ETHNOBOTANICAL ASPECTS OF PLANTS- TRIBULUS TERRESTRIS

Tribulus terrestris, commonly known as Devil's Thorn is a plant belonging to family Zygophyllaceae.  It is distributed in temperate and tropical regions such as Europe, Africa, Asia, New Zealand and Australia. It grows abundantly in  dry deciduous forests, wastelands and road sides. 

Morphology: They are prostrate herbs with opposite leaves. Leaflets are in 4-5 pairs, each leaflet has a length of 1.5 cm. Flowers are golden yellow, with 5 petals, 10 stamens, 5 stigmas and 5 lobed ovary. Fruit has spines. 

Constituents: Spirostanol, furostanol and saponins.

Uses: 

1. Tribulus is used to increase athletic performance, body building etc.

2. They are used to puncture the tyres of bicycles, hence called 'puncture wines'.

3. It is used for kidney problems such as kidney stones.

4. Used as 'diuretic pill' to increase urine production.

5. Used for skin disorders such as eczema, psoriasis and scabies.

6. For heart and circulatory issues such as  high cholesterol.

7. It is used for digestive issues such as flatulence, constipation and intestinal worms.

8. Used for nose tumor and stomatitis (inflammation of mouth).

9. A powerful male sexual stimulant acting as 'herbal Viagra" and improving sperm quality.

10. Female sexual health, to reduce issues with menopause such as hot flushes, depression, negative thinking and emotional stress.

 

ETHNOBOTANICAL ASPECTS OF PLANTS- GLORIOSA SUPERBA

Gloriosa superba is a well known ornamental plant widely cultivated in Indian houses. The plant belongs to family Liliaceae and commonly called as Glory Lily. It is a native to tropical Africa and  tropical Asia. It is a tuberous climbing plant with attractive red flowers with striking wavy yellow margins. It flowers from November to March every year. The plant is toxic in nature and can harm animal life if used in very large quantity, all parts of the plant being poisonous. 

Habitat: A native of tropical Asia and Africa, it is found through out India (from the Himalayas to the Deccan ) . It is found throughout  Western Ghats, Madagascar Islands and Srilanka. 

Morphology: The wines of the plant are tall, though weak stemmed, with tuberous roots. The tips of the leaves are spirally twisted and forms the tendril to climb other plants and elevated objects. Leaves are lanceolate and acuminate. Flowers are large and solitary. Six refxed petals are seen in each flower. The petals hang down during initial stages and become erect when mature. The ovary is exposed and the flower produces five long stamens. 

Components: Colchicines and gloriosines.

Uses: 

1. The poisonous nature of the plant has given a notorious reputation for the plant as it is widely used for suicid purpose. It causes vomiting and stomach ache. 

2. It is used as ornamental plants.

3. Every part of Gloriosa is used  for medicinal purposes.

4. It is used in Ayurveda for ulcers, laxative, abortifacient and leprosy infection.

5. It is also used in piles.

6. Tubers have anti-fertility effect.

ETHNOBOTANICAL ASPECTS OF PLANTS- VITEX NEGUNDO

Vitex negundo, (Chinese chastetree) a member of family Verbenaceae, known commonly as Nirgundi or Kari Nochi, is distributed all over India. 

Habitat: It is common in the riverbanks, road sides etc. It is native of Africa and Asia. Found mostly in India, Burma, Afgan, China, Srilanka, and Malaysia.

Morphology: Vitex is a shrub having a purplish pubescent shade all over. It has aromatic and pale bark. Leaves are 3-5 foliate. Length of leaflet varies from 5-14. Elliptic or lanceolate leaves are seen. Inflorescence is a panicle having length up to 20 cm. Calyx has 5 sepals, corolla is purple in color, upper lip 2-lobes and lower lip 3-lobes. Stamens-4, filaments purple. Style purple, stigma bi-fid and fruit is a purple or black  drupe.

Constituents: Casticin, chrysosplenol and vitexin. 

Uses: 

1. Chasteberry is known as a female remedy, used to reduce sexual desire. Roman wives kept the leaves of chasteberry  on their couches, when their husbands were abroad, that's the reason why the plant is known as chasteberry tree. 

2. The plant is also used in monastries, as it reduced sexual desire, and became a spice food where it was called "Monk's pepper".

