Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 4.djvu/148

KURUBA connected with, if not identical with the original Kurumbas. On the other hand, the true derivation may be in the other direction, as in the case of the Sclavs. The language of the Kurumbas is a dialect of Canarese, and not of Tamil, as stated by Bishop Caldwell. It resembles the old Canarese." Concerning the affinities of the Kurubas, Mr. Stuart states that "they are the modern representatives of the ancient Pallavas, who were once so powerful in Southern India. In the seventh century, the power of the Pallava kings seems to have been at its zenith, though very little trace of their greatness now remains; but, soon after this, the Kongu, Chōla, and Chālukya chiefs succeeded in winning several victories over them, and the final overthrow of the Kurumba sovereignty was effected by the Chōla King Adondai about the eighth century A.D., and the Kurumbas were scattered far and wide. Many fled to the hills, and, in the Nīlgiris and Wynād, in Coorg and Mysore, representatives of this ancient race are now found as wild and uncivilised tribes." Let me call anthropometric evidence, and compare the Kurubas of Mysore and Bellary with the jungle Kurumbas of the Nīlgiris and the allied Kādirs and Mala Vēdars, by means of the two important physical characters, stature and nasal index.