Village names like 'Kotrupadi'(pron:koTrupādi) open up windows into forgotten early chapters of the human evolution in the Tulunad. The Kotrupadi is a hamlet within Kallamundkur village, located on the Mulki-Mudabidri road in Mangalore taluk. There is one more ‘Kutrupadi’ near Bantra village in Puttur Taluk.
There may be many more such hamlets known by similar sounding names. What is the ‘Kotru’ or ‘Kutru‘ stand for in such place names? My casual enquiries with random people near such villages do not elicit any meanings worth pondering. There are some more such words: ‘Kottigehara’ near Charmadi, bordering Chikmagalur district, on the Western Ghats (Sahyadri ranges). ‘Kottur’ in Bellary district. ‘Kottara’, inside Mangalore city.etc.
Koytoors
Gond tribes now residents of Vidarbha region in Maharastra are known as ‘ Koytoor’ or ‘Koitur’ or simply ‘Koi’. Gonds are a hilly tribe (‘gond’ or ‘kond’=hill) who are cultivators or depend on forest products for their livelihood. Gonds are said to be Dravidian tribes. Some sociologists also include these tribes among pre-Dravidian Munda Group. These dual classification of Gonds suggest that these tribes could be representatives of the stages of evolutionary trends from the early Munda to Dravidian tribes. Sham.Baa. Joshi refers to Goddess “Kotturi” in some of his works. ‘Kotturi’ Goddess is probably related to Koitur or Gond tribes.
Books like “Socio-cultural study of scheduled tribes: the pardhans of Maharashtra” by Shashidhar Ramchandra Murkute and “Gonds of Vidarbha “by S.G. Deogaonkar throw better light on these tribes.
The presence of abundant place names with prefix ‘Koi’ or ‘Koitru’ or ‘Kotru’ in Karavali Tulunadu and other parts of Karnataka reveals that these tribes lived in these regions once upon a time. And due to various adverse reasons these tribes might have migrated north towards Vidarbha in Maharastra. Many of the ancient socio-religious customs of early Gond tribes have been assimilated into the cultural practices of subsequent Tulu and other Dravidian generations.
Ancient Gonds of Tulunadu
The existence of place names beginning with ‘Koi’- (Koikude, Koila etc) and ‘Kotru’-(Kotrupadi, Kottara, Kottigehar etc) in Tulunadu are the remnant signatures of ancient Koitur Gond settlements. The agricultural implement ‘Kottu’(hand showel) may be having origins with ‘Kotru’ tribes. The earlier Koi and Kotru tribes were possibly partly absorbed into later Dravidian communities as seen by the undercurrents of ancient Gond customs among us. Assimilation of tribes suggest that they were evolved enough to gain respectability by the immigrants.
Further, ‘Gondarannaya’ has remained as a ‘Bari’ (septa) and ‘Konde’(<.Gonde), ‘Kotari’, ‘Kotriyal’ etc have remained as surnames especially among Tulu Nadava people.
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Holegadde near Honavar,Uttara Kannada dist, Karnataka
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I have read that Gond is an exonym (from Telugu) but Koitor is their self identity (Koi, Koya, Kuwi etc...).
ReplyDeleteThe sociologists who classify them along with Mundas depended upon pseudo scientific methods like Anthropometry which classified humans based on skull shape. However, their classification fails with Mundas itself considering though they speak Austro-Asiatic languages they don't look like Austro-Asiatics of SE Asia. Their Indian look is mainly because of their matrilineages.
Tribes because of isolation and genetic drift may show extreme deviation in their looks. Though I don't think Gonds look all that different from any average South Indian.
None of the central Indian or north Indian Dravidian languages have been found be sub branches of mainstream South Dravidian languages. They all have their independent branches. If these tribes have been Dravidianized from outside Dravidians then their linguistic branches should have been sub-branches of mainstream Dravidian branches. If these mainstream Dravidians migrated around 400-600BCE that is not a long time could have been clearly seen in linguistic families.
Gonds are indeed original Draividians like their southern counterparts(which is shown in their genetic data). It will not it be proper to brand them as Mundas who lost their languages to advancing Dravidians. All other migrating people (like Brahmins) adopted the language of the land.
Southworth even posits that Dravidian expansion might have started from Godavari basin. Most likely certain tribes might have become mainstream. We have evidences that agriculture started around 3500 BCE in South India. So why not some Dravidian tribes moved towards sedentary life?
My concern here is giving too much importance to anthropologists of the past who depended upon unreliable physical shape to classify people.
