Identifier: castestribesofso06thuruoft (find matches)
Title: Castes and tribes of southern India. Assisted by K. Rangachari
Year: 1909 (1900s)
Authors: Thurston, Edgar, 1855-1935 Rangachari, K
Subjects: Caste -- India Madras (Presidency) Ethnology -- India Madras (Presidency) India -- Social conditions
Publisher: Madras Government Press
Contributing Library: Robarts - University of Toronto
Digitizing Sponsor: MSN

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astitles. The chief headman of the cloth-weavine sectionis called Mahanayako, and there are other officers calledBehara and Bhollobaya. The headman of the othersection is called Senapati, and he is assisted by aDhanapati. Infant marriage is the rule, and, if a girldoes not secure a husband before she reaches maturity,she must, if she belongs to the cloth-weaving section,go through a form of marriage with an old man, and, ifto the other section, with an arrow. The Telugu Patras are summed up, in the MadrasCensus Report, 1901, as a Telugu caste of huntersand cultivators, found chiefly in the districts of Cuddapahand Kurnool. It has two divisions, the Doras (chiefs),and Gurikalas (marksmen), the former of which issupposed to be descended from the old Poligars (feudalchiefs), and the latter from their followers and servants.This theory is supported by the fact that, at the weddingsof Gurikalas, the Doras receive the first pan-supari(betel leaf and areca nut). Widow^s may not remarry, nor
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PATNULKARAX MARRIAGE WALL DESIGN. 177 PATTANAVAN is divorce recognised. They usually employ Brahmansat marriages, and Satanis at funerals. Though they areVaishnavites, they also worship village deities, such asGangamma and Ellamma. They bury their dead, andperform annual sraddhas (memorial services for the dead).They will eat with Gollas, Their title is Naidu. Patramela.^Patramela, or Patradeva, is the nameof a class of dancing girls in South Canara. Patramela,Mr. H. A. Stuart writes,* is the name by which theKonkani Kalavants (courtezans) are known above theghauts. Patro.—The title of the head of a group of villagesin Ganjam, and also recorded, at times of census, as atitle of Alia, Kalinga Komati, Dolai, and Jaggala. Theconferring of a cloth (sadhi) on a Patro is said to beemblematic of conferring an estate. The Patro, amongother perquisites, is entitled to a fee on occasions ofmarriage. I am informed that, in the Ganjam Maliahs,if a Kondh was unable to pay the fee, he met his lov

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