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Kodagu (sometimes called Coorg, especially in English) is a district of Karnataka state, India. It occupies about 4100 sq. km. in the Western Ghats of southwestern Karnataka. It is bordered by Dakshina Kannada to the northwest, Hassan district to the north, Mysore district to the east, Kannur district of Kerala state to the southwest and Wayanad district of Kerala to the south. The district town is Madikeri.

Geography

Kodagu lies on the eastern slope of the Western Ghats. It is a mountainous district, presenting throughout a series of wooded hills and deep valleys; the lowest elevations are 900 m above sea-level. The highest peak, Tadiandamol, has an altitude of 1,750 m; Pushpagiri, another peak, is 1,715 m high. The principal river is the Kaveri River, which rises at Talakaveri on the eastern side of the Western Ghats, and with its tributaries drains the greater part of Kodagu. In. the rainy season, which lasts during the continuance of the southwest monsoon, or from June to the end of September, the rivers flow with violence and great rapidity. In July and August the rainfall is high, and the month of November is often showery. The yearly rainfall may exceed 4,000 mm; in the dense jungle tract it reaches from 3,000 to 3,800 mm; the bamboo district in the west from 1,500 to 2,500 mm. Kodagu has an average temperature of about 15 °C, the extremes being 11 °C and 28 °C. The hottest season is in April and May.

The principal town and district capital is Madikeri or Mercara, with a population of around 30,000. Other significant towns are Virajpet (Viraranjendrapet), and Somwarpet. The district is divided into the three administrative talukas of Madikeri, Virajpet, and Somwarpet.

Some of the south of the district is part of the Nagarahole National Park, part of a complex of wildlife sanctuaries that stretch into neighbouring parts of Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

Flora and fauna

Much of the district is cultivated. Characteristic scenery has rice fields in valley bases, with plantation crops with tree cover in the surrounding hills. The most common plantations are of coffee; however many other crops are grown, including pepper, para rubber, teak, and cocoa. In some regions there is still natural forest, especially toward the forest reserves in the south.

The flora of the jungle includes Michelia champaca (Champak), Mesua (Ironwood), Diospyros (Ebony and other species), Toona ciliata (Indian mahogany), Chickrassia tubularis (Redcedar), Calophyllum angustifolium (Poon spar), Canarium strictum (Black Dammar), Artocarpus, Dipterocarpus, Garcinia, Euonymus, Cinnamomum, Myristica, Vaccinium, Myrtaceae, Melastomaceae, Rubus (three species), and a rose. In the undergrowth are found cardamom, Areca, plantains, canes, wild Black pepper, tree and other ferns, and arums. In the forest of the less thickly-wooded bamboo country in the west of Kodagu the most common trees are the Dalbergia latifolia (Black wood), Pterocarpus marsupium (Kino tree), Terminalia coriacea (Mutti), Lagerstroemia parvifiora (Benteak), Conocarpus latifolius (Dindul), Bassia latifolia, Butea frondosa, Nauclea parvifiora, and several species of Acacia, with which, in the eastern part of the district, Teak and Sandalwood occur. Among the fauna may be mentioned the Indian Elephant, Tiger, Asiatic Golden Cat, Cheetah, Dhole, Boar, several species of deer, hares, monkeys. Hornbills and various other birds occur, and the cobra di capello, and a few alligators.

People

The population in 2001 was 545,322, increasing 11.64% from 1991 to 2001, and 5.75% from 1981 to 1991.

The people of the district are of a number of distinct ethnic or caste origins. However, political and economic domination is with those who bear the name of the area, the Kodava. Other communities have also been traditionally established in the district, including many recent migrants from neighbouring areas.

The Kodava

The Kodava community numbers about 100,000 in the district, out of a total population of over 500,000. They are of unknown origin, and are ethnically somewhat distinct from the other people of the area and surrounding areas. However, they have been long established in the area.

The names of Kodava people are characteristic and include a clan name. The clan is central to Kodava culture and families trace their lineage through clans. Marriage within a clan is discouraged. They are nominally Hindu, but do not usually accept Brahmin priests, preferring that ceremonies are conducted by their own. There are distinctive dresses, the men wearing wraparound robes (now only seen at ceremonial occasions), and the women with a distinctive style of wearing the sari. They have many distinctive practices such as carrying ceremonial knifes, and martial war dances. The culture also includes communal gatherings where drink, dance and special meat dishes seasoned with Garcinia are central attractions.

