| Total population |
|---|
| 7.5 million in 2001[1] |
| Regions with significant populations |
| Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Pondicherry, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore, Fiji, South Africa |
| Languages |
| Religion |
| Related ethnic groups |
Paraiyar, Parayar, and Sambavar,[2] anglicised by Europeans as Pariah[3][4] are a social group found in the Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and in Sri Lanka. In the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, though they have been enumerated under three different caste names, they have generally been referred to as Paraiyar. In the Northern Districts of Tamil Nadu they are known as Paraiyars only. In the southern districts of Tamil Nadu they are known as Sambavar. However, they themselves prefer the name Adi Dravidar to Paraiyar and Sambavar.[5] The Indian census of 2001 reported the Paraiyan population about 7.5 Million.[1]
Adi-Dravida (Ancient Dravidian) is a modern name for the Paraiyar coined by the Government of Tamil Nadu, it denotes only the Paraiyar Caste. Paraiyar/Adi-Dravida are the majority among the Scheduled castes and scheduled tribes in Tamil Nadu. Scheduled castes are generally called Adi-Dravidar by the government of Tamil Nadu. Paraiyan and Samban are synonymous with Adi Dravidar.[5] The term 'Adi-Dravidar' means Oldest-Dravidians in Tamil Nadu.
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Robert Caldwell derived the name Paraiyar from the Tamil word Parai a drum, as certain Paraiyars act as drummers at marriages, funerals, village festivals, and on occasions when Government or commercial announcements are proclaimed.[6] H. A. Stuart, however, seems to question this derivation, remarking (Madras Census Report, 1891) that "it is only one section of Paraiyars that act as drummers Nor is the occupation confined to the Paraiyars. It seems in the highest degree improbable that a large, and at one time powerful, community should owe its name to an occasional occupation, which one of its divisions shares with other castes.[7] 'The word Paraiyar is not found in Divakaram, a Tamil Dictionary of the eleventh century A.D., and the word Pulaiyar was then used to denote this section of population, as it is still in Malayalam to this day'."[8] In the legend of the Saivite saint Nandan is, in the prose version of the Periya Puranam called a Pulayan, though a native of Cholamandalam, which was a distinctly Tamil kingdom.[8] The Madras Census Report 1891 estimated over two million members of Paraiyar or Pariah caste. In the Census Report, 1901, Francis mentions an inscription of the chola king Raja Raja, dated about the eleventh century A.D., in which the Paraiyar caste is called by its name.[9] It had then two sub-divisions, the Nesavu or weavers, and Ulavu or ploughmen. The caste had even then its own hamlets, wells and burning-grounds.[10]
Gustav Salomon Oppert writes, "The supposition that the Pariahs(Paraiyars) are the drummer-caste and have obtained their name from that instrument appears to rest on a weak foundation. It is most probably an afterthought, the more easily explicable since the lower classes delighted in the noise of the drum, and the name of the drum-beating class was transferred to the instrument by which the Pariah (Paraiyar) made his presence known. The word para, or parai is, except in Malayalam and Tamil, not found in the other Dravidian languages in the sense of drum and at the same time as the name of the Pariahs (Paraiyars)."[11]
Oppert regards that "The word Pariah(Paraiyar), the Paravari of the Maratha country, is intimately connected with the names of the Paratas, Paradas, Paravar, Pardhis, Parheyas, Paharias, Bars (Bhars), Brahui and Mars (Mhars)."[11]
The community is classified as a depressed community until recent times. The economic and educational privileges have been denied to them for centuries. However, there is considerable evidence to suggest that their position must have been reasonably higher in older times. Some scholars presume that Paraiyars must have been followers of Buddhism who lost their status in society during the revival of the Agamic cults.[12][9][13] the Tamil author of the Thirukkural, the Tamil poet Auvaiyar,[9][14] and the architect of the classical city of Hastinapur[14] had all been "Paraiyars".[13]
The following is a description of "Paraiyars" originally appearing in Volume V20, Page 802 of the Encyclopaedia Britannica 1911.
