MYSORE, CANARA, AND MALABAR. 
303 
they are Rajputs , and in their families retain the Hindusidny Ian- CHAPTER 
guage, as having originally come from the country which the Mus- 
sulmans call Agimere. Like all the persons of an unmixed breed July 8,&c. 
from that country, they pretend to be of the Kshatriya cast ; but 
this high rank is denied by the Brahmans to even the highest of 
the Rajputs, those whose profession is agriculture and arms, and 
who, the Brahmans, say, are merely the highest class of the Sadr as, 
like the Ndirs of Malabar, or Kdyastas of Bengal. These shoe- 
makers are not allowed to eat nor to intermarry with the Chitra - 
leant, nor with the weavers, who come from the same country ; and 
much less with the Rajputs properly so called, who are by cast 
the cultivators and defenders of the soil. They came into this 
country with Cossim Khcin, the general of Aurungzebe, and settled 
chiefly here and at Sira. They follow no other profession than that 
of making shoes. The proper Gurus of this cast are the Vairagis, 
who read to them, and receive their charity. The Panchdnga, or 
astrologer, attends their marriages, and gives them a kind of Upa - 
desa. None of them can read. They are worshippers of Vishnu, and 
do not pray nor offer sacrifices to the Saktis, nor to Dharma Raja ; 
but contribute their share of the expense at the sacrifices, and fes- 
tivals, which the village as a public body performs in honour of 
these gods. They are allowed to eat mutton and fish, but not to 
drink spirituous liquors. They are allowed to marry several wives, 
and confine them after the custom of their own country. They have 
chiefs, who determine matters relating to cast; but their office is 
not hereditary : they are elected in an assembly of the people. 
The Telega Uparu are a tribe of Telinga origin, as their name ex- Customs of 
presses; and retain in their families the language of their original 
country. They can give no account of the time when they came 
to Colar. Their proper occupation is the building of mud walls, 
especially those of forts ; but some of them are farmers, and some 
farmers servants, or Batigaru ; they act also as porters. They have 
hereditary chiefs called Ijyamana, who possess the usual jurisdiction. 
