Isai Vellalar - Revision history

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	{{Infobox caste\|caste_name=Isai Vellalar\|image=\|caption=\|languages=[[Tamil language\|Tamil]]\|populated_states=[[Tamil Nadu]]{{}}[[Kerala]]{{}}[[Andhra Pradesh]]{{}}[[Karnataka]]\|region=Northern Tamil Nadu, Southern Andhra Pradesh\|population=\|religions=[[Hinduism]]\|country={{flag\|India}}\|ethnicity=[[South Asian]]\|classification=[[Other Backward Class]]<ref>https://kscbc.kerala.gov.in/images/stories/docs/35_96_1996.pdf</ref>\|subdivisions={{}}{{}}Nayanakkarar{{}}Nattuvanar{{*}}Melakkarar <ref>{{cite journal \| url=https://www.epw.in/journal/2013/08/commentary/caste-tamil-nadu-iii.html \| title=Caste in Tamil Nadu - III \| journal=Economic and Political Weekly \| date=5 June 2015 \| volume=48 \| issue=8 \| pages=7–8 }}</ref>}}{{Use dmy dates\|date=August 2020}}{{Use Indian English\|date=August 2020}}'''Isai Vellalar''' is a community found in [[India]] in [[Tamil Nadu]]. They are traditionally involved as performers of classical dance and music in [[Hindu temple\|Hindu temples]] and [[Court\|courts]] of the patrons.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book\|title=Historical Dictionary of the Tamils\|last=University\|first=Vijaya Ramaswamy, Jawaharlal Nehru\|date=2017-08-25\|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield\|isbn=9781538106860\|location=\|pages=114–115, 161–162\|language=en}}</ref> The term "Isai Vellalar" is a recent community identity, people of [[minstrel]] occupation from various castes such as, Melakkarar, Nayanakkarar and Nattuvanar come under this term.<ref>{{Cite book\|title=Of Property and Propriety: The Role of Gender and Class in Imperialism and Nationalism\|last1=Bannerji\|first1=Himani\|last2=Mojab\|first2=Shahrzad\|last3=Whitehead\|first3=Judith\|date=2001\|publisher=University of Toronto Press\|isbn=9780802081926\|location=\|pages=162\|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book\|last=Soneji\|first=Davesh\|title=Unfinished Gestures: Devadasis, Memory, and Modernity in South India\|date=2012-01-15\|publisher=University of Chicago Press\|isbn=978-0-226-76809-0\|location=\|pages=143–144\|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite book\|title=Madras Studios: Narrative, Genre, and Ideology in Tamil Cinema\|last=Pillai\|first=Swarnavel Eswaran\|date=2015-01-27\|publisher=SAGE Publications India\|isbn=9789351502128\|location=\|pages=231\|language=en}}</ref>		{{Infobox caste\|caste_name=Isai Vellalar\|image=\|caption=\|languages=[[Tamil language\|Tamil]]\|populated_states=[[Tamil Nadu]]{{}}[[Kerala]]{{}}[[Andhra Pradesh]]{{}}[[Karnataka]]\|region=Northern Tamil Nadu, Southern Andhra Pradesh\|population=\|religions=[[Hinduism]]\|country={{flag\|India}}\|ethnicity=[[South Asian]]\|classification=[[Other Backward Class]]<ref>https://kscbc.kerala.gov.in/images/stories/docs/35_96_1996.pdf</ref>\|subdivisions={{}}{{}}Nayanakkarar{{}}Nattuvanar{{*}}Melakkarar <ref>{{cite journal \| url=https://www.epw.in/journal/2013/08/commentary/caste-tamil-nadu-iii.html \| title=Caste in Tamil Nadu - III \| journal=Economic and Political Weekly \| date=5 June 2015 \| volume=48 \| issue=8 \| pages=7–8 }}</ref>}}{{Use dmy dates\|date=August 2020}}{{Use Indian English\|date=August 2020}}'''Isai Vellalar''' is a community found in [[India]] in [[Tamil Nadu]]. They are traditionally involved as performers of classical dance and music in [[Hindu temple\|Hindu temples]] and [[Court\|courts]] of the patrons.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book\|title=Historical Dictionary of the Tamils\|last=University\|first=Vijaya Ramaswamy, Jawaharlal Nehru\|date=2017-08-25\|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield\|isbn=9781538106860\|location=\|pages=114–115, 161–162\|language=en}}</ref> The term "Isai Vellalar" is a recent community identity, people of [[minstrel]] occupation from various castes such as, Melakkarar, Nayanakkarar and Nattuvanar come under this term.<ref>{{Cite book\|title=Of Property and Propriety: The Role of Gender and Class in Imperialism and Nationalism\|last1=Bannerji\|first1=Himani\|last2=Mojab\|first2=Shahrzad\|last3=Whitehead\|first3=Judith\|date=2001\|publisher=University of Toronto Press\|isbn=9780802081926\|location=\|pages=162\|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book\|last=Soneji\|first=Davesh\|title=Unfinished Gestures: Devadasis, Memory, and Modernity in South India\|date=2012-01-15\|publisher=University of Chicago Press\|isbn=978-0-226-76809-0\|location=\|pages=143–144\|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite book\|title=Madras Studios: Narrative, Genre, and Ideology in Tamil Cinema\|last=Pillai\|first=Swarnavel Eswaran\|date=2015-01-27\|publisher=SAGE Publications India\|isbn=9789351502128\|location=\|pages=231\|language=en}}</ref>

