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 Accounting Information Systems, 9e—Test Bank, Chapter 8

Chapter 8—Financial Reporting, and Management Reporting Systems

TRUE/FALSE

1. The most common means of making entries in the general ledger is via the journal voucher.

ANS: T PTS: 1

2. Individuals with access authority to general ledger accounts should not prepare journal
vouchers.

ANS: T PTS: 1

3. The journal voucher is the document that authorizes entries to be made to the general ledger.

ANS: T PTS: 1

4. Each account in the chart of accounts has a separate record in the general ledger master file.

ANS: T PTS: 1

5. The responsibility center file is primarily used by the Financial Reporting System.

ANS: F PTS: 1

6. Management reporting is often called discretionary reporting because it is not mandated as is

financial reporting.

ANS: T PTS: 1

7. Primary recipients of financial statement information are internal management.

ANS: F PTS: 1

8. The Management Reporting System is a nondiscretionary system.

ANS: F PTS: 1

9. When evaluating decision alternatives, one option is to take no action.

ANS: T PTS: 1

10. In most cases intangible decision criteria can be quantified.

ANS: F PTS: 1

© 2015 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in
a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use.
 Accounting Information Systems, 9e—Test Bank, Chapter 8

11. Strategic decision are subordinate to tactical planning decisions.

ANS: F PTS: 1

12. Responsibility refers to an individual’s obligation to achieve desired results.

ANS: T PTS: 1

13. A firm with a wide span of control tends to have relatively more layers of management.

ANS: F PTS: 1

14. The control function entails evaluating a process against a standard and, if necessary, taking
corrective action.

ANS: T PTS: 1

15. Standards are the basis for evaluating actual performance.

ANS: T PTS: 1

16. A report is said to have information content if it eliminates uncertainty associated with a
problem facing the decision maker.

ANS: F PTS: 1

17. An inventory out-of-stock report is an example of a programmed, on-demand report.

ANS: T PTS: 1

18. A principle of responsibility accounting is that managers are responsible for controllable and
uncontrollable costs.

ANS: F PTS: 1

19. The manager of a cost center is responsible for cost control and revenue generation.

ANS: F PTS: 1

20. Designing an effective management reporting system does not require an understanding of the
information managers need to deal with the problems they face.

ANS: F PTS: 1

© 2015 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in
a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use.
 Accounting Information Systems, 9e—Test Bank, Chapter 8

21. The formalization of tasks principle suggests that management should structure the firm
around the unique skills sets of key individuals.

ANS: F PTS: 1

22. If a manager delegates responsibility to a subordinate, he or she must also grant the
subordinate authority to make decisions.

ANS: T PTS: 1

23. Operational control involves motivating managers at all levels to use resources, including
materials, personnel, and financial assets, as productively as possible.

ANS: F PTS: 1

24. XBRL taxonomies are classification schemes that are compliant with the XBRL specifications
to accomplish a specific information exchange.

ANS: T PTS: 1

25. An income statement is an example of an XBRL instance document.

ANS: T PTS: 1

MULTIPLE CHOICE

1. Which statement is not true?

a. The journal voucher is the only source of input into the general ledger.
b. A journal voucher can be used to represent summaries of similar transactions or a single
unique transaction.
c. Journal vouchers are not used to make adjusting entries and closing entries in the general
ledger.
d. Journal vouchers offer a degree of control against unauthorized general ledger entries.

ANS: C PTS: 1

2. Entries into the General Ledger System (GLS) can be made using information from
a. the general journal
b. a journal voucher which represents a summary of similar transactions
c. a journal voucher which represents a single, unusual transaction
d. all of the above

ANS: D PTS: 1

© 2015 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in
a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use.
 Accounting Information Systems, 9e—Test Bank, Chapter 8

3. Which statement is not correct? The general ledger master file

a. is based on the firm’s chart of account
b. contains a record for control accounts
c. is an output of the Financial Reporting System (FRS)
d. supplies information for management decision making

ANS: C PTS: 1

4. What type of data is found in the general ledger master file?

a. a chronological record of all transactions
b. the balance of each account in the chart of accounts
c. budget records for each account in the chart of accounts
d. subsidiary details supporting a control account

ANS: B PTS: 1

5. Which report is not an output of the Financial Reporting System (FRS)?

a. variance analysis report
b. statement of cash flows
c. tax return
d. comparative balance sheet

ANS: A PTS: 1

6. Which steps in the Financial Accounting Process are in the correct sequence?
a. record the transaction, post to the ledger, prepare the adjusted trial balance, enter
adjusting entries, prepare financial statements
b. record the transaction, prepare the unadjusted trial balance, record adjusting
journal entries, record closing entries, prepare financial statements
c. record the transaction, post to the ledger, record adjusting entries, prepare the
unadjusted trial balance, prepare financial statements
d. record the transaction, post to the ledger, prepare the adjusted trial balance, prepare
financial statements, record closing entries

ANS: D PTS: 1

© 2015 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in
a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use.
 Accounting Information Systems, 9e—Test Bank, Chapter 8

7. Which statement is not correct?

a. the post-closing trial balance reports the ending balance of each account in the
general ledger
b. one purpose of preparing the unadjusted trial balance is to ensure that debits equal
credits
c. financial statements are prepared based on the unadjusted trial balance
d. the unadjusted trial balance reports control account balances but omits subsidiary
ledger detail

ANS: C PTS: 1

8. What account appears on the post-closing trial balance?

a. income summary
b. Machinery
c. rent expense
d. interest income

ANS: B PTS: 1

9. Financial statements are prepared from the

a. trial balance
b. adjusted trial balance
c. general ledger
d. general journal

ANS: B PTS: 1

10. Risk exposures in the General Ledger and Financial Reporting Systems include all of the
following except
a. defective audit trail
b. unauthorized access to the general ledger
c. loss of physical assets
d. general ledger account out of balance with the subsidiary account

ANS: C PTS: 1

11. Which situation indicates an internal control risk in the General Ledger/Financial Reporting
Systems (GL/FRS)?
a. the employee who maintains the cash journal computes depreciation expense
b. the cash receipts journal voucher is approved by the Treasurer
c. the cash receipts journal vouchers are prenumbered and stored in a locked safe
d. the employee who maintains the cash receipts journal records transactions in the
accounts receivable subsidiary ledger

ANS: D PTS: 1

© 2015 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in
a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use.
 Accounting Information Systems, 9e—Test Bank, Chapter 8

12. With a limited work force and a desire to maintain strong internal control, which combination
of duties performed by a single individual presents the least risk exposure?
a. maintaining the inventory ledger and recording the inventory journal voucher in
the general ledger
b. recording the inventory journal voucher in the general ledger and maintaining
custody of inventory
c. maintaining the cash disbursements journal and recording direct labor costs
applied to specific jobs
d. preparing the accounts payable journal voucher and recording it in the general
ledger

ANS: C PTS: 1

13. Operational control decisions

a. set the goals and objectives for the firm
b. involve motivating managers to use resources as productively as possible.
c. are more focused than tactical decisions
d. have a fairly high degree of uncertainty

ANS: C PTS: 1

14. Which of the following is not a report attribute needed to make a report effective?
a. relevance
b. accuracy
c. detailed
d. exception orientation

ANS: C PTS: 1

15. XBRL
a. is the basic protocol that permits communication between Internet sites.
b. controls Web browsers that access the Web.
c. is the document format used to produce Web pages.
d. was designed to provide the financial community with a standardized method for
preparing
e. is a low-level encryption scheme used to secure transmissions in higher-level
(HTTP) format.

ANS: D PTS: 1

© 2015 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in
a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use.
 Accounting Information Systems, 9e—Test Bank, Chapter 8

16. An XBRL taxonomy:

a. is the document format used to produce web pages.
b. is the final product (report).
c. is a classification scheme.
d. is a tag stored in each database record.
e. none of the above is true.

ANS: C PTS: 1

17. A characteristic of the Management Reporting System (MRS) is

a. the MRS operates in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles
b. it is a legal requirement that the MRS be installed and functioning properly
c. the MRS is developed by implementing SEC requirements
d. the MRS focuses on internal decision-making information

ANS: D PTS: 1

18. Which statement is not true?

a. authority refers to an individual’s obligation to achieve desired results
b. if an employee is given the responsibility for a task, that employee should be given
authority to make decisions within the limits of that task
c. the level of detail provided to an employee is a function of the employee’s position
with the firm
d. all of the above are true

ANS: A PTS: 1

19. Which statement is not true? The manager’s span of control

a. is narrow for routine and repetitive tasks
b. is related to the number of layers of management
c. affects the amount of detail provided to a manager
d. can affect employee morale and motivation

ANS: A PTS: 1

20. Short-range planning involves

a. setting goals and objectives of the firm
b. planning the production schedule for the next quarter
c. planning the growth of the firm
d. deciding on the degree of diversification among the firm’s products

ANS: B PTS: 1
© 2015 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in
a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use.
 Accounting Information Systems, 9e—Test Bank, Chapter 8

21. Long-range planning involves

a. planning the marketing and promotion for a product
b. presenting department heads with budgetary goals for the next year
c. preparing a work force utilization budget for the next quarter
d. deciding the optimum size of the firm

ANS: D PTS: 1

22. The level of management that makes tactical planning decisions is

a. top management
b. middle management
c. operations management
d. front-line management

ANS: B PTS: 1

23. The decision to enter a new market is an example of

a. strategic planning
b. tactical planning
c. management control
d. operational control

ANS: A PTS: 1

24. All of the following are elements of operational control decisions except
a. determining the scope of the activity
b. setting operating standards
c. evaluating performance
d. taking corrective action when necessary

ANS: A PTS: 1

25. In contrast to tactical planning decisions, management control decisions, and operational
control decisions, strategic planning decisions usually
a. are more focused
b. have a shorter time frame
c. are unstructured
d. have a high degree of certainty

ANS: C PTS: 1

© 2015 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in
a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use.
 Accounting Information Systems, 9e—Test Bank, Chapter 8

