TJie Ethnology of India. 43 



u There is no real difference between Bheels and Koolees ; their habits, 

 physiognomy and mode of life are the same, modified by local circum- 

 stances." And the Rev. Mr. Dunlop Moore says, " Koolees frequently 

 marry Bheel wives." Other authorities, however, say that they do 

 not intermarry. They both seem to claim a northern and not a southern 

 origin, pointing to the hills of Rajpootana and the north of Goozerat. 

 The Bheels say that they were originally called Kaiyos ; Sir John 

 Malcolm says that they are related to the Meenas of R-ajpootana, and 

 once ruled in the Jeypore country. Forbes again tells us that the 

 Koolees were originally called Mairs ; while in Rajpootana, Col. Tod 

 speaks of Mairs or Meenas as one race. 



The Rev. Mr. Dunlop says that, though these tribes speak the 

 same languages as their neighbours, " certain words are universally 

 recognised as peculiar to Koolees as well as Bheels." He only 

 instances one word written in a character which I can read, and that 

 is l Bhoroo' or ' Bhooroo,' the head. As I write, I have turned up the 

 word head in Hodgson's vocabularies, and find that the Kols, Santals, 

 Bhumiz and Moondas use the word ' Bu,' ' Buho' or ' Bohu' which 

 seems to be the same word. The Dravidian words for head are entirely 

 different. 



It would be in many ways very interesting and important to rescue 

 any remains of aboriginal words or aboriginal dialects of these 

 tribes, and especially to find whether among them can be traced any 

 non-Aryan radicals of the Groozerattee, Maratta, and the Hindee dialects 

 of Rajpootana. 



Though probably in the main of the same class and similar origin, 

 the Koolees and Bheels are now quite distinct tribes, and there is 

 this considerable difference that the Koolees have come much more 

 into contact with Aryan blood and civilisation, are in appearance 

 generally much more Hindooised than the others, and consider 

 themselves altogether a higher class. As has been said, both tribes 

 are now much scattered over many parts of the Presidency and in 

 places a good deal intermixed, but their proper locale seems to be 

 as follows. The Koolees are the Aborigines of Goozerat (where they 

 now live in considerable number), and of the hills adjoining that 

 Province. The hills east of G-oozerat are called ' Kolwan' and seem 

 to be the property of Koolee tribes, just as in the Chota-Nagpore 





