# Castes and Tribes of Southern India/Irulas

​Irulas of the Nīlgiris. In the Kotagiri bazaar, which is an excellent hunting-ground for the anthropologist, may be seen gathered together on market-day Kotas, Badagas, Kanarese, Irulas, Kurumbas, and an occasional Toda from the Kodanād mand. A tribal photograph was taken there, with the result that a deputation subsequently waited on me with a petition to the effect that " We, the undersigned, beg to submit that your honour made botos of us, and has paid us nothing. ​We, therefore, beg you to do this common act of justice." The deputation was made happy with a pourboire.
In my hunt after Irulas, which ended in an attack of malarial fever, it was necessary to invoke the assistance and proverbial hospitality of various planters. On one occasion news reached me that a gang of Irulas, collected for my benefit under a promise of substantial remuneration, had arrived at a planter's bungalow, whither I proceeded. The party included a man who had been "wanted" for some time in connection with the shooting of an elephant on forbidden ground. He, suspecting me of base designs, refused to be measured, on the plea that he was afraid the height-measuring standard was the gallows. Nor would he let me take his photograph, fearing (though he had never heard of Bertillonage) lest it should be used for the purpose of criminal identification. Unhappily a mischievous rumour had been circulated that I had in my train a wizard Kurumba, who would bewitch the Irulas, in order that I might abduct them (for what purpose was not stated).
As the Badagas are the fairest, so the Irulas are the darkest-skinned of the Nīlgiri tribes, on some of whom, as has been said, charcoal would leave a white mark. The name Irula, in fact, means darkness or blackness (irul), whether in reference to the dark jungles in which the Irulas, who have not become domesticated by working as contractors or coolies on planters' estates, dwell, or to the darkness of their skin, is doubtful. Though the typical Irula is dark-skinned and platyrhine, I have noted some who, as the result of contact metamorphosis, possessed skins of markedly paler hue, and leptorhine noses.
The language of the Irulas is a corrupt form of Tamil. In their religion they are worshippers of Vishnu under the name of Rangasvāmi, to whom they do pūja ​(worship) at their own rude shrines, or at the Hindu temple at Karaimadai, where Brāhman priests officiate."An Irula pūjāri," Breeks writes,* "lives near the Irula temples, and rings a bell when he performs pūja to the gods. He wears the Vishnu mark on his forehead. His office is hereditary, and he is remunerated by offerings of fruit and milk from Irula worshippers. Each Irula village pays about two annas to the pūjāri about May or June. They say that there is a temple at Kallampalla in the Sattiyamangalam tāluk, north of Rangasvāmi's peak. This is a Siva temple, at which sheep are sacrificed. The pūjāri wears the Siva mark. They don't know the difference between Siva and Vishnu. At Kallampalla temple is a thatched building, containing a stone called Māriamma, the well-known goddess of small-pox, worshipped in this capacity by the Irulas. A sheep is led to this temple, and those who offer the sacrifice sprinkle water over it, and cut its throat. The pūjāri sits by, but takes no part in the ceremony. The body is cut up, and distributed among the Irulas present, including the pūjāri."
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The following account of an Irula temple festival is given by Harkness. * "The hair of the men, as well as of the women and children, was bound up in a fantastic ​manner with wreaths of plaited straw. Their necks, ears, and ankles were decorated with ornaments formed of the same material, and they carried little dried gourds, in which nuts or small stones had been inserted. They rattled them as they moved, and, with the rustling of their rural ornaments, gave a sort of rhythm to their motion. The dance was performed in front of a little thatched shed, which, we learnt, was their temple. When it was concluded, they commenced a sacrifice to their deity, or rather deities, of a he-goat and three cocks. This was done by cutting the throats of the victims, and throwing them down at the feet of the idol, the whole assembly at the same time prostrating themselves. Within the temple there was a winnow, or fan, which they called Mahri — evidently the emblem of Ceres; and at a short distance, in front of the former, and some paces in advance one of the other, were two rude stones, which they call, the one Moshani, the other Konadi Mari, but which are subordinate to the fan occupying the interior of the temple."
A village near a coffee estate, which I inspected, was, at the time of my visit, in the possession of pariah dogs and nude children, the elder children and adults being away at work. The village was protected against nocturnal feline and other feral marauders by a rude fence, and consisted of rows of single-storied huts, with verandah in front, made of split bamboo and thatched, detached huts, an abundance of fowl-houses, and cucurbitaceous plants twining up rough stages. Surrounding the village were a dense grove of plantain trees, castor-oil bushes, and cattle pens.
