Koya

Koya is a Dravidian language spoken by about 300,000 people in the
Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Oryssa. The language is also known
as Kavor, Kaya, Koa, Koi, Koi Gondi, Koitar, Koyato, Koyi and Raj Koya.

The Koya claim their origin from the pandavas of the epic Mahabharata,
especially the lord Bhima. When the pandava brothers were in exile,
Bhima went hunting in the jungle and met a wild woman of the woods
and subsequently got married. The fruit of the union was the Koya people.
There are other legends connected with their origin.

The literacy rate among the Koya is extremely low and formal education
is not favored. Usually boys study up to secondary level and girls
continue only to primary level. They drop out because they have to work
to support their families.

Koya script

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

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

Links

Information about the Koya language and people
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koya_language
http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=kff
http://www.joshuaproject.net/peopctry.php?rop3=112655&rog3=IN