The Teivali Clans
Kuudr
This is the most important of the Teivali clans, at any rate from the social point of view. It has supplied the monegar since the institution of this office, and it is the only Teivali clan represented on the Toda naim or council. From the religious point of view the Kuudrol are less important and have no exclusive rights to any sacred office,[3] though they are exceptional in being greeted by the palol with the kwarzam of their clan, Ivikanmokhkûtmeilteu, followed by idith as in the prayers. The origin of this custom is said to be that long ago strangers came to the hills and massacred all the people of the clan except one boy, who hid himself in the buffalo pen. The present people of Kuudr are descended from the boy and his escape is commemorated in the greeting of the palol. The Kuudrol also possess the very sacred dairy of Kiudr.
The Kuudr clan is the largest of the Teivali clans and stands second in point of numbers among all the Toda clans. It has at least sixty-three male and thirty-five female representatives. I omitted to obtain the children of two families, and these would raise the numbers slightly.
I had much difficulty in obtaining a correct account of the organisation of the Kuudrol, the difficulty proving to be due to certain anomalies in this clan. It has three chief divisions, headed by Kuriolv (52), Ishkievan (60) and Tövoniners (61), [[667]]and each of these divisions is sometimes called a kudr. From the point of view, however, of the irnörtiti ceremony it is clear that the division of Tövoniners is not a definite kudr, for the men of this division do not receive buffaloes from any other division, although they may themselves perform the irnörtiti ceremony, in which case the buffalo goes to the men of the other two divisions. The family of Tövoniners differs also from other families of the clan in having no place at the village of Kuudr. This anomalous position of the family is due to the part played by the men of the family in the quarrel which led to the separation of the Pedrkars people from Kuudr (see p. [675]). The family of Tövoniners is probably not a kudr in the strict sense of the term, and if so, the Kuudr clan falls into line with other clans in being divided into two kudr only.
There was also some confusion about the pòlm of the Kuudr clan, one source of confusion being due to the trouble connected with the parentage of Teitchi (52), which has been already considered (see p. [564]).
It was quite clear that the kudr of Ishkievan has two pòlm only, headed by Ishkievan and Tadrners (60).
Kuriolv’s division was said to have eight pòlm, the head men being Kuriolv (52), Targners (53), Pöteners (54), Keitas (55), Tüliners and Tikievan (56), Mudriners (57), and Madsu (58). The men of the first four pòlm are known to be closely connected with one another, and, as may be seen in the genealogies, the first three claim common descent from Tudrvan. Similarly the pòlm of Tüliners, Tikievan and Madsu are known to be closely connected. About the position of the pòlm of Mudriners, as we have already seen, there is much doubt, the state of affairs being that it is really most closely connected with the pòlm of Tüliners and Tikievan, but that Kuriolv claims it as closely allied to his own through the relation of Teitchi to Kòrs. Formerly the family of Arsners (59) formed a separate pòlm, but owing to the fact that it now has only two young members, and is very poor, it has been joined to the pòlm of Madsu (58).
Including the families of Tövoniners and Arsners, there [[668]]would thus be twelve pòlm. This is not consistent with the information given in connexion with the pepkaricha ceremony (see p. [169]), from which it appears that there are fifteen heads of families in the Kuudrol. It may be that the pòlm and family do not correspond with one another, or there may be some other explanation of the discrepancy.
The following are the chief villages of the Kuudrol:—
Kuudr (Kundakodumand). This is a large village with substantial huts in the Tamil style which have been built by Kuriolv. There is a large dairy, the tudrpali, and a smaller dairy, the kidpali, in front of it, with two buffalo enclosures (tu), one apparently for each dairy. In the large tu there are three stones called keinkars, tashtikars and mutchudkars, all of ceremonial importance (see p. [169]). Growing in one side of the tu there is a tree called teikhuwadiki, under which the mu is buried.
As usual, water is taken from two sources, and at Kuudr that used for sacred purposes is drawn from a spring, called kiznir. The origin of this spring has been already given in connexion with the prayer of Kuudr, in which this and other events in the history of the village are commemorated. The special relations between Kuudr and Òdr have been already considered in the account of the latter village.
Kiudr (Kengodumand). This village has a somewhat anomalous position in that, though not the chief village of its clan from the social point of view, it is in many ways more sacred than Kuudr.
It is a very picturesque village, shown in [Fig. 7], in which there are two dwelling-huts. That shown in the figure is one of the largest and best constructed of existing Toda huts, having been rebuilt recently under the direction of Kijievan (50), who has a special reputation as an architect. It was at this village that a pregnant woman was not allowed to come to the hut, but had to remain at some little distance, and the sacredness of the hut is also shown by the fact that the prayer of this village provides the only instance in which the kwarzam of a hut occurs.
The dairy is situated at some little distance from the huts, quite out of sight of people at the latter. On going from [[669]]the huts to the dairy a shallow stream flowing over broad flat stones is crossed. This stream is called Keikudr, and is of some ceremonial importance (see p. [307]).
The dairy which is called Kilpoh is shown in Figs. 20 and 31, and is a large, well-built structure of the ordinary shape. It is situated within a high wall, which is much thicker than usual, and in front it must be several yards across, so that it is possible to walk about on the top of it. On this wall, on the right hand side, are two old stones (shown in [Fig. 31]), called neurzülnkars. Close to the dairy there are two ancient and weatherworn stones, shown in [Fig. 32], to which the same name is given.
There are six bells in the dairy. Two are kept on the patatmar and are called patatmani, the individual names of the bells being Mudrani and Kerani. The other four are called ertatmani, and are kept on the ertatmar; their individual names are Pongg, Nongg, Pundrths, and Pan.
Kiudr is one of the villages which was said to have been at one time a ti mad. In favour of this is the fact that its dairy is called poh and that there are stones called neurzülnkars which are usually found at a ti mad. The people have also to play a part during the procession of the buffaloes of the Nòdrs ti, and there seems to be little doubt that the village is in some way especially connected with the ti institution, though exactly how is uncertain.
Kiudr is certainly a village especially revered not only by the Kuudrol but by all Todas. It is a sati mad, and any Toda will be believed if he speaks in front of its dairy. Another sign of the sanctity of the dairy is the fact that the ceremony of pilinörtiti may be performed here not only by members of the Kuudr clan, but also by any other Toda.
Molkush. This is a recently established village, little more than a quarter of a mile from Kiudr. The scenes shown in Figs. 16 and 17 were taken at this village. It has no dairy and the milk of the ordinary buffaloes is churned in the dwelling-hut. This village may be regarded as an adjunct to the sacred village of Kiudr, at which the ordinary buffaloes are tended. At the time of my visit the wife of one of the men who usually lived at Kiudr gave birth [[670]]to a son and the seclusion-hut was at Molkush, and both before and after the birth the woman and those connected with her were living at this village. It seemed as if the restrictions connected with life at Kiudr are avoided by building at a little distance what is technically another village, at which the people live whenever for any reason they are not allowed to live at Kiudr. Its existence seemed to me to be one of the many devices by means of which the Todas keep the letter of the law with the minimum of inconvenience.
Miuni (Marlimand). This is a village of the Kuudrol which is reverenced by all Todas on account of the belief that it was formerly the meeting-place of the gods. It is a very picturesque village, situated near the Marlimand reservoir and has two dairies.
Kwirg is chiefly important as the place at which new pep is made for the Kuudr clan. Its prayer is given on p. [222].
Ars is an uninteresting village near Kuudr.
Peivòrs. This is a village near Paikara. It contains a double house, shown in [Fig. 8], and has two dairies, one of which is now used as a calf-house. The second dairy was built when two families were living at the village, and the one dairy was not large enough for both.
Pirsush. This is a kalolmad.
Karia, a village near the Paikara road, from which a modern long house in the Tamil style is to be seen. Behind this are the old dwelling-hut and the dairy. At the time of my visit the new house was unoccupied and the people were living in the old hut.
Piedr
The people of Piedr derive their special importance from the fact that they provide the palol for the sacred ti of Nòdrs. According to tradition, they had this privilege exclusively at one time; later, they shared it with the Kuudrol, and now they share with the people of Kusharf. They form a fairly large clan, having about twenty-eight male and fourteen female members.
As in the case of the Kuudrol, there was some doubt about [[671]]the divisions of the clan. There are said to be three kudr, of which the chief men are Teikudr (63), Eisòdr (64), and Nongarsivan (62). If a man of Teikudr’s division has to perform the irnörtiti ceremony, the buffalo goes to Eisòdr’s division, and vice versa. If a man of Nongarsivan’s division performs the ceremony, the buffalo would go to both the other divisions. Thus Nongarsivan’s kudr seems to form an extra division, like that of Tövoniners among the Kuudrol. I did not obtain any explanation of this, but it is probably due to the fact that the people of Nongarsivan’s division live at Kavidi in the Wainad, and are, in consequence, regarded as being outside the regular affairs of the clan. I failed to obtain an account of the pòlm.
The chief village of the clan is now rarely visited. It is in the northern parts of the hills near the Badaga village of Hullatti. I had hoped to have visited it and the neighbouring village of Kusharf, but had not time. Some members of the clan visit the village of Piedr once a year, but I did not learn what was done on the occasion.
Kuudi. This is now one of the chief villages of the clan. It has a modern house, the largest and most highly ornamented Toda dwelling which I saw on the hills.
Tavatkudr is a village of one hut and a dairy. It was this dairy which was burnt during my visit as a consequence of the revelation of ti secrets to me by Kaners, who lived at this village.
Eparskòdr is an ancient village at which the first Toda died (see p. [400]). At present the village consists of a dairy only.
Kavidi is situated in the Wainad, not far from Gudalur. I did not visit it, but, so far as I could gather, it contained no object of interest and there was no evidence that it was an ancient settlement.
The clan has several funeral places, partly owing to the fact that the Kavidi people are at too great a distance from the top of the hills to hold the etvainolkedr in the ordinary funeral place. The Kavidi people, therefore, have two special funeral places, called Sudvaili for males and Mòmanothi for females. The second funeral, or marvainolkedr, was, however, held at the regular places of Meroln and Pamarkol. [[672]]
A disused village in the Wainad is called Potvaili. The termination vaili of this village and of the male funeral place only occurs here, and is probably borrowed from some other language, possibly from the Kurumbas.
One abandoned village of this clan, Nongarsi, seems to have been situated near Ootacamund. Its Badaga name is Kettarimand, and it is possibly one of the villages mentioned by Harkness.
Kusharf
The people of this clan are called indifferently Kusharfol or Umgasol. There seemed to be no doubt that Kusharf is the chief village, but, like Piedr, it is little used, and Umgas is coming to be regarded as the etudmad.
The Kusharfol seem to be in some way related to the Piedrol. They share with the latter the privilege of providing the palol for the Nòdrs ti, and the two clans are not allowed to intermarry. They have the same nòdrodchi, Teipakh, and it seems possible that they were originally two sub-divisions of one clan.
At present the Kusharfol are not numerous, having only about thirteen male and thirteen female representatives. They have two kudr, headed by Nòdrners and Ongudr, each of which has two pòlm. The chief men of the pòlm of one kudr are Ongudr (65) and Pangudr (66); of the other, Nòdrners and Erkhud (67).
The chief village of Kusharf is near Hullatti, and, like the neighbouring Piedr, is rarely visited.
Umgas. This is at present the most important village of the clan; it is shown in [Fig. 72]. There are two large dwelling-huts shown on the right-hand side of the figure. The building to the left of them is the chief dairy, which is called Kwotòdrvoh. It is a poh and not a pali, though of the ordinary form, and is exceptional in being situated so near the dwelling-huts. The pali is situated still more to the left, hidden by trees.
The two tall stones in the foreground are called nadrkkars. They serve as irnörtkars and also mark out the path by which women must go on their way to the huts, the women [[673]]having to keep on the right-hand side of these stones. By the wall of the huts and close to the poh there are two stones, the majvatitthkars, at which women stand when they receive buttermilk (maj) from the dairy. About fifteen yards in front of the other dairy (pali) there is a stone called imudrikars. On one side of this there is a narrow well-worn track along which women must go on their way to the dairy, and nearer the pali there are two majvatitthkars, where they stand when receiving buttermilk.
FIG. 72.—THE VILLAGE OF UMGAS, SHOWING THE ‘NADRKKARS’ IN THE CENTRE. BEHIND THE STONES IS THE ‘POH’ OF THIS VILLAGE, AND ON ITS RIGHT ARE THE DWELLING-HUTS.
Between the poh and the pali there is the tu and at the far end of this is a large stone, the muütthkars, marking the spot where the mu is buried.
Teidr is not far from Nòdrs. It has two huts and a dairy. The teidrtolkars of Nòdrs takes its name from this village, the wursol who gave the name to the stone being a Teidr man.
Teidr is one of the villages which is said to have been [[674]]formerly a ti mad, and in support of the statement I was taken to see two stones called neurzülnkars at some little distance from the village.
Pòln is close to the tree known in Ootacamund as “the umbrella tree.” There are two huts and a dairy, which was in ruins at the time of my visit. Under the “umbrella tree” there are two stones. One of these has been overgrown by the tree so that it is now firmly imbedded. It is called Korateu and is said to have been thrown by Korateu from his hill. The other stone is deeply imbedded and only shows three small projections above the ground. This is the Nòtirzikars and was thrown to this spot by the goddess Nòtirzi from her hill.
In a wood near at hand overgrown by trees, there is another stone called Känkars, marking the spot where the pasthir were killed at the funeral place which formerly existed here.
Keadr
This clan had at one time the privilege of supplying the palol to the Pan ti, but its numbers are now small, and the palol of this ti at present belongs to the Piedrol. There are now only eleven males and ten females belonging to the clan.
Till recently there was a branch of the clan called Kwaradrol, taking their name from the village of Kwaradr. According to some, the Kwaradrol were a separate clan, but there seemed to be little doubt that they were part of the Keadrol and formed one kudr of the clan. The division only became extinct in the male line a few years ago, and the genealogical record of the family is given in Table 70.
The head man of the other kudr is Perner (68), and this division has three pòlm, two of which are headed by Perner and Pichievan (69), while the third has only three young boys, Karem (69) and his brothers, as members. Since the Kwaradrol died out, the clan has only had one kudr, but during my visit it was decided that a new kudr should be [[675]]formed, and the pòlm of Karem was made the new division, so that in future the Keadrol will have one kudr consisting ofone pòlm, and another of two pòlm. It was said that the original partition of the clan into Keadrol and Kwaradrol was due to Kwoten, who established the two divisions in order that there should be someone to take the place of a palol who left on account of a funeral in his clan.
Keadr. This, the chief village of the clan, is situated near Keradr. I was unable to visit it, and have no record of any features of interest it may possess.
Kwaradr, the village from which one division took its name, is near Avalanche, and is now falling into ruins owing to the dying out of the family which occupied it.
Pekhòdr is called by the Badagas Osamand, or “new village,” and has only been in existence about ten years.
Kapthòri is now in ruins, but is mentioned in the story of Kwoten.
