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{{About|the Thiyya caste|the synonym for some members of the Ezhava caste|Ezhava}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}}
{{Use Indian English|date=September 2019}}

'''Thandan''' (also known as '''Thiyya Thandan''') is the honorary title given to the [[Village head|headman]] of the mainly [[Thiyya]] community people in [[Palakkad]], [[Thrissur]] district, who reside in the Indian State of [[Kerala]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Herman Gundert|title=Kerala Sahitya Malayalam English Dictionary |year=1872 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VNFTAAAAcAAJ&dq=%E0%B4%A4%E0%B4%A3%E0%B5%8D%E0%B4%9F%E0%B4%BE%E0%B5%BB&pg=PA424}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Singh|first=Kumar Suresh|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=Mt9G1e6JF-QC}}|title=India's Communities: H - M|date=1998|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-563354-2|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Greece)|first=Peter (Prince of|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=kYyAAAAAMAAJ}}|title=A Study of Polyandry|date=1963|publisher=Mouton|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=L.K.Ananda Krishna Iyer|title=Cochin Tribes and Castes Vol.1|year=1969|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hOyqKkYi6McC&q=Thandan+gold+knife|publisher=Johnson reprint Corporation|page=305}}</ref> Thandan is the hereditary headman of a Thiyyar tara (village) and is a Thiyya by [[caste]]. He is appointed by the senior Rani of the [[Zamorin]]'s family or by a local Raja in territories outside the Zamorin's jurisdiction.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Thurston|first1=Edgar|url=https://archive.org/details/castestribesofso07thuriala|title=Castes and tribes of southern India|last2=Rangachari|first2=K.|date=1909|publisher=Madras : Government Press|others=University of California Libraries|page=12}}</ref> Thandan becomes the {{transl|hi|jenmi}} of the {{transl|hi|dhesam}} or {{transl|hi|dhesavazhi}}.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Kerala (India)|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=dYVvweI07JAC|page=66}}|title=Kerala District Gazetteers: Mapappuram|date=1962|publisher=Superintendent of Government Presses|language=en|page=66}}</ref>
They are designated as [[Other Backward Classes]] by the [[Government of Kerala]] as per anthropological studies conducted by the Kerala Institute of Research, and Development Studies.<ref name="stdg">{{cite web |url=http://164.100.24.208/ls/CommitteeR/Social/20threport.pdf |title=Standing Committee on Social Justice and Empowerment (2006-2007) |page=13}}</ref>

==Status==
''Thandan'' was the most commonly-used title to represent the highest privilege among the Thiyyar of the [[Malabar Coast|Malabar]] area. The most notable Thiyyar of the [[Malabars]] received the title as Thandan for their service to the state either in the administration of [[Malabar district]].<ref>{{Cite book|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=IKQ4m___Pd4C|page=203}}|title=Journal of Kerala Studies|date=2009|publisher=University of Kerala.|language=en|page=203, 205}}</ref> The Thandan, the privileged Thiyyar-Karanavar in a {{transl|hi|dhesam}} has to carry out the instructions of the politically powerful. He was powerful enough to rule the caste people in his area. In Malabar, the smallest political unit is known as {{transl|hi|thara}}. The head of the {{transl|hi|thara}} is known as {{transl|hi|tharayil karanavar}}, "The one who got privilege from the king."<ref>{{Cite book|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=IKQ4m___Pd4C|page=205}}|title=Journal of Kerala Studies|date=2009|publisher=University of Kerala.|language=en|page=205}}</ref>

<blockquote> 1. According to Historian A.K.iyer, "Thandan.-Thiyya like the Nayars receive titles from the rulers of the State. That of thandan is purchasable and gives a person the right to be the headman of the caste in his village. He can wear a gold knife and style, may walk before a Nayar with a cloth on his head, ride on a palaquin or a horse, carry a silk umbrella and have a brass lamp borne before him. For each of these privileges he pays separately a tax to the Sircar. Any person using these privileges unauthorised lays himself opeh to a penalty. A Thandan cannot go for cooly work such as ploughing and gathering cocoanuts: Below him there is an inferior officer who is called a Ponamban. Thus in Cochin it is a title pos- Beseed by the headman of the caste, while in the Valluvanad Taluk, the name is applied to a sub-caste. Habits.-Their habits are settled and they are found in all parts of the State. Houses.- The poorer classes of people live in huts with mud walls and thatched roofs, with a room or two and a verandah either in front or all around, while the richer people have their houses like those, of the Nayars".<ref>{{cite book|last=L.K.Ananda Krishna Iyer|title=Cochin Tribes and Castes Vol.1|year=1969|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hOyqKkYi6McC&q=Thandan+gold+knife|publisher=Johnson reprint Corporation|page=305}}</ref></blockquote>

<blockquote> 2. According to F.Fawcett, "headman of the Tiyans called the " Tandan," comes to the temple followed by two of his caste- men carrying slung on a pole over their shoulders three bunches of young cocoanuts, an appropriate offering, This time there will be loud drumming and a large crowd with the Tandan, and in front of him are men dancing about, imitating sword play with sticks and shields, clanging the shields, palling at bows as if firing off imaginary arrows, the while shouting and yelling madly. The sticks represent swords".<ref>{{cite book|last=F.Fawcett|year=2004|title=Nayar of Malabar, Vol.3 issue of Bulletin of Madras Government Museum|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=eF-pMrcqw5UC&dq=headman+Tandan&pg=PA257|publisher=Asian education service|page=257|isbn=9788120601710}}</ref></blockquote>

==See also==

* [[Caste system in India]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://judis.nic.in/supremecourt/qrydisp.asp?tfnm=28188 Supreme Court Verdict on Thiyya thandan of North kerala and thandan caste of South]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070927230559/http://krpcds.org/report/Ganesh.pdf Socio- cultural Study on Thirurangadi]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070928082948/http://www.kechery.com/parappukavu.htm Parappukavu Temple]

[[Category:Indian castes]]
[[Category:Malayali people]]
[[Category:Indian surnames]]

Thandan (surname) - Revision history

Ajay Kumar: Creating a new article