XXIV. ARTS AND AMUSEMENTS…

XXIV. ARTS AND AMUSEMENTS

The arts of life among the Todas are extremely simple. The fact that their agriculture is done for them by the Badagas and that all the objects they use in their daily life are made for them by the Kotas leaves them free to devote their whole attention to the care of the buffalo and the dairy. This employment has acquired so ceremonial a character that, having dealt with the ceremonies of the Todas, we find little left to consider in connexion with the regulation of the affairs of daily life.

The artistic side of life among the Todas is but little developed. Their interest is so much absorbed in ceremony that little is left for the development of art, even of a primitive kind. The decorative arts are of the simplest and are directed only to the adornment of the clothing or the person, and even here we shall find that the methods of wearing the clothes or the hair are quite as much influenced by ceremonial as by æsthetic considerations. In their amusements again we shall find that the influence of ceremonial is so great, that many of the games are merely imitations of ceremonial occupations.

I have included in this chapter an account of the ideas which are held about the heavenly bodies, the primitive astronomy of the people. To the Todas, though in a less degree than to many people of low culture, it is the sun, moon, and stars which are the chief objects of those observations and speculations which are the beginnings of science.

CLOTHING

The clothing of the men consists of a large cloak called the putkuli, a loincloth called tadrp, and a small perineal cloth called kuvn, kept in its place by a string round the waist called pennar.

The putkuli is made of a large piece of double cloth, which is usually worn by placing one side over the left shoulder and then throwing the whole garment round the back and over the right shoulder and across to the left shoulder, so that it completely envelops the body. This method of wearing the cloak, which is shown by the third man of Fig. 61, is called kai ulk üt nidvai, “hand into laid who stands,” or “who stands with hand placed within the cloak.”

The double layer of cloth of which the cloak is made is sewn together at the edges except at the upper part of one side, leaving the opening of a large pocket which is bounded by lines where the two layers of the cloak are again sewn together. This pocket is called kudsh and is very capacious, so that a Toda may produce a surprising number of articles from it. As we have seen, many of the articles given to the dead are placed in this pocket.

There are two methods of wearing the cloak adopted on special occasions. One of these is that called kevenarut (adopted by the second man in Fig. 61), with which we have already often met. The right arm is put out of the cloak, so that the arm and shoulder are bare whenever a Toda approaches certain sacred personages or objects. The cloak is worn kevenarut whenever the wearer is engaged in prayer or employed in any way at the dairy. It is also worn in this way when approaching a palol, when performing the kaimukhti salutation, and when crossing either of the sacred streams.

The other method is that shown by the fourth man in Fig. 61 and is called mad âr mitch nidvai, “head on covered who stands.” The cloak is worn in this fashion by a widower between the middle of the first funeral ceremony and the final scene of the azaramkedr. It is also worn in this way by those who throw earth in the puzhutpimi ceremony of each funeral.

The tadrp is a loincloth worn in the ordinary way, as shown by the first man in Fig. 61. The tadrp of a young child has a pocket called terigs, but I do not know whether this pocket also exists in the tadrp of an adult.

Both putkuli and tadrp are manufactured by Hindus, probably in the Coimbatore district. Thirty years ago, according to Breeks, the cloth was procured from weavers who came from Serumuge in Coimbatore, but at the present time the garments are bought by the Todas at the bazaar. When obtained by the Todas they have certain red and blue lines, and sometimes the Todas supplement this decoration by embroidery called pukuru, which is the work of the women, and a cloak so decorated is called pukuruputkuli. The decoration is shown in Figs. 1 and 9. Some women are especially expert at this work, and one woman who has recently had to change her name is now called Pukuruveli on account of her special skill.

The chief point of interest in connexion with the kuvn is the string by which it is supported. This string is called pennar, or “butter string,” and forms a special contribution made by relatives, and especially the sister’s son, at a funeral. Further, the string is of especial significance in the dairy ceremonial, where it is sometimes called kerk.

Both putkuli and tadrp are also worn by women. The garments are of the same kind as those of the men and are worn in the same ways.

The higher grades of dairymen wear garments called tuni, made of a different material, a grey cloth, which has been said to be manufactured by the Badagas of Jakaneri, but is probably only procured by their help. A cloak of similar material called än is, or should be, used to enwrap the bodies of the dead; and, as we have already seen, there is some reason to believe that garments of this material may have been the original clothing of the Todas, for in the legend of Kwoten, the wife of this hero wore a cloak of this kind.

The Todas themselves manufacture a special kind of material called twadrinar from the bark of a plant, and this is largely used in the ordination ceremonies. In the ordination of a Teivali palikartmokh, it may take the place of the petuni; at that of a wursol, twadrinar may be used as a girdle; and on the fourth day of the ordination ceremonies of the palol, the candidate manufactures and wears a rough kuvn made of this material. Its use in ceremony appears to be limited to the Teivaliol, and it is possible that it also is a survival in ceremony of clothing once in general use by this or both divisions of the Toda people.

Many of the older and more important Todas now wear the turban called madpâri, but there is no doubt that this is an innovation. The Todas themselves sometimes speak of the Badagas as “they who wear the turban,” and it seemed clear that the custom has been adopted in imitation of these people. Harkness and other of the earliest writers state that the Todas never wear any covering to the head, and there is little doubt that the practice has been adopted during the last century.

At the present time a man always removes his turban when performing any act of reverence (see Fig. 10) and when crossing one of the sacred rivers.

Mr. Thurston mentions that on his first visit, the man whom he chose as his guide adopted the turban in honour of his appointment, and my guide, Kòdrner, although much younger than most of those who wore turbans, also adopted this custom when he was with me.

METHODS OF WEARING THE HAIR

There are various methods of wearing the hair, each of which has its special significance. The ordinary method for men is to allow it to grow to a certain length, so that it forms a compact mass, as shown by the first man of Fig. 61, or as in Fig. 15.

When a member of a clan dies, all the men of the clan tie their hair in knots in front till the funeral ceremonies are completed. This is called mad tutvai, “head (or hair) who rolls,” and the second man in Fig. 61 is wearing his hair in this fashion, a girl of his clan having died not long before, whose second funeral ceremonies had not yet taken place.

Another method of wearing the hair is shown by the third man in Fig. 61. This method is called mad nadrk vai, “head (or hair) long to who.” It is adopted by anyone who has made a vow. In Fig. 62 another man is shown in the same condition, but his head has a different appearance owing to the fact that he has tied two locks behind in order to keep the long hair away from his face. This tying back has no other significance.

Women wear their hair as shown in Figs. 3 and 11, in long ringlets, and there do not appear to be any differences in the method of wearing the hair under different conditions corresponding to those of males.

After a funeral the Tarthar division of the Todas except the Melgarsol shave their heads, and this may also happen in connexion with vows made at the Hindu temple at Nanjankudi or elsewhere.

The hair of a child is shaved about the third month of life (see p. 332), so that the head has the appearance shown in Figs. 63 and 64. The head is shaved on the top and sides, and in a strip from the top to the forehead, so that three locks are left, two in front, called the mîkuti (? meikuti), and one behind, called the kut.

In the case of a girl, there is some difference in the method of shaving according to the position of the child in the family. If a girl is the eldest of the family, she wears three locks like a boy, but younger girls and the eldest girl, if she should have an elder brother, wear only the two front locks, the mîkuti.

SKIN-MARKS

The only kind of skin-mark made on males takes the form of a cicatrix on the right shoulder and, less commonly, on the elbow. It is produced by means of a stick made hot by the drill method of producing fire, exactly as in the production of fire for ceremonial purposes. The operation is not, however, accompanied by any ceremonial and may be performed by anyone. The marks are made when a boy is about twelve years old, at which age he begins to milk the buffaloes. The object of the marking is to cure the pain arising from the fatigue of milking. If the operation has not the desired result and the boy still feels the fatiguing effect of milking, a second mark is made, and occasionally a third or fourth may be necessary. In one case, in which a man had three marks one on the shoulder and two on the elbow, the third mark was not made till he was fifteen or sixteen years of age, three or four years after the first mark had been produced. This was done because, even after this lapse of time, he still suffered from aching in his arm after milking the buffaloes. Another man had four scars on the shoulder, this being the largest number I observed.

Occasionally I observed a man without any of these scars, and, in more than one of these cases, the reason given was that the man had been one of a large family and had not had to do much milking. The cicatrices are usually raised well above the surrounding skin and are often distinct lumps of scar tissue (keloid). This appears to be the result of special treatment of the burn. A leaf called kudiers is put on the wound with butter, and this keeps it open for a considerable time. If the wound remains open too long, another leaf, called pöturers, is used to hasten the healing.

Similar, but less raised, marks are occasionally seen on the wrist or elsewhere. In men these are always the result of treatment for pain or illness and are made in the same way by means of a hot stick. Sometimes a metal instrument called sunurkudi is now used for this purpose.

The ceremonial burns made on the wrists of women during the first pregnancy have already been fully considered.

Tattooing is only practised by women. The patterns consist of rings and dots arranged in straight lines, and they are most commonly to be seen on the chest, shoulders, and upper parts of the arms. [230]

I believe that there is some kind of ceremonial connected with tattooing, but unfortunately I failed to obtain satisfactory information about it. When I began the subject one day, I received an intimation that it was not a matter to be discussed in public, and later the subject slipped my attention and was never properly investigated.

The tattooing is performed by certain women, but it seemed that any woman who had learned how to tattoo might undertake the business. The following are at present recognised as experts: Achaveli (43), Sinpurs and Edjog (20), Sinpurs being probably the same woman who acts as one of the utkòren. The woman who tattoos is given eight or twelve annas and she also receives food.

The tattooing must not take place before puberty, but it may be done either before or after childbirth.

Little use is made by the Todas of pigments. The juice of a fruit called îlpom, which has a red colour, is sometimes used to adorn the forehead, and another reddish juice from a fruit called puthimulpom [231] is used for the same purpose. The yellowish juice of the pelkurthpom is rubbed on the face, but this was said to be done in frosty weather only, as a protection against the cold. Ashes are now occasionally rubbed on the face and head, especially by women at the ceremony of going to the seclusion-hut after childbirth. The last is certainly a recently borrowed custom, and I suspect the other adornments just mentioned to be modern imitations of the forehead marks of the Hindus.

ORNAMENTS

The men usually wear silver rings on the fourth digit of one or other hand. Often earrings are worn by the men and these are not uncommonly of gold. Harkness says that men sometimes wore chains of silver round the neck, but it is doubtful whether these are ever worn now. Formerly it seems that men used to wear far more solid rings, and one such ring is preserved which is said to have belonged to the hero or god Kwoten.

The ornaments of the women are more numerous and take the form of bracelets or bangles; armlets, often adorned with bunches of cowries; necklaces, sometimes made of silver coins; earrings; and a brass circlet worn round the waist. These ornaments are usually of brass or silver. At one time they seem to have been very massive, Breeks recording that a pair of brass armlets worn on one arm weighed six pounds. Formerly gold ornaments seem to have been commonly worn, and, so far as one can judge from older accounts and illustrations, it seems that Toda jewellery has greatly degenerated and is of a very paltry kind compared with that worn in the past.

FOOD

The chief foods are milk, buttermilk, ghi, grain, rice, and sugar. The chief drink is buttermilk, and milk is used chiefly when boiled with rice or grain.

In clarifying their butter the Todas add some grain or rice, and this forms a sediment on the bottom of the cooking vessel which is called al, which is the chief food of the dairymen, and it is probably also used largely as a food in ordinary life.

A list of various herbs, fruits, &c., eaten by the Todas is given by Mr. Thurston. [232] There is very little doubt that at one time these were used much more largely than at present, when the grain provided by the Badagas is supplemented by rice and grain bought in the bazaar. The Todas have a tradition of a time when they lived chiefly on roots, herbs, fruits and honey, and the importance of honey comes out in several of their legends.

A much prized substance called patcherski is made from samai grain (Panicum miliare), which is roasted and pounded so as to get rid of the husk. It is used in the preparation of a food which is eaten on all the chief ceremonial occasions. When they prepare it the Todas say “ashkkartpimi,” and this verbal form is used as the name of the food. In making ashkkartpimi, patcherski is put into a basket (tòdri) which has been carefully cleansed by rubbing it all over with dried buffalo-dung. Buttermilk and jaggery are added and the whole mixed together and rolled into balls, each about as large as a cricket ball. When eating, a hole is made in the ball into which ghi and butter, sometimes honey, are poured, and then the hole is covered with rice. [233] A man will usually eat two of these balls at a feast, but a greedy man may manage three or four.

The Todas do not like others to see them eating, and if this happens, the same consequences may ensue as are produced by the evil eye. Their natural politeness also makes the Todas uncomfortable when they see others eating, and in the early part of my visit I sometimes dispersed a group surrounding me by taking sandwiches out of my pocket and beginning to eat.

I did not ascertain definitely who cooks among the Todas. I had some reason to suppose that all the cooking is done by the men and that the women have nothing to do with this part of domestic economy, but I am not clear about this. It is possible that it is only food containing milk which must be cooked by the men.

The Todas are an example of a people who have no native intoxicant, but they have now taken to alcoholic drinks, though I do not believe that they indulge in these habitually. The only occasions on which I saw Todas under the influence of alcohol were when they were returning from the bazaar on market days. I was only once asked by a Toda for alcohol and then by a woman. Tobacco is now largely used and opium is certainly also used, though I do not believe that it is taken in excess. It may be employed, however, as a means of committing suicide.

FIRE-MAKING

We have already seen that the fire used for several sacred purposes must be made by friction with the fire-sticks. The method employed is a variety of the drill method shown in Figs. 65 and 37. In the former the wursol of Taradr is making fire in order to enable me to procure a photograph; the latter is the result of a snapshot taken when the fire was being produced during a ceremony. In the horizontal stick, which is held firmly by the foot, a hole is made for the insertion of the vertical stick, and in this a little charcoal is placed. A small groove is cut on one side to assist the falling of the spark on the tinder beneath. The vertical stick is inserted into the hole and twirled between the two hands. In the only case in which I saw fire produced by friction in a ceremony (Fig. 37), the continued efforts of the two old men were unavailing, and a third younger man was called upon, and with a few powerful manipulations he was rapidly successful.

Several kinds of wood are used for the fire-sticks, the Toda names of these being kiaz or keadj, mòrs, parskuti, and main. Only the first of these, however, may be used if fire is being made for sacred purposes, and I was told that it was much easier to make fire with this than with any other.

In some Toda villages a stone is kept called tütmûkal, which was used at one time for making fire by striking it with a piece of iron. Probably this method was employed for non-sacred purposes in the period between giving up the fire-sticks for ordinary purposes and the introduction of matches.

The Todas have two kinds of fireplace, the waskal, consisting of three stones, and the kudrvars, with four stones. The former is found in the dwelling-hut, in the wursuli, and in the ti dairy, and the latter in the tarvali and kudrpali; but I did not discover why the more sacred dairies should have the same kind of fireplace as the house. According to one account waskal is the name used by the Teivaliol and kudrvars by the Tartharol, and it may be that this is the explanation of the apparent anomaly.

THE HOUSE

Various parts of the house have definite names, and may only be used for certain purposes. As we have already seen, there are raised seats both outside and inside the house, the latter being used as beds. These are made of earth, the upper surface of which is made level, and the whole is usually well coated with a layer of dried buffalo-dung, sometimes nearly half an inch thick. The general name for these raised parts is tün, the seats outside the building on either side of the door being called kwottün, while the bed on the right side of the interior is the meitün, and that on the left side the kitün. The part of the hut where the bed or beds stand is called the idrtul.

The floor is called kuter, and this is divided into two parts by the hole in which the women pound the grain. The part near the door is called kikuter, and it is in this part only that dairy operations may be carried on. The part behind the pounding hole is especially assigned to the women and is called meilkuter. [234]

The end wall, on which various objects, such as sticks, are kept is called tashten, and the fireplace, usually on one side, is called waskal. The part above the fireplace where firewood is kept is called waskalkûbi, and the place of the cooking vessels is called adikudi. The western side of the hut is sometimes called the meilmakol, and the eastern side the kimakol, but I do not know if this implies any rule as to the orientation of the houses.

The method of building is illustrated by Fig. 66, which shows a hut only partially built. Certain Todas have special reputations as architects, and the most famous of these at the present time is Kijievan (50), who superintended the building of the hut at Kiudr shown in Fig. 7, the most spacious and artistic of the strictly Toda dwellings which I saw on the hills. Especial care is often taken with the arrangement of the rattan on the front of the hut, which is shown in Fig. 20. This is a picture of a dairy, but it shows the arrangement which is also found in the best of the houses.

The hut used for the seclusion of women before and after childbirth is a rough structure of wood and thatch, but its name, puzhars, means “mud house,” which suggests that huts made of earth may at one time have been used by the Todas.

IMPLEMENTS AND UTENSILS

The most important objects in the economic life of the Todas are their dairy vessels, which have been already amply considered. Cooking vessels and implements used for cutting wood or for any other purpose are, like the vessels of the village dairy, procured chiefly from the Kotas, though at the present time the source of supply is probably supplemented by purchases in the bazaar.

As the Todas practise few arts, their need of implements is very small. At one time they used thorns as needles, but now steel needles have taken their place. Thorns are also used for tattooing. Leaves are used as plates and cups, and the fingers take the place of forks. The only definite implements used are knives and axes, the latter being especially needed for procuring firewood.

