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dtladras Journal of Aiterature
and Setence

1888-89.

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EDITED BY

CAPTAIN R. H. CAMPBELL TUFNELL, M:S.C.,

(EDITORIAL SECRETARY).

PUBLISHED BY THE
MADRAS LITERARY SOCIETY AND AUXILIARY OF THE
ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY, OLD COLLEGE, NUNGUMBAUKUM.

1889.
[All rights reserved.

WURRESL

TO

EDITORIAL SUB-COMMITTEE.

GUSTAV OPPERT, Pu.D., Proressor or Sanscrit, Presi-
DENCY CoLiEecr, Mapras.

C. MICHIE SMITH, B.Sc., Prorgssor or Puystcan Scrence,
Mapras Cristian CoLuece.

CAPTAIN R. H. CAMPBELL TUFNELL, M.8.C. (Enrrortat
SECRETARY).

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CONTENTS.

PAGES
Proceedings of First, Second, and Third Meetings’ S +.» ‘Vil, Vili
The Legend of St. Thomas, by the Rev. George Milne Rae, m.a. 1—22

Etymology of some Mythological Names, by M. Seshagiri Sastri. 23—26
Tbn Batitah in Southern India, by Mrs. L. Fletcher .. 50 37—69

Pandavala Metta, by the Rev. J. R. Hutchinson ee ‘ 60—68
Indo-Danish Coins, by T. M. Ranga Chari, s.a., and T. Desika
Chari, B.A. .. 06 50 No Ob re ae He 69—82

On the Original Inhabitants of Bharatavarsa or India [Continued
from p. 137 of this Journal for 1887-88], by Gustav Oppert ., 83—246

PROCEEDINGS.

FIRST MEETING.

_ Tue first ordinary meeting of the Madras Literary Society

and Auxiliary of the Royal Asiatic Society for the Session
1888-89 took place on Thursday, the 22nd November, at
5-30 p.m., in the Reading Room of the Old College,
Nungumbaukum.
Surgeon-General G. Bidie, M.B., 0.1.6., in the chair.
The following papers were read :—
1. The Legend of St. Thomas, by the Rev. G. Milne
Rae, M.A.
2. Notes on the recent Cyclone, by Mr.’O0. Michie Smith,
B.Sc.
3. On Indo-Danish Coins, by Mr. T. M. Ranga Chari,
B.A., and Mr. T. Desika Chari, B.a.

SECOND MEETING.

The second ordinary meeting of the Society took place
on Thursday, the 13th December, at 5-30 p.m., in the
Reading Room of the Old College, Nungumbaukum.

The following paper was read :—

1. Symbolism on Indian Coins, Part I, “Punch marked,”
by Mr. T. M. Scott.

Vill PROCEEDINGS.

THIRD MEETING.

The third ordinary meeting of the Society took place on
Wednesday, the 6th February, at 5-30 p.m, in the Reading
Room of the Old College, Nungumbaukum.

The Hon’ble Mr. Grose, C.S., in the chair.

The following papers were read :—

1. On the terms Gaudian and Kolarian, by Mr. G. Oppert,
Ph.D.
2. On the Coins of the Sethupatis, by Rev. J. E. Tracy,

M.A.

The Legend of St. Thomas.

(By Tur Rev. GHORGE MILNE RAB, y.a.)

In the neighbourhood of Madras there are three ‘holy’
places associated with the name of St. Thomas the Apostle.
They are St. Thomas’ Mount, the Little Mount, and Mayla-
pur or (as it was also called by the Portuguese) St. Thomé.
At each a church was built; and for a cross, a cave, and a
graye these churches are respectively remarkable.

St. Thomas’ Mount (eight miles south-west of Fort St.
George) is remarkable for a stone cross of the Greek type in
the church at the top of the hill. It was found in connection
with some excavations made by the Portuguese in 1547 at
the time when the church was built and when the stone-steps
up the hill-side were laid. It may now be seen above the
altar. It is in bas-relief, cut on a tablet of dark granite. At
the top of the upright shaft is figured a bird, like a dove, with
its wings expanded “as the Holy Ghost is usually represented
when descending on our Lord at his baptism or on our Lady
at her annunciation.”” There is a Pahlavi inscription on it,
which runs archwise over the cross, and is divided into two
unequal parts by a mark like the plus sign in algebra. Of
this Pahlavi inscription the Portuguese discoverers could make
nothing; but certain learned brahmans, perceiving what
was desired, speedily rendered the few words into a concise
confession of the whole Christian faith, ending with a full
and particular account of the martyrdom of St. Thomas.
Certain gifted eyes, we are told, have seen on this stone
stains of apostolic blood and have on occasions witnessed
the miraculous phenomenon of a bloody sweat. But not to

2 THE LEGEND OF ST. THOMAS.

dwell on this, the inscription is of real importance. It helps
not only towards the discovery of its date, which experts have
put as early as the seventh or eighth century—proving the
existence of a church there 1,200 years ago—but also
towards determining the connection of the church on this
coast with that in Malabar, both having been Nestorian.
The inscription in fact contains, as I believe, a pet heresy
peculiar to Indian Nestorianism.?

The Little Mount (six miles south-west of Fort St.
George) is the traditionary site of the Apostle’s martyrdom.
There is a cave in the rock, where it is asserted that St.
Thomas took refuge from his pursuers. A church stands
over it. On one side of the cave there is an opening or window,
which the uninitiated might suppose to be intended merely
for the admission of air and light; but visitors must under-
stand that, in the attempt to escape through this opening,
the Apostle was speared and slain. Outside the church and
near the top of the rock on which it is built there is a cleft,
which a natural spring replenishes with water all the year
round. ‘This spring was created, we are told, to supply the
saint with water during the period of his concealment in the
cave; and not long ago two pilgrims are said to have come
hither from Edessa and filled some bottles with the sacred
water to carry back to their own country.

Within the precincts of the cathedral of Maylapur or
St. Thomé (three miles south of Fort St. George) there is a
little chapel, built over what is popularly regarded as the
grave of St. Thomas. A trap-door in front of the altar
gives access to the grave, and many a handful of the dust
is carried off by the faithful wherewith to cure diseases.
Over the altar is a quaint old scrinium with a cruciform
reliquary in which are deposited some of the ashes and the

1 See my Article on ‘‘ The Syrian Christians of South India,” in the
London Quarterly Review for October 1887.

THE LEGEND OF ST. THOMAS. 3

bones of the Apostle, together with fragments of the spear
by which he won the crown of martyrdom. These things
may be seen there to-day, and great are the annual gather-
ings at the festivals observed on the drd of July and the
18th and 21st of December.

The early history of Maylapur it is difficult to trace, and
little help is derived from the etymology of the name. Still
it is needful to note this etymology as helping to explain
some of the stories that superstitious ingenuity has invented
for the purpose of connecting the name of the place etymo-
logically with the story of St. Thomas. The purana of the
Maylapur temple, I am told, states that the place derived its
name from the circumstance that Siva’s wife appeared there
to her lord in the form of a (mayil =) pea-fowl. Maylapur
would mean, therefore, peacock-town, and hence peacock-
stories form part of the legendary lore that has gathered
round the name of St. Thomas. Thus Marco Polo? in the
thirteenth century and Duarte Barbosa® in the sixteenth
both relate stories very different in detail, according to
which St. Thomas was accidentally shot by an arrow aimed
at a peacock.

But the little chapel attached to the cathedral of Mayla-
pur is not the only place that claims the honor of possessing
relics of the Apostle. Relics of him have been preserved
since the first quarter of the sixteenth century in St. Thomas’
Church at Goa. As these are known to have been carried
thither in 1522 from Maylapur under the direction of the
Portuguese viceroy, its claim to the original proprietorship
is not thereby invalidated. But the same cannot be said
regarding the claim made by another city, outside cf India,
whose early appearance and prominent place in Christian

2 The Book of Ser Marco Polo, B. III, ¢. xviii.
3 “Hast Africa and Malabar in the Sixteenth Century,’’ published by
the Hakluyt Society, p. 175.

4 THE LEGEND OF ST. THOMAS.

history are beyond all dispute. That city is Edessa, the
capital of the province of Osrohene in Mesopotamia. Its
connection with the Apostle enters into literature in the
form of a very bold legend. For when, in the fifteenth
year of Tiberius, Abgarus its king was sick, he sent a
letter to Jesus Christ, begging Him to come and heal him,
offering at the same time to share his kingdom with ‘the
excellent Saviour’ and to protect him from the Jews.
Abgarus, it is said, received a written reply to the effect that
Jesus had work which He might not leave; but He would
send one of His disciples to cure the king of his disease.
Now it was Thomas, who, according to the legend, was
appointed as Christ’s amanuensis to write the letter to
Abgarus, and it was Thomas who ‘by a divine impulse’
sent Thaddeus (or Addeus as he is perhaps oftener called)
to Hdessa.

Eusebius * informs us that he himself found these letters
among the records of the church of Edessa ; and, whatever
may be said about their authenticity, the fact of their being
so found is not to be called in question. Curiously, in our
own day, the same documents re-appear. For Dr. Cureton
found, arnong the MSS. acquired in 1841, 1843, and 1847 by
the British Museum from the Nitrian Monastery in Lower
Egypt, “‘a considerable portion of the Aramaic document
which Eusebius cites as preserved in the archives of Edessa ;”’®
and these MSS. are of great importance in the history of the
literature that has gathered round the name of St. Thomas.

The assignation of India to Thomas as the sphere of his
apostolic labours has indeed been all but universal among
ecclesiastical historians and other writers. But it is only
when we go back to the sources of the story that anything
approaching to a satisfactory conclusion on the question

4 Hecles. Hist., B. I, ¢. 13.
5 See Ante-Nicene Christian Library, vol. XX., Syriae Documents, p. 1.

THE LEGEND OF ST. THOMAS. 5

ean be reached. In what literature is the name of St.
Thomas first associated with India ? It will appear, I think,
that the home of that literature, the original hot-bed in
which it was reared, was no other than the Church of Edessa.
For there is no other place within the area occupied by
_the language in which those works were written, that had
any such interest in the fortunes and destiny of the Apostle.
The story of Thomas’ preaching and martyrdom in India
is first found in the Apocryphal Acts of Thomas; and it
is curious to note that throughout that work the Apostle
is generally called Judas Thomas, a name which he also
receives in that group of documents which Eusebius found
among the archives of Hdessa. It is a palpably gnostic
work, and students of gnosticism, judging from the stage
of development at which they find that heresy in the Acts,
assign it to the end of the second century. It may have
been written by Bardesanes (b. 155, d. 223). But whoever
the real author was, I think that the details of this work
are not only consistent with the belief that they were put
together by a member of the Hdessene Church, but almost
defy explanation on any other hypothesis.

The substance of the Acts of the Holy Apostle Thomas
and the Consummation of Thomas the Apostle is as follows :

The apostles were all in Jerusalem and they portioned out
the regions of the world among them. By lot India fell to
Judas Thomas, also called Didymus. And he did not wish to go,
saying that he was not able on account of the weakness of the
flesh. And how can I, being an Hebrew man, go among the
Indians to proclaim the truth? And while he was thus reason-
ing and speaking, the Saviour appeared to him through the
night and said to him: Fear not, Thomas, go away to India and
proclaim the word; for my grace shall be with thee. But he

® Photius, Patriarch of Constantinople, A.D. 853, attributes it to Leu-
cius Charinus. But who or what this Leucius was, whether a writer or a
mere collector of Apocryphal literature, no one seems to know. Dr. George
Salmon regards him (Smith’s Dic. Chr. Biog.) as ‘a fictitious personage.”

6 THE LEGEND OF ST. THOMAS.

did not obey, saying: Wherever thou wishest to send me, send
me elsewhere ; for to the Indians I am not going.

And as he was thus speaking and growing angry, there
happened to be there a certain merchant come from India, by
name Abbanes, sent from the king Gondophares, and having
received an order from him to buy a carpenter. And the Lord,
having seen him walking about in the market at noon, said to
him : Dost thou want a carpenter? And he said to him, Yes.
And the Lord said to him: I havea slave a carpenter and I wish
to sell him. And having said this, he showed him Thomas at
a distance and agreed with him for three pounds of uncoined
silver. Next day Thomas came to the Lord and said: Thy
will be done. Then Abbanes and he began to sail away. And
they had a fair wind and they sailed fast until they came to
Andrapolis, a royal city.

And when they arrived there, the marriage feast of the
king’s daughter was being celebrated, and Thomas accompanied
Abbanes to the feast, and when he saw them all rechning, he
reclined also in the midst. But he would neither eat nor drink,
and a flute-girl, a Hebrew by race, stood and played over hinr
a long time, and presently he sang a Hebrew song setting forth
the praises of the bride, which no one save the Hebrew flute-
girl understood. Meanwhile, a naughty cup-bearer struck the
stranger and Thomas quietly replied that God would forgive
him in the world to come, but the hand that had been lifted
against His Apostle would be dragged along by a dog. And so
it came to pass, for the cup-bearer, haying gone to the fountain
to draw water, met a lion there and the lion rent him in pieces,
and the dogs immediately seized his limbs, among which also
one black dog, laying hold of his right hand in his mouth,
brought it to the place of the banquet. And when it was proved
to be the hand of the cup-bearer, who had struck the Apostle,
the flute-girl broke her flutes in pieces and threw them away
and went and sat down at the feet of Thomas, saying, This man
is either God or God’s Apostle. And the king having heard,
came and said to him: Rise up and go with me and pray for my
daughter, for she is my only child and to-day I give her away-
And having prayed and laid his hands on them, he said: ‘The

THE LEGEND OF ST. THOMAS. r

Lord will be with you,’ and he left them in the place and went
away.

But when the bridegroom lifted the curtain which separated .
him from his bride, he saw Thomas, as he supposed, conversing
with her. Then he asked in surprise, how canst thou be found
here, did I not see thee go out before all? And the Lord
answered I am not Judas Thomas, but his brother. And the
Lord sat down and ordered them also to sit down and called on
them to remember what his brother had said to them. He
taught them all the anxieties, troubles and temptations which
result from the procreation of children, and promised them
that, if they kept themselves chaste, they should partake of
the true marriage and enter the bride chamber full of ight and
immortality. The young couple obeyed this exhortation much
to the grief of the king, who ordered Thomas to be apprehended ;
but he and Abbanes were already on their way and so escaped
his hands.

And when they came into the cities of India, Abbanes
brought him into the presence of the king. And Gondophares
asked, wilt thou be able to build me a palace? I shall begin,
said Thomas, in October and end in April. And the Apostle,
haying taken a reed, measured the place and marked it out,
and he set the doors towards the rising of the sun to look to the
light and the windows towards its setting to look to the winds ;
and he made the bake-house to be towards the south and the
water-tank, for abundance, towards the north. And the king,
seeing this, said to the Apostle: Thou art a craftsman indeed
and it is fitting that thou shouldest serve kings.

Large advances of gold and silver the Apostle received to
pay the workmen withal, but these he dispensed to the poor.
And when the time came, the king asked whether the palace
was finished, and the Apostle said that it was. And when shall
we goto see it? Now thou canst not see it, but when thou hast
departed this life thou shalt see it. And the king, being angry,
thrust Thomas into prison and was meditating how he should
be killed; but his brother Gad was so affected by the insult
thus offered to the king that he suddenly died. And in the
other world he saw a palace so beautiful that he begged the

8 THE LEGEND OF ST. THOMAS.

angels to let him live in its lowest chambers; but they
answered that it could not be, for this was his brother’s palace,
- erected by the Christian. Gad therefore asked and obtained
leave from the angels to go back to the world that he might
buy the palace from his brother. Then king Gondophares and
Gad became followers of the Apostle and begged for the seal
of baptism and the Apostle sealed them and they heard the
voice of the Lord, saying ‘‘ Peace to you, brethren!”

The story would not be complete without some enumer-
ation of further miracles, to which the writer attached a
great deal of importance. ‘There are three notable miracles,
(1) about the dragon and the young man, (2) about the demon
that dwelt in the woman, (3) about the young man that killed
the maiden. It would be tedious to relate these miracles.
There is no beauty in them; on the contrary, they verge
on indecency. The object of the writer, or at least one
main object, seems to have been to advocate the practice of
celibacy as a Christian institution. It is not merely the
celibacy of the clergy that he enjoins, but the celibacy of
every member of the church of St. Thomas. To this doctrine
too he gave retrospective effect, dissolving the bonds of holy
wedlock in the case of such married persons as became his
disciples. The married life was treated by him as absolutely
unlawful. This apostolic preacher is represented as having
done a good work, when a couple about to consummate their
wedding have been prevailed on to abandon their design, or
when a wife has been persuaded to refuse further intercourse
with her husband. That all generation is sin seems to have
been his thesis, and it is as the martyr of this contemptible
eause that Thomas is pictured in the Apocryphal Acts. For
when he left the court of Gondophares and arrived at that
of Misdeus, he converted Mygdonia,’ the wife of the chief

7 Mygdonia is the name of a province in the north-east of Macedonia,
adjoining Osrohene. This sister-in-law of Misdeus may, therefore, have
been cither a native of that province or otherwise connected with it by
family ties.

THE LEGEND OF ST. THOMAS. g

minister, who, in obedience to the Apostle’s instructions,
refused to live any longer with Charisius, her husband ; and
the king had hardly received Charisius’ complaint on the
subject when he discovered that his own wife, Mygdonia’s
sister, as well as his son, Juzanes, had both become converts
to the same doctrine.

Then at the command of Misdeus, King of India, the blessed
Apostle Thomas was cast into prison, and he said, I glorify
God, and I shall preach the word to the prisoners, so that all
rejoiced at his presence. .... And Thomas went and found
the jailors fighting and saying: What wrong have we done to
that sorcerer that, availing himself of his magic art, he has
opened the door of the prison, and wishes to set all the prisoners
free? And when he came, they stripped him and girded him
with a girdle, and thus they stood before the king. And how,
said Misdeus, hast thou run away and come to this country ?
And Thomas said: I came here that I might save many, and.
that I might by thy hands depart from this body. And the king
became impatient and he arose and took Thomas outside of the
city, and a few soldiers accompanied him with their arms. And
when they had gone forth three stadia, he delivered him to four
soldiers and to one of the polemarchs and ordered them to take
him into the mountain® and to spear him;° but he himself
returned to the city.

8 The name of the place is usually given in early authorities as Calamina,
which has been sadly tortured by etymologizers. (1) A Dravidian etymology
has been boldly provided for it. First it is changed into Calurmina and
then we are told that Calur =a stone or rock, and mina = upon! See White-
house’s Lingerings of Light ina Dark Land, p. 12, note. (2) A Semitic deriva-
tion has been provided. And in this attempt there may be hope, but not on
the lines which are usually followed. Thus Mr. Logan in his Manual of Mala-
bar seems to adopt a suggestion by Bp. Melius, according to which Calamina
is another form of Golomath, a Syriac word, meaning hill-town, the same,
it is alleged, as Maylapur; so that the name Calamina is in some sense a
translation of the name Maylapur. But (a) this assumes that Maylapur is
derived from malai =a hill, which is by no means to be assumed. Such a
derivation had indeed the sanction of the late Dr. Burnell, but it is said
by other experts to be open to linguistic objection, and, moreover, is topo-
graphically inapplicable, as Maylapur im rerwm natura is not near any hill

2

10 THE LEGEND OF SI. THOMAS.

But long afterwards, when one of the king’s sons became
demoniac, Misdeus opened the Apostle’s tomb to find a bone,
wherewith to touch and cure his son. But, behold, no bones
were there, for one of the brethren had carried them away to
the region of the west. Wherefore he took some dust from the
place where the bones had lain, and touched his son with it
and immediately the devil left him. Then Misdeus met with
the brethren under the rule of Syphorus,"” ‘‘a presbyter in the
mountain,” and entreated them to pray for him that he might
obtain mercy through Jesus Christ.

Will it be maintained by any reader of this story that it
bears any marks of South India, or that it could have been

from which it could take its name. (4) This assumes that Maylapur is as
old as the first or second century of the Christian era, which is not to be
assumed. And (c) it assumes that the writers of these early legends were
familiar with the whereabouts of Maylapur, which also is not to be assumed.

9 The late Dr. Kennet, in his S. Thomas the Apostle of Indiz (Madras,
Addison & Co., 1882), printed as an appendix a Latin hymn from the Moz-
arabic Breviary, edited by Cardinal Lorenzana in 1775. The hymn is entitled
Hymnus in Festo Sancti Thome Apostoli—ad Vesperum, and tells the story nearly
as I have told it above. It will be seen from the following stanzas that
the author of the hymn represents the death of St. Thomas as having been
caused by an infuriated priest of a temple of the Sun, which would imply
that in his opinion the kingdom of Misdeus must have lain within the area
of sun worship, é.e., towards the Persian side.

Templum Solis comminutum
Corruit cum idolo ;

Ac metallum pretiosum,
Solvitur in pulverem ;

Rex illius civitatis,
Fugit cum Carisio.

Tune sacerdos idolorum
Furibundus astitit,

Gladio transverberavit
Sanctum Christi martyrem,

Glorioso passionis
Laureatum sanguine.

10 Another text adds that they were carried to Edessa. It is pertinent,
however, to ask here whether a writer, who knew the localities, would have
expressed himself thus? Would any man, writing from Maylapur, speak of
Edessa as being in the region of the west? I trow not. Edessa, long. 38°
40’ E., lat. 87° 6’ N.; Maylapur, long. 80° 14’ E., lat. 18° 4’N. The
important point to note, however, is that after all Thomas gets to Edessa.

4 Ts Syphorus or Syphor the same as the Persian name Sapor ?

THE LEGEND OF ST. THOMAS. li

written by a man who professed to have any knowledge
whatever of our peninsula? Is there a single name of person
or place mentioned in any part of it that will bear a moment’s
comparison with South Indian names? The evidence is all
the other way, and the only link that connects the Acts of
Thomas with history is the name of the king whose court
he visited. Within the Victorian era, interesting discoveries
have been made in consequence of the extension of our Indian
frontier towards the north-west and the escapades of our
army into Afghanistan, which tend to show that there was
in the first century a king in that region of the name of
Gondophares, who is most probably to be identified with the
king of our story.

Numerous coins bearing Greek legends—certainly not
less than 30,000 in number and ranging over a period of
more than three centuries—have been found in Kabul and
the Punjab. The greater number belong to the series of
pure Greek princes, who ruled over the Indian provinces
of Alexander the Great. The remainder belong to their
Scythian conquerors and to their Indo-Parthian contem-
poraries. Among these Indo-Parthian princes is to be
reckoned Gondophares.

The inscription on the obverse side of these Gondophares
coins is in Greek characters; on the reverse side in Indian
Pali. The Greek form of the name is, on the horseman coins,
TONAO@APOTY, on the bust coins YNAOSEPPOT ; while
the Indian Pali equivalent is Gudapharasa or Gadapharasa.

The important questions concerning Gondophares are
where and when did he rule? Both are answered in the
following extract from General Cunningham” :—“ The
coins of Gondophares are common in Kabul, Kandahar, and
Sistan, and in the Western and Southern Punjab. All these

12 See his paper on ‘‘ Coins of Indian Buddhist Satraps with Greek In-
scriptions,” being No. 7 of 1854, Jowrnal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal,
vol. XXIII, pp. 711-2.

12 THE LEGEND OF ST. THOMAS.

countries, therefore, must have owned his sway. He was

besides the head and founder of his family, as no less than
three members of it claim relationship with him on their
coins, viz., Orthagnes, his full brother, Abdagases, his nephew,
and Sasa (or Sasan), a more distant relation. The coins of
Orthagnes are found in Sistan and Kandahar, those of
Abdagases and Sasan in the Western Punjab. I presume,
therefore, that they were the viceroys of those provinces on
the part of the great king Gondophares, who himself resided
at Kabul. All the names are those of Parthians, but the
language of the coins is Indian Pali. Abdagases is the
name of the Parthian chief, who headed the successful
revolt against Artabanus in A.D. 44. The great power
of Gondophares and the discovery of a coin of Artabanus,
countermarked with the peculiar monogram of all the
Gondopharian dynasty, make it highly probable that the
Indo-Parthian Abdagases was the same as the Parthian
chief, whose revolt is recorded by Tacitus (Anna/. xv. 2) and
Josephus (Antigua, xx. ili. 2). This surmise is very much
strengthened by the date of the revolt (A.D. 44), which
would make Gondophares a contemporary of St. Thomas.”
Further light regarding the period of Gondophares’ goy-
ernment is derived from an inscription on the Taht-i-Bahi
stone, the history of which must be briefly told. Taht-i-
Bahi," situated 28 miles to the north-east of Peshawar,

13 This monogram © is thought by Prinsep to be a combination of the
b, m, and of the old Sanscrit alphabet (Jowma?, As. Soc., Bengal, July
1838, p. 653). Professor H. H. Wilson quotes but does not approve this
suggestion (Ariana Antiqua, p. 340), nor Coes he suggest any other explana-
tion. Cunningham regards it as a pictorial representation of the compound
name gandaphor = “ sugar-cane crusher,”’ from the circumstance that the
outer channels for the cane juice in a sugar mill are chiselled in the very
form of this peculiar monogram.

14 Besides two other reservoirs higher up, there is one at the foot of the
hill, where it joins the plain, concerning which the people have a tradition
that it is connected with the Indus by an underground channel. Such a
reservoir is in the colloquial called Bahai, hence the name of the hill and
the ruins. Taht-i-Bahi = the seat of the reservoir.

THE LEGEND OF ST. THOMAS. 13

is an isolated hill, 1,771 feet above sea-level, or about 570
feet above the plain. The ruins of a city on this hill have
yielded many trophies to the archeological explorer. The
stone in question, which is 174 inches long by 143 broad,
was discovered by Dr. Bellew and presented by him to
the Lahore Museum, though we are indebted to Dr. Leitner
for bringing it into notice. Unfortunately for history, this
stone was used for many years, perhaps for many centuries,
for the grinding of spices, so that all the middle part of the
inscription has suffered and become indistinct, and some por-
tions have been obliterated altogether. The whole inscrip-
tion consisted of six lines of writing. It can be inferred
from the concluding part of the inscription, imperfect as it
is, that the stone commemorates the building of a stupa or a
vihar by some pious Buddhist “for his own religious merit
and for the religious merit of his father and his mother.”
The first two lines, which contain the name of the king and
the date, are translated by Professor Dowson » as follows :—
“In the twenty-sixth year of the great king Gondophares
(and) on the third day of the month Vaisakha, (year) one
hundred (100) of the Samvatsara.” 1° As the Samvatsara
or era of Vikramaditya corresponds to 56 B.C., the date on
the stone, according to this reading, would be 44 A.D.

The result of the testimony derived from coins and from
the Taht-i-Bahi stone is that an Indo-Parthian king of the
name of Gondophares ruled over India in the first Christian
century and that his India coincides with the Punjab and
Afghanistan and does not include Peninsular India.

To sum up the testimony of the Acts of Thomas: When
Abbanes concluded the bargain for the slave and got a receipt

5 See Jour. Roy. As. Soc. (New Series), vol. VII, art. xviii (Triibner
& Co., 1875), pp. 376, ss.

6 Itis but fair to note that archeological experts are not agreed about
the inscription on the Taht-i-Bahi stone, and perhaps the above reading,
though the last, is not final.

14 THE LEGEND OF ST. THOMAS.

for his money, the two together sailed, we may suppose,
from some Levantine port, such as Jaffa; and, after passing
through the strait or canal which has been reproduced in our
own day in the form of the Suez Canal, they sailed down the
Red Sea and then northward, touching at some port near the
mouth of the Indus, where they halted for some time. Then
they made their way into the interior and arrived at the court
of Gondophares. ‘The Apostle’s next move was towards the
court of another Indian king of the name of Misdeus, who
was most probably a viceroy under Gondophares, or the ruler
of some neighbouring state, by whom he was put to death.

But the facts have been construed in ways different from
this, so as to consist with the tradition that St. Thomas
really visited Southern India. It has been maintained that,
though St. Thomas may have gone to the royal court of
Gondophares in the Punjab or Afghanistan, yet he did not
tarry there for ever but went further. There was nothing,
it is said, to hinder St. Thomas to return to Andrapolis and
take ship and make for Malabar. The geography even of
Peninsular India was known to the commercial, the political,
and the learned world of the first century, and why should it
be considered a strange or an impossible thing for one of the
twelve apostles to have a moderate share of the knowledge
of the period ? Besides, it is added, the legend itself pro-
vides for this, inasmuch as the Apostle is said to have gone
to the country of another king, even Misdeus, and there to
have lost his life. Why may this Misdeus not have been
king of Maylapur ?

Now, it may at once be granted that the knowledge of
the geography of Southern India in St. Thomas’ day was
quite sufficient for the suggested contingency. Strabo, who

7 See Medieval Missions, by Thomas Smith, D.D., Edinburgh; T. & T.
Clark, 1880, pp. 248-9.

THE LEGEND OF ST. THOMAS. 15

lived at a time contemporary with the birth of Christ, and
flourished a quarter of a century thereafter, mentions that
the circumnavigation of Cape Comorin from west to east was
a thing not unheard of in his day, and that there was a
great deal of trade between the ports of the Red Sea and the
western coast of Peninsular India. Trade with India proper
by way of the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, at least as
early as the beginning of the Christian era, is sufficiently
well attested, and there is no reason on that score to doubt
the possibility of an apostolic visit to Malabar.

At the same time, while I frankly admit that the
geography of Southern India was well-known to the com-
mercial, the political, and the learned world of the first
century, it is not so easy to admit that the writers of the
Apocryphal Acts could boast of high accomplishments in
this department of learning.'* It may be easy to admit
that an Edessene author, writing at the close of the second
century, could tell the name of a king who reigned at Kabul
150 years before; but difficult to acknowledge that the same
author could pass a tolerable examination on the geography
of Southern India.

Be that, however, as it may, the allegation that St. Thomas
did ever actually visit our shores is utterly unsupported by
any historical evidence. We may, of course, talk about
Misdeus having possibly been king of Maylapur, but there
is no record of the existence of any such king of that place.
Moreover, if Misdeus was king of Maylapur, shouldn’t
Gondophares have been king of Malabar? But if ever the

18 One of them ventures on a definition of India and this is what he makes
of it. ‘‘ Historians declare,”’ says the author of the Martyrdom of the Holy
and Glorious Apostle Bartholomew, ‘‘ that India is divided into three parts ;
and the first is saidto end at Ethiopia, and the second at Media, and the third
completes the country, and the one portion of it ends in the dark and the
other in the ocean. To this India, then,’’ adds the redoubted author, ‘‘ the

__ holy Bartholomew, the Apostle of Christ, went.’” See Ante-Nicene Christian

Library, vol. XVI, p. 429; T. & T. Clark, Edinburgh.

16 THE LEGEND OF ST. THOMAS.

whereabouts of this Misdeus is disclosed to us in the future
by the muse of history, it is much more likely that she will
point to the Persian side, to the area within which there
were temples of the Sun, and kings who measured their
distances by stadia and called their officers polemarchs. Tt
seems not improbable that he may turn out to have been
an Indo-Parthian king.

But another construction of the facts, in consistency with
the tradition that St. Thomas actually visited Southern India,
is to be found ina Tamil manuscript, one of the Mackenzie
collection. This manuscript is a translation from Latin by
Nanapracasa Pillai, a Native Christian, who was probably
trained by the Jesuits at Pondicherry, in whose library he
most likely found the Latin manuscript. According to this
story, St. Thomas first landed at the capital of the king
of Malabar, which thus corresponds to Andrapolis in the
Apocryphal Acts. Afterwards he crossed the country to
Maylapur, which was at that time ruled by a learned, charit-
able, and courageous prince, named Candapa Raja (meant to
be the Tamil equivalent of Gandapharasa or Gondophares).

The story, which is but a clumsy imitation of the Apocry-
phal Acts of Thomas but does not lead up to the Apostle’s
death, is as follows :—

In the days when this prosperous king Candapa ruled, our
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ having ascended to heaven, St.
Thomas, according to the command just before given to him, was
appointed to the charge of the country of India. Accordingly,
after having preached the Holy Gospel and made disciples in
various places of Asia Minor, Syria, and Palestine, he landed at
first in the Malayala country. Having travelled much therein,
he at length came near to the palace of the Kerala Raja and
halted. Immediately on arriving there, he heard the sounds of
splendid music, and, from wishing to satisfy himself as to what
it was, he went directly to the public hall of the palace. On
doing so he was astonished at seeing dancers exerting them-
selves with certain musical instruments, and vocal musicians

THE LEGEND OF ST. THOMAS. LG

singing. Asa stranger and unacquainted with the customs of
this country, these things were to him new and surprising.
Being desirous of seeing more of the palace of the king of the
country, he there remained. Soon after one of the persons
belonging to the palace, having charge of the interior, came up
and seeing the stranger and from his appearance and inferior
kind of dress judging him to be of low or vile caste, struck
him a hard blow on the cheek.

The stranger, though the blow was a severe one, received it
with great patience, and, retreating forthwith, went away out-
side. The officer of the palace also went forth into the street,
and thence aside for a particular purpose; but while there a
tiger that had proceeded from a large mountain seized and
killed him. Thereupon as if it had been a dog, it ran at full
speed towards the palace, having first bitten off the dead man’s
right hand, and, holding the same in its mouth, it carried the
severed member into the midst of the king’s assembly.” The
king, being astonished, eagerly made inquiry concerning the
prodigy from the learned men about him. They replied that it
must be the hand which had struck a servant of God. In con-
sequence, the king caused an investigation to be made among the
by-standers, who were looking at the exhibition. These having
narrated what had occurred, the king was greatly astonished,
and sending out many people, directed them to invite the
stranger with all courtesy to his hall of assembly. The men
haying gone out and made proclamation, he (the stranger)
came tothem. The king then caused him with great civility of
attention to be invited and assured him of protection. Subse-
quently he instructed the king concerning the true God. The
king gave instructions to the brahmans to dispute with him.
Of the brahmans not one could successfully oppose him in
argument. Whereupon, the king, giving assent to the truth
of his doctrine, granted him permission to plant and spread

19 The author may have obtained the story of the miracle here travestied
direct from the Acts or from the writings of St. Augustine, who refers to it

three times. See Dr. George Salmon’s Introduction to N.7T. (London, John
Murray, 1885), p. 424, note.

3

18 THE LEGEND OF ST. THOMAS.

the Christian religion throughout his country, in consequence
of which permission, he converted a hundred persons to the
Christian religion.

One day when some brahmans were performing their evening
ablutions in a river, he went near and entered into a discussion
with them. At length he bade them cause the water, with
which they were performing their evening ceremonies, to rise up

_even to the sun. They tried what they could do, and failing

they at last said to St. Thomas, ‘Is it possible to cause water
to rise up to the sun?” Whereupon he, looking up to the all-
powerful God, first prayed and then poured out water, which
immediately rose and went to the sun. These brahmans
then embraced the Christian religion, and being ordained to
the sacred office by the hands of Thomas, they became spiritual
instructors, termed Casanayanars (Catanars?). In this way
having turned many hundreds of persons to Christianity and
having placed an inspector (overseer or bishop) in charge of
them, he proceeded and came as far as to Maylapur.

He lodged there in a devastanam (or place of worship)
belonging to Maylapur, and, working many miracles, turned a
great many persons to Christianity. Such being the case, the
brahmans, finding their religion to be losing its influence and
authority, took counsel to effect by contrivance his being publicly
hanged. To this end, when Thomas was asleep, the principal
brahman of that temple killed his own son in the most sacred
recess of the shrine, and then accused Thomas of the crime
of doing so before Candapa Raya. The king caused Thomas
to be called and inquired into the charge. Thomas said that,
if he had killed the child, that child on being interrogated by
the king would return no answer; but, if he had not killed the
child, then on being interrogated it would. Accordingly, on the
king calling out, the child rose up alive and said that Thomas
had not committed the crime, but that its own father had done
so. The king was greatly incensed against the brahman and,
bestowing large praise on Thomas, took him under his own
protection. Besides, on giving him leave to dispute with the
brahmans, he always conquered in the discussion. The king

THE LEGEND OF ST. THOMAS. 19

then commanded him to disseminate the Christian religion,
which command he also fulfilled.”

The testimony of this Tamil manuscript in the Mackenzie
collection, being but a clumsy travesty of the Acts of Thomas,
adds nothing to our knowledge. The author of the former
work makes it perfectly clear that he knew Malabar and
Maylapur, but the author of the Acts makes it evident that
he did not know whether such a place as Maylapur existed
or whether even there was a Peninsular India.

But, it may be asked, how do you account for the exist-
ence of the tradition in India itself? Here is a fact, it may
be said, that a not inconsiderable section of the Indian
people, on both sides of the continent, have for centuries
cherished the belief that St. Thomas preached here, founded
a church, and finally died a martyr’s death. _ How do you
account for this persistent belief ?

It is impossible to say how old the tradition in its
Indian form may be, and how far back we may yet be able to
trace it. For myself I know no earlier mention of it than
is to be found in the book of Marco Polo, who visited the
Coromandel coast in the end of the thirteenth century. The
testimony of this Italian traveller is most explicit, but of
course the tradition must be much older than the date
referred to, because the church of Maylapur was then in a
state of dissolution and decay, and this tradition, like the
church itself, was but a survival of better days. But Polo’s
work casts no light on its antiquity or its origin.

Other historians have developed the theory that the tra-
dition in this country owes its existence not to St. Thomas
the Apostle of our Lord, but to other notable men of the name
of Thomas. It has been maintained that “ the first historical
notice we have of a Christian mission to India is that of

0 Translated by the late Rev. W. Taylor. See the South India Christian
Repository, 1837, vol. 1, pp. 263-6.

20 THE LEGEND OF ST. THOMAS.

Persians, who were Manicheans.”’?! It is hardly contended
that Manes himself ever preached in India, but he wrote a
Greater Epistle to the Indians, and, after his execution about
272 A.D., his numerous and influential followers were much
persecuted in their native country, and it is not unreasonable,
therefore, to suppose that many emigrated to India and
Ceylon ; especially, as Abu Zaid (916 A.D.) says: “ There
is a numerous colony of Jews in Sarandib, and people of
> But, supposing that
there was an influential disciple of Manes, named Thomas,
who preached successfully in India at the end of the third
century, it is impossible to regard him as the founder of
the historical church of this country—the church found by
Cosmas in the first quarter of the sixth century. It is hardly
reasonable to expect a Nestorian stream to flow from a
Manichean fountain, and the early heroes of Nestorianism

other religions, especially Manichzeans.’

would not be likely to favour commemoration of a Mani-
cheean saint in their church. But apart from that, this
theory, advocated by La Croze, Tillemont, and others, does
not account for the far-reaching tradition which was afloat in
other parts of Asia before Manes was born and extended to
regions which Manichzism never penetrated. And the same
remark applies also to the supposed original connection of
the tradition with Thomas Cana, an Armenian (Aramzan ?)
merchant, who came with a large and influential following
to the coast of Malabar about the end of the eighth century.
Whatever account we give of the origin of the tradition
in this country must not leave entirely unexplained the far
wider ecclesiastical tradition.

My own belief is that we have here an example of the
migration of a tradition, that the existence of the tradition in
India is as old as the foundation of the church of Malabar,
and that its Persian founders brought the tradition with

1 See Indian Antiquary, vol. III, p. 309.

THE LEGEND OF ST. THOMAS. 21

them. Sir W. W. Hunter” has made the affirmation that
“by the seventh century, the Persian church had adopted
the name of Thomas Christians ;”’ and, though the learned
author does not favour us with a reference to his authorities,
the statement itself is not surprising ; for the Persian Church,
previous to the foundation of the church of Malabar, was
Nestorian, and one of its great schools of theology had its
seat at Edessa until 489 A.D.; and the connection of the
Thomas tradition with Edessa has already been discussed.
It is evident, therefore, that the memory of Thomas must
have been a very real thing to the ‘ Persic school’ of Kdessa.
His very dust was to them the dearest of their possessions,
and his story would doubtless be rehearsed and embellished,
at least as often as the 2lst of December came round.
Alumni of the school of Hdessa could hardly fail to be
infected in those days with a certain degree of enthusiasm
for the memory of St. Thomas, and would publish, in season
and out of season, with undisguised pride, the fact of their
having seen the very relics that (as they would imagine)
had once formed part of his living frame. The tradition,
presented with all the attractions wherewith enthusiasm
could invest it, would take a deeper hold on the minds of
members of the Persian church than even the articles of
their creed, and we cannot wonder that, when successive
colonies came and settled in Malabar, they should have
brought this proud possession with them and should have
cherished it through all the vicissitudes of their lot, with a
tenacious affection, even down to the present day.

But the tradition might possibly have died a natural
death, had special means not been used to keep it alive. In
addition to the pleasing belief that one of the twelve apostles
of our Lord set foot on the land where we dwell, there has
been a decided stimulus in the ecclesiastical wish to give to

% The Indian Empire, second edition, p. 237.

22 THE LEGEND OF ST. THOMAS.

Christianity in India an orthodox instead of a heretical origin.
This and the annual festivals which bring hundreds of
visitors to the St. Thomas holy places in our neighbourhood
are but specimens of the devices used to keep the tradition
alive. The Irish Catholics of Madras are said, indeed, to be
strong in disparagement of the special sanctity of the locali-
ties and of the whole story connecting St. Thomas with
Maylapur; but some of their naughty critics, perhaps un-
kindly, add that they would sing a different tune to-morrow
if the said holy places were suddenly transferred from
Goanese hands to their own. Be this as it may, it seems to
me that the origin of the tradition in India is due to the
founders of the church of Malabar, and that it has been
kept alive by the so-called Syrians themselves, by Catholics,
and by Protestants on grounds that are not historical. For,
in my opinion, there is not a shred of evidence to prove that
the feet of St. Thomas ever trod the soil of Peninsular India ;
and such evidence of his destination as our available records
supply points in another direction.

23

Etymology of some Mythological Names.

(By M. SESHAGIRI SASTRL)

Tue subject of this paper is the Etymology of some My-
thological Names. Before treating of this subject, I shall
introduce some general prefatory remarks which I consider
necessary for a clear understanding of it. Mythology is the
sum total of the knowledge which every nation has of the
cosmogony of the world in their low and primitive condi-
tion; and the absence of such a knowledge in a. people is
a clear indication of the absence of any nationality. For,
according to Schelling, a nation becomes a nation through
community of consciousness between the individuals, and
this community has its foundation in a common view of the
world, and this, again, in mythology. In conformity, there-

fore, to his theory there will be no nationality found in

circles of men who have no mythology. We may, therefore,
state that every nation has a mythology and that, at any

_ rate, this is the case, as we all know, with the Aryans with
whose mythology alone this paper is concerned. Mytho-

logy, like every other branch of human knowledge, may

_ be studied scientifically as well as historically. Different
nations have different mythologies, and these, notwithstand-
ing their divergences and dissimilarities, agree in many

points and turn out to be identical. The historical student
of myths was content merely with studying and recording

| them as they were. But in course of time when the science

of comparative philology was established, the study of

_ mythology assumed a new aspect. The young science led to
_ very important ethnological conclusions and established the
alliance and consanguinity of nations separated by thousands

24 ETYMOLOGY OF SOME

of miles as well as of their languages which looked very
different from each other. Under the guidance of the
theories established by that young science and with the aid
of the principles of psychology, researches in the domain of
myths produced the most useful results and brought mto
existence the science of mythology. The two sciences go
hand in hand, the elder assisting the younger.

Like the science of language, the science of mythology
has two aspects, one psychological and the other philological,
and the investigator of myths must steer his course between
these two poles.

Having these two guiding points in view, I have laid
down a method of investigation which, I may say, is almost
new and has enabled me to arrive at the most useful and
scientifically most important conclusions.

I shall now describe what that method is. Every mytho-
logical word is a common name! indicating some thing in
general, a quality, an action, or any other attribute, as I have
already shown in my Notes on Aryan and Dravidian Phi-
lology, Vol. I. The word originally refers to one of such
meanings, though this particular meaning is lost sight of in
its application as a mythological name. All the mythical
accounts which are given in connection with the name are
the outgrowths of that nucleus. The whole superstructure
is merely a psychological evolution of the simple element
which we discover in the original signification of the name
of the mythical personage. So long as we are ignorant
of this element, we must be in the dark as to why the
name is given to the being or person, and what is the source
of the various functions and attributes which are ascribed to
him. But the moment this meaning is ascertained with
clearness and precision, a flood of new knowledge suddenly
flashes on our understanding, and what was before in utter

1 Vide p. xxix, Introduction.

MYTHOLOGICAL NAMES. 25

oblivion and darkness becomes as clear as if seen in broad
day-light. This original meaning is discovered by collecting
all the words which are similar in form to the word under
discussion and convey meanings which may be easily con-
nected with its meaning; and by comparing the word both
in form and meaning with the words collected. The above
grouping must be only provisional; for it is not a rule that
every word that is similar in form and meaning to another
word is allied to it. In our research we have recourse to
the history of each word compared, and take what other
philologists and lexicographers have said, and build up our
theories partly on our own observations and partly on the
historical evidence we receive. When this evidence is nega-
tive, we are obliged to rest satisfied with mere conjectures ;
thus, for instance, I have proposed an etymology for the
Greek word acduwvOos (a bathing tub), about the deriva-
tion of which the Greek lexicographers and philologists are
uncertain, and I have connected the word with Sans. 374q-
asmanta ‘a hearth.’ I shall here give some examples to
illustrate the above method of investigation.

The name of the continent Hurope is derived from
Greek Evpomn which in Grecian mythology is applied first
to one of the Oceanides and occurs in Hesiod. In later
works Evpwrr7n is described as the daughter of Agenor, king
of Phoenicia and Telephassa. Jupiter loved her and assumed
the form of a bull and appeared among the herds of Agenor.
Etpo7n, who was gathering flowers in a meadow near

the herds, was charmed with the beauty of the bull and

approached the animal to caress it. In her fondness for it
she ventured to sit on the animal and was carried away by
it to Crete. Jupiter assumed his original form again and
expressed to her his love, which was reciprocated by her.
She gave birth to Minos I, who was adopted by Asterius, king
of Crete, whom she subsequently married. Minos I is said
to haye been the propounder of certain laws to his subjects
4

es

26 ETYMOLOGY OF SOME

in 1406 B.C., which remained in force till the time of Plato.
His name and his laws remind us of the first law-giver of
India and his code, the Manavasarhhita. He married Itone
and became the father of Lycastus, from whom was born
Minos II. This king married Pasiphaé, who fell in love
with a bull and gave birth to Minotauros.

In the Vedic and Puranic theogonies, we have similar
personages, stories and names. In the Rig Veda and Brah-
manas, Indra is said to have fallen in love with qat-Ména,
the daughter of a king called gqur-qz- Vrsanagéva, and, having
assumed the form of Hat, lived with her under the care of
her father, and in course of time married her. Among
the names of Indra occur the words 3y4-Vrsan, we A-
Rbhuksin and 4yaq-Rbhuksa, the latter two of which are
mere metathetical modifications of Sans. =y4-rsabha which
is also applied to Indra.

Himavan, the mountain Himalayas, married 4aqT-
Ménaka, and became the father of the mountain farH-
Mainaka, and q(aat-Parvati, the wife of the god Siva. He
was changed into a calf and was suckled at the udder of
the goddess Harth, who assumed a bovine form. She is
called gfy4t-Prthivi, and ygeqt-Prthvi, and is considered as
the daughter of yy-Prthu or gaft-Prthi, who was the son
of 4q-Vena, and is called 4-q-Vainya. gy-Prthu is said
to have been the first anointed sovereign of the earth and to
have ruled both men and the lower animals and introduced
the art of husbandry into the world. 9a4-Vena was a
descendant of yq-Manu, the first law-giver of the Hindus.
I shall quote here a passage from my Notes on Aryan and
Dravidian Philology, Vol. I, Part I, pp. 193 and 194.

“Here I have to mention the word “Apiadvn which I
have explained under the suf. dvos (page 181). It answers
to Sans. aygavt-arhatari and means radically ‘ very fit.’ I

MYTHOLOGICAL NAMES. 27

have already referred to her parentage; and the names of
her father and mother are allied to the Sans. 3y-vrsa
meaning ‘ox’ and have been mentioned in the Vrsa group,
her father’s name, Minos, being allied to Sans. yfeqy-
mahisa (properly Hy-mésa and fHq-misa, h being a mere
orthographical outgrowth), FatH-mainaka and Fat-ména, and
her mother’s name, Pasiphaé, to gqy-vrsabha. Minos was
the son of Zeus and Europa, and as the word Kuropa is con-
nected with the Sans. syy-vrsabha, 3¢y-urabhra, and Gr.
opevs, and radically means ‘a cow,’ the legend simply means
that a bull was born to Zeus by Europa, and his son married
Pasiphaé, a cow, in his turn, and this legendary interpreta-
tion is sufficiently borne out by the continuation of the myth,
that, by the curse of Ovpavés or ITocevdwv Pasiphaé fell in
love with a bull and brought forth Minotauros who was
partly of bovine and human forms. Minos I., the grand-
father, was the wise legislator in every city of Greece and
was made the supreme and absolute judge in the infernal
regions. His equity and justice, the radical connection of
his name with Sans. zy-vrsa, and the fact of his being the
king of Creta, the Grecian original forms of which are
Kpyra and Kpyrn, remind us of the Hindu Krta Yuga, the
first of the four great periods of the world, in which Vrsa,
the bull of virtue, stood with four legs and reigned supreme
(vide the Vrsa Group). In Kpyrn I see a trace of kpitis,
‘ choice,’ or the act of chosing, that is, the human volition,
or of Sans. #q-krta or Hfa-krti, ‘action ;’ and the legendary
government of Kpyrtn by Minos and the standing of virtue of
a bovine form on four legs must refer to the virtuous dis-
position of the people in a good age. The Greek Kpyra in
its secondary meaning refers to the locality of the virtuous
action and the Sans. #q-krta, to the age.”

Comparing the above stories and proper names, we can
see that we have a series of mythical personages with bovine

28 ETYMOLOGY OF SOME

names, in whom there is a mixture of bovine, human, and
divine attributes and functions. We have not been able to
account for the peculiarities of the above myths; and their
psychological aspects remain unintelligible to us. But let
us apply to the science of comparative philology for aid.
We find in the above stories the following proper names :—
Evporn, Tlacvpan, Mivws, Mudrtavpos, 3yq-Vrsan,
Karaa-Rbhuksin, aya7-Rbhuksa, Fqr-Mena, Haqt-Menaka
tara-Mainaka, qq-Manu, 4q-Vena, and 3-q-Vainya. In
these the Sanskrit words are clear in their meanings. They
mean radically either a great being, a man, or anox. In |
support of this meaning, and in explanation of other mean-
ings which are conveyed by them, compare the following
words: gay-purusa, Jey-purusa, Lat. maritus, mas, Sans.
ariey-marisa, Lat. homo, Sans. qyq{-puman, and yq-purms,
and fqaq-vis, ZY-vrsa, 7y-vrsabha, and the Dravidian form
of ay4-rsabha, basava, Gr. Bacirevs, Sy-uksa, ay-rksa,
tTay-rasabha, gaq-urabhra, Gr. opevs, Exados, and Epidos,
Sans. Hy-mésa, Gr. pwjxos, wHrov, Sans. Fe-ménda, Arey.
mahisa, Hind. §q-bail, Eng. bull and mule and Lat. mulus,
Sans, qy-pasu, and Lat, pecus and vacca, and Sans. 9eq-
basta and qepqot- baskayani, Eng. ass A.S. assa, and Lat.
asinus and asellus, Sans. g@-vrka, Lat. lupus, Gr. Av«os,
and other allied words. By comparing them we find that
Evporn and IIacipan are modifications of Sans. 73H-
vrsabha and mean ‘a cow;’ that Mives and WaT-ména are
allied and radically refer to a bull and a cow respectively ;
and that Muyetavpos answers to Sans. gyq-Vrsanasva
with a slight difference in meaning; Mwertavpos being
separated into Mives and, tadpos, both words indicating a
bull; and zyo-q-Vrsanasva being separated into Zyq{-vrsan
and Y4 asva—IW-vrsan signifying a bull and apy-asva a
horse. The meanings I have attached to the words Evpemn,

MYTHOLOGICAL NAMES. 29

TIacipan and Mivas explain the most important features
of the myths connected with those names.

I shall introduce now three equally important names of
Aryan mythology, the etymologies of which have not yet
been settled. These are Indra, Roma, and Kévtavpos. Indra
has the following attributes and functions. He is the lord of
the sky and the celestial world (fgaeqta-Divaspati). As lord
of the sky he is mounted on clouds (@yaregq-Méghavahana),
and accompanied by storms (qeqq-Marutvat). He is
the enemy of heat (arHarat-Pakasisana) and destroyer of
mountains (atatarz-Gotrabhid). He holds an adamantine
weapon called qy-Vajra and is the foe of qara-Namuci,
who is a personification of darkness.? All these and other
attributes of Indra are unintelligible to us and may appear
arbitrary, unless we understand the original meaning of
the word Indra. According to the Rev. Sir George Cox,
the word means “moisture.” But this, though not very far
from the right meaning which I am going to mention, does
not afford a proper clue as to the above attributes and
functions of Indra. Compare the following words :—

Sans. afsa-salila, afrr-sarira, ‘ water,’ Gr. dds, Oddacca
and Oadarra ‘sea,’ Sans. arat-sagara, ‘ sea,’ qtq-saras, and
acat-sarasi, ‘lake,’ areqdt-sarasvati, originally the ‘river
goddess,’ azeqq-sarasvat, ‘the ocean’ (radically having
water), q¢q-taranga, ‘a wave,’ wett-lahari, ‘ a wave,’ fafart-
Sisira, ‘ cold,’ Lat. sal ‘salt,’ Sans. yq-Jala, ‘ water,’ we-jada,
‘ cold,’ Lat. gelu ‘ frost,’ perhaps Gr. wayeros ‘ frost,’ Sans.
gyq-prsat, Sans. afnr-sikara ‘drop of water,’ qrart-kasara,
and qzjH-tataka, Lat. lacus, and Gr. Ad««os ‘a tank or lake,’
fanat-sikata, ‘sands,’ Gr. Xdta£ ‘drop of wine,’ originally’
any fluid, Lat. latex ‘a liquid fluid;’ Gr. bypos ‘ moisture,’

* Vide Notes on Aryan and Dravidian Philology, vol. I, p. 139.

30 ETYMOLOGY OF SOME

Sans. qyrt-tusara, ‘dew,’ and qy-tugra, originally ‘snow’
and then personified as the Demon qy-tugra, whom Indra
defeated ; Gr. dposos and Lat. ros ‘dew,’ @«eavos ‘ocean,’
Sans. 3g-udra, and Gr. téwp, ‘water,’ Sans. qqg-samudra,
ay- sam, + 3g-udra, ‘ with water,’ Sans. gqq-udan, gz-uda,
geq-udaka, and eq-daga, ‘ water,’ qqx-sabara, a Vedic word
meaning ‘ water,’ gqq-lavana, ‘ salt,’ 341Ts-jambala, ‘ marsh,’
Gr. Xun ‘a harbour,’ A(wvy, marshy lake, Aiuvac ‘ a quarter
of Athens near the Acropolis,’ fé@q-sindhu, ‘ ocean,’ aa -
saindhava, ‘ watery,’ from which I derive the Gr. Xairya, the
deep sea; and other words included in a group of words
called Salila Group, which I have reserved for a future occa-
sion. We can clearly see thus that the word Indra means
water or rather rain, that is, water falling on earth from the
clouds. This gives a clue to the greater part of the story
of Indra. He is, also, to be worshipped for rain.

Ta Gale Aare FATA |

otorat TATRA Hedt sSaraea 1) ~=Kamantaka.
Raja tvarthan samabrtyakuryadindramah6tsavam |
Prinitd méghavahastu mahatira vrstimavahét 1

‘The king should collect money and celebrate the great
feast of Indra, and when he is propitiated, he will bring
down much rain.’ Indra is called qyH-q-Parjanya, a word
applied to thunder clouds also. The name yarya-Ghana-
ghana, is applied to Indra as well as to raining clouds. He
is, therefore, the god of rain, and as such is associated with
clouds, thunder, lightning and other natural phenomena that
are connected therewith. Now we have to solve a question
which naturally arises concerning the conception of Indra.
The question is this: How is it that Indra came into
existence among the Hindu portion of the Aryans besides
qaq- Varuna, the god of water and ocean, while the Greeks
and other Western Aryans were contented with their

MYTHOLOGICAL NAMES. 31

’Ovpavos (San. qer-Varuna) Ilocevdav (TAaTa- Pracétas),
Neptunus (Sans. qaera-Nabhasvan) and the like. The
question may be solved thus. When the Aryans came to
India, a country in which the climate was hotter than that
of their original home, they began to appreciate the effects
of rain and the rainy season; and Indra became more
important than Dyauspitar, Zevswatnp and Jupiter, whom
he is said to have conquered and subjugated as in the
passage garqatvgd sana - Indrayadyau rasurdanamrata,
“ The mighty Dyaus bowed to Indra.”

I shall next speak of Roma. This was the Latin
name of the capital of the ancient Roman empire, and the
Grecian form of the word is Poun. The goddess of the city
of Rome was called Roma and was worshipped in a temple.
The city of Rome was by some said to have been built by
Romus, son of Aineas and Lavinia, but the foundation of
it is generally attributed to Romulus, who was a son of
Mars and Ilia, and grandson of Numitor, king of Alba.
His twin brother was Remus. When Amulius, the brother
_ of Numitor, usurped the throne, he caused the two children
_ to be thrown into the Tiber ; but they were preserved by the
_ river, which stopped its course, and a she-wolf came and
suckled them. In course of time they were discovered by
Faustulus, one of the king’s shepherds, who brought them up
_ as his own children. When they grew old, they knew their
_ parentage, and, after killing Amulius, restored their grand-
father to the throne. Romulus afterwards built the city of
_ Rome and made it the capital of his kingdom. Some suppose
_ that the story of a she-wolf having been the nurse of the
_ two children of Ilia arose from the fact that the wife of
Faustulus, who brought them up in their infancy, was called
Lupa, a word which is the feminine form of Lupus, ‘a wolf.’
_I am, however, inclined to think that the original word
Romus itself may have meant a wolf, and that Remus may
_ be a corruption of Romus, and Romulus, a diminutive form ;

ee ee SSS eee —_——————————————E—ee_——ESE

32 ETYMOLOGY OF SOME

so that we may infer from the forms of the words that

Remus, originally Romus, must have been the name of the | !

elder brother, and Romulus, that is, the little Romus, that of | 1
the younger brother. With reference to the meaning which I } «
have attached to Romus, let us compare the following allied ©

words: Sans. %@-phéru and Fqq-phérava, ‘a jackal;’ Lat.

vulpes, ‘a fox,’ Sans. gj-vrka, Gr. Av«Kos, Lat. lupus ‘a wolf,’
and the corresponding A.S. wulf, Slav. vluka and Lith.
vilkas ; Gr. dAwmn£, Eng. fox, A.S. fuchs, Sans. seut-ulupi,
‘a water fox ;’ Sans. 3¢x-urabhra ‘a goat,’ Gr. érados, ‘ a
deer,’ and épidos, ‘kid;’ Sans. 7y-ibha, Gr. éAedas (stem,
édepayt) and Lat. elephas and elephantus, and other words
which I have mentioned in the Vrsa group and to which
T have already referred above. We can clearly see that the
first letter q-v of zy-vrsa is changed into a, e, i, 0, and u, the
second letter ¢-r, into 1 in some words, and the third letter g-s
is represented by k, p, ph, and bh. By changing again the
letter p, ph, or bh into m and retaining only the second
consonant r, and eliding the first letter v, we can derive
such a form as rma or roma with one of the above meanings
or some allied meaning. In Sanskrit there is already a
word as q7q-rama, which is applied to a quadruped like a
deer, and which, I am quite certain, is allied to the above
words and traceable to the representative word gy-vrsa.
or 3H-vrka Perhaps even the English word ‘ram’ and the
A.S. ram and rom, Eng. lamb and the A.S. and Ice. lamb,
Dan. lam, all traced to lamba, (the root of which is not
settled according to Mr. Skeat), may be traced to the same
source. As for Remus, the name of the brother of Romulus,
it is believed by philologists to be a corruption of Romus, as
I have already remarked. I should therefore think that the
word Romus originally signified a wolf and was the name
of the founder of the capital of the Roman empire ; and as
I have already observed with regard to Europa, it was the

MYTHOLOGICAL NAMES. 33

original signification that furnished a part of the materials
of the myth, and, in the story of Romulus and Remus, their
nourishment by a she-wolf may be traced to the radical
signification of the word Romus.

T now come to the word Kévtavpos. In Grecian mytho-
logy, the word Kévravpos is applied to a savage race dwelling
between Pelion and Ossa, who were defeated and destroyed
by their neighbours, the Lapithae. According to Pindar and
later writers they were monsters, possessed of a body partly
human and partly equine, and are said to have been the sons
of Ixion and Nephele; but according to others they were the
sons of Centaurus, son of Apollo and Stilbia. The name

_ Kévtavpos is usually derived from xevtéw and tatpos,

_ meaning ‘goading the bulls.’ But it has been recently

connected with Sans. aqq-Gandharva. Professor Monier
Williams too compares the above two words; and the Rey.
Sir George Cox in his Introduction to Mythology makes the
following remarks: ‘‘ The name Kentaur certainly cannot be
explained by referring it to any Greek word or to any word
belonging to the western Aryan dialects. But in the Rig
Veda we have a class of beings called Gandharvas, who are
manifestly the bright sun-lit clouds, probably cumuli with
their heads illuminated, while the other parts are in shade.
M. Bréal, in his analysis of the myth of Gidipus, has no doubt

that the two names Kentaur and Gandharva are identical.”

The conjecture is no doubt a happy one. But, unless we
know the radical meaning of q4q-Gandharva which underlies
the whole or part of the mythological story of the 744-
Gandharva and Kévtavpos, we are in the dark as to the
functions and attributes of those mythical personages. In
Sanskrit the Gandharvas are celestial beings and are very
fond of women. Soma is the first owner of a girl, and then

_ she comes under the possession of a Gandharva, from whom
_ Agni, the god of fire, takes her and gives her to the person

5

B4 ETYMOLOGY OF SOME

who marries her, according to the foliowing passage of the
Yajurveda :—
ara: saat faraz apaat fare sar: 1
ada afasata eqttaed AAeTST:
aasTeeIAT WIFSTTAA |
taagaiarar sasha TATA
Somah pratham6 vividé gandharvy6 vivida uttarah |
Trtiy6 agnistépati sturiyasté manusyajah i
Somodadadgandharvaya gandharvodadadagnayé |
Rayitneaputramsécaida dagnirmahyamatho imam

‘Soma married thee first and then Gandharva married ;
thy third husband is Agni, and the fourth is a person born of
man. Soma gave thee to Gandharva, Gandharva to Agni,
and Agni gave thee wealth and sons to me.”

This relation of the Gandharvas to the fair sex is some-
what like that which the Kévtavpou bore to the same sex ; for
they are well known for their brutal sensualities, and are
said to have offered violence to women on seyeral occasions.
There are many other points of similarity in the stories of
the Gandharvas and Kentaurs, which I do not mention here,
as we may be quite convinced of the alliance of their names
and their stories from what has already been said regarding
them. We have now to ascertain the original signification
of the Sans. ay4-Gandharva which may lead to a proper
explanation of the functions and attributes of those beings.
Tn Sanskrit the word wy4-Gandharva is applied to a horse,
a kind of quadruped like the deer, or a musk deer; w74f-
Gandharvi, a feminine form of the word, to a daughter of
Surabhi, mother of the race of horses, and the word 4atzq-
kanthirva, a modification of the word, to a lion, and #<q-
kandarpa, another modification, to the god of love. I think,
therefore, that the word #qf$-Gandharva is formed from a
word wqq-gandhara, which is allied to the following Aryan

MYTHOLOGICAL NAMES. 36

words, meaning either head, hair, horn, helmet, look, crest
or top: Gr. Kapnvov, Kapa, Kopudy, Kodea; Sans. FiTz-koti,
yeT-cuda, qeT-cula, meaning ‘head orcrown;’ Sans. Tava-siras,
frc-sira, atf-sirsa and Vedic ztfq-Sirsan ‘head,’ the Gr.
Kpas, aud xpa or xpn, as in the following compound words
Kpaomeoov (corresponding to Sans. fayeqz4-siraspadam),
‘edge,’ or ‘border,’ xpadeuvov, the Doric form of the
compound xp7deuvov, corresponding to Sans. fazTztHy-sird-
daman, ‘a head tie,’ and meaning‘ a head dress ;’ Gr,
Képas, Kepatvov; Lat. cornu, Sans. aq-Ssringa ‘a horn;’ Gr.
kopus KopuGos, Lat. crista® and Sans. fttz-kirita, a crest
or ‘crown ornament,’ Gr. Op/£, Sans. fag¢-cikura, #4y-kaca,
and #z-késa, Lat. crinis ‘hair;’ Sans. y2T-jata and qzr-
sata, ‘matted hair ;’ Sans. @qTa-kapala, Gr. cefpary, and Lat.
‘caput head,’ Sans. #ait-kabari and perhaps Gr. covpa and
Lat. cirrus ‘a lock of hair;’ Gr. «/xwvos and Lat. cincinnus
“a curled lock of hair;’ Gr. cicvpva and cicvpa, ‘a goat skin,’
titupos, ‘a goat’ Satvpos, a satyr; Sans. sq-chagala,
‘a sheep, and amta-srgala, ‘a jackal ;’ Sans. farqz-sikhara,
‘top,’ Farque-sikhanda, ‘a tuft of hair,’ Haz-késara, ‘mane,’
and 3qzr-sékhara, ‘head crown,’ from the last two of which
come the Gr. catcap and Lat. Cesar, and also the word
Kaiser in Kaiser i Hind., the imperial title of our most
exalted and gracious sovereign, a title which was proposed by
Sir W. Muir for her; fRaq-kisala, frauq-kisalaya, aza-
kandala, ‘tender leaves of trees’ f#HeH-kinjalka, ‘the
stamina of flowers;’ Sans. fayaz-kinnara, a class of celestial
beings who are like the Centaurs possessed of a double form,
half human and half equine. They are the musicians of
Kubera, the god of wealth, and from them the name is

3 Vide my Notes on Aryan and Dravidian Philology, Vol. I, p. xxii,
Introduction.

36 ETYMOLOGY OF SOME MYTHOLOGICAL NAMES.

transferred to a musical instrument which is called faHait-
kinnaril. The word has emigrated to Europe and assumed
various forms as Gr. x@dapa, Lat. cithara, cithern, cittern,
guitar and A.S. cytere. If we compare these allied words
and others given in a group of words called Siras-group, in
the Second Part of my Notes on Aryan and Dravidian
Philology, Vol. I, which will be published hereafter, we
may be quite convinced that the word Gandharva is allied
to the words included in this group, and radically means,
as already said, ‘hairy,’ and is applied to a horse, a kind
of quadruped like a deer, a kind of celestial being, and,
in a modified form, as Heitz, is used for a lion. In the
Gr. Kévravpos there is a mixture of the above ideas, a
hairy animal and a celestial being, which are embodied in the
conceptions of farat-Kinnara ‘hairy’ and agqaga Turanga-

vadana ‘ horse-faced.’

lon Batutah in Southern India.

