Not to be confused with the Mudagars. The Muthuvans (also known as Muduvar, Muduvan, and Muthuvan) are two tribes of forest dwelling cultivators located in the

Anaimalai hills The Anamala or Anaimalai, also known as the Elephant Mountains, are a range of mountains in the southern Western Ghats of central Kerala ( Idukki district, Ernakulam district, Palakkad district, Thrissur district) and span the border of wester ...

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

and

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

in south

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. There are approximately 23,746 speakers of the

Muthuvan language Muthuvan is a tribal Dravidian language related to Tamil, mainly spoken in the Pooyamkutty-Idamalayar Dam region in Ernakulam district of Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of Indi ...

Muthuku means "back". According to tribal legend, when the Muthuvans migrated from Madurai, they carried their children, belongings, and their dethroned king on their backs (rather than carrying belonging on their heads), and were given the name Muthuvans by the king. There are two different groups which speak slightly different dialects, Malyalam Muthuvan and Pandi Muthuvan. Villages, known as Kudis, consists of 30 or more related families. Housing consists of reed huts thatched with leaves, and occasionally mudded tree branch panels, split into a kitchen and a common room. Foods eaten are mostly ragi, rice, tapioca, birds, and lizards, along with honey, spices, and some wildflowers. Some Muthuvans cultivate rice, ragi, and bananas, as well as grow ginger, pepper, cardamom, beetel-nuts, and lemongrass as cash crops. Law and governance are handled by a group of elders, who elect a headman, called the Kani (or Kanikkar). Health care consists of traditional herbal medicines. Religion consists of animism and spirit worship, though

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...

is also known. The literacy rate amongst women is low. Descent uses a matrilineal system, and at one time Western Muthuvans did not intermarry with Eastern Muthuvans.https://www.fs.usda.gov/rm/pubs/rmrs_p027/rmrs_p027_072_076.pdf

References

{{Reflist Ethnic groups in India Social groups of Kerala Social groups of Tamil Nadu

See also

References