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{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2018}}
Piramalai Kallars is a sub-caste of kallars. Kallars are part of Mukkulathor community. Mukkulathor includes the three castes – [[Kallar]], [[Maravar]] and [[Agamudayar]].
{{Use Indian English|date=November 2018}}


'''Piramalai Kallars''' is a sub caste of the [[Kallar (caste)|Kallar]]s and thus are part of the [[Mukkulathor]] community that also includes the [[Maravar]] and [[Agamudayar]] castes. They belong to [[Other Backward Class|Other Backward class/Denotified class]] in Tamil nadu.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Government of |first=Tamil Nadu |title=List of Backward Classes approved by Government of Tamil Nadu |url=https://bcmbcmw.tn.gov.in/bclist.htm |website=www.bcmbcmw.tn.gov.in}}</ref>
[[Origin]]:
The caste came to limelight recently due to a genographic research, led by Dr. [[Spencer Wells]]. A research was carried out from 2005 to 2015 regarding [[early human migrations]] out of [[Africa]]. There was a search for human populations with C-M130 gene marker all over the world. In India, the DNA of Mr. Virumandi Andi Thevar, a piramalai kallar matched with [[haplogroup C-M130]]. The 13 members of his family, a nine generation clan have the same gene marker. This makes Mr.Virumandi Andi Thevar one of the direct descendants of the first migrants from the Africa, who migrated to India over 60,000 to 70,000 years ago. This means that the piramalai kallars are the oldest known inhabitants of India.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dDXIX-y6aY</ref> The haplogroup CM-130 has remained in the DNA of piramalai kallars across numerous generations for thousands of years. This means that caste endogamy has been practised among piramalai kallars.
<ref>https://books.google.co.in/books?id=x7BPAQAAMAAJ&dq=piramalai+kallars&focus=searchwithinvolume&q=endogamous</ref>
They are very conservative and traditional till present. Tamil literary works of 4th century BC have notes about the piramalai kallars.
<ref>https://books.google.co.in/books?id=vRwS6FmS2g0C&pg=PA274&dq=piramalai+kallars&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj7uqrSvrTPAhUKQ48KHQL_DXQQ6AEIHTAA#v=onepage&q=piramalai%20kallars&f=false</ref>


[[History]]:
==History==


The Copper plate inscriptions dated 1645, 1652, 1655 and 1656 are the most important artefacts about the piramalai kallars. These copper plate inscriptions are discussed in the book, “[[Louis Dumont]], South Indian Sub-Caste: Social Organisation and Religion of the Piramalai Kallar, Oxford University Press, New York, 1986.” According to the inscriptions, during the period of [[Thirumalai Nayak]] , they were appointed as guards or “kavalkarars” of the villages. Most importantly they safe-guarded cattle of the konars, which was the chief wealth during those days. The piramalai kallar group responsible for a village had to compensate for any theft in that village.<ref name="DumontStern1986">{{cite book|author1=Louis Dumont|author2=A. Stern|author3=Michael Moffatt|title=A South Indian subcaste: social organization and religion of the Pramalai Kallar|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=eQduAAAAMAAJ|accessdate=21 March 2012|year=1986|publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref>
Copper plate inscriptions dated 1645, 1652, 1655 and 1656 are the most important artefacts about the Piramalai Kallars. According to these, during the period of [[Thirumalai Nayak]], members of the community were appointed as guards ("kavalkarars") of villages. The Piramalai Kallar group responsible for a village had to compensate for any theft in that village.<ref name="DumontStern1986">{{cite book|author1=Louis Dumont|author2=A. Stern|author3=Michael Moffatt|title=A South Indian subcaste: social organization and religion of the Pramalai Kallar|url=https://archive.org/details/southindiansubca0000dumo|url-access=registration|accessdate=21 March 2012|year=1986|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-561785-6}}</ref>


Piramalai kallar local chieftains such as Tirumal Pinna Thevar, also performed judicial duties by organising panchayats. This is described in the Copper plate dated 1655: "The Headman’s charter.” [[Louis Dumont]]<ref name="DumontStern1986"/><ref>http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/copper-plate-dating-back-to-1655-ce-found/article5951669.ece</ref>
Piramalai Kallar local chieftains, such as Tirumal Pinna Thevar, also performed judicial duties by organising [[Panchayati raj|panchayat]]s. This is described in the 1655 inscription.<ref name="DumontStern1986"/><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/copper-plate-dating-back-to-1655-ce-found/article5951669.ece |title=Copper plate dating back to 1655 CE found |work=The Hindu |date=2014-04-27 |accessdate=2016-10-07}}</ref>


With a separate system of judiciary and policing, they refused to subdue to british government. In 1767, around 5000 kallars were killed by british captain Rumley near Melur in a single day as they refused to pay tax.<ref>http://www.thehindu.com/books/books-authors/taking-the-road-less-travelled/article5268387.ece</ref><ref name="amazon.in">http://www.amazon.in/Piramalai-Kallar-Vaazhvum-Varalaarum-Sundaravanthiya/dp/9381319847</ref>
With a separate system of judiciary and policing, they refused to accede to British rule. In 1767, around 5000 Kallars were killed by British forces near [[Melur]] in a single day when they refused to pay tax.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.thehindu.com/books/books-authors/taking-the-road-less-travelled/article5268387.ece |title=Taking the road less travelled |work=The Hindu |date=2013-10-24 |accessdate=2016-10-07}}</ref>