In some of their ceremonies, the Todas have preserved practices which may possibly be survivals of the use of stone implements. In the funeral ceremonies the buffaloes destined for the next world are killed with the back of an axe, but the buffaloes killed at the koòtiti ceremony and at the ceremony of purifying the funeral places must be killed with a stone. Further, the bark of the tudr tree used in so many ceremonies must always be knocked off the tree by means of a stone. The latter of these practices must certainly be very ancient, and may well be a relic of an age in which implements were made of stone.

THE POUNDER, SIEVE, AND BROOM

The interest of these articles lies in the fact that they are evidently regarded as the emblems of woman. When the wursol sleeps in the village hut, these articles are removed from the hut, and when the ti buffaloes pass the village of Kiudr, the women who leave this village take with them the pounder, sieve, and broom.

In the case of the wursol, this sacred personage may associate with the women themselves if the three objects which seem to be emblematic of womanhood are removed.

The pounder, sieve, and broom are burnt at the funerals of women, who use the pounder on their journey to the other world. A special kind of sieve called kudshmurn is also burnt at the azaramkedr, but I believe that this is burnt at all funerals, both of males and females.

The pounder, sieve, and broom are widely endowed with magical properties, and this is especially the case in India, [235] but I do not know of any other instance in which they are especially regarded as the emblems of woman.

WEAPONS

At the present time it cannot be said that the Todas use any weapons, but they retain in their ceremonies weapons which were, no doubt, formerly in use. These are the club and the bow and arrow.

The club only remains in the funeral ceremonies, in which it is called nanmakud (see Fig. 67), and is burnt at the azaramkedr, and several other special sticks are also burnt, which may have been of the nature of clubs.

The bow and arrow have left more traces of their former importance. They are burnt at the azaramkedr of a man, and the weapons for this purpose are provided by the Kotas. The bow and arrow are also used in the koòtiti ceremony of a Tarthar funeral. In the pursütpimi ceremony the husband gives an imitation bow and arrow to his wife. The bow gives its name to the ceremony and its gift forms the essential incident of the ceremony. Further, the bow has a special name different for each clan. The use of an arrow lingers in name in other ceremonies. In the erkumptthpimi ceremony, the knife used for cutting up the sacrificed calf is called ab, or arrow. In the ceremony of tersamptpimi a lock of hair is cut from a young child with a piece of sharpened iron called kanab, or “eye arrow,” but this name is only in use among the Tartharol. The use of these words seems to point to a time when iron-tipped arrows were used as cutting instruments, and it is even possible that this is a survival of a time when the Todas were so much isolated that their only iron was that of the tips of their arrows.

The bow and arrow are also mentioned in the legend of Kwoten. Teikuteidi was killed by an arrow shot by a lame man who lay down when he shot. It is possible that this legend points to an ancient custom of shooting the bow and arrow by means of the legs.

MEASURES AND NUMERALS

The Toda measure of length is the mogai or mogoi, which corresponds to the cubit, being the length from the elbow to the tips of the fingers. The word is probably related to mogal, the term for fore-arm.

The usual measure of capacity for liquids is the kudi, said to be equal to about four pints. Another measure is the kòni, two of which make one kudi. The kòni probably corresponds to the milking vessel, or pun.

For measuring out grain, the Todas use a special table of measures consisting of âk and kwâ, eleven âk making one kwâ. When measuring out grain, modifications of the ordinary numerals are used.

In the following lines I give these on the right-hand side of the page, those on the left being the ordinary numerals. Urâk is the equivalent of ud âk, or one measure.

ud one ûrâk erd two îrâk mûd three mâk nonk four oponi udz five oiâk âr six ârâk ö or eu seven öâk or euâk öt eight ötâk unpoth nine unpâk poth ten pothâk ponud eleven ukwâ ponerd twelve ponerdâk ponmûd thirteen ponmûdâk ponnonk or pânk fourteen ponnonkâk ponudz or podz fifteen ponudzâk pâr sixteen pârâk pö or pör seventeen pöâk pût eighteen pûtâk ponpoth nineteen ponpothâk evoth twenty evothâk evoth ud twenty-one evothudâk (doubtful) evoth erd twenty-two ikwâ evoth mûd twenty-three ikwâ ûrâk : : : : : : mopoth thirty ikwâ ötâk : : : : : : mopoth mûd thirty-three mûkhwâ : : : : : : nâpoth forty mûkhwâ öâk : : : : : : nâpoth nonk forty-four nâkhwâ : : : : : : epoth fifty nâkhwâ ârâk : : : : : : epoth udz fifty-five aiiwâ : : : : : : âroth sixty aiiwâ oiâk : : : : : : âroth âr sixty-six ârwâ : : : : : : övoth seventy ârwâ oponi : : : : : : övoth ö seventy-seven ökwâ : : : : : : ötvoth eighty ökwâ mâk : : : : : : ötvoth öt eighty-eight ötkwâ : : : : : : unvoth ninety ötkwâ ârâk : : : : : : unvoth unpoth ninety-nine unpawâ : : : : : : anûr hundred unpawâ ud

Above a hundred the numbers of kwâ are continued to potkwâ, ponudkwâ, &c., up to twenty kwâ, which make one siligh, and then the people begin again at the beginning.

This occurrence of the number eleven is probably a consequence of the transactions between Todas and Badagas. There was some reason to believe that the true Toda measure is the âk (probably a contraction of achok) and that the Badagas brought their grain to the Todas in vessels called kwâ. The kwâ contained eleven of the Toda âk, and hence came about the very unusual proportion between two measures.

In giving ages or any other period of time, the word for year, kwòdr, is often abbreviated to wâ; thus nâpoth kwòdr, forty years, becomes nâpothwâ.

In counting the Todas use their fingers largely and have a special method of indicating the numbers. To signify one, the thumb is placed against the tip of the little finger; for two, against the tip of the ring finger; for three, against the middle finger; for four, against the forefinger; for five, the tip of the index finger is placed over the nail of the thumb; the same position is used for six, while that for seven is the same as for four, and so on, so that when ten is reached the thumb is resting again on the tip of the little finger.

MONEY

The Todas use the ordinary Indian currency. In their legends and ceremonies there is frequent reference to the panm, or four-anna piece.

Among the coins used by the Todas at the funeral ceremonies there are many of considerable age with Arabic inscriptions, and the earlier visitors to the hills describe the Todas as possessing old Venetian gold pieces. In the legend telling how the kaltmokh of the Nòdrs ti dispersed the invading Coorgs (p. 114), the boy made use of a small gold coin called pirpanm, which he had in his possession.

THE CALENDAR

The Todas have twelve months, each of which begins with the new moon. The first month of the Toda year is Tai, which begins with the new moon in October, so that this month usually includes part of October and part of November. Some of the chief Toda ceremonies, such as that of teutütusthchi and the more important ceremonies of erkumptthpimi, take place soon after the new moon marking the commencement of this month, and these ceremonies were sometimes said to signalise the beginning of a new year. The following are the names of the Toda months, with the periods of our year to which they approximately correspond:—

Tai October—November Emioti November—December Kûdrl December—January Alâni January—February Nalâni February—March Âni March—April Âtheri April—May Âdi May—June Ovâni June—July Peritâthi July—August Tudeivi August—September Kirdivi September—October.

Each month has thirty days. A record is kept of the number of days from one new moon to the full moon, and from that to the next new moon. The full moon is counted as being on the fifteenth day after the new moon, and the new moon as being on the sixteenth day after the full moon.

THE WEEK

The names for the days of the week are as follows:—

Âsvom Sunday Tûvom Monday Òm Tuesday Pûthvom Wednesday Tâm Thursday Pîlivom Friday Thanivom or Tanivom Saturday.

According to Schmid, who wrote in 1837, Òm is regarded as the first day of the week. Schmid also notes that the names for Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday agree in etymology with Tamil, Wednesday being Buddha’s day and Friday the day of Venus. He gives Etnat as an alternative name for Saturday.

ASTRONOMICAL IDEAS

We have already seen that the Todas reverence the sun, and that the period of the moon is of the greatest importance in the regulation of the times for their ceremonies. In this chapter we have to deal with their views as to the nature of these bodies and of the stars.

THE SUN

The Todas believe that when the sun goes down in the west, it goes to Amnòdr. The same sun illuminates both worlds, and this is shown very well in the story of Kwoto; when this demi-god tied down the sun, there was darkness both in this world and in the other, and the people of Amnòdr joined with those of this world in imploring that the sun should be restored to its proper place.

When the Todas know that there is going to be an eclipse of the sun, they abstain from food, but they do not shout out during the eclipse as we shall see they do in the case of the moon. When the eclipse is over, they have a feast with ashkkartpimi.

THE MOON

The new moon is called mut and the full moon nêrv. We have already seen the enormous influence of the period of the moon in Toda ceremonial and I have given above the method of counting between the periods of new and full moon so as to know the correct day of the new moon if for any reason it should not be visible.

The Todas see a figure in the moon which they call mürs, the hare. [236] The following story not only shows how the hare comes to be there, but also furnishes the explanation of eclipses of the moon and the origin of the Paikara river. [237]

Two men who were matchuni (see p. 501) went out one day to fetch honey. After a time they separated, and one found honey, while the other found none. The man who found the honey put it into a dairy vessel called pun, which he hid in a tree, and when he met the other did not tell him of his good fortune. After a time the pun containing honey which had been put in the tree suddenly broke, and the vessel became a snake, while the honey became the Paikara river. The snake ran after the man who had hidden the honey, and when the man saw the snake coming after him, he ran away. As he was being pursued, a hare came between the man and the snake. Then the man threw his cloak over the hare and hid himself, and the snake ran after the hare. The hare ran to the sky followed by the snake, and they came near the sun, which said, “Don’t come near me because I am very hot. Go to the moon!” So the hare went to the moon, and the moon said, “Do not be afraid; I will protect you till the end of the world.” The snake still goes sometimes to catch the hare in the moon, and when he goes the moon becomes dark and some people fire guns and send up rockets and the Todas shout. When it is known that there is going to be an eclipse the Todas abstain from food, and when they see the moon being eclipsed they shout out.

I was told that there was another incident of the story connected with shooting stars, but I was unable to obtain an account of it.

PLANETS

The Todas know Venus, which they call Pili, and they also speak of the “morning star.”

CONSTELLATIONS AND STARS

The Todas have names for several stars or constellations. The Pleiades are called Kadsht and the constellation is believed to be composed of six stars.

Another heavenly body which I could not identify is called Keirt. Keirt has already been mentioned in Chap. XIV., and it is the evil influence of this body which is chiefly feared after childbirth. It is said to be a star which is never present in the same part of the sky as Kadsht. The reason for this is that once Keirt and Kadsht fought together. Kadsht had six men and Keirt only one. Keirt broke the leg of one of the six men, so that now there are five stars close together in the Pleiades and one lags behind. On account of this quarrel Swami ruled that Kadsht and Keirt must never be together, but that when Kadsht is on one side of the sky, Keirt must always be on the other.

When talking about Keirt in connexion with the ceremony of going to the seclusion-hut, it was said that Keirt was near the sun and that the sun was dangerous because Keirt was near it. It seemed that Keirt was always near the sun, which led me to suspect at first that it was Venus. It was quite clear, however, that this was not so. No one could show me Keirt, nor was anyone clear as to the part of the sky in which it was to be seen at any time in the night, and I think it most probable that this mysterious inhabitant of the sky is not a star at all, but a being allied to the Hindu Ketu. On the other hand, at a funeral attended by Samuel, the setting of Kadsht and the appearance of Keirt was taken as the sign that the proceedings of the azaramkedr might begin, which looks as if Keirt was a real heavenly body. I think it is most probable that the whole idea of the injurious influence of Keirt is borrowed from the Badagas, and, if this is the case, the Toda word is probably merely an altered form of Ketu. I was told that Keirt was a Badaga word and that the Badagas feared its influence on women after childbirth.

A group of stars called Pòdimin, or porcupine star, corresponds to the stars in the sword of Orion. They are regarded as a porcupine from which the three stars of the belt are trying to escape.

A constellation of seven stars is called Katikâlmin. From the description it appeared to be the Great Bear. This constellation was not visible, but when I made a drawing of its seven chief stars, it was at once recognised as Katikâlmin.

A single star called Ishtkati is almost certainly Sirius. This star was not visible in the evenings during my visit, and at first Jupiter was pointed out to me as Ishtkati, but this was certainly wrong. Ishtkati appeared to correspond to the Badaga etukaḍichi, which means “bull deceiving.” The origin of the name is that one night a Badaga went out from his house and saw a very bright star, so bright that he thought it was the morning star. So he let his bulls out from the enclosure in which he had put them for the night. When a long time passed and it did not become day, the man said, “Let the star be called etukaḍichi.”

A pair of stars to which the Todas give the names of Tûdrvalmokh and Tidiishti are near Aldebaran, forming part of the Hyades (probably γ and ε Tauri). The following story tells how these stars come to be in the sky.

Once on the hills there was a bird with young. The mother went away to get food and a snake came to eat the young ones. When the young birds saw the snake climbing up the tree, they called out to Kudursami, who is above. He heard their cry and took them to the sky. The name of the bird was tûdrval, and so one star is called tûdrvalmokh. The tûdrval still sings “Kudursami trrrrrr.”

According to another version, the bird tûdrval had offended Swami, and as a punishment Swami took its young and they became the two stars.

This story appears to be a well-known Indian folk-tale, and it has certainly been a recent acquisition of the Todas.

It will be seen that there is much reason to believe that the greater part, if not all of the ideas of the Todas about the stars have been borrowed. In their own folk-lore there seems to be very little concerning the heavenly bodies except in the story of the man and the honey, and I even suspect this to be a borrowed legend which has been somewhat modified by Toda ideas.

It is interesting, and I think important, that references to Swami occur in these stars-myths. In an earlier chapter I have given it as my opinion that the idea of Swami has only recently been acquired by the Todas, and I attach importance to the occurrence of the name in legends which have certainly been borrowed from another race.

GAMES

It is not altogether easy to draw the line between Toda games and Toda ceremonies. The sport which is practised with the greatest zest is undoubtedly the catching of the buffaloes at the funeral ceremonies, and in the old days when the marvainolkedr lasted two days, the first day, devoted to catching the buffaloes and putting them in the pen, must have been largely of a sportive character. Even now it is evident that the catching of the buffaloes is a spectacle which is much enjoyed by all in spite of the sad event which has led to its taking place.

The Todas have, however, pure games, though it is doubtful whether some of them have not acquired in a certain degree a ceremonial character.

In one of these games called narthpimi, a boy squeezes through a narrow tunnel formed by a flat slab of stone over two upright slabs. Two boys start from different distances, and the object of the nearer boy is to squeeze through the tunnel before the other can touch his feet. I did not have an opportunity of seeing this game, and I only saw the stones with which it is played at one village. This was at Nòdrs, where the three stones are called menkars and mark the spot at which one of the ordinary buffaloes is killed at the funeral ceremonies. The menkars is shown in Fig. 12 in front of and a little to the right of the entrance to the dairy.

Another game resembling tip-cat is called eln, and at some villages there is a special stone where the game is played. A piece of wood pointed at both ends is propped against the stone and struck with a stick, and should be caught by someone at a distance. The name for this game is probably Badaga, [238] and this suggests that the game has been borrowed from this people.

According to Breeks another game called kâriâlapimi, resembling ‘puss in the corner’ is played by the Todas. The name suggests a true Toda game and I regret that I know nothing about it.

One day I observed a stone near the village of Pakhalkudr, and, asking whether it was for tip-cat, was told of a different game. If a man jumped high enough at the stone, he could see the top of a certain hill. On jumping at the stone I could not see the hill, but by going a little way back, I found that it became visible, and as far as I could judge, the jump necessary at the stone would be a possible though a good performance.

At many villages there is a large globular stone called tukitthkars (lifted stone) and in another of the Toda games this stone is lifted. A man should be able to lift it to the shoulder, but this can now rarely, if ever, be done, and some of the stones can only be lifted a little way from the ground. Mr. Thurston saw the stone at Nòdrs lifted as high as the pit of the stomach. These stones seem to afford clear evidence of the degeneration of the Todas in physical strength. There is little doubt that they could be lifted much better by the Todas of a generation or two ago. Thus there is a stone at Nidrsi which was brought by the grandfather of Kudrmaskutan (43) in the pocket of his putkuli from a place called Attibadi at a considerable distance from Nidrsi. At the present time no Toda can do more than lift the stone a little way from the ground. The tukitthkars may not be lifted either on the madnol or the palinol. Feasts are prohibited on these days, and it is probable that the stone was often lifted on festive occasions. There is evidence that, in some places at any rate, the stone has acquired in some degree a sacred character. Thus, at the village of Kiudr, one of the most sacred of Toda dairies, the tukitthkars lies on a raised wall surrounding the dairy and in this situation would most certainly acquire some of the sanctity of its surroundings.

The Todas are very interested in athletic feats performed by any of their number and sometimes put up memorials of such feats. Thus, at Pishkwosht there are two stones marking the distance once jumped by a Toda. Such an athletic feat may be made the subject of a bet. Thus, four generations ago, one of the ancestors of Kudrmaskutan (43) jumped a stream called Kavageir, winning eighteen nakh (three-year-old buffaloes) from a Badaga by doing so. Bets of this kind are probably only made with Badagas, and betting is almost certainly not properly a Toda custom.

