Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Vol. 2 of 7

Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Vol. 2 of 7

Canji (gruel).An exogamous sept of Padma Sl. Canji is the word in use all over India for the water, in which rice has been boiled. It also forms the usual starch of Indian washermen.1 As a sept of the Sl weavers, it probably has reference to the gruel, or size, which is applied to the warp. Chakkn.Recorded in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as a Malabar caste of oil-pressers (chakku means an oil-mill). Followers of this calling are known also as Vattakkdans in South Malabar, and as Vniyans in North Malabar, but the former are the higher in social status, the Nyars being polluted by the touch of the Vniyans and Chakkns, but not by that of the Vattakkdans. Chakkns and Vniyans may not enter Brhman temples. Their customs and manners are similar to those of the Nyars, who will not, however, [2]marry their women. Chakkingalavan appears as a synonym for Chakkn. Chakkiliyan.The Chakkiliyans, Mr. H. A. Stuart writes,2 are the leather-workers of the Tamil districts, corresponding to the Mdigas of the Telugu country. The Chakkiliyans appear to be immigrants from the Telugu or Canarese districts, for no mention is made of this caste either in the early Tamil inscriptions, or in early Tamil literature. Moreover, a very large proportion of the Chakkiliyans speak Telugu and Canarese. In social position the Chakkiliyans occupy the lowest rank, though there is much dispute on this point between them and the Paraiyans. Nominally they are Saivites, but in reality devil-worshippers. The varam plant (Cassia auriculata) is held in much veneration by them,3 and the tli is tied to a branch of it as a preliminary to marriage. Girls are not usually married before puberty. The bridegroom may be younger than the bride. Their widows may remarry. Divorce can be obtained at the pleasure of either party on payment of Rs. 12120 to the other in the presence of the local head of the caste. Their women are considered to be very beautiful, and it is a woman of this caste who is generally selected for the coarser form of Sakti worship. They indulge very freely in intoxicating liquors, and will eat any flesh, including beef, pork, etc. Hence they are called, par excellence, the flesh-eaters (Sanskrit shatkuli). It was noted by Sonnerat, in the eighteenth century,4 that the Chakkiliyans are in more contempt than the Pariahs, because [3]they use cow leather in making shoes. The Chucklers or cobblers, the Abb Dubois writes,5 are considered inferiors to the Pariahs all over the peninsula. They are more addicted to drunkenness and debauchery. Their orgies take place principally in the evening, and their villages resound, far into the night, with the yells and quarrels which result from their intoxication. The very Pariahs refuse to have anything to do with the Chucklers, and do not admit them to any of their feasts. In the Madura Manual, 1868, the Chakkiliyans are summed up as dressers of leather, and makers of slippers, harness, and other leather articles. They are men of drunken and filthy habits, and their morals are very bad. Curiously enough, their women are held to be of the Padmani kind, i.e., of peculiar beauty of face and form, and are also said to be very virtuous. It is well known, however, that zamindars and other rich men are very fond of intriguing with them, particularly in the neighbourhood of Paramagudi, where they live in great numbers. There is a Tamil proverb that even a Chakkili girl and the ears of the millet are beautiful when mature. In the Tanjore district, the Chakkiliyans are said6 to be considered to be of the very lowest status. In some parts of the district they speak Telugu and wear the nmam (Vaishnavite sect mark) and are apparently immigrants from the Telugu country. Though they are Tamil-speaking people, the Chakkiliyans, like the Telugu Mdigas, have exogamous septs called gtra in the north, and klai in the south. Unlike the Mdigas, they do not carry out the practice of making Basavis (dedicated prostitutes). [4] ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 42992
Author: Thurston, Edgar
Release Date: Jun 21, 2013
Format: eBook
Language: English