3. It is used from ancient times to regularize monthly periods and treat dysmenorrhea. It also eases menopause symptoms. 

4. It reduces ear pain when mixed with mustard oil and used as an ear drop. 

5.   It is supposed to decrease obesity. A spoonful of juice from the leaves of Vitex taken orally for this purpose. 

6. It is used to treat diabetes, in combination with Catharanthus, and Azadirachta.

7. It is a household pesticide an also used in witchcraft. 

8. Herbal shoes are prepared from vitex to treat rheumatism in Chattisgarh, India. 

9. It was used for punishment in ancient China.

10. It is believed to repel 'evil eye' by the Oroan tribe.

11. It is used as a totem plant for defeat in war. The winning army used to wear Cardiospermum halicabacum, while those who lost the war were supposed to wearthe flowers of  Vitex. 

12. Vitex is considered as a biological indicator for the presence of water.

13. It is used as hedge plant, as no animal feeds on it.

14. Fresh leaves are used to mask the smell of rotting meat, when boiled with it.

15. Dry leaves are used for storing woolen garments as they repel insects.

16. Leaves are burnt to repel mosquitoes and other smokes.

17. The Lodha tribe uses dry leaf to repel bedbugs.

18. Green leaves are used as green manure. 

19. It is used as a medicine for several diseases of cattle. 

20. It enhances memory.

21. The leaf paste is applied on the navel and vagina for easy delivery.

22. In Ayurveda it is used to make Nirgundi taila, Nirgundi ghritha etc.

23. There is a local saying, "A man can not die of disease in a place where Vitex, Adathoda and Acorus are found".

ETHNOBOTANICAL ASPECTS OF PLANTS- OCIMUM SANCTUM

Ocimum sanctum, known popularly as Tulsi, belongs to family Lamiaceae and used as medicinal plant for thousands of years. Tulsi is known as the Queen of Herbs. The plant is considered holy by the Hindu religion and conserve the plant in front of the home known as 'thulasithara'.Known also as 'sacred basil' tulsi is widely used in Ayurvedic and Unani systems.

In Ayurveda it is considered 'Elixir of Life', helping millions of people to recover from daily ailments. It is used in cold, cough, head ache, stomach issues and various inflammations. 

Morphology: The plants are herbs or sub shrubs, with purplish hairs on the brachlets. Leaves grows up to 3 cm, elliptic in shape; inflorescence raceme, growing up to 10 cm. Bracts are present, calyx is purple, campanulate corolla with 5 lobes, corolla has sessile dotted glands, and  stamens are usually 4.

Habitat: Being a sacred plant, tulsi is widely cultivated in the houses of the Hindus. The plant occurs from 0 to 2000 m altitude all over the globe. 

Constituents: Leaf has volatile oil composed of eugenol, euginal, urosolic acid, limatrol, estragol and  sitosterol.

Uses:

1. It is a good home remedy against cold, cough, head ache and fever. People use the leaves of tulsi to vapor, or to make tulsi tea to fight cold related diseases. 

2. Recent studies show that tulsi has anti-diabetic properties. It significantly decreases the level of glucose in blood. 

3. Studies in rats have proved that tulsi can reduce the production of stress induced cAMP in cardiac tissues.

4. Mouth ulcers can be cured using tulsi extract and lemon.

5. Tulsi reduces the levels of cholesterol in blood. 

6. It has anti-aging property due to the presence of vitamin C which acts to reduce free radicals.

7. It can treat kidney stones due to diuretic property, thereby decreasing the levels of uric acid in blood.

8. Tulsi helps to kill bacteria and infections. 

9. Eugenol is effective in treating skin diseases.

10. Tulsi can decrease eye infections caused by bacteria, viruses and fungi. It reduces eye inflammation.

11. Tulsi is a natural mouth freshner. It can disinfect oral cavity and prevent dental diseases, dental cavities. It also removes tartar, plaque and bad breath.

ETHNOBOTANICAL ASPECTS OF PLANTS- AZADIRACHTA INDICA (NEEM)

 Azadirachta indica, also known as Neem (Family: Meliaceae), is mainly seen on the Indian subcontinent. It has been extensively used for various ailments from the pre-historic times. The WHO estimates that about 80% of population in the developing countries depends on neem, directly or indirectly. Neem has also been introduced to the Caribbean, South and Central America. 

