Kodikkāl

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This article is an excerpt from Castes and Tribes of Southern India By Edgar Thurston, C.I.E., Superintendent, Madras Government Museum; Correspondant Étranger, Société d’Anthropologie de Paris; Socio Corrispondante, Societa,Romana di Anthropologia. Assisted by K. Rangachari, M.A., of the Madras Government Museum. Government Press, Madras 1909.

Kodikkāl

Kodikkāl, Kodikkar, or Kodikkālkāran, meaning betel vine man, is the occupational name of a sub-division of Vella̱las, and of Labbai Muhammadans who cultivate the betel vine. In the Census Report, 1901, it is noted that those who gave this as the name of their caste returned their parent tongue as Tamil, and their title as Na̱yakkan, and were therefore clubbed with Pallis. Kodikkāl is further a sub-division of the Shānāns, who derive the name from kōdi, a flag, and give flag-bearer as its significance. Other castes, however, make it to mean a betel garden, in reference to Shānāns who were betel vine growers. Kodikkāl Pillaimar is a synonym of the Sēnaikkudaiyāns, indicating Pillaimars who cultivate the betel vine.