Vellalar: Difference between revisions

Vellalar
Vellalar
Religions	Hinduism, Jainism, Christianity
Languages	Tamil
Subdivisions	Mudaliar ‡ — Thondai Nadu; Gounder ‡ — Kongu Nadu; Pillai ‡ — Chola Nadu, Pandya Nadu; Sri Lankan Vellalar ‡ — Yazhpana Kudanaadu, Vanni Nadu;
Related groups	Tamil people

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Vellalar is a group of castes in the Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and northeastern parts of Sri Lanka.^[a]^[b]^[c] The Vellalar are members of several endogamous^[d]^[e] castes such as the numerically strong Arunattu Vellalar, Chozhia Vellalar, Karkarthar Vellalar, Kongu Vellalar, Thuluva Vellalar and Sri Lankan Vellalar.^[9]^[10]

Etymology

The earliest occurrence of the term Velaalar (வேளாளர்) in Sangam literature is in Paripadal where it is used in the sense of a landowner.^[11] The term Velaalar (வேளாளர்) can be derived from the word Vel (வேள்), Vel being a title that was borne by the Velir chieftains of Sangam age among other things.^[12]

The word Vellalar (வெள்ளாளர் ) may come from the root Vellam for flood, which gave rise to various rights of land; and it is because of the acquisition of land rights that the Vellalar got their name.^[13]

History

The Vellalars have a long cultural history that goes back to over two millennia in southern India,^[14] where once they were the ruling and land-owning community.^[15]^[16] Though the Vellalar have generally been associated with the landed gentry and agriculture, they are not a homogenous group and various people from diverse backgrounds have identified themselves as a Vellalar in the course of history.^[6]

In Sangam literature

The Vellalar are spoken of as a group of people right from the Sangam period and are mentioned in many of the classical works of Sangam literature. The Tolkappiyam does not contain the term Vellalar but refers to a group of people called Velaan Maanthar who apart from practising agriculture had the right to carry weapons and wear garlands when they were involved in affairs of the state.^[17] The term Vellalar itself occurs in the sense of a landowner in Paripadal.^[11] The poem Pattinappaalai lists the six virtues of Vellalar as abstention from killing, abstention from stealing, propagation of religion, hospitality, justice and honesty.^[18]

Post-Sangam period

In the years that immediately followed the Sangam age (from third to sixth century CE), the Tamil lands were ruled by a dynasty called Kalabhras.^[19] Historians believe that the Kalabhras belonged to the Vellalar community of warriors who were possibly once the feudatories of the Cholas and the Pallavas.^[20] Scholar and historian M. Raghava Iyengar identifies the Kalabhras with the Kalappalar section of the Vellalar and equates king Achyuta Vikranta with Achyuta Kalappala the father of Meykandar.^[21] Buddhadatta, the Pali writer who stayed in the Chola kingdom and authored Buddhist manuals refers (in the Nigamanagātha of Vinayavinicchaya, verse 3179) to his patron Achyuta Vikranta who was then (fifth century CE) ruling the Chola kingdom as Kalamba-kula nandane meaning the favourite of the Kalamba family.^[22] In Pali language as in Tamil, the word Kalamba or Kalambam (in Tamil) means the Kadamba tree, the sacred totemic symbol that is associated with Tamil god Murugan.^[23]^[24]

The Velir

The Velir were an ancient group of Tamil chieftains who claimed Yadava (Yadu) descent.^[25] The Ay Vels were one such Velir group that ruled the territory in and around Venad during the Sangam period. The word Venad is derived from Vel -nadu, that is the country ruled by Vel chieftains.^[26] We know of a queen of Vikramaditya Varaguna, an Ay king of 9th century who is referred to as Murugan Chenthi and as Aykula Mahadevi from inscriptions. Her father, an Ay chief called Chathan Murugan is described as a Vennir Vellala that is a Vellala by birth,^[27] in the Huzur plates of king Karunandakkan, the predecessor of Vikramaditya Varaguna.^[28]

The Irunkovel or Irukkuvel chieftains were another ancient Velir clan who ruled from their capital Kodumbalur (near Pudukottai district). They were related to the Cholas by marriage.^[29] In an inscription of Rajadhiraja Chola an Irukkuvel feudatory who was a high-ranking military officer (Dandanayaka) of the king is described as a Velala.^[f]

The Irungovels are considered to be of the same stock as the Hoysalas as in one of the Sangam poems, the ancestor of the Irungovel chieftain is said to have ruled the fortified city of Tuvarai. This city is identified with the Hoysala capital Dwarasamudra by some historians.^[31] Also, the legend of the chief killing a tiger (Pulikadimal) has a striking resemblance to the origin legend of the Hoysalas where ‘'sala'’ kills the tiger to save a sage.^[32] As per historian Arokiaswami, the Hoysala title ‘'Ballala'’ is only a variant of the Tamil word ‘'Vellala'’.^[33] The Hoysala king Veera Ballala III is even now locally known as the ‘'Vellala Maharaja'’ in Thiruvannamalai, the town that served as their capital in 14th century.^[34]

The Chola period

According to the anthropologist Kathleen Gough, "the Vellalars were the dominant secular aristocratic caste under the Chola kings, providing the courtiers, most of the army officers, the lower ranks of the kingdom's bureaucracy, and the upper layer of the peasantry".^[16]

Two identical Tamil inscriptions from Avani and Uttanur in Mulbagal Taluk dated in the 3rd year of Kulottunga I (about 1072-1073 CE) describe how the great army of the right hand class (perumpadai valangai mahasenai) having arrived with great weapons of war from the 78-nadus of Chola-mandalam and the 48000-bhumi of Jayangonda-cholamandalam (the northern districts of Tamil Nadu that is Tondaimandalam) conquered and colonized southern Karnataka (Kolar district) by the grace of Rajendrachola (Kulottunga I).^[35]

Historian Burton Stein who has done a detailed analysis of this inscription equates the Valangai military forces and the Velaikkara troops of the Cholas with the Vellalas and notes that the contents of the above inscription confirm this identification.^[36] The Velaikkara troops were special units of armed forces drawn from the right-hand castes that were close to the king. The units were generally named after the king like Rajaraja-terinda-valangai-velaikkarar, that is the known (terinda) forces of king Rajaraja Chola I.^[37] The Chola inscriptions state that the Velaikkara forces pledged under oath to commit suicide in case they failed to defend their king or in the event of his death.^[38] The Chalukya kings were also known by the title Velpularasar, that is kings of Vel country (pulam means region or country in Tamil) and as Velkulattarasar, that is kings of the Vel clan (kulam), in epigraphs and in the old Tamil lexicon Divakaram.^[39]^[40]

The Vellalar also contributed to the Bhakti movement in south India from the seventh century CE onwards and helped revive Hinduism. Many of the Nayanmars, the Shaiva saints, were Vellalar.^[41]^[42] In the 12th century CE, saint Sekkilan Mahadevadigal Ramadeva sang the glories of these Nayanmars in his magnum opus, the Periyapuranam.^[43] Sekkizhar was born in a Vellala family in Kundrathur in Thondaimandalam and had the title Uttama Chola Pallavaraiyan.^[44]^[45]^[46] Sekkilan Mahadevadigal Ramadeva was an elder contemporary of Kulothunga Chola II, the king who is said to have persecuted the Brahmin philosopher Ramanuja for his Vaishnavite preachings by forcing him to sign a document stating Shiva is the greatest god.^[47]^[48]

Sri Lanka

The Vellalars of Sri Lanka have been chronicled in the Yalpana Vaipava Malai and other historical texts of the Jaffna kingdom. They form half of the Sri Lankan Tamil population and are the major husbandmen, involved in tillage and cattle cultivation.^[49]^[9] Local Sri Lankan literature, such as the Kailiyai Malai, an account on Kalinga Magha, narrates the migration of Vellala Nattar chiefs from the Coromandel Coast to Sri Lanka.^[50]

Their dominance rose under Dutch rule and they formed one of the colonial political elites of the island.^[51]^[52]

In Jainism

At present, most of the Tamil Jains are from the Vellalar social group.^[1] Also, the Saiva Velaalar sect are originally believed to have been Jainas before they embraced Hinduism.^[g] The Tamil Jains refer to the Saiva Velaalar as nīr-pūci-nayinārs or nīr-pūci-vellalars meaning the vellalars who left Jainism by smearing the sacred ash or (tiru)-nīru.^[h] While some of the Jains assign this conversion to the period of the Bhakti movement in Tamil nadu others link it to a conflict with a ruler of the Vijayanagar empire in the 15th century.^[54] The villages and areas settled by the Saiva Velaalar even now have a small number of Jaina families and inscriptional evidence indicate that these were earlier Jaina settlements as is evident by the existence of old Jaina temples.^[55]

Current usage

Even though at present, the term "Vellalar" is uncertain, a number of non-cultivating landholding castes like Kaarukaatha Velaalar and the Kondaikatti Velaalar who served ruling dynasties in various capacities also identify themselves as Vellalar.^[i] Likewise, the Kottai Pillaimar who were traditionally land-holders and lived inside forts, neither lease land for agriculture nor do they till their own fields. They also do not supervise cultivation directly due to the stigma attached to farming and manual labor.^[57] Similarly, the Vellala Chettis, a branch of the Chozhia Vellalars were traders and merchants.^[58] The Adi-saiva vellalar sect is a strictly vegetarian Saivite group that traditionally served as priests.^[59]

