Part 12

the sheep of the Kurumbas. Again, the ancient lexicographer of the Tamil language, Pingala Muni, defines Kurumban as Kurunila Mannar, or petty chieftains. But the most common derivation is from the Tamil kurumbu, wickedness, so that Kurumban means a wicked man. With this may be compared the derivation of Kallan from kalavu, theft, and the Kallans are now generally believed to have been closely connected with, if not identical with the original Kurumbas. On the other hand, the true derivation may be in the other direction, as in the case of the Sclavs. The language of the Kurumbas is a dialect of Canarese, and not of Tamil, as stated by Bishop Caldwell. It resembles the old Canarese." Concerning the affinities of the Kurubas, Mr. Stuart states that "they are the modern representatives of the ancient Pallavas, who were once so powerful in Southern India. In the seventh century, the power of the Pallava kings seems to have been at its zenith, though very little trace of their greatness now remains; but, soon after this, the Kongu, Chola, and Chalukya chiefs succeeded in winning several victories over them, and the final overthrow of the Kurumba sovereignty was effected by the Chola King Adondai about the eighth century A.D., and the Kurumbas were scattered far and wide. Many fled to the hills, and, in the Nilgiris and Wynad, in Coorg and Mysore, representatives of this ancient race are now found as wild and uncivilised tribes." Let me call anthropometric evidence, and compare the Kurubas of Mysore and Bellary with the jungle Kurumbas of the Nilgiris and the allied Kadirs and Mala Vedars, by means of the two important physical characters, stature and nasal index.

Stature. Nasal index. Average. Maximum. Minimum. Average. Maximum. Minimum. cm. cm. cm.

Kurubas, 163.9 176.4 155 73.2 85.9 62.3 Mysore Kurubas, 162.7 175.4 153.4 74.9 92.2 63.3 Bellary Kurumbas, 157.5 163.6 149.6 88.8 111.1 79.1 Nilgiris Kadirs 157.7 169.4 148.6 89.8 115.4 72.9 Mala 154.2 163.8 140.8 84.9 102.6 71.1 Vedars

In this table, the wide gap which separates the domesticated Kurubas of the Mysore Province and the adjacent Bellary district from the conspicuously platyrhine and short-statured Kurumbas and other jungle tribes, stands out prominently before any one who is accustomed to deal on a large scale with bodies and noses. And I confess that I like to regard the Kurumbas, Mala Vedars, Kadirs, Paniyans, and other allied tribes of short stature with broad noses as the most archaic existing inhabitants of the south of the Indian peninsula, and as having dwelt in the jungles, unclothed, and living on roots, long before the seventh century. The question of the connection between Kurubas and Kurumbas is further discussed in the note on the latter tribe.

The popular tradition as to the origin of the caste is as follows. Originally the Kurubas were Kapus. Their ancestors were Masi Reddi and Nilamma, who lived on the eastern ghats by selling firewood, and had six sons. Taking pity on their poverty, Siva came begging to their house in the disguise of a Jangam, and gave Nilamma some sacred ashes, while promising prosperity through the birth of another son, who was called Undala Padmanna. The family became prosperous through agriculture. But, unlike his six brothers, Undala Padmanna never went out to work in the fields. They accordingly contrived to get rid of him by asking him to set fire to some brushwood concealing a white-ant hill, in the hope that the snake within it would kill him. But, instead of a snake, an innumerable host of sheep appeared. Frightened at the sight of these strange black beasts, Undala Padmanna took to his heels. But Siva appeared, and told him that they were created for his livelihood, and that he should rear them, and live by their milk. He taught him how to milk the sheep and boil the milk, and sent him to a distant town, which was occupied by Rakshasas, to fetch fire. There the giants were keeping in bondage a Brahman girl, who fell in love with Undala Padmanna. They managed to escape from the clutches of the Rakshasas by arranging their beds over deep pits, which were dug for their destruction. To save her lover, the girl transformed him into a lizard. She then went with him to the place where his flock was, and Undala Padmanna married a girl of his own caste, and had male offspring by her as well as the Brahman. At the marriage of these sons, a thread kankanam (bracelet) was tied to the wrist of the caste woman's offspring, and a woollen kankanam to that of the Brahman girl's sons. The sons of the former were, therefore, called Atti (cotton) Kankanadavaru, and those of the latter Unni (woollen) Kankanadavaru. The latter are considered inferior, as they are of hybrid origin. A third sub-division is that of the Ande Kurubas, named after the small vessel (ande) used in milking goats. In a note on the Kurubas of Alur, Thikka, meaning a simpleton, is given as the name of an important division. It is noted in the Mysore Census Report, 1901, that the Kurubas have not taken kindly to education, and are by nature so simple that Kuruba has, in some places, become a byword for a simpleton. The Kurubas are also known as Halu Mata, or milk caste, as they believe that they were created out of milk by Revana Siddeswara. In Hindustani they are called Dhangars, or rich people. Some, in spite of their poor dress and appearance, are well-to-do. At the Madras census, 1901, Kavadiga, Kumpani, and Rayarvamsam (Raja's clan) were returned by some members of the community. In Mysore, the Kurubas are said [49] to be divided into Hande Kurubas and Kurubas proper, who have no intercourse with one another. The latter worship Bire Devaru, and are Saivites. According to another account, the Halu Kurubas of Mysore have sub-divisions according to the day of the week, on which they offer puja to their god, e.g., Aditya Varada (Sunday), Brihaspati Varada (Thursday), Soma Varada (Monday).

