Chapter V: The Ti Dairy (2)

The Melgarsol have certain other rights and duties in connexion with the ti, and especially on the occasion of the procession which takes place when the buffaloes migrate from one place to another (see Chap. VI), after which ceremony the mòrol sleep at the ti mad. At some dairies members of other clans may act as mòrol, but in no case do they occupy quite so privileged a position as the people of Melgars. Thus, at the Kars and the Pan ti the people of Kars are mòrol, but they may only visit the ti and take buttermilk and are not allowed to sleep there, nor have they any of the special ceremonial duties of the Melgarsol.

When the dairy of a ti mad needs to be repaired or rebuilt, this is done by Melgars men, who must previously undergo an ordination ceremony of the same character as that for the office of wursol, and the men rank as wursol while engaged in the work. The hut of the ti mad is also repaired or rebuilt by the Melgarsol, but in this case the work is done without any special ceremony. In either case the Melgars men are not allowed to leave the ti mad, and they sleep in the living hut while the work is being done.

Another duty of the Melgarsol is to assist in carrying the corpse of palol who has died in office.

On the occasion of the teutütusthchi ceremony in 1902, when the palol and kaltmokh left the dairy at Mòdr for several hours, I found a Melgars man in the neighbourhood of the dairy, and it seemed to me that he was watching the dairy while the regular guardians were away. I was told however, that this was not one of the recognised duties of a mòrol, and I suspected that he was stationed at Mòdr at the time of my visit, because it was feared that I might take advantage of the absence of the palol to make a closer inspection of the dairy than was allowed.

NEW DAIRY VESSELS

The earthenware vessels of the inner room (persin and tòrzum) are procured from Hindus through the Badagas. They were formerly obtained from a place called Kulpet (Kundapeta), near Nanjankudi in Mysore, and I was told that the Todas used to go down to fetch them.

The earthenware vessels of the outer room (alug) are obtained from the Kotas like those of the ordinary dairy. The churn or kòghlag is made by the Todas themselves from the slender bamboo growing on the hills.

The material out of which the bamboo vessels (kwoi, idrkwoi, karpun, uppun) are made, is procured from a place called Ebenput(?) near Musinigudi. When new vessels are required, and there is only one kaltmokh, a second is appointed, who goes to Ebenput, where he cuts bamboo called kôli, which is large enough for the dairy vessels. The bamboo is taken by the kaltmokh to the ti, and the new vessels are manufactured by the palol.

It is possible for the kaltmokh to go to Ebenput and back in one day, but if unable to do this he may stay the night at Taradr, the nearest etudmad to Musinigudi. The bamboo for the new vessels, however, must not be taken to Taradr, but must be left in a wood near the village, and taken on to the ti mad on the following day.

Any new vessels or implements must be purified before being used. The earthenware vessels of the inner room are taken from the Badagas who bring them, and are rubbed over, inside and out, with the bark of the tudr tree, after which the bark is put inside the vessel, water is poured in three times, saying “Oñ,” and the contents rinsed round and poured out. Water is then put in the vessel, which is placed for a time on the fireplace to make it look old, the fireplace used being the pelkkatitthwaskal. The kòghlag or churning stick is purified by rubbing tudr bark over it and pouring water all over it three times. The churning stick and the earthenware vessels of the inner room are both purified in the outer room of the dairy, and the purification must be performed on a Sunday.

The kwoi is purified on the same day of the week in front of the buffalo enclosure or tu. After churning, the palol takes the new kwoi, and a tòrzum full of water, and purifies the former with tudr bark and water three times in the way already described. He then milks into the new kwoi for the first time, and on this occasion he must be careful not to fill the vessel completely.

The idrkwoi is purified in the same manner as the other vessels and also on a Sunday, but the purification is performed at the junction of the inner and outer rooms of the dairy.

New vessels and other objects belonging to the outer room are purified with the same procedure in their own room, but on a Tuesday or Wednesday.

