Indische Palaographie von circa 350 a. Chr. – circa 1300 p. Chr. c48.s2.26

c48.s2.26

The Kaikkōlan, or Tamil weavers, share, it is true, an ancestor with the Paraiyan or menial caste, and used to be relegated with the rest of the Kammāla with whom they were classed, to a detached hamlet. By dint of clean living, however, and the employment of Brāhmans, they now occupy a respectable position. Most of the other weavers of this part of India are of Kanarese origin. A good many are returned simply under the general title of Neyige, the Mysorean term for weaver, and are probably, like the Sāle of various subdivisions, very largely Liṅgāyats. The Sāle have long been settlers to some extent in the Tamil country where they wove silk with much profit, but lost ground under the competition of the still more skilful Paṭṭunūrkāran. In the Dekkan and Central Provinces they are found in different grades, according to whether they work only in white or add a border or fringe of coloured silk. The Dēvāṅga and the Togaṭa are other sections of the Kanarese weaving community, lower in position than the above. The Togaṭa, indeed, are not found in their native country at all, but have permanently settled in the south. A caste of Bengal weavers, the Jūgi, has been mentioned in connection with the ascetic body of a similar name. Its origin is unascertained, but it is not affiliated to the leather-workers. Its low position may be partly attributed to the pretensions it has made to higher rank, thereby entailing an unusual concentration of Brāhmanic displeasure. Though suffering like its fellows from European competition, the caste till recently had stuck fairly closely to its traditional calling. The Kosṭi of the Marāṭhā country holds, like the Kaikkōlan, a middle place between the silk-weaver and those of servile origin. Brāhmans are employed in the caste ceremonies and the Kosṭi lives, as a rule, very like the poorer Kunbī. The famines of recent years caused much distress amongst this caste, and, from their sedentary life, it was difficult to adopt means for giving them fitting relief work. They are endeavouring to evade the results of foreign competition by weaving British yarn, whereby they produce a fabric which combines fineness with the strength and durability of hand-loom work.