i6o 



the needful ornament. There is no special ceremony 

 followed at the time a g-irl puts on her chank necklet for 

 the first time. As a rule the men of the family attach 

 the rings to the cord. 



This custom seems to be losing ground quickly, for 

 while many people knew of it further south in Malabar, I 

 never saw this ornament in use in North Malabar. Many 

 Cherumans were seen between Cannanore and Mount 

 Dilly, but all said few use it now, preferring glass or imi- 

 tation coral beads for their necklets. There is no doubt 

 that formerly the custom was widely spread among 

 the servile population of Kerala, and as these people's 

 religious beliefs consist almost solely of the dread of 

 malignant spirits, it is extremely probable that originally 

 the necklet was used as an amulet against demons and 

 the evil eye. though now it is more generally considered 

 as a sept badge. The custom of long-settled Malayali 

 immigrants (Mukuvans, etc.) on the South Canara 

 coast, of putting similar necklaces round their children's 

 necks already referred to on p. 153, appears to furnish 

 strone corroboration of this conclusion. 



In Benoal a few ornamental fing^er rino^s are now made, 

 carved in simple patterns and highly polished. These 

 are not in great dem.and and I am uncertain as to whether 

 they arc worn as ornaments or as amulets. At Kila- 

 karai a few roughly decorated thin finger-rings to be 

 used as amulets are also produced, in addition to the 

 roughly made, thick and clumsy sections cut from Strom- 

 bus shells. 



The first mention of the use of discs cut from chank- 

 shells to ornament caps and headdresses occurs in 

 Tavernier's ' Indian Travels'. In 1666 he was in Dacca 

 and records the fact that Bhutan merchants took home 

 quantities of "round and square pieces (of shell) of 

 the size of our 15 sol coins." He also states that "all 

 the people of the north, men, women, girls and boys, 

 suspend small pieces of shell both round and square from 

 their hair and ears ". 



Whether the trade is as large as in former days, I 

 cannot say. It is now of small monetary value : the 

 Thibetans, Bhuteas, Nagas and some wild tribes on the 

 Chinese border seem to be the only people who now 



