MADRAS CENSUS REPORT 1891

[MADRAS CENSUS REPORT 1891]
* Pallan.-— The Pallans are " a class of agricultural 
labourers found chiefly in Tanjore, Trichinopoly, Madura and Tinnevelly. They are also fairly numerous in parts 
of Salem and Coimbatore, but in the remaining Tamil 
districts they are found only in very small numbers." * 

The name is said to be derived from pallam, a pit, as 
they were standing on low ground when the castes were 
originally formed. It is further suggested that the name 
may be connected with the wet cultivation, at which they 
are experts, and which is always carried out on low 
ground. In the Manual of the Madura district (1868), 
the Pallans are described as " a very numerous, but a 
most abject and despised race, little, if indeed at all, 
superior to the Paraiyas. Their principal occupation 
is ploughing the lands of more fortunate Tamils, and, 
though nominally free, they are usually slaves in almost 
every sense of the word, earning by the ceaseless sweat 
of their brow a bare handful of grain to stay the pangs of 
hunger, and a rag with which to partly cover their 
nakedness. They are to be found in almost every village, 
toiling and moiling for the benefit of Vellalans and 
others, and with the Paraiyas doing patiently nearly all 
the hard and dirty work that has to be done. Personal 
contact with them is avoided by all respectable men, and 
they are never permitted to dwell within the limits of a 
village nattam. Their huts form a small detached hamlet, 
the Pallacheri, removed from a considerable distance 
from the houses of the respectable inhabitants, and barely 
separated from that of the Paraiyas, the Parei-cheri. 
The Pallans are said by some to have sprung from the 
intercourse of a Sudra and a Brahman woman. Others 
say Devendra created them for the purpose of labouring 
in behalf of Vellalans. Whatever may have been their 
origin, it seems to be tolerably certain that in ancient times they were the slaves of the Vellalans, and regarded 
by them merely as chattels, and that they were brought 
by the Vellalans into the Pandya-mandala." Some 
Pallans say that they are, like the Kalians, of the lineage 
of Indra, and that their brides wear a wreath of flowers 
in token thereof. They consider themselves superior to 
Paraiyans and Chakkiliyans, as they do not eat beef. 

It is stated in the Manual of Tanjore (1883) that the 
" Pallan and Paraiya are rival castes, each claiming 
superiority over the other ; and a deadly and never-ending 
conflict in the matter of caste privileges exists between 
them. They are praedial labourers, and are employed 
exclusively in the cultivation of paddy (rice) lands. 
Their women are considered to be particularly skilled in 
planting and weeding, and, in most parts of the delta, 
they alone are employed in those operations. The Palla 
women expose their body above the waist — a distinctive 
mark of their primitive condition of slavery, of which, 
however, no trace now exists." It is noted by Mr. G. T. 
Mackenzie * that " in the first quarter of the nineteenth 
century, the female converts to Christianity in the 
extreme south ventured, contrary to the old rules for the 
lower castes, to clothe themselves above the waist. This 
innovation was made the occasion for threats, violence, 
and a series of disturbances. Similar disturbances arose 
from the same cause nearly thirty years later, and, 
in 1859, Sir Charles Trevelyan, Governor of Madras, 
interfered, and granted permission to the women of 
lower caste to wear a cloth over the breasts and 
shoulders." 

In connection with disputes between the right-hand 
and left-hand factions, it is stated t that " whatever origin of the factions, feeling still runs very high, espe- 
cially between the Pallans and the Paraiyans. The 
violent scenes which occurred in days gone by * no longer 
occur, but quarrels occur when questions of precedence 
arise (as when holy food is distributed at festivals to 
the village goddesses), or if a man of one faction takes a 
procession down a street inhabited chiefly by members 
of the other. In former times, members of the opposite 
faction would not live in the same street, and traces of 
this feeling are still observable. Formerly also the 
members of one faction would not salute those of the 
other, however much their superiors in station ; and the 
menials employed at funerals (Paraiyans, etc.) would not 
salute the funeral party if it belonged to the rival faction." 

