Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 6.djvu/102

PARAIYAN Among females the most common names are Tai, Parpathi, Ammai, Kanni, Muttammāl, Rājammāl, Ammani, Selli, Gangammāl. In one village, where the Paraiyans were almost all Vaishnavas, by profession not by practice, Mr. Clayton found the inhabitants all named after heroes of the Mahābhārata, and dirty naked children answered to the names of Ikshvākan, Karnan, Bhīman, and Draupadi. It is usual to give the father's name when distinguishing one Paraiyan from another, e.g., Tamburan, son of Kannan. In legal documents the prefix Para denotes a Paraiyan, e.g., Para Kanni, the Paraiyan Kanni, but this is a purely clerical formula. The Paraiyan delights in nicknames, and men sometimes grow so accustomed to these that they have almost forgotten their real names. The following nicknames are very common: — No name, indicating virtue or merit, is given, lest the wrath of malevolent spirits should be aroused. At the census, 1891, 348 sub-divisions were returned, of which the following were strongest in point of numbers: — Amma found chiefly in Tanjore and Madura; Katti in Salem and Trichinopoly; Kīzhakkatti (eastern) in Salem; Kōliyan (weavers) in Chingleput, Tanjore and Trichinopoly; Konga in Salem; Korava in Coimbatore; Kōttai (fort) in South Arcot; Morasu (drum) in Salem; Mottai in Madura; Pacchai (green) in Coimbatore; Sāmbān in South Arcot; Sangidum (sanku, conch, or chank shell) in Coimbatore; Sōzhia (natives of the Sōzha or Chōla country) in Tanjore and Madura;