e 18,000 persons returned under this designation from Raigarh
and Sambalpur in 1901 were really Oraons. The same remark applies
to 33,000 persons returned from Sambalpur as Kisan or cultivator,
these also being members of the tribe. The name by which the Oraons
know themselves is Kurukh or Kurunkh, and the designation of Oraon
or Orao has been applied to them by outsiders. The meaning of both
names is obscure. Dr. Halm [357] was of opinion that the word _kurukh_
might be identified with the Kolarian _horo_, man, and explained the
term Oraon as the totem of one of the septs into which the Kurukhs
were divided. According to him Oraon was a name coined by the Hindus,
its base being _orgoran_, hawk or cunny bird, used as the name of a
totemistic sept. Sir G. Grierson, however, suggested a connection with
the Kaikari, _urupai_, man; Burgandi _urapo_, man; _urang_, men. The
Kaikaris are a Telugu caste, and as the Oraons are believed to have
come from the south of India, this derivation sounds plausible. In
a similar way Sir. G. Grierson states, Kurukh may be connected
with Tamil _kurugu_, an eagle, and be the name of a totemistic
clan. Compare also names, such as Korava, Kurru, a dialect of Tamil,
and Kudagu. In the Nerbudda valley the farmservant who pours the seed
through the tube of the sowing-plough is known as Oraya; this word
is probably derived from the verb _urna_ to pour, and means 'one who
pours.' Since the principal characteristic of the Oraons among the
Hindus is their universal employment as farmservants and labourers,
it may be suggested that the name is derived from this term. Of the
other names by which they are known to outsiders Dhangar means a
farmservant, Kuda a digger, and Kisan a cultivator. The name Oraon
and its variant Orao is very close to Oraya, which, as already seen,
means a farmservant. The nasal seems to be often added or omitted in
this part of the country, as Kurukh or Kurunkh.

2. Settlement in Chota Nagpur

According to their own traditions, Mr. Gait writes, [358] "The
Kurukh tribe originally lived in the Carnatic, whence they went up the
Nerbudda river and settled in Bihar on the banks of the Son. Driven out
by the Muhammadans, the tribe split into two divisions, one of which
followed the course of the Ganges and finally settled in the Rajmahal
hills: while the other went up the Son and occupied the north-western
portion of the Chota Nagpur plateau, where many of the villages they
o