Page:Castes and tribes of southern India, Volume 5.djvu/40

MARAVAN dacoities, and attack travellers on the high-road, then they are no better than the professional thieves of other countries, and they deserve as little consideration. It must be borne in mind that, while robbery is the hereditary occupation of the Maravars, there are thousands of them who lead strictly honest, upright lives as husbandmen, and who receive no benefit whatever from the kudi-kaval system. Some of the most noted and earnest Native Christians have been, and still are, men and women of this caste, and the reason seems to be that they never do things by halves. If they are murderers and robbers, nothing daunts them, and, on the other hand, if they are honest men, they are the salt of the earth." I am informed that, when a Maravan takes food in the house of a stranger, he will sometimes take a pinch of earth, and put it on the food before he commences his meal. This act frees him from the obligation not to injure the family which has entertained him.

In a note entitled Marava jati vernanam,* from the Mackenzie Manuscripts, it is recorded that " there are seven sub-divisions in the tribe of the Maravas, respectively denominated Sembunāttu, Agattha, Oru-nāttu, Upukatti, and Kurichikattu. Among these sub-divisions, that of the Sembunāttu Maravas is the principal one." In the Madras Census Report, 1891, the following are returned as the most important sub-divisions: — Agamudaiyan, Kallan, Kārana, Kondaikatti, Kottāni, Sembanāttu, and Vannikutti. Among the Sembanāttus (or Sembanādus), the following septs or khilais have been recorded: —