H·AND BOOK OF COORG· CENSU·S 1951· Published by the Assistant Commissioner and District Census Officer. Coorg. Mercara CO~1'ENTS FOREWARD 1 J_l{EA OULTIVATED IN EA!JH VILLAG]<; 11 GENERAL POPULf\TIO~ TABLES- A. I-Area, Houses and Population ID A. II-Variation in Population during fifty ycar:,; .. 20 A. III-Towns and Villages classificd by Population 21 A. IV-Towns classified by population with variation sillce 1901 22 A. V-Towns arranged territorially with population by livelihood classcs 23 TABLE. E-Summary figurcs by taluks ECONOMIC TARLES- I-Livelihood classes and sub-claS8Ci:5 26 II-Secondary means of liyelihood :':0 Ill-Employers, Employees and Indepcndent Workers ill Indu.')il'ies amI Deniecs ])y Di,isiolls unci )::)uu­ .. divisions TABLE II-Employment in Textile Establishments 49 TABLE III-Employment in Non-Textile Establishments 51 '!'ARL'E L-Infirmity (Incidence of LcproHY) 53 PRIMARY CENSUS ABSTRACT­ Rural Tract 54 Non-City Urban Tract 78 TABLE C-HOUSEHOLD AND AGE (SAMPLE) '['ABLES­ C. I-Household (size and composition) C. II-Livelihood classeslJy age groups 83 C. IV-Age and literacy 86 TAlILE D-SOCIAL AND CULTURAL TABLES­ D. I-(i) Mother tongue 3D (ii) Bilingualism 90 D. II-Religion 95 D. III-Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes 97 Backward and Non·Backward Classes UD D. IV-Birth place-migrants .. 100 D. VI-Non-Indian Nationals .. 103 D. VII-Livelihood Classes by Educational Standards 104 Sorters Ticket '2~ and the State Index of Non-Agricuhural Classcs­ State Index of Non·Agricultural Occupatioll~ 109 Ii 11 ANNEXURE II PAGES Table A. I-Area, houses and population 119 Table A. II-Variation in population during fifty years 120 Table A. III-Towns and villages classified by population 12'1 Table B. II-Secondary meam of livelihood 122 'B' and' C' Series of tables in respect of displaced persons 128 Appendix II to Village Statistics- Statement showing the number of displaced person::; in each village 1m Appcndix I to Urban Statistics-- Statement showing the number of displaced persons in each traet 15!J Table L-Village-wise details of leprosy cases and doubtful cases by livelihood cla:;ses in each tract 161 Table I-Small Scale Industries giving the village-wise distribution of textile and non-textile establishments 167 Table C. I-Household (size and composition) 176 Table C. III-Age and civil condition 181 Table C. V-Single Year Age Returns 184 Table D. V-Di;;placed persons by year of arrival 187 Sorter:; tieket '2' 191 FOREWARD (1) PHYSIOGRAPHY. (a) Situation and Physical Characteristics.-Coorg State comprising an area of 1593 sq. miles is a mountainous country,. situated on the summits and the Eastern and Western slopes of the Western Ghats within degrees of North latitude 11'56" and 12'50" and East longitude 75'22" and 76'12". Viewed from an eminence the whole of the southern portion of the country presents the appearance of one great forest intersprsed by valleys which after August appear green with paddy crop. In the North the country becomes open towards the East while to the West and North the country rises to high peaks measuring from 3,800 feet to 5,729 feet above the sea level. Wherever possible the valleys in Coorg are formed into flats and terraces for rice cultivation and high lying lands are cultivated with coffee, orange, cardamom, pepper, etc. There are seven main outlets, one to South Kanara, two to Malabar and four to Mysore. A good number of village communication roads has been opened to connect villages which lie away from the main roads. Some of these village communication roads are fit for vehicular traffic during the fair weather only. As Coorg is not connected by railways, transport facilities are confined to motor vehicles and country carts. The nearest coast is at a distance of about 40 miles from the Western border of the State. (b) Rivers.-The main drainage of Coorg is in an easterly direction towards the Bay of Bengal while some mountain torrents flow west from the ·Western Ghats towards the Arabian sea. The rivers are not remarkable either for width or depth but their water supply is everywhere abundant throughout the year. As their sources are high up in the mountains and their sources lie over steep declivities; they flow with great rapidity over generally very rocky beds, rendering themselves almost useless for navigation of any kind and owing to the height of their banks and the unevenness of the country few of them can. be used for artificial irrigation purposes. The chief of the Coorg rivers both as to size and importance is the Cauvery which rises on the Western border from the Brahmagiri peak at a height of about 4,000 feet above the sea level. Flowing in an easterly direction it cuts Coorg into two halves and traverses through Mysore, Salem, Coimbatore, Trichinopoly and Tanjore to a distance of 400 miles before it joins the Bay of Bengal. Its important tributaries are Laxmanathirtha, Kakkabe, Harangi and Hemavathi. The rivers that flow to the west are Barapole, Nojikalhole and Kumaradhari. (c) Climate.