Morphology: Neem is a medium sized tree, reaching up to 50 meter height. It has a large round shaped crown of up to 20 meter diameter. It is basically evergreen, but sheds leaves during dry season. It has a deep tap root system and depends on mycorrhizae. The bark is usually grey, and produces fissures and flakes. A sticky smelling sap exudate is produced in humid season. 

The branches are many and spreads to all sides. Leaves are alternate, petiolate and seen at the end of the branches. They are pinnate, glabrous (without hairs) and glossy dark green in color.  Ten to twenty leaflets are seen in a compound leaf. The length of the leaflets vary from 5 to 10 cm and sickle shaped. 

Numerous small, white, fragrant flowers are produced in clusters reaching up to 20 cm. Fruit is drupe with thin epicarp, mucilaginous mesocarp and thick endocarp. Seeds contain oil from which neem oil is commercially produced.

Habitat: Natural habitat of neem tree is dry places which are deciduous. The plant can also colonize other habitats. Interestingly it is seen in the riverbanks of Australia and also in Sahara desert, where they use this plant to prevent desertification.  It is a popular shade tree in regions such as Tamil Nadu in India.

Uses: 

1. Neem is highly effective for chronic skin conditions such as psoriasis and eczema. Ring worms and warts are also treated neem extracts. Organic neem oil is the mainly used form of neem. 

2. Sidha medicine uses neem for various skin diseases. 

3. Recently a snake venom inhibitor was isolated from neem leaves.

4. Neem is used in Ayurveda system for treating ulcers and gastric discomforts. It protects the stomach and removes harmful toxins. 

5. It is used for all forms of parasites. Neem kills internal and external parasites. The extract contains hormone like molecules which mimic the hormones of the parasite and interferes its life cycle. They also prevent eggs from hatching. 

6. It also shows anti-inflammatory activity. 

7. Neem is also efficient in treating sexually transmitted diseases. 

8.Recent studies point towards anti-viral activity of neem. It is found to be effective against duck plague virus. 

9. Neem is designated as" the Tree of 21st century" by the United Nations.

    

METHODS IN ETHNOBOTANY

Every branch of science has a methodology, to study and to elaborate knowledge, so does Ethnobotany. The methodological aspects of Ethnobotany includes the following:

1. Field work

2. Herbarium

3. Ancient Literature

4. Archeological findings

5. Sacred places.

FIELD WORK

An ethnobotanical inventory includes field work, that is vising the area of interest and collecting information from the people inhabiting the locality. It is the main and most time consuming part of ethnobotanical study. For a field study, you have to arrange the following things before the study begins:

1. Mode of transportation- Choose an appropriate mode of transportation such as bus, train, flight, private taxi based on the availability of funds. Bike is a cheap mode of transportation when the number of the team is less.

2. Accommodation and food- Most places in the forest do not have any accommodation at all. In such cases a portable tent can be useful. Arranging accommodation at the houses of local people can be an option at some places. Carrying a gasoline travelling stove and some utensils can be very helpful if the field trip is for many days. Van life is a cheaper mode of field study, so that you can save a lot money which otherwise go for staying expenses.

3. Making a route map and travel schedule- You must have prepare a route map and travel schedule. This is essential especially when your field visit involve international destinations and air travel. The early you book ticket, the better. You should decide which are the spots for data collection, so that there is clarity about the entire trip.

4. Essential equipment- Camera, notepad, pen etc are essential for any field trip. 

5. Essential medicines- You can carry personal and essential medicines because medical shops may not be available in forest destinations.

6. Survey questionnaire-  Field work involves surveying native people, so it is essential that we have a set of questions to ask with them. Enlist the important things you would like to ask during the survey part.

Once you are prepared, you can start the field work. The field work involves the following things

1. House surveys- You can visit villages of ethnic communities and ask your queries to the villagers. You may have to visit a few houses, meet people and interact with them. Sometimes many ethnic people will not show interest to share information with you and you can not force anyone to co-operate with you. Be gentle and inform the purpose of your survey. The more people become comfortable they may open up things with you.

2. Plant collection- It is important to collect plants for making herbaria of your trip. Collect twigs of plants with a few leaves and flowers. Use a siccature or blade or scissors for this purpose.

