Maura's Acolytes

Posted by Victor Mair

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Having just spent a week in close quarters with two large German Shepherds and a big German Shepherd mix, I was primed to learn about the Indian Pariah Dog, which somehow crossed the path of my consciousness yesterday.

Observing the behavior and ability of the German Shepherds, and reading about the history and canine qualities of the Indian Pariah Dog, I became fascinated by how different are the aptitudes and characteristics of various types of dogs, yet all domestic dogs are the same species, Canis familiaris, or more technically, a subspecies of the gray wolf, Canis lupus, hence  Canis lupus familiaris, and have been so for more than ten thousand years of evolution.

The Indian dog, Indie dog, South Asian dog, or Desi Kutta, is a landrace of dog native to the Indian subcontinent. They have erect ears, a wedge-shaped head, and a curved tail. It is easily trainable and often used as a guard dog and police dog. This dog is an example of an ancient group of dog known as pye-dogs. There is archaeological evidence that the dog was present in Indian villages as early as 4,500 years ago.

Though most street dogs in the Indian subcontinent are in fact Indian pye-dogs, the names for this breed are often erroneously used to refer to all urban South Asian stray dogs despite the fact that some free-ranging dogs in the Indian subcontinent do not match the "pariah type" and may not be pure indigenous dogs but mixed breeds, especially around locations where European colonists historically settled in India, due to admixtures with European dog breeds.

(WP)

I was particularly captivated by the Indian pariah dog for a number of reasons, including its name, which I will discuss more below, its overlap with the Pye-dog, and the fact that Indian friends said that it has been well suited to its environment for five millennia or more.

Here's how WP begins its article on the Pye Dog:

The Indian Pariah Dog, also known as the village dog, Pye Dog, Indian Native Dog, or more modernly INDog, is an ecologically adapted dog with stray/wild habits that occupies the ecological niche of a scavenger in human settlements. These dogs are typical of the Indian subcontinent, but can also be found in the Balkan Peninsula and in less developed countries.

The term "Pariah" originates from the Tamil word meaning "outcast", which the British used to refer to stray dogs typically living on the outskirts of villages in India. The first recorded use of the term "yellow pariah dog" was by Rudyard Kipling in The Jungle Book.

Many kennel clubs now prefer the term primitive dog [it] to describe dogs of the pariah type, reflecting their close resemblance to early domesticated dogs. The Primitive and Aboriginal Dogs Society reclassifies Pariah Dogs as INDogs and categorizes them as a subgroup of primitive and aboriginal dogs [it].

^…

India hosts large populations of these village dogs, with significant numbers and a wide variety of indigenous breeds. Archaeological research suggests that Indian Pariah Dogs date back at least 4,500 years.

In India, Pariah Dogs are known by various names such as Nedi Kukur, Deshi Kukur, Deshiya Naayi, Deshi Kutra, Theruvu Naai, Deshi Kutta, Theru Naai, Deshi Kukura, Veedhi Kukka, and Deshi Kutro. In Bangladesh, they are referred to as Nedi Kukur and Deshi Kukur. More recently, they are commonly called INDogs.

The definition of "village" is quite vague, as a village can range from a few hundred homes to tens of thousands. Thus, categorizing village or Pariah Dogs is challenging. Generally, these dogs share the characteristic of not being confined but being closely associated with human dwellings. Another factor to consider is that dogs in larger villages depend entirely on humans for food (both waste and otherwise) and rarely leave the village.  In contrast, in smaller villages, these dogs have opportunities to interact with wildlife, potentially increasing such interactions.

Two categories of dogs are excluded from this definition:

• • dingoes, which are independent of human subsidies or interactions, primarily found in Australia and limited by human persecution;
  • working dogs, which are specifically bred and trained to interact with wildlife, used in hunting wild animals or protecting domestic ungulates (sheep, cattle, etc.) from wildlife.

