Kurumba (tribe)

Kurumbas (or) Kurumbar (Tamil: Kurumban, Kurumbar) (Malayalam: Kuruman) (Kannada: Kuruba, Kurubaru) are a designated Scheduled Tribe or an indigenous community in the Indian states of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.^[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 and wax.^[3]

Kurumbas

Total population
88,750[1] (2011 census)
Regions with significant populations
Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu
Languages
Kurumba languages
Religion
Hinduism, Animism
Related ethnic groups
Dravidians, Tamil

The main deity of the tribe is Lord Shiva under the name of Bhairava.^{[citation needed]} They also worship animals, birds, trees, rock hillocks, and snakes, along with the other Hindu deities.^[4][5] Kurumbar are partially Sanskritised to believing in Hinduism.^[6]

There are several divisions of Kurumba: Jenu, Betta and Alu. Each of these divisions speaks their own Dravidian language. Jenu Kurubas are primarily found in the northern part of the Nilgiris, in the Mysuru district of Karnataka.^{[citation needed]}

Kurumbar are one of the six ancient tribal groups in Tamil Nadu. According to the Madras Census Report of 1891, the Pallavas were Kurumbas.^[7] 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]}

Traditional Kurumbar thatch-roof houses, Tamil Nadu

References

1. "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 2017-11-03.
2. "List of notified Scheduled Tribes" (PDF). Census India. pp. 26–27. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 November 2013. Retrieved 15 December 2013.
3. பழங்குடியினர் மொழிக்கான அகராதி தயாரித்த ஆசிரியைகள்: அரசு அங்கீகரிக்க சமூக ஆர்வலர்கள் கோரிக்கை- The Hindu Tamil News - 20 September 2016
4. 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 Institue of Information Technology. pp. 35–40.
5. "Census of India Website : Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India". www.censusindia.gov.in. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
6. 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).
7. H.V. Nanjundayya; L.K. Anathakrishna (1988). The Mysore tribes and castes, Vol 4. Mysore, Mysore University. p. 30. OCLC 830766457. They (the Kurubas) are the modern representatives of the ancient Kurumbas or Pallavas, who were once so powerful, throughout South India, but very little trace of their greatness now remains. In the seventh century, the power of the Pallava kings seems to have been at its zenith, but shortly after this, the Kongu, Chola and Chalukya chiefs succeeded in several victories over them. The final overthrow of the Kurumba sovereignty was effected by the Chola king Adondai about the 7th or the 8th century A.D., and the 'Kurumbas were scattered far and wide.