Jump to content

List of Vellalar sub castes

Add links
Page extended-confirmed-protected
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Vellalar (also called Velalar (வேளாளர்) and Karalar)[1][2] are a group of castes predominantly found in Tamil Nadu, a state in southern India. They are ruling and land-owning classes in the Tamil country since the beginning of recorded history and have historically played a significant role in the region’s agricultural and social structure.[3][4][5][6]

Titles

The titles used by the Vellalar community include Pillai, Mudaliar, Gounder and Chettiar.[7][a] These titles are adopted by different subcastes of the Vellalar based on regional, social, and cultural factors.[9][10][11]

It must be noted that not all those who assumed the titles Pillai, Mudaliar, Gounder and Chettiar were Vellalars. The adoption of Vellala honorifics was not limited to peasant groups; in Tondaimandalam, the Sengundar weavers took on the title Segunda-Mudali, the Yadava pastoralists identified as Pillai, the people of the Vanniyar group who assumed the title Gounder, and wealthy Paravar fishermen assumed the honorific Chetty.[a]

This phenomenon was part of a broader process of social mobility, often termed Sanskritisation, which reflected the widespread belief in the superior landed legacy and status of the Vellalars. In Tamil agrarian society, Vellala identity conferred not just economic entitlements but also legitimized social status.[12][b]

Subcastes

Main article: Castes and Tribes of Southern India

The Vellalar community is traditionally classified into four primary divisions based on geographical regions Nadu or Mandalam (country): Thondai Nadu, Chola Nadu, Pandya Nadu, and Kongu Nadu[13]

The Thondaimandalam are subdivided into

The cholamandalam are sub-divided into

The Pandyamandalam are sub-divided into

The Kongumandalam are subdivided into

  • Kongu Vellalar they are divided into a number of exogamous clans called Kootams, each of which is totemistic.[14]

The Sri Lankan Vellalars are other set of vellalar predominantly found in the Jaffna peninsulan and adjacent Vanni region in Sri Lanka country.

Adoption of the Vellalar Name

In recent times, several other communities have adopted the name "Vellalar" due to its association with landownership and high social status.[b][c] Such as, the Pallar caste, who have been classified as a Scheduled Caste community, began using the title "Devendrakula Velalar" and Melakkarars who now using the name Isai Vellalar for higher social status. However, it is important to note that these communities do not fall under the traditional Vellalar subcaste.[16][17][18]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b Historically, Chetty was associated with trading castes in the eighteenth century and was a subdivision of the Vellalars (Velanchetty) in earlier centuries.[8]
  2. ^ a b According to Susan Bayly, even in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, "Vellalar affiliation was as vague and uncertain as that of most other south Indian castes"; Vellalar identity was a source of prestige and "There were any number of groups sought to claim Vellalar status for themselves."
  3. ^ The term "Vellalar" is a generic term for a group of high ranking Non-brahmin castes in TamilNadu[15]

References

  1. ^ M. D. Raghavan (1971). Tamil Culture in Ceylon: A General Introduction. Kalai Nilayam. p. 136.
  2. ^ R. C. Majumdar, ed. (1974). The History and Culture of the Indian People: The Mughal Empire. Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. p. 1609. Retrieved 6 February 2025.
  3. ^ Iravatham Mahadevan. "Meluhha and Agastya: Alpha and Omega of the Indus Script" (PDF). p. 16. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 June 2011. Retrieved 7 June 2011. The Ventar-Velir-Velalar groups constituted the ruling and land-owning classes in the Tamil country since the beginning of recorded history
  4. ^ André Wink (2002). Al-Hind: Early medieval India and the expansion of Islam, 7th-11th centuries. Brill Academic Publishers. p. 321. ISBN 9004092498. Not only were the Vellalas the landowning communities of South India,...
  5. ^ John Wilson (1899). Indian Caste. Thacker, Spink & Co. p. 1608. Retrieved 6 February 2025 – via Internet Archive.
  6. ^ Gough, Kathleen (2008). Rural Society in Southeast India. Cambridge University Press. p. 29. ISBN 9780521040198.
  7. ^ Castes And Tribes Of Southern India Vol.7 by Thurston, Edgar.(1909). p. [367].
  8. ^ Meanings of Agriculture: Essays in South Asian History and Economics. Oxford University Press. 1991. p. 348.
  9. ^ Meanings of Agriculture: Essays in South Asian History and Economics. Oxford University Press. 1991. p. 348.
  10. ^ Robb, Peter (1996). *Meanings of Agriculture: Essays in South Asian History and Economics*. Oxford University Press, p. 348.
  11. ^ John Wilson (1899). Indian Caste. Thacker, Spink & Co. p. 1608.
  12. ^ The Meanings of Agriculture: Essays in South Asian History and Economics. Oxford University Press. 1997. p. 349.
  13. ^ Castes And Tribes Of Southern India Vol.7 by Thurston, Edgar.(1909). p. [374].
  14. ^ S. Gunasekaran (2017), p. 41
  15. ^ Peterson, I.V. (2014). Poems to Siva: The Hymns of the Tamil Saints. Princeton Library of Asian Translations. Princeton University Press. p. 355. ISBN 978-1-4008-6006-7. Retrieved 29 March 2023.
  16. ^ Wyatt, A. (2009). Party System Change in South India: Political Entrepreneurs, Patterns and Processes. Routledge Advances in South Asian Studies. Taylor & Francis. p. 140. ISBN 978-1-135-18202-1. Retrieved 28 March 2023.
  17. ^ Bannerji, Himani; Mojab, Shahrzad; Whitehead, Judith (2001). Of Property and Propriety: The Role of Gender and Class in Imperialism and Nationalism. University of Toronto Press. p. 162. ISBN 9780802081926.
  18. ^ Soneji, Davesh (15 January 2012). Unfinished Gestures: Devadasis, Memory, and Modernity in South India. University of Chicago Press. pp. 143–144. ISBN 978-0-226-76809-0.
Retrieved from "http://en.wiki.x.io/w/index.php?title=List_of_Vellalar_sub_castes&oldid=1276441008"