Manju, I appreciate your concerns on hasty conclusions on ancient tribes or their identity and classifications.However, my data is, not from anthropology, but from the analysis of fossil words in Tulu (and Dravidian region).Many of the ancient place names have not been understood so far because they appear strange from the angle of present condition of Dravidian structure.This can happen only because there was a major hiatus in the evolution of languages in the region. Many of the old words have either changed or have been absorbed and modified during the course of evolution.Overall impression we get is that Tulu and other southern Dravidian languages (and also culture) in this region grew over a foundation of 'earlier' civilization episode. This 'earlier' episode only can be attributed to the Munda-Gond-Bhil-Marava- Yedava etc heritage strings documented in fossil place names.I shall be back with more details on these in due course.
ReplyDeleteLet us have more detailed genetic signatures on various tribes of the region which we together can interprete in due course.
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By the way, it seems you have restricted admission to your blog.Readers, including me, reaching your blog through link in this blog may find it difficult to browse your write-ups and concepts.
A word about the origins of Kotru..
ReplyDeleteThe word kOttara is well known and is till in use in our sister Language malayalam, meaning a large hosehold / grain store and sometimes a place of worship. (The word may a derivative or parent of the word Kothi/Kotha Kuteera in the hindi belt) Kothari, Kottari means the lord of such an institution normally meaning the keeper of the Kottara. Is KutruPadi ther Padi of Kottara- often Ko cahnges to Ku.
Of course, the word 'Kottara' and 'Kottari' are ambiguous.Kottara origin is debatable.It could be Koit+ara (the yard ('ara') of Koit(ur)s.
ReplyDeleteIf you analyse it as 'kott(ya)+ara',the 'kot' or 'kotya' may not exactly mean storehouse, it may mean any kind of shed.
By analogy, the purported meaning of Kottari, Kothari may also be debatable.
There are house names like kuTrakyar and koTTroTTu
ReplyDelete- Kawdoor Narayana Shetty
KOTTA^RI / KOTTA^RY refers to the one who manages the domestic concerns of a family or an institution.
ReplyDeleteThis is also a surname among Jains and Bunts.
In Moodabidri region there are many Jains with this surname.
In Bunts community also KOTTA^RI / KOTTA^RY is a surname. The surnames are sometimes, also, referred as GADI NAAMA.
For example: The GADI NAAMA of DONINJE GUTHU near Kaapu is KOTTA^RI / KOTTA^RY. The YAJAMAANA of this GUTHU is referred to as KOTTARI^VAALA or sometimes KOTRYA^L.
There are citation of KOTTA^RI / KOTTA^RY in Tulu paad^danas.
1.KA^NTHERI JUMA^DI paad^dana
Devu Poonja's brother-in-law is D^eramu Kotta^ry
2.MUNDATTA^YA paad^dana
Landlord of ULLA^LA GUTHU is Ko^cha A^lva She^ka Kotta^ry
3.PILI CHA^MUDI paad^dana
Manju Poonja's brother-in-law is Birmana Kotta^ry
More details can be found by the "Paad^dana" which has been collected by Rev. Fr.A Manor, a British, in the year 1886 AD. This has been published by the Basel Mission, a British missionary, during the British rule in India.
One more interesting fact is that, in South Canara, there is one more community having the same surname (KOTTA^RI / KOTTA^RY). The population of this community is very less. It is believed that they too are in connection with the Bunts. KOTTA^RI / KOTTA^RY, here referred, are considered as servants. They were residing in GUTHU / BEEDU houses of Bunts and are exclusively meant for their houseold services. So, obviously, these people also were living as the other members of the house (GUTHU/BEEDU). They have the same culture,tradition as that of Bunts. But only thing is that this community was being differentiated from Bunts only on the grounds that they are considered as servant community. According to the Researchers, this community belongs to the other category of Bunts,ie.,BOODU BUNTA (Boodu Bunts).
ReplyDeleteIn tulu, there is a word called KOTTA^RI CHA^KRI. In tulu lexicon, the meaning of this word is being given as servitude.
More details on this can be found in the Kannada Book "BUNTARU - ONDU SAMA^JO SA^MSKRUTIKA ADHYAYANA" (BUNTS: A SOCIO-CULTURAL STUDY) by Indira Hegde.
The following are the name of some places which are in connection with the surname KOTTA^RY.
ReplyDelete1.KOTTA^RY BETTU in Attavara(Mangalore), Uchila(Udupi)
2.KOTTA^RY PA^LU in Sajipa Mooda(Bantwal)
3.KOTTA^RY GUDDE in Gurupura
4.KOTTA^RY GUTHU (commonly reffered as KOTRA GUTHU) in Kalladka (Vitla)
5.KOTTA^RY BEEDU (KOTRA BEEDU) in Kapu(Udupi)
Nice info, Prashanth Ram, Thank You.
ReplyDeleteIs there any inscriptional evidence for the Kottar place name or tribal name?
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteThe original names 'Koytur' or 'Kotru' derived from Gond tribes, could be older than the general time range of inscriptions.
ReplyDeleteHowever 'Kottar' or 'Kottari' etc are relatively later names.
Even though I am not aware of, right now,(logically) there could be inscriptional support for the latter.