Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 3.djvu/121

Rh exclusive, and have a great aversion to town life. Many of them never allow their wives to leave their compounds, and it is said that many never do field work on Sundays, but confine themselves on that day to their house-work."" If," a correspondent writes from the Kistna district, "you ask in a village whether so-and-so is a Brāhman, and they say 'No. He is an āsāmi (ordinary man),' he will be a Kamma or Kāpu. If you ask how many pay income-tax in a village, they may tell you two Baniyas (merchants), and two Samsāri-vallu, i.e., two prosperous Kamma ryots." The Kammas are stated by Mr. H. A. Stuart* to be " most industrious and intelligent cultivators, who, now that gōsha has been generally abandoned, beat all rivals out of the field — a fact which is recognised by several proverbs, such as Kamma vani chetulu kattlna nilavadu (though you tie a Kamma's hands, he will not be quiet); Kamma vāndlu chērīte kadama jātula vellunu (if Kammas come in, other castes go out); Kamma vāriki bhūmi bhayapadu tunnadi (the earth fears the Kammas), and many others to the same effect. In addition to being industrious and well-to-do they are very proud, an instance of which occurred in the Kistna district, when the Revenue Settlement Officer offered them pattās,in which they were simply called Naidu without the honorific ending gāru. They refused on this account to accept them, and finally the desired alteration was made, as they proved that all of their caste were considered entitled to the distinction. In North Arcot, however, they are not so particular, though some refuse to have their head shaved, because they scruple to bow down before a barber. Besides Vishnu the Kammas worship