Castes and Tribes of Southern India/Urali
Urāli.— In the Madras Census Report, 1891, the Urālis are described as "a caste of agricultural labourers found chiefly in the districts of Madura and Trichinopoly. The word Urāli means a ruler of a village. Like the Ambalakkārans, they trace their descent from one Mutturāja, and the only sub-division returned by any number is Mutrācha. They also assert that they were formerly employed as soldiers. In the Wynād there is a section of Kurumbas called Urāli Kurumbas, and it is not improbable that these Urālis of the Tamil country are an offshoot of the great Kurumba race." The Urālis are further summed up in the same report, as "agricultural labourers in Coimbatore, Trichinopoly, and Madura. There seems to be some connection between the Urālis and the Ambalakkārans or Muttiriyans, Muttiriyan is a sub-division of both Urāli and Ambalakkāran, and both of these are found in the same districts. Perhaps the Urālis are an offshoot of the Tamil Valaiyans, which by change of occupation has transformed itself into a distinct caste (see Ambalakkāran). The caste is split up into a number of sub-divisions, called after the name of the tract or nādu in Trichinopoly which each inhabits. To get back into the caste, an excommunicated man has to kill a sheep or goat before the elders, and mark his forehead with the blood. He then gives a feast to the assembly, and puts part of the food on the roof of his house. If the crows eat this, he is received back into the caste. [Brāhmans always put out portions of the srāddha offerings in the same way, and judge whether they are acceptable or not by noting if the crows eat them or not.] Marriage is infant or adult. A man detected in an intrigue with an unmarried woman is fined, and has to marry her, and at the wedding his waist string is tied round her neck instead of a tāli. The well-to-do people of the caste employ Brāhmans as priests, but others content themselves with their own elders. Widows and divorced women may marry again. The dead are either burned or buried. The richer members of the caste perform srāddha (memorial service for the dead). They drink alcohol, and eat fowls,mutton, pork, fish, rats, etc. In social position they come below the Idaiyans, Tottiyans, and Kallans. Their title is Kavandan."
For the following note on the Urālis of the Trichinopoly district, I am indebted to Mr. F. R. Hemingway. "They say that they were originally Kshatriyas living in 'Alipuram near Oudh,' and left that place in search of adventure, or in consequence of disputes at home, leaving their wives behind them, and finally settled in the south, where they married serving women (pulukkachis). They say that they belong to the Mutturāja Kuttam, a phrase they cannot explain, and protest that the Ambalakkārans, who make a similar claim, have no ground for so doing. They seem to eat with no other caste on equal terms, but will, of course, accept separate meals from Vellālans. They are split into seven nādus, which are in effect endogamous sub-divisions. These are called after villages in the country inhabited by the caste, namely, Vadasēri, Pillūru, Sēngudi, Kadavangudi or Virāli, Talakka, Paluvinji or Magali, and Marungi. The members of the first three of these nādus are called Vadasēri Urālis, and those of the other four Nāttu-sīmai Urālis, Kunduva-nāttu-tokkādus, or Nandutindis. All of them will mess together. They say that the nādus were originally intended to facilitate the decision of caste disputes, and they are still the unit of self-government. Each nādu has a headman, who exercises supreme control over the villages included within it. The Urālis also have a number of exogamous septs called karais by the Vadasēris and kāniyacchis by the Nāttu-sīmais, which are called after the names of places. They are generally cultivators, but are said sometimes to be given to crime. They wear the sacred thread on occasions of marriages and funerals. The women can be recognised by their dress, the kusavam being spread out behind, and a characteristic pencil-shaped ornament (kuchu) being suspended from the neck. Some of their marriage and funeral customs are peculiar. Among the Nāttu-sīmais, the betrothal is ratified by the maternal uncle of each of the pair solemnly measuring out three measures of paddy (rice) in the presence of the other party at their house. At their funerals,the bier is not brought into the village, but left outside, and the corpse is carried to it. Among the Vadasēris, while preparations are being made for the removal of the body, a Paraiyan woman performs a dance. Among the Nāttu-sīmais this is done on the Ettu day. On the second day after the funeral, the relatives of the deceased dip their toes in a mortar full of cow-dung water placed in front of his house, and put sacred ashes on the head. The karumāntaram, or final death ceremony, is only performed by the rich. It can take place at any time after the third day. The Ettu ceremony is similarly performed at any time after the third day, and is attended with a curious ritual. Both sections of the caste erect a booth, in which three plantain trees are planted,and the chief mourner and his cousins stand there all day to receive the condolences of their friends. From this point the practice of the two sections differs