Indische Palaographie von circa 350 a. Chr. – circa 1300 p. Chr. c48.s2.34.3

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.