Vellalar caste
Vellalars (also, Velalars, Vellalas) were, originally, an elite caste of Tamil agricultural landlords in Tamil Nadu, Kerala states in India and in neighbouring Sri Lanka; they were the nobility, aristocracy of the ancient Tamil order (Chera/Chola/Pandya/Sangam era)[1][2][3] and had close relations with the different royal dynasties.[4][5][6] Literary, archeological sources trace the origin of the Vellalars to a group of royal house chieftains called Vel or Velir.[7][8][9] According to old Hindu, Tamil texts, the Velirs were warriors from the Yadu Kshatriya clan (Chandravanshi lineage);[10][11][12] they came to south from the city of Dvārakā in north India under the leadership of the Vedic sage Agastya.[13][14][15] They have been described as Upper Shudras or Sat-shudras[16][17][18] in the Brahmanical Varna system. The Vellalar community however never accepted this classification and they have challenged the Brahmins who described them as shudras.[19][20][21] The actual Vellalar caste is made of different sub castes which do not intermarry; many of these sub castes have nothing to do with the original Vellalars.[22] The Vellalar are found amongst the Tamil diaspora around the world; although they were originally associated with the landed gentry, today they are found in all walks of life.
References[change | change source]
- ↑ Political Change and Agrarian Tradition in South India by T. K. Venkatasubramanian pages 63 to 67: "They (the Vellalas) formed the nobility or landed aristocracy of the country."
- ↑ Ancient Indian History and Civilization By Sailendrda Nath Sen page 205 & 207: "... the Vellalars were the aristocratic classe and were held in high esteem..."[1]
- ↑ Meluhha and Agastya: Alpha and Omega of the Indus Script by Iravatham Mahadevan, Indus Research Centre, Roja Muthiah Research Library, Chennai, India, page 16: "The Ventar - Velir - Vellalar groups constituted the ruling and land-owning classes in the Tamil country since the beginning of recorded history..."[2]
- ↑ The Tamils Eighteen Hundred Years Ago by V.Kanakasahai page 113: "The Chera, Chola and Pandyan kings and most of the petty chiefs of Tamilakam belonged to the tribe of Vellâlas."[3]
- ↑ Tamil studies: essays on the history of the Tamil people, language, religion and literature By Muttusvami Srinivasa Aiyangar pages 63: "No traces of the Tamil kings are to be found at present in this country, and it is highly probable that they should have merged in the pure Vellala caste."[4][5]
- ↑ Racial Synthesis in Hindu Culture by S.V. Viswanatha page 156: "The Tamil kings (...) in spite of their connexion with the ancient velir or vellala tribes..."
- ↑ Encyclopedia of world cultures, Volume 3 by David Levinson page 304:"There is fairly strong literary and archeological evidence linking core Vellala subcastes with a group of chieftains called Velir,..."[6]
- ↑ Annual bibliography of Indian archaeology, Volumes 17-20 By Instituut Kern (Rijksuniversiteit te Leiden) page 111: "... the Irukkuvels are the immediate forefathers of the modern Vellalas." [7]
- ↑ People of India: Tamil Nadu By K. S. Singh,R. Thirumalai,S. Monoharan: "...the Velir, who are identified with Vellalar..."[8]
- ↑ Journal of Kerala studies, Volume 14 By University of Kerala page 6: "There are several epigraphs of the Ay Vels which attribute a Yadava origin to them."[9]
- ↑ The early history of the Vellar Basin, with special reference to the ... By M. Arokiaswami pages 23: "... reveals another pertinent fact that emphasises the Krishna-Vel relationship."[10]
- ↑ Boundary walls: caste and women in a Tamil community By Kamala Ganesh page 50: "...Irungovel, the Velir chieftain who, according to literature, was a Yadava..."[11]
- ↑ Encyclopedia of Indian Tribes by S.S. Shashi page 216: "...Sage Agastya repaired to Dwarka and, taking with him eighteen families of Vels or Velirs, moved on to the south..."[12] Archived 2014-06-29 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ Meluhha and Agastya: Alpha and Omega of the Indus Script by Iravatham Mahadevan, Indus Research Centre, Roja Muthiah Research Library, Chennai, India, page 16: "Agastya agreed and, on his way, visited ‘Tuvarapati’ (Dvaraka) and led eighteen families of the Velir, the descendants of netu-muti-annual (Krishna), to the south,..."[13]
- ↑ Pivot politics: changing cultural identities in early state formation processes By M. van Bakel page 165: "Chieftain Irunkovel (a Velir) proudly mentions the forty nine preceding generations of his lineage and their ancestral home at Dvaraka (Puram, 201.10; PPTI 445)."[14]
- ↑ Robert Eric Frykenberg; Richard Fox Young (15 October 2009). India and the Indianness of Christianity: essays on understanding--historical, theological, and bibliographical--in honor of Robert Eric Frykenberg. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. pp. 34–. ISBN 978-0-8028-6392-8. Retrieved 13 August 2011.
- ↑ Debi Chatterjee (2004). Up against caste: comparative study of Ambedkar and Periyar. Rawat Publications. p. 11. ISBN 978-81-7033-860-4. Retrieved 13 August 2011.
- ↑ Christopher John Fuller (26 July 2004). The camphor flame: popular Hinduism and society in India. Princeton University Press. pp. 93–. ISBN 978-0-691-12048-5. Retrieved 13 August 2011.
- ↑ Ā. Irā Vēṅkaṭācalapati (2006). In those days there was no coffee: writings in cultural history. Yoda Press. pp. 114–. ISBN 978-81-902272-7-8. Retrieved 13 August 2011.
- ↑ G. Krishnan-Kutty (1999). The political economy of underdevelopment in India. Northern Book Centre. pp. 172–. ISBN 9788172111076. Retrieved 31 July 2011.
- ↑ G. Krishnan-Kutty (1 January 1986). Peasantry in India. Abhinav Publications. pp. 10–. ISBN 9788170172154. Retrieved 31 July 2011.
- ↑ The tribes and castes of the central provinces of India, Volume 1 By R.V. Russell, R.B.H. Lai page 417:"...lower castes continually succeed in obtaining admission into the Vellala community..." [15]