PARIAH, a name long adopted in European usage for the outcastes of India. Strictly speaking the Paraiyans are the agricultural labourer caste of the Tamil country in Madras. The majority are ploughmen, formerly adscripti glebae, but some of them are weavers, and no less than 350 subdivisions have been distinguished. The name can be traced back to inscriptions of the 11th century, and the "Pariah poet," Tiruvalluvar, author of the Tamil poem, the Kurral, probably lived at about that time. The accepted derivation of the word is from the Tamil. parai, the large drum of which the Paraiyans are the hereditary beaters at festivals, &c. In 1901 the total number of Paraiyans. in all India was 24 millions, almost confined to the south of Madras. Some of their privileges and duties seem to show that they represent the original owners of the land, subjected by a conquering race. The Pariahs supplied a notable proportion of Clive's sepoys, and are still enlisted in the Madras sappers and miners. They have always acted as domestic servants to Europeans. That they are not deficient in intelligence is proved by the high position which some of them, when converted to Christianity, have occupied in the professions. In modern official usage the outcastes generally are termed Panchamas in Madras, and special efforts are made for their education.See Caldwell, Comparative Grammar of the Dravidian Languages (PP. 54 0 -554), and the Madras Census Reports for 1891 and 1901.[3]
As per anthropological research done by Edgar Thurston, the Paraiyars had an average cephalic index of 74[15] and an average nasal index of 80.[16]
The Paraiyars enjoyed a privileged position in the society after the Sangam period that is during the The Kalabhras dynasty period( 300 A.D to 600 A.D). They were traditionally farmers and weavers. One sub-group of Paraiyars, "Valluvan", were renowned as magicians and astrologers. They were employed as advisers to kings.
Caldwell says, "There are various traditions current amongst the Pareiyas (Paraiyars) to the effect that the position which their caste occupied in native society at some former period was very different from what it is now, and much more honourable. The Tamil Pareiyas (Paraiyars) sometimes boast that at an ancient period theirs was the most distinguished caste in the country. They say that they were reduced to their present position, as a punishment for the haughty behaviour of their ancestors to some ancient king ; on which occasion the Vellalas, or caste of cultivators, who are now called Tamirar, or Tamilians, par excellence, were raised to the place which had previously been occupied by themselves ".[17]
Rev. A.C. Clayton a Wesleyan missionary who was the first to give a detailed general account of Paraiyar people, who authored Paraiyan and Legend of Nandan, Madras Government Museum Bulletin,Volume V, NO.2 states that he knows of no legend or popular belief among the Paraiyar indicating that they believe themselves to have come from any part of the country other than where they now find themselves. There is, however, some evidence that the race has had a long past, a past in which they had independence - and possibly great importance - in the peninsula.[18][19] W. Francis, who authored the Madras Presidency census report, 1901, writes that the old Tamil works of the early centuries of the Christian era did not mention the name Paraiyar, but contain many descriptions of a tribe called 'Eyivs' who seem to have been quite distinct from the rest of the population and did not live in the villages, but in forts of their own. Ambur and Vellore are mentioned as the places where they lived. They may have been perhaps the ancestors of the Paraiyars.[20]
Stuart, then District collector of North Arcot, who authored Madras Presidency census report, 1891 mentions that the Valluvans were priests to the Pallava kings before the introduction of the Brahmans, and even for some time after it.[19]
He quotes an unpublished Vatteluttu inscription, believed to be of the ninth century, in which it is noted that "Sri Valluvam Puvanavan,the Uvacchan(or temple ministrant),will employ six men daily, and do the temple service." The inference is that the Valluvan was a man of recognised priestly rank, and of great influence. The prefix Sri is a notable honorific. By itself this inscription would prove little, but the whole legendary history of the greatest of all Tamil poets, Tiruvalluvar, "the holy Valluvan," confirms all that can be deduced from it.[9]
