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{{Short description|Ethnic group in India}}
{{Infobox ethnic group
| group = Kurumbar
| total = 88,750
| total_year = 2011 census
| popplace = [[Kerala]], [[Karnataka]], [[Tamil Nadu]]-Nilgiris
| languages = [[Kurumba languages]]
| related = [[Dravidian people|Dravidians]], [[Tamil people|Tamil]]
| native_name =
| native_name_lang =
| religions = [[Hinduism]], [[Animism]]
| total_ref = <ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011census/PCA/ST.html|title=A-11 Individual Scheduled Tribe Primary Census Abstract Data and its Appendix|publisher=Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India|website=www.censusindia.gov.in|access-date=2017-11-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210413183911/https://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011census/PCA/ST.html|archive-date=13 April 2021|url-status=dead}}</ref>
}}

'''Kurumba''' or '''Kurumbar''' ({{ipa|xua|kuru(m)bɐ, kurumɐ|ipa}}, [[Tamil language|Tamil]]: Kurumban, Kurumbar, [[Malayalam language|Malayalam]]: Kuruma(r), [[Kannada language|Kannada]]: Kuruba, Kurubaru) are a designated [[Scheduled Tribe]] or an indigenous community in the Indian states of [[Karnataka]], [[Kerala]] and [[Tamil Nadu]] (Nilgiris).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://censusindia.gov.in/Tables_Published/SCST/ST%20Lists.pdf |pages=26–27 |title=List of notified Scheduled Tribes |publisher=Census India |accessdate=15 December 2013 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131107225208/http://censusindia.gov.in/Tables_Published/SCST/ST%20Lists.pdf |archivedate= 7 November 2013 }}</ref> The [[Nilgiris district]] is home to six tribes. The Kurumbar are one of the earliest known inhabitants of the [[Western Ghats]], who are engaged in the collection and gathering of forest produce, mainly wild honey, wax and elephant husbandry. Non-Nilgiri Kurumbar peoples are generally shepherds. They are historically same but culturally different from each other. Nilgiri Kurumbar peoples speak Kurumba language (Tamil-Kannada mixed language). New alphabets are released for Kurumba language by some Government Teachers.<ref>[http://tamil.thehindu.com/tamilnadu/%E0%AE%AA%E0%AE%B4%E0%AE%99%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%95%E0%AF%81%E0%AE%9F%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%AF%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%A9%E0%AE%B0%E0%AF%8D-%E0%AE%AE%E0%AF%8A%E0%AE%B4%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%95%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%95%E0%AE%BE%E0%AE%A9-%E0%AE%85%E0%AE%95%E0%AE%B0%E0%AE%BE%E0%AE%A4%E0%AE%BF-%E0%AE%A4%E0%AE%AF%E0%AE%BE%E0%AE%B0%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%A4%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%A4-%E0%AE%86%E0%AE%9A%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%B0%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%AF%E0%AF%88%E0%AE%95%E0%AE%B3%E0%AF%8D-%E0%AE%85%E0%AE%B0%E0%AE%9A%E0%AF%81-%E0%AE%85%E0%AE%99%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%95%E0%AF%80%E0%AE%95%E0%AE%B0%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%95%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%95-%E0%AE%9A%E0%AE%AE%E0%AF%82%E0%AE%95-%E0%AE%86%E0%AE%B0%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%B5%E0%AE%B2%E0%AE%B0%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%95%E0%AE%B3%E0%AF%8D-%E0%AE%95%E0%AF%87%E0%AE%BE%E0%AE%B0%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%95%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%95%E0%AF%88/article9127274.ece?homepage=true&relartwiz=true பழங்குடியினர் மொழிக்கான அகராதி தயாரித்த ஆசிரியைகள்: அரசு அங்கீகரிக்க சமூக ஆர்வலர்கள் கோரிக்கை]- The Hindu Tamil News - 20 September 2016</ref>

==History and origin==
Kurumbas (Nilgiris) are one of the six ancient tribal groups in [[Tamil Nadu]]. According to the Madras Census Report of 1891, the [[Pallavas]] were Kurumbas.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=H.V. Nanjundayya|url= https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.38701/page/n57/mode/2up?q=Kuruba+pallava|title=The Mysore tribes and castes, Vol 4|last2=L.K. Anathakrishna|date=1988|publisher=Mysore, Mysore University|page=30|oclc=830766457|quote=They (the Kurubas) are the modern representatives of the ancient Kurumbas or Pallavas, who were once so powerful, throughout South India, but very little trace of their greatness now remains. In the seventh century, the power of the Pallava kings seems to have been at its zenith, but shortly after this, the Kongu, Chola and Chalukya chiefs succeeded in several victories over them. The final overthrow of the Kurumba sovereignty was effected by the Chola king Adondai about the 7th or the 8th century A.D., and the ’Kurumbas were scattered far and wide.}}</ref> Hunting and collecting forest produce are the two main means of living for the Kurumbar tribe. However, the restrictions to protect native forest and wildlife have forced them to find work outside the forests.{{cn|date=August 2024}}
[[File:Kurumba village, Mudumalai.jpg|thumb|Traditional Kurumbar thatch-roof houses, Tamil Nadu]]

==Etymology==
===Kurumbar===
The term Kurumba might have origin from a [[Proto-Dravidian]]/Tamil/Kannada root ''kur'' meaning 'hill, mountain or forest'.

