Beri Chetti caste is surname of many people in southern India. Beri Chetti caste meaning is The Beri Chettis, or principal merchants, like other Chettis and Komatis, claim to be [212]Vaisyas, but they will not admit that the Komatis are on a par with them, and declare that they alone represent the true Vaisya stock.55 With regard to their origin, the Kanyakapurana states that a certain king wanted to marry a beautiful maiden of the Komati caste. When the Komatis declined to agree to the match, the king began to persecute them, and those Komatis who left the country out of fear were called Beri or Bediri (fear) Chettis. The story is, in fact, similar to that told by the Nattukottai Chettis, and the legend, no doubt, refers to persecution of some king, whose extortion went beyond the limits of custom. Another derivation of the word Beri is from perumai, greatness or splendour. The name Beri, as applied to a sub-division of the Komatis, is said to be a corruption of bedari, and to denote those who fled through fear, and did not enter the fire-pits with the caste goddess Kanyakamma.
The legend of the Beri Chettis, as given by Mr. H. A. Stuart,55 states that Kaveripuram near Kumbakonam was formerly the town in which the caste principally resided. The king of the country attempted to obtain a Beri Chetti maiden in marriage, but was refused, and he therefore persecuted them, and drove them out of his dominions, forbidding interchange of meals between them and any other caste whatevera prohibition which is still in force.
The Beri Chettis have a number of endogamous divisions, named after geographical areas, towns, etc, such as Tirutaniyar, Acharapakaththar, Telungu, Pakkam, Musalpakam. Among these there is an order of social precedence, some of the divisions interdining, others not.[213]
The Beri Chettis are, like the Kammalans (artisan class), a leading caste of the left-hand section, and the following story is narrated. While the Beris were living at Kaveripuram in a thousand houses, each house bearing a distinct gotra (house name,) a king, who took wives from among all castes, wanted the Beris to give him one of their maidens. Though unwilling, they promised to do so, but made up their minds to get over the difficulty by a ruse. On the day fixed for the marriage, all the Beri families left the place, after a male black dog had been tied to the milk-post of the marriage pandal (booth). When he learnt what had occurred, the king was very angry, and forbade all castes to take water from the Beris. And this led to their joining the left-hand section.
The Beri Chettis resort to the panchayat system of administration of affairs affecting the caste, and the headman, called Peridanakkaran, is assisted by a barber of the left-hand section. They are in favour of infant marriages, though adult marriage is not prohibited. They are not allowed to tie plantain trees to the posts of the wedding pandal, with the trees touching the ground. If this is done, the Paraiyans, who belong to the right-hand section, cut them down. This custom is still observed in some out-of-the way villages. Upanayanam, or investiture with the sacred thread, is either performed long before marriage, or by some along with the marriage rite. A man or boy, after investiture, always wears the thread.
Most of the Beri Chettis are meat-eaters, but some profess to be vegetarians.
It is said that there is much dispute between the Beri Chettis and the Komatis regarding their relative positions, and each caste delights to tell stories to [214]the detriment of the other. In general estimation, however, the Beris are deemed a little inferior to the Komatis.56 The claim of the Beri Chettis to be Vaisyas is based on the following legend, as given by Mr. Stuart.57 In the time of the Cholas, they erected a water-pandal, and Komatis claimed the right to use it, which was at once denied. The king attempted to solve the question by reference to inscriptions in the Kamakshiamma temple at Conjeeveram, but without success. He then proposed that the rivals should submit to the ordeal of carrying water in an unbaked pot. This was agreed to, and the Beri Chettis were alone successful. The penalty for failure was a fine of Rs. 12,000, which the Komatis could not pay, and they were therefore obliged to enslave themselves to a Beri Chetti woman, who paid the fine. Their descendants are still marked men, who depend upon Beri Chettis for their subsistence. The great body of the Komatis in the country were not parties to the agreement, and they do not now admit that their inferiority has ever been proved. According to another version of the legend, during the reign of the Cholas, a water-pandal was erected by the Beris, and the Komatis claimed the right to use it. This was refused on the ground that they were not Vaisyas. The question at issue was referred to the king, who promised to enquire into it, but did not do so. A Viramushti (caste beggar of the Beri Chettis and Komatis) killed the kings horse and elephant. When questioned as to his reason for so doing, he explained that it was to call the kings attention to the dispute, and restored the animals to life. The king then referred both parties to Conjeeveram, where a [215]sasanam (copper-plate grant) was believed to exist. To procure this document, the decapitation of twelve human beings was necessary, and the Viramushti sacrificed his twelve children. According to the document, the Beris were Vaisyas, and the Komatis were ordered to be beheaded. But some Beris interceded on their behalf, and they were pardoned on condition that they would pay a sum of money. To secure the necessary money, they became slaves to a rich Beri woman. Ever since this incident, the Komatis have been the children of the Beris, and their descendants are called Pillaipuntha Komati, or Komati who became a son. For the services which he rendered, the Viramushti is said to have been presented with a sasanam, and he is treated as a son by the caste men, among whom he has some influence. For example, the Beri Chettis may not plant in their back-yards Moringa pterygosperma, Dolichos Lablab, or a red variety of Amarantus. If the Viramushti found the first of these planted, he would destroy it, and demand a fine of three fanams. For Dolichos the fine is six fanams, and for Amarantus one fanam. The rearing of pigs, goats, and fowls by the Beri Chettis is forbidden under penalty of a fine. If a Beri Chetti woman carries a water-pot on her head, the Viramushti will throw it down, and demand a fine of twelve fanams. The women are not allowed to carry on sales at a public fair, under penalty of excommunication. The Beri Chettis and Komatis should not do business together.
