Toda people are a
Dravidian ethnic group who live in the
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
n
states of
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...
. Before the 18th century and British colonisation, the Toda coexisted locally with other ethnic communities, including the
Kota,
Badaga and
Kurumba, in a loose
caste
Caste is a form of social stratification characterised by endogamy, hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultura ...
-like society, in which the Toda were the top ranking. During the 20th century, the Toda population has hovered in the range 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 neighbours in appearance, manners, and customs". The study of their culture by anthropologists and linguists proved significant in developing the fields of
social anthropology
Social anthropology is the study of patterns of behaviour in human societies and cultures. It is the dominant constituent of anthropology throughout the United Kingdom and much of Europe, where it is distinguished from cultural anthropology. In t ...
and
ethnomusicology
Ethnomusicology is the study of music from the cultural and social aspects of the people who make it. It encompasses distinct theoretical and methodical approaches that emphasize cultural, social, material, cognitive, biological, and other dim ...
.
The Toda traditionally live in settlements called ', consisting of three to seven small thatched houses, constructed in the shape of half-barrels and located across the slopes of the
pasture
Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep, or swine ...
, on which they keep domestic buffalo. Their economy was pastoral, based on the buffalo, whose
dairy product
Dairy products or milk products, also known as lacticinia, are food products made from (or containing) milk. The most common dairy animals are cow, water buffalo, nanny goat, and ewe. Dairy products include common grocery store food items in th ...
s they traded with neighbouring peoples of the Nilgiri Hills. Toda religion features the sacred
buffalo; consequently, rituals are performed for all dairy activities as well as for the ordination of dairymen-priests. The religious and
funerary rites
A funeral is a ceremony connected with the final disposition of a corpse, such as a burial or cremation, with the attendant observances. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember and respect th ...
provide the social context in which complex poetic songs about the cult of the buffalo are composed and chanted.
''Encyclopædia Britannica''. (2007)
Fraternal
polyandry
Polyandry (; ) is a form of polygamy in which a woman takes two or more husbands at the same time. Polyandry is contrasted with polygyny, involving one male and two or more females. If a marriage involves a plural number of "husbands and wives ...
in traditional Toda
society
A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Socie ...
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
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...
. 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
Cultural sensitivity, also referred to as cross-cultural sensitivity or cultural awareness, is the knowledge, awareness, and acceptance of other cultures and others' cultural identities. It is related to cultural competence (the skills needed fo ...
environmental restoration. The Toda lands are now a part of The Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve
The Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve is a biosphere reserve in the Nilgiri mountains of the Western Ghats in South India. It is the largest protected forest area in India, spreading across Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala. It includes the protected ar ...
, a UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
-designated International Biosphere Reserve
Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB) is an intergovernmental scientific program, launched in 1971 by UNESCO, that aims to establish a scientific basis for the improvement of relationships between people and their environments.
MAB's work engag ...
; their territory is declared UNESCO World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
.[World Heritage sites, Tentative lists, April 2007]
Whc.unesco.org (27 June 2013) in 2012.
Population
According to M. B. Emeneau in 1984, the successive decennial Census of India
The decennial Census of India has been conducted 16 times, as of 2021. While it has been undertaken every 10 years, beginning in 1872 under British Viceroy Lord Mayo, the first complete census was taken in 1881. Post 1949, it has been conducted by ...
figures for the Toda are: 1871 (693), 1881 (675), 1891 (739), 1901 (807), 1911 (676) (corrected from 748), 1951 (879), 1961 (759), 1971 (812). In his judgment, these records
"justif icconcluding that a figure between 700 and 800 is likely to be near the norm, and that variation in either direction is due on the one hand to epidemic disaster and slow recovery thereafter (1921 (640), 1931 (597), 1941 (630)) or on the other hand to an excess of double enumeration (suggested already by census officers for 1901 and 1911, and possibly for 1951). Another factor in the uncertainty in the figures is the declared or undeclared inclusion or exclusion of Christian Todas by the various enumerators ... Giving a figure between 700 and 800 is highly impressionistic, and may for the immediate present and future be pessimistic, since public health
Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the det ...
efforts applied to the community seem to be resulting in an increased birth rate
The birth rate for a given period is the total number of live human births per 1,000 population divided by the length of the period in years. The number of live births is normally taken from a universal registration system for births; populati ...
and consequently, one would expect, in an increased population figure. However, earlier predictions that the community was declining were overly pessimistic and probably never well-founded."
Physical anthropology
Physical anthropologist
Biological anthropology, also known as physical anthropology, is a scientific discipline concerned with the biological and behavioral aspects of human beings, their extinct hominin ancestors, and related non-human primates, particularly from an e ...
Egon Freiherr von Eickstedt
Egon Freiherr von Eickstedt (April 10, 1892 – December 20, 1965) was a German physical anthropologist who classified humanity into races. His study in the classification of human races made him one of the leading racial theorists of Nazi Ge ...
, in 1934, described the Todas as being of the North Indid division of the Indid type, therefore connecting them to ancient Proto Dravidian population. DNA studies in the early 21st century showed that the Toda and Kota share genes which distinguish them from the other Nilgiri Hill Tribes.
Culture and society
The Toda are most closely related to the Kota both ethnically and linguistically.
Clothing
The Toda dress consists of a single piece of cloth, which is worn wrap over a ''dhoti
The dhoti, also known as veshti, vetti, dhuti, mardani, chaadra, dhotar, jaiñboh, panchey, is a type of sarong, tied in a manner that outwardly resembles "loose trousers". It is a lower garment forming part of the ethnic costume for men in the I ...
'' for men and as a skirt for women along with shawlwrap.
Economy
Their sole occupation is cattle-herding and dairy-work. Holy dairies are built to store the buffalo milk.
