cAkrika and cakkiliyar

[N. Ganesan]

<<<
On Wed, 11 Aug 1999, Sudalaimuthu Palaniappan wrote:
 > Dear Indologists,
 >
 > For the word , cAkrika, Monier Williams gives "bard" as one of the
 > meanings. (He cites Wilson for this.) I would appreciate if someone
 > can give any actual examples of its occurrence in that meaning in
 > Sanskrit texts? Thanks in advance.

Note that MW himself, under the closely related sense "proclaimer",
cites Yajn. [yAjJ] 1.165, Hariv. 9047. The word occurs once in the
MBh at 12.69.49a, bhikSukAMz cAkrikAMz caiva kSIbonmattAn kuzIlavAn.
This is a  list of people who should be removed from a city that
comes under military threat, since they will otherwise cause harm
(doSAya syur hi te 'nyathA): beggars, cAkrikas, eunuchs, lunatics and
kuzIlavas. The pairing of cAkrikas with kuzIlavas perhaps suggests
that some sense such as "bard" is intended, and it would make some
sense to banish street performers at a time of crisis. (However,
Nilakantha glosses cAkrikAn as zAkaTikAn, "carters", and kuzIlavAn as
phAlalekhAn kInAzAn "hoe-wielding cultivators" -- perhaps not his
most convincing interpretation.) Your word does not occur in the
Ramayana.

John Smith
>>>

In Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Sri Lanka, there are a caste who go
by the name, cakkiliyar. Etymologically, cakkiliyar is
related to Skt. cakri/cAkri. Cakkiliyar who speak a variety of
Telugu play drums during festivals.

Online Tamil Lexicon entries:
cakkiliyan2 = chucklers, workers in leather
cakkili = caste of shoemakers
cakkilicci = 01 a woman of the Cakkili caste
cAkkili = menial service

Chuckler in Hobson-Jobson:

CHUCKLER , s. Tam. and Malaya¯l. shakkili, the name of a very low caste,
members of which are tanners or cobblers, like the Chama¯rs
(see CHUMAR) of Upper India. But whilst the latter are reputed to be a very
dark caste, the Chucklers are fair (see Elliot's Gloss. by Beames, i. 71,
and Caldwell's Gram. 574). [On the
other hand the Madras Gloss. (s.v.) says that as a rule they are of "a dark
black hue."] Colloquially in S. India Chuckler is used for a native
shoemaker.

c. 1580.--"All the Gentoos (Gentios) of those parts, especially those of
Bisnaga, have many castes, which take precedence one of another.
The lowest are the Chaquivilis, who make shoes, and eat all unclean
flesh. . . ."--Primor e Honra, &c., f 95.

1759.--"Shackelays are shoemakers, and held in the same despicable light on
the Coromandel Coast as the Niaddes and Pullies on the Malabar."--Ives, 26.

c. 1790.--"Aussi n'est-ce que le rébut de la classe méprisée des parrias;
savoir les tschakelís ou cordonniers et les vettians ou
fossoyeurs, qui s'occupent de l'enterrement et la combustion des
morts."--Haafner, ii. 60.

[1844.--". . . the chockly, who performs the degrading duty of executioner.
. . ."<-> Society, Manners, &c., of India, ii. 282.]

1869.--"The Komatis or mercantile caste of Madras by long established
custom, are required to send an offering of betel to the chucklers, or
shoemakers, before contracting their marriages."--Sir W. Elliot, in
J. Ethn. Soc., N. S. vol. i. 102.

Regards,
N. Ganesan

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