3. Filed notes- Write down the important data you have gathered, such as name of the species, uses, available places, GPS location, vernacular name of the plant,  name of the informant, gender, sex, age, education, which part of the plant is used, how it is used, fresh or dry, how it is administered, for how long the treatment is needed etc.

4. Photography- You can take a few photographs of the locality, people and the plants for future reference. If the villagers are not interested in taking photograph, better leave it. But it is essential that you take photographs of the plants of interest, for later identification purposes.

Most workers do not prefer short term trips for field works, instead they stay there for a year or more live with the people as one among them. This makes them understand and collect two types of data; the cultural data and scientific data. They keep a research diary in hand to record day to day progress of work. Interviews can be recorded using devices for future reference. 

HERBARIUM PREPARATION

Herbaria are dry plant specimens collected from the field and stored for future reference, identification etc. It was Luca Ghini in the 16th century who started the practice of making herbaria and it is still one of the important methodologies used in plant taxonomy, morphology, economic botany and ethnobotany. You can visit the international herbarium at Royal Botanical Garden, Kew by clicking the link. The Central National Herbarium is located at Calcutta.

You may need knife, blade, scissors, plastic bags, field book and vasculum for the purpose of collecting the plants. A suitable twig will be collected and stored in the vasculum until reaching a proper place for pressing the plants. Bloating papers are used to dry the specimens, which will be kept in a wooden or metallic press. The pressed materials are to be checked after 24 hours and the bloating papers are replaced. A drier can be used to dry the specimens. To avoid fungal and insect attacks formalin, mercuric chloride, naphthalene balls etc. are used

Mounting of the dried specimens will be carried out using standard herbarium sheets. Glues such as Fevicol can be used for this purpose. Labels have to pasted on the herbarium sheets to display information such as name of the species, place of collection, date of collection, morphological notes, name of the collector etc. 

Storage of the herbarium sheets can be done in wooden or metallic cabinets arranged in alphabetical order.  

ANCIENT LITERATURE

Ethnobotany gathers a lot of benefits from ancient literature as it deals with information from the lives of ancient people. Examples of ancient literature used in Ethnobotany include Charaka samhitha, Vrikshayurveda, Ashtanga Hridayam etc.

Charaka samhitha is a sankrit text of ayurveda written by Charaka (100-500 AD). The text has eight books and a total of 120 chapters. Sushrutha samhitha was composed by Sushrutha (200-500 AD). It has 186 chapters and deals with 1120 diseases, 700 medicinals plants, 57 animal resources and 64 mineral resources. Ashtanga hridaya is one of the most important foundations of Ayurveda and said to have written by  ancient sage Vagbhata. 

Van Rheede (1678- 1693) compiled Hortus malabaricus with the help of Collatt Vaidyan and Itty Achuthan, which deals with the important plants of Malabar. Ezhava community contributed some important texts such as Yogamritham by Uppott Kannan, Oushadhi Nighandu by Thayyil Kumaran Krishnan and Keralaramam by Itty Achuthan.

Hippocrates, the Father of Medicine, documented 200 plants of medicinal importance.

ARCHEOLOGICAL FINDINGS

The relationship with ancient people and plants are dealt in Archaeobotany based on the plant remains found from ancient locations. Archaeobotanical samples are of two types- Micro-botanical remains and macro-botanical remains based on the size of the material. Macro-botanical studies include seeds, fruits, nuts, wood charcoal etc. Micro-botanical remains are mainly pollen, phytoliths, starch and diatoms.

SACRED PLACES

Humans worshipped natural forces from the pre-historic times, believing that nature punishes for bad deeds and offered specific materials such as flowers and fruits to impress the deities. Sacred grove system and temple systems have evolved from this concept. Plants are conserved in sacred groves. Plants fall into the following categories based on it's uses in sacred places; 

1. Plants used in temple rituals throughout the year- Tulsi, Koovalam

2. Plants whose flowers and leaves are offered and planted near temple premises- Ixora, 

3. Fruit trees whose fruits are used for temple functions- Annona, Mango

4. Plants used to make sacred fire in Homa ritual- Calophyllum, Ricinus

5. Plants used to make temple dishes, prasada etc- banana, sugar cane, grapes

6- Plants used to make utensils and decoration- Polyalthia, Musa, Santalum.

All the best!