26. Which of the following management principles affects the management reporting system?
a. formalization of tasks
b. authorization
c. span of control
d. all of the above

ANS: D PTS: 1

27. All of the following are elements of problem structure except

a. certainty
b. data
c. procedures
d. objectives

ANS: A PTS: 1

28. All of the following are examples of programmed reports except

a. cash flow reports for Division B
b. year-to-date local income tax payments made by all employees living in City X
and working in City Y
c. inventory exception reports for Division G
d. equipment utilization reports for Plant M

ANS: B PTS: 1

29. A fundamental principle of responsibility accounting is that

a. managers are accountable only for items they control
b. a manager’s span of control should not exceed eight people
c. structured reports should be prepared weekly
d. the information flow is in one direction, top-down

ANS: A PTS: 1

30. Which statement is not true? Responsibility accounting

a. involves both a top-down and bottom-up flow of information
b. acknowledges that some economic events cannot be traced to any manager
c. creates a budget
d. compares actual performance with budget

ANS: B PTS: 1

© 2015 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in
a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use.
 Accounting Information Systems, 9e—Test Bank, Chapter 8

31. What mechanism is used to convey to managers the standards by which their performance
will be measured?
a. the responsibility report
b. the scheduled report
c. the budget
d. all of the above

ANS: C PTS: 1

32. All of the following concepts encourage goal congruence except

a. detailed information reporting
b. authority
c. formalization of tasks
d. responsibility

ANS: A PTS: 1

33. Which of the following statements is NOT true?

a. XML stands for eXperimental Markup Language.
b. XML is a is a meta-language for describing markup languages.
c. Unlike HTML, XML is capable of storing data in relational form.
d. Any markup language can be created using XML

ANS: A PTS: 1

34. Which file has as its primary purpose to present comparative financial reports on a historic
basis?
a. journal voucher history file
b. budget master file
c. responsibility file
d. general ledger history file

ANS: D PTS: 1

35. All of the following are characteristics of the strategic planning process except the
a. emphasis on both the short and long run.
b. review of the attributes and behavior of the organization’s competition.
c. analysis of external economic factors.
d. analysis of consumer demand.

ANS: A PTS: 1

© 2015 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in
a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use.
 Accounting Information Systems, 9e—Test Bank, Chapter 8

36. Which of the following performance measures cannot result in dysfunctional behavior?
a. price variance
b. quotas
c. ROI
d. net income
e. all of the above can result in dysfunctional behavior

ANS: E PTS: 1

37. Which of the following best describes a profit center:

a. authority to make decisions affecting the major determinants of profit, including
the power to choose its markets and sources of supply.
b. authority to make decisions affecting the major determinants of profit, including
the power to choose its markets and sources of supply, and significant control over
the amount of invested capital.
c. authority to make decisions over the most significant costs of operations, including
the power to choose the sources of supply.
d. authority to provide specialized support to other units within the organization.
e. responsibility for combining the raw materials, direct labor, and other factors of
production into a final product.

ANS: A PTS: 1

38. XRLB reporting:

a. must be used by banks to file required quarterly “Call Reports”
b. is used substantially both in the US and internationally.
c. facilitates the fulfillment of legal requirements stipulated in SOX.
d. All of the above.
e. None of the above.

ANS: D PTS: 1

© 2015 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in
a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use.
 Accounting Information Systems, 9e—Test Bank, Chapter 8

SHORT ANSWER

1. List, in order, the steps in the Financial Reporting Process.

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.

ANS:
1. Capture the transaction.
2. Record in special journals.
3. Post to subsidiary ledger.
4. Post to general ledger (using journal vouchers).
5. Prepare unadjusted trial balance.
6. Make adjusting entries.
7. Journalize and post adjusting entries.
8. Prepare adjusted trial balance.
9. Prepare financial statements.
10. Journalize and post the closing entries.
11. Prepare the post-closing trial balance.

PTS: 1

2. List two duties that individuals with access authority of GL accounts should not have.

ANS:
record-keeping responsibility for special journals or subsidiary ledgers;
preparation of journal vouchers; custody of physical assets

PTS: 1

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a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use.
 Accounting Information Systems, 9e—Test Bank, Chapter 8

3. Explain the purpose and contents of the general ledger master file.

ANS:
The general ledger master file is the main file on the general ledger database. It is based on the
firm’s chart of accounts. Each record is either a general ledger account (e.g., sales) or a
control account (e.g., the accounts payable control) for one of the subsidiary ledgers. The
general ledger master file contains the following for each account: the account number,
description, account class (e.g., asset), the normal balance (debit or credit), beginning balance,
total debits for period, total credits for period, and current balance.

PTS: 1

4. What is XML?

ANS:
XML (eXtensible Markup Language) is a meta-language for describing markup languages.
The term extensible means that any markup language can be created using XML. This
includes the creation of markup languages capable of storing data in relational form, where
tags (formatting commands) are mapped to data values.

PTS: 1

5. Define and discuss the journal voucher.

ANS:
The source of input to the general ledger is the journal voucher. A voucher which can be used
to represent summaries of similar transactions or a single unique transaction, identifies the
financial amounts and affected GL accounts. Routine transactions, adjusting entries, and
closing entries are all entered into the GL via journal vouchers. Because a responsible
manager must approve journal vouchers, the manager offers a degree of control against
unauthorized GL entries.

PTS: 1

6. What are the major exposures in the general ledger/financial reporting system?

ANS:
The primary exposures are: a defective or lost audit trail, unauthorized access, GL accounts
out of balance with subsidiary ledger accounts, and incorrect account balances due to
unauthorized or incorrect entries.

PTS: 1

© 2015 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in
a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use.
 Accounting Information Systems, 9e—Test Bank, Chapter 8

7. Why is the audit trail necessary?

ANS:
The audit trail is needed for several reasons: to provide the ability to answer inquiries from
customers and suppliers, to reconstruct files if lost, to provide historical data to auditors, to
satisfy government regulations, and for error control.

PTS: 1

8. The _______________________________ principle suggests that management should

structure the firm around the work it performs rather than around individuals with unique
skills.

ANS:
formalization of tasks

PTS: 1

9. Employees who are responsible for a task must have the __________________________ to
make decisions within the limits of the responsibility delegated.

ANS:
authority

PTS: 1

10. __________________________ refers to the number of subordinates directly under a

manager’s control.

ANS:
Span of control

PTS: 1

11. The difference between the actual performance and the standard is called the
__________________________.

ANS:
variance

PTS: 1

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a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use.
 Accounting Information Systems, 9e—Test Bank, Chapter 8

12. How does the management by Exception principle affect the Management Reporting System?

ANS:
Reports should focus on differences between actual and expected numbers in key factors that
are symptomatic of potential problems. Reports that provide unnecessary details about
routine, in control items should be avoided.

PTS: 1

13. For reports to be useful they must have information content. Describe a reporting objective
which gives reports information content.

ANS:
Reports must reduce the level of uncertainty associated with a problem facing the decision
maker, and must influence the behavior of the decision maker in a positive way.

PTS: 1

14. What is information overload? How does it affect decision-making?

ANS:
Information overload refers to a situation in which a manager receives more information than
can be assimilated. A natural response to this is to ignore information or select only some. In
addition, intuition can displace logic.

PTS: 1

15. Explain the phrase “span of control.” What are the implications for the management reporting
system of this principle?

ANS:
A manager’s span of control is the number of subordinates he/she supervises directly. The
broader a manager’s span of control, the more autonomy his/her subordinates enjoy–the less
involved the manager is in their specific tasks. This impacts the MRS in terms of the level of
detail a manager requires. If the span is wide, less detail; if narrow, more.

PTS: 1

16. Explain the three types of responsibility centers.

ANS:
Cost centers are organizational units with responsibility for cost management.
Profit centers have responsibility for both cost management and revenue generation.
Investment centers have responsibility for cost management, revenue generation, and also the
investment and use of assets.
PTS: 1
© 2015 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in
a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use.
 Accounting Information Systems, 9e—Test Bank, Chapter 8

17. Describe at least three characteristics of strategic planning decisions and their information
requirements.

ANS:
have long time frames–create a need for information that supports forecasting,
require summarized information–not encumbered by detail,
tend to be nonrecurring–thus having little historical data in support
involve a lot of uncertainty–i.e., are unstructured decisions
are broad in scope–thus requiring broad based information
often require significant external information–generated beyond the information system itself.

PTS: 1

18. What three elements must be present for a problem to be “structured?”

ANS:
data, procedures, objectives

PTS: 1

19. How does management by exception help to alleviate information overload by a manager?

ANS:
The principle of management by exception is that managers should limit their attention to
potential problem areas rather than being involved with every activity or decision. Thus, only
situations which are not proceeding as scheduled are highlighted by the reports and analyzed
by the manager. Thus, the manager does not have to weed through multiple reports to find the
situations which need attention.

PTS: 1

20. What is a data warehouse?

ANS:
A data warehouse is a relational database management system that has been designed
specifically to meet the needs of data mining. The warehouse is a central location that
contains operational data about current events (within the past 24 hours) as well as events that
have transpired over many years.

PTS: 1

© 2015 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in
a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use.
 Accounting Information Systems, 9e—Test Bank, Chapter 8

21. What is XBRL?

ANS:
XBRL (Extensible Business Reporting Language) is an XML-based language that was
designed to provide the financial community with a standardized method for preparing,
publishing and automatically exchanging financial information, including financial statements
of publicly held companies.

PTS: 1

22. What is the XBRL Taxonomy?

ANS:
XBRL taxonomies are classification schemes that are compliant with the XBRL
specifications, to accomplish a specific information exchange or reporting objectives.

PTS: 1

ESSAY

1. List and explain the six basic files in the general ledger database.

ANS:
The general ledger master file is the main file on the general ledger database. It is based on the
firm’s chart of accounts. Each record is either a separate general ledger account (e.g., sales) or
a control account (e.g., the accounts payable control) for one of the subsidiary ledgers.

The general ledger history file contains the same information for prior periods.

