Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India.djvu/321

Rh Owing to promiscuous unions, the following classes spring into existence:—
 * 1. Swajathee Sumpradayam. Pure Bōyas, the offspring of parents who have been properly married in the proper divisions and sub-divisions.


 * 2. Koodakonna Sumpradayam. The offspring of a Bōya female, who is separated or divorced from her husband who is still alive, and who cohabits with another Bōya.


 * 3. Vithunthu Sumpradayam. The offspring of a Bōya widow by a Bōya.


 * 4. Arsumpradayam. The offspring of a Bōya man or woman, resulting from cohabitation with a member of some other caste.

The Swajathee Sumpradayam should only marry among themselves. Koodakonna Sumpradayam and Vithunthu Sumpradayam may marry among themselves, or with each other. Both being considered illegitimate, they cannot marry Swajathee Sumpradayam, and would not marry Arsumpradayam, as these are not true Boyas, and are nominally outcastes, who must marry among themselves." On the occasion of a death among the Ūru Bēdars of Hospet, the corpse is carried on a bier by Uru Bedars to the burial-ground, with a new cloth thrown over, and flowers strewn thereon. The sons of the deceased each place a quarter-anna in the mouth of the corpse, and pour water near the grave. After it has been laid therein, all the agnates throw earth into it, and it is filled in and covered over with a mound, on to the head end of which five quarter-anna pieces are thrown. The eldest son, or a near relation, takes up a pot filled with water, and stands at the head of the grave, facing west. A hole is made in the pot, and, after going thrice round the grave, he throws away the pot behind him, and goes home without looking back. This ceremony is called thelagolu, and, if a person dies without any heir, the