Toda people

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The neutrality of this article is disputed. This article is largely based on text from the out-of-copyright 11th edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica, which was produced in the U.K. in 1911, and it may express a worldview specific to that time and place and/or an unbalanced critical assessment. It needs editing to bring it up to date and to put it in compliance with Wikipedia's neutral point of view policy.
A Toda. Photograph from 1913
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A Toda. Photograph from 1913

The Toda people are a small pastoral tribe of Southern India who reside in the Nilgiri hills. The Toda number less than 1,000 and are an isolated people who speak Toda, a Dravidian language.

Contents

[edit] Culture and society

The hut of a Toda Tribe of Nilgiris, India.(The tribe bears a lot of similarity to the Aborigines in Australia) Note the art at the front wall, and the unusually very small door. The huts, of an oval, pent-shaped construction, are usually 10 feet (3 m) high, 18 feet (5.5 m) long and 9 feet (2.7 m) wide. They are built of bamboo fastened with rattan and thatched. Over this Each hut is enclosed within a wall of loose stones. The front and back of the hut is usually made of dressed stones (mostly granite). Hut has only a tiny entrance at the front – about 3 feet (90 cm) wide, 3 feet (90 cm) tall. This unusually small entrance is a means of protection from the wild animals. The front portion of the hut is decorated with the Toda art forms, a kind of rock mural painting.
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The hut of a Toda Tribe of Nilgiris, India.(The tribe bears a lot of similarity to the Aborigines in Australia) Note the art at the front wall, and the unusually very small door. The huts, of an oval, pent-shaped construction, are usually 10 feet (3 m) high, 18 feet (5.5 m) long and 9 feet (2.7 m) wide. They are built of bamboo fastened with rattan and thatched. Over this Each hut is enclosed within a wall of loose stones. The front and back of the hut is usually made of dressed stones (mostly granite). Hut has only a tiny entrance at the front – about 3 feet (90 cm) wide, 3 feet (90 cm) tall. This unusually small entrance is a means of protection from the wild animals. The front portion of the hut is decorated with the Toda art forms, a kind of rock mural painting.

The Toda dress consists of a single piece of cloth, which is worn like the plaid of a Scottish highlander. Their sole occupation is cattle-herding and dairy-work. They practice fraternal polyandry, a practice in which a woman marries all the brothers of a family. The ratio of females to males is about three to five. The Toda are most closely related to the Kota both ethnically and linguistically. The Todas worship their dairy-buffaloes, but they have a whole pantheon of other gods. The only purely religious ceremony they have is Kona Shastra, the annual sacrifice of a male buffalo calf. Toda villages, called munds, usually consist of five buildings or huts, three of which are used as dwellings, one as a dairy and the other as a shelter for the calves at night. The inhabitants of a mund are generally related and consider themselves one family. The Todas numbered 807 in 1901 and their current population stands at around 1,100. See W. H. R. Rivers, The Todas (1906).

[edit] Contemporary Toda Culture

While many of the Todas still only speak their native languages and worship the waterbuffalo, they are not untouched by Western Culture. American and European tourists can spend a day in a Toda village. The Rough Guide to South India mentions outfitters that will take tourists to a Toda Village in the Nilgiri Hills, this is usually via the town of Ootacamund, another tourist area and summer vacation spot for wealthy Indians. Usually some members of the town speak English and most wear western clothes. They do still practice polyandry.

[edit] History

The origin of the Todas is not very clear. They are one of the original tribes inhabiting the highest regions of the Nilgiris mountain range and have remained secluded for a very long time.

Around 1823, the then collector of Coimbatore John Sullivan took a fancy to their land and bought it from them for a mere one rupee. He established a town at the place named Udagamandalam on this land. The interaction with civilisation caused many changes in the lifestyle of the Todas.

[edit] Religion

A Toda temple in Muthunadu Mund near Ooty, India.
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A Toda temple in Muthunadu Mund near Ooty, India.

According to the Todas, the goddess Teikirshy and her brother first created the sacred buffalo and then the first Toda man. The first Toda woman was created from the right rib of the first Toda man. The Toda religion also forbids them from walking across bridges, rivers must be crossed on foot, or swimming.

Curiously, while the Todas revere the Pandavas they do not believe in the rest of the Hindu mythology.

Toda temples are constructed in a circular pit lined with stones and are quite similar in appearance and construction to Toda huts.

From Frazer's Golden Bough, 1922:

   
Toda people
 Among the Todas of Southern India the holy milkman, who acts as priest of the sacred dairy, is subject to a variety of irksome and burdensome restrictions during the whole time of his incumbency, which may last many years. Thus he must live at the sacred dairy and may never visit his home or any ordinary village. He must be celibate; if he is married he must leave his wife. On no account may any ordinary person touch the holy milkman or the holy dairy; such a touch would so defile his holiness that he would forfeit his office. It is only on two days a week, namely Mondays and Thursdays, that a mere layman may even approach the milkman; on other days if he has any business with him, he must stand at a distance (some say a quarter of a mile) and shout his message across the intervening space. Further, the holy milkman never cuts his hair or pares his nails so long as he holds office; he never crosses a river by a bridge, but wades through a ford and only certain fords; if a death occurs in his clan, he may not attend any of the funeral ceremonies, unless he first resigns his office and descends from the exalted rank of milkman to that of a mere common mortal. Indeed it appears that in old days he had to resign the seals, or rather the pails, of office whenever any member of his clan departed this life. However, these heavy restraints are laid in their entirety only on milkmen of the very highest class.
   
Toda people

[edit] Language

The Toda language sounds quite unlike most other Dravidian languages. It also does not have a script.

[edit] Culture

The Todas used to be polyandrous but are increasingly becoming monogamous. Toda women are usually quite skilled in embroidery and their work usually features red and black patterns on white cloth.

[edit] Lifestyle

The constructional details of a Toda hut. Thicker bamboo canes are arched to give the hut its basic pent shape. Thinner bamboo canes are tied close and parallel to each other over this frame. Dried grass is stacked over this as thatch.
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The constructional details of a Toda hut. Thicker bamboo canes are arched to give the hut its basic pent shape. Thinner bamboo canes are tied close and parallel to each other over this frame. Dried grass is stacked over this as thatch.

The Todas live in small villages called munds. The forced interaction with civilisation has caused a lot of changes in the lifestyle of the Todas. The Todas used to be a pastoral people but are now increasingly venturing into agriculture and other occupations. They used to be strict vegetarians but some can be now be seen eating non-vegetarian food. They used to be polyandrous but are now becoming increasingly monogamous. Many of them have abandoned their traditional distinctive huts for concrete houses.

[edit] External links

[edit] References

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