IN SEARCH OF MISSING LINKS Did they descend from Alexander the Great or a group of Kurds from Iraq? The ancestry of the Kodavas has always been shrouded in mystery. All that is set to change with some enterprising members of the community taking recourse to DNA tests to clear the mist, says PT Bopanna. The Coorgs (Kodavas) inhabiting the tiny district of Kodagu (Coorg) in Karnataka in South India are on a mission to find their roots through a study of their DNA. But who are these Coorgs? This is a standing riddle which ethnologists have yet to crack. There are any number of theories on their origin, but none scientific enough to establish the origin of this martial race. The theories range from Coorgs being the descendants of Alexander the Great who invaded India to a band of Kurds from the Iraq region who fled to India to escape conversion into Islam. Finally, some leaders of the Kodava community have decided to make use of scientific tools to study the origin of their race. A few senior Coorg retired army officers and some coffee planters have formed an association headed by Lt Gen B C Nanda (Retd.) called Kodagu Natural Sciences Research Society. The main objective of the Society is to trace the origin of the Kodavas. The Society has engaged the services of a laboratory in Chennai to undertake a DNA study of the Kodavas and compare it against all the known DNA components in the world to identify the race. The cost of the project is around Rs. 12 lakh to test 100 samples. Dr M M Chengappa, a respected educationist of Kodagu, said: “If by DNA tests, it is proved that Kodavas belong to a different race of people, it will give Kodavas an opportunity to claim a national minority status in India, so as to avail special reservations.” Stressing upon the need for using scientific tools to trace the origins of Kodavas, Gen Nanda said the final report would be submitted to the President of the Akhila Kodava Samaja, Virajpet, Mathanda C Monnappa. The former president of the Karnataka Kodava Sahitya Academy B P Appanna felt the report on the scientific study on Kodavas could turn out to be sensitive because vested interests could use this to question the rights being enjoyed by the community on the grounds of being the original inhabitants. However, Dr Chengappa allayed such fears on the grounds that nobody could claim to be the original inhabitants. He pointed out: “Mankind has never stayed in once place. People have been migrating throughout the centuries.” The principal investigator of the study team is MA Abdul Kalam, Department of Anthropology, University of Madras, Chennai, and the project coordinator is Xavier Raj from the Social and Environmental Research Centre, Chennai. Meanwhile, Dr Chengappa said that a Kodava scientist, Buttianda Thelma, has been carrying out an independent investigation of the DNA method to establish the origin of the Kodavas. Thelma, from the Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, is reported to have independently collected blood samples from Kodavas living in Delhi and has taken up its analysis. Kodavas lived in isolation for many centuries in the remote and thickly forested areas on the summits and eastern slopes of the Western Ghats. There are no written records of their remote past as Kodagu entered recorded history only in the ninth century AD. However, the information available between the ninth and 17th century is very sketchy. The rule of the Lingayat Rajas from 1600 AD was followed by the annexation of the province by the British in 1834. It was only after the advent of the British rule and the spread of education, that Coorg came into prominence. Well-known writer CP Belliappa says: “The most intriguing factor which fascinated every outside visitor to Coorg since the first white man came here has been our distinguishing features and physical appearance which is in sharp contrast with the people in the neighbouring areas. The dress, jewellery, and customs of the Kodavas are unique in southern India. The kupiya-chele (black coat with sleeves cut at the elbow and a scarlet and gold slash around the waist) worn by Kodava men is remarkably similar to the attire worn by men in some of the central Asian countries. It is reportedly found in some areas in Yemen as well.” Though Coorg is located in southern India, the customs of Coorgis are unique. Even though Coorgs are Hindus, priests do not perform their marriage rites. Though they do not belong to mainstream Hinduism, the Kodavas are Kshatriyas (warrior class), according to the late renowned sociologist Dr MN Srinivas. “Coorgs being a hardy race of highlanders are given to bodily skills of dancing and other competitive games like hunting, shooting, etc., which are attributed to the Kshatriyas,” says Dr Srinivas who has done extensive research on the Coorgs’ way of life and wrote the celebrated book Religion and Society among the Coorgs of South India. With the new scientific investigations, many questions on the origin of the Kodava race could be answered. Source: The above article by P.T. Bopanna appeared in Deccan Herald on February 28, 2006. archive.deccanherald/Deccanherald/feb282006/spectrum1323452006227.asp
Posted on: Sat, 20 Dec 2014 10:51:05 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015