in small points of detail. Among the Vadasēris, the friends come one by one, and are asked by the chief mourner, "Will you embrace, or will you strike your forehead?" In reply, the friend either closes the open hand of the chief mourner with his own as a form of embrace, or flings himself on the ground in the booth, and weeps. Each visitor then goes to a meeting of the nādu which is being held outside the village, and a Paraiyan and three Urālis inform the headman who have visited the booth and who have not, and ask if it may be removed. Permission being given, the plantains are cut down, and the woman-folk wail round a chembu (vessel) placed there. All then proceed to the nādu meeting, where a turban is put on a Paraiyan, a dancing-girl and a Pandāram, and the Paraiyan (called Nāttu Sāmban) beats his drum, and pronounces a blessing on the nādu. Finally all repair to the house of the deceased, where the headman puts three handfuls of kambu (millet) into the cloth of his wife or some other member of the family, and throws a mortar on the ground. Punishments for caste offences take some curious forms. A margosa (Melia Azadirachta) leaf is put on the house of anyone who is excommunicated. If a man seduces a girl of the caste, an enquiry is held, and the pair are married. The waist-string of the man is tied round the neck of the woman, and a Tottiyan is called in to take away the pollution which they and their relatives have incurred. They are taken to a tank (pond), where 108 holes have been made by the Tottiyan, and are made to bathe in every hole, sprinkling the water over their heads. A sheep is then killed by a Tottiyan and a Chakkiliyan, its head is buried, and the couple and their relatives are made to walk over the spot. The blood of the animal is then smeared on their foreheads, and they all have to bathe again. They are next given cow's urine to drink, and then once more bathe. After that they are given milk, and are made to prostrate themselves before the panchāyat (council). Finally they have to give a feast to the panchāyat, at which a part of the food is offered to the crows, and the purification is not complete till the birds have partaken thereof. The Urālis are fond of shikār (hunting). On the Sivarātri night, sacrifices are offered to their family gods, and, on the following day, all the men of the village go out hunting. They have a head shikāri (huntsman), called Kāvēttaikāran, who receives every animal which is killed, cuts off its head, and breaks its legs. The head is given to the man who killed the animal, and the rest is shared among the castemen."
Of the Urālis who inhabit the hill country of Travancore, the following account is given in the Travancore Census report, 1901. "The Urālis are a class of hill tribes resident in the Cardamom Hills. They are chiefly found in the tracts known as Kunnanāt, Velampan, Kurakkanāt, Mannukāt, Kalanāt, and Periyūr. The headman of the Urālis in each of these areas is called a Kānikkāran. Tradition tells us that they were the dependents of the kings of Madura, and that their duty was to hold umbrellas in times of State processions. In ancient times, many of the parts now included in the Todupuzha tāluk belonged to the kingdom of Madura. Once, when the king came to Nēriyamangalam, the ancestors of these Urālis are said to have accompanied him, and to have been left there to rule (āli) that locally (ūr). The males dress like the low-country people, with cloths about four cubits long extending from the hip to the knee. Another cloth, about one or two cubits in length, is put over the back, one end of which passes under their right arm and the other over the shoulder, both meeting in front over the chest, where they are tied together in a peculiar knot by folding the extremities, thus forming a bag wherein to contain their wayside necessaries. Females wear two pieces of cloth, nine and two and a half cubits in length respectively, and folded in the middle. The larger is the lower garment, and the smaller upper garment is worn with two ends tied around the neck. Males wear brass finger and toe-rings, sometimes of silver. Some adorn their necks with wreaths of beads, from fifteen to thirty in number. Females wear ear-ornaments known as kātumani, which are rings of metal wire, four or five in number. Males generally allow their hair to grow, the face alone being now and then shaven. The Urālis eat rice for six months of the year, and subsist on roots, fruits, and other forest produce during the remaining half. A large portion of the paddy (rice) that the Urālis gather by cultivation goes to the low country in exchange for clothing and salt. The flesh of most animals is eaten, but the elephant and buffalo are held in such great respect that no Urāli ever ventures to hurt them. Even the approach of the buffalo is religiously avoided. They begin to fell forest trees in Dhanu (December- January), and seeds are sown by the end of Mētam (April- May). They have only a katti, which is a kind of chopping knife, for purposes of ploughing. After cultivation they change their abodes. They put up huts in the vicinity of the cultivated areas, and use bamboo and reeds as materials. After leaving the old, and before putting up the new hut, they live for several days in caves or under trees. They are