பக்கம் எண் :

52THE PRIMARY CLASSICAL LANGUAGE OF THE WORLD

himself with his buffaloes and his Tirieri or dairy-temple. The Boath or Boa often called the Toda Cathedral is again a subject for speculation. Some writers have thought that the Boaths were built by the extinct race. Through centuries of pastoral life the Toda has forgotten his own history.”

     “The Toda village is called a mand. The name itself means a herd or a cattle-pen (Tamil, Manthai). It is usually a collection of three huts....

     “The Tirieri is the sum and substance of Toda life. It is also called palchi. It is managed by the Palals........

     “The Palal is assisted by Kaltamaks, boys between eight and ten years of age.....Inside the Tiriery the Kaltamak must go naked except in his own apartment. ‘Kaltamak’ means ‘watching son’ (Kƒkkum magaŒ.

     “The Toda is the aristocrat of the Blue Mountains. .... It is not certain when the tribe first appeared on the Nilgiris’’

     ``......The tud tree (Meliosma simplicifolia) is the sacred tree of this tribe and important for almost everything. The Toda calls himself actually Tuda and the Tamils call him ‘Tudavan’. The Todas claim they were the first on the Nilgiri soil.

     “Butter and ghee is what they depend on. They are strictly vegetarian. But, a certain ritual performed in the seventh month of pregnancy indicates an earlier stage when the tribe must have carried arms.

      “They (the Todas) call God by the Tamil name Kadavul ............They conceive of a heaven which they call Amnad.......

      “..........The Palals and Kaltamaks come from the Peik clean who seem to be superior to others. The Peikis are called Tertals-trttƒl or trnda ƒ˜ (superior) and the rest are called Tartal-tarttƒl
or tƒ˜ndaƒ˜ (inferior)1

     The Tda numerals from one to ten are enough to show, that the Tda language is only a corrupt form of Tamil and not a primitive dialect. The numerals are: odd, edd, md, nƒnk, tsh


1.R.A.T.pp.120-4