Castes and Tribes of Southern India/Korono

by Edgar Thurston

Korono.—Karnam, Mr. H. A. Stuart writes,*^[1] "includes both Karnam proper, and also Korono, the accountant caste of Ganjam and Orissa. The following remarks relate solely to the Uriya Koronos. The word Korono is said to be derived from kirani, which means a writer or clerk. The origin of the Koronos is uncertain. One writer says that they are Kayasts of Northern India, who are of Kshatriya origin. Mr. R. C. Dutt says, in his History of Ancient India, that, according to Manu, the Koronos belong to the Kshatriya Vratyas, who do not perform the religious rites. And, in the Raghuvamsa, the poet Kalidasa describes Koronos as the offspring of a Vaisya and a Sudra woman, and he is supported by the lexicographer Amara Sinha. It is said that the ancestors of the Koronos were brought from Northern India by Yayatikesari, King of Orissa (447—526 A.D.), to supply the want of writers and clerks in certain parts of Orissa. The Koronos are worshippers of Vishnu. Their ceremonies are performed with the aid of Brahman priests. The remarriage of widows is not permitted. They eat fish, and the flesh of goats and deer. The Uriya Koronos observe the gosha system, and carry it to such an extent that, after a girl attains puberty, she is not allowed to appear before her elder brother. Their titles are Patnaik and Mahanti."

The heads of the Ganjam villages are, Mr. S. P. Rice informs us, "called Korono, the doer, and Karji, the manager. The Korono, who is really only the accountant, but who, by reason of his higher education, is generally the ultimate authority in the village, appropriates to himself the title Potonaiko, as his caste distinction. The word signifies the Naik or head of the town." It has been noted that "in the Telugu districts, the Karnam is usually a Brāhman. Being in some respects the most intelligent, and the most unpopular man in the village, he is both feared and hated. Murders of accountants, though infrequent, are not unknown." Of proverbs relating to Karnams, the following may be quoted :—

Even if a thousand pagodas are levied from a village, not even a cash will be levied from the Karnam (a pagoda is a gold, and a cash a copper coin).

The Karnam is the cause of the Kapu's (cultivator caste) death.

The hungry Karnam looks into his old accounts (to worry his creditors).

The co-operation of the Karnam is as necessary as the axles to the wheels of a cart.

One Karnam to one village.

A quiet Karnam is as little cared for as a tame elephant.

If a Karnam trusts another, his end is near.

If an enemy is his neighbour; if another Karnam is his superior; if the Kāpu bears complaints against him, a Karnam cannot live on. The Koronos are divided into various sections, e.g., Sishta or Srishti. Vaisya, Majjula, and Matihansa, some of which wear the sacred thread. The Vaisyas are not allowed to marry their girls after puberty, whereas the others may marry them before or after this event. A woman of the Bhōndari caste is employed on the occasion of marriage and other ceremonies, to perform certain duties, for which her services are indispensable.

1. * Madras Census Report, 1891.