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This article is an extract from 

THE CASTES AND TRIBES 

OF 

H. E. H. THE NIZAM'S DOMINIONS 

BY 

SYED SIRAJ UL HASSAN 

Of Merton College, Oxford, Trinity College, Dublin, and 

Middle Temple, London. 

One of the Judges of H. E. H. the Nizam's High Court 

of Judicature : Lately Director of Public Instruction. 

BOMBAY 

THE TlMES PRESS 

1920 
***** 
''Indpaedia is an archive. It neither agrees nor disagrees '' 
''with the contents of this article.'' 
''Secondly, this has been scanned from a book. You can help by '' 
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the Facebook page, [http://www.facebook.com/Indpaedia Indpaedia.com]. ''All information used will be duly acknowledged.''
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[[Category:India|K]]
[[Category:Communities|K]]
Kuruma — the shepherd, goat-herd and 'blanket- weaver caste of
Telingana, corresponding to the Kuruba of the Karnatic and the
Kurumba of the Tamil country. These tribes probably belonged to
riie same original stock, for they closely resemble one another in their
features and complexion and in some of their customs and usages.
The names ' Kuruma ' and ' Kuruba ' seem to be variants of the
Tamil ' Kurumba ' , the first being formed by the dropping of the
letter ' b ' and the second by the dropping of the ' m.' All the
names are said to be derived from the word ' kuri ' meaning a sheep.

The Kurumas bear the honorific title ' GoudJ attached to their
names, concerning the origin of which they have a very curious
legend. Once upon a time, Beerappa, their patron god, had a
desire for strong drink, but being short of money had to procure
liquor from a goundala (a liquor vendor) by pledging his moustaches.
In a few days, Beerappa offered to redeem the pledge, but the
moustaches had already disappeared from the goundala's possession,
being surreptitiously made away with by a squirrel at the god s
command. The goundala was thereupon compelled to part with his
title ' Goud ' to the Kurumas.

==Origin==

The Kurumas trace their descent from their tribal god
Mallanna, who was fabled to have originally been a Kapu by caste
but subsequently made the god of shepherds by Mahadeva. Once
Mallanna, having ploughed his farm, collected the rubbish and
disposed of it by burning it on an ant-hill. Two sheep had already
been sheltered by Parvati in the ant-hill and, being oppressed by the
intense heat of the fire, they came out and solicited Mallanna for
protection. Mallanna reluctantly consented and desired them to
follow him to his dwelling. On arrival at his .house, he found that
the sheep had multiplied into thousands. Dismayed and confused
at this singular development, he appealed for relief to the god
Siva, who came down from Kailas, transformed him into a god,
and assigned to him the duties of presiding over the destinies of the
shepherd class.

==Internal Structure==

The Kurumas are divided into 3 sub-
castes : Patti Kankan Kuruiha, Uni Kankan Kuruma and Ugad. The
last of these are socially jnferior to the other two sub-castes and make
their living by officiating as priests to the Kurumas and by begging
only from them. The Patti Kurumas are so called because they use
wedding bracelets of cotton thread (patti) while the name ' Uni
Kuruma ' is derived from the word uni (wool) and refers to the
custom of the sub-caste of fastening bracelets of woollen thread on
the wrists of the bride and bridegroom at their wedding. The origin
of these usages is obscure. The Kurumas aver that Mallanna had two
wives, one Padmakshi (lotus-eyed), a Kapu girl who was married in
accordance with the usual Kapu usage of fastening thread bracelets
on the wrists of (he bridal pair. The other wife was Ratnangi
(resplendent as gems), the daughter of a Brahman woman who, while
pregnant, was devoured by a Rakshashi. The Rakshashi brought
up the new-born girl until she came of age. One day Mallanna,
while grazing his flock in the jungle, where the girl dwelt, observed
her and was so struck with her beauty that he fell in love with her.
He killed the demon and married the girl, but the wedding bracelets
on this occasion were made of wool instead of cotton, which could
not be procured in the jungle. Hence Mallanna's descendants by
Ratnangi have been distinguished from those by Padmakshi by the
name uni (wool) Kuruma and are said to hold a position superior
to that of the latter.

