# Castes and Tribes of Southern India/Vēttuvan

​Vēttuvan.— The Tamil Vēttuvans are described, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as "an agricultural and hunting caste, found mainly in Salem, Coimbatore, and Madura. The name means 'a hunter.' They are probably of the same stock as the Vēdans, though the exact connection is not clear, but they now consider themselves superior to that caste, and are even taking to calling themselves Vēttuva Vellālas. Tradition says that the Konga kings invited Vēttuvans from the Chōla and Pāndya countries to assist them against the Kēralas. Another story says that the caste helped the Chōla king Aditya Varma to conquer the Kongu country during the latter part of the ninth century. In paragraph 538 of ​the Census Report, 1891, reference is made to the belief that the Vēdans are identical with the Veddahs of Ceylon. In connection with this supposition, it is reported that the Vēttuvans worship a goddess called Kandi-Amman, which may possibly mean 'the goddess of Kandy' (in Ceylon). Of the endogamous sections into which the caste is divided, the most numerically important are Venganchi, Kilangu (root), Pasari, Viragu (firewood), Pannādai (sheath of the cocoanut leaf), and Villi (bow). They have their own barbers, who seem also to form a separate sub-division, and are called Vēttuva Ambattans or Nāvidans, both of which words mean barber. They are said to refuse to serve any one lower than a Konga Vellāla. Nominally they are Hindus, but they are said to worship the seven Kannimars, or aboriginal goddesses, to whom the Irulas also pay homage. They eat meat and drink alcohol, though some of those who are endeavouring to increase their social repute are taking to vegetarianism. Widow marriage is forbidden. They either burn or bury the dead, but no ceremonies are performed for deceased ancestors. Their customs are thus a curious mixture of those followed by high castes and low ones. Their ordinary title is Kavandan."
Of the Malayālam Vēttuvans, who live in Malabar and the southern portion of the South Canara district, it is recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, that they are "agricultural serfs, shikāris (hunters), and collectors of forest produce, who live in the Malabar jungles. They have two endogamous sub-divisions, called Kodi and Peringala. The former keep their hair long, and their women wear a cloth. The latter have top -knots, and their women dress in leaves, which they wear only round their waists, and renew daily. The latter are an unclean set of people, who live in rude ​bamboo and reed huts, and will eat anything down to carrion. Yet they consider themselves superior to Cherumans and Pulaiyans, and are careful not to be polluted by them. This same name is also borne by a class of masons and salt-workers in the low country in Malabar."
The Malabar Vēttuvans are said to have a fantastic legend, showing that they were not originally as low as they are at the present day in the social scale. "It is related that one of their tribe went and asked a high-caste Nāyar to give him a daughter in marriage. The Nāyar offered to do so on condition that the whole tribe would come to his place and dance on berries, each one who fell to be shot with arrows. The tribe foolishly agreed to the condition, and went and danced, with the result that, as each one tripped and fell, he or she was mercilessly shot dead with arrows. A little girl who survived this treatment was secretly rescued, and taken away by a compassionate Nāyar, who married her into his family. From this union, the present day Vēttuvans affirm their origin is to be traced. Up to this day they hold the caste of that particular Nāyar in very great veneration." * The costume of these Vēttuvans has been described as follows.† " The men wear a short loin-cloth, secured round the waist by a belt which is also used as a sling during hunting expeditions. They also wear brass ear-rings, and grow a bit of moustache, and a little stumpy beard. The dress of the women consists of three clusters of long leaves, suspended from the waist and tied on by a cheap girdle. According to a tribal legend, when, in the morning of time, costumes were being distributed by the deity to the various races of the earth, ​the Vettuva women, being asked to choose between a costume which needed to be changed daily, and one which needed to be changed only yearly, readily expressed a preference for the former, and the deity, considering this an unpardonable piece of vanity, decreed that thenceforth the women should dress in leaves gathered fresh every morning. Whenever it is suggested to them that they should adopt some more lasting apparel, the Vettuva women answer that they are carrying out the mandate of the deity, and can abandon their present dress only if the deity appears in person, and sanctions a change."
On the occasion of a recent visit of the Governor of Madras to South Canara, a party of Vēttuvans was paraded before him. One of the men was wearing an aluminium coronation medal, and, on being asked by the Collector who had given it to him, he folded his arms obsequiously, and replied ' My Tamburan' (landlord). In a recent note on the leaf-wearing Vēttuvans, it is stated that "they believe that the sun travels, after it has set, through a hole in the bowels of the earth, and emerges at morning in the east. The way they calculate time is interesting. A Vēttuvan says that his children were born when his master sowed paddy (rice) on such and such hills. They are a very truthful lot, of good moral character, the chastity of their womankind being held very sacred."
