Mudaliar

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Mudaliar (alternatively spelled: Muthaliar, Mudali, Muthali) is a Tamil title and surname. [1] As title, it was historically given to high-ranking officers, administrators and their descendants during the rule of Imperial Cholas. [2] [3] The surname is most prevalent among Tamils from Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka. Descendants of Tamil migrants also bears variants of the name in countries such as South Africa, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore and elsewhere in the Tamil diaspora.

Contents

The title is orgininally used by Senguntha Mudaliars who were textile merchants, ministers and military generals of chola and pallava empires. It was later also adopted by communities like the Kondaikatti Vellalar and Thuluva Vellalar.

Etymology

The title is derived from the Tamil word muthal or "muthar" meaning first with the suffix yaar denoting people. [4] The title Mudaliar means a person of first rank. The title is used in the same sense as simply meaning headman or chieftain. [5]

History

The term "Mudali" (or "Mudaliar") is an honorific historically associated with Thondaimandala Vellalars, a forward caste. [6] [7] [8]

This title is also used by the Sengunthar community. Sengunthars, traditionally held a prominent place as skilled weavers and textile merchants in the Tamil region. [9] During the rule of Imperial Cholas, the Sengunthars were warriors and were given the title "Sengunda-Mudali", indicating an evolution in their social status within Tondaimandalam society. [10] [6] [11] Sengundhars are a relatively high ranking caste who rival in status the main agricultural caste, the Vellalars. [12]

India

Kondaikatti Vellalar

Kondaikatti Vellalar or Thondaimandala Mudaliar [a] is a Tamil [b] caste in south India. Historically, they were a caste of non-cultivating land-holders and some of them were administrators under various south Indian dynasties especially the Chola Empire. [c] [d] [e] Their original homeland was Thondaimandalam and from there they spread to other areas in south India and northeastern parts of Sri Lanka. [f] [17] Since they historically used the Mudaliar title, they are sometimes referred to as Thondaimandala Mudaliar. [13]

Thuluva Vellalar

Thuluva Vellalar (Thondaimandala Tuluva Vellalar), also known as Agamudaya Mudaliars  and Arcot Mudaliars, is a caste found in northern Tamil Nadu, southern Andhra Pradesh. They were originally significant landowners. An early Tamil tradition states that a king known as Ādonda Chakravarthi, a feudatory of Karikala Chola brought a large number of agriculturists (now known as the Tuluva Vellalas) from the Tulu areas in order to reclaim forest lands for cultivation in Thondaimandalam during late 2nd century CE. [19] Tuluva Vellalars are progressive and prosperous [20] in the society. They are considerably advanced in the matter of education. [21]

Senguntha Kaikola Mudaliar

Senguntha Kaikola Mudaliar is a caste commonly found in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and the neighboring country Sri Lanka. In Andhra Pradesh, they are called as Kaikala or Karikala Bhaktulu, who consider the Chola emperor Karikala Chola as their hero. [22] They were warriors by ancient heritage and traditional, Textile Merchants and Silk Weavers by occupation. [9] Ottakoothar, 12th century court poet and rajaguru of Cholas under Vikrama Chola, Kulothunga Chola II, Raja Raja Chola II reign belong to this community. They were a part of the Ayyavolu 500 merchant guild during the Chola period which played a significant role in the Chola invasion of Srivijaya empire. [9] In the olden days in India, the Sengunthars were warriors and were given the title Mudaliar for their bravery. [11] In early thirteenth century, after the fall of Chola empire large number of Kaikolars migrated to Kongu Nadu from Tondaimandalam and started doing weaving and textile businesses as their full time profession as they sworn to be soldiers only for Chola emperors. [23]

