Chapter XIV
. In this case the gift appeared to be nothing more than a friendly compliment, but it is possible that transferences of buffaloes may in some cases be connected with the other complicated relations between the two tribes.
Household Goods. These are equally divided among the sons, though, as in the case of the buffaloes, they are used in common so long as the sons live together. If household goods have to be divided among the members of a family they are shared as equally as possible, and this is also the case with any ornaments. If the man had only one ring, it was said that this ring would either be broken up and shared equally, or its value would be divided. Money is shared equally among the sons.
If one of several brothers who has his own wife should die and leave children, the sons would take their father’s share at any division of property. Thus, at the time of my visit, Piutolvan and Püljeidi (10), two very old men, were thinking of dividing their buffaloes among their descendants. In this case Menkars would receive the number which his father Tagners would have received if he had been alive. If Tagners had left two sons, the portion which their father would have received would be divided between the two boys or devoted to their common use.
Daughters inherit nothing. They only receive from their parents what they are given as dowry (adrparn).
Any property given to a woman as dowry goes with her if she changes husbands, but any ornaments or other property given to a wife by her husband are kept by the husband if the wife is transferred to another man or group of men.
Harkness records a case in which a dispute about property arose. In this case a woman bore two children to three husbands. One of the husbands died and the other two husbands married other wives. The two children claimed one-third of the property of the mother and her first husband, and Harkness was told that this was generally recognised to be a just claim. I did not inquire into this special case but according to the laws of inheritance of property which I have given, it would seem that the children were entitled to one-third of the whole of the property of the three brothers. If the property had been divided among the three brothers, the man who died would have received one-third, and the children should have received his share.
In all cases of distribution of property, inheritance depends on descent as determined by the pursütpimi ceremony, and not on the real descent, even if this should be well known. Thus the boy Meilitars (44), who is really the son of Kuriolv, but is legally the son of Pepners, should not inherit any of Kuriolv’s buffaloes, but will receive those of his legal father, Pepners, of whom at present he is the only son.
If the whole of a family, such as is given in one of the genealogical tables, should die out, the inheritance of the buffaloes and other property is determined by the nearest links of descent, of which a tradition may be preserved, even if the actual relationship cannot be definitely traced.
Several interesting features of Toda law are illustrated by a case out of which a lawsuit may one day arise. If the family of Kiugi (57) should become extinct, there would arise a dispute about the succession to the property, which would turn largely on a case in which the pursütpimi ceremony was performed several generations ago. When the eldest child of Tudrvan (52) was about to be born, Tudrvan was away from home, and had not performed the pursütpimi ceremony. There was a danger that the delivery might take place before the ceremony could be performed, and Kòrs (57) was therefore called in to give the bow and arrow, and Teitchi, who was born soon afterwards, was, according to Toda custom, the child of Kòrs. When Teitchi grew up, however, he decided to regard himself as the son of his real father, Tudrvan, and being a powerful and influential person like his grandson Kuriolv, he appears to have had his way, and his descendants have been regarded as the descendants of Tudrvan. Tudrvan himself gave the bow and arrow in the succeeding pregnancy, and there is therefore no doubt about the legitimacy of Pusheiri and his younger brothers and sisters.
Owing, however, to the part played by Kòrs before the birth of his grandfather, Kuriolv has lately directed that Kiugi, the son of Kòrs, should belong to the same pòlm as himself in order that he or his family may succeed to the buffaloes of Kiugi’s pòlm if this should die out. It is known, however, that Kiugi’s pòlm is closely related to that of Tüliners (56), so that should the pòlm of Kiugi become extinct, there would arise a lawsuit between Kuriolv and Tüliners or their representatives for the possession of Kiugi’s buffaloes.
The essential point of the situation is that Kuriolv is trying to make use of his double position as the descendant of Tudrvan by real paternity and of Kòrs by virtue of the pursütpimi ceremony. According to the latter he is of the same pòlm as Kiugi, but if equity prevails in the decision of the naim which may have to settle the dispute, Kuriolv or his representative will have to decide whether he is descended from Tudrvan or Kòrs, and will not be allowed to take advantage of both lines of descent.
As a matter of fact, I was assured by several Todas that though they have apparently fallen in with Kuriolv’s wishes, they still regard Kiugi’s pòlm as most closely allied to that of Tüliners, and if Kuriolv should die before the extinction of Kiugi’s family, I have little doubt that the naim would decide that the buffaloes of Kiugi should go to the family of Tüliners.
This potential lawsuit is important as showing the rôle played by the genealogies in the social regulations of the Toda community. We see that an eventuality which may never arise and probably will not arise for many years to come is already the subject of consideration and discussion, that the crucial point upon which the lawsuit will turn is an event which occurred probably about 120 years ago, and that the ties of kinship which will be involved in the dispute are carefully preserved in the memories of the people.
The history is also very interesting in showing that a century ago a man of force was able to set aside a fundamental regulation of Toda society, and that his grandson, who has apparently inherited the powerful character of his ancestor, is following in his footsteps, and, as we have seen frequently during this volume, is able to put on one side Toda customs or laws when they conflict with his interests or desires.