Social status

The Vellalar were considered to be of high status and enjoyed a high rank during the Chola period. They helped promote and stabilize Shaivism during the Chola era and many of the cult's leaders were drawn from the ranks of the Vellalar. They were a prosperous community of farmers and landowners who had provided economic support to Shiva temples in the Tamil country. In the Tamil region, Vellalar like Mudaliyar and Pillai along with certain other non-brahmin groups enjoyed a status equal to that of the Brahmins. The Vellalar also had more authority, power and status than the Brahmins in some social and ritual contexts.^[60] They were more orthodox than the Brahmins in their religious practices.^[61]^[62] The Vellalar nobles had marriage alliances with Chola royal families.^[63]

The Smarta Brahmins have always competed with the Tamil Shaivites for religious influence in the temples in the Kaveri delta region. The Smarta adopted the worship of Hindu deities and combined their Sanskritic background with Tamil Saiva and Vaishnava devotionalism and eventually identified themselves as Shaivites and started worshipping in Shiva temples.^[64]

From the Sangam period to the Chola period of Indian history (A.d. 600 to 1200), state-level political authority was in the hands of relatively low, Vellalar chieftains, who endowed local and nonlocal Brahmins with land and honors, and were in turn legitimized by them.^[65]

Notes

^ According to Susan Bayly, even in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, "Vellalar affiliation was as vague and uncertain as that of most other south Indian castes"; Vellalar identity was a source of prestige and "There were any number of groups sought to claim Vellalar status for themselves"^[4]
^ The term "Vellalar" is a generic term for a group of high ranking Non-brahmin castes in TamilNadu^[5]
^ Coming to the Vellalas, Andre Beteille, an authority on caste in South India writes: The term 'Vellala' is rather confusing because of its comprehensive use. Even the Vellalas proper, those who are of Vellala origin-are not a homogeneous unit but are subdivided into small sections. These sub-groups are always segmented and are endogamous.^[6]
^ Without going into detail, it must suffice to say that in Sripuram the Vellalas proper are segmented into three endogamous units: Chozhia Vellala, Karaikathu Vellala, and Kodikkal Vellala.^[7]
^ The Kongu Vellalar is an engogamous group. They use 'gounder' as a title and hence they are also known as Kongu Vellala Gounders.^[8]
^ Records in his third year gift of 90 sheep for a lamp by Velala Madurantakam alias Tandanayakan Rajadhiraja Ilangovelan of Nadar, a village in Tiraimur-nadu which was a sub-division of Uyyakondan-valanadu in Solamandalam.^[30]
^ It is also widely believed that the Saiva Vellalas of Madras State who are stricter vegetarians than even Tamil Brahmins, were Jainas.^[53]
^ All of those who feared for their lives converted to Saivism (and not any other religious sect) adorning the sacred ash, 'throwing away their sacred threads', they assumed the identity of Saiva (nir-puci) vellalars or nir-puci-nayinars (the Jainas who smeared sacred ash).^[54]
^ Among the Tamil castes, both Karkattar Vellalas (Arunachalam, 1975) and Kondaikatti Vellalas (Barnett, 1970) have much the same profile as the KP (Kottai Pillaimar): both are non-cultivating land-holders, with a history of service to ruling dynasties.^[56]

