Appadurai - Right and Left Hand Castes in South India

Indian Economic &
Social History
Review
http://ier.sagepub.com
Right and Left Hand Castes in South India

Arjun Appadurai
Indian Economic Social History Review 1974; 11; 216
DOI: 10.1177/001946467401100203
The online version of this article can be found at:
http://ier.sagepub.com
Published by:
http://www.sagepublications.com
Additional services and information for Indian Economic & Social History Review can
be found at:
Email Alerts: http://ier.sagepub.com/cgi/alerts
Subscriptions: http://ier.sagepub.com/subscriptions
Reprints: http://www.sagepub.com/journalsReprints.nav
Permissions: http://www.sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav
Downloaded from http://ier.sagepub.com at SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIV on February 10,

2007
1974 SAGE Publications. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or unauthorized
distribution.
RIGHT AND LEFT HAND CASTES IN SOUTH INDIA*

ARJUN APPADURAI
University of Chicago
I.
Right
and Left
as a
Root
Paradigm
As an explict division of South Indian society,~ the dual classification of many of its constituent groups into Right Hand (Valangai)
and Left Hand (Idangai) castes, has a history which commences no
later than the eleventh century and ceases to exist, except in vestigial
forms, after the nineteenth century. Its precise historical origin has
not been agreed upon and is in any case secondary to the argument
of this paper. The argument I will try to make is that, as a classification, it has been invoked in the context of several major conflicts or loci of systemic strain during this period. The history of
its appearances is, consequently, a record of its applications, invocations and expressions in a series of local cases of conflict, anomaly
or
competition.
The fact that lists of the constituent groups of the two sides have
varied significantly from each other has generally been a source of
bewilderment to scholars searching for a consistent explanation.
With afew notable exceptions, previous scholarly attempts to
explain the dual classification have been far too partial. They have
suffered from the presumption, and this is true even of the most
sophisticated and comprehensive explanations, that it is some single,
*For their suggestions and criticisms on an earlier draft of this paper, I am grateful
Inden, Nelson, Ramanujan and Tambiah, all of the University of Ch cago. as
well as to N. Dirks and P. Pessar. also of the University of Chicago.
1. By South India is meant that portion of peninsular India covered by the Dravidian language group, specifically by Tamil, Tulegu and Kannada. Kerala, with Malayalam, as its dominant language, does not yield any evidence of the dual classification.
This might be linked to its relatively constant and rigorous integration, under the
ruling Nambudiri-Nayar alliance, which has prevented the sort of vertical cleavages,
whether based in mobility movements or otherwise, that have characterized the other
regions of South India.
to Profs

2007
distribution.
217
consistent, and substantive property which underlies the diverse appearances of the dual classificatian. Thus we have a host of explanations based on the particular theorists preference for, or proximity
particular piece or type of evidence. My own explanatian is

that it is a formal property of the dual classification which underlies its manifold appearances in South Indian history. This formal
property of the dual classification is its capacity, in South Indian
history, to provide a cultural means of integrating anomalous, antagonistic, or competitive ideas, groups or practices so that they do
not impede or halt the proper functioning of society.
My argument, is empirically based precisely on this variation, both
along spatial and temporal lines. However, simply for heuristic
purposes, so that the peculiar nature of the evidence can be better
appreciated, let us consider the following list, put together by one
of the most imaginative analysis of the dual classification2 :
to,
2.
M. Srinivasa Aiyangar, Tamil Studies, Madras, 1914, p. 95.

2007
distribution.
218
The above list, which attempts to be synthetic and includes groups
from the Tamil, Telugu and Canarese countri-s, nevertheless begins
to appear idiosyncratic when compared with other lists, from
other spatial and temporal contexts. Although this list, like most
others, excludes Brahmans from the dual classification, other lists
do include Brahmans, although some of them have been treated,
on prima facie grounds, as erroneous.
While this list suggests that
and
Pallis, Chakkiliyans
(implicitly) Vaniyans have been internally
divided according to the dual classification, other lists suggest that,
in other contexts, Komatis, Kai-Kolans, Saliyans and Gollas have
been similarly partitioned. Likewise, the variation in the number
of castes that are held to belong to either side is also enormous5.
There is also some contextual variation in the side to which a particular caste is said to belong,. Some lists include immigrant Northern
groups like Gujaratis while others do not. Unlike most other lists, ,
this one completely excludes the higher agricultural castes, whereas
others often include at least Tamil and Canarese dominant agricultural castes. This is all meant to suggest that, inspite of certain
broad consistencies, the contents of the two sides of the dual classification vary significantly over space and time. This variation,
improperly understood, has generated a host of explanations which
variously reduce the basis of the division to a conflict between arti-
3. G. Oppert, On the Original Inhabitants of Bharatvarsha, Westminster and Leipzig,

1893, p. 65.
4. J.H. Hutton, Caste in India, Cambridge, 1946, p. 60 and B. Lewis Rice, Mysore
Gazetteer, London, 1897, vol. I. p. 223.
5. Francis H. Buchanan, "A Journey from Madras through the Countries of
Mysore, Canara and Malabar", in John Pinkerton (Ed.) A General Collection of the
Best and Most Interesting Voyages, London, 1808-1814, vol. VIII, p. 606, mentions 18
castes on the right and 9 on the left, whereas the Manual of the Administration of the
Madras Presidency, Madras, 1885-1893, Vol. III, p. 1037, mentions 58 castes on the
right and 5 on the left. Other lists run the full gamut of the range marked by these
two.
op. cit., p. 60 and Brenda E.F. Beck, Peasant Society in Konku, Van1972, p. 74.
7. J.S.F. Mackenzie, "Caste Insignia", Indian Antiquary, Vol.4, November 1875,
p. 345 and Rice, op. cit., p. 223.
6.
Oppert.
couver,

2007
distribution.
219
and merchants, artisans and agriculturists, local merchants
and regional merchants&dquo;. mobile, urban elements and fixed, landed
elements and so on. It is not only with respect to the contents of the
classification that the data are heterogeneous. They are no less so in
the matter of the issues over which these two groups have come into
conflict. Though, at a high level of generality, these disputes tend
to be around the respective monopolies of the two sides over certain
practices, emblems and spaces, here again contextual variation is the
dominant motif.
To understand how the dual classification performs its cultural
function, it is necessary first to locate the metaphor on which it is
based in the broader context of the Indian cultural system. The
Tamil terms Valangai and Idangai (as well as their Telugu and Canarese equivalents) refer to the left and right hands or arms of the
human body. But the terms are best understood to refer to the
right and left sides of the body. Let us consider now the meaning
of the metaphor of the body for society, in the Indian cultural
sans
system.
In Manu Dharma Sastra, the classical moral codebook of later
vedic society (200 B. C. to 200 A. D.), we are presented with the
image of the body of Purusa, the original man, as a symbol of
society. Purusa was divided by the gods into four varnas. The
Brabmana, born from the highest part of Purusa, his mouth, was the
highest varna : he was to teach the Vedas, perform sacrifices for the
Ksatriya and Vaisya, and accept gifts from them in exchange.
The Ksatriya, born from the arms of Purusa, possessed royal
power and was to fight enemies, give gifts and food to the Brahmana.s, and protect the Vaisya; in exchange, he received a share in
the leavings of the sacrifice from the Brahmana and wealth from
the Vaisya. The Vaisya, born from the thighs of Purusa, possessed
productive power : he was to produce wealth, and was to give a
share of it, as taxes, to the Ksatriya in exchange for protection.
Rice, op. cit., p. 223.
9. This tends to be the most frequent explanation : see, for example, Manual of the
Administration of the Madras Presidency, op. cit., Vol. I, p, 69; also, Oppert, op. cit.,
8.
p. 58.
10.
Srinivasa
Aiyangar,
op.
cit., p. 100.

2007
distribution.
220
While these three varnas were &dquo;twice-born&dquo; men divinized through
a second, ritual birth, the fourth varna. the
Sudra, was &dquo;once-born&dquo;,
from the lowliest part of Purusa, his feet, and was capable only of
performing service; i.e. labour, for the three &dquo;twice-born&dquo; varnas.
This four-fold, horizontal division of the social body, rooted in the
ranking and exchange activities of the Vedic sacrifice, provides the
basic symbolic template for ordering the plethora of jatis of which
actual Indian communities are composed. However parochial the
classification and description of jatis within local and regional ranking systems, they are, in Vedic theory, products of the miscegenation of the four original varnas and responses to the requirements
of particular historical contexts.
Two major peculiarities characterize the realization of the Varna
scheme in South Indian caste systems. In most ,of South India,
because of the high regard given to female bodily substance, both
parents contribute to the generic definition of their oflspring : as a
result, endogamous castes tend to divide into numerous smaller
circles, who often mark their distinctions with visible attributes.
Thus the relatively small spread of each caste permits any given caste
to be ranked relatively consistently by the other castes in only a few
contiguous localitiesll. The other maor peculiarity, whose historical reasons are outside the scope of this paper, is that in South
India there are no clear-cut occupants for the second two categories
in the varna scheme, the Ksatriya and the Vaisya, although there
are perfectly distinct Brahman and Sudra jatis.
These two regional
the
have
a
to
do
with
conflicts
that lie at the
deal
peculiarities
great
core of the classification of South Indian society into right and left
hand castes.
The notion of right and left hand castes bifurcates this horizontally
segmented social body into two sides. Just as the horizontal layers
of the social body in Vedic symbolic representation refer to an ideal
state of social integration, characterized by exchange and solidarity,
so also the notion of a vertically divided social body is the symbolic
The entire preceding discussion of the metaphor of the social body in the Vedic
period and its model of social differentiation, is taken from McKim Marriott and
Ronald B. Inden, "Caste Systems", Encyclopaedia Britanaica, 1974, (forthcoming,)
11.
pp. 6-8.

2007
distribution.
221
the South Indian cultural system orders
the conflicts of real social situations, whether these be cognitive,
economic, political or social. Just as the segmented body of Purusa
is the basis for the cultural ordering of social groups, so the metaphor of the bifurcated social body is the specific response of the
South Indian cultural system to the anomalies, oppositions and
conflicts generated by the imperfect actualization of this cultural
model in the social and historical reality of South Indian society. As
in other cultural systems, the left hand in South India has connotations of impurity whereas the right hand has powerful and positive
normative associations. In India this polarity is reinforced by the
non-duality of the moral and natural orders and their free capacity
to exchange attributes, meanings and properties. This asymmetry
adds considerable affective and emotional power to the symbol.
But the metaphor of the vertically divided social body is no
ordinary metaphor. In its capacity to confer meaning on, and inspire
action in, a variety of historical situations, it is what has been
called a root paradigm!!. : these are consciously recognized cultural
models which emerge during the life-crises of individuals or groups,
and have reference to the social relationships of those involved, as
well as to the cultural, ideological or cognitive patterns which incline
them to alliance or diviseness. Root paradigms, in Turners definition, are neither precision tools of thought nor are they stereotyped
template according to which
guidelines for conduct : they pass beyond these domains to an

existential domain, where individuals feel moved to irreducible lifestances ; where what is at stake are &dquo;axiomatic values, matters
literally of life and death&dquo;. As a root paradigm in South Indian
history, the function of this particular metaphor is to give
expression to a wide variety of empirical conflicts, anomalies and
antagonisms. The division of the body expresses the particular contrast or opposition, but since what is divided is a single and complete
social body, the metaphor simultaneously expresses the unity of the
conflicting units. This simultaneous expression of conflict as well
as underlying unity in the relation between two units, whether these
12. Victor Turner, "Religous Paradigms and Political Action : The Murder in the
Cathedral of Thomas Becket" (Unpublished Mss), Chicago, 1971, pp. 6-7.

