| Regions with significant populations |
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| Tamil Nadu |
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Konar or Idaiyar or Yaduvanshi [1] (Tamil: கோனார்,இடையர்) is caste from the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. They are distributed throughout the state of Tamil Nadu, where they are one of the ancient Tamil castes.
In the Census 1921, the community name was noted as Idayan. The Tamil speaking cowherds were referred as Idayans and the Telugu speaking cowherds were referred as "Gollas" and as Vaduga Aayars. The name of the community was notified as Yadavas in government records as per the Government of Madras G.O. No. 5240 Law (General) dated 13 December 1930. In the G. O. it was said that the term Yadava shall in future be adopted in place of Golla, Idayan, Gola, Gopi or Goda in all official announcement. Accordingly in the Census 1931 the name of the community was noted as Yadava instead of Idayan. This is the last census enumerated which included caste.
Konars traditionally raise cows, goats and sheep and sell milk.[2]
The Konars were referred as Ayars in Tamil literature. Ilango Adigal had mentioned Ayars of Madurai in his Tamil epic Silapathikaram, which is considered to be one of the five famous epics of Tamil literature. According to this epic, they gave accommodation for Kannagi. They occupied grasslands known as Mullai in Ancient Tamil country. The Ayar in the pandyan land had a tradition that they came into the Tamilakam, along with the founder of the pandyan dynasty. They worshipped the yakshas. Their favorite deity was however their national hero Krishna. [3]