servant of this class. The word is Pers., comp. mihtar (Lat. major), a great personage, a prince, and has been applied to the class in question in irony, or rather in consolation. But the name has so completely adhered in this application, that all sense of either irony or consolation has perished. Mehtar is a sweeper, and nought else. His wife is the Matranee. It is not unusual to hear two Mehtars hailing each other as Mahārāj! "
Meikāval (body-guard of the god). — A name for Pandārams.
Mēkala (goats). — Recorded as an exogamous sept of Bōya, Chenchu, Golla, Kamma, Kāpu, Togata, and Yānādi. Nerigi Mēkala (a kind of goat) is a further sept of Yānādi.
Mēkhri.——A sub-division of Navāyat Muhammadans.
Mēlāchchēri.— A class of Muhammadans in the Laccadive islands (see Māppilla).
Mēladava.— Dancing-girls in South Canara.
Mēlakkāran.— Concerning the Mēlakkārans, Mr. F. R. Hemingway writes as follows.*[1] " The name means musicians, and, as far as Tanjore is concerned, is applied to two absolutely distinct castes, the Tamil and Telugu Mēlakkārans (of whom the latter are barber musicians). These two will not eat in each other's houses, and their views about dining with other castes are similar. They say they would mess (in a separate room) in a Vellālan's house, and would dine with a Kallan, but it is doubtful whether any but the lower non-Brāhman communities would eat with them. In other respects the two castes are quite different. The former speak Tamil, and, in most of their customs,
- ↑ * Gazetteer of the Tanjore district.
