Kurumba people (India)
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 88,750[1] (2011 census) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu-Nilgiris | |
| Languages | |
| Kurumba languages | |
| Religion | |
| Hinduism, Animism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Dravidians, Tamil |
Kurumba or Kurumbar (IPA: [kuru(m)bɐ, kurumɐ], Tamil: Kurumban, Kurumbar, Malayalam: Kuruma(r), Kannada: Kuruba, Kurubaru) are a designated Scheduled Tribe or an indigenous community in the Indian states of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu (Nilgiris).[2] The Nilgiris district is home to six tribes. The Kurumbar are one of the earliest known inhabitants of the Western Ghats, who are engaged in the collection and gathering of forest produce, mainly wild honey, wax and elephant husbandry. Non-Nilgiri Kurumbar peoples are generally shepherds. They are historically same but culturally different from each other. Kurumba people of Nilgiri's and surrounding areas speak Kurumba language, which are classified as independent South Dravidian language.[3] New alphabets are released for Kurumba language by some Government Teachers.[4]
History and origin
[edit]Kurumbas (Nilgiris) are one of the six ancient tribal groups in Tamil Nadu. According to the Madras Census Report of 1891, Hunting and collecting forest produce are the two main means of living for the Kurumbar tribe. However, the restrictions to protect native forest and wildlife have forced them to find work outside the forests.[citation needed]
Etymology
[edit]Kurumbar
[edit]The term Kurumba might have origin from a Proto-Dravidian/Tamil/Kannada root kur meaning 'hill, mountain or forest'.
Culture
[edit]Nadukarkal (Ancestors stone) plays a main role in Kurumbar deity. They also worship animals, birds, trees, rock hillocks, and snakes, along with the other Hindu deities.[5][6] Kurumbar are partially sanskritised to believing in Hinduism.[7]
Subgroups
[edit]There are several divisions of Kurumbas:
- Jenu Kurumba
- Betta Kurumba
- Alu Kurumba
- Mullu Kurumba
- Unne Kurumba
- Kadu Kurumba
Each of these divisions speaks their own Dravidian language.[8] Jenu Kurubas are primarily found in the northern part of the Nilgiris, in the Mysuru district of Karnataka.[9]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ↑ "A-11 Individual Scheduled Tribe Primary Census Abstract Data and its Appendix". www.censusindia.gov.in. Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Archived from the original on 13 April 2021. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
- ↑ "List of notified Scheduled Tribes" (PDF). Census India. pp. 26–27. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 November 2013. Retrieved 15 December 2013.
- ↑ Burrow T. Dieter B. Kapp: Ālu-Kurumbaru Nāyan: die Sprache der Ālu-Kuṟumbas. Grammatik, Texte, Wörterbuch. (Neuindische Studien, Bd. 7.) xxxiii, 442 pp. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1982. DM 220. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies. 1984;47(2):368-369.
- ↑ பழங்குடியினர் மொழிக்கான அகராதி தயாரித்த ஆசிரியைகள்: அரசு அங்கீகரிக்க சமூக ஆர்வலர்கள் கோரிக்கை- The Hindu Tamil News - 20 September 2016
- ↑ Swarna, Helen (February 2024). "Chapter 5: A Rudimentary Understanding of the Kurumba Tribes inn the Nilgiris District" (pdf). Culture and Rituals of Janajatis (Tribes) of India. Coimbatore Institute of Information Technology. pp. 35–40.
- ↑ "Census of India Website : Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India". www.censusindia.gov.in. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
- ↑ Ganesh, Chinta (June 2019). "Spatial Distributions of Tribes in India: An analysis of Sanskritization and Modernization in Post-modern discourse" (PDF). International Journal of Research in Social Sciences. 9 (6). Dept. Of Sociology, Osmania University, Hyderabad. ISSN 2249-2496 – via International Journals of Multidisciplinary Research Academy (IJMRA).
- ↑ Pullaiah, T.; Krishnamurthy, K. V.; Bahadur, Bir (2021). Ethnobotany of India, 5-Volume Set. Apple Academic Press (CRC Press imprint). p. 26. ISBN 9781351737661.
The Shola Nayakkars, Mullus, Uralis, Alus or Palu Kurumbas, Jenu Kurubas, Betta Kurubas, etc. are all considered as subgroups or clans of Kurumbas..(p.27); Kurumbas are of Dravidian descent.
- ↑ Roy, S.; Hegde, H. V.; Bhattacharya, D.; Upadhya, V.; Kholkute, S. D. (2015). "Tribes in Karnataka: Status of health research". The Indian Journal of Medical Research. 141 (5): 673–687. doi:10.4103/0971-5916.159586. PMC 4510769. PMID 26139788.
The population of Jenu Kurubas is 36,076 in Karnataka mostly living in the districts of Mysore, Kodagu, and Chamarajanagar. A few are also found outside the State mostly in the border forests of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.
Further reading
[edit]- Kapp, Dieter B. (2006). Ālu-Kuṟumba-Texte. Volume 1. Beiträge zur Kenntnis südasiatischer Sprachen und Literaturen. Vol. 16. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. ISBN 9783447054263. ISSN 0948-2806.
- Kapp, Dieter B. (2017). Die Kultur der Ālu-Kur̲umbas: Ergebnisse einer Feldforschung mit ethnographischen Originaltexten. Beiträge zur Kenntnis südasiatischer Sprachen und Literaturen. Vol. 26. Harrassowitz Verlag. ISBN 9783447109482. ISSN 0948-2806.