Dayyalakulam (devil's family).—Recorded, at times of census, as a sub-caste of Gollas, who are wrestlers and acrobats.
Dedingi.—Recorded as a sub-division of Poroja.
Dēra.—Dēra, Dendra, and Dēvara occur as synonyms of Dēvānga.
Dēsa.—A sub-division of Balija. Dēsadhipati, denoting ruler of a country, is a name assumed by some Janappans, who say that they are Balijas.
Dēsāyi.—For the following account of the Dēsāyi institution, I am indebted to an excellent account thereof by Mr. S. M. Natesa Sastri.[1]" The word Dēsāyi means of the country. For almost every tāluk in the North Arcot district there is a headman, called the Dēsāyi Chetti, who may be said in a manner to correspond to a Justice of the Peace. The headmen belong to the Kavarai or Balija caste, their family name being Dhanapāla—a common name among the Kavarais—which may be interpreted as 'the protector of wealth.' The Dhanapāla Dēsāyi Chetti holds sway over eighteen castes, Kavarai, Uppara, Lambadi, Jogi, Idiga, Paraiyan, etc. All those that are called valangai, or right-hand caste, fall within his jurisdiction. He has an establishment of two peons (orderlies), who are castemen, and another menial, a sort of bugler, who blows the horn whenever the Dēsāyi Chetti goes on circuit. When any deviation in the moral conduct of any man or woman occurs in a village under the Dēsāyi's jurisdiction, a report of it is at once sent to the Dēsāyi Chetti, through the Paraiya of the village, by the Dēsāyi's representative in that village. He has his local agent in every village within his jurisdiction. On receipt of a report, he starts on circuit to the
- ↑ Madras Mail, 1901.