The Kammalans and Chettis are regarded as friends, and there is a Tamil proverb Settiyum Kammalanum onnu, i.e, the Chetti and Kammalan are one. In this connection the following legend is quoted. In the town of Kanda, anciently the Camalas (artificers of five sorts) lived closely united together, and were employed [216]by all ranks of men, as there were no artificers besides them. They feared and respected no king, which offended certain kings, who combined against them, taking with them all kinds of arms. But, as the fort (Kanda Kottai, or magnetic fort), in which the Camalar lived, was entirely constructed of loadstone, this attracted, and drew the weapons away from the hands of the assailants. The kings then promised a great reward to any one who should burn down the fort. No one dared to do this. At length the courtesans of a temple engaged to effect it, and took the pledge of betel and areca, engaging thereby to do so. The kings, greatly rejoicing, built a fort opposite, filled with such kind of courtesans, who, by their singing, attracted the people from the fort, and led to intercourse. One of these at length succeeded in extracting from a young man the secret, that, if the fort was surrounded with varacu straw, set on fire, it might be destroyed. The king accordingly had this done, and, in the burning down of the fort, many of the Camalar lost their lives. Some took to ships belonging to them, and escaped by sea. In consequence, there were no artificers in that country. Those taken in the act of endeavouring to escape were beheaded. One woman of the tribe, being pregnant, took refuge in the house of a Chetti, and escaped, passing for his daughter. From a want of artificers, who made implements for weavers, husbandmen, and the like, manufactures and agriculture ceased, and great discontent arose in the country. The king, being of clever wit, resorted to a device to discover if any of the tribe remained, to remedy the evil complained of. This was to send a piece of coral, having a fine tortuous aperture running through it, and a piece of thread, to all parts of the country, with promise of great reward to any one who should succeed in passing the [217]thread through the coral. None could accomplish it. At length the child that had been born in the Chettys house undertook to do it; and, to effect it, he placed the coral over the mouth of an ant-hole, and having steeped the thread in sugar, placed it at some little distance. The ants took the thread, and drew it through the coral. The king, seeing the difficulty overcome, gave great presents, and sent much work to be done, which that child, under the council and guidance of its mother, performed. The king sent for the Chetty, and demanded an account of this young man, which the Chetty detailed. The king had him plentifully supplied with the means especially of making ploughshares, and, having married him to the daughter of a Chetty, gave him grants of land for his maintenance. He had five sons, who followed the five different branches of work of the Camalar tribe. The king gave them the title of Panchalar. Down to the present day there is an intimate relation between these five branches, and they intermarry with each other; while, as descendants of the Chetty tribe, they wear the punul, or caste-thread of that tribe.58
The Acharapakam Chettis are known as Malighe Chettis, and are connected with the Chettis of this legend. Even now, in the city of Madras, when the Beri Chettis assemble for the transaction of caste business, the notice summoning the meeting excludes the Malighe Chettis, who cannot, like other Beri Chettis, vote at elections, meetings, etc, of the Kandasami temple.
Some Beri Chettis, Mr. Stuart writes, worship Siva, and some Vishnu, and a few are Lingayats, who do not marry into families with a different worship. They [218]bury, while the others burn their dead. All the divisions wear the sacred thread, and do not tolerate widow remarriage. Unlike Komatis, their daughters are sometimes married after puberty.
Beri Chetti caste is one of the many castes subcastes of India.
India has thousands of castes and subcastes, they are in existence and practice since the Vedic times. They were created to solve the problem of division of labor. Beri Chetti caste name could indicate the type of work people belonging to the Beri Chetti caste do or did in earlier times. Many last names in India indicate the place the person originally belongs to. All castes sub castes are primarily divided into 4 categories:
1.Brahmins – The learned or priestly class
2.Khastriyas – The warrior class or those with governing functions
3.Vaishyas – The trader, agriculturalists or cattle rearers class
4.Shudra – The class that serves other three categories
Beri Chetti caste belongs to one of the above 4 categories. Indian caste system is the best system to solve the problem of division of labor. In earlier times there was no rigidity in caste system. Indian caste system is still the best solution for the problem of division of labor, the only change that is needed as per changed times is that rather than having a vertical hierarchical system with Brahmins on top and Shudras at bottom, it would be good to have a horizontal socialist system with Brahmins, Khastriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras all at same level.
The caste system of India is in ruins at present. It is also cause of bloody quarrels in certain parts of the rural India. People of backward castes have reservations in government jobs, this facility is widely misused in India. Many of the backward caste people have become rich and still use the facility for their benefit. Many in India believe reservation in jobs should be given on the basis of poverty rather than caste because there are many poors in upper castes as well.
Many criticize the Indian caste system because of bad material condition of lower castes but if they observe in an unbiased way they would find that there are many in upper castes with bad material conditions. The problem lies in power not in castes, power can corrupt anyone be it from upper caste or lower caste.
All cultures, all countries, all religions have caste system in one form or the other. Christians have different churches depending on the region or language or skin color of people. Muslims have a priestly class that tries to control everything. Arab Muslims before the oil boom were so much divided among tribes that if you drank water from a well of a different tribe you could be shot dead. Tribal divisions still exists among Muslims. You can also see the caste system in a different form in your corporate companies. I had seen different food and drinking facilities for people at different levels.
Beri Chetti caste is also known as Beri Chetti Gotra.
Caste situation is quiet different in urban India, people in urban areas especially youngsters don?t bother about castes. Inter caste, inter religious, inter lingual marriages are quiet common in urban India. Inter caste, inter religious and inter lingual marriages in rural areas attract severe criticism and many times people are expelled from community for not marrying as per religious and caste rules.