The journal voucher file contains all of the journal vouchers processed in the current period.

The journal voucher history file contains journal vouchers for past periods.

The responsibility center file contains the revenues, expenses, and other data for individual
responsibility centers.

The budget master file contains budgeted amounts for responsibility centers.

PTS: 1

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 Accounting Information Systems, 9e—Test Bank, Chapter 8

2. Describe the three elements of problem structure. Contrast a structured problem to an

unstructured problem. Describe which levels of management typically deal with structured
problems and with unstructured problems.

ANS:
Problem structure has three elements: (1) Data–the values used to represent factors that are
relevant to the problem; (2) Procedures–the sequence of steps or decision rules used in solving
the problem; and (3) Objectives–the results the decision maker desires to attain by solving the
problem.

When all three elements of problem structure are known with certainty, the problem is
structured. In unstructured problems the data requirements are uncertain, and/or the
procedures are not specified, and/or the solution objectives have not been fully developed.

In general, structured problems are handled at the operations level and partially structured
problems are handled by operations, tactical, and strategic management. Usually, strategic
management handles unstructured problems.

PTS: 1

3. Many financial reports produced by organizations are nondiscretionary–publicly traded firms

have no choice but to prepare income statements, tax returns, etc. Management reporting is
often called discretionary reporting because it is not mandated, as is financial reporting. Is
this a valid statement? Why or why not?

ANS:
It can be argued that an effective MRS is mandated by SOX legislation which requires that all
public companies monitor and report on the effectiveness of internal controls over financial
reporting. Management reporting has long been recognized as a critical element of an
organization’s internal control structure. An MRS that directs management’s attention to
problems on a timely basis promotes effective management and thus supports the
organization’s business objectives.

PTS: 1

4. There are two basic types of management reports–programmed and ad hoc. Describe each and
give examples.

ANS:
Programmed reports provide information to solve anticipated problems and make normal
decisions. They include scheduled reports such as daily sales reports and on-demand reports
generated by need such as inventory below reorder point (the report is generated when the
inventory level fall to reorder–the report is demanded by the system based on the previously
set inventory level). Ad hoc reports are the result of immediate need for information and may
take the form of database queries on sales of a particular item mentioned in a news report.

PTS: 1
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a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use.
 Accounting Information Systems, 9e—Test Bank, Chapter 8

5. Describe at least three attributes of an effective report.

ANS:
Effective reports tend to share several attributes:
Relevance – Relevant data supports the manager’s decision needs.
Summarization – Data should be at the appropriate level of summarization for the manager
receiving it.
Exception Orientation – This highlights what is not going as planned.
Accuracy – Information in reports must be free from material errors.
Completeness –No essential piece of information should be missing,
Timeliness – Information that is reasonable complete and accurate in a reasonable time frame
is more valuable than perfect information received too late.
Conciseness – Information should be presented as concisely as possible.

PTS: 1

6. What is the implication for the Management Reporting System of an organization that
implements the formalization of tasks principle?

ANS:
Information requirements are defined by a position, not by the person filling that position.
When there is a personnel change, there should be no major changes in the information
needed by the new employee; it will be essentially the same as that needed by the former
employee. Internal control is strengthened because information is provided based on the
requirements of the position (a need to know basis).

PTS: 1

7. Discuss three control implications of XBRL

ANS:
Control implications include:

Taxonomy Creation. Taxonomy may be generated incorrectly, resulting in an incorrect

mapping between data and taxonomy elements that could result in material misrepresentation
of financial data. Controls must be designed and in place to ensure the correct generation of
XBRL taxonomies.

Taxonomy Mapping Error. The process of mapping the internal database accounts to the
taxonomy tags needs to be controlled. Correctly generated XBRL tags may be incorrectly
assigned to internal database accounts, resulting in material misrepresentations of financial
data.

© 2015 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in
a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use.
 Accounting Information Systems, 9e—Test Bank, Chapter 8

Validation of Instance Documents. As noted, once the mapping is complete and tags have
been stored in the internal database, XBRL instance documents (reports) can be generated.
Independent verification procedures need to be established to validate the instance documents
to ensure that appropriate taxonomy and tags have been applied before posting to web server.

PTS: 1

8. Discuss the primary advantage of XBRL over traditional HTML as a means of online
reporting of financial information to users.

Online reporting of financial data has become a competitive necessity for publicly traded
organizations. Currently, most organizations accomplish this by placing their financial
statements and other financial reports on their respective Web sites as HTML (Hyper Text
Markup Language) documents. These documents can then be downloaded by users such as
the SEC, financial analysts, and other interested parties. The HTML reports, however, cannot
be conveniently processed through IT automation. Performing any analysis on the data
contained in the reports requires them to be manually entered into the user’s information
system. The solution to this problem is eXtensible BusinessReporting Language (XBRL),
which is the Internet standard specifically designed for business reporting and information
exchange. The objective of XBRL is to facilitate the publication, exchange, and processing of
financial and business information. XBRL documents can thus be downloaded, interpreted,
and analyzed using computer software with no additional manual data input necessary.

PTS: 1

9. Contrast the four decision types, strategic planning, tactical planning, management control
and operational control, by the five decision characteristics, time frame, scope, level of details,
recurrence, and certainty.

ANS:
Strategic planning decisions are 1) typically long-term in nature, 2) have a high impact on the
firm, 3) require highly summarized information, 4) typically non-recurring
problems/opportunities, and 5) uncertain in nature.

Tactical planning decisions are 1) typically medium-term in nature, 2) have a medium impact
on the firm, 3) require detailed information, 4) typically are periodically recurring
problems/opportunities, and 5) highly certain in nature.

Management control decisions are 1) typically medium-term in nature, 2) have a low impact
on the firm, 3) require moderately summarized information, 4) typically are periodically
recurring problems/opportunities, and 5) uncertain in nature.

Operational control decisions are 1) typically short-term in nature, 2) have a low impact on
the firm, 3) require highly detailed information, 4) typically are periodically recurring
problems/opportunities, and 5) highly certain in nature.

PTS: 1
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Exploring the Variety of Random
Documents with Different Content
drudgeries, which are still allotted to the existing slave-castes, but the Koragars, who had
been raised by Habāshika to the highest posts under his government, were stripped and
driven towards the sea-shore, there to be hanged, but, being ashamed of their naked
condition, they gathered the leaves of the nicki bush (Vitex Negundo), which grows
abundantly in waste places, and made small coverings for themselves in front. On this
the executioners took pity on them and let them go, but condemned them to be the
lowest of the low, and wear no other covering but leaves. The Koragas are now the
lowest of the slave divisions, and regarded with such intense loathing and hatred that up
to quite recent times one section of them, called Andē or pot Koragars, continually wore
a pot suspended from their necks, into which they were compelled to spit, being so
utterly unclean as to be prohibited from even spitting on the highway; and to this day
their women continue to show in their leafy aprons a memorial of the abject degradation
to which their whole race was doomed.” It is said that in pre-British days an Andē
Koraga had to take out a licence to come into the towns and villages by day. At night
mere approach thereto was forbidden, as his presence would cause terrible calamity. The
Koragas of those days could cook their food only in broken vessels. The name Vastra, by
which one class of Koragas is called, has reference to their wearing vastra, or clothes,
such as were used to shroud a dead body, and given to them in the shape of charity, the
use of a new cloth being prohibited. According to another account the three divisions of
the Koragas are (1) Kappada, those who wear clothes, (2) Tippi, who wear ornaments
made of the cocoanut shell, and (3) Vanti, who wear a peculiar kind of large ear-ring.
These three clans may eat together, but not intermarry. Each clan is divided into
exogamous septs called balis, and it may be noted that some of the Koraga balis, such as
Haledennaya and Kumērdennaya, are also found among the Māri and Mundala Holeyas.
 Koraga.

On the subject of Koraga dress, Mr. Ullal Raghvendra Rao informs us that “while the
males gird a piece of cloth round their loins, the females cover their waist with leaves of
the forest woven together. Various reasons are assigned for this custom. According to a
tradition, at the time when the Koragars had reigned, now far distant, one of these
‘blacklegged’ (this is usually the expression by which they are referred to during the
night) demanded a girl of high birth in marriage. Being enraged at this, the upper class
withheld, after the overthrow of the Koragas, every kind of dress from Koraga women,
who, to protect themselves from disgrace, have since had recourse to the leaves of the
forest, conceiving in the meantime that god had decreed this kind of covering.” Mr.
Walhouse writes189 further that the Koragas wear an “apron of twigs and leaves over the
buttocks. Once this was the only covering allowed them, and a mark of their deep
degradation. But now, when no longer compulsory, and of no use, as it is worn over the
clothes, the women still retain it, believing its disuse would be unlucky.” “The Koragas,”
Mr. H. A. Stuart tells us,190 “cover the lower part of their body with a black cloth and
the upper part with a white one, and their head-dress is a cap made of the areca-nut
spathe, like that worn by the Holeyas. Their ornaments consist of brass ear-rings, an iron
bracelet, and beads of bone strung on a thread and tied around their waist.” The waist-
belt of a Koraga, whom I saw at Udipi, was made of owl bones.

