Contribution of Kodavas to the Indian Armed Forces

Abstract

Identity is a dynamic phenomenon constructed as a collective product of the actions, interactions, cognition and self-cognizance of human beings. In exploring identity as a product of individual factors and contextual - historical factors embedded in a socio-political context, this paper focuses on the contribution of the Kodavas, a community who form a substantial minority in the Kodagu (Coorg) district of Karnataka to the Indian Armed Forces. Speaking a separate language, adhering to a clan-based social structure, following a belief system that is at substantial variance to other parts of the state, and at times even asserting a historical origin exterior to India, the group carries a larger number of markers that has led them to be regarded and portrayed as one of India’s groups of ‘internal exotics’. Based on literature, this paper aims to bring to light the historical relationship of this community with the Armed Forces. Further, the paper also initiates a discussion on the current status of military fervor among the Kodava youth and the necessary measures to be taken to uphold the warrior spirit of the Kodavas.