Castes and Tribes of Southern India/Bestha
Bestha.— The Besthas are summed up, in the Madras Census Report, 1891, as "a Telugu caste, the hereditary occupation of which is hunting and fishing, but they have largely taken to agriculture, and the professions of bearers and cooks." In the Census Report, 1901, it is stated that "the fisherman caste in the Deccan districts are .called Besthas and Kabbēras, while those in some parts of the Coimbatore and Salem districts style them- selves Toreyar, Siviyar, and Parivārattar. These three last speak Canarese like the kabbēras, and seem to be the same as Besthas or Kabberas. Kabbēra and Toreya have, however, been treated as distinct castes. There are two endogamous sub-divisions in the Bestha caste, namely the Telaga and the Parigirti. Some say that the Kabbili or Kabbēravāndlu are a third. The Parigirti section trace their descent from Sūtudu, the famous expounder of the Māhābhārata. Besthas employ Brāhmans and Sātānis (or Jangams, if Saivites) for their domestic ceremonies, and imitate the Brāhman customs, prohibiting widow remarriage, and worshipping Siva and Vishnu as well as the village deities. The Maddi sub-caste is said to be called so, because they dye cotton with the bark of the maddi tree (Morinda citrifolia)" It is suggested, in the Gazetteer of the Bellary district, that the Besthas are really a sub-division of the Gangimakkalu Kabbēras, who were originally palanquin-bearers, but, now that these vehicles have gone out of fashion, are employed in divers other ways. It may be noted that the Siviyars of Coimbatore say that they are Besthas who emigrated from Mysore in the troublous times of the Muhammadan usurpation. The name Siviyar, they say, was given to them by the Tamils, as, being strong and poor, they were palanquin-bearers to officers on circuit and others in the pre-railway days. Their main occupations at the present day are tank and river fishing.
In the Manual of the North Arcot district, it is noted that many Besthas "trade, and are in a flourishing condition, being most numerous above the ghāts. The name Bestha appears to have no meaning, but they call themselves Sūtakulam, and say they are descendants of the rishi Sūta Mahāmuni. The term Sūta also applies to the offspring of a Kshatriya by a Brāhman, but it seems more probable that the Besthas gained the name from their superiority in the culinary art, sūta also meaning cook. They are divided into Telugu Besthas and Parigirti Besthas, the difference between them being chiefly one of religious observance, the former being in the habit of getting themselves branded on the shoulders with the Vaishnavite emblems — chank and chakram —and the latter never undergoing this ceremony. It is a rule with them to employ Dāsaris as the messengers of a death, and Tsākalas, as those of a birth, or of the fact that a girl has reached womanhood. Their chief object of worship is Hanumān, the monkey god, a picture or figure of whom they always have in their houses for domestic worship."
In connection with the names Parigirti or Pakirithi which have been recorded as divisions of the Besthas, it may be observed that, in some parts of the Telugu country, the term Pakirithi is used as a substitute for Vaishnava. This word has become converted into Parigirti or Parikithi, denoting that the Besthas are Vaishnavites, as opposed to Saivites. Some Besthas, when questioned as to the origin of their caste, said that they had no purandam to help them. The word used by them is a corruption of purānam.
The Besthas are summed up, in the Mysore Census Report, 1901, as "fishermen, boatmen, and palanquin-bearers, who are known by different names according to the localities they live in. In the eastern districts they are called Bestha, in the southern Toraya, Ambiga and Parivara (boatmen), while in the western parts their names are Kabyara and Gangemakkalu. The Telugu-speaking population call themselves Boyis. Their chief occupations are fishing, palanquin-bearing, and lime-burning. Some of them are employed by Government as peons (orderlies), etc., while a large number are engaged in agricultural pursuits. The Boyis obey a headman called the Pedda (big) Boyi. The Toraya does not intermarry either with the Kabyara or the Boyi, whom he resembles in every way. The Kabyara or Karnatic Besthas proper never carry the palanquin, but live by either farming or lime-burning. They have a headman known as the Yajaman."
I have often seen Besthas in Mysore fishing on tanks from rafts, with floats made of cane or cork-wood supporting their fish-baskets. The Besthas use small cast-nets, and it is thought by them that the employment of drag-nets worked by several men would bring bad luck to them. When a new net is used for the first time, the first fish which is caught is cut, and the net smeared with its blood. One of the meshes of the net is burnt, after incense has been thrown into the fire. If a snake becomes entangled in a net when it is first used, it is rejected, and burnt or otherwise disposed of.
The tribal deity of the Telugu Besthas is Kāmamma, and, when this goddess is Worshipped, Māla Pambalas are engaged to recite the legendary story relating to her. They never offer the flesh of animals or liquor to the goddess.
Like other Telugu castes, the Besthas have intipērulu or exogamous septs and gōtras. In connection with some of the latter, certain prohibitions are observed. For example, the jasmine plant (mallē) may not be touched by members of the mallē gōtra, and the ippa tree (Bassia latifolia) may not be touched or used by members of the Ippala gōtra. Writing at the beginning of the last century, Buchanan *[1] informs us that "everywhere in Karnata the palanquin-bearers are of Telinga descent. In the language of Karnata they are called Teliga Besthas, but in their own dialect they are called Bai. Their proper occupations, beside that of carrying the palanquin, are fishing, and distillation of rum. Wealthy men among them become farmers, but none of the caste hire themselves out as farm servants. Their hereditary chiefs are called Pedde Bui, which, among the Europeans of Madras, is bestowed on the headman of every gentleman's set." In a note on the Bestha Bōyis, or fishermen bearers of Masulipatam in the days of the East India Company, Mr. H. G.Prendergast writes †[2] that they were "found to be peculiarly trustworthy servants. When their English masters went on promotion to Madras, they were accompanied by their trusty Bōyis, and, from that day to this, Bestha Bōyis have been employed as attendants in public and mercantile offices in Madras, and have continued to maintain their good reputation."
Of the use of the word Boy (a corruption of Bōyi) for palanquin-bearer, numerous examples are quoted by Yule and Burnell.*[3] Thus Carraccioli, in his life of Lord Clive, records that, in 1785, the Boys with Colonel Lawrence's palankeen, having struggled a little out of the time of march, were picked up by the Marattas. Writing in 1563, Barras states †[4] that "there are men who carry the umbrella so dexterously to ward off the sun that, although their master trots on his horse, the sun does not touch any part of his body and such men are called Boi."
The insigne of the Besthas, as recorded at Conjeeveram, is a net.‡[5]