Izhava.--The Izhavans or Ilavans, and Tiyans, are the Malayalam toddy-drawing castes of Malabar, Cochin and Travancore. The etymology of the name Izhavan is dealt with in the article on Tiyans. For the following note on the Izhavas of Travancore, I am, when not otherwise recorded, indebted to Mr. N. Subramani Aiyar. These people are known as Izhavas in South and parts of Central Travancore, and Chovas in parts of Central and North Travancore. They constitute 17 per cent. of the total population of the State. Izhava is said to mean those belonging to Izham, a corruption of Simhalam, one of the old names of Ceylon. Jaffna, in the north of that island, appears to have been specially known by the name of Izham, and from this place the Izhavas are believed to have originally proceeded to Malabar. Chova is supposed to be a corruption of Sevaka, or servant. In some old boat songs current in Malabar, it occurs in the less corrupt form of Chevaka. According to a legend, a Pandyan princess named Alli married Narasimha, a Rajah of the Carnatic. The royal couple migrated to Ceylon, and there settled themselves as rulers. On the line becoming extinct, however, their relatives and adherents returned to the continent, where they were accorded only a very low position in society. It is said that they were the ancestors of the Izhavas. In support of this theory, it is urged that, in South Travancore, the Izhavas are known by the title of Mudaliyar, which is also the surname of a division of the Vellalas at Jaffna; that the Vattis and Mannans call them Mudaliyars; and that the Pulayas have ever been known to address them only as Muttatampurans. But it may be well supposed that the title may have been conferred upon some families of the caste in consideration of meritorious services on behalf of the State. One of the chief occupations, in which the Izhavas first engaged themselves, was undoubtedly the cultivation of palm trees. In the famous grant of 824 A.D., it is distinctly mentioned that they had a headman of their guild, and their duty was planting up waste lands. They had two special privileges, known as the foot-rope right and ladder right, which clearly explain the nature of their early occupation. The Syrian Christians appear to have a tradition that the Izhavas were invited to settle on the west coast at their suggestion. The Izhavas are said to have brought to Kerala a variety each of the areca palm, champak, and lime tree, to whose vernacular names the word Izham is even to-day invariably prefixed. In the middle ages, they were largely employed as soldiers by the rulers of Malabar. Titles and privileges were distributed among these soldiers. Canter Visscher, writing about the Rajah of Ambalapuzha in the middle of the eighteenth century, [191] observes that "the Rajah of Porkkad has not many Nayars, in the place of whom he is served by Chegos," and that "in times of civil war or rebellion, the Chegos are bound to take up arms for their lawful