Kodava people

The Kodava people or Kodavas or Codavas are an ethno-linguistic group from the region of Kodagu in the southern Indian state of Karnataka, who natively speak the Kodava language. They are traditionally land-owning agriculturists and patrilineal, with martial customs. Kodavas worship ancestors and weapons. They used to worship swords, bows, arrows and later guns. Hence, Kodavas are the only ones in India permitted to carry firearms without a license. The words Kodava (the indigenous people, language and culture) and Kodagu (the land) come from the same root word 'Koda' which means "Mist" But 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 word "Kodavas" was anglicized to "Coorgs" by the British Raj. For centuries, the Kodavas have lived in Kodagu cultivating paddy fields, maintaining cattle herds and coffee plantations, and carrying arms during war. Puranic association The Hindu Puranas (Kaveri Purana of Skanda Purana) claim that Chandra Varma, (lunar dynasty warrior) and son of Emperor of Matsya Desha, was the ancestor of the Kodavas. An ardent devotee of Goddess Mahalakshmi, he had gone on pilgrimage to several holy places all over India. Chandra Varma had a privy army who escorted him on his campaigns until he came into Kodagu(Coorg). Coorg, the source of the River Kaveri, was uninhabited jungle land when he arrived to settle here. Thereafter he became the first Raja of the Coorg principality. He had 11 sons, the eldest among them was Devakantha who later succeeded him as Raja. They were married to the daughters of the Raja of Vidarbha. Kannada inscriptions speak of this region as being called Kudagu nad (parts of Kodagu, Western Mysore and Kerala) as well. Both the name of the natives and of the region are synonymous (Kodava-Kodavu; Kodaga-Kodagu; Coorgs-Coorg). In 1398 AD, when the Vijaynagara Empire ruled southern India, Mangaraja, a Kannada poet, wrote in his lexicon about the Kodavas saying that they were a warrior people who were fond of hunting game for sport.