OF BHAEATAVABSA OR INDIA, 
107 
generally described as Kols. Besides, our knowledge of this 
people is still very limited, and it would be venturesome to 
make decided statements as to their origin. Though difPering 
from the Gauda-Dravidians in language, which must be 
regarded as a very important test, they nevertheless inter- 
marry occasionally with them, a circumstance which on 
the other hand tends to indicate some intimate connection 
between them. 
The word Kiili is a common Grauda-Dravidian term 
which signifies hire, and is eventually also applied to the 
person who is hired. A hireling or servant is thus called 
a Kuli. The name Kol is a totally distinct word. The 
now common term Kuli started from the Eastern coast of 
India, where the principal English factories such as Madras 
were situated, and whence in course of time the English 
commenced to lay the foundation of their Indian Empire 
in the days of Clive.^^ 
The Kolarees or Colleries represent the well-known 
Kallas, the dreaded thief tribe, who are mostly dependents of 
28 Compare Wilson's Glossary, p. 301 : " K&li, Coolee, (Tam. &>.eS\, Mai. 
^ej'., Kan. ^jsO, Tel. gS^i?), Beng. ^rirf, Hind. ^^), Daily hire or wages: 
a day labourer, a Cooly : (the word is originally Tamil, whence it spread into 
the other languages : in Upper India it bears only its second and apparently 
subsidiary meaning : it appears as Culialu, as the term for hired labourers, 
in Tulava — Buchanan.)" KliliyajLu is one of the Kanarese terms for hireling 
like the Telugu KiiUgadu. 
In Colonel Yule's and Dr. BurneU's Glossary of Anglo-Indian Colloquial 
Words and Phrases, p. 192, an attempt is made to derive the term Kuli from 
Koli, but it is notwithstanding admitted : "Though this explanation of 
the general use of the term Cooly (from Koli) is the most probable, th© 
matter is perplexed by other facts which it is diflBcult to trace to the same 
origin. Thus in S. India, there is a Tamil word kuli in common use, 
signifying ' hire ' or ' wages,' which Wilson indeed regards as the true origin 
of Cooly. Also in both Oriental and Osmanli Turkish Kol is a word for a 
I slave, whilst in the latter also Kuleh means ' a male slave, a bondsman * 
I {Redhouse). Khol is in Tibetan also a word for servant or slave (Note from 
A. Schiefner). The familiar use of Cooly has extended to the Straits Settle- 
ments, Java and China, as well as to all tropical and sub-tropical colonies, 
'^'hether Engli.sh or foreign." 
