Social and Political Life in the Vijayanagara Empire (A.D. 1346 – A.D. 1646) v2.c18.s1.16

v2.c18.s1.16

We may record the observations of Barbosa on these people. "First of these races whom I call foreigners who dwell in Malabar is a caste called Chalis, natives of the province of Charamandel of which I shall speak further on. They are tawny men, almost white, and fat. The more part of them are great merchants, and they deal in precious stones, seed pearls and corals, and other valuable goods, such as gold and silver, either coined or to be coined. This is their principal trade, and they follow it, because they can raise or lower the prices of such things many times; they are rich and respected; they lead a clean life, and have spacious houses in their own appointed streets; they also have their own houses of worship, and idols different from those of the natives of the land. They go naked from the waist up, and below gather round them long garments many yards in length, little turbans on their heads and long hair gathered under the turban. Their beards are shaven, and they wear finger marks of ashes mixed with sandal-wood and saffron on their breasts, foreheads and shoulders. They have wide holes in their ears,³ into which an egg would fit, which are filled with gold with many precious stones, they wear many rings on their fingers, they are girt about with girdles of gold and jewellery and even carry in their breasts great pouches in which they keep scales and weights of their gold, and silver coins and precious stones. Their sons also begin to carry them as soon as they are ten years of age, they go about changing small coins. They are great clerks and accountants, and reckon all their sums on their fingers. They are given to usury, so much so that one brother will not lend to another a ceitil,¹ without making a profit thereby. They are sober and orderly in eating and spending. They speak a tongue which differs from that of Malabar as it is with the Castilians and Portuguese. They marry as with us, and their sons inherit their property. If her husband dies the wife never marries again, young as she may be; if the wife dies the husband may marry again, and if she offends he may poison her without any punishment. They manage their own affairs, the Kings may not enquire into their crimes; they do justice to one another with which the King is satisfied. When they die, their bodies are burnt; they eat everything save the cow only.² The same traveller writes thus about the Cheṭṭis of Chōḷomaṇḍala which he calls Chara-mandel. "The more part or all of the Heathen merchants or Chatis who live throughout India are natives of this country, and are very cunning in every kind of traffic in goods."³