Pedrkars
This clan is an offshoot of the Kuudrol, from which it has now for a long time been separated. The division arose out of a quarrel at a council which was once being held at Kuudr.[4] There were three parties in the naim, each wishing that a different ceremony should be performed. One party wished to give salt to the buffaloes, a second wanted to sacrifice a calf (erkumptthpimi), and a third were in favour of moving to another village (irskidthtothi). The three parties could not agree, and it was finally decided that those who wished to do irskidthtothi should separate from the rest. They did so and went to live near Kwòdrdoni, and have since been a separate clan, now known as the Pedrkarsol. The people who wished to do erkumptthpimi were the ancestors of Tövoniners, and it is in consequence of this quarrel that this family occupies its anomalous position and has no place at Kuudr.
At the same time the people of Pedrkars lost the privilege of being palol or wursol, but they may become eligible by performing the irnörtiti ceremony at Kuudr or Kiudr. [[676]]
For some time after the separation intermarriage was not allowed between Kuudr and Pedrkars, but recently such marriages have taken place, and several are recorded in the genealogies.
There are very few members of the clan, only seven males and five females. At present there is only one kudr and this has only one pòlm. Formerly there were two kudr, but one became extinct some time ago.
About three generations ago there was a quarrel between the people of Pedrkars and those of Piedr. A man of Pedrkars named Kavanadi had married a woman of Piedr and one day quarrelled with his wife’s father. At Piedr there were at the entrance of the buffalo-pen two large wooden posts (tüli). After the quarrel Kavanadi went to Piedr and carried off both the posts with the wooden bars (tasth) by which the opening of the pen is closed. When Kavanadi had carried the posts and bars as far as a place called Kalin, near the Kota village of Tizgudr, a stone on the top of one of the tüli fell down. It may still be seen and is known as Kalinkars. Kavanadi went on, but he soon began to spit blood, and when he had gone some way further, he was obliged to drop the tüli at a place which is now called Tülipudinpem. He managed to reach his home at Pedrkars and then died. A council was held and it was decided that marriage should not be allowed in future between the Piedrol and Pedrkarsol, and no such marriages are recorded in the genealogies.
The stone called Kalinkars which fell by the way is now said to be able to move about and may be seen one day at one spot and on another day at another. The Kotas of Tizgudr have several times taken the stone to their village, but it has always gone back again. In spite of his unfortunate end, Kavanadi is regarded, more or less, as a hero by the Todas and is mentioned in the funeral eulogy of Pidrvan (p. 387).
All the villages of the Pedrkarsol are in the part of the hills near Kwòdrdoni. Pedrkars itself is said to have been at one time a ti mad. Some Tamil people once came to the hills and found some of the buffaloes of the ti standing by a [[677]]swamp. The Tamils fired at the buffaloes and one was killed. When the palol saw this, he cursed, saying “pedr kars ama, kwòdr nòdr ama!” “may the Tamil stone become; may the ti place an ordinary place become!” Then the people who had killed the buffalo became stones and the buffaloes were taken by the palol to the ti mad of Kakwai. The people who had separated from Kuudr had before this been living at Pongudr, but when the ti mad was deserted they went to live there, and the place was called Pedrkars in consequence of the curse of the palol and the clan has since taken its name from this village.
Kulhem
This clan appears to occupy the same kind of inferior position among the Teivaliol as that taken by the Kidmadol among the Tarthar clans. The Kulhemol are not allowed to sit on the meitün (right-hand side) of a dairy, and they are not allowed to perform the ordination ceremony with tudr bark, which cuts them off from holding the offices of palol, kaltmokh, or wursol.
There was some difference of opinion about the cause of the inferior position of Kulhem. According to one account the people separated from Kuudr at the same time as the Pedrkarsol and for the same reason. According to another account, when Teikirzi was dividing the buffaloes, she left Kulhem till last, intending to give them a good portion. When she was about to give the people of this clan their buffaloes, the invaders came who have been mentioned in the story of Teikirzi (p. 187). After the invaders had been turned to stone, Teikirzi returned to her task of giving buffaloes to Kulhem, but she came to the conclusion that the clan was in some way responsible for the misfortune which had happened, and she gave them no sacred buffaloes and only a few putiir, and she enjoined that they should not be ordained with tudr. It seems, however, that the Kulhemol resemble the Pedrkarsol in becoming eligible for the office of palol if they do irnörtiti to Kuudr.
The chief village, Kulhem or Kulthlem, is near Kanòdrs. [[678]]The only other village of importance is Konikwòr, near Paikara. At the time of my visit several of the clan were living at a place called Kultu. This is not properly a Toda village, the people living in a hut of the Badaga form near a tea plantation in order to sell the buffalo dung to the planters.
This clan now numbers only six males and three females, all belonging to one family (72). They have neither kudr nor pòlm. [[679]]
[1] By this I mean that there are now living thirty females who were born members of the Nòdrsol, but since a woman becomes a member of her husband’s clan, most of these are now members of other clans. I give the numbers of each clan in this form because it brings out several features of interest in relation to the relative fertility of different clans, the proportions of the sexes, &c. [↑]
[2] Pidrvan died soon after my visit. [↑]
[3] For the story how the Kuudr people came to lose the right of providing the palol for the Nòdrs ti, see p. [114]. [↑]
[4] This was evidently a council consisting of the members of the clan only. [↑]
CHAPTER XXIX
TEIVALIOL AND TARTHAROL
The existence of these two divisions of the Toda people raises one of the most interesting problems of their social organisation. The fact that the Todas are an Indian people at once suggests that we have to do here with some form of the institution of caste. Each division is endogamous, as is the caste, and each is divided into a number of exogamous septs resembling the gotras of a caste. Again, there is some amount of specialisation of function, the Teivaliol being the division from which the most sacred of the dairymen are chosen.
The names of the two divisions probably correspond with this differentiation of function. The Teivaliol evidently derive their name from the sacred office, deva, of Sanskrit origin, being in common use in South India for ‘sacred,’ while devalayam means a temple.[1] The origin of Tartharol[2] is more doubtful, but I believe that the word carries the idea of ordinary, târ being used sometimes in this sense.
There is little restriction on social intercourse between the two divisions. So far as I am aware, they can eat together, and a member of one division can receive food from any member of another.
Though intermarriage is forbidden, the irregular unions in which the man is the mokhthodvaiol of the woman (see Chap. [[680]][XXII]) are frequent and, indeed, it seems to be the rule for connexions of this kind to be formed between members of the two divisions.
The only definite restriction on social intercourse is that a Teivali woman may not visit a Tarthar village, so that if a Tarthar man becomes the mokhthodvaiol of a Teivali woman, he has to visit her at her home, or may go to live at her village altogether or for long periods. There is no similar restriction on the visits of Tarthar women to Teivali villages, and at the time of my visit at least one Tarthar woman was living altogether at the village of her Teivali consort.
The prohibition of the visits of Teivali women to Tarthar villages is said to have had its origin in the misbehaviour of certain Teivali women who once visited the village of Nòdrs, but I did not learn in what their offence consisted.
The most obvious features which mark off the two divisions from one another occur in connexion with the dairy organisation. The most important dairy institutions of the Todas belong to the Tartharol, but their dairymen are Teivaliol. This applies not only to the ti dairies, but also to the wursuli dairies of the Tarthar villages. The highest dairy office, that of palol, can only be held by a Teivali man, while the lower offices of kaltmokh and wursol must be held by them or by one of the Melgars clan of the Tartharol. According to tradition, the members of the Melgarsol were also at one time capable of holding the office of palol, but lost the right owing to the misbehaviour of one of their number. As I have already suggested, the Melgarsol may have been formerly a Teivali clan, but on repeated inquiry, it seemed clear that they had always been Tartharol, so that at one time in Toda history certain Tartharol were permitted to hold the highest dairy office as well as the lower grades for which they are still eligible. The position of the Melgars clan is, however, so much of a mystery in itself that it can contribute little to the understanding of our present difficulties.
Although the Teivaliol hold the highest dairy offices, and while holding them have a very high degree of sanctity, it is quite clear that, apart from the holding of these offices, [[681]]they have no sanctity whatever. A Teivali man who, while holding office as palol, is so sacred that he may not be touched by nor touch anyone, and may be visited even by his nearest relatives on two days of the week only, becomes an ordinary person, with absolutely no restrictions on intercourse, the moment he ceases to hold office.
Further, the fact that the Teivaliol hold these sacred offices does not lead to any respect being shown by Tartharol towards Teivaliol; there is not the slightest trace of the belief that their right to exert the highest priestly functions gives the Teivaliol any superiority, nor, it seemed clear to me, did the right inspire the Teivaliol themselves with any feeling of superiority. Indeed, it was distinctly the other way. The Tartharol always boasted that they were the superior people and that the Teivaliol were their servants, and the Teivaliol always seemed to me to acquiesce, though unwillingly, in this opinion. Whenever I asked a Tarthar man why he regarded his division as superior, he always answered, “We have the ti and we appoint the Teivaliol to act as our servants.” In the case of the Teivali dairyman acting as wursol at the Tarthar villages, I had definite evidence in more than one instance that the priest was regarded as a paid servant, to be treated with scant respect except in the special points prescribed by custom. The fact that the Teivali dairyman living at a Tarthar village may not touch any of the Tartharol puts him very much at the mercy of the latter, and the dairyman has, so far as I know, no redress for any wrong, real or fancied, which he may receive.
The inferiority of the Teivaliol came out in one very striking point to which I shall return later. I learnt from the Tartharol that there were certain differences in language between the two divisions; that the Teivaliol used certain words as names of objects which were not used by the Tartharol. I obtained a list of these, and later approached a Teivali man on the matter. When I opened the subject he was very much taken aback, and then became very angry because I had been told of the difference, though its existence was not denied. His whole attitude was that of a man ashamed of his lowly origin. Far more indignation was [[682]]shown by him and by other Teivaliol because I had been told of their peculiarities of language than was ever shown after the exposure of deeds distinctly immoral even from the Toda point of view. I shall return to this subject again shortly; I mention it here because it seemed to me to afford the clearest evidence that the Teivaliol were conscious of their own inferiority in the social scale.
In the story of Kwoten we find that the Tarthar hero is accompanied by Erten of Keadr, a Teivali man, and the latter was said to have been the servant of the former. This suggests the possibility that at one time the Teivaliol may have acted as servants to the Tartharol, even more definitely than at present.
At the present time there are some features of the social organisation and social life which might be held to weigh strongly against the idea that the Teivaliol are the inferior division. The monegar of the Todas is one of the Teivaliol, and the most influential member of the naim, or council, at the present time is a Teivali man. I believe the monegarship, however, to be a recent institution, possibly dating only from the advent of Europeans to the hills. The chief duty of the monegar is the collection of the assessment made by the Government, and it is quite consistent with Toda ideas that this troublesome, and from their point of view menial duty should be handed over to one of the Teivaliol. The great power of the Teivaliol in the naim is probably still more recent and due to the influence of one man. The Teivaliol should have only one representative on the naim, while the Tartharol should have three, and it is entirely owing to the powerful personality of Kuriolv that this balance has been disturbed, and that the influence of the Teivaliol is so predominant. It is possible that Kuriolv will do much to obliterate the social inequality of the two divisions, though I suspect from what the Todas told me that it is intended to revert to the old order as soon as he dies.
There is one custom which shows very clearly that it is only as dairymen that the Teivaliol have any sanctity. If the sacred buffaloes (pasthir) of the Teivaliol go to a Tarthar village, they may be milked either at a wursuli or a tarvali, and the [[683]]Tarthar people may use the milk. If Tarthar buffaloes, however, go to a Teivali village, the Teivaliol may neither milk them nor use their milk or its products. Thus buffaloes which are normally milked by a Teivali dairyman when at their own village may not be milked by Teivaliol at a Teivali village, while there is no restriction on the milking of Teivali buffaloes by the Tartharol.
Although the Tartharol are in the habit of speaking of the Teivali dairymen as their servants, they have no means of enforcing service. The post of dairyman of any kind is one of profit, and, as we have seen, when the post, even of palol, ceases to bring a sufficient income, the Tartharol fail to obtain people to occupy it.
In the ceremonial of the dairy, the relation between the two divisions is entirely one-sided. The Tartharol own the buffaloes and the dairies, and the Teivaliol do the work. In certain other ceremonies, there is more reciprocity in the relations of the two divisions to one another.
The Tartharol have certain definite duties at a Teivali funeral and the Teivaliol at a Tarthar funeral, and in most cases the duties are thoroughly reciprocal and the two divisions appear to act on equal terms. Thus, in the earth-throwing ceremony, the earth is dug by a Teivali man at a Tarthar funeral, and the Tarthar men before they throw ask the Teivaliol whether they may do so. At a Teivali funeral these positions are reversed. Similarly, the buffaloes are caught by Tartharol for Teivaliol and vice versa.
On the other hand, there are some ceremonies in which the Teivaliol have definite duties to perform at a Tarthar funeral which are not reciprocated. In the earth-throwing ceremony of the Tartharol, earth is first thrown by the Teivali wursol, but he does this as dairyman and not as one of the Teivaliol. The koòtiti ceremony of the second funeral is, however, only performed at a Tarthar funeral, and in it a Teivali man plays an important part, wearing the cloak which has been covering the relics and adorning himself with women’s ornaments. He hangs on the neck of the calf the bell called tukulir mani and touches the relics with the bow and arrow after asking the Tartharol if he may do so. It is said [[684]]that this ceremony is performed at a Tarthar funeral in order to purify the Tartharol with tudr before they go to Amnòdr, and the prominent position of the Teivaliol in this ceremony is evidently due to the use of this sacred substance.
After a funeral the Tartharol in general shave their heads, and this is not done by the Teivaliol, but it is also not done by the Melgarsol, which shows that the difference is connected with the different relations of the two divisions to the dairy ritual.
One important difference between the funeral ceremonies of the two divisions is that the mani, or sacred bell, is not used by the Teivaliol, except by the Piedr clan, and in this case the bell is hung on the neck of the buffalo about to be slaughtered by a Tarthar man belonging to the Nòdrs clan. The use of a mani at the funeral appears to be pre-eminently a Tarthar custom.
A further distinction between the two divisions is a consequence of the last difference. The Teivaliol do not purify the dairy after the funeral ceremonies because nothing has been taken from the dairy to be defiled. Similarly, the fact that the Teivaliol and Melgarsol use a male buffalo calf for the ceremony of purifying the various funeral places is connected in some way with the use of tudr by these divisions, while the general body of the Tartharol who are not purified with tudr use the blood of an adult female buffalo.
It will thus be seen that there is definite reciprocity between the two divisions as regards certain funeral duties, while the differences between the procedures of the two divisions are largely, if not altogether, connected with the use of the mani among the Tartharol and of the tudr tree among the Teivaliol, and each of these are points at which the funeral ceremonies come into relation with the dairy ritual. The differences in funeral rites would seem to be chiefly due to the different organisation of the dairy and its ritual in the two divisions.
There are other ceremonies in which the duties of the two divisions are reciprocal. In the ceremony of ear-piercing, a Tarthar man pierces one ear of a Teivali boy and a Teivali man performs the same service for a Tarthar boy, and in the ceremony called putkuli tâzâr ütiti (see p. [503]), a man [[685]]belonging to one division acts when the girl undergoing the ceremony belongs to the other.
