Kui [NEW]

The Khonds (also spelt Kondha, Kandha etc.) are a tribal community in India. Traditionally hunter-gatherers, they usually hold large tracts of fertile land but still practice hunting, gathering and slash-and-burn agriculture in the forests as a symbol of their connection to and ownership of the forest.

Khonds speak the Kui and Kuvi languages and generally write them in the Odia script, but reportedly a script called Kui Lipi (that is, Kui Script or Kui Writing) has been created by Dayanidhi Malik.

We hear that this script is being developed by the community and the Odisha state government, but don’t know anything for certain. If you have first-hand knowledge of this script and its current usage, please let us know.

The cover and front page of the first printed Kui Primer in the Kui Gaa~ri script of Dayanidhi Malik. Photo courtesy of Biswajit Mandal.

20.2376° N, 84.2700° E