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 Rkotas 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 suppose 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 for. the 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, 

 and the name given to this remnant of a people viz. " Dunjas," is an 

 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 vocabularies before me, I can find no analogues, and 



