Among the latter, there is also a headman for several villages, who is styled Kularāju or Vaisyarāju.Įach Pēdda Setti is assisted by a Mummadi Setti, who assembles the castemen for the settlement of Important questions, by fines, excommunication, etc. In each place where they are settled there is a Pēdda Setti, who, among the Kalinga Kōmatis, is known as Puri Setti or Sēnāpathi. The Kōmatis are a highly organised caste.
If a Kōmati is the purchaser, and another says to him "Dōt ko," it means take it. When one man says to another "Dōtu" or "Dōtra," it means strike the bargain. Rupee tableĪ common saying is that, if you commence at gālam, it will be settled at mūlam, or, in plain language, begin at ten varāhams, and the bargain will be closed at five. The word sūlalu is connected with trisūlam, the trident emblem of Siva, and sometimes used to denote three annas. Some Tamil trading castes in like manner call the rupee vellē (white):. It will be observed that the rupee is represented by the word thēlupu, which means white. It will be seen from the tables given how complete their numerical tables are, ranging, as they do, from one pie to a thousand In the Ganjam and Vizagapatam Agencies, they speak the Kondh andĪs a commercial caste, the Kōmatis have a secret trade language of their own, which is substantially the same all over the country. In the Tamil and Canarese districts, they are conversant with the languages thereof, and inīombay they speak Marāthi. It has justly been called the Italian of the East." Kōmatis are clever at learning languages other than their own. It is exceedingly mellifluous, and sounds harmonious even in the mouth of the most vulgar and illiterate. Henry Morris writes, "Telugu is the sweetest and most musical.
There is a common proverb among them, "Telugu thēta, Aravam adhvānam,"meaning that Telugu is easy (has an easy flow), and Tamil is wretched. The Kōmatis everywhere speak Telugu, and are devoted to their mother-tongue. One of the local names thereof is Gōmati or Gōmti, and the Sanskrit Gōmati would, in Telugu, become corrupted into Kōmati. The Kōmatis are said to have originally lived, and still live in large numbers on the banks of the Godāvari river. The derivation ku-mati, meaning evil-minded, is grammatically impossible. Yet another derivation of Kōmati is gō-mati, meaning sprung from the cow in accordance with the above legend, or cow-gored in reference to the story that the ancestors of the Kōmatis commingled in a cow-shed, where a pregnant woman was gored by a cow. Siva gave them the name of Gōmati, because they exhibited as much fear at the conflagration as a cow would when anything untoward happened. He consented on condition that they would return to the mortal world. Terror-stricken, they cried out to Siva to help them in their trouble. But, almost immediately, a huge conflagration came in view, and began to overwhelm them. Siva assented, and they speedily began to march off to their new abodes. From there they saw gloriously decorated towns, with magnificent temples, pleasure gardens, etc., and begged permission to live in them. Siva brought a cow, and directed all the Kōmatis to get into its right ear. Vishnu then called for Siva, and asked him to induce them to return. Their continued absence from this world gave rise to serious trouble, and Vishnu accordingly asked them to return thither for
According to this work, the Kōmatis did severe penance, and were consequently invited to live in heaven. A modern redaction of the Kanyakā Purāna, the sacred book of the Kōmatis, gives this derivation. Others, again, say that it is from gō-mati, meaning cow-minded. Others say that it is from gō-mati, meaning the possessor of cows, one of the ordained duties of Vaisyas being the protecting of cows. Kōmatiguttu (the secrecy of a Kōmati) is said to be a common one. This has reference to the cunning of the Kōmatis in business, and is undoubtedly the outcome of their unpopularity with their customers. The name Kōmati has been derived in many different ways. Their wide distribution accounts for the great variety which prevails in the minor details of the religious and social ceremonials. They are further found in the Mysore State, Bombay Presidency, Berar, Central Provinces, and as far north-west as Baroda. Kōmati.- The Kōmatis form the great trading caste of the Madras Presidency, and are found in almost all the districts thereof.