In reply to one of a series of questions promulgated by the Census Superintendent, it was stated that "the caste is known by the following names:--Agnikulas and Vanniyas. The etymology of these is the same, being derived from the Sanskrit Agni or Vahni, meaning fire. The following, taken from Dr. Oppert's article on the original inhabitants of Bharatavarsa or India, explains the name of the caste with its etymology:--'The word Vanniyan is generally derived from the Sanskrit Vahni, fire. Agni, the god of fire, is connected with regal office, as kings hold in their hands the fire-wheel or Agneya-chakra, and the Vanniyas urge in support of their name the regal descent they claim.' The existence of these fire races, Agnikula or Vahnikula (Vanniya), in North and South India is a remarkable fact. No one can refuse to a scion of the non-Aryan warrior tribe the title of Rajputra, but in so doing we establish at once Aryan and non-Aryan Rajaputras or Rajputs. The Vanniyan of South India may be accepted as a representative of the non-Aryan Rajput element." The name Vanniyan is, Mr. H. A. Stuart writes, [1] "derived from the Sanskrit vanhi (fire) in consequence of the following legend. In the olden times, two giants named Vatapi and Mahi, worshipped Brahma with such devotion that they obtained from him immunity from death from every cause save fire, which element they had carelessly omitted to include in their enumeration. Protected thus, they harried the country, and Vatapi went the length of swallowing Vayu, the god of the winds, while Mahi devoured the sun. The earth was therefore enveloped in perpetual darkness and stillness, a condition of affairs which struck terror into the minds of the devatas, and led them to appeal to Brahma. He, recollecting the omission made by the giants, directed his suppliants to desire the rishi Jambava Mahamuni to perform a yagam, or sacrifice by fire. The order having been obeyed, armed horse men sprung from the flames, who undertook twelve expeditions against Vatapi and Mahi, whom they first destroyed, and afterwards released Vayu and the sun from their bodies. Their leader then assumed the government of the country under the name Rudra Vanniya Maharaja, who had five sons, the ancestors of the Vanniya caste. These facts are said to be recorded in the Vaidiswara temple in the Tanjore district."