Indische Palaographie von circa 350 a. Chr. – circa 1300 p. Chr. c48.s6.16

c48.s6.16

§ 89. (d) **Nilgiri etc.** (226,300). The comparatively small tribes of the Nilgiri and the vicinity consist of descendants of a fugitive branch of the Kuṟumban race and of communities the origin of which is uncertain. To the former belong the Kuṟuman of the western slopes, who are the same, except in locality, as the Kāḍu-Kuṟubar mentioned under the head of shepherds. The general conjecture is that after the downfall of the Shepherd dynasties of the south-east, some of the race fled into the jungle, where they have since remained. The Irula, who inhabit the broken country to the east of the Nilgiri, are apparently also of the same stock if not belonging to the Coromandel Cencu tribes. Like the Kuṟubar or Kuṟumban, they are divided into the section of the plain and that of the forest. The former are more or less Brāhmanised, live in villages and work on the land. The others have the name of Villiyan, evidently derived from the bow, their weapon of choice. Both sections worship the Kannimār at an ant-hill in the jungle, these goddesses being probably the earliest of all the Dravidian pantheon. The Toda and Kōta belong to the table-