Karava

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Karava of Sri Lanka
One of the many ancient flags of the Karava Community. It depicts several of the communitiy’s traditional symbols. The original flag is illustrated under Karava Heraldry
Total population

4.8 million
Regions with significant populations
Sri Lanka, India, USA, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Italy,Germany, France
Languages
Sinhala, Tamil, English, Marathi, Telugu
Religions
Buddhism, Roman Catholicism, Hinduism, Protestantism
Related ethnic groups
Sinhalese, Tamils, Kshatriyas, Kurukulams, Kauravas, Kurukulathar
A 19th century representation of the Karava Makara Flag. The image of the mythical creature Makara is extensively used in ancient Sri Lankan Karava architecture. This flag is one of the main flags still used by the Karavas at their ceremonies. The Mukkara Hatana, an ola leaf manuscript now in the British Museum states that King Parakramabahu IV granted it to the Karavas
A 19th century representation of the Karava Makara Flag. The image of the mythical creature Makara is extensively used in ancient Sri Lankan Karava architecture. This flag is one of the main flags still used by the Karavas at their ceremonies. The Mukkara Hatana, an ola leaf manuscript now in the British Museum states that King Parakramabahu IV granted it to the Karavas
The Karava Sun and Moon Flag symbolising the Solar and Lunar Dynasty origins of the community. This flag is also one of the main flags still used by the Karavas at their ceremonies and is another flag referred to in the Mukkara Hatana as granted to the Karavas by King Parakramabahu IV. However the Mahabharata states that the epic Kauravas from whom the Karavas claim decent used flags with the sun, moon and stars in the great Mahabharata war.
The Karava Sun and Moon Flag symbolising the Solar and Lunar Dynasty origins of the community. This flag is also one of the main flags still used by the Karavas at their ceremonies and is another flag referred to in the Mukkara Hatana as granted to the Karavas by King Parakramabahu IV. However the Mahabharata states that the epic Kauravas from whom the Karavas claim decent used flags with the sun, moon and stars in the great Mahabharata war.

Karava (pronounced Karaava ) also Karave,Kaurava, Kurukulam or Kurukulathar is a significant Sri lankan community.

Contents

[edit] General

Karave also Kaurava or Kurukulam was the traditional military or warrior caste of Sri Lanka. Its non-mainstream origin myth, distinctive martial and other traditions, customs, clans and martial demeanour makes it more appropriate to call it a distinct Race rather than a Sri Lankan Caste. Karava communities are scattered throughout Sri Lanka including the interior but are predominantly resident on the southern, western and northern coastal districts of Sri Lanka. It is a very diverse community which includes speakers of Sinhala, Tamil and English and practitioners of Buddhism, Hinduism, Roman Catholicism and Protestant Christianity.

Occupationally its members include the foremost professionals, capitalists and politicians of Sri Lanka as well as large numbers of wage earners, fishermen and farmers. Karava myth as well as historical manuscripts such as the Mukkara Hatana [1],[2] and royal grants[3] indicate that they migrated mainly from the area previously known as Kuru Mandalam Coromandal coast of South India. Related communities in India are found north of Tanjore in Tamil Nadu well into the Andhra Pradesh coastal areas.

All Karava communities throughout Sri Lanka share a common origin myth that claims an ultimate origin from the Kuru (kingdom) and the epic Kauravas of the Mahabharata.

[edit] Traditional status

The Karavas were the traditional naval and military caste of Sri lanka and were also mercenaries to kings in India and Sri Lanka. Their leaders, referred to as Patabenda in Sinhala and Patangatim in Tamil, ruled the coast and ports of Sri Lanka as sub-kings from the mediaeval period until the Portuguese colonisation in the 16th century.

All major Karava settlements traditionally had service castes such as barbers, drummers, potters, washermen, etc settled in satellite communities around them. The presence of such settlements is still evident despite the social changes and inter-caste migrations of the past century. The Karavas were the only Sri Lankan community traditionally entitled to use flags. British Government Agents studying Sri Lankan flags have noted that not a single flag could be found even in the residences of Kandyan chiefs as even they were not entitled to use flags. A large number of Karava flags have survived the ravages of time and many are illustrated in E. W. Perera’s monumental book ‘Sinhalese Banners and Standards’. However despite the extent of the collection they are scattered throughout the book and not in a special chapter. As such, their significance is missed by most readers. The symbols on Karava flags are the sun, moon, stars, elephant, fish, white shield, pearl umbrella, swords, lotuses, ship etc. all of which were royal symbols in Sri Lanka’s past.

