Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Vol. 5 of 7Thurston, Edgar
History
Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Vol. 5 of 7
Thurston, Edgar
Caste -- India, South; Ethnology -- India, South; India, South -- Social life and customs; Tribes -- India, South
I have alluded to the two different types of countenance; perhaps
there is a third resulting from a mixture of the other two. The first
is distinctly aquiline-nosed and thin-lipped, and to this type the
men generally belong. The second is flat-nosed, wide-nostrilled,
and thick-lipped, and this fairly represents the women, who compare
most unfavourably with the men in face. I have never seen men of the
second type, but of an intermediate type they are not uncommon. On
the Cardamom Hills there may still exist a tribe of dwarfs, of
which very little is known. The late Mr. J. D. Munro had collected
a little information about them. Mr. A. W. Turner had the luck
to come across one, who was caught eating part of a barking deer
raw. Mr. Turner managed to do a little conversation with the man by
signs, and afterwards he related the incident to Srirangam, a good
old Muduvar shikari (sportsman), who listened thoughtfully, and then
asked "Did you not shoot him?" The question put a new complexion on
to the character of the usually peaceful and timid Muduvar.
I know the Muduvars to be capable of real affection. Kanjan was very
proud of his little son, and used to make plans for wounding an ibex,
so that his boy might finish it off, and thus become accustomed
to shooting.
In South Coimbatore, "honey-combs are collected by Irulas, Muduvars,
and Kadirs. The collection is a dangerous occupation. A hill-man,
with a torch in his hand and a number of bamboo tubes suspended
from his shoulders, descends by means of ropes or creepers to the
vicinity of the comb. The sight of the torch drives away the bees,
and he proceeds to fill the bamboos with the comb, and then ascends
to the top of the rock." [61]
Mugi (dumb).--An exogamous sept of Golla.
Muka.--A sub-division of Konda Razu.
Muka Dora.--Muka is recorded, in the Madras Census Reports, 1891 and
1901, as a sub-division and synonym of Konda Dora, and I am informed
that the Muka Doras, in Vizagapatam, hold a high position, and most of
the chiefs among the Konda Doras are Muka Doras. Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao,
to whom I am indebted to the following note, inclines to the opinion
that the Muka Doras form a caste distinct from the Konda Doras. They
are traditionally regarded as one of the primitive hill tribes, but
their customs at the present day exhibit a great deal of low-country
influence. They speak Telugu, their personal names are pure Telugu,
and their titles are Anna and Ayya as well as Dora. They recognize
one Vantari Dora of Padmapuram as their head.
The Muka Doras are agriculturists and pushing petty traders. They
may be seen travelling about the country with pack bullocks at the
rice harvest season. They irrigate their lands with liquid manure in
a manner similar to the Kunnuvans of the Palni hills in the Madura
country.
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