page_title: Kodava people
section_title: Origin
hierarchical_section_title: Kodava people / Origin
caption_attribution_description: Coorgs, Hindus, Coorg. (family:Grandfather,Father and Grandsons) (from NY public library)
context_page_description: The term Kodava has two related usages. Firstly, it is the name of the Kodava language and culture followed by a number of communities from Kodagu. Secondly, within the Kodava - speaking communities and region it describes the dominant Kodav people. The Kodavas, are considered a patrilineal ethno-lingual tribe from the region of Kodagu, who natively speak the Kodava language. Traditionally they are land-owning agriculturists with martial customs. They practice family exogamy and caste endogamy. Kodavus are the only people in India permitted to carry firearms without a license.
context_section_description: The words Kodava (the indigenous people, language and culture) and Kodagu (the land) come from the same root word 'Koda' of unknown meaning. Some claim it means 'hills', others say it means 'west' but both relate to the Western Ghats' location. Kodagu is called Kodava Naad in the native Kodava language. The community members were called Kodava by the other natives and Coorgs by the British. They are ethnically and culturally distinct people. For centuries, the Kodavas have lived in Kodagu cultivating paddy fields, maintaining cattle herds and carrying arms during war.
caption: Kodava clansmen at home, 1875, by J. Forbes Watson (from NY public library)
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