# Castes and Tribes of Southern India/Muduvar

​Muduvar. — The Muduvars or Mudugars are a tribe of hill cultivators in Coimbatore, Madura, Malabar, and Travancore. For the following note on those who inhabit the Cardamom hills, I am indebted to Mr. Aylmer Ff. Martin.
The name of the tribe is usually spelt Muduvar in English, and in Tamil pronounced Muthuvar, Muthuvar or Muthuvānāl. Outsiders sometimes call the tribe Thagappanmargal (a title sometimes used by low-caste people in addressing their masters). The Muduvars have a dialect of their own, closely allied to Tamil, with a few Malayālam words. Their names for males are mostly those of Hindu gods and heroes, but Kanjan (dry or stingy), Karupu Kunji (black chick), Kunjita (chicken) and Kar Mēgam (black cloud) are distinctive and common. For females, the names of goddesses and heroines, Karapayi (black), Koopi (sweepings), and paychi (she-devil) are common. Boy twins are invariably Lutchuman and Rāman, girl twins Lutchmi and Rāmayi. Boy and girl twins are named Lutchman and Rāmayi, or Lutchmi and Rāman.
The Muduvars do not believe themselves to be indigenous to the hills; the legend, handed down from father to son, is that they originally lived in Madura. ​Owing to troubles, or a war in which the Pāndyan Rāja of the times was engaged, they fled to the hills. When at Bōdināyakanūr, the pregnant women (or, as some say, a pregnant woman) were left behind, and eventually went with the offspring to the Nīlgiris, while the bulk of the tribe came to the High Range of North Travancore. There is supposed to be enmity between these rather vague Nīlgiri people and the Muduvars. The Nīlgiri people are said occasionally to visit Bōdināyakanūr, but, if by chance they are met by Muduvars, there is no speech between them, though each is supposed instinctively or intuitively to recognise the presence of the other. Those that came to the High Range carried their children up the ghāts on their backs, and it was thereupon decided to name the tribe Muduvar, or back people. According to another tradition, when they left Madura, they carried with them on their back the image of the goddess Mīnākshi, and brought it to Nēriyamangalam. It is stated by Mr. P. E. Conner* that the Muduvars " rank high in point of precedency among the hill tribes. They were originally Vellālas, tradition representing them as having accompanied some of the Madura princes to the Travancore hills." The approximate time of the exodus from Madura cannot even be guessed by any of the tribe, but it was possibly at the time when the Pāndyan Rājas entered the south, or more probably when the Telugu Naickers took possession of Bōdināyakanūr in the fourteenth century. It has also been suggested that the Muduvars were driven to the hills by the Muhammadan invaders in the latter part of the eighteenth century. Judging from the two distinct types of countenance, their language, and their curious mixture of ​customs, I hazard the conjecture that, when they arrived on the hills, they found a small tribe in possession, with whom they subsequently intermarried, this tribe having affinities with the west coast, while the new arrivals were connected with the east.
The tribe is settled on the northern and western portion of the Cardamom Hills, and the High Range of Travancore, known as the Kanan Dēvan hills, and there is, I believe, one village on the Ānaimalai hills. They wander to some extent, less so now than formerly, owing to the establishment of the planting community in their midst. The head-quarters at present may be said to be on the western slopes of the High Range. The present Mēl Vāken or headman lives in a village on the western slope of the High Range at about 2,000 feet elevation, but villages occur up to 6,000 feet above sea level, the majority of villages being about 4,000 feet above the sea. The wandering takes place between the reaping of the final crop on one piece of land, and the sowing of the next. About November sees the breaking up of the old village, and February the establishment of the new. On the plateau of the High Range their dwellings are small rectangular, rather flat-roofed huts, made of jungle sticks or grass (both walls and root), and are very neat in appearance. On the western slopes, although the materials lend themselves to even neater building, their houses are usually of a rougher type. The materials used are the stems and leaves of the large-leaved īta (bamboo : Ochlandra travancorica) owing to the absence of grass-land country. The back of the house has no wall, the roof sloping on to the hillside behind, and the other walls are generally made of a rough sort of matting made by plaiting split īta stems. ​Outsiders are theoretically not received into the caste, but a weaver caste boy and girl who were starving (in the famine of 1877, as far as I can make out), and deserted on the hills, were adopted, and, when they grew up, were allowed the full privileges of the caste. Since then, a 'Thotiya Naicker ' child was similarly adopted, and is now a full-blown Muduvar with a Muduvar wife. On similar occasions, adoptions from similar or higher castes might take place, but the adoption of Pariahs or low-caste people would be quite impossible. In a lecture delivered some years ago by Mr. O. H. Bensley, it was stated that the Muduvars permit the entry of members of the Vellāla caste into their community, but insist upon a considerable period of probation before finally admitting the would-be Muduvar into their ranks.