When not engaged at work on estates or in the forest, the Irulas cultivate, for their own consumption, rāgi (Eleusine Coracana), sāmai (Panicum miliare), tenai ​(Setaria italica), tovarai (Cajanus indicus), maize, plantains, etc. They also cultivate limes, oranges, jak fruit (Artocarpus integrifolia) etc. They, like the Kotas, will not attend to cultivation on Saturday or Monday. At the season of sowing, Badagas bring cocoanuts, plantains, milk and ghī (clarified butter), and give them to the Irulas, who, after offering them before their deity, return them to the Badagas.
"The Irulas," a recent writer observes, "generally possess a small plot of ground near their villages, which they assiduously cultivate with grain, although they depend more upon the wages earned by working on estates. Some of them are splendid cattle-men, that is, in looking after the cattle possessed by some enterprising planter, who would add the sale of dairy produce to the nowadays pitiable profit of coffee planting. The Irula women are as useful as the men in weeding, and all estate work. In fact, planters find both men and women far more industrious and reliable than the Tamil coolies."
"By the sale of the produce of the forests," Harkness writes, " such as honey and bees wax, or the fruit of their gardens, the Irulas are enabled to buy grain for their immediate sustenance, and for seed. But, as they never pay any attention to the land after it is sown, or indeed to its preparation further than by partially clearing it of the jungle, and turning it up with the hoe; or, what is more common, scratching it into furrows with a stick, and scattering the grain indiscriminately, their crops are, of course, stunted and meagre. When the corn is ripe, if at any distance from the village, the family to whom the patch or field belongs will remove to it, and, constructing temporary dwellings, remain there so long as the grain lasts. Each morning they pluck as much as they think they may require for the use of that day, ​kindle a fire upon the nearest large stone or fragment of rock, and, when it is well heated, brush away the embers, and scatter the grain upon it, which, soon becoming parched and dry, is readily reduced to meal, which is made into cakes. The stone is now heated a second time, and the cakes are put on it to bake. Or, where they have met with a stone which has a little concavity, they will, after heating it, fill the hollow with water, and, with the meal, form a sort of porridge. In this way the whole family, their friends, and neighbours, will live till the grain has been consumed. The whole period is one of merry-making. They celebrate Mahri, and invite all who may be passing by to join in the festivities. These families will, in return, be invited to live on the fields of their neighbours. Many of them live for the remainder of the year on a kind of yam, which grows wild, and is called Erula root. To the use of this they accustom their children from infancy."
Some Irulas now work for the Forest Department, which allows them to live on the borders of the forest, granting them sites free, and other concessions. Among the minor forest produce, which they collect, are myrabolams, bees-wax, honey, vembadam bark (Ventilago Madraspatana), avaram bark (Cassia auriculata), deer's horns, tamarinds, gum, soapnuts, and sheekoy (Acacia concinna). The forests have been divided into blocks, and a certain place within each block has been selected for the forest depot. To this place the collecting agents —mostly Sholagars and Irulas — bring the produce, and then it is sorted, and paid for by special supervisors.*The collection of honey is a dangerous occupation. A 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.*
The Irulas will not (so they say) eat the flesh of buffaloes or cattle, but will eat sheep and goat, field-rats, fowls, deer, pig (which they shoot), hares (which they snare with skilfully made nets), jungle-fowl, pigeons, and quail (which they knock over with stones).
They informed Mr. Harkness that, "they have no marriage contract, the sexes cohabiting almost indiscriminately; the option of remaining in union, or of separating, resting principally with the female. Some among them, the favourites of fortune, who can afford to spend four or five rupees on festivities, will celebrate their union by giving a feast to all their friends and neighbours; and, inviting the Kurumbars to attend with their pipe and tabor, spend the night in dance and merriment. This, however, is a rare occurrence." The marriage ceremony, as described to me, is a very simple affair. A feast is held, at which a sheep is killed, and the guests make a present of a few annas to the bridegroom, who ties up the money in a cloth, and, going to the bride's hut, conducts her to her future home. Widows are permitted to marry again.
When an Irula dies, two Kurumbas come to the village, and one shaves the head of the other. The shorn man is fed, and presented with a cloth, which he wraps round his head. This quaint ceremonial is supposed, in some way, to bring good luck to the departed. Outside the house of the deceased, in which the corpse ​is kept till the time of the funeral, men and women dance to the music of the Irula band. The dead are buried in a sitting posture, with the legs crossed tailorwise. Each village has its own burial-ground. A circular pit is dug, from the lower end of which a chamber is excavated, in which the corpse, clad in its own clothes, jewelry, and a new cloth, is placed with a lamp and grain. The pit is then filled in, and the position of the grave marked by a stone. On the third day a sheep is said to be killed, and a feast held. The following description of an annual ceremony was given to me. A lamp and oil are purchased, and rice is cooked in the village. They are then taken to the shrine at the burial-ground, offered up on stones, on which some of the oil is poured, and pūja is done. At the shrine, a pūjāri, with three white marks on the forehead, officiates. Like the Badaga Dēvādāri, the Irula pūjāri at times becomes inspired by the god.