One of the most obscure of Toda ceremonies is that called tersampipimi which is performed together with or later than the ceremony of name-giving when a child is about three months old. The chief feature of the ceremony is that a lock of the child’s hair is cut by the maternal uncle of the child, the hair of a Tarthar child being cut with a piece of sharpened iron called kanab, while the hair of a Teivali child is cut with an ordinary knife. The special interest, however, for our present purpose lies in the fact that this ceremony must be performed on the day after the second funeral of a Tarthar man, and this whether the child be Tarthar or Teivali.
This ceremony points to the existence of a belief in the influence of the spirit of the dead man, and I have already (p. 404) given reasons why it is probable that this influence should be regarded as good rather than bad. But, whether good or bad, we are left wholly without a clue why this influence should be exerted by the ghosts of the Tartharol and not by those of the Teivaliol.
In the ceremonies connected with childbirth the ritual of one division differs from that of the other more widely than in any other case. The most striking difference is that the ceremonial of the artificial dairy is limited to the Tartharol, and here again it is possible that the difference is a secondary consequence of the difference in dairy organisation. In the chapter dealing with these ceremonies, I have thrown out the conjecture that the use of an artificial dairy, and of threads from the madtuni, or sacred dairy garment, may be a survival of a time when women had more to do with the dairy ritual than they have at present; and if there is anything in this conjecture, it would point to this connexion of women with the dairy having been limited to the Tartharol, or to its having persisted longer in this division.
The fact that a Tarthar woman drinks milk drawn by a Melgars man, while a Teivali woman drinks water which is assumed to be the milk of a pregnant buffalo, again brings the differences into relation with the dairy ritual, but another [[686]]difference between the two divisions in the hand-burning ceremony is entirely foreign to this ritual. This is the ceremony of invoking Pirn and Piri, and there is no evident reason why this rite should be practised by the members of one division and not by those of the other. Similarly, the ceremony of offering to Namav by a Teivali woman when going to the seclusion-hut after childbirth stands entirely apart from the dairy ritual.
Both of these ceremonies are unlike the ordinary run of Toda ritual, and it is, on the whole, most probable that they have been borrowed.
We have thus seen that a large number of the ceremonial differences between the two divisions may be regarded as secondary consequences of the differences in the dairy ritual and that the few ceremonies which stand in no relation to the dairy ritual may have been borrowed.
Taking the differences of ceremonial as a whole, it is tempting to surmise that some of them may have arisen owing to differences of environment during some past stage of Toda history. The Todas now form so small a community, living in so small a space and knowing so much about each other, that it seems improbable that the differences can have come altogether into existence while they have been on the Nilgiri Hills. In so far as they can be explained as secondary consequences of the dairy organisation, it is possible that they may have arisen since the Todas have been on the Nilgiris, but when the practices have no relation to the dairy ritual it seems improbable that one division would have adopted a custom quite independently of the other.
Such a view would involve the consequence that at some time in their history the two divisions of the Toda people have had a different environment, and if the Todas are derived from one tribe or caste, this could only have come about if the two divisions came to the hills at different times, the interval having been sufficiently long to enable differences of ceremonial to have arisen. The differences would perhaps be still more readily explicable if we suppose the Tartharol and Teivaliol to have been derived from two different castes or tribes which reached the hills at different times, and I will [[687]]now proceed to give some evidence which points to this having really happened.
Perhaps the strongest evidence in this direction is the existence of the differences of language to which I have already referred. The chief differences are as follows:—
| Tarthar. | Teivali. | |
| Wooden spoon | chudi or sudi | kîrstegi |
| Basket | tòdri | putukêri |
| Food vessel | paterkh | tòdriterkh |
| Round metal vessel | kûdikunm | kûdichakh |
| Milking-vessel | pun | kònipun |
| A dairy vessel | tat | kashtat |
| Iron instrument | pòditch | pòtch |
| Comb | tîrkòli | siekhkòli |
| Small boy’s cloak | kuchâr | kupichâr |
| Roof | pòdri | idrnpòdri |
| Western side of hut | meilmerkal | meilkushkòni |
| Eastern side of hut | kîmerkal | kîkushkòni |
| Mushroom | kiûn | âlabi |
| A tree | tipöti | ketak |
| A black fruit | kalpom | akatpom |
| To-morrow morning | pelikhaski | pedrkhaski |
I was given one sentence as quite different in the two divisions. This was “Bring a piece of ragged cloth to the dairy!” By the Tartharol this would be rendered, Palivorsk pari evâ! but by the Teivaliol, Kutanpari palivorsk panmeiliteivâ! the chief difference here being in the verb.
Though these are all the differences in vocabulary of which I could obtain a record, I was told by the Tartharol that formerly there were many more, and that they were diminishing in number because “the Teivaliol were now learning to speak properly.”
I think it possible that a phonologist might also detect many differences in pronunciation and accent in the two divisions. I thought that I detected such differences myself—that the Tartharol used a k when the Teivaliol used a g, for instance—but I am so uncertain about this that I do not feel entitled to lay any emphasis on it. In one case, however, the Todas themselves told me of a difference in pronunciation. They said that the usual word for dairy was pronounced as I have written it in this book but that by the Tartharol it was rather püli. [[688]]
Scanty as the evidence is, there can be no doubt of the existence of dialectical differences between the two divisions of the Toda people.
Another indication that the Todas are two tribes or castes which have coalesced is of a different and more doubtful kind. There is some reason to believe that people sometimes preserve a relic of their migrations in the belief concerning the path taken by the dead in their journey to the next world. We have seen that the Todas believe that the dead journey to the west, but the special point of interest in the present connexion is that the dead Teivaliol are believed to travel by a path different from that traversed by the Tartharol.
I must reserve till the next chapter the full consideration of the path by which the Todas reached the hills, but I hope to show then that there is a great probability that the Todas came from Malabar. If this view be correct, it is not impossible that in the belief as to the different paths traversed by the dead, we may have a relic of two independent migrations.
A third indication is one about which I am still more doubtful, because I have no exact observations to support it. When on the hills I was struck at times by differences in the general appearance of the people of the two divisions. Towards the end of my visit I sometimes made a successful guess that an unknown village I was entering was a Teivali village, and this guess was founded, so far as I could tell, on a difference in the appearance of the people. The Teivaliol seemed to me to be, on the whole, darker, and to have a lower type of face. My surmises in this direction only took shape towards the end of my visit, when it was too late to make any exact observations. I know how dangerous such impressions are, and I do not wish to lay any stress on them, and I mention them hoping that more exact observations on the point may be made at some future time.
The idea that the two divisions of the Toda community reached the hills at different times is perhaps supported by their distribution on the Nilgiri plateau. In [Fig. 73] I give a plan of the district, giving all the villages from which [[689]]the Toda clans take their names, the Tarthar villages being in Roman type and those of the Teivaliol in italics. I have omitted the chief villages of those clans which I know to have arisen in recent times by splitting off from other clans, and I have included two villages of which I can only give the approximate positions. These are Piedr and Kusharf, which are now rarely occupied, and are situated off the main plateau, near the Badaga village of Hullatti. I also give Pirspurs, the old etudmad of the Pämol. In [Fig. 74] I give a second plan, showing the positions of all the villages which I know to be ancient, either because they possess sacred dairies or because they are mentioned in legend.
FIG. 73.
It will be seen that the greater part of the hills is occupied by the Tartharol, while the Teivali villages lie chiefly in the north-west part of the hills. The chief exception is the village of Keadr, which is situated some way south of the rest.
If, in coming to the hills, the Todas followed the routes now supposed to be traversed by the dead, the position of [[690]]Keadr would suggest that this clan was assigned a seat soon after the Teivaliol had crossed the Pakhwar, and that the others journeyed on northwards.
FIG. 74.
The plans certainly make it clear that there is a difference in the geographical distribution of the two divisions, and the nature of this distribution is consistent with the advent of the two divisions at different times. It will be noticed in both plans that one Tarthar clan has its seat in the middle of what would otherwise be exclusively a Teivali district. This clan is that of Taradr, and it is perhaps significant that the Taradrol have many features which differentiate them from Tarthar clans in general, especially in their possession of the kugvalir and in the possession of their own Amnòdr, though, as we have seen, the latter feature may merely be a later consequence of their isolated position.
It is known that when two tribes coalesce to form a community, the inferior people may act as the sorcerers and wizards of the community. At the present time the majority of the teuol, or diviners, belong to the Teivaliol, but this branch of [[691]]sacred function is not limited to that division. The magical powers of the sorcerer seem to be now almost equally divided among the two divisions, and there is no evidence that magical powers in the past have been attributed to one division more than to the other.
In the preceding pages I have put together the chief evidence which throws any light on the problem raised by the existence of the two divisions of the Toda people. It is far from conclusive, but I incline to the view that the present organisation of the Todas is due to the coalescence of two tribes or castes which came to the hills at different times. It seems probable that the Tartharol arrived first and occupied the hills widely. When later the Teivaliol came, it seems possible that they were placed by the Tartharol in those priestly offices which, though honourable, involved many hardships and restrictions, and were assigned dwelling-places and pastures in a comparatively limited district of the hills.
The analysis of the genealogical record has brought out some interesting differences between the two divisions. The data compiled from the genealogical tables by Mr. Punnett[3] would seem to show that the preponderance of males was and is still greater among the Teivaliol than among the Tartharol. The tables provide statistics roughly for four generations. In the second of these,[4] the number of males for every hundred females was 159·7 among the Tartharol, 259 among the Teivaliol. For the last generation, these numbers have sunk to 129·2 and 171 respectively. These figures almost certainly mean that female infanticide was more in vogue among the Teivaliol and is still practised by them to a greater extent than by the Tartharol.
This would seem to show that the Teivaliol have clung more closely to the old custom of infanticide and may be taken as an indication of the greater conservativeness of the priestly caste, but the Teivaliol chiefly occupy those parts of the hills furthest removed from the European settlements, [[692]]and the greater freedom from external influence is probably an important reason for the greater frequency of infanticide among them at present, though it will not explain the greater prevalence in the earlier generations.
The Teivaliol are now much the smaller of the two divisions, the numbers at the most liberal estimate being less than half of those of the Tartharol, and this difference is certainly of long standing. It may be due to original disproportion of numbers, but if female infanticide has long been more frequent among the Teivaliol, this might furnish a cause of their smaller population. It is perhaps significant in this connexion that the only extinct clan of which I have a record is a Teivali clan, the Kemenol, which is said to have become extinct about a hundred years ago, and the causes which led to its extinction may well have produced a great diminution of numbers in other branches of the Teivaliol. [[693]]
[1] There is also a place called Devali in the Wainad which may possibly be connected in some way with the Teivaliol. [↑]
[2] Grigg (Manual, p. 187) derives the word from tasan, a servant. S or sh is sometimes inserted into the word Tartharol, but it is purely euphonic, and I do not think that this derivation is at all probable. [↑]
[3] Proc. Camb. Philos. Soc., 1904, vol. xii, p. 481. [↑]
[4] I neglect the first generation on account of the small number of families for which there are data. [↑]
CHAPTER XXX
THE ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF THE TODAS
I have now given the whole of the material which I have collected on the institutions of the Todas. In describing these institutions I have discussed various general problems suggested by their nature, but I have said little about the points of resemblance or difference between the customs of the Todas and those of other peoples either in India or elsewhere. It remains in this last chapter to see how far the evidence which I have given throws any light on the very difficult questions: Who are the Todas? How do they come to be living on the Nilgiri Hills?
The evidence which might be available for our inquiry is of three kinds: records of the Todas in the past, traditions preserved by the Todas, and, lastly, evidence derived from the comparative study of physical and psychical characters, language, beliefs, and institutions.
The evidence coming under the first two heads is of the scantiest. Our earliest record of the Todas is contained in a Portuguese manuscript now in the British Museum. It records the visit of a Portuguese priest named Finicio to the Nilgiri Hills in 1602. This manuscript was partially translated and published by Thomas Whitehouse in a book dealing with the Syrian church of Malabar, under the title “Lingerings of Light in a Dark Land.” As the translation given by Whitehouse is incomplete, I had the manuscript retranslated, and it was then found that several interesting details had been omitted, and that there were several errors in the translation. The new translation is given on pp. [721]–730. [[694]]
The account given by Finicio is very superficial, being the result of only two days’ intercourse, but it is sufficient to show that there has probably been little change in the Todas and their surroundings in the three centuries which elapsed between his visit and mine. I have referred in the general body of the work to several of the points in which his account either corroborates or differs from my own. Perhaps the most important feature of his story is that it shows the relation between the Todas and Badagas three centuries ago to have been very much what it is at the present day, and shows clearly that this relation between the two tribes is of longer standing than has usually been supposed. Finicio’s account is, however, so brief and superficial that it helps us little in our search for evidence on the evolution of Toda society. We know from it that the institution of the ti was in existence, and the scanty evidence goes to show that the life of the palol was much what it is now, but there is nothing to tell us whether the ritual had then reached the high pitch of development which it now shows, nothing to tell us whether since that time there has been development or degeneration.
From 1602 to 1812 we have, so far as I am aware, no record of the Todas. In the latter year William Keys, Assistant Revenue Surveyor, reported the existence of the Todas, or Thothavurs, and other tribes in a letter to the Collector of Coimbatore. His account gives little information about the Todas, except that they kept buffaloes and held it a sacred and inviolable custom to keep their heads uncovered. In 1819 “a Subscriber” wrote an account of the Nilgiri tribes which was published in the Madras Courier. Beyond a description of their appearance, the only information given about the Todas or Todevies is that it is against the custom to wear either turban or sandal, that they permit hair and beard to grow long, and that the Badagas pay a few handfuls of grain from each field as acknowledgment that they received their land from the Todas. In 1820 Lieutenant Macpherson reported the practices of polyandry and infanticide, and in the following year Captain B. S. Ward described the marriage customs more fully, and gave some account [[695]]of the dairies and priesthood. In 1826 the Rev. James Hough addressed a number of letters to the Bengal Hurkaru, giving an account of the Nilgiris and their inhabitants, and these letters were republished in a book in 1829. A more elaborate and most excellent account of the Todas was given by Captain Harkness in 1832, in a work entitled A Description of a Singular Aboriginal Race Inhabiting the Summit of the Neilgherry Hills, and since that time very many of those who have visited the Nilgiri Hills have had something to say about the Todas and their ways. As I have already pointed out, these records from the earlier part of last century differ but little from my own, and do not furnish us with any evidence that Toda customs underwent any great change during that century.
As regards the evidence from Toda tradition, we are in no better case. Several writers have stated that the Todas believe that they came to the Nilgiris from elsewhere, but whenever I made any inquiries on this point I was assured that they had always been on the Nilgiri Hills, the first Toda having been created on the Kundahs in the manner already described.
It seems most probable that those who have ascribed such traditions to the Todas have been misled by the account of the Kamasòdrolam. These are the people who are believed to have been driven away from Kanòdrs by Kwoten (see p. [195]). The Todas have a very sincere belief in the existence of these people, and when I showed one man the frontispiece in Marshall’s book, representing a Toda village and its inhabitants, something unfamiliar in the arrangement of the scene made the man think that it must be a picture of the Kamasòdrolam. Any Toda who is asked whether there are other Todas and where they live will at once think of the Kamasòdrolam and will tell of these people, and the story might easily be mistaken for a tradition of their origin.
