Coorg

COORG, a province of India, administered by a commissioner, subordinate to the governor-general through the resident of Mysore, who is officially also chief commissioner of Coorg. A leg islative council with five nominated and fifteen elected members, was set up in 1923. Coorg (an anglicized corruption of Kodagu, said to be derived from the Kanarese Kudu, "steep," "hilly"), lies in the south of the peninsula, on the plateau of the Western Ghats, sloping inland towards Mysore. It is the chief coffee producing state after Mysore, coffee cultivation having held its own in the face of severe competition. The administrative head quarters are at Mercara. There is no railway. Coorg is the small est province in India, its area being only 1,582 sq.m. It was con stituted a province on account of its isolation. It lies at the top of the Western Ghats, and is cut off by them from easy communi cation with the British districts of South Kanara and Malabar, which form its western and southern boundaries, while on its other sides it is bordered by the native state of Mysore. It is a mountainous land of wooded hills, the lowest 3,00o ft. high, and deep valleys ; the loftiest peak, Tadiandamol, has an altitude of ft. The principal river is the Cauvery, which rises on the eastern side of the Western Ghats, and with its tributaries drains the greater part of Coorg. During the rainy season, from June to the end of September, the rivers are very rapid. Coorg has a rainfall which may exceed 16o in. yearly, particularly heavy in the jungle tract, but the climate is on the whole healthy. The hottest time is April and May. In the undergrowth are cardamom, areca, plantain, canes, wild pepper, tree and other ferns, and arums. In the forest of the less thickly-wooded bamboo country in the west of Coorg the trees most common are blackwood, kino, mutti, acacia, etc., with teak and sandalwood in the eastern part. Ele phants, tigers, cheetahs, wild boar, deer and buffalo are found. The most interesting antiquities of Coorg are the earth redoubts or war-trenches (kadangas) with a linear extent of between Soo and 600 m. They are mentioned in inscriptions of the 9th and loth centuries. Rice is the staple product and the chief export. Coffee growing is the main industry, rubber and some tea are grown and there are sandalwood works.

In

1931, the population, which is mainly agricultural, was 163, 327. Of the various tribes inhabiting Coorg, the Coorgs proper, or Kodagas, and the Yeravas, both special to the country, are the most numerous. The Kodagas, a light-coloured race of unknown origin, constitute a highland clan of independent spirit and free from the trammels of caste. Their religion consists of ancestor and demon-worship, with a certain admixture of Brahman cults. The men are by tradition warriors and hunters, and while they will plough the fields and reap the rice, they leave all menial work to the women and servants. They speak Kodagu. The Yeravas are an inferior race, dark-skinned and thick-lipped. Though nov nominally free, they were, before the establishment of British rule, the hereditary praedial slaves of the Kodagas. They are demon-worshippers. Their language, a dialect of Malayalam, is peculiar to them. Among the other tribes or castes special to Coorg are the Heggades, cultivators from Malabar, the Ayiri, who constitute the artisan caste and the Medas. There are several other tribes peculiar to Coorg. Of those not special to the country, the Holeyas, from Mysore, Malabar and South Kanara, are the most numerous. They were formerly the slaves of the Kodagas and now act as their menials. Of the Tulu (farmer) class the Gaudas; who live principally along the western boundary, are the most important; they speak Tulu and wear the Coorg dress. The official language of Coorg, which is that spoken by nearly half of the population, is Kanarese, the Coorg language (Kodagu) coming next. There are three secondary schools in the state, but no college.

History.

Early accounts o f Coorg are purely legendary, and it was not till the 9th and loth centuries that its history be came the subject of authentic record. At this period, according to inscriptions, the country was ruled by the Gangas of Talakad, under whom the Changalvas, kings of Changa-nad, held the east and part of the north of Coorg. After the overthrow, in the I I th century, of the Ganga power, the Changalvas became tributary to the Cholas, the Hoysalas and the Vijayanagar empire in turn. On the fall of the last-named empire a prince of the Ikkeri or Bednur family brought Coorg under his sway, his descendants continuing to be rajas of Coorg till 1834. Hyder Ali of Mysore occupied the country in 178o but was expelled in 1782. Two years later Tippoo Sahib reduced the country; but the Coorgs having again rebelled in 1785 he vowed their destruction. Hav ing secured some 70,000 of them by treachery, he drove them to Seringapatam, where he had them circumcised by force. Coorg was partitioned among Muslim proprietors ; but in 1788 Vira Raja succeeded in driving the forces of Tippoo out of the country. The British, who were about to enter on the struggle with Tippoo, concluded a treaty with Vira Raja; and during the war that followed the Coorgs proved invaluable allies. By the treaty of peace, Coorg, though not adjacent to the East India Company's territories, was included in the cessions forced from Tippoo. On the spot where he had first met the British com mander, the raja founded the city of Virarajendrapet.

Vira Raja (d. 1809) was guilty towards the end of his reign of hideous atrocities, rivalled by his nephew, Vira Raja, a mon ster of sensuality and cruelty, who ascended the throne in 182o, at the age of 20. Among his victims were all the members of the families of his predecessors. In 1832, evidence of treasonable de signs on the raja's part led to inquiries by the British resident at Mysore, and a British force marched into Coorg in 1834. On April II the raja was deposed by Colonel Fraser, the political agent with the force, and on May 7 the state was annexed to the East India Company's territory.

The "Coorg rebellion" of 1837 was really a rising of the Gaudas, due to a grievance at having to pay taxes in money instead of in kind. A man named Virappa, who pretended to have escaped from the massacre of 182o, tried to take advantage of this to assert his claim to be raja, but the Coorgs remained loyal to the British and the attempt failed. In 1861, after the Mutiny, the loyalty of the Coorgs was rewarded by their being exempted from the Disarmament Act.

See Rev. G. Richter, Castes and Tribes found in the Province of Coorg (Bangalore, 1887) ; Imperial Gazetteer of India (Oxford, 1998) vol. xi. s.v. where, besides an admirable account of the country and its inhabitants, the history of Coorg is dealt with in some detail. The Cambridge History of India, ed. Prof. E. J. Rapson (1922) ; Vincent Smith, Early History of India, revised by S. M. Edwardes (1924)•