Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Vol. 2 of 7Thurston, Edgar
History
Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Vol. 2 of 7
Thurston, Edgar
Caste -- India, South; Ethnology -- India, South; India, South -- Social life and customs; Tribes -- India, South
Bandsman. Municipal inspector.
Boot-maker. Musician.
Bugler. Petition-writer.
Carpenter. Police constable.
Clerk. Railway guard.
Coffee estate writer. Schoolmaster.
Compositor. Tailor.
Copyist. Tin-smith.
Mechanic. Weaver.
As in Madras, so in Malabar, tattooing is very prevalent among the
male members of the community, and the devices are characterised by a
predominance of religious emblems and snakes. The following patterns
are recorded in my notes:--
Bangle on wrist.
Boat.
Bird (the Holy Ghost).
Chalice.
Christ crucified.
Conventional and geometrical designs.
Cross.
Cross and crown.
Cross and heart.
Cross and I.N.R.I.
Crossed swords.
Fish.
Flags.
Flower.
Flower and leaves.
Initials.
Ladder.
Sacred heart.
Snake encircling forearms.
Snake coiled round forearm.
Solomon's seal.
Steam boat.
There are, in North Malabar, many individuals, whose fathers were
European. Writing, in 1887, concerning the Tiyan community, Mr. Logan
states [122] that "the women are not as a rule excommunicated if
they live with Europeans, and the consequence is that there has
been among them a large admixture of European blood, and the caste
itself has been materially raised in the social scale. In appearance
some of the women are almost as fair as Europeans." On this point,
the Report of the Malabar Marriage Commission, 1894, states that "in
the early days of British rule, the Tiyan women incurred no social
disgrace by consorting with Europeans, and, up to the last generation,
if the Sudra girl could boast of her Brahmin lover, the Tiyan girl
could show more substantial benefits from her alliance with a white
man of the ruling race. Happily the progress of education, and the
growth of a wholesome public opinion, have made shameful the position
of a European's concubine; and both races have thus been saved from
a mode of life equally demoralizing to each."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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