very good watchmen, and take great care in putting up fences, weeding, and protecting cultivation from wild animals. They make excellent mats of reed. They are clever huntsmen, and are passionately attached to their hunting dogs. They hoard their grains in wicker baskets called virivallam. They possess copper and brass vessels, mortar, chopping knives, sickles, spades, flint and steel. A man after marriage lives with his wife, apart from his parents. Pollution of a very aggravated kind is observed during the menstrual and puerperal periods. On these occasions a separate mātam (hut), called the pāttu-pandal, is put up at a distance from the dwelling hut. Here the woman stays for three days. After bathing on the fourth day, she shifts to another mātam still nearer, and stays there for one or two days. On the seventh day she rejoins the family. In cases of confinement, twelve days are spent in the remotest hut, and five days in the nearer one. But for another period of twenty days the woman is not permitted to touch any one in the house, or even the roofing of the hut. During these days food is prepared by others, and given to her. The water in which those who are confined, and those who are in their menses bathe, is considered to be defiled beyond remedy. Hence, for bathing purposes some secluded and out-of-the-way pool, called pāttuvellam, is selected. Urālis coming to the low country hesitate to drink water, on the score that it might be thus polluted. When the woman delivers herself of her first child, her husband observes three days' pollution, but none for subsequent confinements. On all such occasions, the maternal relations of the woman have to observe five days' pollution. On the eighteenth day after birth, the eldest member of the family names the child, and bores the ear. The head of the child is shaved as soon as it is able to walk, and a tuft of hair is left in front. The corpses of the Urālis are not burnt, but buried at a sufficient distance from the house. A new cloth is put into the grave by each relative. After filling in the grave, they erect a shed over it, within which the chopping knife of the deceased, a quantity of boiled rice, and some chewing materials (betel and nuts) are placed. After the lapse of seven years, an offering of food and drink is made to the departed soul. Death pollution lasts for sixteen days. The Urālis address their father as appan, and maternal uncle as achchan. Marumakkathāyam is the prevailing form of inheritance (in the female line). Marriage is settled by the parents. There is no tāli symbol to indicate the wedded state. After the marriage is settled, the girl is merely sent to the pandal or hut of the husband. The Urālis intermarry with the Ullādans, and in rare cases with Muduvans. Remarriage is permitted. An Urāli, wishing to get married into a particular family, has to wed into the family a girl belonging to his own. The Urālis have a fine ear for music, and sing many songs in the night before going to bed. Like the Kānis (Kānikars), they resort to enchantments called cheppuka and chāttuka for the cure of diseases. Their would-be sorcerers have to leave the community, and wander alone in the forest for a number of months. They are said to then get into a trance, when their forefathers appear before them as maidens, and teach them the mystic arts. The Urālis bear their loads only on the back, and never on the head. They never go to distant places without their chopping knife. They are good forest guides." The Urālis are stated by the Rev. S. Mateer *[1] to practice polyandry like the Todas.
Urāli is further a synonym of the Tandans of Travancore, in reference, it is said, to their having been guardians of villages (ur) in former times. It is also the title of the headman of the Kuravas of Travancore and a synonym of the Kōlāyans of Malabar. Urāli.—The Urālis, who form the subject of the present note, dwell at an altitude of 1,800 feet in the jungles of Dimbhum in the Coimbatore district, where a forest bungalow, situated on a breezy ridge overlooking the plains, formed a convenient centre from which to study both Urālis and the more primitive Shōlagas.
The Urālis are familiar with the Badagas, who have a settlement not many miles distant; the Todas, who occasionally migrate across the adjacent Nīlgiri frontier in search of grazing land for their buffaloes; and the Kurumbas and Irulas, who inhabit the lower slopes of the Nīlgiris, which run down to Coimbatore. With the civilised world they are acquainted, as they carry loads to the plains, and run down to market at the town of Sathyamangalam, which is only seventeen miles distant from Dimbhum. Like the Nīlgiri Badagas, they are clad in turban, and long flowing body-cloth, white (when new), or striped with red and blue. The hair is worn long and unkempt, or shaved á la Hīndu with kudimi in mimicry of the more civilised classes, A man was introduced to us as an expert mimic of the note of the paroquet, peacock, jungle-fowl and other forest birds; and a small party improvised, in front of the bungalow, a bird trap cleverly constructed out of stones, an iron plate from the camp kitchen, bamboo, and rope made on the spot from the bark of Ficus Tsiela'. The making of fire with flint and steel is fast disappearing in favour of safety matches.