2007
distribution.
222
be human or congnitive, is the formal function of the notion of right
and left hand castes, which I shall henceforth refer to as the root
paradigm.
To understand its formal structure, let us consider the strict definition of the notion of a &dquo;paradigm&dquo;, in linguistic theory 13 :1
By virtue of its potentiality of occurence in a certain context a

linguistic unit enters into relations of two different kinds. It
enters into
paradigmatic relations with
all the units which
can
also occur in the same context (whether they contrast or are in

free variation with the unit in question); and it enters into
syntagmatic relations with the other units of the same level with
which it occurs and which constitute its context.
By contrast is meant that quality of certain linguistic units whereby the substitution of one for the other in a certain context alters
that context, and the context of a linguistic unit is specifiable in
terms of its syntagmatic relations&dquo;. The dual classification is in
this strict sense a paradigm, whose constituent units are themselves
a series of contrasted pairs (viz. Komati and Beri Chetti; Mala and
Madiga; Kammala and Vellala etc : see following section III).
Each of these contrasting pairs activates the root paradigm in a
different context (i, e. at a different level of the caste hierarchy as
well as in varying historical and social circumstances), causing a
wide variety of sytagmatic expressions (i.e. particular episodes of
conflict) in each context. This formal fact underlies both the variety
of historical expressions of the root paradigm as well as the variety
of indigenous stories concerning the origin and meaning of the root
paradigm.
There is thus no single substantive meaning for the dual classification. There is a formal structure which is contrastive, contextual
and paradigmatic, and a formal function which is integration, that
constitute its essence. It is thus a single paradigm, but in each of
John Lyons, Introduction to Theoretical Linguistics, Cambridge, 1968, p. 73. I
to Prof. A. K. Ramanujan, University of Chicago, for suggesting to me
that this set of linguistic concepts would clarify my argument.
14. Ibid. p. 67 and p. 74.
13.
am
grateful

2007
distribution.
223
its contextual applications, it has a different meaning. To understand how this root paradigm has functioned in South Indian history,
I turn now to mapping some of its contextual and syntagmatic
-
expressions.
II.
Right and Left in
South Indian
History
Although some elements of the root paradigm go back as far as

the fifth century&dquo;, both extant inscriptional evidence as well as traditional folk histories suggest that the explicit formulation of the
scheme occured under Chola auspices, probably not long before the
eleventh century&dquo;. However, even in this phase of South Indian
history, during what has been called the Pallava-Chola integration,
the root paradigm, whatever the circumstances of its formal inaguration, seems to have appeared in varied contexts and served multiple
functions. One important function that the root paradigm seems to
have performed in this general context is that it provided the basis
for local alliance systems whereby the forest and hill peoples on the
edges of these core localities were integrated and assimilated into the
lower castes of the Brahman and Sat-Sudra dominated hierarchy&dquo;.
In addition, it appears that the root paradigm served as a basis
for the classification of centralized military forces during this period.
In the first quarter of the eleventh century, Rajaraja Chola invaded
Vengi Nadu, Rettaipadi, Gangaipadi, Kollam, Kalingam, Ilam
(Ceylon), Madurai and other countries. The various armies that he
subordinated seem to have been classified into two divisions, one
consisting of his own regiments from Cholamandalam (the heartland
of the Chola state, in the basin of the Kaveri river), and the other
from the armies of the Pandya, Telugu and Canarese countries, who
had formerly fought his own regiments18 :
15.
B. A.
Saletore, Social and Political Life in the Vijayanagara Empire, Madras,
1934, Vol. II,
p. 68.
16.
Srinivasa Aiyangar, op. cit., Ch, V passim and especially p. 112.

17. Burton Stein, "Integration of the Agrarian System of South India", in R.
Frykenberg (Ed.) Land Control and Social Structure in Indian History, Madison, 1969,
pp. 187-188; see also K. A. N. Sastri, The Colas, Madras, 1955, p. 552.
18. Srinivasa Aiyangar, op. cit., pp. 106-107.

2007
distribution.
224
The former, recruited chiefly from the Vedan, Nattaman,

Malayaman and Paraiya castes, he called the right hand army...
while the latter made up of the Pallans, Pallis, Madigas and
Bedars was called the left hand army... (this accounts for) ...
the anomalous grouping of the Bedars (Canarese hunters) in the
left, while their Tamil brethren, the Vedans, were placed in the
right hand division. The Pallans, correctly Mallar, formed the
Pandiyan army, the Pallis constituted the Pallava army, while
the troops of Kalingam and other countries were recruited
chiefly from the Bedars and Madigas or Chakkiliyans.
It
likely however, that this was an application of the root

rather than the actual circumstance of its origin. Although
the distinction therefore seems to have been applied to lower castes,
it appears soon to have become amalgamated with certain military
organizations, known as ITelaikkarar. Some Qf these military groups
are known to us from Ceylonese inscriptions&dquo; : they seem to have
been politically active military units, composed of numerous corporate and ethnic groups. Its leaders, who had clearly migrated to
Ceylon from South India, were called Valanjiyars and Nagarattars,
subsections of powerful contemporary merchant communities in
South India. Although both valangai and idangai groups (probably
of the lower castes mentioned above) were included in these Velaikkara regiments, they seem to have been led, respectively, by the
Valanjiyar and the Nagarattar. This might be the historical basis
of the fact that the modern descendants of these merchant groups
in the Canarese country, the Banajigas and the Nagartas, are the
leaders of factions modelled on the root paradigM20.
But the context in which the root paradigm has been most endumanifested is that of the steady claim for
ringly and
higher, usually Brahman, status by the caste composed of the five
types of artisans, called Panchalar in the Canarese country, Kammaseems
paradigm
consistently
19. S. Paranavitana, "Polonnaruva Inscription of Vijayabahu I", Epigraphia Indica,

Vol. XVII, 1925-26, pp. 330-338.
20. K. Sundaram, Studies in Economic and Social Conditions of Medieval Andhra
A. D. 1100-1600), Machlipatam and Madras, 1968, pp. 69-70 and Rice, op. cit., pp.
(
222-223.

2007
distribution.
225
.
lar in the Tamil country, and Kamsalis in the Telugu country. This
group was probably based on a pre-Aryan artisan guild, which was
most likely low-ranked until the great temple-building epoch starting
in the tenth and eleventh centuries, when the demand for their services suddenly increased21. Their subsequent affectation of Brahmanical status, and the negative reactions that these struggle have
provoked, usually from the dominant Tamil agricultural caste, the
Vellala, remain the dominant motif of the history of the root paradigm. This particular struggle, and the position of the artisans on
the left hand side, often in a leadership capacity, have been sufficiently consistent across space and enduring over time, that many
analysts have been tempted to make it the basic explanation of the
dual classification22. In fact, it is only one of its more ubiquitous
manifestations, and probably the occasion of its legislation. It must
21. C. S. Srinivasachari, "The Origin of the Right and Left-Hand Caste Divisions",
Journal of the Andhra Historical Research Society, Vol. IV, Pts. 1 and 2, (July and
October 1929), p. 80; for discussion of efforts on the part of these artisan jatis, to
improve their status. particularly in the context of medieval temple-building, see Srinivasa Aiyangar, op. cit.,
pp. 108-109; also,
especially pp. 18-20, 26-28, 35.
K.
Sundaram,
op.
cit., Ch. III, passim but
22. Of the many analysts who have offered this explanation, the most recent,
elaborate and comprehensive is Brenda Beck, in "The Right-Left Division of South
Indian Society", Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. XXIX, No. 4, August 1970, pp. 779-798
and in Peasant Society in Konku, op. cit., Becks argument, which makes the contrast
between artisans and Vellalas in the region of the South called K onku Nadu, the basic
explanation of the dual classification, is a penetrating analysis of one regional variant
of the dual paradigm, but is far too partial to work as a general explanation. The
problems that this analysis encounters are instructive. The fact that Beck found
Komati Chettiyars classified on the left, whereas others classifiy it on the right
(Peasant Society in Konku, p. 74), is not simply an ethnographic anomaly but an
indication of the regional and contextual variation which lies at the heart of the root
paradigm. Similarly, the fact that the low est castes were the most ambivalent in their
choice between the two models (Brahman-ritual and Kavuntar-instrumental) that
underlie, in her argument, the right-left division, and yet were the ones who were
most vociferous in the right-left disputes, suggests that these two models, while conceivably represented in divergent lifestyles, should not be overstressed. Hindu social
thought, which is not characterized by such dualities as nature and morality, sacred
and profane, this-wordly and other-worldly etc., does not contrast ritual and instrumental behaviour. Rather, both Brahmins and Kshatriyas, in the fulfillment of their
(Footnote 22 contd. on page 226)

2007
distribution.
226
,
also be remembered that the artisans struggles for higher status are
a much more general upward mobility amongst craft and
trading groups in medieval South India, some of which is connected
to the inclusion of other groups, such as weavers, in the lists of the
root paradigm. Incidentally, medieval mobility movements, especially of artisan groups associated with temple-building, cast some
light on why the dual classification never took root in Kerala, the
Malayalam-speaking part of South India : Kerala did not undergo
the massive temple-building phase experienced by the rest of South
India, and thus did not have to respond to a sudden and powerful
disturbance to the social order.
Finally, there is some evidence that the struggle for supremacy
between Brahmans and Jainas, which affected particularly the Pallava
and Kadamba countries in the ninth and tenth centuries, eventually
expressed itself in terms of the root paradigm23. In a Mysore inscription of 1368 A. D. we are told that when the Brahmans and
Jains fought over certain symbolic privileges, the then king of
Mysore, Vira Bukka Raya, effected a compromise between the two
sides, whereby the Jainas were classified with the right&dquo;.
It is thus not hard to see that, even from the ninth to the thirteenth
centuries, during the Pallava-Chola period, the remarkably common
interpretation that the division of society into right and left hand
castes represented the struggle between landed, stable agricultural
groups on the one hand and mobile, urban artisan and merchant
part of
..
(Footnote 22 contd. from page 225)

distinctive codes, are equally instrumental actors in a social body that is unified and
horizontally ordered into four parts. In any case, the contrast between Brahman and
Ksatriya is not, as Beck seems to imply, the same as the contrast between land and
money as rival routes to status. Further, this contrast between land and liquid capital
cannot serve as an explanation of the decline of the dual classification, because of the
blurring caused by British land legislation, since this suggests that the distinction of
right and left arose as well because of this contrast, though Beck does not make this
last argument. In fact, as I suggest later in the body of this paper, it is not because
artisans and agriculturalists had different means to achieve status, but rather because
artisans wished to usurp Brahmanic status that I think the original legislation of right
and left took place.
23. G. Oppert. op. cit., p. 62.
24. Srinivasa Aiyangar, op. cit., p. 112.

