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This article was written in 1916 when conditions were different. Even in<br/>1916 its contents related only to Central India and did not claim to be true <br />of all of India. It has been archived for its historical value as well as for<br/>the insights it gives into British colonial writing about the various communities<br/>of India. Indpaedia neither agrees nor disagrees with the contents of this <br/> article. Readers who wish to add fresh information can create a Part II of this <br/> article. The general rule is that if we have nothing nice to say about <br/> communities other than our own it is best to say nothing at all. <br/>

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[[Category:India|M]]
[[Category:Communities|M]]
[[Category:Name|Alphabet]]
[[Category:Name|Alphabet]]
From '''The Tribes And Castes Of The Central Provinces Of India '''

By R. V. Russell

Of The Indian Civil Service

Superintendent Of Ethnography, Central Provinces

Assisted By
Rai Bahadur Hira Lal,
Extra Assistant Commissioner

Macmillan And Co., Limited, London, 1916.

''' NOTE 1: The 'Central Provinces' have since been renamed Madhya Pradesh. '''

NOTE 2: While reading please keep in mind that all articles in this series have been scanned from the original book. Therefore, footnotes have got inserted into the main text of the article, interrupting the flow. Readers who spot these footnotes gone astray might like to shift them to their correct place.

=Mala=

A low Telugu caste of labourers and cottonweavers.
They numbered nearly 14,000 persons in the
Central Provinces in 191 1, belonging mainly to the Chanda,
Nagpur, Jubbulpore, and Yeotmal Districts, and the Bastar
State. The Marathas commonly call them Telugu Dhers,
but they themselves prefer to be known as ' Telangi Sadar
Bhoi,' which sounds a more respectable designation. They
are also known as Mannepuwar and Netkani.

They are
the Pariahs of the Telugu country, and are regarded as
impure and degraded. They may be distinguished by their
manner of tying the head-cloth more or less in a square
shape, and by their loin-cloths, which are worn very loose
and not knotted. Those who worship Narsinghsvvami, the
man-lion incarnation of Vishnu, are called Namaddar, while
the followers of Mahadeo are known as Lingadars. The
former paint their foreheads with vertical lines of sandalpaste,
and the latter with horizontal ones. The Malas were
formerly zealous partisans of the right-handed sect in
Madras, and the description of this curious system of faction
given by the Abbe Dubois more than a century ago may be
reproduced :

"
" Most castes belong either to the left-hand or right-hand
faction. The former comprises the Vaishyas or trading
classes, the Panchalas or artisan classes and some of the
low Sudra castes. It also contains the lowest caste, viz. the
Chaklas or leather-workers, who are looked upon as its chief
support.

To the right-hand faction belong most of the
higher castes of Sudras. The Pariahs (Malas) are also its
' See The KhCtndesh Bhil Corps, by ^ Hindu Manners, Czistovis mid
Mr. A. II. A. Simcox, p. 62. Ceremonies, ed. 1897, pp. 25, 26.

great support, as a proof of which they glory in the title of
Valangai Maugnttar or Friends of the Right Hand. In the
disputes and conflicts which so often take place between
the two factions it is always the Pariahs who make the
most disturbance and do the most damage. The Brahmans,
Rajas and several classes of Sudras are content to remain
neutral and take no part in these quarrels.

The opposition
between the two factions arises from certain exclusive
privileges to which both lay claim. But as these alleged
privileges are nowhere clearly defined and recognised, they
result in confusion and uncertainty, and are with difficulty
capable of settlement. When one faction trespasses on the
so-called right of the other, tumults arise which spread
gradually over large tracts of territory, afford opportunity
for excesses of all kinds, and generally end in bloody
conflicts.

The Hindu, ordinarily so timid and gentle in
all other circumstances of life, seems to change his nature
completely on occasions like these. There is no danger
that he will not brave in maintaining what he calls his rights,
and rather than sacrifice a little of them he will expose
himself without fear to the risk of losing his life. The
rights and privileges for which the Hindus arc ready to
fight such sanguinary battles appear highly ridiculous,
especially to a European. Perhaps the sole cause of the
contest is the right to wear slippers or to ride through the
streets in a palanquin or on horseback during marriage
festivals.

Sometimes it is the privilege of being escorted
on certain occasions by armed retainers, sometimes that of
having a trumpet sounded in front of a procession, or of
being accompanied by native musicians at public ceremonies."
The writer of the Madras Census Report of 1871
states :

^ "It is curious that the females of two of the
inferior castes should take different sides to their husbands
in these disputes. The wives of the agricultural labourers
side with the left hand, while their husbands help in fighting
the battles of the right, and the shoemakers' wives also take
the side opposed to their husbands. During these festival
disturbances, the ladies who hold political views opposed to
those of their husbands deny to the latter all the privileges

of the connubial state." The same writer states that the
right-hand castes claimed the prerogative of riding on horseback
in processions, of appearing with standards bearing
certain devices, and of erecting twelve pillars to sustain their
marriage booths ; while the left-hand castes might not have
more than eleven pillars, nor use the same standards as the
right. The quarrels arising out of these small differences of
opinion were so frequent and serious in the seventeenth century
that in the town of Madras it was found necessary to
mark the respective boundaries of the right- and left-hand
castes, and to forbid the right-hp.nd castes in their processions
from occupying the streets of the left hand and vice versa.