If any dispute arises in the community, it is referred to the men of the village, who form an informal panchāyat (council), with the eldest or most influential man at its head. References are sometimes, but only seldom, made to the Mūppen, a sort of sub-headman of the tribe, except, perhaps, in the particular village in which he resides. The office of both Mūppen and Mēl Vāken is hereditary, and follows the marumakkatāyam custom, i.e., descent to the eldest son of the eldest sister. The orders of the panchāyat, or of the headman, are not enforceable by any specified means. A sort of sending a delinquent to Coventry exists, but falls through when the matter has blown over. Adjudications only occur at the request of the parties concerned, or in the case of cohabitation between the prohibited degrees of consanguinity, when, on it becoming known, the guilty pair are banished to the jungle, but seem nevertheless to be able to visit the village at will. When disputes between ​parties are settled against any one, he may be fined, generally in kind — a calf, a cow, a bull, or grain. There is no trial by ordeal. Oaths by the accuser, the accused, and partisans of both, are freely taken. The form of oath is to call upon God that the person swearing, or his child, may die within so many days if the oath is untrue, at the same time stepping over the Rāma kodu, which consists of lines drawn on the ground, one line for each day. It may consist of any number of lines, but three, five, or seven are usual. Increasing the number of lines indefinitely would be considered to be trifling with the subject.
There do not seem to be any good omens, but evil omens are numerous. The barking of 'jungle sheep' (barking deer) or sambar, the hill robin crossing the path when shifting the village, are examples. Oracles, magic, sorcery, witchcraft, and especially the evil eye, are believed in very firmly, but are not practiced by Muduvars. I was myself supposed to have exercised the evil eye at one time. It once became my duty to apportion to Muduvars land for their next year's cultivation, and I went round with some of them for this purpose, visiting the jungle they wished to clear. A particular friend of mine, called Kanjan, asked for a bit of secondary growth very close to a cinchona estate; it was, in fact, situated between Lower Nettigudy and Upper Nettigudy, and the main road passed quite close. I told him that there was no objection, except that it was most unusual, and that probably the estate coolies would rob the place; and I warned him very distinctly that, if evil came of his choice, he was not to put the blame on me. Shortly afterwards I left India, and was absent about three months, and, when I returned, I found that small-pox had practically wiped out that ​village, thirty-seven out of forty inhabitants having died, including Kanjan. I was, of course, very sorry; but, as I found a small bit of the land in question had been felled, and there being no claimants, I planted it up with cinchona. As the smallpox had visited all the Muduvar villages, and had spread great havoc among them, I was not surprised at their being scarce, but I noticed, on the few occasions when I did see them, that they were always running away. When I got the opportunity, I cornered a man by practically riding him down, and asked for an explanation. He then told me that, of course, the tribe had been sorely troubled, because I told Kanjan in so many words that evil would come.I had then disappeared (to work my magic, no doubt), and returned just in time to take that very bit of land for myself. That was nearly five years ago, and confidence in me is only now being gradually restored.
The Muduvans have lucky days for starting on a journey —
    Monday, start before sunrise.
    Tuesday, start in the forenoon.
    Wednesday start before 7 A.M.
    Thursday, start after eating the morning meal.
    Friday, never make a start; it is a bad day.