The Todas are also said to believe in their descent from Ravan, and I was told by one man that they were descended from the Pandavas, but I have little doubt that such beliefs are only recent additions to their mythology.
In studying the origin and history of the Todas we have [[696]]thus no record earlier than three centuries ago, and no traditions of any value, and we are altogether thrown back on the evidence furnished by the manners and customs of the people, their language, and their physical characteristics.
Though the manners and customs of the Todas are in many ways unique, or very exceptional, there is a general resemblance between them and those comprised under the general title of Hinduism, and especially with such more popular customs as are described by Mr. Crooke.[1] The great development of the ritual aspect of religion, the importance of ceremonies connected with birth and death, the sacredness of the milk-giving animal, the nature of the system of kinship, the marriage regulations and many other features bear a general, and in some cases a close, resemblance to institutions found in India generally, or in certain parts of India.
On the social side these resemblances are perhaps closer than on the religious side. The system of kinship is very similar to that of other parts of Southern India, and, so far as my knowledge goes, to that of India generally. The marriage regulation that the children of brother and sister should marry is found throughout Southern India and probably throughout the Dravidian population of India. The practice of polyandry probably exists scattered here and there throughout India, and has undoubtedly existed in recent times in Malabar. The practice of the mokhthoditi union between man and woman has also close analogies in Malabar.
On the religious side the high development of the dairy ritual, so far as I know, stands alone, but the customs connected with birth and death have many resemblances to practices followed in other parts of India, though this resemblance is general only and usually breaks down on going into detail.
Thus in Brahmanic ritual there are several ceremonies prescribed at different stages of pregnancy, and some Indian tribes or castes have pregnancy ceremonies peculiar to themselves, but I do not know of any tribe or caste except that [[697]]of the Todas in which giving a bow and arrow forms the essential feature of a pregnancy ceremony, though it is not uncommon for this weapon to play a part in marriage rites, and in Coorg a little imitation bow and arrow is put into the hand of a newly born boy.
Similarly, seclusion after childbirth is common in India, and in the Brahmanic ceremony of Jatakarma water is poured over the heads of mother and child by the priest. In some cases from Mysore (see p. [705]) there is a still closer resemblance to Toda custom, but there are some features of the Toda ceremonial for which I can find no parallel.
In many points, again, there are distinct resemblances between the practices of the Todas and the more popular customs of India; thus the pounder, sieve and broom frequently play a part in the popular magic of India,[2] as of other parts of the world, but I do not know of any parallel for their being regarded as especially the emblems of women, as they appear to be in Toda belief.
It is perhaps in the funeral ceremonies that we find the largest number of resemblances between Toda custom and that of other parts of India. Thus, among those who cremate their dead, it is usual to have ceremonies some time after the cremation, and some have regarded the second funeral ceremony of the Todas, the so-called dry funeral, as the representative of the Sapindi ceremony of orthodox Hinduism. Among several tribes fragments of bone are preserved after the cremation, which become the objects of further ceremonies. Thus, the Hos and Mundahs[3] preserve large fragments of bone, which are hung up in the house and are buried in an earthenware pot much later, after being taken in procession to every friend and relation of the deceased. Again, among the Saoras of Madras[4] fragments of bone are picked out from the ashes and covered over with a miniature hut.
Animals are frequently killed at funerals throughout India, and among the Saoras, just mentioned,[5] the animal is a [[698]]buffalo, which is killed close to the stone on which its blood is smeared. Again, among the Kois[6] a bullock is slain and the tail placed in the hand of the corpse.
A funeral practice which is very widely spread in India is the breaking of a pot, and in some cases the pot so broken is one which has contained the water used to quench the fire. Among the Naickers and the Reddies of South India[7] the body is bathed with water from an earthen pot, which is then dashed upon the ground, while in other places an earthen pot filled with water is carried round the body three times, after which the fire is lighted and later extinguished by water which runs from a perforation in the pot. The common Indian practice, according to Padfield,[8] is for the chief mourner to throw a pot over his head behind him so that it is dashed in pieces.
That the kindred should retire with averted faces from the place where the corpse is left is prescribed by Manu,[9] and the custom of burning or burying face downwards is practised by low caste people, the motive in this case being to prevent the evil spirit from escaping and troubling its neighbours.[10]
While there is thus a general resemblance between many of the manners and customs of the Todas and those existing in various parts of the Indian peninsula, there is one district which possesses customs and institutions which seem to stand in a much closer relation to those of the Todas than is the case elsewhere.
The social and religious customs of the west coast, and especially of Malabar, not only bear a general resemblance to the customs of the Todas, but this resemblance in some cases persists when followed into detail. The similarity would probably become still more obvious if we knew more of the customs of the less civilised inhabitants of this district of India.
In going over the resemblances I will begin with those on the social side. The most characteristic feature, of the social [[699]]organisation of the Todas is the institution of fraternal polyandry, The Nairs of Malabar have given their name to a different type of polyandry, but it is extremely doubtful whether the relations existing in recent times between Nair women and their consorts should be regarded as examples of polyandry. Nevertheless, there is undoubted evidence that true polyandry has existed in Malabar, and in the most definite examples known this has been of the fraternal type. From the Report of the Malabar Marriage Commission, published in 1891, it is clear that, though polyandry is now extinct in North Malabar, it still persists in some districts of South Malabar. One witness before the Commission stated that at one time polyandry was very prevalent in South Malabar, and that it was still the practice for a woman of the Kammalar or artisan caste to have five or six brothers as husbands, and the witness had known personally a woman in Calicut who was the wife of five brothers, spending a month at a time with each. Another witness stated that polyandry existed in some parts of Cochin, and in a few places in South Malabar. Another said that among the Tiyans of North Malabar it was the custom for one man to marry a girl for all the brothers of the family. One of the names for marriage in Malabar is uzham porukka, which probably means “marriage by turns.” The Kanisans or astrologers of Malabar proudly point out that, like the Pandavas, they used formerly to have one wife in common to several brothers, and that the custom is still observed by some.[11]
Polyandry is not the only marriage institution in which there is a resemblance between the Todas and the people of Malabar. The mokhthodvaiol of a Toda woman seems to be very much like the consort of a Nair woman, and when these consorts are, as they usually are, Nambutiris or Malabar Brahmans—i.e., belong to a different caste—the resemblance to the mokhthoditi custom becomes very close.
More important is the custom of giving a cloth as the essential marriage ceremony. The two chief features of a Toda marriage are the giving of a loincloth to the girl and the salutation of the girl’s relatives by the husband. Similarly [[700]]the essential feature of the irregular union between man and woman is that the mokhthodvaiol gives a cloak to the woman, and the Badaga name by which the relation has previously been known is derived from this fact—the man is called the “blanket man” of the woman. Throughout the greater part of the Malabar coast the essential feature of the marriage ceremony is that the man gives a cloth to the woman. The Nairs have two marriage ceremonies,[12] of which the later, or sambandham, forms the actual alliance between man and woman. The ceremony of this marriage consists in giving a cloth, and various names for the ceremony, such as muntukotukkuka, vastradanam, putavakota and pudamuri, all mean “cloth-giving.” In South Malabar a marriage is dissolved by tearing up a cloth called kachcha,[13] and among the Izhavas,[14] the actual wedding ceremony consists of the gift of a cloth.
The act of giving clothing as part of the marriage ceremony is found generally throughout India, but it seems to be a much more prominent and essential feature of marriage in Malabar than elsewhere.
Among the funeral ceremonies of the Todas there is one in which a cloth is laid on the body of the deceased. The essential feature of this ceremony is that a cloth is given by a man belonging to the clan of the deceased to those who have married into the clan, the cloth being then placed on the corpse by the wives of these men. The whole ceremony seems to be essentially a transaction between clans which have intermarried and evidently stands in a close relation to the regulation of marriage, and it is therefore of great interest not only that a cloth should play so prominent a part, but also that the word used for the cloth which gives the name to the ceremony should be kach, the same word as is used sometimes in Malabar for the cloth so important in the marriage ceremonies.
The resemblance between the Todas and Nairs in this direction goes, however, one step further. Among the funeral [[701]]ceremonies of the Nairs there is one called potavekkuka, in which new cotton cloths are placed on the corpse by the senior members of the deceased’s Tarawad (corresponding to clan), followed by all the other members, sons-in-law, daughters-in-law, and other relatives. The details of the ceremony differ in the two communities; among the Nairs the placing of cloths is the duty of a wide circle of relatives, but the resemblance between the customs is sufficiently close to make it highly probable that we have to do with two developments of one custom.
The ceremony just described is not the only point in which the funeral rites of the Todas resemble those of Malabar. The earthen pot which I have already mentioned plays a part in the rites of both Nairs and Nambutiris. By the Nairs[15] the pot is carried three times round the pyre while the water leaks out through the holes, and on completing the third round the pot is dashed on the ground close by the spot where the head of the corpse had lain. The Nambutiris burn their dead and bury the ashes three days later, and when the body is being burnt an earthen pot containing water is carried round the fire, and is then punctured and the water received into another vessel, from which it is thrown on the fire, and then the pot is smashed and thrown away.[16]
We have seen that according to Toda belief it is necessary that those who have not been through certain ceremonies in life must do so after death, and the same belief is entertained by the Nambutiris, who tie the tali at the funeral of an unmarried girl,[17] just as the Todas perform the pursütpimi ceremony.
The Nairs collect pieces of unburnt bones from the ashes fourteen days after the cremation, but they either throw them into the nearest river or take them to some sacred place, thus following a frequent Indian practice.
There is one feature of the urvatpimi ceremony of the Todas which also suggests a possible link with Malabar, and this is the name, pülpali, given to the artificial dairy [[702]]used by the Tartharol. The Nairs of Malabar have a ceremony at the ninth month called pulikuti, in which the woman drinks tamarind (puli) juice which has been poured over a knife by her brother.[18] The Toda word for the sour taste is pülchiti, derived from tamarind, and I have suggested that the name pülpali may mean ‘tamarind dairy,’ and be a survival of community between the Toda ceremony and that of Malabar.
I have now enumerated a number of points in which there is a close resemblance between the customs of the Todas and those of the people of Malabar. In some cases, as in that of the cloth ceremony of the funeral, the resemblance is so close that we seem almost bound to seek its explanation either in identity of origin or in borrowing. We may be confident that if there has been any borrowing from the inhabitants of Malabar, it has not been recent, and we may also be fairly confident that the physical barrier in the past must have prevented any but the most infrequent intercourse between the inhabitants of the Nilgiri plateau and those of Malabar. If we attach any significance to the resemblances I have indicated, the conclusion seems almost inevitable that the Todas at some time lived in Malabar and migrated to the Nilgiri Hills, and it remains to inquire whether there are any other facts in favour of this view.
On one line of evidence I cannot speak with any authority, but I strongly suspect that there is a very close resemblance between the Toda language and Malayalam.
I think there is little doubt that the Toda language is much more nearly allied to Tamil than to Canarese, and I believe that the contrary opinion of Dr. Pope was due to the inclusion in his material of many words borrowed by the Todas from their Canarese-speaking neighbours, the Badagas. Malayalam is closely allied to Tamil, differing from it chiefly in its disuse of the personal terminations of the verbs and in the large number of Sanscrit derivatives,[19] and I should like to make the suggestion, for the consideration of Dravidian philologists, [[703]]that there is a close resemblance between the Toda language and Malayalam, minus its Sanscrit derivatives.
The Todas claim that their diviners, who, when in their frenzy, are believed to be inspired by the gods, speak the Malayalam language, some clans speaking a language which the Todas say is that of people they call Mondardsetipol, living in Malabar. I do not know whether the Toda claim is justified, but in any case the belief exists that the diviners speak the languages of Malabar, and that these are the languages of the gods. It is possible that in their beliefs concerning the language of the gods the Todas may be preserving a tradition of their mother-tongue, and if it could be proved that the diviners actually speak the Malayalam language the link with Malabar would be very materially strengthened.[20]
The Todas believe that their dead travel towards the West and are able to describe the paths by which they pass. Here, again, there is some reason to think that people may preserve in their beliefs about the passing to the next world a tradition of the route by which their ancestors travelled from a former home, and this may be so in the case of the Todas.
Another fact linking the Todas with Malabar is the use of the tall pole called tadri in the funeral ceremonies. This pole is procured for the Todas from the Malabar side of the hills by the Kurumbas, and I was told that suitable poles only grew in Malabar, and the pole is adorned with cowries which are also probably of Malabar origin. Other objects burnt at the funeral, such as the boxes called pettei and the umbrella called miturkwadr, are also procured from Malabar. The use of objects in funeral ceremonies which are procured from Malabar is suggestive, though, taken alone, it would have little significance.
A fact which would perhaps be regarded by most as more important is that there is now a settlement of the Todas at Gudalur in the Wainad, on one of the routes from Malabar to the Nilgiris. It seems clear that at one time the settlement [[704]]was larger than it is at present, and it is tempting to suppose that we have here evidence of the route of the Toda migration. There are, however, facts which make it improbable that this clue is of any value. If the villages about Gudalur had been survivals of the migration they would almost certainly have been sacred villages, but it was quite clear that they had no sanctity whatever and were not even saluted when seen from a distance. Unfortunately I did not visit Kavidi, the only village which remains, and if I had done so I might have discovered some evidence of sanctity and antiquity, but from what I was told it is very unlikely that any such evidence exists. This absence of sanctity is further in agreement with the traditions of the Todas, who say that the settlement at Gudalur is recent. There are, however, other facts which point to an ancient connexion of the Todas with this district. Some of the buffaloes of the most sacred and ancient Nòdrs ti are said to have come from Perithi in the Wainad, and the Taradrol, in many ways an exceptional Toda clan, are said to have their own future world or Amnòdr at this place.
It will thus be seen that, in addition to the points of similarity in custom and belief, there are definite facts pointing to connexion with Malabar, and if we suppose that the Todas migrated from this district we have next to conjecture the path by which they travelled. If any importance is attached to the belief in the paths taken by the dead, we should regard it as the most probable view that the Todas travelled over the Kundahs, the two divisions of the people travelling by slightly different routes. The Toda tradition that men were created on the Kundahs is perhaps in favour of this route, which would seem to correspond with the road to the Nilgiris known as the Sisipara Ghat. If, on the other hand, we attach importance to the settlement at Kavidi, the route followed would be that through Gudalur. At the present time the latter road is far the easier of the two, and, if the Todas had travelled during the last few years, it would have been the natural road by which to come, but it does not appear that there was any essential difference in the difficulties of the two routes before the roads were made. The evidence in favour of either route is very scanty, but if the Todas came from [[705]]Malabar it is probable that they came by one or other of these paths.
There are two other districts which have some claim to be considered as possible places from which the Todas may have migrated—viz., Mysore and Coorg.
