Korava

“ They are known as Korava from the extreme south to the north of the North Arcot district, where they are called Koracha or Korcha, and in the Ceded Districts they become Yerukala or Yerakala. In Calcutta they have been traced practising as quack doctors, and assuming Marātha names, or adding terminations to their own, which suggest that they belong to a caste in the south higher in the social scale than they really do. Some Koravas pass for Vellālas, calling themselves Agambadiar Vellālas with the title Pillai. ”

“ When they were asked about the woman, a hut slightly apart from the rest was pointed out, in front of which she was suckling the newly-born infant. She had done the journey immediately after delivery partly on foot, and partly on a donkey. The Korava child's technical education commences early. From infancy, the Koravas teach their children to answer "I do not know" to questions put to them. They are taught the different methods of stealing, and the easiest way of getting into various kinds of houses. ”

“ Some of the women of this class are thriving well in the Madras Presidency as experts in dancing. They are kept by rich people, and are called in the Telugu country Erukala Bōgamvaru, in Tamil Korava Thevidia. They also train monkeys, and show them to the public.”
The household god of the Korava, which is as a rule very rudely carved, may be a representation of either Vishnu or Siva. As already noted, it is stated in the Census Report, 1901, that the Koravas worship Subrahmanya, the son of Siva, while the Yerukalas worship Vishnu in the form of Venkatēswara and his wife Lakshmi. ”

“ It is in the north of the Cuddapah district that the Yerukalas first appear in co-existence with the Korcha. The Korcha being admitted on all sides to be the same as the Korava, our doubt regarding the identity of the Korava with the Yerukala will be disposed of if we can establish the fact that the Korcha and the Yerukala are the same. ”

“ Koracha.—See Korava.
Koraga.—The Koragas are summed up, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as being a wild tribe of basket-makers and labourers, chiefly found in Mudbidri, and in Puttūr in the Uppinangadi tāluk of South Canara. They are, Mr. M. T. Walhouse writes,187 “a very quiet and inoffensive race; small and slight, the men seldom exceeding five feet six inches; black-skinned, like most Indian aborigines, thick-lipped, noses broad and flat, and hair rough and bushy. Their principal occupation is basket-making, and they must labour for their masters. ”

“ In this way a half sovereign was recovered a few years ago.214 Male Koravas sometimes conceal stolen articles in the rectum. In the Tanjore district a Korava Kēpmari, who was suspected of having resorted to this dodge, was examined by a medical officer, and two thin gold chains, each about 14 inches long, were extracted. The females take an important part in resisting an attempt to arrest the males. ”

“ The Korava acrobat spins the wooden spool on a string, attached to the ends of two bamboo sticks, and throws it up to the height of a cocoanut tree, and, when it comes down, he receives it on the string, to be again thrown up. There are experts among them who can receive the spool on the string without even looking at it. There is no noteworthy difference in the structure and shape of the spool used by the Koravas, and those of Europe, except that the Malabar apparatus is a solid wooden thing a little larger and heavier than the Western toy. ”

“ Koravas, being highly superstitious, are constantly on the look-out for omens, especially before starting out on an excursion when the objective is dacoity or housebreaking. The household deity, represented by a brick picked up at random, is worshipped, and a sheep or fowl is sacrificed. Water is first poured over the animal, and, if it shakes its body, the omen is good, while, if it stands perfectly still, there is misfortune ahead. It is unfortunate, when starting, to see widows, pots of milk, dogs urinating, a man leading a bull, or a bull bellowing. ”

“ The Koravas are extremely superstitious, and take careful notice of good or bad omens before they start on a criminal expedition. They hold a feast, at which the assistance of the goddess Kolōpuriamma or Perumāl is sought. A young goat, with coloured thread attached to its horns, and a garland of margosa leaves with a piece of turmeric round its neck, is taken to an out-of-the-way shrine. Here it is placed before the deity, and cocoanuts are broken. The god is asked whether the expedition will be successful. If the body of the animal quivers, it is regarded as an answer in the affirmative ”

“ For tattooing an entire upper extremity, at several sittings, the Korava woman would be paid from eight to twelve annas, or receive food-grains in lieu of money. The hot weather is said to be more favourable for the operation than the cold season, as the swelling after it is less. ”