    Saturday and Sunday, start as soon as the sun has risen.
When boys reach puberty, the parents give a feast to the village. In the case of a girl, a feast is likewise given, and she occupies, for the duration of the menstrual period, a hut set apart for all the women in the village to occupy during their uncleanness. When it is over, she washes her clothes, and takes a bath, washing her head. This is just what every woman of the village always does. There is no mutilation, and the girl just ​changes her child's dress for that of a woman. The married women of the village assist at confinements. Twins bring good luck. Monsters are said to be sometimes born, bearing the form of little tigers, cows,monkeys, etc. On these occasions, the mother is said generally to die, but, when she does not die, she is said to eat the monster. Monstrosities must anyway be killed. Childless couples are dieted to make them fruitful, the principal diet for a man being plenty of black monkey, and for a woman a compound of various herbs and spices.
A man may not marry the daughter of his brother or sister; he ought to marry his uncle's daughter, and he may have two or three wives, who may or may not be sisters. Among the plateau Muduvars, both polygamy and polyandry are permitted, the former being common, and the latter occasional. In the case of the latter, brothers are prohibited from having a common wife, as also are cousins on the father's side. In the case of polygamy, the first married is the head wife, and the others take orders from her, but she has no other privileges. If the wives are amicably disposed, they live together, but, when inclined to disagree, they are given separate houses for the sake of peace and harmony. With quarrelsome women, one wife may be in one village, and the others in another. A man may be polygamous in one village, and be one of a polyandrous lot of men a few miles off. On the Cardamom Hills, and on the western slopes, where the majority of the tribe live, they are monogamous, and express abhorrence of both the polygamous and polyandrous condition, though they admit, with an affectation of amused disgust, that both are practiced by their brethren on the high lands.
Marriages are arranged by the friends, and more often by the cousins on the mother's side of the ​bridegroom, who request the hand of a girl or woman from her parents. If they agree, the consent of the most remote relatives has also to be obtained, and, if everyone is amicable, a day is fixed, and the happy couple leave the village to live a few days in a cave by themselves. On their return, they announce whether they would like to go on with it, or not. In the former case, the man publicly gives ear-rings, a metal (generally brass) bangle,a cloth, and a comb to the woman, and takes her to his hut. The comb is a poor affair made of split īta or perhaps of bamboo, but it is the essential part of the ceremony. If the probationary period in the cave has not proved quite satisfactory to both parties, the marriage is put off, and the man and the woman are both at liberty to try again with some one else. Betrothal does not exist as a ceremony, though families often agree together to marry their children together, but this is not binding in any way. The tying of the tāli (marriage badge) is said to have been tried in former days as part of the marriage ceremony, but, as the bride always died, the practice was discontinued. Remarriage of widows is permitted, and the widow by right belongs to, or should be taken over by her deceased husband's maternal aunt's son, and not, under any circumstances, by any of his brothers. In practice she marries almost any one but one of the brothers. No man should visit the house of his younger brother's wife, or even look at that lady. This prohibition does not extend to the wives of his elder brothers, but sexual intercourse even here would be incest. The same ceremonies are gone through at the remarriage of a widow as in an ordinary marriage, the ear-rings and bangles, which she discarded on the death of the previous husband, being replaced. Widows do not wear a special dress, but are known by the absence of jewelry. ​Elopements occur. When a man and woman do not obtain the consent of the proper parties, they run away into the jungle or a cave, visiting the village frequently, and getting grain, etc., from sympathisers. The anger aroused by their disgraceful conduct having subsided, they quietly return to the village, and live as man and wife. [It is noted, in the Travancore Census Report, 1901, that, after a marriage is settled, the bridegroom forcibly takes away the maiden from her mother's house when she goes out for water or firewood, and lives with her separately for a few days or weeks in some secluded part of the forest. They then return, unless in the meantime they are searched for, and brought back by their relations.] In theory, a man may divorce his wife at will, but it is scarcely etiquette to do so, except for infidelity, or in the case of incompatibility of temper. If he wants to get rid of her for less horrible crimes, he can palm her off on a friend. A woman cannot divorce her husband at all in theory, but she can make his life so unbearable that he gladly allows her to palm herself off on somebody else. Wives who have been divorced marry again freely.