(WP)

From my studies of the Indian caste system, I was familiar with the Tamil term "pariah" meaning "outcast":

From Tamil பறையர் (paṟaiyar), from பறையன் (paṟaiyaṉ, “drummer”), from பறை (paṟai, “drum”) or from Malayalam പറയർ (paṟayaṟ), from പറയൻ (paṟayaṉ, “drummer”), from പറ (paṟa, “drum”). Parai in Tamil or Para in Malayalam refers to a type of large drum designed to announce the king’s notices to the public. The people who made a living using the parai were called paraiyar; in the caste-based society they were in the lower strata, hence the derisive paraiah and pariah.

Alternatively, derived from Sanskrit पर (para, “distant; outsider”). (Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?)

(Wiktionary)

Pariah comes from Tamil paṟaiyan and its Malayalam equivalent paṟayan, words that refer to a member of a Dalit group of southern India and Sri Lanka that had very low status in the traditional caste system of India. (The plural of the Tamil word paṟaiyan is paṟaiyar. The symbol ṟ in this Tamil word transliterates a letter pronounced as an alveolar trill in some dialects of Tamil, while it transliterates a letter pronounced as an alveolar liquid in Malayalam.) Because of their low status, the paṟaiyar found work performing undesirable tasks considered ritually impure by members of the higher castes, such as disposing of the corpses of dead cattle and performing music and carrying out other functions at funerals. The term paṟaiyar is derived from paṟai (in Malayalam, paṟa), a name of a kind of drum played as part of certain festivals and ceremonies. Players of this drum have traditionally been drawn from the paṟaiyar group. The word pariah begins to appear in English in travelers' accounts of Indian society and at first refers specifically to the low-status paṟaiyar. One such occurrence of the word dates from as early as 1613. As British colonial power began to expand in India, however, the British began to use the word pariah in a general sense for any Indian person considered an outcaste or simply of low caste in the traditional Indian caste system. By the 1800s, pariah had come to be used of any person who is despised, reviled, or shunned.

(AH 5th ed.)

Naturally, I wondered how one gets from "Pariah Dog" to "Pye Dog".  I just assumed that "pye" is a clipped version of "pariah".  Trusty old Hobson-Jobson (1886) to the rescue:=

(Hobson-Jobson)

I'm intrigued by feral dogs, stray dogs, and street dogs, wherever they may occur in the world, inasmuch as they are animals that went through domestication, and subsequently became wild again to one degree or another.  Since there are so many of them running around on the streets of Taiwan, I'm especially captivated by the Formosan Mountain Dog.  China (PRC / CCP) would club them all to death without a moment's hesitation.

Afterword:  Kipling and Indian dogs

• Highly Social Hunters: Dholes live and hunt in large clans, using teamwork to take down prey much larger than themselves, including deer and even wild boar.
• Distinctive Communication: Instead of howling or barking, dholes communicate using unique whistle-like calls, which helps them coordinate in thick vegetation.
• Feared Predators: In The Second Jungle Book, they are described as such a terrible force that "Even Hathi [the elephant] moves aside from their line". The story culminates in a major battle where the wolf leader, Akela, dies fighting them.
• Physical Appearance: They are reddish-brown, often described as fox-faced, with a thick muzzle and dark, bushy tails. 

• Scavengers: These dogs occupy an ecological niche as scavengers in human settlements and their lives are often characterized by a constant search for food.
• Appearance: Kipling often described them as the "yelping, yellow crew" or "yellow pariah-dogs".
• Behavior: In stories like "Garm – a Hostage," he portrayed them as half-wild, starving, and cowardly individually, but dangerous when they gathered in a pack. 

Selected writings

• "Canine intonations" (3/21/22)
• "Annoyed dog responding to the Islamic 'Call to Prayer'" (12/29/15) — this is a classic, but presently not available on YouTube.  Does anyone know where else it might be found? [UPDATE 9/22/22:  found it here]
• "Canine backtalk" (10/25/19) — this darling dog could have a conversation of sorts with Izzy, but they speak different lects.
• "Talking seals and singing dogs" (11/28/03)
• "Of dogs and Old Sinitic reconstructions" (3/7/18)

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