Caste and Race in India c9.104

c9.104

The best representatives of this type are: The Nayar, the Tiyan, the Badaga, the Agamudaiyan, and the Vellala. We exclude the Nambudiris from this type because their cephalic index is above 75, and they are extremely hairy. The Todas are a problem. Their cephalic and nasal indices are such as to include them under this type; but their hairy system is particularly well developed. Rivers connects them with the Malabar castes and attributes their hairiness to their environment.³ Against this explanation R. Chanda has justly urged that the Badagas, another tribe of the Nilgiris, do not seem to be hairy.⁴ In view of the fact that "of all the castes or tribes of Malabar, the Nambudiris perhaps show the greatest number of resemblances to the customs of the Todas ",⁵ it is not unlikely that they might have some connection with the Nambudiris.