2007
distribution.
227
groups on the other, is really a rather strained synthesis of what
were, in fact, widely varying local and contextual variants of a single
cultural paradigm.
During the Vijayanagara period, the integrity of local peasant
institutions for taxation and ordcr was destroyed, and replaced by
considerably more direct and far-reaching control of agrarian resources by Telugu Nayakas, with peasants bearing the heavy burden
of being on the bottom of a vertical system of tributes2~. In this
context, there is considerable evidence to suggest that the root patadigm provided the basis for the formation of stable, corporate
groups, particularly of the lower castes, with a distinctly political
and self-protective character26. They apparently often combined
together to oppose excessive taxation, whether by local Brahman
and Vellala landholders or by ofhcials sent by political chiefs. The
interesting thing about these contextual expressions of the root
paradigm is that they provide an empirical demonstration of the
fact that the two sides of the social body are contrasted but also,
ultimately, two sides of a single, unfied social body.
Secondly, there was, during the Vijayanagara period, an unprecedented degree of urbanization, which had three sources. In the
first place, both the requirements of defense and the wish to emulate
the Imperial Court dictated that the Telugu nayakas of the period
create fortified headquarters. Also, the autarchic economic policies
of this warrior elite, their wish to maximize control over resources
in their particular territories, led them to attract artisans from other
places in order to achieve self sufhciency in the stable artisan products, particularly in cloth. Finally, these warriors supported and
subsidized the enormous growth in temple centers during the Vijayanagara period. These temples, qua pilgrimage centers, also often
acquired a market function, and as a means for the acquisition of
prestige, invited endowments both from these warrior elites, as well
As a consequence, temples
as from other upwardly mobile groups.
became themselves involved in redistributive and developmental
tasks in the agrarian economy, of both a technological and a finan,
Burton Stein, "Integration of the Agrarian System ...", op. cit., pp. 191-192.
T. V. Mahalingam, Administration and Social Life Under the Vijayanagara
Empire, Madras, 1940, p. 221 and pp. 92-95.
25.
26.

2007
distribution.
228
cial sort. This urbanization appears to have placed a strain on the
dual classification leading to a series of disorders in Vijayanagara
cities : these disorders are the first in a continuous urban phase in
the manifestations of the root paradigm2.
The most broad and interesting of the spatial variations in the
appearances of the root paradigm is the one we have already
observed, namely a tendency for the root paradigm, at least in its
more violent manifestations, to appear more often in urban rather
than in rural contexts. In addition to this broad shift, however,
there are more disaggregated spatial variations. One way of approaching this spatial variation is by considering the spatial contexts in
which the root paradigm has been activated, by contrasts or variations at different levels of the caste hierarchy.
At the upper levels of the caste hierarchy, sectarian conflicts of
various sorts seem to have activated the root paradigm. One example
would be the conflicts between Brahmans and Jainas in those urban
centers in which the Jainas had the strongest following. The conflict
between Vaishnava and Saiva Brahmans also apparently expressed
itself through the metaphor of the vertically divided social body28 :
this could have occured in these religious centres in the Canarese
country, where both Vaishnavism and Lingayat Shaivism had their
most radical expression in the medieval period. According to a
recent ethnographic study in the Telugu country, the connection of
the Shaivite/Vaishnavite opposition to the root paradigm, although
attenuated and modified by changes over time, is still recognizable.
In certain districts of this area, Vaishnavite Brahmans are recorded
as having openly associated themselves with the right hand group
(although Brahmans are not supposed to be involved in these schisms)
and three groups of the left hand side, the Jangam (Lingayat priests),
Devanga (weavers) and Kamsali (artisans) are extreme Saivites.
Perhaps the most important conflict at this highest level of the caste
hierarchy, however, is the one that I have already described, which
Stein, "Integration of the Agrarian System...", op. cit., pp. 195-196.
Saletere, op. cit.,
pp. 66-67; see also story No. 4 in Section III.
N.S. Reddy, Transition in Caste Structure in Andhra Desh with particular
Reference to Depressed Castes. Ph. D. Thesis, University of Lucknow, 1952, pp.
166-167.
27.
28.
29.

2007
distribution.
229
involves artisan claims
to Brahman status. In the form of the conflict between the artisans and the dominant agricultural castes, the
dispute seems to have been most common in the Tamilcountry, and
to some extent in the Canarese country. The most important Telugu
agricultural castes, such as the Reddis and the Kammas, seem to
have avoided this classification. It ts interesting, as well, to note
that artisan claims to Brahman status have not always been challenged by agricultural castes, but have occasionally been challenged
and protested by Brahmans themselves3. It could be said, in general,
that the root paradigm has been activated at this level of the caste
hierarchy, as a response to a variety of threats, both internal and
external, to the homogeneity, exclusiveness and primacy of Brahmanic status in indigenous systems of rank.
The formal absence of clear occupants for the next two slots, i.e.
that of the Ksatriya and the Vaisya, in the varna system as it was
established in South India, sets the stage for the root paradigm to
express an extremely heterogenous set of contrasts and conflicts
among agricultural, commercial and craft groups. In this sense, the
extent to which Vellalas, the dominant Tamil agricultural caste,
resist artisan claims to Brahman status, is, in part, a measure of
their claim to Ksatriya or Sat-Sudra status3l.
When we consider the alignment of various merchant groups
according to the dual classification, the disaggregated picture is very
complex. We have already referred to the original appearance of the
Banajigas and Nagartas at the head of military organizations in the
Chola ,period. In the modern period, in Mysore, these two groups
express their conflict through the dual classification. The Banajigas
are a Canarese trading group, who along with the Linga (i.e. Saivite)
Banajigas lead the right hand group, while the Nagartas and the
Panchalas lead the left hand group. In Mysore, this split is associated with two regional peculiarities. In the first place, the total
number of groups that are alleged to be divided into right and left
hand groups are eighteen, and are called panas (professions),
30. G. Oppert,
op. cit., pp. 111-112; see also James F. Kearns, "The Right and the
Left-hand Castes", Indian Antiquary, Vol. 5, December 1876, pp. 353-354.
31. Mahalingam,
op. cit., pp. 239-240.

2007
distribution.
230
although lists in practice contain many other castes : there was also
apparently competition between the leading groups of the two sides
over which panas belonged to their respective sides.
Secondly, it is
in the Mysore region that the two sides are termed Desa (outsider
It was this specific local
or foreigner) and Nadu or Pete (natives).
variant which led one observer to hypothesize that the division was
based on a struggle between &dquo;followers of the old-established handicrafts and innovators who brought in the exchange of commodities with other parts, supported by producers and ministers to
luxury&dquo;32. One variant of the tradition concerning the origin of the
root paradigm suggests that the Balijas, one of the two great Teluguspeaking pan-South Indian trading castes, and the Nagartas, urbanbased Telugu traders mostly based in Canarese areas, also expressed
their conflicts, possibly in Canarese trading centers, in terms of the
dual classification33. Also mentioned on many of the lists, and
almost always on the left-hand side with the artisans, is a merchant
group called the Beri Chettis : this used to be the name for the entire
Nagarta community, but in the modern period has come to denote
a Vaishnavite subsection of the Nagartas, almost invariably engaged
in urban retailing activities. Finally, among the most important of
the commercial oppositions to coalesce around the root paradigm,
which also is important in Madras city in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, is that between the second great Telugu trading
caste, called Komatis, and the Beri Chetti caste. Ever since their
eclipsing of the great medieval merchant communities under the
patronage of the Telugu warriors of the Vijayanagara period, the
Komatis have been vociferous claimants to Vaisya status34. Most
often, these claims are made in a mutually exclusive fashion with
those of the Beri Chettis, who made equally vigourous claims to
Vaisya status35. In general, it could be said that conflicts and oppo-
Rice op. cit., p. 223.

C. S. Srinivasachari, op. cit., p. 85; also see story No. 8 in Section III.
34. Sundaram, op. cit., Ch. VI, passim.
35. E. Thurston, Castes and Tribes of Southern India., 7 Vols, Madras, 1909, Vol.
III, pp. 212-214; N. Venkata Ramanayya, Studies in the History of the Third Dynasty
of Vijayanagara, 1935, p. 359; also see story No. 9 in Section III.
32.
33.

2007
distribution.
231
sitions between commercial groups, expressed through the root

paradigm, tend to have the larger pan-regional trading castes on the
right and local, town-based dealers on the left, but even such an
over-all statement does some damage to the internal differentiation
of these conflicts. It might also be noted that this type of intracommercial conflict tends to occur predominantly in the Telugu and
Canarese countries, rather than in Tamil country. But conflict
expressed in terms of the root paradigm at this intermediate and
confused level of the varna hierarchy is not restricted to intramerchant oppositions or even to the conflict between artisans and
agriculturalists, but has other contextual expressions as well. In
present . day Andhra Pradesh, for example the conflict between two
dominant local agricultural castes, the Balijas (some of whom are
agriculturalists rather than traders) and the Gollas (the great Telugu
pastoral caste), appears to have consequences, particularly for the
lowest &dquo;untouchable&dquo; castes, that are unintelligible except in terms
of the bifurcated social body36. At this intermediate level of the
caste hierarchy, lastly; the root paradigm expresses a series of conflicts between homologous pairs of weaving castes, varying according
to regional names and classifications, which seem to have originated
and had most currency in major religious centers, such as Kanchipuram and Srirangam: examples are the conflict between Saliyans
and Kaikolans in the Tamil country, with its roots in Kanchipuram,
and the conflict between Devangas and Padma Sales in the Canarese
country.
.
at the lowest levels of the caste hierarchy, we have two

of conflict that express themselves in the many contextual variants of the root paradigm. The first of these has already been discussed, and it involves the conflicts between various relatively
recently &dquo;Sanskritized&dquo; hill and forest peoples, such as Bedars,
Pallis, Pallans, Vedans, Malaimans etc., who possibly owe their
opposed positions in the divided social body to their differential
absorption into Chola-dominated armed forces. The second sort of
conflict at this lowest level of the caste hierarchy, which is relatively
enduring and consistent in its expression through the root paradigm,
Finally,
sorts
36.
Reddy,
op.
cit.,
pp.
167-180.

