124 
ON THE OEIGINAL IXHABITANTS 
the Kolam. The Marias who are likewise styled Koitur, 
represent perhaps now the purest type of the Gronds.*^ 
In ancient times these people occupied a much larger 
portion of India than they do now. Their name appears in 
places far distant from one another, in the north, e.g., in 
Gonda or Gauda in Oudh, in Khandwa in the Central Pro- 
vinces, in Gonddl in Kathiawar, in Khandesh and KJianddla 
in Bombay, in Gondvdna in Central India, while Ehandagiri 
and EJiandapdra testify to their presence in Orissa. Even 
the year. They also distil great quantities of an intoxicating drink from the 
flowers; they will eat the flesh of every animal, not even rejecting that of 
the cow. They seldom remain long in one place, as soon as the productive 
powers of the soil are exhausted they move to another spot and make a fresh 
clearing. They have no caste, their religion consists of belief in one 
Supreme Being, they also worship the spirits of the mountains and a divinity 
who protects them from the ravages of tigers. They regard heaven as a 
large and strong fort where there is an abundance of rice stored up for those 
who are permitted to enter. Hell is a place in which an iron cow con- 
tinually gnaws the flesh of the unfortunate persons detained there. Widow's 
remarriages are allowed. Their wedding ceremonies are exceedingly 
simple ; the betrothed couple have a triangular mark placed on their 
foreheads, they then kneel together, and the ceremony is completed by 
poirring water over the heads of both. The personal appearance of both 
sexes is the reverse of prepossessing." 
The Gazetteer of the Central Frovinces of India, edited by !Mr. Charles 
Grant, contains on pp. 137 and 600 the following statements : " The Harias, 
or as they are called towards the north the Kohiturs . . are in all probability the 
purest type of Gond. It is worthy of note that in villages bordering upon 
the more cultivated tracts the change of name from Maria to Kohitur, then 
to Jangli Gond, and then to Gond, can be seen in progress, and it is easy to 
imagine that a well-to-do Maria family calling themselves Gond might in 
two or three generations adopt the more fashionable style of Raj Gond 
(p. 137). . Gotes and Kois, or as they are commonly called Gotewirs and 
Koiwars — the termination war being a Telugu affix, signifying person or man 
' — are the aborigines of the country (Upper Godavari) . Although abnost 
identical in customs and in language, they do not eat together or inter* 
marry, the Kols claiming superiority over the Gotes. The proper name for 
the Kois is ' Koitor,' and this is what they call themselves. By the 
Telingas they are called Koidhora.s, the word ' dhoni ' meaning gentleman 
or sahib. This error has probably arisen from the last syllable of ' Koitor ' 
having been taken for ' dliora,' owing to the similarity of sound. The 
Kois, where they come into contact with the Telinga population, have 
adopted manj' of their customs. . The Gote keeps more aloof from civili- 
sation; but . . the customs of the two mces are very similar, and both belong 
to the Gond family (p. 5001." Comp;jre also Indian Antiqiuirii, vol. VIII, 
p, 34 : " The custom of calling the Kois dorah( {dora = lord, Tel.) has 
