Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 3.djvu/112

KALLAN Madura district. The other game is called pāchal mādu (leaping bull). In this, the animals are tethered to a long rope, and the object of the competition is to throw the animal, and keep it down. A bull which is good at the game, and difficult to throw, fetches a very high price. It is noted in the Gazetteer of the Tanjore district,that " the Kallans have village caste panchayats (councils) of the usual kind, but in some places they are discontinuing these in imitation of the Vellālans. According to the account given at Orattanādu, the members of Ambalakāran families sit by hereditary right as Kāryastans or advisers to the headman in each village. One of these households is considered superior to the others, and one of its members is the headman (Ambalakāran) proper. The headmen of the panchayats of villages which adjoin meet to form a further panchayat to decide on matters common to them generally. In Kallan villages, the Kallan headman often decides disputes between members of other lower castes, and inflicts fines on the party at fault."

In the Gazetteer, of the Madura district, it is recorded that "the organization of the Kilnād Kallans differs from that of their brethren beyond the hills. Among the former, an hereditary headman, called the Ambalakāran, rules in almost every village. He receives small fees at domestic ceremonies, is entitled to the first betel and nut, and settles caste disputes. Fines inflicted are credited to the caste fund. The western Kallans are under a more monarchial rule, an hereditary headman called Tirumala Pinnai Tēvan deciding most caste matters. He is said to get this hereditary name from the fact that his ancestor was appointed (with three co-adjutors) by King Tirumala Nāyakkan, and given