the annual subscription, on pain of being placed under the ban of social excommunication, and the Āndi will not leave the Vellāla's house until the infirm child is handed over to him. One Tahsildar (revenue officer) asked himself why the Āndi's income should not be liable to income-tax, and the Āndis were collectively assessed. Of course, it was cancelled on appeal.
Mudi (knot). — An exogamous sept of Māla.
Mudiya.——The name, derived from mudi, a preparation of fried rice, of a sub-division of Chuditiya.
Muduvar. — The Muduvars or Mudugars are a tribe of hill cultivators in Coimbatore, Madura, Malabar, and Travancore. For the following note on those who inhabit the Cardamom hills, I am indebted to Mr. Aylmer Ff. Martin.
The name of the tribe is usually spelt Muduvar in English, and in Tamil pronounced Muthuvar, Muthuvar or Muthuvānāl. Outsiders sometimes call the tribe Thagappanmargal (a title sometimes used by low-caste people in addressing their masters). The Muduvars have a dialect of their own, closely allied to Tamil, with a few Malayālam words. Their names for males are mostly those of Hindu gods and heroes, but Kanjan (dry or stingy), Karupu Kunji (black chick), Kunjita (chicken) and Kar Mēgam (black cloud) are distinctive and common. For females, the names of goddesses and heroines, Karapayi (black), Koopi (sweepings), and paychi (she-devil) are common. Boy twins are invariably Lutchuman and Rāman, girl twins Lutchmi and Rāmayi. Boy and girl twins are named Lutchman and Rāmayi, or Lutchmi and Rāman.
The Muduvars do not believe themselves to be indigenous to the hills; the legend, handed down from father to son, is that they originally lived in Madura.
