The Hill Arrians of India

Abstract

AT a recent meeting of the Anthropological Society of Bombay, a paper was read by the Rev. A. F. Painter on the Hill Arrians, who live along the slopes of the Western Ghats in the Native State of Travancore, between Quilon in the south and the Travancore-Cochin boundary line in the north. They differ considerably from the ordinary hill tribes of India, and Mr. Painter considers them as Dravidian rather than Kolarian. In colour many of them are remarkably fair. The men average 5 feet 6 inches in height. Their features are, as a rule, well formed. The lips are thin and the nose frequently aquiline. Their villages are situated at a height between 2000 and 500 feet above sea-level. The houses are generally built of split bamboo and mud with grass thatching, but wooden houses such as those used by the inhabitants of the plains are not uncommon. They cultivate the surrounding lands with rice and vegetables.