Early People Early People

When Henry Baker first came to the hills these places were occupied by tribal settlements.The tribals include Uralis,Mannans Mala-Pandarams,Mala-Arayans.They lived in the thick dark forests. They lived and died in primitive simplicity in harmony with the wild.They had almost no contacts with the outside worlds.They came outside the jungle only for exchanging honey and cardamom they collected for salt and cloth.They lived in small groups and practiced migratory form of cultivation.They never settled in the same place for a long period of time.Each group had there own form of language and a Leader or king.They had there own way of living and had there own rictuals and Practices. Most of them lived near small streams or water bodies.

Mala- Arayans Tribal Group

They were a class of hill tribes who were also known as Hill Arrians.They were the people who invited Henry Baker to the hills.They were good hunters and cultivators.They never worked for hire or carry head loads. They lived in small groups in the slopes between Mundakayam and Peermade.They had a number of settlements and most of them were at an altitude more than 3000 feets above sea level.These ravines were not accessible to elephants and were near to rushing waters.Their villages were surrounded by gigantic
trees.

They were good hunters.they were very interested in eating monkey flesh.They were dread by the low-country flocks as wizards on account of their reputations as magitions.They believed that they had an ansestor called Telanini,who was their priest of hunting diety of Aiyappen,whose chief shrine is at Savirimala.Savirimala is a hindu pilgrim center about twenty five kilometers away from Vandiperiyar through forests.

They ate whatever they got from forests which was edible. They were adicted to drink under the effect of which they are apt to become uproarious,mostly by the evenings.

Mannan Tribal Group

They lived in the east side of the Periyar river.Many of them lived in a village near Thennikudi .They also claim that they came from Madras like the Uralis.Later the Mannans were appointed as the handman by the Poonjar rajas. They were responsible for many forests services like the, collection of cardamom.They were employed in the clearing works for roads to carry forest products.

They practiced Migratory form of cultivation.They burnt a patch of jungle and planted paddy.The harvested rice were used as food and some portion were used to exchange for salt and cloths.But for many years they relied on whatever food they could get from the jungle, either as fruits or berries,sometimes roots or the meat of fish caught from the Periyar river.When the cultivation exhausted they moved to a different area and started a new cultivation.

Mala Pandaram Tribal Group

They were a group of tribals who were less civilized than others.They lived in the thick forests below Savirimala. They lived and died in a very primitive form.They hid away from strangers and people outside their group.So they were seldom seen by strangers.Most of them lived in caves or hollow trunks of trees.They used the barks of trees for clothing.They ate snakes and lizards if nothing else was available.

Uralis Tribal Group

They lived several miles away from Peermade near the periyar valley and the bank of the river.They were dependents of the king of Madras.Some of them lived in the Jungles of Ranikoil.In 1931 there were a little more than 400 of them were there. They claim that they were once the umbrella bearers of the king of Madura (Tamilnadu). along with mannans and the madavas.They had accompanied to Neriamangalam and were left by him there. They settled in the hills.They too practiced migratory form of cultivation. They spoke a corrupt form of tamil,which is a sign of their Madura culture.

They were famous for their hunting skills.specially in catching elephants.They were used as forest guides in the cardamom hills by the parties of Hunters who came from the state of Madura. The hunters with the help of these tribes drove the heard of elephants on to the top of a natural mountain pass near the Dindigul valley.The pass was so small that only one elephant could go at a time.The elephants were driven from back.The frightened elephants ran through the pass and falls in the the ditches which were built by the hunters.The ditches were dug like as in a chessboard, adjacent to each other,and were covered by straw and grass.Most of the elephants felt into the ditches.Some of them which stopped running after seeing the ditches were shot down by the hunters from the top of the hills nearby.Most of the times a lot of elephants were caught sometimes more than a fifty at one stretch.

I m looking for some photos of them, if i am able to get it, i will make it here.
George, Webmaster