The tribe follow the west coast or marumakkatāyam law of inheritance with a slight difference, the property descending to an elder or younger sister's son. Property, which seldom consists of more than a bill-hook, a blanket, and a few cattle, always goes to a nephew, and is not divided in any way.
The tribe professes to be Hindu, and the chief gods are Panaliāndavar (a corruption of Palaniāndi) and Kadavallu, who are supposed to live in the Madura temple with Mīnākshiammal and her husband Sokuru. They are also said to worship Chāntiāttu Bhagavati and Nēriya- mangalam Sāsta. Sūryan (the sun) is a beneficent deity. The deities which are considered maleficent are numerous, ​and all require propitiation. This is not very taxing, as a respectful attitude when passing their reputed haunts seems to suffice. They are alluded to as Karapu (black ones). One in particular is Nyamaru, who lives on Nyamamallai, the jungles round which were said to be badly haunted. At present they are flourishing tea estates, so Nyamaru has retired to the scrub at the top of the mountain. Certain caves are regarded as shrines, where spear-heads, a trident or two, and copper coins are placed, partly to mark them as holy places, and partly as offerings to bring good luck, good health, or good fortune. They occur in the most remote spots. The only important festival is Thai Pongal, when all who visit the village, be they who they may, must be fed. It occurs about the middle of January, and is a time of feasting and rejoicing.
The tribe does not employ priests of other castes to perform religious ceremonies. Muduvars who are half-witted, or it may be eccentric, are recognised as Swāmyars or priests. If one desires to get rid of a headache or illness, the Swāmyar is told that he will get four annas or so if the complaint is soon removed, but he is not expected to perform miracles, or to make any active demonstration over the matter. Swāmyars who spend their time in talking to the sun and moon as their brethren, and in supplications to mysterious and unknown beings, are the usual sort, and, if they live a celibate life, they are greatly esteemed. For those who live principally on milk, in addition to practicing the other virtue, the greatest reverence is felt. Such an one occurs only once or twice in a century.
The dead are buried lying down, face upwards, and placed north and south. The grave has a little thatched roof, about six feet by two, put over it. A stone, ​weighing twenty or thirty pounds, is put at the head, and a similar stone at the feet. These serve to mark the spot when the roof perishes, or is burnt during the next grass fire. The depth of the grave is, for a man, judged sufficient if the gravedigger, standing on the bottom, finds the level of the ground up to his waist, but, for a woman, it must be up to his armpits. The reason is that the surviving women do not like to think that they will be very near the surface, but the men are brave, and know that, if they lie north and south, nothing can harm them, and no evil approach. The ghosts of those killed by accident or dying a violent death, haunt the spot till the memory of the occurrence fades from the minds of the survivors and of succeeding generations. These ghosts are not propitiated, but the haunted spots are avoided as much as possible. The Muduvars share with many other jungle-folk the idea that, if any animal killed by a tiger or leopard falls so as to lie north and south, it will not be eaten by the beast of prey. Nor will it be re-visited, so that sitting over a "kill" which has fallen north and south, in the hopes of getting a shot at the returning tiger or leopard, is a useless proceeding.
Totemism does not exist, but, in common with other jungle tribes, the tiger is often alluded to as jackal.
Fire is still often made by means of the flint and steel, though match-boxes are common enough. Some dry cotton (generally in a dirty condition) is placed along the flint, the edge of which is struck with the steel. The spark generated ignites the cotton, and is carefully nursed into flame in dead and dry grass. The Muduvars also know how to make fire by friction, but nowadays this is very seldom resorted to. A rotten log of a particular kind of tree has first to be found, the inside of ​which is in an extremely dry and powdery condition, while the outside is still fairly hard. Some of the top of the topmost side of the recumbent log having been cut away at a suitable place, and most of the inside removed, a very hard and pointed bit of wood is rapidly rotated against the inner shell of the log where the powdery stuff is likely to ignite, and this soon begins to smoke, the fire being then nursed much in the same way as with the fire generated by the flint and steel.
