Note 13 — U

Of the Urālis who inhabit the hill country of Travancore, the following account is given in the Travancore Census report, 1901. “The Urālis are a class of hill tribes resident in the Cardamom Hills. They are chiefly found in the tracts known as Kunnanāt, Velampan, Kurakkanāt, Mannukāt, Kalanāt, and Periyūr. The headman of the Urālis in each of these areas is called a Kānikkāran. Tradition tells us that they were the dependents of the kings of Madura, and that their duty was to hold umbrellas in times of State processions. In ancient times, many of the parts now included in the Todupuzha tāluk belonged to the kingdom of Madura. Once, when the king came to Nēriyamangalam, the ancestors of these Urālis are said to have accompanied him, and to have been left there to rule (āli) that locally (ūr). The males dress like the low-country people, with cloths about four cubits long extending from the hip to the knee. Another cloth, about one or two cubits in length, is put over the back, one end of which passes under their right arm and the other over the shoulder, both meeting in front over the chest, where they are tied together in a peculiar knot by folding the extremities, thus forming a bag wherein to contain their wayside necessaries. Females wear two pieces of cloth, nine and two and a half cubits in length respectively, and folded in the middle. The larger is the lower garment, and the smaller upper garment is worn with two ends tied around the neck. Males wear brass finger and toe-rings, sometimes of silver. Some adorn their necks with wreaths of beads, from fifteen to thirty in number. Females wear ear-ornaments known as kātumani, which are rings of metal wire, four or five in number. Males generally allow their hair to grow, the face alone being now and then shaven. The Urālis eat rice for six months of the year, and subsist on roots, fruits, and other forest produce during the remaining half. A large portion of the paddy (rice) that the Urālis gather by cultivation goes to the low country in exchange for clothing and salt. The flesh of most animals is eaten, but the elephant and buffalo are held in such great respect that no Urāli ever ventures to hurt them. Even the approach of the buffalo is religiously avoided. They begin to fell forest trees in Dhanu (December-January), and seeds are sown by the end of Mētam (April-May). They have only a katti, which is a kind of chopping knife, for purposes of ploughing. After cultivation they change their abodes. They put up huts in the vicinity of the cultivated areas, and use bamboo and reeds as materials. After leaving the old, and before putting up the new hut, they live for several days in caves or under trees. They are very good watchmen, and take great care in putting up fences, weeding, and protecting cultivation from wild animals. They make excellent mats of reed. They are clever huntsmen, and are passionately attached to their hunting dogs. They hoard their grains in wicker baskets called virivallam. They possess copper and brass vessels, mortar, chopping knives, sickles, spades, flint and steel. A man after marriage lives with his wife, apart from his parents. Pollution of a very aggravated kind is observed during the menstrual and puerperal periods. On these occasions a separate mātam (hut), called the pāttu-pandal, is put up at a distance from the dwelling hut. Here the woman stays for three days. After bathing on the fourth day, she shifts to another mātam still nearer, and stays there for one or two days. On the seventh day she rejoins the family. In cases of confinement, twelve days are spent in the remotest hut, and five days in the nearer one. But for another period of twenty days the woman is not permitted to touch any one in the house, or even the roofing of the hut. During these days food is prepared by others, and given to her. The water in which those who are confined, and those who are in their menses bathe, is considered to be defiled beyond remedy. Hence, for bathing purposes some secluded and out-of-the-way pool, called pāttuvellam, is selected. Urālis coming to the low country hesitate to drink water, on the score that it might be thus polluted. When the woman delivers herself of her first child, her husband observes three days’ pollution, but none for subsequent confinements. On all such occasions, the maternal relations of the woman have to observe five days’ pollution. On the eighteenth day after birth, the eldest member of the family names the child, and bores the ear. The head of the child is shaved as soon as it is able to walk, and a tuft of hair is left in front. The corpses of the Urālis are not burnt, but buried at a sufficient distance from the house. A new cloth is put into the grave by each relative. After filling in the grave, they erect a shed over it, within which the chopping knife of the deceased, a quantity of boiled rice, and some chewing materials (betel and nuts) are placed. After the lapse of seven years, an offering of food and drink is made to the departed soul. Death pollution lasts for sixteen days. The Urālis address their father as appan, and maternal uncle as achchan. Marumakkathāyam is the prevailing form of inheritance (in the female line). Marriage is settled by the parents. There is no tāli symbol to indicate the wedded state. After the marriage is settled, the girl is merely sent to the pandal or hut of the husband. The Urālis intermarry with the Ullādans, and in rare cases with Muduvans. Remarriage is permitted. An Urāli, wishing to get married into a particular family, has to wed into the family a girl belonging to his own. The Urālis have a fine ear for music, and sing many songs in the night before going to bed. Like the Kānis (Kānikars), they resort to enchantments called cheppuka and chāttuka for the cure of diseases. Their would-be sorcerers have to leave the community, and wander alone in the forest for a number of months. They are said to then get into a trance, when their forefathers appear before them as maidens, and teach them the mystic arts. The Urālis bear their loads only on the back, and never on the head. They never go to distant places without their chopping knife. They are good forest guides.” The Urālis are stated by the Rev. S. Mateer13 to practice polyandry like the Todas.