Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 6.djvu/282

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RAFIZI
238

and the Ceded districts, who are shoe-makers, and speak Marāthi. In the Telugu country, there are two distinct sections of Rāchevars, viz., Saivite and Vaishnavite. The Saivite Rāchevars in the Kistna district style themselves Ārya Kshatriyalu, but they are commonly called Nakāsh-vāndlu, which is a Hindustani synonym of Chitrakāra or Jīnigiri-vāndlu. The Vaishnavites are known as Jīinigiri-vāndlu, and are said not to intermarry with the Saivites.

Rāfizī.— A term, meaning a forsaker, used by Sunni Muhammadans for any sect of Shiahs. The name appears, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as Rābjee.

Rāgala (rāgi: Eleusine Coracana). — An exogamous sept of Chembadi, Korava and Mādiga. The equivalent Rāgithannaya occurs as an exogamous sept of Bant. Rāgi grain constitutes the staple diet of the poorer classes, who cannot afford rice, and of prisoners in jails, for whom it is ground into flour, and boiled into a pudding about the consistency of blanc-mange. The name is derived from rāga, red, in reference to the red colour of the grain.

Rāghindala (pīpal: Ficus religiosa). — A gōtra of Gollas, the members of which are not allowed to use the leaves of this tree as food-plates.

Rājakan.— A Sanskrit equivalent of Vannān (washerman).

Rājamāhendram.— The name, in reference to the town of Rājahmundry in the Godāvari district, of a sub-division of Balija.

Rājāmakan.— A Tamil synonym for the Telugu Rāzu.

Rājavāsal.— The name, denoting those who are servants of Rājas, of a sub-division of Agamudaiyans, which has been transformed into Rājavamsu, meaning