describe. In some localities, e.g., the Chingleput district, the Vayani enjoys mirāsi rights in connection with land.
Vēdan. — The Vēdans are described by Mr. H. A. Stuart, in the North Arcot Manual, as having been "formerly hunters and soldiers, and it is this caste which furnished a considerable and valuable contingent to the early Hindu kings, and later to the armies of Hyder and Tippoo. They are supposed by some to be the remnants of the earliest inhabitants of the peninsula, and identical with the Veddahs of Ceylon. They are also called Vālmīkulu, which means those who live on the products of ant-hills (vālmīkum)." It is noted, in the Census Report, 1891, that the two castes Bēdar (or Bōya) and Vēdan were, "through a misapprehension of instructions, treated as identical in the tabulation papers. The two words are, no doubt, etymologically identical, the one being Canarese and the other Tamil, but the castes are quite distinct." It may be noted that the name Vālmīka or Vālmīki is assumed by the Bōyas, who claim descent from Vālmīki, the author of the Rāmayana, who did penance for so long in one spot that a white-ant hill grew up round him.
In the Madras Census Report, 1901, the Vēdans are described as "a Tamil-speaking labouring and hunting caste, the members of which were formerly soldiers, and subsequently dacoits. The name means a hunter, and is loosely applied to the Irulas in some places {e.g., Chingleput). There is some connection between the Vēdans and Tamil Vēttuvans, but its precise nature is not clear. The Vēttuvans now consider themselves superior to the Vēdans, and are even taking to calling themselves Vēttuva Vellālas. Marriage (among the Vēdans) is either infant or adult. Widows may marry their late husband's brother or agnates. Some employ Brāhmans as priests. They either burn or bury their
