Kudiya caste is surname of many people in southern India. Kudiya caste meaning is The Kudiyas or Male (hill) Kudiyas are found at Neriya, Darmasthala, and Sisila in the South [97]Canara district. Those who live at the two former places are agrestic slaves of landlords who own cardamom plantations on the ghats. They live for the most part in the jungles, beneath rocks, in caves, or in low huts, and shift from one spot to another. At the season of the cardamom crop, they come down to the plains once a week with the produce. They are said to carry off cardamoms to the Mysore frontier, and sell them fraudulently to contractors or merchants. They make fire traces for the Forest Department.
Except in stature, the Kudiyas have not retained the characters of a primitive race, and, as the result of racial admixture, or contact metamorphosis, some individuals are to be seen with comparatively light coloured skins, and mesorhine or leptorhine noses. In the matter of personal names, septs, and ceremonial observances, they have been much influenced by other castes. They speak a corrupt form of Tulu, and say that they follow the aliya santana law of inheritance (in the female line), though some, especially at Sisala and on the Mysore frontier, follow the law of succession from father to son (makkala santana). They are not regarded as a polluting class, and can enter all parts of their landlords houses, except the kitchen and dining-room. They are presided over by a headman, called Gurikara, who inquires into transgression of caste rules, and assists on ceremonial occasions. Their chief deities are Bhairava, Kamandevaru, and the Pancha Pandavas (the five Pandava brothers), but they also believe in certain bhuthas (devils), such as Male Kallurti and Ambatadaiva.
The Kudiyas do not object to marriage between a widowed woman and her eldest son. Among those attached to a landlord at Neriya, two such cases were [98]pointed out. In one, there was no issue, but in the other a son had been born to the mother-wife.
When the arrangement of a match is in contemplation, the father of the prospective bridegroom goes, accompanied by two women, to the girls home, and takes with him betel leaves, areca-nuts, and gingelly (Sesamum) oil. If the girls parents consent to the match, they accept the oil; otherwise they refuse it. The binding part of the marriage ceremony consists of the bridal couple standing with their hands united, and the pouring of water thereon by the brides father. The Kudiyas who have settled on the plains have adopted the ceremonial observances of the Bants and other castes. The remarriage of widows is permitted. There is no elaborate marriage ceremony, but sometimes the contracting couple stand in the presence of the headman and a few others, and make a round mark with sandal paste on each others foreheads.
If a member of the tribe dies near the settlement, the body is cremated, and, if far away therefrom, buried. On the third day, a visit is paid to the place where cremation took place, and the son or some near relative of the deceased goes round the spot on which the corpse was burnt three times, and sprinkles rice thereon thrice. Five leaves of the teak or plantain, or other big leaves, are spread on the ground, and fowls flesh, cooked rice, and vegetables are placed thereon, and the ancestors are invoked in the words Oh! old souls, gather up the new soul, and support it, making it one of you. On the sixteenth day, food is again offered on leaves. In cases where burial is resorted to, an effigy of the deceased is made in straw, and burnt. On the third day, the ashes are taken to the grave, and buried.[99]
In a note on the Kudiyas of the plains, it is recorded30 that the dead are either burned or buried, the former being the custom in the case of rich men. On the seventh day after cremation or burial, a pandal (booth) is erected over the grave or the place of cremation, and a bleached cloth is spread on it by the washerman. A wick floating in half a cocoanut shell full of oil is then lighted, and placed at each corner of the pandal. The relations of the deceased then gather round the place, and weep, and throw a handful of rice over the spot.
The Kudiyas are fond of toddy, and eat black monkeys, and the big red squirrel, which they catch with snares.
Kudiya caste is one of the many castes subcastes of India.
India has thousands of castes and subcastes, they are in existence and practice since the Vedic times. They were created to solve the problem of division of labor. Kudiya caste name could indicate the type of work people belonging to the Kudiya caste do or did in earlier times. Many last names in India indicate the place the person originally belongs to. All castes sub castes are primarily divided into 4 categories:
1.Brahmins – The learned or priestly class
2.Khastriyas – The warrior class or those with governing functions
3.Vaishyas – The trader, agriculturalists or cattle rearers class
4.Shudra – The class that serves other three categories
Kudiya caste belongs to one of the above 4 categories. Indian caste system is the best system to solve the problem of division of labor. In earlier times there was no rigidity in caste system. Indian caste system is still the best solution for the problem of division of labor, the only change that is needed as per changed times is that rather than having a vertical hierarchical system with Brahmins on top and Shudras at bottom, it would be good to have a horizontal socialist system with Brahmins, Khastriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras all at same level.
The caste system of India is in ruins at present. It is also cause of bloody quarrels in certain parts of the rural India. People of backward castes have reservations in government jobs, this facility is widely misused in India. Many of the backward caste people have become rich and still use the facility for their benefit. Many in India believe reservation in jobs should be given on the basis of poverty rather than caste because there are many poors in upper castes as well.
Many criticize the Indian caste system because of bad material condition of lower castes but if they observe in an unbiased way they would find that there are many in upper castes with bad material conditions. The problem lies in power not in castes, power can corrupt anyone be it from upper caste or lower caste.
All cultures, all countries, all religions have caste system in one form or the other. Christians have different churches depending on the region or language or skin color of people. Muslims have a priestly class that tries to control everything. Arab Muslims before the oil boom were so much divided among tribes that if you drank water from a well of a different tribe you could be shot dead. Tribal divisions still exists among Muslims. You can also see the caste system in a different form in your corporate companies. I had seen different food and drinking facilities for people at different levels.
Kudiya caste is also known as Kudiya Gotra.
Caste situation is quiet different in urban India, people in urban areas especially youngsters don?t bother about castes. Inter caste, inter religious, inter lingual marriages are quiet common in urban India. Inter caste, inter religious and inter lingual marriages in rural areas attract severe criticism and many times people are expelled from community for not marrying as per religious and caste rules.