Kwoten, Teikuteidi, and Elnâkhum
There were once three men, the children of three sisters. The eldest was Kwoten, who belonged to Pan, the second was Teikuteidi, who belonged to Taradr, and the youngest [[194]]was Elnâkhum of Nòdrs. (According to one account the father of Kwoten was Purten, and his mother was Tiköni of Keradr. They lived at Pan and Kiursi, and Kwoten was born at Pan. Purten died when Kwoten was thirty years old and Tiköni died six years later.)
Kwoten had a wife called Kwoterpani. She did not like her husband, but preferred a man of Kanòdrs called Parden. One day Kwoten took his wife to a place called Timukhtar (near the spot where Sandy Nullah toll-bar now stands). He gave her only the loin-cloth called tadrp to wear, hoping that she would be cold and uncomfortable and would sleep with him, but she refused. Kwoten then took her to Kûdrîdjpül near Mulòrs, where there was a large wood. In this wood there was a tree of the kind called külmän, into which Kwoten climbed and made a bed. Below him, about three feet above the ground, he made a small bed for his wife, and under the tree, close to his wife’s bed, he tied a big male buffalo. He did this because he thought a tiger might come to take the buffalo during the night when his wife would be frightened and would climb up the tree to his bed. During the night a tiger came and took away the buffalo, but even this did not induce the woman to go to her husband. Next morning Kwoten took his wife to Pòlâdri, which belonged to the Panol. This village was near Miuni, and there Kwoten became a palikartmokh. One day Kwoten was in the dairy and his wife in the hut when Parden came from Kanòdrs. Kwoten’s wife knew that her husband was in the dairy, and endeavoured to prevent Parden from going into the hut by giving him buttermilk. Kwoten found that Parden had come, and sharpened a big knife to kill him, and when he came out of the dairy, Parden ran away towards Kanòdrs and Kwoten followed with the knife.
Kwoten’s sister had married a Kars man and was living with him at Nasmiòdr, and at this time Kwoten’s mother was staying at this place. As Parden ran away, pursued by Kwoten, they had to pass Nasmiòdr, and Kwoten’s mother saw them, and said, “How is it that my son does not catch Parden?” Then she cursed Parden, saying “On sati udairnùdr, Kârkaḍith mul uḍith pâtmâ”—viz., “If I have reverence [[195]]to the village, may he be checked by the tree with thorns in the Kark wood.” When Parden reached a stone now called Pardenkars, Kwoten caught him up and tried to kill him, but the knife struck the stone instead and split it into two pieces. Then Parden ran on to the wood called Kark, where he was caught by a tree with thorns (brambles) so that Kwoten was able to kill him.
When the news of the death of Parden reached Kanòdrs all the people were very much afraid, and all ran away except one old man and his wife. As the people were going, they sent a message to the Kotas at Tizgudr. Two Kotas took a grain pounder (wask) and went to Pòladri. When Kwoten was told that the Kotas were coming he went and hid himself. The Kotas came and stood near the village and were told that Kwoten had gone away. Then they told Kwoten’s wife, who at this time was pregnant by Parden, to come out of the hut. She came out and went to the Kotas, who asked her where Kwoten was. She said she did not know, whereupon the Kotas were vexed, and pierced her belly with the pounder, so that she died. Her funeral took place at Tadendari, and that of Parden at Arâdr.
The people of Kanòdrs ran away to a place called Penasmalpet, near Malmathapenpet, and are known as the Kamasòdrolam. They have never been seen since, but the Todas have heard from various wandering tribes that they still exist and that they live on a hill from which they can see Kanòdrs, and that when the Kamasòdrolam see a fire at Kanòdrs they shave their heads and make a special kind of food called ashkkarthpimi.
When the Kanòdrs people ran away there remained behind one old man called Muturojen and his wife Muturach,[4] who were living in a village near Kanòdrs called Mîtâhârzi. When the people left, the old man went to the Kanòdrs dairy to churn the milk left there by those who had run away, and he stayed there, sleeping in the kwotars or calves’ hut, as the dairyman should do at Kanòdrs. His wife used to come every day as far as a place called [[196]]Pîtipem, where she rubbed a place with buffalo-dung and sat down.
