Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 6.djvu/416

SEM PULI purposes. In the Census Report, 1901, the caste is said to have "two hypergamous sub-divisions, Tondamān and Tōlmēstri, and men of the former take wives from the latter, but men of the latter may not marry girls of the former."

Girls are married after puberty, and divorce and remarriage are freely allowed. As the caste is a polluting one, the members thereof are not allowed to use village wells, or enter caste Hindu temples. The caste title is Mēstri.  Sem Puli (red tiger). — A section of Kallan.  Sēnaikkudaiyān.——The Sēnaikkudaiyāns are betel vine (Piper Betel) cultivators and betel leaf sellers, who are found in large numbers in the Tinnevelly district, and to a smaller extent in other parts of the Tamil country. The original name of the caste is said to have been Elai (leaf) Vāniyan, for which the more high-sounding Sēnaikkudaiyān (owner of an army) or Sēnaittalavan (chief of an army) has been substituted. They also called themselves Kodikkāl Pillaimar, or Pillaimars who cultivate betel gardens, and have adopted the title Pillai. The titles Muppan and Chetti are also borne by members of the caste.

It is recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, that "the priests of the Sēnaikkudaiyāns are Vellālas, and occasionally Brāhmans. They do not wear the sacred thread. They burn their dead, and perform annual srāddhas (memorial services). In 1891, following the Tanjore Manual, they were wrongly classed with Vāniyans or oil-mongers, but they are superior to these in social position, and are even said to rank above Nāttukōttai Chettis. Yet it is stated that, in Tanjore, Paraiyans will not enter the Sēnaikkudaiyāns' houses to carry away dead cattle, and ordinary barbers will not 