The kwoi or milking vessel is the only vessel which is not purified inside the dairy. With the exception of this vessel all the other objects used in the dairy are purified in the outer room or at the junction of the inner and outer rooms.

All old, broken or worn-out vessels or implements are thrown away except the kwoi, which must be buried in a wood near a dairy. Thus this vessel is treated unlike other contents of the dairy, both when being purified and when rejected as of no further use. I could obtain no explanation of this, and can only suggest that the exceptional treatment is due to the fact that it comes into actual contact with the sacred buffaloes.

THE FIVE TI

At present there are only five ti in existence, belonging to the clans of Nòdrs, Kars, Pan, Kwòdroni, and Nidrsi. The Keradrol are said to have had a ti at one time which was spirited away by the god Kwoto (see Chap. IX) and the name of one of its places, Tîkîrs, is still preserved.

The most important ti belongs to Nòdrs and this is one of the original institutions, the ti of Kars and that of Kwòdrdoni being the others. The Pan ti is derived from that of Nòdrs (see story of Kwoten), and the Nidrsi ti is an offshoot of the Kwòdrdoni institution.

Of these five ti, that of Nòdrs is the only one which still has two palol. The Kars ti has only one palol, and similarly that of Pan. The ti of Kwòdrdoni and Nidrsi are at present unoccupied. At the Kwòdrdoni ti the office is filled once a year for a limited period in order to satisfy certain requirements of the Kotas.

No ti is allowed to be vacant when the final funeral ceremonies are performed for any member of the clan to which the ti belongs, and it is only on the occasion of these ceremonies that palol is now appointed to the Nidrsi ti.

Each ti has certain features of organisation and procedure peculiar to itself. There are certain differences of ritual and differences in the names and kinds of the buffaloes and sacred objects. The history and special features of each ti will now be considered.

THE NÒDRS TI

The goddess Teikirzi lived at Nòdrs and was its ruler, and Nòdrs was in consequence especially favoured when the various buffaloes were distributed by this deity. When Püv died and Ön went away to Amnòdr (see p. 185), the Nòdrs ti and its buffaloes went with him. Teikirzi, who remained behind, found after a time that it was not good to rule a country without a ti, so she complained to Ön and asked him to send the buffaloes back. He consented and people were sent from Nòdrs to Amnòdr to fetch the buffaloes. Ön gave them the buffaloes and all the things of the ti, and he also gave a milking vessel and a churning stick made of gold. When the men started to bring back the buffaloes, they went some way and then found that they had forgotten the gold vessel and churn given to them by Ön. So they went back and asked Ön for the two things. Ön refused to give them up as they had not been taken at first, and it is believed that they are still in the dairy at Amnòdr.

Ön told the men who returned to ask for the things they had forgotten that the Todas were to make the vessel and churn of bamboo. They were to go to the hill called Teikhars or Kulinkars, where they would find a flower called kavulpuv, and he told them to make a new kòghlag of the same shape as that flower. They did so, and ever since that time the churning-stick both at the ti and at the ordinary village has been made so that it is like the flower kavulpuv.

Another incident which occurred during the journey of the ti buffaloes back from Amnòdr was the birth of a mani. One of the two palol was carrying the dairy vessels of the inner room, and the other was carrying the mani called Keu. When they were about half-way back to this world, the palol who was carrying the dairy vessels found that they had become very heavy, so he put them down, and, taking off the tòrzum which was covering one of the persin, he found a bell in the milk of the persin. So they called the bell Persin because it was the son of a persin, and to this day the bell is fed with milk because it was born in milk. It is the mani which is kept in the ti poh of the Nòdrs ti, while the other mani Keu, carried by the other palol, is kept in the wars poh and this bell, Keu, is not fed with milk.

When the buffaloes of the Nòdrs ti returned from Amnòdr, they talked like men. One day when the palol told the kaltmokh to bring the calves, the buffaloes used bad language such as may not be uttered before women; they would not obey the palol, and refused to allow him to milk them. Then Teikirzi found that it was bad that buffaloes should have the tongues of men, and she dragged the tongues out of the mouths of the buffaloes and made them new tongues of tudr bark. The buffaloes could then talk no longer, and they allowed themselves to be milked.

