422 A JOURNEY FROM MADRAS THROUGH 
CHAPTER formerly all the Sadru were Jainu ; but that his ancestors, disliking 
t ^ iat re % ion > betook themselves to worship Vishnu. They have 
Aug. 1—6. not adopted the worship of the Saktis, of Dharma Raja , nor of the 
Virika. 
Customs of The Ladas , or Ladaru , have a language quite different from all 
the others that are spoken south of the Krishna river. This lan- 
guage they call Chaurasi ; and say, that it is spoken at a city called 
Caranza, which is near the river Godavari In fact, it is a dialect of 
that spoken near Benares , to which the others have much less resem- 
blance. The Ladaru say, that, in consequence of a famine in their 
own country, about five hundred years ago, they came to this neigh- 
bourhood. They serve as cavalry ; trade, especially in horses ; and 
farm lands, but never cultivate them with their own hands. They 
assume the title o f Kshatry as of the family of the sun, and wear a 
string like the Brahmans. They will not intermarry with the Raj- 
puts, or other pretenders to a royal descent ; but they ar.e treated 
by the Brahmans merely as Sudras, and in fact seem to be the 
highest rank of Sudras in their native country, like the Kay ash - 
thus of Bengal, or the Kerit Nairs of Maly ala. They are of 14 
different families, like the Gotrams of the Brahmans ; and some 
are followers of the Siva Brahmans , and some of the Sri Vaishnavam : 
but this does not produce a separation of cast ; for the woman always 
adopts the religion of her husband. They have no hereditary chiefs; 
but the affairs of the tribe are managed by an assembly of the heads 
of families. For small faults these assemblies reprimand ; for adul- 
tery, or for eating forbidden food, or with forbidden persons, they 
excommunicate. Many of them read Sanskrit, and study every 
kind of book except the Vedas , which they never presume to in- 
spect. My informers are worshippers of Vishnu ; yet their Guru is 
a Smartal Brahman , who bestows consecrated victuals and holy- 
water, and receives their Dharma. When they are 6 or 7 years of 
age, they receive from the Panchdnga their first thread, and Upa- 
desa, at a ceremony called UpanSna. At this the Panchdnga reads 
