or BHARATAVARSA OR I^'nIA. 
187 
(Mountaineers), or Koravurs " among the tribes of the Palani 
Mountains. He contends that " the Manadies or Coonoovars 
•were the chief landed proprietors, possessing large herds of 
cattle, and, when compared with the other tribes, seem to 
be in easy circumstances." According to Mr. Nelson (Part 
II, p. 34) : " The Kannu«ans, or as they are also called 
" Kunnuva Vellalans, perhaps from the word Kiinru a 
" hillock, are supposed to be a caste of lowland cultivators who 
" came up from the Coimbatore plains some three or four 
" centuries ago and settled upon the Palani mountains as 
" has been shown." "Whether the Kummvas were originally 
Dravidian Vellalas who adopted the surname Kunnuva 
as a distinguishing clan-title, or whether the name Vel- 
to the dignity of landlord either as ^amlndar, or jaglrdflr. I am told, how- 
ever, that the Zatnindar of Korba in Chattisgarh is a Kaur. All this makes 
me inclined to separate them from the aboriginal tribes of Central India, and 
to think that there is some foundation for their tradition ; but, as I cannot 
efface their Turanian traits, and from all I have seen of them must regard 
those traits as the predi minating and original characteristics of the tribe, 
I find myself in the dilemma of having to come forward as the propounder of 
a new theory, and, in opposition to the Mahabharat, to suggest that the war 
of the Paudavas and Kauravas was not a family quarrel but struggle for 
supremacy between an Aryanand Turanian nation!" Compare also the 
Rev. M. A. Shening's Hindu Tribes atid Castes, vol. II, p. 155: " The Kaurs 
are usually regarded as aborigines, although claiming to have been originallj' 
connected with the Tuar tribe of Rajpoots in the North- Western Provinces.. 
Nevertheless, their customs are not like those of Rajpoots, but like the 
aboriginal tribes of jungles. They worship Doolar Deo and Boorha Deo, 
Gond deities, and, as a class, avoid intercourse with Brahmans. Their mar- 
riage ceremonies are performed in the presence of the elders of the village, 
and thej' bury their dead. The Kaurs are good and industrious cultivators. ' ' 
The Kaurs are also mentioned in Mr. N. Ball's Jungle Life in India, 
pp. 296, 300, 322. 
Compare with the above J ustice Campbell's Ethnology of India, p. 40 : "In 
this region of India, it only remains to mention one more Aboriginal tribe, 
called Kaurs, found in the extreme west of the Chota-Nagpore Agency about 
Korea, Oodeypore, and the adjoining parts of the territory of Nagpore proper, 
the Pergunnah of Korbah of Chatteesgurh, They are described as a very in- 
dustrious, thriving people, considerably advanced in civilisation. They now 
afiect Hindu traditions, pretend to be descended from the defeated remnants 
of the Kooroos who fought the Pandavas, worship Siva and speak Hindee, 
but in appearance they are ultra-aboriginal, very black, with broad noses, and 
thick lips, and eat fowls, &c., bury most of their dead, and contemn Bramina ; 
80 that their Hindooism is scarcely skin-deep." 
