Karkarthar

Karkathar
Regions with significant populations
Tamil Nadu
Languages

Tamil
Religion

Hinduism
Related ethnic groups

Tamil people

Karkathar (கார்காத்தார்) is a Forward caste in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is a sub-caste of the grater Vellalar community. Karkathar are also known as Karalar.

Contents

Etymology

Karkathar (Kar-cloud, Kathar- protector) means protector of clouds in Tamil.[1] They are also called as pillai which means son in Tamil.In ancient past, it is said, that people were starving to death because there was no food for the masses . To redeem people from hunger and poverty Goddess Parvati created persons of Karkathar Vellala caste to save people from hunger by teaching them the nuances of agriculture and water management. As these Vellalas were created by Goddess Parvati they are referred to as pillais, sons of Parvati.Even today some of the karkathars use pillai as a suffix to their name ; but the younger generation is wary of using caste titles.Nowadays people belonging to other castes also use pillai as a suffix to enhance their social status. A Karkathar Pillai can easily be identified with his Gotra name, which is unique to them .

Karkathars are a sub-caste of Vellalar. The word Vellalar is from the term Velanmai which means cultivation.As the preeminent occupation of the Karkathars is agriculture they are known as Karkatha Vellalas.In the Poonagari Brahmi inscription of Jaffna, Srilanka the precursor of the word Vellala,vela, was found inscribed.The inscription is dated to 2nd century BCE.

They used the water sources more effectively to irrigate and cultivate the lands for agriculture.Most of them were landlords, so they don't work on lands but supervise the works. It was a pride among the karkathars to have land in the past; which was their status symbol.

History

Migration

According to tradition, the Karkathar migrated from the Gangetic plains and over time spread over the entire macro region of present day Tamil Nadu. According to satakams, the Pandya country was settled by these people after they had resided in the Chola country.[2] According to historian Burton Stein, this theory is purely mythical and according to another historian, Suomen Itämainen Seura, the Karkathar are so called as they migrated from a place called Karaikadu.[3] But here is an inscription from Malur taluk in Karnataka (original in Tamil and Grantha):

“
I, Karkata mārāyan alias Uttama Sōla Gangan Virundar, supreme lord of the city of Kuvalāla, lord of Nandigiri, the truth speaker, granted the village of Samandarpalli, in Talaimalai-nādu, as a sarva mānya, for as long as the moon and the sun exist, to provide for offerings of rice, sandal, lamps and temple repairs, for the god Arulāla nādan of Têkkal, and gave a deed of gift to the above effect to the authorities of the temple and to Sokkapperumāl-tâdar, with permission to have it engraved in stone and copper..May there be prosperity.[4]
 ”

Kuvalāla was the name given to the present day Kolar region in Karnataka by the Cholas.[5]

Settlement of Pudukottai region

According to historian Nicholas B. Dirks, the Pudukottai region was sparsely populated until the early Chola period. But with the beginning of the Chola era, there is strong evidence of increasing agrarian settlement, the growth of villages, institutions, the construction and expansion of temples.[6] According to the Tekkattur manuscript, the Karkathar were initially divided into Kanāttars and Kōnāttars, each of which had many exogamous sub-divisions. Kōnādu or the land of the king (Chola country) mostly consisted of the regions north of the river Vellar except for the western part of the state where it included certain regions south of the river as well. Kanādu, literally meaning the land of the forests was included in the Pandya country. The manuscript goes on to describe the decline in the position of the Karkathar after the initial golden age due to the fighting between the two branches over various issues such as land, rights to the water of the river Vellar, temples etc. and the subsequent settlement and dominance of the Maravars in the region who were initially imported from Ramnad by both branches. The copper plate inscriptions held by every Maravar community in the region indicates that the Kōnāttu vellalar were victorious in the end.[7] The seven lineages of Karkathar vellalars were the overlords of the Kaniyatchi in the Ponnamaravati, having 756 villages, 1511 hamlets, 21 brahmadeyams, 212 devadayams, and 64 nādus

The noted scholar I.Mahadevan of Indus script fame postulates that the Vellalas who are identified with the Velirs have migrated from Dwaraka to the southern states some 3200 to 3500 years BP.He identifies them as the marvelous creators of the Harappan civilization.He further remarks that the naidus of Andhra and nairs of Kerala form part of the greater vellala community.

According to historian Arokiaswami, the Irukkuvels of Kodumbalur who were the main allies of the Cholas from an early period were all Vellalars. According to historian Nicholas B. Dirks, the local sources like palm leaf manuscripts, copper plate inscriptions and many of the origin stories also indicate that there was a relationship between the Irukkuvel family of chieftains and the Karkathar vellalar community and he says, that the Irukkuvel titles such as Vēlār as in Madurantaka Irukkuvēlār, Śembiyan Irukkuvēlār, etc. proves that the Irukkuvels were indeed Vellalar.[8][9] The following is an inscription from Bowringpet district in Karnataka that shows that the Vēlār was the title of Vellalar (original in Tamil):

“
I, Vayirāndai, son of Mâdēvar, who was the vēlār of Kallagara-pudavur and one of the Vellala residents of Pudavur in Ilavanji-nadu gave 4 pon to provide for the offerings of rice at the tiruvotta-sāmam for the god Swayambhu-nayakar and also granted some lands. We the siva brahmanas (3 named with their gotras) of the temple have received the above pon and pledge ourselves to supply the quantity of rice for as long as the moon and the sun exist, out of interest of the sum, at the rate of one pāgam per month on each pon.[10]
 ”