In the Coimbatore Manual it is noted that " the 
Pallan has in all times been a serf, labouring in the low 
wet lands (pal lam) for his masters, the Brahmans and 
Goundans. The Pallan is a stout, shortish black man, 
sturdy, a meat-eater, and not over clean in person or 
habit ; very industrious in his favourite wet lands. He 
is no longer a serf." The occupations of the Pallans, 
whom I examined at Coimbatore, were cultivator, 
gardener, cooly, blacksmith, railway porter, tandal (tax- 
collector, etc.), and masalchi (office peon, who looks 
after lamps, ink-bottles, etc.). Some Pallans are mani- 
yagarans (village munsifs or magistrates). 

In some places a Pallan family is attached to a 
land-holder, for whom they work, and, under ordinary 
conditions, they do not change masters. The attach- 
ment of the Pallan to a particular individual is maintained 
by the master paying a sum of money as an advance, 
which the Pallan is unable to repay.

The Pallans are the Jati Pillais of the Pandya Kam- 
malans, or Kammalans of the Madura country. The 
story goes that a long while ago the headman of the 
Pallans came begging to the Kollan section of the 
Pandya Kammalans, which was employed in the manu- 
facture of ploughs and other agricultural implements, and 
said " Worshipful sirs, we are destitute to the last degree. 
If you would but take pity on us, we would become 
your slaves. Give us ploughs and other implements, 
and we shall ever afterwards obey you." The Kollans, 
taking pity on them, gave them the implements and 
they commenced an agricultural life. When the harvest 
was over, they brought the best portion of the crop, and 
gave it to the Kollans. From that time, the Pallans 
became the "sons "of the Pandya Kammalans, to whom 
even now they make offerings in gratitude for a bumper 
crop. 

At times of census the Pallans return a number of 
sub-divisions, and there is a proverb that one can count 
the number of varieties of rice, but it is impossible to 
count the divisions of the Pallans. As examples of the 
sub-divisions, the following may be quoted : — 

Aiya, father. 

Amma, mother. 

Anja, father. 

Atta, mother. 

Devendra. — The sweat of Devendra, the king of 
gods, is said to have fallen on a plant growing in water 
from which arose a child, who is said to have been the 
original ancestor of the Pallans. 

Kadaiyan, lowest or last. 

Konga. — The Kongas of Coimbatore wear a big 
marriage tali, said to be the emblem of Sakti, while the 
other sections wear a small tali. 

477 PALLAN 

Manganadu, territorial. 
Sozhia, territorial. 
Tondaman, territorial. 

These sub-divisions are endogamous, and Aiya and 
Amma Pallans of the Sivaganga zemindari and adjacent 
parts of the Madura district possess exogamous septs 
or kilais, which, like those of the Maravans, Kalians, 
and some other castes, run in the female line. Children 
belong to the same kilai as that of their mother and 
maternal uncle, and not of their father. 

The headman of the Pallans is, in the Madura 
country, called Kudumban, and he is assisted by a 
Kaladi, and, in large settlements, by a caste messenger 
entitled Variyan, who summons people to attend council- 
meetings, festivals, marriages and funerals. The offices 
of Kudumban and Kaladi are hereditary. When a family 
is under a ban of excommunication, pending enquiry, 
the caste people refuse to give them fire, and otherwise 
help them, and even the barber and washerman are 
not permitted to work for them. As a sign of excommu- 
nication, a bunch of leafy twigs of margosa [Me Ha 
Azadirachta) is stuck in the roof over the entrance to the 
house. Restoration to caste necessitates a purificatory 
ceremony, in which cow's urine is sprinkled by the 
Variyan. When a woman is charged with adultery, the 
offending man is brought into the midst of the assembly, 
and tied to a harrow or hoeing plank. The woman has 
to carry a basket of earth or rubbish, with her cloth tied 
so as to reach above her knees. She is sometimes, in 
addition, beaten on the back with tamarind switches. 
If she confesses her guilt, and promises not to misconduct 
herself again, the Variyan cuts the waist-thread of her 
paramour, who ties it round her neck as if it was a tali 
(marriage badge). On the following day, the man and woman are taken early in the morning to a tank (pond) 
or well, near which seven small pits are made, and filled 
with water. The Variyan sprinkles some of the water 
over their heads, and has subsequently to be fed at their 
expense. If the pair are in prosperous circumstances, a 
general feast is insisted on. 

