Page:Pre-Aryan Tamil Culture.djvu/70

 eru, uram, kuppai, kūḷam, and so on. Different names were given for the fields other than that used for wet cultivation. A garden was tottam, tuḍavai, paḍappai, toppu, śōlai, tandalai (flower-garden), kollai, (generally a kitchen-garden behind a house). High land was tagar, tarāy, mēdu, ōngal, karu, kuppai, kuvāl, kuvai, śuval, tidar, tittu, tittai, padar, miśai, vallai, vanbāl, murambu: this was so variously named, probably because it gave much trouble to the cultivator who had to level it before tilling it. The low land was also variously named, pallam, aval, ilivu, kilakku, kīl, kuli, kūval, ñellal, tālvu, padugar, payambu.

The chief implement of the farmer was the plough; so he lovingly gave it numerous names, kalappai, idai, ulupadai, kalanai, ñañjil, toduppu, padai, padaivāl. The ploughshare was made of wood in the stone age and of steel in the iron age; both kinds are in use even to-day. The other important implement was the knife; it, too, bad numerous names, vāl, uvani, ēdi, kaduttalai, tuvatti, naviram, nāttam, vañjam, kuyal, kulir; short knives were called kutumbidi, śurigai, one that could be bent into the handle, śūri.

An extensive system of irrigation was practised; rivers were furnished with a complete dam, anai, or a partial dam, korambu, and the water diverted into a kāl, kālvāy, or vāykkāl. Or water was raised from ponds or wells by means of an erram or kabilai or iraikūdai. The latter was the most common means of raising water and had numerous names, ambi, idār, iraivai, kārāmbi, kilār, pilār, puttil, pūttai, pattai, and conducted by means of a sluice, madai, to higher levels and distributed to fields.

Here is a description of ploughing—'The plough men, who raise food for many people, yoke trained oxen to the plough, whose front looks like the mouth of a female elephant, press it on the ground so that the ploughshare which looks like the face of the iguana, is buried in the earth. They plough round and round, then sow seeds and then weed the field. When the harvest season is near, the quail with short feet and black neck with its young, white and smelling like the - 10தண்டவை. - - குப்பை. +காம். 5தோட்டம். படப்பை 11கொல்லை. 12தசர்,. 96 r சதோப்பு. . ஒங்கல். 14மேடு. 1.கரு. 17 குப்பை. 18 குவால். 1தராய். 20சவல், 19குவை. 21திடர். திட்டு. 29 திட்டை 30அவல். 25மிசை 26வல்லை 26 முரம்பு. | . . பள்ளம், 27 வன்பால். 31இழிவு. 32கிழக்கு. In the Kaviri valley which slopes from West to East All and kilakku, lit. lowland and mel, merku, highland came to mean East and 33இழ். - B4குழி. 35கூவல். 96ஞெள்ளல். West respectively. 37தாழ்வு 38பகர். +உழுபடை 39 பயம்பு: 40 கலப்பை. கலனை. *தொடுப்பு 4பேடை, ' | 47 படைவாள் +வாள், 51கடுத்தலை. • 52 துவட்டி 4வணி, - 40 எதி. . - 53 ரவிரம். நாட்டம் 5 வஞ்சம். 56தயல், சரி. 57தளிர், 58குறும்பிடி. 59சரிகை. சொம்பு. 63கால். , 64கால்வாய். வாய்க்கால் ஏற்றம். 10art. | 7-arrம்பி, சப்லை. 6. இறைகூடை. 59 அம்பி. Turt. 7 பிழர், 7-புட்டில். - 7 பூட்டை, 77பட்டை '