(By Mas. L. FLETCHER.)

Tue French Asiatic Society published, in 1858, a very inter-
esting translation of a fourteenth-century MS. in Arabic, left
by Aba Abdullah Muhammad, better known as Ibn Batitah,
which gives a detailed account of the journeys, by sea and
land, of this great traveller, who, with an insatiable craving
to see new places and people, disregarded hardships and
dangers and journeyed over distances which appear almost
marvellous when the difficulty of locomotion in those days is
considered. ‘he customary pilgrimage to Mecca, to perform
which he left his home in Tangiers at the age of twenty-
two, aroused Ibn Batiitah’s love of travel, and from that
time he continued to lead a wandering life for twenty-seven
years.

He visited Arabia, Syria, Persia, Mesopotamia and Zan-
zibar, Asia Minor, Bckhara and Afghanistan, and, having
entered the Punjab by the valley of the Indus, reached Delhi,
where he was employed in the honourable eapacity of kazi
by the emperor. Of his travels through Sindh a brief account
has already been published by General Haigh, but it is with
his experiences in Southern India this paper proposes to deal.
Before, however, proceeding to epitomize from his narrative,
it 1s necessary to say a few words about the chronicler him-
self, and how far his statements about men and things are to
be relied upon. An Arab by birth and a devout Muham-
madan—a Sunni—he entertained a great respect for the
mullahs and saints of his faith, and throughout the whole
account of his travels wonderful tales and legends of miraeles

38 IBN BATUTAH IN SOUTHERN INDIA.

are constantly found, either recounted to him upon unim-
peachable authority, or as having come within his own
immediate experience. He never lost an opportunity of
attending prayers at a mosque, and at one time appears to
have devoted the entire day to reciting the koran at the
request of a very pious chief in whose territory he then
found himself. In visiting towns and cities he never forgets
to mention the masques, gardens, and market places; but in
some respects he is disappointing in his descriptions, as he
omits to speak of many things that would have been of
much interest to posterity,—gives scarcely any dates, while his
geographical knowledge appears vague and unsatisfactory.

What lends particular value to the account he has left us
of his travels however is the fact that high authorities agree in
considering it very accurate and trustworthy on most points,
giving a truthful picture of the countries and people he saw
as they existed at an age, of which we have but scanty infor-
mation. It is true that Ibn Batitah does at times allow
himself the hereditary right of travellers to give his narra-
tive touches of artistic exaggeration, as when he solemnly
asserts that cocks in China are of the size of ostriches; but
these embellishments are merely occasional literary accidents
and do not affect the general trustworthiness of his recorded
impressions as he has handed them down to us. The events
which subsequently led to his visiting Southern India were
consequert on the desire of Sultan Muhammad Ibn Taghlak
of Delhi to send an embassy to China, and his appointing
Ibn Batitah to accompany it as one of his chief emissaries.
The Emperor of the Celestials had a short time before
preferred a request to rebuild a place of pilgrimage, much
frequented by Chinese devotees, situated at a spot called
Samhal, and which had been destroyed by the Muhammadan
army. Many handsome and valuable gifts were brought to
the Sultan of Delhi by the mission, including slaves, fabries,
spears, quivers, and a profusion of rich embroideries.

IBN BATUTAH IN SOUTHERN INDIA. 39

The judicious and characteristic reply of Ibn Taghlak
was worded somewhat as follows :—

“ According to the Muhammadan religion it is not permitted
us to grant such a request. It is only lawful to allow those
who pay capitation tax to build temples on Muhammadan terri-
tory. If thou consentest to defray this charge, we authorize thee
to construct the shrine. Hail to those who follow the right
way.”

The sultan forwarded with his reply a number of mag-
nificent and princely gifts of far greater value than those he
had received from China,—horses, slaves, tents, basins and
candelabra of precious metals, countless embroideries, and
jewelled arms and quivers,

A large retinue was appointed to accompany the mission,
and a guard of a thousand cavalry was to escort them to the
port of embarkation.

The Chinese ambassadors started on their return journey
together with the sultan’s messengers.

In those days no doubt vicissitudes on such an expedi-
tion were to be anticipated, and many were in fact encoun-
tered.

On one occasion the troops arrived in time to assist at
an affray in which the true believers were being pressed by
the idolaters and rendered valuable assistance; but Kafur
(), a eunuch in charge of the treasure, was killed, and the
party halted until another agent was sent by the sultan
to replace him. On another occasion Ibn Batiatah strayed
from the escort and narrowly escaped assassination at the
hands of the infidels, but he was finally rescued and then
urged by his companions to return to Delhi, such a wis-
fortune at the commencement of his mission being taken as
a badomen. A trifle of this sort, however, was not calculated
to make him abandon such congenial employment as he was
then engaged upon, and he insisted on resuming his jour-
ney. Meantime, news of his supposed loss had reached the

40 IBN BATUTAH IN SOUTHERN INDIA.

sultan, and at Kanntj a message was received from him
nominating Wajih Almulk (<M) &=,), Kazi of Daulatabad,
to fill the place of Ibn Batatah if he was not again heard of.

Very slowly the embassy wended its way to the coast,
and many are the anecdotes and reminiscences of the journey
recorded in Ibn Batttah’s manuscript. Malwa and Gwalior
were visited, and Saugor, where Khutla Khan (@& s) exer-
cised sovereign power.

At length Cambay was reached. It is spoken of as a
very beautiful town, where wealthy foreign merchants vied
with each other in building handsome mosques and resi-
dences, and of which Makbil Altilingi (S43) \*) was
governor. The Gulf of Cambay is compared to a river
with its high ebb and flow, leaving vessels, which at high
tide were floating at anchor, stranded as the waves receded.

Of Goa next visited, and at that time part of the terri-
tory of Rajah J Alansi (>), very little mention is made:
the shadow of its future greatness not having then fallen
upon it.

The embassy took ship for Calicut at a port called Kan-
dahar (243). This may be a clerical error in the original
MS., or the name of the town may have changed past
recognition in succeeding times, for no such port is discover-
able on modern maps.

The vessels appear to have been of large size and were
’ three in number. One of them was fitted up by Sultan
Jalansi for the retinue and horses of Zahir-ad-din («2ty-3)
and Sunbul, two of the chief amirs of the party.

The gifts intended for the emperor were shipped on one
vessel, whilst Ibn Batitah himself embarked on another in
which accommodation was found for 70 horses, 50 archers,
and 50 Abyssinian warriors. These latter he calls the rulers
of those seas, adding that the presence of even one of them
on board a vessel was sufficient to guarantee immunity from

IBN BATUTAH IN SOUTHERN INDIA. 41

attack by pirates or others. The ships were propelled by
sixty oars, and the sultan’s son set sail with the embassy as
a mark of respect to the high authority they represented.

Nothing specially worthy of note occurred till the town of
Hinir (2) was reached. A supply of water was shipped
at Bairam, a desert island, and at Kukah (% 53), Ibn Batitah
with some difficulty was carried ashore to perform his devo-
tions in a mosque and have a glimpse of the town then under
the governorship of Sultan Dankal (J;S+), an idolater, who
professed fealty to the Sultan of the Indies, but was at heart
a rebel.

At Hinir, where a halt was made, Ibn Batttah found
much to admire in the character of the Sultan Jamal-ad-din
Muhammad (wpJ! Je), who gave up his entire day, from
dawn to sunset, to reading the koran in mosques, and who
moreover entertained him at a banquet, of which he has left
a detailed account, interesting in so far as it shows how little
changed are the manners and customs of oriental people
through many generations.

A beautiful slave, robed in a silken garment, placed
before the prince dishes containing various preparations of
food, and taking a large brass ladle in her hand drew out
on toa plate a quantity of rice, over which ghee was then
poured, pepper corns and green ginger were added, and a pre-
serve of lime and mangoes (evidently chutney), and the first
course was then ready. ‘The ladle full of rice was followed
by 2 second, portions of cooked fowl (pillau) being served with
it. This was followed by several varieties of dressed poultry.
Next came fish (always accompanied by the inevitable rice)
and vegetables cooked in milk or butter. To indicate the
close of the banquet each guest was presented with a portion
of sour milk. The beverage on this occasion was hot water,
as when cold it was considered a somewhat unwholesome
drink during the period of the rains. It is curious to find
history repeating itself, and a similar drink being in our

6

42 IBN BATUTAH IN SOUTHERN INDIA.

days prescribed for dyspeptics, the advantages of which were
appreciated in the fourteenth century.

The Malabar coast was reached after a three-days’ sail.
Ibn Batittah speaks of it as celebrated for its pepper, large
quantities of which were exported.

From Sindabar to Kalam (3,5), a two-months’ march
along the coast, a fine road extended, well shaded by trees
and supplied with rest-houses at distances of half a mile
apart. The land was under cultivation the whole of the
way, laid out chiefly in fruit gardens, and the traffic was
great. Travellers, merchants and others proceeded on their
way on foot or in palankeens, their luggage and merchandise
being carried on men’s shoulders, the sultan alone having
the privilege of using horses.

Though of such extent, the road was absolutely secure
throughout, a theft being punishable by death. Ibn Bata-
tah quotes, as an instance of the extreme rigor of the law, the
case ofaman,a Hindu, who, for stealing a nut, was impaled
and so left on the highway as a caution to evil-doers, whilst,
as a wholesome reminder to the public generally, impaling
posts were placed conveniently at intervals along the road.
Muhammadans and Hindus kept entirely apart, holding no
communication, and, not unnaturally perhaps, the former are
represented as having occupied higher social distinction than
the latter.

Malabar (;**) was governed by no less than twelve
sultans, and, on the line of demarcation separating their
respective territories, gates were erected. A culprit flying
from one state to another to escape the consequences of a
crime could not be captured once he had passed through one
of these gates of refuge. This privilege was strictly respected
and never infringed even by the strong against the weaker
states.

Ibn Batiitah mentions, as a curious custom prevalent in
Malabar, that the sultan was succeeded on the throne by the

ee

IBN BATUTAH IN SOUTHERN INDIA. 43

son of his sister to the exclusion of his own children—a
eustom which, he adds, “I never saw practised save by the
‘ Massufah’ (45), wearers of the Zisdm (p\\), or veil cover-
ing the lower part of the face.”

The sultans of Malabar were enabled by a very simple
expedient to bring trade to a standstill in their territories.
A slave was commanded to suspend the leafy branch of a
tree over the shops, and so long as the branch was left there
neither buying nor selling was permitted to take place.

Of Abusahitr ()£,:\), the first town visited on the Malabar
coast, only a passing mention is made; from thence two
days’ sail was Fakanir ())4), a larger settlement and ruled
by Sultan Basadau (~~), who owned thirty war vessels
commanded by a certain Lula (453), who appears to have
been little better than a pirate. As soon as the Emperor of
Delhi’s vessels anchored, the sultan sent his son on board and
entertained the embassy with all due respect and considera-
tion. It was one of the customs observed on that coast that
all vessels nearing a port were obliged to anchor and send a
gift to its ruler. Any failure in the observance of this rule
sent the indignant inhabitants off in pursuit of the default-
ing vessel, which was then compelled to return by force and
was detained on their shores during their good pleasure.

Leaving Fakanir, a three days’ sail brought the mission
to Mangalore, even then a large and flourishing town
governed by Ramadau. A kazi here visited the vessels and
invited Ibn Batiitah and his companions to land, which,
however, they declined to do (doubtless for very sufficient
reasons) until such time as the sultan sent his son on board
as hostage. Subsequently this request was acceded to, and
during three days’ sojourn all were treated with great
hospitality. 5

Hili, the next port touched at, appears to have been a
place of some consequence, affording good anchorage and.

44 IBN BATUTAH IN SOUTHERN INDIA.

occasionally visited by Chinese vessels ; | here also was a fine
mosque—always an interesting feature to Ibn Batitah—to
which was attached a college, the students being paid salaries
(scholarships ?) out of the revenues of the temple.

Jarfattan (y+ >) obtains only a very casual notice; its
ruler, a powerful prince, was also sovereign of Dahfattan
and Bud Fattan, coast towns, about which there seems to
have been nothing worth recording, except the existence of a
miraculous tree at the former place that shed but one leaf a
year, on which was found invariably inscribed the Muham-
madan formula: “ There is no God but God, and Muham-
mad was the messenger of God.”

Fandaraina, another coast town, possessed no objects of
interest excepting fine gardens and markets.

At Calicit (4,38), where the embassy was to tranship
for China, the little fleet was received by the authorities
with all possible pomp and circumstance and escorted to an
anchorage to the sound of timbrels, trumpets, and clarions
and with standards flying, all of which rejoicing was destined
shortly to end in sorrow and disaster. Here the embassy
waited three months for a favourable opportunity to start
on the last portion of their journey.

The reasons for this long delay are not, however, men-
tioned, but their stay was made very agreeable, suitable
accommodation was found for them in the town, and they
were hospitably entertained by the sultan of the country.

In the port of Calicut were thirteen Chinese vessels.
These were of three kinds—the large ships or junks, the
medium-sized vessels called sau, and the small ones or
kakams.

The junks carried as many as twelve sails, made of a
species of matting, which were allowed to float loosely in

1 According to Ibn Batutah the Chinese merchants had three ports of
call on the Malabar coast, viz., Hili, Calicut, and Kalam.

ee as

IBN BATUTAH IN SOUTHERN INDIA. 45

the wind when the vessels were at anchor. Each junk was
manceuvred by a thousand men (!!), six hundred sailors,
and four hundred warriors, among whom were archers, cross-
bow men, and naptha-throwers (?). The big ships had four
decks, cabins, saloons, and holds for merchandise; the oars
were worked by fifteen men to each oar, and when the vessel
went to sea, it was accompanied by three of the smaller craft.

The stewards of the ships were very great personages
and were always escorted ashore by a guard of archers and
Abyssinians, proceeding on their way to the accompaniment
of horns and timbrels. Some Chinese merchants acquired
great riches by trading with their numerous vessels.

At length the time came for the members of the embassy
to proceed on their way. Out of the thirteen junks one was
fitted and armed by the sultan for their use, a cabin was
allotted to Ibn Batitah, and his entire suite embarked, as
also did Sunbul and Zahir-ad-din, taking on board with them
the emperor’s presents.

Being a Friday, Ibn Batiitah himself remained ashore
in order to attend prayers at the mosque, intending to return
to his retinue as soon as his devotions were concluded.
Meantime one of his servants having represented to him
that the accommodation reserved for him on board the junk
was very insufficient, he decided to tranship all his slaves
and property to the small kakam, where more space was
available. In making his arrangements, however, Ibn Ba-
titah had forgotten to take into calculation the difficulty
of embarking after 4 p.m., probably owing to the sea breeze
freshening about that time; the result was that it became
impossible to leave the shore. All the junks, with the
exception of two, had left the port. One of these intended
wintering at Fandaraina; the other contained the valuables
and presents of the embassy. Friday night was spent
ashore, it being impossible to reach the vessel, and those on
board were unable to render any assistance. On Saturday

46 IBN BATUTAH IN SOUTHERN INDIA.

morning the first junk and the kakam were far from port ;
the former, however, struck and foundered on some rocks,
part of the crew being lost, others escaping with their lives.
As night advanced, the second junk was also shipwrecked on
some reefs and all hands perished.

In the morning Ibn Batitah proceeded to the spot
where the dead bodies lay. Zahir-ad-din’s skull had been
broken; Sunbul lay with his brain pierced by a large nail.
Having said the prescribed prayers over their corpses, their
companion had them interred. The sultan meantime stood
on the beach with his attendants and prevented the populace
from thieving property washed ashore by the waves. Cali-
cut was the only town on the Malabar coast where such
jetsam did not become the property of the State, and could
be reclaimed by the rightful owners; consequently it was a
port much favoured by traders.

When the kakam saw the misfortuue that had befallen
the junk, it very ungenerously set sail, taking with it all Ibn
Batitah’s slaves and property and leaving him with but a
few pieces of gold, asmall carpet, and a slave he had liberated
and who immediately deserted him.

He does not however appear to have wasted time in vain
regrets, but, with the philosophy of his race, resigned himself
to the inevitable. He ascertained that the kakam would be
compelled to put in at the port of Kalam and resolved at
once to push on thither in the hope of meeting it there.
The distance was a ten-days’ journey by either road or
river; he chose the latter, halting each night at some
village on the banks; he recounts how much he was exer-
cised in spirit on the way by the Musalman servant he had
engaged who turned out a drunkard and a cause of much
trouble. In ten days Kulam was reached in safety, a
large and handsome town, much frequented by Chinese
merchants, the port being most conveniently situated for
them. Muhammadans were much respected. The Sultan

IBN BATUTAH IN SOUTHERN INDIA. 47

Altiravari (cs;-5\) was himself an idolater, and more-
over a rigid martinet, witness a story recounted by Ibn
Batitah. The sultan on one occasion, when riding out
accompanied by his daughter’s husband, observed the latter
appropriate a mango that had fallen from an overhanging
branch and lay on the ground. Upon this his wrath being
kindled, he had both his son-in-law and the fruit he had
taken cut in half and fixed on to a couple of posts by way
of caution to passers-by, who no doubt became sufficiently
circumspect in their conduct to avoid similar penalties.

At Kalam, Ibn Batitah came across the Chinese en-
voys who had travelled down from Delhi with the embassy.
It appears that their ships also had been wrecked, but they

: obtained a supply of clothing from their fellow country-
| men and returned to their own land where he subsequently

met them.
Ibn Batitah had some thought of returning to the

_ Emperor of Delhi; but fearing that monarch’s reproaches,
relinquished the idea, more especially as he was strongly
| advised not on any account to go back thither by an agent
of the emperor, whom he found on his return to Calicut
employed in enlisting as many Arab recruits as he could

find for the king’s army. He accompanied this man by sea
to Hinaur, where he became the guest of the sultan, and

_ here it was his religious exercises assumed such formidable
_ proportions. At that ruler’s request he recited prayers in his

company and spent the entire day in a mosque, sometimes

reading the koran twice through between sunrise and sunset.

A proposed expedition to attack and capture the island

of Sindabiar offered an agreeable escape from this some-
_ what monotonous existence, and it is not surprising to learn

that Ibn Batitah proposed to accompany the invading
force ; and after duly consulting the koran and obtaining a
favourable reply, he not only went himself but persuaded

the sultan to go also and to command the troops in person.

48 IBN BATUTAH IN SOUTHERN INDIA.

The island was attacked and conquered, but the sultan
showed himself lenient towards the inhabitants who had
resisted his invasion, sparing their lives and permitting them
to reside in the suburbs of the chief town. Ibn Batitah, to
whom he presented a robe of honour on this occasion, remained
some time longer with the sultan, but then obtained permission
to leave, promising to return, and retraced his way to Calicit.
At this port discouraging tidings awaited him. Two of his
slaves who had been obliged to sail with the kakam con-
trived to return to India and informed him of the death of
one of his female slaves and of the capture of the remain-
der by the king of Java. All his property, they added, had
fallen into alien hands, and his comrades were dispersed
over Java, China, and Bengal. On hearing this depressing
report, Ibn Batttah, faithful to his promise, returned to
Sindabar, but troubles and disturbances breaking out, he
again lett the sultan, and, reaching Calicit once more,
resolved to visit the Maldive Islands, of which many enticing
descriptions had been given him and where amid novel sur-
roundings he no doubt hoped to forget past misfortunes.

He appears to have sojourned for some time in the
Maldives and found them an attractive residence. Honours

were conferred on him, and when finally he wished to return —

to India for various cogent reasons, he had some difficulty
in obtaining permission to depart. Instead of returning
at once to the west coast, [bn Batitah visited Ceylon and
gives long and detailed accounts of the many wonders of
the island, its fauna and flora, the great size of the gems
found there, and the wealth of its sultan. He also gives a
graphic description of his visit to Adam’s Peak. At length
he embarked to return to Malabar, but nearly lost his life
on the journey by shipwreck. A gale arose. The vessel in
which he sailed was almost swamped and narrowly escaped
being dashed to pieces on the rocks; finally she stranded
in shallow breakers, and Ibn Batitah was able to send his

IBN BATUTAH IN SOUTHERN INDIA. 49

companions ashore on a raft, he himself remaining on board
till two more rafts could be constructed by the sailors. How-
ever darkness overtook them before the task was complete
and a very unpleasant night was spent on board the wreck.

In the morning some natives came off in a boat from
the shore and rescued him from his perilous position. Ibn
Batatah thus found himself on the coast of Malabar and
hastened to explain to the inhabitants that he was a friend
of their sultan. On hearing this they wrote to apprize their
ruler of what had occurred. Ibn Batitah himself sent a
letter at the same time describing his misfortunes. The
sultan was engaged fighting certain infidels at two days’
journey from the scene of the wreck, and three days aiter
the message had been despatched to him an amir arrived
accompanied by a detachment of cavalry and infantry, a
palankeen, and horses, to greet Ibn Batitah and escort him
to the camp. He at once set out on horseback accompanied
by his few companions, halted for the night at the fort of
Harkata (\,2), and arrived at the sultan’s camp on the
second day.

Ghiyas-ad-din Addamaghani, Sultan of Malabar, had at
one time served as a cavalry soldier under Malik Mujir,
one of Sultan” Muhammed’s officers ; finally he was invested
with royalty. Previous to his accession he had been known
as Siraj-ad-din, but from the time of his elevation to the
throne he assumed the name of Ghiyas-ad-din.

Formerly Malabar had acknowledged the authority of
Sultan Muhanad, King of Delhi. Ibn Batitah’s father-in-
law, Jelal-ad-din Ahsan Shah (dls ges} yp Jl Je), having
incited a successful rebellion, assumed the reins of govern-
ment. He reigned for five years and was then assassinated
by one of his amirs Ala-ad-din adaiji (sel ~nwe), who
seized the throne and ruled in his stead one year. This sultan

? Muhammad Ibn Tughluk of Delhi.

50 IBN BATUTAH IN SOUTHERN INDIA.

made two expeditions against the infidels in which he was
entirely successful, carrying off much spoil and killing the
enemy in vast numbers. After his second victory, however,
on the very day of his triumph, having removed his helmet
from his head to quench his thirst, he was hit by an arrow
shot by an unknown hand and died on the spot. His son-
in-law, Kutb-ad-din, was elected to succeed him, but his
conduct so irritated his subjects that he was put to death at
the end of forty days. Sultan Ghiyas-ad-din was proclaimed
king and married the daughter of Jelal-ad-din, one of whose
daughters Ibn Batiitah had married at Delhi.

On approaching the sultan’s camp, a chamberlain was
found awaiting the travellers to conduct them to his royal
master, who received them kindly and presented Ibn Bata-
tah with food and presents.

In a subsequent interview he laid before the sultan a
scheme he had entertained for the conquest (annexation ?)
of the Maldive Islands with which the sovereign was much
pleased. He wished the enterprise to be promptly under-
taken and had certain vessels fitted out for the purpose.
Robes of honour and gifts for the amirs were set aside,
especially for the sultana, with whose sister he wished to
form a matrimonial alliance, and Ibn Batitah was authorized
to draw up the marriage contract. An order was also deliv-
ered to freight three vessels with alms to be distributed to
the poor of those islands, and Ibn Batitah was told to
depart and to return within five days. Admiral Khojah
Sarlak insisted that it would be impossible to start for the
Maldives before the expiration of three full months. The
expedition had consequently to be postponed and Ibn Bati-
tah spent the following months in the sultan’s camp.

The ground which the army had to traverse was dense,
impenetrable jungle. As soon as the camp was struck,
the sultan advanced at the head of his troops towards the

IBN BATUTAH IN SOUTHERN INDIA. 61

forest ; every one, great and small, was provided with an
axe to cut down obstacles, and the work of clearing a road
continued from sunrise to sunset with a halt at midday for
food and rest. All the idolaters caught in the woods
were made prisoners, and, accompanied by their wives and
children, made to carry pointed stakes on their shoulders to
the camp. These camps were constructed as follows: In
the centre was the sultan’s quarters, surrounding which was
a palisade furnished with four doorways and called a katkar ;
outside this enclosure was a second ‘“katkar.’’ An estrade
was raised round the principal palisade, and here fires were
kept burning and slaves and sentries were posted, each carry-
ing a little bundle of twigs. As soon as an alarm of night
attack was given, these torches were ignited, giving a bright
light, by the help of which the cavalry were enabled to make
a sortie and repulse the enemy.

As soon as morning came, the Hindu prisoners, who
had been taken the previous day, were divided into four
batches and each led up to one of the four entrances of
the “katkar.” Here the posts they had carried were made
secure in the ground and the unfortunates impaled thereon.
Their wives and children had their throats cut and were left
fastened to the posts.

The camp was then struck and the troops busied them-
selves in clearing the jungle as before.

Ibn Batatah stigmatises this barbarous cruelty as shame-
ful conduct on the sultan’s part and adds: “It was for this
that God hastened the death of Ghiyads-ad-din.”” He also
gives an account of some executions of which he was an
eye-witness, which it is best to transcribe in his own words:

“One day,” he writes, “the kazi was on the right hand
of this prince and I found myself on his left; as he took his
repast with us, I saw that an idolater had been brought in,
together with his wife and his son aged seven years. The
sultan made a sign with his hand to the executioners to decapi-

52 IBN BATUTAH IN SOUTHERN INDIA.

tate the man, then he said to them (in Persian) ‘va-zan-7-d-va-
pusar-i-a,’ which signifies in Arabic ‘also his son and his wife.’
The sentence was carried out and I averted my gaze from the
spectacle. When I arose, I saw their heads lying on the ground.

‘7 was on another occasion in the presence of the sultan,
Ghiyas-ad-din, before whom a Hindu had been brought. He
pronounced some words, I did not understand, and immediately
several of his satellites drew their daggers. I arose hurriedly,
and he asked me, ‘ where goest thou?’ I replied, ‘I go to perform
the afternoon prayer.’ He understood the motive of my conduct,
smiled, and ordered the hands and feet of the idolater to be cut
off. On my return I found the unfortunate bathed in his own
blood.”

There appears to have been a ceaseless petty warfare
carried on between the different rulers of the western coast.
Ibn Batttah specially mentions one great victory gained by
Ghiyas-ad-din over a powerful Hindu prince, Balal Dia
(yo J&), one of his neighbours. This prince, it appears,
aimed at the conquest of the Coromandel Coast and could
put 100,000 armed men in the field, not reckoning some
20,000 Muhammadans, some of whom were escaped slaves
and the rest adventurers and desperate characters. The
Muhammadan army on the other hand consisted only of
6,000 men, half of whom were excellent troops and the
remainder worthless. The eonflict began near the town of
Kabban (oS), and the Hindus routed their enemies,
who retreated to Mutrah (3+), their capital? Balal Dia
encamped close to Kabban, which is one of the chief strong-
holds possessed by the Muhammadans, and there besieged
them for six months, at the end of which time the garrison
found they had only sufficient provisions left for another
fortnight. The Hindu prince then proposed a surrender.
He desired the town to be abandoned and the besieged
to retire under a safe conduct. They replied they could

3 Described by Ibn Batttah as the capital of the country (Madura ?).

IBN BATUTAH IN SOUTHERN INDIA. 53

not accede to such conditions without the sanction of their
sultan. A truce was granted of fourteen days and a letter
despatched to Ghiyas-ad-din, explaining to what extremities
the garrison was reduced. This letter the sultan read to the
people on the following Friday. The faithful on hearing it
wept, exclaiming that they were ready to surrender their
lives to God; for if the idolater took Kabban, he would
next advance to besiege them and death by the sword was
preferable to such a fate. They, therefore, vowed to give
their lives in the good cause and marched to meet the enemy
with bare heads and their turbans laid round their horses’
necks, signifying that they courted death. The troops were
disposed to the best advantage under skilled commanders,
the sultan riding in the centre, and towards the hour of the
siesta the advance was made on the Hindu camp. They
found their enemies quite unprepared ; believing themselves
attacked by robbers, they rushed out in disorder to fight.
_ Thereupon, Ghiyas-ad-din advanced with reinforcements and
_ the Hindus were totally dispersed and put to flight. Their
old sovereign, although eighty years of age, endeavoured to
_ mount a horse and escape, when the sultan’s nephew, Nasir-
| ad-din (y2S\y4), who succeeded him, attacked and would
_ have killed the old man, not recognising him, had not one of
his slaves said: “It is the king,” whereupon he was made
| prisoner and treated with apparent consideration, whilst
_ under promise of eventual release, all his riches were extorted
from him. He was then murdered and his skin stuffed with
_ straw and hung from the wall of Mutrah where Ibn Batitah
says he saw it suspended. He records this great victory of
his co-religionists over overwhelming numbers of idolaters
with pardonable pride and complacency.

Eventually he found his way to Fattan (y*), where
shortly afterwards Ghiyas-ad-dim arrived stricken by an ill-
ness that subsequently caused his death. He was met by Ibn
Battitah, who offered him a present, the value of which the

54 IBN BATUTAH IN SOUTHERN INDIA.

sultan wished to return to him; this he declined to accept,
adding naively that he afterwards much regretted having done
so, as the sultan died shortly after, and thus he obtained no
sort of return. Ghiyds-ad-din remained about a fortnight at
Fattan, expressing a wish that preparations for the expedi-
tion to the Maldives should be pushed forward. He then
proceeded to Mutrah, which Jelal-ad-din had formerly made
his capital and much embellished. He was shortly after
followed by Ibn Batitah and found a terrible infectious
malady raging that killed its victims in three or four days
from the time they were first attacked by it. So that, he
writes, all around him he saw only the dead and dying.
When Ghiyas-ad-din entered Mutrah he found his mother,
wife, and son had been seized by the illness. At the end
of three days he moved out of the town to the river bank
and encamped there, tents being also pitched close at hand
for Ibn Batitah. On that same day the sultan’s only son
died, his mother on the following Thursday, and within a
week of her burial Ghiyads-ad-din himself was dead.

Fearing a tumult, Ibn Batitah hurriedly re-entered the
town. Nasir-ad-din, who had been sent for to the camp, tried
to persuade him to return thither in his company. This he
refused to do, greatly to the mortification of that prince.

Nasir-ad-din had at one time been a domestic servant at
Delhi before his uncle obtained the crown. When Ghiyas-
ad-din became king, his nephew fled to him disguised as a
fakir and was destined to succeed him on the throne. He
received the oaths of loyalty of the nobles, poets recited his
praises and obtained magnificent presents, which were lavished
with a princely hand to all retainers according to their rank,
Ibn Batiatah receiving 300 gold pieces * and a robe of honour.
For forty days the funeral obsequies of Ghiyas-ad-din were

‘Unfortunately no gold coin of either Ghiyas Addin or his nephew have
yet been found.

ee = eee — ee ae ee ee —~" es

—

se ee —

IBN BATUTAH IN SOUTHERN INDIA. 55

celebrated with great pomp, and largesses were freely distri-
buted among the poor.

One of Nasir-ad-din’s first acts was to kill the son of his
paternal aunt, who was the husband of Ghiyds-ad-din’s
_ daughter. He himself then married this princess. He also
condemned to death a few other political offenders. The
ships that had been fitted out for an expedition to the
Maldives were to be made over at once to Ibn Batitah, but
he was seized by the malignant fever of the country and
believed himself to be dying; however, he recovered, and
ascribes his restoration to health to the remedy he used,
_ which was a decoction of tamarinds. In three days he had
shaken off the fever, but having taken an aversion to
_ Mautrah, he asked and obtained permission from the sultan
to return to Fattan. A restless desire for travel seems to
have then seized him, and after a second short visit to the
| Maldives, he set sail for Bengal, thence to Java and Sumatra,
and so at length to China, meeting with many vicissitudes
both by sea and land, but ever ready to receive the gifts of
fate, good or bad, as they chanced to come, with impertur-
| pable serenity.

NOTES

Coins of most of the rulers mentioned by Ibn Batitah

occur, those of Ahsan Shah and ’Ala-ad-din Adaji being
_ fairly common still in Madura and Malabar, while others,
_ notably the billon issues of Ghiyas-ad-din Aldamghani (of
_ which only two specimens have yet been found), of Nasir-ad-
_ din, his son-in-law, and the copper ones of Kutb-ad-din, are
_ very rare. Issues of Muhammad bin Taghlak, struck prior
_ to the revolt of Ahsan Shah, are still frequently found, and
_ differ somewhat from those figured by Thomas or recorded
_ In the Catalogue of the British Museum. Ahsan Shah, on

°Tam indebted to Mr. L. White King, B.C.S., and Captain R. H. O.

Tufnell, M.S.C., for this preliminary note on the Coins of the Muhammadan
Viceroys in Southern India.

56 IBN BATUTAH IN SOUTHERN INDIA.

raising the standard of revolt against his suzerain in Delhi,
struck coins both in silver and copper. The latter of these
are fairly common and are shown as fig. 1 in the accom-
panying plate. On the obverse they bear the name of the
ruler g\tJ\ sls y—=!, and on the reverse pée 3) yt}, No
date occurs on any copper issues yet found, but on the only
two silver pieces known, the date 738 and 749 appear in
conjunction with his full name ts y=! yew. On his death
he was succeeded by one of his emirs, whom Ibn Batitah
wrongly calls ’Alai-ad-din adaiji, his real name evidently
being Adaji, a copper coin of his, figured as No. 8, bearing
this name most distinctly: obverse gt sls sol, reverse
Leslie Gly Of his successor Kutb-ad-din as yet only two
coins have been found, owing doubtless to the fact that his
reign extended only to forty days. This is figured as No. 4
and is mest important as supplying a date: obverse sits
cest,, reverse VP1 sls jy.5 (Firaz Shah, 746). On his mur-
der by his subjects, Ghyas-ad-din, surnamed first Siraj-ad-
ain (a name which however occurs on none of his coins),
and subsequently, according to Ibn Batitah, Aldamghani
(3 N31) succeeded, and his coins in copper (No. 5) occur :
obverse grist, Lislols, reverse pked\yltSl. A billon coin
of this ruler is also known, and is figured as No. 6, but here
again we have further proof of Ibn Batitah’s careless ortho-
graphy. In the centre of the obverse the name plainly reads
dls gleels see (Muhammad Ddmghdn Shah) and on the
reverse Gel, Wwlele pked! Git}, Had we no further evi-
dence we might, I think, fairly attribute this coin to the
so-called Aldamghani. Further proof, however, is at hand
in a billon issue No. 7. In the centre of the obverse of
this we find the name (pt, Wal tb (Nasir-ad-din) and on
the reverse gibJ\ sls gleels sx (Muhammad Damghan
Shah, the Sultan) and from Ibn Batitah we know that
Nasir-ad-din was his successor’s name. Unfortunately the
margin is, in both these coins, too much cut off to be iegible,

IBN BATUTAH IN SOUTHERN INDIA. 57

but on the top of the reverse of the last coin appears what
looks like Je » (~) (Ibn ’Adil). This may of course
merely mean ‘the son of the just Sultan Muhammad Dam-
ghan Shah’; but it may also, it appears to me, read ‘the
son of Muhammad Damghin Shah (who was) the son of
Adil (Shah).’ A somewhat far-fetched argument on which
to base the existence of a new king, if not indeed unwarran-
table, were it not for the fact that about this time a king of
the name of ’Adil Shah (s\& Jole) did without doubt reign in
these parts, and his coins are found in conjunction with
those of Ahsan and Aduaji. Three of his coins are figured
as Nos. 8, 9, 10, all of which bear his name and titles plainly
enough. Unfortunately on the accession of Nasir-ad-din,
Ibn Batitah left the southern provinces and with him all
historical assistance deserts the numismatist. If, however,
my theory regarding ’Adil Shah be accepted, we have thus
far fixed the following list :—

Ahsan Shah, A.H. 738 (?)6
|

‘ (Rebels)
* Adil Shah, A.H. ? Ala-ad-diu Aduji, A.H. 745.
Kutb-ad-din Firuz, A.H. 746 (son-in-law),
Ghiyds-ad-din Damgh4n, + Daughter.
A.H. 746 |
Daughter + Nasir-ad-din.

Ibn Batiitah’s unfortunate departure towards other coun-
tries just at this time it must be confessed leaves the numis-
matist rather in the lurch. We have nothing in history to
help us. Our guide so far, warned doubtless by Nasir-ad-
din’s method of treating his predecessor’s relations and
friends, has deserted us, and there remain but two or three
small copper coins to lend us their assistance. 'T'wo of these,
however, are of primary importance, the one bearing the name

_ ® Thomas (Chronicles of the Pathan Kings, p. 253) places the date of
Ahsan Shah’s rebellion in 742 A.H., but the date on his coin proves beyond
doubt that it occurred at least four years earlier than that.

8

58 IBN BATUTAH IN SOUTHERN INDIA,

of Muhammad Mustafa, and the other that of Mubarak Shah.
As good luck will have it, each of these two coins, which I
figure as Nos. 11 and 13, respectively, bears a date, while the
latter helps us in fixing the names of the king’s relations.
The former bears on the obverse +<» 44» and on the reverse
cthoe sls (?) (765) ; another otherwise identical coin bearing
date 764, while another with the same name but with a date,
the last numeral of which is unfortunately gone, has on the
reverse an inscription which I read tentatively 5 gb o»

(son of the Sultan Keridah ?). Next in order on this

side we find a coin No. 12 with on the obverse the name
eee (Mustafa) again, but here preceded by the word pol
(slave, Ar.) instead of «= (Muhammad) and bearing the
date 769 distinctly, but whether this is the name of a new
king, or merely one of those titles they were wont to rejoice
in, it is of course impossible to say. Whichever it may be,
he certainly was the son of the same father as Muhammad
Mustafa, the reverse of his coins proving this, and I certainly
think it more probable that he was brother of, than identical
with, Muhammad.

Turning now to No. 18, the other coin to which I alluded
above, we find on one specimen the date 763, and on all what
looks like quite a little genealogy of kings. Unfortunately
most of the coins available are much worn, but tentatively
they appear to me to read as follows: obverse sS,<«
dle gle eG (Mubarak Shah, the son of Shah Jehan (?)
Shah) and reverse 3-+3)5 (y dle 3 ~ (the son of Fakhr Shah,
the son of Keridah). Iam as doubtful, however, about the
reading of the last name in these as in the last, and im not
one of a dozen specimens I have is the name clear. Certain
however it is that it is identical in both. MHence’ then,
following up the successors of Nasir-ad-din, we have, if these
readings are correct, the following :—

7Since this was written I have sent electrotypes of these coins to Mr. C. J.
Rodgers, of Amritzar, and he agrees with the readings here given.

AF es =

IBN BATUTAH IN SOUTHERN INDIA. 59

Keridah
|
| | |
Fakhr-ad-din Muhammad Mustafa; Khadam Mustafa,
AH. 764-5. AVE 69.

|
Shah Jehan (?) Shah

fibers Shah,

A.H, 763.

Between the accession of Ghiyas-ad-din Damghan in 746
and this issue of Mubarak in 763, we have therefore a gap
of some seventeen years with, however, four kings to fill it
up. Of these, no coins have yet been found of Keridah or
of Shah Jehan(?) Shah. Those of Nasir-ad-din I have
already alluded to and one of Fakhr-ad-din’s I figure as
No. 14: obverse (ast, Wst;<3, reverse pJzel yt.

One other coin, evidently of the same series, perhaps
deserves brief notice. I allude to that of Sikandar Shah
(No. 15). This bears on one side g\e\ dle +S (the Sultan
| Sikandar Shah) and on the other ql) We (’Ala-ad-din),
but whether he was one of those who helped to fill up the
_ interval between Nasir-ad-din and Keridah (?) if there were
any intermediate kings or was subsequent to Khadum Mus-
_ tafa, it is at present impossible to say.
That there is in the above a great deal that is hypo-
thetical must, I fear, be allowed; but at the same time it
must be remembered that we are here dealing with a line
_ of kings, of whom history, but for the casual remarks of a
casual traveller, is silent, and that these small copper pieces
are pages of an unwritten story, the very names on which
have never been rec8rded as far as we know elsewhere. As
_ time goes on doubtless more will be unearthed and more
_ information thus gained about them, and it is chiefly with
a view to calling attention to their historical importance
and in the hope that coin-collectors will not pass them by
unheeded that this note appears.

60

Pandavula Metta.

(By tur Rey. J. R. HUTCHINSON.)

‘What we most want is to have an intelligent and accurate account of
the various objects of antiquarian interest scattered over our territory. Their
name is Legion, but many of them still keep the secret of their history.’’
Sir MU. E. Grant Duffin his Review Minute.

Tuar noble range of forest-clad and picturesque hills,
which, beginning at Battili on the extreme north-western
corner of the Parla Kimedy zemindari, separates for some
forty miles the districts of Vizagapatam and Ganjam, reaches
an abrupt termination at a point twenty miles north of
Chicacole. From this point on to the sea at Calingapatam,
however, the rugged backbone of the ridge shows itself at
frequent intervals in the Sailada, Singapiiram, and Salihandam
hills, and in scattered tumuli of black or grey granitic rocks.
These are most numerous at a point some twelve miles north
of Chicacole, where they are composed of schistose gneiss
disposed for the most part in horizontal lamin. Many of
the more regular of these hills have, in the course of ages,
been denuded of their surface rock. The action of sun and
rain, expansion and contraction, causes the surface rock to
separate from that beneath in huge layers, often many yards
in length and breadth. These have been broken up and
removed by generation after generation of Hindus for the
construction of temples, images, village pia/s, &e., and, in
more recent times, by D.P.W. employés for the construe-
tion of various public works. Frequently, the same agency
which separated these rocky layers from their ancient bed
has broken them up, in the direction of natural transverse
flaws, into huge oblong masses, to which, in some places, the

PANDAVULA METTA. 61

natives apply the term manchalu or “beds.” The continued
separation and removal of these slabs leaves the surface of
the rocky hill comparatively flat and often smooth as a floor.
On one hill, called the Dhanya-rasi or ‘‘ paddy-heap,” because
of a circular mound of earth upon its summit, the surface
thus formed comprises an area of fully a quarter of an acre.

The name which stands at the head of this article is
borne by one of the most unprepossessing of these hills. It
is also called Pancha-Pédndavula-nivesasthana or the “ Habitat
of the Five Pandavas”—a name which explains the legend
connected with the spot more fully and intelligently than any
of the best informed natives in that vicinity. Viewed from
its base, the hill which is probably thirty feet higher than the
surrounding plain, presents absolutely no features of interest ;
but on mounting it, the unassuming rock is at once trans-
formed into a monument of the skill and patience of a people
who have left no other record of their existence. ‘The first
object that attracts the visitor’s attention is a cromlech of
gigantic proportions on the western slope of the hill. This
eromlech is formed of a single slab of native rock, raised
bodily from its bed to a height of about four feet. This
slab, which lies east and west, is 11 yards in length and
d3 yards in breadth in its widest part. It has unfortunately
been broken in two at a distance of about four yards from
its western extremity. The thickness of the fractured part is
about two feet. A piece of considerable size has been broken
off the south-eastern corner at, apparently, a more recent
date than that of the construction of the cromlech itself.
The whole slopes slightly towards the west parallel with the
slope of that part of the hill upon which it stands. Viewed
from its eastern or higher end, the slab in its general
outlines bears a striking resemblance to the form of a fish.
There is however, no evidence whatever that any attempt |
has at any time been made to change the natural form of
the slab, and I am inclined to think that its curious resem-

62 PANDAVULA METTA.

blance to the device of the Pandyan kings is purely acci-
dental. It is possible, however, that the slab may have been
selected originally because of its shape. The upright sup-
ports of the horizontal slab are uncut oblong stones, selected
from among the numerous smaller slabs which cover the
hill-side. To the south is an entrance, over which, along
the upper edge of the horizontal slab, a channel of some
depth has been cut in the stone for the purpose of carrying
off the water that would otherwise drip down into the door-
way. Along the higher side of the floor of the cromlech,
within the line of upright slabs, are similar channels. There
is no soil in the immediate vicinity of the cromlech, and it
has evidently never been covered with earth. The entire
structure is, however, encircled by a row of holes cut into
the surface rock of the hill at distances of a yard or two
from one another. ‘These holes are circular, and, with the
exception of the water-channels already described, are the
only rock-cuttings about the cromlech. I am of opinion that
this cromlech was constructed for and used as a human
dwelling. The channel above the doorway to carry off the
roof water, that along the higher side of the floor to keep
the cromlech dry within, and the surrounding row of holes
or sockets for pillars upon which thatch or other covering
could be laid to protect the inmates from the fierce storms
that sweep this valley in the months of April and May,
seem to indicate indubitably the purpose and use of the
structure.

On four other hills in the vicinity are similar cromlechs
of smaller size, with similar rock-cuttings, and evidently
constructed for a like purpose. In one instance, on the high
hill near Sailada, where three huge rocks have fallen upon
one another in such a manner as to form a triangular central
cavity with three side-outlets and an opening above, a flat
slab has been placed upon the latter to shut out the rain,
while around the whole runs a circle of holes in the rocky

PANDAVULA METTA. 63

surface of the hill for the erection of the usual panchapdli.
Here and there on the Pdndaviila Metta and several other of
the hills in the vicinity, stone slabs of smaller size have been
tilted up at an angle of 30° or 40° upon the sloping hill-side
and held in position by upright stones placed under their
outer edge—intended evidently as a protection from rain
_and sun. These constructions are numerous in the vicinity
of the larger cromlech.

The whole level surface of the Pdndavitla Metta is covered
with circular holes cut into the solid rock to a depth of ten
inches or less. These holes are of three sizes, the largest
being about 12, the second 8, and the third and smallest
6 inches in diameter. Many of them are fine specimens of
workmanship, being cut out with remarkable regularity and
| precision ; but the most curious features of these cuttings are
_ their arrangement in every case in either oblong, circular, or
: elliptical figures, and the fact that these face either east or
south. In the margin is given a
| diagram of an oblong arrangement of O O
these holes. The length fromatogis © M..O... 2 O

18 feet 2inches. The length from d to ioe! b Mee BS

_ hand from c to 7 is exactly the same. H

The width from a toc, d to e, and gto O ©
iis 10 feet 4 inches. In front (east) o ° uo O
is a semi-circular row of holes, m, n, 0, @

_ of which the central hole n is situated 9 ay oy o
at a distance of 4 feet 7 inches from b. © 7-o-F O

_ At the back (west) is a similar row of O fe ee.

holes, giving the same distance from i

toh. These holes are all of one diameter (about 8 inches).
_ Around all again is shown another row of holes, elliptical
in outline, of the third or smaller size, Within and near
the western end is a larger hole, 12 inches in diameter.
The holes p, , 6, f, h, k, and r are all exactly in line, and
_ this line runs east and west.

64 PANDAVULA METTA.

In other places the holes are arranged O 0
in circles as below, with one hole of the
largest size in the centre, a circle of holes
of the Zsecond size about this, a semi- ¢
circular row of holes of the same size in $
front (east or south), and around all 6
again an outer row of smaller ones (not ‘%, o
shown in the diagram). jo

The elliptical arrangements of holes are most common
and elaborate. They are, moreover, on a much more exten-
sive scale than either the oblongs or circles. The largest
measures 164 yards in length and 13 yards in breadth.
Down the middle line (north and south) runs a straight row
of five 12-inch holes ; around this stretches the inner ellipse
of 8-inch holes, while outside of all extends a third row of
the smaller holes. In front, facing south, runs the usual

O POG FOx2

’

semi-circular line.
Although the largest, the above is by no means the
most elaborate of the
ellipses. Some 50 yards O
to the north of the Pdn- = O
davila Metta is a smaller of # me NC
hill, upon the surface of i
which is an ellipse of O Oo
curious conformation. H
On its major axis, run- QO
ning east and west, are O
three holes a, 6, and e, of }

the largest size. About O% ro
the hole a, as a centre, ‘, :
the rock has been cut le) © e)
down in circular form as O Oo

indicated by the dotted
line as though by the
revolution of a stone slab

PANDAVULA METTA. 65

or grinder about a. The ellipse, instead of being composed
of a single row of holes as in other instances, is composed
of a double line of holes bored apparently on radii drawn
from a. These double holes are of the second size. In
front (east) is a semi-circular row of holes of the same size,
and about the whole is another row of the smallest holes.
The slope of the rock is from south-west to north-east ; and
to carry off the water, channels have been cut into the sur-
face on the more elevated side, several inches in depth and
width.

At the eastern extremity of the hill is a cave of triangular
outlme, approached by a low entrance from the north.
This cave is formed by the overlapping of strata and the
partial closing in of the cavity thus formed by the super-
position of a huge mass of rock. The cavity is about 15 feet
long and 10 broad, terminating in a curious little grotto at
the western end. Owing to the manner in which the rocks
forming it are thrown together, the cave is more or less
open overhead throughout its whole length. At sunset the
rays of ruddy light stream in through the western extremity
of this cleft and illumine the grotto in a singularly pleasing
manner. The cave has obviously been used as a human
habitation. Without, along the shelving edge of the rock,
which terminates in one irregular overhead opening, chan-
nels of considerable depth have been cut in the stone in such
a manner as to collect all water flowing down the face of the
rock and to convey it into other and larger channels below.
The floor of the cave slopes from west to east; and border-
ing the western or higher side, under the overhanging ledge
of rock, is cut a double channel running from the extreme
inner end of the cave out to the entrance. The upper of
these channels is the larger, the second and lower one
being apparently intended for the overflow from the first.
At the western end of the cave, and especially in the grotto,
the natural slope of the floor has been altered by cutting

)

66 PANDAVULA METTA.

away the rock at the higher side to a depth of some six or
eight inches. The cutting has been done very smoothly and —
accurately. At the extreme upper end of the cave is a stone
pial some six inches higher than the rock-hewn floor below.
When first the writer visited the cave, its whole floor was
covered to the depth of fully a foot with stones and kankar
washed in by the rains. <A section of this was excavated
and removed. In the lower part of the cave nothing was
found but this alluvial deposit ; but, as the upper end was
approached, this debris gradually gave way to an under
layer of fine black soil directly overlying the rocky floor,
comparatively free from stones and evidently of much
greater age than the upper deposit. Nothing was found in
this stratum, however, save a few fragments of burnt pottery
and some traces of fire; but underneath it, lying upon the
stone floor close up to the edge of the pial, there was found
a bit of much corroded iron of tapering form, some four
inches in length and as thick as one’s little finger. Nothing
else of interest was found in the cave. The extreme lower
portion of it was not, however, excavated, and it seems
probable that further search would yield some information
as to who and what manner of men the inhabitants of the
cave were. The natives have no name for the cave, and
there seems to be no legend connected with it other than
that which applies to the whole hill.

As the eave has undoubtedly been the abode of human
beings, so the rock-cuttings mark the site of ancient dwell-
ings. The accurate measurements, palatial dimensions, and
elaborate arrangement of such remains as still exist (and
they must exist for all time) show that these were no
ordinary abodes. No trace of hewn stone is found in the
vicinity of these hills. Had such stones ever existed, had
cearefully-wrought, or even rudely-shaped, stone pillars once
occupied these numerous sockets, had noble porticos graced
the entrance to nobler halls, surely some fragment would

PANDAVULA METTA. 67

have remained to tell of departed grandeur ; but the closest
examination of both hills and surrounding country fails to
reveal even so much asa single stone corresponding to the
circular cuttings in the rocks. Much has been cut into, but
little out of, them. Of what, then, were the supporting
pillars of the buildings, which once crowned these hills, con-
structed ? Evidently of wood, which in the course of years
would be entirely removed either by succeeding generations
of human beings or by the natural process of decay. In
the cocoanut and palmyra palm ready-made pillars were
found, which, fitted to the rock-cut sockets, supported a roof of
thatch or other material. In the centre, to support this roof,
one or more larger pillars were raised. Before the entrance,
to render the buildings more palatial, a semi-circular portico
was erected. Around the whole, to ward off sun and rain
and to afford additional space and strength, a panchapal
was constructed. The difficulty presented during the rains
_ by the in-flowing water was easily obviated by the construc-
tion of a low dyke of clay around that part of the building
_ which faced up the gentle slope, while to prevent this water
_ standing in pools in the numerous depressions of the rocky
surface, channels were hewn of sufficient depth to admit of
_ its ready egress.

The native legends as to the origin and use of these rock-
cuttings are wholly nonsensical and untrustworthy. The
majority of the people in the immediate vicinity call the
holes rél/u or “ mortars,’”’ and declare that they were made
and used by the gods of old for removing the husk from
their paddy. Others again affirm these to be the marks
of cannon balls. With equal reason they conjecture that
_ every rock which gives out a hollow sound because of some
internal flaw is the receptacle of the dhanam or wealth
of these same gods. The name, however, which the hill
still bears points to the spot as the former abode of human
beings—whether the “ five Pandavas”’ or not cannot be deter-

68 PANDAVULA METTA.

mined. The evident purpose of the rock-cut sockets was the
erection of dwellings. ‘lhe cromlechs and the cave afford
proof positive that the hill was inhabited, while the infinite
labour with which the rocky hill must have been levelled and
the sockets cut, the exact dimensions, elaborate arrangement,
and probable palatial character of the buildings themselves
seem to point to the fact that the beings who constructed
and occupied them were no mean order of men.

69

Indo-Danish Coins.

(By T. M. RANGA CHARI, 8.a., anp T. DESIKA CHARI, z.a.)

Fotiowine the footsteps of other European nations, the
Danes, impelled by a spirit of commercial enterprise, sought,
in the beginning of the seventeenth century, to establish
settlements in India. In 1612, an association, called the
Danish East India Company, was formed at Copenhagen,
which fitted out an expedition to the Coromandel Coast.

Their first ship, the Oeresund,' arrived in India in 1618
or 1619, and the captain of the vessel, Rodant or Roelant
Crape, who had visited the court of Tanjore before, in order
the sooner to effect a landing, is said to have wrecked his ship
off Tranquebar. Thence he contrived to reach Tanjore, and
the company obtained from the Naik Rajah of that princi-
pality a little seaport town, eighteen miles north of Nega-
patam, known as Tranquebar. A fort, called Dansborg, was
soon after built, and a factory established. Shortly after this
(1624) the settlement became the property of the Danish
king, to whom the Company owed money.

The next Danish settlement of note was Serampore, a
town on the right bank of the Hoogly, which acquired some
celebrity, as being the spot where the Baptist Missionaries,
foremost among whom were Carey, Ward and Marshman
first established themselves, making it the centre of their
christianizing efforts in India.’ ‘It is,’ says Heber, ‘a
handsome place, kept beautifully clean and looking more like
a European town than Calcutta or any other of the neigh-
bouring cantonments.’ ‘Serampore was for some time the

* See Fenger’s History of the Tranquebar Mission (1863),
* Hunter’s Gazetteer of India.

70 INDO-DANISH COINS.

Alsatia of Calcutta,’ * as it afforded refuge to insolvent
debtors, and others whose affairs rendered it prudent for
them to disappear from the Anglo-Indian metropolis. The
loss of its immunities however soon changed this state of
affairs.

The Danes also had a factory at Porto Novo, the town
famed in South Indian history for the complete victory
gained there by Sir Eyre Coote.

As early as the year 1667, when Bengal enjoyed rest
and quiet under the peaceful reign of Sujah Khan and
Sahista Khan, the Danes had entered the Hoogly, side by
side with the English, the French, and the Dutch, and had
embarked in trade with the natives of the country,* though
they took no prominent part in the struggles that ensued for
political supremacy. While M. Dupleix was carrying on
his wars in the south, and endeavouring to become the virtual
ruler of the Dakhan and Karnatic, or afterwards, while
Robert Clive was crippling the power of Suraja Dowla on
the field of Plassey, and thus laying the foundation of the
British Empire in the east, the Danish Missionaries were
going on foot from village to village, teaching the truths of
Christianity wherever they went, with piety as simple as it
was pure.

For a period of more than two hundred years the Danish
power enjoyed undisturbed possession of its settlements in the
east, except for a short time at the commencement of the
present century. In 1808° Tranquebar was taken by the
British with the other Indo-Danish possessions owing to the
war that was then raging between the two countries. A
treaty of peace was however concluded in January 1814, and
under its operation the Danish possessions were restored. In
1845 Tranquebar, Serampore and Porto Novo were pur-
chased by the British from Denmark.

3 Thornton’s Gazetteer of India.
‘ Marshman’s History of India.
* Fenger’s History of the Tranquebar Mission, page 303.

INDO-DANISH COINS. 71

During the time of the Danish power in India, Denmark
was under the sway of several kings, a list of whose names
is given below with the dates of the accession of each.

Christian IV... ve ae AD 1588

Frederick III .. be .. A.D. 1648
Christian): Vis s. $3 .. A.D. 1670
Frederick IV .. aie .. A.D. 1699
Christian VI .. a 2 ASD 17:30
Frederick V_.. oye .. A.D. 1746
Christian VII .. or NAVD) S166
Frederick VI... Ae ALD S808
Christian VIII te oe ALD: 18389

The first king of note among these was Frederick IIT
who, by his intrepid behaviour in the midst of misfortunes,
endeared himself to his subjects, and was chosen hereditary
and absolute king of the three estates of the realm. At his
_ accession half a century had elapsed since the establishment
of the small settlement in the east, and by this time the

affairs of the colony had been put in order and trade had
begun to flourish, the increasing emergencies whereof neces-
_ sitated an independent coinage for Tranquebar and the other
_ Danish settlements in India. The earliest issue we know
of is a copper coin of this king, of about the size of a quarter
_ farthing.
Fig. 1. Weight: 15 grains.

Obverse.—The monogram of the king F. 3. The letter
F and the numeral 3, side by side, surmounted by a crown.

Reverse.—A lion or unicorn passant to the left with a
_ erown on its head, holding in its paws a branch or a curved
dagger.

The coin bears no date. A noteworthy feature in the
Indo-Danish Coins is that, like the Indo- Portuguese Coins,
_ they have no inscription in any of the vernacular languages
| of the country.

Christian V succeeded Frederick III in the year 1760.
_ Figs. 2, 3 and 4 are coins of this reign.

SO

oo

72 INDO-DANISH COINS.

Fig. 2.—The average weight of nearly a dozen specimens
of this series is 13:7 grains, though one good issue weighs
17-1 grain.

Odverse.—An artistically executed monogram of the king
—consisting of two linked C’s with the numeral 5 in each—
surmounted by a crown, with the numeral 8 to the left and
9 to the right of the monogram, thus reading 89, the whole
encircled by a ring of dots.

Reverse.-—The monogram D.O.C. corresponding to the
V.0.C. (Vereinigte Ostindische Compagnie) on the coins of
the Dutch East India Company, surmounted by a crown,
with DK. (?) under the monogram, a figure like W. to the
left and one like the letter P. reversed to the right.

The numeral 89 represents the year 1689; what the W.
and P. mean we cannot say. The HK. or DK. any stand
for either two Kash or Danish Kash.

Another issue of apparently the same reign has—

Obverse—The monogram D.O.C., surmounted by a
crown, with the numeral 1 to the left, 6 (?) to the right and
97 underneath, thus reading 1 (6) 97.

Reverse.-—The coin is rather worn, only a remnant of
what may be the monogram of Christian Y—with the two
linked C’s—being visible.

We assign this coin to the reign of Christian V for
the following reason:—The monogram D.O.C., as we shall
presently see, is found only on coins of Christian V and
Frederick IV and not on those of any subsequent monarch ;
consequently this coin must belong to one of these two
sovereigns; the year 97 then can only mean 1697, which
year would place it in the reign of Christian V.

Fig. 3. Weight: 12:4 grains.

Obverse.—There distinctly appears a crown in the field,
but the monogram is not clear. It may be fairly asked why
this coin should be held not to belong to Frederick IV—
1699 being the year both of the death of Christian V and
the accession of Frederick IVY. The reasons, however, for

INDO-DANISH COINS. 73
placing it in the reign of the former are:—(1) the type
of this coin is certainly older than that of the coins of
| Frederick IV, (Figs. 5 and 6) there being a marked advance
_in the form of the D.O.C.: (2) though in the obverse of
this coin, there appears a crown, it differs considerably from
that which surmounts the monogram of Frederick IV, either
in the earlier or in the later variety of his issues: (8) this
coin bears a striking resemblance to Fig. 2, which certainly
belongs to the reign of Christian V, as it bears the monogram

of that king distinctly.
| Reverse-—The monogram of the Company—D.0.C.—sur-
mounted by a quaint crown with the numeral 1 to the left, 6
“to the right and 99 underneath, thus reading 1699.
' Fig. 4.—This is a very bad specimen, and what inscrip-
tion there was on the reverse is now totally obliterated.
Weight: 11-7 grains.
| Obverse.—The monogram of the king C. 5—-Capital C.
enclosing the numeral 5—surmounted by a crown,
Frederick [V succeeded Christian V in 1699. He sent
in 1706 a Protestant Mission to Tranquebar, which did some
good work, but whose progress it is needless here to trace.
There are two varieties of the coins of this reign.

Fig. 5, Earlier variety.

Average weight : 13°6 grains.

Obverse.—A crown above the monogram of the king,
which in this series consists of the letter F and the numeral
| 4 combined.

Reverse.—The monogram D.O.C. in large capital letters
surmounted by a similar crown.

Fig. 6.—Later variety.

This coin is more neatly executed than the last.

Weight : 13°8 grains.

Obverse.—The monogram of the king—Frederick IV—
the letter and numeral no longer in combination, surmounted
by an elegant crown.

|

10

74 INDO-DANISH COINS.

Reverse-—Very much worn, though we can with some
difficulty decipher D.O.C. under a crown.

No date appears on either coin.

Christian VI was Frederick’s successor, id came to the
throne in the year 1730.

A change in the monogram of the Company seems to
have been made at the time; for while all the coins of
Christian V and Frederick IV have the monogram D.O.U.,
we have not come across a single specimen of Christian VI,
or any of his successors bearing this monogram, but hence-
forth an A takes the place of the O. What led to this
change in the name of the Company we cannot say.

The coins of Christian VI occur in various sizes, but are
generally of but two different varieties.

Fig. 7.—This coin is figured by Captain R. H. C. Tufnell
in Plate 4, Fig. 67, of his recent ‘Hints to Coin- collectors.”

Weight : 82°7 grains.

Obverse.—The monogram of the king—C. enclosing the
numeral 6—surmounted by a crown.

Reverse.—A similar crown above the monogram of the
Company, D.A.C. (Danish Asiatic Company ® or Direction of
the Asiatic Company).

Fig. 8 belongs to a later variety.

Average weight : 41:2 grains.

This is probably a IV KASH piece of Christian VI,
as its weight is but a few grains more than the average of
the coins of that value struck by Christian VII and re-
corded below.

Obverse.—Similar to the last.

Reverse—The monogram D.A.C., in larger and bolder

characters than in the last, with a sort of ornamental work
above the monogram and the numeral 4 standing for 4 kash
beneath it.

§ See Fenger’s History of the Tranquebar Mission, p. 266.

INDO-DANISH COINS. 7d

We have in our cabinet also two other coins of this
reign, weighing 22 and 7-2 grains, respectively, Both these
seem to have suffered much from circulation, so much so that
the only thing clearly visible on either of them is the mono-
gram of the king on one side (Fig. 10). A comparison of the
weights of these coins, with Fig. 7, making allowances for the
decrease in weight caused by wear, seems to establish the
fact that this coin isa TV KASH piece, while the two last
are 2 and | kash, respectively.

The next king of Denmark was Frederick V, who came
to the throne in 1746. It may be of interest to know that
he married Princess Louisa, the daughter of the king of
England.

Coins of this king in our cabinet are of two sizes: the
smaller of the two is a one-kash piece, being nearly } of the
weight of the larger, which is nearly equal in weight to
that of the 4 kash pieces of Christian VII and his successors.

Fig. 9.—We have two coins of this size.

Average weight : 39°7 grains.

Obverse.—The monogram of the king.—The letter F and
the numeral 5 being combined and surmounted by a neatly
executed crown which is however much worn on the specimen
figured.

Reverse—The monogram D.A.C. with the date distri-
buted on either side and the numeral 4 underneath. The
reading of the date furnishes the year 176—with a gap,
which may be supplied by any digit under 7, Frederick V
having died in 1766.

Another issue of this king weighs 9°2 grains. Its obverse
and reverse are very similar to the last ; the only difference
being that the numeral 1 appears in the place of the 4 under
the monogram, to denote the value of the coin,n—l KASH.

Of Christian VII we have a fairly long series of coins
in copper and silver. We have not been able to find any
gold issues of the Danish mint, nor have we as yet heard
of issues in silver before Christian VII. Copper coins of

76 INDO-DANISH COINS.

his, as far as we know, consist of IV and IT kash pieces, the
latter being rarely met with. There are two types of these
coins, one evidently earlier than the other.

Fig. 11.—X KASH of the earlier type, weighing 92°55
grains.

Obverse-—The monogram of the king—two linked O’s
with the numeral 7 combined with each—surmounted by a
crown.

Reverse.—The monogram of the Company—D.A.C.—sur-
mounted by a crown; under the monogram in a line is
inscribed X. K.A.S. The next line consists of an A. probably
intended to denote anno : and the date, the reading of which
gives us 177—.

Fig. 12.—A four-kash piece of the older type.

Obverse.—The monogram of the king—a single C. enclos-
ing the numeral 7—surmounted by a crown.

Reverse—The monogram of the Company with the date
distributed on either side and the 4 again under the mono-
gram. The reading of the date furnishes the year 1770,—
5 years after the accession of Christian VII. We have also
a coin of 1771, both being in a tolerably good state of pre-
servation.

A two-cash piece of this king in our collection is as
follows :

Weight : 17°2 grains.

Obverse—The monogram of the king C. VII as in the
last.

Reverse—The monogram of the Company—D.A.C.—
with the date distributed on either side and the numeral 2
underneath. ‘This numeral 2 occupies the same place as
that of the 4 in the 4 kash pieces referred to.

We next come to the later variety of the coins of this

13.—X. KASH of Christian VII.
Weight: 88°7 grai

@rains.

.2)

INDO=DANISH COINS. ee

Obverse.—The monogram of the king C. VII—single ©

- enclosing the numeral 7—under a crown.

Reverse —X. KAS. in large characters with the date
under the inscription, the reading of which gives the year
1786.

Fig. 14.—Average weight : 36:6.

Obverse—The monogram of the king—C. VII—sur-
mounted by a crown.

Reverse.—IV KAS. and date.

These IV KASH pieces continued to be issued during
the following reigns, bearing the monogram of the reigning
monarch till 1845, when Tranquebar ceased to be in Danish
hands.

Those in our cabinet are of the following years :—1788,
1790, 1797, 1800, 1816, 1817, 1820, 1822, 1828, 1824, 1830,
1831, 1832, 1883, 1835, 1837, 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842,
1843, 1844, and 1845.

We have already seen that the Danish possessions in
India were for a time (1808—1814) in English hands. We
have of course not seen or heard of any coins struck during
this period, as the mint naturally suspended operations.

On examining the two varieties of the coins of Christian

! VII, we find that the earlier bear, on the reverse, the mono-
_ gram of the Company and the date, while the later variety,

still preserving the same obverse, bear on the reverse the
value of the coin, viz. X or IV KAS. and the date. This

_ change seems to have taken place at the end of the last
_ eentury between 1771 and 1780, for we have in our cabinet
_ a4 KASH of 1771 of the former type and a TV KASH of

1780 of the latter, and we have seen a IV KASH of the

| later style bearing the date 177—.