While sitting there one day an eagle (kashk) sat on her head, and she became pregnant, and went back to the village and gave birth to a son. When Kwoten heard of this he wished to kill the child and set out to do so. The old woman’s daughter, who had married a Kars man, sent her husband to warn her parents that Kwoten was coming to kill them. The Kars man met Kwoten and ran away from him towards Kanòdrs, followed by Kwoten’s dog. When he came to a hill above the village he called out that Kwoten was coming. When the old man heard him, he cursed Kwoten and those with him; the latter became stones and Kwoten himself (according to the story as told by the Kanòdrs people) was stung by honey bees and died. The people of Kanòdrs are descended from the son born to the old woman. If this old woman was not a Toda, as her name and that of her village suggest, this would seem to point to a tradition that the people of Kanòdrs are descended from an ancestor of a different race from the other Todas (see p. [640]).
Owing to the behaviour of Kwoten to the Kanòdrs people there has ever since been karaivichi (trouble) between the people of Pan and Kanòdrs. They do not intermarry and no Kanòdrs man may go to one of the chief villages (etudmad) of the Pan people nor may a Pan man go to an etudmad of Kanòdrs.
According to the above account Kwoten died after being cursed by the old man, but this is only a feature of the story as told by the Kanòdrs people, and in the account given by others Kwoten had many other adventures and finished his life in this world in a very different manner. He married a second wife, who, like the first, objected to her husband and preferred a man of Keradr, whose name was Keradrkutan. Kwoten lived with this wife at Kazhuradr, near Isharadr. At that time women wore the garment called än, which is dark grey like the tuni of the palol, and is now only used as a funeral garment. [[197]]
Keradrkutan used frequently to come to Kazhuradr, and this vexed Kwoten, who told his wife to have nothing to do with the man. She encouraged Keradrkutan, however, and this vexed Kwoten so much that he took off her än and brought a thorny bush called peshteinmul and beat her all over with the bush, so that she became covered with blood. Kwoten at this time wore the garment called tuni, which he then took off, dipped it in water, and rubbed it all over his wife so that she became the colour of tuni, and then he gave her back her än and went to his dairy. While he was in the dairy Keradrkutan came stealthily to the village. When the woman saw Keradrkutan she cried very bitterly and said, “Kwoten has beaten me very severely so that I shall die; come and see me.” When Keradrkutan went into the hut, the woman died.
Before this time, when Kwoten was one day beating his wife, she abused him, saying, “Talrs ti oditha vai, Kòlrs kûv oditha vai; en puspad”—“You have no ti, you have no Kotas: why do you beat me?” This was to reproach Kwoten because the Pan people had no ti buffaloes and had no Kotas to make things for them. So Kwoten went and complained to his brother Teikuteidi. Teikuteidi was very sorry, and in order to remove the reproach he persuaded Elnâkhum of Nòdrs to give certain buffaloes of the kind called unir from the Nòdrs ti. Elnâkhum gave a two-year-old calf (pòl) and a one-year-old calf (kar), and also two bells (mani) to put on their necks. The two bells were called Tarskingg and Takhingg. The calves were then standing at Kuladrtho and were taken by Kwoten to the tars poh of Pan. He tied the two bells to one of the calves called Kazhi. These bells ought properly to have been tied to the buffalo called Enmars which remained behind at Kuladrtho. Then Enmars went to Anto and complained as follows:—
“kî mêdr, “inferior neck, kî kevi, inferior ear, ninkûtth to your council pòrâni”[5] I will not come”
i.e., “I will not come to your presence with naked neck and [[198]]ear.” Anto told him not to grieve because he had lost the mani, and that instead
Melgarsol Melgars man teirpülk pül of Anto to mudâ mâ in front go may nî pud you come Antosh at Anto pep ûn pep drink
i.e., “When you go to Anto, a Melgars man shall go in front of you to the pül of Anto; when you come to Anto you shall drink pep.” To this day, when the buffaloes of the Nòdrs ti go in procession to Anto a Melgars man goes in front and the buffalo called Enmars drinks pep at Anto. At the same time Anto prophesied to Enmars that a misfortune would befall Teikuteidi, saying
“wûrâdr “whole year nols day Teikuteidi tan himself ennâth without numbering piriedkin, I will divide, at vokh!” go away!”