“It may,” Mr. Walhouse states,191 “be noted that, according to the traditional accounts,
when the invading hosts under Habāshika were in their turn overthrown and subjected,
they accepted slavery under certain conditions that preserved to them some shadow of
right. Whilst it was declared that they should be for ever in a state of servitude, and be
allowed a meal daily, but never the means of providing for the next day’s meal. Each
slave was ascripted to his master under the following forms, which have come down to
our days, and were observed in the purchase or transfer of slaves within living memory.
The slave having washed, anointed himself with oil, and put on a new cloth, his future
owner took a metal plate, filled it with water, and dropped in a gold coin, which the slave
appropriated after drinking up the water. The slave then took some earth from his future
master’s estate, and threw it on the spot he chose for his hut, which was given over to
him with all the trees thereon. When land was transferred, the slaves went with it, and
might also be sold separately. Occasionally they were presented to a temple for the
service of the deity. This was done publicly by the master approaching the temple,
putting some earth from before its entrance into the slave’s mouth, and declaring that he
abjured his rights, and transferred them to the deity within. Rules were laid down, with
the Hindoo passion for regulating small matters, not only detailing what work the slaves
should do, but what allowances of food they should receive, and what presents on certain
festival occasions they should obtain from, or make to the master. On marriages among
themselves, they prostrated themselves before the master and obtained his consent,
which was accompanied with a small present of money and rice. The marriage over, they
again came before the master, who gave them betel nuts, and poured some oil on the
bride’s head. On the master’s death, his head slave immediately shaved his hair and
moustache. There was also a list of offences for which masters might punish slaves,
amongst which the employment of witchcraft, or sending out evil spirits against others,
expressly figures; and the punishments with which each offence might be visited are
specified, the worst of which are branding and flogging with switches. There was no
power of life and death, and in cases of withholding the usual allowance, or of
punishments severer than prescribed, slaves might complain to the authorities.”

On the subject of Koraga slavery, Mr. Ullal Raghvendra Rao writes that “although these
slaves are in a degraded condition, yet they by no means appear to be dejected or
unhappy. A male slave gets three hanis of paddy (unhusked rice) or a hani and a half of
rice daily, besides a small quantity of salt. The female slave gets two hanis of paddy, and,
if they be man and wife, they can easily sell a portion of the rice to procure other
necessaries of life. They are also allowed one cloth each every year, and, besides, when
transferred from one master to another, they get a cocoanut, a jack tree (Artocarpus
integrifolia), and a piece of land where they can sow ten or twenty seers of rice. The
greater number of slaves belong to the Alia Santānam castes (inheritance in the female
line), and among these people a male slave is sold for three pagodas (fourteen rupees)
and a female slave for five pagoda; whereas the few slaves who belong to the Makkala
Santānam castes (inheritance in the male line) fetch five pagodas for the man slave, and
three pagodas for the female. This is because the children of the latter go to the
husband’s master, while those of the former go to the mother’s master, who has the
benefit of the husband’s services also. He has, however, to pay the expenses of their
marriage, which amount to a pagoda and a half; and, in like manner, the master of the
Makkala Santāna slave pays two pagodas for his marriage, and gets possession of the
female slave and her children. The master has the power of hiring out his slave, for
whose services he receives annually about a mura of rice, or forty seers. They are also
mortgaged for three or four pagodas.”

For the marriages of the Koragas, Mr. Walhouse informs us that “Sunday is an
auspicious day, though Monday is for the other slave castes. The bridegroom and bride,
after bathing in cold water, sit on a mat in the former’s house, with a handful of rice
placed before them. An old man presides, takes a few grains of rice and sprinkles on
their heads, as do the others present, first the males and then the females. The
bridegroom then presents two silver coins to his wife, and must afterwards give six
feasts to the community.” At these feasts every Koraga is said to vie with his neighbour
in eating and drinking. “Though amongst the other slave castes divorce is allowed by
consent of the community, often simply on grounds of disagreement, and the women
may marry again, with the Koragars marriage is indissoluble, but a widow is entitled to
re-marriage, and a man may have a second, and even third wife, all living with him.”

Concerning the ceremonies observed on the birth of a child, Mr. Ullal Raghvendra Rao
writes that “after a child is born, the mother (as among Hindoos) is unholy, and cannot
be touched or approached. The inmates take leave of the koppu for five nights, and
depend on the hospitality of their friends, placing the mother under the sole charge of a
nurse or midwife. On the sixth night the master of the koppu calls his neighbours, who
can hardly refuse to oblige him with their presence. The mother and the child are then
given a tepid bath, and this makes them holy. Members of each house bring with them a
seer of rice, half a seer of cocoanut oil, and a cocoanut. The woman with the baby is
seated on a mat—her neighbour’s presents before her in a flat basket. The oldest man
present consults with his comrades as to what name will best suit the child. A black
string is then tied round the waist of the baby. The rice, which comes in heaps from the
neighbours, is used for dinner on the occasion, and the cocoanuts are split into two
pieces, the lower half being given to the mother of the child, and the upper half the
owner. This is the custom followed when the baby is a male one; in case of a female
child, the owner receives the upper half, leaving the lower half for the mother. Koragars
were originally worshippers of the sun, and they are still called after the names of the
days of the week—as Aita (a corruption of Aditya, or the sun); Toma (Sōma, or the
moon); Angara (Mangala); Gurva (Jupiter); Tanya (Shani, or Saturn); Tukra (Shukra, or
Venus). They have no separate temples for their God, but a place beneath a kāsaracana
tree (Strychnos Nux-vomica) is consecrated for the worship of the deity which is
exclusively their own, and is called Kata. Worship in honour of this deity is usually
performed in the months of May, July, or October. Two plantain leaves are placed on the
spot, with a heap of boiled rice mixed with turmeric. As is usual in every ceremony
observed by a Koragar, the senior in age takes the lead, and prays to the deity to accept
the offering and be satisfied. But now they have, by following the example of Bants and
Sudras, exchanged their original object of worship for that of Bhutas (demons).”

On the subject of the religion of the Koragas, Mr. Walhouse states that “like all the slave
castes and lower races, the Koragars worship Mari Amma, the goddess presiding over
small-pox, the most dreadful form of Parvati, the wife of Siva. She is the most popular
deity in Canara, represented under the most frightful form, and worshipped with bloody
rites. Goats, buffaloes, pigs, fowls, etc., are slaughtered at a single blow by an Asādi, one
of the slave tribes from above the ghauts. Although the Koragars, in common with all
slaves, are looked upon as excommunicated and unfit to approach any Brahminical
temple or deity, they have adopted the popular Hindoo festivals of the Gokalastami or
Krishna’s birthday, and the Chowti. In the latter, the preliminaries and prayers must be
performed by a virgin.” Concerning these festivals, Mr. Ullal Raghvendra Rao gives the
following details. “The Koragars have no fixed feasts exclusively of their own, but for a
long time they have been observing those of the Hindus. Of these two are important.
One is Gōkula Ashtami, or the birthday of Krishna, and the other is the Chowti or
Pooliyar feast. The latter is of greater importance than the former. The former is a holy
day of abstinence and temperance, while the latter is associated with feasting and merry-
making, and looks more like a gala-day set apart for anything but religious performance.
On the Ashtami some cakes of black gram are made in addition to the usual dainties. The
services of Bacchus are called in aid, and the master of the koppu invites his relatives
and friends. A regular feasting commences, when the master takes the lead, and enjoys
the company of his guests by seating himself in their midst. They are made to sit on the
floor crosswise with a little space intervening between every guest, who pays strict
regard to all the rules of decency and rank. To keep up the distinction of sexes, females
are seated in an opposite row. The host calls upon some of his intimates or friends to
serve on the occasion. The first dish is curry, the second rice; and cakes and dainties
come in next. The butler Koragar serves out to the company the food for the banquet,
while the guests eat it heartily. If one of them lets so much as a grain of rice fall on his
neighbour’s plate, the whole company ceases eating. The offender is at once brought
before the guests, and charged with having spoiled the dinner. He is tried there and then,
and sentenced to pay a fine that will cover the expenses of another banquet. In case of
resistance to the authority of the tribunal, he is excommunicated and abandoned by his
wife, children and relatives. No one dare touch or speak to him. A plea of poverty of
course receives a kind consideration. The offender is made to pay a small sum as a fine,
which is paid for him by a well-to-do Koragar. To crown the feast, a large quantity of
toddy finds its way into the midst of the company. A small piece of dry areca leaf sewed
together covers the head of a Koragar, and forms for him his hat. This hat he uses as a
cup, which contains a pretty large quantity of liquid. A sufficient quantity is poured into
their cup, and if, in pouring, a drop finds its way to the ground, the butler is sure to
undergo the same penalty that attaches itself to any irregularity in the dinner as described
above. After the banquet, some male members of the group join in a dance to the pipe
and drum, while others are stimulated by the intoxicating drink into frisking and jumping
about. To turn to the other festival. The inmates of the house are required to fast the
previous night—one and all of them—and on the previous day flesh or drink is not
allowed. The next morning before sunrise, a virgin bathes, and smears cowdung over a
part of the house. The place having been consecrated, a new basket, specially made for
the occasion, is placed on that spot. It contains a handful of beaten rice, two plantains,
and two pieces of sugar-cane. The basket is then said to contain the god of the day,
whom the sugar-cane represents, and the spot is too holy to be approached by man or
woman. A common belief which they hold, that the prayers made by a virgin are duly
responded to on account of her virgin purity, does not admit of the worship being
conducted by any one else. The girl adorns the basket with flowers of the forest, and
prays for the choicest blessings on the inmates of the house all the year round.

A Koraga woman, when found guilty of adultery, is said to be treated in the following
extraordinary way. If her paramour is of low caste similar to herself, he has to marry her.
But, in order to purify her for the ceremony, he has to build a hut, and put the woman
inside. It is then set on fire, and the woman escapes as best she can to another place
where the same performance is gone through, and so on until she has been burnt out
seven times. She is then considered once more an honest woman, and fit to be again
married. According to Mr. Walhouse, “a row of seven small huts is built on a river-bank,
set fire to, and the offender made to run over the burning sticks and ashes as a penance.”
A similar form of ordeal has been described as occurring among the Bākutas of South
Canara by Mr. Stuart. “When a man is excommunicated, he must perform a ceremony
called yēlu halli sudodu, which means burning seven villages, in order to re-enter the
caste. For this ceremony, seven small booths are built, and bundles of grass are piled
against them. The excommunicated man has then to pass through these huts one after the
other, and, as he does so, the headman sets fire to the grass” (cf. Koyi). It is suggested by
Mr. R. E. Enthoven that the idea seems to be “a rapid representation of seven existences,
the outcast regaining his status after seven generations have passed without further
transgression. The parallel suggested is the law of Manu that seven generations are
necessary to efface a lapse from the law of endogamous marriage.”