With the introduction of british system of police and the fall of Nayak dynasty, the piramalai kallars started to lose their job as guards. They participated in the South Indian Rebellion in 1800-1801. The rebellion was subdued in 1802. Madurai and the adjoining regions came under the British rule. They had to deal with the rebellious kallars. They refused to pay tax to british.<ref name="amazon.in"/> So, the British, through their calculated moves abolished the system of the “kavalkarars”.
With the introduction of British rule and the fall of the [[Nayak dynasty]], the Piramalai Kallars began to lose their work as guards. They participated in the South Indian Rebellion of 1800-1801 that resulted in [[Madurai]] and the adjoining regions coming under the British rule. When the rebellious Kallars refused to pay tax, the British abolished the kavalkarar system.<ref>K. Gowri, Madurai under the English East India Company (1801 – 1857),Raj Publishers, Madurai, 1987, p.9.</ref>{{qn|reason=I think this applied to all Kallars and is not specific to the PK|date=October 2016}}
<ref>K. Gowri, Madurai under the English East India Company (1801 – 1857),Raj Publishers, Madurai,1987, p.9.</ref>


Piramalai Kallars were reduced to poverty, reliant on land farming. , while continuing to oppose the British.<ref>David Arnold ‘Dacoity and Rural Crime in Madras’, The Journal of
Piramalai kallars were reduced to poverty. They had only dry land farming. So, they were forced to cattle-lift and thefts for survival. Piramalai kallars also opposed British at the same time.<ref>https://books.google.co.in/books?id=tWMwAAAAMAAJ&dq=piramalai+kallars&focus=searchwithinvolume&q=piramalai+kallars</ref> Soon they were branded as criminal tribes by british and brought under Criminal Tribes Act(CTA) in 1911.
Peasant Studies, Vol.6, No.2, January 1979, p.158</ref> They became classified as a [[Denotified tribes of India|criminal tribe]] under the [[Criminal Tribes Act]] (CTA).<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/the-grim-story-behind-a-small-settlement/article4669070.ece |title=The grim story behind a small settlement |work=The Hindu |date=2013-04-30 |accessdate=2016-10-07}}</ref>{{Efn|Although the Criminal Tribes Act was introduced in 1871, its provisions were not generally applied in [[South India]] until the amended Act of 1911.<ref>{{cite book |title=George Joseph, the Life and Times of a Kerala Christian Nationalist |first=George Gheverghese |last=Joseph |publisher=Orient Blackswan |year=2003 |isbn=978-8-12502-495-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A6MfPh-9DiEC&pg=PA70 |page=70}}</ref>}}
<ref>http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/the-grim-story-behind-a-small-settlement/article4669070.ece</ref>

On 3 April 1920 a group of Piramalai Kallars at [[Perungamanallur]] village battled against the British in protest against the CTA. A memorial pillar at the village names 16 inhabitants who were shot dead during the incident.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.thehindu.com/features/friday-review/history-and-culture/namma-madurai-massacre-in-a-village/article2319054.ece |title=Namma Madurai - Massacre in a village |work=The Hindu |date=2011-08-03 |accessdate=2016-10-07}}</ref> The Act, which had originally been introduced in 1871 and then amended in 1911, was repealed in 1948.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/colonial-act-still-haunts-denotified-tribes-expert/article1227400.ece |title=Colonial Act still haunts denotified tribes: expert |work=The Hindu |date=2008-03-27 |accessdate=2016-10-07}}</ref>

== Notable people ==
*[[P.K. Mookiah Thevar]]
*[[Maya Thevar]]<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/elections/elections-2016/2016/may/10/aifb-and-other-rag-tag-thevar-outfits-cant-dent-aiadmks-traditional-vote-bank-934882.html|title=AIADMK's traditional vote bank|work=[[The New Indian Express]]}}</ref>
*[[O. A. K. Thevar]]
*[[Periya Karuppu Thevar]]
*[[Bharathiraja]]
*[[Vairamuthu]]

== Elected representatives ==
2021 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election
*[[A. Maharajan]]<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/tamil-nadu/2019/Mar/19/brothers-to-fight-it-out-in-andipatti-by-election-1952837.html|title=Brothers to fight it out in andipatti by election|work=[[The Hindu]]}}</ref>
*[[P. Ayyappan]]<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Madurai/development-remains-a-distant-dream-for-usilampatti/article34068297.ece/amp/|title=Development remains a distant dream for usilampatti|work=[[The Hindu]]}}</ref>
*[[Sellur K. Raju]]
*[[V. V. Rajan Chellappa]]
*[[Dindigul C. Sreenivasan]]