Sri Lanka

Karaiyar and Sri Lankan Vellalar

After the expulsion of the Portuguese, the 1658 revolt against Dutch rule in the Jaffna region was led by the Christian Karaiyars and Madapallis. [24] A Dutch minister of the 17th century, Philippus Baldaeus, described the Karaiyars, Madapallis and Vellalars among the influential classes of the Christians.[ citation needed ] Elite Karaiyars were appointed to the rank of Mudaliyars. [25] The Karaiyar dominance got weakened through the political rise of the Vellalars under Dutch rule. [26] [27] [28]

Karaiyar

For centuries the Karaiyars had sea-trade relations with India, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia, which has been heavily restricted since British rule. [29]

At the hand of the powerful maritime trading clans of the Karaiyars, the emergence of urban centers known as pattanam were seen. Mudaliar (meaning "capitalist") were conferred on the maritime elite trading clans of the Karaiyars as titles of nobility. [30] [31] [32]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Some of the important endogamous sub-divisions among the Vellalas are: Aranbukatti, Arunattu, Cholapuram Chetti, Choliya, Dakshinattan, Kaniyalan, Karaikatta or Pandya, Kodikkal, Kongu, Kottai, Malaikanda, Nainan, Mangudi, Pandaram or Gurukal, Panjukara Chetti, Ponneri Mudali, Pundamalli Mudali, Sittak kattu Chetti, Tondamandalam Mudali or Kondaikatti, Tuluva, Uttunattu, and Yelur. The Tondaimandalam, Ponneri and Pundamalli Vellalas use the title Mudaliar; [13]
  2. ↑ Most of the Dubashes in the late eighteenth-century Madras were Telugu brahmans or Telugu perikavārs, Tamil kannakapillais, Tamil yādhavas, or Tamil Kondaikatti vellalas. [14]
  3. ↑ Among Tamil castes, both Karkattar Vellalas (Arunachalam, 1975) and Kondaikatti Vellalas (Barnett, 1970) have much the same profile as the KP: both are non-cultivating land-holders, with a history of service to ruling dynasties. Both are of high status, laying great stress on ritual purity. [15]
  4. ↑ Like the Kondaikatti Velalar described by Barnett(1970), they have allied themselves with south Indian dynasties as administrators, and have built up a position in the religious sphere in being employers of Brahmans and builders of temples for "high" gods like Siva, Ganesh and Vishnu. [16]
  5. ↑ The original stronghold of the Kondaikatti Vellalas was Tondaimandalam. Later they spread from there throughout Tamil Nadu. Some of them were employed in the king's court and others as military leaders during expansionist times. [17]
  6. ↑ The original home of the Kondaikatti Vellalar is Tondaimandalam and subsequently they are found throughout Tamil nadu. [18]