In addition to developed games, the Todas, and especially the children, often play with mimic representations of objects from practical life. Near the villages I have seen small artificial buffalo-pens and fireplaces made by the children in sport. On the hill of Mirson, where the chief council used to be held, I found a small pen, well built and with a gate, and was assured that it was made in sport by the children only a few years ago. This hill is one on which there are many cairns and such mimic representations may possibly mystify some future archæologist.

The commonest toys with which the children play are little imitation buffalo horns made of wood (see Fig. 35). In the legend, the boy Kuzkarv played with such horns, and even little children in arms may be seen fondling these play-things. The horns are burnt with the body at the funeral ceremonies, but only at those of males, though this rule was infringed at the funeral of Sinerani. In the funeral lament for his wife Teitnir speaks of their playing with imitation horns and imitation bracelets, so that adults evidently amuse themselves in this way as well as children.

Another imitation sport I have often seen is that of boys or youths hanging on the horns and round the necks of buffaloes exactly as is done when catching the animals at the funeral ceremonies. The skill shown at these ceremonies is probably the result of long practice in play of this kind.

Nearly all these games are connected in some way with the buffalo or the dairy, in some cases only remotely, as when the menkars of Nòdrs is used for the narthpimi game, while the tukitthkars may be kept by the dairy. Only one of the games so far described is wholly unconnected with the dairy, and this, the eln game, has a name which suggests that it has been borrowed.

Though the Todas have, as we see, a fair number of games, they are not much given to playing them. I never saw one of the more developed games in progress, and this formed a great contrast to my previous ethnological experience in Torres Straits, where hardly a day would pass without seeing games being played.

The chief interest in the case of the Todas is the clear evidence they give of games arising owing to the sportive imitation by children of the more serious occupations of their elders. In some of these cases the games so arising are useful in providing the younger members of the community with practice in feats which they will in later life be called upon to perform.

RIDDLES

The Todas are very fond of riddles, which they call werat. The following are examples:—

Mers illâth karthti, poi illâth ûdti? Mâ, neln. Udder without milks, mouth without drinks? Rain, earth.

I.e., What is it that gives milk without an udder, what is it that drinks without a mouth? Rain, earth.

Urk mers illâth, kâdak kal illâth, athinu? In (or to) village udder without, in forest leg without, what is it?

Kûdi, pob. Hen, snake.

Kerûd mokh perûd aiu, perûd mokh kerûd aiu? Kûdr, kevi. Little son big becomes, big son little becomes? Horn, ear.

This riddle depends on a comparison of the horn and ear of the buffalo. The horn of the calf is very small, the ear is relatively large.

Pûv pûvadi, kaim kaimadi? Tâf. Flower does not blossom, berry does not ripen? Fern.

Wûrâdr nolm, mokh pachtam, pîr ârchtam, ithithanithi ank? Whole year days, son begetting, pregnant, this is custom to it?

Pishkimän.

Pishkimän is a tree which bears flowers or is giving fruit the whole year round.

Puzhárḍnûdr adetpoloḍthi? Kûdi kûgili. Calls out if why that says no? Cock crows.

What is it that calls out and no one replies? The cock.

Neln tiri kai, pon tiri pûv? Eln. Earth goes round fruit, sky goes round flower? The tip-cat game.

Mudâl pîr vatvai, pin marsvati; pin pîr First pregnant who becomes, later is delivered; later pregnant

vatvai, mudâl marsvati? Tâmi, kodj. who becomes, first is delivered? A grain, barley.

Tami or samai (patm) is the grain from which patcherski, one of the chief Toda foods, is made. It shows above the ground later than barley, but is reaped earlier.

I did not hear of any mechanical puzzles or tricks used by the Todas, and it was quite clear that they had no knowledge of cat’s-cradle.

POETRY AND MUSIC

I have given two samples of Toda poetry in the chapter on funeral ceremonies. These are the chief occasions on which songs are composed, but they are also made when a new dairy is being built, and may be composed and sung on any festive occasion. The general name for compositions of this kind is kunedsti, and certain men have special reputations as composers. The most noted of recent times was a man named Mervoin belonging to the family of Kiugi.

Of those now living, Teitnir, whose two funeral songs I have given, is a noted composer, and I was told of six other men who were especially gifted in this way.

Though I have called these compositions songs, they should, perhaps, rather be called recitations. They are certainly not songs with any musical accompaniment. I understood, though I am not clear about this, that the clauses, or kwarzam, of the funeral poems are said in a low voice “in the throat,” so that they are not understood by the people who hear them. If this is correct, the funeral kwarzam resemble in this respect those of which the prayers consist.

The Toda poets also compose songs on any festive occasion, and Mr. Thurston [239] has recorded examples of several such compositions.

Dancing takes place at the funeral ceremonies, and exhibitions of these or other dances are sometimes given by the Todas. The only dancing I saw was at a funeral and it was of the simplest possible description, the men who took part forming a circle and moving slowly round and round.

The only musical instrument of the Todas is a simple flute, called the buguri. It is shown in Fig. 68, where it is being played by the man on the right. The instrument is not much used by the Todas and is not, so far as I know, played on any ceremonial occasion. The music at the funeral ceremonies is always performed by Kotas.

XXV. LANGUAGE

My chief purpose in writing this chapter is to give information which, I hope, may increase the value of the linguistic material which is scattered throughout this book, and especially to describe some of the doubts and difficulties which I encountered in my attempts to reduce the Toda language to writing.

At the end of the chapter I give some new facts relating to the sacred and secret languages of the Todas, and I will begin with a brief sketch of the views commonly held on the linguistic position of the Toda language.

The Nilgiri Hills are situated at the point of junction of three of the chief linguistic districts of Southern India. In the country on the South and East, Tamil is spoken; on the West, the language is Malayalam, and the people of Mysore to the North speak chiefly Canarese. The Todas live at this meeting-place of three languages, but owing to their isolated position their language is not a blend of these, but has very definite and distinctive characters of its own, as might, indeed, be expected from the character of the people. The Badagas with whom the Todas have much intercourse speak a corrupt form of Canarese, and the Todas have undoubtedly borrowed many words from their language.

Previous writers have differed in their views on the special affinities of the Toda language. No one has now, I think, any doubt that the language is Dravidian. Bernhard Schmid, [240] who wrote in 1837, appears to me to have known more of the true Toda language than anyone who has written since, and he ascribed two-thirds of the Toda vocabulary to Tamil and was unable to trace the remaining third to any other language. Caldwell [241] believed the language of the Todas to be most closely allied to Tamil. According to Pope [242] the language was originally old Canarese with the addition of a few Tamil forms, but he has included in his vocabulary words which have probably been borrowed from the Badagas.

The linguistic material which I have collected is far more extensive than that which was available at the time Pope wrote his sketch, and though the material is in one way less satisfactory since it has been collected after thirty more years of Toda intercourse with the outside world, it is in another way more satisfactory than any previous material in that by far the larger part of it is derived from the formulæ used in the religious ceremonies and in magic. It is, of course, well known that an ancient language may linger on in religious and magical formulæ long after it has disappeared from ordinary speech, and when I discovered how many of these formulæ were preserved by the Todas, I made a point of collecting as many as possible in the hope that they might preserve relics of the ancient speech of the Todas.

In collecting this material I suffered under grave disadvantages; firstly in not being a phonologist, and secondly, in my ignorance of any Dravidian language. I had had, however, a fairly large experience in taking down unwritten languages phonetically, and, whatever the errors into which I have fallen, I hope that they are consistent throughout my record. As a matter of fact, I find my spelling to be fairly constant, words taken down from different individuals and on different occasions being written in the same way.

From one point of view my ignorance of Dravidian languages is not an unmixed evil. When anyone hears a language which is allied to one he knows, it is almost impossible to avoid being influenced by this knowledge. This influence has not been escaped by some of those who have previously recorded words from the Toda language. Thus in his Comparative Dictionary of non-Aryan Languages of India and Higher Asia, [243] Hunter gives two vocabularies from different sources which he calls Toḍuva and Toḍa, and from the differences between these he thought they might be different dialects. According to Breeks these differences are due to the fact that the compiler of one vocabulary paid exclusive attention to the sounds he heard, while the compiler of the other was influenced by his knowledge of the derivation of the words. I have very little doubt that many of those who have recorded Toda words have not written them down exactly as the Todas said them, but as they ought to have said them according to the usual rules of Dravidian pronunciation.

We find, in consequence, very great diversity in the spelling of Toda words, and when there is agreement, it is of very little value, for many of those who have written on the Todas have evidently adopted the spellings of previous writers, even when they quite misrepresent the real sounds.

Another difficulty which besets the investigation of the Toda language is the presence of dialectical differences even in the small community of only eight hundred people. Metz [244] noted such differences, and I found undoubted variations in the vocabularies of the two divisions of the Todas (see p. 687) and suspected variations in pronunciation.

Still another difficulty is the large use of sounds, chiefly sh, ch, and th, [245] euphonically inserted in words. Pope notes this as quite a Toda peculiarity, and it adds greatly to the formidable character of this language, though a word of the most appalling complexity may become quite simple when these euphonic (!) sounds are eliminated.

Another of the sources of discrepancies in Toda vocabularies is the influence of the Badagas to which I have already referred. The Todas are a bilingual people speaking Badaga in their intercourse with other races and keeping Toda for themselves. I have already pointed out that the great majority of the names of Toda places and institutions which have been recorded by previous writers are the Badaga names and not the Toda names, and, as might have been expected, many Badaga words have found their way into previously published Toda vocabularies.

In my own work my procedure was to take down a sentence first through the interpreter, then to go through the words of the sentence one by one asking the Toda to say each word carefully, and often he had to repeat it many times before I could satisfy myself about the nature of the sounds. Often I would get a second or third Toda to say the word, and I have frequently spent many minutes over one word, and have perhaps then been baffled in my attempts to write the word satisfactorily.

I noticed continually that the Toda words as pronounced by my interpreters were quite different in sound from those which came from the mouths of the Todas themselves. This was especially the case with the vowels, and in the addition of the initial y, so well known in the Tamil pronunciation of English. So far as I could detect, there was no trace of this initial y in Toda, although it occurs occasionally in some of the previously recorded Toda vocabularies.

These differences between the pronunciation of my interpreter and that of the Todas may often be the source of inconsistencies in my record, for on some occasions, owing to lack of time, I was unable to listen carefully to the Todas themselves, and had to content myself with the words given to me by the interpreter.

PHONETICS

In order to indicate the sounds of the Toda language, I have kept as closely as possible to the generally recognised system in use in India, but have been obliged to adopt many more signs than those usually employed.

The vowel sounds which I distinguished were very numerous. The following vowels and diphthongs certainly occurred: â, a, ä, ê, e, î, i, ô, o, ö, ò, û, u, ü, ai, au, ei, eu, oi. [246] I am doubtful, however, whether in some cases a distinction between two sounds was not due to individual differences of pronunciation or to dialectical differences. This is almost certainly the case with the distinction between ai and oi. Some other cases which are more complex may be considered in detail.

Â, ò and o. The first two sounds are often interchanged with one another. There is no doubt that the usual â of some Dravidian languages becomes ò in Toda, as in the change from nâḍ to nòḍr, and most previous writers have regarded this change as constant, and have used the sign â for the sound which the Todas undoubtedly pronounce like the aw of the English word ‘law.’ I should much have liked to follow their example, and by so doing could have avoided the introduction of a new sign for the Toda sound, a sound for which there appears to be no generally recognised symbol in the phonetic systems used by anthropologists. I could not do so, however, because the Todas sometimes use the true â sound. There are certain words which are always pronounced with exactly the same sound as in the English word ‘father,’ and I never heard these words pronounced otherwise. In some cases there is a definite reason why this should be so. Thus the Toda word for ‘again’ is mâr, and I never heard this word uttered otherwise than as I have written it. If it had undergone the common transformation it would have become mòr, the ti word for buttermilk, and in one case at least there would have been occasion for misunderstanding, for one of the salt-giving ceremonies is called mârup or ‘again salt,’ while another is called mòrup or ‘buttermilk salt.’ The syllable also occurs in the words pâtatmâr and ertatmâr, and is never pronounced in these words otherwise than as I have written it. On the other hand, there are certain words in which the sound is always that of ò, and in other cases the two sounds are undoubtedly interchanged, and in the latter case I have usually adopted the spelling in â. A good example of this is pârs or pòrs, milk, for which I have throughout adopted the former spelling, though it is quite as often called pòrs.

The ò is often shortened into o, and this is especially the case with the word for ‘man.’ The general Dravidian form of this word is âḷ, but in Toda it becomes òḷ or oḷ (which I write as ol), and in compound words, such as palol and wursol, it is always, or nearly always, pronounced so as to be indistinguishable from the o of the English word ‘olive.’ The long ô is not a very frequent sound in Toda.

A and ä. The sign a is used, in accordance with the general Indian practice, for the sound of the English word ‘hut,’ one of the commonest of Toda sounds. It is undoubtedly interchanged sometimes with the sound of the English word ‘hat’ for which I use the sign ä. In such cases of interchange, I use the sign a in preference, but when I always heard the ä sound, I have used it. It seemed to me that this sound was especially frequent in proper names, as in that of the village Päm and in such words as Kän.

Û and u. These are used for the sounds of the words ‘moon’ and ‘full’ and both are of frequent occurrence. The short form seems occasionally to be changed into a; thus, the word mun means ‘maternal uncle,’ but the word for ‘sister’s son’ is manmokh. This is a good instance of the value of vowel sounds in Toda; the mankugh is the sister’s daughter, but the munkugh is the name of the daughter of a maternal uncle. The two words which resemble one another so closely have two very different meanings, those of niece and cousin.

Ê and ei. I use ê for the sound of the ei in the English word ‘their.’ Ei is the sign which I use for the long ä of the English word ‘date.’ A sound for which I often use this sign is one which gave me a great deal of trouble. In it the vowel sound is prolonged so as to form almost a dissyllable, and in my earlier records I wrote it êe, the first ê having the sound of the ei in ‘their.’ I decided later to use ei, though I acknowledge it is not at all a satisfactory representation of the sound I heard.

Î. The only point on which I have to remark about this sound is that it is sometimes prolonged so as to become a dissyllable as in the example already mentioned. In one case, the word mîis, used in the erkumptthpimi ceremony, this prolongation of the sound is so marked and so constant that I have preserved a record of it in the spelling, but in most cases I have been content to indicate it by î only.

Eu and ö. I use the former sign for a sound which seemed to me very much like the French eu. It often resembled very closely the German ö, and in some cases, as in that of the word for the numeral 7, I was doubtful which was the right sign. The sound for which I use eu is, however, more prolonged, and approaches a dissyllable. It occurs in the most definite form in the word for god, teu. This is undoubtedly derived from the Sanscrit ‘deva’ in general use in Southern India, and it is therefore very interesting that this word, which has become ‘Dieu’ in French, should have become the very similar teu in the Toda language.

U, ü, and i. The ü sound, almost exactly like that of the German language, was common, though in many cases I was doubtful whether to write u, ü, or i. Thus it was difficult to say whether the word for bow was purs, pürs, or pirs; the last named would bring it in line with general Dravidian orthography, but the first seemed to me the most frequent, and I have therefore adopted it.

Ai and oi. The sound ai is not very frequent in Toda, and when it occurs is often on the way to oi. Thus the naim or council was often noim, and mogai and mogoi were said indifferently.

I had very much difficulty in writing the consonants, being especially troubled by my lack of familiarity with linguals. The following were those which I heard:—b, ch, d, ḍ, f, g, gg, gh, h, j, k, kh, l and ḷ, m, n, ñ, p, r, s, sh, t, th, v, w, z, zh.

In the text of the book I have not attempted to distinguish the lingual consonants, and I have also omitted the very common euphonic insertions, especially of ch, sh, and th.

B, p, v, w, and f. The sound expressed by b was heard very rarely, and I am doubtful whether it really occurs in true Toda. It is a common letter in Badaga, but when a Badaga word is pronounced by the Todas, the letter usually becomes p. In a few words I had much difficulty in making up my mind whether a given sound was b or p, and this was especially the case with the word kudupel or kudubel, which is probably a Badaga word.

One of the most frequent consonants in Toda is p, which often changes into v, especially when p is the initial letter of the latter part of a compound word; thus the word pet or wand in pôhpet became pôhvet, kugpali became kugvali, and nedrpol, nedrvol. Occasionally p would become a distinct w, as in the name of the flower kargwûv for kargpûv.

The letter f undoubtedly occurs in Toda, though not very frequently. It is sometimes changed into v, but in some cases, as in the name of the ancient village Kusharf, I never heard any sound other than a distinct f. I did not hear f and p interchanged.

As already mentioned, the letter w may occasionally occur as a variant of p or v, but it also occurs in words where it is never interchanged with either of these letters. The most frequent example of the occurrence of the letter is in the word wursol, and here the sound was so elusive that for a long time I hesitated whether to write the word as wursol or ursol. Breeks wrote this word varzhol, and we may take it that he distinctly recognised the initial letter as allied to v and p.

