Maravar: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|Tamil community in Tamil Nadu}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}
{{Infobox ethnic group
{{Infobox ethnic group
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==Etymology==
==Etymology==
The term ''Maravar'' has diverse proposed etymologies;<ref>{{cite book|title=Political Change and Agrarian Tradition in South India, C. 1600-1801: A Case Study |year=1986 |first=T. K. |last=VenkatasubramanianIndia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i8dp_b7GBrEC&pg=PA49 |publisher=Mittal Publications |page=49}}</ref> it may come simply from a [[Tamil language|Tamil]] word ''maram'', meaning such things as ''vice'' and ''murder.<ref>{{cite book | first=  Susan| last=  Bayly | year=2004| title= Saints, Goddesses and Kings Muslims and Christians in South Indian Society, 1700-1900| page=213| publisher= Taylor and Francis| isbn= 9780521372015 | url= https://www.google.com/books/edition/Saints_Goddesses_and_Kings/Fxqtx8SflEsC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=maravar+sin&pg=PA213&printsec=frontcover
The term ''Maravar'' has diverse proposed etymologies;<ref>{{cite book|title=Political Change and Agrarian Tradition in South India, C. 1600-1801: A Case Study |year=1986 |first=T. K. |last=VenkatasubramanianIndia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i8dp_b7GBrEC&pg=PA49 |publisher=Mittal Publications |page=49}}</ref> it may come simply from a [[Tamil language|Tamil]] word ''maram'', meaning such things as ''vice'' and ''murder''.<ref>{{cite book | first=  Susan| last=  Bayly | year=2004| title= Saints, Goddesses and Kings Muslims and Christians in South Indian Society, 1700-1900| page=213| publisher= Taylor and Francis| isbn= 9780521372015 | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Fxqtx8SflEsC&dq=maravar+sin&pg=PA213
  }}</ref> or a term meaning "bravery".<ref name="Ramaswamy2007">{{cite book|first=Vijaya |last=Ramaswamy|title=Historical dictionary of the Tamils|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H4q0DHGMcjEC&pg=PA143|year=2007|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0-8108-5379-9|page=143}}</ref>
  }}</ref> or a term meaning "bravery".<ref name="Ramaswamy2007">{{cite book|first=Vijaya |last=Ramaswamy|title=Historical dictionary of the Tamils|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H4q0DHGMcjEC&pg=PA143|year=2007|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0-8108-5379-9|page=143}}</ref>


==Social status==
==Social status==


The Maravars were considered as Shudras and were free to worship in Hindu temples.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Singer|first1=Milton B.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_g-_r-9Oa_sC&q=Maravars+shudras&pg=PA305|title=Structure and Change in Indian Society|last2=Cohn|first2=Bernard S.|date=1970|publisher=Transaction Publishers|isbn=978-0-202-36933-4|language=en}}</ref> According to Pamela G, Price, the Maravar were warriors who were in some cases [[zamindar]]s. During the British colonial era, the Maravars were sometimes recorded as Kshatriyas by the legal officers involved in Zamindari litigation proceedings but more often they classified as [[Shudras]]. Maravars were the only ruling castes of Tamil origin in Tamil Nadu. The zamins of Singampatti, Urkadu, Nerkattanseval, Thalavankottai, all ruled by members of Maravar caste.<ref>{{cite book | first= Andrew John | last= Stuart | year=1879| title= A Manual of the Tinnevelly District in the Presidency of Madras |  page=24 | publisher= E. Keys, at the Government Press | url= https://www.google.co.in/books/edition/A_Manual_of_the_Tinnevelly_District_in_t/DyYPAQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=maravar%20poligars&pg=PA24&printsec=frontcover&bsq=maravar%20}}</ref> Occasionally the Setupathis had to respond to the charge they were not ritually pure.<ref>{{cite book | first= Pamela | last= Price | year=1996| title= Kingship and Political Practice in Colonial India| page=62| publisher= University of Cambridge| isbn= 9780521552479 | url= https://www.google.com/books/edition/Kingship_and_Political_Practice_in_Colon/aqKSTs4ajsAC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Maravar+sudra&pg=PA62}}</ref>
The Maravars were considered as Shudras and were free to worship in Hindu temples.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Singer|first1=Milton B.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_g-_r-9Oa_sC&q=Maravars+shudras&pg=PA305|title=Structure and Change in Indian Society|last2=Cohn|first2=Bernard S.|date=1970|publisher=Transaction Publishers|isbn=978-0-202-36933-4|language=en}}</ref> According to Pamela G, Price, the Maravar were warriors who were in some cases [[zamindar]]s. The zamins of Singampatti, Urkadu, Nerkattanseval, Thalavankottai, all ruled by members of Maravar caste.<ref>{{cite book | first= Andrew John | last= Stuart | year=1879| title= A Manual of the Tinnevelly District in the Presidency of Madras |  page=24 | publisher= E. Keys, at the Government Press | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=DyYPAQAAIAAJ&dq=maravar%20poligars&pg=PA24}}</ref> Occasionally the Setupathis had to respond to the charge they were not ritually pure.<ref>{{cite book | first= Pamela | last= Price | year=1996| title= Kingship and Political Practice in Colonial India| page=62| publisher= University of Cambridge| isbn= 9780521552479 | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=aqKSTs4ajsAC&dq=Maravar+sudra&pg=PA62}}</ref>