2007
distribution.
232
I
is that which occurs between several homologus pairs of &dquo;untouchables&dquo; : Pariahs and Chakkiliyans in Tamil-speaking areas; Malas and
Madigas in Telugu areas; and Holeyas and Madigas in the Canarese
country37. Both the longevity and the relative consistency of this
type of dispute across regions, are no doubt connected to the relative
immobility and static identity of these groups in the last eight centuries in South India. Existing explanations of the passionate
involvement of precisely these groups in conflicts of right and left,
which relate this fact to their unenviable structural position, seem
to be correct.
The unity and essence of the dual classification lie in its formal
and functional aspects, namely to express a series of conflicts (viz.
Komatis vs. Beri Chettis), anomalies (artisan claims to Brahmanic
identity would be an example), and schisms (such as the one between
Vaishnava and Saiva Brahmans) in terms of a cultural paradigm
whose core is the notion of a single social body, albeit one vertically divided into two sides. By being conceived in terms of this
particular contrastive paradigm, a variety of regionally defined and
potentially dysfunctional stresses in South Indian history are rendered both culturally meaningful, and, in principle, adjudicable. These
stresses presented challenges to healthy social integration because
they probably were rooted in such processes as migration, corporate
fission, economic competition and social mobility, which are not
confined to medieval and modern South India. But the cultural
context in which they occured i. e. the peculiar realization of the
varna scheme in South India, and the particular historical development of South Indian society, exemplified, at a macro-level, by the
fundamental cultural and institutional role of the South Indian
temple, do indeed distinguish South Indian society from the eleventh
to the nineteenth century, from other places and times. It was this
particular configuration of widely observed processes and pressures
with a specific cultural and institutional history, that provided the
conditions for the creation and currency of the cultural paradigm
37.
op.
G. Oppert,
cit., passim.
op.
cit.,
pp.
65-66; Thurston,
op.
cit., Vol. IV, pp. 315-316; Reddy,

2007
distribution.
233
of right and left hand castes, and its restriction to the Tamil, Telugu,
and Canarese areas of peninsular South India.
This section has been dominated by a discussion of some of the
spatial and temporal parameters according to which the root paraof its contextual expressions. But there is no
understand, at the cultural level, how a single paradigm generates many syntagmatic expressions, than by considering a
sample of the stories that have been recorded at various places and
times regarding the origin and nature of the distinction between
right and left hand castes. This sample, as well as a brief analysis,
are contained in the following section.
digm acquired
some
better way to
III.
Indigenous Explanations
of the Root
Paradigm
Indigenous explanations of the origin and meaning of the root

paradigm of right and left hand castes do not fit oomfortably into
such Western genre categories as &dquo;history&dquo; and &dquo;myth&dquo;. They are
more in the nature of &dquo;traditions&dquo; i.e. beliefs concerning the past
which are of normative and explanatory value to a social group.
While the
regional sources and boundaries of these traditions are

transparently heterogeneous, the conditions under which they were
recorded or reported are not such as to permit precision in their
spatial or temporal location. Nevertheless, they cast considerable
light on the principles of contextual variation that I sketched in the
previous section. I shall first simply present these clusters of traditions, as I have recieved them from a variety of sources, and then
follow with a brief exegesis which relates them to my general argu-
ment.
1. The following variant is an extract from a book put out by the

artisan community in Madras City, sometime in the latter part of
the nineteenth century, and appears to be a synthesis of several
regional fragments38 :
In the time of the Soren Raja Parimalan, Veda Vyasan endeavoured to induce the king to allow his family to perform the
38.
James F.
Kearns, op. cit., pp. 353-354.

2007
distribution.
234
sacred officers for the royal family; but the Raja declined, saying,
The Panchalar (Visva Brahmans) perform them very very well,
and he desired Vyasan to take his leave. The Raja died shortly
afterwards, and his brother succeeded him, whereupon Vyasan
made another attempt to have his family appointed, but the new
king repelled him rudely. Vyasan then went to the illegitimate
son of the late Raja, and by false stories stirred him up against
the Raja, and the Panchalar, and obtained from him a promise
that he should be made priest for the royal family on condition
of his deposing the Raja, and raising him to the throne.
king was murdered while out hunting, and the

raised to the throne. Once established on the
throne, he endeavoured to fulfill his promise to Veda-Vyasan without offending the Panchalar: so he tried a compromise by dividing
the sacred offices, between them-an arrangement that the Panchalar
refused to submit to; whereon they were dismissed, and VedaVyasan and bis friends were duly installed in ofhce. This led to
unpleasant consequences, as the people refused to cultivate, because the religious ceremonies were no longer performed by the
Panchalar. Vyasan, therefore, to secure success to his plans, got
the king to declare that all people who supported him should be
designated the right hand caste and that those who sided with the
Panchalar should be called the left-hand caste.
A .neighbouring Raja, hearing, of this, assembled his forces and
marched.against Kalingam Raja and captured him. The conqueror
is described as executing the Raja, for dismissing the Panchalar and
appointing Vyasan and his friends to perform sacred offices, and
for dividing the people into right and left hand castes.
Vyasan and his party fled to Kasi and consulted the Brahman
rishis, who are represented as upbraiding him for his misconduct
toward the Panchalar, for his literary forgeries, and for his opposition to Vishnu. Vyasan denied this latter, apparently from fear,
but on being pressed with the charge, he raised his right hand toward heaven and swore that Vishnu was the only true god. The
Rishi, disgusted with his duplicity, drow his scimitar and cut off the
extended right hand of Vyasan, and from that day the right hand is
the crest on the Rishis banner.
Accordingly,
illegitimate son
the
was

2007
distribution.
-.
235
2. From Thurston, we have the following variant, which refers

to the conflict between the Tamil artisans (Kammalans) and the
dominant Tamil agricultural caste, the Vellala 31
The Kammalans belong to the left hand, as opposed to the right
hand faction. The origin of this distinction of castes is lost in
obscurity, but, according to one version, it arose out of a dispute
between the Kammalas and Vellalas. The latter claimed the former
as their Jatipillaigal or caste dependants, while the former claimed
the latter as their own dependants. The fight grew so fierce that
the Chola king of Conjeevaram ranged these two castes and their
followers on opposite sides, and enquired into their claims. The
Kammalans, and those who sided with them, stood on the left side
of the king, and the Vellalas and their allies on the right. The king
is said to have decided the case against the Kammalans, who then
dispersed in different directions.
3. This variant is from a Chola inscription, and refers to a resolution passed by the members of the Idangai (left hand) group4o;
While, in order to kill the demons (that disturbed) the sacrifices

of the sage Kasyapa, we were made to appear from the agnikunda (sacrificial firepit) and while we were thus protecting the
said sacrifice, Chakravartin Arindama honoured the ofilciating
sagepriests by carrying them in a car and led them to the
Brahmana colony (newly founded by himself). On this occa-
-,
sion
and
made to take our seats on the back-side of the car

the slippers and umbrellas of the sages. Evenwith
these
Brahmana sages we were also made to settle
, tually
down in the villages of Tiruvellarai, Pachchil, Tirupidavur,
Urratur, and Karaikkudu of Sennivala-kurrarii (all of which are
places now situated in the Trichinopoly district). We received
the clan name Idangai, because the sages (while they got down
from their cars) were supported by us on their left side. The ancestors of this our sect having lost their credentials and insignia
in jungles an3 bushes, we, the members of the ninety-eight subwe were
to carry
39. Thurston, op. cit., Vol. III, p. 117.

40. Annual Report for South Indian Epigraphy
for 1913, Madras, 1913,

2007
distribution.
p.
109.
236
sects enter into
a compact, in the 40th year of the king, that

shall hereafter behave like the sons of the same parents and
what good or evil shall befall any one of us, will be shared by
all. If anything derogatory happens to the Idangai class, we
will jointly assert our rights till we establish them. It is also
understood that only those who during their congregational
meetings to settle communal disputes, display the birudas of
horn, bugle and parasol shall belong to our class. Those who
have to recognize us now and hereafter, in public, must do so
from our distinguishing symbols-the feather of the crane and
the loose-hanging hair. The horn and the conch-shell shall
also be sounded in front of us and the bugle blown according
to the fashion obtaining among the Idangai people. Those who
act in contravention to those rules (thus) prescribed for the
conduct of Idangai classes shall be excommunicated and shall
not be recognized as Srutimans. They will be considered slaves
of the classes who are opposed to us.
we
4. Another variant appears in a manuscript called Idangai Valankai Kaifiyut, described in Taylors Catalogues Raisonees, III, p. 7
and appears to have been produced in the context of disputes between Vaishnava and Saiva Brahmans:41
This relates to the great dispute between the Vaishnava Brahmans with their followers who have the epithet of right-hand,
and Saiva-Brahmans, with their followers, termed left-hand.
The dispute is stated to have arisen from the usage of a garuda
banner, or flag bearing the eagle or kite of Vishnu, as a device.
The right of bearing this banner, and the question of which of
the two classes it belonged, created so hot a dispute, that the
matter was referred in arbitration to Vicrama-Chola-DevaPerumal, in Cali-Yuga 4894, Paritabi cyclic year. That prince
caused the old copper-plate records at Conjeevaram to the disinterred and examined, and legal authorities ti be consulted.
As a consequence the claim of Saivas to the Garuda banner
was admitted; but another result was, the more accurate dis41.
Saletore,
op.
cit., p. 66.

2007
distribution.
237
tinction and definition of what rights and privileges were proper

to the two classes; and what were not so. The book further
contains an enumeration of the classes or castes into which the
two lines of Vaishnavas and Shaivas become divided; and of
the Pariars and others, who range under the right hand class.
These castes, on both sides, are stated to be ninety-eight. The
subdivisions are those of persons having castes; that is, not
Pariars.
5. The following extract

dual classification42:
comes
from
historical analysis of the

.
Another old tradition of equal historical value says that the

division into the right-hand and left-hand castes took its origin
from the command of the goddess Kali at Kanchipuram (the
seat of so many religious and political changes) where, it is
said, exist to this day special halt - for the two parties called
Valankaimantapam and Idankaimantapam. It is further stated
that the pagoda at Conjeevaram has a copper-plate bearing
inscriptions which give the origin of this queer distinction of
castes. Though both parties referred to it, neither of them, it
appears, could produce this important document before the
Zillah Court of Salem or Chittur in the course of litigation .
between the two irreconciliable factions. It appears, however,
that the Kammalas have forged a series of copper plates (dated
1098 SS) in favour of the left-hand in matters social.
6. The following cluster of traditions
the Original Inhabitants of Bharat-Yarsha
from G.
India43:
comes
or
Oppert,
on
The five classes of artisans-the carpenters, goldsmiths, blacksmiths, braziers and masons, well-known in South India as
Panchalar or Kammalar-regard themselves. as the descendants
of the divine artificer Visvakarma, call themselves Visva Brahmans. They assume the title of Acharya, wear the holy thread,
42.
43.
Srinivasa
Aiyangar. op. cit., p. 99.