Silver coins of Christian VII are of two sizes, the larger
being exactly twice the smaller in weight.

Fig. 15, larger size.

Weight: 39°5 grains.

78 INDO-DANISH COINS.

Gobrerse.—The monogram of the king, C. VII.—under
a crown.

Reverse-—A word which appears to be ‘ ROVALIN’ or
‘“ROYALIN,’ over what looks like a globe or a coat-of-arms,
the date being distributed on either side thereof. The
reading of the date gives the year 179—the last digit being
obliterated. Coins of this size are very rare.

Fig. 16, smaller size.

Obverse.—Same as last.

Reverse.—The same word over the coat-of-arms, (?) the
date 1784 being distributed on either side. We have not
been able to make out the meaning of this word Rovalin.
These silver pieces would appear to be fanams and half
fanams. Dr. P. Kelly, in his Universal Cambyst (1821), says
that 8 fanams went to a Danish Rupee and a rupee was
worth 242d. sterling ; and, according to a calculation given
by him, a fanam would weigh a little more than 1} dwts.,
which is the weight of the coin figured as No. 15. These ©
coins are also rare.

We have never met with any Danish Rupees in the
course of our coin hunting. Our earliest silver coin bears
the date 1770, and the latest 1793. It is probable that the
silver coins began to be issued simultaneously with the later
type of IV KASH pieces of Christian VII; X cash pieces of
Christian VII in silver occur but are rare; we have a specimen
of this coin, but the inscription on it is too far gone to be
decipherable.

Frederick VI, as crown prince for some years, adminis-
tered the affairs of the State conjointly with his father.
In 1808 he became sole ruler.

Fig. 17.—X KASH of Frederick VI.

Average weight: 90°6 grains; but the specimen figured
weighs as much as 97°9 grains.

Obverse.—The monogram of the king—consisting of F. R.
with the Roman numeral YI beneath—surmounted by a
crown.

INDO-DANISH COINS. 79

Reverse.—X. KAS. and date.

We have X. KASH pieces of this reign, bearing the fol-
lowing dates :—1816, 1822 and 1839, and we have heard of
one bearing the date 1838.

Fig. 18.—A fair representative of a long series of coins
(1808-1839) weighing on an average 37°96 grains.

Obverse.-—The monogram of Frederick VI. as in Fig. 17.

Reverse—I1V KAS. and date.

There probably were two-kash pieces of C. VII. in the
later form; also one-kash pieces of that king and two and
one-kash pieces of his successor, though we have not come
across any specimens of them.

We have also heard of a one-kash piece of Frederick VI
in which however the date is gone.

Silver coins of Frederick VI and his successor seem

_ to be very rare. Captain R. H. C. Tufnell mentions in

Part IT of his recent “‘ Hints to Coin-collectors’’ a “ 2—fano”’
of 1816 in his cabinet, with the exception of which we have
not heard of any specimen.

During the six years succeeding the death of Frederick
VI, X and IV KASH pieces continued to be issued in the
name of his successor, Christian VIII.

Figs. 19 and 20 are fairly representative specimens,
bearing on the obverse the monogram of the king—C. R.
and the Roman numeral VIII beneath—under a crown.

In addition to the coins above described, we have several
others, which however are for the most part too much worn
to be legible. All the issues of the Danes in India are now
becoming very rare indeed, and it is only by laying several
of the same description side by side that anything like an
intelligible legend can generally be deciphered, owing to the
bad state of preservation of all but the latest types. Many
too have monograms so complicated in design that in the
absence of a date it is impossible to know to whom to
attribute them. Among those to which we are unable to

80 INDO-DANISH COINS.

assign a place is a coin similar to Tufnell, Fig. 66 (‘‘ Hints
to Coin-collectors”) but weighing only 16:4 grains ; while the
obverse bears the D.O.C. in large and well defined characters,
the reverse is worn almost smooth. The coin however
may belong to the reign of either Frederick IV or Christian
V., probably the former, as the form of the letters differs
materially from those of the latter, while the occurrence of
the letter O in the monogram fixes it prior to 1746, the latest
year in which that letter occurs. It is worthy of note too
that hitherto so few silver coins struck by the Danes in India
have been found; and of the four descriptions that are
known, two are as far as we can learn unique in this country.
Further search should throw more light on the subject and
help to preserve in our museums and private collections a
more complete record of the issues of a power whose connec-
tion with this country has now almost entirely ceased.

NOTE.

Since writing the above paper, the Superintendent of the
Government Central Museum has placed at our disposal
Neumann’s “ Beschreibung der bekanutester kupfermiinzen
1863,” and Weyl’s ‘‘ Verzeihniss von Miinzen und Denk-
miinzen der Jules Fonrobert’schen Sammburg,”’ where the
following coins to which we have made no reference are
noticed :—

CHRISTIAN IV.
1. CoprEr.— Obverse.—The monogram of the king surmounted
by a crown.
Reverse B (Tranquebar) KAS. 164.
2. Leav.—Obverse.—Same as the last.
Reverse.—Mlegible.

FREDERICK III.

1. Coprer.— Obverse—The monogram of the king, crowned,
ANNO 1667.
Reverse. —The Norwegian lion.

INDO-DANISH COINS. 81

2. Leap.—Obverse.—The monogram of the king surmounted
by a crown.
Reverse.—The arms of Jutland.

Other coins, with a similar obverse, have on the reverse—
(a) the Gullandische lamb,
(6) the Holstein nettleleaf,
(c) the arms of Stormarn, .
(d) the arms of Delmenhorst,
(e) the arms of Island,
(f) a rose,
(g) the letters (D.B. Dansborg) with an illegible
date below.

3. Leap.—Obverse.—F5 and a crown.

Other coins, with a similar obverse, have on the reverse—
(a) an elephant,
(6) a cross, and
(e) a dragon.

CHRISTIAN V.

1. Sirver.— Piaster.
Do. 5 and 2 FANOS of the date 1683.
3. Leap.— Obverse.—Crowned monogram and date 1687.
Reverse.—DOO and the letters WHVK.
4, CoppEr.—Coins of this monarch with the monogram O,
doubled, of the dates 1691, 1692, 1693 and
1694.

FREDERICK IV.
1. Sirver.—Single and double FANOS.
2. Copprr.—X KAS.
Obverse.—The monogram of the king F, doubled
and surmounted by a crown.
Reverse.—DOC X KAS.
3. Copprr.—IV KAS.
Obverse.—Crowned monogram.

Reverse.— BR (Tranquebar).
11

nme ap >

Po OT Fe ae OP ee ee 9 Oe an Oe ee

CR eee cen te a een

ont Gero

INDO-DANISH COINS.

CHRISTIAN VI.

1. SirvEr.—Single and double FANOS of 1731.

2. Coprprr.—KASH.
Obverse.—The monogram C;, crowned.
Reverse.— B (Tranquebar).

8. Do. Coin similar to the aboye with date 1732.

4. Do. 1 KAS.
Obverse.—Crowned monogram ©, date 1730.
Reverse.— The Norwegian lion surrounded by a
ring of dots.
5. Do. 2 KAS similar to the 4 KAS of this period
with the numeral 2 instead of 4.

FREDERICK V.

. SILvER.—Double and single Royalins of 1755 and 1756.
Do. Single Royalin of 1762, 1765 and 1766.

3. Do. Double and single Ducats of 1746 and Piaster
of 1749.

or

CHRISTIAN VII.

. Gorp.—Pagoda.
Obverse.—C, on a granulated surface.
Reverse.—The figure of a diety.
2. Sitver.—Single Royalins of 1773, 1775, 1776, 1780, 1781,
1786, 1788 and 1792.
3. Do. Double Royalins of 1775, 1776, 1781, 1787, 1796,
and 1807.
4. Corprr.—Earlier X KAS of 1768, 1770, 1772 and 1777.
Do. Later X KAS of 1782, 1786, 1788 and 1790.
Do. 2 KAS of 1770 and 1780.
Do. 1 KAS of 1777 and 1780.

—_

FREDERICK VI.

1. Sinver.—Single FANO of 1816 and 1818.
2. Coprer.—1 KAS of 1819 similar to iv KAS.

On the Original Inhabitants of

Bharatavarsa or India.

[ Continued from p. 137 of this Journal for 1887-88. |

(By GUSTAV OPPERT.)

CONTENTS OF PART II.

THE GAUDIANS.

Cuartger VII .. 66 ate ot a6 ne

Philological Remarks
Application of the term Gaudian’ a6

Explanation of the use of Gauda as a tribal name

On the name Kolarian ae 0 an
Cuarter VIII do 6 a6 56

On the Kolis (Kulis), Kolas a0

On the Gaulis Se 00 ao on 9

On the Kulindas, Kulatas, ke. .. ee

Cuarter IX... ae we oe
On the Kois, Rondat Kands, Gonds 5
On the Candalas oe se
On the names Khandoba, TeRaniah, Gondala, Ri
On Gondophares .. O6 ae oe Oo
Cuarrer X oo 00 90 se is °

On the Kodagas ee oe wie oo
On the Koragas te an 50 do
On Hubasika and Huviska .. 90 60

On the Todas ae aie OO a
On the Kotas bc ie 66
Cuarter XI... 00 aye 00 6 ete

On the Kuravas (Kuruvas, Kurumas), renee
On the Kurus (Yerakulas) and Kuars_ .,

On the Kunnuvas and Kunavaris .. nell eae

PAGE
856—109
85—88
88—90
90—97
97—109

109—119
109—117
117—118
118—119

119—137
119—131
131—132
132—136
1386—137

138—172
138—143
144—156
147—154
156—169
169—172
173—191
173—177

177—186
186—191

————

ae

——

;
i

SAn CONTENTS OF PART II.

Cuarter XII... 60 ee oe se a0
On the Kurubas or Kurumbas oe oe oe
Remarks about the name Kurumba G6 oe
On the sub-divisions among the Kurumbas es
On their religion, manners and customs .- ae

On our historical knowledge about the Kurumbas
On Adonda Cola 50 ary metas ae aie

On Tondamandalam .. oe ote a6 aie
On the Kallas under the Tondaman of Pudukota
On the Kurmis, Kumbis or Kunbis Sa Br

On the origin of the term Kadamba 50 oe

Ciostnc REMARKS 50 ie an ate 40

PAGE
191—256

191—236
191—196
196—210
211—218
218—236
222—229
229—233
233—236
237—240
240—245

245—246

PART Il.
THE GAUDIANS.

CHAPTER VII.

PuitonocicaL REMARKS.

Havine in the first part of my work treated of the Dravi-
dians, I have now to deal with the other aboriginal tribes
of India, whom I have classed together under the name of
Gaudian. As already intimated, I derive the term Gaudian
from the root ko, mountain.

This word ko or ku is of the old Turanian stock. It is
still extant in the Tamil G27, kd, mountain, and can be easily
recognized in many expressions found in Telugu, Gondi, and
other kindred dialects. Among words which perhaps are
related to it is the Persian 2,5 (koh, hith,) or 4S (koh, kuh)
mountain; for Persian, I would remark, contains a con-
siderable number of Turanian words which have their re-
presentatives in the Gauda-Dravidian dialects of India.
The Sanskrit word go has many different meanings, most of
which are also expressed by its Tamil tatsamam 0; but go in
Sanskrit does not, so far as my knowledge goes, signify
mountain, while, as already indicated, k6 occurs in Tamil in
the sense of mountain. As the root 46 can be traced in other
Gauda-Dravidian dialects as synonymous with mountain, it
is pretty clear that the Tamil 4¢, mountain, is a separate
word not identical with the term 46, denoting cow, &c.; and
that it is not of Sanskrit but of Gauda-Dravidian origin.!

1 About the derivation of Gaudian from ko, see p. 41 in the previous
number. Tatsamam is a word introduced from Sanskrit into an Indian
vernacular with little or no change.

The word ko is found in Koi, Koya, Koyi and Kédu, &c., which mean in
Telugu and Gondi a mountaineer or Gond ; also in Kona, mountain-glen, or

12

86 ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS

The Gauda-Dravidian numerical roots o(r) one, and mi,
three, are found in Tamil as onru (oru and onnu) and minru,
in Malayalam as onnu and miénunu, in Telugu as ondu and
mudu, in Kanarese as ondu and miru, in Tulu as oni and
miji, in Madi as wndi (wandi) and mundu, in Gondi as undi
and minu (mund), in Kurgi as ondu and mundu. In a
similar manner the root ko (kw), mountain, has developed in
Tamil into kunru, kunram, and kandam, in Malayalam into
kunnu, kunnam, and kuru, in Telugu into honda, gundu and
gutta, in Kanarese into gudda, in other dialects into kundu, &e.
The tribal names Koracarw and Koravaru, mountaineers,
permit the assumption of a root /ora.? The fact that lingual
and dental letters are promiscuously used in these formations,
is rather peculiar. Lingual and dental affixes must have been
indiscriminately employed in Dravidian languages for the
construction of words; thus ondw signifies one (and ont?, single)

dale. The term kw is preferred by the Khonds, for Colonel John Campbell
states on p. 13 in his Persona? Narrative of Service among the Wild Tribes of
Khondistan: ‘‘The hill districts of Orissa . . are peopled generally by
Khonds, or Kui, as they call themselves.’,—The name of the Hoyand, one
of the seven rivers which flow from the Manhabalésvara mountain, is ‘‘ derived
either from Kuvena,or from Koh, a primitive term signifying a mountain.”
See Bombay Asiatic Journal, vol. IX, p. 258. With respect to the New-
Persian and Parsi ‘ok, mountain, I should mention that saufa, mountain,
occurs in the cuneiform inscriptions of the Persian ing Darius at the
Behisttn. In Huzvaresh mountain is Avph. Yet it is not impossible that
in spite of this fact, the word xo (4) may also in this case be originally
Non-Aryan.

Only where Tamil letters actually occur, they are transcribed according
to the principle contained in note 1 on p. 31 of Part I.

2 Rev. Dr. Gundert in his Malayalam and English Dictionary presupposes &
root o. Bishop Caldwell while advocating in his Comparative Grammar of
the Dravidian languages on pp. 217-223, the assumption of a basis or, writes
on p. 220: ‘Dr. Gundert considers ondrw an euphonised form of on, with
the addition of du, the neuter formative, and that on and or are equivalents,
being both verbal nouns from 0, to be one. It is quite true that such a verb
as o exists, that 2 or av, alternating with am, is used as a formative by many
nouns, and that x sometimes changes into or alternates with yor 7.’’ And
on p. 222: ‘* There is a verbal root in Tamil o, which has been supposed to
mean, to be one. Ox and or (ondru and oru) are supposed by Dr. Gundert to
bo verbal nouns from this 0. An undoubted derivative of o in Tamil and

falayalam is ok’a, which in Malayalam and the Tamil of the extreme south
means ‘altogether,’ ‘all’ (compare Mordyin wof, all); and this is supposed

OF BHARATAVARSA OR INDIA. 87°

in Kanarese corresponding to the Telugu ondu, and in Telugu
Kodu and Gondu mean a Khond, while their equivalents in
Sanskrit are Honda and Gonda, to which corresponds the
Telugu Hondarudu.?

The addition of these lingual and dental affixes with or
without a nasal, is a peculiarity of the Gauda-Dravidian
languages. The change of & into the other gutturals kh, g,
and gh, or perhaps more properly the interchange between
them, need hardly be mentioned, being of such frequent
occurrence; nor is it necessary to draw attention to the
resemblance in the pronunciation of the vowels a, u and 0,
and to their being promiscuously used the oue for the other,
e.g., in Kudaku and Kodaku, the name of the province Kurg,
in Kuravaiyi or Koravaryi, a common expression for a female
gipsy.°

The names of most of the Gaudian races are formed
from the above-given variations of ko, a circumstance which
explains the very considerable differences occasionally

by Dr. Gundert to be identical with the Telugu oka, one. Every step in this
process, with one exception, is encumbered with difficulties.’’ The question
is still very doubtful, and can be hardly ever settled. Bishop Caldwell himself
admits on p. 220 that: ‘‘or, in its primitive, unnasalised shape, is not now
found in the cultivated Dravidian dialects as the first abstract neuter noun
of number for one or unity.’’ The Rev. F. Kittel seems to agrec with the
Bishop as he writes in his ‘‘ Notes concerning the Numerals of the Ancient
Dravidians’’ in the Indian Antiquary, vol. II, p. 24: ‘1, ondu, onru (pro-
nounce : ondu), ofiji, or, or, om, on, ondu, ottu, to be undivided, to be one.
A unit without a branch.” * * ‘* When the affix dw is joined to a short
monosyllabis root with final 7, the root in this case being or, this liquid is
sometimes changed into the Bindu. Observe dw has become /2 (in Tulu).’’

3 Kodu, steep, kodu, peak, and similar words belong to this group.
Ku and go denote in Sanskrit earth, hence kukila, mountain (a peg or pin
of the earth). Whether any connection exists between the Sanskrit ‘uta,

mountain, fort; kuttda and kuttira, mountain; kita, mountainpeak; kéta,

fort; and #éti, end, &c., and some Gauda-Dravidian words of similar sound
and same meaning, is now very difficult to decide. Except kata, which
occurs already in the Rgvéda, none of these Sanskrit terms are found in
very ancient works. t

‘Tt is thus conspicuous in the formation of some irregular plurals in
Telugu.

® See p. 112 of last number.

88 ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS

noticeable in their outward appearance. People resort in
private life to a variety of names in order to facilitate
distinction between kindred individuals, families and clans.
The same name is often borne by various tribes who, though
originally akin to one another, dwell separately in distant
places of the large Indian continent. Some tribal terms
originally unobjectionable have had attributed to them in
course of time a disparaging meaning,—such terms, for
instance, as Pariah and Candila. Yet, neither individuals
nor races should be despised simply for the name they bear,
particularly, if it is uncertain whether any stigma can be
attached to them on that account. This caution should be
strictly observed, especially as identical terms have often
different significations in the various districts and separate
communities of so vast a country as India.

APPLICATION OF THE TERM GAUDIAN.

I am aware that it is impossible to be too cautious in
drawing up such lists as the following, the more so if they
are the first of their kind; but one must guard as much
against mistakes of omission as of commission. It is
preferable, I believe, in a research like this, to make at first
comprehensive statements, and to leave to the competent
critic the task of pruning them.

I regard under these circumstances the following tribes
and races as belonging to the Gaudian division :—the Kai
(Kui, Ku, Koital, Koya, Koyi), Kodu and Gdndu or Konda
(Khonda, Kunda, Kavunda, Gauda, Gonda, and Gaunda)
or Kanda (Khanda, Kandara, Canda, and Candala), Toda,
Kota, Kodaga, Koraga, Kola (Cola), Koli, Kulu, Koracaru
(Korearu, Korsaru, Kuruciyar, Gureari), Korava (Korama),
Kuruva (Kuru, Yerakala, Kuruma, Kurumba, Kurmi),
Kunnuva, &e.

The following Sanskrit names can, I believe, be con-
nected with the Gaudians, though it may be difficult actually

OF BHARATAVARSA OR INDIA. 89

to prove such a connection always. Tribal names such
as :—Gauda, Gaudaka, Gonda, Kanddla, Khanda, Candala,
Kontala, Kundala, Kuntala, Kunthaka, Kunti, Kuntika,
Kurata, Konvasira, Kola, Kdlvagiréya, Cola (Coda), &c. The
following names of men: Kunda, Kundika, Kundina, Kola,
Cola, &e.; of women: Kundala, Kunti, &e.; of countries :
Gauda, Khandava, Kunti, &c.; of mountains: Kunda,
Kundéda, Kuranga, Kénva, Kélagiri (Kollagiri), Kolahala,
&e.; of streams: Kundala, &c.; of forests: Gondavana
(Gondavara), Khandava, &c.; of plants: Kunda (or Malli,
jasmine), Kundali (mountain ebony) ; and of towns: Gauda
(Gonda), Gaura, Khandavaprastha, Kundaprastha, Kun-
dagni, Kundina(pura), &c.°

Ptolemy mentions among Indian tribes the Gonds as Kan-
daloi (VII, 1,66).7 Strabo speaks of the country Gandaris
or Gandaritis® in the north-west of India, while Ptolemy
distinguishes (VI, 12, 4) between the Kandaroi in Sogdiana

® Koi-jati is a term generally given to the Kéitribe. Inthe July number,
1837, of the Madras Journal of Literature and Science, the Rev. William
Taylor remarks as follows on page 17: ‘‘ In the title to Mr. Stevenson’s

_ paper on their customs, they (the Khoonds) are styled §* eo Codulw and in

Dr. Maxwell’s list Khoi-jati.”’

It is perhaps not quite out of place to mention among the tribal names
also the Gandhira, Gandhdra or Gandhdri, who appear in the Behistan
inscription among the subjects of Darius Hystaspes as Gandara. If this is
the case, the name of the Queen Gdéxdhdri would find a place among the
female names connected with the Gaudians. Some connect the name of
Kandahar with the Gandharas, while others derive the name of the town
Kandahar from Alexander the Great.

I omit to include above in the text the names of the other sons of
Dhrtarastra: Kundabhédin, Kundadhara, Kundaka, Kundasayin and
Kundodara.

7 See P.I, p. 110, note 70. Christian Lassen used the edition of E. G. Will-
berg and wrote in vol. I, p. 113 (88), No. 2: ‘‘ Ich lese mit Willberg Gondalot
statt Kondaloi.”’ I used C. F. A. Nobbe’s edition, which contains on p.
155 Kavdaador.

® See Strabinos Geégraphika recensuit G. Kramer, Berolini, 1852, lib.
XV, 1, 26 (Casaubonus, p. 697): The Choaspes (Attock) runs into the
K6phes (Cabul) near the town Plemyrion, after passing by Gorys, another
city and going through Bandobéné and Gandaritis ; and XV, 1, 30 (Casau-
bonus, p. 699): Some call Gandaris the country subject to him (the
nephew of Porus).

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90 ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS

(VI, 12, 4) and the Gandarai (VII, 1, 44) between the
Suastos and Indos.? The same geographer names also the
Korankaloi (VII, 2, 15), who lived probably near the river
Gandaki, which Plinius calls Condochates in his Natural
History. Omitting a number of places, which may perhaps
refer to the Gaudian population and ure mentioned in the
work of Ptolemy, I only draw attention to Kandipatna
(VII, 1, 92), Kondota (VII, 1, 14), Konta (VII, 1, 51),
Kontakossyla emporion (VII, 1, 15), Korear (VII, 1, 86),
Korindiur (VII, 1, 89), Korunkala (VII, 1, 93), and
Korygaza (VII, 2, 14).!°

EXPLANATION OF THE USE OF GauDA (GaAuDIAN)
as A TripaL Name.

The term Ganda (Gaudian) is now generally regarded as
appropriate to North India, while Dravida is connected with
South India. Neither term is used in its widest sense, for
this division, though right in a general way, ignores the fact
that many Gaudian elements are found in the south, while
the north contains numerous Dravidian constituents. In fact
both branches of the kindred stock exist side by side through-
out the land. With this restriction, the use of both terms

may be admitted.
Nhe word Gauda is a derivative of the root 46, mountain,

and its equivalents are Goda and Gonda."' The substitution
of x and / for @d gives Gaura and Gaula, which five forms

9 Ptol. VI, 12, 4. ‘‘Efra rapa 7a Soydia Spy Okvdpayxat kal ApuBdxrat, Kal
KedvSapor,”’ and VIT, 1, 44: Meratd dt Tov Souderov kal Tod “IvSod TPavddpai.”

10 See C. Plinii Secundi Naturalis historic, lib. VI, 22: ‘‘ Ex iis naviga-
biles, praeter iam dictos, Condochatem, Eranoboam, Cosoagum, Sonum.”’ [I
have not included the Gandaki among the rivers, as its name is generally
derived from gandaka, rhinoceros, which are said to be found in it. I regard
this etymology as doubtful.

11 See General Sir Alexander Cunningham's Archeological Survey of
India, vol. I, pp. 327, 328: ‘In Uttara Kosala they (the districts) are Gauda
(vulgarly Gonda) to the south of the Rapti, and Kosala to the north of the
Rapti... These apparent discrepancies are satisfactorily explained when we
learn that Gauda is only a sub-division of Uttara Kosala, and that the ruins

OF BHARATAVARSA OR INDIA. 91

occur simultaneously. There is no reason for supposing that
Gauda is an antiquated Sanskrit formation; it was origi-
nally not Sanskrit at all, though it was received in course
| of time into the Sanskrit vocabulary. So far from being
antiquated, it is still used in popular language. The modern
_ Gaudas have formed themselves into a separate clan, the
greater part of which dwells at present in Southern India.
The chief of a village, even when the principal villagers do
not belong to the Gauda caste, is in Mysore and its neigh-
bouring districts now generally called the Gaudan. It must
not, however, be overlooked that in spite of this fact the
term Gauda has a tribal meaning and was probably given
to the headman of a village community in consequence of the
honorable position the Gaudas occupied in the estimation
of the population. According to the last Census report
259,110 Gaudas live in Mysore alone, and 4,387 in the

' of Sravasti have actually been discovered in the district of Gauda, which is
_ the Gonda of the maps. The extent of Gauda is also proved by the old name
of Balrampur on the Rapti, which was formerly Ramgarh Gauda.”
| Compare also vol. XXI, p. 13: ‘‘ Gonda (or Goda) isa large flourishing
_ village .. 13 miles from Karwi...To the east of the village, . there is a pair
| of old temples.. known as Chandeli Mandar, or the ‘ Chandeli temples,’ as all
the old buildings are designated throughout Bundelkhand.” See further,
_ vol. IX, p. 151: ‘‘The name of Gond is simply a corruption of Gauda.
In the northern Gauda, or Uttara Kosala, the chief town is still named
| Gauda,which the Muhammadans before wus corrupted to Gonda. On the finger
posts leading to the place, the Nagari me Gauda and the English Gonda are
placed side by side. I spent several months in the Central Provinces, and
I never once heard the aborigines called Gond, but always Gor. Now, as
| Gaudais a pure Sanskrit word, it would seem that this was not their true
name, and that it must have been derived from the country in which they
| dwelt. This appears the more probable when we learn that they do not call
| themselves cither Gond or Gor, but Koitwr. It isalso strongly confirmed by
| the fact thatthere are no Gonds inthe northern Gauda, or Uttara Kosala, and
none in the eastern Gauda or western Bengal .. My explanation of Gauda
as a geographical term, which gave its name to the Gond people, instead of
| having received it from them, is still confirmed by the fact that numerous
temples which are said to have been built by the Gonds, were certainly not
erected by them.’’ Sir A. Cunningham overlooks that Koitur, the name
which the Gonds give to themselves, isin reality identical with Gond,
see p. 121.

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92 ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS

Bombay Presidency. Iam well aware of the fact that the
term Gauda has often been derived from the Sanskrit gé,
cow; but this I take to be a wrong derivation.”

The name is found in fact all over India. That the terms
Gauda and Gonda are synonymous is proved by the fact that
the well-known district and its capital in Oudh are known
both as Gonda and Gauda. True, the term Gond signifies
now only a section of the Gaudian population, but this
affects neither its etymology nor the point at issue. On the
contrary the common origin of both terms explains why one
can be used for the other, or both for one and the same place
or individual.

It is a curious coincidence that the national division of
the Indian population into Gaudians and Dravidians was

12 There are altogether 263,497 Gaudas and 161,853 Gaudes in India.
About the Gaudas see Dr. Francis Buchanan’s Journey from Madras through
the countries of Mysore, Canara and Malabar, second edition, vol. I, pp. 187,
207, 208, 274, 338, 340, 367, 395 and 896. On p. 187 he remarks: ‘‘ The
Gauda, called corruptly Gaur, and in the Mussulman language the Potail,
is the chief Ryut, or farmer, in the village, and receives the whole dues of
government. . The office of Gauda was originally hereditary ; but now these
persons are appointed by the Amildar, and continue in place so long as they
keep up the collections to their supposed value, or until some other man un-
dertakes, by bringing a greater number of farmers, to make the revenue more
productive. The Gauda settles all disputes, in the same manner as here-
ditary chiefs of casts do.’’? On pp. 207, 208, stands: ‘‘ The Gaudas here
(in Colar) rent the villages, and every year make a new settlement with the
Amildar ; while they receive authority to take from the cultivators as much
as they legally can. Some Gaudas rent two or three Gramas, or villages ; but
to each there is an hereditary Gawda, who receives the title.’’ See p. 338:
“© In all this part (Belluru) of the country it has been customary, when a
new village was founded, for the person appointed to be hereditary Gauda,
or chief, to place a large stone in or near the village. This stone is called
the Curuvu Callu, or calf-stone, and is considered as representing the Grama
Devaru, or god of the village. The hereditary Gauda always officiates
as Pijari or priest ; and at the annual village feast, after having rubbed it
with oil, offers a sacrifice, with which he feasts his relations and the chief
men of the place.” On p. 274 we read: ‘The proper Curwbas have
hereditary chiefs, who are called Gauwdas, whether they be head-men of
villages or not, and possess the usual jurisdiction.’ See also p. 880. The
title Gaudan is esteemed in Mysore. About the namie Kaundar, see p. 127
in Part I. As Gauda so has Gauli beon derived from gd, cow, compare
p. 117. About Gaula see Mysore Inscriptions of L. Rice, pp. 20, 45, &e.

OF BHARATAVARSA OR INDIA. 93

adopted by the Aryan Brahmans after they had settled
in Bharatavarsa, and like the Gaudians and Dravidians,
the Gauda-Brahmans are mainly settled in the north, while
the Dravida-Brahmans preponderate in the suuth. I have
already alluded to this classification in the first Part on pp.
49 and 50.

The five divisions of the Gauda-Brahmans are, as pre-
viously mentioned, named respectively after the Sarasvati-
river, Kanyakubja (the modern Kanauj), Gauda, Utkala
now known as Orissa, and Mithila.

When applied to Brahmans, many explain the term
_Gauda as describing those who lived near the celebrated
ancient town of Gauda or Gaura, the ruins of which still
excite the admiration of those who visit them. Others
_ take Gauda as the kingdom of which Gaur was the capital.
It appears somewhat improbable that the Brahinans, who
_ came originally from the West, should have chosen for them-
selves a name from a locality so far remote in the Kast.
This supposition becomes even less likely if one considers

13 Instead of Karnata Kasmira is mentioned in the Jatimald.

See H. T. Colebrooke’s Znumeration of Indian Classes in his miscellaneous
Essays, vol. II (1873), p.169: ‘‘In Jambu-dwipa, bréhmanas are reckoned
| tenfold; Saraswata, Kanyakubja, Gauda, Maithila, Utkala, Dravida, Mah4-
_ rashtra, Gujjara, and Kasmira, residing in the several countries whence
they are named.”’

Read Archeological Survey of India, vol. XV, p. 39: ‘The great city
of Gauda or Gaur, the capital of Balal Sen and his descendants.. is not
mentioned at all by Hwen Thsang.. (p. 40) The name of the province
in which Lakhnauti or Gaur was situated was Barbanda or Baranda. At the
same time we know that the Gawdas were a tribe, and that the Pala Rajas
took the title of. Gauresvara. It seems certain therefore that the western
part of the province at least must have been called Gauda or Gaur .
(p. 41) The name of Gauga or Gaur is, I believe, derived from Guda or Gur,
the common name of molasses, or raw sugar, for which this province has
always been famous. In former days when the Ganges flowed past the
city, Gaur was the great mart where all the sugar of the northern districts
was collected for exportation.”

This derivation of Gaur is also mentioned and recommended by others, but
it is still doubtful. Gaur or Lakhnauti lies in lat. 24° 52’ N., long. 88° 10°
E., in the Maldah district of Bengal.

13

94 ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS

that some of the principal Gaudian sub-divisions are named
after such western districts, as Kanyakubja, or the country
watered by the sacred Sarasvati which loses itself in the
deserts north of Rajputana.!* Some scholars even state that
the Brahmans known as Gauda-Brahmans are not Bengalis,
but inhabitants of Hindustan proper, who according to their
own legends left Kanyakubja and emigrated to the Hast in
the time of the Pandavas.}5

According to this tradition, the Kanyakubja Brahmans
migrated to the Hastern Gauda at an early period, but
the question when the division into Gauda and Dravida
Brahmans took place, remains unanswered. Nor are we
better able to decide the reason of this peculiar separation.
The most probable explanation may be that the Brahmans
simply adopted the division which they found existing among
the original inhabitants in the midst of whom they settled.
In that case we have no means of assigning an historical ©
date to this event. If, as I suppose, the Gauda-Dravidian
population existed in this dual state already in prehistoric
times, it will be very difficult indeed to ascertain when —
the Brahmans adopted this classification in their community.

14 Compare H. H. Wilson’s Vishnwpurdna, vol. II, p. 195, and Dr. John
Wilson’s Indian Caste, vol. II, pp. 124-139: ‘‘The Sarasvata Brahmans
form the only class of natives of India now distinctly recognized as connected
with the Sarasvata nation. They are found, not only inthe Panjab and
Sindh, where they abound, but in Rajputana, Gujarat, the North-West Pro-
vinces, and even, as we have seen, throughout the southern provinces of
India’’ (pp. 125, 126). H.T.Colebrooke states in his MisceWaneous Essays,
London, 1878, vol. II, p. 21: ‘* The Saraswata was a nation which occupied
the banks of the river Saraswati. Brahmanas, who are still distinguished by
the name of their nation, inhabit chiefly the Panjab or Panchanada, west of
the river from which they take their appellation.’’

% See H. T. Colebrooke, ididem, vol. IT, p. 25, note 1: ‘It is necessary
to remark, that though Gaura (Gauda) be the name of Bengal, yet the
Brahmanas, who bear that appellation, are not inhabitants of Bengal, but of
Hindustan proper. They reside chiefly in the Suba of Delhi, while the
Brahmanas of Bengal are avowed colonists from Kanoj. It is difficult to
account for this contradiction. The Gaura Brahmanas allege a tradition, that
their ancestors migrated in the days of the Pandavas, at the commencement
of the present Kali Yuga. Though no plausible conjecture can be formed on

-— -——

OF BHARATAVARSA OR INDIA. 99

Yet, considering that the Dravidians gravitated in the
course of time towards the south, while the Gaudians
preponderated in the north, and that the Brahmanic divi-
sion corresponds with this fact, we may not err in assuming
that the Brahmans introduced this arrangement among
themselves after the Gauda-Dravidians had thus settled
down in their respective places. However, even this sup-
position will not supply us with accurate dates, especially
as Southern India was already known as Dravida at a com-
paratively early period.

It seems thus very improbable that the Gauda-Brahmans
were originally called after the celebrated town Gauda, or

alter the kingdom of which it was the capital, especially if

the true derivation of this word is from gauda, mTte, molasses
(from guda), and if Gaudadééa is an equivalent of Sugarland,
an explanation which also appears to be doubtful. The name
Gauda applies to most Brahmans in the North, but it is
also used as specifying a particular sub-division; in the
same manner as Dravida has also a general and a special sig-

this tradition, yet [am induced to retract a conjecture formerly hazarded
by me, that the Gar of our maps was the original country of the Gaura
priests.”

Sir Henry] M. Elliot supports in his Supplementary Glossary of Indian
Terms, London, 1869, vol. I, p. 102, the Pandava legend: ‘‘ They (the Gaur
Brahmans) all state that they came from Gaur in Bengal, but there is much
improbability in the story. There can be little doubt of Kanaujias emigrat-
ing on the invitation of Adiswara from Kanauj to Bengal ; how then can we
account for the whole tribe of Gaurs not only leaving their native seats, but
crossing through the country of the Kanaujias, and dwelling on the other
side oftthem? If they emigrated in or about the time of the Pandavas, as
universal local tradition would induce us to suppose, it would lead to the
inference that Kanaujias are a more modern race. Gaur, moreover, was
only made the Bengal capital shortly before the Mahomedan conquest,
and that is too late to admit of its giving a name to one of the ten tribes.”’—
Compare also ibidem the remarks made on the Gawr tagd on pp. 106-115.

Dr. Francis Buchanan mentions the legend of a westward Brahmanic
emigration from Gaur, but disapproves of it also finally. He alludes to it
twice in the third volume of his History, Antiquities, Topography, and
Statistics of Eastern India ; thus on p. 42 he writes : ‘‘ One (tradition) is that

|
'

96 ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS

nification. From what has been already stated, the origin
of this expression is to be looked for in the West, though no
doubt the subsequent preponderance of the Hastern Gauda
kings made this fact fall into oblivion. Kusdmba, a grand-
son of Balakasva and son of Kuéa, is the reputed founder
of the well-known town Kausgambi, south of Ayodhya and
north-west of the modern Allahabad. The Hitdpadésa
places it in the Gauda country.’® Similarly is the city
Sravasti described as situated in Gauda, while it belongs to
Kosala, likewise a part of Oudh.” These and many more
examples can be quoted to show that the term Gauda does
not apply only to the distant Kast. Moreover, the tradition
which Colebrooke has preserved assigns to the Gauda-Brah-
mans a western home and connects their origin with the wars
of the Pandavas. I am inclined to attach to this legend
some value, though I quite admit that we possess no records
to prove its authenticity. If deserving notice, we ought to
ascribe to this division a comparatively early date, while

Janmeyaj, son of Parikshit, son of Abhemanyu, son of Arjun, brother of
Yudhishthir, and the third king of India of the family of Pandu, removed
all the Brahmans from Gaur and settled them to the west of the Ganges
beyond Hastinapoor, where their descendants still remain.’? On pp. 154-
155, however, he remarks: “‘ The few Brahmans of the Gaur nation, that are
now in Bengal, have avowedly come very recently from the west of India,
and the same is the case with almost all the tribes of Sudras, who claim to
be of the Gaur nation, none of whom, the Vaishnavs excepted, are now to
be found in Gaur. I therefore concluded, that some place called Gaur in the
vicinity of Agra or Delhi, was the original country of this nation. I have,
however, since met with some well-informed Brahmans of this nation who
allege, that the Gaur of Bengal is their original place of settlement, but
that the whole of them were removed from thence by Janmeyaj, and placed
near Hastinapoor... The Sudras, however, of Gaur, having as well as the
Brahmans come from the west of India, renders this emigration in the time
of Janmeyaj rather doubtful.”

I have proved above the existence of a western Gauda (Gaur.)

Read about Gav, also ididem, vol. II], pp. 68-80.

18 Compare Ramdyana, I, 34, 6; Panini, IV, 2, 68; Hitépadesa in
Mitralabha :- Asti Gaudavisayé (Gaudadesé, Gaudiyé) Kausambi nama
nagari.

Compare Vishpupurdpa, vol. ITI, p. 263, and above p. 91 n. 11.

OF BHARATAVARSA OR INDIA. 97

if the city of Gauda was not in existence when Ptolemy
lived, it is evident that no Brahmans could have been
called after it before his time. I merely call attention to
this fact, though I object to the proposed derivation of the
name Gauda-Brahman from the city of Gauda, whatever
may have been the origin of the name of that town.

On THE NAME Ko.nariAn.

Before entering into any further particulars about the
Gaudian group, it is necessary to make a few remarks on
the name ffolarian. It has of late been repeatedly and
authoritatively stated that India was in ancient times called
Colaria, and that the Kols in Central India represent the real
aborigines of India, to whom it is indebted for this name.
To both these statements I demur, and though I admit the
antiquity of the tribes which are now styled Kolarian, I
would at once observe that the (dla and Kol, who are
mentioned in the Epic and Pauranic Sanskrit literature,
should not be confounded with the modern Kols.'8

The Kolarian theory, if I may so call it, derives its main
support from the writings of three eminent men, Colonel

- Wilford, Colonel Dalton, and Sir George Campbell, for whom

I must needs have the greatest respect; but while recog-
nizing their merit, I trust to be able to show that in this
matter they have erred in their conclusions and built up a
theory on very slender foundations. The view they main-
tain will be found presented in the following extracts.

According to Colonel Dalton the word Kol “is one of
“the epithets of abuse applied by the Bramanical races to
“the aborigines of the country who opposed their early
“settlement, and it has adhered to the primitive inhabi-

18 Koli, as it occurs, Coff-y in Kolisarpah.

98 ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS

“tants of Chota-Nagpore for ages. It includes many
“tribes; the people of this province to whom it is generally
“applied are, either Moondah or Oraon; and though these
‘“‘ races are now found in many parts of the country occupying
‘‘the same villages, cultivating the same fields, celebrating
“together the same festivals, and enjoying the same amuse-
“ ments, they are of totally distinct origin and cannot inter-
“marry without loss of caste.’’!

Sir George Campbell is the inventor of the term Kolarian,
and I shall now quote his arguments in favor of it: “* The
“generic name usually applied to the Aborigines of the
“hill country of Chota-Nagpore, Mirzapore, and Rewah
‘ig ‘Coles’ or ‘Koles.’ Europeans apply the term to the
‘Dravidian Oraons as well as to the others, but perhaps
‘“‘erroneously. It is difficult to say to which tribes the
‘‘name is properly applied, for most of them have other
“distinctive names. But in the south of the Chota-Nagpore
“country, about Singbhoom, &c., it is certainly applied to
“the ‘ Lurka Coles,’ and I can myself testify that on the
“‘ Mirzapore-Jubbulpore road, the Aborigines are called by
‘the natives Coles or Kolees, which they volunteered to
“explain to me to be the same word ‘which you call
““Coolee.’ On the Bombay side again a very numerous class
“‘ of Aborigines are styled Kolees. In the Simla hills also,
“the inferior people are known as Kolees. Altogether I
“have myself little doubt that the ordinary word Coolee, as
‘‘ applied to a bearer of burdens or labourer, is the same word,
“and that in short it is the word generally applied by the
“ Northern Indians to the Aboriginal tribes, most of whom
“they reduced to the condition of Helots. There seems to
“be good reason to suppose that the original form of the

19 See Colonel Dalton’s article “‘The Kols of Chota-Nagpore,’’ in the
Supplement to the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, vol. XXXY,
1887, Part II, p. 154.

.

OF BHARATAVARSA OB INDIA. 99

word was ‘Kola’ or‘ Kolar.’ In fact, India seems to have
“been known to the ancients (who approached it coastwise
“from the West) as Colara or Coolee-land (Asiatic Re-
“© searches, vol. IX) and the people as Colaurians. If Kolar
“be the original form of Kolee, it would seem not im-
“ probable that, as in the mouths of some tribes by dropping
“the ‘r’ it becomes Kola or Kolee, so in the mouths of
“others by dropping the ‘1’ it would become Koar, Kaur,
“‘Koor, Khar, or Khor, a form which would embrace a
“large number of those tribes as now designated. I propose
“then to call the northern tribes Kolarian or Coolee
“ Aborigines.

“One may see frequent allusion to Kolaries or Colleries
“in the south of India. It appears that the word there
“used is properly ‘ Kallar.’ In the Canarese language, the
“word ‘ Kallar,’ it seems, simply means a thief or robber,
“and hence some of the predatory Aborigines of the hills,
“are designated Kallars or robbers, just as the thieves of
“ Central Asia are called ‘ Kazaks’ or ‘ Cossacks.” The word
“is applied so differently from that of Coolee, that there
“may fairly be doubt of its being the same. But the subject
“is worthy of further inquiry, and if it prove that in fact
“the two words are identical, the term Coolee or Kolarian
““must be applied to the Aboriginal tribes generally, not to
“one division of them. Meanwhile, however, I apply it to
“the Northern tribes only, but I confess I have misgivings
“whether the more general sense may not prove to be the
“ true one.’’?

20 See The Ethnology of India, by Mr. Justice Campbell, in the Supplement
to Part II, pp. 27, 28 of vol. XXXV of the Journal of the Asiatic Society of
Bengal.

Compare A Comparative Dictionary of the Languages of India and High Asia
by W. W. Hunter ; Dissertation, pp. 25-27. ‘‘ Sanskrit literature refers to
other sections of the Kol race under such names as Chol-as, Kul-indas, &c....
In the Asiatic Society’s Journal the ancient name for India is stated to have
been Kolaria, and turning to the modern map of India, we find indications of

100 ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS

Sir George Campbell appears thus to be rather diffident
as to the propriety of his selecting the term Kolarian and
his doubts are not without good cause. A perusal of the
arguments of Colonel Wilford will confirm them. In the
twentieth volume of the Asvatie Journal of Bengal was
published “ A comparative Essay on the Ancient Geography
of India” by Colonel Wilford, in which we read on pp.
227 and 228 the following remarks: “The oldest name of
“India, that we know of, is Colar, which prevailed till the
“arrival of the followers of Brahma, and is still preserved
“by the numerous tribes of Aborigines, living among
“‘ woods, and mountains. These Aborigines are called in the

the race in every province from Burmah to Malabar: in the Kols of Central
India; Kolas of Katwar; the Kolis, inferior husbandmen and a landless clan
of Gujarat; the Kolis, obscurely mentioned as helot cultivators on the Simla
range; the Kolitas of Northern Bengal and Assam; the Kolami of Central
India, classed with the Naikude, &c., in my vocabularies; the Kalars, a
robber caste in the Tamil country; the Kalars of Tinnevelly : in the Kolis
of Bombay ; in the names of the Kolarun river in Southern India, of the
Koel river, from the Chota Nagpore watershed, of the Culinga and Koladyn
rivers, and of many other streams; in Kulna, a district in Bengal;
Kulpac, in the Nizam’s dominions; Kulalpur, in the Panjab; Kulan and
Kola Fort, in the distant north-west ; in Kulbunga, town «nd district, near
the Bombay Presidency, within, I believe, the territory of the Nizam; and to
be brief in such names as the following, scattered over the whole length and
breadth of India,—names which the reader may identify in a moment by
referring to Dr. Keith Johnston’s index to his Map from the Royal Atlas.
Kuldah, Kulkeri, Kulianpur in three different districts, Kullavakurti, Kul-
lean, Kuller-kaher, Kulu district, Kullum, Kullung River, Kullunji, several
Kullurs, Kulpani, Kulpi, Kulra, Kulsi, Kolachi, Kolapur town and stute,
the three Kolars, Kolaspur, Kolbarea, Koli, Kolikod (Calicut), Cola Bira,
Colair, Colgong, Collum (Kayan-kulam), Colur, and Colombo in Ceylon. I
would go further, and, if time permitted, could philologically prove the
connection of the above with hundreds of other names and places in regular
series.”

I am afraid that something more than time would have been required by
Sir William Hunter for proving the philological connection of the Kols
with the Gaudian Holami, with the Tamil Kallar, with Kolixed the modern
Calicut or Koli-kodu, with Hudianpur or Kalyanapura, not to mention
many others of the above-quoted names. The Royal Atlas of Dr. Keith
Johnston can hardly be regarded as an authority with respect to the spelling
of Indian places.

OF BHARATAVARSA OR INDIA, 101

“peninsula to this day, Coldris and Colairs, and in the
“north of India Coles, Coils and Coolies; thus it seems,
“that the radical name is Cola. This appellation of
“ Colar was not unknown to the ancients; for the younger
“Plutarch says, that a certain person called Ganges, was
“the son of the Indus and of Dio-Pithusa, a Calaurian
“damsel, who through grief, threw himself into the river
“ Chliarus, which after him was called Ganges; and Ohliarus
“is probably a mistake for Calaurius, or the Colarian
“river. I believe, that Dvro-Pithus is the name of the
“father and Sindhu of the mother: for Deva-Pithu, or
“ Deo-Pithu, is worshipped to this day on the banks of the
“Sindhi, a female deity. The etymology of Colar is pro-
_ “bably out of our reach : but it is asserted by some that Cola,
_ © Coil, or Cail, signify a woodlander, exactly like Chael, Gal,
“in Great Britain ; and the etymological progress is the same.
‘*‘ Tn several dialects of the peninsula Cadu, is a forest, and
“its derivative is Cadil; from which striking off the d
“remains Cail.” 7!

I come now to the passage in Plutarch’s work “On
Rivers,” which has originated all these statements about
India’s ancient name Co/aria. Plutarch gives in his work
some legendary accounts of twenty-five rivers. Three among

21 The article to which Sir George Campbell refers when quoting vol. IX
| of the Asiatic Researches is the suggestive ‘‘ Essay on the Magadha Kings,”’ by
Captain F. Wilford, where on p. 92 we read: ‘‘ The offspring of Turvasu, so
| far from settling in the west, is declared, in the Harivansa, to have settled in
the southern parts of India; and in the tenth generation, including their
| Sire, four brothers divided the peninsula among themselves. Their names
| were Pandya, Cérala, Cola, and Chéla : and this division obtains, even to this
day. Cola lived in the northern parts of the peninsula, and his descendants
| are called Coles, and Collers to this day : and they conceive themselves, with
| much probability, to be the aborigines of India, to which they give the name
of Ooller or Colara. Hence, we read in Plutarch, that the Ganges was called
formerly the Calaurian river, and the same author mentions a Calaurian,
} or Hindu, anda handsome damsel, called Diopithusa, who was also a Calaue
rian, or native of India, or country bordering upon the Calaurian river.”’

14

102 ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS

these are Indian streams: the Hydaspes, Ganges and
Tndos.”

The Hydaspes is the first river described. Plutarch
relates that a certain king Hydaspes had a daughter Chry-
sippe, whom Aphrodite out of spite caused to fall in love
with her own father. She was for this offence crucified by
the order of her father. But, these calamities so upset
Hydaspes that he threw himself into the river Indos, which
was henceforward called Hydaspes.

In ancient times there lived a youth called Indos, who
had raped Damasalkida, a daughter of the king Oxyalkos,
while she was celebrating the feast of Bakchos. The king,
her father, pursued him, and when Indos saw all escape im-
possible, he plunged into the river Mausolos rather than
expose himself to the king’s vengeance. This river had
been so called after Mausolos,a son of the Sun, but from
that time it was named Jndos which is a river in India in the
country of the Ichthyophages or Fish-eaters.

The story of the Ganges resembles these two.”? It is as
follows :—“ The Ganges is a river of India, called so for the
following reason. The nymph Kalauria bore Indos a son of

22 See Plutarch Mep) rorauay or de fluminibus. The twenty-five rivers are
the Hydaspes, Ismenos, Hebros, Ganges, Phasis, Arar, Paktolos, Lykormas,
Maiandros, Marsyas, Strymon, Sagaris, Skamandros, Tanais, Thermodon,
Nilos, Eurotas, Inachos, Alpheios, Euphrates, Kaikos, Acheloos, Araxes,
Tigris, and Indos.

23 See Plutarchi Chaeronensis omnium quae extant operum (Tomi duo),
Gulielmo Xylandro interprete, Lutetiae Parisiorum, 1624. At the end of the
second volume is printed: ‘* MAouvtapxou wept TOTaUM@Y Kat OpwY ET@VUMIAS Kak
TwY ev avTols evpickoueywy.—Plutarchi de Fluviorum et Montium nominibus,
et de iis quae in illis inveniuntur, interprete Philippo Jacobo Maussaco.’’ There
we read in vol. IT, pp. 1151, 1152:

Tayyns totauds eort Tis IvSlas, thy mposnyoplay AaBdy SV aitlay ro.adTHy.
"Ivd@ Ts Kadaupla vdugy eyyévenoev viby KdAXE TeplBAemTOY, Td dvoua Tdyyny-
Odros kapnBaphoas TH pnt Kar’ &yvoiay cuveyyéveto TH AtomiBovon, 5 St wel
Hmepas Tapa THS Tpopod uabay Thy GANGeiav, Sid AVays SrepBoArhy EauTdy Eppiwev
els moTaudy XAtapby Karovmevoy, ds ax adTod Tdyyns ueTavoudcéy. Maussacus
translates this passage as follows: “Ganges ftuvius est Indiae, ita vocatus
hac de causa: Ex Indo Calauria quaedam virgo genuit filium pulchritudine
conspicuum nomine Gangem : qui somno yinoque sepulius cum matre Diopi-

OF BHARATAVARSA OR INDIA. 103

conspicuous beauty, by name Ganges, who, when inebriated,
had once in ignorance connection with his mother. But
when he had learnt on a subsequent day the truth from his
nurse, he threw himself through excess of remorse into the
river Chliaros, which was called after him Ganges.’? The
ancient. edition of Plutarch, which was published by
Xylander at Paris in 1624, contains in an Appendix at the
end, the treatise On Rivers. It was edited, translated and
annotated by Phil. Jacob. Maussacus. In its text occurs
instead of the correct reading 6 émrvotcn the false expres-
sion AvoriGovcn which Maussacus mistook for a name,
though his predecessors the learned Natalis a Comitibus and
Turnebus had already doubted the accuracy of the text, as
Maussacus himself mentioned in a note which is quoted
below. Colonel Wilford unfortunately accepted the wrong
reading and built on it anew theory. According to Plutarch,
so says the Colonel, Diopithuse was a Calaurian damsel,
but Wilford himself further changes Diopithuse into a man
Dio-Pithus (for Deva-Pithu or Deo-Pithu), and declares

thuse concubuit per inscitiam, sed interdiu cum a nutrice rei veritatem didi-
cisset, ob dolorem extremum seipsum coniecit in fluvium Chliarum, qui ab
eo Gangis nomen assumpsit.”’

However, in the 5th volume of MAovtapyou ’Amoomacuata kat Vevdervypapa
edited by Fr. Dibner, Paris, 1855, and in the edition of Plutarchi Libellus
de fluwiis, rec. et notis instr. Rud. Hercher, Lipsiae, 1857, we read:
Tdyyns wotapuds éort THs “Ivdias. . . Obros kapnBaphoas tH pntp) Kar’ &yvo.ay
ouveyyeveto. TH Sémiovan TOY Huepav Tapa TIS Tpopod uabayv THy GAhVeay .
éautoy eppubey cis rorapdy XAapov...

We read already on p. 72 in the Appendix to the edition of Maussacus
entitled: Plutarchi librorum Mept rotauev Philippi Jac. Maussaci emenda-
tiones et notae: ‘‘ Mirum est hoc nomen proprium Diopithusae nostros in-
terpretes exercitos habuisse. Natalis a Comitibus sicco pede haec transivit,
quae tamen fida interpretatione opus habebant. Magnus Turnebus tanta
est usus circumlocutione in vero hoc nomine explicando, ut plane eum ab
scopo aberasse nemo bonus negare audeat ; gui per ebrietatem (inquit). inscienter
matrem, divorum quempiam esse existimantem, cognovit. Ut concedamus
Atori0ovon hic non esse nomen proprium tamen Graecis non convenit haec
interpretatione Latina, vertendum enim esset simpliciter, Jovem eum esse
eredentem, sed hoc est nugari. A.om:@ovcn nomen verum est Diopithusae.’’

Se rte Or ae

a a egw

104 ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS

Colar as the oldest name of India we know of. That theory,
however, must now be abandoned, and with the disappearance
ot Diopithuse from the pages of Plutarch, the whole edifice of
conj ecture so ingeniously raised on the supposed occurrence
of this name, must fall to the ground; there being absolutely
nothing to support the assumption that India was known in
the earliest times as the Kolarian Empire.

Sir George Campbell supported Colonel Wilford by stating
that India “‘seems to have been known to the ancients as
Colara or Coolee Land and the people as Colaurians” and
by eventually advocating the name Colee or Kolarian for the
aboriginal tribes of India. I need not specially mention
that the dictionary of Greek proper names, compiled by Dr.
W. Pape, does not contain Diopithuse as a name, though it
refers to the nymph Kalauria and the river Chliaros.**

I had here in Madras at my disposal only the antiquated
edition of Xylander printed by Antonius Stephanus, in which
the reading Diopithuse occurs. Though doubting its accu-
racy from the first, I was not prepared to emendate the text,
for besides my own conviction and the note of Maussacus, I
had no evidence to go upon. Later on, however, ] consulted
Dr. Pape’s excellent Dictionary of Greek names and the
fact that it makes no mention of Diopithuse confirmed my
suspicions. ‘To ascertain the truth, I eventually wrote to

*%The Worterbuch der griechischen Eigennamen von Dr. W. Pape gives
Kalauria as the name of a nymph, e.g. on p. 235 (third edition)
“* @anges,—*) S.-des Indos u.-der Kalauria, welcher sich in den Chliaros
stlrzte, wovon dieser den Namen Ganges erhielt, Plwt. flv. 4, 1; and on
p. 596 under Kalauria: ‘“*3 Nymphe, Gem. des Indos, M. des Ganges,
Plut. flu. 4,1.”

Kalauria or Kalaureia is the well-known island with the famous temple
of Poseidon, which opened a safe asylum to all pursued. Demosthenes
when hunted down by the Macedonians, poisoned himselfinit. The island
was called after Aalawros, a son of Poseidon, Kalauria belonged originally to
Apollo who had exchanged it with Poseidon for Delos. Poseidon is therefore
also called Aadaureates, Kalauria in contradistinction to Kalabria is some-
times explained as ‘‘ land of peace’? and Kalauros as ‘‘ peaceful ’’ (Frederic).

OF BHARATAVARSA OR INDTA. 105

friends in Europe who kindly supplied me with the right
reading Sézvoven instead of Avorifovon.

It may also be added that, according to Plutarch, all the
rivers on which he comments have changed their original
names in order to bear the one by which they were afterwards
generally known. Plutarch refers occasionally to previous
authors to verify his accounts, e.g., to Kallisthenes, Kai-
maron, Kleitophén, Aristoteles, and others, but even if most
of the works he quotes had not been lost, it is doubtful
whether he could have substantiated his statements. The
stories about the Hydaspes and Indos are so un-Indian
and so mythical that it is hardly necessary to try to explain
the report concerning the Ganges. Even if the term
Kalauria were an adjective derived from a proper name, and
Chliaros were a mistake for IKalaurios, there is nothing
to prove that Kalauria should be identical with Indian, not
to speak of the boldness of deriving from it Colar or Colara
as a term designating India in ancient times; a term and
a signification which occur nowhere in the whole classical
literature. I am quite convinced that Kalauria has nothing
to do with the Kols of Chota-Nagpore, though I am not pre-
pared to venture a decided conjecture as to the origin of the
word Kalauria used by Plutarch.”®

It is perhaps a mere accident that the Vamund which
joins the Ganga or Ganges at Prayaga (Pratisthana, the
modern Allahabad) is called Kalindi, the daughter of Ka-
linda, for she springs from the mountain Kalinda, or is accord-

25 Herodotos mentions III, 38 and 97, the Indian Kalatiai or Kalantiai
who ate their parents. The Brahman Kalanos (Kalyana) who accompanied
Alexander the Great is well known for burning himselfalive. I only mention
these names as they resemble somewhat Kalawria. I need hardly add
that the Greek word kdAapis, which is commonly pronounced xéAapis, a kind
of screech-owl, has nothing in common with this subject.

To declare Colara as a name of India, though such never existed, and
to derive it from the nymph Kalauria on the authority of the younger
Plutarch’s mythical account of the river Ganges appears like a pun, or
like what a Berliner would call a Kalauer.

Fa -S eee

ee ee Pe

taps Ra See Er ee

!

y
‘
t
i

106 ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS

ing to others a daughter of the Sun-god Kalinda who is in
consequence known as Kalindisi, the father of Yamuna, while
the god Yama is called Kalindissdara, the brother of Yamuna.
I mention this circumstance as Plutarch gives to Indos the
name of Mausolos after Mausolos, the son of the Sun.

Another peculiar coincidence is that the Kali or Black
Ganga, which is also known as Wandakini, has in its upper
course some famous warm springs and that Chliaros in Greek
means lukewarm. A second Mandakini rises on the Kalaj-
jara mountain, on whose top the lake of the gods is situated.

It is somewhat astonishing that Colonel Wilford without
giving any reasons explained Chliaros as a mistake for
Calaurius. He could as well have conjectured Chliara for
Kalauria, All editions, however, of Plutarch, the modern
emendated as well as the old antiquated, read Kalauria and
Chliaros as proper-names.”°

The ancient inhabitants of the country round Mathura
in North India are also called Kalars, but this name has

not yet been explained and has presumably no connection
with the Kalauria nymphe of Plutarch.

Modern writers have often identified the Kolis and the
Kolarees or Colleries of South India with the Kols. It is
a peculiar circumstance that, except by the Hos or Larka-
Kols, the term Kol is not used by the so-called Kolarians,
who include the Mundas, Santals, Korwas, Juangs, and a
few other tribes.” The Kolis are, according to my opinion,
Gaudians, and must be distinguished from those races now

% For Kalindi occurs a'so Kalindi, a wrong formation. Balarama is also
called Kalindi-Kursana, or Kalindi-bhédana for diverting the Yamuna by
his ploughshare into a new bed in the Vrndayana-forest. Mandahini is also
the name of the Ganga of the heavens. About this river see Chr. Lassen’s
Indische Alterth., vol. I, pp. 64-66, where this question is fully discussed.

27 See Colonel Dalton’s Ethnology of Bengal, p. 178: ‘*The Hos are the
only branch of the Kols that has preserved a national appellation.” Zarke
means fighter. About the Holurians consult Mr. J. F. Hewitt’s ‘‘ Notes on
the early History of Northern India,’’ in the Jownal of the R. A. Society,
vol. XX, pp. 321-363.

OF BHARATAVARSA OR INDIA. 107

generally described as Kols. Besides, our knowledge of this
people is still very limited, and it would be venturesome to
make decided statements as to their origin. Though differing
from the Gauda-Dravidians in language, which must be
regarded as a very important test, they nevertheless inter-
marry occasionally with them, a circumstance which on
the other hand tends to indicate some intimate connection
between them.

The word Aéli is a common Gauda-Dravidian term
which signifies Hive, and is eventually also applied to the
_ person who is hired. A hireling or servant is thus called
a Kuli. The name Kol is a totally distinct word. The
now common term Kali started from the Hastern coast of
_ India, where the principal English factories such as Madras
were situated, and whence in course of time the English
commenced to lay the foundation of their Indian Empire
in the days of Clive.”®
The Kolarees or Colleries represent the well-known
| Kallas, the dreaded thief tribe, who are mostly dependents of

28 Compare Wilson’s Glossary, p. 301: ‘‘ Kuli, Coolee, (Tam. go, Mal.
wel\., Kan. t#®, Tel. &, Beng. Hel, Hind. 3), Daily hire or wages:

a day labourer, a Cooly: (the word is originally Tamil, whence it spread into
the other languages : in Upper India it bears only its second and apparently
| subsidiary meaning : it appears as Culialu, as the term for hired labourers,
‘in Tulava—Buchanan.)” Kuliyalu is one of the Kanarese terms for hireling
| like the Telugu Kaligadu.

In Colonel Yule’s and Dr. Burnell’s Glossary of Anglo-Indian Colloquial
_ Words and Phrases, p. 192, an attempt is made to derive the term Kali from
| Koli, but it is notwithstanding admitted: ‘‘ Though this explanation of
| the general use of the term Cooly (from Koli) is the most probable, the
matter is perplexed by other facts which it is difficult to trace to the same
origin. Thus in S. India, there is a Tamil word ‘ali in common use,
| signifying ‘hire’ or ‘ wages,’ which Wilson indeed regards as the true origin
}ot Cooly. Also in both Oriental and Osmanli Turkish Kol is a word for a
slave, whilst in the latter also Kaleh means ‘a male slave, a bondsman’
(Redhouse). Khol is in Tibetan also a word for servant or slave (Note from
A. Schiefner). The familiar use of Cooly has extended to the Straits Settle-
ments, Java and China, as well as to all tropical and sub-tropical colonies,
whether English or foreign.’’

=e

FSi See

Soe RES

Ee

108 ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS

the Raja of Pudukota. A single individual of this clan
is called a Kajlan, of which word Kadlar is the plural.”
Enough has been already adduced to prove that the
Kalauria nymphe of Plutarch does not refer to an ancient
name of India, that the so-called Colaria isa purely imag-
inary appellation, based in part on a badly pronounced and
distorted plural formation of the name of the Kallar, or on
Kolarees, and that, though the term Kolarian may be still
applied to the Kol race, it must be clearly understood that

all the wild philological vagaries concerning the origin and

antiquity of this expression ought to be abandoned. Yet, the
history of the fictitious. term Co/aria provides us on the other
hand with an instructive example how by a concatenation of
conjectures and conclusions a new theory can be successtully
started and find acceptance among scholars of reputation.
It has thus now become a fashion to ascribe all ancient
monuments with which the Kolis, Kolas and other kindred
tribes can be connected with the so-called Kolarians, whose
original home and early history are shrouded in mysterious
darkness, who, if we can trust reliable information, do not
even use the term /fo/ as a tribal name, and who, so far as
it is known, do not claim as their own the scattered remains
in Northern India, which modern writers are so fond of
ascribing to them.

I now proceed to discuss in detail the principal tribes

whom I regard as representatives of the Gaudian race. The
linguistic and ethnological connection of these clans has
in most instances been generally admitted by competent
scholars, yet, their close relationship has, so far as I am
aware, not hitherto been so distinctly stated.

T shall begin with the Kolis, Kolas, and tribes kindred,
pass on to the Gonds and their clansmen, then notice the

29 Tt is doubtful whether Ae/Zen meant originally a thief, or simply a man
of the Katlan tribe who, excelling in thieving accomplishments, imparted
to his tribal name the meaning of thief. I recur to this subject on pp. 283-36.

Salen

|
|
|
f
|
(
{
.

| OF BHARATAVARSA OR INDIA. 109

_ Kodagas, Koragas, afterwards consider the position of the
' Todas and Kotas, and end with a survey of the Kurubas
or Kurumbas in their various ramifications.

CHAPTER VIII.

On tHe Kotts (Kunts), Konas.

The Kolis and Kolas have already been mentioned in
the previous chapter. Sanskrit works contain their name
in connection generally with Pandya, Kerala and Cola, the
sons of Akrida and descendants of Dusyanta. The term
| Holi occurs in Kolisarpah, instead of which the manuscript
used by M. Langlois contained probably Kolah Sarpah or
| Kolasarpah, as he translates the passage by : ‘“ les Colas, les
Sarpas.” The Kolis appear likewise in Sanskrit inscriptions.
The name of the Kolas can be traced in that of the country
_Kolaiiea, which has, according to the Sabdaratnavali, Kanya-
_kubja as its capital, or which, according to Horace Hayman
Wilson, is identical with Kalinga.

The word Kola forms also part of Sanskrit names of
various peoples, plants, countries and mountains, as of
‘Kolagiri, Kollagiri, Kolahala, Kollaka and Kolvagiri, &e.
We meet it even in South-Indian names of places, e.g., in
Kodlam, Kolanadu, Kolattanadu and others.

I regard the name Co/a or Coda (in Telugu and Kanarese
Cola, and in Tamil and Malayalam Cola) as a modification
of the word (la. It is a remarkable historical fact that
the Colas and Pandyas were as a rule rival kings who
fought continually against each other. With the various
formations of the terms Kola, Cola, and Céda may be com-
pared those of Kera, Céra and Céda. The expressions Céra
and Kongu are occasionally used identically.

