162 The " Koh" of Chota-Nagpore. 



Rajah of Sirgoojah and the Dytya Rajah, to separate them. The 

 Dytya Rajah was, I presume, the Rajah of Patkoom, as that famiiy 

 bear the surname of Adytya to this day. 



The marriage was celebrated at Satyomba, and there the first Rajah 

 resided in a mud fort. The fourth in descent from Funimatuk moved 

 his court to Chuttia, where we have the remains of a fort with masonry 

 walls and some stone temples ascribed to him. Subsequently Doisa 

 was chosen as the seat of Government, and here are some fine buildings, 

 shewing that the family were improving in art and in civilization, 

 when they moved there. This site also has been abandoned, and the 

 present Rajah lives in a very mean house at Palkote. 



The sway of the Rajah of Chota-Nagpore does not, in early times, 

 appear to have extended beyond the plateau or fringe of hills which 

 divide it from the plains, but the Moondahs overran those limits and 

 formed colonies in what are now called the five pergunnahs — Silli, 

 Tamar, Barundah, Rabey and Boondoo — which did not acknowledge 

 the Rajah-elect of Satyomba. In time, each of these pergunnahs 

 elected a Rajah of its own, who (their descendants declare) were each 

 of a divine or miraculous birth, like Funimatuk Roy ; and on the 

 strength of it they all call themselves Chuttrees and wear the cord. 

 They intermarry amongst themselves or with the petty Rajahs of 

 Manbhoom who are of similar origin ; so their claim to be Chuttrees, 

 or at all events Hindoos of respectable caste, is not disputed. According 

 to their own tradition, the Rajahs of the five pergunnahs first forfeited 

 their independence by submitting to pay tribute to the Rajah of 

 Cuttack. Eventually, however, they were subjugated by the Maha- 

 rajah of Chota-Nagpore, and submitted to pay tribute to and accept 

 the " Tilluck" or symbol of investiture from him. The Moondahs 

 comprise about two-thirds of the population of the five pergunnahs,, 

 and all who are not Moondahs are settlers of no very ancient date. 



In the northern and western parts of Chota-Nagpore, the authority 

 of the old Moondah or Oraon chiefs has been almost effaced by the 

 middlemen who have been introduced by the Zemindars as more 

 profitable fanners, or by the Bramins, Rajpoots and others to whom, 

 for religious or secular services, grants have been made by the 

 Maharajah and members of his family holding under him. In many 

 instances, the Kols have been entirely dispossessed of the lands their 



