Kunchigar

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This article is an excerpt from Castes and Tribes of Southern India By Edgar Thurston, C.I.E., Superintendent, Madras Government Museum; Correspondant Étranger, Société d’Anthropologie de Paris; Socio Corrispondante, Societa,Romana di Anthropologia. Assisted by K. Rangachari, M.A., of the Madras Government Museum. Government Press, Madras 1909.

Kunchigar

The Kunchigars, Kunchitigas, or Kunchiliyans, are a class of cultivators in the Salem district, who speak Canarese, and have migrated southward to the Tamil country. Their tradition concerning their origin is that “a certain Nawāb, who lived north of the Tungabadra river, sent a peon (orderly) to search for ghī (clarified butter), twelve years old. In his travels south of the river, the peon met a lovely maid drawing water, who supplied his want. Struck by her beauty, he watched her bathing place, and stole one hair which fell from her head in bathing, which he took to the Nawāb. The latter conceived the idea of marrying the girl, and sent an embassy, which was so far successful that the girl and her family came to his residence, and erected a marriage pandal (booth).

Subsequently they repented, and, thinking that the marriage would be a mésalliance (the Nawāb was probably a Muhammadan), fled in the night, leaving a dog in the pandal. In their flight they came to the Tungabadra, which was in full flood, and, eager to escape, they consented to marry the maiden to a Kurumban who ferried them across the river. The Kunchigars are the descendants of this girl and the Kurumban. When running away they, in their haste, forgot a little girl, and left her behind them. She was seized by the Nawāb, who thirsted for vengeance, and thrown into the air so as to fall on knives placed so as to transfix her. Some miracle interposed to save her, and the Arē Kunchigars of Mysore are her descendants.”