192 
ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS 
among the Dravidian clans with whom they have dwelt, and 
however distant from one another they still live, there is 
hardly a province in the whole of Bharatavarsa which cannot 
produce, if not some living remnants of this race^ at least 
some remains of past times which prove their presence. 
Indeed, the Knrumbas must he regarded as very old in- 
habitants of this land, who can contest with their Dravidian 
kinsmen the priority of occupation of the Indian soil. 
The two rival tribes have in reality become so intermrsed 
with each other, that according to the temporary superiority 
of the one or the other, the same district is at different times 
known as Vala(va)nadu and Kurumbanadu, while in some 
instances, when both tribes live more apart from each other, 
we find a Valla vanadu bordering on a Kurumbanadu. 
In some parts of this country the Kurumbas are even 
now considered as the oldest existing remnant of the earliest 
stratum of the population. Some tracts and places of the 
Indian realm still bear their name, while some localities had 
their names changed after the collapse of the Kurimiba 
supremacy. The well-known Tondamandalam, of which 
Kancipuram was once the capital, is said to have been pre- 
viously called Km-umbabhumi or Kurumbanadu. Knriim- 
baranadu forms still an integral portion of Malabar, and the 
forest-clad mountainous district of the Nilagiri has preserved 
in many localities the ancient name of the Kurumbas. It 
may not be inappropriate to mention here that Yalanadu 
her caste, to whom she may take a fancy : and her issue, so begotten, inherits 
the property, which is tlius retained in the woman's family. Nnmeroiis 
disputes originate in this singular custom : and Madura Collectors have some- 
times been puzzled not a little by evidence adduced to show that a child of 
three or four years was the son or daughter of a child of ten or twelve. The 
religion of the Kunnuvans appear to be the Snivn. but they worship their 
mountain god Valapan with far more devotednoss than any other." 
Compare also Sir W. W. Hiiuter's Imperial Gazrtiai- of Indi/i, vol. V, pp. 
48'2-483 : " In physique, the Kunawaris are tall, athletic, well-made, and 
davk-skinned ; while their character stands high for hospitality, truthfulness 
and houcbty . . rdyaudry everywhere exists in its fullest form." 