The Malabar Vēttuvans are summed up by Mr. T. K. Gopal Panikkar * as being "not exactly slaves, but their social position justifies their classification amongst the slave races. They live on the cocoanut plantations of the Nairs, and other well-to-do classes. ​They lead a hand-to-hand existence on the wages which they obtain for hedging and fencing cocoanut plantations, plucking cocoanuts, tilling, and other allied work. They live, with their wives and children, and sometimes other relations as well, in houses small but more decent-looking than the mere huts of the other lower classes. In point of caste restrictions they are certainly better circumstanced; and their daily contact with the higher classes in the ordinary concerns of life affords them greater facilities for increased knowledge and civilisation than their brother citizens of the slave races enjoy. They are much addicted to toddy-drinking, but their principal food is rice. Their condition is never so intolerably wretched as that of the other classes. They are sometimes employed by cultivators for agricultural purposes. Their females occupy themselves in the fields during the harvest season, but they also make thatch for houses of cocoanut leaves woven after a set model during the thatching season about December or January. Their males wear ear-rings of brass, and their females adorn themselves with nose, finger, and neck ornaments of brass or beads. The one piece of cloth supplied annually by the masters, to whose plantations they are attached, forms the dress both for males and females, which they tie round their waists. They do not eat carrion, but are exceedingly fond of fish, the flesh of the civet, and the rat, and of some other animals not generally eaten by other classes. They observe death pollution like the higher classes of Malabar, and the period of observance varies according to the particular class or caste, to which their masters belong. For instance, if they belong to a Nair's plantation, such period is fifteen days, and, if to a Brahmin's, it is ten days; Nairs and Brahmins observing pollution for these periods ​respectively. The priests who officiate at their ceremonials are selected from among their own tribesmen or Enangers, whose express recognition is necessary to give validity to the performance of the ceremony. Their marriage customs are very like those of the Tiyyars, excepting that the feasting and revelry are not so pompous in their case. Like the Nairs, they retain the front knot. The only offences of general occurrence among them are petty cases of theft of cocoanuts, plantains, areca nuts, and roots of common occurrence. The Vettuvans believe in a Supreme Creator, whom they name and invoke as Paduchathampuram, i.e., the king who created us. Likewise, they believe in certain evil deities, to whom they make offerings at particular times of the year. They are not, like the other classes, distinguished by loyalty to their masters, but are a very ungrateful sect, and their very name, viz., Nambu Vēttuvan, has passed into a bye-word for ingratitude of all kinds."
It is recorded, in the Gazetteer of Malabar, that "the Vēttuvans of Chirakkal taluk are a low caste of jungle cultivators and basket makers, distinguished by the survival amongst their women of the custom of dressing in leaves, their only clothing being a kind of double fan-shaped apron of leaves tied round the waist with a rolled cloth. They live in huts made of split bamboo and thatched with elephant grass, called kudumbus. The Vēttuvans are divided into fourteen illams, which seem to be named after the house names of the janmis (landlords) whom they serve. Their headmen, who are appointed by their janmis, are called Kirān, or sometimes Parakutti (drummer). Amongst the Vēttuvans, when labour begins, the woman is put in a hole dug in a corner of the hut, and left there alone with some water till the cry of the child is heard." ​For the following note on the Vēttuvans of the Cochin State, I am indebted to Mr. L. K. Anantha Krishna Aiyar.*
"The Vettuvans are also called Vettuva Pulayas. They are pure agricultural labourers, taking part in every kind of work connected with agriculture, such as ploughing, sowing, weeding, transplanting, pumping water, and reaping. They are more day labourers. The males get two edangazhis of paddy (hardly worth 2 annas), and the females an edangazhi and a half. In times of scarcity, they find it difficult to support themselves.
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"The Vettuvans profess the lower forms of Hinduism. Their chief gods are Chevva, Chathan, Karinkutti, Parakutti, Kappiri and Kandakaranan, and also Namburi Thamburan. They give regular offerings to them, lest the gods should become angry, and cause serious calamities to the members of their families. Images of gods are made of bell-metal, and worshipped in their huts. The deceased ancestors are also worshipped as gods, to whom are given a different kind of offerings. Toddy is an indispensable item in their offerings to them. In Ooragam and its neighbourhood, when I took my notes on the Vettuvans, I was told that there was no tree-tapping, and that toddy brought to them for sale was largely adulterated with water, and very costly. Their gods were very angry, for they were not satisfied with it. They caused fever, deafness, blindness, and other disorders. They worship Kāli also. Kumbhom Bharani is an important festival to them. On the morning of this day, tunes are played in honour of the goddess. There are special songs called Thottampattu. Sacrifices are offered to the deity very early. A pūja (worship) is also performed for the sword, anklets, and bells worn round the loins, all placed in front of the deity, and songs are again sung. One of them turns a Velichchapād (oracle), who speaks as if by inspiration. Wearing the above ornaments, they go to a temple, in front of which they empty out on a mat a few paras of paddy, and again play and sing.