There are certain privileges possessed by Paraiyans, which they could never have gained for themselves from orthodox Hinduism. They seem to be survivals of a past, in which Paraiyans held a much higher position than they do now. An extract from the Indian Antiquary, volume III, page 191, written by M. J. Walhouse, quoted in the Madras census report 1901, mentions that "in the great festival of Siva at Trivalur in Tanjore the headman of the Paraiyars is mounted on the elephant with the god, and carries his chauri (yak-tail fly fan). In Madras, at the annual festival of Egatta, the goddess of Black Town (now George Town), when a tali is tied round the neck of the idol in the name of the entire community, a Paraiyan is chosen to represent the bridegroom.[21][22]
The facts, taken together, seem to show that the Paraiyan priests (Valluvans), and therefore the Paraiyans as a race, are very ancient, that ten centuries ago they were a respectable community, and that many were weavers. The privileges they enjoy are relics of an exceedingly long association with the land. If the account of the colonisation of Tondeimandalam by Vellalans in the eighth century A.D. is historic, then it is possible that it was at that time that the Paraiyans lost the land and their degradation as a race began.[23]
Jean-Antoine Dubois writes:
In very early days however the separation between the Parayas and others do not appear to have been so marked as at present. Though relegated to the lower grade in the social scale Parayas were not then placed absolutely outside and beyond the line of demarcation between them and the Sudras being almost imperceptible and they are even today considered to be direct descendants of the better class of agricultural labourers. The Tamil Vellalas and the Vockalikas (Vockaliyar) do not disdain to call them their children.[24]
Caldwell states that:
The Pareiyas (Paraiyars) constitute a well-defined, distinct, ancient caste, independent of every other; and the Pareiya caste has subdivisions of its own, its own peculiar usages, its own traditions, and its own jealousy of the encroachments of the castes which are above it and below it. They constitute, perhaps, the most numerous caste in the Tamil country. In the city of Madras they number twenty-one per cent, of the Hindu population.[25]
Though the Pareiyas (Paraiyars) themselves will admit that they belong—or, as they would prefer to say, that they belong at present—to the lowest division of castes, and are not fabled to have sprung from even the least noble part of Brahma; nevertheless, they are not the lowest of the castes comprised in this lowest division. I am acquainted with several castes in various parts of the Tamil country, which are considered lower than the Pareiyas in the social scale.[26]
It is not generally known by those Europeans who sympathise in the wrongs of the Pareiyas (Paraiyars), that, whenever they have an opportunity, the Pareiyas deal out the very same treatment to the members of castes which are inferior to their own—e.g., the caste of shoemakers, and the lowest caste of washermen; that they are, equally with the higher castes, filled with that compound of pride of birth, exclusiveness, and jealousy, called 'caste feeling'.[27]
At the Madras Presidency census, 1891, 348 sub-divisions were returned, of which the following had the strongest numbers : — Amma found chiefly in Tanjore and Madura ; Katti in Salem and Trichinopoly ; Kizhakkatti (eastern) in Salem ; Koliyan (weavers) in Chingleput, Tanjore and Trichinopoly ; Konga in Salem ; Korava in Coimbatore ; Kottai (fort) in South Arcot ; Morasu (drum) in Salem ; Mottai in Madura ; Pacchai (green) in Coimbatore ; Samban in South Arcot ; Sangidum (sanku, conch, or chank shell) in Coimbatore ; Sozhia (natives of the Sozha or Chola country) in Tanjore and Madura; Tangalan in North and South Arcot, Chingleput, Salem, and Trichinopoly ; and Valangamattu in South Arcot.
The members of the various sub-divisions do not intermarry.[28]
The Morasu Paraiyans, included in the above list, are Canarese Holeyas, who have settled in the Tamil country.