Originally the Nòdrs ti had three places, or ti mad, given to it by Teikirzi: Anto, Òdrtho, and Kulâdrtho. Later the people made other ti mad, and at one time, in addition to the three, they had the following places:—Mòdr, Kudreiil, Majòdr, Mûkòdr, Tidj, Pûth, and Pòos. Several of these are now disused or have disappeared altogether, but are still mentioned in the prayer of the ti. Of the three original places, Kulâdrtho has disappeared and its place is occupied by the Prospect tea estate. The sites of Tidj and Pûth are also occupied by tea estates. The way to Pòos has been blocked by a Kota village, so that the buffaloes would be unable to reach it without being defiled by going through the village, and, in consequence, this dairy is not used. Mukòdr is very close to another ti mad, probably Majòdr, and the palol “were lazy” and allowed it to fall into ruins. There is a conical dairy, now in ruins, near Makurti Peak, which belonged to the Nòdrs ti, and it is possible that this is the dairy of Mukòdr.

The herds now spend the greater part of the year at Mòdr, but still go in most years to Anto, Òdrtho, Kudreiil, and Majòdr at certain seasons.

The Nòdrs ti has two kinds of persinir, the tiir and the warsir, each of which has its own palol. There are also the punir for the special use of the palol. The tiir have three subdivisions, the unir, the atir, and the teirtir, so called because descended from certain buffalo ancestors, or nòdrkutchi, who were connected with Anto, Tidj, and Teir. The warsir, are divided into two groups, the kulatir and the perithir, so called because their nòdrkutchi were connected with Kulâdrtho and Perithi respectively. Teir is close to Mòdr, but does not seem at any time to have been itself a ti mad, and I could not ascertain why it should have given its name to one group of the buffaloes. Perithi is near Gudalur, and in the prayer of Anto (see p. 225), there is a reference to a ti dairy at this place from which the buffaloes evidently took their name.

At most of the dairies the buffaloes stand together and the two palol occupy the same ti mad, though each has his own dairy; but when one herd, that of the tiir, goes to Òdrtho, the other herd, that of the warsir, goes to another place called Kudreiil. These two places are quite close to one another, but are regarded as separate ti mad. The reason given for this separation was that at one time the warsir did not behave properly at Òdrtho, and Teikirzi ordered that they should not stand there again, but should go to another place. I could not ascertain what the buffaloes did to merit this punishment.

I obtained a full account of the buffaloes of the Nòdrs ti at the time of my visit. There were seven unir; four adult buffaloes, called Kôzi, Perith, Kâsimi, and Uf, and three young buffaloes not yet named; five atir, Persuth, Enmars, Tòthi, and two unnamed; three teirtir, Pülkoth, Köji, and one unnamed. Of kulatir there were four, Köji, Keirev, and two young buffaloes; of perithir five, Kâsimi, Kiûd, Persv, and two unnamed. Thus the ti palol had fifteen persinir, and in addition about thirty punir, while the wars palol had nine persinir and about fifteen punir.

The dairy of the tiir is often called the ti poh, and that of the warsir, the wars poh, and every dairy has also its special name; thus, at Anto the dairy of the tiir is called Medrpoh, and the dairy of the warsir is called Kadpoh or Kadvoh. One of these dairies is of the conical form, but my record does not tell me which. According to Breeks the name of the conical dairy is Kiurzh. This is possibly the same word as Kad(poh), the name of the dairy of the warsir. The two dairies at Mòdr are Pänpoh and Känpoh. The name of the ruined conical dairy near Makurti Peak which belonged to the Nòdrs ti was Kateidipoh (Breeks, Katedva).

