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Ezhava

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Ezhava
ഈഴവര്‍
File:Arattupuzha velayudha panikkar.JPGFile:Aasaan.jpg

Sri Narayana Guru, Arattupuzha Velayudha Panicker, Kumaran Asan

Sreenivasan, S. K. Pottakkat

Itty Achudan, Moorkoth Kumaran, Manoj Shyamalan
Regions with significant populations
Languages
Malayalam
Religion
Hinduism
Related ethnic groups
Billava, Illathu Pillaimar, Tivaru, Villavar

The Ezhavas (Template:Lang-ml, Īḻavar) are a community with origins in the region presently known as Kerala. They are also known as Ilhava, Irava, and Erava; as Chokons and Chogons in central Travancore; and as Tiyyas, Thiyas and Theeyas in Malabar.[1] The Malabar group claim a higher ranking in the Hindu caste system than do the others.[1] There have been claims that they are descendants of Villavar, who were ancient Chera kings.[2] [3] Apart from manual labor, toddy tappers, liquor businessmen, cultivators, some were also involved in weaving and some practised ayurvedic medicine.[4] Ezhava dynasties such as the Izhathu Mannanars also existed in Kerala.[5][6][7][8] The Chekavar, a warrior section[9] within the community, were part of the militias of local chieftains and kings. There were also renowned Kalari Payattu experts among them.[10][11]

Etymology and early references

Excerpt defining Ezhavas from book titled "Tiruvithamkoor Bhoomishastram" (Travancore Geography) authored by C. R. Krishnapilla B.A., L.T. Original book from 1910 or older, republished in 1935.

Historians[who?] argue that the word Ilavar is derived from Villavar which means archers who were a warrior caste among the Dravidians who ruled most of India. They were also known as Ezhinar in Kerala which sounds quite similar to 'Ezhava' (also called Ezhavar).[citation needed]

The word ezhava is also believed to have derived from Ezham/Ilam by some.[who?] These words believed to have related linguistically or socio- linguistically to group of words Elu/Hela/Seehala/Simhala/ Sinhala/Salai/Seiladiba/Serendib, pointing all to the island of Sri Lanka. They all primarily stood for the geographical identity of an island or Sri Lanka.But the original word, its etymology, its meaning and how that original word became the name of the island under discussion are still elusive.[citation needed]

Ilavan As referring to guard or watchman or soldier

As per one of the Tamil dictionary, ilavan is a guard or watchman or soldier armed with a Sword or Stick or Pole weapon, stationed at the porch of a king's palace. [12][13]

History

Legend

According to a legend, a Pandyan princess named Alii married Narasimha, a Rajah of the Carnatic. The royal couple migrated to Ceylon, and there settled themselves as rulers. On the line becoming extinct, however, thieir relatives and adherents returned to main land. It is said that they were the ancestors of the Ezhavas. In support of this theory, it is urged that, in South Travancore, the Ezhavas were known by the title of Mudaliyar, which is also the surname of a division of the Vellalas at Jaffna; that the Vattis and Mannans call them Mudaliyars; and that the Pulayas had ever been known to address them only as Mutha Tampurans. But it may be well supposed that the title may have been conferred upon ezhava families of the caste in consideration of meritorious services on behalf of the State.[14]

According to another legend and some malayalam folk songs, the Ezhavas were the progeny of four bachelors that the king of Sri Lanka sent to Kerala at the request of the Chera king Bhaskara Ravi Varma, in the 1st Century AD. These men were sent, ostensibly, to set up coconut farming in Kerala. Another version of the story says that the Sri Lankan King sent eight martial families to Kerala at the request of a Chera king to quell a civil war that had erupted in Kerala against him.[15]

Theories of origin

Historians believe that Ezhavas of Kerala are soldiers of Villavar tribe who founded Chera Kingdom. Villavars of Travancore were known as 'Ilavar' (now known as Ezhava)[citation needed]. The word Ilavar is derived from Villavar which means archers who were a warrior caste among the Dravidians who ruled most of India.[citation needed]

According to historian C. V. Kunjuraman, the two gods of the Buddhist Ezhavas, namely Cittan and Arattan, are in fact Buddhist Sidhan and Arhatan from Buddhism. Some others argue that ezhava god Arattan is Lord Buddha himself.[16] T. K. Veluppillai, the author of The Travancore State Manual, believes that during Buddhist ascendancy in Kerala, before the arrival of the Tulu Brahmins, "the Ezhavas enjoyed great prosperity and power" (II, 845). However, he also says that it is very unlikely that the Ezhavas came from Sri Lanka and spread all over Kerala; instead they were the mainstream of Munda-Dravidian immigrants who left Tamil Nadu in the fifth, sixth, and seventh centuries to avoid persecution at the hands of their political enemies.

