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{{Short description|A triumvirate of the three caste groups Agamudayar, Kallar and Maravar}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Infobox ethnic group
|group = Mukkulathor (Thevar)
|population = 94,33,646<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rediff.com/news/special/sasikalas-bittersweet-journey-with-jaya/20161207.htm|title=Sasikala's bittersweet journey with Jaya|website=rediff|access-date=2019-01-01}}</ref> (estimated 2016)
|popplace = Central and Southern [[Tamil Nadu]]
|languages = [[Tamil Language|Tamil]]
|religions = [[Hinduism]]
}}

The '''Mukkulathor''' people, who are also collectively known as '''Thevar''', are a community or group of communities native to the central and southern districts of [[Tamil Nadu]], India. They comprise the [[Agamudayar]], [[Kallar (caste)|Kallar]] and [[Maravar]] communities that share a common myth of origin and claim to have once been members of various ancient [[South India]]n dynasties.

== Origins and development==
The terms {{Transl|ta|Mukkulathor}} and ''{{Transl|ta|Thevar}}'' are used synonymously. According to R. Muthulakshmi of [[Madurai Kamaraj University]], ''{{Transl|ta|Thevar}}'' "literally means celestial beings or divine-natured people" and {{Transl|ta|Mukkulathor}} means "three clans united together". The three constituent communities of Agamudayar, Kallar and Maravar believe themselves to share a common [[myth of origin]] formed through being the offspring of a relationship between [[Indra]] and a celestial woman. The three groups traditionally each believe themselves to be superior to their fellow Mukkulathors.<ref name="Muthulakshmi">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N1Q_TdiGzVIC&pg=PA11|title=Female Infanticide, Its Causes and Solutions |publisher=Discovery Publishing |first=R. |last=Muthulakshmi |year=1997 |isbn= 978-8-17141-383-6 |pages=11–13}}</ref>

While they share a common mythological ancestor, the three communities also claim ancestral differences. Each of the Thevar communities claim descent from an ancient [[Three Crowned Kings|Moovendar]] dynasty in the [[Sangam period|Sangam era]]: Agamudayar consider themselves to be descendants of the [[Chera dynasty]], the Kallars the [[Chola dynasty|Cholas]] and the Maravars the [[Pandya dynasty|Pandyas]].<ref name="Muthulakshmi" />{{clarify|do these 3 dynasties even relate to each other, through Indra? I think not - so this would need a footnote|date=August 2016}} The anthropologist Susan Bayly notes that both the Kallar and Maravar communities are relatively new caste entities. Both names were originally granted to people as titles by [[poligar]]s (local chieftains) but the holders were not exposed to caste-defining influences such as [[Historical Vedic religion#Brahmanism|Brahmanic Hinduism]], the concept of [[Varna (Hinduism)|varna]] and practices such as [[endogamy]] until the late 18th century. She says that the claims of distinct caste status "were clearly not ancient facts of life in the Tamil Nadu region. Insofar as these people of the turbulent poligar country really did become castes, their bonds of affinity were shaped in the relatively recent past".<ref>{{cite book |title=Caste, Society and Politics in India from the Eighteenth Century to the Modern Age |first=Susan |last=Bayly |author-link=Susan Bayly |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-521-79842-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HbAjKR_iHogC |page=61}}</ref> Thereafter, the evolution as a caste developed as a result of various influences, including increased interaction with other groups as a consequence of jungle clearances, state-building and ideological shifts.<ref>{{cite book |title=Caste, Society and Politics in India from the Eighteenth Century to the Modern Age |first=Susan |last=Bayly |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-521-79842-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HbAjKR_iHogC |page=39}}</ref> Anthropologist Diane P. Mines affirms that the contemporary characterisation of the Thevar community derives from its precolonial past but was reified under the [[British Raj]]. For instance, in 1911 the British designated the Thevars a "[[Criminal Tribes Act|criminal caste]]", which Mines surmises arose from the community's precolonial role as village guardians or local chieftains but was precipitated by their resistance to British rule.<ref name="Mines">{{cite book |last1=Mines |first1=Diane P. |title=Fierce Gods: Inequality, Ritual, and the Politics of Dignity in a South Indian Village |date=2005 |publisher=Indiana University Press |isbn=0253217652 |pages=111–118 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4jWQIXtTt3UC |language=en}}</ref>