References

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^ M. Arokiaswami. The Early History of the Vellar Basin, with Special Reference to the Irukkuvels of Kodumbalur. A Study in Vellala Origin and Early History. Amudha Nilayam. p. 29.
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^ Raj Kumar (2008). Encyclopaedia of Untouchables Ancient, Medieval and Modern. Gyan Publishing House. p. 179.
^ K. A. Nilakanta Sastri, M.A., Professor of Indian History and Archaeology University of Madras (1937). The Colas. Thompson & Co., Ltd., Printers, Madras. p. 11.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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^ ^a ^b R. Umamaheshwari (2018). Reading History with the Tamil Jainas. A Study on Identity, Memory and Marginalisation. Volume 22 of Sophia Studies in Cross-cultural Philosophy of Traditions and Cultures. Springer. p. 222.
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@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{Short description|Indian caste}}
 {{Other uses}}
-{{pp-semi|small=yes}}
+{{pp-extended|small=yes}}
-{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2021}}
+{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
 {{Infobox caste
 | caste_name             = Vellalar
@@ Line 7: / Line 8: @@
 | subdivisions           = {{unbulleted list
- | [[Mudaliar]] ‡&nbsp;— [[Tondaimandalam|Thondai Nadu]], [[Pandya Nadu]]
+ | [[Mudaliar]] ‡&nbsp;— [[Tondaimandalam|Thondai Nadu]]
  | [[Gounder]] ‡ &nbsp;— [[Kongu Nadu]]
- | [[Chetti]] ‡&nbsp;— [[Tondaimandalam|Thondai Nadu]]
+ | [[Pillai (surname)|Pillai]]   ‡ &nbsp;— [[Chola Nadu]], [[Pandya Nadu]]
- | [[Pillai (surname)|Pillai]]   ‡ &nbsp;— [[Chola Nadu]], [[Pandya Nadu]], [[Chera Dynasty|Chera Nadu]]
 | [[Vellalar of Sri Lanka|Sri Lankan Vellalar]] ‡ &nbsp;— [[Jaffna Peninsula|Yazhpana Kudanaadu]], [[Vannimai|Vanni Nadu]]
- }}<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/vellala|title=Vellala &#124; Encyclopedia.com|website=www.encyclopedia.com}}</ref>
+ }}<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/vellala |title=Vellala &#124; Encyclopedia.com |website=encyclopedia.com}}</ref>
 | languages              = [[Tamil language|Tamil]]
+| religions              = [[Hinduism]], [[Jainism]],<ref name=Umamaheshwari>{{cite book|title=Reading History with the Tamil Jainas. A Study on Identity, Memory and Marginalisation. Volume 22 of Sophia Studies in Cross-cultural Philosophy of Traditions and Cultures|author=R. Umamaheshwari|publisher=Springer|year=2018|page=250}}</ref> [[Christianity]]<ref>{{cite book|title=Christians of India|author=Rowena Robinson|publisher=SAGE Publications|year=2003|page=81}}</ref>
-| religions              = [[Hinduism]], [[Christianity]]
 | related                = [[Tamil people]]
 | footnotes              =
 }}
+'''Vellalar''' is a group of [[Caste system in India|castes]] in the [[India]]n states of [[Tamil Nadu]], [[Kerala]] and northeastern parts of [[Sri Lanka]].{{Efn|1=According to [[Susan Bayly]], even in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, "Vellalar affiliation was as vague and uncertain as that of most other south Indian castes"; Vellalar identity was a source of prestige and "There were any number of groups sought to claim Vellalar status for themselves"<ref name="Orr 2000 p. 209">{{cite book | last=Orr | first=L.C. | title=Donors, Devotees, and Daughters of God: Temple Women in Medieval Tamilnadu | publisher=Oxford University Press | series=South Asia Research | year=2000 | isbn=978-0-19-535672-4 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F___xKcP8lMC&pg=PA209 | access-date=2023-03-29 | page=209}}</ref>}}{{Efn|1=The term "Vellalar" is a generic term for a group of high ranking Non-brahmin castes in TamilNadu<ref name="Peterson 2014 p. 355">{{cite book | last=Peterson | first=I.V. | title=Poems to Siva: The Hymns of the Tamil Saints | publisher=Princeton University Press | series=Princeton Library of Asian Translations | year=2014 | isbn=978-1-4008-6006-7 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kQwABAAAQBAJ&pg=PA355 | access-date=2023-03-29 | page=355}}</ref>}}{{Efn|1=Coming to the Vellalas, Andre Beteille, an authority on caste in South India writes: The term 'Vellala' is rather confusing because of its comprehensive use. Even the Vellalas proper, those who are of Vellala origin-are not a homogeneous unit but are subdivided into small sections. These sub-groups are always segmented and are endogamous.<ref name="mathur"/>}} The Vellalar are members of several endogamous{{Efn|1=Without going into detail, it must suffice to say that in Sripuram the Vellalas proper are segmented into three endogamous units: Chozhia Vellala, Karaikathu Vellala, and Kodikkal Vellala.<ref>{{cite book|title=Caste, Class and Power: Changing Patterns of Stratification in a Tanjore Village|author=André Béteille|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2012|page=86}}</ref>}}{{Efn|1=The Kongu Vellalar is an engogamous group. They use 'gounder' as a title and hence they are also known as Kongu Vellala Gounders.<ref>{{cite book|title=Nutritional Status of Indian Population: Southern region |editor=D. Tyagi |editor2=K. K. Bhattacharya |editor3=S. S. Datta Chaudhuri |editor4=D. Xaviour|publisher=Anthropological Survey of India, Ministry of Tourism and Culture, Department of Culture, Government of India|year=2012|page=243}}</ref>}} castes such as the numerically strong [[Arunattu Vellalar]], [[Chozhia Vellalar]], [[Karkarthar|Karkarthar Vellalar]], [[Kongu Vellalar]], [[Thuluva Vellalar]] and [[Sri Lankan Vellalar]].<ref name="derges">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aMWGiJLptNoC|title=Ritual and Recovery in Post-Conflict Sri Lanka|last=Derges|first=Jane|publisher=Routledge|year=2013|isbn=978-1136214882|page=77|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ALUvDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA268|title=Historical Dictionary of the Tamils|last=Ramaswamy|first=Vijaya|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-53810-686-0|page=390}}</ref>
-'''Vellalar''' is a [[Tamil language|Tamil]] caste used primarily by various [[Caste system in India| Sub castes]] who traditionally pursued agriculture as a profession in the [[India]]n states of [[Tamil Nadu]], [[Kerala]] and northeastern parts of [[Sri Lanka]]. Some of the communities that identify themselves as a Vellalar are the numerically strong [[Arunattu Vellalar]], [[Chettiar|Chettiar Vellalar]]<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RI7zAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Vellalars+were+divided+into+many+subcastes%3A+Pillais%2C+Chettiars%22|title=A Political Economy of Agricultural Markets in South India: Masters of the Countryside|last=Harriss-White|first=Barbara|publisher=SAGE Publications|year=1996|isbn=978-0-80399-299-3|page=236}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Sanghvi|first=L.D.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bxiAAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Chettis+who+originally+belonged+to+the+Vellala+tribe%22|title=Biology of the People of Tamil Nadu|publisher=Indian Society of Human Genetics|year=1981|page=19}}:"There is a tradition among the Vellalans that there were 3 divisions of the Vaisyas : ( 1 ) Bhuvaisyas or farmers , ( 2 ) Govaisyas or husbandmen and ( 3 ) Dhanavaisyas or merchants . The last division is claimed to have given rise to the Chettis who originally belonged to the Vellala tribe."</ref> [[Chozhia Vellalar]], Nanjinad Vellalar,<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z0NCAQAAMAAJ&q=Bhoo-vysias|title=The Vellalas of Nanjanad, Travancore State, India|publisher=Anthropos, University of California|year=2014|last=Rao|first=C. Hayavadana Rao|page=514}}:"Of the three subdivisions among Vysias, the Vellalas belong to one that is known as Bhoo-Vysias."</ref> [[Karkarthar|Karkarthar Vellalar]], [[Kongu Vellalar]], [[Thuluva Vellalar]], and [[Sri Lankan Vellalar]] <ref name="derges">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aMWGiJLptNoC|title=Ritual and Recovery in Post-Conflict Sri Lanka|last=Derges|first=Jane|publisher=Routledge|year=2013|isbn=978-1136214882|page=77|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ALUvDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA268|title=Historical Dictionary of the Tamils|last=Ramaswamy|first=Vijaya|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-53810-686-0|page=390}}</ref> who were classified as high ranking [[Shudras]] in the colonial times<ref>{{cite book |last=Price |first=Pamela G.|date=1996|title=Kingship and Political Practice in Colonial India |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=aqKSTs4ajsAC&q=vellalar+sudra&pg=PA61|location= |publisher=Cambridge University Press|page=61|isbn=0521552478}}:”Dominant castes like the land - controlling Vellalar , whose practices were compatible with Brahminic ideas of purity , were considered high - ranking Sudras in the government system”</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Diehl|first=Anita|date=1977|title=E. V. Ramaswami Naicker-Periyar: A Study of the Influence of a Personality in Contemporary South India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1CduAAAAMAAJ&q=vellalar+sudra|location=Stockholm ; Göteborg ; Lund |publisher=Esselte studium|page=16|isbn=9789124276454}}:”In Tamil Nadu the traditional caste society is in practice reduced into Brahmins and Sudras, kith a large third group classified in administrative terms as Scheduled and Backward classes.) Prominent among the Sudras are Vellalar , Chettiar and Gounder”</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Allen|first=H. G. |date=1888 |title= The Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences and General Literature|volume=5|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HKgMAAAAYAAJ&q=Vellala |location=New York|publisher=Henry G Allen and Company |page= 191}}:”Unooloom with a woman of the Vellala class of Sudras is lawful.”