Writing concerning the Kurumbas and Irulas, Mr.Walhouse says * that "after every death among them, they bring a long water-worn stone (devva kotta kallu), and put it into one of the old cromlechs sprinkled over the Nilgiri plateau. Some of the larger of these have been found piled up to the cap-stone with such pebbles, which must have been the work of generations. Occasionally, too, the tribes mentioned make small cromlechs for burial purposes, and place the long water-worn pebbles in them."
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It is recorded by Harkness that "during the winter, or while they are wandering about the forests in search of food, driven by hunger, the families or parties separate from one another. On these occasions the women and young children are often left alone, and the mother, having no longer any nourishment for her infant, anticipates its final misery by burying it alive. The account here given was in every instance corroborated, and in such a manner as to leave no doubt in our minds of its correctness."
The following notes are abstracted from my case-book.
Man, æt. 30. Sometimes works on a coffee estate. At present engaged in the cultivation of grains, pumpkins, jak-fruit, and plantains. Goes to the bazaar at Mettupalaiyam to buy rice, salt, chillies, oil, etc. Acquires agricultural implements from Kotas, to whom he pays annual tribute in grains or money. Wears brass earrings obtained from Kotas in exchange for vegetables and fruit. Wears turban and plain loin-cloth, wrapped round body and reaching below the knees. Bag containing tobacco and betel slung over shoulder. Skin very dark.
Woman, æt. 30. Hair curly, tied in a bunch behind round a black cotton swab. Wears a plain waist-cloth, and print body-cloth worn square across breasts and reaching below the knees. Tattooed on forehead. A mass of glass bead necklaces. Gold ornament in left ​nostril. Brass ornament in lobe of each ear. Eight brass bangles on right wrist; two brass and six glass bangles on left wrist. Five brass rings on right first finger; four brass and one tin ring on right forefinger.
Woman, æt. 25. Red cadjan (palm leaf) roll in dilated lobes of ears. Brass and glass bead ornament in helix of right ear. Brass ornament in left nostril. A number of bead necklets, one with young cowry shells pendent, another consisting of a heavy roll of black beads. The latter is very characteristic of Irula female adornment. One steel bangle, eight brass bangles, and one chank-shell bangle on right wrist; three lead, six glass bangles, and one glass bead bangle on left wrist. One steel and one brass ring on left little finger.
Woman, æt. 35. Wears loin-cloth only. Breasts fully exposed. Cap of Badaga pattern on head.
Girl, æt. 8. Lobe of each ear being dilated by a number of wooden sticks like matches.
Average stature I59'8 cm.; nasal index 85 (max. 100).
Irulas of Chingleput, North and South Arcot. The Irulas, or Villiyans (bowmen), who have settled in the town of Chingleput, about fifty miles distant from Madras, have attained to a higher degree of civilisation than the jungle Irulas of the Nīlgiris, and are defined, in the Census Report, 1901, as a semi-Brāhmanised forest tribe, who speak a corrupt Tamil.
In a note on the Irulas, Mackenzie writes as follows.* "After the Yuga Pralayam (deluge, or change from one Yuga to another) the Villars or Irulans, Malayans, and Vedans, supposed to be descendants of a Rishi under the influence of a malignant curse, were living in the forests in a state of nature, though they have now taken to ​wearing some kind of covering — males putting on skins, and females stitched leaves. Roots, wild fruits, and honey constitute their dietary, and cooked rice is always rejected, even when gratuitously offered. They have no clear ideas about God, though they offer rice (wild variety) to the goddess Kanniamma. The legend runs that a Rishi, Mala Rishi by name, seeing that these people were much bothered by wild beasts, took pity on them, and for a time lived with them. He mixed freely with their women, and as the result, several children were born, who were also molested by wild animals. To free them from these, the Rishi advised them to do pūja (worship) to Kanniamma. Several other Rishis are also believed to have lived freely in their midst, and, as a result, several new castes arose, among which were the Yānādis, who have come into towns, take food from other castes, eat cooked rice, and imitate the people amidst whom they happen to live." In which respects the Irula is now following the example of the Yānādi.
