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