Of death ceremonies Mr. Walhouse tells us that “on death the bodies of all the slave
castes used to be burnt, except in cases of death from small-pox. This may have been to
obviate the pollution of the soil by their carcases when their degradation was deepest,
but now, and from long past, burial is universal. The master’s permission is still asked,
and, after burial, four balls of cooked rice are placed on the grave, possibly a trace of the
ancient notion of supplying food to the ghost of the deceased.” A handful is said192 to be
“removed from the grave on the sixteenth day after burial, and buried in a pit. A stone is
erected over it, on which some rice and toddy are placed as a last offering to the departed
soul which is then asked to join its ancestors.”

“It may,” Mr. Walhouse writes, “be noted that the Koragars alone of all the slave or other
castes eat the flesh of alligators (crocodiles), and they share with one or two other
divisions of the slaves a curious scruple or prejudice against carrying any four-legged
animal, dead or alive. This extends to anything with four legs, such as chairs, tables,
cots, etc., which they cannot be prevailed upon to lift unless one leg be removed. As they
work as coolies, this sometimes produces inconvenience. A somewhat similar scruple
obtains among the Bygas of Central India, whose women are not allowed to sit or lie on
any four-legged bed or stool.” Like the Koragas, the Bākudas of South Canara “will not
carry a bedstead unless the legs are first taken off, and it is said that this objection rests
upon a supposed resemblance between the four-legged cot and the four-legged ox.”193

Of the language spoken by the Koragars, Mr. Ullal Raghvendra Rao states that “it is a
common belief that the Koragar has a peculiar dialect generally spoken by him at his
koppu. He may be induced to give an account of his feasts, his gods, his family, but a
word about his dialect will frighten him out of his wits. Generally polite and well-
behaved, he becomes impolite and unmannerly when questioned about his dialect.” “All
the Hindoos,” Mr. Walhouse writes, “believe that the Koragars have a language of their
own, understood only by themselves, but it seems doubtful whether this is anything
more than an idiom, or slang.” A vocabulary of the Koraga dialect is contained in the
South Canara Manual (1895).

Korama.—See Korava.

Korava.—Members of this nomad tribe, which permeates the length of the Indian
peninsula, through countries where many languages and dialects are spoken, are likely to
be known by different names in different localities, and this is the case. They are known
as Korava from the extreme south to the north of the North Arcot district, where they are
called Koracha or Korcha, and in the Ceded Districts they become Yerukala or Yerakala.
In Calcutta they have been traced practising as quack doctors, and assuming Marātha
names, or adding terminations to their own, which suggest that they belong to a caste in
the south higher in the social scale than they really do. Some Koravas pass for Vellālas,
calling themselves Agambadiar Vellālas with the title Pillai. Others call themselves Palli,
Kavarai, Idaiyan, Reddi, etc.194 As railways spread over the country, they readily
adapted themselves to travelling by them, and the opportunities afforded for going
quickly far from the scene of a recently committed crime, or for stealing from sleeping
passengers, were soon availed of. In 1899, the Superintendent of Government Railways
reported that “the large organization of thieves, commonly called Kepmari Koravas
(though they never call themselves so), use the railway to travel far. Some of them are
now settled at Cuttack, where they have set up as native doctors, whose speciality is
curing piles. Some are at Midnapūr, and are going on to Calcutta, and there were some at
Puri some time ago. It is said that a gang of them has gone recently to Tinnevelly, and
taken up their abode near Sermadēvi, calling themselves Servaikars. One morning, in
Tinnevelly, while the butler in a missionary’s house was attending to his duties, an
individual turned up with a fine fowl for sale. The butler, finding that he could purchase
it for about half the real price, bought it, and showed it to his wife with no small pride in
his ability in making a bargain. But he was distinctly crestfallen when his wife pointed
out that it was his own bird, which had been lost on the previous night. The seller was a
Korava.”

In 1903, a gang of Koravas, travelling in the guise of pūjāris, was arrested at Puri. The
Police discovered that a warrant remained unexecuted against one of them, who had
been concerned in a dacoity case in North Arcot many years previously. The report of the
case states that “cognate with the Kepmaries is a class of Korava pūjāris (as they call
themselves in their own village), who, emanating from one small hamlet in the Tanjore
district, are spread more or less all over India. There are, or were until the other day, and
probably are still some of them in Cuttack, Balasore, Midnapūr, Ahmedabad, Patna,
Bombay, Secunderabad, and other places. One of them attained a high position in
Bombay. Their ostensible profession is that of curing piles and fistulas, but it is
noticeable that, sooner or later after their taking up their abode at any place, the
Kepmaries are to be found somewhere near, and the impression, which is not quite a
certainty but very nearly so, is that they play the convenient rôle of receivers of property
stolen by the Kepmaries.” Kēpmari is regarded as a very strong term of abuse,
indicating, as it does, a rogue of the worst character. In the southern districts, the
Kāsukkar Chettis and Shānāns are said to be very much trusted by the Koravas in the
disposal of property.

It is noted by Mr. H. A. Stuart195 that the Koravas or Yerukalas are a vagrant tribe found
throughout the Presidency, and in many parts of India. In the Telugu country they are
called Yerukalavāndlu or Korachavāndlu, but they always speak of themselves as Kurru,
and there is not the slightest room for the doubt that has been expressed regarding the
identity of the Koravas and Yerukalas. Several derivations of Yerukala have been
proposed by Wilson and others. It has been suggested, for example, that yeru is
connected with erra, meaning red. In Telugu Yerukalavāndlu would mean fortune-tellers,
and Dr. Oppert suggests that this is the origin of the name Yerukala. He says196 “it is
highly probable that the name and the occupation of the fortune-telling Kuruvāndlu or
Kuluvāndlu induced the Telugu people to call this tribe Yerukulavāndlu. Dr. Oppert
further connects Kurru with the root ku, a mountain; and, in a Tamil work of the ninth
century,197 Kurru or Kura (Kuramagal) is given as the name of a hill tribe.” A strong
argument in favour of the caste name being connected with the profession of fortune-
telling is afforded by the fact that women go about the streets, calling out “Yeruko,
amma, yeruku,” i.e., prophecies, mother, prophecies. The Kuravas are, Mr. Francis
writes,198 “a gipsy tribe found all over the Tamil country, but chiefly in Kurnool, Salem,
Coimbatore and South Arcot. Kuravas have usually been treated as being the same as the
Yerukalas. Both castes are wandering gipsies, both live by basket-making and fortune-
telling, both speak a corrupt Tamil, and both may have sprung from one original stock. It
is noteworthy in this connection that the Yerukalas are said to call one another Kurru or
Kura. But their names are not used as interchangeable in the districts where each is
found, and there seem to be no real differences between the two bodies. They do not
intermarry, or eat together. The Kuravas are said to tie a piece of thread soaked in
turmeric water round the bride’s neck at weddings, while Yerukalas use a necklace of
black beads. The Yerukalas have a tradition that those who went to fetch the tāli and pipe
never returned, and they consequently use black beads as a substitute for the tāli, and a
bell for the pipe. The Kuravas worship Subramanya, the son of Siva, while the Yerukalas
worship Vishnu in the form of Venkateswara and his wife Lakshmi. It may be noted that,
in a very early Sanskrit drama, the Brāhman thief mocks Subramanya as being the patron
saint of thieves. The Kuravas treat the gentler sex in a very casual manner, mortgaging or
selling their wives without compunction, but the Yerukalas are particular about the
reputation of their womankind, and consider it a serious matter if any of them return
home without an escort after sunset. The statistics of this year accordingly show
Yerukalas separately from Koravas. The reports from the various districts, however, give
such discrepant accounts of both castes, that the matter is clearly in need of further
enquiry.” There is no district in the Madras Presidency or elsewhere, where both
Koravas and Yerukalas live, unless it be the smallest possible corner of the Coimbatore
district bordering on the south-east of Mysore, for the name Korcha intervenes; and, for
a wide strip of country including the north of the North Arcot district and south of the
Cuddapah district, the Korava is known as a Korcha, and the Census Superintendent, in
common with other authorities, has admitted these names to be synonymous. It is in the
north of the Cuddapah district that the Yerukalas first appear in co-existence with the
Korcha. The Korcha being admitted on all sides to be the same as the Korava, our doubt
regarding the identity of the Korava with the Yerukala will be disposed of if we can
establish the fact that the Korcha and the Yerukala are the same. The Rev. J. Cain,
writing199 about the Yerukalas of the Godāvari district, states that “among themselves
they call each other Kuluvāru, but the Telugu people call them Erakavāru or
Erakalavāru, and this name has been derived from the Telugu word eruka, which means
knowledge or acquaintance, as they are great fortune-tellers.”

Yerukalas.

According to Balfour,200 the Koravas, or a certain section of them, i.e., the Kunchi
Koravas, were known as Yerkal Koravar, and they called the language they spoke Yerkal.
The same authority, writing of the Yerkalwadu, alludes to them as Kurshiwanloo, and
goes on to say that they style themselves Yerkal, and give the same appellation to the
language in which they hold communication. The word Yerkal here undoubtedly stands
for Yerukala, and Kurshi for Korcha. It is evident from this, supported by authorities
such as Wilson, Campbell, Brown and Shortt, that the doubt mentioned by the Census
Superintendent in regard to the identity of the Yerukala and Korava had not arisen when
the Cyclopædia of India was published, and it is the subsequent reports of later
investigators that are responsible for it. The divergencies of practices reported must be
reckoned with, and accounted for. They may be due to local customs existing in widely
separated areas. It is contended that the Koravas and Yerukalas do not intermarry or eat
together. A Korava, who has made a permanent home in a village in the south, if asked
whether he would marry a Yerukala, would most certainly answer in the negative,
probably having never heard of such a person. A circular letter, submitted to a number of
Police Inspectors in several districts, produced the same sort of discrepant information
complained of by the Census Superintendent. But one Inspector extracted from his notes
the information that, in 1895, marriages took place between the southern Koravas of a
gang from the Madura district and the Yerukalas of the Cuddapah district; and, further,
that the son of one of a gang of Yerukalas in the Anantapur district married a Korcha girl
from a gang belonging to the Mysore State. The consensus of opinion also goes to prove
that they will eat together. Yerukalas undoubtedly place a string of black beads as a tāli
round the bride’s neck on marriage occasions, and the same is used by the Koravas.
Information concerning the use of a turmeric-dyed string came from only one source,
namely, Hosūr in the Salem district, and it was necessary even here for the string to be
furnished with a round bottu, which might be a bead. A plain turmeric-soaked thread
appears to be more the exception than the rule. Yerukalas are both Vaishnavites and
Saivites, and a god worshipped by any one gang cannot be taken as a representative god
for the whole class. Yerukalas may treat their womankind better than the southern
Koravas, but this is only a matter of degree, as the morals of both are slack. The
Yerukalas, occupying, as they do, the parched centre of the peninsula, more frequently
devastated by famine than the localities occupied by the Koravas, may have learnt in a
hard school the necessity of taking care of their wives; for, if they allowed them to pass
to another man, and a drought ruined his crop and killed the cattle, he would find it hard
to procure another, the probability being that the price of wives rises in a common ratio
with other commodities in a time of scarcity.