The Uralis say that they are men of seven kulams (i.e., having seven posts to the marriage booth), and are children of Billayya, while they describe the Shōlagas as men of five kulams and children of Karayya. They call themselves Urālis or Irulas, and, when questioned, say
that, as Billayya and Karayya are brothers, they may also 
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The majority of the tribe earn a modest livelihood by collecting minor forest produce, such as myrabolams, wax and honey, and poles for use as primitive breaks for country carts during the ascent of the ghat road. These poles are tied to the carts by ropes, and trail behind on the ground, so that, when the cart stops, the backward course of the wheels is arrested. Some till the soil, and cultivate various kinds of food-grains. Others are sheep and cattle owners. A few families possess land, which is given free of rent by the Forest Department, on condition that they work for the department whenever their services are required. As a class they are not inclined to do hard work, and they appear to get into the clutches of money- lending Chettis. Their staple food is rāgi (Eleusine Coracana). But they eat also sheep, fowls, goat, deer, pigeons and doves, black monkeys, wild boar, hare, hedgehogs, paroquets, quails and partridges, jungle-fowl, woodcock, woodpeckers, and other denizens of the jungle. A man who was asked whether they eat beef, cats, toads, bears, or white monkeys, expectorated violently at the mention of each, and the suggestion of the first three produced the most explosive oral demonstration.
Tribal disputes are referred to a headman, called Yejamana, who must belong to the exogamous sept called Sambē, and whose appointment is an hereditary one. To assist him, three others, belonging to the Kalkatti, Kolkara and Kurinanga septs, whose hereditary titles are Pattagara, Gouda and Kolkara, are appointed. The Kolkara has to invite people to the panchāyat (tribal council), collect the fines inflicted, and be present on the occasion of marriages. A woman who, after marriage, refuses to live with her husband, is punished thus. She is tied to a tree, and the Kolkaran empties the contents of a hornet or wasp's nest at her feet. After a few minutes the woman is questioned, and, if she agrees to live with her husband, she must, in token of assent, lick a mark made on his back by the Kolkara with fowl's excrement, saying "You are my husband. In future I shall not quarrel with you, and will obey you." Even after this ordeal has been gone through, a woman may, on payment of a fine, leave her husband in favour of another man of the tribe.
When a girl reaches puberty, she is anointed, decorated with jewelry, and made to occupy a separate hut for seven days, during which time two young girls keep her company. On the eighth day, all three bathe in a pond or stream, and return in their wet clothes to the girl's home, where they sit on a pestle placed in front of the door. A plantain leaf is then placed in front of them, on which cooked rice and curry are spread. A child, aged about eight or nine months, is set in the girl's lap, and she feeds the infant with a small quantity of rice, of which she herself swallows a few mouthfuls. Those assembled then sit down to a meal, at the conclusion of which they wash their hands in a dish, and the girl throws the water away. The feast concluded, the spot is sprinkled with cow dung water, and cleaned up by the girl.
Marriage is either infant or adult, but, as a rule, the latter. The match-making is carried out by the boy's parents, who, with his other relations, pay two visits, one with and one without the boy, to the parents of the girl. At the first visit a present of rāgi, and at the second of plantains, rice, and millet pudding is made. The party must be received with due respect, which is shown by taking hold of the walking-sticks of the guests on arrival, and receiving them on a mat spread inside the house. The customary form of salute is touching the feet with both hands, and raising them, with palms opposed, to the forehead. Before taking their seats, the guests salute a vessel of water, which is placed on the mat, surrounded by betel leaves and nuts. A flower is placed on the top of the stone or figure which represents the tribal goddess, and, after pūja (worship) has been done to it, it is addressed in the words "Oh, Swami! drop the flower to the right if the marriage is going to be propitious, and to the left if otherwise." Should the flower remain on the image, without falling either way, it is greeted as a very happy omen. On the occasion of the betrothal ceremony, if the bridegroom's party, on their way to the bride's village, have to cross a stream, running or dry, the bridegroom is not allowed to walk across it, but must be carried over on the back of his maternal uncle. As they approach the bride's home, they are met by the Kolkara and two other men, to whom the Kolkara, after receiving the walking-sticks of the guests, hands them over. Failure to do so would be an act of discourtesy, and regarded as an insult to be wiped out by a heavy fine. When the procession arrives at the house, entrance into the marriage booth is prevented by a stick held across it by people of the bride's village. A mock struggle takes place, during which turmeric water is thrown by both sides, and an