Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 7.djvu/316

VAJJIRA like the Canarese Gānigas (oil-pressers), the Tamil oil-pressers (Vāniyan) claim to rank as Vaisyas. Vaisya Brāhman is noted * as being a curious hybrid name, by which the Konkani Vānis (traders) style themselves. A small colony of "Baniyans," who call themselves Jain Vaisyas, is said † to have settled in Native Cochin. Vaisya is recorded as the caste of various title-holders, whose title is Chetti or Chettiyar, in the Madras Quarterly Civil List.  Vajjira (diamond). — An exogamous sept of Toreya.  '''Vakkaliga. —''' See Okkiliyan.  '''Vālagadava. —''' An occupational name for various classes in South Canara, e.g., Sappaligas, Mogilis, and Patramelas, who are engaged as musicians.  Valai (net). — The name, said to indicate those who hunt with nets, of a section of Paraiyans. The Ambalakkārans, who are also called Valaiyans, claim that, when Siva's ring was swallowed by a fish in the Ganges, one of their ancestors invented the first net made in the world.  Valaiyal.— A sub-division of Kavarai, i.e., the Tamil equivalent of Gāzula (glass bangle) Balija.  '''Valaiyan. —''' The Valaiyans are described, in the Manual of Madura district (1868), as "a low and debased class. Their name is supposed to be derived from valai a net, and to have been given to them from their being constantly employed in netting game in the jungles. Many of them still live by the net; some catch fish; some smelt iron. Many are engaged in cultivation, as bearers of burdens, and in ordinary cooly work. The tradition that a Valaiya woman was the mother of the Vallambans seems to show that the Valiyans must be 