The Tudas have a similar character in their districts; both of which are evidences that these tribes were once the dominant nations.' How ever, the caste spirit has gained entrance among the Dravidians, pre vailing, for example, in Malabar, in Ceylon, and among the Hinclooized peoples of the Deccan. The Tudas are peculiar in this respect also, for their arrangement of castes seems odd and reminds us of the different ranks of Polynesia.
Religion and present religion of the civilized Dec can peoples is Brahmanism, which in its rudest form has also been accepted by the Blieels. Mohammedanism has also followers among them, at least nominally. The Tamils and the Singhalese are Buddhists The latter preserve in the temple of Kandy as a sacred relic a bit of ivory, thy fit mous sacred tooth of Buddha. Plate St (fig.. 7) shows the "tooth," with the cord on wliielu it is horizontally suspended in a precious reliquary. However, many nations, and even those which are Brahmanized, have retained in many customs their original religion, which venerates the principal powers of nature, as the sun (Kollis) and the earth (Khonds), of which their conceptions are not wholly material.
Thus, according to Jcllingliaus, the Kolhs, among whom there is no trace of a sun-cult, worship the is, "sun-god "—as the creator of the earth, the sun, and all things, as a constant guide, sustainer, and supervisor of the world. They also fear and venerate a number of more or less powerful demons, spirits of the elements, who have their seats in the water, and especially in trees and sacred groves. To these spirits they bring offerings consisting of animals, fniit, etc. ; the Khonds offer human sacrifices to the earth in thanksgiving or propitiation, accom panied by wild festivities, but the victim must never be of their own tribe. They celebrate religious feasts at the times of sowing and harvesting and on other occasions.
Sacrifices, Priests, and sacred groves are the places of sacrifice ; the sacrificers are established priests—the pahans among the Kolhs, the pekkans among the Tudas—whose dignity is hereditary, and who originally constituted a distinct caste, and do so still among the Tudas. Among the Kolhs this is now modified. The family of the village priest is deemed next in rank to that of the chief, yet the pahan can transfer his dignity to some other person, and consequently to another family. Idols occur rarely, and are generally of Indian origin. Besides the priests, there are magicians, who are possessed of different powers and who perform their magic in the manner of the shamans. They make weather, discover hostile magic, and above all cure diseases, which are always attributed to evil spirits.
Death and tribe of the Gonds is said to murder and eat old or sick relatives in order to become agreeable to the gods. Care is
scarcely anywhere given the sick, on account of fear of the evil spirits of the malady. The treatment of the dead varies: everywhere long and loud lamentations are indulged in, and the bodies are generally cremated, the bones and ashes being preserved. Costly banquets and dead-offerings, which often exhaust the wealthy of the survivors, are associated with the funerals. The Kolhs (Jellinghaus) and some other nations inter the ashes in a common cemetery in family tombs formed of four erect flagstones covered with a fifth. These cromlech-like stone Douses are believed to be the abodes of the souls, and frequently, though not always, have a hole in the wall for their entrance and exit (pl. Si, fig. In memory of some of the dead, lofty, towering stones are erected at desirable places. Other tribes, as the Bheels, bury their dead, but this custom is far less frequent. They believe in the future life of the soul, as is shown by their dead-offerings.
Intellectual Faculties and we now cast a glance at the achievements and intellectual peculiarities of the very interesting Dravidian nations, we shall at once have to acknowledge their intel lectual abilities. First of all, their languages frequently exhibit a finely developed intellectuality, and wherever they have come in peaceful con tact with civilization, whether Indian or European, the Dravidians have proved themselves able to adopt it and in due time to assimilate it. At present they contribute greatly to the civilization of India, and by the spread of Buddhism from their centre, Ceylon, they have also assisted in the civilization of Farther India. The Tamils especially stand in the first rank: they have a domestic literature which is worthy of notice, and have developed a language of poetry by the side of that of prose. Some of the other Deccan nations exhibit at least the beginning of a 1 iterature.
Their artistic achievements amount to very little. It may he men tioned that they are fond of the dance, which, however, is mostly ugly and wild and often indecent and lascivious. Their character is variously distinguished. They are warlike and brave, and are valued as good sol diers; they arc, on the whole, chaste and abstemious, active, merry, and cheerful; they love truth and are honest. Neither is hospitality absent, nor a certain mildness of character. We need not be astonished that laziness and uncleanliness, great barbarity and a thievish character pre vail among some degenerate tribes; neither must we be surprised to find dissoluteness, especially among the younger people even of the more civilized tribes. But on the whole they must be numbered among the most gifted and most elevated of the peoples in the natural state. This is shown by the zeal with which many of them accept Christianity.