Kanakkan
This article is an excerpt from Government Press, Madras |
Kanakkan
Kanakkan is a Tamil accountant caste, corresponding to the Oriya Korono. In an account thereof, in the North Arcot Manual, Mr. H. A. Stuart writes that they are “found chiefly in the districts of North Arcot, South Arcot, and Chingleput. The name is derived from the Tamil word kanakku, which means an account. They were employed as village accountants by the ancient kings. In the inscriptions the word Karanam or Kanakkan occurs very often, and their title is invariably given as Vēlān, which is possibly a contracted form of Vellālan. These accountants of the Tamil districts seem to be quite distinct from those of Ganjam and other Telugu provinces (see Korono), some of whom claim to be Kshatriyas, or even Brāhmans. It is true that the Karnams themselves claim to be the sons of Brahma, but others maintain that they are the offspring of a Sūdra woman by a Vaisya. The caste is said to have four divisions, Sīr (Srī), Sarattu, Kaikatti, and Sōlia. The Sīr Karnams are considered of highest rank, and are generally the most intelligent accountants, though they are sadly deficient when compared with the Brāhmans who perform the duty of keeping the village accounts above the ghāts. The Kai-katti Karnams (or Karnams who show the hand) derive their name from a peculiar custom existing among them, by which a daughter-in-law is never allowed to speak to her mother-in-law except by signs.
The reason may perhaps be surmised. The members of the four divisions cannot intermarry. In their customs the caste is somewhat peculiar. They wear the thread, disallow liquor-drinking, flesh-eating, and widow remarriage. Most of them worship Siva, but there are some who are Vaishnavites, and a very few are Lingāyats.” Their title is Pillai. In the records relating to the Tamil country, Conicopoly, Conicoply, Canacappel, and other variants appear as a corrupt form of Kanakka Pillai. For example, in the records of Fort St. George, 1680, it is noted that “the Governour, accompanyed with the Councell and several persons of the factory, attended by six files of soldyers, the Company’s Peons, 300 of the Washers, the Pedda Naigue, the Cancoply of the Towne and of the grounds, went the circuit of Madras ground, which was described by the Cancoply of the grounds.” It is recorded by Baldæus (1672) that Xaverius set everywhere teachers called Canacappels. The title Conicopillay is still applied to the examiner of accounts by the Corporation of Madras.
It is laid down in the Village Officers’ Manual that “the Karnam, who is entrusted with the keeping of village accounts, is subordinate to the Head of the village. He should help and advise the Head of the village in every way. He is the clerk of the Head of the village in his capacity of village munsif and magistrate. He has to prepare reports, accounts, statements, etc., which it is necessary to put in writing.” When sudden or unnatural death takes place within the limits of a village, the Karnam takes down in writing the evidence of persons who are examined, and frames a report of the whole proceedings. He keeps the register of those who are confined, or placed in the stocks by the Head of the village for offences of a trivial nature, such as using abusive language, or petty assaults or affrays. It is the Karnam who keeps the revenue accounts, and registers of the price of all kinds of grain, strangers passing or re-passing through the village, births and deaths, and cattle mortality when cattle disease, e.g., anthrax or rinderpest, exists. Further, it is the duty of the Karnam to take proper care of Government survey instruments, and, when revenue survey is being carried out, to satisfy himself that the village and field boundary marks are properly erected.
In their marriage and death ceremonies, the Kanakkans closely follow the Tamil Purānic type as observed by Vellālas. The Kaikatti section, however, has one peculiar custom. After the marriage ceremony, the girl is kept inside the house, and not allowed to move about freely, for at least two or three days. She is considered to be under some kind of pollution. It is said that, in former times, she was confined in the house for forty days, and, as occupation, had to separate dhal (peas) and rice, which had been mixed together.
The following proverbs are not complimentary to the Kanakkan, who, as an influential village official, is not always a popular individual:—
Though babies are sold for a pie each, we do not want a Kanakka baby.
Wherever you meet with a Kanakka child or with a crow’s young one, put out its eyes.
In Travancore, Kanakkan is a name by which Kammālans are addressed, and a prefix to the name of Todupūzha Vellālas. It further occurs, on the west coast, as a sub-division of Cheruman or Pulayan.
For the following note on the Kanakkans of the Cochin State, I am indebted to Mr. L. K. Anantha Krishna Aiyar.