</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Pillai|first=P. Chidambaram|date=2008 |title=Right of Temple Entry|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZG0OAQAAMAAJ&q=vellalar+sudra |location=Chennai|publisher=MJP Publishers |page=33|isbn=9788180940392}}:”The Brahmin goes with the Vellala and others of the Sudra caste in this affair”</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Balfour |first=Edward |author-link= |date=1885 |title= The Cyclopædia of India and of Eastern and Southern Asia: Commercial, Industrial and Scientific, Products of the Mineral, Vegetable, and Animal Kingdoms, Useful Arts and Manufactures|volume=3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iU0OAAAAQAAJ&q=vellalar+sudra&pg=PA811|location=15, Picadilly, London |publisher=Bernard Quaritch |page=811 |isbn=}}:”The Vellala are a Sudra race of Hindus Tamil and the Kodun - Tamil , which so widely who speak Tamil. They assume the honorific designation of Mudali or Mudaliar meaning first man, and are chiefly farmers, but many of them are soldiers.” </ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Yanagisawa|first=Haruka|date=1996|title=A Century of Change: Caste and Irrigated Lands in Tamilnadu, 1860s-1970s|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cTeFAAAAIAAJ&q=vellalar+sudra|location= |publisher=Manohar|page=35|isbn=9788173041594}}:”Manual of Tinnevelly district tabulates the composition of the village population as follows : Brahmans , 10 families ; Vellalar and other ' Sudra ' landholders ...”</ref><ref>{{cite book |last= Narayana |first=M. G. S.|date=1977|title= Re-interpretations in South Indian History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZMABAAAAMAAJ&q=vellalar+sudra |location=India, South|publisher=College Book House |page=15 |isbn=}}:”They mention Parpan Andanar or Marayor (Brahmins), Aracar ( Kings or Kshatriyas ) , Vanikar ( Merchants or Vaisya ) , and Vellalar ( Cultivators or Sudra ) , in many places“</ref> and sometimes as [[Vaishyas]]<ref>{{cite book|last=Sanghvi|first=L.D.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bxiAAAAAMAAJ&q=%22There+is+a+tradition+among+the+Vellalans+that+there+were+3+divisions+of+the+Vaisyas+:+(+1+)+Bhuvaisyas+or+farmers+,+(+2+)+Govaisyas+or+husbandmen+and+(+3+)+Dhanavaisyas+or+merchants+.+The+last+division+is+claimed+to+have+given+rise+to+the+Chettis+who+originally+belonged+to+the+Vellala+tribe.%22|title=Biology of the People of Tamil Nadu|publisher=Indian Society of Human Genetics|year=1981|page=19}}:"There is a tradition among the Vellalans that there were 3 divisions of the Vaisyas : ( 1 ) Bhuvaisyas or farmers , ( 2 ) Govaisyas or husbandmen and ( 3 ) Dhanavaisyas or merchants . The last division is claimed to have given rise to the Chettis who originally belonged to the Vellala tribe."</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/the-ceylon-gazetteer-containing-an-accurate-account-of-the-districts-provinces-c/page/230/mode/2up|title=The Ceylon Gazetteer: Containing an Accurate Account of the Districts, Provinces, Cities, Towns ... &c. of the Island of Ceylon|publisher=Palala Press|year=2016|isbn=978-1358116018|last=Chitty|first=Simon Casie|page=230}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Thurston|first=Edgar|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jz4ODgAAQBAJ&q=%22Bhu+vaisya+%28earth+Vaisya%29.%E2%80%94A+name+returned+by+some+Nattukottai+Chettis+and+Vellalas.%22&pg=PA125|title=CASTES AND TRIBES OF SOUTHERN INDIA VOL 1: With commentary by VED from VICTORIA INSTITUTIONS|publisher=VICTORIA INSTITUTIONS, Aaradhana, Deverkovil 673508 India|year=2018|isbn=978-1-98077-710-6|page=125}}:"Bhu vaisya (earth Vaisya).—A name returned by some Nattukottai Chettis and Vellalas."</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_PSbAAAAMAAJ&q=%22he+classifies+the+Vellalas+under+the+Vaisya+caste+and+even+goes+to+the+extent+of+calling+the+Vellalas+%27The+Poo+Vasi+Ya%27%22|title=The Laws and Customs of the Tamils of Jaffna|publisher=Women's Education & Research Centre, Colombo, Sri Lanka.|year=2001|last=Tambiah|first=Henry Wijayakone|page=92|isbn=978-9-55926-116-2}}:"he classifies the Vellalas under the Vaisya caste and even goes to the extent of calling the Vellalas 'The Poo Vasi Ya'"</ref> [[caste]] with 3 subdivisions, Bhu-[[Vaishyas]]<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_PSbAAAAMAAJ&q=%22he+classifies+the+Vellalas+under+the+Vaisya+caste+and+even+goes+to+the+extent+of+calling+the+Vellalas+%27The+Poo+Vasi+Ya%27%22|title=The Laws and Customs of the Tamils of Jaffna|publisher=Women's Education & Research Centre, Colombo, Sri Lanka.|year=2001|last=Tambiah|first=Henry Wijayakone|page=92|isbn=978-9-55926-116-2}}:"he classifies the Vellalas under the Vaisya caste and even goes to the extent of calling the Vellalas 'The Poo Vasi Ya'"</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z0NCAQAAMAAJ&q=Bhoo-vysias|title=The Vellalas of Nanjanad, Travancore State, India|publisher=Anthropos, University of California|year=2014|last=Rao|first=C. Hayavadana Rao|page=514}}:"Of the three subdivisions among Vysias, the Vellalas belong to one that is known as Bhoo-Vysias."</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ez9uAAAAMAAJ&q=Buvaisya|title=Salem Cyclopedia: A Cultural and Historical Dictionary of Salem District, Tamil Nadu|publisher=Institute of Kongu Studies (Salem, India)|year=1992|isbn=978-8-19002-880-6|last=Rajannan|first=Busnagi|page=340}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Thurston|first=Edgar|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jz4ODgAAQBAJ&q=%22Bhu+vaisya+%28earth+Vaisya%29.%E2%80%94A+name+returned+by+some+Nattukottai+Chettis+and+Vellalas.%22&pg=PA125|title=CASTES AND TRIBES OF SOUTHERN INDIA VOL 1: With commentary by VED from VICTORIA INSTITUTIONS|publisher=VICTORIA INSTITUTIONS, Aaradhana, Deverkovil 673508 India|year=2018|isbn=978-1-98077-710-6|page=125}}:"Bhu vaisya (earth Vaisya).—A name returned by some Nattukottai Chettis and Vellalas."</ref> or agriculturalists, Go-[[Vaishyas]] or husbandsmen, and Dhana-[[Vaishyas]]<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_PSbAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Colombo+Chetties+belong+to+the+Tana+Vasiya+Caste%22|title=The Laws and Customs of the Tamils of Jaffna|publisher=Women's Education & Research Centre, Colombo, Sri Lanka.|year=2001|last=Tambiah|first=Henry Wijayakone|page=57|isbn=978-9-55926-116-2}}:"Colombo Chetties belong to the Tana Vasiya Caste"</ref> or merchants. The Vellalar enjoyed a status almost as high as [[Brahmin]]s, due to the possession of land—the basis of wealth.<ref>{{cite book|author=Upinder Singh|title=A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H3lUIIYxWkEC |year=2008|publisher=Pearson Education India |isbn=978-81-317-1120-0 |page=592}}</ref> Vellalar were dominant communities in Tamil agrarian societies for 600 years until the decline of the [[Chola empire]] in the 13th century, with their chieftains able to practise state-level political authority after winning the support and legitimisation of [[Brahmin]]s and other higher-ranked communities with grants of land and honours.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L4t9BgAAQBAJ&pg=PA37|title=An Untouchable Community in South India: Structure and Consensus|last=Moffatt|first=Michael|publisher=Princeton University Press |year=2015 |isbn=978-1-40087-036-3 |page=37}}</ref>
 ==Etymology==
+The earliest occurrence of the term ''Velaalar'' (வேளாளர்) in [[Sangam literature]] is in [[Paripatal|Paripadal]] where it is used in the sense of a landowner.<ref name=nathan>{{cite book|title=From Tribe to Caste|author=Dev Nathan|publisher=Indian Institute of Advanced Study|year=1997|page=233}}</ref> The term Velaalar (வேளாளர்) can be derived from the word Vel (வேள்), Vel being a title that was borne by the [[Velir]] chieftains of Sangam age among other things.<ref>{{cite book|title=Tamil Culture in Ceylon: A General Introduction|author=M. D. Raghavan|publisher=Kalai Nilayam|year=1971|page=136}}</ref>
-The word ''Vellalar'' may come from the root ''Vellam'' for flood, which gave rise to various rights of land; and it is because of the acquisition of land rights that the Vellalar got their name.<ref name="tkv">{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SWeBAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA64| title= Societas to Civitas: evolution of political society in South India : pre-Pallavan Tamil̤akam | publisher= Kalinga Publications |year= 1993 |first= T. K. |last=Venkatasubramanian | page=64| isbn= 9788185163420 }}</ref>
-According to C.E. Ramachandran, the earliest reference to the name is attested in the [[Tolkāppiyam]], which divided the society in four classes ''Arasar'', ''Andanar'', ''Vanigar'' and ''Vellalar''.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6U5XAAAAMAAJ|title=Ahananuru in Its Historical Setting|last=Ramachandran|first=C. E.|date=1974|publisher=University of Madras|pages=58|language=en}}</ref>
+The word ''Vellalar'' (வெள்ளாளர் ) may come from the root ''Vellam'' for flood, which gave rise to various rights of land; and it is because of the acquisition of land rights that the Vellalar got their name.<ref name="tkv">{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SWeBAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA64| title= Societas to Civitas: evolution of political society in South India: pre-Pallavan Tamil̤akam | publisher= Kalinga Publications |year= 1993 |first= T. K. |last=Venkatasubramanian | page=64| isbn= 9788185163420 }}</ref>
+==History==
-However, modern English translations of the [[Tolkāppiyam]] reveal that the term mentioned is Vēlān or Vēlālar, & not Vellālar.<ref name="auto">{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/dli.jZY9lup2kZl6TuXGlZQdjZU3kZly.TVA_BOK_0006660/page/644/mode/2up|title=Tolkāppiyam in English|publisher=Institute of Asian studies (Chennai)|year=2000|first=V|last=Murugan|page=644}}</ref>
+[[File:Vellālas worshipping lingam, snake-stones and Ganēsa..jpg|thumb|Vellālars worshipping lingam, snake-stones and Ganēsa from ''[[Castes and Tribes of Southern India]]'' (1909).]]
+The Vellalars have a long cultural history that goes back to over two millennia in southern India,<ref name="Meluhha and Agastya : Alpha and Omega of the Indus Script By Iravatham Mahadevan">{{cite web |url=http://www.harappa.com/arrow/meluhha_and_agastya_2009.pdf |title=Meluhha and Agastya: Alpha and Omega of the Indus Script |author=Iravatham Mahadevan |page=16 |quote=The Ventar-Velir-Velalar groups constituted the ruling and land-owning classes in the Tamil country since the beginning of recorded history |access-date=2011-06-07 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607212814/http://www.harappa.com/arrow/meluhha_and_agastya_2009.pdf |archive-date=7 June 2011 }}</ref> where once they were the ruling and land-owning community.<ref name="Al-Hind: Early medieval India and the expansion of Islam, 7th-11th centuries By André Wink">{{cite book |title=Al-Hind: Early medieval India and the expansion of Islam, 7th-11th centuries |author=André Wink |year=2002 |page=321 |quote=Not only were the Vellalas the landowning communities of South India,... |publisher=[[Brill Academic Publishers]] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g2m7_R5P2oAC&pg=PA321 |isbn=9004092498}}</ref><ref name="gough"/> Though the Vellalar have generally been associated with the landed gentry and agriculture, they are not a homogenous group and various people from diverse backgrounds have identified themselves as a Vellalar in the course of history.<ref name=mathur>{{cite book|title=Applied Anthropology and Challenges of Development in India|author=P. R. G. Mathur|publisher=Punthi-Pustak|year=1994|page=152}}</ref>
