Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 6.djvu/336

SAMANTHI Amarampalam in Malabar are also called Tirumulpāts. The Sāmantas of Chuntampattai and Cherupulāssēri are called Kartāvus. Both Kartas and Tirumulpāts are called by the Sūdra castes Tampurān or prince. The caste government of the Sāmantas rests with the Namputiri Vaidikas, and their priesthood is undertaken by the Nampūtiris. They follow the marumakkathayam law of inheritance (through the female line), and observe both the forms of marriage in vogue in the country, namely, tāli-kettu and sambandham. Women wear the three special ornaments of the Kshatriyas, viz., the mittil or cherutāli, entram, and, kuzhal. The chief of these is the mittil, which is used as the wedding ornament. It has the appearance of Rāma's parasu or battle-axe. The houses of those Sāmantas, who are or were till recently rulers of territories, are known as kottarams or palaces, while those of the commonalty are merely called mathams, a name given to the houses of Brāhmans not indigenous to Malabar. The occupations, which the Sāmantas pursue, are chiefly personal attendance on the male and female members of Royal families. Others are landlords, and a few have taken to the learned professions." In the Cochin Census Report, 1901, it is stated that " Sāmantas and Ambalavāsis do not interdine. At public feasts they sit together for meals. Brāhmans, Kshatriyas, Nampidis, and most of the Ambalavāsi castes, do not take water from them. Birth and death pollution last for eleven days."

In the Madras Civil List of titles and title-holders, the Zamorin of Calicut, and the Valiya Rājas of Chirakkal, Kadattanād, Palghāt, and Waluvanād, are returned as Sāmantas.  Samanthi (Chrysanthemum indicum). — An exogamous sept of Kuruba and Togata. The flowers of the 