When Teikuteidi heard of this prophecy he was much grieved, and was very careful to do all the following ceremonies:—erkumptthiti, upatiti, punkudrtiti, tatmadthkudrtiti, petkudrtiti, mukudrtiti, adikudrtiti, parivkudrtiti, tatòtiti, muòtiti, ponkastiti and irpalvusthi—viz., sacrifice of calf, salt-giving, purification of pun, tat and madth, pet, mu, adi, and pariv, etc.[6] He performed all these ceremonies to escape the prophesied evil, for if he had succeeded in doing them all for the whole twelve months the prophecy would not have been fulfilled. On the very last day he forgot the prophecy and did not perform the ceremonies, but went to a place called Kirspem, where he sat under the shade of pülmän. There is a flower which blossoms on this tree in the rainy season only, and then the bees come. When Teikuteidi was sitting under the tree it was not the rainy season and he was very much surprised to hear the humming of honey bees in the tree. The noise was being made by a kazun[7] which had taken the form of a [[199]]bee. He looked up to see if there were any flowers to attract the bees and could not see them, neither could he see any bees. Then he thought for a little while and remembered Anto’s prophecy, so he did not remain under the tree, but went away to Kirsgòrs to attend the funeral of a wursol of Nòdrs (see p. 439). When the funeral was over Teikuteidi set out with companions to go to Kerkars (a place near Paikara). On the way they passed Kwongudrpem (near Kuudi). There he stopped and began to count his companions; he counted them, but forgot to include himself, saying that there were twenty when they started and now only nineteen, and he thought for a long time who the lost person could be. When he was looking in the direction of the funeral-place for the lost companion, he saw a lame man named Keikarskutan, who had a purs and ab (bow and arrow). Keikarskutan lay down and shot the arrow[8] and it came towards Teikuteidi with a sound like a bird’s voice. Teikuteidi was looking to see what sort of bird it was when the arrow pierced both his eyes[9] and he died. When his companions found that he was dead, they held the funeral at Kerâs, and at the place where he died they made a mark with four stones like a cross, one for his head, one for his legs and one for each hand.
Kwoten was responsible for various features of the organisation of the Pan people. He divided them into two parts, the Panol and Kuirsiol, and also divided the ti into two parts, the wars ti, which was to belong to the Panol, and the tars ti to the Kuirsiol. He settled that the palol of the ti should be chosen from the people of Keadr. When there is a funeral in any clan a palol belonging to that clan must give up his office; hence, in order that his ti should never be without a palol, Kwoten separated the people of Keadr into two divisions, the Keadrol and the Kwaradrol, so that a member of one division might be palol if a member of the other division died. [[200]]This was the origin of the division of the Keadr people into the Keadrol and the Kwaradrol.
One day Kwoten went to the wars ti of Pan and took buttermilk and slept there, and he did the same at the arsaiir ti of Kwòdrdoni, and since that day the people of Pan have had the privilege of taking buttermilk and sleeping at the places of each ti.
Kwoten also made two teiks (stones or wooden posts at which buffaloes are killed at the funerals), the parsteiks for the Panol and the kirshteiks for the Kuirsiol.
It is owing to the example of Kwoten that the Todas now take meals in Kurumba villages. Before his time they had never done so, but Kwoten one day went to a Kurumba village and took food, and since that time all Todas have done so.
Kwoten was also the first Toda to go to a Kota village. He wanted one day to go to Mitur in the Wainad, and as it was getting dark and he was still on his way, he went to the Kota village of Kulgadi (Gudalur). He sat on their tün, or bed, got new pots and food from them, and, taking both to the stream called Marspa or Marsva, he cooked and ate the food there, and then, returning to the village, slept on a Kota tün. Since that time Todas have gone to that village, and have done as Kwoten did, but they will not go to any other Kota village.
One day Kwoten went with Erten of Keadr, who was spoken of as his servant, to Pòni, in the direction of Polkat (Calicut). At Pòni there is a stream called Palpa, the commencement of which may be seen on the Kundahs. Kwoten and Erten went to drink water out of the stream at a place where a goddess (teu) named Terkosh had been bathing. When Kwoten was about to drink from his hands, he found in the water a long golden hair; he measured the length of the hair and found it was greater than his height; he had a long stick in his hand called pirs, and found that the hair was longer than this stick. Then he asked Erten about it. Erten knew it was the hair of a teu, but thought it best not to tell Kwoten, and tried to persuade him that it was of no importance, and proposed that they should return home. [[201]]Kwoten, however, insisted on finding out from whom the hair came, so they went along the stream. Kwoten went first and Erten had to follow him. As they went they met the bird called karpüls going from the right side to the left,[10] uttering its cry. Kwoten asked Erten why they met the bird, why it went from right to left, and why it made a cry. Erten replied as follows:—
“Nòdr udoi “Country (God) if there is kwudrpedrshai; Naraian sami kaipedrshai.” you will die; Naraian will kill you.”