From the accounts given by them, it appears that the Koravas claim to have originated in
mythological ages. The account varies slightly according to the locality, but the general
outlines agree more or less with the story related in the Bhāgavātham. The purōhits, or
priests, are the safest guides, and it was one of them who told the following story, culled,
as he admitted, from the Sāstras and the Rāmāyana. When the great Vēnudu, son of
Agneswathu, who was directly descended from Brahma, ruled over the universe, he was
unable to procure a son and heir to the throne, and, when he died, his death was looked
on as an irreparable misfortune. His body was preserved. The seven ruling planets sat in
solemn conclave, and consulted as to what they should do. Finally they agreed to create
a being from the right thigh of the deceased Vēnudu, and they accordingly fashioned and
gave life to Nishudu. But their work was not successful, for Nishudu turned out to be not
only deformed in body, but repulsively ugly in face. It was agreed at another meeting of
the planets that he was not a fit person to be placed on the throne. So they set to work
again, and created a being from the right shoulder of Vēnudu, and their second effort
was crowned with success. They called the second creation Proothu Chakravarthi, and,
as he gave general satisfaction, he was placed on the throne. This supersession naturally
caused the first-born Nishudu to be discontented, and he sought a lonely place, in which
he communed with the gods, begging of them the reason why they had created him if he
was not to rule. The gods explained that he could not now be placed on the throne, as
Chakravarthi had already been installed, but that he should be a ruler over forests. In this
capacity Nishudu begat the Bōyas, Chenchus, Yānādis, and Koravas. The Bōyas were
his legitimate children, but the others were all illegitimate. It is because Nishudu
watched in solemn silence to know his creator that some of his offspring called
themselves Yerukalas (yeruka, to know). Another story explains the name Korava. When
the princes Dharmarāja and Duryodana were at variance, the former, to avoid strife, went
into voluntary exile. A woman who loved him set out in search of him, but, through fear
of being identified, disguised herself as a fortune-teller. In this manner she found him,
and their offspring became known as Koravas, from kuru, fortune-telling.

The appellation Koracha or Korcha appears to be of later date than Korava, and is said to
be derived from the Hindustani kori (sly), korri nigga (sly look) becoming corrupted into
Korcha. Whenever this name was applied to them, they had evidently learnt their calling
thoroughly, and the whole family, in whatever direction its branches spread, established
a reputation for cunning in snaring animals or birds, or purloining other peoples’ goods,
until to-day their names are used for the purpose of insulting abuse in the course of a
quarrel. Thus a belligerant might call the other a thieving Yerukala, or ask, in tones other
than polite, if he belongs to a gang of Korchas. In the Tamil country, a man is said to
kura-kenju, or cringe like a Korava, and another allusion to their dishonesty is
kurapasāngu, to cheat like a Korava. The proverb “Kuruvan’s justice is the ruin of the
family” refers to the endless nature of their quarrels, the decision of which will often
occupy the headmen for weeks together.

In communicating among themselves, the Koravas and Yerukalas speak a corrupt

polyglot, in which the words derived from several languages bear little resemblance to
the original. Their words appear to be taken chiefly from Tamil, Telugu, and Canarese. A
short vocabulary of the Yerukala language has been published by the Rev. J. Cain.201
The Yerukalas call this language Oodra, which seems to stand for gibberish or thieves’
slang, or, as they explain, something very hard to understand. Oriya or Oodra is the
language of the districts of Ganjam and Orissa. The word Oriya means north, and the
fact that the Yerukalas call their language Oodra would seem to confirm their belief that
they are a northern tribe. The wanderers always know more than one language
colloquially, and are able to make themselves understood by the people of the country
through which they may be passing. Those who have settled in villages invariably speak
the language of the locality. When talking among themselves, they call a Brāhman
Thanniko Koravan, or the bathing Korava. They consider the Brāhmans to be more
cunning than themselves, and, as they are fond of bathing to remove pollution, they have
given them this nickname.

Korava.

A detailed account of the Korava slang and patois has been published by Mr. F. Fawcett,
Deputy Inspector-General of Police,202 from whose note thereon the following examples
are taken:—
 Constable Erthalakayadu. Red-headed man.
Head constable Kederarilu. The man who rides on an ass.
Taking bribe Kalithindrathu. Eating rāgi food.
Toddy Uggu perumalu ollaithanni. White water, or good water.
Fowls Rendukal Naidu. The Naidu of two legs.
Mussalmans Arthupottavungo. Those who have cut (circumcised).
Pariah Ūtharalu keenjalu. The man that pipes.
Butcher’s knife Elamayarathe bottarathu. That for striking those that graze leaves.
Rupees Pālakanna. Milk eyes.
Ollakelluka. White pebbles.

Korava society is purely patriarchal, and, in whatever division or sept of the caste a
Korava may be born, he has to subordinate himself to the will of his elders or the leaders
of his particular gang. The head of a gang is called the Peru Manusan or Beriya Manasan
(big man). He is selected principally because of his age, intelligence, and the influence
he commands amongst the members of the gang. It is a post which carries with it no
remuneration whatever, but the holder presides at all consultations, and is given the
position of honour at all social functions.

Concerning the caste government, Mr. Fawcett writes that “the kulam or caste assembly
adjudicates claims, inflicts penalties, ejects individuals from the caste, or readmits them
thereto. Free drinking of toddy at the expense of one of the parties accompanies every
caste assembly. It is the aggrieved party who gives notice for assembly of the kulam. The
disputants join hands, thereby indicating to the kulam that their dispute should be
decided by them. Each pays one rupee. The kulam may decide the dispute at once, or
adjourn for further consideration at any time. The next meeting is called the second
joining of hands, when each pays one rupee, as before, to be spent in toddy. A man who
fails to attend when the kulam has been convened loses his caste absolutely. If there is a
third adjournment, that is a third joining of hands, each side pays Rs. 3½ for toddy, to
keep the kulam in good spirits. As this is always the final adjournment, the decision is
sometimes arrived at by means of an ordeal. An equal quantity of rice is placed in two
pots of equal weight having a quantity of water, and there is an equal quantity of
firewood. The judges satisfy themselves most carefully as to quantity, weights, and so
on. The water is boiled, and the man whose rice boils first is declared to be the winner of
the dispute. The loser is to recoup the winner all his expenses. It sometimes happens that
both pots boil at the same time; then a coin is to be picked out of a pot containing boiling
oil. There is yet another method of settling disputes about money. The amount claimed is
brought by one party, and placed beside an idol. The claimant is then asked to take it,
and, should nothing unpleasant happen to him or to his family afterwards, he is declared
to have made out his claim. The kulam has nothing whatever to do with planning the
execution of offences, but is sometimes called upon to decide about the division of
plunder, as, for instance, when any member of a criminal expedition improperly secretes
something for himself. But they engage vakils (pleaders) for defending members of the
gang who are charged with a criminal offence, whether they have been concerned in it or
not.”

There are a great many classes of Koravas, most of them obtaining their names from the
particular occupations they have followed as an ostensible means of livelihood for many
generations. But, whatever they may call themselves, they all, according to Mr.
Mainwaring, fall within three divisions, viz.:—

1. Sakai, Sampathi, Sāthupadi.

2. Kāvadi or Gujjula.
3. Dēvarakonda, Mendrakutti, or Menapadi.

The members of the first two divisions are pure Koravas, the legitimate descendants of
Koravas who have never married outside the caste, whereas the third division represents
and includes the mixed marriages, and the offspring thereof. The Koravas receive into
their ranks members of castes other than Paraiyans (including Mālas and Mādigas),
Yānādis, Mangalas, and Tsākalas. The ceremony of introduction into the Korava
community consists in burning the tongue with a piece of gold. The Koravas have a
strong objection to taking food touched by Mēdaras, because, in their professional
occupation of doing wicker-work, they use an awl which resembles the tool used by
Mādigas in shoe-making. The Koravas are said to be divided into two large families,
which they call Pōthu and Pēnti, meaning male and female. All the families included in
the first division noted above are Pōthu, and those in the second Pēnti. The families in
the third division, being the product of mixed marriages, and the position of females
being a lowly one, they are also considered to be Pēnti. The Pōthu section is said to have
arisen from men going in search of brides for themselves, and the Pēntis from men going
in search of husbands for their daughters. When a Korava, male or female, wishes to
marry, a partner must be sought in a division other than their own. For example, a
Korava of the first division is bound to marry a female belonging to the second or third
division, who, after marriage, belongs to her husband’s division. This may be a little
hard on the women of the first division, because they are bound to descend in the social
scale. However, their daughters can rise by marrying into the first division. For the
purpose of religious ceremonies, each division has fixed duties. The members of the first
division have the right of decorating the god, and dressing him in his festival attire.
Those of the second division carry the god and the regalia in procession, and burn
incense, and those of the third drag the temple car, and sing and shout during its
progress. For this reason, it is said, they are sometimes called Bandi (cart).