The Todas regard with some reverence a Hindu temple at Nanjankudi in Mysore, and visit it to pay vows, and there is little doubt that they have done this for a long time. Further, Nòdrs, one of the oldest and most sacred of the Toda villages, is close to the present road from Mysore and may have been near the most convenient route from Mysore in ancient times. I think, however, that, though not recent, the relations with the Hindu temple at Nanjankudi are not of very great antiquity, and I am inclined to ascribe the Toda reverence for it to their association with the Badagas, who almost certainly came from Mysore. I have not been able to find many parallels to Toda customs in Mysore. In one case, however, the resemblance is very close. Among the Gollavalu of Mysore[21] a woman after delivery is turned out into a leaf or mat hut, about 200 yards from the village, and on the fourth day a woman of the village pours water over her. In this case the woman lives in the hut for three months, her husband also living in a special hut. Again, among the Kadu (or forest) Gollas of Mysore[22] the mother and child remain in a small shed outside the village for seven to thirty days.
The other district which has customs especially resembling those of the Todas is Coorg. Among the people of Coorg cloth-giving appears at one time to have formed the essential marriage ceremony, and there still exist what are called ‘cloth-marriages’ in which a man becomes the husband of a woman merely by giving her a cloth. There is also some evidence that polyandry has been practised in Coorg, and I have already referred to the resemblance between the pursütpimi ceremony of the Todas and the Coorg custom of giving a little bow and arrow to a newly born boy. The bow is made of a stick of the castor-oil plant and for the arrow [[706]]the leaf-stalk of the same plant is used. In Coorg the imitation bow and arrow is put into the hand of the newly born child, but this custom is not widely removed from that of the Todas in which the bow and arrow is put into the hand of the mother shortly before the child is born.
The Todas know the people of Coorg, which they call Kwûrg, and have a tradition of an invasion of their hills by these people, but it is very improbable that there has been any direct borrowing, and it seems more likely that some of the customs of the Todas and Coorgs have had a common source.
The resemblance with the customs of Coorg are perhaps more striking than with those of Mysore, and the former region is much more likely to have been influenced by Malabar than the latter. The links with Coorg do not weaken, and perhaps even strengthen, the conclusion that the Todas owe much to Malabar.
If we accept provisionally the view that the Todas migrated to the Nilgiris from Malabar, we are next confronted with the problem as to whether they are directly derived from any of the races now living in that district. The most diverse views have been held by those who have considered the racial affinities of the Todas. Leaving on one side the conjectures of those who have supposed them to be Scythians, Druids, Romans, or Jews, we find that the Todas have been supposed by several writers to be of Aryan or Caucasic origin. De Quatrefages[23] grouped the Todas with the Ainus of Northern Japan and Keane[24] follows him in putting the two peoples together, and regards both as witnesses to the widespread diffusion of Caucasic races in Asia. Deniker[25] suggests that they belong to the Indo-Afghan race, with perhaps an admixture of the Assyroid race.
Previous writers have found no special reason to link the customs of the Todas with those of Malabar, and, so far as I am aware, no one has considered how far the Todas may be of the same race as any of the inhabitants of [[707]]this district.[26] In considering this matter, we may anticipate that even if the Todas and any of the tribes or castes of Malabar had the same origin, marked differences would have been produced by the long sojourn of the former on the Nilgiri plateau. How long the Todas have been on the Nilgiri Hills no one can say, but we may safely conclude that a very long time must have been necessary to produce the wide divergence in custom and belief which is found to separate them even from those other inhabitants of India whom they most closely resemble. If the Todas came from Malabar, they came from a country differing enormously in temperature and in general physical and climatic characters from the Nilgiri plateau. Life on the hills must almost certainly have altered the physical characters of the people, and it is perhaps now hopeless to expect that any exact resemblance would be found with the existing races of Malabar even if the Todas are an offshoot of one of them. Nevertheless, in comparing the physical measurements of the Todas, which we owe to Mr. Thurston, with those of various Malabar races taken by Mr. Fawcett, it would seem that the differences are not very great, and in the measurements to which anthropologists attach most importance, those of the head and nose, they are very slight.
In the table on the following page I give the chief measurements in centimeters for Todas, Nairs, and Nambutiris.
The average dimensions of the heads and noses of the Todas correspond very closely with those of the Nairs, and the differences from the Nambutiris are nowhere great. It must be remembered that the measurements on the Todas were taken by one observer, and those on the Nairs and Nambutiris by another,[27] and this may partly account for [[708]]the large divergence in the case of the maxillo-zygomatic index, which is calculated from the bigoniac and bizygomatic measurements, in both of which there is considerable scope for differences between different observers. The only other measurements which show any decided divergence are the stature and the length from the middle finger to the patella, and the greater stature of the Todas may well be the result of their more healthy environment. The cubit of the Todas also differs very decidedly from that of the Nambutiris, though little longer than this dimension of the Nairs.
| Todas.[28] | 182 Nairs. | 25 Nambutiris. | |
| Stature | 169·8 | 165·6 | 162·3 |
| Span | 175·9 | 175·1 | 170·0 |
| Chest | 82·0 | 80·6 | 83·7 |
| Middle finger to patella | 12·0 | 10·1 | 10·5 |
| Shoulders | 39·3 | 40·0 | 40·7 |
| Left cubit | 47·0 | 46·2 | 44·2 |
| Left hand, length | 18·8 | 18·5 | 18·0 |
| Left,, hand,,, width | 8·1 | 8·3 | 7·8 |
| Hips | 25·7 | 26·0 | 26·2 |
| Left foot, length | 25·0 | 25·4 | 24·5 |
| Left,, foot,,, width | 9·2 | 8·8 | |
| Cephalic length | 19·4 | 19·2 | 19·2 |
| Cephalic,, width | 14·2 | 14·1 | 14·6 |
| Cephalic,, index | 73·3 | 73·1 | 76·3 |
| Bigoniac | 9·6 | 10·4 | 10·6 |
| Bizygomatic | 12·7 | 13·1 | 13·2 |
| Maxillo-zygomatic index | 75·7 | 80·1 | 80·4 |
| Nasal height | 4·7 | 4·8 | 4·9 |
| Nasal,, width | 3·6 | 3·6 | 3·7 |
| Nasal,, index | 76·6 | 76·8 | 75·5 |
We do not know the probable errors of these different groups of measurements, but the agreement between the Todas and the two castes of Malabar is so close as to suggest strongly a racial affinity between the three.[29]
The hairiness of the Toda is perhaps the feature in which he differs most obviously from the races of Malabar, while the robustness of his physique and general bearing are perhaps almost as striking. The latter qualities may be entirely due [[709]]to his environment, to his free life in the comparatively bracing climate of the Nilgiris, and, so far as we know, the development of hair may have a similar cause. Of all the castes or tribes of Malabar, the Nambutiris perhaps shows the greatest number of resemblances to the customs of the Todas,[30] and it is therefore interesting to note that Mr. Fawcett describes these people as the hairiest of all the races of Malabar and especially notes that one individual he examined was like a Toda.
I am not competent to express a decided opinion on the amount of importance which is to be attached to the resemblance which is shown by the figures on p. [708], but it seems to me that the facts before us give no grounds[31] for separating the Todas racially from the two chief castes of Malabar.
The identification of the Todas with Nairs or Nambutiris would still leave their racial affinities somewhat indeterminate. The Nambutiris are often supposed to be Aryan invaders of Malabar, and, owing to the cause already mentioned, the Nairs are so largely of Nambutiri blood that, if the Nambutiris are Aryan, the Nairs must also be strongly Aryanised even if they were originally of pure Dravidian descent.
If future research should show that the Todas are an offshoot of one of the races now existing in Malabar, and if any definite conclusion can be drawn as to the time during which they have been on the Nilgiri Hills, physical anthropologists will be provided with a most interesting example of the influence of environment on the physical characters of a race. Few greater contrasts of environment could be found in a country than that existing between Malabar and the Nilgiris, and it is possible that the Todas may furnish a striking example of the influence of environment on physical characters. [[710]]
In endeavouring to link the Todas with Malabar I have naturally dwelt on the points of resemblance rather than on the points of difference. The differences are, however, very great. The general manner of life of the two peoples is now wholly different, while on the religious side I may point to the wide prevalence of snake worship in Malabar, especially among the Nambutiris.
The hypothesis that the Todas are derived from one or more of the races of Malabar would not be tenable for a moment except on the assumption that the migration took place very long ago, and that the culture of Malabar has undergone great changes since the migration. As to the length of time during which the Todas have been on the Nilgiris, we can only offer the vaguest surmises. We know that three centuries ago the Todas were living on the Nilgiris, apparently in much the same state as at the present day. The appearance of some of their sacred stones suggests great antiquity, especially the well-worn polished appearance of the neurzülnkars, which, if the accounts are right, are only rubbed a few times in the year.
On the other hand, the history of Malabar is highly conjectural. The two great positive landmarks in its history are the beginning and end of the rule of the Perumal princes. The date of the first Perumal is put at about the time of Christ, or somewhat later, and it is tempting to surmise that the Todas may have been driven or have retired from Malabar in consequence of the political changes which took place at this time. The last Perumal probably reigned about a thousand years ago, but there does not appear to have been any political upheaval at the time, the last prince having his period of office prolonged beyond the usual twelve years, and having then divided his dominions among his family and retainers.
If we assume that the Todas came from Malabar, the date of their migration would be of great interest in relation to the possibility of Christian or Jewish influences on the Toda religion. There are ancient settlements of both Christians and Jews in Malabar. Tradition assigns the starting-point of the native Christian settlements in Malabar to St. Thomas; [[711]]but, leaving this on one side, there seems to be no doubt that both Christians and Jews were well established in Malabar more than a thousand years ago. An ancient document is still preserved by the Jews of Cochin, which was given to their leader by the Perumal of the day, and this document can be dated about 750 A.D. A similar document preserved by the Nestorian Christians can be dated 774 A.D.
FIG. 75 (from Breeks).—A CAIRN ON THE NILGIRI HILLS.
If the Todas left Malabar at the beginning of the Perumal rule, Jewish or Christian influences can be excluded, but if at a later period such influences may have been present, though it is very improbable that they were important; for, unless the Todas have changed very much, they would have been very unlikely to have borrowed from religious settlers of an alien race. Still, in considering the strange resemblance between the Hebrew and Toda versions of the Creation, this possible influence should be borne in mind.
I have so far said nothing of the archæological evidence which may possibly help in the settlement of the vexed [[712]]questions which I have raised in the preceding pages. Our knowledge of the history of the Todas would be very materially advanced if we knew whether the cairns, barrows and other ancient remains which are found on the Nilgiri Hills are Toda monuments. In the cairns and barrows there are found objects which suggest a Toda origin, such as figures of buffaloes with bells round their necks (see [Fig. 76], 9), but the vast majority of the finds are utterly unlike anything now possessed by the Todas. They include pottery of many designs, the lids of the vessels being often adorned with the figures of animals. Many other animal figures have also been found, and though that of the buffalo often occurs, figures of the horse (see [Fig. 76], 10), sheep, camel, elephant, leopard (?), pig (?), and low-country bullock with hump are all found. Such figures can only have been made by those well acquainted with the low country, and none of these animals are ever mentioned in Toda legends.
Metal work is also found in the cairns and barrows; bronze vases, basins and saucers ([Fig. 76], 1, 2, 3), iron razors, styles or pins (?), and daggers ([Fig. 76], 8), while iron spear-heads ([Fig. 76], 4, 7, 13) are frequently met with.
In addition to the more elaborate cairns, cromlechs and barrows found on the Nilgiri Hills, Breeks, to whom we owe most of our knowledge on this subject, found what he took to be ancient examples of the azaram or circle of stones within which the Toda buries the ashes of his dead at the end of the second funeral. In such azaram in the district between Kotagiri and Kwòdrdoni, Breeks found bronze bracelets and rings, iron spear-heads, a chisel, a knife and an iron implement in something of the style found in Malabar and differing from those usually found in the cairns.
FIG. 76—VARIOUS OBJECTS FOUND IN THE NILGIRI CAIRNS, TAKEN FROM BREEKS.
Breeks points out that the characteristic feature of the cairns and barrows of the Nilgiris is the circle of stones, and that some consist of an insignificant circle hardly to be distinguished from the Toda azaram. He often found it difficult to say whether a given monument was a cairn or an azaram, so that it would appear that there are intermediate gradations between the more elaborate cairns or barrows containing the pottery and metal work and the simple Toda azaram. [[714]]From the amount of rust on the iron implements, however, Breeks concluded that there was a long interval of time between the most recent of the cairns and the oldest azaram, but he points out that if the latter are really azaram, they show that the Todas used at one time to bury such objects as iron spears.[32]
As regards the cairns, Breeks points out that though the figures of many animals occur in addition to that of the buffalo, most of the animals are so badly imitated that it is difficult to identify them, while the figures of the buffaloes are singularly characteristic and often very spirited.
The only implements found by Breeks which might be agricultural were shears and sickles ([Fig. 76], 12, 5), and he recalls the kafkati burnt by the Todas with their dead, which is a curved knife, different, however, in shape from the sickles often found in the cairns.
On the other hand, very few of the human figures found in the cairns resemble the Todas in any way; the women have the low-country top-knot instead of the Toda curls, and they carry chatties on their heads, which would never be done by a Toda woman at the present time, whatever she may have done in the past.
Breeks himself inclined to the view that the cairns are Toda monuments. One objection which has been made to this view is that the Todas exhibit little or no interest in the cairns, and offer no objection to their excavation. I have already given reasons[33] why this cannot be regarded as a conclusive argument against the Toda origin of the monuments. The Todas certainly identify the hills which possess stone circles with the abodes of their gods, and the absence of objections to the excavation may merely be due to the fact that they have no traditional injunctions against interference with these circles.
In dealing with the religion of the Todas, I have advanced the view that the ritual and beliefs of the people furnish us with an example of a religion in a state of decadence. It seems probable that the Todas once had a religious cult of a [[715]]distinctly higher order than that they now possess, and if I am right in supposing that the Todas came from Malabar, it might follow that they brought their highly developed religion with them, and that although certain features of the religion may have undergone great development, the general result of the long isolation has been to produce degeneration. The study of the religion suggests that we have in the Todas an example of a people who show us the remnants of a higher culture.
If we could accept the view that the cairns, barrows, and cromlechs of the Nilgiri Hills were the work of the ancestors of the Todas, we should have at once abundant further evidence that the Todas have degenerated from a higher culture. We should have an example of a people who once used, even if they did not make, pottery, showing artistic aptitudes of a fairly high order which they have now entirely lost. The Toda now procures his pottery from another race, and, so long as this is of the kind prescribed by custom, he is wholly indifferent to its æsthetic aspect. I doubt if there exists anywhere in the world a people so devoid of æsthetic arts, and if the Nilgiri monuments are the work of their ancestors, the movement backwards in this department of life must have been very great.
It is easy to see how the Todas may have lost such arts, supposing that they once possessed them. The Toda now regards nearly every kind of manual labour as beneath his dignity, and if a people showing artistic skill in the adornment of the articles they use in everyday life should hand over the making of these articles to another race, it is fairly certain that the artistic side would suffer, and this is especially likely to happen when the artisans whose services are employed are such people as the Kotas.[34] Assuming that such a transference took place, it is easy to understand the complete disappearance of art even higher than that which the contents of the monuments show.