During the formation of Tamilaham, the Maravars were brought in as socially outcast tribes or traditionally as lowest entrants into the shudra category.<ref name="Vijaya Ramasamy">{{cite book | first= Vijaya | last= Ramasamy | year=2016| title= Women and work in Precolonial India| page=62| publisher= SAGE| isbn= 9789351507406 | url= https://www.google.com/books/edition/Women_and_Work_in_Precolonial_India/TzxwDQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=maravar+kshatriyas&pg=PT110&printsec=frontcover }}</ref>{{cn|date=June 2021}} The Maravas to this day are feared as a thieving tribe and are an ostracised group in Tirunelveli region.<ref name="Vijaya Ramasamy">{{cite book | first= Vijaya | last= Ramasamy | year=2016| title= Women and work in Precolonial India| page=62| publisher= SAGE| isbn= 9789351507406 | url= https://www.google.com/books/edition/Women_and_Work_in_Precolonial_India/TzxwDQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=maravar+kshatriyas&pg=PT110&printsec=frontcover }}</ref><ref name="Robert Parkin University of Oxford">{{cite book | first= Robert | last= Parkin | year=2001| title= Perilous Transactions| page=130| publisher= Sikshasandhan | isbn= 9788187982005 | url= https://www.google.com/books/edition/Perilous_transactions/vIuL8n5hHCUC?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=maravar+shudra&dq=maravar+shudra&printsec=frontcover }}</ref>
During the formation of Tamilaham, the Maravars were brought in as socially outcast tribes or traditionally as lowest entrants into the shudra category.<ref name="Vijaya Ramasamy">{{cite book | first= Vijaya | last= Ramasamy | year=2016| title= Women and work in Precolonial India| page=62| publisher= SAGE| isbn= 9789351507406 | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=TzxwDQAAQBAJ&dq=maravar+kshatriyas&pg=PT110 }}</ref>{{cn|date=June 2021}} The Maravas to this day are feared as a thieving tribe and are an ostracised group in Tirunelveli region.<ref name="Vijaya Ramasamy">{{cite book | first= Vijaya | last= Ramasamy | year=2016| title= Women and work in Precolonial India| page=62| publisher= SAGE| isbn= 9789351507406 | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=TzxwDQAAQBAJ&dq=maravar+kshatriyas&pg=PT110 }}</ref><ref name="Robert Parkin University of Oxford">{{cite book | first= Robert | last= Parkin | year=2001| title= Perilous Transactions| page=130| publisher= Sikshasandhan | isbn= 9788187982005 | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=vIuL8n5hHCUC&q=maravar+shudra }}</ref>
 
== Notable people ==
 
* [[Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar]], freedom fighter<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ToZuAAAAMAAJ|title=Tamil Revivalism in the 1930s|last=[[Eugene F. Irschick]] |date=1986|publisher=Cre-A|pages=239|quote= |language=en}}</ref>


==See also==
==See also==

Latest revision as of 06:04, 22 May 2025


Maravar
Bhaskara Sethupathi, former Marava ruler of Ramnad kingdom
Regions with significant populations
India: Ramnad, Madurai, Tirunelveli regions of Tamil Nadu
Languages
Tamil
Religion
Hinduism
Related ethnic groups
Kallar, Agamudayar, Tamil people

Maravar (also known as Maravan and Marava) are a Tamil community in the state of Tamil Nadu. These people are one of the three branches of the Mukkulathor confederacy.[1] Members of the Maravar community often use the honorific title Thevar.[2][3][4] They are classified as an Other Backward Class or a Denotified Tribe in Tamil Nadu, depending on the district.[5]

