Jatapu

Jatapu

The Jatapu are one of the major Scheduled Tribes in the India state
of Orissa, mainly in the Srikalulam and Vizianagaram districts, and also
in the Koraput and Ganjam districts. The Jatapu are part of the Khondas, who
speak the Khond language in the hills and Telugu on the plains. They
speak a dialect called ‘Kuvi ‘ according to the 1911 available Census
Report of Madras, the Khondas and Jatapus are considered as synonymous.

The titles Jatapu or Jatapu Dora, Khond, Samanthulu, Korings, Kodulu
are used synonymously for the Kuvi speaking people. Kuvi is a Dravidian
language spoken by the Khond. Jatapu is the 6th largest tribes of Andhra
Pradesh with population of 1,18,613 (2001 censes). They are originally
part of the ancient of Jeypore. As per the historical evidence this
kingdom was under the Nawab of Bedar in the 13th century.

The literacy rate is very low among the Jatapu, since they consider
that a child can contribute better by engaging in some economic activity
at home rather than going to school

Jatapu script

This is a script for Jatapu devised by Professor Prasanna Sree.

Jatapu script

Information provided by Professor Prasanna Sree
of Andhra University, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India

Link

Information about the Jatapu people and language
http://www.indianetzone.com/9/jatapu_tribe.htm
http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=kxv

  • Post category:Languages
  • Reading time:2 mins read