The palol of the Nòdrs ti must be chosen either from the people of Piedr or from those of Kusharf. Originally it was ordained that the palol should be chosen from the Piedrol, but later the Kuudr people obtained the right of becoming palol. This lasted till about seven or eight generations ago, when there is a story that the people of Kwurg (Coorg) came to fight the Todas and drove off the buffaloes of the Nòdrs ti, which were standing at Mòdr. The palol was touched by the Kwurg people and in consequence ceased to be palol, but instead of pursuing the invaders, he sat down by the ti waiting till he could be reinstated in his office. The kaltmokh, who belonged to Piedr, followed the Kwurg people, who had carried off a large mani called Kän, and some people of Nòdrs and Kusharf also followed with the boy. The Kwurg people saw the kaltmokh and told him that he might have the buffaloes back if he would give them as many rupees as Kän would hold. The kaltmokh had inside his loincloth a little gold coin called pirpanm, which he took out and put into Kän and immediately the bell became full of rupees and the gold coin fell out. The Kwurg people took the rupees, and the kaltmokh took the bell and drove the buffaloes back to Mòdr.

As the Kwurg people were making their way home, they suddenly found that all the rupees had disappeared, so they turned and pursued the kaltmokh and the buffaloes. Then the kaltmokh prayed:

Per wadrth vêdrmâ, kârs wadrth vêdrmâ, män mas vêdrmâ.

“May the high hills be broken, may the rocks be broken, may the trees fall down.”

Directly there was a loud noise, the hills were divided, stones rattled, and trees fell down. Then the Kwurg people were afraid and returned to their own homes. [34] The Todas held a council, and it was decided that, as the palol had not followed the buffaloes, the Kuudr people should no longer have the privilege of becoming palol of the Nòdrs ti, and that in future the palol of this ti should be taken either from Piedr or Kusharf.

At the present time [35] the palol of the tiir is Karkievan of Piedr, who has now been continuously in office for sixteen years, having also had a previous period of office as palol. The palol of the warsir is Nerponers of Kusharf (66), who had been in office for about a year at the time of my visit. The kaltmokh is Katsog of Kuudr (55).

Although now one palol belongs to Piedr and the other to Kusharf, it is not necessary that this should be so and it has happened frequently that both palol have belonged to the Piedrol.

The mani of the tiir, which is said to be made of iron, is that called Persin, of whose miraculous birth an account has been given. The mani of the warsir is called Keu, and is said to be made partly of gold, partly of silver, and partly of iron. Milk is put on the former bell by the palol at every churning and milking, but Keu is not ‘fed.’

In addition there are four mani of the kind called kudrs, which are tied to the punir and kept outside the door of the dairy. Three of these belong to the punir of the ti palol, and are called Arvatz, Kiûdz, and Kerâni, and should be tied to buffaloes named Püthiov, Peires, and Nersâdr respectively. The fourth bell belongs to the punir of the wars palol, and is called Kerâni. It should be tied to a buffalo named Tâlg.

The lamp of the wars poh is one of those made of iron, and is said to have come from Amnòdr. It is called Önâvpelk, the lamp of the seven holes. The ti poh had a similar lamp at one time, but it has been lost.

Three horns are kept in the sleeping-hut of the Nòdrs ti. Two belong to the tiir, and are called Kiûdrkûdr and Pudothkûdr. The third belongs to the warsir, and is called Teigun. (For the origin of these horns see the story of Korateu or Kuzkarv in Chap. IX.)

One feature of the ti poh at Mòdr, which is certainly not general, is the presence of a screen in front of the door. The effect of this screen is to protect the palol from the gaze of the ordinary Todas when they are standing in their appointed place. When I visited Mòdr I was allowed to go into the enclosure where the buffaloes are milked, but this privilege was not accorded to my Toda guides, and in consequence I was often able to observe the doings of the palol when they were hidden from my guides by the screen.

The wars poh, on the other hand, has no such screen, but the wall surrounding this dairy is much higher than at the ti poh and effectually screens the palol from the public gaze. The door of the wars poh faces between north and north-east, and that of the ti poh south-east, but owing to the presence of the screen the palol has on coming out to turn to the left, and therefore faces north-east when saluting.

