Caste and Race in India c5.43

c5.43

(4) *Civil and Religious disabilities and privileges of the different sections.*—Segregation of individual castes or of groups of castes in a village is the most obvious mark of civil privileges and disabilities, and it has prevailed in a more or less definite form all over India. Southern India, as in the matter of ceremonial purity and untouchability, stands out distinct in the rigidity of these rules. In Northern India generally, in the Maratha country and, as it appears, sometimes in the Telugu and Canarese regions, it is only the impure castes that are segregated and made to live on the outskirts of villages. It does not seem that other groups of castes have distinct quarters of the town or village allotted to them excepting in parts of Gujarat. In the Tamil and Malayalam regions very frequently different quarters are occupied by separate castes or sometimes the village is divided into three parts: that occupied by the dominant caste in the village or by the Brahmins, that allotted to the Śūdras, and the one reserved for the Panchamas or untouchables. In a village of the Ramnad District, the main portion is occupied by the Nayakars, shepherds, artisans, washermen, and barbers, forming a group living in the north-east corner of the village, while the untouchables ply their trades in the north-west and south-east corners.³ In Trichinopoly district the villages have the houses arranged in streets. "The Brahmin, Shudra and Panchama quarters are separate, and in the last of these the Pallans, Paraiyans and Chakkiliyans live in separate streets."⁴ In Madras, Pallis or agriculturists live in separate quarters "distinctively known as the Palli teru".¹ Sometimes, as in the district of Bellary, it is only the untouchable, like the Madiga, that is singled out for segregation, all other castes living in close proximity to one another.² In some parts of the Maratha country castes have been allotted distinct quarters of the village and called by the name of the caste: Brahmin-ali, or wada, Prabhu-ali, Sonor-ali, etc. The depressed classes, like the Mang, Mahar, etc., are forced to live on the outskirts of the village.³