Konar (caste)

Konar(Tamil)

Regions with significant populations
Tamil Nadu
Languages
Tamil
Religion
Hinduism
Related ethnic groups
Tamilian

Konar , also known as Kon or Ayar or Pothuvar or Idaiyar is one of the ancient Tamil castes.

Etymology

Kon

It is worth noting that the Tamil word Kon means both king and herdsman. The word Kon is derived from Kol, meaning a herdsman's staff or Sceptre. While Kon means king and herdsman, Aycci means both queen and herds-woman. Among the Konar community even today, grandmothers are called by their grandchildren as aycchi and not called as paatti, which is the usual Tamil term for grandmother. The Konars have reached a stage of tribal Kingship in Sangam age true to their title Kon implying that they were both kings and herdsman.

The word Kon means King in ancient Tamil literature.

varappu uyara neer uyarum
neer uyara nel uyarum
nel uyara kudi uyarum
kudi uyara kol uyarum
kol uyara kon uyarvaan

Translation of the above text:

If the ridges of the water canal are raised, the level of the water in the canal can be raised;
If the water level in the canal is raised, the produce of crops (paddy/rice) will be increased;
If the produce of the crop is increased, the subjects will flourish;
If the subjects flourish, the staff will rise;
If the staff rises, the King will flourish.

Both the words kol and kon represent the heritage of the Ayar community.

Idaiyar

The etymology for the word Idaiyar originates from the Tamil word Idai means in-between. The Idaiyar are so called perhaps because they originally inhabited the lands which lay mid-way or in-between the hills and the arable lands, the jungly plains suited for the pasturage. Idaiyan is singular and represents a single-male from this community and Idaiyar is plural and collectively represents the whole Idaiyar community.

Ayar

1. The name Ayar is derived from the Dravidian word A meaning cow. Ayar represents one who owns the cow or one who herds the cattle.
2. Ay is derived from the ancient Tamil word Azh means rule and Aay means the ruler or the leader. In Tirunelveli, Nagercoil, Thiruvananthapuram and Kollam region the landlords of a particular community are called Aayan.

Pothuvar

In the Tamil land the Ayars were also called as Pothuvar or Commons (from the Dravidian word Pothu meaning Common) apparently because they professed friendship and were indifferent to the Nagas as well as to the ancient tribes of Tamilakam viz. Villavar (Archers) & Meenavar (Fishermen).

Konars of Sangam age

During the Sangam ages, the Konars or the Idaiyars were called as Ayars. They were the great pastoral people of the Tamil country, as well as land-lords. A remarkable picture of the pastoral groups is given in the early Tamil Sangam literature, dating from the opening centuries of the Common Era (CE). It is well known that there is a division of Tamil land into geographical tracts, each associated with a particular occupational group. The tracts are Kurinci(mountainous), Mullai(forest), Marutam(cultivated / arable land), Neytal(litoral) and Palai(desert). The forest tract that lay in-between the mountainous region and the arable land is associated with the pastoral group, Ayar.

According to V.Kanakasabhai, in his book, "The Tamils 1800 years ago" in Chapter IV, the Ayar or the Cowherd race was distinct from the other races such as Villavar & Meenavar (the ancient tribes of Tamilakam) and Nagas. They were known as Abhiras in Puranic history. In northern India they are still called Ahirs.

In the Tamil land they were also called the Pothuvar or Commons (from the Dravidian word Pothu meaning Common) apparently because they professed friendship to the Nagas and the Tamils alike. They are described, as having reached a stage of kingship in the Chola dominion, but Karikala-Cholan is said to have exterminated their line of Kings and one of them being Irunkovel. Pattinappalai line 281.

The Ayar in the Pandyan dominion (today's Madurai and Tirunelveli districts and the districts surrounding them) had a tradition that the Ayars came into the Tamil land, along with the founder of Pandyan dynasty, who established the Pandya kingdom and consider themselves as Tamils and not Aryas although Pandyas claim descent from the Pandus, as per Kalitthokai stanza 104, II 4 to 6.

Their favorite deity was however their national hero Krishna whose liaison with shepherd girls and feats celebrated in the Mahabharata formed the theme of their festive songs.

Rulers from the Ayar community

Notable kingdoms that are emerged from the Ayar community are the Ay Kingdom and the Venad Kingdom. Ay Kingdom was established by the Ay dynasty which ruled parts of southern India from the early Sangam age which spanned from ca. 3rd century BC to ca. 4th century AD, till the independence of India.

The name Venad is believed to be derived from Ay vel (Ay=shepherd, Vel=king), referring to the ancient rulers of Velnad. Sangam literature mentions three sets of seven Vallals (philanthropists). Out of the last set (the Kadaiyezhu Vallals, circa 100 AD), three lived in present-day Kollam and one in the Trivandrum area. Sangam literature also mentions the murder of Pari, ruler of Quilon. Kapila, a poet friend of Pari, married the slain Ay vel's daughters off to the Thirukovilur (Kollam) prince and built a temple for Pari at Parippalli. The places Ayur (Ay), Oyur (Oy) and Kariavattam (Kari) were also named after Ay vels.