THE KARS TI

The following story gives the traditional origin of the ti mad at Makârs, one of the chief places of the Kars ti, but I could not ascertain definitely whether it was supposed to give the origin of the ti as a whole or only of the ti mad at Makârs. The story runs that Anto created buffaloes, one of which came to Makârs, where a tudr tree was standing. The buffalo rubbed against the tree and part of the bark came off, and that is why the place became a ti. When the buffalo found that there was no palol at Makârs and no kaltmokh, it was very angry and raged about furiously. While it was doing this, it jumped some stones and fell into the river called Kitheri, and it also jumped a stream called Warwar. In spite of its falling into the river, however, it did not die, but got out and pushed stones together with its horns so as to make a tu. Later a dairy was built near the tudr tree. Whether this was the origin of the ti or only of the ti mad of Makârs, it seemed quite clear that the Kars ti is believed to be one of the very early institutions of the Todas. Its two ancient places were Enòdr and Makârs. At each there were two dairies, and one at least of those at Enòdr was of the conical variety and had the special name of Medrpoh. Enòdr has now fallen into disuse. It was a few miles to the north-east of Ootacamund, and it was no longer visited because the buffaloes would have had to pass through Ootacamund in going from Makârs to Enòdr and would have been defiled. Makârs, which is near the Nanjanad valley, is now the chief place of the ti, and the buffaloes were there at the time of my visit.

Another important and ancient place of the Kars ti is Kòn (Lingmand) in the Kundahs. In the story of Kwoto (see p. 204) the buffaloes were going to Enòdr from Kòn when the boy showed his miraculous knowledge of the buffalo kwarzam. Two other places are Nerâdr and Pars. Both Kòn and Nerâdr are still used, but Pars, which is not far from Ootacamund, is no longer used, having been given up because Badagas went to live near it.

As at the Nòdrs ti, there are two kinds of persinir in addition to the punir. The two kinds are called pürsir and parsir, the former being also sometimes called enòdrir. Although there are two kinds of sacred buffalo with their corresponding dairies, there has never been more than one palol. When a palol is appointed to this ti, he is ordained to the office of palol to the parsir, and, for the first month, he attends to these buffaloes only and enters their dairy, the parspoh, only. At the end of the month, he becomes palol to the pürsir, with certain ceremonies, to be described later, and from that time to the end of his period of office he works in the pürspoh only and never enters the parspoh, although he continues to attend to the parsir as well as to the pürsir. The milk of the parsir is mixed with that of the pürsir in the vessels of the dairy belonging to the latter kind of buffalo. This dairy, which is usually called pürspoh after the buffaloes, has also the special name of Kakanmudri.

There is one bell belonging to the pürsir which has three names, Perner, Uner, and Persagan, but it is also often called Ner. Koboners told me that this bell is usually quite black, but that he had once rubbed off the thick layer of soot and dust with which it is covered and had found that it was made of gold. It seems to have been of a light colour and may have been made of bronze. There is also a bell belonging to the parsir called Talg.

Formerly the palol of the Kars ti was chosen from the Melgarsol, but this clan lost the privilege owing to the misbehaviour of one of their number when holding the sacred office. The buffaloes were standing at Enòdr, and the Melgars palol was milking a buffalo, when he saw a honey-bee. He got up, left the buffalo, and went after the bee, leaving his milking-vessel behind. He followed the bee, found the nest, took the comb, ate some of the honey, gave the remainder to the kaltmokh to put in the hut, and then went back and continued to milk the buffalo, whose name was Kän. When he had finished milking, he was taking the milk into the dairy when a plank fell on his head and he was killed. Then it was decided that Melgars people should no longer be palol, and that the office in future should be filled from the Teivaliol. Whenever the Todas wish to refer to the fact that the Melgars people have lost the right of being palol, they say, “Kän kârvûk kiûztheniz ûpi vûchi,” or, “Kän milking, bee he followed after.”