"The Kurubas," Mr. H. A. Stuart writes, "are again sub-divided into clans or gumpus, each having a headman or guru called a gaudu, who gives his name to the clan. And the clans are again sub-divided into gotras or septs, which are mostly of totemistic origin, and retain their totemistic character to this day. The Arisana gotram is

## particularly worthy of notice. The name means saffron (turmeric),

and this was originally taboo; but, as this caused inconvenience, the korra grain has been substituted, although the old name of the sept was retained."

Exogamous septs.

Agni, fire. Alige, drum. Andara, booth. Ane, elephant. Arashina or Arisana, turmeric. Arathi, wave offering. Ari, ebony. Ariya, noble. Avu, snake. Bandi, cart. Banni (Prosopis spicigera). Basale (Basella rubra). Batlu, cup. Belata (Feronia elephantum). Belli, silver. Belu (Ægle Marmelos). Bende (Hibiscus esculentus). Benise, flint. Bevu or Bevina (Melia Azadirachta). Binu, roll of woollen thread. Bola, bangle. Chandra, moon. Chelu, scorpion. Chilla (Strychnos potatorum). Chinna or Sinnata, gold. Deva, a tree. Emme, buffalo. Gali, devil. Gauda, headman. Gulimi, pick-axe. Halu, milk. Hatti, hut. Honnungara, gold ring. Ibabire, tortoise. Irula, darkness. Iruvu, black ant. Jelakuppa, a fish. Jirige, cummin. Jivala, an insect. Kalle, bengal gram. Kanchu, bell-metal. Kavada, coloured border of a cloth. Kombu, stick. Kori, blanket. Mana, measure. Malli, jasmine. Menusu, pepper. Minchu, metal toe-ring. Mise, moustache. Mugga, loom. Muttu, pearl. Nali, bamboo tube. Nayi, dog. Othu, goat. Putta, ant-hill; snake hole. Ratna, precious stones. Samanti or Savanti (Chrysanthemum). Same (millet: Panicum miliare). Samudra, ocean. Sankhu, conch-shell. Sarige, lace. Surya, sun. Thuppa, clarified butter. Turaka, Muhammadan. Ungara, ring. Uppiri, earth-salt.

The titles of members of the caste are Gauda or Heggade, and the more prosperous go by the name of Kaudikiaru, a corruption of Gaudikiaru. Many, at the present day, have adopted the title Nayakkan. Some are called Gorava Vandlu.

According to Mr. Stuart, "each community of Kurubas, residing in a group of villages, has a headman or Gaudu. He acts the part of pujari or priest in all their ceremonies, presides over their tribal meetings, and settles disputes. He is paid four annas, or, as they call it, one ruka per house per annum. He is a strict vegetarian, and will not eat with other Kurubas." The headman or guru of the caste in Bellary goes by the name of Revana Siddeswara, and he wears the lingam, and follows the Lingayat creed. Sometimes he dines with his people, and, on these occasions, new cooking pots must be used. He exercises the power of inflicting fines, excommunicating those who have had illicit intercourse with Boyas, Muhammadans, and others, etc. The Kurubas in Bellary and Anantapur are said to pay three pies to their guru for every blanket which they sell. The name of the tribal headman at Alur is Kattaiyintivadu, i.e., shed with a pial or raised verandah in front of it. Among both Kurubas and Bedars, a special building, built by public subscription, and called the katta-illu or chavadi, is set apart for council meetings, at which tribal affairs are discussed and decided.

When a girl reaches puberty, she is kept in a corner of the house for eight days. On the ninth day she bathes, and food is taken to her by an old woman of the house. Kuruba women are invited to be present in the evening. The girl, covered with a blanket, is seated on a raised place. Those assembled throw rice over her feet, knees, shoulders, and head, and into her lap. Coloured turmeric and lime water is then waved three or five times round her, and ravikes (body-cloths) are presented to her.

