Қарнатакадағы Куруба қауымы: мал шаруашылығы және тарихы

Hindu caste
the pastoral community in Karnataka

Kuruba is a Hindu caste native to the Indian state of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. They are the third largest caste group in Karnataka. The Kuruba community is also known by the names Kuruba ,Kuruma , Kurumba, Gadariya The natives of the Indian states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are Hindu castes. It is the third largest caste group in Karnataka. Traditionally, these are Gadariya(shepherds)who used to do the work of sheep/goat and animal husbandry, in which they especially raised mixed herds of sheep and goats and cattle.

The term kuruba, meaning shepherd, is derived from kuri, meaning sheep in Kannada. Shepherding was traditionally their primary occupation and still is for many, who lead a nomadic lifestyle.

Oral traditions of the Kurubas or Kuruma indicate their descent from Neolithic farming villages in South India which also kept cattle. Oral traditions indicate some of these original cattle keeping agriculturalists branched off into new habitats and quickly came to rely on sheep pastoralism, absorbing Mesolithic hunter gatherers. Rituals associated with hunting presumably came from the integration of these hunter gatherers into the Neolithic pastoralists. These pastoralists later became almost totally separated from their villager antecedents and interacted with them only based on initial conflict and acculturation. For pastoralists such as the Kurubas, the horse became an important pack animal after the Iron Age and an animal for fighting. Nanjundaiah claimed the Kurubas were the descendants of the Pallavas. Groups of soldiers from the Kuruba community became important in the armies of Deccan powers in the Medieval era. It is believed that Kurubas are ethnically related to the Kuruvars of Sangam literature. This is also supported by the fact that Kuruvars worshiped Murukan and his Kuruvar wife, Valli whereas Kurubas worship Mailara/Mallanna, who represents Murukan, and his Kuruba wife, Kurubattyavva. Traditional sources claim that the Kurumas or Kurubas founded the Sangama dynasty, the founding dynasty of the Vijayanagara Empire. According to Ramchandra Chintaman Dhere, a scholar of the religious traditions of Maharashtra:

They have three divisions, namely Unnikankan, Hattikankan and Hande. Those who subsist on the wool economy wear a Unnikankan (wool bracelet), while those in agriculture wear a Hattikankan (cotton bracelet). These bracelets are tied during the marriage ceremony. Hande Kurubas claims a higher position than the other two and prefers to be called Nayakas. They were an important part of the armies of Hyder Ali and Ankusagari Poligars. Nayakas were military leaders who often became Inamdars. Kurubas and Dhangars have the same religious ideas and practices. The Kannada speaking Dhangars of southern Maharashtra can easily be called Kurubas. They are divided into Unnikankan and Hattikankan Dhangars, which are subdivisions of Kurubas. Dhangars' priestly class is called Vadad, derived from Oderu, which is the priestly class of Kurubas. They differ from Kurubas only in name and language.

By the 1920s, some of the Kurubas had begun to call themselves Prathama Sudra ('first Sudra') or Indra Sudra ('chief Sudra'). In Karnataka, the Kurubas are classified as Other Backward Class in the Indian system of reservation. However, the community has been seeking to be reclassified as a Scheduled Tribe. Since the community is more dispersed, the Kurubas have been called a non dominant minority community. The Kuruba community's population in Karnataka is around fifty lakh (five million), which is 8 9% of the total 6.5 crore (65 million) population of the state. The Kurubas of Kodagu district are classified as a Scheduled Tribe.

The Kuruba community mainly inhabits the eastern parts of Karnataka. The region is mainly plateau broken up by hills, rivers and tanks. The soil in this region is mainly red soils, and red sandy loams, unsuitable for agriculture. The low hills and plains have scrub and rocky country, ideal for pastoral lifestyles. Other deities they worship include Batyappa, Irachikappa, Kallu Kambhadappa, Budalappa, Settipalleppa, Karakuappa and Lakshmi Devi. They worship all gramadevatas and sacrifice sheep and goats. Previously, the Kurubas celebrated parashe where the group of Kurubas throughout a region celebrated the festival of their gods. During this time Goravas, an order of saints dedicated to Mailari Devaru, are initiated. During the parashe, the idol of the temple where the parashe takes place is washed in a river, and decorated with hoovu vibhuti. The worship is conducted by a Kuruba pujari and the Goravas sing songs dedicated to the deity. However, these celebrations were largely gone by the 1920s. The Kurubas also worship Iragaru, men who die unmarried, by building temples and setting up stones for them. They bury their dead.