It will be a huge task to attempt to trace the origin and development of every Tamil caste. We shall therefore take only the Eyinas or Paraiyas, which is perhaps the third largest of Tamil castes, and examine what other castes have evolved from them and how they managed to secure their present social-position, But, by way of introduction, it is highly desirable to present before the reader a description of the constitution of an ancient town or village, in which the regional classification of tribes explained above is clearly discernible.
We shall first take the city of Kanchipuram as described in the Perum-panarruppadai, in Tamil work of the third or fourth century A. D. In the heart of the town were the Brahman ‘quarters where neither the dog nor the fowl could be seen’; they were flanked on the one side by the fishermen's (வலைஞர்) streets and on the other by those of traders (வணிகர்), and these were surrounded by the cheris of the Mallas or Pallas (உழவர்) and toddy-drawers (கள்ளடுமகளிர்). Then, far removed from them were situated at one extremity of the city the pallis of the Idaiyans; and beyond these lay the isolated puru-cheris of the Eyinas and their chiefs. Next to the Malla (உழவர்) streets were the temple of Tiruvehka and the royal palace of king Ilam-Tiraiyan.
By the end of the tenth century the social position of certain tribes was somewhat changed. The Idaiyans had come to occupy a higher rank on account.
