Tiruchirappalli

“ They are held in the greatest contempt by men of all classes. They are described further, in the Coimbatore Manual, as “a very degraded, poor tribe, living by basket-making, snaring small game, and so on. They speak a low Canarese, and are as simple as savage. The delight of a party at the gift of a rupee is something curious.” In the Salem district some Vēdans are said34 to be “known by the caste name Tiruvalar, who are distinguished as the Kattukudugirajāti, a name derived from a custom among them, which authorises temporary matrimonial arrangements.” ”

“ At Tiruvannamalai, Trichinopoly, Tiruttani, Mayilam, and other places where the temples are situated on hills, the whole rock on which the pagoda stands is illuminated and the sight is rendered as grand as temple funds will admit. The view at Tiruvannamalai on the Krittika feast night is supposed to be the grandest in Southern India. ”

“ HILL TIPPERA, or Tripura, a native state of India, adjoining the British district of Tippera, in Eastern Bengal and Assam. Area, 4086 sq. m.; pop, (1901) 173,325; estimated revenue, £55,000. Six parallel ranges of hill cross it from north to south, at an average distance of 12 m. apart. The hills are covered for the most part with bamboo jungle, while the low ground abounds with trees of various kinds, canebrakes and swamps. The principal crop and food staple is rice. The other articles of produce are cotton, chillies and vegetables. ”

“ Mala.—A low Telugu caste of labourers and cotton-weavers. They numbered nearly 14,000 persons in the Central Provinces in 1911, belonging mainly to the Chānda, Nāgpur, Jubbulpore, and Yeotmāl Districts, and the Bastar State. The Marāthas commonly call them Telugu Dhers, but they themselves prefer to be known as ‘Telangi Sadar Bhoi,’ which sounds a more respectable designation. They are also known as Mannepuwār and Netkāni. They are the Pariahs of the Telugu country, and are regarded as impure and degraded. ”

“ Tsākala.— The Tsākalas, Sākalas, or Chākalas, who derive their name from chāku (to wash) , are the washermen of the Telugu country, and also act as torch and palanquin bearers. In the Census Report, 1901, Tellakula (the white class) is given as a synonym. The Rev. J. Cain writes* [1] that the "Tellakulavandlu are really washermen who, in consequence of having obtained employment as peons (orderlies) in Government offices, feel themselves to be superior to their old caste people. ”

“ The Telugus are divided into the Reddibhūmi, Murikinādu, and Kurichinādu sub-divisions, and are mostly Vaishnavites. They consider the Tamilians as lower than themselves, because they consent to shave the whole body, while the Telugus only shave the upper portions. Besides their ordinary occupation, the members of this caste pretend to some knowledge of surgery and of the properties of herbs and drugs. Their females practice midwifery in a barbarous fashion, not scrupling also to indulge largely in criminal acts connected with their profession. Flesh-eating is allowed, but not widow marriage. ”

“ Capital of the district of the same name, of British India; in the presidency of Madras. It is pretty strongly fortified by walls about 2 miles in circuit, lofty, thick, and in some places double. There is also a fort built on a sienite rock about 600 feet high. Two or 3 miles southwest of the town is a large cantonment, containing barracks for a large number of troops. Trichinopoly was subject to a Hindoo rajah until 1732, when the nabob of Arcot gained possession of it; and in 1741 he was in turn dispossessed by the Mahrattas. ”

“ It is recorded, in the Gazetteer of the Madura district, that the Parivāram caste “is divided into two endogamous sections; the Chinna Ūliyam (little services) who are palanquin-bearers, and have the title Tēvan, and the Periya Ūliyam (big services) , who are called Maniyakāran. The Kōmbai Parivārams, who are the servants of the Kāppiliyan Zamindars of Kōmbai and Tēvāram in the Periyakulam tāluk, are a separate community, and do not intermarry with the others. When a girl attains maturity, she is kept for sixteen days in a hut, which is guarded at night by her relations. ”