	~~{{Portal\|Tamils\|India\|Hinduism}}~~

	== Etymology ==		== Etymology ==

Ajay Kumar: Introducing Isai Vellalar

2023-07-23T14:46:56Z

Introducing Isai Vellalar

New page

{{Short description|Tamil community traditionally involved in the arts of music and dance.}}
{{Infobox caste|caste_name=Isai Vellalar|image=|caption=|languages=[[Tamil language|Tamil]]|populated_states=[[Tamil Nadu]]{{*}}[[Kerala]]{{*}}[[Andhra Pradesh]]{{*}}[[Karnataka]]|region=Northern Tamil Nadu, Southern Andhra Pradesh|population=|religions=[[Hinduism]]|country={{flag|India}}|ethnicity=[[South Asian]]|classification=[[Other Backward Class]]<ref>https://kscbc.kerala.gov.in/images/stories/docs/35_96_1996.pdf</ref>|subdivisions={{*}}{{*}}Nayanakkarar{{*}}Nattuvanar{{*}}Melakkarar <ref>{{cite journal | url=https://www.epw.in/journal/2013/08/commentary/caste-tamil-nadu-iii.html | title=Caste in Tamil Nadu - III | journal=Economic and Political Weekly | date=5 June 2015 | volume=48 | issue=8 | pages=7–8 }}</ref>}}{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}}{{Use Indian English|date=August 2020}}'''Isai Vellalar''' is a community found in [[India]] in [[Tamil Nadu]]. They are traditionally involved as performers of classical dance and music in [[Hindu temple|Hindu temples]] and [[Court|courts]] of the patrons.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|title=Historical Dictionary of the Tamils|last=University|first=Vijaya Ramaswamy, Jawaharlal Nehru|date=2017-08-25|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=9781538106860|location=|pages=114–115, 161–162|language=en}}</ref> The term "Isai Vellalar" is a recent community identity, people of [[minstrel]] occupation from various castes such as, Melakkarar, Nayanakkarar and Nattuvanar come under this term.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Of Property and Propriety: The Role of Gender and Class in Imperialism and Nationalism|last1=Bannerji|first1=Himani|last2=Mojab|first2=Shahrzad|last3=Whitehead|first3=Judith|date=2001|publisher=University of Toronto Press|isbn=9780802081926|location=|pages=162|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Soneji|first=Davesh|title=Unfinished Gestures: Devadasis, Memory, and Modernity in South India|date=2012-01-15|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-76809-0|location=|pages=143–144|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Madras Studios: Narrative, Genre, and Ideology in Tamil Cinema|last=Pillai|first=Swarnavel Eswaran|date=2015-01-27|publisher=SAGE Publications India|isbn=9789351502128|location=|pages=231|language=en}}</ref>

{{Portal|Tamils|India|Hinduism}}

== Etymology ==
The term Isai Vellalar derives from the Tamil words ''Isai'' meaning "music" and vellar a generic term roughly meaning "cultivator", thus translates as "cultivators of music".<ref name=":0" /> This term was introduced after the legal abolition of the [[Devadasi]] system as a result of the reform and anti-[[nautch]] movement in 1947.<ref name=":1" />

== History ==
The Isai Vellalar communities were originally [[Nomad|nomads]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Kalabhras in the Pandiya country and their impact on the life and letters there|last=Arunachalam|first=M.|date=1979|publisher=University of Madras|isbn=|location=|pages=90|language=en}}</ref> [[Bard|Bardic]] traditions are referred in early [[Sangam literature]] and well into the early [[Pallava dynasty|Pallava]] and [[Pandya dynasty|Pandya]] periods. These were primarily ritualistic and defensive in nature. The artistic side of music and dance came to be strengthened during the [[Chola dynasty|Chola]] and [[Vijayanagara Empire|Vijayanagara]] period.

