Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 3.djvu/93

Rh it a few times over their shoulders to give it impetus, and then hurl it with great force against the object aimed at. It is said that there were experts in the art of throwing the valari, who could at one stroke despatch small game, and even man. No such experts are now forthcoming in the State, though the instrument is reported to be occasionally used in hunting hares, jungle fowl, etc. Its days, however, must be counted as past. Tradition states that the instrument played a considerable part in the Poligar wars of the last century. But it now reposes peacefully in the households of the descendants of the rude Kallan and Maravan warriors, who plied it with such deadly effect in the last century, pre-served as a sacred relic of a chivalric past along with other old family weapons in their pūja room, brought out and scraped and cleaned on occasions like the Ayudha pūja day (when worship is paid to weapons and implements of industry), and restored to its place of rest immediately afterwards."

The sub-divisions of the Kallans, which were returned in greatest numbers at the census, 1891, were Īsanganādu (or Visangu-nādu), Kungiliyan, Mēnādu, Nāttu, Piramalainādu, and Sīrukudi. In the Census Report, 1901, it is recorded that "in Madura the Kallans are divided into ten main endogamous divisions * which are territorial in origin. These are (1) Mēl-nādu, (2) Sīrukudi-nādu, (3) Vellūr-nādu, (4) Malla-kōttai nādu, (5) Pākanēri, (6) Kandramānikkam or Kunnan-kōttai nādu, (7) Kandadēvi, (8) Puramalai-nādu, (9) Tennilai-nādu, and (10)Pālaya-nādu. The headman of the Puramalai-nādu section is said to be installed by Idaiyans (herdsmen), but what the connection between the two castes may be