At Coimbatore, the headman is called Pattakaran^ 
and he is assisted by various subordinate officers and a 
caste messenger called Odumpillai. In cases of theft, the 
guilty person has to carry a man on his back round the 
assembly, while two persons hang on to his back-hair. 
He is beaten on the cheeks, and the Odumpillai may be 
ordered to spit in his face. A somewhat similar form of 
punishment is inflicted on a man proved guilty of having 
intercourse with a married woman. 

In connection with the caste organisation of the Pallans 
in the Trichinopoly district, Mr. F. R. Hemingway writes 
as follows. " They generally have three or more head- 
men for each village, over whom is the Nattu Muppan. 
Each village also has a peon called Odumpillai (the runner). 
The main body of the caste, when attending council- 
meetings, is called ilam katchi (the inexperienced). The 
village councils are attended by the Muppans and the 
Nattu Muppan. Between the Nattu Muppan and the 
ordinary Muppans, there is, in the Karur taluk, a Pulli 
Muppan. All these offices are hereditary. In this taluk 
a rather different organisation is in force, to regulate 
the supply of labour to the landholders. Each of the 
village Muppans has a number of karais or sections of 
the wet-land of the village under him, and he is bound 
to supply labourers for all the land in his karai, and is 
remunerated by the landowner with ij- marakkals of 
grain for every 20 kalams harvested. The Muppans do 
not work themselves, but maintain discipline among their men by flogging or expulsion from the caste. In the 
Karur taluk, the ordinary Pallans are called Manvettai- 
karans (mamoty or digging-tool men)." 

The Pallans have their own washermen and barbers, 
who are said to be mainly recruited from the Sozhia 
section, which, in consequence, holds an inferior position ; 
and a Pallan belonging to another section would feel 
insulted if he was called a Sozhian. 

When a Pallan girl, at Coimbatore, attains puberty, 
she is bathed, dressed in a cloth brought by a washer- 
woman, and presented with flowers and fruits by her 
relations. She occupies a hut constructed of cocoanut 
leaves, branches of Pongamia glabra, and wild sugar- 
cane {Saccharum arundinaceum). Her dietary includes 
jaggery (crude sugar) and milk and plantains. On the 
seventh day she is again bathed, and presented with 
another cloth. The hut is burnt down, and for three 
days she occupies a corner of the pial of her home. On 
the eleventh day she is once more bathed, presented 
with new cloths by her relations, and permitted to enter 
the house. 

It is stated by Dr. G. Oppert * that " at a Pallar 
wedding, before the wedding is actually performed, the 
bridegroom suddenly leaves his house and starts for 
some distant place, as if he had suddenly abandoned his 
intention of marrying, in spite of the preparations that 
had been made for the wedding. His intended father- 
in-law intercepts the young man on his way, and 
persuades him to return, promising to give his daughter 
as a wife. To this the bridegroom consents." I have 
not met with this custom in the localities in which the 
Pallans have been examined

