OF BHARATAVAKSA OR INDIA. 
183 
custom among the Grauda-Dravidian tribes of India, thoug-h 
tlie term erra, red, is occasionally used in names, e.g., in that 
of the Erra GoUahi. 
There is also no reason for connecting the two initial 
syllables Ycra of Yerakalapdndlu with the Yeravas of Kurg. 
These are a distinct tribe and do not belong to the Knravas, 
of whom the Kurus or Yerukulavandlu are a branch. The 
name Yerava is in reality only another form of Parara.^* 
A similar remark must be made as to the propriety of 
deriving the name of the Kuras from the Telugu words 
dead with little ceremony. . . There appears to be little douht that the 
language belongs to the Dravidian family. The following collection of 
words and phrases seems to show conclusively that of these languages it 
bears the closest affinity to Tamil although possessing words, allied to 
Telugu and Canarese." 
See my monograph Der Prenhyter Johannes in Sage and Geschichte, p. 121, 
note 1 : " Die mongolischen Vblkerschaften pflegen namlieh, wie bekannt, 
dem eigenthumlichen Stammesnamen eine Farbe, wie schwarz, weiss, etc., 
voranzusetzen.und hierdurch die politische Lage der Horde, ob sie unubhan- 
gig der abhangig sei, anzudeuten." 
See " Ethnographical Compendium on the Castes and Tribes in the 
Province of Coorg," by the Rev. G. Riehter, pp. 9, 10 : " Of the hill-tribes 
the Teravas stand lowest and seem to have been in remote ages in a ser\'ile 
relation to the Betta Kiiriimbas . . They are immigrants from Wynad, 
where the same class of Yeravas is said to be found. Their language is 
related to that of the Betta Ktiriimhas and understood by the Coorgs. . . The 
Yeravas bury their dead with their clothes on lying flat the head eastward ; 
but according to the statement of an intelligent Yerava maistry, who was 
also the headman of his gang, the women are buried in a sitting posture in 
a hole scooped out sideways from what would have been an ordinary grave, 
so that the earth over head does not touch her." 
Read also Mysore and Coorg, by Lewis Rice, in vol. I, p. 3-t1 : " Yerava. 
These are only found in BIysore District, in the taluks forming the southern 
frontier ; they are said to have originally belonged to Wainad, where they 
were held in slavery by the N airs. They resemble the African in features 
having thick lips and compressed noses. They speak a language of their, 
own." In vol. II, p. 94: " Yerra Ganga and Challava Ganga, two men 
of the Yerralu tribe," to this the note is added : " A wandering tribe identi- 
cal with or closely related to the Koraohars. They are known in Coorg as 
Yeravas." And in vol. Ill, on pp. 214, 215 : " Yeravas, also known as 
Panjara Yeravas, 5,608 males, and 4,908 females. . . From the description 
given of the Yeravas, it is probable they would have been more correctly 
classed with Eloleyas among the outcastes. They are said to be originally 
from Wainad, where, like the Holeyas in Coorg, they were held in slavery by 
the Nairs. They are met with almost entirely in Kiggatnad and Yedenalkad 