DEBT AND SERVITUDE
It seems to be not uncommon for a Toda to die in debt, and it is the duty of the sons to pay off the debts of their father. If there are no children, the payment of the debt is regarded as the duty of the brothers of the dead man.
When children have to pay the debts of their father, they may give their services to others, receiving in return money and other recompense. The usual pay is six rupees a year, two cloaks, and food. To this is often added the loan of a milking buffalo.
This custom of working for another is called kûlvatkerthchi or kûlvatkerthiti. Several of the eight sons of Pushteidi and Keitan (6) are now working to pay their father’s debts. Two of the sons are married to one woman and live at one of their own villages, where they look after the buffaloes of the family. Another brother is unmarried, but lives with a Teivali woman. The other five sons are unmarried and work for various people. One is employed on a tea estate, and the others are working for different Todas, who reward them in the manner already described. The milking buffaloes lent to them are handed over to the charge of the brothers who are married.
It is very exceptional to find a family in which so many of the men are unmarried, and this was said to be due to the necessity of paying off their father’s debt. In this case the two eldest brothers have remained unmarried, but this was said to have been due to their own choice. It seems that it is left to the family to decide which of them shall marry and which shall undertake the duty of paying the debt. As soon as the debt is paid off, all the sons are allowed to marry.
THE POSITION OF WOMEN
There is no doubt that women have a subordinate position in the Toda community. The ceremonial of the dairy has a predominant place in the lives and thoughts of the people, and the exclusion of women from any share in this ceremonial must have influenced the attitude of the community towards the sex. The laws regulating the relations of the dairymen with women also can hardly have contributed to raise the esteem in which they are held. The special ceremonies in which women are concerned involve various disabilities due to the ideas of impurity connected with these ceremonies. The seclusion-hut of a woman has attached to it the same ideas of impurity which attach to a corpse or its relics.
Not only are women excluded from any share in the work of the dairies connected with the sacred buffaloes, but they are also prohibited from any part in the milking of the ordinary buffaloes or in the churning of their milk, which is performed solely by males in a part of the hut with which women have nothing to do. It seems that at one time women had the one function of tending the buffaloes at the time of calving, but even this is no longer allowed them.
In other household matters, the duties of women are very limited in scope. Their chief work is the pounding and sifting of grain, the cleaning of the hut, and the decoration of clothing. I am doubtful whether they are allowed to cook, at any rate to cook food in which milk forms one of the ingredients. With such occupations as divining and sorcery they have nothing to do, but one woman has the reputation of possessing the powers of healing which belong to the utkòren.
I could not learn of any matters of social importance in which women are consulted. When collecting genealogies in Torres Straits, I found that women were often repositories of this important branch of knowledge, but I received no indication that this was the case with the Toda women, though I cannot say definitely that they may not have possessed some knowledge of this and cognate subjects.
Though thus unimportant in ceremonial and of little influence in the regulation of social affairs, women have nevertheless much freedom. In general social intercourse the two sexes always seemed to be on the best of terms, and I never saw or heard anything to indicate that women are treated harshly or contemptuously.
In my psychological tests it certainly seemed to me the general intelligence of the women was very much lower than that of the men. Some of the younger women were as acute and intelligent as the men, but the older women seemed to me hopelessly stupid. They did not try to give their minds to the tasks I set them with anything approaching the keenness and interest shown by the men, and again and again I failed to obtain results of any value in tests which men understood readily.
It seems probable that the intelligence of the two sexes is not appreciably different in youth, but that the social life of the women does nothing to develop this intelligence and everything to force its exercise into the narrowest channels.
It might, I think, be expected that polyandry would be associated with a subordinate position of woman, and there can be no doubt that the Todas show the association of the two conditions.
When a woman marries she becomes of the same clan as her husband, and this is a matter of some importance in connexion with religious and social ceremonial. Thus, in the funeral ceremonies of a woman, the choice of appropriate day and place, of the people who are to take part in the funeral rites and other features of the ceremonial are determined, not by the clan of the woman’s father, but by that of her husband, and this even when the marriage itself forms part of the funeral ceremonies.
While I was on the hills, the widow, Kiuneimi (3), who had been living with her father at Nòdrs, died. Her husbands had belonged to Kanòdrs, and as a member of this clan she should have been taken to its burning-ground. This was, however, so far from Nòdrs that it was decided not to go there, but to hold the funeral ceremonies near the place where she had died. The proper funeral place for Nòdrs women could not, however, be used, for she belonged to another clan, and the body was therefore taken to a village which was not a true funeral place, and so no laws were infringed.
The funeral of Sinerani (p. 391) is an excellent example which shows how all the details of a funeral ceremony are dependent on the transference of a young girl to the clan of a boy who acts as husband to the corpse. By her marriage to Keinba, the dead girl became a member of the Keadrol, and her funeral should have been held at the burning-ground of this clan. Many of the features of the ceremonies were in accordance with this change of clan, and since all were not so, the various mishaps which occurred at the funeral were ascribed by the Todas to the departure from prescribed custom.
##