The first syllable fo in Kola and Koli indicates the

mountain home, while the second syllable /a or i intimates
‘ 16

|
|

110 ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS

the particular tribal distinction. The interchange between
Zand 7 produces Kori (Kohri) as a variation of Koli.*

The Kolis and Kolas, as has already been pointed out,
should be distinguished from the so-called Kolarian Kols.
In consequence of the near relation of the Kolis to the
Bhils and Gonds, hardly any doubt can be entertained about
their belonging to the Gaudian branch of the Gauda-Dra-
vidians. ‘The establishment of this ancient kinship is an
important fact. It severs the connection between the Kolis

30 Kélanea means originally a country adjoining Aéla. The late Mr. C.
P. Brown explained Koladésamu, s*. 8%, aS the long country, which
interpretation is obviously erroneous when applied to the Sanskrit word
Kola.

Kolagiri is a mountain in Southern India. The commentator Malli- —
nitha is surnamed Kolagiri. The Sabhdparva says in §loka 1171: ‘‘ Krtsnam
Kolagirim caiva Surabhipattanam tatha.’’? The Kollagiri occurs in Varaha-
mihira’s Brhatsamhita, XIV, 13:

Karnata-Mahatavi-Citraktta-Nasikya-Kollagiri-Colah
Krauificadvipa-Jatadhara-Kaveryo-Risyamukasca.

The Kaullagireyas fought according to the ASvamédha with Arjuna:
Arcitah prayayau bhimau daksinam salilarnavam

Tatrapi Dravidair Andhrair Audrair Mahisakair api.

Tatha Kaullagiréyaisca yuddham asit Kiritinah.

About Kéldhala compare General Sir A. Cunningham’s Archeological —
Survey of India, vol. VIII, pp. 123, 125.

Compare what is said about the town Kollagira in the Indian Antiquary,
vol. XIV; p. 23, note 22: ‘‘it appears that Nollagira was another name
of Kollapura or Kolhapur.’”? See ibidem, vol. III, pp. 209, 210 in the
article ‘‘The Geography of Ibn Batuta’s Indian Trayels,*’ by Col. H. —
Yule: ‘The Koil prince must be the Kola-firi or Cherakal Raja, whose
kingdom was called Kola-ndda.’ About Kolatta-nddu, the district about
Tellicherry, see Indian Antiguary, vol. VIII, pp. 115, 146. Compare also
Dr. Gundert’s Malayalam and English Dictionary, p. 318, under Aolam: 4. —
North Malabar, subject to Kolattiri or Kolaswartapam.”’

About the Céra or Kongu kings confer among others the Indian Anti-
quary, vol. LI, pp. 155, 271; vol. V, pp. 183-140; vol. VI, pp. 99-103.

About the change of the 7 into » in words like Ko/i compare General Sir
A. Cunningham’s Archeological Survey of India, vol. XI, p. 101: “TI paid
a visit to the old site of Horon, or Kordwa-dih, because the people agreed in —
stating that the old name of the place was Kolpur, which I thought might
perhaps be connected with the old city of Holi, the birth-place of Mayadevi.
But .. the position of Korondih . . . is much too distant to be identified with
that of oli’? Compare also the late Mr. John A. C. Boswell’s Manual of
the Nellore District, p. 157: ‘*The Yerukalas in this district state that their
tribe name in their own language is Aurru, also Kola.” :

OF BHARATAVARSA OR INDIA. 111

and Kols, which is still occasionally asserted to exist and to
which I have repeatedly alluded.

The Kolis appear originally as mountaineers, but after-
wards descending to the plains, some settled down as agri-
culturists, while many others selecting the seashore became
fishermen and sailors.*}

The Koli mountaineers were not long ago the guardians
of the hill-passes, especially of those in the Ajanta range and
in the Western Ghats. Their ancient position as lords of the
mountains is to this day certified by the fact that the

31 See C. Lassen’s Indische Alterthumskunde, vol. I, p. 137 (or 108):
‘* Bhilla sitzen hier noch in dem Granzgebirge nach Malva, Rajputana und
stidlicher ; ein grosser Theil der Bevélkerung besteht aus einem andern
urspriinglich ahnlichen Volke, den Kuli (Héla), welches aber Brahmanische
Sitten dem gréssern Theile nach angenommen hat.’’ Compare further Rey.
M. A. Sherring’s Hindu Tribes and Castes, vol. II, pp. 307-316.

Sir George Campbell remarks in his Ethnology of India about the Koolees
on pp. 42-45 as follows: ‘‘I find, however, that the opinion of those quali-
fied to judge seems to tend to the belief that there is no essential difference
between the two tribes (the Koolees and Bheels). Forbes in his Ras Mala says.
“ Koolees or Bheels, for though the former would resent the classification, the
distinctions between them need not be here noticed.’ Captain Probyn says :
‘T think there is no actual difference between Koolees and Bheels. Their
religion is the same.’ Mr. Ashburner: ‘ There is no real difference between
Bheels and Koolees; their habits, physiognomy and mode of life are the
same, modified by local circumstances.’ And the Rey. Mr. Dunlop Moore
says: ‘ Koolees frequently marry Bheel wives.” Other authorities, however,
say that they do not intermarry. They both seem to claim a northern and
not a southern origin, pointing to the hills of Rajpootana and the north
of Goozerat. The Bheels say that they were originally called Kaiyos; Sir
John Malcolm says that they are related to the Meenas of Rajpootana, and
once ruled in the Jeypore country. Forbes again tells us that the Koolees
were originally called Mairs, while in Rajpootana, Col. Tod speaks of Mairs
or Meenas as one race . . . Though probably in the main of the same class
and similar origin, the Koolees and Bheels are now quite distinct tribes, and
there is this considerable difference that the Koolees have come much more
into contact with Aryan blood civilization ... The Koolees are the Abori-
gines of Goozerat (where they now live in considerable number), and of
the hills adjoining that Province. The hills east of Goozerat are called
‘Kolwan’ and seem to be the property of Koolee tribes .. . The Bheels are
the proper possessors of the hills farther in the interior and east cf the
Koolees ... The Koolees seem to be scattered down the Coast country
nearly as far as Goa, and north again into the ‘ Thurr’ and the neighbour-
hood of Scinde. While the wilder Koolees of the hills are like the Bheels,

112 ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS

famous sanctuary at Mahabalésvara is under the hereditary
wardenship of Kolis.

Many shrines throughout India are associated with the
lowest classes of the population, as we have seen, when
speaking of the temples at Mélkota, Puri and Trevandrum.
The sanctuary at Mahabalésvara over a spring which is sup-
posed to be the source of the Krishna, though said to have
been founded by a Sattara Brahman, named Anagada, is
under the hereditary superintendence of a Koli family, and
the chief official in charge is a Koli. Such a Koli is called
Gangaputra, and whatever offerings a worshipper makes
after bathing form the perquisite of the Kolis and are taken
by them. “At the temple of Mahabalésvara also,” thus
writes the Hon. Visvanath Narayan Mandlick, “ the Kolis
‘hold a hereditary position, and the Gurayvas, who worship
“the Linga in that temple, appear more closely allied to the
“hill tribes than to the inhabitants of the plains; they (i.e.,
“the Guravas) have, however, no connection with the shrine
“of the Krishné, where the Kolis alone are the principal

the mass of more civilised Koolees are said to be not only fairer and more
Caucasian in feature, but also more sly and cunning and less truthful. .
The wilder tribes of the race are still predatory, and Forbes mentions the
Koolees as by far the most numerous of the arm-bearing castes who in
former days, living in the hills between Goozerat and Rajpootana, disturbed
the country. He describes them as of diminutive stature, with eyes which
bore an expression of liveliness and cunning, clothes few, arms bows and
arrows, habits swift and active, bold in assault, but rapid in flying to the
jungles, independent in spirit, robbers, averse to industry, addicted to
drunkenness, and quarrelsome when intoxicated ; formidable in anarchy,
but incapable of uniting among themselves. This description seems exceed-
ingly well to apply to the wild Bheels of modern days, whom indeed Forbes
classes with the Koolees .. . Lassen in his map places Koolees (Kolas he calls
them) in the centre of Kattywar... The Kolees of the Simla hills and
Domes of Kumaon are merely inferior castes living among the general
population.”’

Compare the Gazetteer of Aurangabad, Bombay 1884, p. 280: ‘The Kolis
belong to the aborigines, and are of low but respectable caste. They are
divided into the Kolis of the hilly countries, and the Kolis of the plains.
They are also arranged in separate tribes, and were formerly very trouble-
some. Several tribes of Kolis guarded the passes of the Ajanta range under
their own Naiks, while others attached themselyes to the Bhils ; but the majo-
rity have long settled down to peaceful callings, and the land-holding Kolis

OF BHARATAVARSA OR INDIA. 113

“ officers in charge.’”’*? The origin of the famous Mahaba-
lésvara temple is ascribed to the Paulastya Ravana. He
compelled Siva, so runs the tradition, by his severe penance
on the mountain Kailasa, to surrender to him his Prana
Linga. The terrified gods tried every means to regain it, but
their attempts were fruitless. At last Visnu raised his Cakra
to prevent the sun-rays from descending to the earth, and
Ravana, who was then at Gokarna, believing that the sun
was setting prepared to perform his Sandhyavandanam.
But the Prana Linga, which he carried in his hand, prevented
him from performing properly his worship. He, therefore,
requested Ganapati to take temporary charge of the Linga.
The god assented, but pretending that the Linga was too heavy
placed it on the ground. Once there, it remained fixed in
spite of all the attempts of the Raksasa to remove it. When
trying for the fifth time he cried as his strength was
failing: ‘“O Muhdbala,” O great power! which expression
is said to have given the name to the place.*®

deny all affinity with those of the hills. In the village establishment, the
Koli is most generally associated with the occupation of a water-carrier, and
the Kunbi drinks water from his hands. He is known by his chumli, or
twisted cloth which he wears on his head in order to rest the waterpot ; but
he is often a good farmer, or is engaged as a musician, handicraftsman,
weaver, palanquin bearer, fisher, labourer... They ure meat, drink spirits,
bury their dead, worship Khandobé, Bairob&é, and Bhavani, and employ
Brahmans for religious ceremonies, but have also priests of their own.’’
See Historical and Descriptwe Sketch of H. H. the Nizam’s Dominions, compiled
by Syed Hossain Bilgrami, 8.a., and C. Willmott, Bombay, 1883, vol. I, p.
310: “At one time they (the Kolis) acted as guards in the hill passes on the
northern frontier and in the Ajanta hills; there isa tribe of Kolis who had
charge of the Ghaut passes.’”” The Kambali Kurumbas make and wear
chamlis (kambalis) in the same manner; see p. 205, n. 107.

Lagree with Sir George Campbell so far as their relationship with the
Bhils is concerned, the latter I have proved to be Dravidians, see Part I,
pp. 47, 107-113.

%* See ‘‘ The Shrine of the Kiver Krishna at the Village of Mahdbalés-
vara,’’ by Rao Saheb Vishvan4th Ndrayan Mandlick in the Journal of the
Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatie Society, vol. IX, pp. 250-261.

33 See ibidem, pp. 257, 258. Compare also Archeological Survey of India,
vol. VIII, pp. 143, 144, about Ravyana’s connection with the linga of
‘‘Mahadeo Rayanesyarw.”’

114 ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS

The connection of the ancient hill tribes with many cele-
brated Indian shrines is also admitted by the Hon. Visvanath
Narayan Mandlick. ‘The above tradition of Gokarna,” he
says, ‘‘ points out to the origin of these places of Linga worship
“by the influence of, if not amongst, the wild tribes of the
“mountains of whom Ravana is a fair representative. The
“actual position of the Kolis at the temples of the Krishna
“and also at Mahabalesvara, appears to confirm the above
“conclusion. The serpent is connected with both these
“temples, and from the Liga temples he seems to be quite
‘inseparable. In the latter he is represented as being coiled
“ round the Linga, while in the temple of the Krishna, a living
“ one is supposed to be guarding its sources.” *4

The most accurate description of the Kolis has been
written by Captain A. Macintosh, to whose account we
owe, in fact, the greater part of our information about
these people. Yet, he is compelled to admit: “ We cannot
“ expect to glean much authentic information of an historical
“ description from an ignorant and unlettered people like the
‘«Kolis. The few traditions they possess relative to their first
“settlement in their present locations and of subsequent

Read also Dr. Fr. Buchanan’s Journey from Madras through the countries of
Mysore, Canara and Malabar, second edition, vol. II, p.316. ‘‘ Gaukarna, or
the cow’s horn (?), is a place of great note among the Brahmans, owing to a
celebrated image of Siva called Mahabaleswara. The image is said to have
been brought from the mountain Coila by Ravana, king of Lanca. He
wished to carry it to his capital; but having put it down here, the idol
pecame fixed in the place, where it stands to this day.”

34 The Kanara people regard Gékarna as holier than Benares; for they
say:

Gokarnam ca mahakasi visvanatho mahabalah

Kotitirtham ca Gangayah samudram adhikam phalam ; ”
according to the Journal of the Bombay Royal Asiatic, vol. IX, p. 258.
Compare in the Indian Antiquary, vol. ILI, pp. 247, 248, Dr. J. Gerson
da Cunha’s account of the legend concerning the linga of Walukesvara,
the present Malabar Hill, with which litga the Kolis seem also to be con-
nected: ‘The Kolis, who, as will be shown hereafter, were the original
inhabitants of Bombay, pay special devotion to this Jivga .... (their)
principal quarter in the whole Koikan, I suppose, is Kulaba.”’

OF BHARATAVARSA OR INDIA. 115

“events until within the last century appear to be involved in
“much obscurity and confusion.’ The late Mr. Alexander
Kinloch Forbes mentions in his Ras Mala the legendary des-
cent of the Kolis from Yuvanasva, the father of Mandhatr.*®

Captain Macintosh repeatedly mentions in his Account
the great veneration in which the Kolis hold the well-known

35 See ‘‘ An Account of the Tribe of the Mhadeo Kolies,’’ by Captain A.
Macintosh, in the Madras Journal of Literature and Science, vol. V., pp.
71-112, 238-279 ; compare also Indian Antiquary, vol. II, p. 154; vol. III,
pp. 76, 77, 126, 127, 186-196, 222, 224, 227, 228, 248; vol. V, p. 8, and Sir
G. Campbell’s Ethnology of India in the Appendix to vol. XXXV, of the
Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, pp. 16, 53, 123, 125.

In the Ras Mala, London, 1878, pp. 78-79, we read: ‘‘ A similar fabulous
descent is given to the Koolees from Youwanashwa, the father of Mandhata
Raja. Their ancestor, Koolee, was brought up by a sage in the forest, and
always led a jungle life, whence it happened, as the bard says, that his descen-
dants, though in the towns they are of little importance, are lions in the jungle.
The Koolees lived for a long time on the sea-shore, in the neighbourhood of
the Indus, but they were removed to the country about the Null by the god-
dess Hinglaz, and brought with them the earth-nut called ‘ beerd,’ which
even in famine does not fail. They were called at this time Mairs, as well
as Koolees, and Sonung Mair was their leader. He left twelve sons, each of
whom became the head ofaclan... In these times, says the bard, there
was not so greata population in Goozerat, but there was much forest, and
the Bheels and Koolees lived in security. They were doubtless then, as now,
hereditary and professional plunderers, ‘soldiers of the night,’ as they
describe themselves. Raja Kurun Solunkee is the first ruler of Goozerat on
record who devoted his attention to putting a curb upon these wild tribes.’’

Captain Macintosh derived the term Kuli from the Koli tribe. He writes
in a note on p.71: ‘‘ On a former occasion, I ventured to derive the term
Cooly, applied by us to porters, labourers or persons who work for hire, in
the following manner—as the fishermen, boatmen, and many of the common
labourers, at Bombay, and along the coast, are Kolies, the term Cooly may
have originated among the English at Bombay. A passenger coming
ashore, whena ship arrived from Europe, might have wished to give a box
or package in charge to a native (probably a person of rank or caste); he
would say, or a servant in attendance might say, that he would fetch a
Koly, ora certain number of Kolies, to take ‘ master’s baggage’ to the shore.
Thus the term would have become familiar, and, in the course of time,
would be indiscriminately applied to all porters or labourers, and soon
have spread among the few English settled in India in those days.”

In the above-mentioned Glossary of Anglo-Indian Colloquial Words end
Phrases is on p. 192 the expression Cooly also connected with the Kolis:
‘‘The origin of the word appears to have been a nomen gentile, the name
(Holz) of a race or caste in Western India, who have long performed such
offices as have been mentioned... According to Dr. H. V. Carter, the Kolis

116 ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS

Khandoba, whom I consider as a national deity of the Gau-
dian Khands.*°

The Kolis have among them a tradition, according to
which they are the descendants of the famous Valmiki, the
poet of the Ramayana. It may be that the similarity
of the profession embraced by Valmiki—previously to his
becoming a poet—and by the Kolis, has something to do
with this belief. Both are celebrated as robbers.*”

According to the last census report, the Kolis number
2,488,372 souls: 1,669,302 live in Bombay, 429,688 in
Baroda, 213,966 in Hyderabad, and 123,171 in the Punjab,
&e.®

The Mohlis in Bhandara and Chanda, who are agricul-
turists, have a distinct Gond type, and have retained many
Gond customs.*?

proper are a true hill-people whose especial locality lies in the Western
Ghats, and in the northern extension of that range, between 18° and 24° N.
latitude.” I have referred on p. 107, n. 28, to another passage ot this
article in the Glossary.

I have already on p. 107 declared myself against this explanation.
Though it is a matter cf minorimportance, I may observe as an additional
proof that the tribal name is always pronounced Avli, and not Auli.

36 See ibidem, p. 106: ‘* The Kolies pay their adorations to all the Hindoo
deities, but their chief object of worship is Khundy-row, commonly called
Khundobah.”’

37 See ibidem, p. 82: ‘‘ One of the descendants of Neeshad and a female
shoodur, were the parents of the Poolkuss; and a male of the Neeshad lineage
and a female of the Poolkuss family, were the parents of the Koly. He was
to subsist, by killing whatever animals he encountered in the jungles and
forests. It may further be stated, that the Kolies say that they are the
descendants of Valmik, the distinguished author of the Ramayan, who,
although of Brahman parentage, and born at Veer Walla, twenty-four miles
south-east of Poona, it is svid, followed the lite of a Koly.”’ About the
Kooleos or Bheels see Sir G. Campbell’s Bthnology of India, p. 46.

338 According to the Indian Antiguary, vol. VI, p. 233, the late Rev. Dr.
John Wilson derived the name of the Kolis from the Sanskrit word /ula, a
clan. I nced not dilate on the groundlessness of this etymology. Compare
p- 109.

39 See Rev. M. A. Sherring’s Hindu Tribes and Castes, vol. II, p. 109:
“‘Thoy bave a remarkable faculty for selecting the best sites for irrigation
reservoirs; and to possess a large tank is their highest ambition. On the
lands watered by these tanks they cultivate sugar-cane and rice.”

OF BHARATAVARSA OR INDIA. 117

I believe that the Koris (Kohris) are of the same extrac-
tion as the Kolis. The former are said to have emigrated
from Benares, in the train of a Bhonsla prince of the
Chandah branch.*® I am also inclined to connect the Kocris
of Bengal with both these tribes.*!

Whether there exists any connection between the Kolis and
the Gaulis is doubtful. As was the case with Gauda, so also is
the term Gauli differently interpreted. Some derive the name
Gauli from the Sanskrit word go, cow, and explain G'ax/i to
signify cowherd, others connect it with Holi. It is even pos-
sible that both derivations are right, and that the term Gawli
represents originally two different, but equal-sounding words ;
one being derived from Ao/i and the other from gd. In the
first case it has an ethnological and in the other a professional
meaning. To those Gaulis who are cowmen both terms are

40 See ibidem, pp. 107,108: ‘‘ They produce sugar-cane in large quan-

tities, the production of which is chiefly in their hands. The tribe has

distinguished itself for its great enterprise and energy in the excavation of

| noble tanks and in the formation of numerous embankments.’’ According
| to the census of 1881, the Koris amount to 946,851, 843,422 of whom are

found in the North-Western Provinces, 48,826 in the Central Provinces, and

| 43,565 in Bengal. Compare Mr. Charles Grant's Gazetteer of the Central

Provinces, pp. 61, 137, 181, 194 and 438 on the Koris (Kohris).

41 Compare Colonel Dalton’s Ethnology of India, pp. 320, 321: ‘In some
districts the Koiris appear to be more numerous than the Kurmis. The
distinction between them is, that the former are generally market gardeners

' as well as agriculturists. Buchanan estimated that there were 30,000

families of Koiris in the Shahabad District, and 45,000 families in Bihar.
.... Alearned pandit informs me that the derivation of the name is ku,

earth, and ari,enemy. They are so called from their constant attacks on the
soil. Koiris, men and women, are always troubling it... very three years

they make offerings on a hill known as the Marang Baru of the Kols, the god
that is invoked by the aborigines, especially when rain does not fall in due
season.’’? Seealso Rev. M. A. Sherring’s Hindu Tribes and Castes, vol. I,
pp- 325, 326: “These (the Koeris) and the Kumbhis are the great agri-

) cultural classes of these provinces... The Koeris and Kumbhis are

agriculturists by profession... The Koeris are the principal growers of
poppy, and producers of opium, both in Benares and Behar... ‘he Koeris
are numerous in the district of Jhansi, where they pursue the occupation of
weaving. Their tradition is, that they came from Benares about seven
hundred years ago.” The census report of 1881 mentions 3,067 Koeris in
Assam and 1,204,884 Koeris in Bengal. Rev. Sir G. Campbell’s Ethnology
of India, p. 107.

16

118 ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS

applicable. The Mahadeo Kolis assert that their ancestors
subdued the Gaulis, and to these are also ascribed most
of the earlier graves. The Gauli chiefs, according to tradi-
tion, ruled in the Central Provinces long before the Gond
Rajas. I believe that future enquiry will prove that the
Gauli Rajas were not Aryans, but that they, like other
tribes similarly named, belonged to the Gaudian race.*

I must not omit to mention here the ancient tribes of the
Kulinda, Kulita, (Kolata, Kolaka) and Kaulita (Kaulubha),
who inhabited the high mountain ranges of the Himalaya
in North India. Their names occur in one form or other in
the Mahabharata, Ramayana, Visnu Purana, Brhatsarmhita,
Mudraraksasa and elsewhere in Sanskrit literature, while
Ptolemy’s Kudwédpwy (Kylindrine, VII. 1, 42) coincides in
position with the country which some of these tribes formerly

42 Refer to pp. 90 and 92, n. 12, where the Gaudas are mentioned.

See Mr. Charles Grant’s Gazetteer of the Central Provinees, p. 301:
«“ Among the people (of Nagpur) tradition, widespread though vague, is not
wanting, pointing to atime far anterior to the Gonds, when throughout
Deogarh Gauli chiefs held sway. The exploits and renown of these ancient
chiefs are often referred to in the songs of the villagers. There are forts
too, and tanks and temples, or remnants of such structures, evidently the
handiwork of races preceding the Gonds... ‘It was a Gauli, not a Gond king
so our father told us,’ this is the common answer to all questions respecting
such relics.”” The same legend is told about the fortifications of Ramtek,
ibidem, p. 428. Compare in the Indian Antiguary, vol. I, pp. 204, 205,
Mr. W. F. Sinclair’s article on the ‘‘ Gauli Raj’’ in Khandesh and the
Central Provinces: ‘‘I think, therefore, that the most probable explanation
of the Gault Ra is this,—that Gauli was the surname, or nickname, of a
family of princes (and not ofa nation) of Aryan race who established them-
selves in the valleys of the Tapti and Narmada during the great migration
southward which ended in the colonization of the Dekhan by the Aryan
Marathas.’’ Mr. Sinclair’s remarks were criticized by Mr. W. Ramsay on
p. 258 ; notice also Mr, Sinclair’s query : ‘‘ Hemad Pant and the Gauli Rajas ”
in the Indian Antiquary, vol. VI, pp. 277, 278.

Captain A. Macintosh remarks in his ‘‘ Account of the Mhadeo Kolies”’
in the Madras Journal of Literature and Sciexce, vol. V (1837), pp. 251-252:
‘“‘There is a popular tradition among the people in this part of the country,
that the Gursees were the original inhabitants of the Dukhan, and that they
were displaced from the hilly tracts of the country by the race of Goullies or
cowherds. These Goullies, it is said, subsequently rebelled against their law-
ful prince, who detached an army that continued unceasing in their exer-

OF BHARATAVARSA OR INDIA. 119

occupied. The similarity of their name with that of the Kolis
and of the Kulu district is therefore not accidental.

CHAPTER IX.

On tHE Kos, Konps, Kanps, Gonns, &c.

Much as the several tribes, whose names head this
chapter, differ from one another in their manners, dialects
and appearance, still there exists such a general resemblance
between them, that, as has been pointed out by one of the
greatest geographers of our century, the late Karl Ritter,
all these various races, however considerable may be the
distances at which they live apart from one another, must be

tions until they exterminated the entire race of Goullies.. It is a common
practice with such of the inhabitants of the plains as bury their dead, as
well as the hill tribes to erect thurgahs (tombs commonly of a single stone),
near the graves of their parents. In the vicinity of some of the Koly
villages and near the site of deserted ones, several of these thurgahs are
occasionally to be seen, especially near the source of the Bhaum river. The
people say they belonged to Gursees and Goullies of former times. The
stones with many figures in relief roughly carved upon them, and one of
these holding a drum in his hand, and in the act of beating time on it, are
considered to have belonged to the Gursees who are musicians by profession.
The other thurgahs with a Saloonka (one of the emblems of Mhadeo) and a
band of women forming a circle round it, with large pots on their heads, are
said to be Goully monuments. This may be reckoned partly confirmatory of
the tradition.”’

Consult about the Gaulis also the Gazetteer of Aurangabad, pp. 136, 226,
278, 279.

43 About references concerning Kulinda, Kulita, Kolika, Yolaita and
Kaulita consult Bothlingk and Roth’s Sanskrit Waorterbuch. About
Kaulubha see Lassen’s Indische Altherthumskunde, vol. I, p. 57 (p. 75
second edition), and vol. II, pp. 206, 207. Lassen desires to substitute for
Kaulita in Mudraraksasa Kaulibha especially on the authority of Plinius
who in his Historia Naturalis, lib. VI, cap. 22, mentions that: ‘‘ Ultra
(Gangem) siti sunt Modubae, Molindae. . . . Colwbae, Orxulae, etc.”? In vol.
I, p. 547 (661), Lassen speaks of the Kulindas: ‘‘ Die Kudinda wohnten nach
dem Epos im héchsten Himalaya und zwar ostwarts bis zu den Ganges-
Quellen.”’

Ptolemy assigns the sources of the Vipaéa, Satadru, Yamuna and Ganga -
to the country Kylindrine: ‘‘‘Ymd 5¢ tas BiBdouwos kal Tod Zapadpov Kat tov
Atamodva Kal tod Téyyou 7 KuAwvdpwh. ’’ The inhabitants of this district were
the Kulindas. About Kylindrine compare also Sir A. Cunningham’s Ancient
Geography of India, pp. 1386-138, where it is identified with Jalandhara,
whose ‘‘antiquity is undoubted, as it is mentioned by Ptolemy as

120 ON THE. ORIGINAL INHABITANTS

regarded as representatives of one and the same nation.
They are still in occupation of nearly the whole area of that
portion of the Indian continent which stretches from Khan-
desh on the west to Ganjam on the east.

koi, Kui (contracted into Ku), Godu, Gauda, Gondu,
Goandu, Gand, Koand, Kond (Kondh, Khond) or Kand
(Khand) are all derivatives, as has already been shown,
from the root Ho or Ku, mountain, so that their very name
indicates a mountaineer. I have previously alluded to
the peculiarity that both Linguals and Dentals are used
in the formation of the derivatives of Ho. We need not,

Kulindrine or Ktulindrine, which should probably be corrected to Sulindrine,
as the K and & are frequently interchanged in Greek manuscripts.”’

Read also in H. H. Wilson’s Vishnu-purdna edited by F. Hall the
notes on the Kulitas (Kolakas), vol. II, p. 174, and Kulindas, p. 180.
According to H. H. Wilson the Kulindas were mountaineers, see Fr. Johnson’s
Selections from the Mahabharata, p. 65).

Varahamihira mentions the Kuldtas in his Brhatsathhita, Chapter XIV.
sl. 22 and 29:

Disi pascimottarasyam Mandavya-Tukhara-Talahala-Madrah,
Asmaka-Kulata-Lahada-Strirajya-Nrsimha-Vanakhasthah. 22.
Aisanyam Mérukanastarajya-Pasupala-Kira-Kasmirah.
Abhisara-Darada-Tangana- Aulitta-Sairindha-Vanarastrah. 29.

Sir Alexander Cunningham considers the question of these hill tribes at
length in the Archeological Survey of India, vol. XIV, pp. 125-135, 137-139:
“The origin of the Kunets, who form the bulk of the population in the
valleys of the Bias, the Satlej] and the Tons Rivers, has long engaged my
attention ; and I believe that I have now solved the puzzle by identifying
them with the Kwnindas or Kulindas of early Hindu history. Under both of
these forms their name is still preserved in the districts of Aww on the Bias
and Kundwar on the Satlej. The Vishnu Purana gives the name of Aulinda,
which is supported by Ptolemy’s Awlindrine, a district occupying the whole
of the upper tract between the Bibasis or Bias River and the Ganges. It
corresponds therefore most exactly with the Kunet District of the present
day. Varaha Mihira places the AKunindas along with the Kashmiras, Abhi-
saras, Kulttas, and Sairindhas, and makes their country one of his nine divi-
sions of India. In another place he marks their position still more
definitely as being to the east of Madras. (Jadreso anyaseha Kauninda.)
He also speaks of the King of the Kunindas. This was about A.D. 560, but
we have coins of the King of Kuninda (Rajnya Aunindasa), which date
before the Christian era. For Kavninda the Markandeya Purana reads Han-
linda, which agrees with the Aulinda of the Vishnu Purana. It would
seom therefore that these are only two readings of the same name. This
conjecture is strongly supported by the fact that much more than half of

OF BHARATAVARSA OR INDIA. 121

therefore, be surprised to see that the Telugu Kodu, e.g.,
corresponds to the Sanskrit Aoyda (in Kondabhatta) and
Gonda, though konda in Telugu signifies only mountain and
not mountaineer, which meaning is expressed by Hondarudu.#

The principal Gond tribes call themselves Kovtor. Telugu
people regard the last syllable tor of this term as identical
with the word dora, master, which is not improbable, as the
Kois affix this term to names, e.g., Bhima is called by them
Bhimadur. ‘The Kois of the Bhadracala and Rékapalli
taluks in the Upper Godavari district are called Doralu
(masters) only by their Mala and Madiga servants, for this
title is otherwise generally conceded only to the Velama
land-owners.

It is a well-known fact that a word often loses its original
meaning when it is used as aproper name. /f0i designates

the population of Kulu is Kunet.... Ihave now traced the Kaunindas
up to the third century B.C., when they were a rich and powerful people.
But there is still earlier mention of the people in the Mahabharata, where
the Kulindas are said to have been conquered by Arjuna. From the context
Wilson rightly concluded that they were mountaineers and neighbours of
the Traigarttas or people of Kangra. In the Vishnu Purana I find not only
the Kulindas but also Kulindopatyakas or ‘ Kulindas dwelling along the foot
of the hills,’ which describes exactly the tract of plain country bordering
the hills in which Srughna, the capital of the Kaunindas, was situated.’’
About Kulu or Kullu see Sir W. W. Hunter’s Imperial Gazetteer of India,
vol. V, pp- 465-469: ‘‘‘The character of the hill-men resembles that of
most other mountaineers in its mixture of simplicity, independence, and
superstition. Polyandry still prevails in Seoraj, but has almost died out
elsewhere. It consists simply of a community of wives amongst brothers,
who hold all their other goods in common, and regard their women as

| labourers on the farm. The temples usually oceupy picturesque sites, and

ar3 dedicated rather to local deities than to the greater gods of the Hindu
Pantheon.”’

Compare also Mr. J. W. McCrindle’s Ancient India as described by
Ptolemy, pp. 105, 109, 110.

44 The Telugu people call the Gonds, Konds or Kands, Koya, Koyavadu
(pl. Koyavandlu), Kédu (pl. Kodulu), Gondu, Kondarudu, &c. We read in
Lieutenant Macpherson’s Report wpon the Khonds of the Districts of Ganjam
and Cuttack, Calcutta, 1842, p. 20, § 42, the following account: ‘‘ The
Hindu name for this people which we have adopted, Khond, in the plural
Khondooloo, means mountaineer, from the Teloogoo word signifying a hiil.
Their sole native appellatior south of the Mahanuddee is Koinga or Kwinga,
which may be a corruption of Kwlinga, which, by the exchange of convertible

; letters may be Pwlinda, meaning in Sanskrit and thence in Tamil a dar-

122 ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS

thus a mountaineer, but this radical meaning of the term
was forgotten by that tribe when some of them had settled
permanently in the plains. The Malvah or Gutta-Kois
(Hill-Kois) are in consequence distinguished from the Sassi-
Kois (Plain-Kois). The Khonds, on the other hand, call their
own country Kui Dina or Kwi Pruti, and that of the Uriyas
Sassi Dina.

The Kois worship as deities Katiradu, Adamaraju, Kor-
raraju (who governs the tigers), Kommalamma, Sarlamma,
and others. The five Pandava brothers, especially Arjuna
and Bhima, are highly revered. They have imitated the
step of Bhima in their dance. The Kois or Koyas in the
Nizam’s Dominions preserve a legend according to which
they are descended from Bhima and a wild superhuman
woman whom he met in the woods.*®

barian, a savage mountaineer . . . They employ as distinctive epithets of their
race, the terms—Swbboro and Mudllaro, the latter signifying Ail? people, from
a root common to Tamul and Teloogoo, the Khonds designate the alpine
portions of Orissa solely by its Hindu name (from the root) ‘ Malwa,’
meaning highlands. The Hindu people they call Sassi, a word whose
signification is not ascertained. The Khonds, who inhabit the mountains
are styled Maliah Koinga, those of the low country Sassi Koinga.”

The fifth volume of the Caleutta Review (January—June 1846) contains
on p. 26 the following note: ‘‘ Respecting the name of Khonds, Lieutenant
Hill remarks, that, in their own language, ‘they call themselves Knee. A
single Khond is called Kwinga. By Uriyas, they are called Hhonds and
by the Telingas, Kodalu and often Kodawanulu or hill people.’’ According
to Sir W. W. Hunter in his Orissa, vol. II, p. 71: ‘The word Kandh,
like Mali and the tribal names of other hill tribes, means in the aboriginal
languages ‘ mountaineer.’ ”’

About the Gands or Gandas consult Mr. Charles Grant’s Gazetteer of the
Central Provinces of India, pp. 100, 103, 247, 251, 412, 413, and 457. They
cultivate some land in Raigarh, Laira and Sambalpur, but they seem not to
be regarded as good cultivators. The population of Laira is chiefly agri-
cultural and consists of Gonds, Khonds and Gandas. On the other hand the
Gandas are generally classified as weavers. Their number in the Central
Provinces amounts to 250,133.

Koinga is the plural of Koi, »ga being the plural termination in the
Kond language. A similar termination exists in the Koi language on the
Godavari, e.g., mda, tree, pl. marangu ; goggddi, cock, goggddingu ; dandi,
carriage, bandingu ; goddélt, axe, goddelingy.

45 See the Rev. John Cain’s articles on ** The Bhadrachallam and Réka-
palli Talukas, Godavari District,’* in the Indian dAatiquary, vol. V, pp. 301-

OF BHARATAVARSA OR INDIA. 123

The four tribes to whom the title éitor is applied are
the Raj Gond, Raghuwal, Padal and Dholi, and occasionally

303, 357-359 ; vol. VIII, pp. 33-36, 219-221; and vol. X, pp. 259-264.
Read ibidem, vol. V, pp. 358, 359: ‘‘ Formerly on a certain day in the year
the Koi men of each village were driven into the jungle by the women
to hunt, and were not allowed to return unless they brought home some
game,—a small bird, or evena rat, being enough to give them the right
to be welcomed back. This practice is still carried on jby the Kois in the
Bastar country, and also by many in the Nizam’s territory. Mr. Van-
stavern, whilst boring for coal at Beddadanolu, was visited on that day by
all the Koi women of the village, dressed up in their lords’ clothes, and they
told him that they had that morning driven their husbands to the forest to
bring home game of some kind or other. Mr. Vanstavern also states that
the Kois round Beddadanolu do not eat the goat annually offered for a
prosperous harvest, but leave it to itself in the jungle tied up to a tree.
“<The Kois say that the following gods and goddesses were appointed to be
_ worshipped by the Sudras:—Muttelamma, Maridimahdlakshmi, Poturdzu, and
Korrazulu, and the following were to receive adoration from the Kois :—Kom-
malamma, Katiradu, Adamarazu. The goddess Mamili or Léle must be propi-
tiated early in the year, or else the crops will undoubtedly fail ; and she is
said to be very partial to human victims... All the Kois seem to hold in
great respect the Pandava brothers, especially Arjuna and Bhima. The wild
| dogs or dhols are regarded as the datas or messengers of these brothers, and
the long black beetles which appear in large numbers at the beginning of the
hot weather are called the Pandava flock of goats. Of course they would on
no account attempt to kill a dhol, even though it should happen to attack
| their favourite calf, and they even regard it imprudent to interfere with
these datas when they wish to feast upon their cattle.’’ In vol. VIII, p. 34,
we read: ‘‘ They say their dance is copied from Bhima’s march after a
certain enemy. There is no Koitemple in any village near here, and the
| Kois are soldom if ever to be found near a Hindu temple.’’
| In the Jeypore territory of the Vizagapatam district a similar practice
' as the abovementioned prevails. The men are often away for days in
search of game, and if they return with none of an evening, their women
pelt them with cow-dung.
The Historical and Descriptive Sketch of H.H. the Nizam’s Dominions
remarks in vol. I, pp. 325, 326, about the Kois as follows:—‘“‘ The Koyas or
| Kois (45,300) are an aboriginal race, found chiefly in the Khamam District
| (39,990). They belong to the same family as the Gonds and the other primi-
tive races of Central and Southern India. The Kois say that ‘they are the
descendants of Bhimadur, and the local tradition is that when Bhimadur
accompanied his brother Dharma Ragu to his forest exile he one day went
hunting in the jungle, and there met a wild woman of the woods, whom he
| fell in love with and married. The fruit of their union was the Koi people.
| The tradition further states that this wild woman way not a human being.’
The language spoken by them is similar in some respects to that of the
Gonds. Like the latter they are noted for their truthful habits . . . The
fruit of the Ippa tree is dried and reduced to powder. This made into cakes
| and porridge forms their favourite and principal food for the greater part of

124 ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS

the Kolam. The Marias who are likewise styled Koitur,
represent perhaps now the purest type of the Gonds.**

In ancient times these people occupied a much larger
portion of India than they do now. Their name appears in
places far distant from one another, in the north, e.g., in
Gonda or Gauda in Oudh, in Khandwa in the Central Pro-
vinces, in Gondal in Kathiawar, in Khandesh and Khandala
in Bombay, in Gondvana in Central India, while Khandagiri
and Khandapara testify to their presence in Orissa. Even

the year. They also distil great quantities of an intoxicating drink from the
flowers; they will eat the flesh of every animal, not even rejecting that of
the cow. They seldom remain long in one place, as soon as the productive
powers of the soil are exhausted they move to another spot and make a fresh
clearing. They have no caste, their religion consists of belief in one
Supreme Being, they also worship the spirits of the mountains and a divinity
who protects them from the ravages of tigers. They regard heaven as a
large and strong fort where there is an abundance of rice stored up for those
who are permitted to enter. Hell is a place in which au iron cow con-
tinually gnaws the flesh of the unfortunate persons detained there. Widow’s
remarriages are allowed. Their wedding ceremonies are exceedingly
simple; the betrothed couple have a triangular mark placed on their
foreheads, they then kneel together, and the ceremony is completed by
pouring water over the heads of both. The personal appearance of both
sexes is the reverse of prepossessing.”’

46 The Gazetteer of the Central Provinces of India, edited by Mr. Charles
Grant, contains on pp. 137. and 500 the following statements: ‘* The Marias,
or as they are called towards the north the Kohitwrs . . are in all probability the
purest type of Gond. It is worthy of note that in villages bordering upon
the more cultivated tracts the change of name from Maria to Kohitur, then
to Jangli Gond, and then to Gond, can be seen in progress, and it is easy to
imagine that a well-to-do Maria family calling themselves Gond might in
two or three generations adopt the more fashionable style of Raj Gond
(p. 137). . Gotés and Kois, or as they are commonly called Gotéwars and
Koiwars—the termination war being a Telugu affix, signifying person or man
—are the aborigines of the country (Upper Godavari). Although almost
identical in customs and in language, they do not eat together or inter-
marry, the Kois claiming superiority over the Gotés. The proper name for
the Kois is ‘ Koitor,’ and this is what they call themselves. By the
Telingas they are called Koidhoras, the word ‘ dhora’ meaning gentleman
or sahib. This error has probably arisen from the last syllable of ‘ Koitor’
having been taken for ‘dhora,’ owing to the similarity of sound, The
Kois, where they come into contact with the Telinga population, have
adopted many of their customs. . The Goté keeps more aloof from civili-
sation; but . . the customs of the two races are very similar, and both belong
to the Gond family (p. 500).” Compare also Indian Antiguary, vol. VIII,
p. 34: ‘The custom of calling the Kois doralu (dora = lord, Tel.) has

OF BHARATAVARSA OR INDTA. 1290

now these tribes are found in all the Presidencies of
Bombay, Madras, and Bengal, though their chief abode is
ia the Central Provinces.”

The Uriyas aspirate the final d, hence the name is often
spelt Kondh or Kandh, but this pronunciation is only local.

Wherever the Gonds, Konds, or Kands are found in their
own homesteads, far from strangers, they have preserved
their national virtues, among which honesty, fidelity, and
hospitality occupy a prominent position. Like many other
wild tribes they are brave, but they are also cruel and very
superstitious. In those parts of the country where they
dwell, the simple-minded Gonds are feared as dangerous
sorcerers and intimate friends of the evil spirits.

About the Religious Doctrines of the Khonds Captain Mac-
pherson makes the following remarks : “ There is one Supreme

been traced by some (Central Provinces Gazetteer, p. 500) to the ending
tor in the word Koitor, This has always seemed to me (Rev. Mr. Cain)
rather doubtful, as this honorific affix is not only conceded to the Kois, but
also to several other castes, e.g., the (true) Vellamma caste, and to all the
most influential natives in the independent or semi-independent neighbour-
ing states.’”’ The Gonds in the Singbham District are called Dorowas
or Naiks. See Dalton’s Ethnology, p. 277, and Grant’s Gazetteer, p. 137.
Elsewhere in Narasingpur are found the Dhur Gonds which term appears
to be identical with the Dhurwe or Naik Gonds. I wonder what is the
meaning of the term Dhur (Dhurwe or Dorowas), and whether it is con-
nected with the word dora.

About the Marias consult also the Report of the Dependency of Bustar by
Deputy Commissioner C. L. R. Glasfurd, pp. 46-52: “104. The Marias
and Jhoorias, I should say, are, strictly speaking, a sub-division of the true
Gond family.”’

47 See Lieutenant Macpherson, p.13, § 13: ‘‘ The Khonds are now seen, in
‘* both of these situations, within the following ill-defined limits. Upon the
“east they appear scattered over the wilder tracts of the Ganjam district
“bordering upon the Chilka Lake, and are seen in that quarter ata few
“points, upon the coast of the Bay of Bengal. They are found, on the
‘* north-west, on the confines of Gondwana, in longitude 83°, while on the
“west, they extend within the unsurveyed frontier of Berar. They are
“* found as far south as Bustar in latitude 19° 40’, while the Zemindary of
“« Palconda is like that of Kunnapoor possessed by a Khond Chief on the
*“ south-east, they are replaced on the limits of the Souradah and Moherry
“districts in Ganjam, by the Sourah race, which henceforward occupies
“the eastern acclivities of the Ghauts to the Godavery. To the north,
“fifty miles beyond the Mahanuddee, in the meridian of Boad, they are
*““sueceeded by the Kole people. On the north-east, they are found high

17

126 ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS

“ Being, self-existing, the Source of Good, and Creator of the
** Universe, of the inferior gods, and of man. This divinity
“is called in some districts, Boora Pennu, or the God of
“ Light; in others, Bella Pennu, or the Sun God; and the
“sun and the place from which it rises beyond the sea are
“the chief seats of his presence. Boora Pennu, in the
“beginning, created for himself a consort, who became Tari
“ Pennu, or the Harth Goddess, and the Source of Evil.
“‘ He afterwards created the Earth. As Boora Pennu walked
“upon it with Tari, he found her wanting in affectionate
“compliance and attention as a wife, and resolved to create
“from its substance, a new being, Man, who should render to
“him the most assiduous and devoted service, and to form
“from it also every variety of animal and vegetable life
“ necessary to man’s existence. ‘Tari was filled with jealousy,
“and attempted to prevent his purpose, but succeeded only
“so far as to change the intended order of creation. .. Tari
“Pennu then placed her hands over the earth, and said,

‘«in Cuttack, while Sourahs (not identified with the southern race) there
‘¢ inhabit the inferior ridges of the Ghauts.’? (Compare his ‘“ Account of the
Religion of the Khonds”’ in the Journal of the Royal Asiatie Society, vol.
XIII, pp. 220, 221.)

Compare also Papers relating to the Aboriginal Tribes of the Central
Provinces left in MSS., by the late Rev. Stephen Hislop, missionary of the
Free Church of Scotland at Nagpore: edited, with notes and preface, by
R. Temple, C.S.I., 1866, pp. 3and4: ‘‘ The name of Gond, or Gund, seems
“to be a form of Kond, or Kund, the initial gutturals of the two words being
“‘interchangeable.. Both forms are most probably connected with Konda—
‘the Teloogoo equivalent for a mountain—and therefore will signify ‘ the hill
“‘ people.” And no designation could be more appropriate to the localities
“ which the majority of them inhabit. Though they are also found residing
“in the villages of the plains along with the more civilized Hindus, yet
“ they chiefly frequent the mountain ranges lying between 18° 40’ and 23° 40’
“ north latitude, and between 78° and 824 east longitude. This tract some-
“© what corresponds with the old Mahomedan division of Gondwana, but differs
“from it in not reaching so far to the east and in extending considerably
‘* further towards the south-east. The Moghul geographers seem to have
“included with the Gonds of Nagpore the Kols on their east frontier, and to
“‘ have been ignorant of the relationship between them and the inhabitants
*« of Bustar. In the north, Gonds are met with about Saugor and near the
** source of the Hasdo ; on the east, they cross that river into Sarguja, where
‘‘ they border on the Kols, and are found with Konds and Uriyas in Nowa-

OF BHARATAVARSA OR INDIA. 127

“« Let these beings you have made exist ; you shall create no
“more.” Whereupon Boora caused an exudation of sweat to
‘“‘ proceed from his body, collected it in his hand, and threw
“it around, saying: ‘ To all that I have created,’ and thence
“arose love, and sex, and the continuation of species. The
“creation was perfectly free from moral and physical evil.
“« Man enjoyed free intercourse with the Creator. They lived
“ without labour. .in perfect harmony and peace. They went
“ unclothed.. . The lower animals were all perfectly innocuous.
“The Harth Goddess, highly incensed at the love shown
“towards man thus created and endowed, broke into open
“rebellion against Boora, and resolved to blast the loss of his
“new creature by the introduction into the world of every
“form of moral and physical evil. .. A few individuals of
“mankind entirely rejected evil, and remained sinless ; the
“rest all yielded to its power, and fell into a state of uni-
“versal disobedience to the Deity, and fierce strife with one
“another. Boora immediately deified the sinless few without
“their suffering death. .. Upon the corrupted mass of man-

“‘ oudda, Kareal, and Kharond or Kalahandi; in the south, they form the
‘¢ mass of the population of Bustar and a portion of the inhabitants of
“« Jeypur (in the Madras Presidency), while they occupy the hills along the
“¢ left bank of the Godavery about Nirmul; and on the west, they are inter-
‘mingled with the Hindus of Berar for 30 miles from the right bank of the
‘« Wurdah, and, along the Kurs, extend along the hills both north and south
‘¢ of the Narbadda to the meridian of Hindia, where they give place to the
« Bhils and Nahals.

“Tn such a large extent of country, as might be expected, they are di-
‘‘ vided into various branches, and distinguished by specific names. The
‘¢ classification adopted by themselves is into twelve and a half castes or
“classes, in imitation of the Hindus. These are—Raj Gond, Raghuwal,
‘‘ Dadave, Katulya, Padal, Dholi, Ojhyal, Thotyal, Koilabhutal, Koikopal,
“« Kolam, Madyal, and an inferior sort of Padal as the half caste. The first
“ four, with the addition, according to some of the Kolam, are comprehended
“under the name of Koitor—the Gond, par eacellence. This term, in its
“ radical form of Koi, occurs over a wide area, being the name given to the
“¢ Meria-sacrificing aborigines of Orissa and to the jungle tribes skirting the
“¢ east bank of the Godavery from the apex of the delta as far up nearly as
“the mouth of the Indrawati. Its meaning is evidently associated with
“the idea of a hill; the Persian name of which, Moh, approaches it more
“closely than eyen the Teloogoo, Kondd. I need scarcely, therefore, add

128 : ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS

‘kind, Boora Pennu inflicted high moral penalties, and. .
“entirely withdrew his face and his immediate guardianship
“from mankind. He made all who had fallen subject to
“‘death.. . Universal discord and war prevailed... Diseases and
‘* death came upon all creatures; snakes became venomous.. .
“Man. .sank into a state of abject suffering and degrada-
“tion. .Meanwhile, Boora and Tari contended for superiority
“ in fierce conflict; their terrible strife raging throughout
“the earth, the sea and the sky; their chief weapons being
“‘ mountains, meteors and whirlwinds. Up to this point, the
“« Khonds hold the same belief ; but from it, they divide into
“‘two sects directly opposed upon the great question of the
‘issue of the contest betweem Boora and his rebel consort. .
“The sect of Boora believe that he proved triumphant inthe
“contest, and, as an abiding sign of the discomfiture of
“Tari, imposed the cares of childbirth upon her sex... The
“sect of Tari hold, upon the other hand, that she re-
“ mained unconquered, and still maintains the struggle with
“various success.” 4 I give this interesting story of the

“that it has no connection with the interrogative Koi, as some have sup-
‘« posed, nor has Koitorany relation to the Sanskrit Kshatriya, as suggested by
‘« Sir R. Jenkins. Though there are a few of the more wealthy Koitors who
“‘ would gladly pass themselves off as Rajputs, yet the great majority of
“« those known by that name resent, with no small vehemence, the impntation
“ of belonging to any portion of the Hindu community. The sacred thread
“of the twice-born, instead of being an object ofambition, is to thema
“« source of defilement.’”

The passage on the Gonds and Khonds in C. Lassen’s Jndische Alterthums-
kunde, vol. I, pp. 426-482 (or pp. 373-78), should be consulted as well as
those in the Rev. M. A. Sherring’s Hindu Tribes and Castes, vol. II, pp. 134-
152, and vol. IIT, pp. 200 and 206, and Colonel Dalton’s Ethnology of Benga?,
pp. 275-304. In the second volume of H. H. Wilson’s Vishuupurdna
published by F. Hall, p. 163, Shanda is read instead of Khanda.

48 Lieutenant Macpherson gives in his report on p. 61 a list of the Khond
deities and divides them into national and local deities: ‘‘ In the first class
are (1) Bera Pennoo or the Earth god; (2) Bella Pennoo, the Sun god, and
Danzoo Pennoo, the Moon god; (3) Sunde Pennoo, the god of Limits;
(4) Loha Pennoo, the Iron god or god of Arms; (5) Joogah Pennoo, the god
of Small-pox; (6) Nadzoo Pennoo, or the Village deity; the universal
genius loci ; (7) Sora Pennoo, the Hill god, Jori Pennoo, the god of Streams,
and Gossa Pennoo, the Forest god: (8) Moonda Pennoo, the Tank god;

OF BHARATAVARSA OR INDIA. 129

creation of the world and the fall of man which Macpherson
ascribes to the Khonds. It reminds one, however, in many
of its features of the Biblical Accounts, and fills one with
wonder that such an uncivilised Indian tribe as the Khonds
should have so beautiful a legend of their own.

In the human sacrifices which these tribes offered up in
days not long gone by, and which even now they have
not altogether abandoned, they displayed an indescribable

(9) Soogoo Pennoo or Sidrojoo Pennoo, the god of Fountains; (10) Pidzoo
Pennoo, the god of Rain; (11) Pilamoo Pennoo, the god of Hunting;
(12) god of Births.’’ Lieutenant (Captain) Macpherson’s Report was re-
printed under the title of “An Account of the Religious Opinions and
Observances of the Khonds of Goomsur and Boad”’ in the Jowrnal of the
Royal Asiatie Society, vol. VII (1843), pp. 172-199, and ‘‘ An Account of the
Ghonds in Orissa” in vol. XIII, 1852, pp. 216-274 of the same journal.
Besides Bura and Tari there are (pp. 226-228) ‘‘ inferior gods divisible into
two classes, distinguished by their origin, their attributes, and the scope
of their duties and authority. The gods of the first class sprang from Boora
and Tari...1, Pidzu Pennu,the god of Rain. 2, Boorbi Pennu, the goddess
of new Vegetation and First Fruits. 3, Peteri Pennu, the God of increase.
4, Klambi Pennu, the God of the Chase. 5, Loha Pennu, the God of war.
6, Sundi Pennu, the God of Boundaries. 7, Dinga Pennu, the Judge of the
dead .. . The third class of inferior deities are sprung from the Gods of the
first two classes. They are the strictly minor and local deities of the Khonds ..
The following are the chief of this class of gods. 1, Nadzu Pennu, the Village
God. 2, Soro Pennu, the Hill God. 3, Jori Pennu, the God of Streams. 4,
Tozu Pennu, the Family or House God. 5, Mounda Pennu, the Tank God. 6,
Sooga Pennu, the God of Fountains. 7, Gossa Pennu, the Forest God.
8, Koosti Pennu, the God of Ravines. 9, Bhora ennu, the God of New Fruits,
produced on trees or shrubs.’’? These two accounts differ in some respects.
On pp. 243-256 : the worship of Tari Pennu is described: ‘‘ In the worship
paid to Tari Pennu by her sect, the Chief rite is human sacrifice. It is
celebrated as a public oblation by tribes, branches of tribes or villages both
at social festivals held periodically, and when special occasions demand
extraordinary propitiations. And besides these social offerings, the rite is
performed by individuals to avert the wrath of Tari from themselves and
their families.”’ According to Mr. Grant (p. 106) the Gonds worship as a
rule only ‘‘ Baré Deva and D614 Deva.”

Colonel Dalton says in his Ethnology of Bengal, on p. 281: “ The
Gonds are, however, found to have one common object of worship, called,
according to the linguistic peculiarities of the locality, Bara Deo, Bada
Deo, or Badiél Pen. Pen and Deo mean the same, but the signification of
Bara or Bada I am not sure of. Major Macpherson tells us that Bira Pen,
the Kandh god, means the ‘ god of light . .’ I was credibly informed that the
Gonds of Sirgija formerly offered human sacrifices to Bara Deo.”

Mr. Glasfurd, 48-52, remarks about the religion of the tribes in Bustar
as follows: ‘‘The Mooreas, Bhuttras, Dhakurs, Gudwas, Marias, &c., all

130 ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS

atrocity. Yet, as an excuse for them, it ought not to be
forgotten that their peculiar ideas about right and wrong
made them believe that they had acquired a right of dispos-
ing of their Meriah victims, as they had bought and paid
for them. The great goddess of the Harth, their principal
divinity, could only be propitiated by human blood, to grant
good pastures for their flocks and rich crops for their own
support. The buffalo was by some Khonds sacrificed instead
of the human being. These tribes depend for their living
mainly on the produce of the earth which they till, for
besides hunting they do not follow any other pursuit.
Trading, for instance, is unknown to them,

worship Dunteshwaree, or, as she is sometimes called, ‘ Maolee,’ with ‘ Matha
Devee,’ ‘ Bhungarma,’ or ‘ Dholla Devee,’ ‘Gam Devee,’ Dongur Deo,’ and
Bheem. The higher castes worship ‘ Dunteshwaree’ and ‘ Matha Devee’ with
the other well-known deities of the Hindoo Pantheon... She is the same
as Bhowanee or ‘ Kelee’. . . Temples to Dunteshwaree or Maolee exist all
over the vicinity of Jugdulpore and Duntewara. The temples to ‘ Matha
Devee’ are, perhaps, as numerous, if not more so. They are easily
recognised by swings in front of the shed erected over the semblance of the
goddess, which is generally a stone daubed with red, although I have more
than once seen her represented by a grotesquely-carved figure dressed as a
female, with a female attendant on each side... When small-pox appears
this person (her Poojaree) becomes of great importance... Bhungarma, or
Dholla Devee is said to be the sister of Matha Devee. She also hasa swing
put up before her temple, and is worshipped when cholera appears; but as
small-pox is much more frequent in its visits, her worship is much neglected
.... The Jhoorias, Mooreas, and Marias do worship the above-mentioned
gods, especially towards Narayenpoor, Ubujmard, Kootroo, &c. The
peculiar deity of the Jhoorias is ‘ Unga Deo;’ he is represented by a piece of
wood fastened to a framework made of four sticks. . . It has been the
custom for the Bustar Rajahs to havea duplicate of the Jhooria ‘ Unga Deo’
kept at Bustar. Whenever any epidemic appears, the Unga Deo at Nara-
yenpoor is called for, and the duplicate sent in its stead. Sacrifices are
made to the new arrival, and he is requested to state whether the cholera or
the small-pox, as the case may be, will soon disappear... The Murees of
“Ubujmard’ call their god ‘Pen:’ this word literally means god. They
have ‘several gods, which resemble the ‘ Unga Deo’ of the Jhoorias. The
most noted of those in the Maree country under Kootroo are ‘ Deda Maida’
at Kolnar and ‘ Koolung Mora’ at the village of Dewaloor; they are both
represented by logs of wood. . . The ‘ Deda Maida’ at Kolnar is the favo-
rite deity of these wild people, and in the month of May there is a festival
at Kolnar, at which all the Marees from far and near congregate and spend
three days in dancing, and drinking, and singing. Throughout the Depen-
dency the grossest ignorance and superstition prevail, and hold the minds of

OF BHARATAVARSA OR INDIA. 131

Contact with Hindus more highly civilised exercised
a remarkably deteriorating influence on the Gond tribes,
who soon began to lose their own virtues and sink to a
lower social condition. Harsh treatment, coupled with spite-
ful scorn, renders men callous and demoralises. 1gnorant
and uncivilised aborigines when they are under the influence
of civilised and unscrupulous persons are especially subject
to such degeneration. The Candd/as are an illustration of
this assertion.

They were probably the first Gaudian tribe whom the
Aryan invaders reduced to abject servitude, and who
became thus the prototype of the lowest Indian helots, which
condition they share with the Dravidian Pariahs. The
word Canddala is evidently a modification of Kandala, a
tribe mentioned by Ptolemy.

Manu stigmatises a Candala as the offspring of a Sudra
man and a Brahman woman, which definition, fostering no

the people, from the highest to the lowest, in miserable thraldom. The
simple and unsophisticated Gond tribes are believed to be expert necro-
mancers, ‘and on the most intimate footing with evil spirits.’ Considering
their secluded position from civilized life, their gross ignorance, and the
solitary jungles they live in, it is, perhaps, not to be wondered at that the
people invariably impute their misfortunes to witchcraft.”

Compare also the article ‘‘ Gonds and Kurkus,” by Mr. W. Ramsay in
the Indian Antiquary, vol. I, pp. 128, 129: ‘* The Gond admits none of the
Hindu divinities into his pantheon, and is moreover bound on occasions of
death to slay a cow and pour its blood on the grave to ensure peace and rest
for the manes of the departed. In my experience, Gonds almost always
bury their dead. .. The Gond deities are numerous: hill tops deified are
favorite objects of adoration.’”? Mr. Ramsay treats on the same subject
on pp. 348-50, and he observes: ‘‘ It is worthy of remark that one of the
ceremonies after a death consists in killing a cow and sprinkhng its blood
over the grave; in default of this it is said that the spirit of the departed
refuses to rest, and returns upon earth to haunt its relatives in life.” Allu-
sions to the Gonds are also contained in the Indian Antiquary, vol. IIT,
p. 224; vol. VI, p. 233; vol. IX, p. 140, and vol. X. p. 321.

Read also the remarks on the Khonds in Sir W. W. Hunter’s Orissa,
vol. II, pp. 67-102, 283-8, and the article ‘‘On the Uriya and Kondh
Population of Orissa” by Lieut. J. P. Frye, in the Journal of the Royal
Asiatic Society, vol. XVII (1860), pp. 1-38.

49 See Part I, p. 60.

132 ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS

doubt the prejudices of caste by assigning to the detested
offspring of such persons a despised rank, does not explain
the ethnological position of the original Candalas.5° The
late Rev. Dr. John Wilson was, so far as I know, the first
to recognize in the Candalas the Kandaloi of Ptolemy.*
The name of the Candalas has great similarity with that
of the Rajput Candels (whose Gond origin is an admitted
fact), Candas, Candaks, and Candanis, and others. The
Candalas prevail in the Gaudian districts of the North, for,
of the 1,779,047 Candalas who appear in the Indian Census
report, 173,532 live in Assam, 1,576,076 in Bengal, and
29,439 in the Central Provinces.

Konda is even now a name common to Candalas, so that
their original identity with the Gond race is likewise sug-
gested by this circumstance.

T must also not omit to allude here to the Kuntalas (Kon-
talas), Awndalas and other tribes who are mentioned in
Sanskrit writings. The famous capital Awndina (Kundina-
pura) where Bhisma or Bhismaka held his court, so celebrated

50 Compare Manavadharmasgastra, X, 12:

Sudradayogavah ksatta candalaé cadhamo nrnam.
Vaisyarajanyaviprasu jayante varnasankarah.

About the Candalas compare also Mahabharata, Anusasanaparva, 2621,
and J. Muir’s Sanskrit Tewts, vol. I, p. 481.

Consult also the Memoirs of the Origin of Slaves, by Ramappa Karnik of
Barkur, translated and annotated by Mr. Joseph Saldanha, Court Sheristadar
at Mangalore, and printed by Dr. Shortt in the [LV Part of The Hill Ranges
of Southern India, pp. 15-37; p. 17: ‘‘Sub-division of Chandalas . . The
Chandalas are subdivided as follows: 2. Hambatar or Fammadas, 3. Panar,
e. Hasalar, d. Paravar, e. Belar or Medarar, /f. Battadar, g. Merar,
h. Karajar, i. Asadi, jy. Holeya, &. Madiga, /7. Bakada with three
sub-divisions, I. Chujana Bakada, II. Turibina Bakada, III. Goddina
Bakada, m. Nuliga, x». Kappata Koragar, 0. Soppina Koragar. (This class
speak a language peculiar to themselves which they won’t give out under
any circumstances. )”’

The Hindu Law recognizes fifteen different classes of Slaves or Candalas.

51 Read Dr. John Wilson’s Jndian Caste, vol. I, p. 57: “A Chandala, the
lowest of mortals, whose tribe is recognized by Ptolemy as that of the Kandali
or Gondali, on the river Tapti, perhaps the Gonds—adjoining the Phylitae
of the same author, identified as the BAid’s—or the Gon@halis, still a wander
ing tribe of the Maharashtra.”’

i

:

OF BHARATAVARSA OR INDIA. 1383

by his beautiful daughter Rukmini, may perhaps be con-
nected with the aboriginal Gond race.

Khande Rava (Khandoba) or Khandoji is, like Bhairava,
an incarnation of Siva and much worshipped by the lower
classes in the Maratha country. In that district he is every
where revered as a house-hold deity and numerous temples
are erected for his worship. The shepherds claim him as their
tutelary deity. He is most frequently represented as riding
on horseback, attended by a dog and accompanied by his wife
Malsara, another form of Parvati. As he generally carries
in his hand a big sword, his name is popularly derived from
khande, sword. I regard this explanation as very problem-
atic, and, taking him as a representative national deity,
prefer to connect his name with the aboriginal Khand people
of Khandesh and its neighbourhood. It is now perhaps
impossible to ascertain whether his worship is connected
with the existence of a deified Khand leader. No historical
record on this topic has come to us. I explain the common

: term Khandoba as originating from Ithanda (khande) + 04,

a familiar Marathi form for bapa, father ; compare Ganééa
Ganoba, Mahisa Mahsoba, Vitthala Vithoba, Vinayaka Vinodba,
&e.?

52 About ‘‘ Konda, a name common to Chandalas,’’ see Rev. W. Reeve’s

| Canarese and English Dictionary, revised by Dr. Sanderson, p. 326. The name
| of Khande Rava is in Molesworth’s Marathi and English Dictionary (second
edition), p. 193, explained as: ‘“‘ @eqrq
_ incarnation of Shiva.’’ The word @= is peculiarly enough not found in this
| Marathi dictionary in the sense of sword, though seven different meanings of
| this word are given on p. 191 and nine various renderings of wpe are

m. (qe Sword, and qq) An

’

contained on p. 202, without, however, mentioning that of sword. The
Hindustani \3\S-khdnda, sword, is explained as a derivation of the Sanskrit
wg hhadga. Khanda in the Uriya language signifies a sword. Even if this
etymology is correct, it is not at all necessary that the term khande in

Khande Rava has the same origin. Many Indian gods carry, like Khandoba
a sword, but are not called after it.

