Sēnaikkudaiyān

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This article is an excerpt from Castes and Tribes of Southern India By Edgar Thurston, C.I.E., Superintendent, Madras Government Museum; Correspondant Étranger, Société d’Anthropologie de Paris; Socio Corrispondante, Societa,Romana di Anthropologia. Assisted by K. Rangachari, M.A., of the Madras Government Museum. Government Press, Madras 1909.

Sēnaikkudaiyān.—The Sēnaikkudaiyāns are betel vine (Piper Betel) cultivators and betel leaf sellers, who are found in large numbers in the Tinnevelly district, and to a smaller extent in other parts of the Tamil country. The original name of the caste is said to have been Elai (leaf) Vāniyan, for which the more high-sounding Sēnaikkudaiyān (owner of an army) or Sēnaittalavan (chief of an army) has been substituted. They also called themselves Kodikkāl Pillaimar, or Pillaimars who cultivate betel gardens, and have adopted the title Pillai. The titles Muppan and Chetti are also borne by members of the caste.

It is recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, that “the priests of the Sēnaikkudaiyāns are Vellālas, and occasionally Brāhmans. They do not wear the sacred thread. They burn their dead, and perform annual srāddhas (memorial services). In 1891, following the Tanjore Manual, they were wrongly classed with Vāniyans or oil-mongers, but they are superior to these in social position, and are even said to rank above Nāttukōttai Chettis. Yet it is stated that, in Tanjore, Paraiyans will not enter the Sēnaikkudaiyāns’ houses to carry away dead cattle, and ordinary barbers will not serve them, and food prepared by them will not be accepted even by barbers or washermen. Somewhat similar anomalies occur in the case of the Kammālas, and the explanation may be that these two castes belonged to the old left-hand faction, while the Pariyans, and the barbers and washermen belonged to the right-hand. Paraiyans similarly will not eat in the houses of Bēri Chettis, who were of the left-hand faction.”