# Vizagapatam/Chapter 6

CHAPTER VI.
OCCUPATIONS AND TRADE.
OCCUPATIONS— Agriculture and pasture. ARTS AND INDUSTRIES — Jute-weaving — Cotton-weaving; carpets — Cloths — Made by Dombus in the Agency — On the plains by several castes — Silk-weavers' threads-Indigo — Jaggery — Oils — Tanning — Manganese-mining — Glass bangles — Snuff-boxes — Amulets — Metal-work; gold and silver — Brass and bell-metal — Iron — Ivory-work— Lacquer-work — Mats, etc. Trade — Sea-borne trade — Road- and rail-borne trade — Mechanism of trade. Weights and Measures— Tables of weight — Grain and liquid measures — Lineal measures.
As in every other district in the Presidency, so in Vizagapatam, the proportion of the people who live by tilling the land and pastoral callings enormously outweighs the number of those who subsist by all other occupations put together. In the plain taluks the percentage of these people to the total population (70.5) is about equal to the average for the Presidency as a whole, but the figure in the Agency (84.2) is naturally much larger, and is the highest recorded in any part of Madras.
Agricultural methods have been referred to already in Chapter IV and it remains to consider here the callings which are connected with arts and industries and with trade. The ordinary village handicrafts are much the same as elsewhere and do not require specific mention.
The arts and industries of Vizagapatam are few and insignificant. The handicraft which employs the greatest number of the people is weaving. This consists of the weaving of jute and cotton, for all-silk fabrics are not made in the district, nor is wool ever woven. All the hundreds of blankets used in the Agency are imported.
The local 'jute' is spun and woven into gunny-bags by steam at the mill at Chittivalasa near Bimlipatam referred to on p. 228 below. In three or four villages near Pálkonda and one or two round Anakápalle this same fibre is woven on hand-looms, by people of the Perike caste, into long strips of gunny, which are sold to the Kómati grain-traders and by them cut up and stitched into bags. ​The cotton-weaving of the district resolves itself into the making of rugs of apparel for men and women. Cotton rugs and carpets, used as hold-alls and for sleeping on, are made by Dévángas at Jámi in the Srangavarapakóta taluk. They are copied from the well-known Adóni carpets and the pattern consists of stripes of red, white or blue. Aniline dyes are used.
The weaving of cloths for men and women to wear is similar in most respects to that done in other districts.
In the Agency, the only systematic work is that done by the Dombus, who make coarse white fabrics for use by either sex. The women of several castes, such as the Gadabas and Banda Porojas (see pp. 97 and 87), make their own clothes, largely from jungle fibre.
On the plains, cotton cloths are woven in hundreds of villages by Sáles, Padma Sáles, Pattu Sáles, Dévángas (most of whom are Lingáyats by faith) and Sálápus. The ryots often spin their own cotton into thread and then hand it over to the weavers to be made into cloths, but large quantities of machine-made yarn are used.
In the south, the chief weaving centres are Nakkapalli and Páyakaraopéta in Sarvasiddhi taluk, the Pattu Sales in the latter of which turn out fabrics of fine thread, enriched with much gold and silver 'lace,' which are in great demand in the Gódávari and Ganjám districts. In the east of the district, there is a well-known collection of weavers round about Rázám, Siripuram and Pondúru, three neighbouring villages in the Pálkonda and Chipurupalle taluks. At Rázám coloured cloths for women are the chief product, and in the country round this village the white garments so universal elsewhere give place to coloured dress. These cloths are of very many patterns and colours, some of which are quite pleasing. Red, with yellow borders and ends white, with red borders and ends; yellow; and dark blue with golden borders are perhaps the favourite colours, and the last of these is very becoming to brown skins. The cloths are sold locally and also sent in large quantities to Berhampur, Cuttack and even Calcutta. Most of the weaving is in the hands of Dévángas, but the dyeing of the thread is done with imported aniline and alizarine colours by the Balijas of Sigadam in Chípurupalle taluk and Balijapéta in Bobbili.
