OF BHARATAVARSA OR INDfA. 
135 
The name of the Ballalas is well known by the dynas^-y 
which brougM it into prominence, and to which I have 
alluded previously. 
rice field. The Telugu and Kanarese expressions denote high land and low- 
land. The high land for want of irrigation produces generally poorer crops 
than the well-irrigated low land. Vellam in Tamil, Vellnra in Telugu, and 
Bolla in Tulu denote as in the other Dra vidian languages JloodanA inundation. 
No inundation can be without water, and in Mala}'alam Vdlam seems to 
mean also water, but this appears not to be the case in Tamil and Telugu. 
Mr. Nelson has in his laborious Manual of Madura first proposed to derive 
Vellanmai from ve.Uam and dnmai. He says in Part II, p. 31 : " The Tamil 
" mode of spelling the word VeUalan is Oevernsa rr m esr ; and as Vellanmei, 
'^Qsueirefriresisr'oiDLD, is the word commonly used to express the act of 
" cultivating (strictly, ruling or managing irrigation), it is but natural to 
" infer that VeUalan means a cultivator or irrigator of rice fields, rather 
"than a man of a particular tribe or country." This derivation has been 
accepted by some authors, generally without giving Mr. Nelson credit for 
it ; but it is not known to the Tamil pandits whom I have consulted, and is 
repudiated by them. Dr. Gundert, who gives in his Malaijdlam and English 
Dictionary water as a meaning of vellam, does not connect it with the word 
vellanmai which he places under vellan, a true man. Vellanmai is also in 
Dr. Winslow's Tamil and English Dictionary not derived from vellam am 
inundation, a flood, a deluge, a strong current." It cannot be denied that 
it is grammatically possible to derive vellanmai from veUam and anmai, but 
as vellanmai in this sense denotes only wet cultivation or irrigation, and 
the Vellalan, as every agriculturist uses both dry and wet cultivation, 
this name would be inappropriate if applied to him. Curiouslj' enough 
dry cultivation prevails, if I am not wrongly informed, in the wet districts 
on the West Coast of South India where, owing to the heaviness of the rain, 
no tank irrigation is necessary. The derivation from Pallan and dim as 
the master of the PajLlar or agricultm-al labourers seems simpler and 
more preferable. My conjecture is supported by the Tamil and Malayalam 
term Vclldtti, a slave girl, a female servant. The meaning of this expression 
has not been explained so far as my knowledge goes, but is clear, if it is con- 
sidered to denote a PaUa woman, a woman of the servile class (^uerr etr ■\- 
^iLiSiS). In this particular instance dtti signifies woman in general, as 
dl does also occasionally mean servant or slave. • Atti occurs in a similar, 
though more respectable, sense in manaiydtti, housewife, and pentdtti, 
wife. The feminine of Velldlan is Velldlacci. The truth of the saying 
Usus tyrannus manifests itself peculiarly in this case. I may add that 
even my derivation of Vellanmai contains the word drtmai as formed from 
al + mai. 
The Purana of Tirukalukunram near Chingleput, also known as Fakei- 
firtham, mentions 24 classes of Vellalar. They are generally divided in 
three great sections in Gangakulatar, Indrakulatar, and Mankulatar. Of the 
63 Alvar 13 are Vellalar. Sir. Nelson has in his Manual on pp. 27-37 
collected a great deal of information about them. Compare also " Notes 