:
i
t

The Hindu Pantheon by Edward Moor, F.R.S., Madras, 1864, contains
‘on pp. 285, 286, an account of Khandéba: ‘‘ What I have to relate of
Kandeh Rao is gathered chiefly from Poona Brahmans; who state, that Siva
became incarnate in his personage for the purpose of destroying an

|
18

134 ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS

It is perhaps worth mentioning here that the Gaudian
KKoragas, of whom I shall speak in the next chapter, place
on a hillock a stone, which they worship, while most of the

oppressive giant, named Mani-mal, at a place in the Carnatic, called
Phemer. Parvati, they say, under the name of Malsara, accompanied her
lord, who appeared as a man clothed in green. .: he is generally represented
with Parvati on horseback, attended frequently by a dog. The giant Mani-
mal made a most desperate defence against Kandeh Rao’s attack, but was
at length slain: whereupon all the oppressed subjects of this giant paid
adoration to Kandeh Rao, to the number, as the story goes, of seven Kroor of
people, whence this Avatarais called Yehl-khut: Yehl, in a dialect of the
Carnatic, being seven, and Khut, or Koot, being a Mahrata pronunciation
of Kroor (100,00,000), a hundred lakh, or ten millions.’? About Khandoba
consult also Rey. Stevenson’s article ‘‘ On the Modern Deities worshipped
by the Hindus in the Dekkan’’ in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society,
vol. VII, pp. 105-112. ‘‘The first in order of the modern deities is Khan-
doba, as he is usually termed by way of respect, or more properly Khande
Rao. This name may have been given him from his breaking the hosts of
his enemies, or from his wearing a particular kind of sword called in
Marathi ‘khanda.’ His Sanskrit name is Mallari, which has been given him
from the Daitya he vanquished. This name is corrupted into Mahhar.
There is a legend relative to this deity called the Mallari Mahatmya, which
professes to belong to the Kshetra Kanda of the Brahmanda Purana. It
is a dialogue between Parvati and Mahadeva, the latter of whom merely
repeats what Sanat Kumara narrated formerly to the sages engaged in per-
forming austerities in the Naimishaforest. The scene of this romance is laid
at alow range of hills called in Sanskrit the Mani Chada (jewel cliff) and in
Marathi, Khade Pathar (table-land above the cliff). The town of Jejuri,
ewhich lies about thirty miles east from Poonah, is built close to its western
extremity. At this place, according to the legend, certain Brahmans were
‘interrupted in their devotions by a Daitya called Malla, who with his brother
Maniand a great army. ..beat and ill-used the Brahmans . . .In Sir John Mal-
<colm’s account of the Bhils, in the first volume of the Transactions of the Royal
Asiatic Society, mention is made of a powerful tribe of these freebooters,
who derive their origin from .a place called Toran Malla. Their remotest
ancestor, in the same account, is said to have murdered a Brahman, and
-carried off his daughter; and one of their patriarchs, Kunda Rana, with his
brothers, to have conquered and ruled over all the surrounding country. By
some one of that tribe probably the Brahmans were oppressed when they called
“in the aid of some other local prince called Khande Rao... The Champaka
Shashti is directed to be held particularly sacred to Mallari. Itis the sixth
day of the increase of the moon in the month Margasirsha (November-
December). This is the great day accordingly at Jejuri, where Khandoba’s
principal temple is. It formerly stood on the top of the hill, but on being re- —
edified by Malhar Rao Holkar, the first famous Maratha leader of that
name, whose family god Khande Rao was, the site was changed to a level ;
spot, but a little.way from the base of the mountain. The approach is by & —
pretty broad flight of stene stairs... The third landing-place is the platform _

1 ee

OF BHARATAVARSA OR INDIA. 135

other Candalas of the district revere a deity called Kandiya,
who is most probably identical with Khandoba.*%

In a similar way I am inclined to associate the name of
the Khandesh district with Khanda. Khandesh can be
explained as signifying the Khand country, Khanda +
désa, Khandadésa contracted into Khandéga, Khandesh. It
is also possible to interpret it as the name of the lord of
the Khands, Khanda, + 2a, Khandéga.*!

Some religious customs can be traced to the Gonds. It
is thus not unlikely that the Gondana worship, in which
the Maratha Brahmans and other Hindus revere Parvati,
is of Gond origin, equally as the Gondala ceremony among
the Kolis. In this case the tribal name of the Gaudian
Gondhalis has been substituted to call the _ performance
after the performers, which circumstance was forgotten in
course of time. The term Pariah in its wrong derivation

of the temple... Inside there is the image of Khande Rao and his wife
Mhalsa, placed behind a Linga, which is raised a little from the floor...
Although from the local nature of the worship of Khande Rao, the surname
of Rao, and the engrafting of this worship on the more ancient adoration of
the Linga, it would appear to be comparatively modern, still we cannot trace
its origin by the light of authentic history.”

The passage in the Gazetteer of Aurangabad, pp. 344-346, is taken from
this account, to which is added the statement that ‘‘ Khande Rao or Khan-
doba of Ujain was the great champion of Brahmanism in the seventh century
of the Christian era.”” The authority of this statement is unknown to me.

About the worship of Khanddbé compare also the Indian Antiquary, vol.
X, p. 286, inthe article Murlis and Waghias.

53 In the Memoir of the Origin of Slaves we readon p. 28: ‘The two
classes of Koragars place some stone on a hillock, worship it by performing
Puja, as the god of Koragars. The remaining classes worship a deity called
Kandiya and pay her vows.’’

54 About the name of Khandesh compare ‘‘ Rough Notes on Khandesh’’
by W. F. Sinclair, Bo.C.S., in the Indian Antiquary, vol. IV, p.108: “‘ The
term Khdndesh is of doubtful derivation. It has been supposed to refer to the
title of Khan used by the Sultans of Burhanpur, and has also been derived
from Kanh-desh, ‘land of Krishna,’ (conf. Kanhpur) ; from Tan-desh, ‘ the
land of thirst,’ in allusion to its arid plains and scanty rainfall; facetiously
from Kantadesh, ‘the land of thorns,’ in which it certainly abounds; and
finally the author of the Ayini Akbari and other Musulman writers allude to
it as ‘Khandesh, otherwise called Dandesh,’ which might be derived from
‘ Dangdesa,’ the mountain and the plain. . . . I am inclined myself to

136 : ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS

from parai, drum, offers a parallel example, as I have pre-
viously explained on p. 60 in Part I.

If Gondophares can be accepted as the actual name of
the well-known Parthian king who ruled in North-Western
India in the neighbourhood of Peshawar, one may possibly
associate his name with that of the Gaudian or Gond tribe.
However, the name appears in so many variations on coins
and inscriptions that it is a difficult matter to settle. On the
Greek obverse of some coins we read Yndopherres, which
Dr. Aurel Stein inclines to identify with the Old-Persian
Vindaferna, winning glory. On the Arian-Pali reverse
Gudaphara or Gadaphara is generally found. The name of
Gondophares is of additional interest as the legend connects
it with the visit of the Apostle Thomas to India. The
locality of the adventures of Saint Thomas was eventually
transplanted to South India; and Mailapur, now a suburb of

believe in the derivation from Kanh, and to suppose that it was afterwards
altered by the Musulmans to the modern form. Krishna, under the name of
Khandoba, is at this aye and would seem to have long been, a favorite
divinity in the country.”’

By substituting Khandoba for Krsna Mr. Sinclair supports my theory,
though Khandoba as a representation of Siva could hardly be identical
with Krsna.

55 See ‘‘ An Account of the Mhadeo Kolies,’’ by Captain A. Macintosh in
the Madras Journal of Literature and Science, vol. V, pp. 108-111: ‘* Whatever
malady man, woman, or child, or even their cattle, may be seized with, the
Kolies imagine it is produced by the agency of some evil spirit or offended
deity .... two or three sheep are sacrificed as a peace-offering to the
goddess Bhoany (Dewee) and the gods Khundobah and Bhyroo, and the
Gondhul ceremony takes place afterwards.”

In H. H. Wilson’s Glossary we read on p. 182: ‘‘Gondana, Gondala, or
Gondli, Gondhala, or Gondal. A tumultuous festivity in honour of the
goddess Devi, celebrated, even in Mysore, chiefly by Maratha Brahmans, it
being a Maratha festival (from the Mar. Gondhala, tumult, bustle), consist-
ing of music, and dancing, and recitation of mythological stories .. . It is
probably the same thing as the Gondhai.”

“ Gondhalt, incorrectly Gondali, and Gondli, or Gondlee, corruptly
Gonedullee. The name of a caste, or individual of it, whose business it is to
sing and dance, and perform the Gondhal: in some places the Gondhali is
the village drummer, sometimes he is a vagrant musician, dancer, and
tumbler, or subsists by begging.”’

Read also Historical and Descriptive Sketch of His Highness the Nizam’s
Dominions, vol. I, pp. 316, 317: ‘* The Gondhalis—Members of this sect. -

OF BHARATAVARSA OR INDIA. 137

Madras, is pointed out as the place of his last mission and of
his passion. Peculiarly enough, we find that the Raja of
Mailapur, who is associated with Saint Thomas, is called
Kandappa,a name which has some resemblance with Ganda-
phares, a variation of Gondophares. It must, however, be
mentioned that Kanda or Kandappa is the Tamil form of
Skanda, the well-known Subrahmanya, whose vehicle is the
peacock, in Tamil mayi/, wu9a. Professor Gutschmid has
identified Gundophares with Caspar, one of the three Magi
who went to Bethlehem. I have already explained in my
monograph on Prester John the names of the three holy
kings as representing the countries whence they came.
Melchior, king of Nubia, became thus Malki yor, king of
the Nile, Balthasar, king of Saba, Bé/sazzar, king of the
Chaldaeans, and Kaspar, king of Tarsis in Central Asia,
Kas-bar, the ruler of the Casia regio.*

are distributed chiefly in the Bider, Naldrug, Aurangabad, Birh and Nandair
districts. They are usually attached to temples, though some are wandering
mendicants. Numbers of them are found at Tuljapur. They perform what
is known as the Gondhal ceremony at the houses of Brahmins in the
Dasara, Hanuman’s birthday and the cocoanut holidays. This ceremony
can only be performed by married members of the sect, and those so entitled
to perform it wear a string of cowries round their necks. They bury their
dead and shave their beards as a sign of mourning.’’ See Gazetteer of
Aurangabad, p. 309: ‘‘ They dance at Hindu weddings with a lighted torch
in their hands.”’

Compare note 51 on p. 132.

56 The variations of Gondaphares are: Gandophares, Gundopharus,
Gundoforus, Yndopheres, Gudaphara, Gadaphara, Godaphara.

See on this subject The Coins of the Greek and Scythic Kings of Bactria and
India in the British Museum, by Percy Gardner, i.p., edited by R. S. Poole,
LL.D. ; Introduction, pp. xliii, xlvi, Ixxiii; 103-107, 174. With respect
to dental and lingual d the editor makes on p. lxx the remark: “TI cannot
distinguish on the coins between na and ma, da and da.’’ The nasal in Gu
(Ga or Go) daphara has been omitted as in the name of Menander, which
is spelt Menadra.

Read also Dr. M. Aurel Stein's Zoroastrian Deities on Indo-Scythian
Coins, p. 13.

Among the articles of the pioneers of Indian Archwology consult
T. Prinsep’s Note on the Historical Results deducible from recent Discoveries
in Afghanistan, London, 1844, and his Essays on Indian Antiquities ;.H. H.
Wilson’s Ariana Antiqua, pp. 256, 340, 342; Christian Lassen’s monograph
Zur Geschichte der Griechischen und Indoskythischen Kénige and especially in

138 ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS

CHAPTER X.

On THE Kopacas, Koracas, Koravas, Topas, anp Koras.

The Kodagas.

The Kodagas or Kurgs are the inhabitants of Kurg and
represent the dominant tribe of that province. They are a
hardy race, independent and proud of the liberty they
enjoy. A foreign dynasty of Lingayat Rajas ruled over
them till 1834. Their country is generally called Kudagu
or Kodagu, which term signifies, according to my opinion,
mountain-tract. The beginning of this word means moun-
tain, and the suffix gu is added to its end. A Kurgman
is called Kodagan or Kudagan, but the term Kutaran is
used in Malayalam besides Autakan for the gutturals, as we
have seen, interchange occasionally with the semi-vowel v.
The syllable an indicates the pronoun of the third person
masculine.

his Indische Alterthwnskunde, vol. II, pp. 391-397: ‘* In dem dritten yon
diesen Reichen, dessen Daseyn nur durch die Miinzen uns bezeugt wird, in
Arachosien war Yndopherres oder Gondophares der Wiederhersteller der
Parthischen Herrschaft. Die letztere Form is die einheimische gewesen, weil
sie in den Arianischen Inschriften vorkommt. . (Wo die Vocalzeichen noch
vorhanden sind, ist der Name Guduphara zu lesen, das » scheint nicht
bezeichnet zu seyn, wenigstens nicht wie auf den Mtinzen des Menandros) . .
Seine Miinzen stellen uns gleichsam im Umrisse die Geschichte seiner
Thaten vor... Zwei seiner Typen sind zweifelhafter Deutung . . . Die
zweite ist ihm und seinem Nachfolger eigenthtimlich. Auf dieser Miinze
erscheint eine Gestalt in Indischer Tracht mit einem Zepter; vielleicht ist
es der Kiénig selbst. Wenn dieses richtig ist, kann daraus gefolgert werden,
dass er, wenn auch nicht eigentliche Inder, was unméglich ist, doch Unter-
thanen gehabt habe, deren Gebriuche nur wenig yon jenen sich unterschie-
den, und denen er seine Achtung dadurch beweisen wollte, dass er zugleich
sich ihnen in Parthischer and in Indischer Tracht zeigte.”’

Specially noticed should be also Sir Alexander Cunningham's writings,
e.g., his ‘* Coins of the Indian Buddhist Sutraps with Greek inscrip-
tions,’? in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, vol. XXIII, pp.
711-18; his remarks in the Archeological Survey of India, vol. I,
pp. 59-61, vol. V, pp. 60, 62, and vol. XIV, pp. 48, 116. See further
Die Nachfolger Alexander des Grossen in Bactrien and Indien von Alfred
von Sallet; the Indian Antiguary, vol. III, p. 309; vol. IX, pp. 258-263;
vol. X, p. 214; vol. XII, p. 7; my book Der Presbyter Johannes in Sage
und Geschichte, zweite verbesserte Auflage, pp. 7,41 and 228; Die Kirche der

Thomas-Christen von Dr. W. Germann, pp. 16, 22, 26, 100.

OF BHARATAVARSA OR INDIA. 139

The derivation of the word Kodagu is a disputed point
among scholars. Dr. Gundert feels inclined to connect it
with kotw, steep, the Rev. F. Kittel connects it with the root
kud, and Bishop Caldwell gives as its meaning either curved
or west. I believe that Kodagu or Kudaku is in reality a
name, and that the signification West is derived from it.
To the Tamil people Audagu is a western, but to the
Malayalis it is an eastern district. We find thus that the
king of Céra is called in Tamil the king of the West or
Kudakon (Kudako and Kudanatan), while the king of Honiu
or Céra is in Malayalam the king of the East, and Cérakarru
is a name ofthe East-wind. ov signifies according to
Dr. Gundert mountain-declivity, and, though a general name
of the Céra (or Kérala) country, it is particularly applied
to the Coimbatore district. Moreover, kudakku for west is a
special Tamil expression and not found in the other kindred
tongues. Even Tamil generally uses in its stead the more
common term mérku. I feel therefore inclined to explain
the Tamil meaning of kudakku as west from the situation
of the Kurg country which occupies a prominent position.
Just in the same way the south-wind is called in Tamil
Colakam after the southern Cola country whence it blows.*”

57 Kurg is Kodagu in Kanarese, Tulu and Telugu, Kudaku and Kudakam
in Tamil, and Kutakw or Kotaku in Malayalam. Kutavan and Kutaman
signify in Malayalam a predial slave, while Kutiyan means a slave in Kurg.
The latter term may have been perhaps derived from the word kuti, house.
With respect to the interchange of g and v compare in Telugu pogu and pévu,
earring ; pagadamu and pavadamu, coral; aguta and avuta, to be. Consult
C. P. Brown’s Telugu Grammar, and see Part I, p. 56.

Respecting the name Kodagu the Rev. F. Kittel makes the following re-
marks in a note to his article ‘‘ Three Kongu Inscriptions’? in the Indian
Antiquary, vol. VI, pp. 99-103: ** As evinced by the pronunciation of Kan-
arese, Kodaga, and other peoples, the name of the country is Konrgu (not Kongu
with the long Sanskrit 0 ) ; an inhabitant of that country, now-a-days often
identified with the Koyambuttur (Coimbatore) district, is called a Konga.
Thus also Kodagu (Coorg) is the country, and Kodaga, a native of Coorg.
Kongini, Konguni, Kongani are Sanskritized forms. Though Koneu and
Kodagu more than probably have the same root (wd), there seems to be no
historical proof for the identity of the names. Among the Kodagas of our
time there is a well-known family called the Konga house,—a secondary

140 ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS

It is not impossible that the ancestors of the present
Kodagas, unless they are regarded as aborigines, immi-
grated at a later period into Kurg. In those early days the
Billavas and the Kurumbas, the two representatives of the
ancient Dravidian and Gaudian tribes, were already living
on these mountains, as well as the Holeyas and Yeravas,
who probably had not been degraded into bondslaves and
outcastes.°®

The principal divisions among the Kurgs are the priestly
or Amma-Kodagas and the Lay-Kodagas.*® Both classes
are of Gaudian origin, though the Kavéri Purana represents
the Amma-Kodagas as Brahmans, who had been cursed by
Agastya. Brahmanic tradition assigns to the ancient Tulu
priests a similar fabulous history. These are said to have
been fishermen. whom Parasurama had elevated into Brah-
mans by investing them with the holy thread torn from
the cords of their nets, but whom he afterwards again de-
graded as unbelievers. The Amma-Kodagas were probably

evidence as to the influence of the Kongas over at least a portion of Coorg.
It would be of some interest to know in what document Kodagu is first
mentioned.*’ Bishop Caldwell gives in the introduction to his Comparative
Grammar of the Dravidian Languages, second edition, two different explana-
tions of the word Aodagu. On p. 22 he says: ‘‘ The word Korgu, one of
the names of the Chera country, means, like Kudagu (Coorg), crooked,
curved, and is evidently a name derived from the configuration of the
country ;’’ and on p. 36 he writes: ‘‘ The native spelling of Coorg is usually
Kodagu, properly Kudagu, from kuda, west, a meaning of the word which is
usual in ancient Tamil.’’ The original meaning of Kurg is often explained
as signifying western, but this explanation like the others proposed by the
two previously mentioned scholars appears to me improbable.

58 See Coorg Memoirs; an Account of Coorg.. by the Rev. H. Moegling,
Bangalore, 1855; the Rev. G. Richter’s Manual of Coorg (1870) and his Fthno-
graphical Compendium on the Castes and Tribes found in the Province of Coorg,
Bangalore, 1887 ; as well as Mr. Lewis Rice’s Mysore and Coorg, vol. III.
Moegling gives on pp. 1-10 a description of the Kurg country.

59 According to d Manual ef Coorg Civil Law, by Captain R. Cole, p. 4,
“There are four different sects or tribes amongst the Coorgs, viz., 1. Arne,
2. Sanna, 8. Malla, 4. Boddu Coorgs. Amongst these sects the dmma and
Sanna Coorgs are to be found in all parts of Coorg proper, whilst the Boddu
Coorgs are chiefly found to the north of Mercara. The Malle Coorgs are
amalgamated with the Sanna Coorgs and are no longer distinguishable.”

OF BHARATAVARSA OR INDIA. 141

so called after Amma Kavéri or Mother Kavéri, whom they
worship, though they do not assist at any ceremonies at the
Kaveri temple. In fact foraconsiderable period the Amma-
Kodagas do not appear to have performed any priestly func-
tions at all. They hardly surpass their lay countrymen
in education, and they live entirely on agriculture. They
possess no sacred books of their own, and their influence is
very limited. Some years back they could scarcely be dis-
tinguished from the other Kurgs, and they have only lately
discarded their national costume, in order to imitate the
Brahmans in their dress and food. They wear now the
sacred thread and abstain from animal food and liquor.
According to tradition, the Ammas owned once half of the
Kurg country free of rent, while the other half belonged to
the Lay Kurgs. But circumstances have changed much of
late, and the Amma-Kodagas are not only greatly reduced
in numbers, but are still continuing to decrease.™

6°Compare Coorg Memoirs of the Rev. H. Moegling, pp. 24-27: ‘*‘ When
the Brahmans for whom Parashurama’s victory opened the Western Coast,

| settled in their new country, they found there an indigenous priesthood.
| They could not destroy them; they could not, or would not, amalgamate

with them. What was to be done? The Parashurama Shrishti Kathe

| (history of the creation of Kerala by Parashurama) has managed the diffi-

culty. The native priesthood, the Taulava Brahmans, are represented as

_ Brahmans, created by Parashurama, but afterwards cursed by him. They

were originally fishermen. Parashurama elevated them to Brahmanical
rank by investing them with cords, torn from their nets. Afterwards,
provoked by their unbelieving presumption, he degraded them for ever.
Thus the ancient priests of the Tulu country were absorbed by the

| Brahmanical system as Brahmans, lying under a curse. In a similar

manner the Ammas of Coorg appear in this Kavéri Purana, as Brahmans

indeed originally, but degraded by the curse of the Rishi Agastya... The
_ real history of the Ammas, or Amma Kodagas has thus been effaced, and
| cannot be restored. However, a few facts may be mentioned as proofs, that
, the Ammas are the remains of the ancient priesthood, though they know it

not themselves. 1. Their common name is Amma Kodaga, which would
naturally signify : Coorgs devoted to the worship of Amma, i.e., the goddess
of the chief river of the country, the Kaveri. 2. They observe the great
festivals of the Coorg country in the same manner as the rest of the Coorgs,
but of course, as priests, performing puja, etc. 3. They dress like the rest

| of the Coorgs, though wearing at the same time, the Brahmanical cord.
' However, on this subject my information is rather curious. It is said, that

19

142 ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS

The Lay-Kurgs were formerly a warlike race, but the
long years of peace and security have to a certain extent
sottened their manners. Still they are strong and brave,
and though now not called upon to face hostile armies, they
courageously encounter the wild and fierce beasts which
infest their woods and mountains.

Their acknowledged bravery and the loyalty they dis-
played towards Government secured to the Kurgs the dis-
tinction of being exempted from the provisions of the
Disarming Act after the suppression of the Great Mutiny.

It has been asserted that polyandry exists, or has existed,
among the Kodagas, and though this practice has probably
become extinct in more recent times, there is no reason for
supposing that it did not once exist. Polyandry is a custom
peculiar to the Gauda-Dravidian tribes, and is still found
among certain races. The households of the Kodagas, in
which two or three, perhaps even four, generations live
together, have been likened to those of the five Pandavas.

having degenerated by degrees, and being at last carried away by the Turks,
they ceased to put on the holy cord, and began to wear the common Coorg
dress. But it appears to me, that the truth differs much from the current
statement. I suppose, that they wore the Coorg-dress originally, knew
nothing of Brahmanical pretensions and badges, and differed in nothing
from their brethren, except their selection for the priestly office. In more
recent times they seem to have inclined towards the proffered patronage of
the Brahmans, and to have gradually dropped into Brahmanical habits of
thought and life. A good many now wear the holy cord, having laid
aside the dress of their country, and all profess to abstain from meat and
fermented liquors. This return to Brahmanical initiation and dress was
brought about by a Haviga Brahman, the late Karnika, Timappaya. His
family still exercise spiritual rule over the Amma Kodagas, who appear to
delight in the shade of Brahmanical patronage. 4 They have no Shastra.
The whole Coorg race was unlettered from the beginning. Their own priest-
hood also, like the priests of ancient Germany and Britain, had no need of
books.’? Mr. Lewis Rice’s statements, Joco citeto, pp. 227, 228, coincide with
those of Mr. Moegling. The Rev. G. Richter gives in his Ethnographical
Compendium the following description of the Amma Kodagas on p. 21: ‘* The
Amma Coorgs form but a small and exclusive sect. They are said to have
been the indigenous priesthood, but there is no distinct priesthood attached
to demon worship. The Coorgs being demon worshippers can have had no
priesthood in the Brahmanical sense and the mma Coorgs may rather be
considered as having been, like the djyala Palyas, the officiating Pujaris at

OF BHARATAVARSA OR INDIA. 143

The Kodagas are very superstitious, worshipping demons and
evil spirits.

On the whole the Kodaga is a very worthy represen-
tative of the Gauda-Dravidian race, and has no need to raise

himself in the esteem of others by claiming to be an Aryan
Ksatriya.*

the bloody sacrifices offered to their Bhuwtas, an office which generally the
head of the family performs. Yet their name, Amma Kodagas, denotes that
they were devotees to ‘Mother Kaveri,’ a river deity which is identical with
Parvati, the wife of Siva. . It may be conjectured that the Brahmans coming

in contact with the rude Coorg mountaineers and seeing in the dominant race

a promising field to further their own interests, imposed upon them their own
puranic superstition and peopled the high mountains with celebrated rishis
or hermits, chief among them Agastia Muni, and brought the source of the
Kaveri in relationship with the principal Brahmanical deities, Siva and
Parvati, and to give divine authority to their proceedings they foisted upon

| the Coorgs the Kaveri Purana, a feat which may have overawed a rude and

superstitious race, but which by modern criticism is discovered as a frau-
dulent imposition of recent date. To conciliate and win over the indigenous

| Bhuta pwaris they were admitted as a sort of inferior priests of Kaveri
| Amma, hence their name dmma Kodagas. In the course of time disputes

must have arisen between them and the more crafty and learned Bramanical
priests whose interests necessitated a monopoly and as legend has it, the

| former fell under Haveri’s curse and decreased, whilst the Coorgs who
| sided with Agastia Muni, were promised increased prosperity. But however

obscure the history of the Amma Coorgs may be, the fact is that from time

_ immemorial they perform no priestly functions whatever, and being un-

lettered and ignorant they exercise no spiritual influence upon the rest of
the Coorgs from whom they are only distinguished by wearing the Brah-
manical cord and by abstaining from animal food end fermented liquor.
They do therefore not eat with Coorgs nor intermarry with them ; but the

_ Brahmans do in no wise acknowledge them as of equal standing or even

resembling them in priestly dignity. Their number does not exceed 400,

_ and the next census will likely confirm the opinion of their steady decrease.

| They live on agriculture only. Itis said that a class of people like the
_ Amma Kodagas live in the Wynaad, with whom they claim relationship, but
, have now no intercourse.’’ The legend of Paragurama elevating fishermen

on the Tuluya shore to Brahmans by destroying the nets and forming Brah-
manical strings out of their meshes, is also contained in a Kanarese Bhigéla.

_ Parasurama became incensed against them in consequence of their attempt-

ing to try the truth of his word.
61 See Coorg Annals, pp. 27, ff: ‘‘ There can be no doubt, that the Coorgs

| have an origin distinct from the population both of the Western coast

(Canara and Malayalam), and of the Mysore tableland. Their very ap-
pearance proves this. They area tall, muscular, broad-chested, well-favored

mace. Many of them donot exceed the neighbouring tribes in height of

144 ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS

The Koragas.

A greater dissimilarity can hardly exist between two
tribes than is found between the Kodagas of Kurg and the
Koragas of Kanara, though both belong to the same Gaudian
race. The free and independent bearing of the Kodaga
stands in glaring contrast to the shy and retiring demeanour

body. . Their complexion is rather fair, their features generally regular. . .
The national character of the Coorgs is perhaps tolerably well understood by
the people of the plains, who look upon them asa fierce, irascible and revenge-
ful race, not easily to be managed... They have a strange and noxious
custom, a kind of marriage-communism within the family. The wives of the
brothers of one house are considered as common property. The children
consequently are rather children of the family, or of the mother, than of the
acknowledged father... Among the Coorgs the family property descends
accordingly not so much from father to son, as from generation to generation,
the eldest member acting as head of the house. . In former days there was
another way, my informant told me, for contracting marriage, besides family

agreement. Two young people of the same (district) Nadu, would see each.

other, and without asking counsel of parents or friends, agree upon a union
for life. Such a covenant would be held sacred. Unfaithfulnessin the case
of such partners was a thing unheard of.’’ Read also Mr. Lewis Rice’s
Gazetteer of Coorg, pp. 93, ff., 203, 218, 254. Compare Mr. Richter’s Ethnogra-
phical Compendium, p. 2: ‘There can be no doubt that however varied the
population of Coorg may be, the dominant tribe, the Coorgs, as well as the
other Hindu castes and tribes of the country belong to the Dravidian race.
.. -Asto their physiognomy and bodily characteristics, essentially there seems
to be no difference other than what may be accounted for by civilization and
social institutions. The shape of their heads is clearly meso-cephalic and
orthognatus with less or more prominent cheek-bones and oval or pointed
faces.’’ P. 3: ‘‘As to traditional habits and customs amongst the people of Coorg
there isa great similitude to the usages among the other Dravidian races,
modified of course by the difference of climate and civilizing infiuences.’’ P.19:
. . The Coorgs or Kodagas, as they are properly called, are the principal inha-
bitants of the country, and from time immemorial the lords of the soil. For
the last two centuries they are known asa compact body of mountaineers who
resemble more a Scotch clan than a Hindu caste. . . However, the peculiar
character attached to them is doubtless the result of physical and political cir-
cumstances in which they were placed. They are a tribe more from position
than genealogy and cannot be said to be of distinct origin. In the Hindu
scale they are considered as Sudras. By the force of local circumstances
they became like other pre-Aryan hill tribes hunters and warriors and
wore brought into historical prominence through the chivalrous exploits
of their Raja Dodda Verajender in his struggle with Tippu Sultan for
independence and his alliance with the English, and again through the
insane hostility of the last Raja and the short invasion and annexation
of the country by the English in 1834. Now the Coorgs are peaceful
agriculturists and chiefly fill the offices of the local administration and

OF BHARATAVARSA OR INDIA. 145

of the Koraga when he encounters a stranger in his jungles.
The Kodaga has a comparatively fair complexion, while
the skin of the Koraya is black; the former delights to
cover himself with handsome clothes, the latter prefers rags
or a state bordering on nudity; while the Koraga woman is
even contented with a partial covering of interwoven leaves.
In spite of his poverty and wretchedness, the Koraga is a
contented man and lives happy and contented so long as
nobody interferes with him, and of course so long as he
can satisfy his hunger and thirst. He likes meat and is
fond of spirits. The dead are buried according to Mr. N.
Raghavendra Row, but burnt according to Dr. Francis
Buchanan. Mr. N. Raghavendra Row asserts that the

owe their notable position to the special favor of the British Government.
Their presumption to be of Kshatria or Rajput descent may flatter their
natural pride, but has not the slightest foundation in history or tradition,
or in the evidence derived from their language or social and religious insti-
tutions and customs. Lieutenant Connor, whose professional duties brought
him into daily intercourse with them for a period of two years, 1815-1817, en-
joyed the most favorable opportunities to form an unbiassed opinion of the
Coorgs before any Kuropean influence had affected their habits and social
position. He rejects the supposition of their being a division of the Nairs
as haying ‘ no pretension to rank with the higher classes of the Soodra tribe.’ ’’
P. 38: ‘‘ The Coorgs are generally charged with the practice of polyandry,
and Lieutenant Connor writes of the custom as an undoubted fact, the reason
for which he fails to see. He states, ‘The Codugus generally marry after
the age of puberty, the nuptials of the eldest brother are first celebrated,
and the lady in all cases yields a consent to become the wife of the younger
ones, who, when circumstances will permit, are married successively, their
spouses being in turn not less accommodating.’ Upon a careful and confi-
dential examination of the matter, I have come to the conclusion that, what-
ever may have been the custom of bygone ages, or whatever form it may
have assumed,—Thornton in his history of the British Empire alluding to
the marriage laws of the Coorgs, called it ‘communism of wives’—there is no
such thing now practised amongst the Coorgs as a ‘general usage.’’’ P. 42.
“Regarding the religion of the Coorgs the general statement already given
needs some special remarks. Considering their intimate connection with
local and neighbouring castes and tribes, it is but natural that their religious
practices, which originally stood on the same level with those of the Holeyas,
viz., demon and ancestor worship, have been much influenced by Malayalim,
Tulu, Kanarese, Brahmanical and Lingayet superstitions. Malayalis have
made themselves indispensable at demon and ancestor worship; Tulus have
smuggled in their demons and are in requisition as pujaris; Mysoreans at
certain times of the year carry Mari Amma shrines through the country to

146 ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS

Koraga does not like to volunteer any information about
his language. “He may be induced to give an account of
“his feasts, his god, and his family, but a word about his
“dialect will frighten him out of his wits. At that moment
“alone, he will become impolite and unmannerly. He
“thinks his dialect is a shield in his hand and cannot
“be parted with, and therefore keeps it as a sacred secret.
“ But good words and kind treatment can do something.
“A few words that have been gathered with great difficulty
“resemble those of the Keikadi and Naikunde Gondi tribes
“of Nagpore.” The unwillingness of the Soppina Koragas
to give information concerning their language is also men-
tioned in the Memoirs of the Origin of Slaves.”

have the people’s vows paid to them; the Brahmans who are domiciled in
Coorg have succeeded in introducing Mahadeva and Subrahmanya, in entirely
brahmanizing the worship of the river Kavéri, in having temples erected and
idols set up, in spreading puranic tales, and in usurping to some extent the
puja at the places of the worship. They have been greatly assisted in these
successful endeavours by the Lingayets and Sivacharis, especially in the in-
troduction of the Linga. Christianity first presented to them by the Roman
Catholic settlementin Virajendrapet since the days of Dodda Virajendra, and
for the last 30 years offered to them by the agents of the Basel Mission.
has made little progress.’”? Read also Rev. F. Kittel’s articles entitled
Coorg Superstitions, The Coorgs and Three Kongu Inscriptions in the Indian
Antiquary, vol. II, pp. 168-171, 182, and vol. VI, pp. 99-103. The second
article treats about the custom of polyandry. Compare Rey. M. A. Sherring’ s
Hindu Tribes and Castes, Vol. II, pp. 286-290. :
According to the last census the number of Amma Kodagas amounted to
475 and that of the other Kodagas to 26,438 souls.
62 See Mr. Ullal Raghavendra Rao’s account on the Koragas of Canara. I
have not been able to obtain a copy of the original lecture. It has been
reprinted two years ago in the May number 1886 of the Madras Christian
College Magazine, itis also in extenso quoted in the Madras Census Report of
1871, vol. I, pp. 343-345, in the Indian Antiquary, vol. III, pp. 195-199, and
in Mr. Sherring’s Hindu Tribes and Castes, vol. III, pp. 206-210. ‘* With
a black face, forehead of moderate size, and strong body, all bespeaking
contentment, the Koragar is separated from the rest of mankind,—alien in
dress, in manners, customs and dialect. Uneducated and illiterate as he is, in
his cirele virtue thrives as in her proper soil... He has a god, and him he
knows to love—him he knows to pray to, however incoherent his language
be. Lying, stealing, adultery, and other social evils, he knows not. He
has never appeared in a court of justice as defendant in a suit. He does
drink toddy, it is true.. He does eat flesh. On what else should he live,
while we have denied him every means of subsistence. ? . The Koragar, born

OF BHARATAVARSA OR INDIA. 147

Little is known about their former history. The Kora-
gas are now treated like Pariahs, though according to tradi-
tion they also were once a governing race. Dr. Francis
Buchanan states that: ‘‘ Hubushica, chief of the savages

as a slave, is richly content with his ignorance, with his koppw, and with his
squalid poverty. Ambition finds in him no place. He eats but the rotten
flesh of the dead cattle. He clothes himself but with rags... The dress of
the Koragar does not greatly differ from that which the lower classes, such
as the Billawars, make use of during their daily labour, the only point of
difference is, that the poverty of the Koragar does not allow him to replace
the narrow piece of threadbare cloth, little better than a rag, by a more
recent suit of clothes on festive occasions; while the other classes invariably
reserve some sort of finery for gala days. The dress of the females, how-
ever, is very peculiar. While the males gird a piece of cloth around their
loins, the females cover their waist with the leaves of the forest interwoven
together. The custom of their nudity is attributed to different reasons ; and
a tradition, which has been handed down to posterity among the upper classes,
who boast of the glory of the past, is hardly worthy of belief... One of these
‘blacklegged’ (the usual expression by which they are referred to during the
night) demanded a girl of high birth in marriage. Being enraged at this, the
upper class withheld, after the overthrow of the Koraga empire, every kind
of dress from the Koraga women, who, to protect themselves from disgrace,
have since had recourse to the leaves of the forest . . .Within his own
circle, he has three divisions: 1. The Ande Koragars.—These are described
as having a pot suspended from their neck. This class, which is the lowest,
has been rarely seen since the establishment of British rule in Canara.
They were considered so unholy, that they were not allowed to this on the
public way ; and, consequently, the pot was worn for this purpose. 2. The
Vastra Koragars.—This appellation has reference to their wearing clothes
such as were used to shroud a dead body and were given to them in the shape
ot charity, the use of a new cloth being prohibited. 3. The Sappu Koragars.
—These Koragars are such as we now generally see, wearing leaves for
alothes. These three divisions are named simply after their different kinds
of dress.” (This extract is from M. Sherring’s vol. III, and the following
partly also from the Indian Antiquary.)

‘“« When a Koragar dies, as a matter of simple duty, reference is made to
his landlord, and with his permission the deceased is buried in a place con-
secrated for the purpose, and in his honour four balls of rice are made and
placed on the grave, which must be done within twelve months from the
date of his death. Koragars were, it is said, originally worshippers of the
sun... They have no separate temple for their god; but a place beneath
a Kasarkana tree is consecrated for the worship of their deity, which
is exclusively their own, and is called Kata. ..The Koragars have no fixed
feasts exclusively their own. Now, while liberty shines throughout the
world under this Christian Government, slavery still lurks in those darkest
corners where the rays of education have yet to penetrate. The Koragars
and Holeyas are victims to this vestige of past despotism. The ceremony

148 ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS

“called Coragoru, or Corar, governed 12 years, till Kali-
“vugam 2657. Locaditya Raya, son of Myuru Varma,
“expelled the Coragoru, and governed Tulava, Malayala,
“and Haiga 21 years, till Kaliyugam 2678.” ®

of buying a slave needs a little explanation. The destined slave is washed,
and anointed with oil, and new clothes are givenhim. The master takes a
batlu, or plate, pours some water in it, and drops in it apiece of gold.
The slave drinks up the water, and taking some earth from his future
master’s estate, throws it on the spot which he has chosen for his use,
which is thereupon given to him with the trees thereon. The greater num-
ber of slaves belong to the Aliya Santanam castes, and among these
people a male slave is sold for three Bhaudry pagodas, and a female
slave for five pagodas; whereas the few slaves who follow the Makkala
Santanam custom, fetch five pagodas for the man, and only three for the
woman. This is because the children of the latter go to the husband’s
master, while those of the Aliya Santanam slaves go to the mother's
master, who also has the benefit of the husband’s services.”

In the Memoirs of the Origin of Slaves of Ramappa Karnik of Barkur,
which I quoted on p. 132 in note 40, p. 135, note 53, and on p. 146 concerning
the language of the Soppu Koragar, contain also other interesting remarks on
the Koragas on pp. 28, 24, 32, 33, 34,35. In 11: ‘‘ Mirars, Kappata Koragars,
Soppu Koragars and those, who are aborigines of Ghauts feed upon
carrion or carcasses of oxen, cows, calves, buffaloes and other cattle. Fe-
males of Soppu Koragars alone wear leaves of trees. .. Kappata Koragars
and Soppu Koragars do wicker-work, sell hides to shoe-makers and secure
remnants of food of all higher classes except the subdivided Chandalas. Soppu
Koragars also beat drum during buffalo race and other occasions. .. Among
the Soppu Koragars, male guests of their caste bring degradation upon
them if they enter after sun-set a hut occupied by a single woman. The
females of this class, failing to wear leaves, bring disrepute to the whole
class.’”

63 Compare A Journey from Madras through the Countries of Mysore,
Canara, and Malabar, by Francis Buchanan, M-.p., second edition, Madras,
vol. II, p. 269, and pp. 271, 272: ‘‘ Having assembled some of the Corar,
or Corawar, who under their chief Hudashica are said to have once been
masters of Tudava, I found, that they are now all slaves, and have lost every
tradition of their former power. Their language differs considerably from
that of any other tribe in the peninsula. When their masters choose to employ
them, they get one meal of victuals, and the men have daily one Hany
of rice, and the women three-quarters of a Hany. This is a very good
allowance ; but, when the master has no use for their labour, they must sup-
port themselves as well as they can. This they endeavour to do by making
Coir, or rope from coco-nut husks, various kinds of baskets from Rafans and
climbing plants, and mud walls. They pick up the scraps and offals of other
people’s meals, and skin dead oxen, and dress the hides. They build their
huts near towns or villages. Their dress is very simple, and consists in
general of a girdle, in which they stick a bunch of grass before, and another

OF BHARATAVARSA OR INDIA. 149

The same incident is mentioned in the following manner
in the MS. of the yet unprinted “‘ Geography and History of
Canara” compiled by the late Mr. William Lavie, an official
of South Kanara, during the years 1830 to 1841: “ About
“900 years or more before Christ (but we must not be too
‘particular about dates) Hoobashee brought an army from
“ Anantapur consisting of the Berar, Mundale, Karamara,
“ Mailla, Holeya, Ande Koraga; with these troops, whom
“Buchanan calls savages, Hoobashee marched against
‘“‘ Angara Varma, the son of Veera Varma. ‘They first came
“to Barkir and from thence proceeded to Mangalore, where
“ they were seized with the small-pox, and greatly troubled
“by the ants. Subsequently they went to the south-
“ward of Manjeshwar. Here Hoobashee established his
“capital, and put his nephew Siddha Bhyru on the throne
“in lieu of Veera Varma. He reigned only twelve years,
“and then both he and Hoobashee died, owing to the en-
“chantments used by Veera Varma who went to Banwasee
“in Sonda for that very purpose. After their deaths, Veera
“Varma returned and drove the aforesaid army into the

behind. Some of the men have a fragment of cloth round their waist ; but
very few of the women ever procure this covering. They are not, however,
without many ornaments of beads, and the like ; and even when possessed
of some wealth, do not alter their rude dress. Some few of them are permit-
| ted to rent lands as Gaynigaras. In spite of this wretched life, they are a
| good looking people, and therefore probably are abundantly fed. They have

no hereditary chiefs, and disputes among them are settled by assemblies of the
| people. If they can get them, they take several wives; and the women are
| marriageable both before and after puberty, and during widowhood. They
_ will not marry a woman of any other caste; and they are considered of so
| base an origin, that a man of any other caste, who cohabits with one of their

women, is inevitably excommunicated and afterwards not even a Corar will
| admit his society. The marriages are indissoluble, and a woman who com-
mits adultery is only flogged. Her paramour, if he be a Corar, is fined. The
| master pays the expense of the marriage feast. When a man dies, his wives,
with all their children, return to the huts of their respective mothers
| and brothers, and belong to their masters. They will eat the offals of any
other caste, and can eat beef, carrion, tigers, crows, and other impure
| things; they reject, however, dogs and snakes. They can lawfully drink
' intoxicating liquors. They burn the dead, and seem to know nothing of
20

150 ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS

‘jungles where they were driven to such extremities that
‘they consented to become slaves and serve under the former
“landlords. The way in which this was done was as follows:
“ After washing and anointing the body with oil, new cloths
‘‘ were put on the destined slave, and his future owner having
“taken a Batlu or plate, poured some water on it and dropt
“in a piece of gold. After which the slave drank up the
“water. The slave then took up some earth trom his future
“master’s estate and threw it on such a spot as he chose for
“his house and garden which was accordingly given over to
“him with all the trees thereon. The Karamara were set
“to watch the crops and cattle belonging to the village.
“The head-men who had been appointed by Hoobashee to
“the most responsible posts under his nephew’s government
“were taken naked towards the sea in order to be hung
‘there, but being ashamed of their naked state they gathered
“the leaves of the Necky gida (®é, “@), five-leaved trees, and

‘made a small covering for themselves in front. Thereupon
“ their conductors took pity on them and let them go, since
‘‘ which they have continued to wear no other covering than
“the leaves of the said tree.” ©

a state of future existence, nor do they believe in Paisachi, or evil spirits.
Their deity is called Buta, and is represented by a stone, which is kept
in a square surrounded by a wall. To thisstone, in all cases of sickness,
they sacrifice fowls or make offerings of fruit or grain, and every man offers
his own worship (Pija); so that they have no officiating priest, and
they acknowledge the authority of no Guru. They follow all the oxen and
butfaloes of the village, as so much of the live stock, when they are driven in
procession at a great festival which the farmers annually celebrate.’’

64 T copied this extract from a MS. copy of Mr. Lavie’s Geography and
History of Canara kindly lent to me by Mr. J. Sturrock, Collector of South
Canara, and it occurs there on pp. 21, 22. Mr. Lavie says about it: ‘‘ 29. The
following traditionary account of the Dhérs I quote in full from a Canarese
paper obligingly furnished to me by a respectable native.’’ This extract is
also contained in a note to the Memoirs of the Origin of Slaves by Ramappa
Karnic of Barkur, a friend of Dr. Buchanan. These memoirs were trans-
lated by Mr. Joseph Saldanha, Sheristadar of Mangalore, and published
by Dr. John Shortt in the IV Part of The Hil? Ranges of Southern India.
The MS. copy of these Memoirs and the print of Dr. Shortt (on p. i9)
acknowledge Lavie's Geegraphy and History of Canara as their original

OF BHARATAVARSA OR INDIA, 151

In the English translation of Ramappa’s Memoirs of
the Slaves, Hoobashee is always called Hubashika, and the
Karamaras are called Marimans or Kappatu Koragas.

We read also in this memoir that Hubasika, king of
the Candalas, subdued king Lokadiraya, that the king
Candraséna, in order to get rid of Hubasika, proposed to
him that he should marry Candraséna’s sister, and when
Hubasika with his chief followers came, the guests were
treacherously assailed and either massacred or enslaved.©

source. The following account is reprinted from The Koragars by Mr. Ullal
Raghavendra Rao from the Indian Antiquary, vol. III, p. 196: ‘The
following tradition gives us a very faint idea of their rule :—

“¢ About 900 years or more B.C. (but we must not be too particular about
dates), the Hahashi brought an army from Anantapur, consisting of the Birar,
Mundal, Karmara, Maila, Holeya, Ande Koraga; with these troops, whom
the learned Dr. Buchanan calls savages, the Habashi marched against Angara
Varma, the son of Vira Varma. They first came to Barkur, and from thence
proceeded to Mangalur, where they were attacked by small-pox, and greatly
troubled by ants. They went to the southward of Manjesvar. There the
Habashi established his capital, and put his nephew Sidda Bairu on the
throne in lieu of Vira Varma. He reigned only twelve years, and then both
he and the Habashi died, owing to the enchantments used by Vira Varma,
who went to Banawast in Sonda for that very purpose. After their death
Vira Varma returned, and drove the aforesaid army into the jungles, where
they were pursued to such extremities that they consented to become slaves
and serve under the former landlords. The Karmara was sent to watch’
the crops and cattle belonging to the village. The headmen who had been
appointed by the Hubashi to the most responsible posts under his nephew’s
government were taken naked to the seashore in order to be hanged, but,
being ashamed of their naked state, they gathered the leaves of the Nekki
gida and made a small covering for themselves. Thereupon their conductors
took pity on them, and let them go, since which they have, it is said,
continued to wear no other covering than the leaves of the said tree.”’

The Koragars have been republished in the Madras Christian College
Magazine, vol. III, pp. 824, 833. The contents of the nine lines (beginning
with ‘The way in which,” and ending with ‘‘all the trees thereon,’’ con-
cerning the ceremony of buying a slave) are omitted in this extract, and are
found in another extract reprinted at the top of p. 148 in note 62.

The passage on p. 197 beginning with: ‘‘ Although these slaves are ina
degraded position” and ending with: ‘‘ They are also mortgaged for three
or four pagodas,”’ forms verbatim part of § 30 on p. 23 of Mr. Lavie’s MS.
It is found in the Madras Christian College Magazine op pages 828, 829.
Mr. Lavie resigned the service in 1848 and died in England in 1861.

% The Locaditya Raya of Buchanan is called Lokadiraya by Ramappa Karnic
of Barkur, in whose Memoirs of the Origin of Slaves in Dr. Shortt’s Hill Ranges,
Part IV, pp. 18 and 19, we read: “ Formerly, a hero by name Hubashika

152 ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS

What makes this tradition so interesting is that it con-
nects Hubasika with the Kadambas; for Candraséna, the
ruler of the Tuluva country, was a kinsman of Trinétra
Kadamba. Trinétra is a favorite name in this dynasty.
Candraséna had a son Lokaditya, who married a daughter
of Trinétra Kadamba. The daughter of this Lokaditya and
of the Kadamba princess Kanakavati was asked in marriage
by Hubasika, the king of the Candalas. Lokaditya pretended
to favour the suit, and invited the intended bridegroom to
his capital Tripura to celebrate the marriage. Shortly after
his arrival Hubasika and his retinue were treacherously
assailed and massacred by the soldiers of Lokaditya and
Trinétra.

These accounts differ very considerably. According to
some Hubasika died owing to the enchantments of Vira

Varma, according to others he was killed by Lokaditya, to

became famous amongst the Chandalas, subdued the king Lokadiraya and
was ruling with his caste men. King Chendashena, with the view of getting
rid of Hubashika, proposed a marriage between Hubashika and Chendasena’s
sister, and invited the bridegroom and his caste men to the nuptials. The
invitation being complied with, a wholesale massacre of the guests ensued,”
many fell victims to the plot, a few escaped, others were imprisoned and made
over to Brahmans to be employed in tilling their lands. As the captives
belonged to the camp of the enemy, it was declared that the Chandalas
should be punished by their respective masters for faults committed by them -
that they should for ever remain under subordination to others : that tnee
should possess no authority whatever ; and that they should be allowed only
the daily ratio of food rather than permit them to have at their disposal, the
previous day, means for providing themselves with the necessaries of the
next day. Thus doomed to bondage for ever, the Chandalas were transferred
along with the lands to the subsequent Nadavar and Brahman purchasers . _
Those who had escaped during the aforesaid crisis had returned home, pur-
sued their avocations and lived an independent life . . The Soppu Koragars
also appear to have been in some localities attached to land and in others to
have enjoyed liberty.’’

With respect to the Kadambas the main printed information so far as
the subject concerns us here is contained in H. H. Wilson’s Mackenzie Collec
tion, Introduction, pp. lix, 1, ci-ciii, 95-97 (new edition, pp. 36, 60, 62, 149,
150).

I have consulted the MSS. in the Government Oriental MSS. Library
on which are mostly founded the conclusions of Wilson. Read also Mr. L.
Rice’s Mysore and Coorg, vol. 1, pp. 194, 195.

OF BHARATAVARSA OR INDIA. 153

whom Buchanan ascribed the expulsion of the Koragas after
the death of Hubasika. The relationship of the Kadamba
princes is also given differently; still these contradictions
need not invalidate the main part of the tradition concerning
Hubasika.

If we could recognise in this prince a real historical
personage, an important step would have been gained towards
fixing the period of these events. The life of the first
Trinétra Kadamba is placed by some at the beginning
of the second century A.D., and this is the very period
which the coins supply concerning the reign of Huviska
or Hooerkes, king of the Korano, who would have been thus
a contemporary of Hubasika, king of the Koragas.

The mighty Scythian king Kadphises II was succeeded
in North-Western India by king Kaniska or Kanerkes, who
initiated in A.D. 78 the Saka Era, as has been first sug-
gested by the late Mr. James Fergusson. Kaniska or
Kanerkes was followed in his reign about 110 A.D. by
Huviska or Hooerkes. The latter forms prevail on the coins,
while the records contain the former. The Korano or Kusan
are identical with the Yueh-chi, the Chinese name of this
tribe, commonly known to us as Indo-Scythians.

The Gauda-Dravidian race, as I have repeatedly pointed
out, was not confined to India, some of its branches having
remained on the northern frontier of the Indian continent.
The invasion by the Korano can thus be appropriately
explained as an inroad into India made by a kindred
tribe, and leads to the suggestion that Hubasika, king of
the Koragas, may be identified with Huviska, king of the
Korano or Kusan. As Huviska’s reign falls in the first
half of the second century A.D., the period of Hubasika’s
reported invasion will be fixed if Hubasika and Huviska are
one and the same person.

Moreover, there are different kings of the name Trinétra
among the Kadambas. The first Trinétra lived according

154 ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS

to native tradition early in the Kaliyuga, while H. H. Wilson
places his reign in the second half of the second century A.D.
Maytira Varma, the Myuru Varma of Buchanan, either the
third or the sixth king of this dynasty, had a son Trinétra
Kadamba, also known as Ksétra Varma and Candragada.
He was the brother-in-law of Lokaditya, the son of Candra-
séna. Great confusion prevails in this matter.

The resemblance between the two names Hubasika and
Huviska is so great, that one might suspect them to be iden-
tical. If this is the case, we must consider whether there
existed only one or two or more kings of this same name.
If only one king of this name ruled, his exploits must have
been transferred to a subsequent period, in order to confer
on the then reigning dynasty (in this circumstance on the
race of the Kadambas “*) the glory of having slain such a
distinguished sovereign. If we can trace more than one ruler
of the name of Huviska (Hubasika), the difficulty as to the
date is removed. Yet, I feel inclined to assume that only
one king of this name did exist, and that Hubasika’s or
Huviska’s invasion is separated from Lokaditya’s reign by a
long intervening period. The identity of the original Huba-
sika with Huviska will be of considerable historical interest,
as it proves the great impression which the invasions of
the Indo-Scythians made on the mind of the Indian people.
The similarity between Morano and Koraga, the names of
the tribes over whom Huviska and Hubasika respectively
ruled, must also not be overlooked.

Mayira Varma is credited with having introduced Brah-
mans to Kanara. His capital was Banavasi, already men-
tioned by Ptolemy (VII, 1, 83) as Bavaovacei.

The change of an 7 into a sibilant does not offer any
philological difficulty, especially in Sanskrit, so that the
forms Kaniska and Huviska require no particular explanation,
if the original national pronounciation preferred an 7 and

§© See p. 240.

~0"). 220

U
‘
‘
.|

OF BHARATAVARSA OR INDIA. 155

was Kanerkes and Hooerkes. Certain euphonic rules even
necessitate the above-mentioned change in Sanskrit. The
Gauda-Dravidian languages are not very strict in the use of
the liquids r and /, and the letter / is at times pronounced
like an / or an r, and even, though faulty, like an s.°

The Koragas, whom Buchanan calls Corawar, though
treated like out-castes, yet acknowledge caste-distinctions
among themselves. They are known as Ande Koragas, Vastra
Koragas and Soppu Koragas. They are divided besides into
five tribes. The names of two of these are lost. The others
are called Bangaranna, Kumaranna, and Mungaranna.

I explain the word Koraga in the same manner as
Kodaga, both names being derivatives of ko, mountain,
Dr. Francis Buchanan calls the Koragas, as above men-

67 About these rulers and especially about Huwiska or Hooerkes, compare
besides other writings the Catalogue of the Greek and Scythic kings of Bactria
and India in the British Museum by Percy Gardner, uu.p., edited by Reginald
8. Poole, tu.p., Introduction, pp. xlix-li: ‘‘ The evidence derived from
the style and epigraphy of coins seems to show that Kadphises I, and
Kadaphes ruled but a part of North-West India. When Kadphises came
in as an invader from the north, he found Hermaeus ruling in the Kabul
Valley, and reduced him to a state of dependence . .. The Yueh-chi did
not rapidly extend their dominion in India. . Only on the accession of the
second Kadphises did the power of the invaders become altogether predomi-
nant . . Kadphises II., Ooemo Kadphises, was a wealthy monarch, and the
founder of a powerful line of Scythic kings, as to whom inscriptions give us
some information. His date is about the middle of the first century A.D.
His successors are the kings called on their coins Kanerkes and Hooerkes,
and in the records Kanishka and Huvishka. Their rule comprised the
whole of North-West India and the Kabul Valley.’’ See further pp. 129,
158,175; H. H. Wilson’s Ariana Antiqua, pp. 5, 9, 347-377; The Arche-
ological Survey of India by Sir Alexander Cunningham, vol. II, p. 238; vol.
II, pp. 10, 43, 44, 63-70, 88, 159, 162, 168; vol. III, pp. 30, 32; vol. V, p.
57; vol. XIV, p. 53; vol. XVI, Pref., P. IV; Indian Antiquary, vol. VI, pp.
217-19 ; vol. X, pp. 218, 216 ; vol. XVII contains the article on ‘‘ Zoroastiam
Deities on Indo-Scythian Coins’’ by M. Aurel Stein, Ph.D., to which I wish
to draw attention, though I cannot as yet see my way to agree with
him in his, at all events, ingenious conjecture of identifying the Greek P
which he himself pronounces repeatedly r with the sibilant s.

The Banavasei (Bavaa cer and Bavaovacel) of Ptolemy has been differently
explained. Some take it for Kundapur, others for Konkanapura, Kokanur
and Anegundi. See Mr. T. W. McCrindle’s Ancient India as described by
Ptolemy, p. 179.

156 ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS

tioned, also Corawar. The Koravas or Koramas, moun-
taineers, are indeed a tribe widely spread in Southern India.
They are identical with the Kuruvas, of whom I shall speak
later on. To the mountain climbing Malaca, whom I
noticed in Part I on p. 49, correspond the terms Koraca, Korca
and Korsa unless they are taken as modifications of Korava.
We find these people especially in the Kanarese districts,
They are well known as basket-makers.®

The Todas.

The Todas or Tudas, as these pastoral rulers of the
Blue Mountains, or Neagiri of South India, are generally
called, have to a certain extent baffled all inquiries con-
eerning their origin. But there is no doubt that they belong
to the Gaudian branch of the Gauda-Dravidian group. The
supposition that the Todas are connected with the African
Ethiopian has, I think, no foundation whatever.®

The question whether they are aborigines of, or immi-
grants into, the country they at present inhabit, has been
much discussed. The probability is that, according to their
traditions, they left their original abodes and settled on the
Nilagiri mountain range; but the time when this migration
actually took place is shrouded in mystery. Yet, even if
they ascended from the plains to the Nilagiri hills, this
circumstance does not militate against the fact that originally
in their old homes they were mountaineers. At all events
very many centuries must have elapsed since their settlement
on the Nilagiri. They possess, so far as we can ascertain,
no trustworthy traditions, no inscriptions, nor any literature
concerning their ancient history.

68 See p. 73.
63 See Lieutenant-Colonel W. E. Marshall's 4 Phrenologist amongst the

Todas, p. 4: ‘*There is much of the ‘blameless Ethiopian’ about them:
something of the Jew and of the Chaldaean in their appearance.” ‘On
the eve of sending this work to the press, I would beg again to urge my
belief in the connection between the Dravidian Toda and the Ethiop.”’

OF BHARATAVARSA OR INDIA. 157

The Todas are divided into five clans, namely: Paiki,
Pekkan, Kuttan, Kenna and Todi. We meet the term Paiki
again among the Hale-paikis of Naga, and the Kumara-
paikas of North Kanara, who make toddy-drawing their
chief occupation. The MHale-paikis of Manjarabad are
called Dévara makkalu or children of God, and the Paikis
who take the lead among the ‘lodas, for from them the
Palal or high-priest is chosen, call themselves also Dér mokh,
or children of God.”

The derivation of Paiki is obscure; can it be connected
with the Telugu postposition pai, above ?

1 In The Tribes inhabiting the Neilgherry Hills, Mangalore, 1864, the Rev.
F. Metz says on p. 14: ‘‘ At what period the Todas first came to and settled
upon the Neilgherries, we have no means of ascertaining ; for they have no
literature, nor any inscriptions, and such of their traditions as I have
hitherto heard them mention afford no clue whatever by which this

mystery can be unravelled. From their legends, and some particular
_ words contained in their language, I am led to think that, prior to
migrating to these Hills, they must, perhaps for centuries, have inhabited
a range lying to the North-East, in the direction of Hassanoor, beyond
the Gazelhutty pass. Part of the tribe appears to have settled in a
northern direction near Collegal ; for I am frequently pressed to go and visit
them and bring back intelligence respecting their condition in life;
prosperity with the Todas, as in patriarchal times, consisting in the number
and extent of their heads.’’ See also An Account of the Tribes on the Neil-
. gherries, by J. Shortt, m.p., Madras, 1868, pp. 4-42. On p. 4 he writes:
“¢ Todawars, or Torawurs, who are reputed to be the aborigines, and, it is
said, were once clad in leaves and roamed as free and unrestrained lords of
the soil, leading a pastoral nomadic life. . . Todawars, or Torawurs—the literal
name given to herdsmen in the Tamil language—are the principal tribe, and
are believed to be the original inhabitants, as well as the territorial
' sovereigns of these Hill tracts. Not only do the Todars themselves claim
_ this priority of existence and possession, but the right is conceded to them
| by the other Hill tribes, who, in recognition of it, always paid a tribute to
_ their Toda lords, consisting of one-sixth of the produce in kind; but, under the
| British Government, this practice is being gradually discontinued... The
- Toda or Thoddur tribe consists of five distinct intersections or sub-divisions,
namely (1) Peiky; (2) Pekkan; (3) Kuttan; (4) Kenna; and (5) Tody...
(On p. 7.) The Todawars are entirely a pastoral race, and lead a peaceful
) tranquil life, chiefly employed in tending their cattle. They carry no weapon
| of offence or defence for protection against enemies of their own kind or
| wild beasts, except a cowherd’s wand or staff, which is made of jungle wood
‘generally, about 44 feet long with a large knob or head.”’ Compare further
tbidem a Geographical and Statistical Memoir of a Survey onthe Neilgherry
Mountains, by Captain J. Ouchterlony, 1847, pp. 51-52: ‘This remarkable
race differs in almost every essential respect from all other tribes of the

21

158 ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS

They also do not show much interest in the old cairns,
kistvains, sepulchral structures, and other remains that are
found scattered all over these mountains, though they claim
some as their own. It is, therefore, still a matter of some
doubt whether these relics ought to be assigned to them in
preference to the Kurumbas, who may perhaps have a more
legitimate title to their possession. From many indications
it would appear that the people who erected these stone
buildings must have been agriculturists. The Todas, on the

natives of Hindustan, and their singular characteristics and strange habits
have given rise to much speculation as to their origin and history. As no
clue has however yet been discovered either in the form of monuments, coins,
or even in their own traditions, by which research could be directed, all
theories broached npon the subject cannot be otherwise than vain and illusory,
especially those which have been based upon the assumption that the
images, bones, and other relics which are found in the remarkable ‘ cairns,’

discovered in such numbers all over the Hills, belonged to the ancestors of

the Todars... (On p. 63.) Their occupation is purely pastoral; their only
manual labor being the milking of the buffaloes, and converting portions of
their milk into butter and ghee.”’ Consult An Account of the Primitive Tribes
and Monuments of the Nilagiris, by the late James Wilkinson Breeks, edited
by his widow ; London, 1878, pp. 26 and 27: ‘‘The burning at funerals
of a mimic bow and arrow together with the daily-used implements of
the deceased, and the importance assigned to the bow in the marriage cere-
mony, seem to me inexplicable, except on the theory that the bow was
once the chief weapon of the Todas, although they are ignorant of its use
now. This view is in a measure confirmed by the Todas’ admission that
their ancestors ate samber flesh, and that they would gladly do so now if they
could obtain it ; and by the fact that they still recognise, and make offerings
to, a hunting God under the name of Betikhan, who, though he now resides
in a temple at Nambilicoté beyond Gudalur, is, they say, the son of their
ancestor, Dirkish. The question then arises : how, and when did the bow fall
into disuse with the Todas?. .The answer could seem to be found in the
tradition mentioned by Colonel Ouchterlony, viz.—that before the Badagas
and Kotas came to the Hills, the Todas lived only by their herds, and wore
leaves. As far as the leaf dresses go, the story seems apocryphal. If the
Todas had only adopted clothes after the arrival of the Badagas and Kotas,
their garments would probably have Badaga or Kota names, whereas
prutkuli, tharp, kinu, §c., are among the few Toda words which Mr. Metz can
trace to no Dravidian roots. Besides, a hunting race would certainly wear
skins : however, the story probably contains some truth. Before the culti-
vating tribes settled in the Hills, the Todas, unless they killed their cattle,
would have no means of obtaining solid food except by hunting, for their
traffic with the Western Coast must have been too intermittent and insigni-
ficant to be depended on for subsistence. Probably they were then expert
in the use of the bow.’’ Read further 4 Phrenclogist amongst the Todas, by

a

.
|
;

OF BHARATAVARSA OR INDIA. 159

other hand, are now shepherds, and lead a simple pastoral and
nomadic life. They do not devote themselves to the culti-
vation of the soil, an occupation which the Badagas, who
immigrated at a later period, especially follow. Yet the
assumption that the Todas have always led a pastoral life, if
- substantiated, seems to speak against the connection of the
Todas with such structures. However, it is quite possible
that the sickles found in the cairns may have been used for
other than agricultural purposes.”

Lientenant-Colonel William E. Marshall, London, 1873, pp. 2-8 and 136,
and A Manual of the Nilagiri District, by H. B. Grigg, Madras, 1880, pp.
183-202. Compare about the Paiki Mr. Lewis Rice’s Mysore Inscriptions,
Introduction, pp. Xxxili, xxxiv, and Metz, p. 35.