“ Mr Burgula's views on Merger of Telangana and Andhra 5. Educationally Telangana is very backward as compared to Andhra. They are particularly backward in the study of English for which there are either no facilities or very poor facilities. They are, therefore, afraid that in the matter of service in a bigger province, they will be at a terrific disadvantage. While there are thousands of graduates and M.A's in Andhra, there are not even a few hundreds in Hyderabad. ”

“ It was at this time that the celebrated Tirumalay Naidu of Madura took as wife one of the daughters of Sevappa Naidu's family. Tirumalay's grandson, one Chockalinga Naidu, married Mangammal, daughter of Vijiaragavulu Naidu, a grandson of the said Tanjore Sevappa Naidu. It will thus be seen that the Naidu rulers of Tanjore, Trichinopoly, and Madura, were all relations of Narapathi Samasthanam of Vijianagar. ”

“ Some time before we reached our destination we saw the wonderful rock, brooding in the valley with the town clustering at its feet. Trichinopoly is one of the largest towns of South India and is famous for its temples. The rock is a natural fortress easy of defence. From the time when men first cultivated the swamp-loving rice it must have been an object of attraction to rulers who desired to retain possession of their lands. ”

“ Ideologists and the people with emotional approach will be a little disappointed but there will be no agitation. On the contrar if Telangana is compulsorily merged with Andhra there will be considerable bitterness in Telangana with no adequate advantage on the other side. ”

“ This morning both Shri Bhargava and myself had a little round of villages round about Hyderabad. It is not so very easy to assess the views of the people in any manner that can be called accurate. Besides the time at our disposal is so short that we have to do the assessment in a great hurry. Subject to these considerations I am giving below the assessment of the situation as I see it.
Mr Burgula's views on Merger of Telangana and Andhra There is, no doubt, considerable agitation in Telangana on this important question. ”

“ Down to 1873 it formed a single district, which was then divided into the two districts of Darbhanga and Muzaffarpur. In 1908, when the division of Patna was subdivided, the name of Tirhut was again officially given to a new division, containing the four districts of Darbhanga, Muzaffarpur, Saran and Champaran: total area, 12,588 sq. m.; total pop. (1901) , 9,867,373. It is a continuous alluvial plain, traversed by many winding rivers, and it supports the densest population in all India. ”

“ There one can learn more in six weeks than during six months spent in the capital; and chiefly so, I think, because government officials in the districts are much less reticent than is the case in Hyderabad city and its suburbs. Having read of the bribery and corruption that existed among talukdars and tahsildars in the time of Sir Salar Jung I, I was not prepared to find these gentlemen so up-to-date and so efficient. The Subedars of the four divisions I did not see, because I visited Warangal, Medak, Gulbarga and Aurangabad during the cold weather, and they were all on tour. ”

“ Although the language is common, there are instances that there is no love lost between the Telugus in both the states. The classical example of this mutual dislike can be found in the attitude of Andhra officers during the Razakar agitation and immediately after the accession of Hyderabad. While, they say, the Marathi, Kannads and other officers were comparatively kind to the people of Hyderabad, Andhra officers were particularly harsh and unrelenting. ”

“ The next tribe of Tamil invaders was the Thirayer o “Sea Kings.” They were a great seafaring race, whose home appears to have been Lower Bengal and who travelled by sea to Burmah, Cochin, China, Ceylon and Southern India. A King of this tribe named Thirayan who reigned at Kanchi, the modern Kanchi-puram contemporary with Karikal-Chola, claimed to be a descendant of the god Vishnu, whose bed is on the ocean, according to Hindu Mythology [32] It was on this account perhaps that the Chola Kings who belonged to this tribe, boasted of being descendants of the solar race. ”

“ The carved figures are sold to pilgrims and others who visit Tirupati, and are also taken for sale to Conjeeveram, Madura, and other places, at times when important temple festivals are celebrated. Carved wooden figurines, male and female, represented in a state of nudity, are also manufactured at Tirupati, and sold to Hindus. Those who are childless perform on them the ear-boring ceremony, in the belief that, as the result thereof, issue will be born to them. ”