The Kanakkans belong to the slave castes, and are even now attached to some landlords. In the tāluks of Trichūr, Mukandapuram, and Cranganūr, where I obtained all my information about them, I learnt that they are the Atiyars (slaves) of Chittūr Manakkal Nambūdiripad at Perumanom near Trichūr, and they owe him a kind of allegiance. The Nambūdiri landlord told me that the members of the caste, not only from almost all parts of the State, but also from the British tāluks of Ponnāni, Chowghat, and even from Calicut, come to him with a Thirumulkazhcha, i.e., a few annas in token of their allegiance. This fact was also confirmed by a Kanakkanar (headman) at Cranganūr, who told me that he and his castemen were the slaves of the same landlord, though, in disputes connected with the caste, they abide by the decision of the local Rāja.
In the event of illness or calamity in the family of a Kanakkan, an astrologer (Kaniyan), who is consulted as to the cause and remedy, sometimes reminds the members thereof of the negligence in their allegiance to the landlord, and suggests the advisability of paying respects to him (Nambikuru) with a few annas. On the Puyām day in Makaram (January-February), these people from various parts of the State present themselves in a body with a few annas each, to own their allegiance to him. The following story is mentioned by him. One of his ancestors chanced to pay his respects to one of the rulers of the State, when the residence of the Royal Family was in Cochin. On arriving near the town, the boat capsised in a storm, but was luckily saved by the bravery of a few rowers of this caste. The Rāja, who witnessed the incident from a window of his palace, admired their valour, and desired to enlist some Kanakkans into his service. There are four endogamous sub-divisions among the Kanakkans, viz., Patunna, the members of which formerly worked in salt-pans, Vettuva, Chavala, and Parāttu. Each of these is further sub-divided into clans (kiriyam), which are exogamous.
A young man may marry the daughter of his maternal uncle, but this is not permissible in some places. Marriage is both infant and adult, and may be celebrated by Patunna Kanakkans at any time between the tenth and thirteenth years of a girl, while the Vettuva Kanakkans may celebrate it only after girls attain puberty. They often choose the bridegroom beforehand, with the intention of performing the ceremony after puberty. When a girl attains maturity, she is kept apart in a part of the house on the score of pollution, which lasts for seven days. She bathes on the fourth day. On the morning of the seventh day seven girls are invited, and they accompany the girl to a tank (pond) or a river. They all have an oil bath, after which they return home. The girl, dressed and adorned in her best, is seated on a plank in a conspicuous part of the hut, or in a pandal (booth) put up for the time in front of it. A small vessel full of paddy (nerapara), a cocoanut, and a lighted lamp, are placed in front of her.
Her Enangan begins his musical tunes, and continues for an hour or two, after which he takes for himself the above things, while his wife, who has purified the girl by sprinkling cow-dung water, gets a few annas for her service. It is now, at the lucky moment, that the girl’s mother ties the tāli round her neck. The seven girls are fed, and given an anna each. The relations, and other castemen who are invited, are treated to a sumptuous dinner. The guests as they depart give a few annas each to the chief host, to meet the expenses of the ceremony and the feast. This old custom of mutual help prevails largely among the Pulayas also. The girl is now privileged to enter the kitchen, and discharge her domestic duties. The parents of the bridegroom contribute to the ceremony a small packet of jaggery (crude sugar), a muri (piece of cloth), some oil and incha (Acacia Intsia), the soft fibre of which is used as soap. This contribution is called bhendu nyayam. If the girl is married before puberty, and she attains her maturity during her stay with her husband, the ceremony is performed in his hut, and the expenses are met by the parents of the bridegroom, while those of the bride contribute a share.
When a Vettuva Kanakka girl comes of age, the headman (Vatikāran) of the caste is informed. He comes, along with his wife, to help the girl’s parents in the performance of the ceremony. Seven girls are invited. Each of them breaks a cocoanut, and pours the water on the girl’s head. Water is also poured over her. As soon as she is thus bathed, she is allowed to remain in a room, or in a part of the hut. Near her are placed a mirror made of metal, a vessel of paddy, a pot full of water, and a lighted lamp. The young man who has been chosen as her husband is invited. He has to climb a cocoanut tree to pluck a tender cocoanut for the girl, and a cluster of flowers. He then takes a meal in the girl’s hut, and departs. The same proceedings are repeated on the fourth day, and, on the seventh day, he takes the cluster of flowers, and throws it on water.
As soon as a young man is sufficiently old, his parents look out for a girl as his wife. When she is chosen, the negotiations leading to marriage are opened by the father of the bridegroom, who, along with his brother-in-law and Enangan (relations by marriage), goes to the house of the bride-elect, where, in the midst of relations and friends previously assembled, the formal arrangements are made, and a portion of the bride’s money is also paid. The auspicious day for the wedding is settled, and the number of guests to be invited is fixed. There is also an entertainment for those that are assembled. A similar one is also held at the hut of the bridegroom-elect.
