Nadar (caste): Difference between revisions

The origin of Nadars as a social group is uncertain. Hardgrave stated that the Teri palmyra forests around today's [[Thiruchendur|Tiruchendur]] must have been their original abode.<ref name=autogenerated2>{{Harvnb|Hardgrave|1969|pp=19–21}}</ref> In the late 19th century, some Nadar activists<ref>{{cite book|last1= L. Hardgrave |first1= Robert |title= The Nadars of Tamilnadu: The Political Culture of a Community in Change |date=1969|pages=71–94|publisher= University of California, Berkeley. Center for South and Southeast Asia Studies |location=web|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=KZ9mqiLgkdEC&q=Samuel+Sargunar%2C+B.A.&pg=PA82 |access-date=16 June 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1= Bergunder|first1= Michael |title= Ritual, Caste, and Religion in Colonial South India |date=2010|publisher= University of Heidelberg |location=web|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=OcEM2IsnA1AC&q=nadars+samuel+sargunar&pg=PA153 |access-date=16 June 2017|isbn= 9789380607214 }}</ref> started claiming that the Nadars are the descendants of those who ruled the [[Pandyan Dynasty|Pandyan]] kingdom and that when [[Madurai Nayak Dynasty|Nayak rulers]] captured the Pandya country, it was divided into several ''Palayams'' (divisions) for each of which [[Palaiyakkarar|Palaiyakkars]] were appointed as rulers. They also claimed that the Nayak rulers of Tamil Nadu imposed ''Deshaprashtam'' (ostracism) on the ancient Nadars to ensure that they would not rise.<ref name="Hardgrave1"/><ref name="Thoothukudi Gazetteer">{{cite book | title=Tamil Nadu State:Thoothukudi District, Volume 1| author=Sinnakani| pages=233–242| publisher=Government of Tamil Nadu, Commissioner of archives and Historical Research}}</ref> According to Hardgrave these claims were not completely baseless. The traditions followed by the Nelamaikkarars and the existence of the ruins beneath the Teri palmrya forests of Tiruchendur and the Pandyan capital city of [[Korkai]], where the Nadar population is predominant, suggest they could very well be the heirs of the [[Early Pandyan Kingdom|Early Pandyas]].<ref name="Hardgrave3">{{Harvnb|Hardgrave|1969|pp=87}}</ref><ref name="Kothari">{{cite book | title=Caste in Indian Politics| last=Kothari| first=Rajni|author-link=Rajni Kothari| year=1995| pages=103–104| publisher=Orient Longman}}</ref> <ref name="Kothari"/>  <ref name="Hardgrave4">{{Harvnb|Hardgrave|1969|pp=14}}</ref> This belief, that the Nadars had been the kings of Tamil Nadu, became the [[dogma]] of the Nadar community in the 19th century.<ref name="Hardgrave3"/> According to legendary accounts, some of the Nadars had migrated to Sri Lanka, but they had to return to India as they didn't receive proper treatment in Sri Lanka.<ref>{{cite book|title=Society and Circulation: Mobile People and Itinerant Cultures in South Asia, 1750-1950|page=62|year=2006|publisher=Anthem Press}}</ref>