In one form of marriage among the Pallans of the 
Madura district, the bridegroom's sister goes to the 
house of the bride on an auspicious day, taking with her 
the tali string, a new cloth, betel, fruits and flowers. She 
ties the tali round the neck of the bride, who, if a milk- 
post has been set up, goes round it. The bride is then 
conducted to the house of the bridegroom, where the 
couple sit together on the marriage dais, and coloured 
water, or coloured rice balls with lighted wicks, are waved 
round them. They then go, with linked fingers, thrice 
round the dais. In a more complicated form of marriage 
ceremonial, the parents and maternal uncle of the bride- 
groom, proceed, on the occasion of the betrothal, to 
the bride's house with rice, fruit, plantains, a cocoanut, 
sandal paste, and turmeric. These articles are handed 
over, with the bride's money, to the Kudumban or 
Kaladi of her village. Early in the morning of the wed- 
ding day, a pandal (booth) is erected, and the milk-post, 
made of Thespesia populnea or Mimusops kexandra, is 
set up by the maternal uncles of the contracting couple. 
The bride and bridegroom bring some earth, with 
which the marriage dais is made. These preliminaries 
concluded, they are anointed by their maternal uncles, 
and, after bathing, the wrist-threads (kankanam) are 
tied to the bridegroom's wrist by his brother-in-law, 
and to that of the bride by her sister-in-law. Four 
betel leaves and areca nuts are placed at each corner of 
the dais, and the pair go round it three times, saluting 
the betel as they pass. They then take their place 
on the dais, and two men stretch a cloth over their 
heads. They hold out their hands, into the palms of 
which the Kudumban or Kaladi pours a little water 
from a vessel, some of which is sprinkled over their 
heads. The vessel is then waved before them, and they are garlanded by the maternal uncles, headmen, and 
others. The bride is taken into the house, and her 
maternal uncle sits at the entrance, and measures a new 
cloth, which he gives to her. She clads herself in it, 
and her uncle, lifting her in his arms, carries her to the 
dais, where she is placed by the side of the bridegroom. 
Thefingersof the contracting couple are linked together 
beneath a cloth held by the maternal uncles. The tali 
is taken up by the bridegroom, and placed by him 
round the bride's neck, to be tightly tied thereon by his 
sister. Just before the tali is tied, the headman bawls 
out " May I look into the bride's money and presents " ? 
and, on receiving permission to do so, says thrice 
" Seven bags of nuts, seven bags of rice, etc., have been 
brought." 

At a marriage among the Konga Pallans of Coim- 
batore, the bridegroom's wrist-thread is tied on at his 
home, after a lamp has been worshipped. He and his 
party proceed to the house of the bride, taking with 
them a new cloth, a garland of flowers, and the tali. The 
milk-post of the pandal is made of milk-hedge {^Euphorbia 
Tirucalli). The bride and bridegroom sit side by side 
and close together on planks within the pandal. The 
bridegroom ties the wrist-thread on the bride's wrist, and 
the caste barber receives betel from their mouths in a 
metal vessel. In front of them are placed a Pillayar (figure 
of Ganesa) made of cow-dung, two plantains, seven 
cocoanuts, a measure of paddy, a stalk of Andropogon 
Sorghum with a betel leaf stuck on it,' and seven sets of 
bet^ leaves and areca nuts. Camphor is burnt, and two 
cocoanuts are broken, and placed before the Pillayar. 
The tali is taken round to be blessed in a piece of one of 
the cocoanuts. The Mannadi (assistant headman) hands 
over the tali to the bridegroom, who ties it round the bride's neck. Another cocoanut is then broken. Three 
vessels containing, respectively, raw rice, turmeric water 
and milk, each with pieces of betel leaf, are brought. 
The hands of the contracting couple are then linked 
together beneath a cloth, and the fourth cocoanut is 
broken. The Mannadi, taking up a little of the rice, 
turmeric water, milk, and betel leaves, waves them before 
the bride and bridegroom, and thi'ows them over their 
heads. This is likewise done by five other individuals, 
and the fifth cocoanut is broken. The bride and bride- 
groom go round the plank, and again seat themselves. 
Their hands are unlinked, the wrist-threads are untied, 
and thrown into a vessel of milk. The sixth cocoanut 
is then broken. Cooked rice with plantains and ghi 
(clarified butter) is offered to Alii Arasani, the wife of 
Arjuna, who was famed for her virtue. The rice is 
offered three times to the contracting couple, who do not 
eat it. The caste barber brings water, with which they 
cleanse their mouths. They exchange garlands, and the 
seventh cocoanut is broken. They are then taken within 
the house, and sit on a new mat. The bridegroom is 
again conducted to the pandal, where cooked rice and 
other articles are served to him on a tripod stool. They 
are handed over to the Odumpillai as a perquisite, and 
all the guests are fed. In the evening a single cloth is 
tied to the newly married couple, who bathe, and pour 
water over each other's heads. The Pillayar, lamp, 
paddy, Andropogon stalk, and two trays with betel, are 
placed before the guests. The Mannadi receives four 
annas from the bridegroom's father, and, after mentioning 
the names of the bridegroom, his father and grandfather, 
places it in one of the trays, which belongs to the bride's 
party. He then receives four annas from the bride's 
father, and mentions the names of the bride, her father and grandfather, before placing the money in the tray 
which belongs to the bridegroom's party. The relations 
then make presents of money to the bride and bridegroom. 
When a widow remarries, her new husband gives her a 
white cloth, and ties a yellow string round her neck in 
the presence of some of the castemen. 