By the men, the langūti and leg cloth of the Tamils are worn. A turban is also worn, and a cumbly or blanket is invariably carried, and put on when it rains. [It is noted, in the Travancore Census Report, 1901, that males dress themselves like the Maravans of the low country. A huge turban is almost an invariable portion of the toilette. The chief of the Mudavars is known as Vākka, without whose consent the head-dress is not to be worn.] I have seen a Muduvar with an umbrella. Nowadays, the discarded coats of planters, and even trousers and tattered riding-breeches are common, and a Muduvar has been seen wearing a blazer. The men wear ear-rings, supposed to be, and sometimes in reality, of gold, with bits of glass of different colours in them, and also silver or brass finger and toe rings, and sometimes a bangle on each arm or on one leg. The women go in very largely for beads, strings of them adorning their necks, white and blue being favourite colours. Rings for the ears, fingers and toes, and sometimes many glass bangles on the arms, and an anklet on each leg, are the usual things, the pattern of the metal jewelry being often the same as seen on the women of the plains. The cloth, after being brought round the waist, and tucked in there, is carried over the body, and two corners are knotted on the right shoulder. Unmarried girls wear ​less jewelry than the married women, and widows wear no jewelry till they are remarried, when they can in no way be distinguished from their sisters. Tattooing is not practiced. Sometimes a stout thread is worn on the arm, with a metal cylinder containing some charm against illness or the evil eye, but only the wise men or elders of the caste lay much store on, or have knowledge of these things.
The Muduvars believe that they were originally cultivators of the soil, and their surroundings and tastes have made them become hunters and trappers, since coming to the hills. At the present day, they cut down a bit of secondary jungle or cheppukad, and, after burning it off, sow rāgi (millet), or, where the rainfall is sufficient, hill-rice, which is weeded and tended by the women, the men contenting themselves by trying to keep out the enemies to their crops. After harvest there is not much to be done, except building a new village perhaps, making traps, and shooting. All they catch is game to them, though we should describe some of the animals as vermin. They catch rats, squirrels, quail, jungle fowl, porcupines, mouse-deer, and fish. They kill, with a blowpipe and dart, many small birds. The traps in use are varied, but there are three principal ones, one of which looks like a big bow. It is fixed upright in the ground as a spring to close with a snap a small upright triangle of sharp-edged bamboo, to which it is connected, and into which any luckless small game may have intruded its head, induced to do so by finding all other roads closed with a cunningly made fence. Another is a bent sapling, from which a loop of twine or fibre hangs on what appears to be the ground, but is really a little platform on which the jungle fowl treads, and immediately finds itself caught by both legs, and ​hanging in mid-air. The third is very much the same, but of stouter build. The loop is upright, and set in a hedge constructed for the purpose of keeping the fretful porcupine in the path, passing along which the beast unconsciously releases a pin, back flies the sapling, and the porcupine is hung. If fouled in any way, he generally uses his teeth to advantage, and escapes. The Muduvars are also adepts at catching 'ibex' (wild goat), which are driven towards a fence with nooses set in it at proper points, which cause the beasts to break their necks. Fish are caught in very beautifully constructed cruives, and also on the hook, while, on the larger rivers below the plateau, the use of the night-line is understood. With the gun, sambar, 'ibex,' barking deer, mungooses, monkeys, squirrels, and martens are killed. Besides being a good shot, the Muduvar, when using his own powder, takes no risks. The stalk is continued until game is approached, sometimes to within a few yards, when a charge of slugs from the antiquated match-lock has the same effect as the most up-to-date bullet from the most modern weapon. Mr. Bensley records how, on one occasion, two English planters went out with two Muduvars after 'bison. One of the Muduvars, carrying a rifle, tripped, and the weapon exploded, killing one of the planters on the spot. The two Muduvars immediately took to their heels. The other planter covered them with his rifle, and threatened to shoot them if they did not return, which they at last did. Mr. Bensley held the magisterial enquiry, and the Muduvars were amazed at escaping capital punishment.
