Кота: этническая группа в Нилгирских горах Индии

Ethnic group in India

Kotas, also Kothar or Kov by self designation, are an ethnic group who are indigenous to the Nilgiri Mountains range in Tamil Nadu, India. They are one of the many tribal people indigenous to the region. (Others are the Todas, Irulas and Kurumbas). Todas and Kotas have been subject to intense anthropological, linguistic and genetic analysis since the early 19th century. Study of Todas and Kotas has also been influential in the development of the field of anthropology. Numerically Kotas have always been a small group, not exceeding 1,500 individuals spread over seven villages for the last 160 years. They have maintained a lifestyle as jacks of all trades such as potters, agriculturalist, leather workers, carpenters, and blacksmiths, and as musicians for other groups. Since the British colonial period they have had greater educational opportunities. This has improved their socio economic status and they no longer depend on providing their traditional services to make a living. Some anthropologists have considered them to be a specialised caste as opposed to a tribe or an ethnic group. Kotas have their own unique language that belongs to the Dravidian language family but diverged from South Dravidian subfamily at some time before the common era (BCE). Their language was studied in detail by Murray Barnson Emeneau, a pioneer in the field of Dravidian linguistics. Their social institutions were distinct from mainstream Indian cultural norms and had some slight similarities to Todas and other tribal peoples in neighbouring Kerala and the prominent Nair caste. It was informed by a fraternal polygyny where possible. The religion of the Kota is unlike Hinduism; it worships non anthropomorphic male deities and a female deity. Since the 1940s, many mainstream Hindu deities also have been adopted into the Kota pantheon and temples of Tamil style have been built to accommodate their worship. Kotas have specialised groups of priests to propitiate their deities on behalf of the group.

The Indian government classifies the Kota as a scheduled tribe (ST), a designation reserved for indigenous tribal communities throughout India that are usually at a lower socio economic status than mainstream society. The Kotas are a relatively successful group that makes its living in varied roles, such as agriculturalists, doctors, bankers and postmasters, for example; they are in both government and private sector employment. A few anthropologists and some members of other local communities consider them to be a service caste placed in the Nilgiris for that purpose; Kotas themselves do not believe this. They consider themselves to be original inhabitants of the region, whose provision of traditional artisan skills to other Nilgiri tribes was mutually beneficial and non servile. The name Kota is an exonym, a term applied to the group by outsiders; Kotas refer to themselves as 'Kov'. There are a number of meanings attributed to the term, but according to Emeneau, ko v meant a male potter and ko ty a female potter. They still observe their traditional practices. According to Friedrich Metz, a missionary, Kotas had a tradition that alluded to them coming over from a place called Kollimale in Karnatakas. They seem to have displaced the previous Kurumba inhabitants from the higher altitudes to lower altitude infested with malarial mosquitoes. The Kota tribe shows the maternal haplogroup M at a frequency of 97 per cent, which is one of the highest in India. Within M haplogroup, M2 lineages are common amongst Dravidian speaking populations of South India. A 2012 study on the haematological profile of Kota showed that a large segment of the population has a low MCV (mean corpuscular volume), with high mean platelet volume (MPV), and red blood cell distribution width (RDW). Together, these are often indicators of inherited haemoglobinopathies such as thalassemias, and sickle cell or other anaemias. However, several other haematological parameters (for example, RBC and platelet counts) that were measured ruled out these conditions. The investigators suggested that the abnormal MCV, MPV and RDW may instead indicate a genetic propensity to a glucose 6 phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency (G6PD deficiency) among this group. At some point in their history they developed a symbiotic economic relationship with their buffalo rearing Toda neighbours as service providers in return for Todas' buffalo milk, hides, ghee, and meat. They also had a trading and ritual relationship with Kurumba and Irula neighbours who were cultivators and hunter gatherers. They specifically used the Kurumbas as their sorcerers and as village guards. The origin myth of Kotas postulates that Kotas, Todas, and Kurumbas were all placed in the Nilagiris area at once as brothers by the Kota god. This symbiotic relationship survived until disturbed by the British colonial officers starting in the early 19th century. Since the early 19th century, British bureaucrats and both Western and Indian missionaries, anthropologists and linguists have spent an enormous amount of time studying the different ethnic and tribal groups of India; of all, the Todas were the most studied, followed by Kotas. Other groups such as Irulas and various groups of Kurumbars were least studied. The study of the ethnic groups of the Nilgiris was instrumental in the early development of the field of Anthropology. Although most groups lived in peace with each other and had developed an interdependent relationship, taboos and cultural practices were developed to maintain social distance. According to Metz, as the original settlers of the highland, Kurumbars were subject to continuous violence including occasional massacres by the Todas and Badagas. According to Kota informants, they had supplied battle drums during periods of war.

Kotas were settled in seven relatively large nuclear villages interspersed between Toda and Badaga settlements. Six villages were within the Nilgiris district in Tamil Nadu and the seventh one in the Wayanad district in Kerala. Kota villages are known as Kokkal in their language and as Kotagiri by outsiders. They were also exclusively engaged in making pottery. According to early western observers, unlike Toda women, who were friendly towards visitors to their villages, Kota women maintained their distance from outsiders. Wives of Kota priests played an equally important ritual role in religious functions. Women who became possessed to flute music are called Pembacol and were consulted during important village decisions. Women also had specialised roles associated with cultivation, domestic chores and social functions.

Unlike Todas, Kotas ate meat and were in good physical condition when met by early anthropologists. Their major deities are A yno r also divided into big or Doda ynor or small or kuna yno r, a father god and Amno r or mother goddess. Father god is also called Kamati cvara or Kamatra ya in some villages. Although there were two male gods, there was only one version of the female goddess. Historians Joyti Sahi and Louis Dumont note these deities may have roots in proto Shaivism and proto Shaktism Pre colonial contact, Kotas had a number of religious festivals which continued into the immediate post colonial contact period. These included praying to their rain god kakakaku kana bado or titular deity Kamatra ya. During the seed sowing ceremony, they used to build a forge and a furnace within the main temple and smiths would make votive item like axes or gold ornaments to the deity. The head priest mundika no n and headmen gotga rn usually belong to the particular family (kuyt) and it was passed from father to son. Mundika no n is assisted by the navya navkaru, through whom the god (so ym) communicates with the people while being possessed. Te rka ran could come from any family but mundika no n comes from a specific family in a village. Kota temples are unique in being run by a variety of people not restricted to original priestly families.

Kotas speak the Kota language or Ko v Ma nt and it is closely related to Toda language. It was identified as an independent Dravidian language in as early as 1870s by Robert Caldwell. It diverged from the common South Dravidian stock in years BCE. Kota language speakers became isolated and the language developed certain unique characteristics that were studied in detail and by the prominent Dravidian linguist Murray Emeneau. It is informed by maintenance of words that shows strong affinity to Archaic Tamil. According to Emeneau Kotas have been living in isolation since their separation from the mainstream Tamil speakers in years BCE. Emeneau Since the reorganization of linguistic states in India, most Kota children study in Tamil at schools and are bilingual in Kota and Tamil. Previously Kotas were multilingual in Kota, Toda and Badaga languages.