In the Karnatic the caste has four divisions : Hatti Kankan
Kuruma, Uni Kankan Kuruma, or Kurbur, Lingayit Kurbur and Beer-
lods. The Beerlods are priests of Birbhadra and subsist by beggmg
from the other sub-castes. The Hatti Kankan Kurburs and Uni
Kankan Kurburs are identical respectively with the Patti Kurumas
and Uni Kurumas of Telingana and have the same badges of distinc-
tion as the latter, the Hati (cotton) Kankan Kurburs wearing cotton
thread bracelets at a wedding while the Uni Kankan Kurburs put on
wedding bracelets of wool. The Lingayit Kurburs are converts to
Lingayitism from the Kurbur caste. Regarding the origin of this
sub-caste a story is told that Mallanna once met Basava, the founder
of the Lingayit sect, and was converted by him to his faith. The
progeny of Mallanna, subsequent to this event, became Lingayits
by creed. '

These legends seem to suggest that the Kurumas were a mixed
people, recruited from the Kapu and other castes. There is, how-
ever, no independent evidence to support this view.

The Kurumas are broken up into a large number of exogamous
sections, which are partly of the territorial and partly of the tote-
mistic type. In very few instances only are the totems observed as
taboos ; as, for instance, the members of the ' Myakalollu ' (Myakfl —
sheep) section abstain from eating sheep and those of the ' Mityal-
awandlu (Mityal — pepper) from using the pepper; but, in general, the
totems have lost their significance to the members of the sections bear-
ing their names. The members of the caste assert that they have only
one gotra, 'Chandesha' or ' Choundesha ', which, is, however, only
ornamental and has no bearing upon the regulation of their marriages.

The section name goes by the male side and a Kuruma is prohi-
bited from marrying outside the sub-caste, or within the section to
which he belongs. This rule of exogamy is supplemented, and a
man cannot marry the daughters of his maternal and paternal aunts.
He may marry the daughters of his maternal uncle or of his elder
sister. He may marry in the sections to which his mother or his
father's mother belongs. Two sisters may be married to the same
man, provided the elder is married first. Two brothers may also
marry two sisters. Exchange of daughters is allowed by the caste.

==Marriage==

The Kurumas marry their daughters both as infants
and as adults, but the former practice is deemed the more respectable
and is followed by the majority of the caste. The custom of
dedicating girls to temples survives among some of the Kurumas.
The girls thus dedicated are married to the image of Mallanna, or
to a sword. The dedicated girl is taken before the image, or is
seated by the side of a sword, and wedded to either as if it were
the bridegroom, the ceremony in this case closely resembling that
of the real marriage current among the caste. The Basavis, as these
girls are afterwards called, are allowed to remain in their parents'
houses and can cohabit either with the members of their own
caste or of higher castes. Girls for whom husbands cannot be
procured are also dedicated to gods. Polygamy is permitted and
there is no rule limiting the number of wives a man may have.

