Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India.djvu/375

Rh (stone) Savaras, who dwell further north. By Telugu people they are called Chenchu or Bontha Chenchu, though they have no connection with the Chenchus who inhabit the hills in Kurnool, and other parts of the Telugu country. The Bonthuks, however, like the Chenchus, claim Ahobila Narasimha as their tribal deity. The Bonthuks speak the Oriya language, and they have a Mongoloid type of features, such as are possessed by the Savaras of Ganjam and Vizagapatam. Their house-names, or intiperalu, however are Telugu. These constitute exogamous septs, and seem to be as follows: — Pasupuretti, Simhādri (the god at Simhachalam near Vizagapatam), Konēti, Dāsapatri, Gēdala (buffaloes), Kudumala (cakes), Ākula (leaves), Sunkara, and Tōta (garden). At marriages, individuals of the Pasupuretti sept officiate as priests, and members of the Konēti sept as drummers and musicians. Men belonging to the Gēdalu sept are considered as equivalent to shepherds. The Bonthuks have a very interesting way of naming their children. If a child is born when an official or person of some distinction happens to be near their encampment, it is named after him. Thus such names as Collector, Tahsildar, Kolnol (Colonel), Governor, Innes, Superintendent, and Acharlu (after one Sukracharlu) are met with. Sometimes children are named after a town or village, either because they were born there, or in the performance of a vow to some place of pilgrimage. In this way, such names as Hyderabad, Channapatam (Madras), Bandar (Masulipatam), Nellore, and Tirupati arise. A boy was named Tuyya (parrot), because a parrot was brought into the settlement at the time of his birth. Another child was called Beni because, at its birth, a bamboo flute (beni) was played.