==Culture==
Nadukarkal (Ancestors stone) plays a main role in Kurumbar deity. Also, the main deity of the tribe is [[Shiva|Lord Shiva]] under the name of [[Bhairava]].{{cn|date=August 2024}} They also worship animals, birds, trees, rock hillocks, and snakes, along with the other Hindu deities.<ref name= Swarna >{{cite book |title= Culture and Rituals of Janajatis (Tribes) of India |first1= Helen |last1= Swarna |date= February 2024 |chapter-url= https://www.researchgate.net/publication/378400992 |chapter-format= pdf |chapter= Chapter 5: A Rudimentary Understanding of the Kurumba Tribes inn the Nilgiris District |pages= 35–40 |publisher= Coimbatore Institute of Information Technology}}</ref><ref name="censusindia.gov.in">"Census of India Website : Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India". www.censusindia.gov.in. Retrieved 2 November 2017.</ref> Kurumbar are partially [[Sanskritisation|sanskritised]] to believing in [[Hinduism]].<ref>{{cite journal |first1= Chinta |last1= Ganesh |title= Spatial Distributions of Tribes in India: An analysis of Sanskritization and Modernization in Post-modern discourse |publisher= Dept. Of Sociology, [[Osmania University]], Hyderabad |journal= International Journal of Research in Social Sciences |via= International Journals of Multidisciplinary Research Academy (IJMRA) |date= June 2019 |issn= 2249-2496 |volume= 9 |issue= 6 |url= https://www.ijmra.us/project&20doc/2019/IJRSS_JUNE2019/IJRSSJune19-Chinta.pdf }}</ref>

==Subgroups==
There are several divisions of Kurumbas: Jenu, Betta and Alu. Each of these divisions speaks their own [[Dravidian languages|Dravidian]] language.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Pullaiah |first1=T. |last2=Krishnamurthy |first2=K. V. |last3=Bahadur |first3=Bir |title= Ethnobotany of India, 5-Volume Set|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=INQhEAAAQBAJ|year=2021 |publisher=Apple Academic Press ([[CRC Press]] imprint)|isbn=9781351737661|page=26|quote=The Shola Nayakkars, Mullus, Uralis, Alus or Palu Kurumbas, Jenu Kurubas, Betta Kurubas, etc. are all considered as subgroups or clans of Kurumbas..(p.27); Kurumbas are of Dravidian descent.}}</ref> [[Jenu Kuruba]]s are primarily found in the northern part of the Nilgiris, in the Mysuru district of Karnataka.<ref>{{Cite journal |quote=The population of Jenu Kurubas is 36,076 in Karnataka mostly living in the districts of Mysore, Kodagu, and Chamarajanagar. A few are also found outside the State mostly in the border forests of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. |pmc=4510769 |date=2015 |last1=Roy |first1=S. |last2=Hegde |first2=H. V. |last3=Bhattacharya |first3=D. |last4=Upadhya |first4=V. |last5=Kholkute |first5=S. D. |title=Tribes in Karnataka: Status of health research |journal=The Indian Journal of Medical Research |volume=141 |issue=5 |pages=673–687 |doi=10.4103/0971-5916.159586 |doi-access=free |pmid=26139788 }}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Kurumba Gounder]]
* [[Kurumba languages|Kurumba Languages]]
* [[Kurumbai Aadu (Coimbatore Sheep)]]
* [[Kurumba painting]]
* [[Lamellipalpodes kurumba]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{Cite book |title=Ālu-Kuṟumba-Texte. Volume 1 |volume=16 |series=Beiträge zur Kenntnis südasiatischer Sprachen und Literaturen |issn=0948-2806 |first=Dieter B. |last=Kapp |publisher=Otto Harrassowitz Verlag |date=2006 |isbn=9783447054263}}
* {{cite book |title=Die Kultur der Ālu-Kur̲umbas: Ergebnisse einer Feldforschung mit ethnographischen Originaltexten |volume=26 |series=Beiträge zur Kenntnis südasiatischer Sprachen und Literaturen |issn=0948-2806 |first=Dieter B. |last=Kapp |publisher=Harrassowitz Verlag |date=2017 |isbn=9783447109482}}

[[Category:Ethnic groups in India]]
[[Category:Scheduled Tribes of India]]
[[Category:Indigenous peoples of South Asia]]

Kurumba people (India) - Revision history

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