In Siripuram and Pondúru the Pattu Sáles make delicate fabrics from especially fine thread, called Pattu Sále núlu, or 'silk-weavers' thread,' which the women of their caste spin for them, and which is as line as imported 150s. These are much valued by well-to-do natives for their softness and durability. ​The weaving industry is on the decline throughout the district, except perhaps in Rázám, and the weaver castes are taking to other means of livelihood. Round Chípurupalle, for example, the Pattu Sáles have become experts in tobacco-curing and have made such profits that they are able to monopolise much of the trade and money-lending of the locality.
We may pass on to consider the other industries of the district which concern themselves with the utilization of its agricultural products.
Indigo-making used to be a great industry, especially in Pálkonda taluk, where during their lease Messrs. Arbuthnot & Co. greatly encouraged the growth of the plant. The whole taluk is still dotted with deserted indigo-vats and factories, but the trade has dwindled to almost nothing before the competition of the German synthetic dye.
Messrs. Arbuthnot & Co. also at one time greatly promoted the growth of sugar-cane in Pálkonda, turning it into sugar at their factory at Chittivalasa which is now a jute mill.
The chief centre of the jaggery trade at present is Anakápalle, on the rich wet lands round which much cane is grown. Iron mills are always used there for pressing the cane, and in the jaggery season expensive metal-cutting lathes may be seen in sheds amid the wet land working at the repair of these mills. Messrs.Parry & Co. encourage the cultivation of cane by advances of money, and in the harvest season send down an agent who sets up a little laboratory and buys the jaggery according to its quality as determined by the polariscope. To improve this quality, the firm hires out to the ryots metal vessels for the storage of the juice to replace the earthen pots generally used (which set up fermentation) and instructs the ryots how to add lime to the juice while it is being boiled to prevent the wasteful 'inversion' of the sugar which goes on in the casual methods usually employed. The ryots, who are largely intelligent Gavaras, realise that attention to these instructions and processes means a better price for their jaggery, and follow them with care. Messrs. Parry & Co. send the jaggery to Sámalkót in the Gódávari district, where sugar, and afterwards arrack from the molasses, are manufactured from it by the Deccan Sugar and Abkári Company, of which they are the local managers.
The oils used in the plains are practically all made in the usual wooden mills. The Telikulas and Tellis are the oiimonger castes. Until recently there was a European oil mill at Bimlipatam, but it did not pay and work there has now been stopped. ​In the Agency, oils are made by squeezing the seeds between two boards. In the plains, imported kerosene is almost universally employed for lighting, but in the Agency castor and (more rarely) ippa oils are mostly used. The former is made by first roasting and then boiling the seed and skimming off the oil as it floats to the top; the latter by pressing the berries of the ippa tree which form after the flower has fallen. For cooking, gingelly (and to a less extent niger) oil is used both on the plains and in the Agency.
Tanning of hides and skins is carried on in several tanneries round Vizianagram and in one at Jeypore. The industry, as usual, is in the hands of Musalmans, and it presents no special points of interest.
The minerals of the district afford but little employment to its people. The manufacture of salt is referred to on p. 183 below. Iron used to be extensively made from the local ores1 and is still smelted on a small scale in a few places in the Jeypore country. Licenses have been granted for prospecting for graphite, which is much used for giving a finishing polish to the ordinary earthen pots of the district, but so far no commercial exploitation of it has been successful.
