rink and has a lock of hair
cut off. Their women are tattooed on the arms, breast and feet, and
say that this is the only ornament which they can carry to the grave.

Velama

1. Origin and social status

_Velama, Elama, Yelama._--A Telugu cultivating caste found in
large numbers in Vizagapatam and Ganjam, while in 1911 about 700
persons were returned from Chanda and other districts in the Central
Provinces. The caste frequently also call themselves by the honorific
titles of Naidu or Dora (lord). The Velamas are said formerly to
have been one with the Kamma caste, but to have separated on the
question of retaining the custom of _parda_ or _gosha_ which they had
borrowed from the Muhammadans. The Kammas abandoned _parda_, and,
signing a bond written on palm-leaf to this effect, obtained their
name from _kamma_, a leaf. The Velamas retained the custom, but a
further division has taken place on the subject, and one subcaste,
called the Adi or original Velamas, do not seclude their women. The
caste has at present a fairly high position, and several important
Madras chiefs are Velamas, as well as the zamindar of Sironcha in the
Central Provinces. They appear, however, to have improved their status,
and thus to have incurred the jealousy of their countrymen, as is
evidenced by some derogatory sayings current about the caste. Thus
the Balijas call them Guni Sakalvandlu or hunchbacked washermen,
because some of them print chintz and carry their goods in a bundle
on their backs. [714] According to another derivation _guna_ is
the large pot in which they dye their cloth. Another story is that
the name of the caste is Velimala, meaning those who are above or
better than the Dhers, and was a title conferred on them by the Raja
of Bastar in recognition of the bravery displayed by the Velamas in
his army. These stories are probably the outcome of the feeling of
jealousy which attaches to castes which have raised themselves in
the social scale. The customs of the Velamas do not indicate a very
high standard of ceremonial observance, as they eat fowls and pork
and drink liquor. They are said to take food from Bestas and Dhimars,
while Kunbis will take it from them. The men of the caste are tall and
strong, of a comparatively fair complexion and of a bold and arrogant
demeanour. It is said that a Velama will never do anything himself
which a servant can do for him, and a story is told of one of them who
was smoking when