Sonkari girls are married before puberty. A man should marry his paternal aunt's daughter, but at the present day this custom is frequently disregarded. Brāhmans officiate at their marriages. The dead are cremated. The caste title is Pātro.
Sonkuva.—A sub-division of Māli.
Sonti (dried ginger).—An exogamous sept of Asili.
Soppu (leaf).—The name for Koragas, who wear leafy garments.
Sōzhia.—A territorial name of sub-divisions of various Tamil classes who are settled in what was formerly the Chōla country, e.g., Brāhman, Chetti, Kaikōlan, Kammālan, Pallan, and Vellāla.
Srishti Karnam.——A sub-division of Karnam. The name is variously spelt, e.g., Sristi, Sishta, Sishti. The name Sishti Karanamalu is said to have been assumed by Oddilu, who have raised themselves in life.*[1]
Stala (a place).—Lingāyats sometimes use the word Staladavāru, or natives of a place, to distinguish them from recent settlers.
Stānika.— The Stānikas are summed up, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as being " Canarese temple servants. They claim to be Brāhmans, though other Brāhmans do not admit the claim; and, as the total of the caste has declined from 4,650 in 1891 to 1,469, they have apparently returned themselves as Brāhmans in considerable numbers." The Stānikas are, in the South Canara Manual, said to be "the descendants of Brāhmins by Brāhmin widows and outcast Brāhmin women, corresponding with Manu's Golaka. They however now claim to be Siva Brāhmins, forcibly dispossessed of authority by the Mādhvas, and state that
- ↑ • Rev. J. Cain, Ind. Ant., VIII, 1879.