Many of the Chingleput Irulas are very dark-skinned, with narrow chests, thin bodies, and flabby muscles, reminding me, in their general aspect, of the Yānādis of Nellore. Clothing is, in the men, reduced to a minimum — dhūti, and langūti of dirty white cotton cloth, or a narrow strip of gaudy Manchester piece-good. The hair is worn long and ragged, or shaved, with kudimi, in imitation of the higher classes. The moustache is slight, and the beard billy-goaty. Some of the men are tattooed with a blue dot on the glabella, or vertical mid-frontal line. For ornaments they have a stick in the helix, or simple ornament in the ear-lobe.
Their chief source of livelihood is husking paddy (rice), but they also gather sticks for sale as firewood in return for pice, rice, and sour fermented rice gruel, which ​is kept by the higher classes for cattle. This gruel is also highly appreciated by the Yānādis. While husking rice, they eat the bran, and, if not carefully watched, will steal as much of the rice as they can manage to secrete about themselves. As an addition to their plain dietary they catch field (Jerboa) rats, which they dig out with long sticks, after they have been asphyxiated with smoke blown into their tunnels through a small hole in an earthen pot filled with dried leaves, which are set on fire. When the nest is dug out, they find material for a meat and vegetable curry in the dead rats, with the hoarded store of rice or other grain. They feast on the bodies of winged white-ants (Termites), which they search with torch-lights at the time of their seasonal epidemic appearance. Some years ago a theft occurred in my house at night, and it was proved by a plaster cast of a foot-print in the mud produced by a nocturnal shower that one of my gardeners, who did not live on the spot, had been on the prowl. The explanation was that he had been collecting as a food-stuff the carcases of the winged ants, which had that evening appeared in myriads.
Some Irulas are herbalists, and are believed to have the powers of curing certain diseases, snake-poisoning, and the bites of rats and insects.
Occasionally the Irulas collect the leaves of the banyan, Butea frondosa or lotus, for sale as food-platters, and they will eat the refuse food left on the platters by Brāhmans and other higher classes. They freely enter the houses of Brāhmans and non-Brāhman castes, and are not considered as carrying pollution.
They have no fixed place of abode, which they often change. Some live in low, palmyra-thatched ​huts of small dimensions; others under a tree, in an open place, in ruined buildings, or the street pials (verandah) of houses. Their domestic utensils consist of a few pots, one or two winnows, scythes, a crow-bar, a piece of flint and steel for making fire, and a dirty-bag for tobacco and betel. In making fire, an angular fragment of quartz is held against a small piece of pith, and dexterously struck with an iron implement so that the spark falls on the pith, which can be rapidly blown into a blaze. To keep the children warm in the so-called cold season (with a minimum of 58° to 60°), they put their babies near the fire in pits dug in the ground.
For marital purposes they recognise tribal sub-divisions in a very vague way. Marriage is not a very impressive ceremonial. The bridegroom has to present new cloths to the bride, and his future father- and mother-in-law. The cloth given to the last-named is called the pal kuli (milk money) for having nursed the bride. Marriage is celebrated on any day, except Saturday. A very modest banquet, in proportion to their slender means, is held, and toddy provided, if the state of the finances will run to it. Towards evening the bride and bridegroom stand in front of the house, and the latter ties the tāli, which consists of a bead necklace with a round brass disc. In the case of a marriage which took place during my visit, the bride had been wearing her new bridal cloth for a month before the event.
The Irulas worship periodically Kanniamma, their tribal deity, and Māri, the general goddess of epidemic disease. The deity is represented by five pots arranged in the form of a square, with a single pot in the centre, filled with turmeric water. Close to these a lamp ​is lighted, and raw rice, jaggery (crude sugar), rice flour, betel leaves and areca nuts are offered before it. Māri is represented by a white rag flag dyed with turmeric, hoisted on a bamboo in an open space near their dwellings, to which fowls, sheep, and other cooked articles, are offered.
The dead are buried lying flat on the face, with the head to the north, and the face turned towards the east. When the grave has been half filled in, they throw into it a prickly-pear (Opuntia Dillenii) shrub, and make a mound over it. Around this they place a row or two of prickly-pear stems to keep off jackals. No monumental stone is placed over the grave.