In spite of this warning, Kwoten persisted in going on, and finally they came to Terkosh, who said to Kwoten, “Do not come near me, I am a teu.” Kwoten paid no heed to this, but said, “You are a beautiful woman,” and went and lay with her. Then Terkosh went away to her hill at Pòni, where she is now, and to this day the Kurumbas go there once a year and offer plantains to her and light lamps in her honour.
Kwoten and Erten returned home. Kwoten went to Kepurs, a village now in ruins, close to Nanjanad, and Erten went to a village called Kapthòri belonging to the Keadrol. Kwoten had about five hundred buffaloes grazing at Pazhmokh, near Kepurs. That night Kwoten slept on the idrtul over which he had spread a sambhar skin. He had on his finger a thick silver ring, which may still be seen at Naters and is used in the funeral ceremonies of men of the Pan clan. When the people awoke next morning they found that Kwoten had disappeared and that there only remained, lying on the sambhar skin, the silver ring and some pug.[11] Kwoten had been carried away by Terkosh and it was found that his five hundred buffaloes had also disappeared.
When Erten got up next morning he went to Kepurs and called out to the wursol of that place, “Wursolia, tar tûrshoḍthrska”[12]—“O wursol, is the man up yet?” The wursol [[202]]replied, “Pülmâv tars pògh udisvichi”—“On the sambhar skin blood is lying.” Erten replied, “Aroth pun pârs Pâlmän kwark putvai, nadrtivadr”—“Take sixty vessels of milk to the wood of Palmän and pour out.” So the wursol took sixty pun of milk and poured it out in the wood as Erten had ordered him.
Then since Kwoten had gone away, Erten did not want to live any more; he took a large creeper called melkudri, and tied it round his neck and tried to strangle himself, but when he pulled the creeper it broke into several pieces. He was much disappointed, but took another kind of creeper called kakkudri, but this broke in the same way. He then tried teinkudri, which also broke. Finally he took kakhudri,[13] and with this he succeeded in strangling himself. Then the wursol and all those who had helped in pouring out the milk also strangled themselves with kakhudri. Since this time it has been a custom among the Todas to commit suicide by strangling.
Kwoten and Terkosh are now living on two hills near Pòni, which face one another, and Erten has also become a teu and lives on a smaller hill near those of Kwoten and Terkosh. Whenever a Toda sees Kwoten’s hill for the first time, he lies down on his right side and sings twice the following words: “Seizâr zon, Kwoten âr zon, Seizâr zon, Terkosh âr zon.” I could not discover the meaning of these words, and fancy that the Todas themselves do not know exactly what they mean. It is possible that âr is the word meaning six.
The history and fate of Teikuteidi, the second brother of Kwoten, has been given in the story of Kwoten. He belonged to Taradr, and according to one account the kugvalir of that place were sent to him. Very little is related about the third brother, Elnâkhum. He had 1,800 buffaloes, but though he had so many, he was always going to other Todas and saying “I have nothing to milk; lend me a buffalo to milk,” and all his life he used to beg. It is owing to his example that the Todas have begged ever since, and are not ashamed to do so even when they are rich. [[203]]
Elnâkhum is said to have built the long wall which still exists at the village of Nòdrs.
The story of Kwoten reads very much like that of a man who really lived and was deified after his death. The minute detail with which several of the natural incidents of his life are known might be held to point in this direction, but perhaps more important is the fact that his ring can still be seen, and that his spear was, according to Breeks, in existence not long ago. It looks as if Kwoten was a man who raised Pan from a comparatively insignificant position among the Todas to be one of their chief clans, and was the means of introducing several innovations in Toda custom. It is probable that he was deified after his death, and that some of the incidents of his life have acquired miraculous characters.