Oppert, cit., pp. 56-57.
.
op

2007
distribution.
238
and claim the
right
perform religous ceremonies among

marriages. They further declare
that there were originally five Vedas, but that Veda Vyasa,
in order to curtail their privileges, suppressed the fifth and
arranged the other four in such a manner as suited Vyasa and
the false Brahmans whom he headed; that he tried to win the
reigning king over to his side, and, when he did not succeed,
that he instigated the kings murder and placed an illegitimate
son on the throne, who conferred on Vyasa the dignity of
priest of the royal family. According to one version Vyasa
induced the king to issue a proclamation, enacting that all
those who sided with the king should be styled right-hand caste
men, and all those who opposed him left-hand caste men.
Another tradition asserts that Vyasas right hand was cut off
by a bigoted Saiva, who heard Vyasa swear with his uplifted
right hand that Vishnu was superior to Shiva and that he had
never in his Puranas opposed Vishnu.
Others transfer these
events to Kanchipuram, and declare that, when the two opposed
parties brought their complaints before the Pallava king reigning over the Chola country, the Kammalar, Beri Chettis and
their friends were sitting on the left hand of the king and the
Vellalar and their adherents on the right hand.
to
themselves, especially
at
7. The conflict between Balijas and Kammalans has

the following variant, reported by Thurston44:
According to another legend, a Kammalan who had two sons,

by a Balija woman, and the other by his Kammalan wife,
was unjustly slain by a king of Conjeevaram, and was avenged
by his two sons, who killed the king and divided his body.
The Kammalan son took his head and used it as a weighing
pan, while the Balija son made a peddlers carpet out of the
skin, and threads out of the sinews for stringing bangles. A
quarrel arose, because each thought the other had got the
op, cit., Vol. III,

Thurston,
pp. 117-118.

2007
distribution.
generated
one
44.
239
best of the division, and all the other castes joined in, and
took the side either of the Kammalan or the Balija.
8. The Mackenzie Manuscripts contain the following variant,

,probably from the Telugu country, ca. 180045;
The Nagarattar caste who followed merchandise in the country
and Balijawar caste who imported and exported commodities
had a dispute as to precedence, which grew more and more
intense as time went on, and gathered other castes into the
current of the quarrel: the Balijas dragged in the Komatis,
Valluvar, Shanar, Pariar etc. (89 in number) and the Nagarattar
came to include Chettis, Pallis, Chucklers, Kaikolars etc. (14
in all). The Panchalars or smiths who work upon iron, wood
stone, brass, gold and silver, took up the side of the Nagarattar
and desisted from carrying on their trade. Then Chola Raja
unable to decide the dispute declared that both were on an
equal footing. Thereon the Balijawar ceased from importing
the necessary things into the country. Then the Raja took a
muchilika from both, which bound them to adhere to his decision, which was made in the temple of Kamakshi Amman in
. Conjeevaram. The two divisions stood on the right and left
side of the Goddess and received the deitys offerings, one
from the right hand of the priest and the other from his left.
The Raja gave betel and areca nut with his right hand to the
one and with his left hand to the other.
Each faction was expressly ordered not to enter, with their marriage, funeral or
festival processions, the streets allotted to the other. The
castes that were neutral were called Madyastam and included
Brahmans, Patnoolkarar, Kanakkar, Vellalas, Reddies, Totier,

Mara.thas, Telugus, Mussalmans, Lubbais, Rajaputs, Pandarams
(69 in all).
9. Conflicting and mutually exclusive claims for Vaisya status
between the Beri Chettis and the Komatis provide the context for
the following two variants, which inspite of the fact that they are
etc.
45. Srinivasachari, op. cit., p. 85.

2007
distribution.
.-
240
not
classified as explanations of the root paradigm,

their internal evidence, to form part of this group&dquo;:
explicitly
to me,
on
seem
In the time of the Cholas, they (the Beri Chettis) erected a

and Komatis claimed the right to use it, which
was at once denied.
The king attempted to solve the questions
reference
to
by
inscriptions in the Kamakshiamma temple at
Conjeevaram, but without success. He then proposed that the
rivals should submit to the ordeal of carrying water in an unbaked pot. This was agreed to, and the Beri Chettis were alone
successful. The penalty for failure was a fine of Rs. 12,000,
which the Komatis could not pay, and they were therefore obliged to enslave themselves to a Beri Chetti woman, who paid the
fine. Their descendants are still marked men, who depend upon
Beri Chettis for subsistence. The great body of the Komatis
in the country were not parties to the agreement, and they do
not now admit that their inferiority has ever been proved.
According to another version of the legend, during the reign of
the Cholas, a waterpandal was erected by the Beris, and the
Komatis claimed the right to use it. This was refused on the
ground that they were not Vaisyas. The question at issue was
referred to the king, who promised to enquire into it but did
not do so. A Viramushti (caste begger of the Beri Chettis and
Komatis) killed the kings horse and elephant. When questioned as to his reason for so doing, he explained that it was to call
attention to the dispute, and restored the animals to life. The
king then referred both parties to Conjeevaram, where a sasanam
(copper plate grant) was believed to exist. To proeure this
documemt, the decapitation of twelve human beings was necessary, and the Viramushti sacrificed his twelve children. According to the document the Beris were Vaisyas, and the Komatis
But some Beris interceded on
were ordered to be beheaded.
their behalf, and they were pardonned on condition that they
would pay a sum of money. To secure the necessary money,
they became slaves to a rich Beri woman. Ever since the Beris,
waterpandal,
46.
Thurston. op. cit., Vol. I, pp. 214-215.

2007
distribution.
&dquo;
241
.
and their descendants
are
called the
Pillaipuntha Komati,
or
Komati who became a son. For the services which he rendered

the Viramushti is said to have been presented with a sasanam,
and he is treated as a son by the caste men, among whom he
has some influence.
,
10.
Two opposed groups of weavers, the Kaikolars and the

Saliyans, of the Chingleput district in Tamil country, set their conflict in the following traditional termS41 :
trace their
allocation in Conjeevaram to the time of Karikala Chola, whom they date in the 12th century. In the days
of the Nabobs of the Carnatic they seem to have been frequently brought by their self assertion into conflict with the authorities, and a story is current, which appears to bear the impress
of truth, of their persecution by one Salva Naik (said to have
been a Brahman), the result of which was that large bodies of
them were forced to flee from Conjeevaram to Tanjore, Madura
and Tinnevelly, where their representatives are still to be found.
They are violent partisans in the disputes between the right and
They
left hand
castes.
The tradition is, that Karikala Chola divided the people into
these two parties, assigned 98 tribes to each, and appropriating
to their use distinct flags and musical instruments for festivals
and funerals. This distinction, established at first for political
reasons, or to prevent disturbances, has for the last several centuries been the constant source of contention, and has even
given rise to serious tumults. ,
11.
Finally, Thurston records
the following variant of the tradition, said to be current amongst the lowest untouchable groups in
Mysore, the Holeya and the Madigag8 :
At a remote period, Jambava Rishi, a sage, was one day questioned by Isvara (Siva) why the former was habitually late at
the Divine court. The Rishi replied that he had personally to
47.
C. S. Crole, Manual of
48.
Thurston, op. cit., Vol. IV, pp. 315-316.
the Chingleput District, Madras, 1879, p. 33,

2007
distribution.
242
attend to the wants of his children every day, which consequently made his attendance late : whereupon Isvara, pitying the
children, gave the rishi a cow (Kamadhenu), which instantaneously supplied their every want. Once upon a time, another
rishi, named Sankya, visited Jambavas heritage, where he was
hospitably entertained by his son Yugamuni. While taking his
meals, the cream that had been served was so savoury that the
guest tried to induce Jambavas son Yugamuni, to kill the cow
and eat her flesh; and, inspite of the latters refusal, Sankya
killed the animal, and prevailed upon the others to partake of
the meat. On his return from Isvaras court, Jambava found
the inmates of his hermitage eating the sacred cows beef; and
took both Sankya and Yugamuni to Isvaras court for judgement. Instead of entering, the two offendors remained outside,
Sankyarishi stood on the right side and Yugamuni on the left
of the doorway. Isvara seems to have cursed them to become
Chandalas or outcastes. Hence Sankyas descendants are, from
his having stood on the right side, designated right-hand caste
or Holayas; whilst those sprang from Yugamuni and his wife
Matangi are called left-hand caste or Madigas.
While it is not in the nature of these traditional explanations of

the root paradigm to aid the exact location of events in space and
time, and although such location is not my main interest, even a
cursory glance at this collection does suggest a rough historical
guess. It suggests that the formal inauguration of the root paradigm
of right and left hand castes probably occured during the Chola
period, was ratified under the auspices of a Chola king at Kanchipuram, and most likely occured in the context of artisan claims to
Brahman status&dquo;.
With the previous mapping of the spatial and temporal variations
of the paradigm in mind, it is possible to imagine the concrete conditions under which this construct was diffused, activated and concieved, both practically and symbolically, in a variety of different
contexts. Any list of these conditions must include the migration,
49.
Srinivasachari, op. cit., p. 80.

2007
distribution.
243
for
a variety of political and economic reasons, of a number of

groups; their attempts to consolidate or increase their status in new
locales; the relative hospitality or hostility of their new contexts to
these claims; and the differential subsumption of various groups to
regional networks that might impose organizational or ideological
uniformity on their constituent units. This is only meant to suggest
that the occurence of such a &dquo;founding&dquo; event and its subsequent
appearance in a variety of regional variants, are not mysterious or
arbitrary processes, but are governed by movements and structures,
which are open to scholarly analysis, although they are at present
only very incompletely understood. Let me now turn to what these
traditions indicate, in cultural terms, about the role of the paradigm
of right and left hand castes in South Indian history.
The order in which I have presented the traditions corresponds
firstly with the relative rank of the various pairs of opposed groups
in South Indian systems of rank. The content of these traditions
also seems to me to bear out this ordering with respect to the relative importance of these various oppositions in sparking the original
legislation as well as in sustaining the paradigm in any given context.
Also, this ordering, as I will try to sho w, does follow certain tendencies to transformation within the traditions.
In keeping with my general argument in Section II, the predominant theme of these stories is dyadic conflict over a variety of emblematic objects or practices. This conflict between two groups is
followed by the alignment of a large number of other groups with
each of them, which threatens the functioning of society, either as a
sheer threat to civil order or as a threat to the productive or commercial basis of the economy. This dysfunctional state of affairs is
then arbitrated and ratified by a ruling authority so that, though an
undesirable state of affairs, it ceases to be a direct threat to integration or to social functioning. At the heart of this ratification is the
allocation of privileges and monopolies, generally of an emblematic
sort, to each side. The essence of the narrative structure of these
stories is thus dyadic conflict, followed by dual alliance configurations, followed by formal legislation of the two sides into right and
left hand castes.
The crucial counterpoint to the theme of dyadic competition bet

2007
distribution.
244
two groups, followed by the dual division of society itself, is
the theme of the fundamental unity and complementarity of these
two halves of the social hody. This theme finds various kinds of
expression in these various traditions. Spatial symbolism is the
most direct way in which this complementarity is expressed : the
right and left sides of the King or Goddess, and the right and left
sides of the entrance of the Divine Court are examples. In some of
the stories, involving artisan claims to Brahman status, the unity of
the warring halves is expressed in a normative way : thus, the primacy of the Brahman status in a single social system of rank, is
never contested, although there are disputes concerning who the
&dquo;real&dquo; Brahmans are. Similarly, the several references to a copperplate or set of inscriptions, also constitute a set of legal and moral
symbols of the ratified and complementary (and presumably consensually accepted) rights and privileges of the two halves. Even
more interesting as expressions of the basic unity of the two halves,
are the several cases where competing claims to dependancy are
expressed in kinship terms : examples would include the conflicting
claims of Kammalas and Vellalas about being each others jatipillaigal 50 (sons of the caste); the Beri Chetti characterization of the
Komatis as Pillaipuntha Komatis (Komatis who became sons); the
common paternity, in one variant, of the Kammala and Balija sons.
The two most concrete expressions of the unity of the opposed
halves are the symbol of the literal dismemberment of the kings
body by the Balija and Kammala sons and the sharing of the cows
ween
beef by Sankya and Yugamuni.

