Kol (people)

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The Kol people, a generic name for the Munda, Ho and Oraon tribes (Adivasi) of eastern India. The Mundas are an aboriginal tribe of Dravidian physical type, inhabiting the Chota Nagpur Division, and numbering 438,000 in 1901. The majority of them are animists in religion, though consider themselves Hindu, but Christianity is practiced by some. The village community in its primitive form still exists among the Mundas; the discontent due to the oppression of their landlords led to the Munda rising of 1899, and to the remedy of the alleged grievances by a new settlement of the district. The Hos, who are closely akin to the Mundas, also inhabit the thota Nagpur division; in 1901 they numbered 386,000. They were formerly a very pugnacious race, who successfully defended their territory against all comers until they were subdued by the British in the early part of the 19th century, being known as the Larka (or fighting) Kols. Like the Mundas they are animists, but they show little inclination for Christianity. Both Mundas and Hos speak dialects of the linguistic family known as Munda or Kol. The Ho specifically speak the Ho language.

This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.