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TODAS Toda people are a Dravidian ethnic group who live in the Nilgiri Mountains of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Before the 18th century and British colonization, the Toda coexisted locally with other ethnic communities, including the Kota, Badaga and Kurumba, in a loose caste-like society, in w...

TODAS Toda people are a Dravidian ethnic group who live in the Nilgiri Mountains of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Before the 18th century and British colonization, the Toda coexisted locally with other ethnic communities, including the Kota, Badaga and Kurumba, in a loose caste-like society, in which the Toda was the top ranking. During the 20th century, the Toda population has hovered in the range of 700 to 900. Although an insignificant fraction of the large population of India, since the early 19th century the Toda have attracted "a most disproportionate amount of attention because of their ethnological aberrancy" and "their unlikeness to their neighbors in appearance, manners, and customs". The study of their culture by anthropologists and linguists proved significant in developing the fields of social anthropology and ethnomusicology. Toda Society Toda society has traditionally been divided into two subcastes: one that owned the sacred dairy cows and the other which milked the cows and operated the dairies. Villages generally don’t have a headman. Decisions are made by an all-male caste council. Because the Toda often recognize the suzerainty of the Badaga sometimes Badaga leaders are called in to help settle disputes and make decisions. The Toda are divided into more than 60 clans with village priests playing a key role in village life. The dominant social structure is the nuclear family. Households are generally held responsible for the behavior of their members. Disputes between households are sometimes settled by the caste councils. Toda traditions and cultures have been passed down orally through the centuries. The most important of cultural expression has traditionally been oral poetry, often performed to music and dance. Both men and women compose songs about important events using special poetic language. Many acts of everyday life have a song that is done with them. Toda women are skilled embroiderers. They produce large cloaks that the Toda wear and tablecloths and placemats for sale. These items often have elaborate geometric designs. Houses The hut of a Toda Tribe of Nilgiris, India. Note the decoration of the front wall and the very small door. The hut of a Toda Tribe of Nilgiris, India. Note the decoration of the front wall and the very small door. The Todas live in small hamlets called munds The Toda huts, called dongles, are of an oval, pent-shaped construction. They are usually 10 feet (3 m) high, 18 feet (5.5 m) long and 9 feet (2.7 m) wide. They are built of bamboo fastened with rattan and are thatched. Thicker bamboo canes are arched to give the hut its basic bent shape. Thinner bamboo canes (rattan) are tied close and parallel to each other over this frame. Dried grass is stacked over this as thatch. Each hut is enclosed within a wall of loose stones. The front and back of the hut are usually made of dressed stones (mostly granite). The hut has a tiny entrance at the front, about 3 feet (90 cm) wide and 3 feet (90 cm) tall, through which people must crawl to enter the interior. This unusually small entrance is a means of protection from wild animals. The front portion of the hut is decorated with the Toda art forms, a kind of rock mural painting. A traditional Toda hamlet. known as a mund, embraces one to five barrel-vaulted houses, a buffalo pen, calf sheds and sometimes a separate calf pen. Each hamlet have a water source, a nearby forest to supply firewood, and ample grazing land for the cattle. Many have dairies where cows are milked. Few traditional barrel houses remain anymore. Former grazing lands have been dug up for potato and vegetable gardens, all hamlets have electricity. Nowadays, Many Toda live in whitewashed brick and mortar homes. Traditional huts were often decorated with buffalo horns. Toda women wear intricately embroidered shawls and curl their hair in a distinctive way. The Toda utilize a number of mountain palms for healing and ceremonial purposes. They conduct a number of special ceremonies that utilize special plants. These plants are becoming harder to find as a result of deforestation and encroachment of agriculture. Language The Toda language is a member of the Dravidian family. The language is typologically aberrant and phonologically difficult. Linguists have classified Toda (along with its neighbor Kota) as a member of the southern subgroup of the historical family proto-South-Dravidian. It split off from South Dravidian, after Kannada, but before Malayalam. In modern linguistic terms, the aberration of Toda results from a disproportionately high number of syntactic and morphological rules, of both early and recent derivation, which are not found in the other South Dravidian languages. Culture The forced interaction with other peoples with technology has caused a lot of changes in the lifestyle of the Todas. They used to be primarily pastoral people but now, they are increasingly venturing