Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 2.djvu/10

CHAKKILIYAN marry their women." Chakkingalavan appears as a synonym for Chakkān.  Chakkiliyan.— "The Chakkiliyans," Mr. H. A. Stuart writes,* "are the leather-workers of the Tamil districts, corresponding to the Madigas of the Telugu country. The Chakkiliyans appear to be immigrants from the Telugu or Canarese districts, for no mention is made of this caste either in the early Tamil inscriptions, or in early Tamil literature. Moreover, a very large proportion of the Chakkiliyans speak Telugu and Canarese.In social position the Chakkiliyans occupy the lowest rank, though there is much dispute on this point between them and the Paraiyans. Nominally they are Saivites, but in reality devil-worshippers. The āvaram plant (Cassia auriculata) is held in much veneration by them,† and the tāli is tied to a branch of it as a preliminary to marriage. Girls are not usually married before puberty. The bridegroom may be younger than the bride. Their widows may remarry. Divorce can be obtained at the pleasure of either party on payment of Rs. 12-12-0 to the other in the presence of the local head of the caste.Their women are considered to be very beautiful, and it is a woman of this caste who is generally selected for the coarser form of Sakti worship. They indulge very freely in intoxicating liquors, and will eat any flesh, including beef, pork, etc. Hence they are called,par excellence, the flesh-eaters (Sanskrit shatkuli)." It was noted by Sonnerat, in the eighteenth century,‡ that the Chakkiliyans are in more contempt than the Pariahs, because 