Castes and Tribes of Southern India/Udaiyān
Udaiyān.— It is noted in the Madras Census Report. 1891, that "the four Tamil castes Nattamān, Malaimān, Sudarmān (or Suruthimān), and Udaiyān are closely connected. The last is probably a title rather than a caste, and is the usual agnomen of the Nattamāns, Malaimāns, and Sudarmāns, as also of the potter caste (Kusavan). Nattamān means a man of the plains, Malaimān a man of the hills, and Sudarmān one who does good, a hero. Nattampadi is another form of Nattamān. Tradition traces the descent of the three castes from a certain Dēva Rāja, a Chēra king, who had three wives, by each of whom he had a son, and these were the ancestors of the three castes. There are other stories, but all agree in ascribing the origin of the castes to a single progenitor of the Chēra dynasty. It seems probable that they are descendants of the Vēdar soldiers of the Kongu country, who were induced to settle in the eastern districts of the Chēra kingdom. Additional evidence of the important position they once held is afforded by the titles Pandariyār, Pandārāttār (custodians of the treasury), which some of them still use. Some of them again are locally styled Poligars (Pālayakkāran) by the ordinary ryots, and the title Kāvalgar is not infrequent."
In a note on the Udaiyāns, Malaiyamāns, Nattamāns, and Sudarmāns of the Trichinopoly district, Mr. F. R. Hemingway writes as follows. "Though, in the Census Report, 1901, they are shown as separate castes, in this district they are endogamous sub-divisions of one and the same caste, namely the Udaiyāns. The three sub-divisions are unanimous in saying that they are the descendants of the three Paraiyan foster-daughters of the poetess Auvaiyar, all of whom became the wives of the king of Tirukkoyilūr in South Arcot, a certain Daivika, who was warned that only by marrying these women could he save his family from disaster. The Chōla, Pāndya, and Chēra kings were present at the wedding, and, on their blessing the bridegroom and his brides, they were themselves blessed by the poetess, to whom the Chēra kingdom owes its unfailing rain, the Chōla country its rice fields, and the Pāndyan realm its cotton. The poorness of the last blessing is due to the fact that the Pāndya king was slow to offer his good wishes. The three sub-divisions eat together, and recognise the tie of a common descent, but do not intermarry. The section called Arisakkāra Nattamān is looked down upon by the rest, and may not intermarry with any of them. All have well-defined exogamous sub-divisions, called kanis, derived from places where their different ancestors are supposed to have lived, e.g.,Kolattūr, Kannanūr, Ariyalūr. The Udaiyāns put on sacred threads at marriages and funerals, and some of them have recently begun to wear them always. They are generally cultivators, and, with the exception of the Sudarmāns, who are supposed to have a turn for crime, are law-abiding citizens. One section of the Sudarmāns, the Mūppans of Kapistalam in Tanjore, have a bad reputation for criminality. A curious practice is that, before arranging a marriage, it is customary for the bride's party to go to the bridegroom's house, to dine with him, and test his health by seeing how much he can eat. They allow a boy, whose suit for the hand of a girl within certain degrees of relationship is refused by her parents, to marry the girl, notwithstanding, by tying a tāli (marriage emblem) round her neck. They also permit the betrothal of infants, the form observed being to present the child with a new cloth and a mat, and to apply sacred ashes to its forehead. At their funerals, the mourning party has to chew some rice and spit it out on the return from the burning-ground, and, on the sixteenth day, the widow is made to worship a light, and to touch a salt pot. The Nattamān women do not, as a rule, cover their breasts. The lobes of their ears are very distended, and they tattoo their chins and cheeks in the Paraiyan fashion. This is supposed to be in recollection of their origin. The Malaiyamān women wear their tāli on a golden wire instead of on a thread."
"The Udaiyāns," Mr. Francis writes,*[1] are a caste, which is specially numerous in South Arcot. Most of them are cultivators, and in Kallakurchi many are also money-lenders on a large scale. They adopt numerous different titles in an indiscriminate way, and four brothers have been known to call themselves respectively Nāyak, Pillai, Mudali, and Udaiyān. They have three sub-divisions — Malaiyamān, Nattamān, and Sudarmān — which all admit that they are descended from one common stock, will usually dine together, but do not intermarry. Some of the caste, however, are now turning vegetarians, and these will not only not eat with the others, but will not let their girls marry them. They do not, nevertheless, object to their sons taking brides from the meat-eating classes, and thus provide an interesting, if small, instance of the (on this coast) uncommon practice of hypergamy. In all general matters the ways of the three sub-divisions are similar. Sudarmāns are uncommon in this district, and are stated to be chiefly found in Trichinopoly and Tanjore. The Udaiyāns say that the three groups are the descendants of a king who once ruled at Tirukkōyilūr, the first of whom took the hilly part of his father's country, and so was called Malaiyamān; the second the level tracts, whence his name Nattamān, and the third was the scholar of the family,and learned in the holy books (srutas), and so was called Sudarmān. These Udaiyāns are the caste from which were drawn some of the kāvalgārs (watchmen) who, in pre-British days, were appointed to perform police duties, and keep the country clear of thieves; and some of the descendants of these men, who are known to their neighbours as poligars, and still have considerable local influence, are even now to be met with. The connection of the members of the caste with the Vēpūr (criminal) Paraiyans, which is of course confined to the less reputable sections among them, seems to have had its origin in the days when they were still head kāvalgārs, and these Paraiyans were their talaiyāris, entrusted, under their orders, with police duties in the different villages. It now consists in acting as receivers of the property these people steal, and in protecting them in diverse ways — finding and feeing a vakil (law pleader)for their defence, for instance — when they are in trouble with the police. It is commonly declared that their relations are sometimes of a closer nature, and that the wives of Vēppūr Paraiyans who are in enforced retirement are cared for by the Udaiyāns. To this is popularly attributed the undoubted fact that these Paraiyans are often much fairer in complexion than other members of that caste."
