History of Sanketi Community
Taken from
Sankethi Saga: Lifestyles of our Sankethi ancestors in Karnataka
By M. Keshava Swamy
http://www.sankethi.org/Culture/History/SankethiSaga.html
The Kannada-English Dictionary of Dr. Kittel defines the term Sankethi as
"a sect of Smartha Brahman in Mysore (state) speaking a corrupt form of Tamil."
People of Sankethi origin living abroad will understand this statement aright
only against the background of the infinite variety of Indian Demography.
A few thousand by the size of their population, they are tantamount to a
small speck in clear skies or a twig afloat in the sea amidst 900 million
in India. But they have a local habitation as well as a name; a local reputation
far in excess of their number.
Geographically, Sankethis confined themselves to the four western Districts
of erstwhile Mysore State (now Karnataka state). These are the so-called
Mallnad districts, hilly regions with more than moderate rainfall, rich with
forest and farmland, with weather, very much as in Bangalore, temperature
rarely ever going beyond 100F; namely, Mysore, Hassan, Kadur (Chick Magalur)
and Shimoga. By occupation they were all farmers cultivating palmnut, coconut,
banana and betel leaf; by manual labor; carrying their produce by head loads
to the weekly market (Santhe); living a precarious life with hardihood and
courage. As late as half a century ago, in living memory, they cured their
palmnut (very hard labor that is!) by participation of the whole family,
or families; they stitched yellow (ripe and dry) banana leaf which had a
wide market. Their homes were tile-roofed, cowdung-paved, enclosed by mud
walls, with attachments for cattle; and with large back yards for manure,
for growing flower or vegetables. Many houses were quadrangle type, the center
of the quadrangle open to sky. Their dresses were simple, like the times,
with Dhothy and Saree, and some small upper garment. Some of the more orthodox
men never wore stitched garments at all, but covered their torso with some
shawl.
Noted as they were, by other castes around for their life of hardihood and
independent living, they were remarkable for their orthodoxy. Even in the
20th century they remained specimens of the ancient Brahman tradition of
subordinating material gain to moral religious consideration; of keeping
both form and content of Indian culture; of devoting themselves to Sanskrit
studies and Karnatik music. They were particularly devoted to the task of
preserving oral tradition of Vedic learning. They were deservedly admired
by their fellow countrymen for these things. And as there is titters for
their rashness, bold rebuff to insult, self-importance and a dominating tendency.
They were given, to the game of cards or dice, to frequent pinches of snuff,
with in an abandon. Their dialect amuses un-understanding hearers not only
for its curious mix of Kannada and Tamil but also its organ-music filling
the ears with loud retroflex L, D, N' and trilled R.
This last point brings us to the question of the original home of the Sankethis.
This dialect of Kannada - Tamil hybrid is curiously situated in the heart
of the Kannada state far away from Tamilnadu border. The linguistic evidence
definitely points to tamilian origin, but it is not a case of Tamilians drifting
gradually across the border. It is a case of group migration. A curious blend
of history and legend traces the Sankethis to Trichur and Thirunelveli districts
in the far south of Tamil Nadu. It is said that a thousand families emigrated
together from their homes to shelter themselves from a curse and came to
live in this land safely. A saintly, scholarly lady called Nacharamma was
insulted, and so, it is said, she cursed the whole town, with the proviso
that if they went far away they would come to no grief. It is said that those
who lingered declined or perished while those who came to Karnataka lived
in peace. Even today the local residents of the place in Tamil Nadu show
us the ruins of Shapathur (accursed town) and a well into which Nacharamma
is said to have thrown herself in the moment of embarrassment.
The mystery aspects of the legend apart; (1) the traces of Malayalam in the
Sankethi dialect, (2) some Brahmans going by the name of Sankethi in the
far south, an extent legend over there of a migration remembered in oral
tradition, (3) the plausibility of ready tracing the name 'Sankethi' to Kerala
history - these three facts lead us to assume that Sankethis originated in
the bilingual districts of Trichur. The curse is one plausible reason for
migration, rather powerful in those days of faith. In historical times, the
more common reasons for migration were famine and religious persecution.
The Muluka Nadu Brahmans of Karnataka came running south to the Kannada country
for fear of the Mulk i.e., the muslim rule of Golkonda. The history of Kerala
tells us that during Muslim rule, for fear of confiscation or heavy taxes,
many Hindu farmers pooled together and made over their land to the village
temple, as temples were allowed some security or concession. And the farmers
who did so became a Sangha. And from the word Sangha came Sanghethi, Sankethi
by Malayalee etymological evolution. Or, as the land arrangement was a secret
private arrangement in the village, the group of farmers who shared the Sanketha
(Skt. for code word, secret understanding) became Sankethis. This view might
suggest that Sankethis had a brief sojourn in Kerala during their prolonged
migration to the bilingual districts remained for certain periods under Muslim
rulers of Kerala. This view is supported by the fact that Sankethis were
invariably farmers unlike other Brahmans. It is also supported by the surmise
in an old tradition that Sankethis came to this state via South Canara and
Coorg, by the west, unlike all other Tamilians.
