According to their own traditions the Korkus like so many other early
people were born from the soil. They state that Rawan, the demon
king of Ceylon, observed that the Vindhyan and Satpura ranges were
uninhabited and besought Mahadeo [594] to populate them. Mahadeo
despatched his messenger, the crow Kageshwar, to find for him an
ant-hill made of red earth, and the crow discovered such an ant-hill
between the Saoligarh and Bhanwargarh ranges of Betul. Mahadeo went
to the place, and, taking a handful of red earth, made images in the
form of a man and a woman, but immediately two fiery horses sent by
Indra rose from the earth and trampled the images to dust. For two
days Mahadeo persisted in his attempts, but as often as the images
were made they were destroyed in a similar manner. But at length the
god made an image of a dog and breathed into it the breath of life,
and this dog kept off the horses of Indra. Mahadeo then made again
his two images of a man and woman, and giving them human life, called
them Mula and Mulai with the surname of Pothre, and these two became
the ancestors of the Korku tribe. Mahadeo then created various plants
for their use, the mahul [595] from whose strong and fibrous leaves
they could make aprons and head-coverings, the wild plantain whose
leaves would afford other clothing, and the mahua, the chironji, the
sewan and kullu [596] to provide them with food. Time went on and Mula
and Mulai had children, and being dissatisfied with their condition as
compared with that of their neighbours, besought Mahadeo to visit them
once more. When he appeared Mula asked the god to give him grain to eat
such as he had heard of elsewhere on the earth. Mahadeo sent the crow
Kageshwar to look for grain, and he found it stored in the house of
a Mang named Japre who lived at some distance within the hills. Japre
on hearing what was required besought the honour of a visit from the
god himself. Mahadeo went, and Japre laid before him an offering of 12
khandis [597] of grain, 12 goats and 12 buckets of water, and invited
Mahadeo to eat and drink. The god was pleased with the offering and
unwilling to reject it, but considered that he could not eat food
defiled by the touch of the outcaste Mang, so Parvati created the
giant Bhimsen and bade him eat up the food offered to Mahadeo. When
Bhimsen had finished the offering, however, it occurred to him that
he also had been defiled by taking food from a Mang, and in revenge
he destroyed Japre's house and covered the site of it with débris
and dirt. Japre then complained to Mahadeo of this sorry requital of
his offering and prayed to have his house restored to him. Bhimsen
was ordered to do this, and agreed to comply on condition that Mula
should pay to him the same honour and worship as he accorded to Rawan,
the demon king. Mula promised to do so, and Bhimsen then sent the crow
Kageshwar to the tank Daldal, bidding him bring thence the pig Buddu,
who being brought was ordered to eat up all the dirt that covered
Japre's house. Buddu demurred except on condition that he also should
be worshipped by Mula and his descendants for ever. Mula agreed to pay
worship to him every third year, whereupon Buddu ate up all the dirt,
and dying from the effects received the name of Mahabissum, under which
he is worshipped to the present day. Mahadeo then took some seed from
the Mang and planted it for Mula's use, and from it sprang the seven
grains--kodon, kutki, gurgi, mandgi, barai, rala and dhan [598] which
the Korkus principally cultivate. It may be noticed that the story
ingeniously accounts for and sheds as it were an orthodox sanction on
the custom of the Korkus of worshipping the pig and the local demon
Bhimsen, who is placed on a sort of level with Rawan, the opponent
of Rama. After recounting the above story Mr. Crosthwaite remarks:
"This legend given by the Korkus of their creation bears a curious
analogy to our own belief as set forth in the Old Testament. They
even give the tradition of a flood, in which a crow plays the part of
Noah's dove. There is a most curious similarity between their belief
in this respect and that found in such distant and widely separated
parts as Otaheite and Siberia. Remembering our own name 'Adam,' which I
believe means in Hebrew 'made of red earth,' it is curious to observe
the stress that is laid in the legend on the necessity for finding
red earth for the making of man." Another story told by the Korkus
with the object of providing themselves with Rajput ancestry is to
the effect that their forefathers dwelt in the city of Dharanagar,
the modern Dhar. It happened one day that they were out hunting and
followed a sambhar stag, which fled on and on until it finally came
to the Mahadeo or Pachmarhi hills and entered a cave. The hunters
remained at the mouth waiting for the stag to come out, when a hermit
appeared and gave them a handful of rice. This they at once cooked
and ate as they were hungry from their long journey, and they found
to their surprise that the rice sufficed for the whole party to eat
their fill. The hermit then told them that he was the god Mahadeo,
and had assumed the form of a stag in order to lead them to these
hills, where they were to settle and worship him. They obeyed the
command of the god, and a Korku zamindar is still the hereditary
guardian of Mahadeo's shrine at Pachmarhi. This story has of course
no historical value, and the Korkus have simply stolen the city of
Dharanagar for their ancestral home from their neighbours the Bhoyars
and Panwars. These castes relate similar stories, which may in their
case be founded on fact.