D, ḍ, t, th. I have used the sign d for two sounds in the text. One I could not distinguish from the English sound expressed by this letter. It is sometimes the representative of nd of Badaga, mand or village becoming mad in Toda, [247] while the Badaga form of Pidati is Benduti. The d of other Dravidian languages often becomes t in Toda; thus pandava becomes pateva, and the Teivaliol almost certainly derive their name from some form of the word deva.

More frequently, however, d is used for the lingual consonant ḍ, which is one of the commonest sounds in Toda. Very often this letter is immediately followed by the letter r, and the combination ḍr (which in the text of the book I have written dr) is an extremely frequent sound. Often to my ear it was quite indistinguishable from the simple r, and usually I had to refer to my interpreter to know whether a given sound was ḍr or r. Neither of my interpreters seemed ever to be in any doubt, and they were so consistent on this point that wherever this spelling occurs it is probably correct. So far as I can tell the ḍr is the representative of ḍ in other Dravidian languages; thus, nâd of Canarese becomes nòḍr, and the kêdu of Badaga becomes kêḍr. On reference to the list of Badaga and Toda names of villages given in Appendix III. it will be seen that the ḍr of the Todas is usually the equivalent of the Badaga ḍ, Telkodu becoming Telkudr, and Kudimal becoming Kudrmas.

The sound which I express by dr has been very variously spelt by previous writers; thus, the Toda future world has been written Humanorr or Omnorr by Harkness, Amunàd by Breeks, Amnôr by Marshall and Pope, and Amnor by Thurston, and the sacred plant tudr has been written tûd, tûde, tiurr, tûre and tûr.

When the sound ḍ occurs before letters other than r, I am afraid I may have often omitted it. Thus till nearly the end of my visit I wrote the word teḍshk as teshk, and the name of the village Teḍshteiri as Teshteiri, and I have little doubt that this letter, the presence of which I had so much difficulty in recognising, may have been omitted in other cases.

There seems to be no doubt that ḍr and t might sometimes be interchangeable. Thus the termination of personal names, kûtan seemed to be the same word as kûḍr. A horn is kûḍr and imitation-horns are kûter. An assembly is kût, and the corresponding verb is kûḍriti (3rd person singular). Sometimes ḍr becomes rt; thus the word kêḍr becomes kêrt in the compound word kêrtnòdr, and the names of the clans Kuuḍr and Pieḍr often become Kuurt and Piert in the words Kuurtol and Piertol.

I failed to distinguish between t and ṭ, and it is probable that my t includes both letters. My interpreters used the sign th for ṭ, as is common in the transliteration of missionaries and others in India, and I am afraid that in a few cases my th should stand for the lingual ṭ. It is very unfortunate that th should be used for ṭ, for the true th not only occurs among the Todas but is a very frequent consonant. It is frequently inserted euphonically in words which are at other times pronounced without it, and this is especially the case in connexion with the letter l. The consonant th also occurs frequently apart from any other consonant, in such words as pûthi, pathanmul, &c.

I think it probable that under the sign th I have included two sounds, that of the English word ‘though’ and that of ‘throw,’ but I could not make up my mind whether the two sounds were definitely distinguished. The softer sound is undoubtedly the more common, and often it seemed to me to be even softer than this sound is ever heard in English.

K, kw, g, kh, gh, h. Perhaps the commonest Toda consonant is k, which often becomes kw, and it seemed to me that the two were sometimes interchanged, kûḍr becoming kwûḍr, &c.

The consonant g is less frequently heard, but kûḍr, especially as the termination of the names of men and places, is often pronounced gûḍr, and it seemed to me that this pronunciation is somewhat more common among the Teivaliol than among the Tartharol. The sound g occurs very definitely, sometimes at the ends of words as in the names of villages, as in Kwirg and Perg, and in the word kug, and in these cases there is no doubt that it is a true Toda consonant.

The sounds which I have expressed by kh and gh are fairly common, though I do not feel quite confident that the two sounds are definitely distinguished from one another. I heard them very frequently in the words mokh and kûgh, and it certainly seemed to me that the final sound of the latter was always softer than that of the word mokh. When one or other of these sounds occurs at the end of a word, it is probable that I have in some cases omitted to notice it. A man named Perpakh was called by me Perpa till nearly the end of my visit, and it is probable that I made similar errors which were not detected. Similarly kh in the middle of a word may easily escape attention, and this has probably happened in some cases.

I also had much trouble about a sound occurring at the end of a word for which I have used the sign h. Its chief occurrence is in the word pôh, and the same or a closely similar sound sometimes occurs in the middle of the word pali. The word pôh has usually been written boath, following Marshall, or boa (Breeks). The word certainly often sounded like a dissyllable, but I was doubtful whether this was anything more than the prolongation of vowels to which I have already referred in the case of ei and i. There is some kind of consonantal sound at the end of the word, but it is certainly not the ordinary th nor is it kh, and I have adopted h as the nearest equivalent though I recognise that it is not the right sign.

R, l. I have already considered the letter r in connexion with ḍ, but it also occurs frequently by itself. At the end of a word it is sometimes distinctly rolled. When used after a short vowel, as in such a word as persin, it was sometimes not easy for me to detect its presence, and occasionally it is possible that I have omitted it from words in which it should occur.

The letter l is of fairly frequent occurrence, but has certainly often been lost in Toda in words which contain it in other Dravidian languages; thus the word kîl, lower, inferior, becomes kî in Toda, though the l has been retained in meil or mel, meaning upper or superior.

There are almost certainly two different l sounds in Toda which I failed to distinguish definitely. I have written the word for dairy pali but the second consonant of the word is certainly a different sound from that of the l in meil, and is probably the representative of the l of Tamil. It is in connexion with this letter that the euphonic th is so often inserted, and I believe that the proper name for a Toda dairy is paḷthḷi. When this l occurs at the end of a word, it is sometimes hardly audible, and to my ear bears a very close resemblance to the French l. The end of the word Kudreiil seemed to me to be pronounced almost exactly like the end of Auteuil.

It appears that r and l may sometimes pass into one another; thus, the name of the bow and arrow ceremony is pursütpimi, but the buffalo given on this occasion is called pulkwadr.

M and n. The letters m and n, indistinguishable to my ear from the corresponding English letters, are of frequent occurrence. They are, however, often omitted in the Toda forms of Tamil or Canarese words; thus, as we have already seen, the word mand, village, becomes the Toda mad; the Tamil ambu, arrow, becomes ab; and the Toda form of Kurumba is Kûrub.

The n may also disappear from the Toda names of villages when it exists in their Badaga names; thus Tarnard becomes Taradr and Korangu, Kwirg. The omission of the letter n and other changes which words undergo in Toda are very well shown in the word padjpateva, which is the Toda form of the Panchpandavas. Although my ear failed to separate the n of the Todas from the English n, it is probably different and represents the ṇ of Tamil.

In addition to the ordinary n the Todas have another consonant which is extremely like the final French n for which I have used the sign ñ. The sound only occurs in certain exclamations or greetings; the Oñ which occurs so frequently in the dairy ritual is pronounced in this way, and so is bañ, which is uttered by the palol as a greeting to the Tartharol. The sound also occurs in the various kinship greetings. The commonest of these, tioñ, offered to an elder brother, is a corruption of itian, but I never heard the nasal pronunciation when the word an or anna was uttered in the ordinary way. In this case the sound I have expressed by n is undoubtedly the letter ṇ of Tamil, this word being aṇṇa in that language.

S, sh, z, zh, dz, j. The sound for which I have used the letter s is a somewhat harsh sound, harsher, I think, than is heard in English, but much like the sound which I have heard in English words pronounced by Scottish Highlanders. Breeks wrote zh for this sound, but I have used this sign for a different sound which was exactly like the si in the English word ‘occasion.’ It occurs not uncommonly in Toda in such words as puzh, earth, and in the verbal form kaizhvat.

The sound z occurs frequently. I was often doubtful whether to write dz or z, especially at the ends of personal names, and in other cases what was obviously the same termination was pronounced more like dj; thus I was often doubtful whether to write the name Piliodz in this way or as Pilioz or Piliodj; (the three English equivalents would be the sounds of Dods, Boz and Dodge).

The sounds s and sh are often inserted euphonically; thus, the name Kuriolv is as often as not pronounced Kursiolv, and, more rarely, Kurshiolv.

SACRED LANGUAGE

There are three varieties of sacred language in use among the Todas. There is the kwarzam the word or clause used in prayer and other sacred formulæ; secondly, there are certain words and phrases peculiar to the ti dairy; and thirdly, there are certain words called by the Todas, teu language, which are only used in the legends of the gods.

The kwarzam is used especially for the names of gods, persons or objects used in the first portions of the prayers. It is also used in the magical formulæ and in the funeral laments, but it may be that the last use is only due to an extension of the strict meaning of the term. When I began to collect the prayers, I hoped that the kwarzam might turn out to belong to some ancient and otherwise forgotten language, but their general nature is evidently the same as that of other Toda words. The kwarzam arises either by a slight modification of a name in ordinary use or as a phrase recording some historical or mythical incident.

I give here a short list of kwarzam which, with a few exceptions, have not occurred elsewhere. The following are the kwarzam of the Tarthar clans:—

The Nòdrsol, Nòdrstharkûtthars; the Karsol, Kârstharkunnadrpêdr; the Panol, Pandârpeshdthvaimokh; the Taradrol, Pülkudutharpeithar; the Keradrol, Kerâdrtharkerâdrkûtan; the Kanòdrsol, Munantharpinnantho; the Kwòdrdoniol, Adutharathiars; the Pämol, Pämûtharkathar; the Melgarsol, Narzthar. The kwarzam of the Kuudrol is Ivikanmokhkûtmeilteu (see p. 101), but the other Teivali clans have no such special names.

The only one of the above, of which the meaning is quite clear, is that of Pan, in which case the kwarzam gives the names of the two kudr of the clan (see p. 652). The latter part of the kwarzam of the Keradrol means a horn or son of Keradr, and is also the name of a man, and with further knowledge there is little doubt that the other kwarzam would be found to have some meaning.

The following are the kwarzam of the buffaloes of the different clans:—

Nòdrs, karûdchîrkünâkh; Kars, inâtvidshti inâtvan; [248] Pan and Taradr, Mutchôthvanmodethokvan; Keradr, miniapîr mâvelkar; Kanòdrs, Tîrztashkkarzikunp; Kwòdrdoni and Nidrsi, Keitankeikar; Päm, Arzomolkutchi; Melgars, Narzulnnatülnnâkh; Kuudr and Pedrkars, Kishvettarskvan; Piedr, Kûzherikwelvpurserthunm; Kusharf, Nulkarsîrnazhuv; Keradr, Nelppârsîrkudeipar; Kulhem, Pelthrîrkan.

The kwarzam of the Keradr buffaloes refers to the tradition of their creation (see p. 192), and here again with further knowledge there is little doubt that most of the kwarzam would be found to have a definite meaning, probably derived from legends concerning the buffaloes or the villages to which they belong.

The second kind of sacred language, in use at the ti dairies, has been already considered. Every kind of dairy vessel or other object used in the dairy ceremonial has a name at the ti different from that used in the house or village dairy. These different names have been given in describing the dairy ceremonial, but I have not hitherto referred to certain other differences of language, especially in verbal forms. Different words are used in the two kinds of dairy for the verb ‘to drink’; thus, when a village dairyman orders another to drink buttermilk, he says “Maj ûn!” while at the ti the palol says “Kaizhvat!” This latter formula is interesting in that kaizh is not the usual ti word for buttermilk (mòr) and only occurs, as far as I can ascertain, in conjunction with the verb vat. A village dairyman uses the verb part, pray, while at the ti, the verb pôhvetnört is used. Thus the question “have you prayed?” would be “partikudricha?” at the village and “pôhvetnörtikudricha?” at the ti. Similarly different forms of the verb ‘to milk’ are used. “We have milked” at the village would be “îrkartkudrvispimi” often shortened into îrkartspimi, while at the ti “karvukkudrivispimi” would be said; “we have not milked” would be “îrkarami” at the village and “îrkarpûkhami” at the ti.

There are certain verbs used at the ti dairy which may only be pronounced by ordinary people in the third person. A good example is the verb nört, and it will be noticed that the names of ceremonies in which this verb is used have always been given in the third person, irnörtiti, and never in the first person plural as in the case of most other ceremonies.

About the third kind of sacred language, I know very little. It will have been noticed that the words and sentences which are used in the legends of Chapter IX are unlike those which occur elsewhere, and I was especially told that certain words only occurred in the stories of the gods. A special instance given was that of the words “tar tûrzhoḍthrska” (see p. 201), where tar [249] was said to be the teu word for ‘man.’ The words kwudrpedrshai and kaipedrshai in the same legend were given as other examples of teu language.

SECRET LANGUAGE

The Todas have a large number of expressions which they use in the presence of Badagas, Tamils and others when they wish to be understood only by themselves. Many of the Badagas and Tamils with whom the Todas associate no doubt pick up some knowledge of their language, and even if this were not the case, the Toda language is sufficiently like Tamil to enable a stranger to understand part of what is said. In consequence the Todas have adopted a secret code for use among themselves which they call kalikatpimi, literally “stolen we tie,” while in distinction the ordinary language is called itherkelv or “front fact.”

The following are the chief instances of which I was told.

ORDINARY LANGUAGE. SECRET LANGUAGE.

Pârshk nîr at kwadr! Nonk nâr pudvaink Milk to water mix give. Four sides which came from

i.e., give milk mixed with water! kagîr pârs at kwadr! old buffalo milk mix give!

i.e., give milk mixed with what comes from the four teats of an old buffalo.

Pârs âdr Nonk nâr pud mûdn tarsk milk cook Four sides come three on up

i.e., cook food in milk! idsht! put

i.e., Put what comes from the four teats upon the three (stones of the oven).

Tòr tidshia? Kâtô nòrth kershia? Have you taken food? Teeth between did you throw?

At vokh! At erd af! There (or away) go! There (or away) two (legs) get!

Iren akaik ud! kûdr valvpoi tòrs ûlâr kî! The buffalo in the wood hide! Horn crooked wood into go!

Kan odthi? Kûdren pom odthinû? Is he not blind? Black fruit has he not?

When a man is thought to be dying, the Todas may ask “Is this man going from one place to another?”

Whenever a Toda first sees a man, he looks at his feet, and, correspondingly, when a Toda asks another his opinion of a man, he says “Kal pel ilûdinû,” “What sort of leg and nail has he?” In secret language the leg may be called metipol, “walk thing,” also used for footprints or pûmi ûlâr pî pol, “thing that goes into the earth.”

Many other things and persons have secret names; thus, a rupee, or money generally, is called atchertvai, that which is stamped; butter is called pelthpol or white thing; clarified butter (nei) is called kârtpol or melted thing; sugar and honey are called tichedpol or sweet thing; rice is called peitpudvai, that which comes from Peit, a place near Kavidi in the Wainad from which rice used to be procured; arrack (saraim) is called îrthpol or püshetpol, each meaning “drink thing.” The sun is called etûdol, “great man.”

The various tribes on the hills have secret names; thus, both Badagas and Tamils are called tutâr katvai, he who wears or ties the turban; a Kota is called kîmas ithvai, he who is beneath; a Kurumba is called âr kârthpol, the man who watches the way; a European is called pelthpol, or white man. A forest guard is called petuni ütvai, petuni being here used as a term for uniform, so that if a forest guard has come, they will say, petuni ütvai podvuchi.

Several of the words used in the secret language do not appear to have any other meaning and are not ordinarily used. Thus the ordinary word for tooth is pars, but in secret language kâtô or kâtû is used. This word is the name of the wall of a buffalo-pen and it is possible that it may mean stones, but I could not ascertain whether this was the derivation, and could only learn that it was another word for tooth. Similarly the ear, of which the ordinary name is kevi, is called pertars, and the question “Did you wear gold earrings?” becomes pertarsk ütshia? “to ear did you wear?”

XXVI. PERSONAL NAMES

The ceremonies of name-giving have already been considered, the chief point of interest being that the name of a boy is given to him by his maternal uncle, while that of a girl is probably given by her paternal aunt. In this chapter I wish to consider the general nature of the personal names of the Todas and some special customs connected with them.

The genealogies provide a large store of material, for it is exceptional for two Todas to have the same name, and no Toda should bear a name which has been borne by another for four generations, and certainly not one which has been borne by one of his own family.

The great majority of Toda names have distinctive terminations which are different for men and women.

The common terminations for males are -van, -kûdr, -kût or -kûtan, -olv, -eidi, and -ners. The first was said to be the same word as pan or pun, the Toda name for the stone circles found on the summits of the hills. The names of deities often receive the same termination; thus Nòtirzi is also called Nòtirzivan, and, in several cases, men received the names of gods or hills followed by the syllable -van. The same termination is also given to names which have other derivations.

The terminations, -kûdr or -gûdr, -kût or -kûtan, are different forms of the word kûdr, which means primarily ‘horn,’ and when it occurs in a name seems to mean ‘child.’ The termination in -kûdr or -gûdr seems to be much more frequently used by the Teivaliol than by the Tartharol, and in both divisions it is rare in older generations.

I do not know the meaning of the terminations in -olv and -eidi: it is noteworthy, however, that -olv is also a frequent ending of the names of dairies.

The termination -ner or -ners sometimes becomes -nîr, and it may be the word for water, possibly with the idea of ‘spring.’

