Kundar ( d pronounced as in the) is one of the ‘bari’ genetic lineages
existing in Tulunadu since times immemorial. The surname Kundar or Kundaran was
popularized several decades ago by an Indian cricketer Budhi Kundaran who
originally hailed from a Mogaveera (Marakala) family of Udupi region of coastal
Tulunadu. Incidentally, the term “Kundaran” in Old Tulu and Old Kannada meant a
person from Kundar tribe. The bari lineage surname also exist among Bunts, in
the form of “Kunda” or “Kundade”, (Indira Hegde, 2009) though it might be less
common or has been eventually obliterated in other Tulu communities.
Kundra
However it is interesting to note that bari
lineage Kundar (or its variants) is not just exclusive to Tulunadu or coastal
Karnataka. A popular bollywood actress hailing from Tulunadu, Shilpa Shetty is
married to a Rajastani gentleman known as Raj Kundra. The surname “Kundra” in
his name apparently is a regional
variant of the surname “Kundar”.
Ancient
Kunda tribe
In the past posts, I have explained that our
surnames are mostly derived from our or genetic lineages, known regionally as bari
(bali or gotra ). And that the bari or lineage system in India existed before
the invention and adoption of castes and communities that disunited and
separated even peoples of same
lineage! In other words, the people
eventually absorbed into different communities (and also different languages and religions) have faithfully retained their (known) original genetic tags
as surnames, wherever possible.
Thus the pan Indian presence of Kunda,
Kundar, Kundra etc related surnames lead us to deduct that there existed an
ancient tribe, widespread in ancient India, by the name of Kunda or Kundar. But,
how is it possible to arrive at such a deduction?
Kunda
villages in India
Like most of the ancient tribes the Kunda
tribes have left a large number of villages (and hamlets) named after them. The
data gathered by the census of India gives us a glimpse of the spread of
ethnonyms of village names in different parts of India. The census data for 2011 reveals that
there are some 897 villages spread in different States of India carrying the
tags of the assimilated ancient tribe of Kunda. (The number does not include
hamlets which have not been considered in the census). The State-wise
distribution of Kunda village names are as follows: Andhra Pradesh (27),
Arunachala Pradesh (8), Assam (17), Bihar (27), Chattisgarh (22), Gujarat (39),
Haryana (4), Himachal Pradesh (27), Jammu & Kashmir (6), Jharkhand (64),
Karnataka (47), Kerala(1),, Madhya Pradesh (139), Maharashtra(46), Orissa
(96),Punjab(4), Rajasthan (100), Tamilnadu (17), Uttar Pradesh (135), Uttara Khand
(34), and West Bengal (37).
Some of the ethnonym styles of the Kunda
villages in above regions are like these:
Kunduru, Kundar, Kundol, Kundchar, Kundulia,
Kundrol, Kundru,Kundi, Kunda, Kund, Kundhal, Kundala, Kundal, Kundawada,
Kundeli, Kundia, Kundari, Kundum, Kundral, Kundahalli, Kundli, Kundo, Kundpani,
Kundiya, Kundgol, Kundla, Kunduni, Kundarsi, Kundada, Kundil, Kunding, Kundan,
Kundaram, Kundrudi, Kundanpalle,…Kundapur... etc.
Gold : Prospecting
and Smelting
The expansive spread of the Kunda tribes as
evident from the ethnonyms prevailing in
different States of India suggests their proliferation all over the land in
ancient days.
And what could have been the nature of work
profession engaged by these tribes? The
ancient term “kunda” refers to (1) gold and to (2) smelting. The metal gold being one of the fond objects
of possession as well as transaction throughout the history, it appears that
these tribes were involved in the discovery and smelting of the metal
gold. Probably, a large number of people
in ancient India were interested in and made themselves proficient in
discovering and gathering native gold nuggets from the lodes of gold ores. Placer
deposits of gold possibly enticed these prospectors to unravel more varieties
of small to substantially large gold occurrences and deposits. The art of
smelting gold rich ores was also developed in the due course. Subsequently the
art of panning for gold particles in flowing streams and rivers could also have
been associated with these tribes. After gold, the metal copper also attracted
people because of its utility in vessel and weapon making. Thus art of smelting
the copper rich ores was also developed.
A statistical relationship (correlation)
between the existence of number of Kunda villages to gold and copper ore
deposit bearing regions in India can be noticed if you review the list of Kunda
villages cited above.
Kunda- kundavuni
An interesting word retained in Tulu language
apparently throws light on the ancient
art of smelting for metals like gold copper and iron. The usage in Tulu is the
verb form of the word kunda: The Tulu term “kundavuni” ( d pronounced as in the) refers to boiling a liquid till it solidifies. The same word also existed in
Kannada as we find the sweetmeat kunda popular in Belgaum region. The kunda
in Belgaum is a sweetened, boiled and desiccated form of milk solids.
The artisans are called as 'kundanagāra'. The word kundu in Kannada also means to decrease and related to the process of evaporation and desiccation as also found in the prevailing Tulu word kundavuni.
The artisans are called as 'kundanagāra'. The word kundu in Kannada also means to decrease and related to the process of evaporation and desiccation as also found in the prevailing Tulu word kundavuni.
Reference
Indira Hegde, Dr. (2009)
Bantaru-Ondu Samajo Sanskritika Adhyayana.
(in Kannada). Revised edition, Kannada
Pustaka Pradhikara Bengaluru-560002, p. xviii+480.
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