Indische Palaographie von circa 350 a. Chr. – circa 1300 p. Chr. c48.s2.34
Indische Paläographie von circa 350 a. Chr. – circa 1300 p. Chr. c48.s2.34
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c48.s2.34.1
§ 47. **Toddy-drawers** (4,765,400). Between the lower artisans and the field-labourers may be taken the castes which live by tapping the palm for its juice, in some parts of India a body of numerical importance. They occupy but a low position, partly by reason of their origin, partly again because the toddy they provide is often kept till fermented, and being thus an intoxicant, is relegated to the impure articles of consumption. This is the case still more markedly with the distilling castes, which are classed among the urban and dealt with separately. Along the coasts the coco and palmyra abound, and the date flourishes in Telingāna and the Gangetic valley. It is here, therefore, that these castes are in greatest strength. In lower Bengal and on the Gujarāt coast, though the material in question is abundant, it is the custom of the cultivators to tap their own trees or to employ the ordinary field-labourer or lower village menial to do the work for them. The tree-tapping castes, too, even where there is the greatest field for their labour, are largely engaged in cultivation, either as landholders or labourers. The chief caste of this description in the Ganges valley is the Pāsī, a name derived from a noose, probably in reference to the belt by means of which the palm is climbed, or, where the caste is addicted to wandering in the jungle for hunting purposes, from the snare then used.
c48.s2.34.2
In Oudh, where the Pāsī has a bad reputation, the noose in question used to be identified with that used by the Ṭhag in strangling their victims. The Pāsī is probably of very early pre-Āryan origin emanating from the Vindhya, and akin to the Arakh and Khaṭik castes, now differentiated by occupation. In Bihār it ranks with the Bind or Cain, already mentioned as low fishing or boating castes, but in the west, it takes a lower place. The Bhaṇḍārī, of the west coast, which is not to be confused with the Barber caste of Orissa, adheres more closely to its traditional calling, probably because its opportunities are greater, and the "toddy-habit" is more extensively established in the tract where it resides. Its members cultivate also to some extent, since restrictions upon the extraction of toddy were imposed by the government. They also distill spirit from forest produce and sugar in the State distilleries. Further down the coast, the Bhaṇḍarī is replaced by two similarly localised castes following the same trade, the Paik and the Billava. Both names are derived from the military services rendered to the Tulu chiefs by the ancestry of the communities in question. The Paik were the infantry, and on the strength of the tradition, some of them now claim to be Kṣatriya, substituting the sub-title of Nāmdhār, for that of Haḷe, or old, Paik. By some, however, their name is derived from Pai, the spirit worshipped by tree-tapping castes.
c48.s2.34.3
There are probably as many cultivators among them in the present day as tree-tappers. They speak Kanarese, whereas the Billava, further to the south, are a Tulu caste, and, share, moreover, the customs of Malabār in religion and ceremonial, employing their own priests, where the Paik call in the Sātāni, an upland caste. The name Billava means archer, corresponding to the Dhānuk a labouring caste of upper India, the Kandrā of Orissa, and the Cāvaḍā, a Gurjara Rājput clan. The south of the Peninsula is occupied by three large tree-tapping bodies, probably connected with each other in origin. The name Īḷavan, which is now used to designate one only of the three, was once applied to all. It means a native of Ceylon, and the Tiyan, who are sometimes called by it in south Malabar, also derive their name from dvīpa, an island, and claim to have come from the south. Furthermore, they address each other by the name of S'ēnan, which apparently corresponds with S'āṇān, the tree-tapping caste of the south-east. They are divided, like the Nāyar, into two distinct bodies, the northerners and the south-Malabar Tiyan. The northerners are wealthier, better educated and more enterprising than the others, and have managed to get some of their community into good posts under the Government. The southerners are poor, illiterate, and more closely connected with their traditional employment, with field labour as the alternative.
c48.s2.34.4
Still further south there is a smaller body, the Taṇḍān, probably a sub-caste of the Tiyan, but not intermarrying with them. This caste has the curious custom mentioned in connection with the Nāyar, of prohibiting its women from crossing a certain river. As those on the south are far better off than their kinsfolk on the other side, this restriction may have a solid mundane basis. The third of these castes, the S'āṇān, is found principally in Tinnevelli and Madura, though it is spread to some extent over most of the Tamil district. The title is not found in the early Tamil dictionaries, and in the inscriptions of the 10th century the caste is called Iluvan. The name S'āṇān is said to be derived from śāṇ and nār, signifying a span-long noose, thereby corresponding to the name of the Pāsī of upper India. The caste came into great prominence in 1899, when it asserted by force its right to enter the temples of the Maṛavan caste, on the score of its Kṣatriya origin, a title rejected by the rest of the community. The occupation of the caste is undoubtedly of great antiquity in southern India, and the Kadamba dynasty of Mysore sprang from one of its subdivisions. Numbers of the caste, therefore, were employed in its army and afterwards settled as a semi military peasantry or labouring class upon the land occupied. The tradition of such an origin, however, has not survived amongst the S'āṇān, whose claims are of comparatively recent date.
c48.s2.34.5
Curiously enough, the only sympathisers with the claim, outside those who put it forward, are the Christian converts from the caste. The general position of the S'āṇān in society is that of the lower field labourer, just above that of the menial class. In former years, indeed, it appears that the S'āṇān, like the weavers, were prohibited from living within the village site. In the Telugu country and the Coromandel coast the tree-tapping castes are fairly strong. The Iḍiga, which is the principal body amongst them, is an offshoot of the great Balija class, with whom it still sits down to meals. The separation seems to have taken place on functional considerations, though the Iḍiga eschew spirituous liquor and employ Brāhmans of good position. They pay special homage, however, to the goddess of toddy and intoxicants generally. It is sometimes returned as Indra, but the derivation of Iḍiga, from the verb to extract or draw, like that from the climbing-loop in other cases, seems to indicate the more appropriate title. The Gamaḷḷa, or Gauṇḍla caste is also one of the same locality, and has a subdivision of the name of Iḍiga. Its position, however, is a little lower, and it ranks with the petty cultivators or more respectable field labourers. Brāhmans are called in for its ceremonies, except for funerals, which are under the Sātāni. On the coast just below Orissa, are two small castes, the Segidi and the Yāta, which are toddy-drawers by tradition and mainly in practice.
c48.s2.34.6
The latter also weaves mats and baskets from the palmyra-leaf, in spite of its title, which refers to the date-palm. In the other parts of India there is either not enough occupation for a special caste of this description, or the work is done, as in the Central Provinces and Rājputāna, by the Pāsi or similar castes, already mentioned.