Castes and Tribes of Southern India/Yāta
Yāta.— The Yātas are the toddy-drawers of Ganjam and Vizagapatam. The caste name is a corrupt form of ita, meaning date palm, from which the toddy is secured. It is noted, in the Gazetteer of the Vizagapatam district, that " toddy is obtained from the palmyra (Borassus flabellifer) and date palm (Phœnix sylvestris). The toddy-drawers are usually of the Yāta and Segidi castes. The palmyra is tapped by cutting off the end of the flower spathe, and the date palm by making an incision, like an inverted V, close under the crown of leaves. In the zamindaris, little care is taken to see that date trees are not over-tapped, and hundreds of trees may be seen ruined, and even killed by excessive tapping." Many members of the caste are engaged in the manufacture of baskets and boxes from palm leaves. The Yātas are said to be responsible for a good deal of the crime in portions of the Vizagapatam district.
For the following note on the Yātas of the Vizagapatam district, I am indebted to Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao. They are a Telugu-speaking people, and the caste is organised on the same lines as many other Telugu castes. In each locality where they are settled, there is a headman called Kulampedda, who, with the assistance of the caste elders, settles disputes and affairs affecting the community. The caste is, like other Telugu castes, divided up into numerous intipērus or exogamous septs. The custom of mēnarikam, according to which a man marries his maternal uncle's daughter, is the rule. If the girl, whom a man claims in accordance with this custom, is not given to him, his mother raises such a howl that her brother is compelled by the castemen to come to terms. If he still refuses to give up his daughter, and bestows her on another man, the protest of his sister is said to destroy the happiness of the pair. Girls are married before or after puberty. The marriage ceremonies last over three days, and are carried out either at the house of the bride or bridegroom, the former if the parents are prosperous and influential people in the community. A Brāhman officiates, and ties the satamānam on the bride's neck. On the evening of the third day, at the bride's house, presents called katnam, in the shape of rings, waist-bands, and a gold bangle for the right upper arm, are given to the bridegroom. The value of these presents bears a fixed proportion to that of the voli or bride-price. The pair live for three days at the bride's house, and then proceed to the house of the bridegroom, where they stay during the next three days. They then return to the home of the bride, where they once more stay for three days, at the end of which the bridegroom returns to his house. The consummation ceremony is a separate event, and, if the girl has reached puberty, takes place a few days after the marriage ceremony. The remarriage of widows is permitted. The satamānam is tied on the bride's neck by the Kulampedda. Divorce is also recognised, and a man marrying a divorced woman has to pay twelve rupees, known as moganāltappu, or new husband's fine. The divorced woman has to return all the jewellery which was given to her by her former husband.
The dead are cremated, and a man of the washerman caste usually assists in igniting the pyre. There is an annual ceremony in memory of the dead, at which the house is cleaned, and purified with cow-dung. A meal on a more than usually liberal scale is cooked, and incense and camphor are burnt before the entrance to the house. Food is then offered to the dead, who are invoked by name, and the celebrants of the rite partake of a hearty meal.
The usual caste titles are Naidu and Setti.