146 
ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS 
Koraga does not like to volunteer any information about 
his language. " He may be induced to give an account of 
" his feasts, his god, and his family, but a word about his 
*' dialect will frighten him out of his wits. At that moment 
*' alone, he will become impolite and immannerly. He 
thinks his dialect is a shield in his hand and cannot 
be parted with, and therefore keeps it as a sacred secret, 
" But good words and kind treatment can do something. 
" A few words that have been gathered with great difficulty 
" resemble those of the Keikadi and Naikunde Gondi tribes 
" of Nagpore." The unwillingness of the Soppina Koragas 
to give information concerning their language is also men- 
tioned in the Memoirs of the Origin of Slaves. 
have the people's vows paid to them ; the Brahmans who are domiciled in 
Coorg have succeeded in introducing Mahideca and Subrahmanya, in entirely 
brahmanizing the worship of the river Kaveri, in having temples erected and 
idols set up, in spreading puranic tales, and in usurping to some extent the 
piija at the places of the worship. They have been greatly assisted in these 
successful endeavours by the Lingayets and Stvacharis, especially in the in- 
troduction of the Linga. Christianity first presented to them by the Eoman 
Catholic settlement in Virajendrapet since the days of Dodda Virajendra, and 
for the last 30 years offered to them by the agents of the Basel Mission . . . 
has made little progress." Read also Rev. F. Kittel's articles entitled 
Coorg Superstitions, The Coorgs and Three Kongn Inscriptions in the Indian 
Antiquary, vol. II, pp. 168-171, 182, and vol. VI, pp. 99-103. The second 
article treats about the custom of polyandry. Compare Eev. AT. A. Sherring's 
Hindu, Tribes and Castes, Vol. II, pp. 286-290. 
According to the last census the number of Amma Kodagas amounted to 
475 and that of the other Kodagas to 26,.t3S souls. 
See Mr. Ullal Raghavendra Rao's account on the Koragas of Canara. I 
have not been able to obtain a copy of the original lecture. It has been 
reprinted two years ago in the May number 1SS6 of the Jfadras Christian 
College Magazine, it is also in extenso quoted in t:ie Madras Census Jieport of 
1871, vol.1, pp. 3-13-0-1.5, in the Indian Antiquary, vol. Ill, pp. 195-199, .ind 
in Mr. Sherring's Hindu Tribes and Castes, vol. III. pp. 206-210. '• With 
a black face, forehead of moderate size, and strong body, all be^peaJdng 
contentment, the Eoragar is separated from the rest of mankind, — alien in 
dress, in manners, customs and dialect. Uneducated and illiterate as he is, in 
his circle virtue thrives as iu her proper soil. . . He has a god, and him he 
knows to love — him he knows to pray to, however incoherent his language 
be. Lying, stealing, adultery, and other social evils, he knows not. He 
has never appeared in a com-t of justice as defendant in a suit. He doea 
drink toddy, it is true. . He does eat desh. On wliat else should he live, 
whUe we have denied him every means of subsistence. : . The Koragar, born 