Shijith Puthan Purayil

ECOSYSTEMS: AN INTRODUCTION

 Ecosystem is a broad term which includes all organisms and the environment they live, i.e. it includes all living and non living things, and their interactions. In other words it is a community of organisms along with their physical environment. The study of ecosystems is called Ecology. It was Sir A G Tansley, who was an English Botanist, who introduced the concept of 'Ecosystem". The living and non-living components of the ecosystems are interlinked by means of energy transfer and biogeochemical cycles. Ecosystem can be defined as 'the living community of plants, animals and microbes in an area and their surrounding environment such as soil, air and water.' The basic living components of the ecosystem are producers, consumers and decomposers.

Ecosystems are broadly divided into terrestrial or land based ecosystems, and aquatic ecosystems in water.

1. AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS

Aquatic ecosystems are water based ecosystems in which water acts as the surrounding environment for the living organisms. Aquatic ecosystems are further classified in to the following categories. - marine ecosystem, estuarine ecosystem and freshwater ecosystem, based on the salinity of water.

Marine ecosystem: When the salinity of the water is equal or more than 35ppt (parts per thousand), the ecosystem is considered to be marine. 

Freshwater ecosystem: When the salinity is 0.5 ppt or less, it is considered as freshwater ecosystem.

Estuarine ecosystem: When the salinity keeps varying between 0.5 to 30 ppt it is considered to be estuarine.

2. TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEMS

All the ecosystems which are seen on the land are called terrestrial ecosystems. They can be further divided based on the the types of plants and animals inhabiting. Some features of terrestrial organisms are the following; they are exposed directly to air, hence developed respiratory system for gaseous exchange; the plants have extensive root system for finding water in the soil and absorbing it; animals have developed mechanisms to combat with heat or cold.

Forest ecosystem: Terrestrial ecosystem in which trees are the dominant vegetation. They can be further subdivided into tropical forests, temperate forests and boreal forests.

Grassland ecosystem: When the vegetation is dominated by grasses, the ecosystem is called grassland ecosystem. They can be further divided into tropical grasslands and temperate grasslands. Tropical grasslands are called savannah and temperate grasslands are called prairies, steppes, pampas, veldts etc. in different places.

Desert ecosystem: Desert is a region which receives very less rainfall, which is usually less than 25 cm per year. There are two types of deserts: hot deserts and cold deserts.

ECOLOGICAL PYRAMIDS

 Ecological pyramids are graphical representations of the trophic structure in an ecosystem. The major trophic levels in an ecosystem are the following;

1. Producers

2. Primary consumers

3. Secondary consumers

4. Tertiary consumers

5. Decomposers

Producers are green plants and algae which have the potential to fix atmospheric carbon dioxide and make glucose through a process called photosynthesis. 

Primary consumers are the animals which eat the green plants and algae. They are called herbivores, for example cow, rabbit, goat, deer.

Secondary consumers are the animals which prey upon herbivores. For example, Fox, dog, cat

Tertiary consumers are those animals which prey upon all animals irrespective of trophic levels, such as lion, tiger and hawk.

Decomposers are organisms which decay the dead organic matter formed by the death of organism, leaf fall etc. For example, fungi and microbes.

The energy trapped by green plants is transferred to primary consumers, then to secondary consumers and then to tertiary consumers. There is an energy loss at each level, which means only 10% of energy from one trophic level is transferred to the next. This is called 10% Rule. 

For example, if a producer has 1000 calories of energy, then the herbivore will get only 100 calories. When the herbivore is eaten by primary carnivores, they get only 10 calories. Finally the top carnivores will get only 1 calorie. At each trophic level, 90% of energy is lost for activities such as respiration, movement etc.

The following diagram explains the concept.

Ecological pyramids are of different types as given below.

1. Pyramid of Number: Graphical representation of number of organisms at each trophic level is called pyramid of number.

2. Pyramid of Energy: When the energy level of each trophic level is represented in an ecological pyramid, it is called pyramid of energy.

3. Pyramid of Biomass: When the biomass of organisms at each trophic level is represented in an ecological pyramid, it is called pyramid of biomass.

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HARDY-WEINBERG EQUILIBRIUM

 Hardy- Weinberg Equilibrium deals with the distribution of mendelian genes in a population of sexually reproducing individuals. 

The following are the main assumptions of the theory.

