Balijas are a numerous trading caste of Telugu origin. The name is derived from the Sanskrit words halt , a sacrifice and Ja born, signifying that the Balijas owe their origin to the performance of a yd gam. Their legend describes bow one DAkshAyani, daughter of a saint named Dakshapra j Apati, dissatisfied with the ornaments bestowed upon her by her father desired more. Her father consulted Brahma as to how he might satisfy her, and tho young woman was by the deity directed to perform a y Again. With the assistance of a BrAhman she did this, and from the sacrificial flames issued a personage bearing glass bangles, turmeric, and other auspicious articles, which he bestowed upon the girl. She accepted and wore them, directing that all women for the future should use similar ornaments. The person who sprung from the yAgam became the ancestor of the Balijas, who are sometimes called Gauriputras, or sons of a woman, since their remote ancestor was the result of a woman’s yAgam. Originally the caste would seem to have been solely employed in making bangles, pearl or coral ornaments, and other sorts of female adornments ; but now the greater part engage in agriculture.
The caste contains many sub-divisions, usually named after their ordinary occupations or the countries they inhabited in times past. Thus the Chetti Balijas or DcsAyi Chettis were traders in the days of the Hindu kings; GAzulu (Tam . 4 Valaiyal ’) Balijas were originally engaged in the manufacture of glass bangles ; Mulaka means the deadly nightshade ; the Bajamahendram Balijas hail from Bajahmundry ; and Telaga merely indicates the Telugu origin of the caste. The Balia or RatnAla Balijas sell precious stones, the MutyAla Balijas sell pearls, and the PagadAla Balijas sell coral. One sub- division, the Muta Kammala Balijas, derive their name from the peculiarly-shaped earrings which they ■wear. A very inferior division of the caste is known as the Uppu or Perike Balijas, who generally carry about salt on donkeys in panniers (perike), bnt not many of these are found in North Arcot. These divisions may intermarry, but there are a number of exogamous septs or gdtrams. The following is a list of the names of some of these. ‘
- Appala.
- Neinali.
- Avula.
- Pagadala.
- Bharadhwaja.
- Padila.
- Gandkam.
- Pallavandla.
- Janakula.
- Fasupuleti.
- Jilakara.
- Eatn&la.
- Maredu.
- Saliva.
- Miriyala.
- Ungarala.
- Mutyala.
- Yenumula.
- Narikella.
- Yejolla.
Some of these are possibly of totemistic origin, though no trace of totemism now remains. A further exogamous grouping is shown by the house names, for intermarriage between persons bearing the same house name is strictly prohibited.
The vernacular of the caste is Telugu, and their worship is that of Vishnu combined with Gouridevi, their patron goddess. Widow remarriage is disallowed, but flesh-eating and the drinking of spirits are freely permitted ; indeed the latter forms an important feature in their social ceremonies, and a common proverb says c Balija bidda putt-a vale batt&yi buddi kotta vale ? (if a man be born a Balija, he must crack the arrack bottle).
The easte affixes are Naidu and Chetti , the latter implying superiority and being justly claimable only by those who are descended from the heads of the easte, but many not strictly entitled to the distinction often assume it. The caste is regarded as rather a mixed one in North Arcot, as persons of impure descent are admitted into the society without scruple. A few families who have more recently come to the country from the north are more particular, and hold themselves aloof from other nominal Balijas.
The Chettis, also called Des&yi Ohettis, among them, are regarded with particular respect not only by Balijas, but by Sudra castes belonging to the right-hand division. They settle all disputes among the Balijas, Gollas, Pallis and M&ias, and collect small fees during time of marriage, death, &c. They are said to have been entrusted by the Nabobs with the above powers.
Kavarai is simply the Tamil name for Tamilized Balijas, being a corrupt form of Gauri, the patron deity of the caste. They maintain the manners and customs of the Balijas, but often speak Tamil rather than Telugn, calling themselves Nayakkan.
Linga Balija appears rather to be the name of the followers of a religious faith than of a distinct caste ; for, the Linga Balijas state that their caste contains eleven sub-divisions, each with a separate occupation, viz., Jangam (priests), Reddi (cultivators), Gandla (oil-mongers) and the like. It was apparently
a mixed caste started by Basava, the founder of the Ling&yat religion, who is described as the son-in-law of the prime minister of the Bdjd of Kallidnphr in Canara. As it is not unusual for Hindus of mixed descent to claim the title Balija, the name seems to have been applied to the new mixed caste with the prefix of the name of the object of their worship.
