34 OKHAMANDAL MARINE ZOOLOGY PART IT 



Kurmis of Bengal, and the nomad Koravas who wander throughout the peninsular 

 part of India, both have an exogamous sept or gotra of which the totem is the chank- 

 shell. Among the Kurmis this sept is called Sankhawar ; its members are prohibited 

 from wearing ornaments made from chank-shells. With the Koravas it is termed 

 Samudrala, signifying the sea, and people of this sept may not use the chank in any way. 

 Higher than these are the Kalinjis, an Uriya agricultural caste, and the Kurubas, a caste 

 of shepherds and weavers widely spread throughout the Madras Presidency. Both 

 castes comprise septs named after the chank, in the case of the Kalinjis, Sankho, in that 

 of the Kurubas, Sankhu. I am not aware whether the septs among the former caste 

 have now totemistic value, or if it has become merely a name, a gotra name ; in any 

 case it may be taken as certain that in the pre-Hinduised condition, the name of the gotra 

 was of real totemistic value. Bhago (tiger) and nago (cobra) are names of two other 

 gotras of obviously totemistic origin. With the Kurubas, the sept is undoubtedly 

 exogamous and its totemistic character certain. 



Another caste or sub-caste showing by the names of its sections a probable totemistic 

 origin is that of the Koppala or Toththala, a sub-division of the Velamas, a caste of 

 agriculturists in the Vizagapatam district. Among their sections are some named 

 Naga (cobra), Sankha (chank), Tulasi (basil or tulsi) and Tableu (tortoise). At the present 

 day these divisions although apparently of totemistic origin, have no significance so 

 far as marriage is concerned. (Thurston, VII, p. 340.) 



(h) EVIL-EYE SUPERSTITIONS. 



Belief in the reality of the malign results which ensue from being overlooked by the 

 evil-eye is frequently present in an acute form in the Madras Presidency. It is specially 

 dreaded in the case of houses under construction and in respect to valued cattle. Every- 

 where in Tamil districts the custom prevails more or less extensively of seeking protection 

 for draft bullocks by tying a small chank-shell upon the forehead of such as are in 

 good condition or in any way specially valuable or beautiful in their owner's eyes. Of 

 late years the custom has tended to fall into abeyance in certain districts. As is to be 

 expected the people of country villages cling to it with greater tenacity than those in 

 towns. Many, however, decorate their bulls in this way without thought of it as an 

 amulet against evil to them it is merely an old custom to be followed, or else they put 

 it on their favourite animals as an ornament to mark the pride they have in them. 

 Again, some, from a peculiar shyness often met when discussing such matters with the 

 peasantry, deny that the chank-shell is used as an amulet although in reality it may be 

 so used by them. 



In the southern Deccan the custom appears to be falling more quickly into abeyance 

 than in Tamil districts. The Collector of Kurnul informs me that though the practice 

 survives in parts of Dhone, Kumbum, Koilkuntla and Sirvel taluks of tying a chank 