Genetic studies which show that the allelic distribution of Ezhavas in a bi-dimensional plot (correspondence analysis based on HLA-A, -B, and -C frequencies) has a rather strong East Eurasian element due to its proximity to the Mongol population in the same plot.[17][clarification needed]

Inscriptions

The 1st reference to the word Ezhava found in Arittapatti inscriptions of 3rd century BC near Madurai, talks about 'Eelava perumal, chief of Nelveli, has caused the carving of this auspicious cave'. Famous Kilavalavu Jain cave inscriptions of 3rd century BC talks about an ezhavan who built Buddhist monastery there. Another inscriptions of BC 2nd century found near Alakarmalai talks about an ezhava textile trader 'ezhathu theevan athan'.[18][19][20]

Social and religious divergence

It has been suggested that the Ezhavas may share a common heritage with the Nair caste. This theory is based on similarities between numerous of the customs adopted by the two groups, particularly with regard to marking various significant life stages such as childbirth and death, as well as their matrilineal practices and martial history. Oral history, folk songs and other old writings indicate that the Ezhavas were at some point in the past members of the armed forces serving various kings, including the Zamorins of Calicut and the rulers of the Cochin dynasty. Pullapilly has said that only a common parentage can explain some of these issues.[21]. Genetic study on human heredity supports this theory[22]

A theory has been proposed for the origins of the caste system in the Kerala region based on the actions of the Aryan Jains introducing such distinctions prior to the 8th-century AD. This argues that the Jains needed protection when they arrived in the area and recruited sympathetic local people to provide it. These people were then distinguished from others in the local population by their occupation as protectors, with the others all being classed as out-caste. Pullapilly describes that this meant they "... were given kshatriya functions, but only shudra status. Thus originated the Nairs." The Ezhavas, not being among the group protecting the Jains, became out-castes.[21]

An alternate theory states that the system was introduced by the Nambudiri Brahmins. Although Brahmin influences had existed in the area since at least the 1st-century AD, there was a large influx from around the 8th-century when they acted as priests, counsellors and ministers to invading Aryan princes. At the time of their arrival the non-aboriginal local population had been converted to Buddhism by missionaries who had come from the north of India and from Ceylon. The Brahmins used their symbiotic relationship with the invading forces to assert their beliefs and position. Buddhist temples and monasteries were either destroyed or taken over for use in Hindu practices, thus undermining the ability of the Buddhists to propagate their beliefs. The Brahmins treated almost all of those who acceded to their priestly status as sudra, permitting only a small number to be recognised as kshatriya, these being some of the local rulers who co-operated with them. Certainly by the 11th-century, this combination of association with kings and invaders, and with the destruction or take-over of Buddhist temples, had made the Brahmins by far the largest group owning land in the region and they were to remain so until very recent times. Their[who?] introduction of Sanskrit and their melding of it with the local Tamil language to form Malayalam was also striking. Their dominating influence was to be found in all matters: religion, politics, society, economics and culture.[21]

The Buddhist tradition of the Ezhavas, and the refusal to give it up, pushed them to an outcaste role within the greater Brahminic society.[21][23] Nevertheless, this tradition is still evident as Ezhavas show greater interest in the moral, non-ritualistic, and non-dogmatic aspects of the religion rather than the theological.[21]

Past occupations

Meanings and origin of word Chekavan
The Alummootil Meda. A grand manor and outhouses belonging to Ezhava aristocracy from history. Location: Mavelikara.