References

  1. ↑ Barnett, Marguerite Ross (2015). The Politics of Cultural Nationalism in South India. Princeton University Press. p. 236. ISBN   9781400867189.
  2. ↑ Silva, Chandra Richard De (2009). Portuguese Encounters with Sri Lanka and the Maldives: Translated Texts from the Age of Discoveries. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. p. 225. ISBN   9780754601869.
  3. ↑ Vidyodaya Journal of Arts, Science, and Letters: Vidyodaya Vidyā Kalā Bhāsāśāstrīya Sangrahaya. Vidyodaya Campus, University of Sri Lanka. 1970. p. 117.
  4. ↑ Barnett, Marguerite Ross (2015). The Politics of Cultural Nationalism in South India. Princeton University Press. p. 236. ISBN   9781400867189.
  5. ↑ Katz, Nathan (2000). Who Are the Jews of India?. University of California Press. pp. 47–48. ISBN   978-0-52021-323-4.
  6. 1 2 Rajadurai, S. V.; Geetha, V. (2004). Wyatt, Andrew; Zavos, John (eds.). Response to John Harriss. Routledge. p. 115. ISBN   978-1-13576-169-1 . Retrieved 2024-11-23.
  7. ↑ Robb, Peter (1996). Meanings of Agriculture: Essays in South Asian History and Economics. Oxford University Press. p. 348.
  8. ↑ Balakrishnan, Raja Gopal (1965). The Rashtrakutas of Malkhed: Studies in the History and Culture (1994 ed.). Mythic Society, Bangalore by Geetha Book House. p. 178.
  9. 1 2 3 Mines 1984, p. 11.
  10. ↑ Robb, Peter (1996). Meanings of Agriculture: Essays in South Asian History and Economics. Oxford University Press. p. 349.
  11. 1 2 David, Kenneth (1977). The New Wind: Changing Identities in South Asia (World Anthropology). De Gruyter Mouton; Reprint 2011 edition (1 December 1977). p. 188. ISBN   9027979596.
  12. ↑ Mines 1984 , p. 13
  13. 1 2 Indian Council of Agricultural Research, p. 120.
  14. ↑ Irschick (1994), p. 34.
  15. ↑ Chanana & Krishna Raj (1989), p. 92.
  16. ↑ Mariola Offredi (1992), p. 284.
  17. 1 2 Pillay & Pillay (1977), pp. 23–24.
  18. ↑ Venkatasubramanian (1993), p. 105.
  19. ↑ Krishnaswamy Ranaganathan Hanumanthan. Untouchability: A Historical Study Upto 1500 A.D. : with Special Reference to Tamil Nadu. Koodal Publishers. p. 101.
  20. ↑ Tañcai Tamil̲p Palkalaik Kal̲akam, Tañcai Tamiḻp Palkalaik Kaḻakam (1994). Glimpses of Tamil Civilization. Articles from the University Quarterly, Tamil Civilization. Tamil University. p. 142. Tuluva Vellala is a prosperous and progressive caste in Tamil Nadu and they migrated from Tulu Nadu to Tamil Nadu in ancient times.
  21. ↑ "3". Census Book of India 1961 (in Tamil). Vol. 9 North Arcot District. Madras: The Director of stationery and Printing, Madras. 1961. p. 31.
  22. ↑ "National Commission for Backward Classes". www.ncbc.nic.in. Retrieved 2023-06-26.
  23. ↑ Ramaswamy, Vijaya (2017). Migrations in Medieval and Early Colonial India. Routledge. pp. 172–174. ISBN   9781351558259.
  24. ↑ Veen, Ernst van; Blussé, Leonard (2005). Rivalry and Conflict: European Traders and Asian Trading Networks in the 16th and 17th Centuries. Amsterdam University Press. p. 116. ISBN   9789057891045.
  25. ↑ Manogaran, Chelvadurai; Pfaffenberger, Bryan (1994). The Sri Lankan Tamils: ethnicity and identity. Westview Press. pp. 34, 36. ISBN   9780813388458.
  26. ↑ Arasaratnam, Sinnappah (1996-01-01). Ceylon and the Dutch, 1600-1800: External Influences and Internal Change in Early Modern Sri Lanka. n Variorum. p. 390. ISBN   9780860785798.
  27. ↑ Soundra Pandian, Mathias Samuel (1997). South Indian Studies. Madras Institute of Development Studies: Chithira Publishers. p. 168.
  28. ↑ Eva Gerharz (2014). The Politics of Reconstruction and Development in Sri Lanka. Routledge. p. 41. ISBN   978-1-317-69280-5.
  29. ↑ Kenneth Andrew, David (1972). The Bound and the NonBound: Variations in Social and Cultural Structure in Rural Jaffna, Ceylon. The University of Chicago. p. 142.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  30. ↑ K, Arunthavarajah (March 2014). "The Administration of Jaffna Kingdom- A Historical View" (PDF). International Journal of Business and Administration Research Review. 2 (3). University of Jaffna: 32.
  31. ↑ Cambridge South Asian Studies. University of Cambridge: Cambridge South Asian Studies. 1965. p. 27. ISBN   9780521232104.
  32. ↑ Pandian, Jacob (1987). Caste, Nationalism and Ethnicity: An Interpretation of Tamil Cultural History and Social Order. Popular Prakashan. p. 109. ISBN   9780861321360.

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