In a petition to myself from certain Shanans of Nazareth, signed by a very large number of the community, and bearing the title "Short account of the Cantras or Tamil Xatras, the original but down-trodden royal race of Southern India," they write as follows. "We humbly beg to say that we are the descendants of the Pandya or Dravida Xatra race, who, shortly after the universal deluge of Noah, first disafforested and colonized this land of South India under the guidance of Agastya Muni. The whole world was destroyed by flood about B.C. 3100 (Dr. Hale's calculation), when Noah, otherwise called Vaivasvata-manu or Satyavrata, was saved with his family of seven persons in an ark or covered ship, which rested upon the highest mountain of the Aryavarta country. Hence the whole earth was rapidly replenished by his descendants. One of his grandsons (nine great Prajapatis) was Atri, whose son Candra was the ancestor of the noblest class of the Xatras ranked above the Brahmans, and the first illustrious monarch of the post-diluvian world." "Apparently," the Census Superintendent continues, "judging from the Shanan's own published statements of their case, they rest their claims chiefly upon etymological derivations of their caste name Shanan, and of Nadan and Gramani, their two usual titles. Caste titles and names are, however, of recent origin, and little can be inferred from them, whatever their meaning may be shown to be. Brahmans, for example, appear to have borne the titles of Pillai and Mudali, which are now only used by Sudras, and the Nayak kings, on the other hand, called themselves Aiyar, which is now exclusively the title of Saivite Brahmans. To this day the cultivating Vellalas, the weaving Kaikolars, and the semi-civilised hill tribe of the Jatapus use equally the title of Mudali, and the Balijas and Telagas call themselves Rao, which is properly the title of Mahratta Brahmans. Regarding the derivation of the words Shanan, Nadan and Gramani, much ingenuity has been exercised. Shanan is not found in the earlier Tamil literature at all. In the inscriptions of Rajaraja Chola (A. D. 984-1013) toddy-drawers are referred to as Iluvans. According to Pingalandai, a dictionary of the 10th or 11th century, the names of the toddy-drawer castes are Palaiyar, Tuvasar, and Paduvar. To these the Chudamani Nikandu, a Tamil dictionary of the 16th century, adds Saundigar. Apparently, therefore, the Sanskrit word Saundigar must have been introduced (probably by the Brahmans) between the 11th and 16th centuries, and is a Sanskrit rendering of the word Iluvan. From Saundigar to Shanan is not a long step in the corruption of words. The Shanans say that Shanan is derived from the Tamil word Sanrar or Sanror, which means the learned or the noble. But it does not appear that the Shanans were ever called Sanrar or Sanror in any of the Tamil works. The two words Nadan and Gramani mean the same thing, namely, ruler of a country or of a village, the former