Tulu people worship bootha (spirit deity) shrines, which are small single-room structures called’sana’ or’saNa’. The Tulu word’sana’ means the same as the Sanskrit word’sthana.’ The’moolasthana’ or’moolasana’ is the primary or original (‘moola’)’sana’ for the specific family that became a lineage over time. Tulu people do not marry within the same lineage. A boy from the bangera ‘bari’ (=lineage), for example, is not permitted to marry a girl from the bangera lineage. They are supposed to be brothers and sisters because they are descended from the same bloodline or lineage.

The concept of bari (lineage) is similar to the concept of ‘gotra’ in Brahmin communities. The bari system is also practised by Malayalis from Kerala and the Halakki Gowda tribes of Uttara Kannada district. In Uttara Kannada, the latter refers to it as ‘baLi.’ At the moment, I don’t have any information on lineage systems in Goa, Maharastra, or the northern parts of India.

Thus, the bari/bali lineage system is shared by people on the West Coast, regardless of whether they speak Kannada, Tulu, or Malayalam.

Many of the bari names may have originated in the area where they first settled. The Bangera bari appears to be named after the ‘bangare’ or ‘bengare’ (= the sandy barrier spit along the coast) near Hoode, the estuary of the Swarna and Sita rivers north of Udupi town. Similarly, the bari Suvarna could have been named after the Swarna River. Both of these names refer to the geographical areas where the tribes first settled. The ‘kunda’ in ‘Kundar’ refers to an earthen or stone pillar, as well as a location, such as the current Kundapur. ‘Suvarna’ means gold, and ‘Kanchan’ means gold as well. The adjective gold may refer to the gold extractor (gold panning expert) or simply to the golden skin colour of the lineage’s founder.

In addition, the Tamil Sangam literature mentions an unspecified ‘Koshar’ tribe from the west coast who preferred to dress in gold ornaments. ‘Shriyan’ is a Sanskrit surname that means’shri’ or ‘wealth.’ The term ‘kottian’ refers to someone who looked after the koti (=the storehouse), if not the kote (=the fort). The term ‘Kukkian’ may refer to someone from a mango orchard (kukku=mango). The term ‘Salian’ refers to the annual calendar, whereas ‘Tingalaya’ refers to the monthly calendar.

All of the surnames in the lineage may not be of a single generation. As a result of people resettling, there may be several generations of lineages.

According to Manjunath, Tulu baris have the same but different maternal lineage or ‘tavazhi’ (bari is ‘Vadiari’ and Tulu bari ‘Suvarna’ is ‘Konkani’ in Kerala). The term ‘Konkani’ refers to people who originated in the Konkan coastal region. The northern west coast, particularly the Goa coast, has a nonlinear, crooked coastline. The term Konkan (‘konk’=curved) is most likely referring to the curved, beak-like beach morphology. As a result, Konkani bari refers to those resettled lineages who migrated from the Konkan region.

Overall, it appears that the coastal tribes Halakkis, Tulus, and Malayalis arrived from the north before settling on the west coast. They share similar lineage characters, with lineage names derived primarily from the location of their settlement. They share the concept of ancient Brahma worship, in addition to lineage. It is known as ‘Bommaya devaru’ by the Halakkis and others in Uttara Kannada, and ‘Bermer’ or ‘Bermeru’ by the Tulu people. The Bommaya devaru is an image of a horse-mounted soldier, similar to the Tulu people’s Bermer.