Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 2.djvu/555

Rh In some isolated spot a nīm tree (Melia Azadirachta) is chosen as a meeting place. Here the preliminaries are settled, and their god Perumal is invoked. They set out in bands of from twelve to fifteen, armed with stout bamboo sticks. Scantily clad, and with their heads muffled up, they await the arrival of the carts passing their place of hiding. In twos and threes they attack the carts, which are usually driven off the road, and not unfrequently upset, and the travellers are made to give all they possess. The property is then given to the headman of the gang for safe-keeping, and he secretes it in the vicinity of his hut, and sets about the disposal of it. Their receivers are to be found among the 'respectable' oil-mongers of 11 villages in the vicinity of their encampments, while property not disposed of locally is taken to Madras. Readmission to caste after conviction, when imprisonment is involved, is an easy matter. A feed and drink at the expense of the ' unfortunate,'generally defrayed from the share of property which is kept by his more fortunate kinsfolk, are all that is necessary, except the ceremony common to other classes of having the tongue slightly burnt by a piece of hot gold. This is always performed by the Jangam (headman) of the gang. The boys of the class are employed by their elders in stealing grain stored at kalams (threshing-floors), and, as opportunity offers, by slitting grain bags loaded in carts."

'''Jōgi. —''' A sub-division of Kudubi.  '''Jōgi Gurukkal. —''' See Yōgi Gurukkal.  '''Jōgi Purusha. —''' The Purushas or Jōgi Purushas seem to have come into existence in recent times, and to be divided into two distinct classes, one of which has crystallised into a caste, while the other merely follows a cult practiced by several other castes. Those in South 