The Melgarsol form a fairly large clan, having at the present time about thirty-one male and twenty female representatives. They have at present only one kudr, the other having become extinct about eight years ago on the death of Tikon (49). A half-sister of this man is still living, but the kudr has no male representative. During the last eight years, the Melgarsol have had no trouble (kaspel) which has made it necessary to perform the irnörtiti ceremony, but should the occasion arise, a naim would decide on a re-division of the other kudr. I was told that the matter was continually the subject of discussion, and it seemed probable that the nature of the re-division was already more or less arranged, but would not be definitely settled till the occasion arose. [[664]]
The one kudr has four pòlm, of which the chief men are Kiunievan (44), Artholvan (45), Nòtirzi (46) and Ilgeivan (48). Tergudrvan (47) belonged to the same pòlm as Artholvan. The families included in Table 49 are all extinct in the male line, and, with the exception of Tikon, I am doubtful to which kudr or pòlm they belonged.
Melgars, the chief village, is situated behind the gardens of Government House at Ootacamund. It has few features of interest, and there is little to be seen at the other villages of the clan. Nüln (Narigulimand) is situated in the Kundahs.
Two Toda villages, Ki Perththo and Padegar, are said to be the general property of the Tartharol, but at the time of my visit both were inhabited by the Melgarsol.
The village of Katol, which is now ruined, is mentioned by Harkness as one of the villages near Ootacamund.
The chief funeral place is Ushadr, mentioned in the story of Kwoto. There is another funeral place called Mirzoti common to Melgars and Kidmad.
Kidmad and Karsh
These are two sub-divisions of the Melgarsol which separated from the main body, probably about seven or eight generations ago. At first I heard only of Kidmad, and it was only when working over the Nidrsiol that I found there were people living with this clan who did not belong to it, but were an offshoot of the Melgars people and were called Karshol.
According to one account, both Kidmadol and Karshol separated from the main body at the same time, but, according to another, the people who first separated belonged to Karsh and then split some generations later into the two groups.
The separation was due to a quarrel between father and son. The Melgars people were holding a council and one of the chief men of the clan was late in coming. When he appeared in the distance, he was recognised by nobody but his own son, who, when asked who was coming, said “pazuli padmokh pöti âtham nôtthred? Kûtm it vòrs!”—i.e., [[665]]“A wanderer and bastard comes, why do you look at him? Let the council go forward!” (Pazuli is a name applied to a man who belongs to no clan, and padmokh is the name of the child of a woman with whom no man has performed the pursütpimi ceremony.)