[edit] Karava royal insignia

Apart from Flags the Karavas were the only community in Sri Lanka entitled to the use of royal insignia. Insignia such as the pearl umbrella, flags, swords, trident, yak tail whisks, lighted flame torches and drums were previously widely used by the Karavas at their weddings and funerals. Such usage is now greatly reduced but even now it is not unusual to see these royal symbols used even at funerals of extremely impoverished Karavas. See Karava Heraldry

Across the Palk Strait, the kinsmen of the Karavas too have used similar insignia in the past. H. R. Pate describes a wedding as follows: A peculiar feature of the wedding is the procession to the bride’s house with virudus or banners supposed to be the insignia of the Kingly ancestors of the race. The emblems consist of 21 flags embroidered with representations of various objects, animate and inanimate, such as a Snake, a Peacock, a Palmyra, a Chank, the Sun and Moon an Elephant. A Fish and so on. In addition to these a large Umbrella, a Shield and other trappings are carried. The bridegroom wears a costume called KAPA resembling the state robes of Jathi Thalavi More and white cloths are spread before hi in his path. (Madras District Gazetteer 123 & 124)

With the fall of Sri Lankan kingdoms under Dutch and British colonialism the Karavas kept to their occupations such as deep sea fishing, cultivation, and trading for survival. See Timeline of the Karavas

[edit] Sanskritisation

Along with South Indian groups such as the Pandyans they appear to have Sanskritized their name to Kurukulam, indicating an origin from the Kauravas of the Kuru (kingdom) in Mahabharata and Kshatriya origin. It should be noted that related Paravas have upgraded their name to Bharathas In Sri Lanka too the Karave claim Kuru ancestry thus assimilating with the Indo-Aryan-speaking majority Sinhalese people. Karavas north of Chilaw still speak Tamil but south of Colombo, along with all other Sri Lankan communities now calling themselves Sinhalese, the Karavas too are now Sinhala speakers and have become devoted Catholics and Buddhists with very little vestige of their former Hindu religion[citation needed]. See Timeline of the Karavas. With Salagama and Durave, they make a sizeable number of people among the coastal Sinhalese sub group. See Caste in Sri Lanka.

[edit] Timeline of the Karavas

See Timeline of the Karavas

[edit] Karava Flags and insignia

See Karava Heraldry

[edit] Social position

The Karave community of today is made up of many Clans as indicated by their hereditary ancestral names also known as "Ge" names and Clan names. In Sri Lanka they are an influential and prominent caste both among the majority Sinhalese and minority Sri Lanka Tamils. With the inversion of the traditional caste system under Dutch and British rule they are now said to be behind the Govigama (among the Sinhalese) and Vellalar (among the Tamils).

Most Karave were forcibly converted to the Catholic religion during the Portuguese period. (See Patabendige for Portuguese conversion strategies). During the British period several Karava families, along with families from Govigama and other communities achieved elite status by participating in the colonial economic activities. Although the strides made thus far by a few families are impressive, and many members of the community are leading professionals and businessmen, a great many of them now languish at the bottom of the economic order, deprived of opportunities for progress[citation needed].

[edit] Political influence

The democratic system of Sri Lanka, where the main political parties are run as family organizations, has prevented Karava and other minority community politicians from ever reaching the top or gaining political influence. Young leaders rising up against the system have been continually eliminated by the Sri Lankan state since the 1970s.

Non–Govigama representation in Parliament has steadily declined since independence and representation of non-Govigama castes are well below their population percentages. [4]. Caste representation in the Cabinet is limited to a few very visible, but unconcerned and disconnected members from a few leading castes. However none of these representatives are known to have ever spoken on behalf of their respective communities or done anything constructive for the progress of these communities.

