Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Vol. 3 of 7Thurston, Edgar
History
Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Vol. 3 of 7
Thurston, Edgar
Caste -- India, South; Ethnology -- India, South; India, South -- Social life and customs; Tribes -- India, South
Hindu gods; follow every gradation of marriage and funeral customs
from those of their primitive forefathers to those of the low-country
Telugu; speak dialects which range from good Khond through bastard
patois down to corrupt Telugu; and allow their totemistic septs to
be degraded down to, or divided into, the intiperulu of the plains."
There is a tradition that, in olden days, four Kondhs, named
Kasi, Mendora, Bolti, and Bolo, with eyes the size of brass pots,
teeth like axe-heads, and ears like elephant's ears, brought their
ancestor Mandia Patro from Jorasingi in Boad, and gave him and his
children authority all over the country now comprised in Mahasingi,
and in Kurtilli Barakhumma, Bodogodo, Balliguda, and Pussangia,
on condition of settling their disputes, and aiding them in their
rights. The following legendary account of the origin of the Kondhs
is given by Mr. A. B. Jayaram Moodaliar. Once upon a time, the ground
was all wet, and there were only two females on the earth, named
Karaboodi and Tharthaboodi, each of whom was blessed with a single
male child. The names of the children were Kasarodi and Singarodi. All
these individuals sprang from the interior of the earth, together
with two small plants called nangakoocha and badokoocha, on which
they depended for subsistence. One day, when Karaboodi was cutting
these plants for cooking, she accidentally cut the little finger of
her left hand, and the blood dropped on the ground. Instantly, the
wet soft earth on which it fell became dry and hard. The woman then
cooked the food, and gave some of it to her son, who asked her why it
tasted so much sweeter than usual. She replied that she might have
a dream that night, and, if so, would let him know. Next morning,
the woman told him that, if he would act on her advice, he would
prosper in this world, that he was not to think of her as his mother,
and was to cut away the flesh of her back, dig several holes in the
ground, bury the flesh, and cover the holes with stones. This her
son did, and the rest of the body was cremated. The wet soil dried
up and became hard, and all kinds of animals and trees came into
existence. A partridge scratched the ground with its feet, and ragi
(millet), maize, dhal (pea), and rice sprung forth from it. The
two brothers argued that, as the sacrifice of their mother brought
forth such abundance, they must sacrifice their brothers, sisters,
and others, once a year in future.A god, by name Boora Panoo, came,
with his wife and children, to Tharthaboodi and the two young men,
to whom Boora Panoo's daughters were married. They begat children,
who were divided equally between Boora Panoo the grandfather and
their fathers. Tharthaboodi objected to this division on the grounds
that Boora Panoo's son would stand in the relation of Mamoo to the
children of Kasarodi and Singarodi; that, if the child was a female,
when she got married, she would have to give a rupee to her Mamoo;
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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