The traditional occupation of the Ezhavas was tending to and tapping the sap of coconut palms. This activity is sometimes erroneously referred to as toddy tapping, toddy being a liquor manufactured from the sap. In reality, most Ezhavas were agricultural labourers and small-time cultivators, with a substantial number diverging into the production of coir products, such as coconut mats for flooring, from towards the end of the 19th-century.[1]

Martial traditions

Many were employed as guards or sentinels in the palaces of Cochin and Travancore.[24] Its believed that South Indian Hindu God, Lord Ayyappan, was trained in an ezhava Kalari of Cheerappanchira family. Kalari Panickers from an Ezhava tharavaad based at Kulathoor were trainers of famous Ettuveetil Pillamars, and their descendants have looked after the Chamundi Devi (Kalari devatha) temple at Thozhuvancode, Thiruvananthapuram,[13] Syrian Christians, allowed by the Hindu leaders to have their own private armies, recruited Ezhava members due in part to this tradition.[25]

Chekavar

A warrior section among the community were called Chekavar/Chekavan/Chevakan/Chekon.[9] Vadakkan Pattukal describes talents of chekors who formed militia of local cheftians and kings. It was also the title bestowed upon experts of Kalari Payattu. As per Elamkulam P. N. Kunjan Pillai's Studies in Kerala history, they were decedents of or Villors or Villavar or Billavars who were warriors and bravos. They were trained under Maravars , a Dravidian martial tribe, accepted Buddhism in later stage. Villu(in Tamil and malayalm) or Billu(in Tulu), means bow and it was the Symbol of Chera kingdom. Thus as per his opinion, Chera kings were actually villavars. However, they were degraded after arrival of Brahmins and after establishing Chatur Varna system. Thereafter, they were accredited as chekavars or chevakars.Vadakkan Pattukal, collection of Malayalam Ballads of medieval origin present saga of chekava heroes.[26]

Medicine and traditional toxicology

One of the early translations of Ashtanga Hridaya, a celebrated Sanskrit treatise on Ayurveda, in Malayalam was done by an Ezhava physician, Kayikkara Govindan Vaidyar[citation needed]. Kuzhuppully and Pokkanchery families in Thrissur and Calicut respectively are traditional families of Ayurveda acharyans[citation needed]. Cholayil family is one of the most famous and respected Ezhava Ayurvedic families in Kerala[citation needed].

Uracheril Gurukkal [who?] instructed Herman Gundert in the field of Sanskrit and Ayurveda, and Uppot kannan [who?], who wrote interpretation of Yogamrutham (Ayurvedic text in Sanskrit by Ashtavaidyans), were also acclaimed Ezhava Ayurvedic scholars[citation needed] . Famous Ezhava Vaidyar Sri C.R.Kesavan Vaidyar founder of Chandrika was awarded the title of Vaidyaratnam by K.C. Manavikraman Zamorin of Kozhikode in 1953.

Some Ezhavas practiced ayurvedic medicine.[27][28][29]

Many Ezhava families were practitioners of Visha chikitsa (toxicology) for recent decades, treating poison from bites of snakes, scorpions, etc. This has been discontinued by many of these families now.[30]

Other traditional occupations

Other traditional occupations of the community included cultivation of palm trees,exploitation of their products,toddy,arrack,coir,fiber,jaggery (unrefined sugar),weaving and ship making. [31] A section of the community called Nadi ezhuvans or vaduvans(Vadukans) were involved in making toddy, which was both widely consumed alcoholic drink, and sometimes used in Ayurveda medicine also. These families were rehabilitated under Kizhkudi(lower or inferior) clan. A few sections of the community were also involved in brewing arrack.[32]

Sree Narayana Guru preached against Toddy Tapping and Arrack Brewing and as a result many discontinued the practices.[33][34] However a section of Ezhavas still continue to dominate this trade as toddy tappers and Abkaris.[citation needed]

Culture

Muthappan Theyyam as Lord Vishnu & Lord Shiva
Ezhava/Channar Musicians from the 19th century: Performing the traditional "Villadichaampattu"

Theyyam or kaliyattam or theyyatom

In northern Kerala, Theyyam is a popular ritual dance. This particular dance form is also known as Kaaliyattam. The main deities of Ezhavas include Vayanattu Kulavan, Kathivannur Veeran, Poomaruthan, Muthappan.[35][36]

Arjuna nritham or Mayilpeeli Thookkam

"Arjuna nritham" (the dance of Arjuna) or Mayilpeeli Thookkam is a ritual art performed by men of Ezhava community and is prevalent in the Bhagavathy temples of south Kerala, mainly in Kollam, Alappuzha and Kottayam districts. Arjuna nritham is also called "Mayilpeeli Thookkam" as the costume includes a characteristic garment made of mayilppeeli (peacock feathers). This garment is worn around the waist in a similar fashion as the "uduthukettu" of Kathakali. The various dance movements are closely similar to Kalarippayattu techniques. The performers have their faces painted green and wear distinctive headgears. The all night performance of the dance form is usually presented solo or in pairs.[37]