The only mineral, besides salt, which now provides occupation for any considerable body of people is manganese. The existence in the district of this substance was first brought to notice in 1850, when it was erroneously supposed to be an ore of antimony.2 It was first mined in 1892 by the Vizianagram Mining Company, which owes its existence to Mr. H. G. Turner, Collector here from 1881 to 1889. This company has still practically a monopoly of the trade and is working at present at two principal 'centres; naniely, Kódúr (including the adjacent villages of Garividi, Duvvám, Déváda and Sadánandapuram), three miles south-west of Chipurupalle, the mines in which were opened in 1892 and in 1904 produced 12,000 tons of ore; and Garbhám in the Gajapatinagaram taluk, where work was begun in 1896 and the output from which in 1904 was 41,000 tons. The mines are large open excavations — the biggest at Kódúr is a huge pit 105 feet deep and 88,000 square feet (over two acres) in extent at the bottom — and contain no underground workings. The ore occurs mainly in veins, which are visible on the surface and usually dip down without diminishing in richness. The ore and earth are taken to the top ​of the excavation together (the work being usually done by contract), and the former is then hand-picked and sent by rail to Vizagapatam (the Kódúr ore goes from Garividi station), whence it is shipped to America, Middles borough. Dunkirk and other places for use in the manufacture of steel and in chlorination processes such as those adopted at gold mines. Between 1000 and 1904 the output seriously declined owing to competition from newly opened mines in Russia, Brazil and elsewhere; and in 1904 the company was unable to pay any dividend. Since then,however, matters have taken a turn for the better, and the company is flourishing once more.
Bangles of the 'glass' made by melting down alkaline earths (some of which is imported from Nellore district) are made by Gázula Balijas in several villages round about Anakápalle, Yellamanchili and Chípurupalle; at Paidipálem, nine miles east of Narasapatam; and on a smaller scale at other places. The process of manufacture is the same as elsewhere, but sometimes the glass is coated outside with yellow lac, in which, while it is still hot, little bits of looking-glass are inserted. Somewhat similar bangles are made by the Sonkaris of Naurangpur. These yellow lac bangles and the imported kind made of moulded blue glass are characteristic adornments of the women of the south of the district.
Round Singapur in the Jeypore country neat little snuff-boxes, about two inches long and shaped like an almond, are made from finegrained red and white stones which are found in those parts.
At Pedda Gummalúru in Sarvasiddhi taluk a Kamsáli makes little images of Ráma, Párvati, Hanumán, and other deities from sálagrámams. These are cased in gold or silver and worn round the neck as amulets.
The work in gold and silver is usually done by this Kamsáli caste. At Rázám (and to a less extent at Párvatípur and Bobbili)these people make cups, rose-water sprinklers, small boxes and the like in silver, and their work is neatly finished. At Peddapenki in Bobbili taluk are manufactured waist-strings of twisted silver and gold which are called góvatádu and are known all over the district. The silver waist-belts and armlets made of a series of little chased plaques hinged together, which are also characteristic of this district, often exhibit excellent work. The best gold jewellery to be seen is that worn by the Gavara Kómati women. Their jewelled nose-studs and necklets are especially well chased. ​The latter often represent rows of grains of rice or dholl, and are most effective.1
Brass and bell-metal work is usually done hy the Kaucharis. In Párvatípur is a colony of the caste who speak Uriya, came long ago from Berhampur, and still marry with their kinsfolk in that town. Their work is held in much repute, especially the little vessels which they laboriously forge out of a single solid ingot by repeated re-heatings and hammerings. Anakapalle, Bobbili, Sómalingapálem near Yellamanchili, Anantavaram near Álamanda and Lakkavarapukóta are other centres for this industry.
The work consists, as usual, partly in casting vessels and then polishing them, and partly in making them out of sheets of metal which have to be shaped, soldered and hammered. A further branch of it in this district consists in the manufacture of the brass and copper jewellery which is so popular among many castes. This takes multifarious forms, among the most interesting of which are the heavy brass anklets and armlets which are cast in brass by the cire perdue process. In this process a core of clay is overlaid with wax moulded to the pattern desired, which is then covered with a coating of more clay. As soon as the latter has hardened, the whole is heated and the wax melts and runs away, leaving a hollow space into which the molten brass can pass and take the form assumed just before by the wax. In moulding the pattern, threads of wax (made by forcing the wax with a stick down a hollow bamboo ending in a perforated brass plate) are used to build up any required pattern, such as cables or spirals,while rosettes and the like are made by pressing the wax into brass dies.2
Most of the masses of heavy brass jewellery with which many of the women in the Agency are bedecked are made locally by Chitra Ghásis and Kodrus, but the lighter items, such as the little brass chains which some of them delight to hang from their ears, are manufactured in the plains and sent up to the hills by middlemen. German silver is rapidly cutting out brass and bell-metal as a material for these lesser ornaments.