Being independent in spirit they resisted against the draconian act. On 3rd april, 1920 a group of piramalai kallars at perungamanallur village battled against the british opposing the CTA or fingerprint act. The memorial pillar at perungamanallur village has the names of 16 villagers, including a woman Mayakkal, who were shot dead during the incident. This is commonly called as “the south Indian Jallianwala bagh.” <ref>http://www.thehindu.com/features/friday-review/history-and-culture/namma-madurai-massacre-in-a-village/article2319054.ece</ref>
<ref>http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/colonial-act-still-haunts-denotified-tribes-expert/article1227400.ece</ref>


The Criminal Tribes Act was abolished after independence with the support of leaders such as [[George Joseph]] and [[U. Muthuramalingam Thevar]].<ref>http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/relentless-struggle-resulted-in-abolition-of-criminal-tribes-act/article2098223.ece</ref>


==References==
==References==
'''Notes'''
{{notelist}}
'''Citations'''
{{Reflist}}
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
{{Portal|Tamils|India|Hinduism}}
*{{cite book |title=Deep Ancestry: The Landmark DNA Quest to Decipher Our Distant Past |first=Spencer |last=Wells |date=20 November 2007 |publisher=National Geographic Books |isbn=9781426202117 |authorlink=Spencer Wells |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NWgDAQAAQBAJ&pg=PT93}}

[[Category:Denotified tribes of India]]
[[Category:Mukkulathor]]
[[Category:Social groups of Tamil Nadu]]
[[Category:Other Backward Classes]]
[[Category:South Indian communities]]

Latest revision as of 02:51, 12 November 2024

Piramalai Kallars is a sub caste of the Kallars and thus are part of the Mukkulathor community that also includes the Maravar and Agamudayar castes. They belong to Other Backward class/Denotified class in Tamil nadu.[1]

History

[edit]

Copper plate inscriptions dated 1645, 1652, 1655 and 1656 are the most important artefacts about the Piramalai Kallars. According to these, during the period of Thirumalai Nayak, members of the community were appointed as guards ("kavalkarars") of villages. The Piramalai Kallar group responsible for a village had to compensate for any theft in that village.[2]

Piramalai Kallar local chieftains, such as Tirumal Pinna Thevar, also performed judicial duties by organising panchayats. This is described in the 1655 inscription.[2][3]

With a separate system of judiciary and policing, they refused to accede to British rule. In 1767, around 5000 Kallars were killed by British forces near Melur in a single day when they refused to pay tax.[4]

With the introduction of British rule and the fall of the Nayak dynasty, the Piramalai Kallars began to lose their work as guards. They participated in the South Indian Rebellion of 1800-1801 that resulted in Madurai and the adjoining regions coming under the British rule. When the rebellious Kallars refused to pay tax, the British abolished the kavalkarar system.[5][need quotation to verify]

Piramalai Kallars were reduced to poverty, reliant on land farming. , while continuing to oppose the British.[6] They became classified as a criminal tribe under the Criminal Tribes Act (CTA).[7][a]

On 3 April 1920 a group of Piramalai Kallars at Perungamanallur village battled against the British in protest against the CTA. A memorial pillar at the village names 16 inhabitants who were shot dead during the incident.[9] The Act, which had originally been introduced in 1871 and then amended in 1911, was repealed in 1948.[10]

Notable people

[edit]

Elected representatives

[edit]

2021 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election


References

[edit]

Notes

  1. ^ Although the Criminal Tribes Act was introduced in 1871, its provisions were not generally applied in South India until the amended Act of 1911.[8]

Citations

  1. ^ Government of, Tamil Nadu. "List of Backward Classes approved by Government of Tamil Nadu". www.bcmbcmw.tn.gov.in.
  2. ^ a b Louis Dumont; A. Stern; Michael Moffatt (1986). A South Indian subcaste: social organization and religion of the Pramalai Kallar. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-561785-6. Retrieved 21 March 2012.
  3. ^ "Copper plate dating back to 1655 CE found". The Hindu. 27 April 2014. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  4. ^ "Taking the road less travelled". The Hindu. 24 October 2013. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  5. ^ K. Gowri, Madurai under the English East India Company (1801 – 1857),Raj Publishers, Madurai, 1987, p.9.
  6. ^ David Arnold ‘Dacoity and Rural Crime in Madras’, The Journal of Peasant Studies, Vol.6, No.2, January 1979, p.158
  7. ^ "The grim story behind a small settlement". The Hindu. 30 April 2013. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  8. ^ Joseph, George Gheverghese (2003). George Joseph, the Life and Times of a Kerala Christian Nationalist. Orient Blackswan. p. 70. ISBN 978-8-12502-495-8.
  9. ^ "Namma Madurai - Massacre in a village". The Hindu. 3 August 2011. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  10. ^ "Colonial Act still haunts denotified tribes: expert". The Hindu. 27 March 2008. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  11. ^ "AIADMK's traditional vote bank". The New Indian Express.
  12. ^ "Brothers to fight it out in andipatti by election". The Hindu.
  13. ^ "Development remains a distant dream for usilampatti". The Hindu.

Further reading

[edit]
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