68 



KNOWLEDGE. 



[March 1, 1900. 



scribed as of a high grade; and when any advantage is to 

 be gained by stating a falsehood, no Toda (.-ousiders him- 

 self bound to adhere to the truth. As already said, 

 Todas are a pastoral people, and they display a rooted 

 antipathy to manual labour of any description. So 

 strongly is this trait developed, that in the case of a 

 convict, the gaol authorities, finding it impossible to 

 make him work without resorting to severe measures, 

 polved the difficulty by appointing him an overseer. This 

 is clearly an instance where idleness paid. 



Todas dwell in small villages, or hamlets, each of which 

 is called a man,;, and usually includes five buildings; 

 three of the latter being used as habitations, while the 

 fourth forms a " dairy-temple," and the fifth a calf-pen. 

 The.se huts are generally about eighteen feet in length bv 

 ten in height, and nine in width ; the interior being from 

 eight to fifteen feet square, and of sufficient height to 

 permit a man to move without knocking his head against 

 the roof. They are neatly built of bamboos, fastened with 

 rattan and thatched ; the arched roof reaching the 

 ground at the sides. The ends are closed by wooden panel- 

 ling, placed within the margins of the roof. " The 

 entrance, or doorway, measures," according to Dr. 

 Shortt's account, " thirty-two inches in height and 

 eighteen inches in width, and is not provided with any 

 door or gate, but the entrance is closed by means of a 

 solid slab or plank of wood, from four to six inches thick, 

 and of sufficient dimensions to entirely block up the 

 entrance. This sliding door is inside the hut, and so 

 arranged and fixed on two stout stakes, buried in the 

 earth, and standing to the height of two and a-half to 

 three feet, as to be easily moved to and fro. There 

 are no other openings or outlets of any kind either for 

 the escape of smoke, or for the free ingress and egress 

 of atmospheric air. The doorway itself is of such 

 small dimensions that to effect an entrance one has to 

 go down on all fours, and even then much wriggling is 

 necessary before an entrance is effected." Needless to 

 say when the visitor has succeeded in passing i-he 

 barrier he is not impressed by the freshness of the 

 atmosphere of the interior ! On one side of the in- 

 terior is a raised platfomi covered with deer-skins, and 

 used as a sleeping place, while the fire-place is opposite. 



There are many curious ceremonies on the occasions 

 of birth, marriage, and death, of %vhich space does not 

 admit of mention, and I accordingly pass on to say 

 something concerning the dairy-temple, or tirieri. It 

 must be premised that the religion of the Todas is a 

 simple primitive faith, superadded to which is a large 

 strain of Hinduism; and to this latter is due the cult 

 of the cow, here represented by the buffalo. 



In addition to the dairy-temjjle in each mand. there 

 are certain special settlements of this class, each of 

 which is supervised by a couple of black-clad monks or 

 palals, while the work of ■'■he establishment is carried 

 on by two herdsmen, or kaltamaks. Such an establish- 

 ment comprises one hut for the palals, a second for the 

 kaltamaks, a large and a small cattle-pen for the sacred 

 herd, and the temple itself ; the latter containing the 

 sacred bell or mani, and the dairy apparatus. The 

 most sacred member of the herd is the bell-cow, whose 

 office descends to the eldest female offspring, failing 

 which a cow is imported from another tirieri. A palal 

 must be a bachelor ; and it is his duty to send the 

 herd out to graze, to salute them on their departure 

 and return, to make butter, and to offer prayers. Truly 

 a somewhat mixed order of functions. No one but a 

 palal or a kaltamak is permitted to enter the sacred 

 enclosure ; but one of the former is accustomed at 



certain times to bring butter and milk outside the 

 establishment for sale to the ordinary Todas or their 

 neighbours the Badagas. Superfluous bulls from the 

 herd become the perquisites of the kaltamaks, by whom 

 they are sold to Todas or Badagas. Of such animals 

 as die the flesh is, however, given to the tribe of Kotas, 

 who are carrion-eaters, and have no prejudices as to 

 the sacred character of the cow and its kindred. 



It is from the aforesaid Kotas that the Todas acquire 

 their iron axes and knives, as well as their earthen- 

 wai-e utensils ; the flesh, horns, and hides of the deceased 

 buffaloes being the quid pro quo. The Todas consider 

 themselves vastly superior to either the Kotas or 

 Kurumbas, both of which are neighbouring hill-tribes. 

 When a Kota meets a Toda, he acknowledges the 

 superiority of the latter by kneeling down and raising 

 his foot to his own head. On the other hand, when 

 a Toda encounters a Kurumba the latter bows, and is 

 patted on the head by the former. 



The Kotas (literally mountaineers), who number a 

 little over a thousand individuals, inhabit seven 

 villages in the Nilgiris, one of which is situated in the 

 Wynad district. They build huts of mud, wood, or 

 stone, roofed with thatch or tiles, and divided into 

 living and sleeping apartments ; the huts themselves 

 being arranged in long streets. As already said, the 

 Kotas are carrion-eaters, and there are few more dis- 

 gusting sights than to see one of these men carrying 

 part of a decomposed buffalo to his home. They are 

 also hard drinkers, and have no caste. Their redeeming 

 quality is that they are excellent artificers, catering 

 for the wants of all the neighbouring tribes. They are 

 excellent blacksmiths, and make very serviceable axes, 

 knives, etc. Formerly they smelted the iron-ore of 

 the country, but now purchase scrap-iron brought up 

 from the plains. They ai'e likewise good practical agri- 

 culturists. 



Unlike the Todas, who never hesitate to meet Eu- 

 rojicans frankly, the Kota women bolt into the jungle 

 at the sight of a white face. And as they are filthily 

 dirty and by no means handsome, this is perhaps no 

 great disadvantage. The men ai-e much less good 

 looking and also less hairy than the Todas, wearing 

 their thick wavy hair parted in the middle and tied in 

 a knot behind, while they trim their beards short and 

 wax their moustaches. Both men and women wear 

 bangles. They are a lighfc-hearted people, enjoying 

 dances and other tamashas. 



Of such others of the Nilgiri tribes as can be men- 

 tioned at all, our notice must be of the briefest. The 

 Kurumbas, who populate much of the Wynad district, 

 are the great woodcutters and collectors of forest pro- 

 duce of the region. In 1870, Col. King gave the fol- 

 lowing not over-pleasing picture of the Kurumbas : — 

 " Their chief food is wild roots and berries, or grains 

 soaked in water, with occasional porcupines and pole- 

 cats. Their dwellings are nothing more than a few 

 branches piled up together like heaps of dead brush- 

 wood, in a plantation, often simply holes or clefts 

 among the rocks. Their clothing is, with the males, 

 a small dirty cloth round the loins; and with the 

 females, a rag thrown on any way that its condition 

 and size render most available. The appearance of these 

 rude people is wretched, and even disagreeable. Low- 

 in stature, they are also ill-made ; the complexion is of 

 an unhealthy hue, and their heads are thinly covered 

 with mangy-looking hair. They have bleai-ed eyes, a 

 rather wide mouth, and often projecting teeth. Spare 

 to leanness, there is also a total absence of any apparent 



