Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 2.djvu/144

DESIKAR rice, dhāl (Cajanus Indicus), and other articles of food for every marriage that takes place, in the village. The representative reserves for himself all the perishable articles, sending only the cash to the Dēsāyi. Thus, for every marriage within his jurisdiction, the Dēsāyi gets one pagoda. Of late, in the case of those Dēsāyis who have purchased their rights as such from the old Dēsāyis, instead of a pagoda, a fee of two annas and a half is levied on each marriage. Every death which occurs in a village is equally a source of income to the Dēsāyi, who receives articles of food, and four annas or more, according to the circumstances of the parties in whose house the death has occurred. As in the case of marriage, the local representative appropriates to himself the articles of food, and transmits the money to the Dēsāyi. The local agent keeps a list of all domestic occurrences that take place in the village, and this list is most carefully scrutinised and checked by the Dēsāyi during his tours, and any amount left unpaid is then collected. Whenever a marriage takes place in his own house, all the houses within his jurisdiction are bound to send him rice, dhāl, and other articles, and any money they can afford to pay. Sometimes rich people send large sums to the Dēsāyi, to enable him to purchase the clothes, jewels, etc., required for the marriage. When a Dēsāyi finds his work too heavy for him to attend to single-handed, he sells a portion of his jurisdiction for some hundreds or thousands of rupees, according to its extent, to some relation. A regular sale deed is executed and registered." (See also Samaya.)  Dēsikar. — A sub-division and title of Pandāram.  Dēsūr. — The name of a sub-division of Kāpu, which is either territorial, or possibly derived from dēha, body, and sūra, valour. 