The usual terminations of female names are -veli, -veni or -vani, -eimi, and -idj or -idz. Of these, the first is by far the most frequent, being usually pronounced with a th sound, as in -velthli or -vilthli. It is possibly the same word as a frequent Indian name of Venus, which is also the Toda name for this planet. The word also means silver and in the form pelthiti is used for ‘white.’

The termination -veni or -vani is probably derived from pani, which is said to be an ancient name for a Toda woman. Occasionally the latter form occurred, as in the name of Sinadapani (67), and one of the wives of Kwoten was named Kwaterpani. I know nothing of the derivation of the terminations -eimi and -idz.

The names of Todas are often derived from villages, dairies or dairy vessels, hills and their deities, and objects of various kinds. There seems to be no objection to use the names of deities or of such sacred objects as the mani as personal names, but only as those of men. Recently the Todas have begun to use words of Hindu or even English origin for the names of their children.

It is the names of men which are chiefly derived from villages, and at least twenty examples occur in the genealogies. In some cases the name of the village is used without any suffix, as in Ushadr (48) and Madsu (58); in other cases one or other of the customary terminations is used, as in Keradrkutan [250] (26), Nongarsivan (62), Kuirsiners (18), and Karseidi (8). The special point of interest here is that the names of villages which have now disappeared may be preserved as personal names; thus Harkness mentions the village of Kattaul as being near Ootacamund, and, though the village has now disappeared, its memory is preserved in the name Katolvan (44), borne by one of the Melgarsol, to whom the village belonged. Again, the village of Kepurs, an extinct village mentioned in the legend of Kwoten, is preserved in the name of Kepursvan (18), borne by one of Kwoten’s clan, the Panol.

In general, when a man receives a name derived from a village or other place, the village or place is one belonging to his own clan. Names may be derived from ti places as well as from ordinary villages, of which Makars (10) and Pursas (42) are examples.

The special feature of interest about these sources of nomenclature is that personal names may thus preserve records of the past, and a full investigation of the genealogies from this point of view might bring to light the names of many other villages now extinct.

Names are also derived from dairies, buffalo-pens, stones, and other objects of the village; thus Tarziolv, the special name of the kudrpali of Kars, is borne by a member of the Karsol (15), and Tilipa (12) is probably a corruption of Tilipoh. A boy of Nidrsi is named Punatu (43) after the buffalo-pen of his village, and the men called Agar (7), Pepners (44), and Persinkudr (16), have received names connected with the operations of the dairy.

The names of stones occur in the examples Menkars (10) and Mutchud (45). Several men are named after the sacred bells, or mani, of which examples are Nalani (35), Kerani (35), Pongg (47), while Mudriners (57) is named after Mudrani, one of the patatmani of Kiudr. The name of Eshkiaguln of Kars (8) is very much like that of one of the bells of Nidrsi, Eshkiakudr, and in one case a man is called Maniners (62).

The kwarzam of the prayers form a frequent source of personal names. Thus the name of Puthion (64) occurs in the last clause of the Kuudr prayer, and no less than six men take their names, either directly or with some modifications, from the Kiudr prayer; these are Kil, Erai, Etamudri, Kwelthipush from Kwelpushol, Kishkar from Arsvishkars, and Keikudr, who was also called Parvakudr, derived from another kwarzam of this prayer. In one of these cases the name is taken from the kwarzam with so much modification that I should not have guessed its derivation if I had not been told; and if this extensive modification is frequent, there may be many more names derived from kwarzam than appears to be the case at first sight.

The names of deities are not uncommonly adopted as personal names; the chief examples being Nòtirzi (47), Meilitars (44), Teipakh (20), Etepi (26), Karzo (12), Pòrzo (4), and Pakhwar (16). Two people are also called Tevò (3 and 53), which is a corruption of Teipakh, and a boy is called Kòdrthokutan (43). In many cases men are named after hills, of which Drugevan (40), Kòdrner (7), and Mopuvan [251] (16) are examples, and it is not improbable that these hills are also provided with deities. Two of the instances given above are the names of river-gods, and there is also a man, Palpa (16), named after the stream by which Kwoten met the goddess Terkosh. Punatvan (53) is named after one of the personages in the story of Kwoto. Among these names it is noteworthy that Nòtirzi, the name of a female deity, is borne by a man, and that there is no instance in which a man is named after one of the three ancient and important deities, Pithi, Ön, and Teikirzi.

This use of the names of deities as personal names seems to point to the absence of any high degree of reverence for the divine beings. The Todas are by no means free from the ideas of danger and disrespect connected with the utterance of names; and if their gods still received any great degree of veneration, I think it is improbable that their names would be allowed to be in everyone’s mouth, as must be the case when used as personal names. It is possible that this use of the names of deities is recent; it is certainly more frequent at the present time than in the older generations recorded in the genealogies, and I strongly suspect that the practice adds another indication to those already given of the decay of the religious sentiment of the Todas.

It seems to be extremely rare for persons to have the same names as buffaloes. There is only one doubtful example in the genealogies, Kerani (35). This is also the name of a bell, and I am doubtful whether it is really a buffalo-name. It is probable that the absence of the names of buffaloes is merely utilitarian and has no deeper significance. Buffaloes are generally referred to by name, and it would obviously be inconvenient that they should have the same names as people.

Many other names are derived from objects or from the language of everyday life. Examples of such are Nipa, stream; Perol, unsanctified man; Irsimitch, lime; Sakari, sweet; Kakar, a grass; Mogai, cubit; Kapur, camphor; and Pòl, a two-year-old calf. Sometimes such words become names by the addition of the terminations -kûdr or -veli, as in Panmkudr, the horn of a four-anna piece, and Nirveli and Kadakveli, derived from the words for water and for the wild rose. Probably with a wider knowledge of the Toda vocabulary, it would be found that a very large number of the names are formed in this way.

In one case a girl was called Mudukugh (72). She was the third girl in the family, and the name was no doubt given to commemorate the fact.

Often two or more children of a family are given names with a considerable degree of similarity to one another. In one case two brothers are called Mongeidrvan and Tergeidrvan (53); in another, Piliar and Piliag (52); and in a third, Singudr and Sinar (55); three sisters are called Teinesveli, Ternersveli, and Kenerveli (51), and in such cases it seems probable that new names are invented.

At the present time children are in many cases receiving Hindu names. Three young boys are called Arjun, Parvishki, and Sandisparan, and a young girl is called Natcham, which was said to represent Latchmi. Other Hindu names are Katcheri (Cutcherry), Sirkar, Kedjeri, and probably there are many others.

In a few cases names of English origin have probably been given, as in the case of Pensil, and the name Birkidj was said to be derived from Breeks.

The genealogical record shows clearly that this use of names derived from external sources is quite recent. There is a very striking difference in general character between the names of the present and those of older generations, and a foreign origin is especially frequent in the names of children less than ten or fifteen years of age. The evidence from names would seem to point to a rapid spread of outside influence during the last ten years.

Shortened forms of names are often used. The termination of a word may be dropped; thus Nurmaners is often called Nurman, Ultzkudr becomes Ultz, and Paniolv, Pani. Sometimes the contraction is of a different kind; thus the girls Astrap and Pumundeivi are usually called Asp and Pumidz, and the name of the boy Kulpakh often becomes Kulen.

In addition to his proper name nearly every Toda has a nickname, usually given to him by the Badagas. These names often refer to some personal peculiarity, and this is probably the reason why nicknames were usually given to me with great reluctance, there being a distinct reversal of the condition found in communities of lower culture, where the proper names are usually kept secret, while only nicknames are uttered. Arpurs (46) was nicknamed Suri (knife) on account of his sharp nose, and Nertolvan (16) is called Teinkan or ‘Bee eye,’ on account of the smallness of his eyes, like those of the honey bee. In other cases I do not know the origin of the Badaga names, but they have usually different forms from those of true Toda names, often terminating in -oin or -üln. Sometimes the Badaga name is merely a modification of the Toda name, as when Tudrvan becomes Utudiki. In a few cases I heard the Badaga name of a man more often than his Toda name; thus Tövoniners is usually called Aravoin, and a noted Toda of the last generation is always spoken of by his Badaga name, Mervoin. In a few cases, men long dead are remembered by their Badaga names, while their Toda names are forgotten.

As I have already indicated, nicknames are often used by people of low culture as a means of evading taboos, and though, as we shall see shortly, such taboos exist among the Todas, I met with no instance in which a Toda, who was unable to utter a name, gave a nickname in its stead.

From the foregoing account it is evident that in the names of the Todas we have a storehouse of words the investigation of which might lead to many discoveries in connexion with their half-forgotten folklore and past history. We have seen that the names of villages which have now entirely disappeared may still be preserved in the names of persons, and I have little doubt that a complete investigation of the names included in the genealogies would furnish a record of many more extinct villages and possibly provide clues to institutions which have now wholly disappeared.

CHANGE OF NAME

There are three chief conditions which lead Todas to change their names. If two men have the same name, and one of the two should die, the other man would change his name, since the taboo on the name of the dead would prevent people from uttering the name of the living. The most recent example of this occurred about six years ago. There were two men named Matovan, one of Pan (19) and the other of Kwòdrdoni (34). The Kwòdrdoni man died and Matovan of Pan changed his name to Imokhvan, and it is this name which will be found in his pedigree.

This change of name may also be effected even when there is only a similarity between two names. Thus when Punbuthuvi, the wife of Parkurs (8), died, Sinbuthuvi of Kusharf (65) changed her name to Pukuruveli. Similarly when Òners of Kuudr (56) died, Einers of Piedr [252] (64) changed his name to Tokulvan.

A person may also change his name merely because it is the same as, or very similar to, that of another, this being done simply to avoid inconvenience and misunderstanding. It sometimes happens that a child is given the same name as some other child, and then one or other is renamed. Thus a boy was named Oblodj, but it was found later that there was a girl at Kars called Obalidz (12), and so the name of the boy was changed to Meilitars (44). A boy of Päm was called Kudeners, but it was found that there was another Kudeners at Taradr (25), so the name of the former was changed to Arparners, often shortened to Arpar (38).

When Kainir (3) married, his wife’s name was Kanir, but she changed it since it was so like that of her husband. It was said to have been changed to Singub, but she was always known as Udz at the time of my visit.

Change of name of this kind is not obligatory, and there are several cases in which two people now living have the same name. When a change is made because two people have the same name or similar names, it is the younger of the two who changes. In most of the cases in which two people bear the same name it will be found that one belongs to the Tartharol and the other to the Teivaliol, and I am doubtful whether in this case names are changed except as the result of death.

A third reason for changing names is illness or other misfortune. When a man is ill, change of name is sometimes recommended by a diviner, but this is not often done. One of my guides, Kutadri (7), had changed his name twice. His original name had been Okeithi or Okvan, but as there was another Okvan of Keadr (68), he became Tagarsvan. Later he fell ill, and, on the recommendation of a diviner, Tagarsvan changed his name to Kutadri, and I never heard him spoken of or addressed by any but this name during my visit.

TABOOS ON NAMES

The only definite restrictions on the utterance of the names of living people are those connected with kinship which have already been considered in Chapter XXI. A man may not utter the names of his mother’s brother, his grandfather and grandmother, his wife’s mother, and of the man from whom he has received his wife, who is usually the wife’s father. The names of the above are tabooed in life, while after death the restrictions are still wider, and it is forbidden to utter the name of any dead elder relative, while the names of the dead are in any case only said reluctantly.

It may seem strange that this reluctance should exist among a people who possess so full a genealogical record. The reluctance probably only extends to the public utterances of ordinary life and disappears when the people discuss affairs in which genealogical lore plays a part, or when they are transmitting this lore to others.

In addition to the definite taboos, there is often much reluctance in uttering personal names. The Todas dislike uttering their own names, and a Toda, when asked for his name, would often request another man to give it. Sometimes my guide was obviously reluctant to give me the names of the people who came to see me, and it seemed to me that this was especially so when the people were related to him by marriage, i.e., men who had married into his clan; but I could not satisfy myself definitely that it made him more uncomfortable to utter the names of such relatives than those of other people.

In some parts of the world the taboo on the names of the dead involves also a taboo on the names of the objects which correspond to the names of the dead or to parts of these names. If such restrictions existed among the Todas, they would have on the death of Nirveli and Panmkudr to find other names for water and for a four-anna piece. It was quite clear, however, that there were no such restrictions, and that this frequent cause of change of vocabulary has not been at work in the case of the Toda language.

XXVII. RELATIONS WITH OTHER TRIBES

In this chapter I propose to put together the chief facts with which I am acquainted which throw light on the very difficult problem of the relations between the Todas and the other tribes of the Nilgiri Hills. The chapter could only be written with any degree of completeness by one who had studied the question from the point of view of each of the Nilgiri tribes separately. I have only been able to do so, and that incompletely, from the Toda point of view. My information is derived almost wholly from the Todas themselves, and gives their way of regarding the relations between themselves and the other tribes.

The five tribes inhabiting the Nilgiri Hills are shown in Fig. 68 (taken from Breeks), the Todas in the centre with the Badagas on their right and the Kotas on their left. Next to the Badagas are the Irulas, and next to the Kotas are the Kurumbas.

The tribes with which the Todas come into contact habitually are the Badagas and Kotas, while their points of contact with Kurumbas and Irulas are much less important. The Badagas are not only the agriculturists of the Todas, but are the constant intermediaries between the Todas and the extra-Nilgiri world. The two tribes regard each other more or less as social equals. The Kotas, on the other hand, who are the artisans of the Todas, are regarded by them as social inferiors. The relations with the former may be considered first.

TODAS AND BADAGAS

The Todas call a Badaga Mav, [253] which seems to be a form of the Canarese word for father-in-law or maternal uncle. The origin of this term is said to have been that when the Todas first met a Badaga, they asked his name and he answered “Mav.” A Badaga who performs certain services for the palol is called tikelfmav. Certain elders of the Badagas are also called madtin.

Whenever a Toda meets a Badaga monegar (headman) or an old Badaga with whom he is acquainted, a salutation passes between the two which is represented in Fig. 69. The Toda stands before the Badaga, inclines his head slightly, and says “Madtin pudia!” (“Madtin, you have come.”) The Badaga replies “Buthuk! buthuk!” (“Blessing, blessing”) and rests his hand on top of the Toda’s head. This greeting only takes place between Todas and the more important of the Badaga community. It would seem that every Badaga headman may be greeted in this way, but a Toda will only greet other Badaga elders if he is already acquainted with them. The salutation is made to members of all the various castes of the Badagas except the Torayas. It has been held to imply that the Todas regard the Badagas as their superiors, but it is doubtful how far this is the case. The Todas themselves say they follow the custom because the Badagas help to support them. It seems to be a mark of respect paid by the Todas to the elders of a tribe with which they have very close relations, and it is perhaps significant that no similar sign of respect is shown to Toda elders by the Badagas.

The Badagas perform definite services for the Todas and give what may be regarded as a tribute of grain at the harvest. The tribute is called gudu. I did not myself investigate the nature of the gudu, and there is some difference of opinion among previous writers [254] as to whether a definite amount of grain or a given proportion of the crop is given. I have no information as to the way in which the giving of the tribute is regulated, and it is eminently one of those points on which evidence must be sought from both Todas and Badagas. In the case of the Kotas, we shall see that there is a definitely organised system regulating the relations of certain Kota villages to certain Toda clans, and some such system probably exists to regulate the supply of Badaga grain to different clans, but I have no information on the point. [255]

The contribution of grain from the Badagas has usually been regarded as given in return for the use of the land, the Todas being supposed to be the original owners of the soil. That this is not the whole explanation is shown by the fact that the Badagas also give a tribute of grain to two other Nilgiri tribes, the Kotas and Kurumbas. Harkness [256] was told by the Badagas that the portion given to the ti was in return for the prayers of the palol, and that they did not believe that “their crops or their cattle, themselves or their children, would prosper without his blessing.” The Badagas also stated that they generally desisted from cultivating their fields when the ti was left without a palol. They looked on the tribute of grain to the Todas as given of their own good will, while a similar tribute to the Kurumbas was dictated by fear of the consequences of sorcery which might be employed if the duty were neglected.

It has been supposed that the fear of Toda sorcery is one reason for the maintenance of the tribute, and, since the Badagas undoubtedly fear the power of the Toda sorcerers, it is probable that this factor plays a part, though one less important than in the case of the Kurumbas.

Another view which has been taken is that the Todas maintain rights over old dairies in the middle of the Badaga fields, and that any recalcitrance on the part of the Badagas might be followed by the taking up of these old rights. It is possible that the Todas have at some time threatened to resume their rights over disused dairies, but, in the case of the more sacred dairies, the fear of defilement of the sacred buffaloes by approaching a Badaga village would prevent the Todas from putting such a threat into practice.

The grain is probably given, partly because it is an immemorial custom, partly because the Badagas believe that they receive benefits and avoid evils in consequence of the custom.

At the present time, the amount of grain supplied by the Badagas is not sufficient for the needs of the Todas, and both grain and rice are bought by the Todas in the bazaar. All the grain used by the palol must, however, be that supplied by the Badagas; but if more grain is required than the Badagas supply, it is possible that other grain may be used, though it is always in this case procured through the Badagas. The rice used at a ti dairy must also be procured through the Badagas.