71 See Rey. F. Metz, ibidem, p. 13: ‘‘Some few of the Todas maintain that
the cairns are the work of their ancestors, but these are men who have been
examined by Europeans. The majority, and especially the most respectable
of them, do not hold this opinion, and it would be a strange anomaly indeed
in a people so proverbial for their respect for the dead, to allow, as the Todas
do, these places of interment to be rudely disturbed and desecrated by the
hands of strangers, did they believe them to be the receptacles of the ashes
of their forefathers. Many of the circles constructed of loose stones which
have been taken to be deserted temples of this tribe, were doubtless nothing
more than buffalo-pens.’’ And on p. 124: “ During the 13 years that I have
labored amongst and mixed with the ‘hill-tribes, I have never found the
Todas in any way interested in the cairns, whilst the fact of their making no
objection to their being opened, taken in connection with the circumstance
of the contents frequently consisting of plough-shares, sickles and other
implements of husbandry, showing that the cairns were constructed by an
agricultural race, which the Todas never were, are to me convincing proofs
that they are not the work of the Todas of a past generation.’”’ The Rey.
Mr. Metz states that such kist-vains are called Mériarw mane, house
of the Morias, and recognises in the latter the Mauryas or Usbeck Tatars.
Is it perhaps possible, to connect the term Mériarw with the Mar tribe?
Peculiarly enough Mér is the Toda expression for the Kandahs, as in the
Toda name Meérkdkal for Kotagiri, i.e., the Kota village (Kokal) of the
Kaundahs, see Breeks, p. 36. Compare Captain Congreve’s article: The
Antiquities of the Neilgherry Hills, including an Inquiry into the Descent of
the Thautavars or Todars, inthe Madras Journal of Literature and Science, 1847,
vol. XIV, No. 32, pp. 77-146. Lieutenant-Colonel Congreve contends that
the Todas were the constructors of the old cairns and he gives on pp. 84, 85
his reasons for it : ‘‘ 1st. The shape of the cairns: a Circle of stones similar
to that of the cemeteries of the Thautawars at this day. 2nd. The basing
and other utensils, knives, arrow-heads, shreds of cloth, mingled with charcoal
and bones found in the cairns are precisely the same articles buried at the
funeral of amvudern Thautawar. 3rd. In both cases these things are deposited

160 ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS

Some of their legends connect the Todas with the Raksasa
king Ravana, others with his great antagonist, Rama. The
ancestors of the Todas are said to have been the palanquin
bearers of Ravana; if so, they belong to the Gauda-Dravi-

in holes under large slabsin the middle of the cemeteries. 4th. The nu-
merous figures of buffaloes, some with bells round their necks, made of
pottery, found in the cairns are monuments of the antiquity of the Thau-
tawar custom of sacrificing buffaloes decorated with bells at funerals. 4th.
In every case I have observed a Thautawar village situated contiguously to
the cairn, manifesting some connection. 6th. The Thautawars claim to be
the original proprietors of the land, a claim acknowledged by the English, as
well as the Native inhabitants of the Hills. 7th. The prevailing opinion
amongst the latter that these cairns belonged to the early Thautawar people.
8th. The absence of any inscription on any of the vessels dug out of the
cairns, considered with reference to the fact of the Thautawars having no
written language. 9th. The circumstance of some lascars attempting
to open a cairn in search of treasure being compelled to desist in their
enterprize by the Thautawars of an adjoining village.’’ Dr. Shortt, in

the article above mentioned, says on p. 45: ‘‘The Todas themselves —

‘attribute the cairns found on the Neilgherries, sometimes to a people
who preceded them, at others to the Kurumbas, and that they formed their
‘burial places... It is generally believed by the Natives that these cairns
and cromlechs are the work of the followers of the Pandean Kings, and that
they at one time ruled on the Neilgherries also. The Todas and Badagas
likewise believe this, while some of them attribute them tothe Kurumbas.
The Rev. Mr. Metz is also of the latter opinion, and I am inclined to coincide
with this gentleman.’’ See also J. W. Breeks’ Primitwe Tribes of the Nila-
giris, pp. 72-110; p. 95: ‘The Peranganad cairns, lying between Kotagherry
and Kodanad, differ less from those at Tunéri; the figures are generally
smaller and rougher, and the colour darker, but the urns are often very fine,
with strong glaze of mica. . It is, however, remarkable that the rougher
remains are found in the division in which lie the two (probably) oldest Toda
mands, and the only cairns claimed by the Todas.. (On p. 96.) At one time,
they were generally assigned to the Todas; and Colonel Congreve wrote an
elaborate essay to prove the Scythian origin of this people and their claim
‘to the cairns. His large theories, and occasionally incorrect facts, dis-
credited his cause rather unduly, and of late years the cairns have been
generally attributed either to the Kurumbas or to an extinct race. Those
who held these views, however, seem to have been unaware of, or to have
overlooked, the significant fact that the Todas even now burn their dead
in a circle of stones and bury the ashes there. Now, not only may the
circle of stones be called the fundamental idea of cairns and barrows, but
-some of them consist of insignificant circles of stones, hardly to be distin-
guished from Toda Azarams except by the trees or bushes which indicate
their greater age... (On p. 97.) It will be seen that these old Asdrams
(supposing them to be Asdrams), shew one or two marked points of approx-

/

-imation to the cairns. lst. They prove that metal ornaments and objects

OF BHARATAVARSA OR INDIA. 161

dian race, of whom Ravana was an ancient representative.
This report is more likely to be true than that which des.
cribes them as Rama’s followers who eventually settled in
the south.”

of value were in old times actually buried by the Todas, instead of being,
as now, only offered to the flames and taken away. 2nd. These; objects
include iron spears, chisels, and styles? at present unused by the Todas,
but common in the cairns. The spears were of rather different shape
from most of those figured. An old Toda, who had had possession of the
spear of Kotén, but professed to have lost it, told me that it was something
like these, but longer. The style is very like some used in Malabar, hol-
low at the top; one cannot, however, imagine that writing was ever a
Toda accomplishment ; it may have been used for marking pottery. 3rd,
The receptacle for the ashes and remains, instead of being indifferently
placed at any side of the circle, was, in three cases out of four, at the
north-east edge... (On p. 99.) Against the theory that the cairns belong to the
Todas, it has been urged that they do not claim them. This is not strictly
correct ; they do, as has been shewn, claim some. But even if the statement
were entirely true, it is not of much consequence with a people like Todas.
I have known a Toda, while pointing out the Azdram in which a funeral
ceremony then going forward was to terminate, profess entire ignorance of
the object of some other stone circles close at hand, obviously old Azdrams
belonging to the same mand; so that their disclaimer of the cairns carries
little weight. It has been further stated that the cairns contain agricul-
tural implements, and must therefore have belonged to a comparatively
civilized people. Except the curious shears, which may have been used for
various purposes, the only agricultural implements which have appeared in
these investigations are sickles. These may have been used for cutting
grass and bushes, and it is singular that, although the Todas do not now
use any tool of the kind, they burn with the dead the Kafkatti, a large
curved knife, apparently intended for some such purpose, although, except
in one instance, the cairn sickles are of different shape. The Kafkatti,
when committed to the flames, is bound round with cotton cloth, traces of
which are often found on the razors in the cairns. On the whole, I think
it is more satisfactory to assign the cairns to the Todas than to an unknown
race.’’ Read also Mr. H. B. Grigg’s Manual of the Nilagiri District, pp. 229-
247 ; about the origin of the remains, see p. 241; and about the sculptured
cromlechs consult this passage: ‘‘ As regards the third class of monuments,
none of the present hill inhabitants of the Hillsare capable of executing sculp-
tures of even so elementary a degree of art as those on the cromlechs.”? Mr.
M. J. Walhouse has in the third and fifth volumes of the Indian Antiquary
written some articles on the funerals, &c., of the Todas, and in vol. VI.,
p- 41, he says: ‘‘ At any rate it is clear that these circles (Azarams) are
claimed and formed by the Todas.”

® See Captain A. Harkness’s Description of a singular Aboriginal Race
mhabiting the Summit of the Neilgherry Hills, pp. 24, 25: “They have
Some tradition bearing reference to a period about the time of Ravan,

162 ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS

The Todas have five kinds of priests, of whom the Pa/als
are held in the greatest sanctity. The Palals, who are five
in number, belong to the highest class of the Todas and
have charge of the sacred bells, which they carry to every
Mand or hamlet. They subsist on the milk of the sacred herd,
and have a Kavald/ as their attendant. The other priests of
lower degree are the Varlal, Kokvali, Kurpuli and Pali-
karpal. The temples, which are of two kinds, are called
Boa and Palci, the former being sugarloaf-shaped and the
latter like an ordinary house. There are, at present, only
four Boas in existence ; they may have originally belonged to
some other race, as the Todas do not appear to hold them
in very great respect, and their ministering priests belong
only to the second rank.

The Todas have a large pantheon, but they revere par-
ticularly a hunting god called Bétakan, the son of Dirkish,
the son of En, the first Toda. His temple is at Nambala-
kod, in the Wainad. Besides him they worship Airiadéva,
whose representative is the sacred buffalo-bell, which hangs
from the neck of the finest buffalo of the sacred herd.
The buffalo is indigenous only in the south-east of Asia,

when they say they inhabited the low country. One among these is that
their forefathers were the subjects of Ravan, and that, being afterwards
unable to bear the severities imposed on them by the successful Ravan,
they fled to these mountains as a place of refuge, driving their herds before
them, carrying their females and children on their shoulders, and vowing
to wear no covering on their heads till they had wreaked their vengeance
on their oppressors.’? Congreve, loco citato, p. 110, says on the contrary:
“The Thautawars have a tradition that their ancestors were subjects of
Ravannah with whom they fled before Ramah.’’ About the legend of the
Todas having been the palanquin bearers of Ravana, see Mr. H. B. Grigg’s
Manual, pp. 202, 252 and 256. About their coming with Rama consult
the Rev. F. Metz, ididem, p. 46: ‘‘ The Brahmins of the plains maintain
that the Todas were followers in the train of Rama when he came from the
North to avenge himself on Ravana and that desiring independence they
deserted, and fled to the Hills; but of this tradition the Todas themselves
know nothing’’ ; read also p. 65; and Mr. Grigg’s Menual, p, 258.

73 Read Myr. J. W. Breeks’ -decount of the Primitive Tribes and Monu-
ments of the Nilagiris, pp. 18-17; and Mr. H. B. Grigg’s Manual, pp.
192-196,

OF BHARATAVARSA OR INDIA. 163

2.e., 10 South India, Burma and parts of China. It is not a
native of the North-West. The most valuable property of
the original inhabitants must have been formed by the herds
of these animals, which were and are still highly esteemed
and regarded worthy of carrying the symbol of the deity.
The worship of the buffalo is a most striking feature and
can only be traced to very ancient times. The buffalo figures
also in Mahismati, a town founded by king Mahismat, whose
name implies that he was rich in buffaloes. The worship
of the fire, or of Agni, prevailed here, and women were
allowed unrestricted liberty in the choice of their husbands.
The city was situated in the plateau south of the Gdoda-
vari, most probably on a tributary of the Krishna. King
Nila of Daksinapatha reigned here. He is mentioned as
an ally of Duryédhana, though he was killed in battle by the
son of Drona.’* The people of king Nila are called the
Mahisakas, and are mentioned in the Slika previously to
the Kolwagiréyas, the inhabitants of Kolva or Kolagiri. This
circumstance places the Mahisakas locally in proximity with
the Gond tribes. Mysore or Wahisdsura, the country named
according to tradition after the buffalo-shaped Asura Mahisa,
may have been a part of king Nila’s empire. The Nilagiri
mountains and Mysore are conterminous. The name of the
Asura Mahisa is in this case also used as representing the

74 Compare the Udysgaparva XVIII, 23, 24 of the Mahabharata:
Sa ca samprapya Kauravyam tatraivantardadhe tada,

tatha Mahismativasi Nilo Nilayudhais saha 23.
Mahipato mahaviryair Daksinapathavasibhih. 24.
and ibidem, Dronaparva XXXI, 24,25.

Sa plutah syandanat tasman-Nilascarmavarasibhrt
Draunayaneh Sirah kayaddhartum aicchat patattrivat. 24.
Tasyonnatamsam sunasam sirah kayat sakundalam
Ballénapaharad-Draunih smayamana ivanagha. 25.
See Christian Lassen’s Indische Alterthumskunde, vol. I, pp. 681-683 (or
567-569 in the first edition).
About the town Mahismati (Mahésvara) on the Narmada in Indore com-
pare the article ‘‘ Mahesvara in Malwa” by Raoji Vasudeva Tullu, m.a., in
the Indian Antiquary, vol. IV. (1875), pp. 346-348.

164 ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS

people of the Mahisas or Mahisakas, a circumstance to which
I have previously in Part I on p. 42 drawn attention in the
case of the demons Bala, Malla and others.

The word Mahisa has when combined with the Marathi
Ba for Bapa, father, assumed the form of Wahsébd, and the
demon Mahsoba is to this day held in high veneration among
the cultivators and the lower classes of the population. A
stoneblock generally covered with red-lead colour and stand-
ing in a circle of other stones serves as his representative.
The structure resembles in this respect the rude stones wor-
shipped by the Kurumbas. Of these I shall speak later on.
The worship of the buffalo to which the Todas still adhere is
very interesting and may perhaps indicate the origin of this
ancient tribe. Some Gond tribes also sacrifice the buffalo.
This subject deserves to be fully enquired into.”

Like other primitive races of Turanian or Scythian
origin, the Todas revere the great luminaries of the sky, the
Sun and the Moon, besides the Fire. They have a very

7 Durga or Bhavani killed the buffalo-shaped Asura Mahisa, the well-
known Mahisdsura, after whom Mysore is called.

According to the legend in the Markandéyapurana Diti had lost all her
sons, the Asuras, in the battle between the Gods and the Asuras. With the
object to anihilate the Gods she assumed the shape of a buffalo, and under-
went such dreadful austerities in order to propitiate Brahma, and to obtaina
son, that the whole world was shaken in its foundations and what was worse,
the sage Suparsva, was disturbed in his quiet hermitage. He therefore cursed
Diti to bring forth a buffalo instead of a human-shapedson. Brahma miti-
gated this curse by confining the buffalo form to the head and allowing the
remainder of the body to be like that of a man. This offspring was called
Mahisasura who defeated the gods and ill-treated them, till they appealed
for help to Visnu and Siva, who jointly produced a beautiful representation
of Bhavani, the Mahisdsuramardani, who slew the monster.

The Gazetteer of Aurangabad mentions Mahsdbé on pp. 347 and 358:
‘¢ Mahishasura, who was slain by Parvati, and in honor of whom the feast
of Dassura is celebrated, is probably Mahsoba, a demon much worshipped
by the lower classes and especially by the cultivators, for the purpose of
rendering their fields fertile. The image is like a natural Linga, consisting
of any rounded stone of considerable size, found in the corner or to the side
of a field. This when covered with red-lead becomes Mahsoba, to which
prayers are addressed, and cocoanuts, fowls, and goats are offered (p. 347). .
On the southern side of the Chauki pass, in the Lakenwara range between
Aurangabad and Phulmari, there is a shrine of Mahsoba, consisting of a

OF BHARATAVARSA OR INDIA. 165

dim idea of the divine powers; they possess hardly any
religious rites; but they firmly believe in the existence of a
life after death, in a heaven for the good and a hell for
the bad.
The ceremonies at births, marriages and funerals are
_ very curious and have often been described. They burn
_ their dead with the face downwards, a custom which prevails
still among the aborigines of some parts of Central India.
The Todas go always bareheaded, as also do the Khonds.
The habit of polyandry peculiar to the Gauda-Dravidian
_ race is also prevalent among the Todas.
The interest which this tribe has excited is mainly due to
_ their fine and striking appearance so different from that of
other races and to their dwelling in a most picturesque country.
The Todas are regarded by the other hill tribes as the lords
of the soil, and as such exact a tribute (gadw) from them.
_ How they obtained this supremacy is unknown, and the
acquisition of their influence is the more remarkable, as,
unless they have greatly changed since their first appearance,
they are not a war-like race, and could not have forced their
_ way into these hills with the aid of arms. The fact that
the Todas enjoy this peaceful supremacy proves them to
be very ancient, if not the aboriginal inhabitants of these
Hills. The Todas are steadily decreasing in numbers and,
according to the last census, numbered only 689. Their
reputation as sorcerers stood them in good stead and perhaps
frightened into submission those who might otherwise have
molested them. The Todas alone among the hill tribes

_ block of stone surrounded with smaller pieces, and all covered with red-lead.
| During the jatra which is held in the month of Chaitra, and lasts for four
| days, people of all castes, but especially the Kunbis, flock from a circle of a
hundred miles, and offer many sheep in sacrifice.”’

The buffalo was the carrier of Yama, and he is therefore also known as
Mahisadhvaja and Mahisavthana. Skanda is known as Mahisérdana, and
one of his Matris is called Mahisinand. Mahisa or Mahisa, Mahisaka or
Mahisaka are names of people. Mahisasthali is the name of a place, Mahisya
| that ofa mixed caste, and Mahisika besides meaning a herdsman is also used

_ in the sense of a man who lives by the prostitution of his wife.—See p. 120.

22

166 ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS

are not afraid of the Kurumbas, who are generally shunned
as wizards.

Very many conjectures have been ventured to explain
the term Toda or Tuda. The d in this word is, according to
Bishop Caldwell and the Rev. Mr. Metz, dental and not
lingual, as the Rev. Dr. Pope is inclined to believe, for he
spells it Tuda. Dr. Pope does so probably to support the
derivation he proposes. He connects the name of the Toda
with the Tamil word Yolam, herd, and derives from it a pro-
blematic word Tolan, in the sense of herdsman. The modern
Tamil Yolu, a fold for cattle, is the root of Toluvam which is
again contracted into Tolam. Toluvar signifies according
to the dictionaries agriculturists, but the word Tolar in this
meaning is not given. Besides, the o in Tolar is long, while
that in Toda is short. Moreover, the people who keep these

cattle-stalls are not herdsmen, but agriculturists. On the.

other hand the Todas are a pastoral, and not an agricultural

tribe.”
Having met with no explanation which satisfies me, I

venture to propose one myself. I believe that the ¢ in Toda
or Tuda is a modification of an original ’, and that the real
name is Koda or Kuda. This I explain as a derivation of

76 See Dr. Winslow’s Tamil and English Dictionary, p. 636, where Toluvar
@s™(paevir is explained as agriculturists, OG SDvurssar. In Col.
Marshall’s Phrenologist amongst the Todas the first note on p. 1 is as follows:
‘*Todan. Tamil, Toravam and Toram =a ferd. And thus Toravan or
Toran= herdsman. (Pope).’’ Compare Bishop Caldwell’s Introduction Com-
parative Dravidian Grammar, p. 37: ‘‘ Dr. Pope connects the name of the
Todas with tho Tamil word Zora, a herd; but the d of Tuda is not the
lingual d@, but the dental, which has no relationship to ror /. The derivation
of the name may be regarded as at present unknown.’’ The Rev. F. Kittel
writes to the Indian Antiquary, vol. ILI, p. 205: ‘‘In Part X XIX of the
Indian Antiquary, p. 93 seg. the name of a well-known small tribe on the
Nilagiri is given as ‘Toda.’ The lingual d in this word is not in the
mouth of the Nilagiri people, these pronouncing it ‘Toda.’ The same
remark is to be applied to the word ‘ Kéte’ on p. 96; the true spelling of
this name is ‘ Kota.’ The word ‘Toda’ may mean ‘man of the top,’ scil.
of the hills. ‘Kota’ can be derived from various Dravida roots ; it is
difficult to say what its true meaning is. Certainly it does not mean * cow-
Killer,’ as some have thought.”’

:
-

OF BHARATAVARSA OR INDIA. 167

ko or ku, mountain and oda or Kuda signifies then a
mountaineer. The change of & into tis perhaps not very
common, yet it takes place occasionally. The Tamil 4é/
to ask, is, e.g., tal in Gondi; the Irula kalage, below, corres-
ponds to tala in Tamil and Malayalam ; the Kurg /idatu and
the Tamil Kilé, below, is ¢tirt in Tulu. The town Kondota,
mentioned by Ptolemy, is likewise called Yondota, and the
district Khandesh is also known as Tandesh. The same change
can be observed in the middle of a word, as the Sanskrit
tilaka frontal mark, becomes optionally tidakam and tilatam in
Tamil, and sdttviku is altered into cattuvikam or cattuvitam.”
Peculiarly enough, when inquiring into their name, I
was informed by various Natives and even by some Todas
that the Todavar @37,5a7 are also called Kodavar Qe7 sa7,78
And this statement which supports my conjecture is up-
held by several names of persons and places. I take thus
Kodanad, which lies near Kotagiri, and is the seat of one of
the Palals containing some of the most ancient Todamands
in the sense of denoting the district of the Kodas.”? One of

17 The generally accepted derivation of Telugu or Telinga is from
Trilinga, but this remains doubtful as the term Trilinga is a corruption
of Trikalinga, te which the Modogalingam of Pliny corresponds: » “Insula
in Gange est magne amplitudinis gentem continens unam, Modogalingam
nomine ;”’ Hist. Natur. Lib. VI, cap. 22. If Telinga is a modified form
of Kalinga, this word would provide another example of the interchange
between ak and t. About Zandesh, see p. 135, n. 54.

The ¢is occasionally chosen as the representative of all the others con-
sonants, Kaumarila is thus .playfully changed into Tautdtita in Vedanta-
| désikacarya’s Tattvamuktakalapa, and paduka into tdtuta in the Paduka-
| sahasra of the same author.

78T. ©. Maduranayaka Pillai, the clerk of Major-General Morgan,
has told me of his own accord that he has often heard the Todavar call
themselves and be called Kodavar. Some K6otas whom I asked confirmed
| this evidence. A few Todas told me the same. They might have said so
/ to please me, but they had no reason for so doing, as I had not expressed
to them any opinion on that subject.

79 Kodanad lies on the north of Paranganad. It contains one of the

} oldest mands and between it and Kotagiri are found the sculptured

Cromlechs of Hlai tru. Some derive the name of Kodanad from kédan, the
Toda word for monkey, which corresponds to the Kota term kéde, and the
Badaga, Kurumba, and Irula forazgu. But the presence of the common

168 ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS

the ancestors of the Todas is called Kotén,® and the Huli-
kaldrug is also named Kodatha-betta, after the god
Kodatha.*

The Todas have many customs which are also met with
among other tribes, e.g., among the Kols. But this coin-
cidence does not prove the existence of any relationship. The
same rites and practices often prevail among totally different
people who live at a great distance from one another. The
singular custom by which the youngest son becomes heir to
the property in opposition to the law of primogeniiure is
observed by the Todas in South India as well as by some
Holstein peasants in North Germany.

brown monkey odan (téruni being the black monkey) is hardly a distinctive
feature of any district on the hills. It is perhaps possible that the Todas
changed the initial letter of their original name in order to avoid any
allusion to that of the monkey.

80 About Kotéen read Breeks’ Primitive Tribes of the Nilagiri, pp. 34, 36,
37, 97, 99. Kotén is said to have brought the Kotas up to the hills, though
they are also represented to have been born on the hills, p. 36: ‘‘ Kotén went
to the Kundahs, and established a Tiriari and Palais, and placed the Kotas
at the Kundah Kotagiri, called by the Todas Merkokal’’... 37. ‘‘ After this,
Kotén went to a Kurumba village in Bani Shima, and on his return, when
bathing in a stream, a hair of a golden colour came to his hand; he followed
it up stream to find the owner of the hair, and saw a Swami woman, by
name Térkosh, whom he married. After this, Kotén returned home to his
mand near the Avalanche. Kotén slept on a deer skin, wore a silver
ring, and carried a spear, bow, and arrow. On the night of his return he
went to sleep, and in the morning nothing was found of him but his
spear and ring and some blood on the deer-skin. He and Térkosh were
transformed into two hills, . . on the Sisapara side of the hills, to which both
Kurumbas and Todas pay occasional ceremonial visits. The Kurumbas light
a lamp on the hill Terkosh. When the Todas see these two hills, they sing
the song about Koten. (Thus five gods are connected in these traditions
with different hills, viz.:—Dirkish, Kodatha, Parsh, Kotén, and Terkosh.
If the Todas originally deified every hill, not an unnatural worship for
mountaineers, the number of their gods, otherwise astonishing, is accounted
for. The Todas, in common with the other hill tribes, still offer ghee to be
burnt to Maleswaramalé).’’

81 About Kodatha read ididem, p. 35: ‘* One day the Gods took counsel,
saying ‘ why does the kite come here, let us drive him out’; so one of them,
Kodatha, took the kite home to Kodatha-betta (Hulikaldarga), and pushed
him over; the kite, in falling, caught hold of a bamboo, with which he
returned, and struck Kodatha’s head, so that it split into three pieces.”

OF BHARATAVARSA OR INDIA. 169

Though it is difficult as yet to decide definitively the
ethnological status of the Todas, I believe I have been
successful in assigning them to the Gaudian branch of the
Gauda-Dravidian race.

The Kotas.

Next to the Kurumbas and Todas the Kotas are the
most ancient inhabitants of the Nilagiri range. According
to Toda tradition Kotén introduced them to these hills.
Though they are regarded as the Pariah element among the
hill-tribes, it is possible that they were originally more
nearly related to the Todas, whom they call their annata-
malu, i.e., brothers. They have many customs in common with
the Todas, e.g., that which constitutes the youngest brother
as heir of the house, a practice which seems also to prevail
among the Kurumbas. They recognize no caste distinctions,
but are sub-divided into Hers or streets. They are a very
industrious tribe and devote themselves to agriculture and to
various sorts of handicrafts. ‘They excel as carpenters, smiths,
tanners, basket-makers, &e. They acknowledge the Todas
as the lords of the soil, and pay them tribute (gadu). They
are well-formed, of average height, not bad featured and fair-
skinned. They live in seven villages, one of which is in the
neighbourhood of Giadalir.**? The last census fixes their

82 Compare Dr. Shortt’s Account of the Tribes of the Neilgherries, pp.
53-57: ‘‘This tribe ranks next to the Todas in priority of occupation of
these hills. They have no caste, and are in this respect equal to the
Pariahs of the low country ; and as a body, are the most industrious of the
hill tribes, giving much of their time and attention to agriculture and
handicraft, &c. . . . They also employ themselves as Curriers, and are highly
esteemed in the plains for the excellent leather they cure... They ac-
knowledge the Todas as lords of the soil... At the same time they exact
from each hamlet of the Badagas within certain distance of their own village,
certain annual fees, which they receive in kind for services rendered as
handicraftsmen, &c., in addition to that of ceremonial or festive occasions
for menial services performed . . . In confirmation of their having followed
the Todas as settlers on these Hills they hold the best lands, and have
the privilege of selecting the best whenever they wish to extend their hold.
ings. They are well made and of tolerable height, rather good featured and

170 ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS

number at 1,122 souls, 55 Kotas are assigned to the Bombay
Presidency.*

It seems probable that the Todas and Kotas lived near
each other before the settlement of the latter on the Nilagiri.
Their dialects too betray a great resemblance, and, if my
conjecture concerning the original name of the Todas is
confirmed, their names at first were also much alike.8* The
Kotas are the only hill people who are not afraid of the
Todas, and they treat them occasionally even with bare
courtesy, though, as a rule, a Kota, when meeting a Toda
and Badaga, lifts both his hands to his face and makes his
obeisance from a distance. They do also not, like the other
Lill-tribes, stand in awe of the mysterious power of witch-
craft, with which the Todas are credited.

According to a tradition of theirs they lived formerly
on Kollimalai, a mountain in Mysore.** They possess, like
most Hindus, a tradition concerning their special creation.
Their god, Kamataraya, perspired once profusely and “he
“‘ wiped from his forehead three drops of perspiration, and
“out of them formed the most ancient of the hill-tribes, viz.,
“the Todas, Kurumbas, and Kotas. The Todas were told to
“live principally upon milk; the Kurumbas were permitted

light-skinned, having a copper color, and some of them are the fairest-
skinned among the Hill tribes. They have well formed heads, covered
with long black hair, grown long and let loose, or tied up carelessly at
tho back of the head. . . The women are of moderate height, of fair build
of body, and not nearly so good-looking as the men.’’ Read also Breeks’
Primitive Tribes of the Nilagiris, pp. 40-47 ; and Metz, pp. 127-132.

83 The Census mentions 3,232 Hotamali in the North-Western Provinces,
1,112 Kotakas, 572 Kotayas and 1,076 Hottharas in Madras.

84 Seo Rev. F. Metz, loco citato, p. 127: ‘The close affinity existing
botween the language of the Todas and that of the Kotas leads me to believe
that both these tribes came from the same quarter, and that they probably
settled on the Neilgherries at about the same period.”

85 Seo Metz, ididem, p. 127: ‘* According to one of their traditions, the
Kotas formerly lived on a mountain in Mysore, called Kollimalé, after which
they named the first village they built on the Neilgherries. They now
occupy seven tolerably large villages, all of which are known by the general
name of Kotagiri, or Cow-killers’ hill.”’

:
a

OF BHARATAVARSA OR INDIA. Iya

“to eat the flesh of buffalo calves; and the Kotas were
“allowed perfect liberty in the choice of their food, being
‘informed that they might eat carrion, if they could get
‘nothing better, and beef also, though it is repulsive to all
‘* Hindu notions.” 6

It is wrong to connect the name of the Kotas with cow-
slaying and to derive it from the Sanskrit gd-hatyd. This
derivation seems to have been suggested from Kohatir, one
of the corrupted forms of the name of the Kotar or Koter.
According to the late Mr. Breeks, in his Primitive Tribes of
the Nilagiris, p. 40: “ The Todas call them Kuof, or cow-
people ;” but singularly enough the Toda word for cow is
danam, like the Kurumba and Badaga dana. Dr. Pope on
the other hand goes so far as to contend that the Todas had
no word for cow; a statement which I regard as extremely
venturous. However in both circumstances, if the Todas
have no term for cow, or if that term is danam, they could not
have called the Kotas, Kuof or cow-people. Moreover, the
K6tas would not call themselves by such a name, nor would
the Todas and the other hill-tribes who have no knowledge of
Sanskrit apply a Sanskrit word to designate their neighbours.
The derivation of the term odtais, as clearly indicated, from
the Gauda-Dravidian word ko, (ku), mountain, and the Kotas
belong to the Gaudian branch.*" It is a peculiar coincidence

86 Metz, pp. 27 and 128: ‘‘The Kotas are the only of all the hill
tribes who practise the industrial arts, and they are therefore essential
almost to the very existence of the other classes. They work in gold and
silver, are carpenters and blacksmiths, tanners and rope-makers, umbrella-
makers, potters, and musicians, and are at the same time cultivators of the
soil. They are, however, a squalid race, living chiefly on carrion, and are
on this account a bye-word among the other castes, who, while they feel that
they cannot do without them, nevertheless abhor them for their filthy
habits. All the cattle that die in the villages are carried off by the Kotas,
and feasted on by them, in common with the vultures, with whose tastes
their own precisely agree; and at no time do the Kotas thrive so well as
when there is murrain among the herds of the Todas and Badagas.”’

81 See Breeks, p. 40: ‘‘The name is found differently spelt. Kota,
Kotar, Koter, Kohataur. The derivation is uncertain. Kohata or Gohata,

Wie2 ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS

that according to the statement of Mr. Ramiah, Deputy
Superintendent of Mysore, the “ Lingayet Panchalas (work-
ers in metals) and Huttagars are called Kotars in this part
of the country (Harihar), and they worship Kama (god)
and Kurymena (geddess).”’ To this remark Mr. Breeks *
adds: ‘‘ Also that a caste of the same name exists in Marwar
and Guzerat.” Dr. Fr. Buchanan makes a similar remark
about the goddess of the Pajficalas.®®

The occupation and the worship of the Mysore Kotas
confirmed to a certain degree the tradition of the Nilagiri
Kotas when they contend that they came from Mysore.

cow-killer, has been suggested, but this seems doubtful. The Todas call
them Kuof, or cow-people.’’ Read also Mr. H. B. Grigg’s District Manual,
pp. 203-213. On p. 203 he says: ‘‘The name is differently spelt Kotu,
Koter, Kotar, Kohatur and Kotturs. Its derivation is doubtful. The
Todas call them Awof or cow-men, and, arguing from this word, some
connect it with Ao (Sans.) cow, and hatya, i.e., cow-killing. The first part
of the derivation is probably correct. They are emphatically men of the
cow, as opposed to the buffalo, the animal of the Toda. The latter they are
never allowed to keep ; the former they keep, but do not, for superstitious
reasons, milk.’’ Compare note 76 on p. 166 where Rey. F. Kittel also
decides against the explanation of Kota as cow-killer.

The Rev. Dr. Pope peculiarly enough declares on page 261 of his
Tuda Grammar in Lieut.-Colonel Marshall’s Phrenologist amongst the Todas :
‘¢ V.B.—No Tuda word for cow, plough, sword, or shield.’’ Yet according
to Rev. F. Metz’s. Vocabulary of the Toda Dialect in the Mudras Journal of
Literature and Science, vol. XVII (1857), p. 136, and to Mr. Breeks’ Voca-
bulary, on p. 113, the Toda equivalent for cow is danam. Rey. F. Metz,
loco citato, gives nékhel as the Toda word for plough, and urtkdini (pro-
nounced wlthbini) for to plough.

88 See Breeks’ Primitive Tribes of the Nilagiris, p. 47.

89 See Dr. Fr. Buchanan’s Journey from Madras through Mysore, Canara,
and Malabar, Madras, 1870, vol. I, p. 477: ‘‘ The deity peculiar to the
caste (of the Panchalar) is Camachuma, or Kalima, who is, they say, the
same with Parvati, the wife of Siva.” Compare Breeks’ Primitive Tribes,
p. 44: ‘* The chief Kota festival, however, is the annual feast of Kamataraya,
called Kambata or Kamata.’’ Read also Grigg’s Manual, p. 205: “The
Kétas had, it is said, formerly but one deity Kamataraya, but they also
worship his wife (Kahasuma or Kalikai), each is represented by a silver plate.
The god is also called Kambata and Kamata.’’ A@mata may be of Sanskrit
origin, Kamadéva is a name of Siva, and Kamaksi one of Durga or Kali,
“Sr asre bo Xoo ‘ kamdfamu’ signifies in Telugu workman.

OF BHARATAVARSA OR INDIA. 173

CHAPTER XI.

On THE Kuravas (Kuruvas, Kurumas), Koracarv,
Kurus (Yrerakutas), Kaurs, Kunnvuvas.

The above-mentioned names are representative terms of
various kindred tribes who live scattered in this country.
While a considerable majority of their relatives in Northern
India have embraced agricultural pursuits and form a pre-
ponderant element of the rustic population, many of their
cousins in Southern India still cling to their old mountain
homes, or roam as migratory hordes over the country, or are
leading a pastoral life as shepherds.

For the sake of lucidity I shall consider these tribes under
separate heads and begin with the wandering Kuravas,

On THE Kuravas (Kurgvvas, Kurumas), Koracaru, &c.

These wandering tribes are known over the greater part
of India as Kuravas (Koravas) or Kurumas. They are also
known as Koracaru (Korcaru, Korsaru or Kuruciyar), which
term may be either a variation of Korava, the » being
changed into e¢, or, as has been suggested, may be explained
as a mixed compound from fora mountain and the Sans-
krit root car, to go, so that it means hill-walkers. In this
case their name reminds one of their Dravidian brothers
the Malacar (Malasar). Dr. Francis Buchanan by calling
the Koragas of South-Kanara Koravas, identifies them with
the latter. At another place, however, he names the Koravas
also Koramas.

In consequence of their roving life and the begging and
cheating propensities which so many Kuravas exhibit, they
are much disliked and shunned. They wander continually

90 Compare Dr. Francis Buchanan’s Journey from Madras through the
Countries of Mysore, Canara, and Malabar, second edition, vol. I, pp. 174,
175: “The Coramas, or Coramaru, are a set of people considered by the
Brahmans as an impure or mixed breed. They make baskets and trade in
grain and salt to a considerable extent ; but none of them can read or write.

23

174 ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS

from one place to another, gaining a precarious livelihood
by making and selling wicker baskets of bamboo and reed
grass, or mats and other household utensils of bamboo.
Some of them also know how to prepare metal wires of steel,
copper, and iron. They are famous bird-catchers, clever
snake-jugglers, and very experienced hunters. If nothing
else offers, they pierce the ears of children to insert ornaments,
or tattoo the limbs of persons who desire this embellishment
of their body. Most of their women are fortune tellers,
while the men profess often to be conjurors.

They live, in general, in small camps of moveable huts, which are sometimes
stationary near large towns; but they are often ina state of daily motion,
while the people are following the mercantile concerns. The Coramas con-
sist of four families, Maydraguta, Cavadiru, Maynapatru, and Satipatru.
‘These are analogous to the Gétrams of the Brahmans ; fora man and woman
of the same family never intermarry, being considered as too nearly allied
by kindred. The men are allowed a plurality of wives, and purchase them
from their parents. The agreement is made fora certain number of fanams,
which are to be paid by instalments, as they can be procured by the young
woman’s industry ; for the women of this caste are very diligent in spinning
and carrying on petty traffic. When the bargain has been made, the bride-
groom provides four sheep, and some country rum, and gives a feast to
the caste, concluding the ceremony by wrapping a piece of new cloth round
his bride. Shoulda man’s wife prove unfaithful, he generally contents
himself with giving her a beating, as she is too valuable to be parted with
‘on slight grounds ; but, if he chooses, she may be divorced. Inthis case, he
must assemble the caste to a feast, where he publicly declares his resolu-
tion; and the woman is then at liberty to marry any person that she chooses,
who is willing to take her. The Coramas do not follow nor employ the
Brahmans; nor have they any priests, or sacred order. When in distress,
they chiefly invoke Vencaty Ramana, the Tripathi Vishnu, and vow small
offerings of money to his temple, should they escape. They frequently go
into the woeds and sacrifice fowls, pigs, goats, and sheep, to Muni, who isa
male deity, and is said by the Brahmans to be a servant of Iswara ; but of
this circumstance the Coramas profess ignorance. They, as usual, eat the
sacrifice. They have no images, nor dothey worship any. Once in two or
three years the Coramas of a village make a collection among themselves,
and purchase a brass pot, in which they put five branches of the Melia azadi-
rachta anda coco-nut. This is covered with flowers, and sprinkled with
sandal-wood water. Itis kept in a small temporary shed for three days,
during which time the people feast and drink, sacrificing lambs and fowls to
Marima, the daughter of Siva. At the end of the three days they throw
the pot into the water.”

Read also Abbé J. A. Dubois’ Description of the Character, Manners and
Customs of the People of India, third edition, Madras, 1879, pp. 335-338: ‘The

OF BHARATAVARSA OR INDIA. 175

They generally bury their dead in solitary and unknown
places at night, and the traces of their dead disappear so com-
pletely that the Natives have a common saying: “ Nobody
has seen a monkey’s carcass or the corpse of a Kurava,” and
if anything is irretrievably lost the fact is intimated by the
proverb: ‘‘ It has gone to the burial place of the Kuravas
and to the dancing room of the wandering actors.”

As a rule they do not acknowledge the priestly supre-
macy of the Brahmans, nor do they worship Hindu divini-
ties, unless Hinduized to a certain extent. However, many

vagrants called Kuravers are divided into three branches. One of these is
chiefly engaged in the traffic of salt, which they go, in bands, to the coasts
to procure, and carry it to the interior of the country on the backs of asses,
which they have in great droves. . . . The trade of another branch of the
Kuravers is the manufacture of osier ‘panniers, wicker baskets, and other
household utensils of that sort, or bamboo mats. This class, like the
preceding, are compelled to traverse the whole country, from place to place,
in quest of employment. ... The third species of Kuravers is generally
known under the name of Kalla-Bantru or robbers; and indeed those who
compose this caste are generally thieves or sharpers, by profession and right
of birth. The distinction of expertness in filching belongs to this tribe. .
The Kalla-Bantru are so expert in this species of robbery (of cutting through
the mud wall an opening sufficiently large to pass through), that, in less
than half-an-hour, they will carry off a rich lading of plunder, without being
heard or suspected till day-light discloses the villainy.”’

See Rev. M. A. Sherring’s Hindu Tribes and Castes, vol. III, p. 142:
“ Koravar, a tribe of thieves and vagabonds wandering about the districts of
the Carnatic. This tribe is common to several districts. Among the Tamils
these people are called Koravars, but by the Telugus, Yerakalas. In North
Arcot they mortgage their unmarried daughters to pay their creditors when
unable to pay their debts. In some districts they obtain their wives by
purchase, giving a sum varying from thirty to seventy rupees. The clans
into which they are divided do not intermarry. In Madura and South
Arcot the Koravars are hawkers, petty traders, dealers in salt, jugglers, box-
makers, breeders of pigs and donkeys; and are a drunken and dissolute
race.’? Compare J. H. Nelson’s Manual of Madura, Part II, p. 69, about
the Kuravans.

Consult further Dr. Edward Balfour ‘‘On the Migratory Tribes of Natives
in Central India” in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, vol. XIII,
1844, pp. 9-12: ‘‘ The Korawa. This migratory people arrange themselves into
four divisions, the Bajantri, Teling, Kolla, and Soli Korawas, speaking the
same language, but none of them intermarrying or eating with each other.
Whence they originally migrated it would be difficult perhaps now to come
to a conclusion, nor could it be correctly ascertained how far they extend.
The Bajantri, or Gaon ka Korawa, the musical or village Korawa, are met

176 ON THE ORIGINAL [INHABITANTS

revere Vonkatesvara of Tripati, or Siva and Kali in their
cruder forms, the latter especially as Wariamma ; Gurunatha,
a village god, whose presence is indicated by a rude stone
situated under a tree, is also an object of their veneration,
though some Kurumbas claim him as their special god. Their
own elders generally fill the position of priests.

They practise polygamy and are said to pawn their wives
for debt. Their family disputes are decided by arbitrators,
but they often nurse their quarrels to such an extent that an
interminable law suit is called a Kurava’s strife.

They have different sub-divisions in various parts of the
country, either according to their various clans or the oceu-
pation they follow, and the latter soon becomes a tribal
distinction. Dr. Francis Buchanan mentions a classification

with in Bejapore, Bellary, Hyderabad and throughout Canara... Their
food differs from that of the Hindoo as well as the Mahomedan ; they never
eat the cow or bullock, but the jackal, porcupine, hog and wild boar, deer
and tigers are sought after and used by them. They deny that robbery is
ever made a regular mode of earning a subsistence ; an honesty, however,
that the people among whom they dwell give them but little credit for. .
They live by thieving, making grass screens and baskets. The men likewise
attend at festivals, marriages, and births, as musicians, which has obtained
for them the name of Bajantri... The women, too, earna little money by
tattooing on the skin the marks and figures of the gods, which the females
of all castes of Hindus ornament their arms and foreheads with... The
age for marrying is not a fixed time ; and, different from every other people
in India, the youth of the female is not thought of consequence. . . . It is
not unusual to have two, three, or four wives in one household, among this
people. .. This people live virtuously ; the abandonment of their daughters is
never made a trade of, and other classes speak favorably of their chastity.
They respect Brahmins ; though they never . .seem to respect the gods of the
Hindoo mythology. . . The Teling Korawa (generally known as Kusbi,
Korawa, Aghare Pal Wale, prostitute Korawas) gain a livelihood by basket-
making and selling brooms, in making which their wives assist ; but their
chief means of subsistence is in the prostitution of their female relatives
whom, for that purpose, they devote to the gods trom their birth. . . The
goddess, in whose service the lives of the Teling Korawas’ devoted women
are thus to be spent, has her chief shrine near Bellary. They never devote
more than one of their daughters; the rest are married and made honest
women of . . This branch bury their dead, and the food that was most liked
by the deceased is placed at the head of the grave. The most favorable
omen of the state of the departed soul is drawn from its being eaten by
acrow ; less auspicious if bya cow; but if both the crow and cow decline to

OF BHARATAVARSA OR INDIA. 177

based on the family system, while Abbé Dubois gives
another derived from occupation, and Dr. Balfour prefers
one of local origin.

In the census report these people are arranged under
different heads, and their aggregate number amounts to
nearly 175,000.

On THE Kurus (YERAKULAS) AND Kaurs.

Another tribe who are acknowledged as a separate
class of the Kuravas are the Yerakulavandlu or Yerakala-
varu, who call themselves Kuru, Kuluvurw or Kola, while
the Tamil people designate them as Kwravar, whom they
resemble in their manners and customs.” They live in

eat it, they deem the dead to have lived a very depraved life, and impose
a heavy fine on his relatives for having permitted such evil ways.”

About the name consult Glossary of Judicial and Revenue Terms, by
H. H. Wilson, p. 294: ‘* Koracharu, also Korcharu, Korvaru, ov Korsaru, &c.,
corruptly Korchoor. The name of a tribe in the Karnatic, whose business
is making bamboo mats and baskets, or who carry betelnuts from market to
market: they live in the hills and forests.

“ Koravarava, Koramaravanu, or Koravanu, or abbrev. Koravar, Koramar.. .
The name of a low tribe in Mysore, of which there are three branches—
Kalla-koramar, who are professed thieves; Walaga-koramar, who are musi-
cians; and Hakki-koramar, who are a migratory race, and subsist by making
baskets, catching birds, &c.: they are hill and forest tribes and have a
dialect of their own: (the name may be only a local modification of Kola,
or Cole, the hill tribes of Hindustan).” On p. 305: ‘‘ Kuruchchiyan, or
Kuruman, Mal. A class of people inhabiting the hills in Wynad.”’

91 According to the Census Report of 1881, there were registered in India
7,875 Kurumar in Madras, 1,071 Gorcha in the North-Western Provinces,
24 Hakikoraw in Hyderabad, 11,864 Korachar in Mysore, 110,473 Koravar
in Madras and Travancore, 597 Korchar in Bombay, 3,448 Korwiavasayar in
Madras, 14,106 Korvi in Bombay, 1,001 Kwravandlu in Madras, 31,644 Kura
in the Central Provinces, 14 Kuravar in the Central Provinces, and 3,135
Kurwai in Hyderabad, &e.

2 Consult H. H. Wilson’s Glossary, pp. 560, 561: ‘* Verkullevar, (?) Tel.
probably for Erukwddu, pl. Erukuvandlu, and the same as those corruptly
termed Yerkelwanloo, Yera-kedi, Yerakelloo (Je0%s>&), The designation
of a wild migratory tribe who subsist on game and all sorts of flesh;
they make and sell baskets and mats, and are considered as outcastes: both
men and women pretend to be fortune-tellers and conjurors: they are
also said to be called Koorshe-wanlu, Yerkel-wanloo (waniu, or more correctly
vandlu, being only the plural of vddu), Yera-kedi, and Yerakelloo, but to be
known amongst themselves as Kurru ; they are possibly the same who appear

178 ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS

like manner under tents fixed by bamboo poles and covered
with mats made of reed grass. They are also continually
roaming about, avoiding villages and towns and preferring
to pitch their tents in some open ground a few miles distant
from inhabited places, only to strike them again after a
few days’ stay. They thus wander over Hyderabad, the
Ceded Districts, and other adjacent provinces. Their tents
of which every family possesses a separate one, with a few

among the predial slaves in Kurg under the name of Yerrwanroo, i.e.,
Erra-vandlu, ? red men, or Yevaru q.v. or Yerlun, or Erehlen, (?) also
specified amongst, the servile races of Kurg.”’

Further see ‘‘ The Migratory Races of India,’’ by Assistant Surgeon
Edward Balfour, Madras Army, in the Madras Journal of Literature and
Science, vol. XVII (1857), pp. 4-9: ‘* The Coorroo, This seems to be a
branch of the Korawa people, two divisions of whom . . were described by
me in an article on the Migratory Tribes of India.. ‘This wandering race
occupy the Ceded Districts and are called by Mahomedans ‘ Koorshe
Wanloo;’ Telings give them the names of ‘ Yerkel wanloo,’ ‘ Yera keedi,’
and ‘ Yera kelloo,’ and the Aravas know them as Coortee ; but their designa-
tion among themselves is Coorroo, the rv being pronounced by them with
a loud thrilling sound. I believe them to be a branch of the Korawa
people from the similarity of their customs, and from their using similar
articles of diet, but the term sorawa was quite new to this community,
who, although familiar with the appellations of the Mahomedans and
Hindoos, told me that Coorroo was the only name they ever designated
themselves by .. They live in huts constructed of mats, very neatly woven
froma long grass, named in Telagoo ‘‘ zamboo,’’ which grows in the beds of
tanks, and which they spread over a bamboo frame work. ‘They are inces-
santly on the move, wandering about the country, and they never reside
inside of towns, but pitch their little camps on open plains three or four miles
from some inhabited place. They rarely remain above two or three days in
one spot and their journeys are of considerable length. The value of one of
their huts would hardly amount to half a rupee (one shilling), asses, goats
and pigs constitute their wealth ; the two last of these they use as food and
sell for money in towns. They, likewise, earn a little by selling grass mats
and baskets made of canes and bamboos, the handy-work of the men, but
which are sold by the women... Hach family in their communities lives
apart in its own hut, constructed, as above-mentioned, by the mats woven
by themselves., The men informed me that they usually marry about the
time that their mustaches appear (18 years of age ?) with women who have
attained maturity, and a bride is never taken to her husband's hut before two
months after this period of her life. They marry one wife only, but they can
keep as many of their women as they choose. The greatest number, however,
that any of my informants remembered to have seen in one man’s hut, was
one wife and three kept women ; this latter class being in general widows...

OF BHARATAVARSA OR INDIA. 179

asses, goats, and pigs represent their property. They earn
besides a precarious living by selling grass-mats and cane or
bamboo-baskets, which are made by the men, but hawked
about and sold by the women. In their wanderings they
sométimes commit all sorts of robberies and often are trouble-
some dacoits and highway robbers.

Accounts vary about their marriage customs. Accord-
ing to some, the ¢ai or marriage string is bound round the

The marriage ceremony consists in sprinkling rice and turmeric over the
bride and bridegroom’s head; and after it is over the bride returns to her
parents and remains with them for five days... The Coorroo attaches much
importance to the purity of their unmarried females, bat they regard a want
of integrity in their married women as a trivial matter.... They drink
all sorts of intoxicating drinks, but never use opium or any of the pre-
parations from hemp.. They never use the flesh of the horse, jackall,
tiger, cheetah, or crow; but they eat the hog, mouse, rat, wild rat, and
fowls.. It is difficult to say what their religion is. They do not bind on the
tali in marriage, or use any of the Hindu sectarian marks on their foreheads,
neither do they revere the Brahmans or any religious superior, nor perform
any religious ceremony at any Hindu or Budhist temple, but they told me
that, when they pray, they construct a small pyramid of clay which they
term Mariammah and worship it. But though they seem thus almost with-
out a form of religion, the women had small gold and silver ornaments
suspended from cords round their necks and which they said had been
supplied to them by a goldsmith from whom they had ordered figures of
Mariamma. The form represented is that of the goddess Kali, the wife of
Siva. They mentioned that they had been told by their forefathers that,
when a good man dies, his spirit enters the body of some of the better
animals as that of a horse or cow, and thata bad man’s spirit gives life to the
form of a dog or jackall ; but though they told me this they did not seem to
believe it. They believe firmly, however, in the existence and constant
presence of a principle of evil, who, they say, frequently appears... When
they die the married people are burned, but the unmarried are buried quite
naked without a shroud or kufn, or other clothing, a custom which some
other castes in India likewise follow. . . The Coorroo people are naturally of
a bamboo-color, though tanned by the sun into a darker hue. Their faces
are oval with prominent bones, their features having something of the
Tartar expression of countenance... The dialect spoken by the ‘ Coorroo’
as their lingua franca, in their intercourse with the people of the country, is
the Teloogoo, and I was surprised to find them entirely ignorant of the
Canarese language although living exclusively among the Canarese nation.’’

Compare also Mr. H. E. Stokes’ account of these people in the Manual of
the Nellore District, compiled and edited by Mr. John A. C. Boswell, m.c.s.,
pp. 154-157: ‘‘These people (the Yerukalas) wander from place to place,
as they find it easy to gain a living, pitching their huts generally in open
places near villages. Their property consists principally of cattle and asses,

180 ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS

neck of the woman; according to others this is not the case.
This discrepancy may be explained by some having adopted the
usual Hindu customs, while others still keep aloof from them.
With respect to their religious worship the same observation
may hold good. There is no doubt that originally they did
not wership any Hindu deities, nor did they in consequence
perform any religious ceremonies at any Hindu shrine, nor
revere the Brahmans as their religious superiors. In fact the

and they act as carriers of salt and grain; they cut firewood in the jungles
and sell it in the villages ; they also gather and sell a leaf called karepaku
(the black margosa); they eat game, flesh of all sorts, and jungle roots.
They all, both women and men, pretend to tell fortunes; these people,
like all the wandering tribes of the district, are basket-makers... They
are stout men and very hardy in constitution. Like the Yanadies they tie
their hair in a knot over the forehead. Lieutenant Balmer, in his letter
to the Collector, dated 22nd May 1864, No. 317, writes the following as to
the Yerukalas: ‘The crimes they are addicted to are dacoity, highway
robbery, and robbery ; they are the most troublesome of our wanderers.’..
The gods whom they chiefly worship are Mahalakshmi and Venkatesvara (to
whom the Trippati temple is sacred), and they also sacrifice to the pitris, or
manes of their ancestors. They state generally that all gods worshipped by
Hindus are worshipped by them. The old men of the tribe are priests.
Each tribe or family has a god, which is carried about with the encampment.
One, which I have seen, was a piece of wicker-work, about five inch square,
cased in black canvas, one side being covered with white sea-shells imbedded
in ared paste. It was called Polaperamma. Polygamy is practised among
the Yerukalas, and the number of wives is only limited by the means of the
. husband. There is no polyandria, nor is there any trace of the custom,
which sometimes is found among rude tribes, of the brothers of a family
having their wives in common. The marriage string is always tied round
the neck of the wife. The females are said not to marry till they are full
grown. The ceremony usually takes place on a Sunday, puja having been
made on the Saturday. Rice mixed with turmeric is poured on the heads
of the married couple; the marriage string is tied on, and the ceremony
is complete. During the lifetime of her husband a wife may not marry
another man, but after his death she may if she wishes... A man supports
all his children by all his wives. If he has a great number, the brothers
will take some of them; but when they are grown up they return to their
father’sfamily. Sons so reared will, through gratitude, support their uncles
in old age... I have collected a number of words and phrases of the
Yerukalas among themselves—a language which is unintelligible to the
Telugu people. The most cursory glance at these is sufficient to produce
the conviction that it isa Tamil dialect. It has been considerably mixed,
as is to be expected, with Telugu and Canarese, but in its structure it is
plainly Tamil. The Yerukalas understand Tamil when spoken, and it is
superfluous to state analogies between their dialect and Tamil, inasmuch as

OF BHARATAVARSA OR INDIA. 181

old men of the tribe are to this day their priests. They
mainly worship Mariamma or Poléramma, an image of
whom generally accompanies each tribe in its wanderings.
The god Vénkatésvara of Tripati is also held in respect by a
great many. They generally keep a lamp burning night
and day in their encampments before which they offer up
prayers.

the former is nothing but a patois of the latter, in which Telugu and
Canarese words are freely used. There can be no doubt as to the fact that
the Yerukalas are a Tamil tribe, but there are some points connected with
the name and language which seem to throw further light on the question.
The name has two forms in Telugu, one Yerukuvandlu, said by Brown and
Campbell to be derived from ‘ Erugu’ to know, and to have reference to their
fortune-telling powers, and one Yerukulavandlu ; the first of this word is
evidently not a plural of ‘ Yeruku,’ but a distinct word. This seems to be
recognized by Brown and Wilson, who conjecture that ‘ Yeru’ is a prefix to
be connected by the word ‘erra’ red... The Yerukulas in this district
state that their tribe name in their own language is ‘ Kurru,’ also, Kola;
and I think there can be no doubt that the ‘ Yer’ or ‘ Yeru’ is a mere prefix
and that ‘ Kala,’ Wilson’s ‘ Kullevar ’ represents the real name of the tribe.
To connect ‘Yer’ or ‘ Yeru’ with the Telugu ‘erra,’ red, seems quite
meaningless ; it might perhaps be compared with ‘ Yervaru’ mentioned by
Wilson, or which seerns more plausible to suppose it to be the word ‘ Yeruku’
(which, as has been said, is one designation of the tribe in Telugu, com-
pounded with the real tribe name ‘ Kurruvandlu,’ or Kolavandlu, when,
according to a common euphonic law in Telugu, the two ‘ k’s’ would coalesce
and the word becomes Yerukkalavandlu. The second ‘k’ would easily be
dropped, and the word assume its common form Yerukalavandlu. I have
been unable to find that there are any traditions among these people as to
the country from which they came ; one of them indignantly repudiated the
notion of a Tamil origin. The language, however, and the tribe name
‘Kurru’ seems to me unmistakeably to point to the identity of this tribe
with the well-known Kuravar or Koravar of the Tamil districts.”’

The Historical and Descriptive Sketch of H. H. the Nizam’s Dominions
contains in vol. I, pp. 326-28, an account of the Yerakulavandlu: ‘‘ The
Yarkalwars are a nomad tribe living in huts made of palmyra leaves or reeds.
They are found in some of the eastern districts of the Dominions. They
live on the flesh of swine, game and carrion, and a little grain they may get
in barter for the mats and baskets they construct. They snare birds with
bird-lime, and they have a small breed of dogs with which they kill hares.
They kill most of the dogs when young, but retain the bitches, to which,
when they are intended for hunting, they give a certain root that renders
them barren.. Brahmans will not approach the Yarkalwars but the Jangam
of the Lingayets is more pliant, and on the occasion of a death, for a present
of some grain, he attends and blows his conch. Their marriage ceremonies
consist in a headman whom they elect for the occasion, and place on a

24

182 ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS

The explanation of their by-name Verukulavandlu (Yeru-
kalavandlu, Yerakalavandlu or Yerikalavyandlu) offers some
difficulties. Scholars like C. P. Brown and H. H. Wilson
are inclined to take yeru in the meaning of evra, red; but
there does not seem sufficient ground for this derivation. It is
true, and I have elsewhere alluded to the fact, that Scythian
tribes use occasionally terms signifying color, in order to
represent political positions; black, e.g., imdicating, under
these circumstances, dependence and servitude, and white
liberty and sovereignty. I have not observed, however, this

throne of turf, putting rice on the heads of the young people, and uttering
some mystic words; a pig is then killed, the flesh is cooked and eaten, and
ample as their experience must be of the qualities of every kind of flesh,
they are unanimous in declaring that pork is superior to all. They then
jump about, beat their bellmetal vessels, and the whcle concludes by the
whole party, male and female, getting drunk. One of their customs is very
peculiar. On the occasion of a birth the husband is looked on as the subject —
of compassion, and is carefully tended by the neighbours, as if he and not
the wife had been the sufferer. Like all vagabonds they are regarded with
suspicion, and with some reason, as they aftect to possess a divining rod in
the shape of the frond of the wild date, by which they may discover on the
outside of the house where property is placed within. . . Although despised
as a carrion-eating caste, the ryots do not hesitate in cases of sickness to
consult them. Then the divining rod is produced, a Yarkalwar woman
holding one end while the other is given to the person seeking advice, a long
string of words is rattled over, the result of the disease foretold, and the
particular shrine is indicated where an offering is to be placed, or the
offended Sakti named, whose wrath is to be appeased by sacrifice. . . They
speak a corrupt Tamil.’’

Compare also a “ Brief Sketch of the Yerukala Language as spoken in
Rajahmandry ”’ in the Madras Journal of Literature and Science, 1879, pp.
93-102. Messrs. A. G. Subrahmanyam Iyer, n.a., and P. Srinivasa Rao
Pantulu, B.A., asked, under the direction of Rev. Mr. J. Cain, a Yeruka a
series of questions and drew up the paper. Mr. Cain published afterwards
a similar but shorter paper in the Indian Antiquary, vol. IX (1880), pp.
210-212. The brief sketch contains, among others, the following statements:
‘©The Yerukulas do not seem to haye any distinctive tribal or national name.
In conversation with cach other they call themselves ‘ Kuluvaru, evidently
from the Sanskrit ‘kula,’ merely signifying ‘our people ’ while to strangers
they speak of themselvesas Yerukalavaru, a name most probably given them
by their Telugu neighbours (Telugu jay) in allusion to their supposed
skill in palmistry, which they practise as a means of livelihood. The
Yerukula in question was not able to say when his people settled in Rajah-
mandry. He only knew that a long time ago they came from the west...
Their customs are generally of 4 very simple character. They burn their

OF BHARATAVARSA OR INDIA. 183

custom among the Gauda- Dravidian tribes of India, though
the term erra, red, is occasionally used in names, e.g., in that
of the Erra Gollalu.®

There is also no reason for connecting the two initial
syllables Yera of Yerakalavandlu with the Yeravas of Kurg.
These are a distinct tribe and do not belong to the Kuravas,
of whom the Kurus or Yerukulavandlu are a branch. The
name Yerava is in reality only another form of Parava.*

A similar remark must be made as to the propriety of
deriving the name of the Kurus from the Telugu words

dead with little ceremony... There appears to be little doubt that the
language belongs to the Dravidian family. The following collection of
words and phrases seems to show conclusively that of these languages it
bears the closest affinity to Tamil although possessing words, allied to
Telugu and Canarese.’’

93 See my monograph Der Preshyter Johannes in Sage and Geschichte, p. 121,
note 1: ‘‘ Die mongolischen Volkerschaften pflegen namlich, wie bekannt,
dem eigenthumlichen Stammesnamen eine Farbe, wie schwarz, weiss, etc.,
voranzusetzen,und hierdurch die politische Lage der Horde, ob sie unabhan-
gig der abhangig sei, anzudeuten.”’

%4 See “ Ethnographical Compendium on the Castes and Tribes in the
Province of Coorg,” by the Rev. G. Richter, pp. 9, 10: ‘* Of the hill-tribes
the Yeravas stand lowest and seem to have been in remote ages in a servile
relation to the Betta Kurwmbas . . They are immigrants from Wynad,
where the same class of Yeravas is said to be found. Their language is
related to that of the Betta Kurumbas and understood by the Coorgs.. . The
Yeravas bury their dead with their clothes on lying flat the head eastward ;
but according to the statement of an intelligent Yerava maistry, who was
also the headman of his gang, the women are buried in a sitting posture in
a hole scooped out sideways from what would have been an ordinary grave,
so that the earth over head does not touch her.”’

Read also Mysore and Coorg, by Lewis Rice, in vol. I, p. 351 : “ Verava.
These are only found in Mysore District, in the taluks forming the southern
frontier ; they are said to have originally belonged to Wainad, where they
were held in slavery by the Nairs. They resemble the African in features
having thick lips and compressed noses. They speak a language of their,
own.”’ Invol. IL, p. 94: ‘‘ Yerra Ganga and Challava Ganga, two men
of the Yerralu tribe,’’ to this the note is added : ‘‘ A wandering tribe identi-
cal with or closely related to the Korachars. They are known in Coorg as
Yeravas.’’? And in vol. TII, on pp. 214, 215: ‘“ Yeravas, also known as
Panjara Yeravas, 5,608 males, and 4,908 females. . . From the description
given of the Yeravas, it is probable they would have been more correctly
classed with Holeyas among the outcastes. They are said to be originally
from Wainad, where, like the Holeyas in Coorg, they were held in slavery by
the Nairs. They are met with almost entirely in Kiggatnad and Yedenalkad

‘

184 ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS

erike, eruka or eruku. The Telugu terms ertke or eruka
knowledge, in the sense of astrology or of palmistry, and
eruku, hunter, do not offer an explanation of the tribal name
Kuru. Jt is highly probable that the name and the occu-
pation of the fortune-telling Kurnvandlu or Kulavandlu
induced the Telugu people to call this tribe Yerukulavandlu,
Yerakalavandlu or Yerikelavandlu, including in these terms
both their tribal name and their profession, and that this
nickname, once substituted for the real tribal surname,
supplanted the latter in course of time. I prefer this expla-
nation to the conjecture suggested by Mr. H. E. Stokes in
his interesting account of these people. Taking Zruku as
a Telugu designation of this race, he adds to it their tribal
name by dropping the last vowel of the first part of the
compound, so that the word becomes YVerukkalavandlu.
Peculiarily enough the term Hrukukula occurs in reality as
quoted in the note below, but apparently in the meaning
of hunter. No race takes, as a rule, its name from a foreign
language, and Telugu is a strange dialect to the Kurus,
whose real idiom is rather akin to Tamil. In this language
the expression Yerukalavas is ignored, and this tribe is
called simply by the term Koravar.%

taluks. They speak a language of their own, a dialect of Malayalam, and
live with the Coorgs, but always in separate huts in or near jungle. They
are much sought after as labourers.”

It is evident from the above that Mr. Rice’s statements contradict
each other. If Yerra Ganga and Challava Ganga were Kuruvandlu or
Yerukulavandlu, they could, according to my opinion, not have been
Yeravar.—Moreover Mr. Rice calls them ‘‘ men of the Yerralu tribe,’’ and
the Yeravar are not, as I believe, known as Yerralu. Mr. Rice was induced
tothis identification by Mr. Stokes’ remarks, to which he refers. In this
case itappears very doubtful whether yerva in Yerra Ganga is a tribal distine-
tion at all, it seems rather to be a personal proper name.

% See the Telugu and English Dictionary by Charles Philip Brown, p. 126:
“Jax or J&¥ knowledge, acquaintance, fortune-telling. J8s0& OF
Jdxexd a female gypsey, a witch. J8Soo a fortune-teller: JoFe-
arom gypsies. See J&Xo. JS mountaineer, a savage. J&Smsyd

to tell fortunes. JOS adj. Belonging to gypsies, orto hillpeople. J&S-

OF BHARATAVARSA OR INDIA. 185

It is hardly necessary after this to contradict two
other statements, namely that the term Aulavdru is derived
from the Sanskrit word kuda and that the original tribal
name of this race was Kala. The falseness of the first is
obvious, while the real tribal designation, as has been proved,
is Kulu, Kola, or Kuru. Ko (ku), mountain, is, indeed, the
root to which the name of the Kuruvas, Koravas, Koramas,
Kuruvandlu or Kolavandlu must be traced. According to
the last census 48,882 Yerukulavandlu live in the Madras
Presidency, 9,892 in Hyderabad, and 380 in the Central
Provinces, or altogether 58,804 in India.

These Kurus must not be confounded with the Kolarian
Ktirs, who live on the Mahadeva hills and in the forests
watered by the Tapti and Narbada. The Kars are better
known as Muasis.%

On the other hand, it is by no means improbable that the

Kaurs of the Central Provinces stand in some relationship
to the Kuravas, as they appear to belong to the Gonds.

ta highland chief. J&%Somre& a gypsey, J&¥o6 a gypsey wench,
This tribe of fortune-tellers speak a peculiar jargon or cant : and when they
pitch their camps near towns, they herd swine. Jc&¥%os2 a woman of
this tribe: a witch.’? Compare also Sabda Ratnakaram, a dictionary of the
Telugu Language, compiled by B. Sitaramacaryulu, Madras, 1885, pp. 150-
151. “Jeoy . 3. 9. 1. dd. ..5 Shem .. . Jes. 3.0. 1.
Suet 2. arpticem. 5. .JewKvomsiot sdonovidin SR HsvIMwr,
BScRH.”

96 See the Rev. Stephen Hislop’s Papers relating to the Aboriginal Tribes of
the Central Provinces, pp. 25-27: ‘‘ We come now toa race in language at least
quite distinct from any that have engaged our attention—a race in that
respect not allied to the Dravidian stock, but to the family which numbers
among its members the Kol nation. With the name of this last-mentioned
nation, the word Kir, or Kul, as it ought properly to be pronounced, is
evidently identical. .. The Kurs were found on the Mahadeva Hills, and
westward in the forests on the Taptiand Narbadda, until they came into
contact with the Bhils. On the Mahadeva Hills, where they have been
much influenced by the Hindus, they prefer the name of Muasi, the origin of
which I have not been able to ascertain. ’’ Compare also Rev. M. A. Sherring’s
Hindu Tribes and Caste, vol. II, p. 126, and Colonel Dalton’s Ethnology of
India, pp. 151, 221, 230.

186 ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS

They resemble in their customs the aboriginal tribes of the
jungles, revere Gond deities, and avoid all intercourse with
Brahmans. With the Kurumbas they have in common the
peculiar habit that all males are clean-shaved when a death
takes place among their connections. Their features have a
thorough Turanian aspect, their color is darkish, their noses
are broad, and their lips rather thick. They assert, and their
neighbours all round support them in their claim, that they
are the survivors of the Kauravas who, after the battle of
Kuruksétra, fled to the south and took refuge in the ‘hill
tracts of Central India.”

' On THE Kunnuvas anp KunavARIS.

Dr. Shortt mentions; on p. 85 in the fifth part of his
‘** Hill Ranges of Southern India,” the “ Wanadies, Coonoovars

97 Read Colcnel Dalton’s Ethnology of India, pp. 136-138: ‘‘ Ina paper
entitled ‘ Notes of a Tour in the Tributary Mahals,’ published in the Journal,
Asiatic Society, Bengal, I introduced them as a dark, coarse-featured, broad-
nosed, wide-mouthed, and thick-lipped race, and it was natural to conclude
from this that they were one of the aboriginal tribes. . .They are decidedly
ugly, but are taller and better set up than most of the people described in this
chapter. The Kaurs form a considerable proportion of the population of
Jashpur, Udaipur, Sirguja, Korea, Chand Bhakar, and Korba of Chattisgarh,
and though they are much scattered, and the various divisions of the tribe
hold little communication with each other, they all tenaciously cling to one
tradition of their origin, that they are the descendants of the survivors of
the sons of Kuru, called Kauravas in Purans, who, when defeated by the
Pandavas at the great battle of Kurukshetrya, and driven from Hastinapur,
took refuge in the hill country of Central India. They not only relate this
of themselves, but it is firmly believed by the people of all castes of Hindus,
their neighbours, who, notwithstanding their dark complexions and general
resemblance to the offspring of Nishada and some anti-Hindu practices, do not
scruple to regard them as brethren... I was informed that the Kaurs were
divided into four tribes—(1)-the Dadh Kaurs, (2) Paikera, (3) Rettiah Kaurs.
The Kaurs of Udaipur described by me in the paper above queted belong to
this class. They rear and eat fowls, and have no veneration for Brahmans.
Tho village barber is their priest, and officiates as such at marriages and
other ceremonies. At births, marriages and deaths, the males affected by
the casualty and all connected with them of the same sex are clean-shaven
all round. Some villages maintain, besides, a Byga priest, or exorcist for
the Dryads, Naiads, and witches. The Paikera Kaurs therefore, who are, I
think, the most numerous, cannot be regarded as Hindu in faith . . (4) the
Cherwa Kaurs ... The Dudh Kaurs alone preserve the true blood of the
Kuru race... They have none of them in the tracts mentioned, attained

eee

OF BHARATAVARSA OR INDIA. 187

(Mountaineers), or Korarwrs”’ among the tribes of the Palani
Mountains. He contends that ‘‘ the Manadies or Coonoovars
were the chief landed proprietors, possessing large herds of
cattle, and, when compared with the other tribes, seem to
be in easy circumstances.” According to Mr. Nelson (Part
II, p. 34): “The MKunnuvans, or as they are also called
“ Kunnuva Vellalans, perhaps from the word Kunru a
“ hillock, are supposed tobe a caste of lowland cultivators who
“came up from the Coimbatore plains some three or four
“centuries ago and settled upon the Palani mountains as

“has been shown.”