The last important theme which runs through many of these
stories is their suggestion that the dual classification is a response to
and a product of a situation of weak integration. In Indian cultural terms, there is no more effective and economic way of expressing
Beck, Peasant Society in Konku, op. cit., defines jatipillai as follows : "A
whose
members are characterized as the "children" of some particular subcaste.
group
The term usually indicates a ritual tie between the group and the subcaste in question,
but it can have a derogatory significance pointing to miscegenation" (p. 301). In its
semantic references, therefore, this term neatly combines the memory of possible
prior corporate unity, "illegitimate" fission, and basic kinship between the two groups,
making it a perfect referent for the root paradigm.
50.

2007
distribution.
245
this problem than through the king, who is charged with the proper
maintenance of the social order. Thus, the fact that, in many of
the variants, the king is weak, indecisive, killed, illegitimate, unjust,
dismembered or remiss in his duties, is the clearest indication that
the genesis of these various conflicts, and the subsequent creation of
two distinct social halves, is a product of weak integration.
Having established some of the basic themes that seem to run
through these stories, let me now consider some of the ways in which
they differ from one another. The most important principle by
which these traditions vary from one another is part of my general
argument : it is the principle of context, whereby each particular
contrast expresses the root paradigm in its own way. The traditions
express this variation both thematically and symbolically. The highlevel oppositions, particularly those which involve artisan claims to
Brahman status, since they affect the &dquo;head&dquo; of the social body, are
replete with themes of authority, legitimacy and rule, both priestly
and kingly. The middle-level stories, particularly the ones that
involve commercial groups, do not raise these themes explicitly, but
assume them, and are explicitly preoccupied with competition for
ritual objects, like the waterpandal or technical instruments like the
weighing pan. Also, their natural and contextual preoccupation is
with such commercial themes as fines, debts and loans. At the very
bottom, and consistent with the general position of untouchables in
the ranking system, the predominant theme is a shared crime, the
eating of beef, and its just punishment : these are pervasive elements
in the belief-systems of untouchable groups across India : Thus,
even in terms of the level of the caste hierarchy at which the primary
contrast occurs, the root paradigm of the bifurcated social body
acquires its cultural content on a disaggregated and contextual
basis.
-
IV.
The Case of
Early
Madras
Early colonial settlements in South India do not make a sharp

break with the urban centers of the Vijayanagara period. We have
already noted that during this earlier period, there was an unprecedented sort of urbanization, whose foci were the military strongholds
of the Telugu warriors of this period, and new temple centers, both

2007
distribution.
246
of which became economic centers, attracting artisans and commercial groups from surrounding areas. These cities, like pre-modern
Indian cities in general, owe their growth in population to what one
analyst has pithily described as &dquo;protection, prestige and proximity.&dquo;bt Their attraction, in other words, was provided by the
protection they provided, especially when they were fortified, to the
native population against the insecure civil conditions of much of
the countryside; by the opportunities they offered ambitious groups
and communities, particularly in the middle, commercial levels of
the caste hierarchy to view with each other in the emulation of royal
and courtly lifestyles; and by the proximity that most of them represented to opportunities for the pursuit of economic gain, both by
productive and entrepreneurial activities as well as by commerce.
In these three respects, the early port settlements of the period from
the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries served as &dquo;similar points of
attraction&dquo;. That the European, and particularly the English, port
settlements did not alter this basic urban pattern is not only established by empirical comparison, but makes considcrable deductive
sense, given three basic factors. Firstly, the colonials rapidly involved themselves in indigenous notions of diplomacy and landcontrol. Secondly, they had no especial wish to alter the internal
social or political attangements of the native inhabitants of these
settlements. And thirdly, it was not until the nineteenth century
that they profoundly altered the technological, commercial or social
basis of the indigenous economy.
This broad morphological continuity between the urban centers
of the Vijayanagara and early colonial periods provides the background for the fact that conflicts around the root paradigm of right
and left hand castes seem to be especially violent in these settings52.
51. John Brush, "The Morphology of Indian Cities", in Roy Turner (ed.) Indias
Urban Future, Berkeley, 1962, pp. 64-66.
52. Throughout the colonial period, a host of conflicts around a wide range of
ritual and spatial issues are recorded in cities all over South India : in the neighbourhoods of Porto Novo and Cuddalore in the nineteenth century; at Kanchipuram in the
18th century; at Tegnapatam, Nagapatnam andPulicat at various times in the early
period of British rule; at Dummagudam in the Godaveri District in the second half of
the 19th century; at Sriringam soon after the British won it from Tipu Sultan in the
second half of the 18th century; and in Madras city in the middle of the 17th century
and throughout the 18th century.

2007
distribution.
247
More particularly, these cities shared three characteristics which

made them ideal settings for these conflicts. Firstly, they all presented opportunities to indigenous individuals and groups to compete, within a concentrated space, for the economic and political
advantages offered by them. Secondly, they all represented the
concentration within a bounded space of commercial, artisan and
service castes from a variety of surrounding systems of rank: we
have already noticed that the relatively small spread of each caste
permits relatively consistent ranking with other castes only in a few
contiguous localities. This reduced the possibility of conflicts over
precedence caused by inconsistencies in ranking over a larger area.
These cities raise just such problems of inconsistency and conflict
over precedence. Thirdly, these cities all contained a core authority
which would be both concerned to, as well as, in theory, capable
of, adjudicating conflicts that threatened the economic and civic
order of the city, and which might also be itself involved in such
conflict and susceptible to political and economic pressures. It is
this configuration of factors that underlies the violent, urban manifestations of the root paradigm in the Vijayanagara as well as the
early colonial period, up to the nineteenth century. The Madras
case of 1652-4, provides empirical sustenance for this position.
To understand the extremely unstable state of the East India
Companys operation at Madras in the early 1650s one major fact
must be appreciated. Although it is beyond the scope of this paper
to go into its causes or to examine all its consequences, the single
major problem of the East India Company through the first half of
the seventeenth century, up to the 1660s, was inadequate capital to
invest in its Eastern trade53. This had two interrelated consequences
of great importance: the English servants of the Company had
grossly inadequate salaries, as a consequence of which they were
allowed to trade on their own behalf between ports in the East.
However, to find the capital necessary to take advantage of this
T. Raychaudhari, Jan Company in Coromandel 1605-1690, Gravenhage, 1962
107-108; for a brief analysis of the economic mentality as well as the economic
conditions, in England; which caused this problem of inadequate capital, see K. M.
Chaudhuri, The English East India Company: the Study of an Early Joint-Stock Company 1600-1640, London, 1965, pp. 56-58.
53.
pp.

2007
distribution.
248
concussion, the English factors concentrated
a large part of their

what
cash
little
eapital the Company
misappropriating
energies
to
sustain the official,
sent to India. In order to do this, they had
textile-centered trade of the Company by engaging in barter through
their duba.shes, who in turn used cash lent to them by the English
merchants (or goods sold to them) to bargain with the textileproducing castes for textiles to be sent to England. The basic
mechanism by which the English merchants achieved this misappropriation, was to designate this cash, by illegal loan activities, into
&dquo;debts&dquo; in the accounts of the ofhcial intermediaries. One consequence of this was that the class of native intermediaries survived
and thrived, partly by preying on each other. They key native
figures in the riots of 1652-4, were the following: Rudriga and
Timanna were private agents of Greenhill and Gurney, two of the
English factors. Seshadri and Koneri Chetti, who had started out
as official merchants for the Company, had fallen into debt, and
Ivy (the previous President of the Council of the Company) had
entrusted their duties to a Brahmin named Venkata. Kanappa,
Venkatas brother, was Adigar of the native town, and between the
two of them they wielded considerable power over the native inhabitants of Madras. Rudriga and Timanna, as well the Brahmans,
extorted cash from Seshadari and Koneri Chetti, thereby weakening
their financial credibility and value to the Company. But these
intermediary positions were nonetheless valuable, since they gave
their incumbents the power to indulge in various sorts of profitable intrigue and extortion5!. Thus, Rudriga and Timanna, although imprisoned for their share of the extortion, clearly &dquo;had so
well feathered their nests as to be able to vapour it down in jewels
and gold chains, with a long train of attendants&dquo;. Seshadri and
Koneri Chetti, naturally, were not willing to accept their replacement by Venkata in the conduct of the official business of the Company. The textile-producing castes, as well as the other craft and
service castes, ultimately bore the burden of this economic strain,
on
54. William Foster, The English Factories in India ),

1618-1669
(
13 Vols. Oxford,
1906-1927, Vol. 9, (1651-1654), pp. 243-244. My account of the 1652-54 disputes is
wholy dependant for the facts on this volume of Fosters work.

