Pallar

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Pallar are a caste of upwardly mobile agriculturalists and agricultural workers of Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka.

They are considered to be pandiyas,pandi means as bulluck, it plough the lands not only pallar,who are known as kudumban, kalladi,pandi, pannadi,devendrakulathan,mannadi,mallan. all the information denotes devendrakulathan as a pandian one of the tamizh kingdom,some other people like vaduka who coming from karnataka,andra,orissa, they occupy the devendras land and kingdom.

Contents

[edit] Origin theories

[edit] Standard theory

The standard theory is that the word Pallar is derived from ‘’Pallam’’ or low lands thus indicating early domestication as lowland workers with the advent of organized agriculture in ancient Tamilakam Supposedly organized cultivation in South India was spread by force, people would move out into virgin land, which was used by hunter gatherer or tribal people for slash and burn agriculture or for hunting and convert into prime agricultural land. There is very little literature and epigraphic evidence of this caste formation prior to the 15th century unlike the age old Pulayar and Paraiyar caste which find mention in the Sangam literature.

[edit] Sanskritic origins

There are other theories connecting these people with Pallava rulers and Malla warriors of South India. Based on these theories the caste has Sanskritized itself as the Devendra Kula Vellalar.

[edit] Tribal roots

Amongst the Pulluvar tribal people of Kerala a region that shared similar culture in the past called as Tamilakam, in a song called Pallupattu we get the origin myth of Pallans. It is sung at the scene called Pallu in Poorakkali, there is reference to Siva and Parvathi as Pallan and Pallichi and they tiled the land and sowed the grains. What the myth indicates is that Pallan or Pallar are generally tribal people who took up cultivation and the terms meant cultivators.[1]

[edit] Conflict with other castes

They are in intense competition with upwardly mobile but numerically superior mid level castes such Kallar, Maravar and Vellala Gounder across Southern and western Tamil nadu. As the first amongst the Dalits of Tamil nadu in hierarchy as well as numerically, they are using their collective strength to upgrade themselves from the degrading practices of the mid level castes that want to keep them in slave like servitude. This results in many instances of violence against them as reported by international NGOs. But Pallar's themselves have attacked other Dalit castes considered to be lower than them in the polluting scale such as the Sakkiliar[2]

[edit] In Sri lanka and abroad

In Sri Lanka, they are currently found in Jaffna and eastern Batticalo region and were primarily agricultural workers. But there is evidence that some have assimilated with the dominant Vellala caste over the last 100 years. They have played and important role in the formation many Tamil nationalistic militant groups namely EPRLF that was eventually eclipsed by the more militant LTTE. Today amongst the Tamil diaspora across the world Pallars are found as part of the greater Tamil community and caste distinctions are minimal.

[edit] Genetics

According to Sengupta et al., 2006 study Pallars have Y-chromosome-Haplogroups that show a curious mix of South Asian haplogroups. Their biggest lineage is R1a1 which forms 24% of their male population. This Y-chromosome lineage predominates North-West of the Indian subcontinent. They also have L1 and L3 where L1 is one of the most common Haplogroup in South India with an appreciable presence in North India and Pakistan, L3 is mostly observed among Pakistanis and almost absent among South Indians. Other pan-Indian Haplogroups like H, R2 and J2 are observed at frequencies greater than 10%.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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