KADU KURUBA

KADU KURUBA

1. BETTA/KADU KURUBA

2. Kadu   Kuruba The  Kadu   Kurubas  are the original inhabitants of the forests of  Nagarahole  and  Kakanakote  in the Western Ghats , Southern India . " Kadu " in  K annada means forest and  Kuruba  is the tribe,  Kadu   Kurubas  are the people living in forests. After the fall of the  pallava  empire many  kurubas  settled down in south India as small land owners and farmers, some kurubas  took to hiding in the forests of south India and adopted to a lifestyle in forest, they developed their own culture and traditions different from others due to their prolonged isolation. Forcible eviction of the  Kurubas  started in the early seventies. They were driven out of their ancestral lands deep inside the forest, and forced to live on the roadside or plantations on the periphery. These indigenous people lack land rights and are remain marginalized even to this day.

3. THE KADU KURUBA TRIBE AND THEIR LIFE STYLE . Karnatka state is situated on the western edge of the Deacan plateau and has neighbouring states Maharastra and Kerala on the north, Andhra Pradesh on the east and Tamilnadu and Kerala on the south. On the east it opens out to the Arabian Sea. In Karnataka,the tribal population constitutes only 4.91 per cent of the total according to the 1981 census. The Kadu Kurubas have been living in this forested region for centuries: as per the 1971 Census their total population was 8,192. The Kadu Kurubas are short in statures, head length is of medium type with narrow and low facial height with small nasal length. They are non- vegitarians . The Kadu Kuruba , a Scheduled Tribe, mainly concentrated in forest area of Kakanakote , Heggadadevanakote and Hunsur taluks of Mysore district. Traditionally they were practicing basketry, hunting and food gathering. Most of them live on the interior forest in thatched huts”padi ”, in settlements ‘ haadi ’. The huts are low, with wattled walls and wild grass roofing. In each settlement, there is a shrine ( ambala ) where they conduct their worship, social gatherings and sessions of the tribal council. Their household goods consist of vessels made of mud and aluminium . Their mother tongue is ‘ Kurubara bhashe ’,with large admixtureof Kannada, Tamil, kodava , etc. The Kadu Kuruba are experts in identifying different trees, herbal plants, etc. In the forest they barter with the neibouring people. As there is ban of hunting in the forest, this occupation is slowly given up. The smugglers and outsiders often cheat them while purchasing the forest products like soapnuts , pepper, ginger, honey, resin, etc., from them. The Kadu Kurubas are specialized in catching elephants by specific methods like ‘ Kedda ’. They are also experts, in maintaining the elephants and are most preferred to serve as ‘mahouts’ in the forest department. They used to be shifting cultivators until the department of forest stopped this practice long back. Some of them are engaged in protecting the crops. During the nights, they make fire near the fields to prevent elephants and wild animals destroying the crops. They also sit on the tree top to watch and beat the drums when elephants approach the fields. The manner of driving away elephants and wild animals is usually by running against with blazing torches, making loud noises and beating on tins and drums. .

4. Yajamana is the hereditary headman of their traditional community council. Yajamana deals with intracommunity disputes and imposes cash fines on those who violate social norms. Basket making is their traditional and major economic activity among the Kadu Kuruba . They prepare bamboo cylinders for stocking paddy, structures for safe keeping of chicken, basket sieves and winnows for cleaning paddy and rice etc. The forest department people do not allow them to cut the bamboo, and now they supply the bamboo to Kadu Kuruba settlements once in four months. Due to lack of demand for their products and difficulty in getting raw materials, this occupation does not enable them to meet their basic requirements. Some of them have shifted from their traditional occupation to daily wage labour and others. The overall literacy rate was 14.64 per cent. A very marginal progress has been made in educational field by recent “Literacy Andolana ” .

5. The Kadu Kuruba live in Karnataka in India. They have lived in the forest regions. They speak in the Kannada language. In Kannada, Kadu means forest and Kuruba means tribal community. The Kadu Kuruba are Hindus. They worship their deity in a stone. They believe the stone nourishes the soil and the plants. Stone worship is linked to worshipping images of Shiva, a Hindu god. They worship ancestors also. In the past they were regarded as great soldiers and had kingdoms. In the early nineteen seventies they were evicted from the forests and made to live on the border. They have no case legally in having land to live on for themselves and are socially excluded from others.