2007
distribution.
249
in terms of direct extortion, but even sometimes, as in the
of the painters, by being themselves saddled with some of this
downward flow of &dquo;debts&dquo;.
This was thus a sort of dual economy. In theory it consisted of
a flow of capital, generally money rather than goods, from the East
India Company to its representatives in Madras, through the native
intermediaries, down to the textile-producing castes, resulting
in the return of textiles to England. In practice, it consisted of a
complex network of extra-legal transactions centered on the private
trade and profit both of the English factors as well as the native
intermediaries, which was made possible by the misappropriation
of the Companys capital and by a variety of pressures on the
native population. The paucity of the salaries of the factors, the
rudimentary development of the notion of conflict of interest, and
the loose control of the parent company over the activities of its
agents in the East, all supported and sustained the basic contradiction of this economy, which was between the official pursuit of
profit by the East India Company, as a joint economic entity, and
the private pursuit of profit by its agents in the East.
This peculiar and stressfull economic situation had, as its most
serious social consequence, the several riots of 1652-4, whose basis
was the organization of the native population into two factions.
The reason for their genesis was that the native intermediaries
needed followings in order to compete with each other, to display
and trade their respective strengths in their dealings with the
English, and to command the allegiance of both the textile-producing castes as well as of such commercial castes as the Beri Chettis.
The political and economic standing of these intermediaries eventually turned on their capacity to control the labour of the producer
castes, and the commercial outlets of the shopkeepers.
These factions worked in a number of ways. The faction leaders,
the Brahman brothers Venkata and Kanappa on the one hand, and
the Balija merchants Seshadri and Koneri Chetti (with the support
of Rudriga and Timanna) on the other, constantly competed for
the control of various groups of painters and weavers, as well as
of other castes like the Beri Chettis, the Komatis, and the Pallis,
since the allegiances of these groups did not seem to be cleancut or
not
only
case

2007
distribution.
250
continuous.
persuade the
When, for example, Timanna and Rudriga tried
to
put themselves under Seshadris &dquo;protecone

section
of
the weavers consented55. Also, some
tion&dquo;, only
producer castes who had originally migrated to Madras under the
patronage of Seshadri, were not averse to transferring their economic services to the Brahman brothers in return for faire promises.
Conversely, the faction leaders resorted, in the process of recruitment, to the tactic of divide and rule. Venkata, for example,
procured a difference among the Cooly painters, and by some of
his creatures obtained their principallitiesg. The Brahman brothers
were also accused of setting the caingaloone weavers at variance.
In displaying their control of their respective followers, as well as
to put economic pressure on the English to adjudicate disputes to
their mutually exclusive advantages, both the Brahmans as well as
the Balijas occasionally encouraged their followers to &dquo;strike&dquo;, by
leaving town, or to present allegedly popular and spontaneously
produced petitions against their opponents.
The root paradigm of right and left hand castes was, in this context, partly a principle for factional recruitment, partly a powerful
source of affect in the inspiration of often violent confrontation,
and, around the core conflict between Balijas and Beri Chettis,
helped to provide a cultural frame within which this factionalization could take place. The application of the root paradigm of
right and left hand castes to this particular conflict, as well as to
other contrasted pairs, such as Komatis and Beri Chettis, and Pallis
and Painters, seems to have been the achievement of the Brahman
brothers. They joined with the Beri Chettis and &dquo;made the distinction of right and left hand which hath been noe small disturbance
in the towne&dquo;l, and were also accused of having framed &dquo;a paper
which distinguished the Right and Left Hand Parties and endeavoured thereby the bring the Chittees to an unprecedented height
of honour58.
weavers to
55. Ibid. p. 258.

56. Ibid. p. 238.
57. Ibid. p. 240.
58. H. D. Love, Vestiges of Old Madras, 3 Vols., 1913, Vol. I, p. 122.

2007
distribution.
251
in which the root paradigm of right and left hand castes
provided strong affective impetus to action is best seen in its
expression in conflicts over spatial questions. Because Madras had
not yet completed its process of growth and spatial and residential
definition, and because of the migration of relatively widespread
groups to early Madras, space provided the perfect medium in which
to give concrete symbolic expression to factional conflict conceived
in terms of the root paradigm. This was so in three respects. In
early Madras, as in indigenous Indian cities in general, caste groups
tended to live in relatively segregated areas, and thus it was not
difficult for factions to express their conflict through spatial monopolies and definitions. A documentary award of 1652, allotting
particular streets to the right and left hand sides, both for residential and ritual/festive purposes, seems to have been supported and
defended by leaders of both sides, occasionally altered or manipulated, and even suppressed and redisplayed, depending on the particular juncture in the factional conflict. Existing spatial definitions
were extended to include new potential participants into the factional dispute, probably on the basis of prior regional expressions
of the root paradigm: &dquo;a difference occuring between the painters
and a Palli, at Greenhills order the Brahmans procured a written
agreement that the pallewaru should go with their weddings into
any streets, only reserving the Committee (Komati) Streests for the
The
sense
a
Belgewars honour&dquo;59.
Secondly, particular spatial divisions, once established for residential or ritual purposes, were a perfect medium for confrontation
and provocatlon in the course of factional conflict. When, at one
stage of the conflict, the Brahman brothers were opposed to the
Beri Chettis, at the wedding of their accountant, they &dquo;tried to
bring a palankeene into the Berewars Streete&dquo;60, and the resistance
of the Chettis caused some of them to be imprisoned. When
Seshadri Chetti succeeded in getting the mooree weavers on his
side but failed to win over the caingaloone weavers, he &dquo;made a
59.
60.
Foster,
op.
cit., p. 59.
Ibid. pp. 239-240.

2007
distribution.
252
broyle&dquo; with causing the mooree weavers to pass with burials

through the west gate61.
Thirdly, space provided at least some of the faction leaders with
a symbolic means of expressing their affiliations with some of their
supporters, and of bargaining with this symbol: when he had a
quarrel with the painters, Venkata said he would no longer remain
in their street, and joined the Beri Chettis only to forsake them
again when it appeared more profitable to support the painters.
Given the fact, therefore, that spatial considerations were in these
many respects the link between the contextual factionalism of
Madras at this time, and the root paradigm of right and left hand
castes, it is not surpprising that the English considered spatial ordinances to be the best method of dealing with these disturbances.
Neither is it surprising, however, that these measures rarely succeeded.
But it is important to note that the English were, in part, incapable of controlling the conflict, because they were themselves internally divided on a factional basis, along lines which were both
isomorphic with, and connected to, those which divided the native
population. President Baker appears to have been a supporter of
the Brahman brothers partly out of weakness, and partly out of
ignorance of the extent of their own culpability. Leigh, Breenhill,

Gurney and their supporters seem to have been linked to the conflict in a number of complex, but ultimately commercial, ways.
This English incapacity to erase the conflict made Madras in this
period an unstable civil entity, characterized by weak integration.
In section III, I noted that the indigenous traditions concerning
the root paradigm of right and left hand castes embedded their
origin in situations of poor integration, expressed in various images
of truncated kingship. It is interesting to note, therefore, that in
a petition submitted to the East India Company by &dquo;the Right Hand
Parties&dquo;, they bemoan the fact that, though formerly &dquo;all differences
were ended by the Governors of this place&dquo;, their most recent conflicts had not been satisfactorily adjudicated, and &dquo;by all round
61.
Ibid. p. 258.

2007
distribution.
253
Government6 2.
Let me now restate my argument concerning the relationship of
the root paradigm of right and left hand castes to the economic
and social context of Madras in 1652-4. The social and economic
system of Madras in this period was under severe strain, manifested
in factional developments. To the extent that this factionalization
was built around the oppositions between castes from diverse local
systems that had conceived of their local conflicts in terms of the
root paradigm (viz. Balijas and Beri Chettis; Komatis and Beri
Chettis; Pallis and Painters etc.), the cultural schema of right and
left hand castes seems to have been activated. It worked in two
ways. On the cognitive level, it served to define, in a neat dual
opposition, a highly complex (and presumably cognitively strenuous) network of competitors and alliances. On the affective level,
it was given expression in highly specific (though unstable) spatial
privileges and monopolies. As symbols, these spatial definitions
served to express the self-definition, solidarity and prestige of each
side. The affect inspired by this aspect of the root paradigm was
at the existential core of the violence which characterized the situation. Thus we have a seeming paradox : in responding to a political and economic situation that harbours dangers of disintegration,
the
powerful affective and cognitive power of the root paradigm

provides cultural meaning and order. But in fulfilling this cognitive and affective task, it inspires violent behavior which threatens
civil order.
Although it is beyond the scope of this paper to provide a detailed examination of the evidence from other urban situations in
the colonial period, these cases do seem to fit my general argument.
In general, a large number of these conflicts appear to have commercial conflict between indigenous commercial groups at their
core : this is true of Madras, Pulicat, Tegnapatnam and Nagapatnam in the eighteenth century and Chinna Ganjam in the nineteenth cent~y.g3 The Madras cases from the eighteenth century
62.
Love,
op.
cit., Vol. I, pp. 122-123.

2007
distribution.
254
merit notice, with respect to a few striking points.&dquo;
These later cases provide further evidence that, in urban situations, the root paradigm becomes an overall cultural schema which
is applied to a host of situational and traditional oppositions, which
might have had only limited, pre-urban meaning for some groups.
In a Madras conflict between &dquo;right and left handed&dquo; castes in
1707, the weavers and oilmen claimed to be assigned to the two
sides by the English. The British seem also to have to some extent
realized the locality-bound nature of the contrastive components
of the root paradigm, for, in one case, they attempted to import
washermen from Vizagapatnam to replace the ones at Madras who
seemed susceptible to factionalization along the lines of the root
paradigm. Within the cultural scheme of right and left hand castes,
moreover, we get additional evidence of the manipulations of the
indigenous intermediary groups, their attempts to recruit lower
groups into their factions, and the strikes and appearance of unionization that this sometimes gave.
The Madras cases from the eighteenth century also give us some
insight into the nature of the symbols and privileges over which
conflict around the root paradigm seems to arise. These vary, but
seem to fall into three major categories.
Firstly, as in the case of
early Madras, conflicts between the two groups arise over their
respective rights to space, particularly for weddings and funeral processions. Secondly conflicts arise over their respective rights to
privileged symbols and practices, such as the right to wear red
ribbons and build houses with flat roofs, to use the &dquo;tom-tom,
spoon and bell&dquo;, to display flags of various colours and with various emblems.
Thirdly, conflicts arise over their respective rights
to the performance of particular ritual activities in particular
temples. This variation in the symbolic focus of conflicts appears
to be linked to a number of factors, such as the particular composi-
do, however,
63.
A
The last of these cases, from R. E. Frykenberg, Guntur District 1788-1848:

and Central Authority in South India, Oxford, 1965, pp.
history of Local Influence
113-115, seems to present a situation similar to that of early Madras, particularly with
regard to the role of native intermediaries of the English administration.
64. Love, op. cit., Vol. II, p. 29; my discussion of the disputes in 18th century
Madras relies on Love for the facts.

2007
distribution.
255
tion and
pre-urban affiliations of the groups involved in any partiepisode; the relative stability and identity of particular urban
contexts, which varies with the expansion of cities into previously
rural areas, with new construction, particularly of temples, and of
demolition caused by battle; the relative endurance or ephemerality of particular alignments of groups classified under the root
paradigm; the relative extension of the root paradigm beyond the
cular
core
conflict between two groups
or
individuals
to encompass
other
groups.
from a Madras case of 1790, we are given a powerful

clue about the origin of the symbols around which these disputes
occurred. We are told that the right and left hand castes quarrelled
about their respective rights to the public display of flags with &dquo;a
figure of a monkey and a Kite&dquo; and those with the figure of a
&dquo;peacock and a bull&dquo;85. These symbols, as well as numerous privileges, some of which have already been mentioned, although
extremely difficult to map precisely in terms of particular groups,
times and places, are definitely taken from a cultural pool of
symbols, of an emblematic sort prevalent in South India, and
attached to jatis on a local, endogamous basis&dquo;. In many cases,
the possession of these symbols goes back to the medieval period,
when mobile mercantile and industrial communities, such as artisans, weavers, merchants, oilmongers and barbers craved and received social honours, in the form of royally conferred insignia such
as palanquins, parasols and flags with various emblems. These
emblematic signs and privileges were often connected with the
South Indian temple: examples would be the privilege, granted to
particular communities, of sounding a conch, dispensing sacred
water etc. There were also honours connected with a South Indian
ritual specialty, the &dquo;car&dquo; festival, where a large replica of the
Temple, surrounded by the populace, traverses a fixed processional
route around the temple, during which time particular groups were
given the privilege of performing some ritual act, emblematic of
Finally,
65. Ibid. Vol. III, p. 387.

