The etymology of words Kurumbar suggests that it derives from the Tamil term kurumbu, suggesting a mountain or forest. Several terms, like Kurumbar, Kuruman, Kuruba, Kuruma, and Kurubaru, are used to assign the Kurumba caste in various areas of southerly India. Kurumba tribes who reside in Nilgiris and the Wayanad, with a minor dropping in the Nilambur and Atta’paadee hillsides in Malabar, have their very own divisions.
Kuruba community’s background
Standard sources claim that the Kurubas of the Karnataka area started the Sangama empire, the initial of 4 empires to rule the Vijayanagara Empire. Vira Harihara, creator of Vijayanagara, came from the Kuruba Gowda clan. Many empires in South India, from the Pallavas to the Yadavarayas, were initially members of pastoralist and cowherd groups and belonged to Kurumba family trees.
DNA based evidences for very early movements right into India– Y-chromosome of the Kurumba
The Kurumbas are considered to be amongst India’s earliest occupants. An autosomal STR study gave evidence of a link between the old Kurumba people and Australian aboriginal populations. Y-STR haplotypes shared with sub-Saharan African populaces located in Kurumba, Soleegaa, and Irula may suggest an unique genetic link between these Indian tribes and sub-Saharan Africans.
Background of Kurumba Area
The Mackenzie Manuscript states Tondaimandalam was initial lived in by Kurumbas till their loss by Ilan Tiraiyan. Kurumbas divided the region into 24 areas and constructed a number of fts. The epigraphs of the area likewise reveal the existence of an audio management system. The Paleolithic Culture, as disclosed from the excavations executed in this region at Pallavaram, caused the exploration of many more Paleolithic and Megalithic sites dating back to the Iron Age.
From the perspective of the social anthropologist, the Kurumba groups appear to be widely various and come under, two significant categories, numerous small tribal societies spread along the Western Ghats, and a much more countless congeries of castes living in components of the Deccan plateau, primarily in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
In the encyclopedia of Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Edgar Thurston stated that the Kurumbas are the modern-day reps of the Pallavas, who were when so effective throughout Southern India, yet really little trace of their success currently remains. In the 7th century, the power of the Pallava kings appears to have gone to its zenith, but quickly hereafter, the Chola, and Chalukya principals did well in winning a number of success over them.
The last overthrow of Kurumba sovereignty was effected by the Chola king of Tondai’mandalam in the 7th or 8th century, and the Kurumbas were scattered everywhere. Numerous fled to capitals, and in the Nilgiris and the Wayanad, in Coorg and Mysore, reps of this old race are now located as primitive tribes. Somewhere else, the Kurumbas are more advanced and are usually guards and weavers of crude woolen coverings.
Kurumba is one of the conventional ethnic teams in south India, mostly along the Western Ghats. In the Nilgiris, rock art is found at five sites; the wellayree’kombai Rock Art website varies from the remainder of the websites both in pigmentation and style, in addition to the representations. The ochre paint spread over the rock canvas go back to the pre-historic period and unfolds vital clues concerning exactly how the Kurumbas lived.
Makings of humans and pets on the walls are evidence of a highly civilized society. Ancient rock art in the type of paintings or carvings is located in the Nilgiris. The lifestyle and profession of old people are reflected in the rock art paints of this area.