Kolam. [557]--A Dravidian tribe residing principally in the Wun taluk
of the Yeotmal District. They number altogether about 25,000 persons,
of whom 23,000 belong to Wun and the remainder to the adjoining
tracts of Wardha and Hyderabad. They are not found elsewhere. The
tribe are generally considered to be akin to the Gonds [558] on the
authority of Mr. Hislop. He wrote of them: "The Kolams extend all
along the Kandi Konda or Pindi Hills on the south of the Wardha river
and along the table-land stretching east and north of Manikgad and
thence south to Dantanpalli, running parallel to the western bank
of the Pranhita. The Kolams and the common Gonds do not intermarry,
but they are present at each other's nuptials and eat from each
other's hand. Their dress is similar, but the Kolam women wear fewer
ornaments, being generally content with a few black beads of glass
round their neck. Among their deities, which are the usual objects of
Gond adoration, Bhimsen is chiefly honoured." Mr. Hislop was, however,
not always of this opinion, because he first excluded the Kolams from
the Gond tribes and afterwards included them. [559] In Wardha they are
usually distinguished from the Gonds. They have a language of their
own, called after them Kolami. Sir G. Grierson [560] describes it as,
"A minor dialect of Berar and the Central Provinces which occupies a
position like that of Gondi between Canarese, Tamil and Telugu. The
so-called Kolami, the Bhili spoken in the Pusad taluk of Basim and
the so-called Naiki of Chanda agree in so many particulars that
they can almost be considered as one and the same dialect. They are
closely related to Gondi. The points in which they differ from that
language are, however, of sufficient importance to make it necessary
to separate them from that form of speech. The Kolami dialect differs
widely from the language of the neighbouring Gonds. In some points
it agrees with Telugu, in other characteristics with Canarese and
connected forms of speech. There are also some interesting points of
analogy with the Toda dialect of the Nilgiris, and the Kolams must,
from a philological point of view, be considered as the remnants of
an old Dravidian tribe who have not been involved in the development
of the principal Dravidian languages, or of a tribe who have not
originally spoken a Dravidian form of speech."
The family names of the tribe also are not Gondi, but resemble those
of Maratha castes. Out of fifty sept names recorded, only one, Tekam,
is found among the Gonds. "All their songs and ballads," Colonel
Mackenzie says, "are borrowed from the Marathas: even their women when
grinding corn sing Marathi songs." In Wun their dress and appearance
resembles that of the Kunbis, but in some respects they retain very
primitive customs. Colonel Mackenzie states that until recently in
Berar they had the practice of capturing husbands for women who would
otherwise have gone unwedded, this being apparently a survival of the
matriarchate. It does not appear that the husbands so captured were
ever unphilosophical enough to rebel under the old regime, though
British enlightenment has taught them otherwise. Widows and widowers
were exempt from capture and debarred from capturing. In view of the
connection mentioned by Sir G. Grierson between the Kolami dialect
and that of the Todas of the Nilgiri hills who are a small remnant of
an ancient tribe and still practise polyandry, Mr. Hira Lal suggests
that the Kolams may be connected with the Kolas, a tribe akin to the
Todas [561] and as low in the scale of civilisation, who regard the
Kolamallai hills as their original home. [562] He further notes that
the name of the era by which the calendar is reckoned on the Malabar
coast is Kolamba. In view of Sir G. Grierson's statement that the
Kolami dialect is the same as that of the Naik Gonds of Chanda it
may be noted that the headman of a Kolam village is known as Naik,
and it is possible that the Kolams may be connected with the so-called
Naik Gonds.