Whether the Aunnuvas were originally
Dravidian Vellalas who adopted the surname Kunnuva

as a distinguishing clan-title, or whether the name Vel-

to the dignity of landlord either as zamindar, or jagirdar. I am told, how-
ever, that the Zamindar of Korba in Chattisgarh is a Kaur. All this makes
me inclined to separate them froin the aboriginal tribes of Central India, and
to think that there is some fouudation for their tradition ; but, as I cannot
efface their Turanian traits, and from all I have seen of them must regard
those traits as the pred: minating and original characteristics of the tribe,
I find myself in the dilemma ot having to come forward as the propounder of
a new theory, and, in opposition to the Mahabharat, to suggest that the war
of the Pandavas and Kauravas was not a family quarrel but struggle for
supremacy between an Aryanand ‘Turanian nation!’’ Compare also the
Rev. M. A. Sherring’s Hindu Tribes and Castes, vol. II, p. 155: ‘‘ The Kaurs
are usually regarded as aborigines, although claiming to have been originally
connected with the Tuar tribe of Rajpoots in the North-Western Provinces..
Nevertheless, their customs are not like those of Rajpoots, but like the
aboriginal tribes of jungles. They worship Doolar Deo and Boorha Deo,
Gond deities, and, as a class, avoid intercourse with Brahmans. Their mar-
riage ceremonies are performed in the presence of the elders of the village,
and they bury theirdead. The Kaurs are good and industrious cultivators.’’
The Kaurs are also mentioned in Mr. N. Ball’s Jungle Life in India,
pp- 296, 300, 322.

Compare with the above Justice Campbell’s Ethnology of India, p.40: “In
this region of India, it only remains to mention one more Aboriginal tribe,
called Kaurs, found in the extreme west of the Chota-Nagpore Agency about
Korea, Oodeypore, and the adjoining parts of the territory of Nagpore proper,
the Pergunnah of Korbah of Chatteesgurh. They are described as a very in-
dustrious, thriving people, considerably advanced in civilisation. They now
affect Hindu traditions, pretend to be descended from the defeated remnants
of the Kooroos who fought the Pandavas, worship Siva and speak Hindee,
but in appearance they are ultra-aboriginal, very black, with broad noses, and
thick lips, and eat fowls, &c., bury most of their dead, and contemn Bramins ;
so that their Hindooism is scarcely skin-deep.”’

188 ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS

lala was given them as landed proprietors, because the
land-owners of the plains were so called, it is impossible
to decide now. It is, however, an interesting coincidence
that-the Kunnuvas who inhabit the Palani hills are called
and call themselves Mannadi. This compound is formed ot
oer, man, a contraction of malai, mountain, and nddu, coun-
try. Muannddu signifies thus mountain-country, and mannddi,
mountaineer, as Mulaiya/am denotes the country, and Walai-
yali, the inhabitant of Malabar.°%*

Besides ma/ai another word man occurs in the sense
of mountain. Man in Tamil signifies not only earth, but
also mountain.*® In the former sense it is identical with
the Telugu mannu, and in the latter with mannemu or
manyamu. Mannedora and manyadu denote a highland chief-
tain, and manyadu is a title of some Velama Rajas, while the
hill-people are called Mannecaru. If the Mons of Pegu are
called by the Burmese Talaings, who according to Sir Alex-
“must have emigrated from Telin-
gana,” the conjecture of connecting this term Jon with the
Telugu Mannemu and the Tamil Man appears permissible.

Considering that Mankulattar, Gangakulattar and Indra-

ander Cunningham

seems now doubtful whether the term man in Mankulettar
should be explained as meaning earth or mountain.!°

98 See Dr. John Shortt’s Hill Ranges, Part V, pp. 85-89. On p. 85 we
read: ‘‘ When a Manady marries, the whole tribe is represented on the
occasion and to avoid unnecessary expense, marriages are generally put off
until two, three or more can be celebrated at once ... (On p. 86) The young
man advances and ties the marriage string with the Thalee or symbol around
the bride’s neck; to complete the ceremony, a Poliar is called upon to an-
nounce a blessing on the new married couple.’’ Read also ididem, Part VI,
pp. 42-46; on pp. 42-48: ‘* The inhabitants of these High Ranges are
Mudavars and . . . the mixed population of the villages in Unjenaad known
as Kunuvers, Munnadies, and others may be considered inhabitants.’* Compare
Mr. J. H. Nelson’s Manual of the Madura Country, Part II, pp. 33-36.

9 See Dr. Winslow’s Zamil and English Dictionary, p. 841: war, &
The earth .. . 8. Hill, mountain.

100 See Part I, p. 62, No. 29, on the term Mannepuvandiu, highlanders,
being used to designate the Telugu Pariahs or M@lalu, and ididem, p. 134,
No. 100, on the terms Vel/d/a and Velana. The Muhammedan rulers in

OF BHARATAVARSA OR INDIA. 189

These remarks have been made with a view to introduce
here the inhabitants of the Kunawar district, which is
situated in the Himalayan mountain range. The people of
this country are generally known as Kunets or Kanets, but
call themselves Mon. Sir Alexander Cunningham remarks:
* With respect to the name of Mon, which is given to the
“ Kunets or Khasas by the Tibetans, it does not appear to be
“‘a Tibetan word, as it is used by the Kunets themselves to
“designate the ancient possessors of the hills, whom they
‘acknowledge to have been their own ancestors.” On very
slight, and, as I think, on very suspicious linguistic evidence
does General Sir Alexander Cunningham connect the Mons
of Kunawar with the Kolarian Mundas, and thus with the
Kolarian population of India. I, on the other hand, regard
these Kunawari Mons together with the Kulindas as a branch
of the Gaudian tribe of the Gauda-Dravidian race, and even
Sir Alexander Cunningham cannot deny the possibility of
“a Gondish affinity for the Kunets.” I have a very high
respect for the earnest, indefatigable, and ingenious researches
of the late chief of the Archeological Survey of India, but
no single individual, however gifted, can write so much
without occasionally committing errors, and if I disagree at
times with General Sir Alexander Cunningham’s statements
and conclusions, I must acknowledge at the same time the
great obligations I owe to bim in common with all who
consult his excellent writings. !”!

India conferred occasionally the title Manya Sultan on Velama chiefs and
other princes. Munya in this sense stands for Manyadora, and has nothing in
common with the Sanskrit word Manya trom man, to consider.

1 See Sir Alexander Cunningham’s <Arecheological Survey of India,
vol. XIV, pp. 1256-135; more especially p. 127: ‘‘ All the ancient remains
within the present area of Kunet occupation are assigned to a people who are
variously called Mowas, or Mons, or Motans, and all agree that they were
the Kunets themselves . . At Dwara Hath there are numbers of monuments
like tombs built of large flat tiles, which the people attribute to the Maowis or
Monas. ‘These I take to be the monuments of the ancient Kunindas or Kunets
before they were driven from Dwara Hath to Joshimath . . (P. 128). In
Dhami and Bhagal and in all the districts along the Satlej there ure numerous

20

190 ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS

If the Kunets or Kunawaris are, as I believe, of Gaudian
origin, the circumstance of their being called Mon, moun-
taineer, gains in importance; for this name can then be
derived from a Gauda-Dravidian word. I feel inclined to
derive the name of the inhabitants of Kunawar, ie., of
the ancient Kulindas and the modern Kunets, from the root
ku, mountain. The etymology of the Madura term Kun-
nuvar from Kunnu, mountain, is evident, and is confirmed
by the meanings of the other two names of this tribe, ie.,
Koravar and Mannddikal. Yet, it is doubtful, whether
Kunnava is an original name or was afterwards adopted.

One of the peculiar features of the social habits of the
Kunets is their strict adherence to the old Gauda-Dravidian
custom of polyandry. Polyandry, it is true, does not ac-
tually prevail among the Southern Kunnavyas, but a woman

can take in succession as many husbands as she likes, though

she is allowed only one at a time.

remains of old stone buildings, many of them foundations of squared stones,
all of which are attributed to the Maowis or Mons, the former rulers of the
country .. I think it therefore very probable that the Mons of the Cis-
Himalaya may be connected with the Mundas of Hastern India, who are
certainly the Monedes of Pliny, as well as with the Mons of Pegu. As these
last are called Talaings by the Burmese, it would seem that they must have
emigrated from Telingana, I would also suggest that the true name of
Mongir was most probably Monagiri, and that the country of the Mundas or
Monedes once extended northward as far as the Ganges at Mongir.’? See Csoma
de Korosi, Geographical Notice of Tibet in Bengal Asiatic Society’s Journal,
vol. I, p. 122: ‘The hill people of India who dwell next to the Tibetans are
called by them by the general name of Jon, their country Aon Yul, a man Mon-
pa or simply Jon, and a woman on-mo) . . (Pp. 181-132.) The language of
the Kunets, like that of the Khas, just described by Mr. Hodgson, is a corrupt
dialect of Hindi, but it still retains several traces of a non-Aryan language.
Thus the word ¢i, for water of stream, is found all over the Kunet area. The
word is not Tibetan, but occurs in the Milchang dialect of Lower Kunawar.
It is clearly connected with the di and ¢i of the E. Koch and Moch tribes, and
with the da of the aboriginal Kolish dialects of Eastern and Central India, the
Munda, Santhal, Ho, Kuri and Saur or Savara. Thus within the Kunet
area are the following large streams. (1) Rawa-ti, or Ravi River. (2) Nyung-
ti, or Bias River . . (P. 133). Several of the great rivers of Northern India
have the Kolish affix da, as Pad-da, Narma-da, Bahu-da, ete. . . Da-Muda>

Da-San, . . Altogether I think the evidence of language, so far as it
goes, points decidedly to a Kolish rather than toa Gondish affinity for the

OF BHARATAVARSA OR INDIA. 191

No doubt these two tribes of the North and the South
resemble each other strangely in their names and in their
customs, but I am far from trying to force on them for these
reasons any closer relationship than that which has from the
first existed between them, namely that both of them formed
part of the large Gauda-Dravidian race. Both are here
mentioned together, as they afford an interesting example of
similar sounding and nearly identical names being borne by
two distinct, distant, and yet originally kindred tribes.!”

CHAPTER XII.
On rHe Kuruspas or Kurumsas.

Remarks about the name Kurumba.

The Kurubas or Kurumbas who form the subject of
this enquiry represent the most important of all those tribes
that have been already mentioned in this chapter, owing to
the influential part they have played in the History of India,
and the position they still occupy among the people of this
country. However separated from each other and scattered

Kunets and other mixed races of North-West India.” The linguistic
evidence so far as the Kunets are concerned is very weak, in fact nihit.
Nothing proves that the ¢: of Rdvati, the Sanskrit Airavati denotes river;
and that a word like da, water, should in one and the same language be used
in the same connection both at the beginning and the end of compounds
as in Bahu-da, Narma-da, Daé-Muda, and Da-San, is against linguistic rules.
About the Kolarian terms for water, dd, doi, di, dat, ti and tui compare
Hislop’s Papers, p. 27.

102 Read Mr. J. H. Nelson’s Manual of Madura, Part II, pp. 34-35: ‘In
this way a woman may legally marry any number of men in succession,
though she may not have two husbands at one and the same time. She may
however bestow favors on paramours without hindrance, provided they be of
equal caste with her. On the other hand a man may indulge in polygamy to
any extent he pleases, and the wealthier Kunnuvans keep several wives as
servants particularly for agricultural purposes. Among the Western Kun-
nuvans a very curious custom is said to prevail. When an estate is likely to
descend to a female on default of male issue, she is forbidden to marry an
adult, but goes through the ceremony of marriage with some young male
child, or in some cases with a portion of her father’s dwelling-house, on the
understanding that she shall be at liberty to amuse herself with any man of

192 ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS

among the Dravidian clans with whom they have dwelt, and
however distant from one another they still live, there is
hardly a province in the whole of Bharatavarsa which cannot
produce, if not some living remnants of this race, at least
some remains of past times which prove their presence.

Indeed, the Kurumbas must be regarded as very old in-
habitants of this land, who can contest with their Dravidian
kinsmen the priority of occupation of the Indian soil.
The two rival tribes have in reality become so intermixed
with each other, that according to the temporary superiority
of the one or the other, the same district is at different times
known as Vala(va)jnadu and Kurumbanadu, while in some
instances, when both tribes live more apart from each other,
we find a Vallavanadu bordering on a Kurumbanadu.

In some parts of this country the Kurumbas are even
now considered as the oldest existing remnant of the earliest
stratum of the population. Some tracts and places of the
Indian realm still bear their name, while some localities had
their names changed after the collapse of the Kurumba
supremacy. The well-known Tondamandalam, of which
Kaficipuram was once the capital, is said to have been pre-
viously called Kurumbabhimi or Kurumbanadu. Kurum-
baranadu forms still an integral portion of Malabar, and the
forest-clad mountainous district of the Nilagiri has preserved
in many localities the ancient neme of the Kurumbas. It
may not be inappropriate to mention here that Valanadu

her caste, to whom she may take a fancy: and her issue, so begotten, inherits
the property, which is thus retained in the woman's family. Numerous
disputes originate in this singular custom ; and Madura Collectors have some-
times been puzzled not a little by evidence adduced to show that a child of
three or four years was the son or daughter of a child of ten or twelve. The
religion of the Kunnuvans appear to be the Siva, but they worship their
mountain god Valapan with far more devotedness than any other.”

Compare also Sir W. W. Hunter’s Dnperia? Gazetteer of India, vol. V, pp-
482-483: “In physique, the Kunawaris are tall, athletic, well-made, and
dark-skinned ; while their character stands high for hospitality, truthfulness
and honesty . . Polyandry everywhere exists in its fullest form.”

——

OF BHARATAVARSA OR INDIA. 193

is now known as the name of a district round Kaficipuram,
and that Valluvanadu is bordering on Kurumbaranadu.*®

Before entering further on the discussion concerning the
ethnology and history of the Kurumbas, I feel it incumbent
on me to make a few linguistic remarks, which apply to the
whole chapter. I have already derived their name from
kuru, an enlarged form of ko (ku), mountain. A Kuruba
or Kurumba signifies thus a mountaineer.

The terms Kuruba and Kurumba are originally identical,
though the one form is in different places employed for the
other, and has thus occasionally assumed a special local
meaning. I have previously proved that even the wandering
Koravas are direct offshoots from the same stem, in spite
of their being now distinguished from the bulk of the
Kurubas or Kurumbas by occupation and caste. Mr. H. B.
Grigg appears to contradict himself when, while speaking
of the Kurumbas, he says that “in the low country they are
* called Kurubas or Cirubdru, and are divided into numerous
“families, such as the ‘Ané’ or Elephant, Naya or Dog,
“ M4lé or Hill Kurumbas.” Such a distinction between
Mountain-Kurumbas and Plain-Kurubas cannot be estab-
lished. The Rev. G. Richter will find it difficult to prove
that the Kwrubas of Mysore are only called so as shepherds,
and that no connection exists between these Kurubas and the
Kurumbas. Mr. Lewis Rice calls the wild tribes as well as
the shepherds Aurubas, but seems to overlook the fact that
both terms are identical and refer only to the ethnological
distinction. Instead of Kuruba he uses also occasionally
Kurumba. In the Tamil language all the Kurumbas are

103 Or Velanadu. Near Chingleput in Valanadu lies Vallam with an
ancient temple on the top of the hill and Valam in Tanjore is also situated
ona heignt. I am not ignorant of the fact that the term Valanddu is
generally explained as the extensive or excellent district. (See F. M. Ellis’
Mirdsi Article, p. 229, and Mr. Nelson’s Manual, Part II, p. 49.) In Mr.
Nelson’s Manual of Madura the Vallama Nadu in Tanjore is mentioned
in Part II, on pp. 28 and 57 and ‘“‘ the Vella( Vala) Nadu, near Kajichipuram
(Conjeveram),’’ on p. 44, the Vala Nadu or excellent district of Madura
on p. 49.

194 ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS

ealled Kwrumbar, and, as we shall see hereafter, they are
divided into Anda or Andai-Kurumbar, Kambali-Kurumbar,
Kurumba-Idaiyar, Cunnambu-Kurumbar, §¢. The ethnological
origin of Kuruba, shepherd, is proved by the occurrence of
such terms as Auri-Kuruba, Sheep-Kuruba, Handi-Kuruba,
Pig-Kuruba. The Kurubas or Kurumbas embraced the
occupation of herdsmen to such an extent, that the tribal
designation became in course of time a professional one. In
English the term shepherd is on the other hand used in such
a general sense, that the original meaning of shepherd, as
a herd of sheep, the German Schafhirt, is quite forgotten.
The expression Auri-Kuruba would mean sheep-shepherd, if
the original signification of Kuruba were really shepherd.

Now it happens that one of the principal occupations of
the Kurubas or Kurumbas is that of tending sheep, and by a
peculiar coincidence kuri or kori is a common Gauda-Dravi-
dian term for sheep, from which can also be derived the word
Kuruban, in the sense of shepherd. In fact the term Awruba
in Kanarese, kurwban in Malayalam and Tulu, and golladu
or gollavadu in Telugu denote a shepherd, but the Tamil
kurumban in the sense of shepherd refers only to the
Kurumba shepherd, and the sheep peculiar to the Kurumbas
is called Kwrumbddu, in '‘amil Gu7@, So far as the
Telugu golladu is concerned, I must at once remark that I
think it incorrect to connect this word with the Sanskrit term
go, cow. Golladu or Gollavadu is derived from god/a the
Casus Constructus (fetfamu) in the plural of gorre, sheep,
plural gorredu or gor/u changed into go//u. I have been since
informed by reliable authority that in the Telugu-speaking
districts the term gollavddu is particularly applied to herds-
men of sheep or shepherds. The Kurumba herdsmen are
styled in Tamil Mwrwnba Idaiyar, and in Telugu Kurwmba
Gollalu.*

10 Compare Mr. Grige’s Manual of the Nilagiri District, p. 208, Rev. G.
Richtor’s Béhnographical Compendium, p. 11 (see note-108 on p. 206), and Mr.
Lewis Rice’s Mysore and Coorg, vol. III, pp. 20, 49, 57, 207, 208, 214, 216.

a

OF BHARATAVARSA OR INDIA. 195

But we have also to deal with another word which
resembles kurw mountain ; this is the term kuru short, which
oceurs in Tamil, Malayalam, Tulu, Kanarese and Telugu.
Peculiarly enough a large percentage of the Kurumbas, more
especially those who inhabit the hill-ranges have a short
almost dwarfish figure, so that the etymology may appear
appropriate in their case. A similar derivation from the
Malayalam ceru, small, in Tamil and Telugu ciru, is actually
suggested to explain the name of the praedial slaves of Mala-
bar, the ill treated Ceramas or Cerumas. This tribe is in
reality called after their native country Céra, of which they
were, so far as we know, the original rulers, until they were
suppressed and finally reduced to abject slavery by their
present masters, the Nairs. The Kurumbas have shared a
similar fate in many places. The Ceramas can therefore be
compared with their fellow sufferers, the Hudamas.

The stunted growth of animals and plants in cold, wet
and high elevations is a well-known natural law, to which the
human species has alsoto submit. In consequence of their
loneliness and comparative physical weakness, the small

In the late Mr. C. P. Brown’s Telugu-Englhsh Dictionary we find
gollata, *°2%, given as signifying a woman of the cowkeeper caste, and
gollatamu, 28m, as the cowherd class. Thisis, 1 think, not quite correct.
Later Telugu Lexicographers have adopted and perpetuated the mistake of
Mr. Brown. ‘The same meaning is contained in Kanarese dictionaries, as
Kanarese also possesses the word golla, as a caste of herdsmen. The Kana-
rese term is most likely taken from Telugu. Mr. W. Logan speaks in his
Malabar Manual, vol. I, p. 114, of the Koruba Golla as herdsmen. Compare
Dr. Buchanan’s Zravels, vol. II. pp. 483, 434: ‘Sheep are an object of
great importance, and are of the kind called Curi in the language of Karnata.
They are kept by two castes, the Curubaru and Goalaru. A man of either
caste, who possesses a flock of sheep, is by the Mussulmans called a Donigar.
The Curubaru are of two kinds; those properly so called, and those named
Handy or Cumly Curubaru, The Curubaru proper, and the Goalaru, are some-
times cultivators, and possess the largest flocks; but they never make
blankets... ‘The flocks contained by the former two castes contain from 30 to
300 breeding-lives.”’ f

The Gollas of Aurangabad appear to be identical with the wandering
Kuruvas; for according to the Gazetteer of that district (p. 309) : ‘‘ The Gol-
lars move about with droves of asses, or are employed as goatherds. They

196 ON THE ORIGINAL: INHABITANTS

mountaineers, when they meet their taller but less clever
neighbours of the plains, display often a spiteful distrust,
use poisonous arrows and frighten them by their mysterious
proceedings into abject superstition. This is the reason why
the Kurumbas of the Nilagiri Hills are so shunned ; and why
dwarfs in general are treated with suspicion, as is shown by
the well-known native proverb: ‘One may trust a thief,
but not a dwarf.”

When pointing out the different meanings of the word
palli, I specially drew attention to the fact that it signified
originally a Dravidian village or town, andremarkably enough
the Gaudian Kurumbas also possess similar terms, which
must have been at first applied to their villages. I speak
of kuricci, a village in mountainous regions, and kurumbu,
a village situated in desert tracts.

Moreover to the Dravidian Pallavan, as chief of the Palla
people, corresponds the Gaudian Kuruppu, the Kurumba
headman in the Kurumbaranadu of Malabar.

ON THE SUB-DIVISIONS AMONG THE KuRuMBAS.

The Kurumbas represent a very numerous community,
who are subdivided into many classes. Most of these sub-
divisions indicate either the place of their habitation, or the
pursuit and profession they follow to gain their livelihood.
In some cases these professional terms have become tribal
names. In the various provinces of the Indian Empire and
in the different vernaculars of this country distinct names are
given to the several subdivisions, so that the same class is
called differently in sundry districts; the Tamil and Kana-
reso descriptions differ thus in their nomenclature.

rear dogs,hunt jackals, iguanas, and wild animals, and live in the neighbour-
hood of towns and villages. The women beg, and are said to be great thieves.”

In the last Census Report the Gollas are divided into Erra, Gauda, Kadu,
Kannadi, Karna, Kuruba, Mushti, Puja, Puri, Peddeti and Uru Gollas,
Kurumbas and Yadavulu. They are classed as Dravidians, and number
1,258,786 souls.

OF BHARATAVARSA OR INDIA. 197

The Kurumbas are as jealous about their social position
as the other Hindus. °° They have fought and are still
fighting when the opportunity occurs with great pertinacity
against any real or imaginary encroachments on their rights
of precedence. Very serious disturbances used to take place
at the great annual festival held about February in the Siva
shrine at Mudukuturai in the Kollegal Talak, where about
50,000 people assemble on the banks of the Kavéri, and

105 About the ensigns compare Part I, pp. 91, 92, note 59.

See Mackenzie Collection, No.9, C.M.763, XII; No. 11, C.M. 765; No.
14, C.M. 768, VIII; No. 20, C.M. 774, X, and Dr. Francis Buchanan’s
Journey from Madras through the Countries of Mysore, Canara and Malabar,
vol. I, pp. 274-276, 312, 379-381, 389; vol. II, pp. 3, 40, 155, 156, 433-436.
In vol. I, pp. 274-276 he says: ‘‘The Curubarw are an original caste of
Karndia, and, wherever they are settled, retain their language. They are
divided into two tribes, that have no communion, and which are called Handy
Curubaru, and Curubaru proper. The last again are divided into a number of
families; such as the Any, or elephant Curubaru; the Hal, or Milk Curu-
baru; the Colli, or fire C.; the Nelly C.; the Samanta C.; the Coti C.;
the Asil C.; and the Murhindina Curubaru. These families are like the
Gotrams of the Brahmans ; it being considered as incestuous for two persons of
the same family to intermarry. The proper Curubas have hereditary chiefs,
who are called Gaudas, whether they be headmen of villages or not, and possess
the usual jurisdiction. Some of them can read accompts, but they have no
book. The proper duty of the caste is that of shepherds, and of blanket-
weavers; and in general they have no other dress than a blanket. A few of
those who are rich have betaken themselves to the luxury of wearing cotton
cloth next their skin ; for all castes and ranks in this country wear the blanket
as an outer garment. The dress of the women resembles that of the females
of the kingdom of Ava. The blanket is put behind the back, and the two
upper corners, being brought forward under the arms, are crossed over the
bosom, and secured by the one being tucked under the other. As their blanket
is larger than the cloth used by the women of Ava, the dress is more decent.
The Curubaru were, besides, Candachara, or militia; cultivators, as farmers,
as servants, and as gardeners; Attavana, or the armed men who serve the
Amildars ; Anchay, or post-messengers, and porters. They are allowed to eat
animal food, but in most places are not permitted to drink spirituous liquors.
In other places this strictness is not required, and almost everywhere they
intoxicate themselves with palm-wine. The women are very industrious,
and perform every kind of work except digging and ploughing. Even after
the age of puberty they continue marriageable, and can only be divorced for
adultery. In this caste the custom of Cutiga, or concubinage, prevails ; that
is, all adulteresses who are turned away by their husbands, and have not
gone astray with a strange man, and all girls and widows, to whom a life of
celibacy is disagreeable, may live with any man of the caste who chooses to
keep them. They are looked down upon by their more virtuous sisters ; but

26

198 ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS

Government had to interfere and to arrange that the Ku-
rumbas and the Gangadikaras should attend the fair on
different days, so as to prevent their meeting each other. On
another occasion the Kurumbas collected and spent about
10,000 rupees to obtain from the records in Kaficipuram
documentary evidence in confirmation of their claims. One
of the disputes between the Kurumbas and the Gangadikaras
concerns the question who are the Indrasidras and who the

still they are admitted into company, and are not out-casts. Among the
Curubaru, the children of concubines do not forma separate caste, but are
allowed to marry with those of a pure breed. By aconnection with any man,
except a Curuba, a woman becomes an entire out-cast. The men take several
wives ; and, if they be good workers, do not always divorce them for adultery ;
but as they thus incur some disgrace, they must appease the anger of their
kindred by giving them an entertainment, and the Guru generally interposes
his authority to prevent a separation. The Curubas believe, that those men
who die without having been married become Virikas, to whose images, ata
great annual feast, which is celebrated on purpose, offerings of red cloth, jagory
rice, &c., are made. If this feast be omitted, the Virikas become enraged,
occasion sickness, kill the sheep, alarm the people by horrid dreams, and,
when they walk out at night, strike them on the back. They are only to be
appeased by the celebration of the proper feast. The peculiar god of the caste is
Bir’ -uppa, ov father Biray, one of the names of Siva ; and the image is in shape
of the Zinga ; but no other person prays to Siva under his name, nor offers
sacrifices to that god, which is the mode by which the Curubas worship Bir’ -
uppa. The priests who officiate in the temples of this deity are Curubas. Their
office is hereditary, and they do not intermarry with the daughters of laymen,
Tn some districts, the Cw'xdas worship another god, peculiar, I believe, to them-
selves. He is called Battay Devaru, and isa destructive spirit. They offer
sacrifices to him in woods, by the sides of rivulets, or ponds. The carcasses
of the animals killed before the image are given to the barber and washerman,
who eat them. Besides these, the Curubaru offer sacrifices to the Sektis, and
pray to every object of superstition (except Dharma Raja) that comes in their
way. They are considered too impure to be allowed to wear the Zinga, as
their Guru does. This person is called a Wodear, or Jangama; but he is
married, and his office is hereditary. His title is Ravana Sidhéswara, and he
originally lived at Sarwr, which is near Kalydnapatiana. At his visits he
bestows consecrated ashes, and receives charity. He has a fixed due on
marriages, and sends his agents to collect it. At some of their ceremonies the
Panchdnga attends, and acts as Purohita.’’ On page 312 Buchanan says:
“‘ The Curubas here (in Tumkar) say, that at a temple of Biairawa at Hervay
Samudra, which is near Mercasera, to the north of this place, and where one
of their caste acts as Piyari, the image represents a man sitting on horseback
with the Zinga round his neck, and a drawn sword in his hand, they offer
sacrifices to this image and eat the flesh. The family of Ravana have now
spread all over the country ; but Saw is still considered as the proper family

OF BHARATAVARSA OR INDIA. 199

Sukragidras ; the Kurumbas claiming to be Indrasidras and
calling the Gangadikaras Sukrasadras, and vice vers@. The
former expression indicates the issue of married, and the
latter that of unmarried women.

They carry an enormous white umbrella and a flag with
the figure of a bull, and of this umbrella they proudly say
that it covers the world. It is therefore known as Jagajam-
pina sattige.

seat. Their Guru has the power of restoring any out-cast to the enjoyment of
full communion. They have a book peculiar to the caste called Jiraga Cha-
pagodu. Itis written in the language of Aarndia, and gives an account of
the tribe. The Curubaru buy their wives, a girl of a good family costs from
30 to 40 fanams ; a girl of the bastard or Cutiga breed costs 15 fanams, or
10s.’’ On pp. 379-81 he describes the Kadu and Betta Kurumbas: ‘‘ The Cad’
Curubaru axe a rude tribe of Karndta, who are exceedingly poor and wretched.
In the fields near villages they build miserable low huts, have a few rags only
for covering, and the hair of both sexes stands out matted like a mop, and
swarms with vermin. Their persons and features are weak and unseemly,
and their complexion is very dark. Some of them hire themselves as labour-
ing servants to the farmers, and, like those of other castes, receive monthly
wages. Others, in crop season, watch the fields at night, to keep off the
elephants and wild hogs . . Their manner of driving away the elephant is by
running against him with a burning torch made of bamboos. . . The Curubaru
have no means of killing so large an animal. . The wild hogs are driven out
of the fields by slings. . These poor people frequently suffer from tigers,
against which their wretched huts are a poor defence; and, when this wild
beast is urged by hunger, he is regardless of their burning torches. The Curw-
baru have dogs, with which they catch deer, antelopes and hares; and they have
the art of taking in snares peacocks, and other esculent birds. They have no
hereditary chiefs, but assemble occasionally to settle the business of their caste.
They confine their marriages to their own tribe. The Gauda, or chief man of
the village, presides at this ceremony, which consists of a feast. During this
the bridegroom espouses his mistress, by tying a string of beads around her
neck. Themen are allowed to take several wives, and both girls after the age
of puberty, and widows are permitted to marry. In case of adultery, the
husband flog his wife severely, and if he be able, beats her paramour. If he
be not able, he applies to the Gauda, who does it for him. The adulteress has
then her choice of following either of the men as her husband. They can eat
everything except beef; and have no objection to the animal having died
a natural death. . . They do not drink spiritous liquors. None of them take
the vow of Daséri nor attempt to read. Some of them burn, and others bury
the dead. They believe that good men, after death, will become benevolent
Dévas, and bad men destructive Dévas.. . The spirits of the dead are believed
to appear in dreams to their old people, and to direct them to make offerings of
fruits to a female deity, named Bettada Chicama ; that is, the little mother of
the hill. Unless these offerings are made, this goddess occasions sickness;

200 ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS

I have been informed that there exist as many as 23
Kurumba subdivisions.

The Mackenzie Manuscripts contain in this respect valu-
able information about the Tamil Kurumbas, while Dr.
Francis Buchanan supplies interesting accounts of the
Kanarese Kurumbas. Among such distinctions may be
mentioned the Malai or Betta Kurumbas, who are confined
to the mountains, and the Kadu Kurumbas, who dwell in
forests. It is probable that the Mullw Kurumbas, who are

but she is never supposed to do her votaries any good. She is not, however,
appeased by bloody sacrifices. There is a temple dedicated to her near
Nunjinagodu ; but there is no occasion for the offering being made at that
place. There is also in this neighbourhood (of Hegodu Devana Cotay) an-
other rude tribe of Curubaru, called Betta, or Malaya, both words signifying
mountain, the one in the Karndia, and the other in the Tamil language. . .
They are not so wretched nor ill-looking as the Cad’ Curubaru, but are of
diminutive stature. They live in poor huts near the villages, and the
chief employment of the men is the cutting of timber, and making of baskets
....The Betta Curubaru have an hereditary chief called Zjyamana, who
lives at Priya-pattana. . .In this tribe, the concubines, or Cutigas, are
women that prefer another man to their husband, or widows who do not
wish to relinquish carnal enjoyment. Their children are not considered as
illegitimate.

<¢ Girls are not considered as marriageable until after the age of puberty,
custom that by the higher orders is considered as a beastly depravity. The
men may take several wives, but never marry a woman of the same family
with themselves in the male line. The Betta Curubarw never intoxicate
themselves ; but are permitted to eat every kind of animal food except beef,
and they have no objection to carrion. They never take the vow of Daséri,
and none of them can read. Some of them burn, and others bury their dead.
They understand nothing of a future state. The god of the caste is Ejuruppa,
who seems to be the same with Hanwmanta, the servant of Rama, but they
never pray to this last-mentioned deity although they sometimes address
Siva. To the god of their caste they offer fruit, and a little money ; they
never sacrifice to the Saktis. Their Guru, they say, is of the caste Woti-
meru, and from their description would appear to be of those people called
Satananas.” On p. 389: ‘* Bhairawa Dévaru is the god of the Curwbas, and
isa malevolent male spirit .... The Pujari, or priest, is a Hal Curudaru,
who can neither read nor write.’? Compare further vol. IT, pp. 3, 42, 433-
436: ‘*The Curubaru are of two kinds; those properly so called, and those
named Handy or Cumly Curubaru. The Curudaru proper, and the Goalaru,
aro sometimes cultivators, and possess the largest flocks; but they never
make blankets. The Handy Curubdas abstain entirely from cultivation, and
employ themselves in tending their flocks, and manufacturing the wool. . . The
Handy Curubaru . . . are a caste living in the Harapunya-hully and Chatrakal

OF BHARATAVARSA OR INDIA. 201

found in the Nilagiri Mountains, are so called from mujlu,
thorn, as they live among the jungle; if so, the term is to
some extent synonymous with Kadu Kurumbas. Some think
that the word mujjs may apply to their arrows, as these
sturdy, well-made mountaineers are never seen without their
bows and arrows. As regards their neighbours whom the
Rev. F. Metz, otherwise a great authority on this subject,
calls Naya Kurumbas, and Mr. Grigg Naya or Dog Kurumbas,
T have ascertained on reliable authority that their name is
in reality not Naya but Nayaka Kurwmbas, and that they
are held in respect by the neighbouring tribes. The MuJ/u

districts, and are of Karnata descent. . . All those who have settled in that
(Marattah) country being horsemen, they are called Handay Ravalar, a name
pronounced Rawut by the Mussulmans, and by them frequently applied
to every kind of Curubas... The deities, whom this caste consider as
their peculiar objects of worship, are Bira Deva, and his sister Mayava.
Bira is, they say, the same with Iswara, and resides in Kailasa . . There
is only one temple of Bira, which is situated on Cwri Betta, or the sheep
hill, on the banks of the Krishna, near the Poonah. There is also only one
temple dedicated to Mayava. It is near the Krishna, at a place named
Chinsuli. Once in ten years, every man of the caste ought to go to these
two temples; but a great many do not find leisure for the performance
of this duty. These deities do not receive bloody sacrifices, but are worship-
ped by offerings of fruit and flowers. The priests (Pwjaris) at both these
temples are Curubaru, and, as the office is hereditary, they of course marry. .
Besides the worship of the deities proper to the caste, the Curubas offer
sacrifices to some of the destructive spirits, such as Durgawa, Jacani, and
Barama Deva. . . The Curubaru have no trouble from Pysachi ; and ordinary
Butas, or devils, they believe, are expelled by prayer addressed to the deities
of the caste. At Hwiny, in the Harapunya-hully district, resides Ravana
Siddheswara, the Guru of this caste.’ In kis description of Malabar,
Buchanan speaks in vol. II., pp. 156-158 of the Curumbalum or Catalun
in Kurumbaranadu: ‘‘ Another caste of Malayala, condémned to slavery,
is called in the singular Catal or Curwmbal, and in the plural Catalam or
Curumbalun. They reckon themselves higher than the Churman, Polian,
or Parian. The deity is worshipped by this caste under tne name of
Malayadévan, or the god of the hill, and is represented by a stone placed on
a heap of pebbles. This place of worship is on a hill, named Turuta Malay,
near Sivapurata, in Curumbara Nada. To this place the Catalun annually
go, and offer their prayers, coco-nuts, spirituous liquors, and such like, but
make no sacrifices, nor have they any kind of priest. They pray chiefly
for their own worldly happiness, and for that of their relations. The spirits
of good men after death are supposed to have the power of inflicting disease,
and are appeased by offerings of distilled and fermented liquors, which the
votary drinks after he has called upon the spirit to take such part of them

202 ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS

Kurumbas live particularly on the eastern side of the hills
in their middle belts, while the Naya or Nayaka Kurumbas
inhabit generally the lower slopes of this range as well as of
the Wynaad. It appears that the latter are identical with
those who are elsewhere called Jénu Kurumbas, or Honey
Kurumbas, because they gather honey for their own use as
well as for sale. These Jénu Kurumbas are also found in
Kurg.

About the Kurumbas of the Nilagiri-Mountain-range,
we are favoured with various pretty accurate accounts.
Among these deserve special mention the writings of the late
Rev. Ferdinand Metz !° of the Basel Lutheran Mission, who

as will pacify his resentment. The dead bodies of good men are burned, but
those of bad men, in order to confine their spirits, are buried ; for, if they
escape, they are supposed to occasion great trouble. It is not customary,
however, to make any offerings to these evil spirits. This caste has no
hereditary chiefs ; but disputes are settled by the elders who never inflict a
severer punishment than a mulct of some Betel-leaf. . . The tradition here
is, that Cherwman Permal divided the whole of Malayala among four families,
who were called Rajds, but whose dominions were afterwards subdivided
amongst innumerable petty chiefs, and younger branches of the original
families. These four families, however, always maintained a superiority
of rank, which they at this day retain. They are, the Coluta-nada Raja,
commonly called Cherical; the Venatra, or Raja of Travancore ; the Perum-
burupa, or Cochi Raja, and the Ernada, or Tamuri. The dominions of the
latter were originally very small. The same story concerning them is told
here (Pyur or Eivurmalay) that was related at Calicut. In process of time
the Curumbara family, who seem to have been a branch descended from the
Cochi Rajds, seized ona part of Coluta-nada, which included all the northern
parts of Malayalz. Among other usurpations, this family seized on Livurmalay,
of which they were afterwards stript by the ancestors of the three W7au-
namar. Another Kshatriya family called Cotayhutty (Cotiote), who seem to
have been descended from a younger sister of the Cwrumbara Rajds, seized
on another portion of Coluta-nada lying between Tellicherry and the Ghats.
Tho Curumbara Nada Rajds became extinet in the Malabar year 954 (1778-
1779), five years after Hyder invaded the country.”

About the Kurumbas of Southern India consult also Abbé Dubois’ De-
scription of the People of India, second edition, p. 342, and the Manual of
Madura by Mr. J. H. Nelson, Part Lf, pp. 64, 65.

106 Compare Rev. F. Metz Zhe Tribes inhabiting the Neilgherry Hiils,
pp. 115-126: ‘The Todas divide the Kurumbas into three classes—The
Mullu Kurumbas, the Naya Kurumbas, and the Panias. The two latter live
in the Wynaad. The Panias are not looked upon as sorcerers, as are the other
two classes, and are chiefly employed as the laborers of the Badagas who

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OF BHARATAVARSA OR INDIA. 205

spent the best part of his life in intimate intercourse with
the hill-tribes, among whom he commanded the highest
respect for the genuine kindness he showed to them and the
utter unselfishness he displayed towards the amelioration of
their position. Very valuable information is also contained
in the writings of the late Colonel Ouchterlony, in the
Account of the late Mr. J. Wilkinson Breeks, Commissioner of

have settled in the Wynaad. Hach Badaga district has its own Kurumba
priest, who comes up at the ploughing season, and sows the first handful of
grain ; and at harvest time also before the sickle is put to the crop. And
if a standing crop should at any time be attacked by insects, he is sent for,
and has to go through the ceremony of lowing like a calf, which the
Badagas believe has the effectof killing the insect.. The Mullu and Naya
Kurumbas are believed to possess the power of Iilling men by sorcery, and so
greatly are they feared that, if a Badaga meet a Kurumba in a jungle alone,
death from sheer terror is not unfrequently the consequence. . . The cairns
and cromlechs found in various parts of the hills, . . were, I think, pro-
bably the work of the ancestors of the Kurumbas. . . During the 13 years that
I have labored amongst and mixed with the hill-tribes, 1 have never found the
Todas inany way interested in the cairns, whilst the fact of their making no
objections to their being opened, taken in connection with the circumstance of
the contents frequently consisting of parts of plough-shares, sickles, and other
implements of husbandry, showing that the cairns were constructed by an
agricultural race which the Todas never were, are to me convincing proofs
that they are not the work of the Todas of a past generation. The Badagas
and Kotas, on the other hand, are to a certain degree afraid to approach
them . . Iwas once on a preaching excursion ina district near the southern
boundary of the hills, and not very far from the principal Kurumba village,
called Mulli, and after the labors of the day felt a curiosity to open a cairn
which happened to be in the neighbourhood. Much to my surprise however
the Badaga headmen present would not permit me to do so, not on account of
any objections they had themselves to make, but because, as they said, it was
the residence of the god of the Kurumbas, who came up frequently from
Mulli in order to worship the god of their forefathers. This is the only
occasion on which I have ever known any of the hill tribes venerate a cairn,
as the depository of the ashes of a deceased ancestor ; but, viewed in connec-
tion with what I have already stated, I think it is sufficient to justify the
supposition that the Kurumbas of old, when masters of the tableland may
have constructed these remarkable cemeteries ; and this consideration is fur-
ther borne out by the fact that the common tradition among Todas, Badagas,
and Kotas, is that they are the graves of a very wicked race of people, who,
though diminutive in stature, were at the same time powerful enough to
raise the large blocks of granite of which the walls of Hoolicaldroog are built ;
and that God drove them from the hills on account of their wickedness—a
description which would well apply to the case of the Kurumbas, who, in
addition to being feared and detested, are as a race much stunted in their

204 ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS

the Nilagiris, in the reports of Deputy-Surgeon-General
Dr. John Shortt, and in the exhaustive and valuable Manual
of the Nilagiri District compiled by Mr. H. B. Grigg, late
Assistant Commissioner of the Nilagiris.!°”

growth. The cromlechs were doubtless the work of the same people as the
cairns.. The Kurumbas call their deity Kuribattaraya, meaning, Lord or
possessor of sheep and to him they now and then sacrifice a goat or a fowl.”’
107 Compare Dr. Shortt’s Article on the Kurumbas in the Hil] Ranges of
Southern India, Part I, pp. 47-53 : ‘* Kurumbas—From @ MDL (Kurumboo)
mischief, the characteristic of a class of savages who are supposed to be the
aborigines of Southern India, from which the term Kurumba is derived. A
tribe, who call themselves, and are recognized as Kurumbas, having three
sub-divisions among them, viz. :—1. Mullu Kurumba. 2. Naya Kurumba.
3. Panias Kuramba...The Wullu Kurumbas chiefly occupy the middle belts of
these hills, while the other two divisions are confined to the lower slopes, or
are inhabitants of the Wynaad jungles, but the tribe generally is recognized
as mountaineers.. The Kurumba tribe are small in stature, and have a squalid
and somewhat uncouth appearance from their peculiar physiognomy, wild
matted hair, and almost nude bodies.. They are asa body sickly-looking,
pot-bellied, large-mouthed, prognathous, with prominent out-standing teeth
and thick lips—frequently saliva dribbles away from their mouths. .. The
men show great agility in climbing and descending hills, trees, &e. The
women have much the same features as the men, only somewhat sottened in
expression, and slightly modified in feature, with a small pug nose, and surly
aspect... Their villages are termed Motta... They have no furniture. . They
have no marriage ceremony.. Those Kurumbas who live on the Hills officiate
as priests to the Badagas. . The Badaga will do nothing without the presence
of a Kurumba, so that each district has its own Kurumba priest.. He is
supposed to be well versed in the use of herbs, and prescribes for all ailments;
implicit confidence is placed in his skill, and he is remunerated either in
money or grain, and sometimes both. The Kurumbas also officiate as priests
at their marriages and deaths. ..The Kurumbas, asa body, keep the other
tribes in great dread of witchcraft, not even excepting the Todas, who look
upon the Kurumbas as great adepts in the power and skill of bewitching or
destroying men, animals, or other property... The Kurumbas are also
employed as musicians by the Toda and Badaga tribes on all 2eremonial and
festive occasions ; they play on the flute and tom-tom very dexterously to
the admiration of the Todas and Badagas.. They withstand the endemic
diseases of the locality pretty well, and are not subject tofever.. They
hold some crude notions of a superior being, whom they designate under a
variety of names, with no distinct idea as to who or what he is. . The
Kurumbas are superstitious, and while they keep all the other tribes on these
Hills in awe, they themselves fear the Todas, believing that they possess
supernatural powers over them. . They are said to hold in respect, and make
offerings at, the different cairns and cromlechs met with on these Hills, and
from which itis believed that these cairns and cromlechs are the work of
their ancestors. Against this, their weak and dwarfed stature is brought

—) \

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j
j

OF BHARATAVARSA OR INDIA. 205

So far as the Kurumbas of Kurg are concerned, we are
mainly indebted to the Rev. G. Richter who wrote an Ethno-

forward as an objection, as most of these cairns and cromlechs are built of
huge stones, such as it is believed the Kurumba tribe could not move in the
absence of suitable appliances... Some of the Todas do attribute the cairns
and cromlechs to the Kurumbas.”’

Consult further the late Mr. James Wilkinson Breeks’ Account of the
Primitive Tribes and Monuments of the Nilagiris, pp. 48-66: ‘‘ In the Tabu-
lated Census Returns they are entered under the following castes or divi-
sions :—Eda Kurumban, Karmadiya Kurumban, Kurumban, KurumbanOkki-
liyan, Male Kurumban, Pal Kurumban.. They generally, however, say they
have no caste, but are divided iato dzgas or families, which do not intermarry.
It is difficult to get a complete account of the tribal divisions recognised by
them. One man will name you one (his own); another two divisions ;
another three, and soon. The headman of the village enumerated four :—
1. Betta Kurwmbas who live on the slopes, and near the Mysore ditch.
2. Kambale Kurumbas, who make blankets (cambly), and live in the low
country, in the Konguru (Coimbatore). 3. Mullu Kurwmbas (he did not know
where they lived). 4. Anda Kurumbas, who, like himself, live on the eastern
slopes. Pal Kurumbas are also vaguely mentioned sometimes. . Some Kurum-
bas whom I have met with, profess, in answer to inquiries, to worship Siva,
and occasionally women mark their forehead with the Saiva spot. Others,
living near Barliar, worship Kuribattraya (lord of many sheep), and the wife
of Siva under the name of Musni. They worship also a rough round stone
under the name of Hiriadéva, setting it up either in a cave or ina circle of
stones like the so-called ‘ Kurumba Kovil’ of the Badagas, which the latter
seem to have borrowed from the Kurumbas.. They do not consider the stone
as a lingam, although they profess to be Saivites.. Each Badaga Grama,
with its group of villages, keeps a Kurumba priest called Kani Kurwmba. .. The:
office is hereditary. In April and May, before sowing time, a goat or young
male buffalo is supplied by the cultivators, and the Kani Kurumba is sum-
moned to make the sacrifice. Surrounded by the villagers, the officiating-
priest cuts off the head of the animal, and sprinkles the blood in three direc-.
tions, east, west, and south, and also ona water-worn stone, which is con-
sidered as a ‘‘ hutu (natural) lingam.” No words are spoken, but after-
the sprinkling, the Kurumba clasps his hands behind his head, shouting Do,
Do, Do, three times and bows the head to ‘ Mother Earth.’ The priest gets.
| the head, and the Badagas the body, of the goat, which is taken home and.
eaten. In the Jakaneri Grama this ceremony is performed at the cromlech;.
in Tenad, at a rude circle of stone surrounding a water-worn stone for a
lingam. They call the place the ‘ Kurumba Kovil” (Kurumba Church)... The
Kurumbas near Rangaswami’s Peak told me that some Kurumbas buried.
' their dead, but that they themselves burned theirs, and that the nearest rela-
tives next day took some boiled rice in a cloth and a small round stone, and
, perhaps a bone from the funeral pile, and deposited them for the dead in the
Savumane (death-house) belonging to the Motta. At Barliar they do the same.
| These Savwmanes are small cromlechs of three upright stones and a covering
slab ; they said they did not now make them, but that they used those made
| by their forefathers.. They knew of no god peculiar to the Kurumbas, nor

av

206 ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS

graphical Compendium . . of Coorg ; but the Gazetteer of Mysore
and Coorg by Mr. Lewis Rice should also be consulted.!

had they any temple, but at a certain season they took offerings of plantains
to the Pwjdri (a Tamil man) who attended on Maleswara (lord of the moun-
tain), the god who lived on a hill known by that name.”—TI take the Eda to

be the Idaiya Kurumba.
Compare with these extracts Colonel Ouchterlony’s Geographical and

Statistical Memoir . . of the Meilgherry Mountains, pp. 62, 63 in Dr. Shortt’s
Hill Ranges, Part I, and Mr. H. B. Grigg’s Chapter on the Kurumbas in his
Manual of the Nilagiri District, pp. 208-217.

108 About the Kurumbas of Kurg consult Rev. G. Richter’s Ethnographical
Compendium ...of Coorg, pp. 11-15. ‘* The Kurumbas of Coorg are closely
connected with those of the jungles of South-Mysore and with the Kurumbas
of the Nilgiries, .. but there is now no intercourse between them, nor have
they any connexion with the shepherd caste of Mysore, the Kurubas who live
in the open country in mixed villages and tend cattle, sheep and swine and
also weave cumblies, whence they are called Halu-, Kuri, Handi- and Cambli
Kurubas. The Kurumbas in Coorg are divided into two distinct sections,
the Jénu and the Betta Kurwnbas. The Jénu Kurumbas are found in the north
and south-east of Coorg scattered in the jungles. They haye no fixed
abode but wander about from place to place in search of honey, hence their
name, Jénu meaning honey in Kanarese.. Inappearance the Jénu Kurumbas
are not unlike the Betta Kurwmbas ; but the men do not tie their hair ina
knot, and from carelessness it often gets matted. . The women who dress like
the Canarese Vokkaligas tie their rather curly hair into a knot at the back of
the head. Those I saw had regular features and might have been taken for
Vokkaligas. . Also in their wedding ceremonies they conform to those of the
Vokkaligas, but worship Kari Kali at Kutta like the Coorgs... The name
Betta or Kadu Kurumbas is derived from their abode. . A short flat nose, which
in the women is turned up with deep indentation at the root, prominent lips,
small dark deep-set eyes do not enhance the personal attractiveness of the
Betta Kurumba, yet he isa harmless good-humoured fellow and industrious
at his work as long as it pleases him. He loves above all things personal
freedom und independence and is quite in is native element when roaming
about on a hunting expedition as tracker of large game. . . In their religious
practices they are devoted to demon worship ‘and once within three years they
bring the usual offering (Kanike) of money, fowl, cocoanut and plantains to
Kuttadamma or Karinkali (Black Kali) at Kurchi near the south-east frontier
of Coorg. The eatables are shared between the pujari who is a Vokkaliga,
and the devotee. At the Auttadamma Jat (March-April) the Betta Aurum-
bas perform a dance accompanied by drum and gong; they also wear small
round bells (gejje) below the knee and in a stooping posture with outstretched
arms and clenched fists they vigorously move round. They do not venerate
snakes, but kill them, nor do they apply JidAuti or sacred ashes. The
Betta Kurumbas are divided into two sections or gotras, the Mwndpadi, literally
families belonging to three hamlets, and the Yelpadi or families belonging
to seven hamlets, and as among the higher castes of Hindus, members of
the same gota, do not intermarry ... Their principal BAutas are Ajja and
Kuda... In case of sickness what remedies are known to the elders are
applied and yows made to the demon, Auttadamma, and fulfilled on recovery.

)
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OF BHARATAVARSA OR INDIA. 207

According to their rank the first to be considered are
the Anda Kurumbas who superintend the administration.
Next follow the Kurumba Okkalkgas or agricultural Kurum-
bas whom we find mentioned in the Nilagiri Census Report.
Though the number assigned to them is very insignificant,
the circumstance of their being reported at all is highly
interesting, for it supplies a link to connect them with a
respectable and influential class of people in Mysore, the
well-known Okkaligaru. Okkalu, pronounced Vokkalu, signi-
fies in Kanarese ‘tenancy,’ okkalatana, husbandry, and
okkaliga, a farmer or cultivator. Dr. Buchanan calls this
caste, which is very numerous in Mysore, also Cunabdis.
These I shall eventually identify with the Kunbis, Kumbis
(Kurmis) or Kudumbis, the agricultural class to which
Sivaji, the great Maratha chieftain belonged who with his
Kudumbis of Kudumba or Kurumba extraction effected such
a change in the political aspect of India, some two hundred
years ago. ‘The sentence in the text of Buchanan leaves it
doubtful, whether he referred to the Cunabis as an ethno-
logical or professional distinction. Not all, perhaps not even
the majority of the Okkaligas of Mysore are of Kurumba
origin. With the exception of the abovementioned Ganga-
dikaras and the Nonaba Okkaligas, the others appear to have
been later settlers in Mysore. Their name implies only an
occupation, but it is a remarkable fact that many Okkaligas,
who do not cultivate the soil are engaged in similar pursuits
such as the Kurumbas embrace. Both tribes for instance
have a predilection for a military life, and, what is more sug-
gestive still, both communities are under the same Gurus, or
spiritual superiors, the chief of whom resides at Kangundi in

Their dead are buried, the corpse being placed sideways with the head to
the west. A widow may be remarried to a relative of the deceased husband,
but not to astranger . . Of the Mysore and Nilgiri Kwrwmbas it is said that
they eat the flesh of the cow, but those in Coorg abhor it.”’

The Rey. G. Richter is, according to my opinion (see p. 193), mistaken
in his tribal distinction between the Kurumbas and the Kurubas.

208 ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS

Bara-mahal. The Pijari of the Betta Kurumbas in Kurg
is also an Okkaliga. The last Census Report fixes their
number at 711,622 souls. The Mysore Okkaligas have some
peculiar customs, not the least extraordinary among them
being that which prevails among the women of the Morasa
Okkaligas, who cut off the ring and little fingers of their right
hand, before they celebrate the marriage of their eldest
daughter.

The shepherds are known as Kurumba Idaiyas, Kurumba
Gollas, occasionally also as Kuri Kurumbas and even as
Hande Kurumbas. Others keep pigs, this do the widely-
spread Handi-Kurumbas, who must not be confounded with
the Hande Kurumbas; the Pa/ or Hal Kurumbas sell milk; the
Kambali Kurumbas weave and sell woollen blankets, which
they themselves wear in a peculiar fashion ; and the Cunndmbu
Kurumbas prepare and sell lime. The Kurumba Védas or
hunting Kurumbas are well known in the Tamil country,!!°
while the Ane Kurwmbas seem to have obtained their name
from their cleverness in way-laying and hunting elephants.
The Kalla-Kurumbas lived not so long ago an easy life as
thieves and robbers. Most likely they formed part of the
warrior class and took to marauding in times of peace for
want of other occupation, and in order to support them-

109 See Dr. Buchanan’s Travels, vol. I, pp. 180, 181: ‘‘ The Ruddi are
one of the tribes of Sadra caste, which being much employed in agriculture
are called Woculigaru in the language of Karnata, and Cunadi in that of the
Decany Mussulmans... They are divided into two sects by a difference of
religion; one party worshipping Vishne, and the other Siva ; but this does
not prevent intermarriages. Those who worship Siva are followers of a kind
of Jangamas ; but do not wear the Linga. The people with whom I con-
versed seemed to consider them as the same with the Jangamas of the
Pancham Banijigas, but this caste informed me, that they were distinct, and
that the Gurus of the Ruddi were the same with those of the Curudaru,
whose chief resides at Cangundy in the Bara-mahal.’? Compare Mr. L.
Rice’s Mysore and Coorg, vol. I, pp. 337, 338, 340, vol. ITT, pp. 208, 209, also
the Ethnological Compendium ot the Rey. G. Richter, p. 18, and pp. 236-240.

110 See Mackenzie Collection, No. 11, C.M. 765, Sect., new copy, vol. ITI,
p. 298, where the Anda, Idaiya, Kambali, Cunnambu and Véda-Kurumbas are
mentioned, and also No. 14, C.M. 768, Section VII.

OF BHARATAVARSA OR INDIA. 209

selves. The circumstances, however, are now changed, and
the Kallas in Pudukota are no longer the dread of their
neighbours.

Among the Kurumbas of the Mandayam Taluk are found
the following nine divisions: the Pal, Hande, Mullu, Kambali,
Sada, Javidu, Sémavara, Bestvara and Adityavara Kurumbas.
These last three designations appear like nick-names, for
they are peculiarly enough names of days of the week.

Besides these there are mentioned the Kurwmbas, whose
name Buchanan connects with kolli, fire, but whom others
call KalieKurubas or Kalle-Kurubas after the Goddess Kali.
The Nelli Kurumbas (?); the Asi? Kurumbas (? from asal,
pure); the Koti Kwrumbas (? perhaps from kéti, monkey) ;
the Samanta Kurumbas (? connected with the Sanskrit word
samanta in the meaning of chief) ; the Mirhindina Kurumbas
(? of three groups), whose name reminds one of the Wund-
padi and Yelpadi sections of the Betta Kurumbas in Kurg,
who belong to three or to seven hamlets, according to Rev.
G. Richter’s Compendium, p. 18. it is very doubtful whether
the Pania Kurumbas, who inhabit the Nilagiri mountains
and whom Rev. F. Metz counts among the Kurumbas,
should be regarded as Kurumbas. The other Kurumbas do
not treat them at all like relations; nor do they, and this is
a point of importance, inspire the other native tribes with
that superstitious fear, which renders the Mudju and Nayaka
Kurumbas so terrible. They also do not resemble the other
Kurumbas in their outward appearance. Their abject
state of servitude (hence their name pania, from pani, work)
would not absolutely militate against their being Kurumbas,
though these people have generally contrived to maintain a
certain amount of freedom, for the Curumbalun or Catalun
of the Kurumbaranadu in Malabar were, according to Dr.
Buchanan’s description, held in slavery.

The Kurumbas are said to belong to the Havyaka Gotra,

MI See note 105 on pp. 201, 202,

210 ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS

and to the Rénuka or Révana Sitra. According to legendary
report the Kurumbas form the offspring of the family of
Unne, this being a tadbhavam of Urnd, sheep-wool. Their
connection with the sheep is traced to a curse of the
celestial buffoon Bhragi, who, being dissatisfied with the Pra-
mathas, the attendants of Siva, is said to have cursed and
turned them into sheep ; saying :

Pramatha Bhrnagisapéna kavayo’pyavays bhavan.

This curse was eventually removed by Rénukaradhya or
Révanasiddha, an incarnation of a servant of Siva, and the
high-priest of the Lingayats.

Some of the Kurumba hill-tribes have been reduced by
the hard life they lead to a dwarfish and monkey-like ap-
pearance, but that this exterior is to a great degree due to
these unfavorable circumstances and that it improves under
better conditions is exemplified by the following statement
of Dr. Shortt: ‘‘ Whilst the appearance of this tribe is so
“uncouth and forbidding in their own forest glens, they are
“open to wonderful improvement by regular work, exercise,
‘and food; of this ample evidence is to be seen at the Gov-
“ernment Chinchona Plantations at Neddiwuttum, where a
“ gang of Kurumbas, comprising some twenty individuals,
“are employed as laborers, receiving their wages in grain
“ for the most part. They appear to give satisfaction to their
“employers, and in their general appearance they cannot
“‘be recognized from other natives, except perhaps by that
“peculiar physiognomy characteristic to the tribe and their
“somewhat slight conformation and dwarfed stature. They
“have not the pot-belly, do not gape, nor is the dribbling
“saliva or blood-shot eyes, common to their brethren of the
“jungles to be found among them.” !”

112 Read Dr. Shortt’s The Hill Ranges of Southern India, Part I, pp. 52, 58.
Compare also Mr. W. F. Sinclair’s ‘ Remark’ in the Jndian Antiguery (1877),
vol. VI, p. 280: “In the Kaladgi district the Shepherd caste are called
Kurubhars.... What is the meaning and derivation of Kurudiar, and is it

OF BHARATAVARSA OR INDIA. 211

ON THEIR RELIGION, MANNERS AND CUSTOMS.

According to the most trustworthy native authorities, the
Kirumbas had originally no special god, nor idols, nor any
peculiar religious belief of their own. This state of things
was eventually changed with the rise of proselytizing reli-
gions, such as Buddhism, Jainism, and with the desire of the
majority to conform to Hindu or Brahmanic customs.

Their earliest objects of religious worship, however, appear
to have been rough rounded stones, which somehow inspired
them with a belief as representing the great superhuman
powers. The weird aspect of the imposing immovable stone-
hills, which braved the strongest storms amidst torrents of
rain and flashes of lightning impressed most probably these
children of nature to such an extent, that mountains, rocks
and even smaller pieces of stones appeared to them tke most
appropriate representation of the deity. It may be perhaps
added, that such kind of material is most easily set up and
does not require any art to adjust it. This stone-worship
has survived among the Kurumbas to the present day. A
stone to which worship is paid stands often in caves or in
the middle of circles, likewise formed of stone, but it
must not be regarded as a Linga. The stone circle with
its centre-piece is known among natives as a Kurumba Kovil
or temple of the Kurumbas. This stone is in the Nilagiri
district remembered as the Hiriadéva or Great God. The
Kurumbas of the Nilagiris offer presents of plantains to the
Pajari of the Malésvara idol on a high cliff which overlooks
the Bhavani valley, while those of Malabar worship simi-
larly their hill god Malayadéva.'* Occasionally we meet with
a stone-block under a tree, which is revered as Gurunatha.

the same word as Kurambd, the name of Nilgiri hill-tribe? The latter, I
believe, is a race of dwarfs; the shepherds here are a fine breed of men;
yet the difference can hardly be greater than that which exists among the
Bhills.”

3 See pp. 201 n. 105, 205 n.116, Breeks’ Zribes, pp. 52 and 55, and
Dr. Buchanan’s Travels, vol. II, p. 168.

212 ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS

The meaning of the name of this village god has hitherto
defied identification, but is, I believe, now pretty clear. I
think that Guru stands for Kuru, the original form of
Kuruva or Kurumba, and that Gurunatha in Telugu Guru-
naithudu is in reality identical with the god of the Kurus or
Kurumbas.

As the bulk of the Kurumbas are shepherds or Kuri-
kurumbas and as their property is represented by the flocks
of sheep they possess, their god is often called the Lord or
King of the Sheep Hill or Kuri-betta-raya. ™

Like other nations the Kurumbas also have repeatedly
changed their religion, and very many different beliefs are
prevalent among them. At an early age a considerable
fraction of the Kurumbas adopted the Jaina faith and became
eventually bigoted adherents of this sect. It seems in fact
that their fanatical efforts to spread and to ensure the
general adoption of this religion have been among the chief
causes of the collapse of their power in the central districts
of the Madras Presidency, 7.e., in the country round
Kaficipuram. The campaign of Adonda Cola was specially
undertaken to crush the threatening supremacy of Jainism,
and the religious element played in it as important a part
as the political. The ascendancy of Saivism was the most
important result of the war, but Jainism is by no means
extinct among the Kurumbas. The Lingayats claim also
a considerable number of adherents, and Rénukaradhya or
Révana Siddhésvara is their high priest in certain parts of
Mysore."° Reéenukaradhya is said to have chosen in Srigaila
the Kurumba leader Padmarasa (from Padma and <Arasu,

Mt About Gurwndtha see p. 176, and consult pp. 201 n. 105, 201 n. 106,
and 205 n. 107, where the Rev. F. Metz’s Kuribatiaraya, Mr. Breeks?
Kuribattréya, and Dr. F. Buchanan’s ‘ temple of Bira which is situated on
Curi-betta, or the Sheep Hill’’ are mentioned.

115 See a petition of the Jains of Kumbakonam, Cittar, Vrddhacalam and
other places who complained about their losing their temples through Kulot-
tunga Cola and Adonda Cola.

16 Révanasiddha or Régukaradhya is said to have resided on the Kailasa
mountain,

OF BHARATAVARSA OR INDIA. 213

king) or Padmanna as his disciple and alienated him from
Jainism. Siva is revered under various forms, most frequently
as Bhairava, but also as Virabhadra, and the temple of the
god ‘Bira on Curibetta’ is most probably his shrine.!7
Ejuruppa 1 take to be Jrulappan, the god of darkness ;
Barama Deva is perhaps Brahma if not Paraméévara ;!* Dur-
gawa, Yacani (Yaksani or more correctly Yaksini), Mayava
(Mayava) and DMusni (?) are mentioned as the deities revered
by the Kurumbas; and Durga, Mayava and Musni are wor-
shipped as the wives of Siva. In Kurg the monster Kuttadam-
ma or Karinkali (black Kalz) is revered by the Kurumbas.!!%

It seems that Sakti, as well as Bhita or demon-worship
exists in some Kurumba communities, though the authorities
do not agree with respect to the Bhitacult.”°

Rama is not adored by the Kurumbas, and Dharmaraja,
the favorite deity of the Pallis and other Dravidian races,
shares the same fate, which fact must be regarded as very
significant.'?!