We have no historical evidence to ascribe a date for this migration. The
earliest evidence in land records, of an Inam, or a gift of a village (for
the enjoyment of lands as well as revenue), namely Hemmige to Sankethis by
the Vijaya Nagar king is dated 1448. Distributions owing to Muslim rule may
be dated prior to 1400. It is impossible to say how long before this date
Sankethis came to their present dwelling. Land records and linguistic evidence
may help a researcher to trace the date and route approximately. But it will
be a trivial discovery making no difference to the history of India. After
all it was a bit of the mainstream culture of India moving to another place
in the lap of Bharatha Matha. But it can be more worthwhile to see how these
people contributed to the life and culture of their new home, Karnataka;--
new home i.e., their Age Old New Home.
Settled for good in Mysore province, they never looked back to Tamil Nadu.
They severed all contact; they retained not even a memory of their origin.
Their Tamil assimilated more and more Kannada till at last it became more
Kannada than Tamil. They forgot the Tamil script; they mastered Kannada classics
like Naranappa's Bharatha Katha Manjari or Lakshmisha's Jaimini Bharatha
and recited them in classical tunes of Karnatic music. They retained their
taste for music; and to this day, apart from professional levels to which
many have risen, the singing of shlokas by armatures can become a treat in
itself at their dinner parties. Hard working men as they were, they evidenced
a zest for elaborate dinners and were competitive eaters - to the delectation
and jeers of other castes. They made it a custom of honoring Avadhanis (i.e.,
methodical reciters of an entire Veda) and Shastris (i.e., scholars in Sanskrit
literature) and scholars of classical music at functions like weddings. The
nomenclature of Avadhani or Shastry was not to be assumed as a name or surname,
but to be obtained as a degree awarded by senior scholars at a gathering
after a brief test. Sankethis were never impelled to venture beyond their
'Sequestered way of life' which consisted in classical scholarship, (religious)
orthodoxy and agriculture.
Yet even in their hermitage life, they were sought after and given gifts
of land from time to time :- Villages like Vaddara Halli, Hondana Halu, Marithamana
Halli, Krishna Pura, Mathur, Hosahalli, Lingada Halli and Vidyaranya Bara
came to Sankethis as gifts for recognition. Apart from receiving, they are
known to have built temples and tanks. In rare instances in which they took
to royal service they attained distinction - one glaring example being Thippaiah
who served three successive rulers in erstwhile Mysore; under Tippu Sultan
as officer of Jails, under the third Krishna Raja Wadiyar as Officer in Charge
of his early education, and as Bhakshi (palace officer) he continued in the
reign of the British Commissioner. Rama Shastry of Kowshika won distinction
as a teacher to the young Rev. Jagadguru of the famous Sringeri Mutt. At
the turn of the twentieth century with the coming of the era of public examinations,
Sankethis easily passed out to become Sanskrit and Kannada pundits in educational
institutions. One by one they left for towns and cities to become clerks
and teachers, at first, and then, lawyers, engineers and doctors, and then
businessmen and industrialists. Now they are everywhere in India and abroad.
The Sankethi population works out to about 1/3,000 in Karnataka, 1/50 of
Karnatak Brahmans but they are always a dozen rank holders at school and
university exams every year. That is a picture their march with the time
to which they took seriously only the other day.
"March" essentially means, in most cases, alienation from the roots of their
rural culture. Therefore much of the saga detail will disappear in the melting
pot of city life. The hearty eaters till recent times had a partiality for
the typical Sankethi Huli-Anna (Puli-Ogare), a typical Kola-Katte, a typical
Chomaii and a typical Saaru; they abjured garlic and like other Mysore Brahmans
they were complete abstainers. How long will these features last? Their talk
abounded in vicarious narrations of eating exploits: such as eating a whole
bunch of bananas or a whole jack fruit; stalk, rind, peel and all. Will such
exploits repeat or will they get more magnified in story? Exploits of physical
strength have been attributed to Sankethi farmers: such as carrying head
loads of enormous weight, or of routing opponents; and in one instance, an
unskilled, uninitiated farmer is said to have gripped a prize wrestler of
the palace in tight hold and overpowered him.
Sankethi men dress very much like the Mysorean counterparts, but Sankethi
women's saree differed from the Mysorean style. It was wound round the body
in two or three rounds; it did not present a bunch of plaits in front; it
carries a knot on the shoulder and so it was not like the Tamilian style
either. The Nacharamma legend would have it that she improvised the knot
in the moment of her extreme embarrassment. But it is more plausible that
(1) the saree style conveniently obviated the need from an upper garment
and (2) it was a saree style of very ancient times, alluded to in Kalidasa's
epic drama 'The Shakunthalam.' At any rate, it has disappeared into the past,
and now-a-days the women wear the saree in the Mysorean style, and younger
people take recourse to a variety of current fashions. They are also marching.