who admit an obscure connection with these Mádigas explain it by saying that the latter protected them during their trouble with Vishnuvardhana. Some of the Velamas somewhat similarly arrange that a Mála couple shall be married just before a wedding in their own houses, and even find the funds. The Rev. J. Cain says that with the Bhadráchalam Velamas it is a Palli couple that is thus first married. Velamas explain the story by saying that a Mála once allowed a Velama to sacrifice him to propitiate the goddess who guards hidden treasure, and that the custom is kept up out of gratitude for the discovery of the treasure which resulted. Among some classes of Kómatis the women do the cooking while in a state of nudity. Those who admit the practice say that it is done for cleanliness' sake, lest the touch of an impure garment should defile the food.
Attached to the Kómatis are two begging castes called Viramushtis and Mailáris. They are said by the Kómatis to have been the messengers in their dealings with Vishnuvardhana, and, at the last, to have delayed the advent of the king till the holocaust was over. The Viramushtis are wrestlers and bards, and the Mailáris carry round an image of Kanyakamma and sing songs in her praise.
The Kápus or Reddis, by far the most numerous of the castes of the district, are landowners by occupation and are among the most respected of the non-Bráhman bodies. Closely connected with them are the Velamas, the Telagas, the Vantarlu and the Kammas referred to below; and all four of these are probably offshoots of the great Kápu clan. They will usually eat with Kápus even now, but they do not intermarry with them or with one another, and in several instances peculiarities of dress or customs have arisen. The Vantarlus, for example, arrange their top-knot further forward, and more to the left, than the others; tie their cloths differently; dress their women in petticoats and keep them gósha.
It is said that in some districts the Kápus have totemistic subdivisions, but these do not appear to exist in Gódávari. Their marriages are usually celebrated in the bride's house; the women of the bridegroom's family do not attend; and on the last day of the ceremony the couple pretend to plough and sow, a custom which exists among some of the Telugu castes who have emigrated to the Tanjore and Trichinopoly districts.
The Kammas are a cultivating caste closely akin to, and probably a subdivision of, the Kápus. Some of them say they were originally Kshatriyas, but were persecuted by a king because one of them called him a bastard, and therefore
