The “ Kols” of Chota-Nagpore. 169 
driven from the hills by the Mahomedans in the reign of the emperor 
Akbar, but as they aver this occurred fifty-two generations ago, there 
is an anachronism somewhere. I think they were settled in Chota 
Nagpore centuries before the days of Akbar, but it is probable that 
some of the clan remained in the Rhotas hills until the Mahomedans 
constructed their fortress there. 
The accounts of ancient Guzerat faintly confirm the Oraon tradition. 
I find from Thornton’s Gazetteer that there is a race settled there from 
remote antiquity who are called Coolies; but there is nothing in the 
name, which, as«I observed before, appears to have been applied very 
generally to the aborigines by the Arians, and the account given of 
the Coolies does not lead me to suppese they are of the Oraon family. 
There is, however, a short description of what appears to be a remnant of 
a tribe, which would answer perfectly forthe Oraons,—“‘ A small, active, 
well built race, engaged to some extent in cultivation, but by choice 
deriving their subsistence, as far as possible, from the chase, fishing, 
or the collecting of wild fruits and the marketable produce of the 
jungles for sale. Their peculiar pursuits, little relished or shared in 
by the rest of the community, caused them to be viewed with dislike 
and dread, and the reputation of possessing great powers in sorcery 
subjects them to much cruel treatment.” 
Every word of the above description applies to the Oraon tribe, 
is an 
and the name given to this remnant of a people viz. ‘‘ Dunjas,’ 
Oraon word not unlike the term Dhangurh, so commonly applied to 
the Oraons in the countries to which they emigrate for work. 
The names traditionally handed down amongst the Oraons, as Loorik 
Sowrik, allude probably to some tribe of Sravacks or Sowoks or Jains, 
and the Palipipri might refer to the Palithana mountains, the Jain 
temples on which are amongst the most interesting architectural works 
in India, The etymology of the word Oraon, I have not been able 
to trace satisfactorily, but it may have been applied to the tribe 
in consequence of their migratory habits. They call themselves 
“ Khoonkir.” 
Between the language of the Oraons and the language of the 
Moondahs and their cognates, I can trace no similarity either in 
pronunciation, formation, construction or general character. With 
pretty copious yocabularies before me, [ can find no analogues, and 
