before the arrival of Brahmans, and that the arrangement of the Dravidian castes into two grand divisions (the right and left hands) took place at Kanchipuram under the royal command of a Chola king. In this connection it would be well to remember the origin and former social position of the Valluvas which have already been explained.
Various suggestions have been made concerning the probable origin of the dispute between the right-hand and left-hand factions. One writer in the Indian Antiquary (Vol. V) says 'it does appear to have been caused by some person or persons who were strangers to South India'. But who that person or persons could have been he does not say. Another writer tells us that it is a dispute between the principal artificers and the agricultural, mercantile and other classes ; while a third observes that 'the distinction arises primarily from the land-owners and their serfs being the heads of one class, and the Brahmans, the artisans and other interlopers, form the other'. The last view is maintained by the Superintendent of Census in Mysore (1891) who goes on to say that the origin of this irreconcilable faction is due to the professional jealousy that existed between the indigenous mercantile community and the larger and more powerful traders. This is, no doubt, borne out by the alternative names of the factions, Desa (foreign) and Peta or Nadu (native) which are current only in the Mysore State. But the quarrel is found throughout the presidency and is not
