Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies - DUBOIS, Abbé Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies, Dubois | Page 111

THE PAKANATTIS 71 it are as low as their origin, and their minds as uncultivated as their manners. Their extreme uncouthness may, perhaps, account for the low estimation in which they composing are held. In Mysore, and in the north-west of the Carnatic, another nomads is to be met with, known as Pakanattis. They speak Telugu, and originally formed part of the caste of Gollavarus, or shepherds, and were agriculturists. They took to their present kind of life about a hundred and fifty years ago, and like it so much that it would be impossible to persuade them to change it for any regular occupation. The cause of their secession from the rest of their caste was that one of their headmen was grievously insulted by the governor of the province in which they lived. As they never received any redress at all commensurate with the affront, they determined to avenge themselves by deserting their homes in a body, and thus bringing all the agricul- tural work of the country to a standstill. From that time to this they have never attempted to return to their former mode of life, but are always wandering from place to place without settling anywhere. Some of their headmen, with whom I have conversed, have told me that they number about two thousand families, half of whom wander through the Telugu country and the rest through Mysore. The headmen meet from time to time to settle the differences which frequently arise amongst the members. However, the Pakanattis are the quietest and best behaved of all the wandering tribes. They are kept in excellent order and though they always go about in bands, theft and pillage are unknown amongst them, and if any of them are found guilty of either, they are severely punished by the rest. They are all most miserably poor the better off possess a few buffaloes and cows, the milk of which they sell, but caste of ; ; number of them are professional herbalists. collect plants, roots, and other things in the different the greater They countries that they wander through, such as are used for medicine or dyes, or for salves, &c, for horses and cattle. These they sell in the bazaars, and the little money that they thus earn helps them considerably. They supplement their livelihood by hunting, fishing, begging, and charlatanry. All these tribes live entirely isolated from the rest of