The Sethupathi rulers of the erstwhile Ramnad kingdom were from this community.[6] The Maravar community, along with the Kallars, had a reputation for thieving and robbery from as early as the medieval period.[7][8][9][10][11]

Etymology[edit | edit source]

The term Maravar has diverse proposed etymologies;[12] it may come simply from a Tamil word maram, meaning such things as vice and murder.[13] or a term meaning "bravery".[14]

Social status[edit | edit source]

The Maravars were considered as Shudras and were free to worship in Hindu temples.[15] According to Pamela G, Price, the Maravar were warriors who were in some cases zamindars. The zamins of Singampatti, Urkadu, Nerkattanseval, Thalavankottai, all ruled by members of Maravar caste.[16] Occasionally the Setupathis had to respond to the charge they were not ritually pure.[17]

During the formation of Tamilaham, the Maravars were brought in as socially outcast tribes or traditionally as lowest entrants into the shudra category.[18][citation needed] The Maravas to this day are feared as a thieving tribe and are an ostracised group in Tirunelveli region.[18][19]

Notable people[edit | edit source]

See also[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ Dirks, Nicholas B. (1993). The Hollow Crown: Ethnohistory of an Indian Kingdom. University of Michigan Press. p. 73. ISBN 978-0-47208-187-5.
  2. ↑ Neill, Stephen (2004). A History of Christianity in India: The Beginnings to AD 1707. Cambridge University Press. p. 76. ISBN 978-0-52154-885-4.
  3. ↑ Hardgrave, Robert L. (1969). The Nadars of Tamilnad: The Political Culture of a Community in Change. University of California Press. p. 280.
  4. ↑ Pandian, Anand (2009). Crooked Stalks: Cultivating Virtue in South India. Duke University Press. p. 286. ISBN 978-0-82239-101-2.
  5. ↑ "List of Backward Classes Approved".
  6. ↑ Pamela G. Price (14 March 1996). Kingship and Political Practice in Colonial India. Cambridge University Press, 14-Mar-1996 - History - 220 pages. p. 26. ISBN 9780521552479.
  7. ↑ Ramaswamy, Vijaya (2007). Women and Work in Precolonial India: A Reader. Sage Publications. p. 74. ISBN 9789351507406.
  8. ↑ Dirks, Nicholas (2007). The Hollow Crown: Ethnohistory of an Indian Kingdom. University of Michigan Press. p. 74. ISBN 9780472081875.
  9. ↑ Balasubramanian, R (2001). Social and Economic Dimensions of Caste Organisations in South Indian States. University of Madras. p. 88.
  10. ↑ Oscar Salemink, Peter Pels (2002). Colonial Subjects. Wiesbaden. p. 160. ISBN 0472087460.
  11. ↑ Ferro-Luzzi, Gabriella Eichinger (2002). The Maze of fantasy in Tamil folktales. Wiesbaden. p. Glossary. ISBN 9783447045681.
  12. ↑ VenkatasubramanianIndia, T. K. (1986). Political Change and Agrarian Tradition in South India, C. 1600-1801: A Case Study. Mittal Publications. p. 49.
  13. ↑ Bayly, Susan (2004). Saints, Goddesses and Kings Muslims and Christians in South Indian Society, 1700-1900. Taylor and Francis. p. 213. ISBN 9780521372015.
  14. ↑ Ramaswamy, Vijaya (2007). Historical dictionary of the Tamils. Scarecrow Press. p. 143. ISBN 978-0-8108-5379-9.
  15. ↑ Singer, Milton B.; Cohn, Bernard S. (1970). Structure and Change in Indian Society. Transaction Publishers. ISBN 978-0-202-36933-4.
  16. ↑ Stuart, Andrew John (1879). A Manual of the Tinnevelly District in the Presidency of Madras. E. Keys, at the Government Press. p. 24.
  17. ↑ Price, Pamela (1996). Kingship and Political Practice in Colonial India. University of Cambridge. p. 62. ISBN 9780521552479.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Ramasamy, Vijaya (2016). Women and work in Precolonial India. SAGE. p. 62. ISBN 9789351507406.
  19. ↑ Parkin, Robert (2001). Perilous Transactions. Sikshasandhan. p. 130. ISBN 9788187982005.
  20. ↑ Eugene F. Irschick (1986). Tamil Revivalism in the 1930s. Cre-A. p. 239.
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