entrance into the house is finally effected. After a meal has been partaken of, the bridal party proceed to the village of the bridegroom, where the bride and bridegroom are lodged in separate houses. In front of the bridegroom's house a booth, supported by twelve posts arranged in four rows, has been erected. The two pillars nearest the entrance to the house are called murthi kamba. Into the holes made for the reception of these, after a cocoanut has been broken, ghī (clarified butter), milk, and a few copper coins are placed. The bridal pair, after an oil bath, are led to the booth, decorated with jewels and wearing new cloths, and made to sit on a plank. A cocoanut is broken, and they salute a vessel placed on a plate. The bridal party then adjourn to a pond or stream, and do pūja to their god. On the return thence the bridal couple must be accompanied by their maternal uncles, who should keep on dancing, while cocoanuts are broken in front of them till the house is reached. The contracting parties then again sit on the plank with their little fingers linked, while the bride money (theravu) is paid to the father-in-law, and the milk money (pāl kuli) to the mother-in-law. The tāli (a golden disc) is then tied on to the bride's neck by some female relation of the bridegroom, and the bride and bridegroom, after saluting those assembled, enter the house, where the young wife is at once told to cook some rice, of which she and her husband partake from the same leaf plate. There exists, among the Urālis, a kind of informal union called kuduvali. A man and woman will, by mutual agreement, elope into the jungle, and live there together, till they are discovered and brought back by their relations. A panchāyat (council) is held, and they are recognised as man and wife if the bride money and fine inflicted are paid. Failure to pay up would render them liable to excommunication. To celebrate the event, a feast must be given by the man; and, if he should die without having fed the community, any children born to him are considered as illegitimate. In such a case, the widow or her near relatives are asked to give food to at least a few before the corpse is removed, so as to legitimatise the children.
The Urālis bury their dead, and the death ceremonies are, to a certain extent, copied from those of the Badagas. As soon as a member of the tribe dies, the corpse is anointed, washed, and dressed in new clothes and turban. On the face three silver coins are stuck, viz.: — a rupee on the forehead, and a quarter rupee outside each eye. When all have assembled for the funeral, the corpse is brought out and placed under a car (tēru) of six storeys, made of bamboo and sticks, covered with coloured cloths and flags, and having at the top a kalasa (brass vessel) and umbrella. To the accompaniment of a band a dance takes place around the car, and the procession then moves on to the burial-ground, where a cow buffalo is brought near the car, and a little milk drawn and poured three times into the mouth of the corpse. A cow and one or two calves are taken round the car, and the calves presented to the sister of the deceased. The car is then broken up, after the decorations have been stripped off. The corpse is buried either on the spot, or taken away to distant Nīrgundi, and buried there. On the eighth day after the funeral or return from Nīrgundi, the eldest son of the deceased has his head shaved, and, together with his brother's wife, fasts. If the funeral has been at Nīrgundi, the son, accompanied by his relations, proceeds thither after tying some cooked rice in a cloth. On arrival, he offers this to all the memorial stones in the burial-ground (goppamane), and erects a stone, which he has brought with him, in memory of the deceased. He then anoints all the stones with ghī, which is contained in a green bamboo measure. He collects the rice, which has been offered, and one of the party, becoming inspired, gives vent to oracular declarations as to the season's prospects, the future of the bereaved family, etc. The collected rice is regarded as sacred, and is partaken of by all. Each sept has its own goppamane, which is a rectangular space with mud walls on three sides. In cases in which the corpse has been buried close to the village, the grave is marked by a file of stones. Two or three years afterwards, the body is exhumed, and the bones are collected, and placed in front of the house of the deceased. All the relations weep, and the son conveys the bones to Nīrgundi, where he buries them. On the eighth day he revisits the spot, and erects a stone with the ceremonial already described.
The Urālis worship a variety of minor deities, and sacrifice sheep and goats to Pālrayan. They observe two annual festivals, viz.: — (a) Thai nombu, when the whole house is cleaned, and margosa (Melia Azadirachta) twigs and spikes of Achyranthes aspera are tied together, and placed in front of the house over the roof, or stuck into the roof overhanging the entrance. A sumptuous repast is partaken of. This ceremonial takes place in the month Thai (December- January). (b) In the month Vyāsi (March- April) a large trough is placed close to a well, and filled with a mixture of salt and water. The cattle, decorated with leaves and flowers, are brought, one by one, to the trough, and made to drink the salt water.
- ↑ • Native Life in Travancore.