Under the bo tree; studies in caste, kinship, and marriage in the 
interior of Ceylon.

Yalman,-Nur

Society-Sinhalese-Asia

Tamil-Moors-of-Ceylon

1954-1956

Berkeley, Los Angeles, London, University of California Press.

329

1971

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Tambilivil. In Akkaraipattu, father north, there were Nallavar (or 
Santar: Toddy Tappers), Kadayar (Lime Burners), and Parayar (Funeral 
Drummers). These were all colloquially referred to as kudi. The term 
jati (caste) was reserved for such larger groups as Sinhalese, Tamils, 
Moors; and the term kulam (kulaya: color, i.e., "caste") was also 
used in a general way.

The difficulty arose with such groups as Mukkuva and Karayyar (both 
said to be of the Fisher castes), which some informants included in 
the internal hierarchy of the Vellalar (Cultivator) kudi. Thus the 
lowest section of the Vellalar kudi was said to be in order of preference: 
Saravela kudi, Mukkuva Vellalar kudi, Mukkuva kudi, Karayyar kudi. 
Tambiraja claimed that the Karayyar were part of the hypergamous system: 
there were occasions, in other words, when a rich Karayyar man would 
marry a poor Kattapattan woman (hypogamy). He could not expect any 
dowry, of course, though when a Kattapattan man married a Karayyar 
woman, he could claim and receive a large dowry. Others said that, 
although the Karayyar were not acceptable, they had grown rich and 
educated men had begun to accept dowry offers from them.

At the higher end of the scale, Kurakkal kudi was claimed to be a 
part of Vellalar kudi. It was again internally divided into ranked 
subgroups: Vira Sangamar Kurakkal, Thesandaram Kurakkal, Saiva Kurakkal, 
Pondari Kurakkal. These, too, were marriageable.

When I first came across the Kurakkal, I inquired whether the term 
Brahman would be applicable. The answer was No: the Kurakkal claimed 
unique status. They were not Brahman by origin or appellation, but 
different (cf. Gough, 1960, p. 16). The men could intermarry with 
the various sub-kudi of the Vellalar, but the women had to marry Kurakkal 
to remain pure. In fact, I did collect much material to suggest that 
the rules of hypergamy were not always followed and that a poor Kurakkal 
family would allow its women to marry such kudi as Chetti Vellalar 
or Kattapattan kudi, but these unions were regarded as contrary to 
the correct principles of the east coast. Their incidence and significance 
should be investigated in detail.

Students of South India will immediately recognize that this picture 
of matrilineal kudi, in hypergamous connections with other similar 
groups, and the ambiguity of "caste," is not unique. In many respects 
it appears to resemble the hypergamous situation on the Malabar coast, 
the principles of which have been so vividly defined by Karve and 
Gough. We again have matrilineal lineages (taravad) who tend to claim 
unique ritual status. Their men seek partners from lesser lineages, 
while their women pride themselves on their husbands of superior status. 
Thus, all writers report that the concept of endogamous castes becomes 
highly flexible, involving many gradations of

Economics-Of-Marriage

121; 171; 564; 583; 613; 793

DOC:1949