is no restriction on the milking of Teivali buffaloes by the Tartharol.
Although the Tartharol are in the habit of speaking of the Teivali dairymen as their servants, they have no means of enforcing service. The post of dairyman of any kind is one of profit, and, as we have seen, when the post, even of palol, ceases to bring a sufficient income, the Tartharol fail to obtain people to occupy it.
In the ceremonial of the dairy, the relation between the two divisions is entirely one-sided. The Tartharol own the buffaloes and the dairies, and the Teivaliol do the work. In certain other ceremonies, there is more reciprocity in the relations of the two divisions to one another.
The Tartharol have certain definite duties at a Teivali funeral and the Teivaliol at a Tarthar funeral, and in most cases the duties are thoroughly reciprocal and the two divisions appear to act on equal terms. Thus, in the earth-throwing ceremony, the earth is dug by a Teivali man at a Tarthar funeral, and the Tarthar men before they throw ask the Teivaliol whether they may do so. At a Teivali funeral these positions are reversed. Similarly, the buffaloes are caught by Tartharol for Teivaliol and vice versa.
On the other hand, there are some ceremonies in which the Teivaliol have definite duties to perform at a Tarthar funeral which are not reciprocated. In the earth-throwing ceremony of the Tartharol, earth is first thrown by the Teivali wursol, but he does this as dairyman and not as one of the Teivaliol. The koòtiti ceremony of the second funeral is, however, only performed at a Tarthar funeral, and in it a Teivali man plays an important part, wearing the cloak which has been covering the relics and adorning himself with women’s ornaments. He hangs on the neck of the calf the bell called tukulir mani and touches the relics with the bow and arrow after asking the Tartharol if he may do so. It is said [[684]]that this ceremony is performed at a Tarthar funeral in order to purify the Tartharol with tudr before they go to Amnòdr, and the prominent position of the Teivaliol in this ceremony is evidently due to the use of this sacred substance.
After a funeral the Tartharol in general shave their heads, and this is not done by the Teivaliol, but it is also not done by the Melgarsol, which shows that the difference is connected with the different relations of the two divisions to the dairy ritual.
One important difference between the funeral ceremonies of the two divisions is that the mani, or sacred bell, is not used by the Teivaliol, except by the Piedr clan, and in this case the bell is hung on the neck of the buffalo about to be slaughtered by a Tarthar man belonging to the Nòdrs clan. The use of a mani at the funeral appears to be pre-eminently a Tarthar custom.
A further distinction between the two divisions is a consequence of the last difference. The Teivaliol do not purify the dairy after the funeral ceremonies because nothing has been taken from the dairy to be defiled. Similarly, the fact that the Teivaliol and Melgarsol use a male buffalo calf for the ceremony of purifying the various funeral places is connected in some way with the use of tudr by these divisions, while the general body of the Tartharol who are not purified with tudr use the blood of an adult female buffalo.