Maravar

Tamil community in Tamil Nadu

Ethnic group

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

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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

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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

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* Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar, freedom fighter[20]

## See also

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* Uthumalai
* Kallar
* Agamudayar

## References

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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. ^ a b 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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