1

RESTD

INDEGNIOUS PEOPLE OF THE WORLD

THE KOYA

Introduction
1. The koyas are one of the few multi-lingual and multi-racial tribal
communities living in India. They are also one of the major peasant tribes of
Andhra Pradesh numbering 3.60 lakhs in 1981. Physically they are classified as
Australoid. The Koyas call themselves as “Koithur”. The land of Koithur or the
Koya land includes the Indravati, Godavari, Sabari, Sileru rivers and the thickly
wooded Eastern Ghats, covering parts of Bastar, Koraput, Warangal, Khammam,
Karimnagar and the East and West Godavari districts. This region is situated at a
height of 150-300 metres. The Koyas speak the language called “Koyi”. It is
blended with Telugu in Andhra Pradesh. The story of the Koyas goes back to
pre-historic times. They seem to have had a highly evolved civilization in the past
in which they were a ruling tribe. According to the Koya mythology, life originated
from water. The friction between the fourteen seas resulted in the emergence of
moss, toads, fish and saints.
2. During the eighteenth century, the Marathas invaded and subverted the
Koyas along with the Gonds. The continuous pillage and harassment by the non-
tribals resulted in the loss of the vestige of Koya civilization. The Koyas were
driven to take refuge in the inaccessible highlands. In this period they were
depicted by travellers as treacherous savages. Later Bhadrachalam taluk was
handed over to the British by the Nizam. At that time, the taluk was divided into
divisions each comprising 225 Koya villages. The whole land was under the
mercy of the Rohillas. The last great plundering by them was in 1859 near
Parnasala.

RESTD
 2
RESTD
Aim
3. To highlight the demographic, cultural and socio-politic aspects of the life
pattern of indigenous Koya’s.
Sequence
4. The presentation shall be covered in the following sequence:-
a. Part I - Demography
(1) Sub divisions of the Koya’s.
(2) Family sys and marriages and burial rites.
(3) Religion.
(4) Festivals.
b. Part II – Socio-Politic Setup
(1) Housing.
(2) Agriculture.
(3) Labour.
(4) Hunting and Palm season.
c. Part III - Effects of modernization.
d. Conclusion.

Part I – Demography

5. The Koyas are thickly populated in the Chinthur mandal of Bhadrachalam

agency in Andhra Pradesh. This area is part of the thick forest region that
extends along the left bank of the Godavari river The major forest species are
teak, bamboo, maddi and cashew. The minor forest produce includes beedi
leaves, gum, honey and tamarind. Sorghum is the staple crop and rice and
tobacco are grown along the river banks. There are 89 Koya villages and a small
town in this mandal with density of population being 123 persons per sq.km.
Agriculture is totally dependent on rains. Owing to small land holdings (the
average land-holding per family is 2.0 acres wet and 4.1 acres dry land) and no
irrigation facilities, above 55 percent of the families continue practicing slash and
burn (podu) cultivation, while 10 percent of the populace is landless.

RESTD
 3
RESTD
6. Due to the limited availability of land for cultivation, total dependence on
rain for irrigation and the growing population pressure over the Koya land, the
agriculture of the Koyas has become predominantly a subsistence way of
farming. The ecological surroundings - especially forests - provide the Koyas with
food, beverages, fodder, shelter and medicinal herbs though the Koyas are
farmers by occupation, most of their food supplies are drawn from the forest.
Roots and fruits form their subsidiary food. They eat Keski dumpa and Karsi
dumpa, which are the common roots available in this region. They cut these roots
into pieces, keep them in running water for three days and boil them to make
them edible. During drought years the Koyas go in groups into the forest to
collect these roots in large quantities.

a. Sub Division of the Koya’s. There are many endogamous sub-

divisions among the Koyas of Bhadrachalam agency, such as Racha
Koya, Lingadari Koya, Kammara Koya and Arithi Koya. Each group is
vocationally specialized having a separate judiciary system which ensures
group endogamy. There are also differences in food habits. Lingadari
Koyas do not eat beef and do not interdine with others. They perform
purificatory rites to depollute the effects of intergroup marriages. The
Racha Koyas are village administrators. They also perform rituals during
festivals. Kammara Koyas make agricultural implements. They are
blacksmiths and are generally paid in kind. Arithi Koyas are bards. They
narrate the lineages. They are the oral custodians of Koya mythology.
Each of these sub-divisions among the Koyas have exogamous phratries
having separate totems which are again split into a number of totemistic
sects which form the lineage (“velpu”) pattern. For example, in Chinthur
mandal of Bhadrachalam agency, the Paderu Gattaphratry) of Racha
Koyas worship “Dhoolraj” and their totem is wooden. These phratries have
a number of totemistic sects each denotedby a name, totem and
worshipped by a group of families having separate names. For instance, 3
Gatta worshippers of Bheemraj are further classified into three groups on

