Taking the evidence of the figures, they demonstrate that, like the other classes which have been analysed, the Brahmans have a higher cephalic index, with a wider range, in the northern than in the southern area.
There is a tradition that the Shivalli Brahmans of the Tulu country came from Ahikshetra. As only males migrated from their home, they were compelled to take women from non-Brahman castes as wives. The ranks are said to have been swelled by conversions from these castes during the time of Sri Madhvacharya. The Shivalli Brahmans are said to be referred to by the Bants as Mathumaglu or Mathmalu (bride) in allusion to the fact of their wives being taken from the Bant caste. Besides the Shivallis, there are other Tulu Brahmans, who are said to be recent converts. The Matti Brahmans were formerly considered low by the Shivallis, and were not allowed to sit in the same line with the Shivallis at meal time. They were only permitted to sit in a cross line, separated from the Shivallis, though in the same room. This was because the Matti Brahmans were supposed to be Mogers (fishing caste) raised to Brahmanism by one Vathiraja Swami, a Sanyasi. Having become Brahmans, they could not carry on their hereditary occupation, and, to enable them to earn a livelihood, the Sanyasi gave them some brinjal (Solanum Melongena) seeds, and advised them to cultivate the plant. From this fact, the variety of brinjal, which is cultivated at Matti, is called Vathiraja gulla. At the present day, the Matti Brahmans are on a par with the Shivalli Brahmans, and have become disciples of the Sodhe mutt (religious institution) at Udipi. In some of the popular accounts of Brahmans, which have been reduced to writing, it is stated that, during the time of Mayura Varma of the Kadamba