+===In Sangam literature===
-Verse 1572 states: "The Vēlālar class take to no occupation but farming & cultivation."<ref name="auto"/>
+The Vellalar are spoken of as a group of people right from the [[Sangam period]] and are  mentioned in many of the classical works of [[Sangam literature]]. The [[Tolkappiyam]] does not contain the term ''Vellalar'' but refers to a group of people called ''Velaan Maanthar'' who apart from practising agriculture had the right to carry weapons and wear garlands when they were involved in affairs of the state.<ref>{{cite book|title=Chieftains of the Sangam Age|author=Ka. Ta Tirunāvukkaracu|publisher=International Institute of Tamil Studies|year=1994|page=33}}</ref> The term ''Vellalar'' itself occurs in the sense of a landowner in [[Paripatal|Paripadal]].<ref name=nathan/> The poem [[Pattinappalai|Pattinappaalai]] lists the six virtues of Vellalar as abstention from killing, abstention from stealing, propagation of religion, hospitality, justice and honesty.<ref>{{cite book|title=An Outline of the Cultural History and Principles of Hinduism|author=C. Sivaratnam|publisher=Stangard Printers|year=1964|page=269}}</ref>
-Verse 1573 states: "Weapons of war and wreaths to wear, The Vēlālar have access to, as they go on Mission of the state"<ref name="auto"/>
+===Post-Sangam period===
-This is also corroborated by Ramachandra Dikshitar,<ref name="auto1">{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/studies-in-tamil-literature-and-history/page/181/mode/1up|title=Studies in Tamil Literature and History|publisher=Klempner Press|year=2007|isbn=978-1-40677-245-6|first=Ramachandra|last=Dikshitar|page=181}}</ref> who writes:
-"The Porul Sutra 75 of the Tolkāppiyam refers to the four-fold classification of castes, Araśar (Ksatriyas), Antaṇar (Brahmanas),Vaṇikar (merchants) and Vēlāḷar (agriculturists).The Vēlāḷas became in their turn divided into two classes, the higher and the lower. It is significant to note that the term Sudra is not to be found in this grammatical work. The petty chiefs or the Kurunilamannar generally belonged to the Vēlāḷa community. According to Nacciṉārkkiṉiyar these Vēlāḷas had marital relations with royal families, served as army commanders and were chieftains of smaller kingdoms."<ref name="auto1"/>
+In the years that immediately followed the Sangam age (from third to sixth century CE), the Tamil lands were ruled by a dynasty called [[Kalabhra]]s.<ref>{{cite book|title=Madurai Through the Ages From the Earliest Times to 1801 A.D.|author=D. Devakunjari|year=1979|publisher=Publisher: Society for Archaeological, Historical, and Epigraphical Research|page=72}}</ref> Historians believe that the Kalabhras belonged to the Vellalar community of warriors who were possibly once the feudatories of the [[Chola dynasty|Cholas]] and the [[Pallava dynasty|Pallavas]].<ref name="Chakrabarty 2010 p. 84">{{cite book |last=Chakrabarty |first=D.K. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EIAyDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT84 |title=The Geopolitical Orbits of Ancient India: The Geographical Frames of the Ancient Indian Dynasties |publisher=OUP India |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-19-908832-4 |page=84 |access-date=2023-01-16}}</ref> Scholar and historian [[M. Raghava Iyengar]] identifies the Kalabhras with the Kalappalar section of the Vellalar and equates king Achyuta Vikranta with Achyuta Kalappala the father of [[Meykandar]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Social and Cultural History of Tamilnad: To A.D. 1336|author=N. Subrahmanian|publisher=Ennes|year=1993|page=67}}</ref> [[Buddhadatta]], the Pali writer who stayed in the [[Chola]] kingdom and authored Buddhist manuals refers (in the ''Nigamanagātha'' of ''Vinayavinicchaya'', verse 3179) to his patron Achyuta Vikranta who was then (fifth century CE) ruling the Chola kingdom as ''Kalamba-kula nandane'' meaning ''the favourite of the Kalamba family''.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Colas, Second Edition|author=K. A. NILAKANTA SASTRI, M.A., Emeritus Professor of Indian History and Archaeology, University of Madras. Professor of Indology. University of Mysore.|publisher=G. S. Press, Madras|year=1955|page=108}}</ref> In [[Pali]] language as in [[Tamil language|Tamil]], the word Kalamba or Kalambam (in Tamil) means the [[Kadamba tree]], the sacred [[totem]]ic symbol that is associated with Tamil god [[Murugan]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Pāli, A Grammar of the Language of the Theravāda Tipiṭaka|author=Thomas Oberlies, Richard Pischel|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|year=2001|page=88}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Temples of South India|author=K. R. Srinivasan|publisher=National Book Trust|year=1979|page=8}}</ref>
-==History==
-[[File:Vellālas worshipping lingam, snake-stones and Ganēsa..jpg|thumb|Vellālars worshipping lingam, snake-stones and Ganēsa from ''[[Castes and Tribes of Southern India]]'' (1909).]]
-The Vellalars have a long cultural history that goes back to over two millennia in southern India,<ref name="Meluhha and Agastya : Alpha and Omega of the Indus Script By Iravatham Mahadevan">Meluhha and Agastya : Alpha and Omega of the Indus Script By Iravatham Mahadevan pages 16: "The Ventar-Velir-Velalar groups constituted the ruling and land-owning classes in the Tamil country since the beginning of recorded history"{{cite web |url=http://www.harappa.com/arrow/meluhha_and_agastya_2009.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2011-06-07 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607212814/http://www.harappa.com/arrow/meluhha_and_agastya_2009.pdf |archive-date=7 June 2011 }}</ref> where once they were a dominant land-owning community that through an alliance with the [[Brahmins]], formed the ruling class.<ref name="Al-Hind: Early medieval India and the expansion of Islam, 7th-11th centuries By André Wink">Al-Hind: Early medieval India and the expansion of Islam, 7th-11th centuries By André Wink pages 321: "Not only were the Vellalas the landowning communities of South India,..."[https://books.google.fr/books?id=g2m7_R5P2oAC&pg=PA321]</ref><ref name="gough"/>
+===The Velir===
-The Karmandala Satakam by Ãrai Kiḻãr, dated 1292-1342 C.E, during the reign of [[Hoysala]] King [[Veera Ballala III]], states in verse 52:
+The [[Velir]] were an ancient group of Tamil chieftains who claimed Yadava (Yadu) descent.<ref>{{cite book|title=Mathurā.The Settlement Pattern and Cultural Profile of an Early Historical City|author=Vijaya Laxmi Singh|publisher=Sundeep Prakashan|year=2005|page=121}}</ref> The [[Ay dynasty|Ay Vels]] were one such Velir group that ruled the territory in and around [[Venad]] during the Sangam period. The word Venad is derived from ''Vel'' -nadu, that is the country ruled by ''Vel'' chieftains.<ref>{{cite book|title=History of Kerala|author=R. Leela Devi|publisher=Vidyarthi Mithram Press & Book Depot|page=117}}</ref> We know of a queen of Vikramaditya Varaguna, an Ay king of 9th century who is referred to as Murugan Chenthi and as Aykula Mahadevi from inscriptions. Her father, an Ay chief called Chathan Murugan is described as a Vennir Vellala that is a Vellala by birth,<ref>{{cite book|title=Peasant State and Society in Medieval South India|author=Burton Stein|publisher=Oxford University Press|page=350|year=1994}}</ref> in the Huzur plates of king Karunandakkan, the predecessor of Vikramaditya Varaguna.<ref>{{cite book|title=Encyclopaedia of Untouchables Ancient, Medieval and Modern|author=Raj Kumar|publisher=Kalpaz Publications|year=2008|page=181}}</ref>
-"The Vellalas of Karmandalam belonged to the Mānava Gotra & practiced the rite of upanayana or wearing the sacred thread."<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/karmandala-satakam/page/432/|title=KARMANDALA SATAKAM: POLITICO-SOCIO-CULTURAL ANALYSIS OF MEDIEVAL TAMIL LITERATURE ON THE VELLALA COMMUNITY OF SOUTH KARNATAKA|publisher=Indian History Congress|year=2010|last=Vijailakshmi|first=Usha R.|page=432}}</ref>
-As per the Apastambha Shrauta Sutra, The Mānava [[Gotra]] is a Rājarși-derived [[Dvija]] [[Gotra]] used by the 3-upper [[castes]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tlbxHiSGczYC&q=%22%C4%80%C5%9B%C5%9BS+I+1%2C3%2C5f+.+prescribes+gotra+-+s+derived+from+r%C4%81jar%C8%99i+-+s+%28+such+as+M%C4%81nava+%2C+Aila+%2C+Paur%C5%ABrava+%29+for+kings+%2C+or+M%C4%81nava+for+all+the+three+upper+castes+if+the+exact+gotra+is+unknown+%3B+vaisya+-+s+sometimes+used+Bh%C4%81landana+%2C+V%C4%81tsapra+or+M%C4%81rkhila%22&pg=PA115|title=Handbuch der Orientalistik: Indien, Part 2|publisher=BRILL|year=1973|last=Scharfe|first=Hartmut|page=115|isbn=978-9-00409-060-6}}"ĀśśS I 1,3,5f . prescribes gotra - s derived from rājarși - s ( such as Mānava , Aila , Paurūrava ) for kings , or Mānava for all the three upper castes if the exact gotra is unknown ; vaisya - s sometimes used Bhālandana , Vātsapra or Mārkhila"</ref>
+The [[Irunkovel]] or Irukkuvel chieftains were another ancient Velir clan who ruled from their capital [[Kodumbalur]] (near Pudukottai district). They were related to the Cholas by marriage.<ref>{{cite book|title=The City in Indian History. Urban Demography, Society, and Politics|editor=Indu Banga|publisher=South Asia Publications|year=1991|page=61}}</ref> In an inscription of [[Rajadhiraja Chola]] an Irukkuvel feudatory who was a high-ranking military officer (''Dandanayaka'') of the king is described as a Velala.{{Efn|1=Records in his third year gift of 90 sheep for a lamp by Velala Madurantakam alias Tandanayakan Rajadhiraja Ilangovelan of Nadar, a village in Tiraimur-nadu which was a sub-division of Uyyakondan-valanadu in Solamandalam.<ref>{{cite book|title=South Indian Shrines|author=P. V. Jagadisa Ayyar|year=1993|page=53|publisher=Asian Educational Services}}</ref>}}
