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Mudaliar

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Mudaliars also Mudaliyars , Mudali, Moodley is a caste title used by people belonging to various castes originally from Tamil Nadu and in the Tamil diaspora. Foremost in the hierarchy among the many Mudaliars are the Thondai Mandala Mudaliars who trace their ancestry to the author of the Peria Puranam. Some subsects are forward-caste while most are backward-caste. Mudaliars are usually more financially well off than other communities. The mudaliars also tend not to marry outside their community. Varying classifications of Mudaliars include


The Gatti Mudaliars were in charge of the most dangerously exposed province of the Nayak Kingdom with Kaveripuram on the right bank of the Cauvery as their strategic capital commencing one of the principal passes to the Mysore Plateau. The centre of their power seems, however, to have been Taramangalam where they have built a grant edifice of a temple. It is said their domination extended as far as Talaivasal to the east, Dharapuram in Erode district in the west and Karur district in the south. The forts of greatest strategic importance held by the Gatti Mudaliars were Omalur and Attur. By about 1635 A.D., the Muslim Sultans of Bijapur and Golkonda made in roads into the south when the power of Tirumalai Nayak had wanted palacode area came under Bijapur. Meanwhile Kantirava narasa Raja of Serangapatnam took several places in Coimbatore from Gatti Mudaliars in 1641 A.D.

Most Mudaliar communities speak Tamil as their native language, though a few may speak Telugu.

Trying to Classify Mudaliars

Classification does not make sense when dealing with caste titles. Mudaliar, Pillai, Gounder etc are NOT unique to one caste like Devar. Mudaliar, Pillai, Gounder are titles and not caste names. Many castes can use the same title. Example Kongu Vellalars and Vettuvas use the same caste title of Gounder. Trying to group them into one bigger group or trying to see who is better does not make sense. This is like trying to group the crow and cuckoo under the classification of black birds and see whether the cuckoo is better or crow is better just because both of them are black. Both have their positive and negative aspects. There are also thousands of other birds.

Gounder is a title used in the north western part of Tamilnadu and south eastern part of Karnataka. Hence the name Deve Gowda for the former Prime Minister of India.

Pillai is a title used in the central-south tamilnadu. Mudaliar is a title used in the central-north-east part of Tamilnadu. Similarly Chettiar etc are titles and not castes.

It is not possible to get a caste certificate in India with the name "Gounder" or "Mudaliar".

To study the origin of various castes using the Mudaliar title, genetic study has to be made on them separately. However due to various migrations the meaning of such a study is debatable.

Remember this before trying to remove this section.

Various castes using the surname of Mudaliar

All the following castes use the surname Mudaliar. Some families marry across the different castes based on just the title name and other considerations. Some families severely prohibit marriages across the various castes. All castes which use the title Mudaliar are separate and unique. Also people who belong to various groups which use the title Mudaliar please indicate what is the name of the caste given in your community certificate.


Agamudiya

Arcot

Poonamallee

Payurkottai Vellalar

Saiva

Sengunthar/Kaikolar

Thondai Mandalam

Thuluva Vellalar



This is not ordered based on superiority or wealth. This is an arbitrary list. If there are other groups please add them also.