The most famous son of Kodagu is Field Marshal Kodandera Madappa Cariappa the first Commander-in-Chief (as a general) of the armed forces of free India. He was elevated to the honorary title of Field Marshal at age of 83.

Other communities

The Yerava, or Ravula, live in Kodagu as well as in adjacent Kerala, where they are known as the Adiya. They are primarily Hindu agricultural workers. Among the other communities of Kodagu are the Heggades, cultivators from Malabar; the Ayiri, who constitute the artisan caste; the Medas, who are basket and mat-makers, and act as drummers at feasts; the Binepatta, originally wandering musicians from Malabar, now agriculturists; and the Kavadi, cultivators from Yedenalknad; all these groups speak Kodava Thak, and conform generally to Kodava customs and dress. Of the Tulu people, the Gaudas, who live principally along in western Kodagu, are the most important; they speak Tulu and wear the Kodava ethnic dress during ceremonies. Other castes and tribes are the Tiyas and Nayars, immigrants from Kerala; the Vellala, who are Tamils; and the Marathi. Of the Muslims the most numerous are the Moplahs and the Shaikhs, both chiefly traders,whose origins are from Kerala.

Languages

The Kodava people, with some of the other established communities in the district, speak a Dravidian language, Kodava thak (Coorg language), which has approximately 200,000 speakers, in 18 groups in and near the district. Most speakers are bilingual in Kannada.

Kodagu is home to several other languages, including Kannada, Malayalam, Tulu, and Ravula. All are Dravidian languages.

Economy

As a rural region, most of its economy has been based on agriculture, plantationss, and forestry. Kodagu is one of the more prosperous parts of Karnataka. This is based primarily on its production of coffee and other plantation products.

Rice is cultivated in the valleys. A variety of other agricultural crops are also grown.

Plantations of coffee became a characteristic of the district through the 20th century. They are typically planted on hillsides too steep for rice growing, and using the shade of existing forests. It has provided much of the source of local wealth.

In recent years tourism of various types have started to become more important. In particular, plantation houses have been converted to take visitors, and walking and trekking holidays have become common.

History

The most interesting ancient antiquities of Kodagu are the earth redoubts or war trenches (kadangas),which are from 1.5 to 7.5 m high, and provided with a ditch 3 m deep by 2 or 3 m wide. Their linear extent is reckoned at between 500 and 600 m. They are mentioned in inscriptions of the 9th and 10th centuries.

The early accounts of Kodagu are purely legendary, and it was not till the 9th and 10th centuries that its history became the subject of authentic record. At this period, according to inscriptions, the country was ruled by the Gangas of Talakgd, under whom the Changalvas, kings of Changa-nad, styled later kings of Nanjarayapatna or Nanjarajapatna, held the east and part of the north of Kodagu, together with the Hunsur talk in Mysore. After the overthrow, in the 11th century, of the Ganga power by the Cholas, the Changalvas became tributary to the latter. When the Cholas in their turn were driven from the Mysore country by the Hoysalas, in the 12th century, the Changalvas held out for independence; but after a severe struggle they were subdued and became vassals of the Hoysala kings. In the 14th century, after the fall of the Hoysala rule, they passed under the supremacy of the Vijayanagara empire. During this period, at the beginning of the 16th century, Nanja Raja founded the new Changalva capital Nanjarajapatna. In 1589 Piriya Raja or Rudragana rebuilt Singapatna and renamed it Piriyapatna (Periapatam). The power of the Vijayanagara empire had, however, been broken in 1565 by the Muslim Deccan sultanates; in 1610 the Vijayanagara viceroy of Srirangapatna was ousted by the raja of Mysore, who in 1644 captured Piriyapatna. Vira Raja, the last of the Changalva kings, fell in the defence of his capital, after putting to death his wives and children.

