Daivampati.--Recorded in the Travancore Census Report, 1901, as a caste included among Ambalavasis, and a sub-division of Nayar. Dakkala.--Dakkala or Dakkali is the name of a class of mendicants who beg from Madigas only. In the Kurnool district they are said to have divided the district with the Mushtis, and not to beg except within their own limits. The following story is told as regards the origin of the Dakkalas. A smith was asked to make a bottu (marriage badge) for Siva's wedding, and for this purpose required bellows, fire-pot, hammer, etc. Jambuvadu called his eldest son, and prepared the various implements from sundry parts of the body, except the backbone. Being highly pleased at this, the gods endowed the backbone with life, and the son went to his father Jambuvadu, who failed to recognise him, and refused to admit him. He was told that he must live as a beggar attached to the Madigas, and was called Dakkala because he was brought to life from a vertebral column (dakka). The Dakkalas wander from place to place. They may not enter Madiga houses, outside which meals are given to them by males only, as females are not allowed to serve them. Madiga women may not tread on the footsteps of the Dakkalas. Dakku (fear).--An exogamous sept of Mala. Dakni.--Dakni or Deccani is defined in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as "a territorial name meaning a Musalman of the Deccan; also a name loosely applied to converts to Islam." In the Tanjore district, Muhammadans who speak Hindustani, and claim pure Muhammadan descent, are spoken of as Daknis or Dakanis. In other Tamil districts they are called Patanigal, to distinguish them from Labbais and Marakkayars. The Daknis follow the Muhammadan ritual except in their marriages, which afford an example of a blend between Hindu and Muhammadan ceremonials. Like Hindus, they erect, at times of marriage, a milk-post of bamboo, to which are tied a two-anna piece, and a bit of sugar-candy done up in a Turkey red cloth. The post is handed to the headman, who decorates it with a garland of flowers and a roll of betel, and places it in a hole made in the court-yard of the house, wherein milk has been sprinkled. On the following day, two big pots are placed near the milk-post, and filled with water by four married couples. Around the pots, nine kinds of seed grains are sprinkled. On the third day, the bridegroom's party proceeds to the house of the bride with thirteen trays of betel, fruits, flowers, sandal paste, and a paste made of turmeric and henna (Lawsonia alba) leaves. The bride is decorated, and sits on a plank. Women smear the face and hands of the bridal couple with the pastes, and one of them, or the bridegroom's sister, ties a string of black beads round the bride's neck. While this is being done, no one should sneeze. Wrist threads (kankanam) are tied on the wrists of the bride and bridegroom. On the fourth day, the nikka rite is celebrated, and the newly-married