Demographics
According to the 2011 census of India, Kodagu has a population of 554,762, roughly equal to the Solomon Islands or the U.S. state of Wyoming. This ranks it 539 out of 640 districts in India in terms of population. The district has a population density of 135 inhabitants per square kilometre (350 /sq mi). Its population growth rate over the decade 2001–2011 was 1.13%. Kodagu has a sex ratio of 1019 females for every 1000 males, and a literacy rate of 82.52%.
Kodagu is home to many communities with diverse ethnic origins, with Kodavas being the main ethnic group. The ancient folk songs sing of the numerous Kodavas and the much lesser-numbered other communities and social relationship with Kodavas, who were the natives of Kodagu. Other prominent communities are the Kodagu Gowda and Muslims. Kodava and Are Bhashe are the spoken languages native to Kodagu; however, both use the Kannada script for literature. Airi, Male-Kudiya, Meda, Kembatti, Kapal, Maringi, Heggade, Kavadi, Kolla, Thatta, Koleya, Koyava, Banna, Golla, Kanya, Ganiga, and Malaya are other castes native to Kodagu who speak Kodava. Many of these communities had migrated into Kodagu from the Malabar Coast region during the Haleri dynasty. There are also a number of tribes such as the Yeravas, Kurubas and Kudiyas, who are of hunter-gatherer forest origin.
One-fifth of a total population of over 500,000 are the Kodava community, which speak Kodava. The Kodavas Hindus are traditionally ancestor worshippers with a martial tradition, hence may be called Kshatriyas. In Kodagu, the Kodavas were owners of land, the caste of Kembatti Poleya, were the farm labourers who worked for them. They are not vegetarians, but they do not eat beef. They are polytheists and believe in a number of deities. The chief deities are Bhagwathi (Parvati), Mahadeva (Shiva), Muthappan, Bhadrakali (a form of Parvati as Kali or Durga), Subramani (Subramanya) and Ayyappa. Iggutappa, the most important local god, is an incarnation of Subramani, the god of snakes, rain, harvest and rice. Amma Kodavas live in the southern parts of Kodagu and follow some of the Brahmin customs. They were the progeny of intercaste marriages between Brahmins and Kodavas during former times. They belong to 44 family names and two gothras. Unlike other Kodavas they are vegetarians, they abstain from alcohol, wear the sacred thread and study the Vedas. Otherwise they follow the Kodava habits and customs, dress like other Kodavas and speak Kodava Takk. They are also known as Kaveri Brahmins.
The Yerava also live in adjacent Kerala, where they are known as the Adiya, and are primarily Hindu farm-labourers. They speak their own Yerava dialect. The Kurbas were forest hunter-gatherers who are now farm-labourers. They speak their own dialect and belong to two subcastes – Jenu, who are honey-gatherers, and Betta, who are hill-dwellers and good elephant captors, trainers and mahouts. Among other communities are: the Heggades, cultivators from Malabar; the Ayiri, who constitute the artisan caste; the Medas, who are basket and mat-weavers and act as drummers at feasts; the Binepatta, originally wandering musicians from Malabar, now farmers; and the Kavadi, cultivators from Yedenalknad. The Kudiya are of Malabarese tribe origin, they were toddy-makers. All these groups speak the Kodava language and conform generally to Kodava customs and dress.
The Arebhashe gowdas, or Kodagu Gowdas, and Tulu Gowdas, are a major ethnic group in the Kodagu and some parts of Dakshina Kannada. More than half of the population in Madikeri taluk consists of Gowdas, they are almost fully occupied in Virajpet and Somwarpet taluks of Kodagu and Sullia, Puttur, Subramanya of Dakshina Kannada. Guddemane Appaiah Gowda along with many other freedom fighters revolted against the British in an armed struggle which covered entire Kodagu and Dakshina Kannada. This was one of the earliest freedom movement against the British called "Amara Sulliada Swantantrya Sangraama" ("Amara Sulya Dhange" formally called by the British) started in 1837.
Kodagu is home to a sizeable population of Muslims. Those who speak Urdu and are of Persian (or sometimes Arab or Afghan) origins call themselves Sheikhs but are locally known as the Turks (Turqa). They settled when the Mysore sultans ruled Kodagu. Those of South Indian origins are either known as the Mappilla or as the Beary. Descendants of Kodava Hindus converted by Tipu Sultan into Islam are called Kodava Mappilla, or Jamma Mappillas (not to be confused with the more numerous Kerala Moplahs). Muslims from the Malabar coast, the Mappilas (Kerala Moplahs), have also been present as traders and entrepreneurs. Of the Muslims, the most numerous are the Mappilas, who emigrated from Kerala, the Sheikhs, the Tulunad origin Beary community and then the Kodava Mapillas. A small number of Mangalorean Catholics are also found in Kodagu. They are mostly descended from those Konkani Catholics who fled the roundup and later, captivity by Tippu Sultan. These immigrants were welcomed by Raja Virarajendra (himself a former captive of Tippu Sultan, having escaped six years of captivity in 1788) who realizing their usefulness and expertise as agriculturists, gave them lands and tax breaks and built a church for them. There is a sizeable population of the Lingayat people and the majority of them are in the taluk of Somwarpet. There are also about 52 Lingayat mathas in the district which have taken up the social service like free education and boarding to those children from the vulnerable sections of the society.
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