(bane) were also attached to Jamma tenure, such that relatively expansive agricultural-forestry estates have remained intact across Kodagu. The exclusion of plantation crops, such as coffee, from India's Land Ceiling Act has further insulated these holdings from post independence land reform efforts across India. Importantly, rights over the adjacent forests (bane) were also attached to Jamma tenure, such that relatively expansive agricultural-forestry estates have remained intact across Kodagu. A unique feature of Jamma tenure is that tree rights remained with the Rajas, and were subsequently transferred to the colonial and post-independence governments and remains an import determinant of land use practices in the district. Coffee cultivation Coffee cultivatuion is widely believed to have been introduced in the western ghats from the Yemeni port of Mocha by the Muslim saint, Baba Budan, in the 16th century and some time after its introduction, coffee cultivation was embraced by the Kodavas in western Karnataka. Following the British annexation of Kodagu in 1834, large numbers of European planters began settling in the forested mountains to cultivate coffee, dramatically changing the economic and environmental management structures of Kodava society. Today, more than one third of India's coffee is grown in Kodagu district, making it the most important coffee growing district in India, the world's fifth largest coffee-producing country. Recent developments Lately, some organisations including the Codava National Council (CNC) and Kodava Rashtriya Samiti are demanding Kodava homeland status and autonomy to Kodagu district. The population of the Kodavas is around 1.5 lakh (150,000). Demographics and distribution Kodavas proper The Kodava community numbers about one-fifth out of a total population of over 500,000, in Kodagu. Many Kodava people have migrated to areas outside Kodagu, to other Indian cities and regions, predominantly to Bangalore, Mysore, Mangalore, Ooty, Chennai, Mumbai, Kerala, Hyderabad and Delhi for better job prospects. A few of them have now migrated outside India to foreign countries, like North America (the US and Canada), the Middle East (especially Dubai in UAE and Muscat in Oman), the UK and Australia (especially to Sydney where they are prominent members in the financial industry as well as contributing to the health industry). Amma Kodavas Besides the Kodavas there were other indigenous people who followed the same culture and spoke the same Kodava language. One of them, the Amma Kodavas, were believed to be the original priests' at all important temples in Coorg including temples of Talakaveri, Igguthappa and