RESTD
 4
RESTD
the basis of their “Ilavelpulu” (family deities). A marriage between
members of the same totemistic sect is prohibited.

b. Family system. The Kinship network among the Koyas assigns every
individual a definite place within a system of relationships and defines
one’s behaviour towards others. Every Koya is born into a phratry and a
clan and his position is immutable. The Koyas have a patrilineal and
patrilocal family. The family is called “Kutum”. The nuclear family is the
predominant type. Usually, sons in a family live separately after marriage,
but continue to do joint cultivation (Pottu Vyavasayam) along with parents
and unmarried brothers. Monogamy is prevalent among the Koyas.
Marriages take place after boys and girls become adults and in marriage
negotiations the girl’s consent is taken.

c. Marriages. The preferential marriage rules favour mother’s brother’s

daughter or the father’s sister’s daughter. Generally, the mate is selected
through negotiations. But other practices of capture and elopement also
exist, involving a simple ritual of pouring water on the girl - the water being
the symbol of fertility. There is bride price involved in arranged marriages.
Marriage is celebrated for three days. It is not simply an affair between two
families. It is an occasion for two villages and all the relatives. Every
person carries grain and liquor to a marriage to help the bridgroom’s
family. Marriages take place in summer when palm juice is abundantly
available. The Bison-horn dance is a special feature on the occasion of a
marriage ceremony among the Koyas Birth, marriage and death are the
three important aspects of life and each event is celebrated on a grand
scale in Koya society.

d. Burial Rites. The funeral ceremony among the Koyas is strikingly

peculiar. The corpse is carried on a cot accompanied by the kinsmen and
villagers including women. They symbolically offer material objects like
grains, liquor, new clothes, money and a cow’s tail by placing them on a

RESTD
 5
RESTD
cot besides the corpse and the whole cot is placed on the pyre with the
feet towards the west. They generally burn the corpse. The corpses of
pregnant women and children below five months old are buried. They
have a ceremony on the eleventh day after the death which is called
“Dinalu”. At this time they believe that the spirit of the dead comes back
and resides in the earthern pot called “Aanakunda”. The occasion of death
is a common concern in which all the relatives share the burden and
expenditure of the family of the deceased. After the ceremony is over, they
sing, dance and have feasts.

e. Religion. The Koya’s deify their ancestors and worship them on all
social occasions. The clan members join together to worship their
ancestors. The Koya’s believe in four guardian deities who are supposed
to control the four directions. The Koya pantheon consists of various gods
and goddesses who are the symbols of various forces. Among them
Bhima, Muthyalamma, Sammakka and Sarakka are worshipped by non-
tribuals of the surrounding regions as well. The sense of supernaturalism
is strongly rooted in the Koya’s concept of nature. They worship personal
spirits which are thought to animate nature. They also believe in evil spirits
that are dangerous to the harmony of group life. The traditional medicine
man “Buggivadde” and the sorcerer “Vejji” are supposed to ward off all
kinds of evil spirits. On all social and religious occasion, liquor plays an
important role among the Koyas. The “Ippa Sara” or the mohuva drink is
purely an intoxicating beverage. The Koyas consume mohuva liquor to get
relief from the physical hardship of the day and to withstand extreme
variations in the climate.

f. Festivals. The Koyas celebrate festivals indicating the onset of

particular seasons for tapping palm juice, collecting mohuva flower,
beginning agricultural operations, hunting and fishing. Most of their
festivals are related to agricultural operations. Kolupu is one such
occasion which comes during November. The Koyas worship the Earth-

RESTD
 6
RESTD
Goddess “Bhudevi” and they enlist the co-operation of the Goddess by
offering animal sacrifices during the festival. They believe that sowing
seeds that are soaked in sacrificial blood brings them good crops.

Socio – Politic setup

7. Through their cultural practices, the Koyas exercise communal control

over their means of production. They collectively manage their natural resources,
ensuring equal opportunity to all. Every koya village is a socio-political unit and also a
part of a larger social and territorial unit called “Mutha”, a cluster of villages linked by
economic, political and kinship ties. In the past, a Koya village consisted of members of
a single clan only. Now it has transformed into multi-clan composition due to various
factors such as growing population pressure on the land, non-tribal migration, alienation
of tribals from forests and massive industrial deforestation.

8. The customary law of the Koyas ensures communal ownership of natural

resources administered by the village headman known as “Pedda”. The pedda is the
senior-most person who first settled in the village and established the village Goddess.
The position is held by descendents of the same family. Pedda controls the social,
political and religious activities in the village. The village panchayat consisting of the
other members (Pina pedda, Vepari, Pujari, etc.) deals with minor problems. Sometimes
the pedda holds two or three positions in a panchayat. The village panchayat is the final
authority over all issues in a village. The overall judicial system of a cluster of villages is
maintained by the “Samithi Poyee”, a judicial head who is assisted by the people known
as “Veparis”. Issues are dealt with in co-operation with the village panchayat and this
makes every village a part of a wider cluster known as mutha and is held by tribal
norms.