Besides the ordinary work in iron (such as the making of agricultural implements and tools), sugar-boiling pans are made at Anakápalle; knives, sword-sticks, etc., at Kódúr, eleven miles north-east of Chódavaram; tangis (axes) out of the native iron by the Lóháris round about Tentulakunti; and very excellent ​spurs for fighting-cocks at Rámabhadrapuram on the Vizianagram-Sálúr road.
At Vizagapatam two or three firms1 manufacture for European clients fancy articles (such as chess-boards, photograph frames, card cases, trinket boxes and so on) from tortoiseshell, horn, porcupine quills and ivory. The industry is in a flourishing state and has won many medals at exhibitions. It is stated to have been introduced by Mr. Fane, Collector from 1859 to 1862, and to have then been developed by the Kamsális and the men of other castes who eventually took it up. The foundation of the fancy articles is usually sandalwood,which is imported from Bombay. Over this are laid porcupine quills split in half and placed side by side, or thin slices of polished bison, bufialo or stag horn, of tortoiseshell, or of ivory. The ivory is sometimes laid over the horn or shell, and is always either cut into geometrical patterns with a small keyhole saw or etched with designs representing gods and flowers. The etching is done with a small V-tool and then black wax is melted into the design with a tool like a soldering-iron, any excess being scraped off with a chisel, and the result is polished with a leaf of the Ficus asperrina. This gives a black design syraffito on a white ground. The horn and porcupine quills are obtained from the Agency, and the tortoiseshell and ivory mainly from Bombay through the local Márváris.
The designs employed both in the etching and the fretwork are stiff, and suited rather to work in metal than in ivory, and the chief merit of this Vizagapatam work perhaps lies in its careful finish, a rare quality in Indian objects of art. The ivory is never carved now, but in the Calcutta Museum and elsewhere may be seen samples of the older Vizagapatam work which often contained ivory panels covered with scenes from holy writ executed in considerable relief.
Lacquer- work of the usual kind is done at Nakkapalli in Sarvasiddhi taluk, at Chandanádu a few miles to the south of it, at Étikoppáka in Sarvasiddhi taluk, and at Lakkavarapukóta and Srungavarapukóta. Wood is turned on the ordinary primitive lathe and lac of various colours is then applied to it until the heat generated by the friction melts the lac and makes some of it stick to the wood. This is then polished with serew-pine leaves,bits of cloth, etc. The wood generally used is ankudu (Wrightia tinctoria). The Chandanádu and Nakkapalli work is the best, ​being very neatly finished and executed in tasteful colours. The articles made consist of cots, toys of various kinds for children, and small objects suited to European drawing-rooms, such as little boxes full of miniature lótas, tumblers, platters and the like.
At Naurangpur fancy objects, such as chains and fly whisks, are made of lac and are in some demand.
Mats, tatties, baskets, etc., are made from split bamboo in very many villages in the plains by Médaras, some Gúdalas and Godugulas, and by the wandering Yerukalas. The Yátas (the toddy-drawing caste) also make cheaper kinds from the leaves of the palmyra and date palms. In the Agency, this sort of work is not the exclusive function of one or two communities, but is done by most of the castes to supply their own needs.
The trade of the district divides itself into that carried by sea to and from its two ports and that carried by road and rail. The separate Appendix gives statistics of the former, from which it will be seen that in 1902-03 the imports at Bimlipatam were worth Rs. 9,79,000 and at Vizagapatam Rs. 3,11,000; and the exports respectively Rs. 32,17,000 and Rs. 10,71,000.