TRIVIA

  • Mudaliars of Bangalore- Mudaliars constitute a significant percentage of the population in South Bangalore (surrounding Ulsoor Lake, MG Road, High grounds). Many well-known buildings on MG Road & surrounding were once owned by Mudaliars (e.g - Gangaram's, Plaza Cinema). The famous "Attara Kachheri" or the red court house that stands opposite of Vidhana Sauda was built by Rai Bahadur Arcot Narayansamy Mudaliar. Palatial homes surrounding Windsor Manor (5 star hotel) are even today owned & inhabited by affluent Mudaliar families. The Bangalore Exhibition is usually conducted on the RBANMS grounds in Ulsoor which owned by Rai Bahadur Arcot Narayansamy Mudaliar trust. The trust has several schools and colleges affiliated to it. The famous quizmaster Avinash Mudaliar is another extremely well known Mudaliar.
  • Mudaliars of Hyderabad- Mudaliars live in significant numbers in the areas of Boiguda, Padma Rao Nagar, Maredpalli in Secunderabad. They run a popular girls school called "Keys High's School" in addition to some colleges. A popular residential area called "Padma Rao Nagar" is named after late. Dewan Bahadur Padma Rao Mudaliar.
  • Mudaliars of Sri Lanka- Mudaliars live in significant numbers in various areas of Sri Lanka. People of different caste can become Mudaliyars even though originally Mudaliars was a homogenous caste group. Mudaliyar transformed from a caste name to a title due to the nature of political development which promoted Mudaliyars to positions of leadership. Soon all leaders had to take the name of Mudaliyar.
  • Mudaliars are Dravidians- Mudaliars are Dravidians speaking Tamil. Due to the interaction of Mudaliars with different cultures they developed many sub branches based on their interaction. This can also be seen by the creation of Justice Party by Mudaliars in early 19th century which fought for equal representation for non-Brahmins in the colonial government bureaucracy.

Origin of various castes which use Mudaliar title

Thondai Mandala Mudaliars trace their ancestry to Gatti Mudalis who were Palayakkars of Nayakas. Saiva Mudaliars also trace their ancestry to Nayakas of Tirunelveli, Tanjore and Madurai. Kaikola Mudaliars are connected to Chola empire as a distinct branch of the Chola army. Arcot mudaliars are connected to Pallava empire. Due to the strong interaction of Mudaliars with Telugus some people confuse them with Telugus. However Mudaliars are pure Tamilians speaking Tamil in their homes. Mudaliars acquiring Brahmin accent and telugu accent is mainly due to their strong interaction with various groups in the past.

Famous Mudaliars

Freedom Fighter

Religious


Linguistics

Business

Drama & Cinema

POLITICS

  • M Karunanidhi - Current Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu(Isai Vellalar not Mudaliar) - Questionable Mudaliar origin
  • C N Annadurai- Former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu & Founder DMK
  • V. Kalyanasundaram-Author and trade union Leader(Thiru. Vi. Ka)
  • P Shanmugam - Former Chief Minister of Pondicherry State and present State Congress Chief
  • Bakthavatsalam - Former Chief Minister of Tamilnadu,India. ( 1963-1967)
  • O V Alagesan - Former Union Minister of India
  • V R Nedunchezhiyan - Former Finance Minister of Tamil Nadu and Former Intermin Chief minister of Tamilnadu and DMK Leader - Belongs to Saiva
  • K Anbazhagan - Former Education Minister of Tamil Nadu and DMK Leader,Current Finance Minister - Belongs to Sengunthar
  • P T Rajan - Former Minister of Tamil Nadu, Leader Justice Party.
  • PTR Palanivel Rajan - Former Speaker of Tamil Nadu Assembly,Late Endowment Minister of Tamilnadu,India - Belongs to Saiva
  • Damodaran - Current Minister of Tamil Nadu,India.
  • Jayanthi Natarajan - Former Union Minister of India
  • Laith athulata mudali - Former Minister of SriLanka

Indian Civil Service

Social Service

Judicial

  • Justice S Natarajan - Former India's Supreme Court Judge

Education

  • Sir. A. Ramaswami Mudaliar - Former Vice Chancellor (15.11.1951 - 31.12.1957) University of kerala, Commerce member of the Viceroy's Council ,Former Dewan of Mysore Belongs to Arcot
  • Dr. V.C.Balasubramaniam (VCB) - Retd. Director, Institute of Pathology, MMC, Past Master of Masonic Lodge . Saiva Vellalar .
  • Dr. A. Lakshmanaswami Mudaliar - First Indian principal of the Madras Medical College, Former Chairperson UNESCO , Former Vice Chancellor of the University of Madras. Belongs to Arcot
  • Prof. A.D.Raj Kumar - Formerly, Vice Principal, University College of Engineering, Osmania University. Presently (2005 onwards), Dean, Faculty of Engineering, Osmania University, 1st Phd holder in Electrical Engineering from Osmania University.
  • Dr. M Murugesh Mudaliar - Principal, BMS College of Engineering, Bangalore.
  • Arunchalam Mudaliar - Founder Murugappa Group.