The marriage ceremony of the Uni Kurburs is described below,
the distinction between the Uni Kurburs and the Patti Kurburs being
only in the nature of their kan\mams, or wedding bracelets. The
negotiations for marriage are opened by the boy's party and, after the
girl has been selected, the parents of the bridegroom go to see her
and present her with betel-leaves and areca-nuts. On this occasion,
a feast is given by the bride's people, at which ghi, \ichari
and sugar are provided and Rs. 21 are presented to the bride.
Five oi six days later, the girl's parents visit the boy and are enter-
tained at a feast. If both parties are satisfied with the match, the
boy's people go to tlie bride's house and present her with a new sari
and choli, nine pieces of cocoanut kernel, fifteen seers of rice and
Rs. 14, which constitute the bride-price. On the day before the
wedding, the bridegroom's party escort the bride and her parents to
the bridegroom's house and stop on the way at Maruti's temple.
Here the fathers of the bride and bridegroom and their relatives
meet and embrace one another. From this place, the procession
marches to the bridegroom's house, where a wedding pandal of five
pillars (the middle one being made from the wood of the banyan tree,
Ficus bengalensis) has already been erected and Birappa and Laxmi,
their tutelary deities, worshipped under it. At night, the bride and
bridegroom are smeared with oil and turmeric peiste and bathed
simultaneously. Next morning the deva decaka, or earthen vessels,
are brought from the potter's house by five married women, established
under the pandal and besmeared with lines of chtmam (lime).
The portion of the wall where the bridegroom is to be seated is
whitewashed and decorated with a design of bashingams. Out of
the five pots brought from the potter, the one containing areca-nuts,
two betel leaves, dates, a cocoanut and a pice, is taken in procession
to a well, there filled with water, after the well has been worshipped
by burning incense, and then brought to the booth. Underneath the
booth, the other four pots are arranged so as to form a square and
woollen thread is wound round them. The bride and bridegroom are
seated within, smeared with oil and turmeric and bathed with warm
water, with which the v/ater previously brought from the well has
been mixed. The woollen thread is the'n taken off and tied to the
banyan pillar of the booth. The bride an4 bridegroom are dressed
in new clothes, adorned with kcnh^ns and bashmgams, and taken
to the deOaka, near which an earthen platform has been erected.
They are seated on a blanket spread over the platform and orna-
mented with lines of coloured rice. Then, in the presence of
the assembled guests, who bless the couple and touch the mangahutra,
the Brahman priest repeats mantras and ties the consecrated mangal-
sutra round the bride's neck. After this, the bride and bridegroom
are made to stand facing each other, each in a basket containing jaWari
grains. A piece of cloth is held between them and the Brahman,
uttering mantras, throws rice on their heads. All the^ assembled
guests follow his example and, subsequently, the bride and bride-
groom also throw rice on each other's head. Kan])adan and Kan\an-
bandhan follow and are celebrated on the lines followed by other
castes. The bridegroom, taking the bride in his arms, goes to the
gods' room, and bows to the gods and to the elderly members
of the family. Pan-supari is distributed and the assembly disperses.
On the evening of the same day a piece of cloth is spread underneath
the booth and a large quantity of food containing cooked rice and
puris is placed over it. The women sing songs and four women and
five men eat some of the food, the remainder being distributed among
the relatives. This ceremony is termed Bhuma. Next morning,
the bride and bridegroom are led on a bullock to Hanuman's temple,
where cocoanuts are broken and the god is worshipped. On the
third day, the parents of the bride take her to their house. On the
fifth day, Beerappa is worshipped with offerings of sweets, the
kankans are untied and the wedding booth is dismantled. This
completes the marriage proceedings.

The marriage ceremony of the Telugu Kurumas does not differ
materially from that in practice among other Telugu castes of the
same social standing. It comprises, as among the Kapu caste, the
following rites, which are merely enumerated in the order in which they
are performed — Vadibi^am, PapaWanam, Raoireni, Yadrukpdalu,
Mailapolu, Lagnam, Kanyadan, Padghattan, jiraguda, Pusii Mittala
(the tying of mangalsutra round the bride's neck which is deemed
to be the essential portion' of the ceremony), Kankanam, Bashingam,
Talwal, Brahmcmodi, ^agvellp, Polu (cotton thread in the case of
the Patti Kurmas and woollen in that of the Uni Kurmas is wound
rouijjJ the Polu and at the time of walking round it the bridegroom is
given kaduru and the bride hads in their hands), Vappagintha,
Amndhatidarshanam, Panpu and Vadibiyum Sari. Mallanna is
worshipped before marriage and Beerappa after its completion. The
bridegroom is presented with a dress by the bride's father. A
bride-price amounting to Rs. 12 is paid to the parents of the girl.

==Widow-Marriage==

A widow is allowed to marry again, but
she is not expected to marry her late husband's younger or elder
brother. .She must also avoid all relations which come under the
prohibited relationship. The ceremony is simple and consists in
escorting the bride, at night, to the bridegroom's house and tying the
mangalsutra round her neck. A widow, on remarrying, is required
to return the ornaments given to her by her first husband.

==Divorce==

Divorce is permitted, with the sanction of the caste
Panchayat, on the ground of adultery on the part of the wife. The
husband removes the upper garment from oif her head and drives
her out of the house. Divorced women are allowed to marry again
by the same rites as widows. Adultery on the part of a woman with
a man of a lower caste is punished with expulsion from her own caste.

