Castes and Tribes of Southern India/Arasu or Rājpinde

by Edgar Thurston

Arasu or Rājpinde.—"This caste," Mr. Lewis Rice writes (1877): — *^[1] "are relatives of or connected with the Rājahs of Mysore. During the life-time of the late Mahārāja, they were divided into two factions in consequence of the refusal of thirteen families headed by the Dalavayi (the chief of the female branch) to pay respect to an illegitimate son of His Highness. The other eighteen families consented to the Rājah's wishes, and treat the illegitimate branch, called Komarapatta, as equals. The two divisions intermarry and eat together, and the family quarrel, though serious at the time, is not likely to be permanent. They are employed chiefly under Government and in agriculture, most of the former being engaged in the palace at Mysore. Rājpindes are both Vishnavites and Sivites, and their priests are both Brāhmans and Lingāyat Waders."

In the Madras Census Report, 1891, Arasu (=Rāja or king) is given as a sub-division of the Tamil Pallis and Paraiyans. Urs appears as a contracted form of Arasu in the names of the Mysore royal family, e.g., Kantarāj Urs.

1. * Mysore and Coorg Gazetteer, 1876-78.