“The major divisions,” Mr. Paupa Rao Naidu writes, “are four in number, and according
to their gradation they are Sāthepāti, Kāvadi, Mānapāti, Mendragutti. They are all
corrupted Tamil words.

“1. Sāthepāti is a corruption of Sāthupādi, which means adorning a Hindu deity with flowers,
jewels and vestments.

“2. Kāvadi, meaning a pole carried on the shoulders with two baskets pendant from its ends, in
which are contained offerings for a deity or temple.

“3. Mānapāti is a corruption of Mānpadi, which means singing in praise of god, when He is
worshipped in a temple.

“4. Mendragutti is a corruption of Menrikutti, which means stitching a pair of shoes, and
presenting them to the temple—a custom still prevalent at Tirupati and other important shrines.

“Of these four divisions, the first two are, or rather were, considered superior to the other two, a
Kāvadi man being styled Pōthuvādu (man), and a Sāthepāti man Pēnti (female).”

A still further classification of divisions and sub-divisions is given by Mr. F. S.

Mullaly.203 I am informed by Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao that, in the Vizagapatam district,
the Yerukalas are divided into Pattapu or Oddē, and Thurpu (eastern). Of these, the
former, when they are prosperous, live in tiled houses, while the latter live in huts.
Pattapu women wear brass bangles on both wrists, and Thurpu women brass bangles on
the right wrist, and glass bangles on the left. The former throw the end of their cloth over
the left shoulder, and the latter over the right.

It is recorded, in the Gazetteer of the Trichinopoly district, that “the Kuravans are
divided into a number of endogamous sections, of which the Īna Kuravans and the
Kāvalkāran Kuravans are the most criminal, especially the latter. The latter are also
called the Marasa, Mondu, and Kādukutti Kuravans. In dress and appearance the
Nāmakkal Kuravans are said to be superior to those of Karūr, and to look like well-
dressed Vellālans or Pallis. They are peculiar in wearing long ear-rings. They are also
said to be much better thieves than the others, and to dislike having a Karūr Kuravan
when breaking into a house, for fear he might wake the household by his clumsiness.”

As examples of intipēru, or exogamous septs, the following, which were given by Uppu
Yerukalas, may be cited:—

Dāsari, Vaishnavite mendicant. Mogili (Pandanus fascicularis)

Sukka, star. Uyyāla, swing.
Kampa, bush of thorns. Rāgala, rāgi grain.
Āvula, cows. Pūla, flowers.
Thoka, tail. Katāri, dagger.
Kānaga (Pongamia glabra). Ambojala, lotus.
Bandi, cart. Samudrāla, sea.
 Gajjala, small bell. Venkatagiri, a town.

“A knowledge,” Mr. Fawcett writes, “of these house or sept names may be useful in
order to establish a man’s identity, as a Koravar, who is generally untruthful as to his
own name, is seldom if ever so as regards his house or sept name, and his father’s name.
He considers it shameful to lie about his parentage, ‘to be born to one, and yet to give
out the name of another.’ Totemism of some kind evidently exists, but it is rather odd
that it has not always any apparent connection with the sept or house name. Thus, the
totem of persons of the Konēti sept is horse-gram (kollu in Tamil), which they hold in
veneration, and will not touch, eat, or use in any way. The totem of the Samudrāla sept is
the conch shell, which likewise will not be used by those of the sept in any manner. It
may be noted that persons of the Ramēswari sept will not eat tortoises, while those of the
Konēti sept are in some manner obliged to do so on certain occasions.”

As regards names for specific occupations among the Koravas, the Bīdar or nomad
Koravas originally carried merchandise in the form of salt, tamarinds, jaggery (crude
sugar or molasses), leaves of the curry leaf plant (Murraya Kœnigii) from place to place
on pack-bullocks or donkeys. The leaves were in great demand, and those who brought
them round for sale were called in Tamil Karuvaipillai, and in Telugu Karepāku, after the
commodity which they carried. This is a common custom in India, and when driving
through the bazār, one may hear, for example, an old woman carrying a bundle of wood
addressed as firewood. “Kāvadi” will be screamed at a man carrying a pole (kāvadi) with
baskets, etc., suspended from it, who got in the way of another. The section of Koravas
who carried salt inland from the coast became known as Uppu (salt) Koravas. Another
large class are the Thubba, Dhubbai, or Dhabbai (split bamboo) Koravas, who restrict
their wanderings to the foot of hill ranges, where bamboos are obtainable. With these
they make baskets for the storage of grain, for carrying manure at the bottom of carts,
and various fancy articles. In the Kurnool district, the Yerukalas will only cut bamboos
at the time of the new moon, as they are then supposed to be free from attacks by boring
weevils, and they do certain pūja (worship) to the goddess Malalamma, who presides
over the bamboos. In the Nallamalai forests, the Yerukalas do not split the bamboo into
pieces and remove the whole, but take off only a very thin strip consisting of the outer
rind. The strips are made up into long bundles, which can be removed by donkeys. There
is extreme danger of fire, because the inner portions of the bamboos, left all over the
forest, are most inflammable.204 Instead of splitting the bamboos in the forest, and
leaving behind a lot of combustible material, the Yerukalas now have to purchase whole
bamboos, and take them outside the forest to split them. The members of a gang of these
Yerukalas, who came before me at Nandyāl, were each carrying a long split bamboo
wand as an occupational insigne. A further important section is that of the Kunchu or
Kunchil Koravas, who gather roots in the jungle, and make them into long brushes
which are used by weavers. The Koravas have a monopoly in their manufacture, and
take pride in making good brushes. These Kunchu Koravas are excellent shikāris
(hunters), and snare antelope, partridges, duck, quail, and other game with great skill.
For the purpose of shooting antelopes, or of getting close enough to the young ones to
catch them after a short run, they use a kind of shield made of dried twigs ragged at the
edges, which looks like an enormous wind-blown bundle of grass. When they come in
sight of a herd of antelopes, they rest one edge of the shield on the ground, and, sitting
on their heels behind it, move it slowly forward towards the herd until they get
sufficiently close to dash at the young ones, or shoot the grown-up animals. The
antelopes are supposed to mistake the shield for a bush, and to fail to notice its gradual
approach. They capture duck and teal largely at night, and go to the rice fields below a
tank (pond or lake), in which the crop is young, and the ground consequently not entirely
obscured. This would be a likely feeding-ground, or traces of duck having fed there on
the previous night might be noticed. They peg a creeper from one bund (mud
embankment) to another, parallel to the tank bund, four inches above the water in the
field. From this they suspend a number of running loops made of sinews drawn from the
legs of sheep or goats or from the hind-legs of hares, the lower ends of the loops
touching the mud under water. If the duck or teal come to feed, they are sure to be
caught, and fall victims to the slip noose. “The Kuntsu (Kunchu) Korachas,” Mr. Francis
tells us,205 “catch small birds by liming twigs or an arrangement of bits of bamboo with
a worm hung inside it, or by setting horse-hair nooses round the nests. Quails they
capture by freely snaring a piece of ground, and then putting a quail in a cage in the
middle of it, to lure the birds towards the snare. They also catch them, and partridges
too, by driving the bevy towards a collapsible net. To do this, they cover themselves with
a dark blanket, conceal their heads in a kind of big hat made of hair, feathers and grass,
and stalk the birds from a bullock trained to the work, very gradually driving them into
the net. They also occasionally capture black-buck (antelope) by sending a tame buck
with nooses on his horns to fight with a wild one. The latter speedily gets his horns
entangled in the nooses, and is easily secured.” Sometimes the Kunchu Korava begs in
villages, dragging about with him a monkey, while the females earn a livelihood by
tattooing, which occupation, known as pricking with green, has gained for them the
name of Pacchai (green) Kutti. The patterns used in tattooing by a Korava woman,
whom I interviewed, were drawn in a note-book, and consisted of fishes, scorpions, a
fortress, five-storeyed house, conventional designs, etc. The patterns were drawn on the
skin, with great dexterity and skill in freehand drawing, by means of a blunt stick dipped
in a mixture of a lamp-black, lamp-oil, and turmeric contained in a half cocoanut shell.
The pattern is pricked in with a bundle of four or five needles tied together. The needles
and drawing-stick were kept in a hollow bamboo, and the tattooing mixture in the
scooped out fruits of the bael (Ægle Marmelos) and palmyra palm (Borassus flabellifer).
For tattooing an entire upper extremity, at several sittings, the Korava woman would be
paid from eight to twelve annas, or receive food-grains in lieu of money. The hot
weather is said to be more favourable for the operation than the cold season, as the
swelling after it is less. To check this, lamp-oil, turmeric, and leaves of the avarai plant
(Dolichos Lablab) are applied.

Concerning the Pacchaikuttis, or, as they are also called, Gadde (soothsayers), Mr. Paupa
Rao Naidu writes that “the women start with a basket and a winnowing basket or tray
into a village, proclaiming their ostensible profession of tattooing and soothsaying,
which they do for grain or money. When unfortunate village women, who always lose
children or who often fall ill, see these Gadde women moving about, they call them into
their houses, make them sit, and, pouring some grain into their baskets, ask them about
their past misery and future lot. These women, who are sufficiently trained to speak in
suitable language, are clever enough to give out some yarns in equivocal terms, so that
the anxious women, who hope for better futurity, understand them in the light uppermost
in their own minds. The Korava women will be rewarded duly, and doubly too, for they
never fail to study the nature of the house all the time, to see if it offers a fair field for
booty to their men.”