-Verse 31 of the Karmandala Satakam states that the Vellālas of Kārmandalam belonged to the clan of the Gangas: they were both Srotriyas; practitioners of Vedic rites or Southerners or Virāthiyars or people who were followers of either Buddhism or Jainism or Northerners.<ref name="auto3">{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/karmandala-satakam/page/430/|title=KARMANDALA SATAKAM: POLITICO-SOCIO-CULTURAL ANALYSIS OF MEDIEVAL TAMIL LITERATURE ON THE VELLALA COMMUNITY OF SOUTH KARNATAKA|publisher=Indian History Congress|year=2010|last=Vijailakshmi|first=Usha R.|page=430}}</ref> In Verse 33, it is mentioned that the Gangas belonged to both Suryavamsa and Somavamsa and they had matrimonial alliances with other kings.<ref name="auto3"/>
+The Irungovels are considered to be of the same stock as the [[Hoysala]]s as in one of the Sangam poems, the ancestor of the Irungovel chieftain is said to have ruled the fortified city of Tuvarai. This city is identified with the Hoysala capital [[Dwarasamudra]] by some historians.<ref>{{cite book|title= The Tamilian Antiquary Volume 1, Issue 5|author= T.A. Society (Tiruchchirāppalli, India)|publisher=Asian Educational Services|year=1986|page=28}}</ref> Also, the legend of the chief killing a tiger (''Pulikadimal'') has a striking resemblance to the origin legend of the Hoysalas where ‘'sala'’ kills the tiger to save a sage.<ref>{{cite book|title= The Early History of the Vellar Basin, with Special Reference to the Irukkuvels of Kodumbalur. A Study in Vellala Origin and Early History|author= M. Arokiaswami|publisher= Amudha Nilayam|page=28}}</ref> As per historian Arokiaswami, the Hoysala title ‘'Ballala'’ is only a variant of the Tamil word ‘'Vellala'’.<ref>{{cite book|title= The Early History of the Vellar Basin, with Special Reference to the Irukkuvels of Kodumbalur. A Study in Vellala Origin and Early History|author= M. Arokiaswami|publisher= Amudha Nilayam|page=29}}</ref> The Hoysala king [[Veera Ballala III]] is even now locally known as the ‘'Vellala Maharaja'’ in [[Thiruvannamalai]], the town that served as their capital in 14th century.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Gopuras of Thiruvannamalai|author= F. H. Gravely|publisher=Commissioner of Museums, Government of Tamil Nadu|year=2002|page=2}}</ref>
-Historian Usha R. Vijailakshmi observes that Verse 34 connects the origin of the Gangas to the origin of the [[Karkarthar|Karakatha]] Vellalas of Southern Karnataka, as follows: "Gangeya Murthaka pala was born to Lord Shiva and he had two wives; the first wife had 54 sons & the second wife had 52 sons. Out of these Bhupalar, (one who practiced Agriculture) gave birth to 35 Vellala leaders, Dhanapalar, who was into trade, gave birth to 35 Vellala leaders Gopalar, (one who herded cattle) and one Agamurthi gave birth to 1 Vellala leader".<ref name="auto3"/>
+===The Chola period===
-The terms Bhupālar, Dhanapālar, & Gopālar refer to the 3 subdivisions of [[Vaishyas]]: Bhu-[[vaishya]], Dhana-[[vaishya]] & Go-[[vaishya]]<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/the-ceylon-gazetteer-containing-an-accurate-account-of-the-districts-provinces-c/page/230/mode/2up|title=The Ceylon Gazetteer: Containing an Accurate Account of the Districts, Provinces, Cities, Towns ... &c. of the Island of Ceylon|publisher=Palala Press|year=2016|isbn=978-1358116018|last=Chitty|first=Simon Casie|page=230}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Sanghvi|first=L.D.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bxiAAAAAMAAJ&q=%22There+is+a+tradition+among+the+Vellalans+that+there+were+3+divisions+of+the+Vaisyas+:+(+1+)+Bhuvaisyas+or+farmers+,+(+2+)+Govaisyas+or+husbandmen+and+(+3+)+Dhanavaisyas+or+merchants+.+The+last+division+is+claimed+to+have+given+rise+to+the+Chettis+who+originally+belonged+to+the+Vellala+tribe.%22|title=Biology of the People of Tamil Nadu|publisher=Indian Society of Human Genetics|year=1981|page=19}}:"There is a tradition among the Vellalans that there were 3 divisions of the Vaisyas : ( 1 ) Bhuvaisyas or farmers , ( 2 ) Govaisyas or husbandmen and ( 3 ) Dhanavaisyas or merchants . The last division is claimed to have given rise to the Chettis who originally belonged to the Vellala tribe."</ref> respectively. Their professions correspond to the duties laid out for [[Vaishyas]] in the [[Manusmriti]], which states, "trade, animal husbandry, and agriculture has been prescribed as the livelihood for the [[Vaishya]]. Their Law, however, is giving gifts, studying the Vedas, and offering sacrifices."<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/manus-code-of-law-a-critical-edition-and-translation-of-the-manava-dharmasastra-/page/211/mode/2up?q=vaisya|title=Manus Code Of Law: A Critical Edition And Translation Of The Mānava Dharmaśāstra|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2005|isbn=978-0-19517-146-4|last=Olivelle|first=Patrick|page=212}}</ref>
+According to the anthropologist [[Kathleen Gough]], "the Vellalars were the dominant secular aristocratic caste under the Chola kings, providing the courtiers, most of the army officers, the lower ranks of the kingdom's bureaucracy, and the upper layer of the peasantry".<ref name="gough">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GZwD7EqLcAUC|title=Rural Society in Southeast India|last=Gough|first=Kathleen|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |year=2008|isbn=9780521040198|page=29|language=en}}</ref>
-It is to be noted that the same legend is dealt with in certain detail by [[Edgar Thurston]] in his seminal work - Castes and Tribes of Southern India, in which he discusses about Vellala community of Tamilnadu.<ref name="auto3"/><ref>{{cite book|last=Thurston|first=Edgar|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jz4ODgAAQBAJ&q=%22Bhu+vaisya+%28earth+Vaisya%29.%E2%80%94A+name+returned+by+some+Nattukottai+Chettis+and+Vellalas.%22&pg=PA125|title=CASTES AND TRIBES OF SOUTHERN INDIA VOL 1: With commentary by VED from VICTORIA INSTITUTIONS|publisher=VICTORIA INSTITUTIONS, Aaradhana, Deverkovil 673508 India|year=2018|isbn=978-1-98077-710-6|page=125}}:"Bhu vaisya (earth Vaisya).—A name returned by some Nattukottai Chettis and Vellalas."</ref>According to Anthropologist L.D. Sanghvi, there is a tradition among the Vellalans that there were 3 divisions of the [[Vaishyas]] : (1) Bhu-[[Vaishyas]] or farmers ,(2) Go-[[Vaishyas]] or husbandmen & (3) Dhana-[[Vaishyas]] or merchants. The last division is claimed to have given rise to the [[Chetties|Chettis]] who originally belonged to the Vellala tribe.<ref>{{cite book|last=Sanghvi|first=L.D.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bxiAAAAAMAAJ&q=%22There+is+a+tradition+among+the+Vellalans+that+there+were+3+divisions+of+the+Vaisyas+:+(+1+)+Bhuvaisyas+or+farmers+,+(+2+)+Govaisyas+or+husbandmen+and+(+3+)+Dhanavaisyas+or+merchants+.+The+last+division+is+claimed+to+have+given+rise+to+the+Chettis+who+originally+belonged+to+the+Vellala+tribe.%22|title=Biology of the People of Tamil Nadu|publisher=Indian Society of Human Genetics|year=1981|page=19}}:"There is a tradition among the Vellalans that there were 3 divisions of the Vaisyas : ( 1 ) Bhuvaisyas or farmers , ( 2 ) Govaisyas or husbandmen and ( 3 ) Dhanavaisyas or merchants . The last division is claimed to have given rise to the Chettis who originally belonged to the Vellala tribe."</ref> Busnagi Rajannan states that the [[Kongu Vellalars]] are also referred to as Bhu-[[Vaishyas]], Bhu-Pālan or Gangavamsam.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ez9uAAAAMAAJ&q=Buvaisya|title=Salem Cyclopedia: A Cultural and Historical Dictionary of Salem District, Tamil Nadu|publisher=Institute of Kongu Studies (Salem, India)|year=1992|isbn=978-8-19002-880-6|last=Rajannan|first=Busnagi|page=340}}</ref> Simon Casie Chitty notes that the [[Sri Lankan Vellalar]]s also follow this 3 fold classification of Vaishyas; The [[Chettiar|Chettiar Vellalar]] are Dhana-[[Vaishyas]], the [[Karkathar|Karkathar Vellalar]], [[Tuluva Vellalar]] and [[Chozhia Vellalar]] are Bhu-[[Vaishyas]], and the Idayers are Go-[[Vaishyas]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/the-ceylon-gazetteer-containing-an-accurate-account-of-the-districts-provinces-c/page/230/mode/2up|title=The Ceylon Gazetteer: Containing an Accurate Account of the Districts, Provinces, Cities, Towns ... &c. of the Island of Ceylon|publisher=Palala Press|year=2016|isbn=978-1358116018|last=Chitty|first=Simon Casie|page=230}}</ref> Hayavadana Rao mentions that the Travancore Government Gazette of 1911 documented the [[Nanjinad]] Vellalas as Bhu-[[Vaishyas]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z0NCAQAAMAAJ&q=Bhoo-vysias|title=The Vellalas of Nanjanad, Travancore State, India|publisher=Anthropos, University of California|year=2014|last=Rao|first=C. Hayavadana Rao|page=514}}:"Of the three subdivisions among Vysias, the Vellalas belong to one that is known as Bhoo-Vysias."</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/the-vellalas-of-nanjanad-travancore-state-india_202104/page/513/mode/2up?q=Bhoo+Vysias|title=The Vellalas of Nanjanad, Travancore State, India|publisher=Anthropos, University of California|year=2014|last=Rao|first=C. Hayavadana Rao|page=514}}:"Of the three subdivisions among Vysias, the Vellalas belong to one that is known as Bhoo-Vysias."</ref> According to Henry Tambiah Wijayakone, the [[Vellalar of Sri Lanka|Sri Lankan Vellalars]] are classified among the [[Vaishya]] [[caste]], with the [[Jaffna]] Vellalas belonging to the Bhu-[[Vaishya]]<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_PSbAAAAMAAJ&q=%22he+classifies+the+Vellalas+under+the+Vaisya+caste+and+even+goes+to+the+extent+of+calling+the+Vellalas+%27The+Poo+Vasi+Ya%27%22|title=The Laws and Customs of the Tamils of Jaffna|publisher=Women's Education & Research Centre, Colombo, Sri Lanka.|year=2001|last=Tambiah|first=Henry Wijayakone|page=92|isbn=978-9-55926-116-2}}:"he classifies the Vellalas under the Vaisya caste and even goes to the extent of calling the Vellalas 'The Poo Vasi Ya'"</ref> caste, and the [[Colombo]] [[Chetties]] belonging to the Dhana-[[Vaishya]]<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_PSbAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Colombo+Chetties+belong+to+the+Tana+Vasiya+Caste%22|title=The Laws and Customs of the Tamils of Jaffna|publisher=Women's Education & Research Centre, Colombo, Sri Lanka.|year=2001|last=Tambiah|first=Henry Wijayakone|page=57|isbn=978-9-55926-116-2}}:"Colombo Chetties belong to the Tana Vasiya Caste"</ref> [[caste]].