Almost all the Linga Balijas of North Arcot are traders, who speak Canarese and are immigrants from Mysore, in which province their gurus live, and whither they still refer their caste disputes. At one time they enjoyed much importance in this district, particularly in its large trading towns. Headmen among them, styled Chettis, were by the Arcot Nabobs assigned districts in which they possessed both magisterial and civil authority, and levied taxes from other merchants for their own personal use. They carried on very extensive trade with Mysore and the Ceded Districts, and are said to have had enormous warehouses which they enclosed and fortified, Breaches of the peace are also described as not infrequent, resulting from the interference of one Linga Balija Chetti, with matters relating to the district of another. Their authority has long since disappeared, and is only a matter of tradition. Every Linga Balija wears a Siva lingam usually encased in a silver casket and suspended from the neck ; but the very poor place theirs in a cloth, and sometimes tie it to their arm. It is a strict rule that one should be tied to a child’s neck on the tenth day of its birth ; otherwise it is not entitled to be classed as a Linga Balija. The Siva lingam worn by these people differs from the Bfita or Preta lingams used by Panddrams, Kaikolans, or others, who profess the Lingayat faith. They acknowledge two puranams called, respectively, the Siva and Basava pux&nams, and differ in very many respects from other Hindus. They bury and do not burn their dead, and do not recognize the five kinds of pollution or sutakam resulting from a birth, a death, spittle, &c., and they do not, therefore, bathe in order to remove “such pollution. ‘Widow remarriage is allowed even where the widow has children, but these are handed over to the relatives of her first husband. To widow remarriages no women who are not widows are admitted, and similarly when a maiden is married all widows are excluded. Unlike most Hindus, Linga Balijas shave off the whole of the hair of their heads without leaving the usual lock at the back. They deny metempsychosis and believe that after death the soul is united with the divine spirit. They are particular in some of their customs, disallowing liquor and flesh-eating, and invariably eating privately where none can see them. They decline even to eat in the house of a Brdhman, Their titles are Appa and Aiya,
Vadakarai (‘north bank’) now forms part of that portion of Perivakulam municipality wliich lies north of the Varahanadi, but it was once the chief village of a palaiyam of the same name. According to one of the Mackenzie M SS , the original founder of this was Eamabhadra Nayaka, a Balija by caste, who came
from the Vijayanagar country with Nágama Náyakkan (p. 41). CHAP. XV. He seems to have been greatly trusted, as he was appointed to act for the latter while he was away on a pilgrimage to Benares; subsequently helped to arrange matters between him and his son; and was eventually made collector of the revenue of Madura. Later on he showed much personal bravery in an attack on the fort of Kambam, pressing forward notwithstanding a wound in the face and being the first to plant a flag on the ramparts. For this exploit he was granted the Vadakarai estate. A successor of his was subsequently given charge of one of the 72 bastions of Madura. One of the best remembered of the poligars who followed is the Máchi Náyaka who succeeded in 159. He is said to have obtained an addition to his estate by his prowess in shooting an arrow across the Teppakulam in Madura in the presence of Tirumala Náyakkan and all his court, an achievement which none of the other poligars could equal. The event is still annually celebrated in Vadakarai by a general beat for small game (known as Máchi Náyak’s hunt’) followed by a visit to his tomb in Kaikulánkulam. A later Máchi Náyaka is stated in the Mackenzie MS. to have helped Tirumala Náyakkan about 1638 against the rebellions Sétupati of Ramnad referred to on p. 48; and his paternal uncle and successor Nárayanappa Nayaka is said to have assisted Chokkanátha Náyakkan in his expedition against the Tanjore Náyakkan mentioned on p. 50.
When the Mysoreans threatened Dindigul (p. 69), the then poligar of Vadakarai summoned a council of his commanders to devise measures of defence. It was not a success, as Gantama- náyakkanur said that Vadakarai was taking too much upon him, and invaded his property and cut off his head (whence the two families still decline to dine together), but tradition has it that the Mysore people bore the matter in mind and confiscated the Vadakarai estate when they eventually captured the country.
