220 



MANUAL OF THE NILAGIRI DISTRICT. 



CHAP. IX, 

 PART V. 



Ethnology. 



Dress. 



Castes or 

 divisions 

 — Wddeas. 



tlieir extreme thinness ; one meets with very few who can be 

 called stout. 



The men wear the lincjuti, and both sexes a large unbleached 

 cloth, which is stiffened to render it water-tight and warm to an 

 extent which makes it very ungraceful. It is loosely wrapped 

 round them ; so loosely that as a Badaga works in the fields, 

 he is obliged to stop between every few strokes of his hoe 

 to gather up his cloth and throw one end over his shoulder. 

 They wear turbans of the same cloth with an end hanging 

 behind. Their ornaments consist of brass, iron, or filagree 

 silver earrings, necklaces, bracelets, and armlets ; they also wear 

 nose-rings. The men frequently carry a silver box for opium 

 or any little treasure they may happen to possess, such as a 

 charm, a title-deed, or paper. The women are tattooed in rows 

 of dots about the chest and four marks thus '° on the forehead. 



They recognize eighteen different castes or sects ; of the seven 

 highest each one has a little history of its own. The first, called 

 the Wodeas, a branch of the reigning family of Mysore, are 

 proud and aristocratic. They refuse to carry burdens and 

 disdain to work for Europeans, and in consequence are very 

 poor. They possess only five villages. The AVodeas will not 

 eat with the other castes, and consider themselves as Gurus 

 (priests or rather bishops), for they only perform certain ceremo- 

 nies. They wear the lingam. 



The following extracts from Mr. Eice's Manual of Mysore and 

 Coorg throw some light on the previous history of the Wodeas. 

 " Odeyar, Wodeyar,^' or Wadeyar, he says, "is the plural and 

 honorific form of Odeya, a Kannada word meaning lord, master. 

 Wilks states that it indicated at the period of which we are 

 writing (1399-1422) the governor of a small district, generally of 

 33 villages. Vader, a modification of the word, is the title of 

 respect by which Jangama (Lingayat) priests are addressed." 



The first Raja who took the title was called Vijaya Wodeyar ; 

 he reigned in 1399-1422. In 1578-1617, however, his descendant 

 Kdja Wodeyar extended the possessions of his family over all 

 the south of the present Mysore district and captured several 

 places towards the north from Yagadesra Rdya. He expelled 

 the Wodea raja from Oomatur, south-west of Mysore, who fled 

 to the Nilagiris then probably under his authority. " His rule was 

 remarkable for the rigor and severity which he exercised towards 

 the subordinate Wodeyars and his indulgence towards the ryots. 

 The Wodeyars were generally dispossessed and kept in confine- 

 ment at the seat of government" (Wilks' Mysore). This Raja 

 Wodeyar had also abandoned the religion of the Jungum, and had 

 become a Vishnuvite. Here we seem to have the reason for the 



