Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 6.djvu/42

PALLI OR VANNIYAN and agriculturists, Mr. H. A. Stuart writes * that "It seems probable that they are a branch of the great Palli or Vanniya tribe, for Buchanan refers to the Mīna (fish)Pallis and Vana Pallis." As sub-castes of these Pallis, Vada (boatmen), Marakkādu and Ēdakula are given in the Census Report, 1901. In the North Arcot Manual, Palli is given as a sub-division of the Telugu Kāpus. In some places the Pallis call themselves Palle Kāpulu, and give as their gōtram Jambumāharishi, which is a gōtram of the Pallis. Though they do not intermarry, the Palle Kāpulu may interdine with the Kāpus. Concerning the caste-beggars of the Pallis, and their legendary history, I read the following account, † "I came upon a noisy procession entering one of the main streets of a town not far from Madras. It was headed by spearmen, swordsmen, and banner-bearers, the last carrying huge flags (palempores) with representations of lions, tigers, monkeys, Brahmany kites, goblins and dwarfs. The centre of attraction consisted of some half dozen men and women in all the bravery of painted faces and gay clothing, and armed with swords, lances, and daggers. Tom-toms, trumpets, cymbals, and horns furnished the usual concomitant of ear-piercing music, while the painted men and women moved, in time with it, their hands and feet, which were encircled by rows of tiny bells. A motley following of the tag-rag and bob-tail of the population, which had been allured thither by the noise and clamour, brought up the rear of the procession, which stopped at each crossing. At each halt, the trumpeters blew a great and sonorous blast, while one of the central figures, with a conspicuous abdominal development, stepped forward, and, in a