Indische Palaographie von circa 350 a. Chr. – circa 1300 p. Chr. c48.s2.37.2

c48.s2.37.2

They are now mainly agricultural labourers, though some have acquired land of their own and others engage in trade. They occasionally call in Brāhmans for their rites, but their customs and rules are for the most part purely Dravidian. On the score of their former position, they have of late put forward the claim to be considered Kṣatriya, and don the sacred thread, conduct which brings them into collision with both priest and peasant. It is said that in the Right and Left-hand distribution of castes in the Tamil country, the men of the Paḷḷi go to one side and the women to the other, conjugal relations being suspended whilst the factions are in active opposition and resumed when peace is temporarily restored. The Paḷḷan, in spite of the similarity of the name, own to no connection with the Paḷḷi in the present day, and occupy a tract to the south of the latter. They are lower in rank and rarely engage in pursuits other than field labour. The names of their subdivisions, however, indicate that they may have belonged to the great Kuṟumban tribe and thus have an ancestral connection with the Pallava and therefore with the Paḷḷi. They follow the regular demonolatrous worship of the older Dravidians, and if they use priests from outside, they call in the Velluva, a low caste ministrant. The Pulayan, mentioned above, is a labouring caste of north Malabar, called Cēruman in the southern portion of that tract.