Poorakkali

Poorakkali is a folk dance prevalent among the Ezhavas of Malabar, usually performed in Bhagavathy temples as a ritual offering during the month of Meenam (March - April). Poorakkali requires specially trained and highly experienced dancers, trained in Kalaripayattu, a system of physical exercise formerly in vogue in Kerala. Standing round a traditional lamp, the performers dance in eighteen different stages and rhythms, each phase called a niram.[35]

Parichamuttu kali

Parichamuttu kali is a martial folk-dance prevalent among the Ezhavas around the Alappuzha, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Palghat and Malappuram districts. It is also performed by Christians and some other Hindu communities. Its origins date back to when Kalaripayattu, the physical exercise of swordplay and defence, was in vogue in Kerala. The performers dance with swords and shields in their hands, following the movements of sword fight, leaping forward, stepping back and moving round, all the time striking with the swords and defending with shields.[35]

Makachuttu

Makachuttu art is popular among Ezhavas in Thiruvananthapuram and Chirayinkizhu taluks and in Kilimanoor, Pazhayakunnummal and Thattathumala regions. In this, a group of eight performers, two each, twin around each other like serpents and rise up, battling with sticks. The techniques are repeated several times. Sandalwood paste on the forehead, a red towel round the head, red silk around the waist and bells round the ankles form the costume. This is a combination of snake worship and Kalarippayattu.[38][39]

Aivar kali

Literally, Aivarkali means the play of the five sets. This was a ritualistic art form performed in almost all important temples of Kerala. Today it is found in central Kerala. This is also known as Pandavarkali, which means the play of the Pandavas, (the five heroes of the Mahabharatha), and is performed by Asari, Moosari, Karuvan, Thattan and Kallasari communities. This ritualistic dance is performed beneath a decorated pandal with a nilavilakku at its centre. The five or more performers with their leader called Kaliachan enter the performance area after a ritualistic bath, with sandalwood paste over their foreheads, dressed in white dhoti, and with a towel wrapped around their heads.[35]

Customs

Family system

Ezhavas adopted different patterns of behaviour across the region with regard to family. Those living in southern Travancore tended to meld the different practices that existed in the other areas. The family arrangements of northern Malabar were matrilineal with patrilocal property arrangements, whereas in northern Travancore they were matrilineal but usually matrilocal in their arrangements for property. South Malabar saw a patrilineal system but partible property. These arrangements were reformed by legislation, for Malabar in 1925 and for Travancore in 1933. The process of reform was more easily achieved for the Ezhavas than it was for the Nairs, another caste of the region who adopted matrilineal arrangements; the situation for the Nairs was complicated by a traditional matrilocal form of living called tharavadu and by their usually much higher degree of property ownership .[1]

Snake worship

Main article: Sarpa Kavu
Main article: Snake worship

The snake worship (Nagaradhana) was prevalent among many Ezhava families all over Kerala,[citation needed] but was most common among Malayalee and Tulu Billavas of North Malabar and Tulu Nadu. "Sarpa Kavu" (meaning "Abode of the Snake God"), a small traditional forest (mostly man made) of green pockets, would have idols of snake gods worshipped. For Ezhavas, Billavas and other similar communities, these sacred forests are found in any corner of the compound except the eastern side while other communities like the Nairs have this in the southwest corner of the Tharavadu.[40][41]

Names and surnames

Ezhavas do not normally use any distinct surnames. However, occupational surnames of other castes like Channar, Mudalali, Chekavar, Chekavan, Chekon, Valiyachan, Manangath, Achan, Chanatty, Panikkathy, Chekothy, Thanpatty, Amma, Karanavar, Kutty, Thandan (mostly in Malabar), Thandar were fairly common till the early 20th century.Most of these surnames were used to identify the ezhava/thiyya communities in different parts of South India.

Chovan, chogan, Elavan, Villon, Billavan, Viruvan, Punampan etc were so used refer the community members in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Most of these names had arisen on account of localization inherent in caste. Its believed that neither the word Thiyya or Ezhava is self assumed name, but were imposed on buddhist of kerala as they accustomed to caste system. Another name which stands relevant to caste history of Ezhavas is Varuna, which has no relation with vedic character of Varuna.