At a marriage among the Kadaiya Pallans of Coim- 
batore, the wrist-thread of the bride is tied on by the 
Mannadi. She goes to, a Pillayar shrine, and brings 
back three trays full of sand from the courtyard thereof, 
which is heaped up in the marriage pandal. Three 
painted earthen pots, and seven small earthen trays, are 
brought in procession from the Mannadi's house by the 
bridegroom, and placed in the pandal. To each of the 
two larger pots a piece of turmeric and betel leaf are 
tied, and nine kinds of grain are placed in them. The 
bridegroom has brought with him the tali tied to a 
cocoanut, seven rolls of betel, seven plantains, seven 
pieces of turmeric, a garland, a new cloth for the bride, 
etc. The linked fingers of the contracting couple are 
placed on a tray containing salt and a ring. They go 
thrice round a lamp and the plank within the pandal, and 
retire within the house where the bridegroom is served 
with food on a leaf. What remains after he has partaken 
thereof is given to the bride on the same leaf. The 
wrist-threads are untied on the third day, and a Pillayar 
made of cow-dung is carried to a river, whence the bride 
brings back a pot of water. 

In some places, the bridegroom is required to steal 
something from the bride's house when they return home 
after the marriage, and the other party has to repay the 
compliment on some future occasion. 

When a death occurs among the Konga Pallans of 
Coimbatore, the big toes and thumbs of the corpse are tied together. A lighted lamp, a metal vessel with raw 
rice, jaggery, and a broken cocoanut are placed near its 
head. Three pieces of firewood, arranged in the form 
of a triangle, are lighted, and a small pot is placed on 
them, wherein some rice is cooked in turmeric water. 
The corpse is bathed, and placed in a pandal made of 
four plantain trees, and four green leafy branches. The 
nearest relations place a new cloth over it. If the 
deceased has left a widow, she is presented with a new 
cloth by her brother. The corpse is laid on a bier, the 
widow washes its feet, and drinks some of the water. 
She then throws her tali-string on the corpse. Her face 
is covered with a cloth, and she is taken into the house. 
The corpse is then removed to the burial-ground, where 
the son is shaved, and the relations place rice and water 
in the mouth of the corpse. It is then laid in the grave, 
which is filled in, and a stone and some thorny twigs are 
placed over it. An earthen pot full of water is placed on 
the right shoulder of the son, who carries it three times 
round the grave. Each time that he reaches the head 
end thereof, a hole is made in the pot with a knife by 
one of the elders. The pot is then thrown down, and 
broken near the spot beneath which the head lies. Near 
this spot the son places a lighted firebrand, and goes 
away without looking back. He bathes and returns to 
the house, where he touches a little cow-dung placed 
at the entrance with his right foot, and worships a lamp. 
On the third day, three handfuls of rice, a brinjal 
(Solanum Melongend) fruit cut into three pieces, and 
leaves of Sesbania grandiflora are cooked in a pot, and 
carried to the grave together with a tender cocoanut, 
cigar, betel, and other things. The son places three 
leaves on the grave, and spreads the various articles 
thereon. Crows are attracted by clapping the hands, and it is considered a good omen if they come and eat. 
On the fourth day the son bathes, and sits on a mat. 
He then bites, and spits out some roasted salt fish 
three times into a pot of water. This is supposed to 
show that mourning has been cast away, or at the end. 
He is then presented with new cloths by his uncle and 
other relations. On the ninth or eleventh day, cooked 
rice, betel, etc., are placed near a babul {Acacia arabicd) 
or other thorny tree, which is made to represent the 
deceased. Seven small stones, representing the seven 
Hindu sages, are set up. A cocoanut is broken, and 
puja performed. The rice is served on a leaf, and eaten 
by the son and other near relations. 