In the period following [[Independence of India|Indian independence]], the Mukkulathor or the Thevars have grown into, what Mines calls, a "super-caste" that combines the three previously distinct communities, emphasises their similarities and shared historical roles, and forms a consolidated base of support for the [[AIADMK]] political party.<ref name="Mines"/>

== Demographics ==
The Mukkulathor communities live mostly in central and southern areas of [[Tamil Nadu]], such as [[Madurai]], [[Theni]], [[Dindigul]], [[Sivagangai]], [[Pudukottai]], [[Ramanathapuram]], [[Thanjavur]], [[Thiruvarur]], [[Nagapattinam]], [[Tiruchirapalli]] and [[Thirunelveli]]. They have been recorded as practising [[female infanticide]] as recently as the 1990s.<ref name="Muthulakshmi" /><ref>{{cite book |title=Socio-cultural Dimensions of Reproductive Child Health |first=Rabindra Nath |last=Pati |publisher=APH Publishing |year=2003 |isbn=978-8-17648-510-4 |page=123 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hLrWXYp7W5kC&pg=PA123}}</ref>{{efn|Female infanticide and [[foeticide]] have been significant practises among some communities in various areas of Tamil Nadu. The state government has sought to address these through legislated schemes as recently as 2011.<ref>{{cite news |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130518091116/http://news.outlookindia.com/items.aspx?artid=728743 |archive-date=2013-05-18 |work=Outlook |title=TN: Cradle Baby Scheme in Districts With Low Sex Ratio |date=24 June 2011 |url=http://news.outlookindia.com/items.aspx?artid=728743}}</ref>}}

Although the Mukkulathor own significant amounts of land, the sociologist Hugo Gorringe noted in 2005 that "their educational and economic achievements have been negligible", with many being small farmers or agricultural labourers.<ref>{{cite book |title=Untouchable Citizens: Dalit Movements and Democratization in Tamil Nadu |first=Hugo |last=Gorringe |publisher=SAGE Publications India |year=2005 |isbn=978-8-13210-199-4 |page=59 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9ouHAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA59}}</ref> The community has mostly been given the status of Backward Class (BC) by the [[Government of Tamil Nadu]],<ref>{{cite news|title=Tamil Nadu Public Services Commission: List of Communities|url=http://www.tnpsc.gov.in/communities-list.html#bc |access-date=2016-08-17}}</ref> although some subgroups are omitted. They are mostly listed as [[Other Backward Class]]es (OBC) by the [[National Commission for Backward Classes]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ncbc.nic.in/User_Panel/GazetteResolution.aspx?Value=mPICjsL1aLv%2b2hza1cVSjGj2lbN6VTmqldqIuVcOEkgHeh8PGW22Whuvc80mubPb |access-date=2016-08-17 |title= Central List of OBCs - State: Tamil Nadu |publisher=[[National Commission for Backward Classes]]}}</ref>

