1.2.2 Name of the tribe |
This tribe is identified as 'Yeravas' in the literature connected with the Census, enthnography, Linguistic Survey and history, but no attempt is made to analyze the name of the tribe. All available sources indicate that Yeravas came from out side Coorg. "Yerava" appears to be a name given to the tribe by the Kodavas. It appears that when this landless and nomadic people entered the Coorg province either on their own or by coercion they were dependent on Kodavas. In Kodagu language the word era means 'beg'. era-v-a 'the beggar'. So, the Kodavas might have called this tribe as 'erava' 'the beggars' a cover term. This is substantiated by the fact that when a Panjiri Yerava talks about an Yerava of another group, he always adds the group name as an adjective to the noun Yerava, thus identifying him as Paniya Yerava, Also Connor (1870) says that "the caste of people consigned to praedial slavery in Codagu proper are known- generally under the tenri Yerravaru".
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The present form the 'Yerava' is an Anglicized version of the name 'erava'. The other Anglicized versions add 'Yerrowur' 'Yaraba' (file No. IB:1834) and 'Yerrava' (Connor:1870). Even the names of the groups of Yeravas are spelt in different ways. The Badava Yeravas as 'Burigah Yerowur', Kaag(j)i Yeravas as 'Kaky Yerrowur' Paniya Yeravas as 'Punnee Yerrowur' and 'Panjiri Yeravas as 'Punjayree Yerrowur' (File No. IB:1834). |
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1.2.3 Origill and Migration |
There are two different views expressed by scholars regarding the history and migration of Yeravas. The Yeravas are considered as migrants from Waynad in Kerala by Census (1871, 1881, Connor (1870), Richter (1887) and Krishna Iyer ( 1948). They are considered as aborigins of Coorg like Jenukurubas and Bettakurubas by Krishnayya (1974) and Kariyappa (1981). As regards the period of migration Krishnayya (1974) indicates that the Yeravas would have migrated from Waynad before the beginning of the Christian era. Recently Subbayya (1978) has presented a different proposal regarding their migration. According to him all the four groups of Yeravas have migrated to their present settlement area from different places. He suggests that Paniya Yeravas migrated from Waynad in the middle of 17th Century and Badava Yeravas and Panjiri Yeravas from Mysore and other districts. |
Since no inscriptional record of this tribe could be found, only Connor's survey conducted during 1815-17 and published
in 1870 is the earliest recorded evidence available regarding the presence of Yeravas in their present region. |
There is a legend connected with the origin of Paniya Yeravas. According to this legend, an old lady anjilamutti who was unable to walk or get up was found by a god in a hill in one of his routine trips. He blessed her to be immortal and asked her to settle in ippimale. By god's blessings the old lady became an young boy and an young girl. They settled in ippimale. but did not have any shelter. A leader tambira saw the naked boy and girl roaming around. He provided them with shelter and a 14 mola cloth to cover themselves together with the same cloth. Since they wore the same cloth from either side, it was not possible for them to do anything. They saw birds flying, and tore the cloth into two and got separated. When they grew up into the marriageable age, nobody around them was ready to marry them. So, they decided to be husband and wife below the waist and brother and sister above the waist. Thus the population of the community started multiplying. The lady who was responsible for the birth of the tribe became their goddess and was stationed at ippimale. |
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