The Pallans are nominally Saivites, but in reality 
devil worshippers, and do puja to the Grama Devata (vil- 
lage deities), especially those whose worship requires 
the consumption of flesh and liquor. 

It is recorded, * in connection with a biennial festival 
in honour of the local goddess at Attur in the Madura 
district, that " some time before the feast begins, the 
Pallans of the place go round to the adjoining villages, 
and collect the many buffaloes, which have been 
dedicated to the goddess during the last two years, and 
have been allowed to graze unmolested, and where they 
willed, in the fields. These are brought in to Attur, and 
one of them is selected, garlanded, and placed in the 
temple. On the day of the festival, this animal is 
brought out, led round the village in state, and then, in 
front of the temple, is given three cuts with a knife by a 
Chakkiliyan, who has fasted that day, to purify himself 
for the rite. The privilege of actually killing the animal 
belongs by immemorial usage to the head of the family of the former poligar of Nilakkottai, but he deputes 
certain Pallans to take his place, and they fall upon the 
animal and slay it." 

It is noted by Mr. Hemingway ^^ that the Valaiyans 
and the class of Pallans known as Kaladis who live in 
the south-western portion of the Pudukkottai State are 
professional cattle-lifters. They occasionally take to 
burglary for a change. 

The common titles of the Pallans are said to be 
" Muppan and Kudumban, and some style themselves 
Mannadi. Kudumban is probably a form of Kurumban, 
and Mannadi is a corruption of Manradi, a title borne 
by the Pallava (Kurumban) people. It thus seems not 
improbable that the Pallas are representatives of the old 
Pallavas or Kurumbas." [archive.org]

மேற்காணும் ஆய்வறிக்கை, 1891 ஆம் ஆண்டு (100 வருடங்களுக்கு முன்) பள்ளர்  மூகத்தைப் பற்றி வெள்ளையர்களால் வெளியிடப்பட்டதாகும்.இந்த அறிக்கையின் மூலம் சில பல கட்டு கதைகள் பொய் என்று அம்பலம் ஆகி உள்ளன.வர்ணாசிரமத்தில் பள்ளர்கள் இடம்பெறவில்லை என்று சில வருடங்களாக இவர்கள் கூறிவருவதும் கட்டுக்கதையே.எப்படி? 
* வர்ணாசிரமத்தில் நான்காம் வர்ணம் தான் சூத்திரர்.கிட்டத்தட்ட அனைத்து சாதிகளுமே இதன் கீழ் அடங்குவர்.பிராமணர்களுக்கு அடிமை வேலை செய்பவர்கள் இவர்கள்(சூத்திரர்).ஆனால் தீண்டத்தகாதவர்கள் என்போர் பிராமணர்களோடு தொடர்பு அற்றவர்கள் ஆவர்.ஏனெனில் அவர்கள் மாட்டுக்கறி உண்பவர்.இருவருக்கும் வித்தியாசம் உண்டு.