The supply of grain is far from being the only duty of the Badagas to the ti dairies. Each ti has one or more special Badagas, each called tikelfmav, or “ti help Badaga,” who acts as intermediary between the palol and the Hindus. The earthenware vessels used in the inner room, the various garments of the palol, and other objects are made by Hindus, from whom they are procured by the tikelfmav. I did not learn of any material recompense given to the Badagas for these services, and the motive is probably some such belief as that described by Harkness.

One of the most important parts played by the Badagas in the Toda community is in connexion with the naim, or council, of which one member is a Badaga belonging to the village of Tuneri. He is only called upon to sit, however, in cases of difficulty, and probably one of his functions is to assist in the settlement of any dispute which may arise in connexion with the tribute of grain, or other transactions between members of the two communities.

There is little evidence that the Badagas have had much influence on the more important customs and ceremonies of the Todas. Few traces of their influence are to be found in the dairy ceremonial, but it is possible that some of the rites accompanying birth and death may have been borrowed from this people. The practice of making cicatrices on the arm (p. 576) is common to both Badagas and Todas, and may have been borrowed by the latter from the former, but the practice is not in any way of a ceremonial character. The only part played by a Badaga at a Toda funeral is that the bell called tukulir mani may be kept by a Badaga or a Kota, and, as I have suggested on p. 377, the whole ceremony with the calf in which this bell is used may have been borrowed from the Badagas. The idea of a thread bridge between this world and the next is said to be common to Todas and Badagas, but I have no evidence to show which has borrowed from the other.

In the ordinary life of the people there is more evidence of influence. At many Toda villages there may now be seen huts like those of the Badagas which usually result from the practice of allowing Badagas to occupy a Toda village when the proper occupants have gone elsewhere. The visitors build a hut of their own kind in which to live, and sometimes the Todas on their return inhabit this hut, though in general they only use it as an appanage to the hut of the proper kind.

The fact that the Badagas will thus come to live at a Toda village seems to show that when the Todas move from one place to another the pasturage is not necessarily exhausted, for the Badagas would not bring their buffaloes in this case. It seems that the grazing-grounds for the Badaga buffaloes are not very extensive, and that the Badagas are always glad to use the more extensive pasturage of the Todas, even when the grass has been partly eaten off.

Transactions in buffaloes between Todas and Badagas seem now to be fairly frequent. I often heard of a buffalo as having been received from the Badagas, but I have no very definite information as to the reasons for the transference. On the occasion of the ceremony of the ear-piercing of Tikievan’s sons (p. 336), Tikievan received a present of two buffaloes from the Badaga monegar of Tuneri, and this present was said to be in return for things which Tikievan had previously given to the monegar, but I did not learn the exact nature of this gift.

In two departments there is very clear evidence of Badaga influence. The astronomical ideas of the Todas are almost certainly borrowed from their neighbours (see Chap. XXIV), and in the closely allied practical question of the calendar I think Badaga influence may be suspected.

The other department is medicine. There is no special reason to suppose that the magical remedies of the utkòren (Chap. XII) have been borrowed from the Badagas, but the more strictly medical remedies used by the Todas are largely borrowed, the actual leaves or other substances employed being obtained from the Badagas. The practice of suicide by opium, said to be very prevalent among the Badagas, has, in at least one recent case, been adopted by a Toda, and the threat of suicide by this means is said to be fairly common.

There is no doubt that the Badagas believe in the powers of the Toda sorcerers. I was told of several definite instances in which misfortunes were believed to have been brought upon the Badagas in this way, and there is little doubt that, in one case, the supposed author of the death of a child was murdered by the Badagas.

If a Badaga suspects magical influence of this kind he may consult one of the Toda diviners, showing that the Badagas believe in Toda divination as well as in Toda sorcery.

It is probable that the relations between the Todas and Badagas have existed for very long. It is generally held that the Badagas are comparatively recent immigrants to the Nilgiri Hills. Breeks [257] states that the Badagas are said to have come to the hills about three centuries ago in consequence of the troubles that followed the fall of Vijayanagar, but it is certain that they have been on the hills much longer than this, for the account of Finicio in 1602 (see App. I) shows that the relations between Todas and Badagas were much the same then as they are now. The close connexion of Badagas with the ti dairies, their intermediation between the palol and the Hindu, and the fact that the palol must eat Badaga grain, are all indications of very ancient relations between the two tribes.

There is one fact which may be held to show that the relation between Todas and Badagas is recent as compared with that between the Todas and other Nilgiri tribes. This is the fact that the Badagas are not mentioned in one of the legends of the Toda gods, while Kotas, Kurumbas, and Irulas each play a part in one or more of these stories.

TODAS AND KOTAS

The Toda name for a Kota is Kuv. The relation between the two people is very different from that between Toda and Badaga. While a Toda regards a Badaga as his equal, or perhaps even as his superior, he looks down on the Kota as inferior, as hardly to be classed as a man with himself. In their secret language, a Toda speaks of a Kota as kimas ithvai, “he that is beneath,” and in the remedies for the evil eye (see p. 264) the Kotas are the only hill tribe which is not thought worthy of mention—they are not thought to be of sufficient importance to be able to cast the evil eye. When a Kota meets a Toda, he raises both hands to his face and salutes from a distance. The two people do not touch one another in general, though I do not know that contact is definitely prohibited. A Toda will not sleep or take food at a Kota village in general, but makes an exception in the case of Kulgadi in the Wainad (see p. 200). It is usually supposed that the contempt of the Toda for the Kota is due to the flesh-eating, or even carrion-eating, habits of the latter, and this is certainly one of the elements which influence the relations between the two peoples.

The Kotas supply the Todas with the larger part of their pottery and ironware. [258] All the earthenware vessels of the dairies, except those of the inner rooms of the ti dairies, are supplied by the Kotas, and the various knives and other metal objects of the Todas are chiefly obtained from these people. The Kotas supply most of the things burnt at Toda funerals and they supply the music on these occasions.

Just as the Badagas do not supply grain to the Todas only, so the Kotas do artisan work for Badagas, Kurumbas, and Irulas. The Kotas are the artisans, not of the Todas only, but of the whole hill district.

The relations between the Todas and Kotas are strictly regulated, each Kota village supplying certain Toda clans. There are seven Kota villages on the hills, of which the following are the Toda and Badaga names:—

In the Todanad district:—

Tizgudr, Tizgadr, or Tizgwadr (Badaga, Tirichigadi), between Ootacamund and Kanòdrs, near the Toda village of Ushadr.

Kurguli (B. Padagula or Kuruvoje), near the Badaga village of Sholur.

In the Mekanad district:—

Kalmal (B. Kolamala or Kollimalai), not far from Kateri.

In the Peranganad district:—

Meilkukal (B. Melkotagiri or Perangada) in Kotagiri, one of the three chief European stations on the hills. Kikukal (B. Kilkotagiri or Kinnada), north-east of Kotagiri.

In the Kundanad district:—

Medrkukal (B. Menada).

The seventh is Kulgadi (B. Kalagasa) at Gudalur in the Wainad.

The village of Tizgudr is connected with the Toda clans of Kars, Melgars, Kanòdrs, and sometimes with the people of Kulhem. Kurguli supplies the clans of Nòdrs, Taradr, Kuudr, Piedr, and Kusharf, and occasionally Kulhem. Kalmal supplies Keradr, Nidrsi, Päm, Kidmad, and Keadr. Meilkukal and Kikukal are both connected with Kwòdrdoni and Pedrkars, and Medrkukal is the Kota village of the Panol. Kulgadi is connected only with the village of Kavidi, near Gudalur, which belongs to the Piedrol. When there were several Toda villages in the Wainad, it probably served them all.

The connexion between clans and villages seems to depend almost wholly on geographical distribution. The clans are supplied by the Kota villages which are nearest to their headquarters. An outlying village such as Kavidi has not the same Kota village as the rest of its clan. The Kidmadol, who are a branch of the Melgarsol, have not the same Kota village as the parent stock; but, on the other hand, the Panol, who now live chiefly among other Todas near Governor Shola, are still connected with the Kundah Kotas.

Each Kota village is responsible for the supply of the clan or clans with which it is connected. Its inhabitants make the various utensils used in the household and in the less sacred dairy work of the Todas. At the funeral of any member of a clan with which they are connected, they provide the music and the following objects:—

At the etvainolkedr, a cloak in which the corpse is wrapped, five to ten measures (kwa) of the grain called patm (samai), and one or two rupees. If the Kotas do not possess the grain, they may give another one or two rupees in its stead.

At the marvainolkedr, they supply a cloak; eight annas to pay for the embroidery of the cloak, which is done by the Toda women; two to five rupees towards the funeral expenses; a bow and three arrows; a knife (kafkati); a sieve (kudshmurn) and a basket (tek).

In return, the Kotas receive the carcases of the buffaloes killed at the funeral, and on the occasion of a Kota funeral, the Todas supply one male calf from three to five years of age and one measure (kudi) of clarified butter. The Kotas also receive the bodies of any Toda buffaloes which die a natural death.

A Kota visiting a Toda village at any time is given clarified butter to take away with him. He is also given food consisting of jaggery and rice, which must be eaten on the outskirts of the village. A Kota is never given milk, buttermilk, or butter.

Once a year there is a definite ceremony in which the Todas go to the Kota village with which they are connected, taking an offering of clarified butter and receiving in return an offering of grain from the Kotas. I only obtained an account of this ceremony as performed between the people of Kars and the Kota village of Tizgudr, and I do not know whether the details would be the same in other cases.

In the Kars ceremony the Todas go on the appointed day to the Kota village, headed by a man carrying the clarified butter. Outside the village, they are met by two Kota priests whom the Todas called teupuli, who bring with them a dairy vessel of the kind the Todas call mu, which is filled with patm grain. Other Kotas follow with music. All stand outside the village, and one of the Kotas puts ten measures (kwa) of patm into the pocket of the cloak of the leading Toda, and the teupuli give the mu filled with the same grain.

The teupuli then go to their temple and return, each bringing a mu, and the clarified butter brought by the Todas is divided into two equal parts, and half is poured into each mu. The leading Toda then takes some of the butter and rubs it on the heads of the two Kota priests, who prostrate themselves, one at each foot of the Toda, and the Toda prays as follows:—

Ultamâ; Kûv erdm tânenmâ; kadr pelumâ; May it be well; Kotas two may it be well; fields flourish may;

mâ un mâ; îr kar mâ, nûv pedr mâ. rain may; buffalo milk may, disease go may.

The Toda then gives the two mu containing the clarified butter to the Kota priests, and he and his companions return home.

This ceremony is obviously one in which the Todas are believed to promote the prosperity of the Kotas, their crops, and their buffaloes. [259]

In another ceremonial relation between Todas and Kotas, the Kwòdrdoni ti is especially concerned. The chief annual ceremony of the Kotas is held about January in honour of the Kota god Kambataraya. This ceremony lasts about a fortnight, and, during part of the time, the proceedings are attended by Todas and other of the hill tribes. In order that this ceremony may take place, it is essential that there should be a palol at the Kwòdrdoni ti, and at the present time this ti is only occupied every year shortly before and during the ceremony. The palol gives clarified butter to the Kotas, which should be made from the milk of the arsaiir, the buffaloes of the ti. Some Kotas of Kotagiri whom I interviewed claimed that these buffaloes belonged to them, and that something was done by the palol at the Kwòdrdoni ti in connexion with the Kambataraya ceremony, but they could not or would not tell me what it was.

The relations between Todas and Kotas are probably of very old standing. The fact that the Kotas supply the bow and arrows burnt at a Toda funeral suggests that the connexion goes back to the time when the Todas used these weapons, while the special sieve supplied by the Kotas for a funeral is of a different pattern from that in use at the present time. The Kotas are mentioned in Toda legend. The people of Tizgudr play a prominent part in the story of Kwoten (p. 195), and this deity is said to have been the first Toda who stayed at a Kota village, viz., at the village of Kulgadi (or Gudalur). He sat and slept on the Kota tün and since that time the Todas have stayed at this village, though they will not stay at any other. The relation between Kwoten and the Kotas seems to have been especially close. The old woman, Muturach, from whom the present people of Kanòdrs are descended, according to the legend, may have been a Kota. The Kotas who give tribute to the Todas are known as their muṭṭu Kotas, and the first part of the old woman’s name may have been this word.

Our acquaintance with Kota mythology is too scanty to contribute much to our knowledge of the relations between the two peoples. Breeks states that Kurguli (Padagula) is the oldest of the Kota villages, and that the Badagas believe that the Kotas of this village were made by the Todas. At Kurguli there is a temple of the same form as the Toda dairy, and this is said to be the only temple of the kind at any Kota village.

Breeks gives a legend which records the origin of the different foods of the Nilgiri tribes. Kambataraya, perspiring profusely, wiped from his forehead three drops of perspiration, and out of these formed the Todas, Kurumbas, and Kotas. The Todas were told to live principally upon milk, the Kurumbas were permitted to eat the flesh of buffalo calves, and the Kotas were allowed perfect liberty, being informed that they might eat carrion if they could get nothing better. My interpreter, Albert, was told a different version of this legend, according to which Kambataraya gave to each people a pot. In the Toda pot was calf-flesh, and so the Todas eat the flesh of calves (i.e., at the erkumptthpimi ceremony); the Kurumba pot contained the flesh of a male buffalo, so this is eaten by the Kurumbas. The pot of the Kotas contained the flesh of a cow-buffalo, which may, therefore, be eaten by this people.

TODAS AND KURUMBAS

The Toda name for a Kurumba is Kurub, which often sounds like Kurb. In the secret language, a Kurumba is called âr kârthpol, “the man who watches the way.” Mr. Thurston states that when a Kurumba meets a Toda, he bends forward and the Toda places his hand on the Kurumba’s head. The Todas may visit Kurumba villages and take food in them.

Two ceremonial objects are obtained by the Todas from the Kurumbas. One is the tall pole called tadrsi or tadri, which is used in the dance at the second funeral ceremonies and afterwards burnt. Poles of the proper length are said to grow only on the Malabar side of the Nilgiris and are probably most easily obtained from the Kurumbas. The other is the teiks, or funeral post at which the buffalo is killed, which is probably made of teak wood.

The most striking feature of the relations between Todas and Kurumbas is the belief of the former in the magical powers of the latter, a belief which is shared by both Kotas and Badagas. The sorcery of the Toda is dangerous, but can be remedied, while for kurubudrchiti, or Kurumba sorcery, there is no remedy, and all that can be done is to kill the Kurumba, apparently to avoid further evil consequences to the community rather than from motives of revenge.

The Kurumbas play no part in the social life of the Todas. With the one exception of providing the funeral pole, I could not learn that they had any functions at Toda ceremonies. It was said that the teuol, Pangudr, who was believed to be inspired by Kwoto, must dance, i.e., divine, to the Kurumbas before he dances to the Todas, and when so doing, must dance like a lame man, this behaviour owing its origin to the god Kwoto (see p. 209). It is possible that this shows that the Kurumbas believe in Toda divination and consult the diviners.

The Kurumbas are mentioned in several Toda legends. According to one account, it was this people whom Kwoto deceived, making them eat the flesh of a buffalo calf; according to another, it was the Panins or Panyas who were deceived by the god.

Kwoten is said to have initiated the practice of allowing Todas to visit Kurumba villages, and he appears to have been closely connected, in some way, with the Kurumbas, who still offer plantains to Terkosh and light lamps in her honour, Terkosh being the goddess who was connected with his disappearance and deification.

In the story of Kuzkarv, the Kurumbas, together with the Irulas, collect honey for the Todas from nests in a tree, [260] and this seems to point to a time when these tribes took an active part in the social life of the Todas. It seems possible that the Kurumbas and Irulas were the huntsmen of the Todas, and sought roots and honey for them, just as the Badagas were the agriculturists and the Kotas the mechanics.

TODAS AND IRULAS

The Irulas live on the lower slopes of the Nilgiri Hills and have few relations with the Todas. They are called Erl by the Todas, and, according to Mr. Thurston, they are saluted in the same way as the Kurumbas. The Irulas are among the people mentioned in the remedial formula used against the effects of the evil eye, and are evidently regarded as having some magical power, though they are not feared in the same measure as the Kurumbas.

The name of the Irulas only occurs once in my collection of Toda legends, in the story of Kuzkarv, where they are associated with the Kurumbas. Atioto, who is the special deity of Kwòdrdoni and Pedrkars, is said to have a temple of which the priest is an Irula. This is probably an Irula temple to which the Todas make offerings.

XXVIII. THE CLANS OF THE TODAS

In this chapter I propose to give a short account of each of the Toda clans with any special features which characterise its ceremonial and social organisation. The chapter will consist largely of detail, much of which may be thought to have no great interest, but it seems desirable to put on record as full an account as possible of the condition of the people at the time of my visit. A certain amount of folklore will be included, those tales being given which are specially connected with the history of a clan.

THE TARTHAR CLANS

NÒDRS

The people of Nòdrs owe their special importance to their connexion with the goddess Teikirzi, who was the nòdrodchi, or first ruler of the clan, and according to tradition bestowed certain special favours on her people. Chief among these is the possession of the Nòdrs ti. This is undoubtedly the most sacred and important of the five ti institutions, and its herds are much larger than those of any other. The fact that the Nòdrs people own this ti and have the power of appointing to the office of palol gives them great distinction in the eyes of the Todas, and this is emphasised when the palol is undergoing his ordination ceremonies, for several of these take place in villages of the Nòdrsol. The preliminary ceremony for those who wish to become palol, which is called tesherst, is also usually performed at a Nòdrs village.