As additional sub-divisions, the following may be noted : —
Aruththukattdtha, or those who, having once cut the tali-string, do not tie it a second time, those who do not permit remarriage of widows. Valai (a net). — Paraiyans who hunt. Thatha. — Thathan is the name given to mendicants who profess Vaishnavism. Such Paraiyans are Vaishna- vites, and some are beggars.[28]
W. Francis, who authored the Madras presidency census report, 1901, notes that the term Paraiyan "is now almost a generic one, and the caste is split up into many sub-divisions, which differ in manners and ways. For example, the Koliyans, who are weavers, and the Valluvans, who are medicine men and priests and wear the sacred thread, will not intermarry or eat with the others, and are now practically distinct castes." As occupational titles of Paraiyans, Francis gives Urumikkaran and Pambaikkaraii, or those who play on drums (urumi and pambai), and Podarayan or Podara Vannan, who are washermen. The title Valangamattan, or people of the right-hand division, is assumed by some Paraiyans.[28]
Paraiyars belong to the Valangai ("Right-hand caste faction"). Some of them assume the title Valangamattan ("people of the right-hand division").[29] The Valangai comprised castes with an agricultural basis while the Idangai consisted of castes involved in manufacturing.[30] Valangai, which was better organized politically,[31] and has most of the agriculture-based higher castes. The Paraiyas are its chief support, as a proof of which they use the title ‘Valangai-Mougattar’, or friends of the Right-hand.[32]
Caldwell states that "In the insane dispute about pre-eminence, which is always being carried on in Southern India between the 'right hand' and the 'left hand' castes, the Pareiyas (Paraiyars) range themselves on the right hand."[33]
Recent Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) study shows that Paraiyar women have 20% of Haplogroup N (mtDNA), 6% of Haplogroup U (mtDNA), 72% of Haplogroup M (mtDNA) and 2% of Haplogroup F (mtDNA)[34]
All the Paraiyar men have Y chromosome haplogroup, Haplogroup G (Y-DNA), specifically Haplogroup G2a3b1 (Y-DNA), Many Paraiyars individually tested their Y chromosome haplogroup and found to be Haplogroup G2a3b1 (Y-DNA) by Genographic Project[35] and Family Tree DNA[36]. This Caucasian Haplogroup G (Y-DNA) specifically Haplogroup G2a3b1 (Y-DNA) is also found in 40 % of Kongu Vellala Gounder, 100% of Sengundar Mudaliar, 100% of Sembanad Maravar, 100% of Esanadu Kallar, 100% of Gandharvakottai Kallar, Agamudayars and 100% of Paravar a fishermen community. Whereas Kootapal Kallar, Piramalai kallar , Karum Maravar or Kondayamkatti Maravar have Haplogroup L (Y-DNA) & Haplogroup H (Y-DNA) respectively. This Haplogroup G (Y-DNA), Haplogroup G2a3b1 (Y-DNA)is also found in 10% of Iyer and 13% of Iyengar Brahmins.[37][37]
In a note on the Paraiyans of the Trichinopoly district, F. R. Hemingway who was the District collector of then Trichinopoly district, who authored Gazetteer of Trichinoply District , writes as follows.
They have a very exalted account of their lineage, saying that they are descended from the priest SalaSambavan, who was employed in a Siva temple to worship the god with offerings of beef, but who incurred the anger of the god by one day concealing a portion of the meat, to give it to his pregnant wife, and was therefore turned into a Paraiyan. The god appointed his brother to do duty instead of him, and the Paraiyans say that Brahman priests are their cousins. For this reason they wear a sacred thread at their marriages and funerals.At the festival of the village goddesses, they repeat an extravagant praise of their caste, which runs as follows.It is a curious fact that, at the feast of the village goddess, a Paraiyan is honoured by being invested with a sacred thread for the occasion by the pujari (priest) of the temple, by having a turmeric thread tied to his wrists, and being allowed to head the procession. This, the Paraiyans say, is owing to their exalted origin.[38]'The Paraiyans were the first creation, the first who wore
the sacred thread, the uppermost in the social scale, the
differentiators of castes, the winners of laurels. They
have been seated on the white elephant, the Vira
Sambavans who beat the victorious drum.'
The following- extract is taken from a note on the Paraiyans of Travancore by N. Subramani Aiyar.
In the Keralolpathi, they are classed as one of the sixteen hill tribes. Concerning their origin the following tradition is current. They were originally Brahmans, but, on certain coparceners partitioning the common inheritance, the carcase of a cow, which was one of the articles to be partitioned, was burnt as being useless. A drop of oil fell from the burning animal on to one of the parties, and he licked it up with his tongue. For this act he was cast out of society, and his descendants, under the name of Paraiyas, became cow-eaters.[38]
In Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Vol. VI. Edgar Thurston and Rangachari, K. 1909.(Page 139.)[39]
The Paraiyars of North Travancore, ' Their own tradition,' the Rev. G. Matthan writes, ' has it that they were a division of the Brahmans, who were entrapped into a breach of caste by their enemies, through making them eat beef.'
In Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Vol.I. Edgar Thurston and Rangachari, K. 1909.(Page.344,345.) [40]
Prathamasaki: These Brahmans follow the white Yajur Veda, and are hence called Sukla Yejur Vedis. The white Yajus forms the first fifteen sakas of the Yejur Veda, and this is in consequence sometimes called Prathamasaka.In the Tanjore district, the Prathamasakis are said to be known as Madyana Paraiyans. The following quaint legend is recorded in the Gazetteer of that district: " The god of the Tiruvalur temple was entreated by a pujari of this place (Koiltirumulam) to be present in the village at a sacrifice in his (the god's) honour. The deity consented at length,but gave warning that he would come in a very unwelcome shape.He appeared as a Paraiyan (Pariah) with beef on his back, and followed by the four Vedas in the form of dogs, and took his part in the sacrifice thus accoutred and attended. All the Brahmans who were present ran away, and the god was so incensed that he condemned them to be Paraiyans for one hour in the day, from noon till 1 P.M., ever afterwards. There is a class of Brahmans called mid-day Paraiyans, who are found in several districts, and a colony of whom reside at Sedanipuram five miles from Nannilam. It is believed
throughout the Tanjore district that the mid-day Paraiyans are the descendants of the Brahmans thus cursed by the god. They are supposed to expiate their defilement by staying outside their houses for an hour and a half every day at mid-day, and to bathe afterwards ; and, if they do this, they are much respected.
Thurston says
In Kerala the most important Legend of Parayi petta panthirukulam, Pakkanar ( Paraiyar) was one of the twelve children of a great Brahmin Vararuchi and his low caste wife. The story or myth states that During Vararuchi's travels along the Nila river, his wife had given birth to twelve children. The children left out in the forest were subsequently found, adopted and raised by families belonging to different communities, recognised one another as they grew up. These twelve sons are: Mezhathol Agnihothri (Brahmanan), Pakkanar (Parayan), Rajakan (Washerman), Naranath Bhranthan (Elayathu, a lower class Brahmanan), Kaarakkal Maatha (high caste Nair), Akavoor Chaathan (Vysyan), Vaduthala Nair (Nair Soldier), Vallon (Thiruvalluvar of Tamil Nadu), Uppukottan (Muslim), Paananaar (Paanan, a low caste of country musicians), Perumthachan (carpenter), Vaayillaakkunnilappan (deity).[41]
These peoples form the majority in south India but their vote bank was misused by others due to lack of leadership partially and the rest. But nowadays they are united.The leading parties are trying to catch their vote bank. In Tamil Nadu these people are enjoying the greatest respect from the political parties. ADMK, D.M.K (dravida munetra kazhagam), Viduthalai chiruthaigal, Communist party of India and major political parties are favouring these people.
The saint Thiruvalluvar wrote Tirukkuṛaḷ. The poet-saint Avvaiyar made many contributions such as Aathichudi, Naladiyar, Konrai Vendan etc. The Dalit activist Rettamalai Srinivasan started a newspaper Paraiyan that fought against British rule. Tamil speaking Parayars and Sambavars live in Munnar and Palakkad District Of Kerala state. sambavars also live in Kaliyikkavila, a border area in southern portion of Tamilnadu and Kerala. One Mr.K.G.Soman from Edaicode village of Kanyakumari district,at present lives in Trivandrum, worked for the upliftment of downtroddens especially Sambavas. Mr.K.G.Soman wrote a book about Sambavar community and he Revealed a fact that Sambavars spread all over the world. Mr.K.G.Soman explained that in Philippiens there are a a large section of natives belongs to Parayans, they have surnames as Ethel Parayan, Rosita Parayan etc. In Madagascar there is a district known as Sambava District, a part of Sava Region, it's capital is called Sambava.