The use of the bow and arrow and the club in ceremonial [[716]]furnishes us with another example of material objects which have wholly disappeared from the active life of the Todas, and here again it is easy to see why the disappearance has taken place, for on the Nilgiris the Todas have had no enemies, either human or feral. This disuse of weapons has indeed so obvious an explanation that it cannot be treated as an instance of degeneration; and while the origin of the cairns remains doubtful, the only evidence of degeneration of culture is shown by the religion; and though it seems to me that the evidence here, especially that derived from the nature of the prayers, is conclusive, it may not be so regarded by all.
In the preceding lines I have put forward for consideration the tentative hypothesis that the Todas may furnish us with an example of a people who once have possessed a higher culture of which some features have undergone degeneration. If we combine this hypothesis with that advanced earlier, that the Todas came from Malabar, we may suppose that the Todas brought the higher culture with them from this district, and if this were so, the original culture of the Todas may have been on much the same general level as that of the dominant castes of Malabar at the present day. On this hypothesis, it seems to me most likely that in their new home the religion of the Todas underwent a very special development, its ritual coming to centre more and more round the buffalo, because in their very simple environment this was the most accessible object of veneration. I think there is little doubt that the extraordinary development of the ritual of the dairy must have taken place since the Todas have been on the Nilgiris; and, as I have already pointed out, it seems to me most probable that the degeneration of the religion has been largely a consequence of the extreme development of this ritual aspect of their religion.
If we reject the view that the Todas are representatives of one or more of the castes of Malabar whose institutions have in some ways degenerated during a long period of isolation, the most likely alternative view is that the Todas are one of the hill tribes of the Western Ghats who have developed a higher culture than the rest in the very favourable environment [[717]]provided by the Nilgiri plateau. I have already referred to the resemblance between certain Toda customs and those of one such tribe, the Hill Arrians, who live in the hills in Travancore and on the Travancore-Cochin boundary. These people are fair, about five feet six inches in height, and frequently have aquiline noses. They inherit in the male line, and have an early marriage ceremony, followed by another in which cloths are presented to the bridegroom. After childbirth the woman lives in a shed for sixteen days. They bury their dead, the earth being dug with the ceremony to which I have already alluded,[35] and though we are not told that a cloth is laid on the corpse at the funeral ceremonies, Fawcett[36] records the fact that a cloth is placed on the grave. There are thus several points of resemblance between their customs and those of the Todas, and this resemblance extends in some measure to the physical appearance and suggests, not only that they and the Todas have been influenced by the same culture, but even that they are people of the same race. We are here, however, plunged almost entirely in the region of conjecture, and we must wait for further information before we consider whether such tribes as the Hill Arrians are representatives of the same race as the Todas, both having been driven from the plains of Malabar into their mountain fastnesses, or whether the Todas and Arrians are two hill tribes of similar descent who have each been influenced by Malabar, of whom the Todas have advanced more in culture, owing to their exceptionally favourable environment on the Nilgiri plateau.
The whole of this last chapter is, I am afraid, open to the charge of being highly conjectural. It has, however, seemed to me desirable to raise some of the problems suggested by the existence of the Todas. In the settlement of these problems much further research is necessary, and I have somewhat reluctantly dealt so largely with the conjectural topics of the chapter, because they seem to point clearly to two lines of research in which further work is necessary. One is the archæology of the Nilgiris, which would, I believe, now well repay further investigation; the other is a detailed [[718]]inquiry into the more popular customs of Malabar and especially of its less known peoples, such as the Hill Arrians, of whom I have just written. It is in the hope that further interest may be awakened in these lines of inquiry that I have devoted so much space to the hypotheses and surmises of this final chapter.
If further research should show that the Todas are derived from ancient races of Malabar, it is possible that the existence of this strange people may help to illuminate the many dark places which exist in our knowledge of the connexion between the Aryan and Dravidian cultures. It is even possible that the Todas may give us a glimpse of what the culture of Malabar may have been before the introduction of Brahmanism, a culture from which many features would have disappeared, while others would have undergone special development; and, if this were the case, the complex dairy ritual of the Todas would be the most striking instance of the development, a development, however, carrying with it the germs of that degeneration from which the Toda religion now seems to be suffering. [[719]]
[1] Popular Religion and Folklore of Northern India, London, 1896. [↑]
[2] Cf. Crooke, loc. cit., vol. ii. pp. 187–191. [↑]
[3] Dalton, Trans. Ethnol. Soc., London, N.S., 1868, vol. vi, p. 37. [↑]
[4] Fawcett, Journ. Anthrop. Soc., Bombay, 1888, vol. i. p. 249. [↑]
[6] Cain, Ind. Antiq., 1876, vol. v, p. 357. [↑]
[7] Kearns, Tribes of South India, p. 51. [↑]
[8] The Hindu at Home, Madras, p. 234. [↑]
[10] Crooke, loc. cit., vol. i. p. 269. [↑]
[11] Logan’s Malabar Manual, vol. i. p. 141. [↑]
[12] See Malabar Marriage Commission and Wigram’s Malabar Law and Custom, 2nd ed., Madras, 1900. [↑]
[13] Census of India, 1901, vol. i., Eth. App., p. 136. [↑]
[15] Madras Gov. Museum Bull., iii. p. 247. [↑]
[17] Ibid., p. 61. See also Dubois, Hindu Manners, Customs, and Ceremonies, Oxford, 1899, p. 17. [↑]
[18] Madras Museum Bull., iii. p. 242. [↑]
[19] Cf. Caldwell, A Comparative Grammar of the Dravidian or South-Indian Family of Languages, 2nd ed., London, 1875, p. 23. [↑]
[20] It is perhaps worth noting that at present only Teivali diviners are reputed to speak Malayalam. [↑]
[21] Journ. Anthrop. Soc., Bombay, 1889, vol. i. p. 535. [↑]
[22] Mysore Census Report, 1901, Pt. i. p. 521. [↑]
[23] Histoire générale des Races Humaines, Paris, 1889, Introduction, p. 469. [↑]
[24] Ethnology, Cambridge, 1896, p. 418. [↑]
[25] The Races of Man, London, 1900, p. 412. [↑]
[26] In a paper which I have only seen since the above was written (C. R. de la Soc. de Biol., 1905, t. lix, p. 123) M. Louis Lapicque has called attention to the resemblance between Todas and Nairs. He regards the Todas as pure or almost pure examples of one of the two races of which he believes the Dravidian population of India to be composed, the Nairs being more mixed with the negroid element, which forms the other component of the population according to M. Lapicque. [↑]
[27] It must also be borne in mind that the figures of the Nambutiris and those of some of the Todas are based on the measurement of twenty-five individuals only in each case. [↑]
[28] Some of these measurements are based on the examination of eighty-two men, others are derived from twenty-five men only. [↑]
[29] The relations existing between Nair women and Nambutiri men must have brought about an approximation of the two Malabar castes in physical characters, even if they were originally of different ethnical origin. [↑]
[30] It is worth noting that they practise male descent, while the Nairs follow the Marumakkattayam system of inheritance. [↑]
[31] I should much like to know the ratios between the lengths of different limb bones, such as those shown by the radio-humeral or tibio-femoral indices. The observations on the cubit and the distance from the middle finger to the patella suggest that considerable differences might be found between the Todas and the Malabar castes in these ratios, which do not seem to me to have yet received from the physical anthropologist the attention they deserve. [↑]
[32] It will be remembered that the Todas claim to have once possessed a spear which had belonged to their god, Kwoten. [↑]
[34] The argument will hold equally well if the Todas in their previous home had been accustomed to procure their pottery from others, but had when they reached the Nilgiris to rely solely on the Kotas for help in this direction. [↑]
APPENDICES
APPENDIX I
I give here a translation of two extracts from Portuguese manuscripts preserved in the British Museum. The original spelling of the names of places and persons has been preserved and I have added some notes. I am indebted for the translation to Miss A. de Alberti.
The Mission of Todramala.[1]—This new mission of Todramala belongs to the college of Vaipicotta, and it seems necessary to give your Rev. an account thereof that you may be informed of what has been discovered, as well as of what still remains to be done. Vague rumours had reached the Lord Bishop Dom Frco. Ros that in the interior of this Malabar, among some mountains, there dwelt a race of men descended from the ancient Christians of S. Thomas; in order to discover and open the way to them he sent from our seminary a Cassanar[2] and a Chamas, which means a priest and a deacon, who after travelling for more than fifty miles reached the summit of the mountain of Todramala. Here they came upon a race which appeared, in accordance with the rumour, to be of those who were driven from the territory of S. Thome by the many wars in former times and scattered through these parts. They did not call it by that name, however, but pointing in the direction of S. Thomas, they said that certain men came thence, some of whom settled in those mountains, and others went further down, of whom they knew nothing. The Cassamar thereupon took occasion to ingratiate himself with them, saying that those who settled lower [[720]]down were his ancestors, and therefore they were all of one race, and they had come solely to visit them as their brethren and relations. This moved them to such love and pity that men, women, and children embraced and welcomed them with tears. They found no trace of Christianity in them; they had neither crosses nor books, though they said they had some once, but they were lost as those who could read had died out. They have no pagoda worship nor pagan ceremonies. On being questioned concerning their god they spoke of a bird, a father, and a son, from which it may be presumed that they had some notion of the Blessed Trinity. They rejoiced to hear of the creation of the world and other discourses which the Cassamar and the Chamas held with them; and they were very eager that they should remain with them a long while, but they could not do so, as their guide was very pressing that they should return. They are a somewhat white-skinned race and tall of stature; they grow long beards and wear their hair after the ancient Portuguese fashion, bushy on the head and falling on the shoulders behind. They have necessaries in abundance, namely, rice, some wheat, vegetables, and meat in great variety, both fowls and wild game; quantities of cattle, and so much milk that they cannot use it all and give it to the very cattle to drink. Many other things were related of their customs which I leave until more is known of them. Upon this information the Father Vice-Provincial, at the instance of the Bishop, resolved to send thither a priest well acquainted with the Malabar tongue, and therefore he commissioned the father who was going to the residence of Calicut to inquire the easiest road and best season for this mission. He found that it was much nearer Calicut through the territory of the Samorim, and that the best time was the month of January, when, by the help of God, a father will set out with several Cassamars, and of what occurs your Rev. will be informed next year.
The Mission of Todamalâ.[3]—Last year your Rev. received a brief account of a new mission destined for Todamalâ to a certain race dwelling in the interior of this country of Malabar, among rugged mountains, at a distance of fifty leagues or thereabouts. These were supposed to be descendants of the Christians of S. Thomas who had somehow drifted to those parts. Though last year the Bishop of Angamale, Dom Frco. Ros, sent a priest belonging to the Christians [[721]]of S. Thomas, accompanied by a deacon and a good guide, to explore the land and acquire information concerning this race, they did not bring back such full and certain intelligence as was desired. Therefore the Lord Bishop asked our Vice-Provincial to send one of our fathers, and the choice fell upon Father Yacomo Fenicio,[4] who has known the people of Malabar for many years and is well acquainted with their language. The father set out from Calicut, where he resides, and whence the road is easiest, and with the assistance of good guides reached the desired destination, though at the cost of great labour and risk. Having acquired ample information, he returned to Calicut from Thodomala, and on his arrival wrote a letter to the Vice-Provincial, dated the 1st of April, 1603, giving him an account of his discoveries, of which the following is a copy—
Copy of a letter from Father Yacome Finicio to the Vice-Provincial Of Calicut, 1st of April, 1603
Thanks be to God, I am returned from Todamalâ, though with great labour and little satisfaction, for I did not find there what we hoped and were led to expect. And as the prosecution or abandonment of this mission depends upon it, I think it necessary to give you here a detailed account of all I discovered and endured. The road by Charti being impracticable on account of the wars which had broken out among the people, I was obliged to go by Manarechatem, and this was providential for us, it being the road taken by the Cacenar whom the bishop sent last year. It is thirteen leagues from the shore of Tanor. So far the way was safe and easy, this being the territory of the Samorim, and in every village we met people who knew our Christian Errari,[5] the nephew of the Samorim, who accompanied me. I was very glad of his company, because he offered it himself, and because he could speak Canara, the language of the Badegas, neighbours of the Todares. Before we reached Mararachate we had an interview with the chief ruler of the Samorim, who lives within two leagues. I gave him a palm-leaf from Carnor, chief ruler of the Samorim, in which he bade him give me the men and assistance necessary for my journey to Todamalâ, and to go with me himself if necessary. The ruler welcomed us with many [[722]]compliments, but as regards the journey he made many difficulties, and not only he, but many others of that place said that the way was very long and full of wild and rugged mountains; that there were elephants and tigers, that it was very cold up there, and finally that there was a risk that some of us would die. The ruler wished to send two Naires, who knew the way, with me, but they would not go for fear of falling sick, even though I would have paid them well. Finding that they made so many difficulties I pressed the Errari to return to Calicut with his people, as it was feared that they would fall sick upon the way, and I would go to Manaracathe and there provide myself with a guide and escort. This touched the Errari upon a point of honour, and he bade me not to speak of such a thing, for he was resolved to go, and his Naires had all bound themselves by an oath to go likewise. The Errari had with him a Varser,[6] which is little less than a Brahmin, and he said to me, “Father, if I die on the road, bury me where you will; it is of no consequence.” I asked another young Naire if he wished to go, and he replied, “I will accompany your Reverence while I have breath.” Upon this we took leave of the ruler and went to Manarecathe, where we found the very chatim who went with the Cacenar; however, the Errari thought it best to take another more trustworthy, who had relatives in the country. Here we were told that it was six Canara leagues to Todamalâ, which is twelve Malabar leagues, and that it would take two days and a half to get there. Everyone provided himself with clothes against the cold of Todamalâ, and with provisions for the journey; also with pots which the Naires carried on their heads, not for want of coolies, but because the Naires and Brahmins will not allow those of a different caste to touch the pots in which they cook their rice. The arms were left behind that the natives might not suppose that the people of Malabar had come to fight with them. Thus we set out cheerfully, and the first day, as we could not reach a village before night, we dined, and started between eight and nine in the morning, and marched quickly until evening that we might not be benighted in the thicket, for fear of the elephants, and yet our guide said we had only travelled two Canara leagues. That day we crossed a sandy mountain.
