204 
ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS 
the Nilagiris, in the reports of Deputy-Surgeon- General 
Dr. John Shortt, and in the exhaustive and valuable Manual 
of the Nilngiri District compiled by Mr. H. B. Grigg, late 
Assistant Commissioner of the Nllagiris.^"^ 
growth. The cromlechs were doubtless the work of the same people as the 
cairns. . The Kurumbas call their deity Kuribattardya, meaning, Lord or 
possessor of sheep and to him they now and then sacrifice a goat or a fowl." 
Compare Dr. Shortt's Article on the Kurmnbas in the Hill Ranges of 
Southern India, Part I, pp. 47-53 : " Kurumhas — From (g^'Lhl-l (Kurumboo) 
mischief, the characteristic of a class of savages who are supposed to be the 
aborigines of Southern India, from which the term Kurumba is derived. A 
tribe, who call themselves, and are recognized as Kurumbas, ha's-ing three 
sub-divisions among them, viz. : — 1. MuUu Kurumba. 2. Naya Kurumba. 
3. Panias Kuramba. . . The Mullu Kurumbas chiefly occupy the middle belts of 
these hills, while the other two di\'isions are confined to the lower slopes, or 
are inhabitants of the Wjmaad jungles, but the tribe generally is recognized 
as mountaineers. . The Kurumba tribe are small in stature, and have a squalid 
and somewhat uncouth appearance from their peculiar physiognomy, wUd 
matted hair, and almost nude bodies. . They are as a body sickly -looking, 
pot-bellied, large-mouthed, prognathous, with prominent out-standing teeth 
and thick lips — frequently saliva dribbles away from their mouths. . . The 
men show great agility in climbing and descending hills, trees, kc. The 
women have much the same features as the men, only somewhat softened in 
expression, and slightly modified in feature, with a small pug nose, and sm-ly 
aspect. . Their villages are termed Motta. . They have no furniture. . They 
have no marriage ceremony. . Those Kurumbas who live on the Hills oflaciate 
as priests to the IJadagas. . The Badaga will do nothing without the presence 
of a Kurumba, so that each district has its own Kurumba priest. . He is 
supposed to be well versed in the use of herbs, and prescribes for all ailments; 
implicit confidence is placed in his skill, and he is remunerated either in 
money or grain, and sometimes both. The Kurumbas also officiate as priests 
at their marriages and deaths. . . The Kurumbas, as a body, keep the other 
tribes in great dread of witchcraft, not even excepting the Todas, who look 
upon the Kurumbas as great adepts in the power and skill of be-nitching or 
destroying men, animals, or other property. . . The Kuriunlxis are also 
employed as musicians by the Toda and Badag~a tiibes on all ceremonial and 
festive occasions ; they play on the flute and tom-tom very dexterously to 
the admiration of tlie Todas and Badagas. . They withstand the endemic 
diseases of the locality pretty well, and are not subject to fever. . Tliey 
hold some crude notions of a superior being, whom they designate under a 
variety of names, with no distinct idea as to who or what he is. . The 
Kuriunbas are superstitious, and while they keep all the other tribes on these 
Hills in awe, thoy tht^mselvos fear the Todas, belie\ing that they possess 
supernatiiRil powers over them. . They are said to hold in respect, and make 
ofiorings at, the different cjiirns and cromlechs met with on these Hills, and 
from which it is believed that these cairns and crondechs are the work of 
their ancestors. Against this, their weak and dwarfed stature is brought 
