Nadar (caste): Difference between revisions

The Nadar community was not a single caste, but developed from an assortment of related subcastes, which in course of time came under the single banner Nadar. [[Nadar climber]]s were the largest subsect of today's Nadar community. A few subsects of the Nadar community, such as the [[Nadan (Nadar subcaste)|Nelamaikkarar]]s, were traditionally wealthy landlords and money lenders. Historically, most Nadars were cultivators of [[Borassus|palmyra trees]] and [[jaggery]] and a few were also involved in the [[Palm wine|toddy]] trade. Nadar climbers had faced discrimination from major upper castes in some regions. The martial art of [[Varma Kalai]] was historically practiced by the Nadars.       

The community was previously known as ''Shanar''<ref>{{cite book | title=Mission and Tamil Society: Social and Religious Change in South India (1840–1900)| first=Henriette |last=Bugge| year=1994| pages=86| publisher=Curzon Press Ltd| isbn=0-7007-0292-X |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_YhcGxvZvNEC&pg=PA86}}</ref> but legally changed their name to ''Nadar'' in 1921.<ref>{{cite journal | title=Avatars of Indian Research| author=Richard G. Fox| journal=Comparative Studies in Society and History| date=Jan 1970| volume=12 | issue = 1| pages=70| jstor=178151| doi=10.1017/s0010417500005624| s2cid=144433845}}</ref> The title ''Nadar'' is believed to be derived from the Nelamaikkarars, the aristocrats of the Shanar community who had previously used it exclusively. Nadars claim that the original name of the community was ''Shantror'' or ''Shandrar'' (noble one) which, in course of time, was corrupted to Shanar. [[Channar (surname)|Channar]] is a title used by the [[Ezhava]] community of [[Kerala]].<ref name="Hardgrave1">{{Harvnb|Hardgrave|1969|pp=20}}</ref> However, there is no evidence to support these claims.<ref name="Thoothukudi Gazetteer"/><ref name="Hardgrave2">{{Harvnb|Hardgrave|1969|pp=80–90}}</ref>     

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> However, there is little evidence to support the community's claim to be descendants of the later Pandya rulers.<ref name="Kothari"/> The identity or caste of the Pandyan kings remains a mystery.<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>    

While the majority of the Nadar population in the south of Thamirabarani river were poor, landless [[Nadar climber|palmyra climbers]], there also existed a small endogamous sub group of aristocratic [[Nadan (Nadar subcaste)|Nadars]], known as the Nelamaikarrars or Nadans, who owned vast tracts of land.<ref name="Hardgrave00">{{Harvnb|Hardgrave|1969|pp=29–34}}</ref> These Nadans either held their position directly under Nayak rulers in the Tiruchendur area or as petty lords under the Palaiyakkarar. They commanded high respect among the population, including from groups such as the Nadar climbers, the minority [[Vellalar]]s and the [[Brahmin]]s. Nadan men rode horses and their women rode in covered [[Litter (vehicle)|palanquins]].<ref name="Hardgrave6">{{Harvnb|Hardgrave|1969|pp=24–31}}</ref>       

Nadar climbers were also to be found in other regions of Tamil Nadu where a few palmyra trees grew. In areas where the Nadar climber population consisted of only a few families in a village, they faced discrimination from major upper castes.<ref name="Hardgrave8">{{Harvnb|Hardgrave|1969|pp=24}}</ref> Due to their association with toddy, the Nadars were considered lower than other middle castes, but relatively higher than the low castes, and were also prohibited to enter temples built by higher ranked castes.<ref name="Hardgrave9">{{Harvnb|Hardgrave|1969|pp=22–23}}</ref> Although associated with toddy, the Nadars did not themselves consume it.<ref name="Hardgrave10">{{Harvnb|Hardgrave|1969|pp=39–41}}</ref> The Nadars were schismatic about their position in the caste hierarchy and firmly claimed that they were wrongly placed in the caste system due to the Nayak invasion. They were also very caste conscious.<ref name="Hardgrave11">{{Harvnb|Hardgrave|1969|pp=44&71–72}}</ref><ref name="The Modernity of Tradition 316">{{cite book | title=The Modernity of Tradition: Political Development in India| author=Lloyd I. Rudolph, Susanne Hoeber Rudolph| year=1967| pages=36–38 | publisher=University of Chicago Press| isbn=0-226-73137-5}}</ref>       