Marriage
They once practiced fraternal polyandry
Polyandry (; ) is a form of polygamy in which a woman takes two or more husbands at the same time. Polyandry is contrasted with polygyny, involving one male and two or more females. If a marriage involves a plural number of "husbands and wives" ...
, 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
Infanticide (or infant homicide) is the intentional killing of infants or offspring. Infanticide was a widespread practice throughout human history that was mainly used to dispose of unwanted children, its main purpose is the prevention of reso ...
. In the Toda tribe, families arrange contracted child marriage for couples.
Houses
The Todas live in small hamlets called ''s''. The Toda huts, called ''s'', are of an oval, pent-shaped construction with sliding door. 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
Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, bu ...
fastened with rattan
Rattan, also spelled ratan, is the name for roughly 600 species of Old World climbing palms belonging to subfamily Calamoideae. The greatest diversity of rattan palm species and genera are in the closed-canopy old-growth tropical forests of ...
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.
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, butter milk, yogurt, cheese and drunk plain. Rice is a staple, eaten with dairy products and curries
A curry is a dish with a sauce seasoned with spices, mainly associated with South Asian cuisine. In southern India, leaves from the curry tree may be included.
There are many varieties of curry. The choice of spices for each dish in tradi ...
.
Religion
According to the Toda Religion, the goddess '' Teikirshy'' and her brother first created the sacred buffalo and then the first Toda man and woman. 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 (see quote below from ''Golden Bough''), 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.
From Frazer's ''Golden Bough
''The Golden Bough: A Study in Comparative Religion'' (retitled ''The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion'' in its second edition) is a wide-ranging, comparative study of mythology and religion, written by the Scottish anthropologist Sir ...
'', 1922:
*Total Toda Population: (100%) 2200
*Hinduism Toda Religion: 87.83% (1932)
*Christianity: 11.14% (245)
*Islam: 0.94% (20)
*Buddhism: 0.04% (1)
*Unknown: 0.04% (1)
Language
The Toda language
Toda is a Dravidian language noted for its many fricatives and trills. It is spoken by the Toda people, a population of about one thousand who live in the Nilgiri Hills of southern India. The Toda language originated from Toda-Kota subgroup of ...
is a member of the Dravidian family. The language is typologically aberrant and phonologically difficult. Linguists have classified Toda (along with its neighbour Kota) as a member of the southern subgroup of the historical family proto-South-Dravidian. It split off from South Dravidian, after Kannada
Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...
, but before Malayalam
Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...
. 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 (save Kota, to a small extent.)
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 a 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 storage of sacred buffalo milk.
Embroidery
Registrar of Geographical Indication gave GI status for this unique embroidery, a practice which has been passed on to generations. The status ensures uniform pricing for Toda embroidery products and provides protection against low-quality duplication of the art."GI_certificate_for_Toda_embroidery_formally_handed_over_to_tribals
".html" ;"title="tribals">"GI certificate for Toda embroidery formally handed over to tribals
"">tribals">"GI certificate for Toda embroidery formally handed over to tribals
" ''The Hindu'' (15 June 2013).
Notes
References
;Classic Ethnographies
*.
*.
*
*
;Toda Music, Linguistics, Ethnomusicology
*
*
*
*.
*.
*.
*Nara, Tsuyoshi and Bhaskararao, Peri. 2003. ''Songs of the Toda''. Osaka : ELPR Series A3-011.91pp [+3CDs with sound files of the songs].
*.
*Shalev, M. Ladefoged, P. and Bhaskararao, P. 1994. "Phonetics of Toda." ''PILC Journal of Dravidic Studies'', 4:1. 19-56pp. (Earlier version in: University of California Working Papers in Phonetics. 84. 89-126 pp.). 1993.
*Spajic', S. Ladefoged, P. and Bhaskararao, P. 1996. "The Trills of Toda." ''Journal of International Phonetic Association'', 26:1. 1-22pp.
;Modern Anthropology, Sociology, History
*.
*.
*.
*.
*.
;Toda Traditional Knowledge, Environment, and Modern Science
*From: Chhabra, Tarun. 15 August 2002
"Toda's Traditions In Peril" ''Down to Earth''. Quote:
*.
*.(Pictures of a new house being built on pages 57–60, and new house, with decorative art, being blessed on page 70)
*.
India Environmental Trust 2005
Supported Projects: Edhkwehlynawd Botanical Refuge (EBR) - Reforestation in a Tribal Area 2006.
ttps://web.archive.org/web/20060811234517/http://www.nciucn.nl/english/funds/purchase/engels/projecten_eng.htm Funded Projects:br>
India: Nilgiri Hills, NGO (EBR), 8 Hectares
*.
External links
*The
Society for Ecological Restoration The Society for Ecological Restoration (SER) is a conservation organization based in the United States, supporting a "global community of restoration professionals that includes researchers, practitioners, decision-makers, and community leaders". Th ...
and Indigenous Peoples' Restoration Network
EIT PROJECT SHOWCASE: The Edhkwehlynawd Botanical Refuge (EBR)India Environmental Trust 2005
Supported Projects: Edhkwehlynawd Botanical Refuge (EBR) - Reforestation in a Tribal Area 2006.
ttps://web.archive.org/web/20060811234517/http://www.nciucn.nl/english/funds/purchase/engels/projecten_eng.htm Funded Projects:br>
India: Nilgiri Hills, NGO (EBR), 8 Hectares
Toasting the Todas008. Travelogue with pictures of ceremonies.
Ethnologue: Toda, A language of India
{{DEFAULTSORT:Toda People
Nilgiris district
Scheduled Tribes of India
Dravidian peoples
Social groups of Tamil Nadu
Indigenous peoples of South Asia