into agriculture and other occupations. They used to be strict vegetarians but now, some people eat meat. Although many Toda abandoned their traditional distinctive huts for houses made of concrete, in the early 21st century, a movement developed to build the traditional barrel- vaulted huts. From 1995 to 2005, forty new huts were built in this style, and many Toda sacred dairies were renovated. Each has a narrow stone pit around it and the tiny door is held shut with a heavy stone. Only the priest may enter it. It is used for the storage of sacred buffalo milk. Food The Todas are vegetarians and do not eat meat, eggs that can hatch, or fish (although some villagers do eat fish). The buffalo were milked in a holy dairy, where the priest/milkman also processed their gifts. Buffalo milk is used in a variety of forms: butter, buttermilk, yogurt, cheese, and drunk plain. Rice is a staple, eaten with dairy products and curries. Clothing The Toda dress consists of a single piece of cloth, which is the worn wrap over a dhoti for men and as a skirt for women along with shawl wrap. Economy Their sole occupation is cattle-herding and dairy work. Holy dairies are built to store buffalo milk. Marriage They once practiced fraternal polyandry, a practice in which a woman marries all the brothers of a family, but no longer do so. All the children of such marriages were deemed to descend from the eldest brother. The ratio of females to males is about three to five. The culture historically practiced female infanticide. In the Toda tribe, families arrange contracted child marriage for couples. Toda Religion According to the Toda Religion, the goddess Teikirshy and her brother first created the sacred buffalo and then the first Toda man. The first Toda woman was created from the right rib of the first Toda man. Many rites feature the buffalo, its milk and other products form the basis of their diet. The Toda religion exalted high-class men as holy milkmen, giving them sacred status as priests of the holy dairy. According to Sir James Frazer in 1922, the holy milkman was prohibited from walking across bridges while in office. He had to ford rivers by foot, or by swimming. The people are prohibited from wearing shoes or any type of foot covering. Toda temples are distinct from Hindu temples and are constructed in a circular pit lined with stones. They are similar in appearance and construction to Toda huts. Women are not allowed to enter or go close to these huts that are designated as temples. In recent years, elements of Hinduism have become stronger among the Toda. Many go on pilgrimages to Hindu sites. They also embrace Hindu views about purity and pollution, venerate Shiva, Vishnu, Murugan, Aiyappan, and sometimes have elaborate god rooms in their homes. The Toda have shamans that go into trances to communicate with the Hindu gods. Beginning early in the 20th century some Toda converted to Christianity and now there are several Christian Toda communities. Toda Marriage Fraternal polyandry in traditional Toda society was fairly common; however, this practice has now been totally abandoned, as has female infanticide. During the last quarter of the 20th century, some Toda pasture land was lost due to outsiders using it for agriculture or afforestation by the State Government of Tamil Nadu. This has threatened to undermine Toda culture by greatly diminishing the buffalo herds. Since the early 21st century, Toda society and culture have been the focus of an international effort at culturally sensitive environmental restorations. Toda lands are now a part of The Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, a UNESCO-designated International Biosphere Reserve; their territory is declared UNESCO World Heritage Site Toda Funerals and Infanticide Toda traditionally believed that individuals need two funerals to enter the Land of the Dead. In the first funeral, the deceased was cremated. In the second a fragment of bone or a lock of hair was burned. The two funerals were very similar. These days the second funeral is no longer held and rites that were conducted at the second funeral have been grafted on the first one. The cremation is accompanied by the sacrifices of buffalos: secular ones for females and sacred ones for males. Toda Economics and Livestock The lives and the economy of the Toda has traditionally revolved their herds of female, long- horned, short-legged and aggressive mountain water buffalo. Being vegetarians, the herds of buffalo provided them with milk and butter. Male calves were sold to Nilgiri butchers. Wealth traditionally has been measured in terms of buffalo and buffalo paraphernalia such as ornaments and bells for buffalo. Inheritance was usually in the form of buffalo and buffalo gear. Land was not owned; grazing rights were shared. The British introduced land titles. The Toda have exchanged milk products for grain with the Korta forest product for jewelry with the Kurumba. Exchanges were often made between hereditary linked partners that had done business together for generations. These arrangements are largely gone, Today, they sell milk to cooperatives for cash which they use to buy rice and other things they need. Despite their proud past as pastoral people, most are now farmers who raise potatoes, carrots and cabbages.