-Generally speaking the climate of Coorg is temperate. The temperature varies from 50-='F. in December to about 90°F. in the month of April. The country gets both the South-vVest and North-East monsoons. The South-vVest monsoon which usually starts at the end of May is more severe and windy. The North-East monsoon is not continuous but it usually comes down in torrents and is most welcome for the rice crop. The 'Vestern part re'ceives an annual rainfall ranging from 120 inches to 250 inches and the eastem portion which is in the nature of a plateau from 50 to 65 inches while the fall in the middle tract running North to South varies from 70 to 90 inches. Mercara, the capital of Coorg, situated about the centre of the State, about 3,800 feet above the sea level, receives an annual rainfall of around 125 inches. (d) Soil.-Coorg is still a sealed book to Geologists, no proper survey having been conducted so far. Efforts are in progress to have a geological survey ofCoorg. Soil classifioation has, however, been carried out only in the case of wet and dry crop lands. vVetlands have been classified according to the soil, sufficiency of irrigation arid comparative elevation. Three classes of soil have been recognised and they are (1) Alluvial or loam (2) Sandy loam and (3) Sandy soil. Classification according to water supply has been made under three heads according as the supply is found to be abundant, sufficient or insufficient. A further distinction has been made between high-lying and low-lying lands. These in combination have been arranged for purposes of assessment into 8 classes and they are known as " tamms". In, fixing the taram special advantages and disadvantages have been taken into consideration including marketing facilities. (e) Forest Area coveted and general description.-Forest area consists of Reserved forests, com­ prising 3,30,726 acres, paisaries 1,77,800 acres, Devarakadus 7,895 acres, Urudves 8,519 acres and banes 2,09,523 acres. Banes are owned by private individuals while all the other lands are regis­ tered in the name of the Government. The following are the main caste trees grown in Coorg, namely Sandal, Teak, Biti, Ebony, Honne, Mathi, Nandi, Hebbalasu, Halhalasu, White Cedar, Irupu, Poon, Noga, Balanji, Champaka, Hunse, Yenne Mara, hul, Alale, Nowladi, Bilwara, Nerale. (f) Irrigation facilities and liability to famine.-Cultivation of rice is carried on wet system except in the eastern and North-Eastern villages where dry farming is more general. The rice lands are mostly situated in valleys between hills. The total area under rice cultivation in 1951 was 89,640 acres and ragi 4,031 acres. Out of this area 7,453' 56 acres of rice area was irrigated by tanks and by channels from dams put up across rivers. The rest is either rain-fed or springfed. (g) Average area cultivated with wet food crops, rainjed food crops and commercial crops.­ The area of lands under food and commercial crops during 1950-51 was as follows :- Acres Acres Rice 89,640 Rubber 5,684 Ragi 4,031 Pepper 1,066 Pulses 1,065 Cardamom ·12,499 Coffee 42,985 Orange 16,673 Tea 416 Plantain 956 (2) HISTORICAL AND ARCH~OLOGICAL. For particulars about prehistoric age the historian has to depend on Kauveri Purana, a legend which says that the Coorgs, the Chief inhabitants of the State, are the descendants of Chandra­ varma, a Kshatriya king. History narrates that Coorg was under the sway of self-made chief­ tains, known as paleygars who were always fighting with one another. The .Chalukyas, . Kadambas, Hoysalas who built up dominions in South India also held their sway over Coorg when they W(,Te in the height of their power. After the fall of Yijayanagar in 1565 an Ikkeri prince came to Coorg and settled at a place called Haleri, about six nliles from Mercara. He posed as a jangama and gradually acquired strength and influence and later on assumed authority as the Raja of Coorg. He conquered all Palegars who opposed him and thus became the founder of the Lingayat Kingship in Coorg. Ralery princes ruled over the· country from about 1600 to 1834. After the fall of Tippu Sultan in 1807 the influence of the East India Company gradually spread throughout South India. Viraraja II who became the ruler of Coorg in 1820 was reputed to be cruel and the people getting tired of his misrule invited the Company to depose the King.