Army

  • Commander V.S.P. Mudaliar - WORLD WAR 2 veteran , Vice-President of the Indian Ex-Service League

Crime & UnderWorld

  • Varadharajan Mudaliar - Known as Vardha Bhai; former prominent underworld kingpin of 70s. Tamil movie Nayagan was based on his life story.

History

Mudaliars, Pillais and Gounders have a common ancestry which many people are not aware of. All the three so called caste names were originally titles held by chieftains. These three groups actually belong to the Vellalar community, who were agricultural landlords and inhabitants of the "marutha nilam" (one of the five lands advocated by the Sangam literature). It is said that pure Tamilians should be able to trace their origin to any one of the five lands. The "marutham" (cropland) was inhabited mainly by two groups, the Vellalas (agricultural landlords) and the Pallars (agricultural peasants). This land was very fertile with lots of fields. In an ancient Tamil poem, “mukkudal pallu” (முக்கூடற் பள்ளு), murthapalli (elder Pallar women), illayapalli (younger Pallar women) and "pallan" (their Pallar husbands) make fun of the Vellalar landlord.

Later, during cultural diversification, the Vellalars started diverging into small groups, depending upon the regions of Tamil Nadu that they inhabited. Thus, those of the Thondaimandalam became the Thondaimandala vellals (Mudaliars and few Pillais). This area includes the present day areas of Chennai, Chengalpet, Kanchipuram, Vellore, Cadalore, Arcot, Vadalore, and Thrivannamalai. In these areas, the Vella Mudaliars (also called Arcot Mudaliars) are the dominant community.

Those who inhabited the areas of Chola (Thichy, Thanjavur, and Pudukottai) and Pandiya mandalams (Madurai, Thirunelvelli, Thuthukudi, Kanyakumari, and Nagerkovil) became the Shoziya Vellar (or "Chola Velar") and Pandiya Vellar respectively. Both these communities have Pillai as their surnames.

The Vellalas of the Kongu mandalam were called as Kongu Vellalas (Gounders or Kounders). This area includes Coimbatore, Salem, Pollaichi, Udagamandalam and Darmapuri, where the Kongu Vella Gounders are the dominant community. Its also said that the Pillai, Menon and Nair communities of Kerala also belong to the Vellalar community (the so called Chera Cellals).

Even though 90% of the Tamilian Vellalas have Pillai, Mudaliar or Gounder surnames, it should be remembered that not all Mudaliars, Pillais and Gounders are Vellalas. The vice versa is also true — thus sometimes some Vellalas have other surnames like Chettiar, Nayakar, and so on. Similarly the Adamudaiya Mudaliars and Senguntha Mudaliars (who form a significant number among the thondaimandala mudaliars) are, strictly speaking, non-vellals. The Adamudayars actually belong to the Mukkulathor community, which also includes the Kallars and Maravars. These three communities (as the name "Mukkulathor" — meaning three communities — have Devar has their surname. But latter the Agamudaiyars (the most upward community among the three) slowly migrated towards the northern part of Tamil Nadu, settled there, changed their surname to Mudaliar and mingled with the local Vellala Mudaliars. Similarly, the Senkunthars, who belong to the weaver community and form a significant population in Kancheepuram and Tirupur-Salem, started using Mudaliar surname for social upliftment, and started marrying with the Vella Mudaliars.