Some Nadars emigrated from South India to Sri Lanka during the British colonial era.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2011/05/01/imp06.asp|title=Sri Lankan Nadars born with business flair|date=1 May 2011|access-date=4 September 2014|archive-date=4 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140904154301/http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2011/05/01/imp06.asp|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The Plantation Tamils of Ceylon|page=6|last=Peebles|first=Patrick|publisher=Continuum}}</ref><ref>"Seventeenth century Tamilaham as gleaned from Jesuit letters", by M. Arumairaj, p. 200, original from = University of California</ref>    

The separate Nadar associations of the six Ramanad towns were unable to support a community that was becoming more dispersed as many began to migrate to other parts of [[Madras Presidency]]. With the rise of the politically ambitious [[T. Rattinasami Nadar]], a wealthy Nadar of Porayar in [[Thanjavur]] district, a new association was formed.<ref name="Lucy Carroll">{{cite journal | title=Colonial Perceptions of Indian Society and the Emergence of Caste(s) Associations| last=Carroll| first=Lucy| journal=The Journal of Asian Studies| date=February 1978| volume=37 |issue=2 | pages=234–235 | doi=10.2307/2054164| jstor=2054164| s2cid=146635639}}</ref> This resulted from Rattinasami Nadar inviting prominent community leaders to attend a plenary session in February 1910, with the intent of establishing an organization to represent the entire community. Rattinasami Nadar's uncle, V. Ponnusami Nadar, was elected to become the first president of the association, which was called the [[Nadar Mahajana Sangam]]. The association was open to any Nadar male of any subcaste or religion, and had as its general purpose the upliftment of the community. The early Sangam conferences were dominated by the Northern Nadars.<ref name="Hardgrave16">{{Harvnb|Hardgrave|1969|pp=130–132}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | title=India's silent revolution: the rise of the lower castes in North India| last=Jaffrelot| first=Christophe| year=2003| pages=167| publisher=Columbia University Press| isbn=0-231-12786-3}}</ref>       

However, in the late 1940s the Nadars' support shifted to [[Indian National Congress]], in part because of the political success of [[K. Kamaraj]], whose opinions had originally been disliked by his own community.<ref name="Hardgrave21">{{Harvnb|Hardgrave|1969|pp=186–188}}</ref> After the end of Kamaraj's era, the Nadars' political support has become diffused across various parties and the Nadar Sangam has become less politicized.<ref name="Forrester">{{cite journal | title=Kamaraj: A Study in Percolation of Style| author=Duncan B. Forrester| journal=Modern Asian Studies| year=1970| volume=4 |issue=1| page=47| jstor=311752| doi=10.1017/s0026749x00010970| s2cid=145472845}}</ref><ref name="Mandelbaum2">{{Harvnb|Mandelbaum|1970|pp=512}}</ref>       

<!-- NOTE: Do not add any names to this list without providing a reliably published source that confirms the claim. Any content added without proper sourcing is subject to immediate removal.-->

* [[H. Vasanthakumar]], Former [[Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha|Member of Parliament of the Republic of India]] and Founder of [[Vasanth & Co]]

* [[K. Kamaraj]], Former [[Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu]]<ref name="Hardgrave21"/>       

* [[Shiv Nadar]], Founder of [[HCL Technologies]] and [[Sri Sivasubramaniya Nadar College of Engineering]]<ref>{{cite book | title=India Inc: how India's top ten entrepreneurs are winning globally| last=Pota| first=Vikas| date=7 January 2010| pages=179| publisher=Nicholas Brealey Publishing, 2009| isbn=978-1-85788-524-8}}</ref>

* [[V. V. Ramasamy Nadar]], Self Respect movement<ref>{{cite book | title=The Nadars of Tamil Nadu| last=Hardgrave| first=Robert| pages=247| publisher=University of California Press}}</ref>