1. Allele frequencies in a population do not change from generation to generation. 

2. If the allele frequencies in a population with two alleles  at a locus are p and q, the distribution of the different allele combination will be p2, 2pq and q2. This frequency dostribution will not change from generation to generation, once the population is in Hardy Weinberg equilibrium.

p2+2pq+q2 = 1

also, p+q = 1

Where p2 (pp) is the frequency of homozygous dominant, 2pq is the frequency of heterozygous and q2 (qq) is the frequency of homozygous recessive. 

The above said conclusions of the Hardy- Weinberg equilibrium is applicable only under the following five conditions.

1. Natural selection is not operative in the population i.e., nature is not favoring a particular allele so that its frequency is not increasing in the population.

2. Mutation is not occurring, so that the formation of new alleles is prevented, which may other wise alter the frequency of the existing alleles.

3. Migration is not occurring, so that there is no inflow or out flow alleles from other places.

4. Population size is infinite, so that genetic drift is not happening. Genetic drift is the variation in gene frequency that occurs due to low number of individuals, as some fail to reproduce or does not perform in the expected ways.

5.Individuals in the population mate randomly, so that there is no bias to particular traits. 

FOOD CHAIN AND FOOD WEB

 The process of life on earth follows a similar pattern for all organisms. All life forms require energy to run its day to day activities such as movement, communication, seeing and hearing. The ultimate source of energy for all living organisms is sun. The solar energy from the sun is trapped by the photosynthesizing plants, which are called as producers. Plants can trap up to 2% of solar energy reaching the earth. The light  energy trapped by plants is converted and stored as chemical energy in the form of biomolecules such as starch, glucose etc. 

SUN--------> LIGHT ENERGY---------> PLANTS---------PHOTOSYNTHEIS--------> CHEMICAL ENERGY

The herbivores eat photosynthesizing plants such as grasses, herbs etc. These herbivores which directly depend upon plants are called primary consumers. For example, grass hopper, rabbit, cow, goat. The herbivores are eaten by carnivores, such as snake, frog and lizard. These carnivores are eaten by large carnivores such as lion, tiger and hawk. Finally when all these organisms die, the dead body is eaten by detrivore animals such as millipedes, dung flies, worms etc or decayed by fungi and bacteria. 

This linear chain of organisms in the ecosystems, which are connected to each other by the process of eating and being eaten is called food chain.

The following are examples;

Maize---> Locust---> Lizard---> Snake

Corn--> Rat--> Owl.

Carrot-->Rabbit-->Fox--> Lion

Food chains are of two types:

1. Grazing food chain- The food chain that starts from  green plants and depend on solar radiation is called grazing food chain. Most of the food chains in the ecosystems are of this type.

2. Detritus food chain- The food chain that starts from a dead organic matter and less dependent on solar energy is termed detritus food chain. This mainly involves microbes, detrivores and their predators.

FOOD WEB 

In nature, we cannot find linear food chains, because organisms eat multiple types of food and eaten by different types of animals. In real, the process of eating and being eaten forms a web or organisms which are interdependent and forms a cluster of different food chains so that an interconnecting food web is formed. 

A food web is a collective representation of all food chains in an ecosystem.

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MAJOR AND MINOR ETHNIC GROUPS OF INDIA -Part I

People of India Project was launched by Anthropological Survey of India on 2 October  1985. The objective of the project was to enlist all the communities of India. It was found that 4635 communities exist in India and reported 461 tribal ethnic communities. Nearly 40 endogenous tribes exist in the Western Ghat region.

Major ethnic communities of the Western Ghat region:

1. Kanis 

Kanis or Kanikkars, a major tribe of the southern Western Ghats dustributed in Tamilnadu and Kerala states of India. They inhabit the hill ranges in villages consisting of 5-55 families. The total number of individuals range from 1200 to 2000. Some of them are hunter-gatherers. They also collect honey from the forest, involve in inland fishing and cultivate crops. They use around 350 plants. The most important among them is Trichopus zeylanicus known popularly as "arogya pacha' in malayalam, which is considered equal to chinese ginseng.