Today the caste “Thuluva Vella” includes the Vella Mudaliars, Agamudaiya Mudaliars and Senkuntha Mudaliars. Even today inter-marriage between the Vella Mudaliars and non-Vellala Mudaliars is not accepted in very orthodox families. A small but significant population of Mudaliars also exist in areas other than the Thondaimandalam, such as Madurai, Tirunelvelli, Coimbatore, etc. However, most of them are actually migrants from Thodaimandalam area.

Among the Coimbathore Gounders (even though the word generally refers to the Kongu Vallala Gounders), other non-Vella Gounder also exist including the “Vettuva Gounders” or “Vanniya Gounders”. Even though both the Vellala Gounders and Vanniya Gounders share the same surnames, they belong to a totally different communities, and marriage between these two communities is forbidden by both of them. In general, among all the vellalas, the Kongu Vellalas are unique and follow totally different customs and traditions. Endogamy is very strong among their community, and they strongly believe in the purity of their genes. They have a unique social organization called “kootam” which the equivalent of the bhraminical “gothram”. Thus persons belonging to the same “kootam” are considered as brothers and sisters, and marriage between them is forbidden. Some of the Vella Gounders were also rulers and thus are considered as Kshatriyas. Their marriages are held by senior members of their family and not by Brahmins. Their temples also have Vella Gounder priests, unlike other temples which have Brahmin priests. Thus most occupations in their society is managed by members of their own community, except for jobs with low social status.

Of the three Vellala communities, the Pillais are the most exogamous. Thus in many parts of Tamil Nadu, there are many people belonging to diverse communities wh ocall themselves as Pillais — again for obvious social upliftment. Thus, the sub-caste system among Pillais is very diverse. Even among the Vella Pillais, eight major groups can be identified: 1. the Karuneega Pillai (Kanaku Pillai mainly in Thondai mandalam area), 2. Karkattha Pillai (Thanjavur kumbakonam area — many people belonging to this community are wrongly mistaken as Brahmins due to the strong association between these two communities in the Cauvery belt area), 3. Thuluva Vella Pillai, 4. Shoziya Vella Pillai, 5. Pandiya Vella Pillai, 7. Thirunelvelli Siva Pillai, 7. Nanjil Pillai (Sengottai Pillaimar) and 8. kKerala Pillai (Chera Vellalar).

Since there are so many sub-castes, hierarchy among them is inevitable. Even though the Thirunelvelli Siva Pillais are Vella Pillais who belong to the Pandiya mandalam, they tend to differentiate themselves from the non-vegetarian Pandiya Pillais and claim supremacy. Similarly, even though the Shoziya Vellals and Karkathars both inhabit Chola mandalam and share their Pillai surnames, the vegetarian Karkathars claim supremacy over the non–vegetarian Shoziya Vellas.

Interestingly, the Thodaimandala Saiva Mudailars, Thanjavur (kumbakonam) Karkathars and Tirunelvelli Siva Pillai — though belonging to three different mandalam — tend to flock together due to common food habits (strict vegetarians) and traditions (most of them are Shaivites), and inter-marriage among them is sometimes acceptable. Each group claims supremacy over the others in terms of genetic purity, which is analogous to the fight between the “Vadakalai” and “Thenkalai” Iyengars.

Even though strictly speaking, these communities are minorities, they claim supremacy over other Pillais, Mudaliars and Gounders. Among the Pillais, the most isolated group is the Nanjil Pillais. They inhabit the Kumari mavattam (Nagerkovil and Kanyakumari). The other Tamil Pillais don’t marry with them, since these people are strongly influenced by the Kerala culture. The Nagerkovil Kanyakumari area is located on the tip of Kerala and Tamil Nadu; it was once part of Kerala and is now in Tamil Nadu). The strong Kerala influence is seen in there food habits, language (slang) and other customs which sort of differentiate them from the other Tamil Pillai communities. But since this community is of Tamilian origin, marriage with the Kerala Nairs, Menons and Pillais is prohibited. Thus the Vellala community of Tamil Nadu (and perhaps Kerala) even though has a long heritage which can be traced back to Sangam literature is largely diverse and much unknown to the modern world.

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