Here again two clans, the Pedrkarsol and the Kulhemol, are less important than the others. They are offshoots of the Kuudrol, but the separation is of very long standing.
There was some doubt as to the existence of another clan, the Kwaradrol, but it seemed certain that these people, who have now died out, formed a subdivision of the Keadrol.
One Teivali clan has become extinct, its last member having died, it was said, about a hundred years ago. This clan took its name from the village of Kemen, which was near Kiudr, but no trace of this village exists at present and I think it probable that the Kemenol have been extinct longer than the Todas suppose.
The villages of each clan are usually situated in the same part of the hills, though there are very often outlying villages far from the main group. At any one period of the year, only some of the villages of the clan are occupied. The people may move about from one village to another according [[37]]to the need for pasturage, and the villages in the Kundahs and other outlying parts of the hills appear only to be visited during the dry season before the south-west monsoon sets in.
Each clan is further subdivided, these subdivisions being of two kinds. One, called the kudr, is only of ceremonial importance, and we shall meet with it first in the chapter dealing with offerings. The other, called the pòlm, is of more practical importance, and is the basis of the machinery for regulating any expenses which fall on the clan as a whole. [[38]]
[1] Those who wish for information on this point should consult the articles by Mr. Edgar Thurston in the Bulletins of the Madras Museum, vol. i., pp. 148 and 207, and vol. iv., p. 2. [↑]
[2] The word marth is also occasionally used. [↑]
[3] Harkness and others have called this pen tuel, but repeated inquiry on my part failed to elicit this form of the word. Tuelu would mean “where is the tu?” and it is possible that Harkness heard the word in this form. [↑]
[4] For the purpose of photography, a hole was made outside the hut exactly like that within the hut. The picture must not be taken to indicate that pounding is ever normally performed out of doors. [↑]