Muthuvan

Not to be confused with Mudugar.

The Muthuvans (also known as Muduvar, Muduvan, and Muthuvan) are two tribes of forest dwelling cultivators located in the Anaimalai hills in Kerala and Tamil Nadu in south India. There are approximately 23,746 speakers of the Muthuvan language.^[1][2]

A Muthuvan leader doing rituals to a deity.

Name

Muthuvan is the singular form, while Muthuvar is the plural form.^[3] Muthuku means "back". According to tribal legend, when the Muthuvans migrated from Madurai, they carried their children, belongings, and their dethroned king on their backs (rather than carrying belonging on their heads), and were given the name Muthuvans by the king.

Language

There are two different groups which speak slightly different dialects, Malyalam Muthuvan and Pandi Muthuvan.

Society

Villages, known as Kudis, consist of 30 or more related families. Housing consists of reed huts thatched with leaves, and occasionally mudded tree branch panels, split into a kitchen and a common room. Foods eaten are mostly ragi, rice, tapioca, birds, and lizards, along with honey, spices, and some wildflowers. Some Muthuvans cultivate rice, ragi, and bananas, as well as grow ginger, pepper, cardamom, betel nuts, and lemongrass as cash crops. Law and governance are handled by a group of elders, who elect a headman, called the Kani (or Kanikkar). Health care consists of traditional herbal medicines. Religion consists of animism and spirit worship, though Hinduism is also known. The literacy rate amongst women is low. Descent uses a matrilineal system, and at one time Western Muthuvans did not intermarry with Eastern Muthuvans.^{[4][5][6][7][8]}

See also

• Edamalakkudy
• Muthuvan language

References

1. "Wayback Machine". 7 June 2007. Archived from the original on 7 June 2007.
2. https://en.wal.unesco.org/countries/india/languages/muthuvan
3. Sasikumar, M. (1996). "Muthuvan". The Encyclopaedia of Dravidian Tribes. Vol. 2. International School of Dravidian Linguistics. pp. 286-293 [286]. ISBN 9788185692166.
4. Project, Joshua. "Muthuvan in India". joshuaproject.net.
5. "Muthuvan tribe". Vajiram & Ravi.
6. "KIRTADS | MUTHUVAN". Retrieved 27 November 2021.
7. "Neglected, Muthuvan tribals of Kuruthikudi in Kerala seek redemption - The New Indian Express". www.newindianexpress.com. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
8. usda.gov

Bibliography

• Sasikumar, M. (1996). "Muthuvan". The Encyclopaedia of Dravidian Tribes. Vol. 2. International School of Dravidian Linguistics. pp. 286–293. ISBN 9788185692166.

Further reading

• Gnanambal, K. (1961). The religion of three Travancore tribes (PhD). Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda. hdl:10603/58921. (on Muthuvan religion and beliefs)
• Sathyanarayanan, C. R. (July 1998). From shifting cultivation to cash crops: a study on transition of the muduvan of anamalai hills (PhD). University of Madras. hdl:10603/100625.
• Jose, Jerome K. (March 2011). Muduvan Oratures: an ethnopoetic study with translation of primary texts (PhD). Pondicherry University. hdl:10603/5248.
• Thomas, Jojy (2016). History at the margins of modernity: the muthuvan tribe of idukki (PhD). University of Kerala. hdl:10603/396428.
• Ramesh, K. (2019). Study on educational status of Muthuvan tribes of Edamalakudi panchayat Idukki district Kerala (PhD). The Gandhigram Rural Institute. hdl:10603/345434.
• Shelly, Jeena (2022). Efficacy of education as a development tool for Muthuvan tribes in Kerala (PhD). Mahatma Gandhi University. hdl:10603/601281.
• Sreekutty, K. G. (2022). Study on Wellbeing of Muthuvan Tribes in Kerala: Towards an Inclusion Perspective (PhD). The Gandhigram Rural Institute. hdl:10603/494280.
• Santhi Priya, S. (2023). Aboriginality and modernization tribal life and their problems: a case study of the Muthuvan community in Kuttampuzha panchayat (PhD). Mahatma Gandhi University. hdl:10603/617491.