9. The political system of the Koyas is slowly accommodating the process of

colonization of agency tracts by non-tribals. The traditional systems of mutha and
panchayat are slowly losing their autonomy. Among the Koyas there has been an
increase in landless population in recent years.

RESTD
 7
RESTD
a. Agriculture

(1) The Koyas also collect various forest products to supplement their
meager agricultural returns. They sell these products in the weekly
shandy and buy other required commodities. There is no other
monetary transaction among the Koyas except in the shandy. Their
staple diet is sorghum. They grow several varieties of sorghum
(Konda Jonna, Pacha jonna, etc.) and a few pulses. Rice is also
grown in a few wetlands. Podu - the slash and burn cultivation - is
the traditional mode of agriculture for the Koyas. They clear the
jungle on hill slopes, burn the trees and grow crops in the ashes.

(2) In the past, they used to cultivate a piece of land for two to three
years and leave it fallow for eight to ten years. Now, the fallow
period has been reduced to two to three years due to the
restrictions on podu and the increase in population among the
Koyas. Most peasant families among the Koyas practice podu.
They regard slash and burn cultivation as a necessary evil and
resort to it solely for their survival. The overall land under settled
cultivation is barely seven percent. Rice is generally preferred in
wetlands, although few families have recently started cultivating
some commercial crops. On the whole only 0.4% of the agricultural
produce is sold. In the majority of cases, the rate of yields do not
even meet the requirements of the farmers.

(3) The size and nature of the land and environmental conditions made
agriculture labour-intensive, demanding co-operation of the
kinsmen and the villagers in undertaking agricultural operations.
Joint cultivation, known as “Pottu Vyavasayam” is a common
practice among the Koyas. Landless families go with their
agricultural implements and join those who own land. The yield is
shared between the landowner and others who have contributed

RESTD
 8
RESTD
labour. This practice ensures unity within the group and avoids
further division of land holdings.

b. Housing. The houses are built within one’s own agricultural land.
These are rectangular in fashion and are built of the material that is
available from the forest. These houses are constructed on an elevation of
two to three feet with walls made of bamboo, plastered with mud and
roofed with palm leaves. The houses are highly functional and meet the
requirements of a farmer’s family. They are leak-proof, quite warm during
winter and cool during summer.

c. Labour. Many of the landless are becoming agricultural labourers. In

Chinthur mandal, about ten percent of the population work as wage
labourers in the forest for more than six months a year. Though the Koyas
have the tradition of safeguarding their forests, due to the conditions of
alienation from the land and forests, they are now slowly being reduced to
wage labourers, engaged in cutting and loading of timber, firewood and
bamboo for industrial requirements. This work is purely temporary and
does not provide any steady income.

d. Hunting. The Koyas are expert hunters and the good hunters are
looked upon as heroes. For the Koyas, hunting is an essential skill for food
as well as for defence from wild animals in the forest. On the occasion of
the “Vijja Pandum” (the festival of seeds), Koyas go hunting in groups.
Fish is another important food for the Koyas. In villages near rivers, quite
often fish is a meal for every family. They ensure fair share of fish to all.
The Koyas use various types of nets tied to bamboo poles which are used
in still waters.

e. Palm season. During the toddy palm season, every Koya family
lives mainly on palm juice for almost four months. For them palm juice is
not just a beverage, but also a complete food. On average, every Koya

RESTD
 9
RESTD
family owns at least four to eight palm trees. Palm juice is consumed three
to four times a day in large community gatherings known as “gujjadis”. The
Koyas consider the palm tree as a gift of nature and to secure this gift they
worship the village Goddess “Muthyalamma”.

Effects of Modernization

10. There are several changes occurring in the subsistence pattern among the
Koyas. The changes in occupational pattern from agriculture to wage labour are leading
to changes in their social traditions. There are also severe disturbances in marital life
due to non-tribal exploitation of women. The panchayat system now is generally weak in
arresting non-tribal intrusion and exploitation. There is a process of low productivity trap
in agriculture of the Koyas which is a consequence of a complex set of phenomena. The
population pressure, the limited availability of land for cultivation, total dependence on
rain for irrigation, industrial deforestation and the modernization and “development”
process have all affected the autonomy of the Koyas and the integrity of the traditional
social system is fast being broken down and is rapidly fading away.

Conclusion

11. Through generations of trial and error in the face of adverse conditions of
the climate and the cultural contact with non-tribals, the Koyas have evolved a unique
pattern of adaptation to the environment through their various internal social
arrangements and belief system. With every change in the productive technology and
economy there will be a corresponding change in man’s dependence on nature and with
every change in the relationship between man and his environment there is a change in
the man to man relationship. Again, with every change in man’s relationship to nature
there is a corresponding change with man’s relationship with his supernatural world.

RESTD