+Two identical [[Tamil language|Tamil]] inscriptions from Avani and Uttanur in [[Mulbagal]] Taluk dated in the 3rd year of [[Kulottunga I]] (about 1072-1073 CE) describe how the great army of the right hand class (''perumpadai valangai mahasenai'') having arrived with great weapons of war from the 78-nadus of Chola-mandalam and the 48000-bhumi of Jayangonda-cholamandalam (the northern districts of Tamil Nadu that is [[Tondaimandalam]]) conquered and colonized southern Karnataka ([[Kolar district]]) by the grace of Rajendrachola (Kulottunga I).<ref>{{cite book|title=Essays on Indian History and Culture. Felicitation Volume in Honour of Professor B. Sheik Ali|author=[[B. Sheikh Ali]]|editor=H. V. Sreenivasa Murthy|publisher=Mittal Publications|pages=105–107|year=1990}}</ref>
-According to the anthropologist [[Kathleen Gough]], "the Vellalars were the dominant secular aristocratic caste under the Chola kings, providing the courtiers, most of the army officers, the lower ranks of the kingdom's bureaucracy, and the upper layer of the peasantry".<ref name="gough">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GZwD7EqLcAUC|title=Rural Society in Southeast India|last=Gough|first=Kathleen|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2008|isbn=9780521040198|page=29|language=en}}</ref>
+Historian [[Burton Stein]] who has done a detailed analysis of this inscription equates the ''Valangai'' military forces and the ''Velaikkara'' troops of the Cholas with the Vellalas and notes that the contents of the above inscription confirm this identification.<ref>{{cite book|title=Peasant State and Society in Medieval South India|author=Burton Stein|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1994|pages=190–191}}</ref> The ''Velaikkara'' troops were special units of armed forces drawn from the right-hand castes that were close to the king. The units were generally named after the king like ''Rajaraja-terinda-valangai-velaikkarar'', that is ''the known (terinda) forces of king [[Rajaraja Chola I]]''.<ref>{{cite book|title=A Military History of Medieval India|author=Gurcharn Singh Sandhu|publisher=Vision Books|year=2003|page=208}}</ref> The Chola inscriptions state that the Velaikkara forces pledged under oath to commit suicide in case they failed to defend their king or in the event of his death.<ref>{{cite book|title=Contributions to Indian Sociology Volumes 29-30 of Contributions to Indian Sociology: Occasional Studies|author=École pratique des hautes études (France). Section des sciences économiques et sociales, University of Oxford. Institute of Social Anthropology, Research Centre on Social and Economic Development in Asia|publisher=Mouton|year=1995|page=265}}</ref> The Chalukya kings were also known by the title ''Velpularasar'', that is kings of ''Vel'' country (''pulam'' means region or country in [[Tamil language|Tamil]]) and as ''Velkulattarasar'', that is kings of the ''Vel'' clan (''kulam''), in epigraphs and in the old Tamil lexicon Divakaram.<ref>{{cite book|title=Encyclopaedia of Untouchables Ancient, Medieval and Modern|author=Raj Kumar|publisher=Gyan Publishing House|year=2008|page=179}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The Colas|author=K. A. Nilakanta Sastri, M.A., Professor of Indian History and Archaeology University of Madras|publisher=Thompson & Co., Ltd., Printers, Madras|year=1937|page=11}}</ref>
-In the 1871 [[Madras Presidency]] census, Vellalars were ranked as Shudras, despite their claims that they were of Vaishya status.<ref name="auto2">{{Cite book|last=Beteille|first=Andre|url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Caste_Class_and_Power/OIAyDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=vellalas+vaishya&pg=PT113&printsec=frontcover|title=Caste, Class and Power: Changing Patterns of Stratification in a Tanjore Village|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1996|isbn=978-0-19-908872-0}}</ref>
-A petition was made to the municipal commissioners of Madras, protesting against their being classed as Shudras, in which the [[Manusmriti]] was cited to point out that "the Vellalas do come exactly within the most authoritative definition given of [[Vaishyas]] and do not come within the like definition of Shudras"<ref name="auto2"/>
+The Vellalar also contributed to the [[Bhakti movement]] in south India from the seventh century CE onwards and helped revive Hinduism. Many of the [[Nayanmar]]s, the [[Shaiva]] saints, were Vellalar.<ref>{{cite book|title=Religion and Public Culture: Encounters and Identities in Modern South India|author=Keith E. Yandell Keith E. Yandell, John J. Paul|publisher=Routledge|year=2013|page=249}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=A History of India|author=Professor of Asian History Hermann Kulke, Dietmar Rothermund|publisher=Psychology Press|year=2004|page=143}}</ref> In the 12th century CE, saint [[Sekkizhar|Sekkilan Mahadevadigal Ramadeva]] sang the glories of these Nayanmars in his magnum opus, the [[Periyapuranam]].<ref>{{cite book|title=A Survey of the Sources for the History of Tamil Literature|author=Muthusamy Govindasamy|publisher=Annamalai University|year=1977|page=135}}</ref> Sekkizhar was born in a Vellala family in [[Kundrathur]] in [[Thondaimandalam]] and had the title Uttama Chola Pallavaraiyan.<ref>{{cite book|title=Temples of Tamilnadu Kancheepuram District, Volume 1|author=C. Chandramouli|publisher=Controller of Publications|year=2003|page=54}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Tillai and Nataraja|author=Balasubrahmanyam Venkataraman|publisher=Mudgala Trust|year=1994|page=65}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The City of the Cosmic Dance: Chidambaram|author=B. Natarajan|publisher=Orient Longman|year=1974|page=32}}</ref> Sekkilan Mahadevadigal Ramadeva was an elder contemporary of [[Kulothunga Chola II]], the king who is said to have persecuted the [[Brahmin]] philosopher [[Ramanuja]] for his [[Vaishnavite]] preachings by forcing him to sign a document stating [[Shiva]] is the greatest god.<ref>{{cite book|title=Chidambaram Golden Temple|author=Caṇmukam Meyyappan̲|publisher=Manivasagar Pathippagam|year=1992|page=13}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Sri Ramanuja. Makers of Indian literature.|author=Madabhushini Narasimhacharya|publisher=Sahitya Akademi|year=2004|page=25}}</ref>
-The Vellalars who were land owners and tillers of the soil and held offices pertaining to land, were ranked as Sat-[[Shudra]]<ref>{{cite book |last=Price |first=Pamela G.|date=1996|title=Kingship and Political Practice in Colonial India |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=aqKSTs4ajsAC&q=vellalar+sudra&pg=PA61|location= |publisher=Cambridge University Press|page=61|isbn=0521552478}}:”Dominant castes like the land - controlling Vellalar , whose practices were compatible with Brahminic ideas of purity , were considered high - ranking Sudras in the government system”</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Diehl|first=Anita|date=1977|title=E. V. Ramaswami Naicker-Periyar: A Study of the Influence of a Personality in Contemporary South India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1CduAAAAMAAJ&q=vellalar+sudra|location=Stockholm ; Göteborg ; Lund |publisher=Esselte studium|page=16|isbn=9789124276454}}:”In Tamil Nadu the traditional caste society is in practice reduced into Brahmins and Sudras, kith a large third group classified in administrative terms as Scheduled and Backward classes.) Prominent among the Sudras are Vellalar , Chettiar and Gounder”</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Allen|first=H. G. |date=1888 |title= The Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences and General Literature|volume=5|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HKgMAAAAYAAJ&q=Vellala |location=New York|publisher=Henry G Allen and Company |page= 191}}:”Unooloom with a woman of the Vellala class of Sudras is lawful.”</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Pillai|first=P. Chidambaram|date=2008 |title=Right of Temple Entry|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZG0OAQAAMAAJ&q=vellalar+sudra |location=Chennai|publisher=MJP Publishers |page=33|isbn=9788180940392}}:”The Brahmin goes with the Vellala and others of the Sudra caste in this affair”</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Balfour |first=Edward |author-link= |date=1885 |title= The Cyclopædia of India and of Eastern and Southern Asia: Commercial, Industrial and Scientific, Products of the Mineral, Vegetable, and Animal Kingdoms, Useful Arts and Manufactures|volume=3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iU0OAAAAQAAJ&q=vellalar+sudra&pg=PA811|location=15, Picadilly, London |publisher=Bernard Quaritch |page=811 |isbn=}}:”The Vellala are a Sudra race of Hindus Tamil and the Kodun - Tamil , which so widely who speak Tamil. They assume the honorific designation of Mudali or Mudaliar meaning first man, and are chiefly farmers, but many of them are soldiers.” </ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Yanagisawa|first=Haruka|date=1996|title=A Century of Change: Caste and Irrigated Lands in Tamilnadu, 1860s-1970s|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cTeFAAAAIAAJ&q=vellalar+sudra|location= |publisher=Manohar|page=35|isbn=9788173041594}}:”Manual of Tinnevelly district tabulates the composition of the village population as follows : Brahmans , 10 families ; Vellalar and other ' Sudra ' landholders ...”</ref><ref>{{cite book |last= Narayana |first=M. G. S.|date=1977|title= Re-interpretations in South Indian History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZMABAAAAMAAJ&q=vellalar+sudra |location=India, South|publisher=College Book House |page=15 |isbn=}}:”They mention Parpan Andanar or Marayor (Brahmins), Aracar ( Kings or Kshatriyas ) , Vanikar ( Merchants or Vaisya ) , and Vellalar ( Cultivators or Sudra ) , in many places“</ref> in the 1901 census; with the Government of Madras recognising that the 4-fold division did not describe the South Indian, or Dravidian, society adequately.<ref>Kingship and political practice in colonial India, by Pamela G. Price, p.61: "...when government census officers placed Vellalar in the Sat-Sudra or Good Sudra category in its 1901 census, Vellalar castemen petitioned this designation, protesting this designation..</ref>