“ They do not wear the sacred thread, except on solemn occasions.” Pūjāri has been recorded as a title of Billavas as they officiate as priests at bhūtasthānas (devil shrines) , and of Halēpaiks, and Pūjāli as a title of some Irulas. Some families of Kusavans (potters) , who manufacture clay idols, are also known as pūjāri. Pūja occurs as a sub-division of the Gollas. Some criminal Koravas travel in the guise of Pūjāris, and style themselves Korava Pūjāris. ”

“ The Brāhman was naturally angry, and ordered his coolies to pull down the hut of the owner of the donkey. The Korama, casting himself at the feet of the Brāhman, for want of a better excuse, said that he was not aware of what his animal was doing, as at the time he was taking medicine for his wife, and could not look after it. According to another version of the story, the Brāhman ordered his servants to remove the hut from his land or beat the Korava, so that Koravas have since that time taken to bed and shared the pollution of their wives, to escape being beaten. ”

“ M. Paupa Rao Naidu * [1] that some Koravas, who go by the name of Jātipalli Koravas, "are prevalent in the southern districts of the Madras Presidency, moving always in gangs, and giving much trouble. Their women tattoo in return for grain, money, or cloths, and help their men in getting acquainted with the nature and contents of the houses." ”

“ The Koravas are often extremely cruel in the methods which they adopt to extort information from inhabitants of houses as to where their valuables are concealed. In common with other Hindus, they avoid the shadow of the thandra tree (Terminalia belerica) , in which the spirit of Sanēswaradu is believed to reside. In this connection the following legend is recited.* [19] In the city of Bīmanapuram there ruled a king named Bīmarāju, who had a beautiful daughter named Damayanti, with whom the gods, including Nalamahārāju, fell in love. ”

“ The dwellings in which the Koravas live are made with low mud walls and thatched. The wanderers erect a temporary hut called gudisē, with mats or cocoanut or palmyra palm leaves, not more than 4 feet high. It is constructed of crossed bamboos tied together, and connected by another bamboo, which serves as a ridge, over which they fasten the mats.
Marriages are arranged by the elders. The father of a youth who is of a marriageable age calls together some of the elders of his division, and proceeds in quest of a suitable bride. ”

“ In the Salem district there is a village called Koravūr, which is inhabited entirely by Koravas, who say that they were originally Uppu Koravas, but now cultivate their [458] own lands, or work as agricultural labourers for the land-owners. They say further that they pay an occasional visit to Madras for the purpose of replenishing their stock of coral and beads, which they sell at local shandis (markets) . Some Koravas are said to buy gilded beads at Madura, and cheat unsuspecting villagers by selling them as gold. ”

“ The leaves were in great demand, and those who brought them round for sale were called in Tamil Karuvaipillai, and in Telugu Karepāku, after the commodity which they carried. This is a common custom in India, and when driving through the bazār, one may hear, for example, an old woman carrying a bundle of wood addressed as firewood. “Kāvadi” will be screamed at a man carrying a pole (kāvadi) with baskets, etc., suspended from it, who got in the way of another. The section of Koravas who carried salt inland from the coast became known as Uppu (salt) Koravas. ”

“ On occasions when A hits B, and C cries out at the blow, the bystanders will say, ‘’Tis like a Koravan eating asafœtida when his wife lies in!’ Now a Koravan belongs to a low race in Madras, and is defined as ‘gipsy, wanderer, ass-driver, thief, eater of rats, dweller in mat tents, fortune-teller, and suspected character;’ and the explanation of the proverb is, that whereas native women generally eat asafœtida as strengthening medicine after childbirth, among the Koravans it is the husband who eats it to fortify himself on the occasion. ”

“ In Malabar, there is a class of people called Koravas, who have, from time immemorial, played this game almost in the same manner as its Western devotees do at the present time. These people are met with mostly in the southern parts of Malabar, Cochin and Travancore, and they speak the Malayālam language with a sing-song accent, which easily distinguishes them from other people. They are of wandering habits. The men are clever acrobats and rope-dancers, but those of more settled habits are engaged in agriculture and other industries. ”