At Srungavarapukōta in the Vizagapatam district “the local goddess, Yerakamma, is a

deification of a woman who committed sati. Ballads are sung about her, which say that
she was the child of Dāsari parents, and that her birth was foretold by a Yerukala woman
(whence her name) who prophesied that she would have the gift of second sight. She
eventually married, and one day she begged her husband not to go to his field, as she
was sure he would be killed by a tiger if he did. Her husband went notwithstanding, and
was slain as she had foreseen. She committed sati on the spot where her shrine still
stands.”206

The Ūr or village Koravas have given up their nomad life, and settled in villages of their
own, or together with other communities. Many of them have attended pial schools, and
can read and write to some extent. Some of them are employed in the police and salt
departments, as jail warders, etc. The Ūr Korava is fast losing his individuality, and
assimilating, in dress, manners and customs, the ryots among whom he dwells. In the
Salem district there is a village called Koravūr, which is inhabited entirely by Koravas,
who say that they were originally Uppu Koravas, but now cultivate their own lands, or
work as agricultural labourers for the land-owners. They say further that they pay an
occasional visit to Madras for the purpose of replenishing their stock of coral and beads,
which they sell at local shandis (markets). Some Koravas are said to buy gilded beads at
Madura, and cheat unsuspecting villagers by selling them as gold. Though the Ūr
Koravas are becoming civilised, they have not yet lost their desire for other men’s goods,
and are reported to be the curse of the Anantapur, Cuddapah, and Bellary districts, where
they commit robbery, house-breaking, and theft, especially of sheep and cattle. A
particularly bold sheep theft by them a few years ago is worthy of mention. The village
of Singanamalla in the Anantapur district lies a few miles off the railway. It is bordered
on two sides by Government forest reserves, into which the villagers regularly drove
their sheep and goats to graze, in charge of small boys, in the frequent absences of the
forest watcher, or when the watcher was well disposed towards them. An arrangement
was made between the Koravas and a meat-supplier at Bangalore to deliver on his behalf
a large number of sheep at a wayside station near Dharmāvaram, to receive which trucks
had to be ready, and the transaction was purely cash. One morning, when more than a
hundred sheep had been driven far into the reserve by their youthful charges, who kept
more or less close together for the sake of company, a number of Koravas turned up, and
represented themselves as forest watchers, captured the small boys, gagged them and
tied them to trees, and drove off all the available sheep. The boys were not discovered
till late at night, and the police did not get to work till the following morning, by which
time the sheep were safely entrained for Bangalore.

It is noted, in the Madras Police Report, 1905–1906, that “a large number of members of
the notorious Rudrapād Koracha gangs have recently been released from His Highness
the Nizam’s prisons, and their return will add appreciably to the difficulties of the
Bellary Police.”

A small class of Koravas is named Pāmula (snake), as they follow the calling of snake-
charmers. In the Census Report, 1901, Pūsalavādu (seller of glass beads) and Utlavādu
(makers of utlams) are given as sub-castes of Yerukala. An utlam is a hanging receptacle
for pots, etc., made of palmyra fibre. In the same report, Kādukuttukiravar (those who
bore a hole in the ear) and Valli Ammai Kūttam (followers of the goddess Valli Ammai)
are returned as synonyms of Koravas. They claim that Valli Ammai, the wife of the god
Subrahmanya, was a Korava woman. Old Tamil books refer to the Koravas as fortune-
tellers to kings and queens, and priests to Subrahmanya. Some Koravas have, at times of
census, returned themselves as Kūdaikatti (basket-making) Vanniyans. Balfour refers to
Walaja Koravas, and states that they are musicians. They are probably identical with the
Wooyaloo Koravas,207 whose duty it is to swing incense, and sing before the god during
a religious celebration. The same writer speaks of Bajantri or Sonai Kolawaru and Kolla
and Soli Korawars, and states that they inhabit the Southern Marātha country. These
names, like Thōgamallai for Koravas who come from the village of that name in the
Trichinopoly district, are probably purely local. Further, the Abbé Dubois states that “the
third species of Kuravers is generally known under the name of Kalla Bantru, or robbers.
The last Muhammadan prince who reigned over Mysore is said to have employed a
regular battalion of these men in time of war, not for the purpose of fighting, but to infest
the enemy’s camp in the night, stealing away the horses and other necessaries of the
officers, and acting as spies. They were awarded in proportion to the dexterity they
displayed in these achievements, and, in time of peace, they were despatched into the
various States of neighbouring princes, to rob for the benefit of their masters.” It is
possible that the Kaikadis of the Central Provinces are identical with Koravas, who have
migrated thither.
A section of Koravas, called Koot (dancing) or Kōthee (monkey) Kaikaries, is referred to
by Mr. Paupa Rao Naidu as “obtaining their living by prostitution. They also kidnap or
sell children for this purpose. Some of the women of this class are thriving well in the
Madras Presidency as experts in dancing. They are kept by rich people, and are called in
the Telugu country Erukala Bōgamvaru, in Tamil Korava Thevidia. They also train
monkeys, and show them to the public.”

The household god of the Korava, which is as a rule very rudely carved, may be a
representation of either Vishnu or Siva. As already noted, it is stated in the Census
Report, 1901, that the Koravas worship Subrahmanya, the son of Siva, while the
Yerukalas worship Vishnu in the form of Venkatēswara and his wife Lakshmi. They
worship, in addition to these, Kolāpuriamma, Perumālaswāmi, and other appropriate
deities, prior to proceeding on a depredatory expedition. Kolāpuriamma is the goddess of
Kolhapūr, the chief town of the Native State of that name in the Bombay Presidency,
who is famous in Southern India. Perumālswāmi, or Venkatēswara, is the god of
Tirupati, the great place of pilgrimage in the North Arcot district. The signs of a recent
performance of worship by Koravas may prove an indication to the Police that they have
been concerned in a dacoity, and act as a clue to detection thereof. They sacrifice sheep
or goats once a year to their particular god on a Sunday or Tuesday, while those who
worship Venkatēswara honour him on a Saturday, and break cocoanuts as an offering.
All offerings presented to the gods are divided among those present, after the ceremonies
have been completed. Venkatēswara is said to be sometimes represented, for the purpose
of worship, by a brass vessel (kalasam) decorated with flowers, and bearing on it the
Vaishnavite nāmam (sect mark). Its mouth is closed by a cocoanut, beneath which
mango or betel leaves are placed. On the day appointed for the religious service,
everything within the hut is thrown outside, and the floor is purified with cow-dung, and
devices are drawn thereon. The brass vessel is set up, and offerings of large quantities of
food are made to it. Some of this dedicated food (prasādam) must be given to all the
inhabitants of the settlement. A lump of clay, squeezed into a conical shape, with a tuft of
margosa (Melia Azadirachta) leaves does duty for Pōlēramma. In front thereof, three
stones are placed. Pōlēramma may be worshipped close to, but not within, the hut. To
her offerings of boiled rice (pongal) are made by fasting women. The manner in which
the boiling food bubbles over from the cooking-pot is eagerly watched, and accepted as
an omen for good or evil. In a note on the Coorroo, Balfour states208 that “they told me
that, when they pray, they construct a small pyramid of clay, which they term
Māriamma, and worship it. The women had small gold and silver ornaments suspended
from cords round their necks, which they said had been supplied to them by a goldsmith,
from whom they had ordered figures of Māriamma. The form represented is that of the
goddess Kāli. They mentioned that they had been told by their forefathers that, when a
good man dies, his spirit enters the body of some of the better animals, as that of a horse
or cow, and that a bad man’s spirit gives life to the form of a dog or jackal, but they did
not seem to believe in it. They believe firmly, however, in the existence and constant
presence of a principle of evil, who, they say, frequently appears, my informant having
himself often seen it in the dusk of the evening assuming various forms, at times a cat,
anon a goat, and then a dog, taking these shapes that it might approach to injure him.”

The domestic god of the Koravas, in the southern districts, is said to be Sathavu, for
whom a day of worship is set apart once in three or four years. The Koravas assemble,
and, in an open place to the west of the village, a mud platform is erected, on which
small bricks are spread. In front of the platform are placed a sickle, sticks, and arrack
(liquor). Cocoanuts, plantain fruits, and rice are offered, and sheep sacrificed. Sandal and
turmeric are poured over the bricks, and camphor is burnt. The proceedings terminate
with a feast.

The presiding goddess of the criminal profession of the Koravas is stated by Mr. M.
Paupa Rao Naidu209 to be Moothēvi, the goddess of sleep, whom they dread and
worship more than any other god or goddess of the Hindu Pantheon. The object of this
worship is twofold, one being to keep themselves vigilant, and the other to throw their
victims off their guard. Moothēvi is invoked in their prayers to keep them sleepless
while on their nefarious purpose bent, but withal to make their victims sufficiently
sleepy over their property. This goddess is worshipped especially by females, who
perform strange orgies periodically, to propitiate her. A secluded spot is preferred for
performing these orgies, at which animal sacrifices are made, and there is distribution of
liquor in honour of the goddess. The Edayapatti gang worship in addition the deity
Ratnasabhapathy at Ayyamala. When prosecuted for a crime, the Koravan invokes his
favourite deity to let him off with a whipping in the words ‘If the punishment of
whipping be inflicted I shall adore the goddess.’

The following account of a peculiar form of human sacrifice by the Koravas in former
days was given to Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao by an old inhabitant of the village of Āsūr
near Walajabad in the Chingleput district. A big gang settled at the meeting point of the
three villages of Āsūr, Mēlputtūr, and Avalūr, on an elevated spot commanding the
surrounding country. They had with them their pack-bullocks, each headman of the gang
owning about two hundred head. The cow-dung which accumulated daily attracted a
good many of the villagers, on one of whom the headmen fixed as their intended victim.
They made themselves intimate with him, plied him with drink and tobacco, and gave
him the monopoly of the cow-dung. Thus a week or ten days passed away, and the
Koravas then fixed a day for the sacrifice. They invited the victim to visit them at dusk,
and witness a great festival in honour of their caste goddess. At the appointed hour, the
man went to the settlement, and was induced to drink freely. Meanwhile, a pit, large
enough for a man to stand upright in it, had been prepared. At about midnight, the victim
was seized, and forced to stand in the pit, which was filled in up to his neck. This done,
the women and children of the gang made off with their belongings. As soon as the last
of them had quitted the settlement, the headmen brought a large quantity of fresh cow-