The Mackenzie Collection contains an interesting descrip-
tion of the manner in which Virabhadra is worshipped by the
Tdaiya Kurumbas who belong to the Yadava race.* Vira-
bhadra is generally regarded as an Avatara of Siva, who,
according to the Visnupurana, proceeded from the mouth
of Siva to spoil the sacrifice of Daksa, and who is described
as “a divine being with a thousand heads, a thousand eyes,

7 See p. 201 n. 105, and Dr. Buchanan’s Travels, vol. I, pp. 275, 312,
389 ; vol. II, pp. 435, 436.

us See pp. 200, 201 n. 105, and Dr. Buchanan’s Travels, vol. I, p. 381;
vol. Il, p. 436.

119 See pp. 201 n. 105, 206 n. 108, and Dr. Buchanan’s Travels, vol.
TI, p. 436, and Rev. G. Richter’s Ethnographical Compendium, p. 13.

120 See pp. 201 n. 105, 206 n. 105, and Dr. Buchanan’s Travels, vol. I,
p- 271; vol. II, p. 381, and Rev. G. Richter’s Hthnogr. Compend., p. 18.

121 See p. 198 n. 105, and Dr. Buchanan’s Travels, vol. I, p. 276.

122.See Mackenzie Collection, No. 9, C.M. 763, XII, in the new copy,
vol. IV, pp. 76, ff., and Rev. W. Taylor’s Catalogue Raisonné, vol. III, pp.
368, 369.

28

214 ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS

a thousand feet ; wielding a thousand clubs, a thousand shafts,
holding the shell, the discus, the mace, and bearing a blazing
bow and battle-axe.”}% It is now, I believe, impossible to
decide whether the Virabhadra of the Kurumbas represents
a national, or is a Hindu divinity. According to our MS.
the Kurumbas have no national worship, but revere only one
deity whom they call Vira, Viralu, or Virabhadra. His feast
is celebrated once a year, on new moon day of the Tamil
month Tai, or about January. The idol is kept shut up in a
box in a special room during the whole remaining time of the
year. On the anniversary of the festival the box is reverently
opened and the idol, which is made of brass, is taken out of it.
The image is about a span long, and is placed in an upright
position on a cloth spread over the floor, after it has been
thoroughly cleaned with tamarind juice and well washed.
The figure of the idol is then dressed in elothes, and
flowers are placed on its head. Incense is burnt in front of
it. Some raw rice is then cooked with milk and water in
a new earthen pot, and presented to the idol on a plantain
leaf. Plantains, betel-leaf and nuts, are besides offered, and
eocoanuts are broken in its honor. After the ceremony
is over, the idol is carried back to its usual place, and the
people sit down to their meals. The feast lasts three con-
secutive days, but eight days before its commencement the
worshippers take an oil bath, abstain from all sensual enjoy-
ments, prepare their food in clean unprofaned vessels, do
not eat flesh but bathe daily. He who has observed all the
prescriptions most conscientiously, is placed in front of the
idol, and the cocoanuts are broken on his head. The man
who breaks the cocoanut, keeps it. If the man’s head
begins to bleed by the breaking of the cocoanuts, he is
suspected of having committed some offence, and thus to
have incurred pollution. He must bathe again, and the trial
with the cocoanuts is repeated a second time. If his head

83 See H. H. Wilsow’s Wishaw Pirana, vol. I, pp. 128-132.

OF BHARATAVARSA OR INDIA. 215

should begin to bleed again, he is finally rejected as impure.
Whoever passes the test, becomes the Pi#dri for the time
being. After this ceremony the Kurumbas dance together,
beat drums and blow trumpets.

At the great festivals in Pudukota the Kurumbas per-
form a similar ceremony in the presence of the Maharaja,
when the image of Viralaksm? is carried in procession and
worshipped.

Some Kurumbas believe in a life after death, while others
deny a future existence. They differ also in their way of
disposing of their dead ; some burn, others bury the corpses.
The good, according to some, become after their death,
benevolent spirits, while the bad assume the shape of evil
spirits ; and those who die unmarried become Virikas. But
it seems that even the spirits of the good require some
stimulant to keep them quiet, and unless they are appeased
by liquor, in their anger they inflict various diseases. Some
burn the good but bury the bad, as the spirits of the latter
thus confined in the ground cannot escape and make mis-
chief. !*#

The Kurumbas have the peculiar habit, already noticed
when speaking of the Kaurs,”° of shaving their heads entirely
when they have to attend a funeral of any of their community.
This custom of the Kurumbas was once the cause of a great,
calamity. The Kurumbas had made themselves extremely
unpopular by their intolerance. During the reign of the
Rajas of Vijayanagara the Kurumba Idaiyas were powerful
in several other places, especially in Nerumpar, Salapakkam
and other similar strongholds. The Kurumbas, either actuated
by religious zeal or wishing to annoy their dependents, tried

%4See pp. 198 n. 105, 199 n. 105, 201 n. 105, 202 n. 105, and Dr,
Buchanan’s Travels, vol. I, pp. 275, 380, 381; vol. II, pp. 155.

12 See p. 186.

128 See Mackenzie Collection, No. II; C.M. 765, VII; compare Rev. W.
Taylor’s Catalogue, vol. III, pp. 399-400.

216 ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS

to force the Mudalis and Vellalas to pay homage to them by
bowing their heads respectfully to them. But these two
classes refusing to do it, the Kurumbas in revenge ill-treated
and oppressed them in all sorts of ways. They constructed
for this purpose very low entrances at the various places
where the Mudalis and Vellalas had to pass through gates,
and they thought that they would thus compel these men to
lower their heads when going through these entrances, and
extract from them in this manner a certain amount of invo-
luntary homage. But the Mudalis and Vellalas of Nerumpir
were quite equal to the occasion, and instead of bowing their
heads, they scrambled through with their legs foremost, so
that they added injury to insult ; and the Kurumbas became
treatment no longer and determined to get rid of their
oppressors. For this purpose they had recourse to a leading
barber, whom they induced by liberal promises of gifts of
land to devise a scheme to help them, and this man persuaded
his fellow-barbers to kill the Kurumbas when an opportunity
occurred. He founded his plot on the above-mentioned
custom, according to which all the Kurumbas who attend a
funeral shave their heads. About this time a prominent
personage among the Kurumbas died, and the Mudalis
and Vellalas availed themselves of this opportunity to instruct
the head barber to issue orders to his caste-people to kill the
Kurumbas while they were being shaved. As the shaving
was performed pretty simultaneously, each barber cut the
throat of his Kurumba customer, and all the Kurumbas of
Nerumpir were thus massacred. As soon as the tidings of
the murder of their husbands reached the Kurumba women,
they determined not to survive them, and burnt themselves
with the corpses of their consorts. The dying widows uttered
the curse that Nerumpir should never again produce enough
grain to buy salt, even if three crops of grain were reaped
every year. The fortification and irrigation works of the
Kurumbas have fallen into ruins since then, and only the

OF BHARATAVARSA OR INDIA. 217

earth-mounds and old brick wells near Sadras betray the
existence of an ancient town.

Their marriage customs differ also considerably. Origi-
nally they did not perform any ceremonies at their marriages,
but later on, the majority adopted Jaina or Hindu rites. A
manuscript in the Mackenzie Collection contains the following
description which, however, resembles the common Hindu
marriage customs.’ The bride and the bridegroom are
anointed with oil, and dress themselves after their bath in new
clothes. The bride sits in the pandal on the left and the
bridegroom on the right. Both are adorned with flowers and
have golden tinsel (bidsikam) on their foreheads. A shoot of
the Pippal or Holy Figtree (Aracu, 27) is fixed between the
two inner posts of the pandal, in which the ceremonies are per-
formed and the people walk round those posts. ‘The marriage
is attended by the headman and all relatives. The former
when approaching the betrothed couple breaks a cocoanut,
and places the Tali which is fastened to a golden string,
in the upper cup. This is handed round to ten or more
relatives, who shout mangali, mangali. HKventually the bride-
groom, who receives the Tali, at last fastens it round the
neck of the bride, uttering the name of Govinda. The nearest
relatives now with crossed hands pour saffron-colored raw
rice on the heads of the young pair: this ceremony is called
Césai (Ceenaz.), in Telugu Sésa (W~).8 After this the
couple prostrate themselves at the feet of their elders and sit
down in their midst. Betel leaves and nuts are then handed
round, and the eating and drinking commences. After the
distribution of garlands, the Kankana is tied on the right wrists
of the happy pair. The Césai ceremony is repeated during the
two following days, while the bride and bridegroom occupy
their former seats; after that the guests are liberally enter-
tained. On the fourth and fifth days pepperwater (milaku-
tanni) and rice are served out. On the latter day the bride

127 See Mackenzie Collection, new copy, vol. IV, p. 78.
28 Fyom the Sanskrit Sirsa, head.

218 ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS

is taken to her mother’s house, where cakes are distributed
and a sumptuous meal is provided for all relatives and friends.
Two men are then despatched from the house of the bride-
groom to that of the bride, where they are welcomed as the
escort of the young pair to the bridegroom’s house, and re-
ceive on starting with them a bundle containing eleven
rice-cakes and a lot of jaggery.

Many peculiar customs prevail among the Kurumba
women, some of which they share with other castes. They
generally take assafcetida after childbirth and bathe on the
fifth day.’ Adultery is generally leniently punished and
condoned with a fine. This is as a rule spent on an enter-
tainment, after which the woman is readmitted into society.

The Tali is not removed from the neck of a widow, unless
she desires to remarry. In this case the marriage-tie is
returned to the family of her former husband, and she wears
that given by her new husband. A widow may remarry as
often as she likes.

ON OUR HISTORICAL KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE KurRumpas.

We are very insufficiently informed about the early his-
tory of the Kurumbas. Before they settled down to any-
thing like domestic life, they roamed as Védas in the virgin
forests hunting the deer for its flesh and the wild animals for
their own safety. In some places the traces of an ancient
Kurumba occupation are not yet effaced. The Rev. F. Metz
writes respecting their settlement on the Nilagiri mountains
as follows: “‘ There are strong grounds for supposing that
“the Kurumbas once occupied and cultivated the plateau of
‘the hills, and were driven thence by the Todas into the
“unhealthy localities which they now inhabit, on the pretext
“of their being a race of sorcerers whose presence was a bane
“to the happiness of the other hill-tribes. Several spots near

129 See Mackenzie Manuscripts, No, 14, C.M. 758. The Tamil for
assafcetida is QUG@WSTWLb Perurkayam,

OF BHARATAVARSA OR INDIA. 219

“the Badaga villages bear the name of ‘ Motta’ to this day,
“and traces of houses are still visible; and in one place a
* stone enclosure for buffaloes is to be seen, which, as I gather
“from an old piece of Badaga poetry formerly belonged to a
“rich Kurumba, who was murdered by the Todas, at the insti-
“ gation of the Badagas ... The Todas and Badagas say
‘that the Kurumbas are the enemies of their peace, and that
“they cannot live without killing them. Some years ago
“T discovered the site of a former Kurumba town, of the
“ existence of which I was well aware, but which I had never
“been able to trace out. It is in the heart of a dense forest,
“totally unfrequented by the natives and probably never
“ penetrated by any Huropean.”

The Mackenzie Collection contains about the Kurumbas
of the Tamil districts some interesting information. From
one manuscript (No. 14 C.M., 768) I extract the following
account :

“The country of Tondamandalam was after the deluge
totally covered with forest and was infested with wild beasts.
A people of wild hunters, known as Védas, roamed about in
the woods. They lived in huts which they had erected after
clearing the country. Their place of settlement is still
ealled Védar Palayam. No kings ruled over them, and they
did just what they pleased. Besides their huts, they had no
places in which they could protect themselves. They were
guided neither by social nor religious rules, nor had they any
books. In fact they were merely a lot of naked savages,
who did not observe any ceremonies even at their marriages.
They killed the wild beasts of the forests and lived on their
flesh.

“The Kurumbas of the Karnata country had meanwhile
risen to prominence, and, after their numbers had increased,
began to tyrannize over the other inhabitants. The Kurumbas
had very barbarous and cruel habits, and deserved to be

139 See Rov. F. Metz’ Tribes inhabiting the Neilgherry Hills, pp. 122, 123.

220 ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS

ealled Kurumbas. (This is an allusion to the meaning of
6G moy, Kurumpu, or 6 9HYys Sor, Kurumputtanam, savage-
ness, stubbornness, insolence, wickedness. It is, however,
derived from the national name of the Kurumbas, and not
vice versa.) In course of time they extended their dominion
to the very border of Tondamandalam, and a few Kurumbas
settled in Salapakkam near Uttaramallir, where their descen-
dants are still known as Kurumbas. Before they had any
‘king, they roved about unrestrained like wild hunters in the
forests, till, when dissensions and quarrels had arisen among
them, Kamanda Prabhu restored peace and quiet. He con-
vineed them that it would be to their advantage to elect a
king and they followed his advice. As he was a wise and
popular man, he himself was chosen king, and henceforward
he was known as Kamanda Kurumba Prabhu, the ruler of
the Dravida country and Raja of Pulal. The kingdom was
ealled Kurumbabhiimi, the land of the Kurumbas, and this
name was entered in all the official documents. He built a
fort at the town of Pulal, its walls were constructed of bell-
metal, and its strength and grandeur defied description.
His rule extended over a vast territory, and as several of his
subjects betrayed occasionally an inclination to rebel against
him, he subdivided his realm into 24 districts, in each of
which he erected a stronghold and appointed a governor.
The fort of Pulal was his own capital. The following are
the names of some of these fortified places: Pulalkdttai,
Amirkottai, Kalattirkottai, Puliyarkottai, Cempiarkottai,
Urrukattukottai, Venkunakottai, Ikkattukottai and Patuvar-
kottai.'5!

81 The late F. W. Ellis gives in his classical article on the Mirasi ques-
tions all the 24 names, besides the above named are further mentioned :
Manavurkottai, Cenkattukottai, Paiyarkottai, Eyirkéttai, Tamarkdottai,
Palkunrakottai, Ilankattukottai, Kaliyturkottai, Cirukaraikéttai, Katikai-
kottai, Cantirikaikottai, Kunrapattirakottai, Venkatakottai and Velurkottai-
—Mzr. Ellis obtained the list from the Jhanaprakasa Matam. Compare the
Papers on Miradsi Right, Madras, 1862, pp. 235-241.

See also Abbé Dubois’ Description of the People of India, second edition,
p. 842, and Mr. J, H. Nelson’s Manwal of Madura, Part IL, pp. 64, 65.

OF BHARATAVARSA OR INDIA. 221

“ While Kamanda Prabhu ruled, the various tribes in
the country submitted to his rule, and the people could
quietly follow their various avocations. Some engaged in
trade, others in husbandry, and so on, according to their
special inclinations, though the majority devoted themselves
to sheep-tending, woollen blanket-weaving and lime-selling.
They even ventured at that time to engage in shipping
trade, and some Cetti merchants from Kavéripattanam settled
in the Kurumba country. Stimulated by them the Kurum-
bas soon developed a taste and an aptitude for commerce,
and in order to facilitate mercantile transactions, they built
in course of time strongholds at Pattipulam, Salakuppam,
Salapakkam, Meyyar, Kadalir, Alamparai, Marakkanam,
&c. The Kurumbas and Cettis of Kavéripattanam occupied
these fortified ports, and as they were successful in their
speculations, amassed great wealth and became influential.

“As already intimated the Kurumbas had no special
religion of their own, and a Jaina priest who visited their
country, was able to convert the greater portion of the people
to Jainism. The Jaina basti which the king of Pulal erected
in honour of that priest, remains up to this day a monument
of this conversion. Besides this building, a few other bastis
are still existing, though in a very dilapidated condition.
Jaina sculptures are now occasionally found in the rice-fields ;
they are, however, either destroyed or reburied in the
ground by Brahmans and other religious enemies of the
Jains. Many Kurumbas resemble in their present manners
and customs the Jains of former times, and they do so
especially in their marriage ceremonies.

“While the Kurumbas ruled over the land, their more
civilized neighbours often attacked them, but were generally
defeated. The Cola and Pandya kings made thus repeated
inroads into the Kurumba territory ; but their attempts to
subdue their fierce foes were in vain, as they did not mind to
sacrifice their lives on the battle-field. Some of these royal
aggressors were at times captured and chained in fetters to

29

222 ON THE. ORIGINAL INHABITANTS

the fort-gate of Pulal. These continual successes, however,
turned the head of the Kurumbas and made them over-
bearing, so that they began to annoy and ill-treat those of
their subjects who belonged to rival tribes, or had embraced
other religious beliefs. They endeavoured in fact to force
the Jain religion on all, and created great dissatisfaction
by their religious intolerance. Yet no one rose who could
oppose them effectually.

“ At last Adonda Céla, a brave, wise and popular prince,
marched against the Kurumbas and invested their capital
Pulal with a large army. He began this campaign as he
could no longer endure the tyranny and mal-administration
of the Kurumba king and resolved to defeat him at any
risk, in order to alleviate the sufferings of the people. The
Kurumba king on his side was not wanting in bravery, and
went to face the enemy. Both sides fought valiantly, at
last three-fourths of the army of Adonda Céla were put to
the sword, and unable to resist longer, he fled from the
battle-field and took refuge with a few remaining followers
in a place not far distant from the fort. This locality is
still known as Célanpédu. He then made up his mind to
retreat on the next morning to his country Tanjore. But at
night Siva appeared to him in a dream and said: “ After
ascending to-morrow morning your elephant, on your way to
the battle, you will find that his legs are entangled in a
jasmine-creeper (Mullai), and when you try to cut it away
with your sword, blood will ooze out of it, and on closer
examination you will discover there a Linga.” Encouraged
by his dream, he went to the battle-field, and, after ascending
his elephant, saw that the legs of the animal were caught in
a jasmine bush and that blood oozed out from the spot where
he tried to cut it.'* This sign confirmed his resolution to

182 Compare TZondala satakam, p. 4, Sl. 9: ‘‘ When Tondaman was driven
from the battle-field, his elephant was prevented from moving by a jasmine-
creeper. Afterwards he fought again and became victorious.’’ A description
of this fact is given in a work called Tirwnullaivdyalpatixam,

OF BHARATAVARSA OR INDIA. 223

attack his fierce enemies, and he secured a complete victory
over them. Adonda Céla captured the Kurumba king and
put him to death. Pulal, the chief town and fort of the
Kurumbas, was taken, and its brass doors were placed in the
inner portion (garbhagrha) of the temple of Tanjore. A
pillar made of Arka (Calatropis gigantea) wood that had been
removed from the Tanjore temple, was placed in the interior
of a temple and erected at the spot where the Sivalinga had
been found. This temple was called Tiru-mudllai-vagal, after
the jasmine-creeper which had covered the legs of the ele-
phant. The part of the Linga where the sword of Adonda
had touched it looked like a wound, and is therefore covered
with camphor to conceal the sore.

“«The remaining twenty-three forts were then taken, and
their governors with their retinues were also killed. Adonda
Cola appointed Vellala chiefs instead of the Kurumbas. As
he observed that the country was very thinly populated, he
to settle in the newly-acquired territory, by granting them
freehold land and conferring on them other favours. The

Kondaikatti Vellalas. The first two were called after the
district they came from, the Tuduva Veljalas emigrated from
the Tuluva-Nadu in Kanara and the Coliya Vellalas from
the Colanidu. The Kondaikatti Vellalas were so called,
from binding their hair in a tuft on the top of their head
instead of leaving a small lock (Kudumi). With these

« Adonda Cola ruled the land with justice and in peace,
and was henceforth known as Adonda Cola Cakravarti or as
Tondaman Cakravarti. The country which had hitherto
been called Kurumbabhimi was now named Tondaman-
dalam.”

In order to ascertain what was left of Pulal, I lately
visited the place and itsneighbourhood. It lies about 8 miles
north-west of Madras, to the east of the big lake, known as

224 ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS

the Red-Hills Tank. The place where the old fort of Pulal
stood is still remembered and pointed out by the people.
However, the outlines of the outer and inner mud walls are
now only visible, within the latter is a tank. These walls
must have encircled once a fort of considerable extent, of
which nothing however remains. Hyder Ali on his march
to Madras encamped here. Pulal is also called Vana Pulal,
and near it is situated a small hamlet Madhavaram.

About a mile to the north-east lies the present village
Pulal, in which I found three temples. A small Jaina basti
dedicated to Aditirthankara, though in a decayed condition, is
still used for worship, and has the reputation of being old.
The Vaisnava temple of Karimanikyaperumal does not ap-
pear to be ancient, while the erection of the Siva temple is
ascribed to Adonda Cola. It is dedicated to Trimalanatha,
but as a famous sannydsi Sundaramirtisvami worshipped
there, it is known as the shrine of Sundarésvara. It is evi-
dently pretty old, and, though partly repaired. some years
ago, is in a dilapidated state. It has the appearance of a
Cola temple, and is covered with inscriptions, those seen
on the outside being in a bad condition. The temple
possesses no Sthalapurana, nor any copper Sasanams. The
name of the goddess is Svarndmbika.

On the other side of the lake, about six miles towards
south-west, lies the hamlet Tirwmudlaivasal or Tirumutllai-
vayal, which is named after the adventure which befell the
prince Adonda in his combat against the Kurumbas. A
temple is erected near the spot where the Linga was
wounded by the sword of the Céla prince and dedicated to
Siva as Mdcillémani, which is a Tamil translation of the
Sanskrit Nirmadamani, meaning ‘ spotless jewel.’ On one of
the stone columns of the mantapam in front of the Gdpuram
is carved the figure of Adonda sitting on an elephant in the
act of cutting with his sword the jasmine-creeper from the
leg of the elephant. The similarity in the sound of mu//ai,
jasmine, and mala, stain, raises a suspicion against the

OF BHARATAVARSA OR INDIA. 225

genuineness of this legend. The temple isin good preserva-
tion. Two so-called Arka-pillars (not one as the manuscript
just quoted states) are covered with a beam, and form with
the two side walls the support of the Ardhamantapam, which
communicates on the western side by a door in the common
wall with the Garbhagrha behind. Between, but behind the
two Arka-pillars, is situated in the Garbhagrha the holy
Linga, which on account of its wound is covered with sandal-
wood-powder and other cooling ingredients. The local
legend contends that Adonda brought the two brownish-
looking Arka-pillars, together with a bell, and a bronze
door from the fort of Pulal. This gateway, however, has
since disappeared. Colanpédu lies close to Tirumullaivaéal.

In order to assist Adonda in his fight against the
Kurumbas, Siva sent his attendant Nandi, and in confirma-
tion of this fact the Nandi at Tirumullaivasal faces the
east, instead of being turned towards the idol, 7.e., towards
the west. The consort of Macillamani is called Kodi idai
Nayaki. The temple has a Sthalapurana, its first part,
which was only lent to me, does not contain any allusion to
Adonda. Ihave been told that there are no Tamra Saéa-
nams to throw light on the erection of the temple. Not
far from this temple towards the south stands an enormous
image, constructed of brick and mortar representing
Mannarsvami, accompanied by the seven Sages.

A young Brahman D. Raghavayya accompanied me and
obtained some valuable information as I was not permitted
to enter the temple, and I do not know whether it contains
any important inscriptions. It may be well worth while to
examine carefully the temples at Pulal and Tirumullaivasal
in order to ascertain whether they possess any account about
Adonda Cakravarti, though I have been told that there is
none. The battle between the Colas and the Kurumbas was
fought somewhere between those two places.

The origin of the word Tondamandalam is doubtful, and
different explanations are given of it.. The most widely-

226 ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS

spread legend connects the name with the prince Adonda
Cola. As the destruction of the Kurumbas is attributed to
this popular hero, an account of his origin will not be out
of place here. The following story is found in several MSS.
of the Mackenzie Collection : 3

“Jn Colamandalam ruled 44 descendants of the ancient
Cola Rajas. The last was Kuldttunga Cola, who had by his
queen two children, a daughter and a son. Kuldttunga Cola
killed the son of the poet Kamban, and Kamban killed in
revenge the son of the king. At the royal entertainments of
the court there was dancing for some time a beautiful girl
Nakinagaratna with whom the king fell in love. But as
Kulottunga felt that he would lose the esteem of the people if
he allowed his passion to transgress public decency, he kept
his affection a great secret and used a servant girl Umapati
to arrange meetings between Nakinagaratna and himself.
Tn course of time a boy was born, whom Umapati dressed
in a silk gown and put in a golden basket with Adonda
flowers round him. She then placed the basket on the bank
of the Kaveri, near the spot where the king generally bathed.
All this was done by the order of the king. When the king
came afterwards with his Brahmans and courtiers to the
river they heard a child cry, and, on approaching nearer,
they saw it and said to the king: ‘O king, as you forgave
Kamban who ‘killed your son, God presents to you this
wonderful child on the bank of the Kaveri. The child
resembles you, and is worthy to become the ruler of the

183 In the Tondamandalam Colamandalum-Pantiyamantalam, old No. 241,
CO.M. 66. This work is said to have been compiled by Védanayakan, a
Christian poet of Tanjore. See Taylor’s Catalogue Ratsonné, vol. IIT, pp.
41, 42. This work is copied in No. 7, C.M., 761, Section III (Taylor, vol.
III, p. 370). A somewhat similar account is contained in No. 14, ©.M.
768, Section II; in the new copy in the vol. IT, pp. 65-67, and in Taylor,
vol. III, pp. 426, 427; and also in No. 15, C.M. 769, I., new copy, vol. I,
p- 126.

I need not specially point out the inaccuracies contained in this report, for
they are too evident, as, ¢.g., the foundation of Kafici by Kuldttuiga Cola-

OF BHARATAVARSA OR INDIA. 227

country. As he is adorned with Adonda flowers, we take
this as a lucky omen and call him ‘ Adonda Cola.’’ Cir-
cumstances favouring so far the designs of the king, he gave
the child to his wife with the words: ‘God has presented
this child to you near the Kavéri.’ The queen accepted it
and brought it up with much affection. The truth about
the birth of the child was not only known to the king and
the dancing girl, but also to some extent to his chief minister.
Meanwhile the child grew up, and displayed much cleverness,
knowledge and courage. When the king consulted his
minister about the marriage and succession of his son, the
minister pretended to agree with the plans of the king, but
communicated secretly to the relatives of the king the
circumstances accompanying the birth of Adonda and the
intentions of the king concerning the future of his son.
The consequence was that the royal princes refused to marry
one of their daughters to a bastard, and to allow his succes-
sion to the throne as it would throw dishonor on them.
The minister communicated to Kuldottunga the unfavourable
disposition of the princes. The king, however, did not give
up his plans, but pondered how he might execute them in
spite of their objections. At last he fixed on Tondamanda-
lam as a suitable province to give to Adonda, though it was
still a wilderness. He explored it, cleared the forest, laid
the foundation of the capital Kafici, erected there a temple
and dug a channel for the river Palar. As Kulottunga
observed how thinly the land was inhabited, he despatched
his minister with money to other countries to induce people
to immigrate into the newly-acquired district. The minister
accordingly returned with many boys and girls of various
castes, and the king ordered them to be married. This done
he placed Adonda on the throne at Kafici. Kulottuiga
then asked the minister to propose a suitable name for the
country. In spite of the high position which Adonda had
meanwhile secured, the minister still despised him on

228 ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS

account of his illegitimate birth. He suggested therefore
that the new territory should be called Tondamandalam (the
district of slaves) and the king without any suspicion named
it so.'34 Since that time this country has been called Tonda-
mandalam, and Tondamandalam was thus founded by Kulaot-
tunga Cola. The name of Kurumbabhimi was then changed
into Tondamandalam and Adonda Céla was installed as
Tondamandala Cakravarti. }°°

“The legitimate daughter of Kuldttunga Cola had mar-
ried Varagunapandya, °° the only son of Balacandrapandya.
After Kulottunga Cola’s death, which took place in the 69th
year of his life, Varagunapindya took Colamandalam and
Tondamandalam, which had belonged to his father-in-law. .
Afterwards Ubhayakulakilipandya, the son of Varagunapandya
and of the daughter of Kuldttunga Cola, ascended the throne
of Colamandalam, and his descendants reigned over it for
three centuries.

“The progeny of Adonda Céla submitted to their fate
and received some land for their maintenance.

“ Minakétanapandya was the last and eleventh descendant
of Ubhayakulakilipandya. So long as these kings ruled, no
enemies were feared. These kings ruled for 2707 years.”

134 MS. No, 14, C.M. 768, Section IT, here insertsa short account of the
war of Adonda Cola with the Kurumbas, his first defeat and final victory.
This MS. also calls always Tondamandalam Tondarmandalam.

135 This last remark as well as the other about the Kurumbas is only found
in No. 14, C.M. 768, Section II, which ends with this passage.

186 Compare the Appendix by Rev. T. Foulkes to 4 Manual of the Salem
District, vol. II, pp. 370, (sl. 18), 378, (sl. 18), 3878, 379.

The father of Varaguna is generally given as Sundarésvarapadasékhara
and his son as Raja Raja, though the chronicles differ in their chronology ;
see H. H. Wilson’s List of the Pandyan kings in his Historical Sketch in the
Madras Journal, vol. VI, (1837), pp. 211, 213; Rev. W. Taylor’s Oriental
Historical Manuscripts, vol. I, pp. 85-90. About Kamban’s life refer to
¥. W. Ellis’ replies to Mirasi questions in Papers on Mirdsi Right, p. 292,
where 8.8. 808 (A.D. 886) is given as the date of his presenting the Tamil
translation of the Kamayana to his patron Rajéndra Cola. Others prefer
S.8. 807, A.D. 885.

OF BHARATAVARSA OR INDIA. 229

The Tiruvérkattu Purdna says about the origin of the term
Tondamandalam: “The country was called Dandakanadu
as it was ruled by Dandaka. Then it was named Tundira-
nddu in consequence of the reign of Tundira. Afterwards
it was called Tondanadu, as Tondaman, a descendant of the
solar race who wore a garland of Adonda flowers, governed
the kingdom.”

The late Mr. F. W. Ellis quotes a stanza from the Tirukhka-
lukkunra-Purdna in which a similar statement is made, the
difference between the two Puranas being, that the latter
mentions Tondira as the founder of Tondiranadu before
Dandaka, the assumed establisher of Dandakanadu.!*8

The boundaries of Tondamandalam are said to be the
two Pennai or Pinakini rivers in the north and south, and
the sea and the Western Ghats up to Tirupati on the east and
west. Some parts of the Western Ghats also belonged to it.
Mr. Ellis gives the memorial verses concerning the frontiers
of this district. ‘The Southern Pennai flows into the sea near
Gudalir (Cuddalore), while the northern passes through the
district of Nellir close to Kalahasti, both streams rising near
the Nandidrug in Mysore.'*9

137 See the following stanza from the Tirwvérkattu Puranam :—
AGC a par—_@Ou Lp MW epor LD.

Poor L_& © oor (b) SOT \_& HT rugs ST Od DS) 200 12 TG) over )
aanr_wiGEras Sorersr_wW oSya sr sarGossr
Osiax parts OS1e07rl\_wre w1® OSter_psr1_mug

Sy
aaritarcarr) Oem ssutTeOuGEwwtSS9usTS gGosr

@GL.

138 See Papers on Mirdsi Right (Madras, 1862), p. 234: ‘‘ Tondiren, the
chief among the leaders of the demon bands of the three-eyed deity, having
governed it, this country became Tondiranadu; when it was defended by
Dandacavénder, it became accordingly Dandaca-nadu ; and when Chézher of
the family of the sun, who was Tondeiman adorned by garlands of flowers,
extended his protection to it, it become Tondei-nadu.’’ Compare also the
stanza in Hastigiricampa which begins with ‘‘ Tundirdkhyam mandalam astt
sprhaniyam.”’

139 See Papers on Mirdsi Right, pp. 229-247 ; onp, 246, Mr. Ellis remarks:
“The whole superficies of Tonda-mandalam, as originally settled by the

30

230 ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS

According to the above-mentioned Tiruvérkattu Purana
this country is known also as Palinddu, because the Palar
river flows through it.

The original meaning of the term Tondamandalam is
variously explained. According to the first and most popular
derivation it was so called after the illegitimate Cola prince
Adonda, who had been exposed on the bank of the Kavéri
in a basket filled with Adonda or Tonda flowers, which
in their turn supplied him with his name. A second
interpretation asserts that the newly-acquired province was
covered to such an extent with the Donda oil-creeper, that
the country was called after it. The third etymology is
founded on the meaning of Tondan, a slave, adevotee. If
so, it alludes either to the low birth of Adonda, its illegiti-
mate first ruler, or to the uncivilised and slavish condition
of the inhabitants of Tondamandalam. Another possibility
arises by connecting Tundira, the fabulous ancient king,
with Tonda.

The legendary story of the birth of the illegitimate Cola
prince Adonda is very perplexing. All circumstances con-
sidered, even after his victory he could only have been a
dependent Viceroy of the Cola king. According to tradition,
his offspring soon lost evea this position ; though some inscrip-
tions appear to make him the ancestor of reigning princes.
The defeat of the Kurumbas appears to be a historical fact,
but is sometimes narrated without mentioning Adonda.'

people of Shézha-mandalam, is measured by 18,302 square miles; of this
extent the division of the country between the range of the Ghat mountains
and the sea, lower Tondei, contains 14,028 square miles, and the division to
the west of the Ghats, upper Tondei, 4,274: the latter is colored yellow in
the map.”’

Read also Mackenzie MS., No. 15, C.M. 769, Section I; in the new
copy, vol. I, p. 125. This declares Kalahasti as the northern, the river
Pennai as the southern, the mountain Pasumalai as the western, and the sea
as the eastern boundary.

Ne See p. 227.

|
|
;
|
j
|
|
|

OF BHARATAVARSA OR INDIA, 231

Pillaikal into Tondamandalam, these men could not be
stigmatised as slaves or tondar.

The oil-plant, Capparis horrida, which is the Tamil Adondat
(commonly pronounced Adandai) or Tondai creeper, is well
known in Southern India and esteemed for its medicinal
properties.4! It is certainly peculiar that the same plant
should have given its name to a Tanjorean prince and to a
northern province which he is said to have governed and
which was covered with it.

I rather feel inclined to prefer the legend which connects
the name with the inhabitants of the country, who made on
the more cultivated southerners the impression of a rude and
uncouth set of people. The Kurumbas, however, must have
already attained a considerable degree of civilisation, though
they looked despicable in the eyes of their enemies. While
tondun denotes a slave, tondu signifies feudal service. In
Palghat the Ilavas are to this day nicknamed Motti-tondar.
I think it highly probable that the Kurumbabhimi was
reduced to a feudal state as Tondamandalam, and that the
Kurumbas were regarded as Tondar. The minister of Kulot-

tunga wanted, as we have seen, to apply the name Tondan
to Adonda Cola himself.!#

The subject becomes even more complicated by the Sans-
krit name of the district Dandakdranya, or Dandakanddu in
Tamil. The southern legend ascribes to this country, as we

41In Tamil 940 sreronr. and @ sroxren.; in Telugu Arudonda
ems7os. The 4 of Adonda seems to be therefore a contraction of Aru
in Arudonda. Aredonda e®S°o% is called the Capparis zeylanica. Donda
seems to apply to the fruit of the Bryonia or Bimba (C. P. Brown’s
Telugu Dictionary, pp. 71, 451); in Kanarese Tonde or Tondé-kai is the name
of the Bryonia grandis. In Dr. J. Forbes Watson’s Index to the Native and
Scientific Names of Indian and other Eastern Economic Plants and Products the
Capparis horrida is called Adonda, Arudonda in Telugu; Ardandu, Ardundu in
Hindustani and Nekkani; Atanday, Atonday, Atunday in Zamil. Ricinus
communis is called Aranda and Arundi in Hindustoni; and Bryonia grandis
Donda kaya in Telugu. Tundikéri is the Sanskrit name for the cotton plant,
which grows in South India in great quantity.

142 See p, 228.

232 ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS

have seen, three rulers Dandaka, Tundira and Adonda, who
conferred in their turn their names on it. This tradition
seems to rest on a very slight foundation. Not only do these
rulers appear in a different sequence, at least so far as Dandaka
and Tundira are concerned, but their names resemble one
another to such an extent, that one cannot help suspecting their
being in reality only variations of the same identical term.
Danda or Dandaka was the son of the ancient king Iksvaku,
and was cursed by Sukracarya for carrying off his daughter
Alja. Yn consequence of this curse the pious hermits left
the country, and it became an uninhabitable waste land.
According to ancient accounts Dandakaranya, the forest of
Danda or Dandaka, was situated between the Narmada and
Godavari rivers, but its limits were gradually widened, till
it stretched all over Southern India. Onthe other hand the
province, in whose centre lies the present City of Madras,
was specially distinguished as Tondamandalam. So faras
I am informed nothing is known about a Dravidian king
Dandaka, and this present form of the name suggests a Sans-
kvit origin. Iam, however, of opinion that Danda, Tunda,
Tundira are all variations of the same identical word, though
at is difficult, if not impossible, to decide whether this term
is of Sanskrit or Gauda-Dravidian source. It is not impro-
bable that the king Danda and the demon Zunda—peculiarly
enough Tondira is described as a leader of demon bands—
are the representatives of an aboriginal population. The
name of the Tundikéras behind the Vindhyan mountains
ears some resemblance to Tonda. After Tundira Kaicipuram
is occasionally called Tundtrapuram, a designation which
would assign its foundation to a remote antiquity. Tondi is
also the name of a town, and Tondiarpet is a suburb of
Madras. It isnow commonly called Tandiyarpet save warr-
Gu:Loo, as Adondai is in Tamil similarly pronounced
Adandai."3

M43 Compare the Sanskrit- Worterbuch von Otto Béhtliigk and Rudolph
Roth, vol. ILI, pp. 494, 495 under @7 and @™Sh, H. H. Wilson’s Visire-

a

a

OF BHARATAVARSA OP INDIA. 233

The existence of the Zonda or Donda plant may have led
to the legend of the illegitimate prince Adonda being placed
in a basket filled with Adonda creepers and named after
them.

The name of the king Danda or Dandaka may thus be
of Gauda-Dravidian origin. So far as historical evidence
goes, the term Dandakaranya is prior to that of Tondamanda-
lam, but both may have sprung from the same source. It is
further possible that the Kurumbas were nicknamed Tondas.
Other difficulties arise from the circumstance that the Pallava
kings exercised authority contemporaneously with the
Kurumbas in the same country.

The title of the ruler of Tondamandalam was Tondaman,
a designation which is still borne by the Raja of Pudukota
in the Trichinopoly district, as chief of the Kallas. I regard
these Kallas as the representatives of a portion of the martial
easte of the Kurumbas.!*# When these had found their
occupation as regular soldiers gone, they took to marauder-
img, and made themselves so obnoxious by their thefts and
robberies, that the term Kallan, thief, was applied and stuck
to them as a tribal appellation.° In some documents the
Kallas are called Kurumbas, and one of the sub-divisions of
the kindred Koramas is known as Kalla-Koramas.

purdna, edited by Fitzedward Hall, vol. III, pp. 238, 239, 259, 260, and
vol, IV, p. 59, about the Tundikeras.

144 The Rev. W. Taylor identifies also in the Catalogue Raisonné, vol. III;
pp. 385 (the Kallars or Curumbars) and 399 (the Kallars, or thieves, another
name for the Curumbars or Vedars), the Kallas with the Kurumbas. MS. No.
I, C. M. 755, 3, of the Mackenzie MSS. identifies in fact the Kallas with the
Kurumbas, for the Kallas of Kallakkettu who were defeated by the Palegar.
Srivallavaramakuttala Tevar and Krsnarayamarutappa Tévar are called
Kurumbas. The Kallas have also adopted the title Tévar like the Maravas,
Compare moreover Mr.J. H. Nelson’s remarks on the Kallas in his Manual
of the Madura Country, Part II, pp. 44-56.

145 In Tamil kal, means theft, lying, and kajlan, thief, robber ; in Mala-
yalam kallam denotes theft, untruth, and kadlan, thief, liar ; in Kanarese
kala is a villain, liar; and in Telugu kalla, means lie. The word Kadlan
occurs only in the Tamil language as a tribal designation, a fact which proves
that thename Kallan is derived from the root kal, and not vice versa as Mr.

234 ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS

From reliable information I have gathered, the Kurumba
origin of the Kallas appears very probable. The ancestors
of the Kallas were according to tradition driven from their
home in consequence of a famine and migrated from a place
near Tripati in Tondamandalam to the south. They even-
tually settled in the village Ami! on the bank of the Kole-
roon (in Tamil Kolladam), opposite and not far distant from
Tanjore, the river being between both places. The ruler of
Tanjore enlisted them in his service as watch-men or Kavar-
kar. Eventually, they left Ambilnadu, penetrated still
further to the south and founded Amébukdvil, which they
named after the home they had left not long before.“ They
settled in nine villages, and their descendants are called
Onbadukuppattar, after onbadu nine and kuppam village. They
are regarded as the nine representative clans of the Kallas.
The reigning family of the Tondaman belongs to them, and the
Onbadukuppattdr are as a sign of this connection invited to
all the marriages, festivals and other solemnities which take
place at Court. Ambinddu formed originally one of the
12 independent small communities, known as Tannaracu
Nadu, i.e., a district which has its own kings, forming thus a
sort of confederation, like that which prevailed among the

Nelson seems to intimate when he says in his Manual (II, p. 49) ‘‘ that the
word Kallan is common to the Kanarese, Telugu, Malayalam and Tamil
tongues . . (and) that the Kallans were the last great aboriginal tribe of the
south which successfully opposed the advancing tide of Hinduism.”’

146 A great part of the information about the Kallas I obtained from the
present Dewan Regent of Pudukéta, the Honorable A. Séshiah Sastriyar,
CLE.

See also Mr. Nelson’s Manual, II, p. 44: ‘‘ According to Ward’s Survey
Account the Kallans belong to two main divisions, that of the AW n@du or
eastern country, and that of the Mé@/ nddu or western country. The Kil
Nadu comprises the Nadus of Mélur, a village about sixteen miles east of
Madura, Vellalar and Sirungudi: and its inhabitants, whose agromen is
usually Ambalakaran, are the descendants of a clan which immigrated into
the country in the following circumstances. Some Kallans belonging to the
Vella (Vala ?) Nadu near Kanchipuram (Conjeveram) came down south with
a number of dogs on a grand hunting expedition, armed with their peculiar
weapons, pikes, bludgeons and Vallari Thadis or bomerangs. Somehow in
the neighbourhood of Méelar, whilst they were engaged in their sport, they

OF BHARATAVARSA OR INDIA. 235

Kadambas. This Nadu was situated east of Trichinopoly,
south of Tanjore and north of Ramnad, the residence
of the Sétupati.7 In course of time the Ambilnadu Kallas
became through the favour of the Trichinopoly Naicks the
heads of the twelve districts, under their chief the Tondaman.
One of these princes married a daughter of a Trichinopoly
Naick, and her consort erected after her death the Ammal
cattiram, which lies between Trichinopoly and Pudukota. In
consequence and in honor of this connection the court language
at Pudukota is to this day Telugu, and Telugu is the first
language in which the royal children are instructed. In
the characters of this language the Rajas also write their
signature. The Kattiyams or poems which celebrate the deeds
and contain the pedigree of the Tondamans are sung in
Telugu and by Telugu bards or Bhatrajus.

A singular observance which has survived to the present
day seems to strengthen the evidence about the Kurumba
descent of the Kallas. At every important feast, especially
at the floating festival, which is celebrated by the Pudukdéta
Rajas the Kambali-Kurumbas of a neighbouring village,
about 4 miles distant from Pudukota, appear with their
goddess Viralaksmi. They then perform before the Raja a
very old and peculiar dance, their heads being covered with
long flowing plumes, and at the conclusion of the dance, a
Kurumba sits down quietly with his arms round his knees,
while another breaks on his head cocoanuts, the tom-toms
meanwhile continuing to beat time to the dance. With this

observed a peacock showing fight to one of their dogs, and thinking from
this circumstance that the country must be a fortunate country and one
favorable to bodily strength and courage, they determined to settle in it.’’

In Dr. Winslow’s Tamil Dictionary, p. 31, Ambalakkdran is explained
as ‘‘a chief of the Kaller caste,” or as Kallajjatittalaiyan.

The village of the Kallas above guluded to is Ambalakkarappatti and lies
5 miles distant from Melur.

47 The Tamil gerorae, Tanniracu, originally meaning self-govern-
ment, got eventually the sense of republican, anarchic and even independent

rule. Tannaracu Nadu is therefore a district with a democratic or indepen-
dent government.

236 ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS

ceremony the festival concludes. This respect paid to the
Kurumba goddess seems to prove that she is also worshipped
by the Kallas, who, though calling themselves Saivites, are
mostly still devil-worshippers.!*

The ancient home of the Kallas being Tondamandalam
explains thus the name of their chief, so well known in the
modern Indian history as the Tundaman ; and their Kurumba
origin is likewise indicated by their using the Wadu and
Kottam system as a division of their country ; these two
terms being peculiar to the Revenue Administration of the
Kurumbas.!9

From subsequent events it is however clear that the
Kurumbas, though defeated and at times even reduced to
insignificance, were not annihilated and that they eventually
recovered to some extent their former influence. We know
thus that the Kurumbas reasserted their supremacy in certain
places, and made themselves feared again in Tondamandalam,
and held Marutam Kottai in the times of Krsnaraja of
Vijayanagara.!°

Another branch of the Kurumbas is even said to have
founded the kingdom of Vijayanagara, as its first dynasty
is traced to Kurumba descent. Horace H. Wilson says that
these princes were of a “Aurma or Kuruba family.” This
tradition tallies with the fact that both the first kings of
Vijayanagara and the Kurumbas pretended to be Yadavas.!!

Other Kurumbas invaded Southern India about two
hundred years ago and founded the Maratha kingdom of
Tanjore, an event which leads me to speak of the Hurmis,
Kumbis or Kunbis.

M48 The special deity of the modern Kallas is called Alekar, giper ;
alaku signifies beauty. Compare about the cocoanuts, p. 214.

149 Seo Mr. Ellis’ Report on the Mirasi Rights, pp. 228, 229.

150 See Mackenzie Collection No. 14, C. M. 768, VIII.

151 See p. 287. Rev. W. Taylor’s Catalogue Raisonné, vol. TIT, p. 368,
and H. H. Wilson’s Introduction to the Mackenzie Collection, Ist ed., p. ext,
(2nd ed., p. 83): ‘* One tradition ascribed the originof Vijayanagar to Madhava
leaving it to the Kuma or Kuruda family.”

OF BHARATAVARSA OR INDTA. 23

On tHe Kurmis, Kumbis on Kunstis.

I have already intimated that a considerable portion of
the agricultural population of Northern India is, as I believe,
of Gaudian origin. When saying this, I had in view the
widely-spread and well-known tribe of the Kurmis, Kumbis
or Kunbis, who according to the last Census Report number
12,199,531 souls. The agricultural population forms in most
countries the bulk of the nation, and, in an agricultural land
like India this large number need not create any astonish-
ment. The late Rev. Dr. John Wilson proposed to derive
the word Kurmi (Kumbi or Kunbi) from the Sanskrit root
krs, to plough, and to take Awrm: for a modification of krsmi,
ploughman, a word which, however, so far as I know, does
not exist in Sanskrit.!”

T regard this etymology as wrong and prefer to explain
the terms Kurmi and Humbi as contractions of Kurwmi and
Kurumbi; in fact, as stated previously, we actually meet with
the term AKurma for Kuruma.'°? The interchange between
ry and d modifies Kurumba into Kudumba and most peculiarly
a part of the agricultural population of Tanjore bears to
this day the name Kudumban which is identical with
Kudumbi, and from which the Marathi Kumbi or Kunbi is
derived. The expression Kuduvmbi is still occasionally used
in this sense, as I have been informed on good authority,
by some natives of Baroda and its neighbourhood ; and even
in the Mysore territory the Maratha Kunbis are called, as
I hear, at times Kudumbis. The existence of terms like

52 See the Rev. Dr. John Wilson’s ‘‘ Tribes and Languages of the Bombay
Presidency”? in the Indian Antiquary, vol. III, p. 222: ‘ The largest tribe
of the Maratha people is that of the Kunbis, corresponding with the Gujarati
Kulambis or cultivators. The derivation of the name is as follows: Kvrishmi
(S.) a ploughman, Aww mi (Hindi), Kulambi (Gujarati), and Kunabt or Kunb;
(Marathi). They are called ‘ Marathas’ by way of distinction. Some of their
oldest and highest families (as that of Sivaji, the founder of the Maratha Em-
pire) hold themselves to be descended of Kshatriyas or Rajputs ; and, though
they eat with the cultivating Marathas, they do not intermarry with them.
All the Marathds, however, are viewed by the Brahmans as Sudras.’’

168 See the text and n. 151 on p. 236 :

31

238 ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS

Kurumbi or Kudumbi accounts also for the Guzarati Kulambz,
though this expression is said to be only used in works pub-
lished in the Educational series.

The term Kudumbi, however, is also mentioned in the
Madras Census Report as current in Tanjore. It must not
be mistaken for the Sanskrit Mutwmbi, householder; nor
must it be connected with the Tamil kudumi, a tuft of hair.

Kumbi was changed into Auwnbi, and this again into Ku-
nabi and Kunubi which forms are found in modern Marathi.
Should any derivative of Kurmi, Kumbi or Kunbi denote
agriculture, it must have originated in the same manner

The antiquated Indian caste system is so far right that
it assigns the Kurmis, Kumbis or Kunbis to the Sadra class,
i.e. to the non-Aryan population. In spite of contradictory
evidence Colonel Dalton thinks: “it is probable that in the
Kurmis we have the descendants of some of the earliest of
the Aryan colonists of Bengal.’’!+

The Kurmis are on the whole a very respectable, indus-
trious and well-to-do class, though not credited with much
intellect. Like many other low-born people some Kurmis
display a great anxiety to prove their noble extraction, and,
in order to avoid any mistakes being made on this subject,
Dr. Francis Buchanan expressly asserts that they are in
reality Sadras, though some claim to be Ksatriyas. The
Kurmis of Berar eat meat, drink spirits and allow widows
to remarry. In the Bombay Presidency the Kurmis are
subdivided into two classes, the Agris and Mardthas, and
the latter are in their turn again known as Pure Marathas
and Akarmashis. The Akarmashis are deemed to be descen-
dants of slaves, and the Agris are representatives of an
aboriginal race.!°°

1M See his Lthnology of Bengal, p. 317.
5 About the Kurmis compare Dr. Fr. Buchanan's History, Antiquities,
Topography and Statistics of Eastern India, vol. I, pp. 166, 283; vol. II, pp.

OF BHARATAVARSA. OR INDIA. 239

These facts seem to be conclusive evidence for the non-
Aryan origin of the Kurmis and Kunbis. But what makes
this tribe historically so interesting, is the circumstance that
some of the chief Hindu dynasties of modern times such
as the Rajas of Sattadra, the late Rajas of Tanjore, Scindia
and others are of Kumbi extraction. The circumstance
that the old Marathi dialect has preserved the term Kudumbi
enables us to trace the connection of these Kunbis with the
Kudumbas or Kurumbas.

Considering the bravery and the fierceness of the ancient
Kurumbas who were the dread and the bane of their neigh-
bours, we need not be surprised if the fire of their martial
disposition was not quite extinct in the otherwise plodding
Kumbis, and that the genius of Sivaji and Ekdji could
kindle the spark into a blazing flame. If Sir George
- Campbell had suspected the origin of the Kumbis, he would

468, 469: ‘‘ Next to the Ahirs the Kurmis here (in Gorukhpoor) hold the
highest place; and in Parraona they obtained the whole property, although
they were not able to secure the title of Raja. This, however, was bestowed
on the family by the late Asfud-Doulah, but it gave great offence to the
Rajputs, and has been discontinued. The families most nearly connected
with the chiefs of Parraona, and some others, who were Chaudkuris of Per-
gunahs, are reckoned Ashraf, and scorn the plough. While a great many of
the Saithawar and Patanawar tribes have become ashamed of the term Kurmi,
and reject all additions to the names above-mentioned, although it is well
known that they are Kurmis, and many of them are not ashamed of this
name. On the right of the Sarayu this tribe is most commonly called Kunmi
or Kunbi, which, in the account of Mysore, I have written Cunabi (see above
p- 208 n. 109); for itis one ofthe most generally diffused and numerous tribes in
India; and in Malawa has risen to great power by the elevation of Sindhiya
to the government of Ujjain. This person was a Kurmi; but I am told,
that at his capital the Kurmis are now reckoned Rajputs, as they would have
been here had the Parraona family been a little more powerful. There is
some reason to suspect, that their claim is better founded than that of many
who have had more success; for it is alleged by many, that they are the
same with the Tharus, whose claim to be descended of the family of the sun,
is supported by many circumstances which must be allowed to have some
weight, although I do not think them conclusive. If the Kurmis, however,
are the same with the Tharus, they are at any rate descended of the most
powertul, most civilized, and most ancient tribe, that has been sovereigns of
the country since the time at least of the family of the sun. As the Tharus,
however, are impure, the Kurmis strenuously deny the connection, they being

32

240 ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS

not have been so puzzled about the military element so con-
spicuous in their character.!°°

ON THE ORIGIN OF THE TERM KADAMBA.

Having been able to recognize in the Kurmis or Kumbis
the well-known Kurumbas or Kudumbas, I do not believe that
I go too far by suggesting a similar explanation for the
name of the famous Kadamba dynasty of ancient times.
Only mysterious legends which connect its founder with the
Kadamba tree are known about this royal race. I suspect
that behind the name Kadamba lurks that cf Kudumba
or Kurumba, and that the former was originally an acci-
dental alteration through variation of sound, which, in course
of time, was accepted and used to obliterate the real origin
of the ruling tribe. In this case, its ethnological status is
ascertained, and I shall now enquire into the origin of the
title Kadamba.

nearly as pure as the Ahirs. They formerly ate wild pork, but now reject it,
and will not acknowledge that they drink spirituous liquor. They keep
widows as concubines. Their Gurus and Purohitsare the same with those of
the Ahirs.”’

Compare further Sir Henry M. Elliot's Supplemental Glossary of Indian
Terms, vol. 1, pp. 155, 157; H. H. Wilson’s Glossary, pp. 302, 304 and 305,
under Kunbi and Kurmi: ‘‘ Kurmi, Koormee (a. ry, Ex-108 The caste of
agriculturists, or of a member of it, in Eastern and Central Hindustan, being
the same, essentially, as the Kwnbis of the west and south.” Consult also
Colonel Dalton’s Descriptive Ethnology of Bengal, pp. 306, 308, 317-327; Sir
George Campbell’s Ethnology of India, pp. 40, 92-95 ; Rev. M. A. Sherring’s
Hindu Tribes and Castes, vol. I, pp. 323-325; vol. II, pp. 99-101, 187, 188;
vol. III, pp. 150-152.

6 See Sir George Campbell’s Ethnology of India, p. 94 :“ Nothing puzzled
me more than this, viz., to understand whence came the great Maratta mili-
tary element. In the Punjab one can easily understand the sources of Sikh
power ; every peasant looks fit to be a soldier. But the great mass of the
Maratta Koonbees look like nothing of the kind, and are the quietest and
most obedient of humble and unwarlike cultivators. . Although the Koonbee
element was the foundation of the Maratta power, though Sevajee and some
of his chiefs were Koonbees, it appears that these people came almost
exclusively froma comparatively small district near Sattara, a hilly region
whero, as I judge, the Koonbees are much mixed with numerous aboriginal
and semi-aboriginal tribes of Mhars and others.’’ Compare about the Kunbis
also the Gazetteer of Aurangabad, pp. 265-270.

OF BHARATAVARSA OR INDIA. 241

Different legends are told to explain the name of the
Kadamba, Kadamba or Kadamba dynasty."

One story tells us that after the destruction of the demon
Tripura a drop of perspiration fell from the forehead of
Igvara through the hollow of a Kadamba tree, and assumed
the form of a man with three eyes and four arms. He was
accordingly called Trinétra or Trilocana Kadamba, became
the founder of the Kadamba dynasty and erected near the
Sahya mountain his capital Vanavdsi, also known as Jayant?-
pura. or Vaijayantipura.®

Another tradition relates that he was the son of Siva
and Parvati, who stayed for a certain period in the same
mountain range, that he was born there eventually under a
Kadambatree, whence the child obtained his name, and
became a king in course of time.

These are the two most widely-spread reports, but ac-
cording to another a Brahman of Yalgi underwent a severe
penance in order to become a king through the favor of
Madhukésvara.'’® His penance was graciously accepted, and
a divine voice informed him that he would be reborn as a
peacock, that the person who would eat his head would
become a king, that those who would partake of his breast
would become ministers, and that those who would feast
on the remainder of his body would become treasurers. The
Brahman satisfied with this promise, went to Aas?, where he
killed himself with a spear and was reborn as a peacock. In
such a state he roamed about in the forest and announced

157 See ‘‘ A Kadamba Inscription at Siddhapur’’ by K. B. Pathak, z.a.,
in the Indian Antiquary, vol. XI, p. 273: ‘‘ The name of the family seems to
have been written differently, as Kadamba, Kadamba or Kadamba.”’

158 Consult Mackenzie MSS., Kanarese No. 744, II, pp. 208 seg., further
H. H. Wilson’s Introduction to The Mackenzie Collection, pp. 1., ci., old
edition, pp. 60, 149, second edition; Mr. Lewis Rice’s Mysore and Coorg,
vol. I, pp. 198, 194, II, p. 852, and his Mysore Inscriptions, p. xxxiil.

159 See Mackenzie Manuscripts, Kanarese, No. 725, VI, pp. 99-102; H. H.
Wilson’s Mackenzie Collection, pp. ci, ciii, old edition; pp. 149, 150, new
edition.

242 ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS

with a shrill voice that the person who would eat his head
would become a king; until he fell into the hands of a gang
of thieves, who were resting under a Kadamba tree. They
killed the bird and asked a woman, Puspavat? by name, who
was living near by, to cook the peacock and to distribute its
flesh amongst them. While the woman was preparing the
peacock, and the thieves were bathing, her son came home
very hungry, and, as he wanted something to eat, his mother
gave him the head of the bird in ignorance of what was in
store for him who ate it. When he had eaten it, the thieves
returned, partook of the remainder of the meat, but were
astonished that after staying a while, none of them was
proclaimed king. They fetched the woman, who, when hard
pressed, told them what she had done, and that her son
had eaten the head of the peacock. The thieves found that
it was of no use to fight against destiny and submitted to
their fate.

~The king Anakapurandara of Jayantipura had died at that
very time without leaving any living issue behind and, as
was the custom in these circumstances, the ministers let the
state elephant loose with a watervessel containing holy water.
While thus roaming about, he came to the spot in the forest
near which the son of Puspavati was living close to the
Kadamba tree. The elephant bowed down to the youth,
who ascended the animal and was carried by him to Jayanti-
pura, where he was joyfully received, placed on the royal
throne and anointed as king. He assumed henceforth the
name Mayutravarma Kadamba and ruled for a long time
gloriously over the country.

The election of a king is in Indian legends often entrusted
to a state-elephant, and widely spread is also the belief that
he who eats the head of a peacock becomes a king. The
peacock is in Sanskrit called Mayira, hence the name
Maytiravarma, which the youth accepted. So far as the
person and his origin are concerned, the two legends differ,
as one refers to Zrinétra and the other to Maytrararma

OF BHARATAVARSA OR INDIA. 243

Kadamba, but the Kadamba tree plays in both traditions a
significant part.

As Puspavati prepared the food for the thieves of which
her son partook, and which she distributed among the thieves,
one may assume with good reason that she belonged to the
same caste as the thieves who caught the peacock, and these
people I feel inclined to identify with the Kurumbas.
The peacock plays an important part in the account of the
settlement of the Kallas in the Kadambavanam or Kadamba-
tavi of Madura. So far as the expression thief is concerned,
it must not be forgotten that thieving or robbing was not
considered disgraceful, if it was practised as a regular pro-
fession, just as cattlelifting did not in former times attach
any stygma to those who indulged in it in the Highlands
of Scotland.

The Kadamba tree, of which there exist various species,
is much esteemed for its flowers which are sacred to the god
Skanda, for its fragrant and highly esteemed powder which
is used at religious ceremonies, for the juice which exudes
from its stem, and for other reasons. Its name was spelt in
various ways, Aadamba and Kadamba, and as it was origi-
nally an indigenous Indian plant, I presume that this term
is also indigenous and Non-Aryan. I believe that the people
and the dynasty, which we call Kadambas, were actually
a branch of the Kurumbas, who had assumed a slightly
modified desiguation by changing their name Kurumba into
Kadamba, and that the stories about the Kadamba tree are
inventions of later times in order to explain the coincidence.
It is hardly necessary to restate here the resemblance be-
tween the a and w sounds, and to mention that the Kadamba
plant is jn various places of India called Kudumba.'®

I have had occasion to allude to the peculiar mode
of confederation prevalent among the Kurumbas and

160 See the Rev. Dr. Morison Winslow’s Tamil and English Dictionary,
p. 219, ‘‘Katampam, Katampu, a flower tree.’’? It is sacred to Skanda who is
called Katampan; Madura is called Katampavanam or Katampdtavi. On p-

244 ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS

a similar institution is said to have existed among the
Kadambas.!®!

Yet, what seems to establish the original identity be-
tween the Kurumbas and the Kadambas, is the fact that
the term Hadamba is actually found in Tamil as a synono-
mous and identical expression for Kurwmba, though this
circumstance has up to now escaped the notice it really
deserves. ©

236 we find ‘‘Katampam, Katampu, the Kadamba tree.’? In the common
vernacular the Kadamba tree is often called Kudumbu, in Hindustani and
Bengali it is known as Kudum.—Toddy is made from certain Kadamba trees,
and the Marathas make mead from the Kadamba (Axthocephalus Cadamba).
Compare Dr. Dymock’s Anthropogonic Trees, Bombay Anthropological
Journal, vol. I, p. 301. Parvati (or Durga) likes to dwell in the tree. Mr.
Lewis Rice says on p. xxxili in his Mysore Inscriptions that ‘“‘the Ka-
damba tree appears to be one of the palms from which toddy is extracted.’’
The Visnupurana (see H. H. Wilson’s translation edited by Fitzedward Hall,
vol. V, pp. 65, 66) reports, that ‘‘ Varuna, in order to provide for his
(Sésa’s) recreation, said to (his wife) Varuni (the goddess of wine): ‘ Thou,
Madira, art ever acceptable to the powerful Ananta. Go, therefore,auspicious
and kind goddess, and promote his enjoyments.’ Obeying these commands,
Varuni went and established herself in the hollow of a Kadamba-tree in the
woods of Vrindavana. Baladeva, roaming about (came there, and), smelling
the pleasant fragrance of liquor, resumed his ancient passion for strong
drink. The holder of the ploughshare, observing the vinous drops distilling
from the Kadamba-tree, was much delighted, (and gathered) and quatied
them along with the herdsmen and the Gopis, whilst thosé who were skilful
with voice and lute celebrated him in their songs. Being inebriated (with
the wine), and the drops of perspiration standing like pearls upon his limbs,
he called out, not knowing what he said.’’ (In a note to this is said:
‘‘ Kadambari is one of the synonyms of wine or spirituous liquor. The
grammarians, however, also derive the word from some legend ; stating it to
be so called, because it was produced from the hollow of a Kadamba-tree
on the Gomanta mountain.’’) According to the Bhagavata the Kadamba-
tree was placed on Suparsva; see Vishnupurana, vol. IT, p. 116. In the
Sanskrit Dictionary of Professors Béhtlingk and Roth we read in vol. I, p.
211: ‘‘ Kadambara ein aus den Blumen der Nauclea Cadamba bereitetes
berauschendes Getrank, n. qapyez, H (émacandra) an. Med. f. $ diess. und
A.K 2, 10, 40, H. 902, the rain-water which collects in clefts and hollow
places of the tree (Nauclea Cadamba) when the flowers are in perfection,
and which is supposed to be impregnated with the honey, Carey bei Haugh-
ton. HarqqHiart Wal War Hireeatiia ay Hariv. 6417, fg.”

161 See p. 235.

162 T have elsewhere pointed out the circumstance that the name of the
rude and cruel Kurumbas was used in some South Indian Languages as an
expression for cruelty; so that Arorwntan denotes in Tamil and Malayalam

= a

OF BHARATAVARSA OR INDIA. 245

Ata much later period we find the Kadambas connected
with the last great dynasty of Southern India, the Rajas of
Vijayanagara. The founders of this kingdom are also said
to have been Kurumbas. If the first family of the Vijaya-
nagara kings were Kurumbas, and on the other hand re-
lated to the once famous, but then decayed though not extinct
royal house of the Kadambas of Tuluva, historical evidence,
however slight, would have been adduced to establish the
connection between the Kurumbas and the Kadambas, and
this connection is in its turn supported by philological proof
of the original identity of their names.\®

IT have thus in the preceding pages given an account of
those more important sections of the Gaudian population
whose identification offered the least difficulty, and who from
time immemorial have occupied an acknowledged position
among the inhabitants of India.

I have shown, moreover, that these Gaudians form
together with the Dravidians the Gauda-Dravidian race, and

a savage, a stubborn fellow, and kurwmbu (or kurumbuttanam), barbarity,
insolence and wickedness. The same word underwent a slight alteration,
of uw being changed into a, so that Kadamban signifies in both these
languages an unruly fellow, and in Dr. Winslow’s Dictionary we find on
p- 219 ‘ ‘6LouT (Katampar), s. Unruly persons, @ miu (Kurumpar).’’
The only explanation of the name Aadamba I remember to have seen, is
contained in Mr. Grigg’s Manual of the Nilagiri District, where in note 4
on p. 208 he asks: ‘‘ May not this word (Kadamba) be a compound of Katu or
K4tam (both meaning forest) and Kérumba, and perhaps be the same as
Kad-Kérumba ?”’

163 See The Mackenzie Collection Tatodictiony P- civ; new edition, pp,
61, 62: ‘‘ There is little doubt also that the first princes of Vijayanagar were
descended from a Tuluwva family of ancient origin and power, whose
dominions extended towards the western sea: whether they were connected
with the Kadamba family does not appear, but that this race continued to
hold possessions in Kerndta, till near their time, is proved by grants at
Banavasi, Savanur, and Gokernam, dated in the twelfth, thirteenth and
fourteenth centuries by Kadamba kings.’’ Compare also Mr. Lewis Rice’s
Mysore and Coorg, vol. III, p. 98: ‘ In 1336 was founded the city of Vijaya-
nagar, whcse princes are said to have derived their origin from the
Kadambas.”’

246 THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS OF BHARATAVARSA OB INDIA.

that though descended from the same stock and speaking the
same language, these tribes separated in prehistoric times and
subsequently became still more alienated from each other.

In spite of this fact, they continued to live intermingled
in the same districts, though a gulf of hatred and of caste
prejadice prevented them from coalescing. The cause of
this separation of the two kindred trikes it is now impossible
to ascertain, but the division has since been kept alive and,
if anything, it may be still further widened in the future.
A few exceptions to this mutual antipathy however occur,
e.g., in the case of the Bhils and the Gonds.

It may perhaps not be out of place to remind my readers
that I am quite aware that some of my propositions and
conclusions may be challenged, but I trust that the principle
which has guided me in this research will stand the test of
time.

With these remarks I shall pass over to the third part,
which will contain the final conclusions of this enquiry,
supported as much as possible by such reliable evidence as
J shall be able to collect.

ALEX: BARREN, Li) TH. MADRAS,

MADRAS 1886

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