Of the Nevayets, the following account, based on the Saadut Nama, and conversations with members of the community, is given by Colonel Wilks. [116] "Nevayet is generally supposed to be a corruption of the Hindustanee and Mahratta terms for new-comer. About the end of the first century of the Hejira, or the early part of the eighth century of the Christian era, Hejaj Bin Yusuf, Governor of Irak, on the part of the Khalif Abd-al-Melik-bin-Merwan, a monster abhorred for his cruelties even among Musalmans, drove some respectable and opulent persons of the house of Hâshem to the desperate resolution of abandoning for ever their native country. Aided by the good offices of the inhabitants of Kufa, a town of celebrity in those days, situated near to the tomb of Ali, west of the Euphrates, they departed with their families, dependents, and effects, and embarked on ships prepared for their reception in the Persian Gulf. Some of these landed on that part of the western coast of India called the Concan; the others to the eastward of Cape Comorin; the descendants of the former are the Nevayets; of the latter the Lubbe. The Lubbe pretend to one common origin with the Nevayets, and attribute their black complexion to intermarriage with the natives; but the Nevayets affirm that the Lubbe are the descendants of their domestic slaves; and there is certainly, in the physiognomy of this very numerous class, and in their stature and form, a strong resemblance to the natives of Abyssinia. The Nevayets of the western coast preserved the purity of their original blood by systematically avoiding intermarriage with the Indians, and even with the highest Muhammadan families, for many centuries after the establishment of the Musalman dynasties of the Deckan. Even at this time there are some Nevayets whose complexions approach the European freshness. Their adherence to each other as members of the same family preserved their respectability; and they were famed at the Muhammadan courts of the Deckan for uniting the rare qualities of the soldier, the scholar, and the gentleman." Navutiyan.--A synonym of Velakkattalavan. Nayadi.--In the Malabar Manual, the Nayadis are briefly summed up as follows. "Of the Nayadis, or lowest caste among the Hindus--the dog-eaters--nothing definite is known. They are most persistent in their clamour for charity, and will follow at a respectful distance, for miles together, any person walking, driving, or boating. If anything is given to them, it must be laid down, and, after the person offering it has proceeded a sufficient distance, the recipient comes timidly forward, and removes it."