66. For lists of such emblems, see Mackenzie, op. cit., pp. 343-346 and Manual of
the Administration of the Madras Presidency, op. cit., Vol. III, p. 1036-1037.

2007
distribution.
256
their distinctive
housebuilding
identity. Similarly, special modes of marriage,

were also royally granted honours that served a
etc.
powerful emblematic function for these communities&dquo;. These

royally conferred emblems, given to ascendant medieval communities, could have provided the cultural model for the systematic
attachment of such symbols of prestige and identity, proudly and
monopolistically conceived, to the numerous endogamous jatis
created by the fission which has characterized South Indian caste
systems. In contemporary Andhra Pradesh, the Mala and the
Madiga, the two lowest untouchable groups which schematize their
conflict in terms of the root paradigm, compete over a large number
of such privileges, and the language and imagery in which they
express this conflict suggests strongly that, in this respect, they have
modelled themselves on the mobile middle-level communities of the

medieval periods8. There is also evidence that, in addition to such
diachronic p~rcolation of these models to the lower castes, there
was also synchronic application of the model in the Vijayanagara
period, when such symbolic grants at royal centers were used as
levers and precedents by castes at local centers, who wished as well
to be royally honoured and demarcated in the same way as their
metropolitan fellowsg9. It is this model of prestige accumulation,
in combination with the sheerly classificatory value of these symbolic objects and privileges, given the corporate fission characteristic
of South India, which gave them their enormous affective power.
In any case, whether these emblematic symbols and privileges were
products of antecedent rural contexts or whether they were symbols
created in and for developing urban situations (new streets, new
temples etc.), they provided a set of symbols of group identity and
prestige which were natural foci for the conflict of right and left
hand castes.
We can now explain one of the most striking aspects of the
history, particularly in urban contexts, of disputes involving the
Sundaram, op. cit., p. 29, pp. 35-36, p. 38,
Mahalingam, op. cit., pp. 244-250.
68. Reddy, op. cit., pp. 175-178.
69. Mahalingam, op. cit., p. 245-248.
67.
op.
cit.,
p.
65,
p.
73,
p.
87; Srinivasachari,
p. 80,

2007
distribution.
257
paradigm of right and left hand castes: namely why does it

manifest itself in civil disorder and enormous hostility over seemingly trivial issues such as coloured flags, procession routes etc.?
The answer is that, as emblems which represent the prestige, solidarity and unity of the groups that constitute in any context, the
right or left side of the social body, they are the key objects or
activities around which group identity must express itself. But
these emblematic symbols do not have a simply cognitive and classificatory function. They also , inspire powerful, even violent sentiments. This is partly because of the asymmetry implicit in the metaphor of the bifurcated social body; partly because the very contingency and contextuality of the contents of the paradigm in any given
case must itself have increased the need for enduring symbols of
solidarity and prestige; and lastly because of the stresses, whether
these be economic, political or social which tend to be present in the
situations of weak social integration that call forth the root paradigm.
Thus, like many symbols the ones which are the precipitating causes
of disputes between the two halves of the social body in any given
context, may seem arcane or trivial. But the stresses and oppositions
of the situations which called them forth, the affective and classificatory centrality they held in their original local environments, and
the powerful metaphor of the divided social body which is their
frame-work and justification, are the opposite of trivial. It is thus
hardly surprising that these symbols focus pride, inspire deep sentiment and provoke violent action.
root
V Conclusion
I have tried to demonstrate that there is no single and substantive

explanation for the divisiom of many of the constituent groups of
South Indian society, between the eleventh and the nineteenth
centuries into Right and Left Hand Groups. The dual classification is, rather, a root paradigm, whose function has been to provide
a cultural tool for the integration of South Indian society and
those structure is essentially contextual and contrastive. As such
it has had a wide range of regional expressions, in a large variety
of sii u ations characterized by anomaly, conflict or schism. Thi
.

2007
distribution.
258
regional and contextual variation has generated a wise range of

indigenous explanations of the root paradigm, traditions that themselves embed the paradigm in the characteristic concerns of particular regional systems and of particular levels in the caste hierarchy.
The particular case on whic I concentrated, that of early Madras,
exemplifies, I believe, the type of urban situation in which the root
paradigm acquired its most violent contextual expressions. The
factors which I- tried to demonstrate as underlying this urban phase
in the history of the root paradigm are: the concentration within
the single space of commercial and service castes from dispersed (and
possibly inconsistent) local ranking systems. This would both make
the root paradigm, because of its putatively universal character, a
natural method of imposing cognitive order, but could also make
it the focus of conflict, since although it is universal, consistent
and exhaustive in theory, it is in fact only local, contextual and
fragmentary in practice. Secondly, these cities represented opportunities for trading wealth for prestige and vice versa to indigenous
eleites, who could then organise their conflicts in terms of the root
paradigm. Lastly these cities contained a core authority capable,
in theory, of adjudicating conflict and arbitrating competing claims
to status, but in practice possibly susceptible, to involvement in
these disputes and to pressures from the conflicting parties.
The symbolic objects and privileges around which these conflicts
express themselves come from a pool of emblematic symbols which
has elaborate currency only in South India. I also suggested that
these symbols may have had a source in the South Indian mobility
movements of the medieval period, which demanded and consolidated their status in terms of these symbols, thereby providing a
model of prestige-accumulation for other castes. That conflicts
around the root paradigm should coalesce around these symbols
brings the argument full circle, for, as in the case of the artisans,
it is precisely these mobility movements that may have provided
the original impetus for the legislation of the root paradigm.
As for the decline and gradual disappearance of the root paradigm in the second half of the nineteenth and the twentieth centuries,
I would suggest the following speculations about the developments
of this period which rendered the root paradigm obsolete. Firstly,

2007
distribution.
259
there
were alterations in the social and technological basis of the

economy, and particularly in the corporate identity of craft and
commercial groups, which could have blurred the regional identifications on which these conflicts were based. Secondly, new idioms
for the pursuit of mobility., such as conversion to Christianity, and
new institutional arenas for its pursuit, such as higher education,
particularly for the lower and middle level castes, probably affected
the capacity of the root paradigm to express conflicts engendered
by these changes. Lastly, new idioms and arenas for the expression, organization aud adjudication of conflict, such as these represented by the introduction of Western law and political forms,
possibly began to usurp this central function of the root paradigm.

2007
distribution.

Appadurai - Right and Left Hand Castes in South India

Transféré par

Informations du document

Copyright

Formats disponibles

Partager ce document

Partager ou intégrer le document

Options de partage

Avez-vous trouvé ce document utile ?

Ce contenu est-il inapproprié ?

Droits d'auteur :

Formats disponibles

Appadurai - Right and Left Hand Castes in South India

Transféré par

Droits d'auteur :

Formats disponibles

Indian Economic &

Right and Left Hand Castes in South India

Downloaded from http://ier.sagepub.com at SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIV on February 10,

RIGHT AND LEFT HAND CASTES IN SOUTH INDIA*

Downloaded from http://ier.sagepub.com at SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIV on February 10,

particular piece or type of evidence. My own explanatian is

M. Srinivasa Aiyangar, Tamil Studies, Madras, 1914, p. 95.

Downloaded from http://ier.sagepub.com at SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIV on February 10,

3. G. Oppert, On the Original Inhabitants of Bharatvarsha, Westminster and Leipzig,

Downloaded from http://ier.sagepub.com at SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIV on February 10,

Downloaded from http://ier.sagepub.com at SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIV on February 10,

Downloaded from http://ier.sagepub.com at SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIV on February 10,

template according to which

guidelines for conduct : they pass beyond these domains to an

Downloaded from http://ier.sagepub.com at SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIV on February 10,

By virtue of its potentiality of occurence in a certain context a

paradigmatic relations with

all the units which

also occur in the same context (whether they contrast or are in

Downloaded from http://ier.sagepub.com at SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIV on February 10,

Right and Left in

Although some elements of the root paradigm go back as far as

Saletore, Social and Political Life in the Vijayanagara Empire, Madras,

1934, Vol. II,

Srinivasa Aiyangar, op. cit., Ch, V passim and especially p. 112.

Downloaded from http://ier.sagepub.com at SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIV on February 10,

The former, recruited chiefly from the Vedan, Nattaman,

likely however, that this was an application of the root

19. S. Paranavitana, "Polonnaruva Inscription of Vijayabahu I", Epigraphia Indica,

Downloaded from http://ier.sagepub.com at SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIV on February 10,

cit., Ch. III, passim but

(Footnote 22 contd. on page 226)

Downloaded from http://ier.sagepub.com at SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIV on February 10,

(Footnote 22 contd. from page 225)

Downloaded from http://ier.sagepub.com at SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIV on February 10,

Downloaded from http://ier.sagepub.com at SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIV on February 10,

Downloaded from http://ier.sagepub.com at SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIV on February 10,

Downloaded from http://ier.sagepub.com at SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIV on February 10,

Rice op. cit., p. 223.

Downloaded from http://ier.sagepub.com at SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIV on February 10,

sitions between commercial groups, expressed through the root

at the lowest levels of the caste hierarchy, we have two

Downloaded from http://ier.sagepub.com at SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIV on February 10,

cit., Vol. IV, pp. 315-316; Reddy,

Downloaded from http://ier.sagepub.com at SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIV on February 10,

Indigenous explanations of the origin and meaning of the root

regional sources and boundaries of these traditions are

1. The following variant is an extract from a book put out by the

Kearns, op. cit., pp. 353-354.

Downloaded from http://ier.sagepub.com at SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIV on February 10,

king was murdered while out hunting, and the

Downloaded from http://ier.sagepub.com at SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIV on February 10,

2. From Thurston, we have the following variant, which refers

While, in order to kill the demons (that disturbed) the sacrifices

made to take our seats on the back-side of the car

39. Thurston, op. cit., Vol. III, p. 117.

for 1913, Madras, 1913,

Downloaded from http://ier.sagepub.com at SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIV on February 10,

a compact, in the 40th year of the king, that

Downloaded from http://ier.sagepub.com at SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIV on February 10,

tinction and definition of what rights and privileges were proper

5. The following extract

historical analysis of the

Another old tradition of equal historical value says that the