This use of Chetti has caused some confusion in the returns, for the sub-divisions show that many other castes have been included as well as Chetti proper." Again, in the Census Report, 1901, it is recorded that "Chetti means trader, and is one of those titular or occupational terms, which are often loosely employed as caste names. The weavers, oil pressers, and others use it as a title, and many more tack it on to their names, to denote that trade is their occupation. Strictly employed, it is nevertheless, the name of a true caste." The Chettis are so numerous, and so widely distributed, that their many sub-divisions differ very greatly in their ways. The best known of them are the Bēri Chettis, the Nagarattu Chettis, the Kāsukkar Chettis, and the Nāttukōttai Chettis. Of these, the Bēri and Nāttukōttai Chettis are dealt with in special articles. The following divisions of Chettis, inhabiting the Madura district, are recorded in my notes: —
- (a) Men with head clean-shaved: —
| Ilavagai or | Thedakōttai. |
| Karnakudi | Periyakōttai-vellān |
| Sundaraththan | Puliyangudi |
| Ariyūr | Vallam or Tiruvappūr |
| Malampatti | Kurungalūr |
| Palayapattu. | -- |
- (b) Men with kudumi (hair knot): —
| Puvaththukudi or | Mārayakkāra |
| Mannagudi | Pandukudi or |
| Kiramangalam | Manjapaththu |
| Vallanāttu. | -- |
Of these, the Puvaththukudi Chettis, who receive their name from a village in the Tanjore district, are mostly itinerant petty traders and money-lenders, who travel about the country. They carry on their shoulders a bag containing their personal effects, except when they
