Mannadiyar: Difference between revisions

'''Mannadiar''' (or '''Mannadiyar''') are [[Nair]]s of [[Malayalam|Malayalam]]<ref name=“Srinivas” /> origin settled in [[Palakkad district|Palakkad]] region of [[Kerala]]. Majority of Mannadiars are land owners, [[agriculture]] being their traditional occupation, ranging from farmers to large feudal landlords ([[jenmi]]s). Also, some of them are engaged in retail and wholesale trading businesses in Palakkad. They trace their origin from the [[Chola dynasty|Chola Dynasty]]. The house ([[tharavad]]) of Mannadiars is called "Mannattu" like Illams for [[Namboothiris]]. Related castes of Mannadiar are  [[Pathukudi]] (also known as "Dashagotram" or "Pathu Madom") [[Moothan]], [[Guptan]], and [[Tharakan (Hindu Caste)|Tharakan]].{{citation needed|date=August 2020}}

Mannadiar was a title used to be awarded to the eldest member of each family by the ruling head. The title holders were entitled to certain privileges. When the practice of awarding the title became a story of the past, even the younger members began to use the surname ''Mannadiar'', by time.<ref name=autogenerated6>[https://books.google.com/books?id=0JCaAAAAIAAJ "Census of India, 1961, Volume 7"] P. 21</ref> Mannadi was derived from the Tamil word ‘Mandradi’. This was a title held by [[Kongu Vellalar]]s,<ref name=“title”>{{cite news |last=Krishnamachari|first=Suganthi|date=30 April 2020|title=Inscriptions talk of fascinating Kongu connection|url=https://www.thehindu.com/society/history-and-culture/inscriptions-talk-of-fascinating-kongu-connection/article31470952.ece|work=The Hindu|location= |access-date=17 April 2021}}:”Mannadiyar is a title, which the Angarath and Vadaseri families of Kerala have,” says Raju. William Logan, in his Malabar Manual, says that the Mannadiyars were a caste of Vellalars from Kangeyam, in Coimbatore province, who had settled in Palakkad. Mandradi is a title held by many Kongu Vellala families, says Raju. Mandradi became Mannadi in Malayalam, just as the Tamil nandri (thank you) becomes nanni in Malayalam.”</ref> who the Mannadiyars trace their origins<ref name=“origin”>{{cite news |last=Krishnamachari|first=Suganthi|date=30 April 2020|title=Inscriptions talk of fascinating Kongu connection|url=https://www.thehindu.com/society/history-and-culture/inscriptions-talk-of-fascinating-kongu-connection/article31470952.ece|work=The Hindu|location= |access-date=17 April 2021}}:”One story that repeats in literature and copper plates is that of the marriage of a Chola princess into the Chera royal family, and the subsequent movement of 8,000 Kongu Vellalas to Chera Nadu...According to Mezhi Vilakkam, the Vellalas had landed rights (kani urimai) in Kochi, Kollam, Kozhikode and Palakkad. Kongu Vellalas came to Palakkad from Kangeyam, Karur, Kaadiyur, Sanguppalayam (corruption of Sankarandampalayam) and Pazhaiayakottai...C.M. Ramachandra Chettiar, the first to record the history of the Kongu region, wrote of a Kongu-Chera war about 1,000 years ago. When the Kongu king died in battle, some of the Kongu generals stayed back in Chera Nadu.”</ref> from as evidenced by epigraphy, literature and shared customs.<ref name=“custom”>{{cite news |last=Krishnamachari|first=Suganthi|date=30 April 2020|title=Inscriptions talk of fascinating Kongu connection|url=https://www.thehindu.com/society/history-and-culture/inscriptions-talk-of-fascinating-kongu-connection/article31470952.ece|work=The Hindu|location= |access-date=17 April 2021}}:”Mannadiyars were disciples of the Melmatam in Perur, to which many Kongu Vellalas owe allegiance...Raju found many Tamil palm leaf manuscripts in the possession of Vadaseri Mannadiyars. In Vannaamadai, even in Malayalam manuscripts, names of Vellala migrants were in Tamil. Mannadiyar families in Mathur, Palakkad district, were familiar with Kamba Ramayanam. Pavakoothu, based on the epic, is a 14-day festival in the Chunanghi Bhagavati temple in Nallepilly...Both Palakkad and Kongu Nadu have villages with the same name - Ayilur, Velladhi and Alathur, to name a few. In most other cases, there are only slight variations between the Kongu and Kerala names - Neelamperur in Kongu Nadu and Nilambur in Kerala, points out Raju...He points to L.A. Anantakrishna Iyer’s observation in his book, Cochin - Tribes and Castes that Menons are connected with the Vellalas. Interestingly, many of the Mannadiyars are Menons.”</ref>

According to epigraphical and literary evidence there was marriage of a Chola princess into the Chera royal family, and the subsequent movement of 8,000 [[Kongu Vellalar]]s to Chera Nadu. Recorded in the Mezhi Vilakkam are the landed rights of Vellalas in Kochi, Kollam, Kozhikode and Palakkad. C. M. Ramachandra Chettiar wrote of a Kongu-Chera war about 1,000 years ago after which Kongu generals stayed back in Chera Nadu. <ref name=“origin”/>

It is believed the Mannadiyars were descendants of these [[Kongu Vellalar]]s.<ref name=“title”/> Mannadiyars and Kongu Vellalars were both disciples of the Melmatam in Perur. The Tamil palm leaf manuscripts in the possession of Mannadiyars, traditions like the Kamba Ramayana, and similar village names between Kongu Nadu and Palakkad etc.<ref name=“custom”/> further support this theory. It is believed the Mannadiyars gradually changed from patriliny to matriliny over a period 120-150 years when they naturalised as [[Nair]]s.<ref name=“Srinivas”/>

The caste passed through a gradual change, in about 120 to 150 years, in [[Malappuram]] (but not in [[Palakkad]]) from Patriliny to Matrliny system, but not completely. Some Mannadaiar Women in [[Malappuram]] had husbands from [[Namboothiri]] [[Brahmin]]s and men have married Kiriyam [[Nair]] women.<ref name=“Srinivas”>{{cite book |author1=Mysore Narasimhachar Srinivas|date=1995|title=Social Change in Modern India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZrJB-MsbWvoC&pg=PA18|location=New Delhi|publisher=Orient Longman Private Limited |page=18|isbn=812500422X}}: "Thus the two patrilineal Tamil trading castes, the Tarakans (of Angadipuram) and Mannadiyārs (of Pālghāt tāluk), gradually changed, in about 120 to 150 years, from patriliny to matriliny. Tarakan women had husbands from Nambūdri Brahmin or Samanthan families while Tarakan men married Kiriyam Nāyar women. Some Tarakan women had connubial relations with men of the royal Vellāttiri lineage, and this was a source of wealth for the lucky Tarakan lineages.”</ref>