The earliest use of the term "Venad" is found in the Tharisapalli plates of 849 AD, which record the gifting of lands to the Assyrian Metropolitan, Mar Sabor, by the Venad king Iyenadikal Thiruvadikal. There are also many manuscripts which support the conclusion that the land was ruled by Vels. Another theory regarding the origin of the name is that, in ancient Tamil, Vezham meant "elephant", so Vezha Nadu meant "Elephant country".

The Travancore Royal Family trace their origins to Ay/Venad rulers and the Cheras.

Velirs and Yadavas

Iravatham Mahadevan writes in his publication Meluhha and Agastya:Alpha and Omega of the Indus Script, Page-16 mentions a note about Velirs (Tamil chieftains from the Ay / Kon community).

The story of the southern migration of the Velir from Dvaraka under the leadership of Agastya is narrated by Naccinarkkiniyar in his commentary on Tolkappiyam (payiram ; Porul.34). According to this legend, the gods congregated on Mount Meru as a result of which the earth tilted, lowering Meru and raising the southern quarter. The gods thereupon decided that Agastya was the best person to remedy this situation and requested him to proceed to the South. Agastya agreed and, on his way, visited ‘Tuvarapati’ (Dvaraka) and led the descendants of nedu-mudi-annal (Visnu or Krsna) including ‘eighteen kings, eighteen families of the Velir and the Aruvalar’ to the south, where they settled down ‘clearing the forests and cultivating the land’. The sage himself finally settled down on the Potiyil hill. The fact of Agastya's leadership of the Velir clan rules out the possibility that he was even in origin an Aryan sage. The Ventar-Velir-Vellalar groups constituted the ruling and land-owning classes in the Tamil country since the beginning of recorded history and betray no trace whatever of an Indo-Aryan linguistic ancestry. The Tamil society had of course come under the religious and cultural influence of the north even before the beginning of the Sangam Age, but had maintained its linguistic identity. From what we now know of the linguistic prehistory of India, it is more plausible to assume that the Yadavas were the Aryanised descendants of an original non-Aryan people than to consider the Tamil Velir to have descended from the Indo-Aryan speaking Yadavas. As M. Raghavaiyangar (2004: 27), has pointed out vel, means ‘one who performs a sacrifice’ (namely a ‘priest’). The Agastya legend itself can be re-interpreted as non- Aryan and Dravidian even in origin and pertaining to the Indus Civilisation.

Konars in Tamil Society in the 19th & 20th century

From the book "Castes and Tribes of Southern India" written by E. Thurston:

The Idaiyars (Konars) are the great pastoral or shepherd caste of the Tamil country, as well as land-owning class and some of them are in government employ. The class consists of several clans, but they may be broadly divided into two sections, the one more thoroughly organized, the other retaining most of the essential characteristics of an aboriginal race. The first section follow the Vaishnava sect, wear the Naamam, and call themselves Yadavas.

Those belonging to the second section stick to their Yaksha worship, and make no pretensions to a descent from the Yadava race. They daub their foreheads with the sacred cow-dung ashes, and are regarded, apparently from this circumstance alone, to belong to Saiva sect.

In the Madras Census Report, 1871, it is noted that milkmen and cowherds appear to hold a social position of some importance, and even Brahmins do not disdain to drink milk or curds from their hands. Further, the Census Superintendent, 1901 writes that "the Idaiyars take a higher social position that they would otherwise do, owing to the tradition that Krishna was brought up by their caste and to the fact that they are the only purveyors and milk and ghee (clarified butter), etc., and so are indispensable to the Brahmin community.

All Brahmins except the most orthodox, will accordingly eat butter-milk and butter brought by Idaiyars or Konar. In some places, Idaiyars have the privilege of breaking the butter-pot on the Gokulashtami or Krishna's birthday, and get a new cloth and some money for doing it. The Idaiyans will eat in the houses of Vellalas, Pillais and Nattamans.

The Idaiyars claim that Timma Raja, the prime minister of Krishna Deva Raya of Vijayanagar, who executed various works in the Chengleput district, was an Idaiyan by caste.

Konars in the contemporary Tamil Society

In contemporary Tamil society Konars are one of the land-owing castes along with Vellalar, Ahamudayar (Servai), Maravar (Thevar) and the Telegu speaking Naidus. Konars have undertaken Agricultural professions due to the fact that they owned agricultural lands.

The city dwellers among the Konar / Idaiyar community adopt the title Pillai and non city-dwellers use Konar or Karayalar as their title. Konars or Idaiyars are now classified as belonging to the Yadava community. Their peers (contemporaries) in other Indian states are Vaduga Aayars & Gollas (in Telengana & Andhra Pradesh) and Ahirs in North India.

See also

• Velirs
• Ay kingdom
• Venad
• Ahirs
• Yadava