Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 6.djvu/19

Rh allied forms as their titles, as the Pallis in Tanjore and South Arcot still do. At Conjeeveram there lives the family of the Mahānāttār of the Vanniyans, which calls itself " of the family of Vīra Sambu." "The name Vanniyan," Mr. H. A. Stuart writes,* seems to have been introduced by the Brāhmans, possibly to gratify the desire of the Pallis for genealogical distinction. Padaiyāchi means a soldier, and is also of late origin. That the Pallis were once an influential and independent community may be admitted, and in their present desire to be classed as Kshatriyas they are merely giving expression to this belief, but, unless an entirely new meaning is to be given to the term Kshatriya, their claim must be dismissed as absurd. After the fall of the Pallava dynasty, the Pallis became agricultural servants under the Vellālas, and it is only since the advent of British rule that they have begun to assert their claims to a higher position." Further, Mr. W. Francis writes † that " this caste has been referred to as being one of those which are claiming for themselves a position higher than that which Hindu society is inclined to accord them. Their ancestors were socially superior to themselves, but they do not content themselves with stating this, but in places are taking to wearing the sacred thread of the twice-born, and claim to be Kshatriyas. They have published pamphlets to prove their descent from that caste, and they returned themselves in thousands, especially in Godāvari, as Agnikula Kshatriyas or Vannikula Kshatriyas, meaning Kshatriyas of the fire race." " As a relic," it has been said,‡ " of the origin of the Vannikula Kshatriyas from fire, the fire-pot, which comes in procession on a fixed