Although Vizagapatam is a better port than Bimlipatam, possessing a still-water channel in which surf boats can be loaded and unloaded afloat directly from the wharf, and although the fact that the railway runs down to it gives it all the manganese trade, yet Bimlipatam does a much greater export business for the reason that it lies nearer Vizianagram, the point through which all the carts from the Párvatípur and Jeypore Agencies must pass. Merchants who have brought their goods by cart all the way to Vizianagram naturally send them on by cart to the nearest port at Bimlipatam rather than transfer them to the railway to be railed to Vizagapatam. When the Vizianagram-Raipur line runs past the foot of the Jeypore ghát and on to Párvatípur, produce will travel by it direct to Vizagapatam port and Bimlipatam will no longer be able to obtain the lion's share of the export trade.
Of the average value of the imports at the two ports together in the five years ending 1902-03 (Rs. 14,97,000), more than half consisted of cotton twist and yarn (for the use of hand-loom weavers) or cotton piece-goods, and the only other item which amounted to as much as half a lakh was glass-ware. Of the average value of the exports in the same period (Rs. 50,16,000), gingelly seed and oil accounted for over 8 lakhs; other seeds for a similar sum; jaggery and hides and skins for over 7 lakhs each; the Vizianagram Mining Company's manganese ore for ​lakhs; and jute, indigo and myrabolams for between 2 and 3 lakhs each.
The trade carried by road is not registered at all, and the rail-borne traffic is lumped in the returns with that of Ganjám. It is therefore impossible to speak with certainty of the course or extent of either.
Excepting manganese and jute (which are exported by sea from Vizagapatam and Bimlipatam respectively, and so appear in the statistics of sea-borne trade), the cotton fabrics of Rázám, Siripuram and Pondúru (which are sent by rail to Ganjám, Cuttack and Calcutta), those of Nakkapalli and Páyakaraopéta (which go to Gódávari), the jaggery of Anakápalle (which is mostly exported to the Sámalkót distillery) and the tobacco and chillies of Chípurupalle taluk (which are sent to Ganjám and Cuttack), the chief items in the exports by road and rail from the plain taluks are the surplus stocks of the ordinary agricultural staples raised within them; while the principal imports are those necessaries of life which the district does not itself produce, such as kerosine, European piece-goods, sugar, and iron and other metals.
The trade with the Agency, however, is of a less ordinary description, since with its higher elevation and extensive jungles that country produces a number of articles which cannot be grown on the lower ground, and on the other hand its isolated position necessitates the export to it of many goods which are common enough in the plain taluks.
The chief exports from the Agency are its surplus grain (paddy, ragi, cholam, cambu, and red, green and black gram); the oil-seeds, gingelly, niger and mustard; saffron, turmeric, garlic and arrowroot; tamarind, soap-nut, ginger and 'long pepper'; honey and wax; horns, hides and skins; dammar and lac; marking-nut, myrabolams and other tanning barks; and kamela powder (obtained from the seed-vessels of the tree Mallotus philippinensis) and other dyes. The imports to the Agency include salt and salt-fish; chillies, tobacco and onion ; jaggery, kerosine;cocoanuts, cotton twist and piece-goods; beads, bangles and coral; metals and metal utensils and jewellery.
In the plain taluks, the greater part of the trade is in the hands of the Kómati caste. Kápus, Balijas and some Pattu Sáles and Dévángas take a smaller share, while in the bigger towns are a few Márváris who assist in financing operations. The numerous weekly markets take a prominent part, as elsewhere, in collecting produce for export and in distributing imports to ​the villages. Judging from the bids for the right to collect the fees in these, the best attended are those at Kottavalasa in Vizagapatam taluk, Sálúr, Pálkonda and Párvatípur.