Another title to fame is the possession of the poh, or conical dairy temple at Nòdrs, which is known to the European inhabitants of the Nilgiri Hills as the “Toda Cathedral.” It is certainly not the most sacred of Toda dairies, but it is the most accessible of the few dairies of this kind now remaining.

The Nòdrsol are one of the clans represented in the naim. They now stand second among the Tarthar clans in point of numbers, having forty-three males and thirty females. [261] It has two kudr, one of which, consisting of the family given in the first of the genealogical tables, has now only two male members; as these have at present no son, it is possible that it may shortly become extinct. The other kudr has five pòlm, of which the chief men are Kerkadr (2), Kudòdrsvan (3), Teigudr (4), Mondothi (5), and Keitan (6). If any of the members of these five pòlm should perform the irnörtiti ceremony, the buffalo would go to Mudrigeidi and Odrkurs, while, if either of these men had to give a buffalo, its value would be divided among the other five pòlm. Kerkadr is regarded as the head of the second kudr.

The madnol of the Nòdrs people are Tuesday and Friday, and they hold the funerals of men on Sunday, and of women on Thursday. The special features of their funeral ceremonies are that the body of a man lies in the tarvali of Nòdrs for some days before the etvainolkedr and that a special bell (mani) is used at male funerals which has to be brought from Òdr. Male funerals are held at Nòdrs, and female funerals at Külthpuli. The clan used also to have another funeral place close to the Paikara road, which is not now used.

The Nòdrsol have many villages, of which fourteen are still inhabited, and I obtained the names of five others now in ruins.

The following are the chief villages.

Nòdrs (Muttanadmand). In addition to the conical poh, this village has the distinguishing feature of a long wall which passes between this dairy and the huts where the people live. The wall then passes at the back of the poh and runs for some distance northward. The tarvali (in Fig. 12) is situated in an enclosure of the wall near the dwelling-huts, so that the women can go to it for buttermilk without crossing the wall and entering the enclosure in which the poh stands. In the south part of the wall is the gap through which the calf is driven at the irnörtiti ceremony (see Fig. 43). The wall is reputed to have been built by Elnâkhum.

Close to the poh, between it and the tarvali, are the ruins of another dairy, the former kudrpali, which is said to have had seven rooms. It was disused on account of the difficulty in obtaining the services of a kudrpalikartmokh. It will be remembered that this grade of dairyman has to do his work without any covering, and in the bleak exposed position of Nòdrs, it seems that this was so great a hardship that the office went begging. The Nòdrs people are said to have ceased to use this dairy about four generations ago, and the condition of the ruins is about what might be expected if this statement were correct.

There are a large number of important stones at Nòdrs. Formerly seven kinds of buffalo were killed at the funeral of a male, and each was killed at a different stone. Now only two buffaloes may be killed, but the stones remain to show what was formerly done. Two wursulir were killed, one at the stone called uteiks and another at the stone nerovkars, both of which are shown in Fig. 70. One nashperthir was killed at the nashperthkars. The two sacred mani were hung on the necks of one of the wursulir and the nashperthir. One pineipir was killed at the stone called tukervòrskars. One persasir was killed at the persaskars, and two putiir were killed, one at the teidrtolkars and the other at the menkars. The teidrtolkars, shown in Fig. 13, also marks the spot where the unfortunate wursol milked his buffaloes (see p. 439). The menkars, shown in Fig. 12, is the stone used in the game of narthpimi, in which a boy creeps under a stone. It is on the village side of the wall, close to the entrance to the tarvali. All the other stones are on the same side of the wall as the poh.

Òdr (Aganadmand). This is second in importance among the villages of the Nòdrsol, and it was a question whether the wursuli dairy, though of the ordinary form, had not even a greater sanctity than the poh of Nòdrs. More difficulty was made when I wished to go close to it than at any other place during the whole of my visit (except, of course, at the ti dairy), but, unfortunately, the affair was complicated by the fact that on this day my usual attendant, Kòdrner, was not with me, and the difficulty may have been partly due to this. When I was allowed to approach the building, only one man came with me and he would not go within several yards of the dairy, while allowing me to go on. The special sanctity of this dairy is due to the fact that the two mani of the Nòdrsol are kept here. Both this dairy and a smaller tarvali are at a much greater distance from the village than usual, but with that exception there is nothing to distinguish them from the dairies of other villages. The wursuli is one of those which has two rooms. It is at the village of Òdr that the palol passes one night during his ordination ceremonies, and I was shown the spot under a tree where he has to sleep, the same spot being also used by the wursol and kaltmokh when they undergo any part of their ordination ceremonies at Òdr.

Another feature of interest is the connexion of this village with Kuudr. An Òdr man must be present at the irpalvusthi and salt-giving ceremonies of Kuudr, and a Kuudr man must attend when these ceremonies are performed at Òdr. Further, the kwarzam of Òdr are said in the prayer of the erkumptthpimi ceremony at Kuudr and the Kwarzam of Kuudr are said at Òdr.

The following legend records the origin of these customs:—

Soon after Teikirzi had given the buffaloes to the different villages, the buffaloes of Kuudr and Òdr were grazing together, and when evening came they could not be separated and both herds went together to the funeral place called Keikars. The wursol of Òdr and the palikartmokh of Kuudr brought their milking-vessels, each to milk his own buffaloes, and they also brought their churning-vessels (patat) and cooking-vessels. After they had milked, the wursol of Òdr went to pour his milk into his patat, and when doing so some of the milk splashed into the vessel of the palikartmokh. They then cooked some food with the milk, and as the food was boiling strongly, some of it went from one cooking-pot to the other. Then the people of the two villages met and decided that, as the two kinds of buffalo had been milked in one place and the two kinds of milk had been mixed with one another, each of the villages should mention the kwarzam of the other in its prayer, and people of one village should attend the ceremonies of the other.

Tedshteiri (Talapattaraimand). This is another important Nòdrs village. It was vacant at the time of my visit, but is still often occupied. It had at one time a dairy called Okurshapali with seven rooms, which was, like that of Nòdrs, a kudrpali. It fell into disuse at the same time as the Nòdrs dairy, and its site is still quite distinct; but though it seemed larger than usual, I could discover no indication of the number of rooms it had had. When I visited the village there were nine ovens standing in a row, which had been used to cook the food when Teigudr (4) took his wife Uwer from Nertolvan of Pan (16). On this occasion Nertolvan came to Tedshteiri to receive nine buffaloes from Teigudr, and the number of ovens corresponded with the number of the buffaloes.

Kudrnakhum (Kudinagamand). The chief point of interest about this village is that it is the place where the ceremony of tesherst often takes place. It is an outlying village to the west which I was unable to visit.

Perththo (Perattitalmand). This is a village which is shared by two clans. The part occupied by the Nòdrsol is called Meil Perththo, or Upper Perththo. The other part of the village was said to be general property, but it is at present occupied by Melgars people.

Kozhtudi or Kozhteidi. The special feature of this village is that it has a wursuli in which everything has to be carried out kabkaditi, i.e., the dairyman is not allowed to turn his back to the contents of the dairy. This certainly points to the village having been at one time of importance.

KARS

This is at present the largest of the Tarthar clans, having sixty-seven male and fifty female members. It is represented in the naim, and there was some reason to think that it occupies a more important position in this body than the other Tarthar clans. The family of Parkurs (8) is called tinkanikudupel, ranking next to a manikudupel, and Parkurs was till lately a second or assistant monegar.

There seems to be no doubt that the Karsol have always been an important clan, and its members are often mentioned in the stories, though they do not appear to have had any legendary hero such as those of Melgars and Pan. Their nòdrodchi (ruler or presiding deity) is Kulinkars, now believed to live on a hill near Makurti Peak. The Kars people possess a ti which in importance and wealth is second only to that of Nòdrs.

Kars resembles Nòdrs in having two kudr differing greatly in size. Kutadri is the head of one, which comprises all the members of the family given in Table 7. It has two pòlm, headed by Kutadri and Peithol. The other kudr has eight pòlm, of which the chief men are Parkurs (8), Pidrvan (9) [262], Piutolvan (10), Kudrvas (11), Kutthurs (12), Mongudrvan (13), Kiunervan (14), and Keitazvan (15). Till recently there appear to have been only five pòlm in the Kars clan, each of which has lately been divided into two. There is a very marked disproportion in the number of members of some of these divisions; thus the pòlm of Parkurs has sixteen males in five more or less distinct families, while others have only three or four males. Nevertheless each of the latter would contribute the same amount towards joint expenses of the clan as the sixteen males of the pòlm of Parkurs.

The chief villages of the Karsol are in or near Ootacamund, and this clan formerly had several other villages on sites now occupied by modern buildings.

The following are the chief places:—

Kars (Kandalmand). This village is one of the best known of Toda villages, being just on the outskirts of Ootacamund. It is a very typical example of a Toda village; there is a small group of houses, with a large dairy, the kudrpali (Fig. 21), called Tarziolv, close to them; just above the houses on the rising ground is a smaller dairy, the wursuli called Karziolv, shown in the background of Fig. 42 and partly shown in Figs. 23 and 44. Opposite the kudrpali are two raised circular mounds with flat tops called the imudrikars (seen in the foreground in Fig. 21), on which the body of a dead man is laid before being taken to the funeral hut at Taradrkirsi. Above the kudrpali is the hut for calves.

In the middle of the enclosure within which the village lies, is a row of stones (shown in Fig. 42) which are the irnörtkars, and in the ceremony of irnörtiti the calf is driven across these stones.

Behind the houses there is a small circular enclosure which is now used as a tu and is called Althftu. The entrance to this enclosure is shown in Fig. 29 just in front of the boy carrying the dairy vessels. Formerly there was a dairy of the conical kind within this circle, of which the name was Ishpoh. About five generations ago, this dairy still existed and was tended by a wursol; but several dairymen died in succession, and this so alarmed the Todas that it became impossible to obtain anyone to fill the office, and when the dairy decayed its remains were removed and the circular enclosure within which it stood has since been used as a pen. In size and appearance the enclosure is quite unlike other pens, and resembles much more nearly the circular walls round the conical dairies of Nòdrs and Kanòdrs.

Kuzhu (Kunditolmand). This, the second in importance of the villages of the Karsol, is a very picturesque place south of Ootacamund. There is a kudrpali called Tudrpoh, in front of which is a stone called imudrikars. The gold bracelet mentioned in the story of Kwoto is kept in this dairy. In front of the dwelling-huts is another stone called menkars (see p. 342). The menkars at Kuzhu and that at Nòdrs are the only stones of this name, but they do not resemble one another, and the Kuzhu stone is not adapted for the narthpimi game as is that of Nòdrs.

Keshker (Kakerimand). This is a large village near Ootacamund at which there is a kudrpali, but little else of interest. It is probably the Kishkeijar mentioned by Harkness.

Nasmiòdr (Aganadmand). This is a very old village which was probably at one time much more important than at present. It is situated about a quarter of a mile from the road leading from Ootacamund to Ebanad, not far from the Badaga village of Tuneri. There is now only a small dairy (wursuli) situated in the middle of a wood. When I visited Nasmiòdr, this dairy was unoccupied, and, as is usual in such cases, my Toda guide refused to go to the dairy with me, and remained outside the wood. Soon after I left the hills, it was to be occupied by the wursol of Kars, who would take his buffaloes there for a month.

This village is mentioned in two Toda legends, in both of which it seems to have been a village at which people were living. The dairy is called Tilipoh or Pohtilipoh, and it still contains the two mani, Karzod and Kòni, which were hung on the neck of Enmon (see p. 208). It is one of the few wursuli which have two rooms.

Pakhalkudr (Bagalkodumand). This village, not far from Paikara, is one of the most outlying villages of the Karsol. There is a very small dairy here resembling the merkalars which serves both as kudrpali and wursuli, the former being in front, while the latter is behind, with the door on one side. The wursuli is so small that there can scarcely be room for a fully grown man to do the churning.

Isharadr and Peletkwur. These are outlying villages of no special interest. The former was only built in the time of the grandfather of Parkurs (8), and has a dairy resembling that of Pakhalkudr.

Taradrkirsi (Kavaikkadmand). This is the funeral place for men of the Kars clan, and is also a kalolmad. There is a kudrpali with three rooms called Paliven keirsi, and a pen called Tuoks. There are two stones where the wursulir and nashperthir are killed, and close to them there is a spot by the side of a wood where earth is thrown at a funeral. There is a slight break in the edge of the wood here, and this is probably the position of an old pen which has been completely overgrown.

There is a long wall at this village passing near the dairy and the funeral stones, and then extending a long way towards the east. It resembles the Nòdrs wall, and these seem to be the only two examples of walls of this kind at Toda villages. The wall at Taradrkirsi is said to have been built by Kwoten, but it seems unlikely, for this hero had no special connexion with the Karsol.

Several villages which have now wholly disappeared are still mentioned in the prayer which the Kars people use at the erkumptthpimi ceremony. One of these, Tashtars, stood where the Masonic Hall at Ootacamund now stands. The site of another, Turskidt, is occupied by a private house. Two, Tüli and Keitaz, were situated on Elk Hill, and two others, Sing and Kurkars, were near Nasmiòdr.

PAN

The Pan clan have their headquarters in the Kundahs and are often called the Medrol, or people of Medr, the Toda name for the Kundahs. The chief villages of this clan are in the Kundahs, but they are only visited during the dry season, and for the greater part of the year the Panol live at the comparatively new village of Naters in the most thickly populated part of the hills. The legendary hero, Kwoten, belonged to Pan.

The clan is small, having now about twenty-seven male and nine female members. It is not represented on the naim, and in the Badaga grouping of the Todas this clan is joined with that of Nòdrs.

The Panol have two kudr, and provide the only example among the Tartharol in which the kudr have special names. The formation of the kudr is said to have been due to Kwoten, who divided the people into Panol and Kuirsiol, named after the two chief villages of the clan. The two divisions are also called Pandar and Peshteidimokh.

The Pandar or Panol have three pòlm, headed by Timurvan (16), Todars (16), and Nòrtiners (17). The Peshteidimokh or Kuirsiol have two pòlm, headed by Timners (18) and Imokhvan (19).

The irnörtiti and tuninörtiti ceremonies are performed in front of the wursuli at Pan or Kuirsi. The spots on which the ceremonies take place are not marked by any stones, and the ceremonies are spoken of as paliknörtiti, i.e., “he gives to the dairy,” though, as a matter of fact, the calf passes from the men of one kudr to the men of the other kudr as in other clans.

The madnol of Pan are said to be Sunday and Wednesday, and the funerals of men take place on Sunday or Tuesday, and those of women on Thursday or Saturday. It is probable that Tuesday is the proper day for the funerals of men, but that they are now sometimes held on Sunday.

The following are the chief villages of the Panol:—

Pan (Onnamand) is commonly known to Europeans as “One mand.” It is a large village in the south-west corner of the Kundahs, with two houses of the long variety, with a door at each end and a partition in the middle. There is a wursuli called Keinulv, and a kudrpali called Nersolv, and outside the pen there is a stone called mutchudkars.

Kuirsi (Kolimand). This village is near Pan. It has a wursuli and kudrpali, the former being called Marsolv and the latter Keinulv. Outside the pen, called Tu matu, there is a large stone called keinkars, and inside it there are two stones called mutchudkars and pudrthkars. I could learn little of the history or functions of these stones, but they were said to have been “played with” by Kwoten and Terkosh.

Perg (Yeragimand) is a small village near Avalanche Bungalow and is an example of a kalolmad.

Naters (Natanerimand) is a large village near Governor Shola, where most of the Panol live for the greater part of the year. This village has a wursuli and tarvali, but nothing else of interest.

Near Avalanche Bungalow there is the site of a village called Pathmars. Little remains of it, but the fireplace of a hut can still be seen.

Kabudri (Tebbekudumand). This is the male funeral village of the Panol. Here there are two stones called teiks where the wursulir are killed, and they are reputed to have been set up by Kwoten; one, called parsteiks, is for the Panol, and the other, called kirshteiks, for the Kuirsiol. Another place given as the male funeral place of Pan was Tim, where there is a three-roomed dairy of the same kind as that at Taradrkirsi, in the outermost room of which the body is placed. It is probable that Tim and Kabudri are two names for the same place.

TARADR

All the villages of this clan are situated in the north-west corner of the hills and the clan appears to have no villages far removed from the etudmad. The clan is a large one having now at least thirty-seven male and thirty-nine female members.

The Taradrol appear to have in several ways a special position among the Tarthar clans. They possess the special institution of the kugvali, which, though resembling in some respects a ti, is situated by the other dairies of the village and is tended by dairymen belonging to the clan. The Taradrol are also unique in having their future world (Amnòdr) near Perithi.

The Taradrol are divided into two kudr, each of which has three pòlm. The chief men of the pòlm of one kudr are Ircheidi (20), Parkeidi (21), and Polgar (22); of the second, Paners (23), Irkiolv (24), and Kudeners (25). About the time of my visit the place of Ircheidi, who was ill, was taken by his son, Siriar.