“ They had with them their pack-bullocks, each headman of the gang owning about two hundred head. The cow-dung which accumulated daily attracted a good many of the villagers, on one of whom the headmen fixed as their intended victim. They made themselves intimate with him, plied him with drink and tobacco, and gave him the monopoly of the cow-dung. Thus a week or ten days passed away, and the Koravas then fixed a day for the sacrifice. They invited the victim to visit them at dusk, and witness a great festival in honour of their caste goddess. ”

“ In many villages, during the festival to the village deity, water is poured over a sheep’s back, and it is accepted as a good sign if it shivers. “When the people are economical, they keep on pouring water till it does shiver, to avoid the expense of providing a second victim for sacrifice. But, where they are more scrupulous, if it does not shiver, it is taken as a sign that the goddess will not accept it, and it is taken away.”2
Before the thieving Koravas set out on a predatory expedition, a goat is decorated, and taken to a shrine. ”

“ On the subject of the religion of the Koragas, Mr.Walhouse states that "like all the slave castes and lower races, the Koragars worship Mari Amma, the goddess presiding over small-pox, the most dreadful form of Parvati, the wife of Siva. She is the most popular deity in Canara, represented under the most frightful form, and worshipped with bloody rites. Goats, buffaloes, pigs, fowls, etc., are slaughtered at a single blow by an Asadi, one of the slave tribes from above the ghauts. ”

“ The Korwas worship Dūlha Deo, the bridegroom god of the Gonds, and in Sargūja their principal deity is Khuria Rāni, the tutelary goddess of the Khuria plateau. She is a bloodthirsty goddess and requires animal sacrifices; formerly at special sacrifices 30 or 40 buffaloes were slaughtered as well as an unlimited number of goats.4 Thākur Deo, who is usually considered a corn-god, dwells in a sacred grove, of which no tree or branch may be cut or broken. The penalty for breach of the rules is a goat, but an exception is allowed if an animal has to be pursued and killed in the grove. ”

“ All Korai, with its five provinces, its 176 cities, and its four or five millions of people, was annexed to the Chinese empire. Tens of thousands of Koraian refugees fled into Shinra, thousands into Pu-hai, north of the Tumen, then a rising state; and many to the new country of Japan. Desolated by slaughter and ravaged by fire and blood, war and famine, large portions of the land lay waste for generations. Thus fell the second of the Corean kingdoms, and the sole dominant state now supreme in the peninsula was Shinra, an outline of whose history we shall proceed to give. ”

“ The hill Korwas are the most savage-looking of all the Kolarian tribes. They are frightfully wild and uncouth in their appearance, and have good-humouredly accepted the following singular tradition to account for it. They say that the first human beings that settled in Sargūja, being very much troubled by the depredations of wild beasts on their crops, put up scarecrows in their fields, figures made of bamboos dangling in the air, the most hideous caricatures of humanity that they could devise to frighten the animals. ”

“ Weakness in China meant strength in Korai. The Chinese had bought peace with their Eastern neighbors by titles and gifts, which left the Koraians free to act against their southern neighbors. In steadily displacing these, they came into collision with the little kingdom of Hiaksai, whose history will be narrated farther on. It will be seen that the Korai men, people of the Fuyu race, finally occupied the territory of Hiaksai. Already the Koraians, sure of further conquest southward, fixed their capital at Ping-an. ”

“ The Albanian, Dmitri, was a native of the village of Korvo. Among the savage mountains of the district between Yannina and Terpellenè, the deep broad stream of Argyro-Castro flows; bastioned to the west by abrupt wood-covered precipices, shadowed to the east by elevated mountains. The highest among these is Mount Trebucci; and in a romantic folding of that hill, distinct with minarets, crowned by a dome rising from out a group of pyramidal cypresses, is the picturesque village of Korvo. Sheep and goats form the apparent treasure of its inhabitants ”

“ To the south of Korai were the states of Shinra and Hiaksai, and between these and Korai, there was for a couple of centuries almost perpetual war, the only intervals being when the latter kingdom was suffering at the hands of the formidable Chinese invaders. But as I merely give this rough and very imperfect sketch of Corean history, to explain how the word Korai originated and was then applied to the whole of the peninsula, I must now proceed to explain in bold touches how the other states became united to Korai. ”