The second day we wished to start at dawn, but we met fifteen or sixteen men of that village coming by the road we were to pursue, all armed, and they told us that there were three elephants in the [[723]]way, so we waited until nine o’clock and in the meantime the elephants sought their pasture. This second day we supped at the foot of a very high mountain over which our road lay, and as there was no village and there were elephants about, after supper we climbed part of the mountain and slept there. After midnight we climbed nearly all the rest of the mountain by moonlight, with great labour and fatigue. On reaching the summit other great mountains appeared, and others beyond them, at which we were all astounded, for some of them were so steep that we were obliged to descend in a sitting posture. When the Errari found himself on these mountains, he said that God was punishing him for his sins, and that going up and down such mountains would shorten their lives by ten years. The chatim, our guide, looking down from a mountain, said that merely looking down dazzled his eyes, and so said the Naires on other occasions in similar circumstances. But I could not restrain my laughter, and began singing hymns in Malabar against pagodas, whereupon the others laughed too, and joined in the hymns. It was now noon, and we had still another mountain to climb before reaching the village of the Badagas, neighbours of the Thodares, but we were so tired that we could go no further. We wished to dine, and there was very good cold water flowing from a mountain, but we had no fire. The Errari offered to go up with the Brahmin and to send us down a light. I would not suffer him to take so much trouble, nor was it necessary, for the chatim, our guide, struck fire from two twigs, and thereupon everyone sat down to rest, cooking his rice meanwhile. When we had rested we climbed the mountain and reached the village of the Badegas. It is a village of 150 to 200 souls, called Meleuntaõ.[7] The Cacenar is reported to have visited it. Here we found the chief of the Todeos and spoke with him. He promised to go and assemble the rest, that we might speak to them. In this village they have fowls, cows, goats, rice, lentils, mustard seed, garlick, and honey. They brought me some wheat in the husk, which was very difficult to remove, and therefore it seemed to me more like barley or some other grain than wheat. The Badagos are like the Malabars, and they say there are two other villages like this in these mountains, four, five, and six leagues distant from each other. These trade with the Thodares and sell them rice, buying buffalo butter from them, which they carry to Manaracathe for sale. The next day I wished to discourse to these Badagas concerning our [[724]]law. I showed them the pictures of Our Lady of St. Luke, telling them that the child was God, who became man to teach us his law and save us. I showed them a gilt Bible and told them that it was the book of our law, and as they all surrounded me, I went up into a high place and the Errari with me. I spoke in Malabar and the Errari interpreted in Canara, which is their language. A Badaga who understood Malabar could not contain himself, but came up to where I was and spoke to me in Topas.[8] Then I taught him that the law given to us by the God made man was contained in ten commandments, &c., and they all rejoiced at the ten commandments and their explanation. Only at the sixth[9] commandment the Topas Badaga represented to me that the Malabars also had many wives. I told him that this law was not the law of the Malabars, but of God, and that they did wrong in having many wives, whereupon he was satisfied. Finally I told him that I had not come to teach the Thodares only, but them also if they would accept this law. They replied that the law was very good, but they did not dare adopt it, neither could I live in these barren mountains, &c. I make no doubt that if a priest were there they would all be converted. While I was in this village of Melentaõ the priest of the Thodares came thither, but he remained outside the village, for he may not touch a woman. I went to see him and found him seated on the ground with seven or eight others seated near him. He was a huge man, well proportioned, with a long beard and hair like a Nazarene falling on his shoulders, the front hair drawn back over his head, leaving his forehead uncovered. His dress was a shawl from the waist to the knees, and the rest of his body was naked; he held a sickle in his hand. When I had come up to him and sat down, he asked me how I was; I replied that I was well and all the better for meeting him, for it proved to me that God was my guide, since I had come from so far to see the Thodares and immediately met with their chief. He asked the purpose of my coming. I replied that I had come to see the Thodares, having heard that we were of the same race and laws, and that last year one of our people visited them and gave us a very good account of them. I asked him if they knew from whom they were descended. He said no, and thereupon would have taken leave of us. Then I said that it was not right to wish to leave us so soon, since we had come so far solely to visit them, and [[725]]upon this he remained. Then I inquired of those around who he was, and what was his office. They replied that he was called Pallem and was like the Belicha Paro among the Malabars. Belichaparo is he who takes care of the pagoda, and sometimes the devil enters into him, and he trembles and rolls upon the ground, and answers questions put to him in the name of the pagoda. I asked if the Thodares had pagodas; they replied that they had a live buffalo cow for a pagoda, and they hung a bell round its neck, and the Pallem offered it milk every day, and then let it loose in the fields to graze with the rest. And every month or thereabouts, the Pallem seizes the buffalo by the horns and trembles, saying that the buffalo bids them change the pasture, and thereupon they change their place and pasture. By the milk and butter of this buffalo and that of its children and grandchildren, which already reach 120, this Pallem is maintained. On this mountain where I was there were 100 Thodares,[10] and they had three pallems between them, each having his buffalo for a pagoda. When the buffalo dies the Thodares assemble, choose one of these hundred, tie the bell round its neck, and it becomes a pagoda. Besides the buffalo they have 300 pagodas to whom they also make offerings of milk. I asked him why he carried the sickle in his hand, and he replied that God commanded him to carry no other arm or stick but only that sickle. He used it to scratch his head, which was swarming with lice, and they could be seen crawling among his hair. I asked if he was married; he answered that he and his younger brother were married to the same woman, but as he might not touch a woman in the house she always lived with his brother, but he sent for her into the bush every week or so, when it was a fine day. And when he liked he sent for any of the wives of the Thodares whom he chose, and the husbands allowed it so long as he paid them. I asked if they had books and he said no; none of them can read or write. He also told me that they had a father whom God took up to heaven, body and soul, and the buffaloes looked up to heaven after him, and that was why they made offerings to the buffaloes. At last I gave him one of the looking-glasses from Calicut, with which he was very pleased and said he would give it to his wife. Then I took leave of him, after showing him the pictures and Bible, at which he wondered. Besides this pallem they have another whom they call Ferral,[11] who is present [[726]]when they give the buffaloes salt water, and he trembles, bidding them give them drink, and they will give much milk, and grow fat, and give butter in plenty, &c.
The next day we went to visit the villages of the Thodares. We climbed quite half a league above this village, and on reaching the summit nothing was visible on every side but mountains and valleys; all was desert without a single fruit or forest tree, excepting in an occasional damp place where there were a few forest trees. There are no palm trees or jacks in all these mountains, nor any fruit trees, as I have said. As we traversed these mountains and valleys, every now and then we saw a herd of buffaloes in the distance with a Thodar or two guarding them. In this way we met four or five Thodares and sent them to fetch the rest. As no women were visible, I promised one a looking-glass if he would go and fetch them. He hastened away up a mountain and brought back four women, who remained at a distance through timidity and would not join the rest. I sent them word that they must approach if they wanted looking-glasses, and then they came up. After this we went on for another half a league or more and came upon two Thodar huts at the foot of a mountain. They were like a large barrel half buried in the ground, or like a covered bier. They were nine spans in length and the same in breadth; and six spans in the highest part. The hoops of the barrel were of thick reeds like Indian cane, bent into a hoop with both ends fixed in the ground. Pieces of wood from the bush were laid across these reeds and covered with grass. The front was made of stakes set on end, like organ pipes, with no other filling whatever. The door was a span and four inches wide, and two spans and an inch high, so that the Errari and myself could scarcely enter, and inside we had to kneel. There were two beds with grass mattresses on each side, and a small pit in the middle of the hut which was the fireplace. There was a little window on one side, a finger’s length high and a span wide. Beside these houses was a pen for buffaloes, and close by another little house where they make the butter. They said the other houses were half a league distant from each other. Thirty or forty Thodares assembled; they are clothed in a large sheet with no other covering but a small loincloth four or five fingers wide. Their arms are long sticks smeared with butter; when new they look like strips of white paper at a distance, but they cure them and they turn black. They wear long beards, and rather long hair, but not so [[727]]long as the Pallem. It was two months since I had shaved or cut my hair, so that I looked like one of them, and they did not wonder at me as they did at the Cacenar, who went there with no hair or beard. They never shave except when one of them dies. At a death they kill half of the dead man’s buffaloes, and the other half goes to his heirs. If he has no buffaloes each person gives one, and half of them are killed and the rest are left. They burn the dead body, but it must be wrapped in a veil of pure silk, which they call a toda-pata, worth five or six fanams; and if this is lacking they must wait for it, though it be for a year. In the meantime, in order to preserve the body they open it at the loins, take out the entrails, and cut off the occiput; then they place it in an arbour and dry it in the smoke. Two brothers marry the same woman; she lives with the eldest at night, and with the youngest by day. Others have two or three wives. They do not eat fowls, cow’s flesh, nor goat, and so they breed none of these. They do not eat buffalo’s flesh, but only wild boar and venison. They eat no salt. They have no crops of any kind, and no occupation but the breeding of buffaloes, on whose milk and butter they live. They have no vassals, as was reported; on the contrary, they are subject and pay tribute to the Badega chiefs. When they eat they hold the rice in their left hand, take a lump of butter in the right, mix it with the rice, and so eat it; when their meal is finished they rub their hands together and wipe them on their hair, and so they all smell of butter. In colour they resemble the Malabars, some whiter and some darker; they are generally moderately tall. Their ears are pierced or bored, not long like those of the Malabars, and some wear a silver circle in them like a ring. They wear black threads round their necks, and some have a large silver bead like a pater-noster in front. I had a skein of black thread in my pocket and drew it out; a Thodar seeing it begged it of me earnestly two or three times. I told him that I must give it to the women, and I divided it in four and gave it to the four women above mentioned, and I gave them a looking-glass each, with which they were very delighted. The women wear nothing but a long sheet like the men; they wrap it round them, throwing the right end over the left shoulder, and so cover themselves. Their hair hangs loose, but their faces are uncovered. I said that the women lower down wore bracelets, chains, and jewels on their arms and necks, and in their ears, and thereupon one [[728]]of them uncovered her arm, on which she wore four large well-made copper bracelets. The sheet worn by both men and women is so filthy that it looks as if it would not burn if you put it on the fire, and if water were thrown on it, it would not penetrate. The men look after the house, cook the rice, do the milking, make the butter, and mind the buffaloes. The women do nothing but pound the rice, and sometimes mind the buffaloes in the absence of their husbands. In speaking with the Pallem I asked him whether he or his wife cooked the rice; he replied that it was a great disgrace among them to allow the wife to cook the rice. The Thodares being thus assembled, I told them that, hearing that we were of the same race and law, I had come to visit them, and as I knew they had neither priest, book, nor law, I being a priest had come to teach them. I asked if they were glad to have me with them, and they replied that they rejoiced greatly at it. I asked if they would follow all my instructions, and they said they would. Then I asked if they would leave off adoring the buffalo and the 300 pagodas. They replied that they feared the buffaloes and pagodas would do them some harm. I said I would be answerable for it, and that I had more power than the pagodas. Then they said that if I would defend them they would willingly leave off adoring them. I asked if they would give up the custom of two brothers marrying one woman, and they said they would. I asked if they thought it right to give their wives to the Pallem; an old man replied, “If it is the command of God, what can we do?” After this they asked me of their own accord to show them the pictures and the book; I did so, and they paid homage to them with great rejoicing. I also gave them a looking-glass each, and after discoursing and conversing with them for some time I asked them to give me two children to take away with me; they excused themselves, saying that they could not do so just then. I asked from whence they were descended, and one replied that he had heard that they came from the East, and some remained there while some settled lower down. They were amazed at seeing white men, and asked me to uncover my arms for them to look at. They were delighted with the Errari’s red tunic and gold buttons, and velvet cap with the gold braid.
At last I took leave of them, promising to return at some time during the year and remain with them longer. It did not seem to me necessary to delay any longer, nor to lay any foundation of our [[729]]faith, as I do not think that the present is a suitable time for the Company to undertake such out-of-the-way enterprises, since it cannot attend to others of greater importance which are close at hand, for want of workers. The Thodares only number a thousand, and these are scattered about four mountains, two belonging to the Malabar, where there are 300. I went to one of these which belongs to the Samorim, another belonging to the Naique, where there are another 300, or a little over; and another belonging to another king, near Charti, where there are another 300 or rather more; the whole distance being eight Canara leagues, which are sixteen in Malabar. And they live scattered about—every month or thereabouts they move their village. The whole district is uninhabited desert. The winds and climate are very cold; the water is excellent, but icy cold; it flows down from the mountains; it cannot be drunk at a draught because of the cold. One is obliged to pause, and after drinking one has to wait awhile for the gums and teeth to get warm. The journey there and back is very laborious and can only be undertaken in January and February. From Manarcate upwards it is impossible to travel in a litter. On the return journey I was very fatigued and asked if it were possible to find men to carry me. I was told that there were plenty of men, but that it was impossible to be carried over these mountains, where one person alone could only climb up and down with great difficulty. Besides this, the Errari and all the rest were very pressing that I should return before any of us fell ill; the Errari said he was himself indisposed, as well as some of the others. They could not tell me anything concerning the Blessed Trinity. I asked them why they wore their hair loose, and a Badaga replied that in the time of Charamparimatei they killed the father of the Thodares, and they asked, “Who killed our father?” and they answered that God killed him; whereupon they unbound their hair and said, “Never will we bind up our hair again until we have killed God, in revenge for our father [and] for the broken pots.” On the return journey the Badegas showed us a shorter and less difficult road, which took us two days and a half, but saved going up and down the last steep mountains. However, there was no lack of mountains to climb, but they were not so difficult, though the first day we climbed down one which was very high and steep. We numbered fourteen with the guides. There was a Badega village at the foot of the mountain, and seeing us they took us for a hostile band and fled into the bush. Our [[730]]guides called to them not to fly, for we were men of peace who had been to visit the Thodares, whereupon they returned, and coming down we found them armed with their little lances, but we saw the women and children still hidden in the bush. A little further on we came upon four or five more houses; these people also fled into the bush, the women carrying the children on their backs. The second day we slept in the bush two leagues from Manarecate. There were tigers and elephants about, but God preserved us and we all reached Calicut in safety, thanks be to Our Lord. Several afterwards fell sick, however, among whom was the Variel, who is still suffering. May God restore him, for he has promised me to become a Christian, and has already broken his own law as regards food, &c.
[[731]]
[1] Add. MS. 9853, pp. 464–5, MS. 25–26 vol. [Translation]. [↑]
[2] Or Cattanar, a native priest of the Syrian Church. [↑]
[3] Add. MS. 9853, p. 479, MS. 40 vol. [Translation]. [↑]
[4] In the translation given by Whitehouse the name of this priest is given as Ferreira. [↑]
[5] A member of the Errari or cowherd caste. [↑]
[7] Whitehouse suggests that this is Melur. [↑]
[8] I do not know the meaning of this. One caste of the Badagas is called Torya. [↑]
[10] By the context this should be 100 buffalo cows. [↑]
[11] Evidently the wursol. [↑]
APPENDIX II
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1812. Keys, William. A Topographical Description of the Neelaghery Mountains (a letter printed in Grigg’s Manual of the Nilagiri District, Appendix, p. xlviii).
1819. “A Subscriber.” Letter to the Madras Courier, Feb. 23, 1819 (reprinted in Grigg’s Manual, Appendix, p. lii).
1820. Macpherson, Evans. A Letter reprinted in Grigg’s Manual, Appendix, p. lv.
1821. Ward, B. S. Geographical and Statistical Memoir of a Survey of the Neelgherry Mountains (printed in Grigg’s Manual, Appendix, p. lx).
1829. Hough, James. Letters on the Climate, Inhabitants, Productions, etc., of the Neilgherries or Blue Mountains of Coimbatore, South India. London. (Letters previously published in the Bengal Hurkaru, 1826.)
1829. Young, D. S. An Account of the General and Medical Topography of the Neelgherries. Trans. Medical and Physical Soc. of Calcutta, vol. iv, p. 36.
1832. Harkness, Henry. A Description of a Singular Aboriginal Race inhabiting the Summit of the Neilgherry Hills. London.
1834. Jervis, H. Narrative of a Journey to the Falls of the Cavery; with an historical and descriptive Account of the Neilgherry Hills. London.
1834. Mignon, Capt. Notes extracted from a Private Journal written during a Tour through Malabar and among the Neilgherries. Bombay, American Mission Press (I have not been able to see a copy of this book).