As that of many other Hindu castes and Christian communities of Kerala, surnames such as Asaan, Vaidyar Panicker and Mudalali. were also used by some. Though rare some had even Pillai [citation needed] Thandar is still being used by Ezhavas in south Kerala.

Subcastes

The sub-divisions among South Kerala Ezhavas were Kollakkar or Channar Ezhavar, Malayalam Ezhavar (those earliest to Kerala), Nadi Ezhavar, Pachili Ezhavar (those who married from fishermen community), and Puzhakkar Ezhavar (menial servants of Malayalam Izhava). The Channar Izhavar claims superiority over other subdivisions. There were mainly three sub-castes among North Malabar Ezhavas namely Thiyya Chone (Chovan), Pandi Chon (Izhuvan) and Velan Kandi Chon.[42] The South Malabar Thiyyas were subdivided into the Thiyya Chon, Vaisya Thiyya (Thekkan Chon), and Pandi Chon (Izhuvan).

Illam And kiriyams

Illam (house of Ilavar) was name of Ezhava house [citation needed] later exclusively used to refer Namboothiri houses in Kerala. In South Kerala, Ezhavas had four illams, while in Malabar they had eight illams and 32 kiriyams. Illams in south Kerala were Moottillam, Chozhi Illam, Mayyanattu Illam and Madambi Illam. Illams in Malabar where Pullanji Illam, Varaka Illam, Nellikka Illam, Thenankudi Illam, Kozhikkala Illam, Thalakkodan Illam etc. Marriage from same illam were considered to be taboo. Nowadays illams became non-existent in Kerala. However, Illathu Pillaimars (Ezhavar) of South Tamil Nadu and Malayali Billavas of Tulunadu still use these illams.[43] Nellikka families in malabar were those who remained wealthy and some others who were masters in various fields such ayurveda, martial arts (Kalaripayattu, Marma Kalari, etc.), astrology, Siddha, Manthravaadam, spirituality, business etc.[citation needed]

Position in society

Although Ezhavas performed the work associated with the Hindu ritual rank (varna) of sudra, they were considered as untouchables or avarnas by the Nambudiri Brahmins who formed the clergy and ritual ruling elite in the region.[1] This was despite their ancestors Villavars belonging to the Shudras Varna. They were considered avarnas because some of them had once adopted Buddhism and later converted back to Hinduism.[44] The general Hindu population of Kerala other than the Brahmins did not consider covering the upper body as a necessity. Ezhava men and women, like any other non-Brahmin castes except Nasrani Christians,Cochin Jews and Mappilla muslims in Kerala, were not allowed to cover their upper part of their bodies and certain types of jewellery and footwear were forbidden. Though the respected or rich families like Chekavar, Channar, Panicker and Thandan women used to wear upper clothing.

Conversion to Christianity

A sizeable part of the Ezhava community, especially in central Travancore and in the High Ranges, embraced Christianity during the British rule, due to caste-based discrimination. In Kannur, Protestant missions started working in the first half of the 19th century, when the Basel German Evangelical Mission was founded by Dr. H. Gundert. Most of their converts were from the Thiyya community.

In 1921 an extensive effort to reach a thousand Ezhava families living in the coastal areas of Alappuzha and hilly area of Pathanamthitta was initiated by an independent committee, in relation with the CSI church. With Isabel Baker's (CMS Missionary) generous contribution, a school, hospital and a coir factory were established under the title Karappuram Mission in the Shertellai area and as a result, thousands of Ezhava families converted in areas of Alappuzha and Pathanamthitta to Christianity.[45]

Sree Narayana Guru described the conversion since he said that they were made for materialistic or temporary benefits, convenience, or as an escape from discrimination and religious persecution. These principles formed the criteria for his support of conversions and re-conversions.[45]

Conversion to Sikhism in central Kerala

See also: Sikhism

During the Vaikom Satyagraha movement against untouchability, a few Akalis, an order of armed Sikhs, came to Vaikom in support of the demonstrators. After successfully completing the Satyagraha and after the Temple Entry Proclamation, some of the Akalis remained. Some Ezhava youth were attracted to the concepts of the Sikhism and as a result, joined the religion. Many Ezhavas were also prompted to join Sikhism after remarks by Ambedkar. However, after the significant growth of the Ezhava movement, many families later re-converted to Hinduism and the number of Sikh Ezhavas dwindled.