Early [[Chola dynasty|Chola]] inscriptions mentions Tevaratiyar as recipients of food offering and ritual performers of the temples, and was a term carrying honorific and high connotations.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|title=Donors, Devotees, and Daughters of God: Temple Women in Medieval Tamilnadu|last=Orr|first=Leslie C.|date=2000-03-09|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780195356724|location=|pages=5, 52, 56|language=en}}</ref> Inscriptional evidences indicates devadasis to have been independent professionals who enjoyed property (made large land donations to temples) and a respectable position in the society. The 11th-century inscription of [[Rajaraja I]] states that the Tevaratiyar were invited to serve the [[Brihadisvara Temple, Thanjavur|Brihadisvara Temple]] and were given land near the temple.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|title=Approaches to History: Essays in Indian Historiography|last=Bhattacharya|first=Sabyasachi|date=2011|publisher=Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR)|isbn=9789380607177|location=|pages=206|language=en}}</ref>

Under the patronage of the [[Nayaks of Tanjavur]] and [[Thanjavur Maratha kingdom|Thanjavur Maratha]] kings, [[Telugu people|Telugu]] musicians and [[Devadasi]]s from [[Andhra Pradesh]] and [[Maharashtra]] migrated to the [[Thanjavur district|Thanjavur region]]. The Melakkarars of Thanjavur are therefore divided in two distinct linguistic groups – the Tamil and Telugu Melakkarar.<ref name=":1" />

With the entry of [[Colonial India]], great loss of temple patronage resulted the Tevaratiyar to perceive other ways of income which degraded their social status.<ref name=":3" /> The [[Devadasi]] system was legally abolished in 1947 after the campaigns of the social reformers [[Moovalur Ramamirtham]] and [[Muthulakshmi Reddi]]. The entry of [[Tamil Brahmin|Tamil Brahmins]] in music and dance was seen as a threat to the traditional performers of these art forms. This led communities traditionally associated with music and dance to start forming a politicized non-Brahmin caste association which they coined as "Isai Vellalar Sangam" and thereby created a political unified identity.<ref name=":1" />

== Notable people==
{{unsourced|section|date=May 2021}}
===Historical personalities===
*[[Arunagirinathar]]
*[[Muthu Thandavar]]

===Social activists===
*[[Moovalur Ramamirtham]]
*[[Muthulakshmi Reddi]]

===Politicians===
*[[M Karunanidhi]]
*[[Murasoli Maran]]
*[[S. S. Thennarasu]]
*[[MK Azhagiri]]
*[[MK Stalin]]
*[[Kanimozhi]]
*[[Dayanidhi Maran]]

===Business personalities===
*[[Kalanithi Maran]]
*[[Prasanna Dhandayuthapani]]

===Arts===
*[[Vazhuvoor Samu Nattuvanar]]
*[[Thanjavur Quartet]]
*[[T. N. Rajarathnam Pillai]]
*[[Vazhuvoor Ramaiah Pillai]]
*[[Kumbakonam Rajamanickam Pillai]]
*[[Veenai Dhanammal]]
*[[Vazhuvoor Samraj]]
*[[M. S. Subbulakshmi]]
*[[T. Brinda]]
*[[T. Muktha]]
*[[Valayapatti A. R. Subramaniam]]
*[[P. R. Thilagam]]
*[[T. K. Swaminatha Pillai]]
*[[Namagiripettai Krishnan]]
*[[Vazhuvoor Manikka Vinayakam]]
*[[Thiruvarur Bakthavathsalam]]
*[[S. Somasundaram]]
*[[Balasaraswathi]]
*[[Thiruveezhimizhalai Padmashree Subramanya Pillai]]
*[[Malaikkottai Panchapakesa pillai]]

===Cinema===

*[[Udhayanidhi]]
*[[Sivakarthikeyan]]
*[[Arulnidhi]]

== References ==
<references />
[[Category:Social groups of Tamil Nadu]]
[[Category:Indian castes]]