“ They are usually farmers or field-labourers, but many of them are employed as village or other watchmen, and not a few depend for their subsistence upon the proceeds of thefts and robberies. In Trichinopoly town, householders are obliged to keep a member of the Kallan caste in their service as a protection against the depredations of these thieves, and any refusal to give in to this custom invariably results in loss of property. ”

“ All these intermarry and interdine, and the religious difference does not create a distinction in the caste. The chief divinity of the Patnūlkārans is Venkatāchalapati of Tirupati. The month in which he is most worshipped is Kanni (September-October) , and all the Saturdays and the Tiruvonam star of the month are particularly devoted to his adoration. One of their men becomes possessed on any of these days, and, holding a burning torch-light in his hand, touches the foreheads of the assembled devotees therewith. ”

“ The cars however are another story. Many of them were deliberately wrecked, several in a final conflagration which the Tigers precipitated in their version of a Gotterdammerung, the twilight of the divinity they had exercised over the people for over two decades, ever since they claimed, on the grounds that they had fought the Indian army, to be the sole representatives of the Tamil people. ”

“ When they go about the streets, they sing popular Tamil hymns, and beat against their begging bowl an iron chain tied by a hole to one of its sides. Married men also beg, but only use a bell-metal gong and a wooden mallet. Most of these help pilgrims going to the more famous Siva temples in the Madras Presidency, e.g., Tirutani, Palni, Tiruvānnāmalai, or Tirupparankunram. Among both sections, the dead are buried in the sitting posture, as among other Lingāyats. ”

“ As far as this district is concerned, they are inhabitants of the Pachaimalais and Kollaimalais. The Malaiālis of the two ranges will not intermarry, but have no objection to dining together. For purposes of the caste discipline, the villages of both sub-divisions are grouped into nadus. Each nādu contains some twenty or thirty villages. Each village has a headman called on the Pachaimalais Mūppan, and on the Kollaimalais UrKavundan or Kutti-Māniyam. ”

“ Tirumala then had the slave-governor assassinated. Rama Rajah at once returned to the capital, but was unable at that juncture to assert his authority. Finding himself deserted by many of the nobles he concluded a treaty with his lawful sovereign, and retired to his own province, which by agreement he was allowed to retain as his own independent state. Tirumala shortly afterwards strangled the king and seized the throne. The nobles submitted, since he was of royal blood, and better, in their opinion, than Rama Rajah ”

“ The Digambaras are said to live absolutely separated from society, and from all wordly ties. These are generally engaged in trade, selling mostly brass and copper vessels, and are scattered all over the country, the largest number of them being found in Shimoga, Mysore, and Hassan districts. Srāvana Belagola, in the Hassan district, is a chief seat of the Jains of the province. Tīrthankaras are the priests of the Jain religion, and are also known as Pitambaras. The Jain Yatis or clergy here belong to the Digambara sect, and cover themselves with a yellow robe, and hence the name Pithambara. ”

“ Telanganites feel that apart from being Telugus they have built up their own way of life during the last 175 years. This way of life is in many respects different from the way of life of the Telugus in Andhra. The merger, they fear, will destroy this way of life. That is why they are worried. ”

“ In 1834 it was annexed to the northern, a thoroughly Tamil province, the capital of which, Jaffna, is situate at the extreme north of the island; an assistant officer was stationed at Anuradhapura, and for the following forty years the prospects of the district were so far bettered in that it had a representative of government in its midst, through whom its cries might go up to headquarters. But the government agent at Jaffna was always an officer interested in the Tarnils, and generally ignorant of the Sinhalese and their language. The district was on all sides far removed from the sea. ”

“ On the day of the car procession, the Tiru-kulam people, men, women and children, shave their heads and bathe with the higher castes in the kalyāni or large reservoir, and carry on their head small earthen vessels filled with rice and oil, and enter the temple as far as the flagstaff referred to above, where they deliver their offerings, which are appropriated by the Dāsayyas, who resort simultaneously as pilgrims to the shrine. ”