The last three of these owe some of their importance to the fact that they are situated near the foot of the hills and so are marts of hill-produce. All along the foot of the hills, from Krishnadévipet and Kondasanta in the south to Pálkonda in the north is a line of markets at which hill-produce is exchanged for the goods of civilization. On the hills themselves are many-markets on the main lines of communication. On the Sálúr-Koraput road are Rállugedda and Damriput; between Jeypore and Malkanagiri is Mondiguda; between Jeypore and the Indrávati, Kebbedi, Kalliyaguda and Bobbiya; on the Kálahandi frontier is Maidalpur market; in the Párvatípur part of Jeypore is Ráyagada; and on the Vamsadhára to the north of Gunupur is the fair at Bhámini. In these and the numerous other markets (almost every important village has its own and the people date all events from them) barter is still the rule rather than the exception,cowries are still used as currency, and the people prefer the old ten cash and twenty cash copper dubs of the East India Company to any other coins which can be offered them.
The real business of import and export to and from the Agency is managed by the Kómatis of the low country and their agents. These men penetrate to the grain-producing centres, such as Kótápad and Naurangpur, and there see to the loading and despatch of the carts which have come up from the low country to take down the grain; they organize the operations of the many gangs of Brinjáris who drive pack-bullocks between this district and the Central Provinces, furnishing them at convenient centres (such as Sálúr and Párvatípur) with loads of salt, etc. to take to the hinterland, and giving them commissions for purchases of grain and so on to be made in return and they conduct the distribution to the retail shop-keepers (such as Muhammadans, Dombus and others) of the imports from below.
The weights and measures of the district are more variable even than usual. The goldsmiths' table of weights is ordinarily as under: —
       4 vísams (grains of paddy) = 1 pátika,
       2 pátikas = 1 addiga.
       2 addigas = 1 chinnam.
       30 chinnams = 1 tola (180 grains).
       24 tolas = 1 seer. ​
In Parvatipur and Edyagada a seer contains only 22 tolas. The usual table of weights for other articles is : —
2 chataks = 1 nautak = 8 nautaks = 1 seer = 6 seers = 1 visam (viss) =32 8 visams = 1 manngu (maund) = 25 8 manugus = 1 kantlam = 200 20 manugus = 1 putti or cand}' = 500
But local variations abound (the seer being again 24 tolas in some places and 22 tolas in others) and special tables are often used for special articles, such as jaggery, wax, turmeric, cotton, etc. Moreover, the following table is used side by side 'with the other : —
2 yebalams = 1 padalam = 1^ 2 padalams = 1 visam = 3 8 visams = 1 maniigu = 24 8 manugus =: 1 kantlam = 192 20 manugus = 1 candy = 480
In the grain measures (which are also used for liquids) the local variations again are legion. The usual table is : —
4 giddas = I sola 2 solas = 1 tavva = 2^ pints. 2 tavvas = 1 adda or manika = 4^ pints. 4 addas = 1 kuncham = 1 7 pints. 20 kunchams = 1 putti = 42^ gals. 30 puttis = 1 garce = 1,275 gals.
Land is often measured by garces, puttis, and kunchams, a 'garce' of land being supposed to be the area which will produce a garce of grain. This extent is usually reckoned as two acres of wet land and four of dry.
The English inch, foot, yard, furloug and mile are coming into use, but the Jdn or hand's span, the miira or cubit (the length from the elbow to the top of the middle finger), and the bdra or fathom, are more popularly employed for small lengths, while in the Agency the usual measure of distance is the has, or distance which it is possible to walk before the leaves of a green twig carried along with one will wither. This last may be taken at about 2i miles, and four kois make one d)n«da. The weavers have special tables for measuriug cloths.
* ↑ 1 See Report on the Iron Ores of the Madras Presidency by E.Balfour, Madras,1855
* ↑ 2 Ibid., pp. 238-40.
* ↑ 1 See Mr. E, B. Havell in Journal of Indin Art, v. 30.
* ↑ 2 Ibid., iv, 7 ff.
* ↑ 1 Golthy Kannaiah, Gamula Ramalingam and Chinna Viranna may be