The palol is now taken from Piedr, Kusharf or Kuudr, and the present holder of the office is Nòdrners (67) of Kusharf. The dairies of this ti are always near those of the Pan ti, and the two palol share one kaltmokh between them, the present holder of this office being Teitun (64) of Piedr.

THE PAN TI

The legend of the origin of this ti will be given in full in the story of Kwoten (Chap. IX). When this hero was reproved by his wife because the Pan people had no ti, he obtained buffaloes from the Nòdrs ti, so that the Pan ti appears to have been later in origin than those of Nòdrs and Kars, and to have been derived from the former.

Certain of the buffaloes are reputed to be descended from an ancestor made by Teikhars or Kulinkars (see the story of this god in Chap. IX).

The most important dairy of this ti appears to have been situated at Tarsòdr or Tazòdr in the Kundahs, which is the place to which the buffalo created by Teikhars found its way. Tarsòdr is about two miles from Kòn, and there is still a dairy of the conical kind at this place which is probably one of those mentioned by Breeks under the name of Tarzhva. Its special name was Pôhûjpoh or Pûverizpoh, and it belonged to the group of buffaloes of the ti called tarsir. It is now falling into ruins, having been disused for about twenty years. The last palol who went there was Pethovan (70) of the Kwaradr division of the Keadrol. He died at Tarsòdr soon after going there in perfect health from Kudòdr. His son, Kiudners, later became palol to the tarsir, but was afraid to go to Tarsòdr because his father had died there. Like his father, Kiudners died in office at Kudòdr, and the death of both father and son while holding the office of palol so alarmed the Todas that no one has been to the dairy of Tarsòdr since. I was told that the dairy had been given up because the gods of Tarsòdr were so severe, i.e., it was assumed that both father and son had been killed by the gods for some infringement of dairy regulations. New dairies have since been built near Kòn, the seat of the Kars ti in the Kundahs.

The place at which the buffaloes were standing at the time of my visit was Kudòdr, near Makârs, and this is the ti mad which is occupied during the greater part of the year. Another dairy is at Nerâdr, again near the ti mad of the same name belonging to the Kars ti.

A fourth place, Uterâdr, is now rarely visited, since the buffaloes may only go there when there are two palol.

There seems to be a very close association between the ti institutions of Kars and Pan. The buffaloes of the two always move about together, and the dairies are so close to one another that, at present, they are able to share the same kaltmokh.

The Pan ti has two kinds of buffalo in addition to the punir, viz., the tarsir and the warsir. At one time the warsir belonged to one division of the Pan clan, called the Panol, and the tarsir belonged to the other division, the Kuirsiol. At Kòn there are two dairies, one for each kind of buffalo, and each kind should also have its own palol. At the present time there is only one palol, who looks after the tarsir. The dairy of the warsir, or the warspoh, is closed and may not be entered by the palol, and he is not allowed to milk the warsir, though he may milk the punir belonging to the warspoh.

Formerly the palol of the tarsir was chosen from the Kwaradr division of the Keadrol and the palol of the warsir from the other division of this clan, this arrangement being said to have been ordained by Kwoten.

The Kwaradr division is now extinct and the remainder of the Keadrol are not very numerous, and the present palol of the tarsir is Peilet (64) of Piedr. A few years ago both dairies were occupied, the palol of the tarsir being Naburs (64) of Piedr, and the palol of the warsir, Pichievan (69) of Keadr. The latter is said to have thrown up his office because the income was not large enough.

If there should be a death among the Panol, the second funeral ceremonies (the marvainolkedr, or so-called ‘dry funeral’) could not take place unless both dairies were occupied. Since Pichievan resigned, no Pan man has died, but when this happens a second palol would have to be appointed before the marvainolkedr could be held.

