Castes and Tribes of Southern India/Mudavāndi

by Edgar Thurston

Mudavāndi. — The Mudavāndis are said ‡^[1] to be "a special begging class, descended from Vellāla Goundans, since they had the immemorial privilege of taking possession, as of right, of any Vellāla child that was infirm or maimed. The Modivāndi made his claim by spitting into the child's face, and the parents were then obliged, even against their will, to give it up. Thence-forward it was a Modivāndi, and married among them. The custom has fallen into desuetude for the last forty or fifty years, as a complaint of abduction would entail serious consequences. Their special village is Modivāndi Satyamangalam near Erode. The chief Modivāndi, in 1887, applied for sanction to employ peons (orderlies) with belts and badges upon their begging tours, probably because contributions are less willingly made nowadays to idle men. They claim to be entitled to sheep and grain from the ryats."

In a note on the Mudavāndis, Mr. F. R. Hemingway writes that it is stated to be the custom that children born blind or lame in the Konga Vellāla caste are handed over by their parents to become Mudavāndis. If the parents hesitate to comply with the custom, the Mudavāndis tie a red cloth round the head of the child, and the parents can then no longer withhold their consent. They have to give the boy a bullock to ride on if he is lame, or a stick if he is blind.

A Revenue Officer writes (1902) that, at the village of Āndipalayam in the Salem district, there is a class of people called Modavāndi, whose profession is the adoption of the infirm members of the Konga Vellālas. Āndis are professional beggars. They go about among the Konga Vellālas, and all the blind and maimed children are pounced upon by them, and carried to their village. While parting with their children, the parents, always at the request of the children, give a few, sometimes rising to a hundred, rupees. The infirm never loses his status. He becomes the adopted child of the Āndi, and inherits half of his property invariably. They are married among the Āndis, and are well looked after. In return for their services, the Āndis receive four annas a head from the Konga Vellāla community annually, and the income from this source alone amounts to Rs. 6,400. A forty-first part share is given to the temple of Arthanarīswara at Trichengōdu. None of the Vellālas can refuse the annual subscription, on pain of being placed under the ban of social excommunication, and the Āndi will not leave the Vellāla's house until the infirm child is handed over to him. One Tahsildar (revenue officer) asked himself why the Āndi's income should not be liable to income-tax, and the Āndis were collectively assessed. Of course, it was cancelled on appeal.

1. ‡ Manual of the Coimbatore district,