By means of the following table a comparison can be readily made between the stature and nasal index of the jungle Shōlagas and Nīlgiri Irulas, and of the more civilised Irulas of Chingleput and Ūrālis of Coimbatore: —
| ———— | Stature, average | Nasal index, average | Nasal index, maximum | Nasal index, minimum |
| Shōlagas | 159.3 | 85.1 | 107.7 | 72.8 |
| Irulas, Nilgiris | 159.8 | 84.9 | 100 | 72.3 |
| Irulas, Chingleput | 159.9 | 80.3 | 90.5 | 70 |
| Ūralis | 159.5 | 80.1 | 97.7 | 65.3 |
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of towns, is still further brought out by the following figures relating to the two classes of Irulas, and the Kanikars of Travancore, who still live a jungle life, and those who have removed to the outskirts of a populous town: —
| ——— | Nasal index. | Nasal index. | Nasal index. |
| | Average. | Maximum. | Minimum. |
| Irulas, jungle | 84.9 | 100 | 72.3 |
| Kanikars, jungle | 84.6 | 105 | 72.3 |
| Kanikars, domesticated | 81.2 | 90.5 | 70.8 |
| Irulas, domesticated | 80.3 | 90.5 | 70 |
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The Irulas of South Arcot, Mr. Francis writes,* "are chiefly found about the Gingee hills, talk a corrupt Tamil, are very dark skinned, have very curly hair, never shave their heads, and never wear turbans or sandals. They dwell in scattered huts — never more than two or three in one place — which are little, round, thatched hovels, with a low doorway through which one can just crawl, built among the fields. They subsist by watching crops, baling water from wells, and, when times are hard, by crime of a mild kind. In Villupuram and Tirukkōyilūr tāluks, and round Gingee, they commit burglaries in a mild and unscientific manner if the season is bad, and they are pressed by want, but, if the ground-nut crop is a good one, they behave themselves. They are perhaps the poorest and most miserable community in the district. Only one or two of them own any land, and that is only dry land. They snare hares now and again, and collect the honey of the wild bees by letting themselves down the face of cliffs at night by ladders made of twisted ​creepers. Some of them are prostitutes, and used to display their charms in a shameless manner at the Chetti-pālaiyam market near Gingee, decked out in quantities of cheap jewellery, and with their eyelids darkened in clumsy imitation of their sisters of the same profession in other castes. There is little ceremony at a wedding. The old men of the caste fix the auspicious day, the bridegroom brings a few presents, a pandal (booth) is made, a tāli is tied, and there is a feast to the relations. The rites at births and deaths are equally simple. The dead are usually buried, lying face upwards, a stone and some thorns being placed over the grave to keep off jackals. On the eleventh day after the death, the eldest son ties a cloth round his head — a thing which is otherwise never worn — and a little rice is coloured with saffron (turmeric) and then thrown into water. This is called casting away the sin, and ill-luck would befall the eldest son if the ceremony were omitted. The Irulans pay homage to almost all the grāmadēvatas (village deities), but probably the seven Kannimars are their favourite deities."
As already indicated, the Irulas, like the Yerukalas, indulge in soothsaying. The Yerukala fortune-teller goes about with her basket, cowry shells, and rod, and will carry out the work of her profession anywhere, at any time, and any number of times in a day. The Irula,
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to shiver, and breaks out in a profuse perspiration. This is a sure sign that he is possessed by Kanniamman. His wife unties his kudumi (tuft of hair), the shaking of the head becomes more violent, he breathes rapidly, and hisses like a snake. His wife praises Kannimar. Gradually the man becomes calmer, and addresses those around him as if he were the goddess, saying, "Oh! children. I have come down on my car, which is decorated with mango flowers, margosa and jasmine. You need fear nothing so long as I exist, and you worship me. This country will be prosperous, and the people will continue to be happy. Ere long my precious car, immersed in the tank (pond) on the hill, will be taken out, and after that the country will become more prosperous," and so on. Questions are generally put to the inspired man, not directly, but through his wife. Occasionally, even when no client has come to consult him, the Irula will take up his drum towards dusk, and chant the praises of Kannimar, sometimes for hours at a stretch, with a crowd of Irulas collected round him.
The name Shikāri (hunter) is occasionally adopted as a synonym for Irula. And, in South Arcot, some Irulas call themselves Tēn (honey) Vanniyans or Vana (forest) Pallis.
Irula (darkness or night). — An exogamous sept of Kuruba.
* ↑ • Primitive Tribes of the Nīlgiris.
* ↑ * Description of a singular Aboriginal Race inhabiting the Neilgherry Hills, 1832.
* ↑ * A. W. Lushington, Indian Forester, 1902,
* ↑ * Agricultural Ledger Series, 1904.
* ↑ • Ind. VI, 1877.
* ↑ * Oriental Manuscripts.
* ↑ * Manual of the North Arcot district-
* ↑ * Gazetteer of the South Arcot district.