In their agricultural operations, the Muduvars are very happy-go-lucky. They have no scare-crows to avert injury to crops or frighten away demons, but they employ many devices for keeping off pigs, sāmbar, and barking ​deer from their crops, none of which appear to be efficacious for long. The implement par excellence of the Muduvar is the bill-hook, from which he never parts company, and with which he can do almost anything, from building a house to skinning a rat, or from hammering sheet-lead into bullets to planting maize.
The bulk of the tribe live on rāgi or hill-rice, and whatever vegetables they can grow, and whatever meat they trap or shoot. They esteem the flesh of the black monkey (Semnopithecus johni) above everything, and lust after it. I have seen a Muduvar much pulled down by illness seize an expiring monkey, and suck the blood from its jugular vein. Muduvars will not eat beef, dog, jackals, or snakes, but will eat several sorts of lizards, and rats, 'ibex,' and all the deer tribe, fish, fowl, and other birds, except kites and vultures, are put into the pot. The plateau Muduvars, and those on the eastern slopes, will not eat pig in any shape or form. Those on the western slopes are very keen on wild pig, and this fact causes them to be somewhat looked down upon by the others. I think this pork-eating habit is due to the absence of sāmbar or other deer in the heart of the forests. Muduvars are fond of alcohol in any shape or form. They take a liquor from a wild palm which grows on the western slopes, and, after allowing it to become fermented, drink it freely. Some members of the tribe, living in the vicinity of these palms, are more or less in a state of intoxication during the whole time it is in season. Their name for the drink is tippily-kal, and the palm resembles the kittūl (Caryota urens). The western slope Muduvars are acquainted with opium from the west coast, and some of them are slaves to the habit. The Muduvars do not admit that any other caste is good enough to eat, drink, or smoke with ​them. They say that, once upon a time, they permitted these privileges to Vellālans, but this fact induced so many visitors to arrive that they really could not afford it any more, so they eat, drink, and smoke with no one now, but will give uncooked food to passing strangers.
I have never heard any proverb, song, or folk-tale of the Muduvars, and believe the story of their arrival on the hills to be their stock tale. They have a story, which is more a statement of belief than anything else, that, when a certain bamboo below Pallivasal flowers, a son of the Mahārāja of Travancore turns into a tiger or puli-manisan, and devours people. Men often turn into puli-manisan owing chiefly to witchcraft on the part of others, and stories of such happenings are often told. The nearest approach to a proverb I have heard is Tingakilamei nalla tingalam, which sounds rather tame and meaningless in English, "On Monday you can eat well " — the play on the words being quite lost.
The Muduvars make a miniature tom-tom by stretching monkey skin over a firm frame of split bamboo or īta, on which the maker thereof will strum by the hour much to his own enjoyment.
In former days, the whole tribe were very shy of strangers, and it is only within the last thirty years that they have become used to having dealings with outsiders. Old men still tell of the days when robbers from the Coimbatore side used to come up, burn the Muduvar villages, and carry off what cattle or fowls they could find. Even now, there are some of the men in whom this fear of strangers seems to be innate, and who have never spoken to Europeans. In the women this feeling is accentuated, for, when suddenly met with, they make themselves scarce in the most surprising way, and find ​cover as instinctively as a quail chick. There are now and again men in the tribe who aspire to read, but I do not know how far any of them succeed.
The Muduvars are becoming accustomed to quite wonderful things — the harnessing of water which generates electricity to work machinery, the mono-rail tram which now runs through their country, and, most wonderful of all, the telephone. An old man described how he would raise envy and wonder in the hearts of his tribe by relating his experience. "I am the first of my caste to speak and hear over five miles," said he, with evident delight.
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 Srīrangam, a good old Muduvar shikāri (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 Kādirs. 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." *
* ↑ * Madras Journ. Lit. Science, I, 1833.
* ↑ • Agricult: Ledger Series, Calcutta, No. 7, 1904.