But historian Burton Stein disputes Arokiaswami's claim that the Irukkuvels were Vellalar.[8] But here is an inscription (Tiruvorriyur) of a top officer (Dandanayaka) of Rajendra Chola II/ Rajadhiraja Chola I from the Irunkōvēl family:

“
..A record of the Chola king Parakesarivarman alias Udaiyar Sri Rajendradeva. Records in his third year, gift of 90 sheep, for a lamp by Velala Madurantakam alias Dandanayakan Rajadhiraja Ilangovelan of Nadar, a village in Tiraimur-nādu which was a sub-division of Uyyakondan-valanādu in Sola-mandalam.[11]
 ”

According to historian, Muttusvami Srinivasa Aiyangar, the Velirs were recipients of high titles such as Kizhan, Udaiyan, Velan, Rayan, Araiyan etc. To quote him:

“
Arisil Kizhan and Kalingarayan now appear as the gotra names of the Karkathar Vellalars. They have ninety six gotras or exogamous sects, thirteen of which end in Thirai or Thiraiyan, fourteen in Rayan, and sixty nine in Udai or Udaiyan. The first denotes the clan or tribe to which that section of the Vellalas originally belonged; the second the title conferred upon them by the Chola or the Pandya kings; while third appears to be names of the villages of which they were the chieftains..No traces of Tamil kings are to be found in this country and it is highly probable that they should have merged in the pure Vellala caste. We say pure because the Vellala caste as a whole appears to have been receiving additions from time to time from other tribes.[12]
 ”

The following is an inscription of a feudatory of the Cholas from Tiruvannamalai:

“
A record in the fourth year of the Chola king Tribhuvanachakravarthin Vijayarajendra Choladeva. Records gift of land by Rajadhiraja Karkatamarayan[13]
 ”

According Kulamankalam plates, the Konattu vellalar were also known as Karkathar Vellalar or Karaikattu vellalar. Here is an excerpt of an inscription of a Kōnāttu-Vēlār:

“
..Registers that (the image of) Kshētrapāla and its shrine in the temple of Nāyanār Tirumalisvara-Udaiyar were the gift of Malaiyar Mānikka Nāyanār alias Śēmbiyan Kōnāttu-Vēlār of Vēmbanur[14]
 ”

Sangam Literature

Manimekalai, one of the five great Epics in the Tamil language, mentions Karalar, the name generally believed to denote Karkarthar, twice, using the phrase Karalar Sanbai meaning the city Sirkazhi of the Karkathar.[15] Sanbai is one of the 12 names of Sirkazhi popularized by Bhakti era poet Sambandar in his song sung before the Pandya prince of Madurai, saying that he hailed from Sirkazhi the holy place with twelve names. Amongst the 12 names he mentions Sanbai as one because of the wild growth of elephant grass, namely Sanban korai around the city. Sirkazhi has a pre-eminent place in the literature related to the Saiva Siddhantam, of Hinduism.

Culture

The mother tongue of the Karkarthars is Tamil language, with a unique dialect that is particular to the city of Mayavaram. They are Hindus and generally follow Dvaita (Dual) Saiva Siddhantam school of thought in Hinduism. Karkarthars are traditionally vegetarians. This community is very orthodox and in olden days they were performing "Anushtanam" which is similar to Sandhya vandam. Karthar vellalar has a community magazine called "oppuravu". They are predominantly Shaivites but Vaishnavites are also found among the community and intermarriage is allowed between both sects. They all follow the traditional Gotras system. The people belonging to this caste are conservative and do not marry into the other vellalar sub castes.

Distribution

The majority of Karkarthar live in the Tamil Nadu districts of :

Prominent Personalities

Notes

  1. ^ Salem cyclopedia: a cultural and historical dictionary of Salem District, Tamil Nadu, page 157
  2. ^ Peasant state and society in medieval South India, page 320
  3. ^ Studia orientalia, Volumes 49-50, page 150
  4. ^ Epigraphia Carnatica, Volume 10, Part 1, page 159
  5. ^ Karnataka State Gazetteer: Hassan, page 45
  6. ^ The hollow crown: ethnohistory of an Indian kingdom, page 139
  7. ^ The hollow crown: ethnohistory of an Indian kingdom, page 140
  8. ^ a b The hollow crown: ethnohistory of an Indian kingdom, page 149
  9. ^ Volume 6 of A Topographical List of Inscriptions in the Tamil Nadu and Kerala States, page 47, 49
  10. ^ Epigraphia Carnatica, Volume 10, Part 1, page 142
  11. ^ South Indian shrines: illustrated, page 53
  12. ^ Tamil studies: essays on the history of the Tamil people, language, religion, and literature, Volume 3, page 63
  13. ^ South Indian shrines: illustrated, page 198
  14. ^ Volume 8 of A Topographical List of Inscriptions in the Tamil Nadu and Kerala States, page 39
  15. ^ Gender, caste, and power in South Asia: social status and mobility in a transitional society, page 199
  16. ^ Madras District Gazetteers: Tiruchirappalli (pts. 1-2)
  17. ^ Applied anthropology and challenges of development in India, page 153
  18. ^ Madras District Gazetteers: Salem, page 121
  19. ^ Changing South Asia: Religion and society, page 40
  20. ^ Contributions to Indian sociology, Volume 25, page 192

References

External links