== Politics ==
[[Human Rights Watch]] has documented allegations that the members of the government of [[Jayalalitha]], including the chief minister herself, favoured the Mukkalathors during the 1990s, leading to them gaining influential positions in the police and in politics. The Mukkalathor community at that time was the most populous of the backward classes in the state but [[Dalit]] communities - notably, the [[Pallar]]s - were becoming increasingly wealthy and aspirational.{{efn|Dalits in Tamil Nadu have become less dependent on Mukkulathors for employment due to the effects of India's [[Reservation in India|system of positive discrimination]] and the trend towards sending relatives abroad to earn a living, notably to the [[Arab states of the Persian Gulf|Gulf States]].<ref name="narula" />}} The improvement of Dalit circumstances, together with a general rise in Dalit activism, led to many clashes with the Mukkulathors in rural areas. These clashes often involved the collusion of the police, who aided detention of so-called Dalit activists, assaults on people (especially women), and forcible displacement from Dalit villages.<ref name="narula">{{cite book |title=Broken People: Caste Violence Against India's "untouchables" |first=Smita |last=Narula |others=Human Rights Watch |publisher=Human Rights Watch |year=1999 |isbn=978-1-56432-228-9 |pages=5–6, 82, 86 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Kd28Ay09adgC&pg=PA86}}</ref>

The Mukkulathors celebrate the coincident birth and death anniversary of [[U. Muthuramalingam Thevar]] (also spelled Mathuramaliga Thevar; 1908–1963) annually in October. He was a noted politician from the community and the event, known as ''Thevar Jayanthi'', gained the approval of the [[Government of Tamil Nadu]] in 1993, which enabled the event to obtain police protection, road closures and the like. The Mukkulathors treat Muthuramalingam Thevar as a deity ({{Transl|ta|Theivathirumagan}})<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Manoharan|first=Karthick Ram|date=December 2019|title=K. A. Manikumar, Murder in Mudukulathur: Caste and Electoral Politics in Tamil Nadu|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0972266119884362|journal=Review of Development and Change|volume=24|issue=2|pages=287–289|doi=10.1177/0972266119884362|s2cid=213908939|issn=0972-2661}}</ref> and it was from this time that the Jayanthi shifted from being a fairly minor affair to one of considerable significance. The Dalit surge since the 1980s was countered by the growth of the Jayanthi, which gave the Mukkulathors an opportunity to react against the Dalits and assert their own perceived superiority, historic status as rulers, and caste pride. Damodraran Karthikeyan, a journalist-turned-academic, notes the historic animosity between the two groups and that "The institutionalised nature of Thevar Jayanthi, through consciously created myths surrounding Mathuramaliga Thevar, his iconisation, canonisation and the construction of a social identity provides a point of entry to study the process of how political power is ritually constructed through social ceremony."<ref name="karthikeyan">{{cite book |first=Damodraran |last=Karthikeyan |chapter=Contentious Spaces |title=From the Margins to the Mainstream: Institutionalising Minorities in South Asia |editor1-first=Hugo |editor1-last=Gorringe |editor2-first=Roger |editor2-last=Jeffery |editor3-first=Suryakant |editor3-last=Waghmore |publisher=SAGE Publications India |year=2016 |isbn=978-9-35150-624-9 |pages=187–189 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=joKTCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA188}}</ref>

== Martial arts ==
Thevars, traditionally practise a Tamil martial art variously known as ''[[Adimurai]]'', ''chinna adi'' and ''varna ati''. In recent years, since 1958, these have been referred to as Southern-style [[Kalaripayattu]], although they are distinct from the ancient martial art of Kalaripayattu itself that was historically the style found in [[Kerala]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Martial Arts of the World: An Encyclopedia. A – L |volume=1 |editor-first=Thomas A. |editor-last=Green |year=2001| page=177 |chapter=India |first=Philip B. |last=Zarilli |publisher=ABC-CLIO | isbn=978-1-57607-150-2 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v32oHSE5t6cC&pg=PA177}}</ref> This and other displays of aggression are prominent during Thevar Jayanthi.<ref name="karthikeyan" />

== Notable people ==
*[[U. Muthuramalingam Thevar]]

== References ==
'''Notes'''
{{Notelist}}
'''Citations'''
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

== External links ==
*[http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=515297 Genetic structure of four socio-culturally diversified caste populations of southwest India]

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Mukkulathor| ]]
[[Category:Social groups of Tamil Nadu]]
[[Category:Indian castes]]
[[Category:Other Backward Classes]]

Mukkulathor - Revision history

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