The village of Mangalam in the South Arcot district is "chiefly interesting on account of its being the only village in the district where buffalo sacrifices on any scale are still regularly made. Buffaloes are dedicated to the Kāli shrine in Mangalam even by persons in the Salem, Tanjore and Trichinopoly districts, and the village is commonly known as Māduvetti Mangalam, or buffalo-sacrificing Mangalam. When a man or any of his belongings gets seriously sick, he consecrates an animal to this shrine, and, if the illness ends favourably, it is sent to its fate at the temple on the date of the annual sacrifice (May-June). When the buffalo is dedicated, a piece of saffron-coloured cloth, in which is placed some small coin and a cadjan (palm) leaf containing an announcement of the dedication, is tied to its horns, and it is allowed to roam wherever it likes through the fields. On the day of the sacrifice, fourteen of the best of the animals which have been dedicated and brought to the temple are selected, and seven of them are tied to an equal number of stone posts in front of the goddess' shrine. The pūjāri (priest), who is an Udaiyān by caste, then walks down the line, and beheads them one after the other. The goddess is next taken round on a car, and, on her return to the temple, the other seven buffaloes are similarly killed. The animals which are not selected are sold, and the proceeds paid into the temple treasury. There are two images in the temple, one of Kāli, and the other, which is placed at the back of the shrine, of Mangalayāchi. The latter goddess does not approve of animal sacrifices, and, while the above ceremonies are proceeding, a blanket is hung in front of her so that she may not see them."*[2]
It is noted by Bishop Whitehead that, a few years ago, an untoward event occurred in connection with a Pidāri festival at a village in the Trichinopoly district. "The festival had commenced, and the pūjāri had tied the kapu (cord dyed with turmeric) on his wrist, when a dispute arose between the trustees of the shrine, which caused the festival to be stopped. The dispute could not be settled, and the festival was suspended for three years, and, during all that time, there could be no marriages among the Udaya caste, while the poor pūjāri, with the kapu on his wrist, had to remain the whole of the three years in the temple, not daring to go out lest Pidāri in her wrath should slay him."
It is recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, that "the Nattamāns say they originally settled in South Arcot, and then spread to Tanjore and Trichinopoly, and finally to Madura, and this theory is supported by the fact that they have fifteen exogamous sub-divisions called kānis or fields, which are all named after villages (e.g., Ariyalūr, Puththūr) in the first three of these districts. A man has a right to marry the daughter of his father's sister, and, if she is given to another man, the father's sister has to return to her father or brother the dowry which she received at the time of her marriage, and this is given to the man who had the claim upon the girl. The same custom occurs among the Kuravans and the Kallans. The eldest son in each family has to be named after the god of the village which gives its name to the kāni or sept to which the family belongs, and the child is usually taken to that village to be named. Marriage is infant or adult. Widow marriage is forbidden. Brāhmans are employed for ceremonies, but these are not received on terms of equality by other Brāhmans. Both cremation and burial are practised. Vellālas will eat with Nattamāns. The caste title is Udaiyān." Another title is Nayinar, which is also used by Pallis and Jains. There is a proverb " Nattumuththinal Nayinar ", i.e., when the Nattamān ripens, he is a Nayinar. At the census, 1901, some Nattamāns returned themselves as Natramiludaiyān, meaning the repository of chaste Tamil; and Ūr-Udaiyān (lord of a village) was given as their caste name. Nattamān also occurs as a sub- division of the Pallis.
Under the name Nattamādi, the Nattamāns are described in the Tanjore Manual as "peasant population. Some are ryotwari land-holders in their own right and possess large estates. The word is derived from nattam, village, and is used in three forms, Nattamakkal, Nattamar, and Nattamādi. A considerable proportion are converts to the Roman Catholic religion, and, in the neighbourhood of Vallam, there are very few who profess any other faith." In the Madura Manual, the Nattambādiyans are further described as being "usually respectable cultivators. They are said to have emigrated into the Madura country not more than about eight years ago. They are an interesting class of Tamils, in as much as very many of them have adopted the Roman Catholic faith under the leadership of the Jesuit missionaries. They are said to be a fine race physically; finer even than the Vellālans. They are also called Udaiyans, and tradition says that they came from the Toreiyur nādu or district in Tanjore, from a village called Udeiyāpāleiyam. They are chiefly resident in the great zamindāris, and contrast favourably with the Maravans, being very orderly, frugal, and industrious."
I am informed that Nattamān women will do cooly work and carry food for their husbands when at work in the fields, but that Malaimān women will not do so.
The Sudarmāns are described, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as "cultivators chiefly found in the districts of Tanjore and Trichinopoly. They are imitating the Brāhmans and Vellālas in their social customs, and some of them have left off eating meat, with the idea of raising themselves in general estimation; but they nevertheless eat in the houses of Kallans and Idaiyans. Their title is Mūppan." Some Sudarmāns, I am told, have become Agamudaiyans.