KOTAS (Kotar, Koter, Kohatur, Gauhatar)  , an aboriginal tribe of the Nilgiri hills, India . They are a well-made people, of good features, tall, and of a dull copper colour, but some of them are among the fairest of the hill tribes . They recognize no caste among themselves, but are divided into keris (streets), and a man must marry outside his keri . Their villages (of which there are seven) are large, averaging from thirty to sixty huts . They are agriculturists and herdsmen, and the only one of the hill tribes who practise industrial arts, being excellent as carpenters, smiths, tanners and basket-makers . They do menial work for the Todas, to whom they pay a tribute . They worship ideal gods, which are not represented by any images . Their language is an old and rude dialect of Kanarese . In 1901 they numbered 1267 .