1847.] 



Neilgherry Hills, S^c. 



109 



cairns from the Buddhists about tliem. In the " earliest" cemeteries 

 of this kind probably of an antiquity far beyond the Christian era, 

 the urns are of the most pristine character : the Buddhist fashion not 

 being yet apparent. In such cairns nearly all traces of metal imple- 

 ments have disappeared ; gold in shape of rings occasionally being 

 found and that very seldom ; the walls of these cairns are nearly 

 crumbled down to the adjoining level. It is in the next or *' early" 

 cairns for I class these edifices into three periods of construction ex- 

 pressed by " earliest," " early," and " recent," that the Buddhist 

 fashion is seen upon the ornaments, which are accompanied by iron 

 implements warlike and domestic. The third or " recent" period of 

 construction is typical of the retrogression of the Thautawars to the 

 uncivilized and unimitative habits of their forefathers through the 

 operation of the causes just assigned. In all these periods the effigy 

 of the cow or buffaloe in pottery is found. Amidst the images oc- 

 curring in the cairns of the second period are many, nevertheless, 

 which bear considerable resemblance to the Thautawar people. I 

 have already described some effigies of females from the cairns of 

 Pycara singularly corresponding with the costume of the female 

 Thautawar, and Mr. Moegling dug up at Kotagherry a figure in pot- 

 tery, the first view of which induced me to exclaim it was the exact 

 representation of a Thautawar carrying an axe upon his shoulder. 

 A short time back I dug up a figure in pottery whose lineaments 

 are of the Thautawar race and which is armed with a club, the wea- 

 pon of the modern Thautawar. 



The prevalence of the Buddhist character in the urns of the mid- 

 dle or " early" period assists us in determining the advent of the 

 Pandaver to the Neilgherries as subsequent to that of the Thauta- 

 wars : inasmuch as I apprehend the latter borrowed the decorative 

 style of Buddhist art from them. The Thautawars have a tradition 

 to the eff'ect of their once having been under the domination, and ex- 

 posed to the tyranny of a foreign prince, from which it would seem 

 that the Pandavers established themselves in the ancient lands of these 

 aborigines by right of conquest. 



The Buddhist fashion obtaining in the urns is not the only point 

 of resemblance subsisting between the Thautawar customs and those 

 belonging to a Buddhist people. Several others occur which, to my 

 surprise have been overlooked by those authors who addressed 

 themselves to describe the religion and usages of the Thautawars. 

 1. The custom of Polyandria, or one female associating with all 