1837. Schmid, Bernhard. An Essay on the Relationship of Language and Nations. Madras Journ. Lit. and Sci., vol. v, p. 133: on p. 155 is a section “On the Dialect of the Todavers, the Aborigines of the Neelgherries.”
1837. Barron, Richard. Views in India. London. (Coloured plates of Toda man and woman, and of the village of Kars.)
1838. Birch, de Burgh. Topographical Report on the Neilgherries. Madras Journ. Lit. and Sci., vol. viii, p. 86. [[732]]
1838. Schmid, Bernhard. Ueber Sprache- und Völkerverwandschaft, Halle. On S. 27 is a section on the dialect of the Todas.
1842. Stevenson, Rev. Dr. A Collection of Words from the Language of the Todas, the Chief Tribe of the Nilgiri Hills. Journ. Bombay Branch of Roy. Asiatic Soc., vol. i, p. 155.
1844. Muzzy, C. F. Account of the Neilgherry Hill Tribes. Madras Christian Instructor and Missionary Record, Madras, vol. ii, p. 358.
1844. Anon. Madras Spectator, Aug. 31, 1844, p. 559 (an account of a Toda funeral).
1844–5. Congreve, H. The Descent of the Thautawars. Madras Spectator, 1844, pp. 361, 655, 694, 768; 1845, pp. 29, 37, 63.
1847. Congreve, H. The Antiquities of the Neilgherry Hills, including an Inquiry into the Descent of the Thautawars or Todas. Madras Journ. Lit. and Sci., vol. xiv, p. 77.
1848. Ouchterlony. Geographical and Statistical Memoir of a Survey of the Neilgherry Mountains. Madras Journ. Lit. and Sci., 1848, vol. xv, p. 1.
1849. Schmid, B. Remarks on the Origin and Languages of the Aborigines of the Nilgiris, suggested by the papers of Captain Congreve and the Rev. W. Taylor on the supposed Celto-Scythic Antiquities in the South of India. Journ. Bombay Branch Roy. Asiatic Soc., vol. iii, Part I, p. 50.
1851. Ford, Sir Francis. Neilgherry Letters. Bombay, 1851.
1851. Burton, R. F. Goa and the Blue Mountains. London, 1851 (pp. 316–344).
1856. Caldwell, R. A Comparative Grammar of the Dravidian Languages. London; p. 503, “Are the Nilgherry Tudas Dravidians?” (2nd edition, 1875, p. 555).
1857. Metz, J. F. Die Volkstämme der Nilagiri’s. Basel.
1857–8. Metz, F. A Vocabulary of the Dialect spoken by the Todas of the Nilagiri Mountains. Madras Journ. Lit. and Sci., N.S., vol. i, pp. 103, 131, and vol. ii, p. 1.
1864. Metz, F. The Tribe inhabiting the Neilgherry Hills: their Social Customs and Religious Rites; from the rough notes of a German Missionary. Second enlarged edition, Mangalore.
1868. Shortt, J. An Account of the Tribes on the Neilgherries. Madras (republishes part of Ouchterlony’s Memoir).
1869. Shortt, J. An Account of the Hill Tribes of the Neilgherries. Trans. Ethnol. Soc., N.S., vol. vii, p. 230.
1870. King, W. Ross. The Aboriginal Tribes of the Nilgiri Hills. London (republished from Journal of Anthropology).
1873. Marshall, William E. A Phrenologist among the Todas. London (includes “a Brief Outline of the Grammar of the Tuda Language,” by the Rev. G. U. Pope). [[733]]
1873. Breeks, James Wilkinson. An Account of the Primitive Tribes and Monuments of the Nilagiris. London.
1873. Burnell, A. C. Specimens of South Indian Dialects. Mangalore.
1873–5. de Quatrefages. Étude sur les Todas. Journal des Savants, Paris, 1873, p. 729; 1874, pp. 5 and 96; 1875, p. 30.
1874. Walhouse, M. J. A Toda Dry Funeral. Indian Antiquary, vol. iii, p. 93. A Toda “Green Funeral.” Ibid., p. 274.
1874. Kittel. On some Dravidian Words. Indian Antiquary, vol. iii, p. 205.
1877. Walhouse, M. J. Archæological Notes. Indian Antiquary, vol. vi, p. 41.
1880. Grigg, H. B. A Manual of the Nilagiri District in the Madras Presidency. Madras.
1894. Natesa Sastri, S. M. A New Study of the Todas. Madras Mail, Aug. 28th, 1894.
1895. Thurston, Edgar. The Todas of the Nilgiris. Bull. Madras Government Museum, vol. i, p. 141.
1901. Thurston, Edgar. Todas of the Nilgiris. Ibid., vol. iv, p. 1.
? Ling, Catharine F. The Todas. Publication of the Church of England Zenana Missionary Society: London.
1904. Shams-ul-Ulma Jivanji Jamshedji Modi. A few notes on the Todas. Journ. Anthrop. Soc., Bombay, vol. vii, p. 68. [[734]]
APPENDIX III
List of Toda Villages (not including ti mad)
| Village. | Clan. | Badaga name. | Remarks. |
| Akîrsikòdri | Nidrsi | Taranadmand | male funeral place. |
| Ârpâr | Päm | ||
| Ârs | Kuudr | Anekkalmand | |
| Artol | Taradr | Aretalmand | |
| Âtimad | Taradr | Karadikottumand | |
| Eirgûdr | Nòdrs | Nerkodumand | |
| Erparskòdr | Piedr | Yeppakodumand | |
| Îdrtol | Kuudr | Edattalmand | |
| Inikitj | Päm | Bettumand | |
| Isharâdr | Kars | Kadimand | |
| Iûdi | Kwòdrdoni | male funeral place. | |
| Îvigar | Kuudr | Kekidamand | in ruins. |
| Kabûdri | Pan | Tebbekudumand | male funeral place. |
| Kâkhûdri | Melgars | Kaggodumand | |
| Kalmathi | Kars | Kalmattimand | in ruins ten years. |
| Kalmad | Kars | Kulamand | in ruins. |
| Kanòdrs | Kanòdrs | Devarmand | etudmad. |
| Kapthòri | Keadr | Kunnapemand | in ruins. |
| Karars | Keradr | ||
| Karia | Kuudr | Kariyamand | |
| Kârs | Kars | Kandalmand | etudmad. |
| Kârsh | Karsh | ||
| Kashtkòdr | Kuudr | Kattikadumand | unoccupied. |
| Katerk | Nòdrs | Kaitarkemand | |
| Katikâr | Kwòdrdoni | Kodanadmand | |
| Katol | Melgars | in ruins. | |
| Kâvâther | Nidrsi | Kabaiteraimand | |
| Kavîdi | Piedr | in the Wainad. | |
| Keâdr | Keadr | Karrikadumand | etudmad. |
| Kebâr | Nidrsi | female funeral place. | |
| Kedâr | Nòdrs | Kangatarmand | in ruins. |
| Keirod | Kuudr | Keradamand | |
| Kerâdr | Keradr | Kannagimand | etudmad, also male funeral place. |
| Kerkârs | Taradr | Karrakalmand | |
| Keshkar | Kanòdrs | [[735]] | |
| Keshker | Kars | Kakerimand | also called Minikimand. |
| Kidmad | Kidmad | ||
| Kîrsâs | Melgars | ||
| Kiûdr | Kuudr | Kengodumand | satimad. |
| Kiûsh | Piedr | Karimulimand | |
| Kòdrers | Piedr | Hadamand | |
| Koers | Keradr | Kokimalmand | in ruins. |
| Kozhber | Kuudr | Kasubiramand | disused. |
| Kozhtûdi | Nòdrs | ||
| Kûtdimad | Taradr | Kulimand | |
| Kudòdrs | Nòdrs | Kombutukkimand | |
| Kûdrâdr | Keadr | Kudukkadumand | |
| Kûdrmâs | Taradr | Kudimalmand | kalolmad. |
| Kûdrnâkhum | Nòdrs | Kudinagamand | |
| Kugwuln | Kuudr | disused. | |
| Kûirsi | Pan | Kolimand | |
| Kûlikâl | Kwòdrdoni | Kolikkalmand | in ruins. |
| Kulkòdri | Nòdrs | Kolakkadumand | in ruins. |
| Külmud | Kars | Malaividumand | female funeral place. |
| Külthpuli | Nòdrs | female funeral place. | |
| Kûrkalmut | Kuudr | female funeral place. | |
| Kurvâs | Nòdrs | Kurudamand | |
| Kushârf | Kusharf | etudmad. | |
| Kûûdi | Piedr | Anaikundukulimand | (? Köûdi). |
| Kûûdr | Kuudr | Kundakodumand | etudmad. |
| Kuzhû | Kars | Kunditolmand | |
| Kuzhû | Kanòdrs | near Kanòdrs: disused. | |
| Kwarâdr | Keadr | Kugadodmand | |
| Kwatkash | Päm | Marunallimand | female funeral place. |
| Kwîrg | Kuudr | Korangumand | |
| Kwòdrdôni | Kwòdrdoni | Kodudonnemand | etudmad. |
| Madôni | Pedrkars | ||
| Madsû | Päm | Manjathalmand | |
| Madsû | Kuudr | disused. | |
| Marsners | Päm | ||
| Melgârs | Melgars | Manjakkalmand | etudmad. |
| Melkòdr | Kuudr | Mekkodumand | |
| Melûr | Pedrkars | Madaliyurmand | |
| Merkwadrvalth | Kanòdrs | ||
| Meroln | Piedr | male funeral place. | |
| Mîrzôti | Melgars | male funeral place. | |
| Miûni | Kuudr | Marlimand | |
| Molkush | Kuudr | Malkodmand | |
| Mòmanôthi | Piedr | female funeral place. | |
| Mulòrs | Nòdrs | funeral place for boys. | |
| Muthûkòr | Kuudr | disused. | |
| Nasmiòdr | Kars | (Aganadmand) | |
| Nâtêrs | Pan | Natanerimand | |
| Nedrdol | Taradr | Kilmand | in ruins.[[736]] |
| Nelkush | Nòdrs | Neykadimand | in ruins. |
| Nerigudi | Nòdrs | Nergulimand | |
| Nerngòdr | Kuudr | disused. | |
| Nersvem | Kwòdrdoni | Nervenumand | in ruins. |
| Nersvem | Nidrsi | Nadumand | in ruins. |
| Neshkwòdr | Keadr | Nedikodumand | |
| Nidrsi | Nidrsi | Nidimand | etudmad. |
| Nîrkâtji | Kuudr | Nirkachimand | |
| Nîrsht | Piedr | ||
| Nirsk | Päm | female funeral place. | |
| Nòdrmad | Taradr | Nadumand | |
| Nòdrs | Nòdrs | Muttanadmand | etudmad. |
| Nongârsi | Kars | Kettarimand | in ruins (? belonged to Piedr). |
| Nüln | Melgars | Nerigulimand | |
| Òdr | Nòdrs | Aganadmand | |
| Òrs | Taradr | Alaikudalmand | |
| Padegâr | Melgars | Kottapolmand | also called Kotapol, see p. [664]. |
| Pâkhalkûdr | Kars | Bagalkodumand | |
| Paliners | Kuudr | ||
| Päm | Päm | in ruins. | |
| Pamârkol | Piedr | female funeral place. | |
| Pan | Pan | Onnamand | etudmad: often called “One mand.” |
| Panmuti | Nidrsi | Banatimand | |
| Parzkadi | Nidrsi | in ruins. | |
| Pathâdr | Nòdrs | Buddankodumand | |
| Pathmârs | Pan | Bettumand | |
| Pêdrkârs | Pedrkars | Bedakalmand | etudmad. |
| Pegârsi | Keradr | Attumand | in ruins. |
| Peivòrs | Kuudr | ||
| Pekhòdr | Keadr | Osamand | “new mand.” |
| Peletkwur | Kars | Attakoraimand | |
| Pêrg | Pan | Yeragimand | kalolmad. |
| Perththo | Nòdrs | Perittitalmand | see p. [648]. |
| Peshkimad | Pedrkars | female funeral place. | |
| Pevar | Taradr | Pevarmand | in ruins. |
| Pidati | Nidrsi | Bendutimand | |
| Pîedr | Pîedr | Waragudumand | etudmad. |
| Pîitth | Kuudr | male funeral place, near Kuudr. | |
| Pineiwars | Nòdrs | Pinnapolamand | in ruins. |
| Pirshti | Nòdrs | Baggulamand | |
| Pîrsûsh | Kuudr | Billanjikadumand | |
| Pishkwosht | Kanòdrs | Bikkapatimand | |
| Pòdzkwar | Kars | Narigulimand | or Pûzhkwar. |
| Poln | Kusharf | Pagulimand | |
| Pömad | Pemand | Kars | in ruins twenty years: near Peletkwur. |
| Pongûdr | Pedrkars | ||
| Pòsh | Melgars | Onnekudimand | [[737]] |
| Pòti | Piedr | Pattimand | |
| Potvaili | Piedr | disused. | |
| Pülkwûdr | Taradr | Olakkodumand | |
| Pulthkûln | Keradr | Bikkolmand | |
| Punmud | Kwòdrdoni | Banukudumand | female funeral place. |
| Punumikâtuni | Kuudr | female funeral place. | |
| Purati | Nòdrs | Portimand | |
| Puretimokh | Melgars | female funeral place. | |
| Purskudiâr | Pan | Porikodiyoramand | |
| Pushtar | Taradr | Pattaraimand | |
| Putamad | Kuudr | disused. | |
| Pûtol | Nòdrs | Puttalmand | |
| Püvars | Kars | Ammakoraimand | |
| Pûvi | Päm | Pudiyapalamand | male funeral place |
| Sultar | Pedrkars | male funeral place. | |
| Sudvaili | Piedr | male funeral place in the Wainad. | |
| Tâktut | Päm | place for small male funerals. | |
| Taknin | Kanòdrs | near Kanòdrs. | |
| Tâmâkh | Kuudr | Tamogamand | |
| Târâdr | Taradr | Tarnardmand | etudmad, and male funeral place. |
| Târâdrkîrsi | Kars | Kavaikkadumand | male funeral place, also kalolmad. |
| Tarkòdr | Kuudr | Terkodmand | |
| Tavatkûdr | Piedr | Tavattakoraimand | |
| Tebmârs | Taradr | Urutharaimand | |
| Tedshteiri | Nòdrs | Talapatharaimand | |
| Teidr | Kusharf | Denadmand | |
| Telgûdr | Taradr | Telhodumand | kalolmad. |
| Tigòir | Piedr | Tukkaramand | |
| Tîm | Pan | male funeral place: possibly another name of Kabûdri. | |
| Tòthikeir | Nòdrs | Jegadevarmand | in ruins. |
| Tôvalkan | Keradr | Tuvalkandimand | |
| Tûdrkwur | Kusharf | Todakaraimand | |
| Tülchoven | Päm | male funeral place. | |
| Umgâs | Kusharf | Yemmekalmand | |
| Ushâdr | Melgars | Kavaimand | male and female funeral place. |
| Wengûdr | Taradr | Yenakodumand | in ruins. |
[[738]]