Kodava People - Clan Names

Clan Names

Legend has it that one of the early Haleri Rajas (either Muddu Raja or Dodda Virappa) gave the Coorgs their family names in the 17th century. But this can't be true because there were people with family names, like Kaliatanda Ponnappa a famous Coorg leader and holy man who lived in circa 1600, who lived before both the Rajas. If the Raja had given them their family names then he would have given them in Kannada, the language of the offices and not in the colloquial language, Kodava thakk.

The earliest mention of a family name is in the name Pemma Virappa. Pemma Virappa was the last independent Raja of the early Changalva line. He succeeded Mahadeva a Raja who was slain by the Hoysalas. The 1174 CE inscription mentions him as having summoned 'Ella Nadina Kodagaru' (Coorgs from all regions). This inscription is the earliest known mention of the Coorgs, thus showing that they were an ancient people settled in South India before a thousand years ago.

The name of the Raja, Pemma Virappa, sound very similar to the traditional names of the Coorgs. Kaliat Ponnappa, Cheppudi Chittavva, Ketoli Changappa and Mukkati Ipanna were some ancient Coorg personalities. They could be known as Kaliatanda Ponnappa, Cheppudira Chittavva, Ketolira Changappa and Mukkatira Ipanna as well. So Pemma Virappa would be known as Pemmanda Virappa. The Pemmanda, or the Pemma, are a well known Coorg family name.

But Pemma Virappa was a Changalva, member of a clan who which was not traditional Coorg Hindus by religion, but Jains who later converted into Lingayites. The clue lies in the practice of the later Haleri Rajas (c.1600-1834 CE) in converting Coorgs and marrying them. There was Mukkatira Ipanna, a born Coorg, who was converted into a Lingayite and married to a Haleri princess Devammaji. The couple is mentioned in the famous Kannada novel Chikka Vira Rajendra which won the Jnanapitha award. There is no mention of Pemma Virappa being a son of Mahadeva the previous Changalva. On the other hand the Changalvas had single names, like Madeva, Odeyatya, Annadani, Malli-Deva and Harihara-Deva and no such Coorg sounding names. So we can assume that Pemma Virappa was a son-in-law, a relative or a general/minister of the Changalva. Pemma means 'respected' in Kodava thakk, this is the root word for the common Coorgi name Pemmayya as well.

It is claimed that the Coorgs came into Kodagu from the Malabar and brought the wilderness of the region under cultivation. Before them there were forest dwelling hunter-gatherer tribes in Kodagu. The Coorgs were in the region of Kodagu even during the times of the ancient Tamils of the Sangam age (c.300 BCE-300 CE). Kodagu was called Kudukom, the 'land to the west' of the Pandyas, one of the Tamil Sangam kingly dynasties. There are three Coorg clan names Cheranda, Cholanda and Pandianda ('Pandyanda') which sound very similar to the names of the chief Tamil Sangam kingly dynasties-the Cheras, the Cholas and the Pandyas. This doesn't mean that these families were descendants of these dynasties but that their ancestors who founded the respective clans and names knew of these ancient dynasties. In history unconscious India where the ancient people didn't travel beyond their village and knew of no other place. This could only mean that the Coorgs lived in the times of those famous kings. There are also half a dozen Coorg clan names each which begin with the word 'Konga' and 'Changa', there were two Jain dynasties the Kongalvas and the Changalvas after whom they would have been named. These two dynasties ruled Kodagu in 1100 CE.