the kols, also known as kolarians, are the original inhabitants of modern-day west bengal and north-east india. the term kol has been corrupted by the aryan-sanskritic speakers to the word "kalu", meaning both "black" and "ugly", in almost all of the 16 major languages of the subcontinent. the kolarians are a dravidian peoples stock group, whose descendant communities can be found also in west bengal and elsewhere in the eastern part of the east india.