_Yerukala._--A vagrant gipsy tribe of Madras of whom a small number
are returned from the Chanda District. They live by thieving,
begging, fortune-telling and making baskets, and are usually
treated as identical with the Koravas or Kuravas, who have the same
occupations. Both speak a corrupt Tamil, and the Yerukalas are said to
call one another Kurru or Kura. It has been supposed that Korava was
the Tamil name which in the Telugu country became Yerukalavandlu or
fortune-teller. Mr. (Sir H.) Stewart thought there could be no doubt
of the identity of the two castes, [725] though Mr. Francis points out
differences between them. [726] The Yerukalas are expert thieves. They
frequent villages on the pretence of begging, and rob by day in regular
groups under a female leader, who is known as Jemadarin. Each gang
is provided with a bunch of keys and picklocks. They locate a locked
house in an unfrequented lane, and one of them stands in front as
if begging; the remainder are posted as watchers in the vicinity,
and the Jemadarin picks the lock and enters the house. When the
leader comes out with the booty she locks the door and they all
walk away. If any one comes up while the leader is in the house
the woman at the door engages him in conversation by some device,
such as producing a silver coin and asking if it is good. She then
begins to dispute, and laying hold of him calls out to her comrades
that the man has abused her or been taking liberties with her. The
others run up and jostle him away from the door, and while they are
all occupied with the quarrel the thief escapes. Or an old woman
goes from house to house pretending to be a fortune-teller. When
she finds a woman at home alone, she flatters and astonishes her by
relating the chief events in her life, how many children she has,
how many more are coming, and so on. When the woman of the house is
satisfied that the fortune-teller has supernatural powers, she allows
the witch to cover her face with her robe, and shuts her eyes while
the fortune-teller breathes on them, and blows into her ears and sits
muttering charms. Meanwhile one or two of the latter's friends who
have been lurking close by walk into the house and carry away whatever
they can lay their hands on. When they have left the house the woman's
face is uncovered and the fortune-teller takes her fee and departs,
leaving her dupe to find out that her house has been robbed. [727]
The conjugal morals of these people are equally low. They sell or
pledge their wives and unmarried daughters, and will take them back on
the redemption of the pledge with any children born in the interval,
as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened. When a man is
sentenced to imprisonment his wife selects another partner for the
period of her husband's absence, going back to him on his release
with all her children, who are considered as his. Mr. Thurston gives
the following story of a gang of Koravas or Yerukalas in Tinnevelly:
"One morning, in Tinnevelly, while the butler in a missionary's
house was attending to his duties, an individual turned up with a
fine fowl for sale. The butler, finding that he could purchase it
for about half the real price, bought it, and showed it to his wife
with no small pride in his ability in making a bargain. But he was
distinctly crestfallen when his wife pointed out that it was his
own bird, which had been lost on the previous night. The seller was
a Korava." [728] In Madras they have also now developed into expert
railway thieves. They have few restrictions as to food, eating cats
and mice, though not dogs. [729] The Yerukalas practised the custom of
the Couvade as described by the Rev. John Cain, of Dumagudem: [730]
"Directly the woman feels the birth-pangs she informs her husband,
who immediately takes some of her clothes, puts them on, places on his
forehead the mark which the women usually place on theirs, retires
into a dark room where there is only a very dim lamp, and lies down
on the bed, covering himself up with a long cloth. When the child is
born it is washed and placed on the cot beside the father. Asafoetida,
jaggery and other articles are then given, not to the mother but to
the father. During the days of ceremonial impurity the man is treated
as other Hindus treat their women on such occasions. He is not allowed
to leave his bed, but has everything needful brought to him.
"The Yerukalas marry when quite young. At the birth of a daughter
the father of an unmarried little boy often brings a rupee and ties
it in the cloth of the father of a newly-born girl. When the girl is
grown up he can then claim her for his son."