-Following the arrival of Dutch missionaries in the early 18th century, some Vellalar converted to Christianity.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Br1v53OmBl8C&pg=PA112|title=Missions and Empire|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2005|isbn=978-0-19153-106-4|editor-last=Etherington|editor-first=Norman|page=112}}</ref>
 ==Sri Lanka==
 {{Main|Sri Lankan Vellalar}}
-The Vellalars of Sri Lanka have been chronicled in the ''[[Yalpana Vaipava Malai]]'' and other historical texts of the [[Jaffna kingdom]]. They form half of the [[Sri Lankan Tamils|Sri Lankan Tamil]] population and are the major [[Husbandman|husbandmen]], involved in tillage and cattle cultivation.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Fernando|first=A. Denis N.|date=1987|title=PENINSULAR JAFFNA FROM ANCIENT TO MEDIEVAL TIMES: Its Significant Historical and Settlement Aspects|journal=Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka|volume=32|page=84|jstor=23731055}}</ref><ref name="derges"/> Local Sri Lankan literature, such as the ''Kailiyai Malai'', an account on [[Kalinga Magha]], narrates the migration of Vellala Nattar chiefs from the [[Coromandel Coast]] to Sri Lanka.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Kj_aWm4DeFEC|title=The Sri Lanka Reader: History, Culture, Politics|last=Holt|first=John|publisher=Duke University Press|year=2011|isbn=978-0822349822|page=84|language=en}}</ref> The Kings of Jaffna married among the Vellalas.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jUpuAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Although+the+Kings+of+Jaffna+married+among+the+Vellalas%22|title=The History of the Tamils and the Sinhalese of Sri Lanka|last=Rajasuriar|first=G.K.|publisher=Quill Graphics|year=1998|isbn=978-0-64636-570-1|page=102|language=en}}</ref>
+The Vellalars of Sri Lanka have been chronicled in the ''[[Yalpana Vaipava Malai]]'' and other historical texts of the [[Jaffna kingdom]]. They form half of the [[Sri Lankan Tamils|Sri Lankan Tamil]] population and are the major [[Husbandman|husbandmen]], involved in tillage and cattle cultivation.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Fernando|first=A. Denis N.|date=1987|title=PENINSULAR JAFFNA FROM ANCIENT TO MEDIEVAL TIMES: Its Significant Historical and Settlement Aspects|journal=Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka|volume=32|page=84|jstor=23731055}}</ref><ref name="derges"/> Local Sri Lankan literature, such as the ''Kailiyai Malai'', an account on [[Kalinga Magha]], narrates the migration of Vellala Nattar chiefs from the [[Coromandel Coast]] to Sri Lanka.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Kj_aWm4DeFEC|title=The Sri Lanka Reader: History, Culture, Politics|last=Holt|first=John|publisher=Duke University Press|year=2011|isbn=978-0822349822|page=84|language=en}}</ref>
 Their dominance rose under [[Dutch Ceylon|Dutch rule]] and they formed one of the colonial political elites of the island.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xj9FAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT73|title=The Politics of Reconstruction and Development in Sri Lanka: Transnational Commitments to Social Change|last=Gerharz|first=Eva|date=3 April 2014|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781317692799|page=73|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Aob8AgAAQBAJ|title=The Rise of Tamil Separatism in Sri Lanka: From Communalism to Secession|last1=Welhengama|first1=Gnanapala|last2=Pillay|first2=Nirmala|publisher=Routledge|year=2014|isbn=9781135119713|page=168|language=en}}</ref>
+==In Jainism==
+At present, most of the [[Tamil Jain]]s are from the Vellalar social group.<ref name=Umamaheshwari/> Also, the Saiva Velaalar sect are originally believed to have been Jainas before they embraced [[Hinduism]].{{Efn|1=It is also widely believed that the Saiva Vellalas of Madras State who are stricter vegetarians than even Tamil Brahmins, were Jainas.<ref>{{cite book|title=Religion and Politics in Medieval South India. Papers of a Seminar Held by the Institute of Asian Studies and Andhra University|author=Andhra University|publisher=Institute of Asian Studies|page=15|year=1972}}</ref>}} The Tamil Jains refer to the Saiva Velaalar as ''nīr-pūci-nayinārs'' or ''nīr-pūci-vellalars'' meaning the vellalars who left Jainism by smearing the sacred ash or ''(tiru)-nīru''.{{Efn|1=All of those who feared for their lives converted to Saivism (and not any other religious sect) adorning the sacred ash, 'throwing away their sacred threads', they assumed the identity of Saiva (nir-puci) vellalars or ''nir-puci-nayinars'' (the Jainas who smeared sacred ash).<ref name=umamaheshwari222>{{cite book|title=Reading History with the Tamil Jainas. A Study on Identity, Memory and Marginalisation. Volume 22 of Sophia Studies in Cross-cultural Philosophy of Traditions and Cultures|author=R. Umamaheshwari|publisher=Springer|year=2018|page=222}}</ref>}} While some of the Jains assign this conversion to the period of the Bhakti movement in [[Tamil nadu]] others link it to a conflict with a ruler of the [[Vijayanagar empire]] in the 15th century.<ref name=umamaheshwari222/> The villages and areas settled by the Saiva Velaalar even now have a small number of Jaina families and inscriptional evidence indicate that these were earlier Jaina settlements as is evident by the existence of old Jaina temples.<ref>{{cite book|title=Reading History with the Tamil Jainas. A Study on Identity, Memory and Marginalisation. Volume 22 of Sophia Studies in Cross-cultural Philosophy of Traditions and Cultures|author=R. Umamaheshwari|publisher=Springer|year=2018|page=223}}</ref>
+==Current usage==
+Even though at present, the term "Vellalar" is uncertain, a number of non-cultivating landholding castes like [[Karkarthar|Kaarukaatha Velaalar]] and the [[Kondaikatti Vellalar|Kondaikatti Velaalar]] who served ruling dynasties in various capacities also identify themselves as Vellalar.{{Efn|1=Among the Tamil castes, both Karkattar Vellalas (Arunachalam, 1975) and Kondaikatti Vellalas (Barnett, 1970) have much the same profile as the KP (Kottai Pillaimar): both are non-cultivating land-holders, with a history of service to ruling dynasties.<ref>{{cite book|title=Gender and the Household Domain. Social and Cultural Dimensions|editor= Karuna Chanana, Maithreyi Krishna Raj|publisher=Sage Publications|year=1989|page=92}}</ref>}} Likewise, the [[Nankudi Vellalar|Kottai Pillaimar]] who were traditionally land-holders and lived inside forts, neither lease land for agriculture nor do they till their own fields. They also do not supervise cultivation directly due to the stigma attached to farming and manual labor.<ref>{{cite book|title=Boundary Walls. Caste and Women in a Tamil Community|author=Kamala Ganesh|publisher=Hindustan Publishing Corporation|year=1993|page=27}}</ref> Similarly, the Vellala Chettis, a branch of the Chozhia Vellalars were traders and merchants.<ref>{{cite book|title=Caste and Race in India|author=Govind Sadashiv Ghurye|publisher=Popular Prakashan|page=209|year=1969}}</ref> The Adi-saiva vellalar sect is a strictly vegetarian [[Saivite]] group that traditionally served as priests.<ref>{{cite book|title=Population and Social Change in an Indian Village. Quarter Century of Development in Managadu [i.e. Mangadu] Village, Tamil Nadu|author=A. Aiyappan, K. Mahadevan|publisher=Mittal Publications|year=1988|page=42}}</ref>
+==Social status==
+The Vellalar were considered to be of high status and enjoyed a high rank during the Chola period. They helped promote and stabilize [[Shaivism]] during the Chola era and many of the cult's leaders were drawn from the ranks of the Vellalar. They were a prosperous community of farmers and landowners who had provided economic support to Shiva temples in the Tamil country. In the Tamil region, Vellalar like Mudaliyar and Pillai along with certain other non-brahmin groups enjoyed a status equal to that of the Brahmins. The Vellalar also had more authority, power and status than the Brahmins in some social and ritual contexts.<ref>{{cite book|title=Poems to Siva The Hymns of the Tamil Saints|author=Indira Viswanathan Peterson|publisher=Princeton University Press|page=45,54|year=2014}}</ref> They were more orthodox than the Brahmins in their religious practices.<ref name="Madras (India : State). Record Office 1957 p.128 ">{{citation | author=Madras (India : State). Record Office | title=Tanjore District Handbook | publisher=Superintendent Government Press | year=1957 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wNsBAAAAMAAJ&q=vellala+orthodox | language=sl | access-date=2023-01-04 | page=128}}</ref><ref name="Rajaraman 1988 p. ">{{citation | last=Rajaraman | first=P. | title=The Justice Party: A Historical Perspective, 1916-37 | publisher=Poompozhil Publishers | year=1988 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GGMmAAAAMAAJ&q=vellalar%20orthodox | access-date=2023-01-04 | page=17}}</ref> The Vellalar nobles had marriage alliances with Chola royal families.<ref name="Gough 1978 p.10 ">{{citation | last=Gough | first=K. | title=Dravidian Kinship and Modes of Production | publisher=Indian Council of Social Science Research | series=Publication (Indian Council of Social Science Research) | year=1978 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qnYsAAAAMAAJ&q=chola+married+vellala+nobility | access-date=2023-01-04 | page=10}}</ref>
+The [[Iyer|Smarta Brahmins]] have always competed with the Tamil [[Shaivite]]s for religious influence in the temples in the [[Kaveri|Kaveri delta]] region. The Smarta adopted the worship of Hindu deities and combined their Sanskritic background with Tamil Saiva and Vaishnava devotionalism and eventually identified themselves as [[Shaivite]]s and started worshipping in [[Shiva]] temples.<ref>{{cite book|title=Poems to Siva The Hymns of the Tamil Saints|author=Indira Viswanathan Peterson|publisher=Princeton University Press|pages=54–55|year=2014}}</ref>
+{{POV section|date=August 2022}}
+From the Sangam period to the Chola period of Indian history (A.d. 600 to 1200), state-level political authority was in the hands of relatively low, Vellalar chieftains, who endowed local and nonlocal Brahmins with land and honors, and were in turn legitimized by them.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L4t9BgAAQBAJ&pg=PA37|title=An Untouchable Community in South India: Structure and Consensus|last=Moffatt|first=Michael|publisher=Princeton University Press |year=2015 |isbn=978-1-40087-036-3 |page=37}}</ref>
 ==See also==
+*[[Pallavaraiyan]]
 *[[List of Vellalars]]
 *[[List of Vellalar sub castes]]