Castes and Tribes of Southern India/Segidi
Segidi. — The Segidis are a Telugu caste of toddy sellers and distillers of arrack, who are found mainly in Ganjam and Vizagapatam.
For the purposes of the Madras Abkāri Act, toddy means fermented or unfermented juice drawn from a cocoanut, palmyra, date, or any other kind of palm-tree. It is laid down, in the Madras Excise Manual, that "unfermented toddy is not subject to any taxation, but it must be drawn in pots freshly coated internally with lime. Lime is prescribed as the substance with which the interior of pots or other receptacles in which sweet toddy is drawn should be coated, as it checks the fermentation of the toddy coming in contact with it; but this effect cannot be secured unless the internal lime coating of the toddy pot or vessel is thorough, and is renewed every time that the pot is emptied of its contents." It is noted by Bishop Caldwell*[1] that "it is the unfermented juice of the palmyra (and other palms) which is used as food. When allowed to ferment, which it will do before midday, if left to itself, it is changed into a sweet intoxicating drink called kal or toddy." Pietro Della Valle records †[2] that he stayed on board till nightfall, "entertaining with conversation and drinking tari, a liquor which is drawn from the cocoanut trees, of a whitish colour, a little turbid, and of a somewhat rough taste, though with a blending in sweetness, and not unpalatable, something like one of our vini piccanti. It will also intoxicate, like wine, if drunk over freely." Writing in 1673, Fryer ‡[3] describes the Natives as "singing and roaring all night long; being drunk with toddy, the wine of the Cocoe."
Arrack is a spirituous liquor distilled from the fermented sap of various palms. In some parts of the Madras Presidency, arrack vendors consider it unlucky to set their measures upside down. Some time ago, the Excise Commissioner informs me, the Excise department had some aluminium measures made for measuring arrack in liquor shops. It was found that the arrack corroded the aluminium, and the measures soon leaked. The shopkeepers were told to turn their measures upside down, in order that they might drain. This they refused to do, as it would bring bad luck to their shop. New measures with round bottoms were evolved, which would not stand up. But the shopkeepers began to use rings of india-rubber from soda-water bottles, to make them stand. An endeavour has since been made to induce them to keep their measures inverted by hanging them on pegs, so that they will drain without being turned upside down. The case illustrates well how important a knowledge of the superstitions of the people is in the administration of their affairs.
The Segidis do not draw the liquor from the palm-tree themselves, but purchase it from the toddy-drawing castes, the Yātas and Gamallas.
They have a caste headman, called Kulampedda, who settles disputes with the assistance of a council. Like other Telugu castes, they have intipērulu or house names, which are strictly exogamous. Girls are married either before or after puberty. The custom of mēnarikam is practiced, in accordance with which a man marries his maternal aunt's daughter. A Brāhman officiates at marriages, except the remarriage of widows. When a widow is remarried, the caste-men assemble, and the Kulampedda ties the sathamānam (marriage badge) on the bride's neck.
The dead are usually cremated, and the washerman of the village assists the chief mourner in igniting the pyre. A Sātāni conducts the funeral ceremonies.
The Segidis worship various village deities, and pērantālammas, or women who killed themselves during their husbands' lives or on their death.
The more well-to-do members of the caste take the title Anna.