These people are too poor to consult the local Kaniyan (astrologer); but, if it is known that the couple were born on the day of the same constellation, the match is at once rejected. On the day chosen for the celebration of the marriage, the bridegroom, neatly dressed, and with a knife and stylus, sets out from his hut, accompanied by his parents, uncles, other relatives, and men of his village, to the hut of the bride, where they are welcomed, and seated on mats in a pandal (booth) put up for the occasion. The bride, somewhat veiled, is taken to the pandal and seated along with the bridegroom, and to both of them a sweet preparation of milk, sugar and plantain fruits is given, to establish the fact that they have become husband and wife. There is no tāli-tying then. The guests are treated to a sumptuous dinner. As they take leave of the chief host, each of them pays a few annas to meet the expenses of the ceremony.
The bridegroom, with the bride and those who have accompanied him, returns to his hut, where some ceremonies are gone through, and the guests are well fed. The bridegroom and bride are seated together, and a sweet preparation is given, after which the parents and the maternal uncle of the former, touching the heads of both, says “My son, my daughter, my nephew, my niece,” meaning that the bride has become a member of their family. They throw rice on their heads as a token of their blessings on them. After this, the couple live together as man and wife. In some places, marriage is performed by proxy A young Vettuva Kanakkan cannot marry by proxy. Neither can the tāli-tying ceremony be dispensed with.
If a woman has abandoned herself to a member of a lower caste, she is put out of caste, and becomes a Christian or Muhammadan. Adultery is regarded with abhorrence. All minor offences are dealt with by the headman, whose privileges are embodied in a Thīturam (royal order), according to which he may preside at marriage, funeral, and other ceremonies, and obtain a small fee as remuneration for his services. He may use a stick, a stylus, and a knife lined with gold. He may wear a white coat, turban and ear-rings, and use an umbrella. He may also construct a shed with six posts for marriage ceremonies. He has to pay a tax of ten annas to the Sirkar (Government). Chittūr Manakkal Nambūdiripad in the tāluk of Talapilly, the Cranganūr Rāja in the tāluk of Cranganūr, and His Highness the Maharāja exercise absolute powers in the settlement of disputes connected with this and other castes.
The Kanakkans believe in magic, sorcery, and witchcraft. Persons who practice the art are very rare among them. They go to a Pānan, Vēlan, or Parayan, whenever they require his services. They profess Hinduism, and worship Siva, Vishnu, Ganapathi, and Subramania, Mūkkan, Chāthan, Kandakaranan, and the spirits of their ancestors are also adored. Vettuva Kanakkans do homage to Kappiri and Vīrabhadran also. Chāthan cannot be worshipped at Cranganūr, as he is opposed to the local deity. Wooden or brass images of their ancestors are kept in their huts, to whom regular sacrifices are offered on Karkadagom, Thulam, and Makaram Sankranthis. In their compounds is often seen a raised platform beneath a tree, on which are placed a few stones representing the images of the demons whom they much fear and respect. Sacrifices are offered to them on leaves.
Patunna Kanakkans invariably bury their dead. The funeral rites are similar to those observed by other low castes. Death pollution lasts for fifteen days. On the sixteenth morning, the hut and compound are swept and cow-dunged. The relatives and castemen are invited, and bring some rice and curry stuffs for a feast. Along with the chief mourner (the son of the deceased) and his brothers, they go to the nearest tank or river to bathe. The Enangan of the family purifies them by the sprinkling of cow-dung water. They return home, and those assembled are treated to a grand dinner. The son observes the diksha (mourning) either for forty-one days, or for a whole year, after which a grand feast called Masam is celebrated.
The Kanakkans are employed in fishing in the backwaters, cutting timber and floating it on bamboo rafts down rivers flooded during the monsoon, boating, pumping out water from rice fields by means of water-wheels, and all kinds of agricultural labour. They were at one time solely engaged in the manufacture of salt from the backwaters. Women are engaged in making coir (cocoanut fibre) and in agricultural labour. Vettuva Kanakkans are engaged in cocoanut cultivating, and making lime out of shells. They are very skilful in climbing cocoanut trees for plucking cocoanuts.
The Kanakkans take food prepared by members of the higher castes, and by Kammālans, Izhuvas, and Māppillas. They have a strong objection to eating at the hands of Veluthēdans (washermen), Velakkathalavans (barbers), Pānans, Vēlans, and Kaniyans. Pulayas, Ulladans, and Nayādis have to stand far away from them. They themselves have to keep at a distance of 48 feet from high caste Hindus. They pollute Izhuvas by touch, and Kammālans and Valans at a short distance. They cannot approach the temples of the higher castes, but take part in the festivals of temples in rural parts. At Cranganūr, they can come as far as the kozhikallu, which is a stone outside the temple at a short distance from it, on which fowls are offered by low caste people.