The six pòlm of the clan take it in turn to look after the kugvalir, each having charge of the dairies and herd for a period of three years. Shortly before my visit, the charge had been taken over by the pòlm of Ircheidi and Siriar.

The following are the chief villages:—

Taradr (Tarnardmand). This is one of the most characteristic Toda villages, situated near the road leading to the Paikara falls. It is shown in Figs. 5 and 6, and has three dairies, situated at some distance from the dwelling-huts. The two dairies shown in Fig. 5 are the tarvali and kugvali, the former on the left-hand side and the latter on the right. The third dairy of the village is a wursuli, situated to the right of the kugvali.

Near the kugvali is a stone (shown in Fig. 24) at which the wursulir is killed at a Taradr funeral. The stone is called püdrshtikars after the name of the buffaloes (püdrshtipir). At a little distance from the three dairies are the remains of another pali, which was only used at the funeral of a male. This pali, like those at other funeral places had three rooms, and in the ruins at the time of my visit it was easy to make out the three divisions. When the occasion arises, the dairy is rebuilt on the day of the funeral, and the tarpalikartmokh takes the mu into the innermost room after purifying it with tudr bark. The body of the dead man is then laid in the outermost room and kept there till it is taken out after the slaughter of the buffaloes. If this temporary building is the representative of a former dairy with three rooms, it would seem that the village of Taradr once had four dairies.

Kudrmas (Kudimalmand). This is a kalolmad on the western side of the Paikara. The kugvalir were here during the greater part of my visit.

Telgudr (Telkodumand). This is another kalolmad.

Pushtar (Pattaraimand). This village is one at which the tesherst ceremony (see p. 154) is sometimes performed.

Kudimad (Kulimand). This is a large village near Taradr at which many of the people live, but it is not an important village ceremonially, having only one dairy, a tarvali.

Near Paikara there can still be seen the remains of a village called Pevar which was deserted because the family which lived there became extinct.

KERADR

This is one of the smallest of the Tarthar clans, all its members being included in Table 26. There are at present sixteen male and nine female members.

There is at present only one kudr, the other having become extinct about three generations ago. As there has been no occasion for irnörtiti, no fresh division has been made. The kudr has two pòlm, one headed by Paniolv, and the other by Teikner.

The chief village, Keradr (Kannagimand), is situated in the south-west part of the hills near the Teivali village of Keadr. Keradr is also the male funeral place of the clan and was not occupied at the time of my visit. At this time most of the Keradrol were living at Tovalkan, near Paikara, a recent village at which there is a dairy of the ordinary kind (tarvali). Near the houses there is a raised mound shown in Fig. 59, erected to mark the spot on which Keirevan (26) was killed by falling from a tree into which he had climbed to cut wood.

KANÒDRS

This is one of the outlying Toda clans, and its people were said to have been less influenced by the altered conditions on the hills than any other clan, but they seem nevertheless to have given up several of their institutions. The sacred poh is only occasionally occupied, and I am doubtful whether they can be said to be in a more untouched condition than several other clans. The people are often called the Kererol, but I could not find that there was any village of Kerer from which this name is derived, and it is possibly the name of a district of the hills. The clan is distinguished by its possession of the conical poh at Kanòdrs, and by the fact that many of the adventures of Kwoto or Meilitars took place in the region it inhabits. Although Kwoto was a Melgars man, he is regarded as having a close connexion with the Kanòdrs people, and various features of the ritual of the Kanòdrs poh are said to be derived from him.

The clan is at present a small one, with a distinct majority of females. In fact, it seems so usual for members of this clan to have no children or only female children that there is some likelihood that the Kanòdrsol may become extinct. The present numbers are about thirteen males and twenty-three females.

There was some doubt as to the number of kudr. I was told that there are three, headed by Arsolv (27), Kineri (29), and Pòlkab (30) respectively, but at an irnörtiti ceremony both Arsolv and Kineri would give to Pòlkab, while the latter would give to both, so that it seems probable that there are properly only two kudr, as in other clans. One of these has only one pòlm, that of Pòlkab. The other has three pòlm, headed by Arsolv, Neratkutan (28), and Kineri.

The following are the chief villages of the Kanòdrsol:—

Kanòdrs (Devarmand). This village now consists of the poh only. There are still two mani at this village, one of which is called Pünkòghlag, a name closely resembling the name of the churning-stick at the ti. There are at present no dwelling-huts at the place, nor any remains of such huts, though it would appear from the legend of Kwoten that the village was inhabited at one time.

Pishkwosht (Bikkapatimand). This is a large village where most of the Kanòdrsol now live. The only dairy is in ruins. Close to the village there are a number of flat stones almost level with the ground (Fig. 71) which are called Teuâr, “the god way,” and are said to mark the spot where the gods (teu) used to meet. Just above these is a large buffalo pen, which is reputed not to have been made by man. Whenever the gods went this way they used to deposit pieces of dried buffalo-dung on this spot and these became the stones of the tu.

Near the village is a forest hut, and opposite this are two stones called pedrkars. The Todas once had a large gathering here, and a man jumped a long distance which was recorded by means of these stones.

The other villages of the Kanòdrsol, Taknin, Kuzhu or Kushu, &c., are in the same neighbourhood, but I was unable to visit them, and do not know whether they have any objects of interest.

KWÒDRDONI

This is the most outlying of Toda clans, but numerous tea estates have been established in its neighbourhood, and the people appear to have been a good deal influenced by the altered conditions. I was unable to visit any of the villages, and I know less about this clan than any other.

All the villages of the clan are situated in the district of the hills called by the Todas Purgòdr, and the people of the clan are, therefore, often called the Purgòdrol.

At present there appear to be seventeen males and fourteen females, but it is probable that these numbers are not complete. There are two kudr, headed by Kiurvan (32) and Atcharap (34). The former has three pòlm, of which the chief men are Puner (31), Kiurvan (32), and Òrudz (33), and the latter has two pòlm, headed by Atcharap (34) and Kudar (35).

This clan seems now to occupy only two villages. One is Kwòdrdoni (Kodudonnemand), where there is only a tarvali, though there was formerly a wursuli, now ruined, in which was kept a mani called Kirsongg which has disappeared. The other village is Katikar (Kodanadmand). The male funeral place is Iudi, and the female, Punmud.

PÄM

This is a clan which formerly occupied the site of Coonoor and Wellington. Its numbers are small, probably only seventeen males and thirteen females. There are two kudr, headed by Udrchovan (36) and Pungievan (37). Udrchovan’s kudr has only one pòlm. Pungievan’s kudr has three pòlm, of which the chief men are Pungievan (37), Arparners (38) and Seili (39).

The original etudmad of the clan was Pirspurs, the site of which was used for the Coonoor racecourse. Päm was then adopted as the chief village, but it has been allowed to fall into ruins, though still giving its name to the clan. The dairy at Päm was called Palikûdrbedz and the buffalo-pen, Tûgûdron. Inikitj, where the people now live, is an uninteresting village at which there are the ruins of a tarvali. There is a building in which the four or five sacred buffaloes (nashperthir) are kept, but they are not milked as there is no palikartmokh.

The male funeral place of this clan was Puvi, and the female, Kwatkash. These were situated where the Wellington barracks now stand, and the funerals are now held near Inikitj. Fig. 51 shows the wooden teiks at which the sacred buffalo would be killed at the funeral of a male.

There are several stories about Karnisi (37), a member of this clan. He is said to have been an exceptionally strong man, and the Todas tell how on one occasion two English soldiers came to Päm and insulted the women and how Karnisi took the two men unaided to the barracks at Wellington.

Karnisi also spent a fortune which had been stored in the dairy of Päm for many generations. A vessel (pun) full of rupees had been deposited in the dairy by an ancestor of Karnisi called Kiuten. It remained there till Karnisi spent it in buying buffaloes, ornaments for his many wives and household goods. He gave some of the rupees away and spent others in travelling to Coimbatore, and in a short time the money had disappeared.

NIDRSI

The headquarters of the Nidrsi clan are to the south of Coonoor. The people are closely surrounded by tea estates and have been much influenced. It is not now a large clan, having about sixteen male and twenty-five female members.

There are two kudr, headed by Todrigars (41) and Kudrmaskutan (43) respectively, each kudr having two pòlm. The chief men of the pòlm of one kudr are Puveners (40) and Todrigars, and of the other kudr, Kadrkutan (42) and Kudrmaskutan.

This clan affords a very good example of the degeneration which has in some cases befallen the dairy organisation. The people have only one wursulir left. The dairy (wursuli) has fallen into ruins, and they have no wursol and, therefore, the one buffalo is not milked. At a funeral of a male they will have to procure a wursol from another clan to kill this buffalo.

There are two mani, called Eshkiakudr and Eikudr, each with an iron chain, but as they have no wursuli these bells are kept under a stone at Akirsikòdri, the male funeral village. The other sacred buffaloes, pineipir, &c., are milked at a tarvali.

There are now only four inhabited villages, and only one of these seems to be of any importance.

Nidrsi. This is near the Badaga village of Hulikal. It consists chiefly of huts obviously of recent construction and not of the proper Toda form. There is a small dairy (tarvali) and the situation of the former wursuli, almost completely overgrown, can still be seen. There is a buffalo enclosure called Punatu. The irnörtkars is a stone of ordinary appearance with other smaller stones round it, and there is also a pilinörtkars of which only a small piece now shows above the ground. There is a very large tukitthkars at this village (see pp. 252 and 597).

Another stone here is called imudrikars or parsatthkars. Milk is put on it every morning and evening by the palikartmokh, but it is not used in any way in connexion with a funeral. The Todas relate that an Englishman shot at and splintered this stone some years ago. Soon after he was bitten by his horse, and he asked the Todas, with whom he was on very good terms, what ought to be done. He was told that he should perform the irnörtiti ceremony, and a few days later he brought a three-year-old calf to the irnörtkars at Nidrsi and gave it to the people. It was taken by both kudr and the Englishman was soon well again. The whole affair was regarded as a good joke, and is interesting as showing that the Todas do not object to making sport of one of their sacred ceremonies, especially when they gain an addition to their stock of buffaloes.

Akirsikòdri. This is the male funeral village, at which there is a dairy with three rooms, in which the body of a dead man is placed on the day of the etvainolkedr.

MELGARS

The Tarthar clan which takes its name from the village of Melgars occupies a very special position in the Toda social organisation and in the dairy ceremonial. Although a Tarthar clan, the Melgarsol in many respects resemble the Teivaliol much more closely than they resemble the other clans of their own division.

In former times the Melgarsol are said to have held the office of palol at the Kars ti and at the Pan ti, and to have lost this privilege owing to misbehaviour of a palol, of which an account has been already given. They are still capable of holding the offices of wursol and kaltmokh, for which otherwise only Teivaliol are eligible, and they have privileges and duties in connexion with various kinds of Toda ceremonial which are wholly unshared by other clans.

Though they may still hold the offices of wursol and kaltmokh, they are not allowed to carry out certain of the duties; thus, a Melgars wursol may not kill the sacred buffalo at a funeral, nor may he perform any of the other duties which fall to the part of a wursol on this occasion.

Although a Melgars man may no longer be palol, the Melgars people have a large number of privileges and duties connected with the ti. An account of these has already been given, but they may shortly be recapitulated here with the names given to them by the Todas.

(i.) Mòr vatiti, tòr tititi. “Buttermilk he drinks, food he takes.” The Melgars men may take buttermilk and food at the dwelling-hut of any ti, and they alone have this privilege at the dairies of the Nòdrs ti.

(ii.) Teirpülk mad oiiti. “He goes at the head (of the procession) to (the place called) teirpül.”

(iii.) Ti alugpur putiti. “The alug things of the ti he carries.”

(iv.) Alug putz nitz ithtothi. “Alug come, stand he must.” The Melgars man must stand by a certain tree with the alug when he comes to the new place during the migration of the ti buffaloes.

(v.) Erd pünrs ithtothi. “Two pünrs (four days) he must be.” He stays at Anto from the Sunday on which the buffaloes migrate till the following Wednesday.

In addition to these privileges, it is also the duty of the Melgarsol to carry out rebuilding or repairing operations at a ti mad, and he has also to assist in carrying the body of a dead palol.

The special duties of the Melgarsol are not limited to the ceremonial of the ti, but in certain other ceremonies it is essential that a Melgars man shall be present or take part. He must milk a buffalo to provide milk for Tarthar women coming out of the seclusion-hut both after the hand-burning ceremony of pregnancy and after childbirth. He does this for women of his own clan and for those of all other Tarthar clans except that of Kwòdrdoni. A Melgars man must be present on the second day of the irpalvusthi ceremony of the kugvalir of Taradr, and the ceremony of this day, which is called irpataduthti, cannot take place if a Melgars man is not present.

It was also said that a Melgars man must be present whenever a feast is given at the end of a period called pon in any clan, but I am very doubtful as to the necessity of this. I think it is probable that no feast ever occurs at which a Melgars man fails to put in an appearance, and that my informants had come to regard his presence as necessary, but it seemed very doubtful whether his presence was an essential condition for the occurrence of this, as it certainly was in the case of certain other ceremonies.

There was some difference of opinion as to the reasons why the Melgarsol enjoyed these exceptional privileges. The Melgars people themselves believed that their exceptional position was due to the connexion of Kwoto with their clan. They said that when Kwoto became superior to all the gods, and was called Meilitars, these privileges were given to the clan to which he belonged. According to another account, the position of a Melgars man at the head of the procession of the Nòdrs ti was settled by Anto in order to appease the buffalo Enmars when two of its bells were taken away and given to the Pan ti. Others, again, said that the privileges of the Melgarsol were given as a recompense when this clan was deprived of its privilege of becoming palol. There is little doubt that the real reason for the Melgars privileges has been lost and that different reasons have been sought in the Toda legends. The Melgars people have chosen a reason which gratifies their pride in claiming Kwoto as one of themselves, while other Todas have reasons which serve to add to the importance of the sacred institution of the ti, of which they are so proud.

There are other special features in which the Melgars people differ from the rest of the Tarthar clans. They have no wursulir, though they can become wursol to other clans, so that, in this respect, they resemble the Teivaliol in being able to tend buffaloes which they do not themselves possess. Another difference is that the palikartmokh of the Melgarsol uses tudr bark in his ordination ceremonies, and this gives him a higher rank than other tarpalikartmokh. It is on this account that a Melgars palikartmokh may not visit the tarvali of another clan (see p. 66).

The Melgarsol again resemble the Teivaliol in not shaving the head after a funeral, as is done by Tarthar clans other than that of Melgars.

The Melgarsol resemble the Teivaliol in so many respects that it is tempting to suppose that this clan must at one time have formed part of the Teivali division and for some reason was transferred to the Tartharol. Every Toda whom I questioned on the point was, however, certain that the Melgars people had always been members of the Tartharol.

There are two facts which show that there is some special relation between the people of Melgars and those of Kwòdrdoni. One is that intermarriage is said to be prohibited between members of these two clans; the other is that the milking by a Melgars man when a Tarthar woman is leaving the seclusion-hut does not take place in the case of a Kwòdrdoni woman. These facts point to some relation between the two clans of which I was unable to obtain any account.

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.

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., “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.)

The manmokh (sister’s son) of the father was present at the council, and when his uncle arrived, the manmokh told him what had been said by his son in the council, and the father said, “I am no pazuli, it is you who are the pazuli: henceforward you must not live at Melgars; you will have nothing from me except what I give you to-day.” The father gave the son a one-horned buffalo (kwadrkutir) and a portion of the Mirzoti funeral place.

Since that day descendants of the son have been separate from Melgarsol and they have held their funerals at Mirzoti, but not on the same spot as the Melgars people.

The Kidmadol and Karshol have lost certain privileges possessed by other Todas. The loss of these privileges is expressed by the Todas as follows:—

(i.) Meitün kitht ògadi. “He may not sit on the meitün.” When a man of Kidmad or Karsh goes to any Tarthar dairy he is not allowed to sit on the raised bed on the right hand side of the door.

(ii.) Nîrsi nest ògadi. “He may not rub the fire-sticks.” If fire has to be made at a male funeral, or on any other occasion, it must be done by a man of another clan.

(iii.) Ertatpun pitth ògadi. “He may not touch the ertatpun,” a dairy vessel which may be touched by any other Toda man. The result of this restriction is that a man of these clans can never hold a dairy office.

Marriages are not allowed between Melgars people and those of either Kidmad or Karsh.

The village of Karsh no longer exists; it was near Akirsikòdri, but in the time of Kilpan (51) the people were so poor that they went to live with the Nidrsiol and have remained with them since. Though living at Nidrsi, they are still regarded as a separate people, and marriages may take place between the two clans. They have only three or four ordinary buffaloes. If a male dies they have to kill a persasir, which they obtain from Melgars. The only males living are one man and his son, the father having also two sisters.

The Kidmadol are more prosperous, and the men of the clan appear to be fairly prominent people among the Todas, in spite of their disadvantages. Kijievan (5) has the reputation of being one of the ablest people of the whole community. The clan numbers five males and three females.

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, [263] 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), 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 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 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 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 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.

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 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.

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 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 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. [264] 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.

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 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. 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.

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. [265] The origin of Tartharol [266] 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. 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, 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 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 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 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 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 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 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.

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 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.

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 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.

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 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 [267] 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, [268] 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, 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.