"The funeral ceremonies of the Vettuvans are somewhat elaborate. When a member of the caste breathes his last, his relations, friends, and other ​castemen of the kara (settlement) are all informed of the event. They attend, and take part in the obsequies. The dead body is bathed, and dressed in a piece of new cloth. Some gold, rubbed on a stone in water, is poured into his mouth by his sons and daughters. Karuvanguka, or Gurutvam Vanguka, is an important ceremony performed by his sons and daughters. It consists in taking sixteen small bits of plantain leaves, with some rice on each, and placing them on the forehead, neck, chest, loins, thighs, hands, legs, feet, etc., washing the last two, and collecting the water, which is taken in by the members junior to him in the family. After this, the dead body is placed on the bier, which is carried by four persons to the grave. The nearest relatives of the family, four in number, called Bhedakars, with a mundu (cloth) tied round their heads, walk in front of the procession. The grave is dug, and a new cloth is spread, and the corpse laid on it. It is filled in with layers of earth and stones, to prevent dogs and jackals from disturbing the dead body. All those who have accompanied the chief mourner bathe, and return home. The members of the family fast for the night. The eldest son, who is the chief mourner, bathes in the early morning, and offers the pinda bali (offering of rice) to the spirit of the departed for fifteen days. On the seventh day, the chief mourner, and the Enangan, go to the graveyard, and level the slightly raised part of the grave. A piece of stone, kept near the foot, is taken, and placed on a leaf. Some toddy, arrack (alcoholic liquor) and water of the tender cocoanut, are poured over it as offerings. By some magic, the spirit is supposed to be living in it. It is brought home, and placed in a cocoanut shell containing oil mixed with turmeric, and kept outside the hut until the pollution is ​over. The pollution lasts for fifteen days, and on the night of the fifteenth day they fast. On the morning of the sixteenth day, all the castemen of the kara who are invited bring with them rice, curry-stuffs, and toddy. Rubbing themselves with oil, they all go to bathe, after which the Enangan sprinkles cowdunged water, to show that they are freed from pollution. The stone is also purified by a dip in water, and then brought home. Those who have assembled are fed, and then depart. The chief mourner, who has to perform the diksha, does not shave for a year, bathes in the early morning, and offers the bali before going to work. This he continues for a year, at the end of which he gets himself shaved, and celebrates a feast called masam in honour of the departed. The stone, representing the deceased, is placed on a seat in a conspicuous part of the hut. An image of wood or copper sometimes takes its place. It is thenceforward worshipped, and believed to watch over the welfare of the family. Regular offerings are given to it on Karkadagom and Thulam Sankranthi, Ōnam, Vishu, and the festival day of the local temple.
"The castes below the Vettuvans are Pulayan, Nayādi, and Ullatan. They consider themselves superior to Pulayas, and are careful not to be polluted by them. A Vettuvan who is polluted by a Nayādi or Ulladan fasts for seven days, subsisting on water, tender cocoanuts, and toddy. On the eighth day he bathes, and takes his regular meals. As the Vettuvans are Chandalars, any distance less than sixty-four feet will pollute the higher castes. They stand at a distance of twenty-four feet from Kammālar. Nayādis and Ullatans stand far from them. Owing to their disabilities and low wages, many turn either Christians or Muhammadans, and work for wages of two and a half to three annas a day." ​There is a class of people in Malabar called Vettan or Vettuvan, which must not be confused with the jungle Vēttuvan. These people were, it is said,* "once salt-makers, and are now masons, earth-workers, and quarry-men. They are said to be divided into two classes, the marumakkattāyam (with inheritance in the female line) regarded as indigenous to Malabar, and the makkattāyam (with inheritance from father to son), said to be immigrants from the south."
* ↑ * Madras Mail, 1907.
* ↑ † ibid.
* ↑ * Malabar and its Folk, 1900.
* ↑ * Monograph, Ethnological Survey of Cochin, 1905.
* ↑ * Gazetteer of Malabar.