the Kota tribe, also called Kotas or Kota, are a community of indigenous peoples who inhabit areas on the slopes of the Nilgiri hills in Tamil Nadu in South India. The Kotas are traditional artisans and experts in the arts of pottery and terracotta baking in the Nilgiris and their associated community, the Todas, are the traditional agriculturists of the Nilgiris.
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Etymology
The Kota name is derived from "Ko" which means cow. The Kota people believe their forefathers were cows. A place they live in is called a "Kokkal", meaning resting place of the cows. The name ‘Kota-giri’ means ‘mountain of the Kotas’. The Kota eat buffalo and other meat but not cow.
Habitations
There are 7 Kota colonies in Nilgiri District, namely, Kokkal and Kundah Kokkal in Uthagamandalam Taluk, Trichigadi and kollimalai in Coonoor Taluk, Aggal and Kezkethagiri in Kotagiri Taluk and Kokas in Gudalur Taluk. Kokkal colony has a population of 199 males and 183 females living in 78 households on 4 streets covering 225 acres. This is a government built colony with uniform housing built of bricks, cement and clay with tile roofs. Each house has a veranda, big entrance room, one bedroom, kitchen and bathroom.
Lifestyle
The Kota depend on non-timber forest products for much of their food, fuel and medicines. They grow subsistance and cash crops of marigold flowers, samai, choalm and ragi in their fields.[1] The Kota tribes are known for their reclusiveness and their reluctance to meet or mix with outsiders. They currently number just around a 1000, and are fast declining. The Kotas are a consanguineous tribe (literally, the existing members have descended from the same ancestor). Inbreeding has taken place due to the tribes' self-imposed isolation which has led to their high rate of mortality.
Rite of Passage
Kota people paint faces Ghost-like color blue = transformation of boy to man. (age 9-10). They believe that in order to become a man, the child must die. Thus the ghost-like blue paint is a reference to the death of their childhood. Used to sacrifice wild animals, now, after schooling is completed, gifts of money take the place of sacrificing wild animal.
DNA Analysis
Along with the Toda, Kota too have been subject to many genome studies and are generally believed to be closely related to the Toda tribe.
References
- ^ Satish Rajkumar E. <satishpwtn@gmail.com> (April 2005) Religion Among The Kotas of Sholur Kokkal, Nilgiri District, Tamil Nadu; a field report submitted in partial fulfilment of Masters of Arts in Anthropology, Dept of Anthropology, University of Madras, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India 600 005
- Sivakumaran T.A. and Karthikeyan S. "Effects of Inbreeding on Reproductive Losses in Kota tribe" [www.pubmed.gov]
- S.K.Basu. "Status of Tribal Women in India"
