Castes and Tribes of Southern India/Kāraikkāt

by Edgar Thurston

Kāraikkāt.— Kāraikkāt, Kāraikkātar, or Kārkātta, meaning those who waited for rain, or, according to another version, those who saved or protected the clouds, is an endogamous division of Vellāla. Some Tamil Malayālis, who claim to be Vellālas who emigrated to the hills from Conjeeveram, have, at times of census, returned themselves as Karaikkat Vellālas.