Andi caste is surname of many people in southern India. Andi caste meaning is In a note on Andis in the Madras Census Report, 1901, Mr. W. Francis writes that for a Brahman or an ascetic, mendicancy was always considered an honourable profession, to which no sort of shame attached. Manu saysa Brahman should constantly shun worldly honour, as he would shun poison, and rather constantly seek disrespect as he would seek nectar; and every Brahman youth was required to spend part of his life as a beggar. The Jains and Buddhists held the same views. The Hindu Chattrams19 and Uttupuras, the Jain Pallis, and the Buddhist Viharas owe their origin to this attitude, they being originally intended for the support of the mendicant members of these religions. But persons of other than the priestly and religious classes were expected to work for their living, and were not entitled to relief in these institutions. Begging among such peopleunless, as in the case of the Pandarams and Andis, a religious flavour attaches to itis still considered disreputable. The percentage of beggars in the Tamil districts to the total population is .97, or more than twice what it is in the Telugu country, while in Malabar it is as low as .09. The Telugus are certainly not richer as a class than the Tamils, and the explanation of these differences is perhaps to be found in the fact that the south is more religiously inclined than the north, and has more temples and their connected charities (religion and charity go hand in hand in India), and so offers more temptation to follow begging as a profession. Andis are Tamil beggars. They are really inferior to Pandarams, but the two terms are in [46]practice often indiscriminately applied to the same class of people. Pandarams are usually Vellalas by caste, but Andis are recruited from all classes of Sudras, and they consequently have various sub-divisions, which are named after the caste to which the members of each originally belonged, such as the Jangam Andis, meaning beggars of the Jangam caste, and the Jogi Andis, that is, Andis of the Jogi caste. They also have occupational and other divisions, such as the Kovil Andis, meaning those who do service in temples, and the Mudavandis or the lame beggars. Andi is in fact almost a generic term. All Andis are not beggars however; some are bricklayers, others are cultivators, and others are occupied in the temples. They employed Brahman priests at their ceremonies, but all of them eat meat and drink alcohol. Widows and divorcées may marry again. Among the Tinnevelly Andis, the sister of the bridegroom ties the tali (marriage badge) round the brides neck, which is not usual.
In the Madras Census Report, 1891, the Andis are summed up as beggars who profess the Saiva faith. They may be found in all the Tamil districts, begging from door to door, beating a small gong with a stick. The Andis differ from most other castes, in that a person of any caste may join their community. Some of them officiate as priests in village temples, especially when large sacrifices of goats, buffaloes, and pigs are made. They usually bury the dead. They have returned 105 sub-divisions, of which the most important are the followingJangam, Komanandi, Lingadari, Mudavandi, and Uppandi. Komanam is the small loin cloth, and a Komanandi goes naked, except for this slight concession to decency. Mudam means lame, and the Mudavandis (q.v.) are allowed to claim any deformed child belonging to the Konga Vellala caste. [47]The etymology of Uppandi is difficult, but it is improbable that it has any connection with uppu, salt.
In the Tanjore Manual, it is noted that in its ordinary acceptation the word Andi means houseless beggars, and is applied to those who profess the Saiva faith. They go out every morning, begging for alms of uncooked rice, singing ballads or hymns. They play on a small gong called semakkalam with a stick, and often carry a conch shell, which they blow. They are given to drinking.
It is recorded20 that South Indian beggars are divided into two classes, Panjathandi and Paramparaiandi. The former are famine-made beggars, and the latter are beggars from generation to generation. The former, a common saying goes, would rob from the person of a child at a convenient opportunity, while the latter would jump into a well, and pick up a child which had fallen into it by an accident, and make it over to its parents.
Andi (a god) occurs as an exogamous section of Sirukudi Kallans.
Andi 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. Andi caste name could indicate the type of work people belonging to the Andi 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
Andi 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.
Andi caste is also known as Andi 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.