Pallar

The Pallar, who prefer to be called Mallar, is a Tamil sub-caste of Devendrakula Velalar found in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. They are found chiefly in the Pandya country and these people were involved in agriculture and were soldiers. The Pallars own small bits of dry lands and do cultivation but to supplement their income they go in for tenant agriculturists. The Pallars traditionally inhabited the fertile wetland area referred to as Marutham in the literary devices of the Sangam landscape. In Tamil Nadu, the Pallars are distributed mostly in the districts of Thanjavur, Madurai and Ramanathapuram and, as of 2011, numbered 2,329,117.

Etymology
There was no such caste as Pallar, but in its stead we find in early Tamil Literature Mallar and Kadaignar, the latter appearing as a sub-division of the Pallar caste. The Pallar name may be derived from pallam, which means a pit or low-lying area. This aligns with their traditional occupation of cultivators of the low wetlands. There is literary evidence that suggests that Pallars were traditional farmers who produced large quantities of food grains. The name of the caste has previously been spelled as Pallan; however, some caste members replaced the Tamil non-honorific terminal-"n" with an honorific "r", resulting in the name Pallar; a similar process was seen in other Tamil communities. The change of name from Mallar to Pallar is thought to have been imposed upon them after the decline of the rule, when the leaders (Nayaks) of competing tribes wanted to suggest a degradation in status. Some Pallars today prefer the Mallar name due to their belief that Pallar is a derogatory term.

History 
The Pallars traditionally inhabited the fertile wetland area referred to as Marutham in the literary devices of the Sangam landscape. Vendan, also known as Devendra and identified with Indra, is the god of the Marutham landscape and also one of the chief deities of the Pallars. According to some historians, the Pallars are descendants of Pallavas who ruled the Andhra and Tamil countries between the 6th and 9th centuries. And also lineage in the old kingdom of Kedah of the Malay Peninsula under Rudravarman I, Champa under Bhadravarman I and the Kingdom of the Funan in Cambodia. The Pallavas appear in the Sanskrit Literature Pallas, Pahlavas, Pahnavas, Palhava, Plavas. The socio-economic position of the Pallar as bonded servants working on farms is a central theme of Pallu poetry.

Pandiyan Army
The Pallars resp. Mallar formed a part of the Pandiyan army. According to Gustav Solomon Oppert, the name "Pandi' is a contraction of Pallandi or Pallandiyan which is a composite of two Tamil words "palla" and "andi". In Sangam Period, the word "andi" means " king" or "ruler ". The Puranic dynasties of the South India, including the Cholas, Pandyas, Cheras descended from the Turvashas.

Modern social standing 
Nowadays, community members prefer to refer to themselves as Devendra Kula Velalar (DKV), a name connoting that they were created by the god Devendra. In support of a name change to DKV, Pallars have undertaken hunger strikes and rallies. In January 2011, the Government of Tamil Nadu appointed a one-man commission to consider this latest change mainly for their votes.

See also

Kadaiyar
Paramakudi Riots
Devendrar Jayanti
Puthiya Tamilagam
Pelasgians
Immanuvel Devendrar
Kudumbar
Veeran Sundaralingam
K. Krishnasamy

References

Category:Tamil society
Category:Social groups of Tamil Nadu