MANUAL OF THE NILAGIRI DISTRICT. 203 



PART II. 



The Kotas. 



Length of residence. — Derivation of name. — Language.— Physical characteris- 

 tics.— Dress.— Census.— Divisions.— Mode of life. — Habits. — Habitations. — 

 Religion.— Rites.— Birth.— Marriage. — Death.— Traditions. 



Our knowledge of the origin of this people, who may be CHAP. IX, 



described as a clan of Helot craftsmen, is most meagre; but PART II. 



judging from their language and traditions, there seems ground eth^ogy. 



for regarding them as next to the Todas in the length of their — 



residence on the Hills. They have a settlement at the foot of 5,e'' "lateau "" 

 the western slopes near Gudaliir, and, like the Todas, their oldest 

 village or street is in the western highlands of the Toda land 

 or ndd. 



The name is differently spelt Kotu, Kdter, Kotar, Kohatur Derivation of 

 and Kotturs. Its derivation is doubtful. The Todas call them "^°^^- 

 Kuof or cow-men, and, arguing from this word, some connect it 

 with K6 (Sans.) cow, and hatija, i.e., cow-killing. The first part 

 of the derivation is probably correct. They are emphatically 

 men of the coiu, 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. Mr. 

 Breaks observes that he has been informed that in Mysore, some 

 workers in metal are called Kotars and worship Kama, but I can 

 find nothing in support of this assertion in the Mysore Oazetteer, 

 though the lists of castes and out-castes given in it seem very 

 complete. 



There can be no question but that like the Todas, this tribe Language, 

 belongs to the great Dravidian family. Dr. Caldwell speaks of 

 their language as '' an old and very rude dialect of Kanarese,'' but 

 it is more like that of the Todas than any other. The chief 

 difference between the two lies in the deep guttural^ pronunciation 

 of the Todas, the Kotas' pronunciation being more dental. Their 

 respective dialects appear to be mutually understood. 



Dr. Shortt gives the average height of twenty-five men as 62-61 Physical 

 inches, the women being considerably shorter, they only average J^^^^'^*^^"^- 

 57-98. The color of the Kotas is lighter than that of the other 

 tribes and more inclined to copper. They are, on the whole, 

 better looking and of a stronger physique than Kiirumbas or 

 Irulas, having well-formed heads and better-shaped noses. Their 

 cheek bones are high and prominent, and they have generally an 



1 Mr. Metz. 



