TINNEVELLY, chief town of Tinnevelly dis trict, Madras, is lf miles from the left bank of the Tambraparni, lat. 8° 43' 47" N., and long. 77° 43' 49" E. ; the district lying between lat. 8° 9' and 9° 56' N., and long. 77° 16' and 78°27' E., having the Bay of Bengal on its eastern face, and a harbour at Tuticorin. This district formed part of the ancient Pandiyan empire. It was ceded to the British in 1801. It has twenty-six polygar estates paying tribute to the British. Ronaish Chris tian missions have been here since the 17th century. The two chief towns are Paltuncotta and Tuticorin, the last fatted for its pearl fishery. The Protestant missionaries who have laboured in Tinnevelly:have been Pohle, Schwartz, Kohlhoff, Hough, Rhenius, and Caldwell. The southern coasts have many salt marshes, which were increased at the beginning of the 19th century by inundations. There aro several streams, the largest being the Tambraparni. The district produces cotton and rice. The general appearance of the district is that of an extensive plain with small hills interspersed. The Anangol pass leads to Travancore. Between Tinnevelly and Travancore is a chain of fortifications or lines which were considered very formidable at the close of the 18th century.
Agricultural castes (Vellalars, Vanniars, Shan ars) amount to 62 per cent. ; Pariahs, 10.4 per cent. Paravars are all Catholics. The Shanars cultivate the palinyra palm, and make jagari from its sap. They claim to be the original proprietors. Christian missions have been suc cessful among them. Devil-worship is common in the district, but especially among the Shanars. Some Braliznaus have even taken up the local devil-worship. At Srivaikuntham is a mercantile subdivision of the Vellztlar caste, the NMI* Kottai Vellalars (Fort Vellalars), who live in a mud fort, out of which their women are not allowed to go. The three most celebrated Hindu shrines are at Tiruchendur on the sea-coast, at Papanasam the Tatnbraparni, and at Kuttalam (Courtallum) on its tributary the Chittur. At both tho two latter places there are beautiful waterfalls at the foot of the bills. Kuttalain is also knois.n as Ten Kasi, i.e. the Southern Benares. The scenery is very lovely, Mr. James Fergusson (Hist. of Indian .Archit. p. 366) cites the great Siva temple as giving a good general idea of the arrangement of large Dravidian temples. It is a double temple. T.he whole enclosure measures 508 by 756 feet. Like some other large tetnples, it contains a thousand pillared portico. The Muhammadans are de scended from the ancient Arab trailers and their converts. They are found along the whole coast of the Tamil country, and are called by the British Labbai ; they call themselves Sonagar or Yonagar.
Out of the total of 5176 square miles, 1112 are uncultivable. The palmyra palm flourishes in the almost rainless tracts of red sandy soil to the south. Pearl fishery here is very ancient. It is mentioned by Pliny (A.D. 130), by Muhammad bin-Mansur in the 12th, and by Marco Polo in the 13th century. The Venetian traveller Caaar Frederic (1563-81) desciibes the fishery in a way which applies to the present day. The colour of the pearls of the Gulf of Isfanaar is not good. The British first entered on the pearl fishery in 1796, since which time a total sum of nearly £120,000 has been realized, at a cost of not more than £600 a year.
Between 1830 and 1861 there were no fisheries, as the beds seemed exhausted, ascribed to currents produced by the deepening of the Pambam channel. In 1861 and 1862 the fisheries realized £37,858. Chank-shells are found all along the coast, and from time immemorial have been sent to Bengal and elsewhere. Since 1876 the fishery has been taken by Government management. In 1877-78 the profit was 12290. The divers were paid £2 for a thousand shells, and the price got by Govern ment was £9, 2s. for each thousand of good shells. Throughout the district the average rainfall is only 24.79 inches. A fall of rain is always expected late in January, sufficient to raise the rivers and replenish tbe tanks.
According to Tamil tradition, Chera, Chola, and Pandiya were three royal brothers, who at first lived and ruled in common at Kolkai on the Tambraparni. Eventually a separation took place ; Pandiya remained in the south ; Chera and Chola founded kingdoms of tbeir own in the north and west. The earliest Dravidian civilisation Ni as that of the Tamilar of the Pandiya kingdom, and the first place where they erected a city and estab lished a state was Kolkai, on the Tambraparni river. The leader of the first or most influential Brahmanical colony is said to have been Agastya. He is fabled to be still alive, and to reside some where on the mountain called Agastya Malai, from which the Tambraparni takes its rise ' (CaldwelPs Grammar, p. 118). He is the traditional founder of the Tamil language. The first capital of the Paudiyas was Kolkai, above named ; the second and more celebrated was Madura. Kolkai is the KoAxot ttamy of Ptolemy (A.D. 130) and of the author of the Periplus (A.D. 80), both of whom speak of it as the headquarters of the pearl fishery, and belonging to the Pandiyan king. This place IS now about three miles inland. — Pharoah's Gazetteer; Imp. Goz. ix.