The tarsir have two bells, called Kòsi and Pongg. The former is tied on a buffalo called Kòsi, and Pongg on one called Enmars. Milk is only put on the bell called Kòsi. At the dairy of these buffaloes there is an iron lamp of the ancient kind with seven cavities and seven wicks, and the horn is called Kwatadr. The warsir have one bell, called Keituzan, which is put round the neck of a buffalo called Kòjiu. The old iron lamp belonging to these buffaloes has been lost and an earthenware or bark lamp is used in its stead. The horn is called Persagan, but as these buffaloes have no palol, this horn is not now blown.

The people of Pan are mòrol at this ti.

THE KWÒDRDONI TI

There was some difference of opinion as to the origin of this ti, which is often called the Arsaiir ti by the Todas. According to one account, given to me by Kwòdrdoni people, the buffaloes called arsaiir came from the sea and were the mothers of all the tiir. Another account, which seemed to be more generally accepted, was that the Kwòdrdoni ti was instituted by Ön, like those of Nòdrs and Kars, but that one day, when the palol was milking, the mani, called Pushodipongg, came from the sea and sat on the side of the milking-vessel.

The chief place of this ti is Pursâs, situated between Kwòdrdoni and Kotagiri. The other dairies in the past were at Kakwai, Karküln, Pobkars, and Kadrin, but only the first of these, which is close to Kwòdrdoni, is now used.

At the time of my visit there was no palol, and the buffaloes, only about eight in number, were standing at Kakwai, but were not being milked.

A palol is appointed every year shortly before the ceremony in honour of the god Kamataraya, which is celebrated by the Kotas in January. When the Kotas announce that they are about to hold this ceremony, a palol and kaltmokh are appointed who go to Pursâs. The buffaloes are milked and the ghi which is obtained from the milk is given to the Kotas. The palol remains in office for about twenty days, and his appointment is made altogether on behalf of the Kotas, who would be very angry if it were not done. It seemed that the success of the Kota ceremony would be seriously impaired if there were no palol at the Kwòdrdoni ti.

A palol would also be appointed if it were wished to hold the second funeral ceremonies, or marvainolkedr, of a Kwòdrdoni person.

The Kwòdrdoni ti has never had more than one kind of buffalo, and never more than one palol or kaltmokh. The buffaloes, or arsaiir, are those which disobeyed the commands of Ön (see Chap. IX), and are said to be responsible for the dangers suffered by buffaloes from tigers.

The people of Nòdrs and Kars have the privilege of taking buttermilk and food at the ti, and are known as mòrol, but they may not sleep at the ti mad, nor do they take any part in the buffalo migration. According to one account, the people of Pan are also mòrol, and may even sleep at the ti.

THE NIDRSI TI

This is an offshoot of the Kwòdrdoni ti. One evening, after the buffaloes and calves of the Kwòdrdoni ti had been shut up for the night, the women of an adjoining village were pounding the grain called ragi. When the calves heard the noise of the pounding, they ran out of their pen and made their way to Pursâs. One of the wooden tasth which bar the entrance of the pen became entangled in the neck of one of the calves, and when the calf reached a place near Edrpali village, the tasth dropped and became a wood, and the place is now called Tasthnòdrpem. From here the calf went on to Pursâs. The Kwòdrdoni people went to Pursâs to fetch back the calf, but when they got to the place they changed their minds and said that the calf should stop at Pursâs, and that the Nidrsi people should make a ti there and appoint a palol; and this was the origin of the Nidrsi ti, which is called kar ti because it was derived from a calf, while the ti of Kwòdrdoni is called ir ti. The two institutions have different dairies, but both are at Pursâs.

I could obtain little satisfactory information about the customs of the Nidrsi ti. There is only one ti mad, viz., that at Pursâs near the dairy of the Kwòdrdoni ti. Any of the Teivaliol may hold the office of palol, but at the time of my visit there was no palol, and the six buffaloes, which are all that remain of the herd, are being looked after, though not milked, by a Tarthar man, Todrigars (41), at one of the ordinary villages. A palol would have to be appointed before the second funeral ceremonies of one of the Nidrsiol could be performed, but apparently he would only hold office for a short time.