The following account of the marriage ceremonial was recorded in Western Bellary. When a marriage has been settled between the parents of the young people, visits are exchanged by the two families. On a fixed day, the contracting couple sit on a blanket at the bride's house, and five women throw rice over five parts of the body as at the menstrual ceremony. Betel leaves and areca-nuts are placed before them, of which the first portion is set apart for the god Birappa, the second for the Gauda, another for the house god, and so on up to the tenth. A general distribution then takes place The ceremony, which is called sakshi vilya or witness betel-leaf, is brought to a conclusion by waving in front of the couple a brass vessel, over the mouth of which five betel leaves and a ball of ashes are placed. They then prostrate themselves before the guru. For the marriage ceremony, the services of the guru, a Jangam, or a Brahman priest, are called into requisition. Early on the wedding morning, the bridal couple are anointed and washed. A space, called the irani square, is marked out by placing at the four corners a pot filled with water. Round each pot a cotton thread is wound five times. Similar thread is also tied to the milk-post of the marriage pandal (booth), which is made of pipal (Ficus religiosa) wood. Within the square a pestle, painted with red and white stripes, is placed, on which the bride and bridegroom, with two young girls, seat themselves. Rice is thrown over them, and they are anointed and washed. To each a new cloth is given, in which they dress themselves, and the wrist-thread (kankanam) is tied on all four. Presents are given by relations, and arathi (red water) is waved round them. The bridegroom is decorated with a bashingam (chaplet of flowers), and taken on a bull to a Hanuman shrine along with his best man. Cocoanuts, camphor, and betel are given to the priest as an offering to the god. According to another account, both bride and bridegroom go to the shrine, where a matron ties on their foreheads chaplets of flowers, pearls, etc. At the marriage house a dais has been erected close to the milk-post, and covered with a blanket, on which a mill-stone and basket filled with cholum (Andropogon Sorghum) are placed. The bridegroom, standing with a foot on the stone and the bride with a foot on the basket, the gold tali, after it has been touched by five married women, is tied round the bride's neck by the officiating priest, while those assembled throw rice over the happy pair, and bless them. According to another version, a bed-sheet is interposed as a screen, so that the bride and bridegroom cannot see each other. On the three following days, the newly-married couple sit on the blanket, and rice is thrown over them. In Western Bellary, the bridegroom, on the third day, carries the bride on his waist to Hanuman temple, where married women throw rice over them. On the fifth morning, they are once more anointed and washed within the irani square, and, towards evening, the bride's father hands her over to her husband, saying "She was till this time a member of my sept and house. Now I hand her over to your sept and house." On the night of the sixth day, a ceremony called booma idothu (food placing) is performed. A large metal vessel (gangalam) is filled with rice, ghi (clarified butter), curds, and sugar. Round this some of the relations of the bride and bridegroom sit, and finish off the food. The number of those, who partake thereof must be an odd one, and they must eat the food as quickly as possible. If anything goes wrong with them, while eating or afterwards, it is regarded as an omen of impending misfortune. Some even consider it as an indication of the bad character of the bride.

Concerning the marriage ceremony of the Kurubas of North Arcot, Mr. Stuart writes as follows. "As a preliminary to the marriage, the bridegroom's father observes certain marks or curls on the head of the proposed bride. Some of these are believed to forebode prosperity, and others only misery to the family, into which the girl enters. They are, therefore, very cautious in selecting only such girls as possess curls (suli) of good fortune. This curious custom, obtaining among this primitive tribe, is observed by others only in the case of the purchase of cows, bulls, and horses. One of the good curls is the bashingam found on the forehead; and the bad ones are the peyanakallu at the back of the head, and the edirsuli near the right temple. But widowers seeking for wives are not generally particular in this respect. [As bad curls are supposed to cause the death of the man who is their possessor, she is, I am informed, married to a widower.] The marriage is celebrated in the bridegroom's house, and, if the bride belongs to a different village, she is escorted to that of the bridegroom, and is made to wait in a particular spot outside it, selected for the occasion. On the first day of the marriage, purna kumbam, a small decorated vessel containing milk or ghi, with a two-anna piece and a cocoanut placed on the betel leaf spread over the mouth of it, is taken by the bridegroom's relations to meet the bride's party. Therethe distribution of pan supari takes place, and both parties return to the village. Meanwhile, the marriage booth is erected, and twelve twigs of naval (Eugenia Jambolana) are tied to the twelve pillars, the central or milk post, under which the bridal pair sit, being smeared with turmeric, and a yellow thread being tied thereto. At an auspicious hour of the third day, the couple are made to sit in the booth, the bridegroom facing the east, and the bride facing west. On a blanket spread near the kumbam, 2 1/2 measures of rice, a tali or bottu, one cocoanut, betel leaf and camphor are placed. The Gaudu places a ball of vibhuti (sacred ashes) thereon, breaks a cocoanut, and worships the kumbam, while camphor is burnt. The Gaudu next takes the tali, blesses it, and gives it to the bridegroom, who ties it round the bride's neck. The Gaudu then, throwing rice on the heads of the pair, recites a song, in which the names of various people are mentioned, and concluding 'Oh! happy girl; Oh! prosperous girl; Basava has come; remove your veil.' The girl then removes her veil, and the men and women assembled throw rice on the heads of the bridal pair. The ends of their garments are then tied together, and two girls and three boys are made to eat out of the plates placed before the married couple. A feast to all their relations completes the ceremony. The Gaudu receives 2 1/2 measures of rice, five handfuls of nuts and betel leaf, and twelve saffrons (pieces of turmeric) as his fee. Even though the girl has attained puberty, the nuptial ceremony is not coincident with the wedding, but is celebrated a few months later." In like manner, among the Kammas, Gangimakkulu, and other classes, consummation does not take place until three months after the marriage ceremony, as it is considered unlucky to have three heads of a family in a household during the first year of marriage. By the delay, the birth of a child should take place only in the second year, so that, during the first year, there will be only two heads, husband and wife. At a marriage among the Kurubas of the Madura district, a chicken is waved in front of the contracting couple, to avert the evil eye. The maternal uncle's consent to a marriage is necessary, and, at the wedding, he leads the bride to the pandal. A Kuruba may, I am informed, marry two sisters, either on the death of one of them, or if his first wife has no issue, or suffers from an incurable disease. Some twenty years ago, when an unmarried Kuruba girl was taken to a temple, to be initiated as a Basavi (dedicated prostitute), the caste men prosecuted the father as a protest against the practice.