Kodagu, however, was not absorbed into Mysore, which was hard pressed by other enemies, and a prince of the Ikkri or Bednur family (perhaps related to the Changalvas) succeeded in bringing the whole country under his sway, his descendants continuing to be Rajas of Coorg till 1834. The capital was removed in 1681 by Muddu Raja to Madikeri (Mercara). In 1770 a disputed succession led to the intervention of Hyder Ali of Mysore in favor of Linga Raja, who had fled to him for help, and whom he placed on the throne on his consenting to cede certain territories and to pay tribute. On Linga Rajas death in 1780 Hyder Ali interned his sons, who were minors, in a fort in Mysore, and, under pretence of acting as their guardian, installed a governor at Mercara with a Muslim garrison. In 1782, however, the Kodavas rose in rebellion and drove out the Mysore troops. Two years later Tipu Sultan reduced the country; but the Kodavas having again rebelled in 1785, he vowed their destruction. Having secured some 70,000 of them, he drove them to Seringapatam, where he had them circumcised by force. Kodagu was partitioned among Muslim proprietors, and held down by garrisons in four forts. In 1788, however, Vira Raja (or Vira Rajendra Wodeyar), with his wife and his brothers Linga Raja and Appaji, succeeded in escaping from his captivity, at Periapatam and, placing himself at the head of a Kodava rebellion, succeeded in driving the forces of Tipu out of the country. The British, who were about to enter on the struggle with Tipu, now made a treaty with Vira Raja; and during the war that followed the Kodavas proved invaluable allies. By the treaty of peace Kodagu, though not adjacent to the British East India Company's territories, was included in the cessions forced upon Tipu. On the spot where he had first met the British commander, General Abercromby, the raja founded the city of Virarajendrapet (this is now usually called Virajpet).

Vira Raja, who, in consequence of his mind becoming unhinged, was guilty towards the end of his reign of hideous atrocities, died in 1809 without male heirs, leaving his favorite daughter Devammji as rani. His brother Linga Raja, however, after acting as regent for his niece, announced in 1811, his own assumption of the government. He died in 1820, and was succeeded by his son Vira Raja, a youth of twenty, and a monster of sensuality and cruelty. Among his victims were all the members of the families of his predecessors, including Devammji. At last, in 1832, evidence of treasonable designs on the raja's part led to inquiries on the spot by the British resident at Mysore, as the result of which, and of the raja's refusal to amend his ways, a British force marched into Coorg in 1834, On 11 April the raja was deposed by Colonel Fraser, the political agent with the force, and on 7 May the state was formally annexed to the East India Company's territory. In 1852 the raja, who had been deported to Vellore, obtained leave to visit England with his favorite daughter Gauramma, to whom he wished to give a European education. On the 30th of June she was baptized, Queen Victoria being one of her sponsors; she afterwards married a British officer who, after her death in 1864, mysteriously disappeared together with their child. Vira Raja himself died in 1863, and was buried in Kensal Green cemetery.

The so-called Coorg rebellion of 1837 was really a rising of the Gaudas, due to the grievance felt in having to pay taxes in money instead of in kind. A man named Virappa, who pretended to have escaped from the massacre of 1820, 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. Coorg was the smallest province in India, its area being only 1582 square miles (4,100 km²). As a province of British India, it was administered by a commissioner, subordinate to the Governor-General of India through the resident of Mysore, who was also officially chief commissioner of Coorg.

After India's independence in 1947, Coorg became a province, and in 1950 a state, of India. In 1956, when India's state boundaries were reorganized along linguistic lines, Coorg became part of Mysore state, which in 1972 changed its name to Karnataka.

The name

The name is Koḍagu in standard transliteration.

The name has alternative derivations. In one, it is said to be derived from the Kannada kudu, meaning steep or hilly. In the Puranas, Kodagu may be the land called Krodha desa, meaing 'Land of Anger' - the Kodavas here are described as Mleccha, meaning foreingers or barbarians. It is also said that Kodagu is derived from the word Kodava, Kod means 'give' and avva means 'mother', i.e mother Kaveri, the river Kaveri.

The form often used by Europeans, Coorg is derived from this, by a transformation of the retroflex 'ḍ' to 'r' (cf. Maḍikeri to Mercara).

The people are called Kodava (sometimes pluralized as Kodavas in English). The people may also be called Coorgs or Coorgi in English. The name of the language is Kodava Thak.

References

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)

External links

• http://www.kodava.org
• http://www.kodavamatrimony.com
• http://members.aol.com/coorg77/coorgs.html
• http://members.aol.com/coorg07/state1.html
• http://www.coorgtourisminfo.com
• http://www.coorgs.com
• Profiles of all the Districts in Karnataka

v t e Districts of Karnataka
Bangalore division	Bangalore Urban Bangalore Rural Chitradurga Davanagere Kolar Shimoga Tumakuru Ramanagara Chikkaballapura
Belgaum division	Bagalkot Belgaum Bijapur Dharwad Haveri Gadag Uttara Kannada
Gulbarga division	Ballari Bidar Gulbarga Koppal Raichur Yadgir
Mysore division	Chamarajanagar Chikmagalur Dakshina Kannada Hassan Kodagu Mandya Mysore Udupi

• Districts of Karnataka