Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya (IGRMS) organised field work on respective tribal areas and decided that P Shankar Rao, Assistant Keeper of this museum, will conduct research on various aspects related to human and culture in Koya tribes of Telangana.
According to Rao, the Koyas are a subdivision of the Gond tribes of central India. They are most closely related to the Bison Horn Maria Gonds of Bastar. The majority of Koyas live in Telangana, but significant numbers also live in Chhattisgarh and Orissa. Their habitat is the alluvial plain of the Godavari River and its tributaries and the forested hills that rise up on both sides of the Godavari River.
The hills range from 60 to 1,200 meters above sea level and are cut by numerous short streams that are dry for much of the year but become impassable in the monsoon. Koya settlements are located near sources of dependable water supply such as ponds, streams, or a common well. Villages vary in size from three to more than sixty houses, but most often they consist of between thirty and forty houses with populations of approximately 200 persons. Larger Villages are usually characteristic of the riverine plain, and smaller ones of the hills and jungle. Koya houses are constructed of wood, thatch, clay, and wattle, said Rao.
The average house has two rooms, a loft and a veranda. One room contains the hearth where the family cooking is done, and is strictly reserved to members of the family and minimal lineage.