These disturbances have gradually tended to disappear under
the influence of education and good government, and no
instance of them is known to have occurred in the Central
Provinces. The division appears to have originated among
the members of the Sakta sect or the worshippers of Sakti
as the female principle of life in nature. Dr. L. D. Barnett
writes :

^—" The followers of the sect are of two schools. The
' Walkers in the Right Way ' {Dakskindchdri) pay a service of
devotion to the deity in both male and female aspects, and
except in their more pronounced tendency to dwell upon the
horrific aspects of the deity (as Kali, Durga, etc.), they differ
little from ordinary Saivas and Vaishnavas.

The ' Walkers
in the Left Way '
( Vdmdchdri), on the other hand, concentrate
their thought upon the godhead in its sexually maternal aspect,
and follow rites of senseless magic and—theoretically at least —promiscuous debauchery." As has been seen, the religious
differences subsequently gave rise to political factions.
^ Hinduism, in ' Religions Ancient and Modern ' Series, p. 26.
position.

← Older revision		Revision as of 18:51, 28 November 2016
Line 155:		Line 155:
	^ Hinduism, in ' Religions Ancient and Modern ' Series, p. 26.		^ Hinduism, in ' Religions Ancient and Modern ' Series, p. 26.
	position.		position.
		+	=Mala=
		+	(From ''People of India/ National Series Volume VIII.'' Readers who wish to share additional information/ photographs may please send them as messages to the Facebook community, [http://www.facebook.com/Indpaedia Indpaedia.com]. All information used will be gratefully acknowledged in your name.)
		+
		+	Synonyms: Kori [Madhya Pradesh and/or Chhattisgarh]
		+	*Endogamous groups: Arava, Asadi, Boya, Daindla, Da
		+	rabala, Kanta, Morasu, Murikinadu, Murikinati, Paka
		+	nad,
		+	Reddi Bhumi, Saindla, Sarindla [£. Thurston]
		+	Andhawant, Are Mala, Arva Mala, Badge Mala, Begar M
		+	ala, Bhal Mala, Birja Mala, Boya Mala, Chalka Mala,
		+	Chalwadi, Dadi Mala, Das Mala, Dhol Mala, Gunta Mal
		+	a, Guram Mala, Gurge Mala, Hatkar Mala, Jethi Mala,
		+	Jina
		+	Mala, Karne Mala, Ladwant, Landa Mala, Mala Bogam,
		+	Mala Ayyawar, Mala Dasri, Mala Jangam, Mala Mannewar,
		+	Mala Mashti, Nayatakani, Pachi Mala, Pambalwad Rach
		+	a Mala, Shiva Kantha Mala, Somavanshi Mala, Telga Mala,
		+	Tilwan Mala, Tuka Mala, Varne Mala [S.S. Hassan]
		+	Exogamous units/surnames: Kori, Mala [Madhya Pradesh and/or Chhattisgarh]
		+	Gangham, Gorraiya, Jobaiya, Tipataiya, Venkataiya [M
		+	adhya Pradesh and/or Chhattisgarh]
		+	Allam (ginger), Ballem (spear), Bandi (cart), Bomid
		+	i, Bommala, Boori (cake), Chinna (little), Chintala
		+	(tamarind),
		+	Daddu (money), Dakku (fear), Dara (stream of water), Dasari, Dhoddi Duddu (money), Gadi (cart), Goni (
		+	a sack),
		+	Gonji, Gurram (horse), Janga (calf leg), Kaila, Kaki, Karna, Komma (a musical horn), Kuncham, Maddila
		+	(drum),
		+	Magga (loom), Mailari (washerman), Mallige, Marri,
		+	Mudi (knot), Naththalu (snail), Pal (milk), Pamula
		+	(snake
		+	people), Pilli (cat), Pindi (flour), Pital, Powaku
		+	(tobacco), Rayi (stone) [E. Thurston]
		+	Bhrangi, Pasala, Sakanda, Vamdeva, Vrashabha [S.S. Ha
		+	ssan]

Mala - Revision history

Pdewan at 18:51, 28 November 2016

Pdewan: Created page with " {| class="wikitable" |- |colspan="0"| This article was written in 1916 when conditions were different. Even in1916 its contents related only ..."

Pdewan: Created page with " {| class="wikitable" |- |colspan="0"|
This article was written in 1916 when conditions were different. Even in
1916 its contents related only ..."