2. Kurichyas

Kurichyas are an important tribe in Kerala, living in Wayanad and adjacent areas of Kannur. They form nearly 10% of tribal population of Kerala. They are specialist in archery and martial arts. They fought against the British during the Pazhassi rule of North Malabar. They live in clusters called mittam or tharavadu, their head is known as Karanavar or pittan. They are matrilineal society. They worship goddess Kaali. They bury the dead and speak 'kurichya' language. There are nearly 30000 members in Kurichya community. They use nealy 110 plants for varous purposes. At present they are living by means of agricukture

3. Paniyas

Paniya community inhabit Wayanad of Kerala and Nilgiris of Tamilnadu. They are short, dark-skinned, and have curly hairs. They are considered to be of African origin, but some workers disagree it. Traditionally they have been bonded laborers often treated as slaves and sold along with plantations by the owners. They have excellent knowledge in agricultural and ethnomedicinal practices. They live in bamboo huts and they form 22% of the tribals in Kerala. They cultivate cardamom, pepper, ginger, coffee etc. Women wear large ear rings made of palm leaf rolls. They practice animism, but also worship Bhagavati.

4. Pulayas

Pulaya community, also known as Cheruma, is one of the ancient tribal communities of Kerala. They are short, black, have long mandibles and with flat nose. They were basically hunter gatherers and supposed to be the first land owners of the area. They claim to be descendants of  the Chera dynasty, indicating their name 'cheruma'. They have excellent knowledge in agricultural practices. They worship in sacred groves or 'kavu' and deities include Kaali and Chaathan'. They also worship ancestral spirits.

5. Cholanaikkars

Cholanaikkar is one of the earliest tribes in Kerala. They are also called as "Malanaikkar" and their number is only 360 as per census. Their name is supposed to have evolved from Chola= Shola forest as they inhabit forest areas and naikkar means king. They are found in Silent Valley region of Kerala. They form one of the last hunter gatherer communities of southern India. They are short, well built and dark complexioned. They live rock shelters called 'Kallulai" and live in groups called "Chemmam".

6. Kadars

Kadar community is found in the Anamalais of Tamilnadu and Western Ghats of Kerala. They are one of the most ancient tribal communities of India. They live deep inside forests, hence called 'Kadars'. They are hunter gatherers. As per the latest census, there are 650 members in the Kadar community and classified by UNESCO as Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group -PTG- that they are at the verge of extinction. The huts of Kadars are located in hill slopes. Each village has 15 huts made of bamboo. their weekly markets are called 'sandhi'. They make many items of bamboo, such as bamboo vessels. They collect honey and other forest products. They are patriarchial society, the bridegroom should gift a comb made of bamboo during the marriage ceremony. They wear ''thali' in a black beaded chain.They follow animism and worship some trees. Recently in 2019, they have been in news for their popular protest "Ithu Enkal Adaavi", against evacuating them from forest. 

7.Todas

Toda community live in the Nilgiri region of Tamilnadu and considered as a PTG by the UNESCO. Tode is the sacred tree of Todas from which their name is evolved. They claim themselves as descendants of Pandavas. Their language is 'toduvam'. Their huts are rainbow-shaped and have a very small entrance to avoid cold weather. Their village is 'Othaikkal mundu'. There are 75 mundus at Nilgiri with around 2000 people. Buffalo rearing is their profession, and they are pure vegetarians. Their ritual involve buffalo sacrifice. They are specialists in embroidery and the shal they make is called Puthukkuli'

8. Kotas

Kota tribe is also a PTG tribe and they inhabit in the Nilgiri hills of Tamilnadu. As per the last census their number is only 308. Kota village is called Kokkal and huts are called pai. They speak kota language. They are very good musicians and artisans. They worship Kambattarayan and kaali.

9. Kurumbas

Kuruumba tribe lives in Wayanad district of Kerala and Nilgiris of Tamilnad. They live in 5-6 families in small villages called 'motta' or kombai'. They are known for black magic and witch craft. They were basically hunter gatherers and shepherds. Now they work in plantations. Their language is called kurumba. They cultivate ragi and other millets. They have rich musical tradition.Women tattoo their forehead and use soapnut for bathing. The muthali or ejaman is the head of the village. Meeting of villagers is called Urukkoottam.

10. Irulas

Irula tribe is distributed in three states, Kerala, Tamilnadu and Karnataka. Traditionally they are snake catchers, rat catchers and honey collectors. They are popular after the release of the movie, Jai Bhim, which portrays the struggles of Irula life.

Shijith Puthan Purayil