Page:Castes and tribes of southern India, Volume 5.djvu/536

PALLAN woman are taken early in the morning to a tank (pond)or well, near which seven small pits are made, and filled with water. The Vāriyan sprinkles some of the water over their heads, and has subsequently to be fed at their expense. If the pair are in prosperous circumstances, a general feast is insisted on.

At Coimbatore, the headman is called Pattakāran and he is assisted by various subordinate officers and a caste messenger called Ōdumpillai. In cases of theft, the guilty person has to carry a man on his back round the assembly, while two persons hang on to his back-hair. He is beaten on the cheeks, and the Ōdumpillai may be ordered to spit in his face. A somewhat similar form of punishment is inflicted on a man proved guilty of having intercourse with a married woman.

In connection with the caste organisation of the Pallans in the Trichinopoly district, Mr. F. R. Hemingway writes as follows. "They generally have three or more headmen for each village, over whom is the Nāttu Mūppan. Each village also has a peon called Ōdumpillai (the runner). The main body of the caste, when attending council- meetings, is called ilam katchi (the inexperienced). The village councils are attended by the Mūppans and the Nāttu Mūppan. Between the Nāttu Mūppan and the ordinary Mūppans, there is, in the Karūr tāluk, a Pulli Mūppan. All these offices are hereditary. In this tāluk a rather different organisation is in force, to regulate the supply of labour to the landholders. Each of the village Mūppans has a number of karais or sections of the wet-land of the village under him, and he is bound to supply labourers for all the land in his karai, and is remunerated by the landowner with 1¼ marakkāls of grain for every 20 kalams harvested. The Mūppans do not work themselves, but maintain discipline among their