In the North Arcot district, according to Mr. Stuart, "the mother and child remain in a separate hut for the first ten days after delivery. On the eleventh day, all the Kuruba females of the village bring each a pot of hot water, and bathe the mother and child. Betel and nuts are distributed, and all the people of the village eat in the mother's house. On the next market-day, her husband, with some of his male friends, goes to a neighbouring market, and consults with a Korava or Yerukala what name is to be given to the child, and the name he mentions is then given to it." In a case which came before the police in the Bellary district in 1907, a woman complained that her infant child had been taken away, and concealed in the house of another woman, who was pregnant. The explanation of the abduction was that there is a belief that, if a pregnant woman keeps a baby in her bed, she will have no difficulty at the time of delivery.

Remarriage of widows is permitted. The ceremony is performed in a temple or dark room, and the tali is tied by a widow, a woman dedicated to the deity, or a Dasayya (mendicant) of their own caste. According to another account, a widow is not allowed to wear a tali, but is presented with a cloth. Hence widow marriage is called Sire Udiki. Children of widows are married into families in which no widow remarriage has taken place, and are treated like ordinary members of the community.

In Western Bellary I gathered that the dead are buried, those who have been married with the face upwards, others with the face downwards. The grave is dug north and south, and the head is placed to the south. Earth is thrown into the grave by relations before it is filled in. A mound is raised over it, and three stones are set up, over the head, navel, and feet. The eldest son of the deceased places on his left shoulder a pot filled with water, in the bottom of which three small holes are made, through which the water escapes. Proceeding from the spot beneath which the head rests, he walks round the grave, and then drops the pot so that it falls on the mound, and goes home without looking back. This ceremony is a very important one with both Kurubas and Bedars. In the absence of a direct heir, he who carries the pot claims the property of the deceased, and is considered to be the inheritor thereof. For the propitiation of ancestors, cooked rice and sweetmeats, with a new turban and cloth or petticoat, according to the sex of the deceased, are offered up. Ancestors who died childless, unless they left property, do not receive homage. It is noted, in the Bellary Gazetteer, that "an unusual rite is in some cases observed after deaths, a pot of water being worshipped in the house on the eleventh day after the funeral, and taken the next morning and emptied in some lonely place. The ceremony is named the calling back of the dead, but its real significance is not clear."

Of the death ceremonies in the North Arcot district, Mr. Stuart writes that "the son, or, in his absence, a near relative goes round the grave three times, carrying a pot of water, in which he makes a hole at each round. On the third round he throws down the pot, and returns home straight, without turning his face towards the direction of the grave. For three days, the four carriers of the bier are not admitted into their houses, but they are fed at the cost of the deceased's heir. On the the third day, cooked rice, a fowl and water are taken to the burial-ground, and placed near the grave, to be eaten by the spirit of the dead. The son, and all his relations, return home, beating on their mouths. Pollution is observed for ten days, and, on the eleventh day, sheep and fowls are killed, and a grand feast is given to the Kurumbas of the village. Before the feast commences, a leaf containing food is placed in a corner of the house, and worshipped. This is removed on the next morning, and placed over the roof, to be eaten by crows. If the deceased be a male, the glass bangles worn by his wife on her right arm are broken on the same day."