Currently the Karaiyar among Sri Lankan Tamils are overwhelmingly represented in the Tamil militant group LTTE, whereas Karave are very vocal about their Sinhala Buddhist identity and drive the nationalistic political parties such as the SLFP and JVP, both aligned to Sinhala nationalism. Some sociologists have commented that the current civil war in Sri Lanka has become a vehicle by which both the Karaiyar and Karave have sought to marginalize the post-colonial elites by taking extremely partisan but opposite views[citation needed].

[edit] Karava ancestral names

Most of the Karavas in Sri Lanka belong to one or more of the Suriya clans Kurukulasuriya, Warnakulasuriya, Mihindukulasuriya, Bharathakulasuriya, Manukulasuriya, Vijayakulasuriya or Arasakulasuriya which appear to indicate distinct streams of migrations. Other clans are Vadugas, Koon Karavas (such as Samarakoon, Weerakoon etc) and Konda Karavas (such as WeeraKonda, Konda Perumal Árachchigé etc). Additionally they also bear Gé names.

Gé names among the Sinhhala speaking population are traditional hereditary family names. They denotes a person's ancestry, caste, social status of an illustrious ancestor or the village of origin. These names predate the 16th century European colonisation of Sri Lanka. Gé names precede an individual’s personal name unlike a surname which follows one’s personal name. As such it is important to understand the historical significance of these ancient Ge’ names vis-à-vis the 20th century British period acquired high sounding surnames such as Bandaranaike, Dissanayake, Senanayake, Jayawardene, Wijayawardene etc.

In the case of the Karavas, their Ge’ names overwhelmingly show a traditional military heritage. Modern writers who attempt to ascribe a fisher ancestry for the Karavs have been unable to explain how such assertions fit in with these ancient ancestral names as none of these names indicate a fishing industry origin. Some of the more frequenty encountered Karava Ge names are:

An ancient flag of the Karava Arasakularatne clan.
An ancient flag of the Karava Arasakularatne clan.
The battle flag of Sri Lanka, captured by the British from Sri Wikrama Rajasinghe’s army. It displays the kettle drum which was beaten before battles and five weapons (panchaudha). In the past, a medallion with panchaudha symbols used to be tied on Karava infants for protection. The practice still survives in rural Sri Lanka and has been now adopted by other communities as well.
The battle flag of Sri Lanka, captured by the British from Sri Wikrama Rajasinghe’s army. It displays the kettle drum which was beaten before battles and five weapons (panchaudha). In the past, a medallion with panchaudha symbols used to be tied on Karava infants for protection. The practice still survives in rural Sri Lanka and has been now adopted by other communities as well.
  • Arachchige - From the house of the military officer
  • Arasa Marakkalage - Royal Mariner
  • Baduge – Variant form of Vaduge
  • Hennedige - Armoured military officer
  • Hewage - Soldier
  • Kankanamage – Supervising military officer
  • Marakkalage - Ship owner or captain (see illustration of Marakkalam vessel on right)
  • Mestrige - Expert/Master
  • Patabendige - Sub king
  • Tantrige - Expert in military strategy
  • Vaduge – Northerner, for Nayaka soldiers
  • Varnakula Aditya Arasanilayitta, Varnakula Suriya possessing kingly status [5]
  • Vidanage – Civil officer
  • Vedage – Expert in the Vedas

Apart from Ge names, they also use Iberian-derived surnames such as De Silva, De Mel, Fernando, Perera and Mendis owing to their initial contact with Portuguese colonials. Rarer occurrences of such surnames are found in Fonseka, De La Salle, De Mazenod, and others who can often directly trace lineage back to a member of the Portuguese colonials in the country in the 16th century.

[edit] Other links

[edit] External links

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[edit] References

  • ^ RAGHAVAN, M. D., The Karava of Ceylon - Society and Culture, K. V. G. de Silva, 1961.
  • ^ Caste Conflict and Elite Formation, The Rise of the Karava Elite in Sri Lanka 1500 - 1931. Michael Roberts 1982, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. ISBN 81-7013-139-1
  • Madras District Gazetteer – Tinnevelly Volume I 1917 H. R. Pate
  • ^ Social Change in Nineteenth Century Ceylon. Patrick Peebles. 1995, Navrang ISBN 81-7013-141-3.