The subsequent history of the pálaiyam has already been referred to on pp. 70 and 183. In 1759 its owner assisted Bódinayakkanur in opposing the Collector’s march through this part of the district. In 1859 it was resumed for arrears of peshkash and the poligar was granted an allowance which descends to the eldest son. He had considerable property independently of the pálaiyam and when, in 1881, his son died, leaving an heir (the present holder, M.R.Ry. V. Rámabhadra Náyudu) who was a minor, the Court of Wards managed his estate until he attained his majority in December 1894. He has since distinguished himself as a patron of education, a protector of the beautiful topes planted by his forebears in the neighbourhood, an experimenter in scientific agricultare, and the chairman of the Periyakulam municipal council.
Bangles are manufactured from Jac by Gazula Balijas in Bangles. Tirumangalam, Periyakulam, Melamangalara and a few other villages. The process consists in melting lac and lirick dust, pounding the result in a mortar, cutting it into strips, moulding these into bangles over a fire, and finally decorating them, while still hot, with copper foil, etc.
The Balijas represent the Telugu military and trading element in the District, being evenly distributed throughout the Talaghat and Baramahal, and totalling over 10,000 in Hosur Taluk. In the Tamil country they are usually called Kavarais or Vadugars (Northerners). They are popularly classed as (A)1 Köta Balijas, who are military in origin and claim kinship with the Emperors and Viceroys of Vijayanagar and the Kandyan Dynasty, and (B) Pētā Balijas, who are traders. Their caste title is Nayudu or, as it is more familiarly spelt, Naidu. Many of them are prosperous merchants and landowners, others attain distinction in the higher ranks of Government service; they provide the Army, the Police and the peons establishments of Government Offices with some of their best recruits. Their largest settlements occur in towns and villages such as Sankari- drug, Salem, Attar and Perumbalai, that were held by garrisons under the suzerainty of the Vijayanagar or Madura Dynasties.
As Sub-castes among the Balijas are not easily demarcated. befits an immigrant and widely scattered race that prides itself in the purity of the blood, the general law of endogamy is narrowed down to the condition precedent to all marriage contracts, that between the contracting families the existence of a previous. matrimonial alliance must be proved, this rule being of course subject to the exogamous principle that the house-names (inti- Thus the cirole perlu) of bride and bridegroom must differ.
within which a man may choose his bride is limited, within the sub-caste, to families that bear house names which have previously been connected by marriage with his own.
Most of the Balijas of Salem District are of the Gajulu section. of the Pēta Balijas. The only other section of importance is that of the Musuku Balijas, who occur in every taluk, but are not numerous, except in Krishnagiri Taluk and Pennagaram Division. The Ravuts, a section of Balijas descended from sowars who served under the petty Rajas of the 17th Century, are found in Shevapet, Omalür. Tiruchengodu and Sankaridrag.
1 According to some authorities (e.g., Mr. Francis, Census Report, 1901) the word Desa is applied to the Köta Balijas; according to other authorities it is applicable to Peta Balijas only, Desa meaning “Mofussil.”
All these three sections appear to be true sub-castes; they inter- CHAP. III. dine, but may not intermarry, and all acknowledge a Vaishnavite SURVEY OF Brahman Guru at Tirukköyilür in South Aroot. Of the other sections known in the District the Sukamanchi Balijas are said Balijas to occur rarely in Krishnagiri, and two sections known as Eluttukkarar and Oppanakkarar are reported from Omalür. All these are true Balijas, and each section is said to be endogamous. Pagadala (coral) Balijas occur rarely in the Talaghat; accounts vary as to whether they form a true sub-caste, or whether Pagadala is merely a “house-name”; in Ättür they are called Kammas. Two obscure sections in Hosur Taluk, known as Vengaya Vadugar and Puliyambu Vadugar, are said to abstain. from the flesh of goats, though they are allowed to eat sheep. The terms Ralla (gem-stones), Pusa (beads), Perike (salt) and Tota (garden) sometimes applied to Balijas are reported to be mere occupational terms which do not indicate true sub-castes. The Golla Balijas are probably Gollas (q.v.) who call themselves Naidus; the Kamma Balijas are perhaps to be identified with the Kammas (q. v. p. 166), and Linga Balija or Sivachar Kavarai appears to be a popular term for Kanarese Lingayats. The Musuku Balijas are so called because their women cover their heads when they leave their homes (mueuku veil). Their customs resemble closely those of the Gajulu Balijas.
The customs of the Balijas vary in different places. They employ Brahman purohits, and formerly recognised the authority of the Dēsayi Chetti, who was of Balija caste, but their caste polity has suffered disintegration. Their marriage customs are of the Telugu type.