Mr. L.K. Anantha Krishna Iyer, who has invited me to contribute a few introductory remarks to this volume, is already known to European anthropologists as an indefatigable worker in the wide field of Indian ethnology. I had the pleasure of drawing attention to his valuable monographs on the Cochin aborigines in “Man” for March 1907, where I was able to state that this enthusiastic student of primitive peoples had at that time already issued as many as ten special essays bearing an official character and printed at the Government Press, Ernakulam, (1904-06). In its general outline, the series corresponds somewhat to the highly prized “Bulletins” issued by the Madras Government under the superintendence of Mr. Edgar Thurston, and still more closely to those embodied in Mr. H.V. Nanjundayya’s “Ethnographical Survey of Mysore” (Bangalore Government Press, 1906-08).

Contents: Chapter I - The Kadars, Chapter II - The Malayans, Chapter III - The Eravallens, The Nayadis and the Ulladans, Chapter IV - The Parayans, Chapter V - The Pulayans, Chapter VI - The Pulayans (Cont.), Chapter VII - The Vettuvans, The Koodans, and the Kanakkans, Chapter VIII - The Pulluvans, Chapter IX - The Velans, Chapter X - The Panans, Chapter X - (Cont.) The Vilkurups, Chapter XI - The Kaniyans, Chapter XII - The Kaniyans (Cont.), Chapter XIII - The Fishing Castes, Chapter XIV - The Fishing Castes (Cont.), Chapter XV - The Izhuvans, Chapter XVI - The Izhuvans (Cont.), Chapter XVII - The Izhuvans (Cont.), Chapter XVIII - The Kammalans.