==Inheritance==

In matters of inheritance the Kurumas follow the
Hindu law. Females inherit in default of any male issue in the
family. It is said that the eldest son gets five sheep, or Rs. 25, m
addition to his own share. Basavi girls claim the same share in their
father's property as the sons.

==Religion==

In respect of religion, the Kurumas are divided be-
tween Tirmanidharis (Vaishnavas) and Vibhutidharis (Saivas). Some
of them are the followers of the Lingayit sect and abstain from flesh
and wine. Their favourite object of worship is Mallanna, to whom
offerings of sheep, goats and sweetmeats are made in the months of
Aswin, Margashirsha and Magha. Beerappa, their guru, is honoured
in the months of Kartika and Magha with the sacrifice of sheep, the
offerings being subsequently eaten by the members of the household.
Beerlods and Uglods officiate as priests in the worship of these gods.
Among their minor deities are Pochamm'a, Elamma, Rajamma and
Mariamma, propitiated with a variety of offerings. A man of the
Kummara caste officiates at the worship of these deities. The
members of the caste worship also the greater gods of the pan^eon
and observe all the Hindu festivals. Mohamedan pits are also duly
reverenced by them. Brahmans are employed for the marriage cere-
mony. The Kurumas have a strong belief in ghosts and evil spirits,
identify them with the help of Erakala women and appease them
with various offerings. An oath on the name of their guru Beerappa
is deemed very sacred by them.

==Disposal of the Dead==

The dead are buried in a lying
posture, with the head pointing to the south. The Lingayit Kurumas
bury their dead in a sitting posture, with the face to the north.
After life is extinct, the corpse is washed, dressed in new clothes and
borne, on the shoulders, to the grave. On the 3rd day after death,
a goat is sacrificed on the burial ground. The flesh is cooked,
offered at the grave, and thrown to the birds. The unmarried dead
are disposed of without any rites or ceremonies. If a wealthy man
dies unmarried, a curious ceremony is performed, which entitles him
to the full funeral rites. As soon as the man breathes his last, his
body is washed with water and canied to the temple of Beerappa.
Four vessels are arranged in a square and a thread is wound round
them. The body is seated within this, with a bashmgam tied to its
forehead and a stick of amaya wood in its hand. To this stick
is tied a handkerchief with five knots. A number of sheep and goats
are killed before the god and the members of the caste present, are
feasted. After the performance of this ceremony the dead man is
buried as if he had been manied in life. Mourning is observed ten
days for the married and three days for the unmarried. No Sradha
is performed by the members of the caste. On the Pitra Amawas^a,
or the last day of Bhadrapad (September-October), alms are given to
Brahmans and Jangams. In the month of Shravana the deceased first
wife of a man is appeased by his second wife if alive. The dead
wife is represented by an earthen pot, which is known as Pyarantal
or Korati Ellama.

==Social Status==

In point of social standing, the Kurumas rank
above the Manglas emd 'Chaklas and below the Kapus, Gollas,
Mutrasis and Satanis, from whose hands they eat kflchi. They eat
mutton, pork, fowl, venison and drink spirituous and fermented
liquors. They do not eat the leavings of any caste.

==Occupation==

The majority of the caste are engaged in their
traditional occupation of tending sheep and goats and weaving
blankets (kamhlis). Some of them weave very fine blankets which
fetch more than Rs. 15 apiece. They deal in sheep's milk, which
is largely used by villagers, being cheap and deemed very nourishing.
The cultivators purchase, from them, sheep's manure, which is
regarded as of high quality. A few of the Kurumas have taken to
cultivation and are pattedars and shikamidars of Government land.
A few hold inam lands. The poorer members work as day
labourers, cartmen and hamals (coolies).

The females of the caste do not wear head ornaments, but have
their faces and arms tattooed in different patterns.

Kuruma: Deccan - Revision history

Pdewan: Created page with "=Kuruma= {| class="wikitable" |- |colspan="0"| This article is an extract from THE CASTES AND TRIBES OF H. E. H. THE NIZAM'S D..."

Pdewan: Created page with "=Kuruma= {| class="wikitable" |- |colspan="0"|
This article is an extract from
THE CASTES AND TRIBES
OF
H. E. H. THE NIZAM'S D..."