Page:The Imperial Gazetteer of India - Volume 10 (2nd edition).pdf/322



310 NILGIRI HILLS. Scotch Highlander. The costume of the women is much the same as that of the men, the toga or mantle being wrapped around them so as to cover the entire person fron shoulder to ankle. In habits the Todas are very dirty and indolent. They practise polyandry, a woman marrying all the brothers of a family. Females number about 3 to every 5 males. Their sole occupation is cattle-herding and dairy work. Their food consists of milk, curds, chí, and different rnillets and cereals.' Their language seems a mixture of Tamil and Kanarese, and is classed by Dr. Caldwell as a separate language of the Dravidian farnily, lying between Old Kánarese and Tamil, Dr. Oppert finds in it a closer affinity to Telugu. The Todas worship, besides their dairy buffaloes, several deities, of which the principal are Hiriadeva or the • belly-god,' and the hunting-god.' They believe that after death the soul goes to Oru-norr or Am-norr, 'the great or other country' The Toda hamlets or villages are called mands or molts, and are thus described by Dr. Shortt: Each mand usually comprises about five buildings or huts, three of which are used as dwellings, one as a dairy, and the other for sheltering the calves at night. These huts are of a peculiar oval pent-shaped construction, usually 10 feet high, 18 feet long, and 9 feet broad. The entrance or doorway is 32 inches in height and 18 in width, and is closed by means of a solid slab of wood from 4 to 6 inches thick. This is inside the hut, and slides on two stout stakes. There are no other openings or outlets of any kind. The houses are neat in appearance, and are built of bamboo closely laid together, fastened with rattan, and thatched. Each building has end walls of solid wood, and the sides are covered in by the pent roofing, which slopes down to the ground. The interior of a hut is from 8 to 15 feet square. On one side there is a raised platform or pial formed of clay, about 2 feet high, covered with deer or buffalo skins, or sometimes with a mat. This is used as a sleeping-place. On the opposite side is a fire-place and a slight elevation on which the cooking utensils are placed. Outside, an enclosure of loose stones is piled up 2 or 3 feet high. The dairy, which is also the temple of the mand, is slightly larger, and contains two apartments separated by planking; one part is a storehouse for ghí, milk, and curds.' In 1867 the number of mands was 106, with a population of 704. In 1871 the total number of the Todas was returned at only 693,-405 men and 288 women; and in 1881, at 675, of whom 382 were males and 293 females. The Badagas or Vadagas (from Badaku or Vadaku, meaning 'north') are supposed to have come from the north, in consequence of famine and persecution, about 300 years ago, after the dismemberment of the Vijayanagar kingdom. They constitute the most numerous, wealthy, and civilised of the indigenous tribes, and are described by Dr. Shortt as being also the fairest of all. The men, he says, clothe themselves much