Spiritual and social movements

The lowly status of the Ezhava meant that, as Nossiter has commented, they had "little to lose and much to gain by the economic and social changes of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries". They sought the right to be treated as worthy of an English education and for jobs in government administration to be open to them.[1] In 1896, a petition with more than 13,000 signatories was submitted to the government asking for the recognition of the right of the Ezhavas to enter government service; the upper caste Hindus of the state prevailed upon the Maharajah not to concede the request. The outcome not looking to be promising, the Ezhava leadership threatened that they would convert from Hinduism en masse, rather than stay as helots of Hindu society. Diwan, Sir C. P. Ramaswamy Iyer, realizing the imminent danger, prompted the Maharajah to issue the Temple Entry Proclamation, which abolished the ban on lower-caste people from entering Hindu temples in the state of Travancore.[46][dubious – discuss]

Eventually, in 1903, a small group of Ezhavas established Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalan Yogam (SNDP), the first caste association in the Kerala region, naming it after Sree Narayana Guru, who had established an ashram from where he preached his message of "one caste, one religion, one god" and a Sanskritised version of the Victorian concept of self-help. His influence locally has been compared to that of Swami Vivekananda. The organisation attracted support in Travancore but similar bodies in Cochin were less successful. In Malabar, which unlike Cochin and Travancore was under direct British control,[47] the Tiyyas showed little interest in such bodies because they did not suffer the educational and employment discrimination found elsewhere, nor indeed were the disadvantages that they did experience strictly a consequence of caste alone.[48]

Guru Jayanthi celebration at Gokaneswara Temple, Mangalore, Karnataka, India

The Ezhavas were not immune to being manipulated for covert political purposes. The Vaikom Satyagraha of 1924–1925 was a failed attempt to use the issue of avarna access to roads around temples in order to revive the fortunes of Congress, orchestrated by T. K. Madhavan, a revolutionary and civil rights activist,[49] and with a famous temple at Vaikom as the focal point. Although it failed in its stated aim of achieving access, the satyagraha (movement) did succeed in voicing a "radical rhetoric".[48]

The success of the SNDP in improving the lot of Ezhavas has been questioned. Membership had reached 50,000 by 1928 and 60,000 by 1974, but Nossiter notes that, "From the Vaikom satyagraha onwards the SNDP had stirred the ordinary Ezhava without materially improving his position." The division in the 1920s of 60,000 acres of properties previously held by substantial landowners saw the majority of Ezhava beneficiaries receive less than 1 acre each, although 2% of them took at least 40% of the available land. There was subsequently a radicalisation and much political infighting within the leadership as a consequence of the effects of the Great Depression on the coir industry but the general notion of self-help was not easy to achieve in a primarily agricultural environment; the Victorian concept presumed an industrialised economy. The organisation lost members to various other groups, including the communist movement, and it was not until the 1950s that it reinvented itself as a pressure group and provider of educational opportunities along the lines of the Nair Service Society (NSS), Just as the NSS briefly formed the National Democratic Party in the 1970s in an attempt directly to enter the political arena, so too in 1972 the SNDP formed the Social Revolutionary Party.[48]

The Ezhava community's largely undisputed acceptance[citation needed] of Sree Narayana Guru as their spiritual, social and intellectual mentor and guiding spirit adds a major and unifying facet to community integrity and identity today.[50] Gurudevan and his associates convinced Ezhavas to give up the practice of untouchability with respect to castes below theirs and built a number of temples open to all.[51]

See also

Notes

References

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  13. ^ a b Smith, Bardwell L. (1967). Vadakkan and Thekkan Pattukal. Sri Rama Vilasom Press. pp. 128–148.
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  15. ^ EMS Namppothirppadu, Keralam Malayalikalude Mathrubhumi Desbhimany publications, VOl1, 1947 ) page27
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  17. ^ A crypto-Dravidian origin for the nontribal communities of South India based on human leukocyte antigen class I diversity, by R. Thomas, S. B. Nair & M. Banerjee, Human Molecular Genetics Laboratory, Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology, 16 June 2006, Tissue Antigens ISSN 0001-2815
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  19. ^ Paper on Words of identity Of People of Srilanka, By Professor Peter Schalk, Uppsala University Publishing, 2001
  20. ^ Ezhava-Thiyya Charitra Padanam, Prof K G Narayanan 1983
  21. ^ a b c d e Pullapilly (1976) pp. 26-30
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Bibliography

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