மேற்கண்ட கட்டுரையின் (வெள்ளையர்கள்) மூலமாக நாம் அறியவருவது யாதெனில்,
* பள்ளர்கள் பிராமணர்களோடு தொடர்பு உள்ளவர்கள்.அவர்கள் வேலை பார்த்ததே பிராமணர்களின் நிலங்களில் தான்.
* பள்ளர்கள் மாட்டுக்கறி உண்பதில்லை.மட்டுமல்ல,மாட்டைத் தன் கையால் அறுப்பது  இல்லை.
* பள்ளர்கள் வேலை பார்த்தது பிராமணர்களுக்கு (சில இடங்களில் கவுண்டர்களுக்கும்) மட்டுமே ஆகும்.
* பள்ளர்கள் எல்லா தொழில்களிலும் ஈடுபட்டிருந்தனர்.
* பள்ளர்கள் நெற்றி வியர்வை நிலத்தில் சிந்தி உழைக்கக் கூடியவர்கள்.
* வேளாண்மையில் பள்ளருக்கு நிகர் எவருமில்லை.
* பள்ளர்கள் தம் முன்னோர் (பாண்டியர்) ஆட்சி முறையான ஊர்குடும்பு ஆட்சிமுறையை தங்களுக்குள்ளே பயன்படுத்தி தங்கள் பிரச்சினைகளை தாங்களே தீர்த்துக் கொண்டனர்.
* மாமல்லபுரத்து பல்லவர் வம்சம் இவர்களே!
* திருமண சடங்குகள் பள்ளர்-பள்ளி பின்பற்றும் முறை ஒன்றேயாகும் (எ.கா-kankanam கட்டுதல்)
* பாண்டிய வம்சமான பள்ளர்கள், வீழ்த்தப்பட்டு அடிமைகள் (சூத்திரர்கள்)ஆக்கப்பட்ட போதும் ஊர்க்குடும்பு ஆட்சிமுறையை விடாமல் பேணிவந்துள்ளனர்.நாட்டாண்மையாய் தங்களைத் தாங்களே நியாயம் விசாரித்துக்கொண்டுள்ளனர்.
* பள்ளர்களில் விபச்சாரம் யாரேனும் புரிந்தால் அவர்களை சக பள்ளர்களே கடுமையாக தண்டித்துள்ளனர்.வேறு யாருக்கும் இல்லாத வகையில் (தலைவர்,தகவல் சொல்பவர்,தண்டனை கொடுப்பவர் எனத்)தனி கலாச்சாரத்தைப் பின்பற்றியுள்ளனர்.
* ரெயில்வே போர்ட்டர்,பொற்கொல்லர்,தோட்டத் தொழிலாளர்,வரிவசூலிப்பவர்,நாட்டாண்மை என்று மக்களோடு மக்களாக இருந்து வந்துள்ள பள்ளர்களை, இத்தகைய சிறப்போடு வாழ்ந்தவர்களை ஒட்டுமொத்தமாக தீண்டத்தகாதவர்கள் என்று கதைவிட்டு வந்துள்ளனர்.பள்ளன் மண்வெட்டி காரனாக இருந்தாலும் அவன் மண் வெட்டுவது விவசாயத்துக்காக தான் இருக்குமே தவிர பிணத்தை புதைப்பது அவர்களின் தொழில் அல்ல என்று வெள்ளையர் கூறுகின்றனர்.
* மறவருக்கும் பள்ளருக்கும் ஒட்டுஉறவோ,சம்பந்தமோ கிடையாது என்பதையும் அவர்கள் தெளிவுபடுத்தியுள்ளனர்.மாமூல் (லஞ்சம்) எனும் கையூட்டு முறையை கள்ளர்/மறவரே அறிமுகம் செய்தனர் என்கின்றனர் வெள்ளையர்.
* பறையரும்,சக்கிலியரும் ஒன்றே என்று கூறும் வெள்ளையர், பள்ளரின் உட்பிரிவான குடும்பரும்,பள்ளியின் உட்பிரிவான குறும்பரும் ஒன்றே என்று கூறுகிறார்.இதன்மூலம் பல்லவர் ளின் பட்டப் பெயரான மன்றாடி என்பது பள்ளரின் மன்னாடி என்ற பெயரின் திரிதலே என்று கூறி,பள்ளவரின் வாரிசுகள் என உரிமை கொண்டாடும் பள்ளியும்(வன்னியர்/குறும்பர்) பள்ளரும்(தேவேந்திரர்/குடும்பர்) ஒன்றே என்கிறார்.

--- திரு.ராஜா, திருத்தாங்கல்  ---