Mudaliar

Mudaliars also Mudaliyars , Mudali, Moodley is a title used by people belonging to various castes originally from Tamil Nadu and in the Tamil diaspora. Some castes are forward-caste while most are backward-caste. Mudaliars are usually more financially well off than other communities. Mudaliars also tend not to marry outside their community. Most Mudaliars are pure Tamilians with Tamil as their native language. Due to the strong interaction of Mudaliars with Telugus some people confuse them with Telugus. Mudaliars acquiring Brahmin accent and Telugu accent is mainly due to their strong interaction with various groups in the past.

Various castes using the surname of Mudaliar

The following castes use the title Mudaliar. This is not based on hierarchy:

• Thondaimandala Saiva - Forward Caste

• Saiva Vellalar - Forward Caste

• Agamudaiya/Thuluva Vellalar/Arcot - Backward Caste

• Kaikolar/Sengunthar - Backward Caste

The clout of this article is confined to the different castes of people who use the FEUDAL title Mudaliar that was conferred upon prominent feudal lords by the ancent Tamil Kings. This title is solely passed down through ancestry. After the downfall of the Nayak kingdoms, no more groups of people were given this title. Currently backward classes and most backward classes have started changing their surnames by adding the Mudaliar title for social upliftment in the Tamil caste society. This process is called sanskritization. This is absolutely ridiculous and is analogous to European commoners from Italy, Spain, England, etc., migrating away from their homelands and claiming to be of aristocratic birth or blue blooded by adopting tites such as Count, Baron, Viscount etc. It is no more different than a Dalit from Southern TamilNadu moving to northern India and changing his/ her name to Mudaliar, Pillai, Chettiyar, etc. It is important to emphasize this difference.

Origin of Mudaliar title

Mudaliar, like Pillai and Gounder is a title held by chieftains and feudal lords. These three caste titles were conferred upon prominent Vellalars and Kshatriyas by the King. Note that Mudaliars, Pillais and Gounders do not have a common ancestry.

Vellalars are agricultural landlords and inhabitants of the "marutha nilam" (one of the five lands advocated by the Sangam literature). So Vellalars are not related to one another in any way except that anybody who worked on the land became Vellalar. Similary Vokkaliga in Karnataka and Vellalar in Kerala are not related to Vellalar of TN except by profession.

It is said that pure Tamils should be able to trace their origin to any one of the five lands. The "marutham" (cropland) was inhabited mainly by two groups, the Vellalars (agricultural landlords) and the Pallars (agricultural peasants). This land was very fertile with lots of fields. In an ancient Tamil poem, “mukkudal pallu” (முக்கூடற் பள்ளு), murthapalli (elder Pallar women), illayapalli (younger Pallar women) and "pallan" (their Pallar husbands) make fun of the Vellalar landlord.

Mudaliars as Vellalas and assimilation of other castes

During cultural diversification, the Vellalars who are different groups were named according to the area they occupied or according to the country they occupied and the their cultural traditions. Thus, the Saiva Vellalars of the Thondaimandalam became the Thondaimandala vellalars (Mudaliars and few Pillais). This area includes the present day areas of Chennai, Chengalpet, Kanchipuram, Vellore, Cadalore, Arcot, Vadalore, Thrivannamalai, etc. The Saiva Vellalars of Tirunelveli became Tirunelveli Saiva Mudaliars and Saiva Pillais.

Those who inhabited the areas of Chola (Thichy, Thanjavur, and Pudukottai) and Pandiya mandalams (Madurai, Thuthukudi, Kanyakumari, and Nagerkovil) became the Shoziya Vellar (or "Chola Velar") and Pandiya Vellar respectively. These communities use Mudaliar and Pillai titles.

Agamudaiyar, a caste belonging to the Mukkulathor community from South Tamilnadu assumed Vellala identity with the accumulation of wealth for social upliftment in the Tamil caste society.

"Kallarum, Maravarum, Agamudaiyarum mella mella vanthu vellalar anaarkal"- so goes the saying in Tamil, that is Kallar or thieves, supported the rulers and became soldiers or Maravar, learned and earned and became home owners or Agamudaiyar and eventually became very cultured and respectable in the society and were called Vellalars eventually.

Similarly, the Sengunthars, who belong to the weaver community started using Mudaliar surname for social upliftment in the Tamil society.

Inter-marriage between the between different castes using surname Mudaliar is not accepted at all.

Therefore, even though 90% of the Tamil Vellalas have Pillai, Mudaliar or Gounder surnames, it should be remembered that not all Mudaliars, Pillais and Gounders are Vellalas. The vice versa is also true — thus sometimes some Vellalas have other surnames like Chettiar, Nayakar, and so on.

Thondaimandala Saiva Mudaliars

The Thondaimandala Saiva Mudaliars are forward-caste and are strict vegetarians. They were feudal lords, major landowners in Thondaimandalam area which includes the present day areas of Chennai, Chengalpet, Kanchipuram, Vellore etc. Saiva Mudaliars also trace their ancestry to the Nayakas of Tirunelveli, Tanjore and Madurai. A significant population of Thondaimandala Mudaliars have also migrated to other areas such as Madurai, Tirunelveli etc. They are endogamous and inter-marriage with other Mudaliars is quite rare.

Agamudayar/Arcot/Thuluva Vellala

The Adamudayars Agamudayar actually belong to the Mukkulathor community, which also includes the Kallars and Maravars. These three communities (as the name "Mukkulathor" — meaning three communities — have Devar as their surname. But later the Agamudaiyars (the most upward community among the three) slowly migrated towards the northern part of Tamil Nadu, settled there, changed their caste name to Thuluva Vellala. So in reality Thuluva vellalar is just the renaming of Agamudayar and hence are classified as one by the TN goverment. Inter caste marriage in ancient days was not possible. So intermingling of on a large scale between two distinct communities is very unlikely and has no historical evidence. So the idea that Agamudaiyar ( who are related to Maravar and Kallar ) went to North and started marrying into Thuluva Vellalas is not acceptable. The Agamudaiyars changed their name to Thuluva Vellala, which is similar to Konnars becoming Yadava, Pallars becoming Devendra Kula Vellalar and Chanar becoming Nadar in recent history. Also it should be noted that Thuluva Vellalar also have surname Pillai which proves that Mudaliar, Pillai and Gounder are just caste titles to add prestige to a caste.

Sengunthar/Kaikolar

The Sengunthars, who belong to the Kshatriya community as per Chola inscriptions ( Thelintha Kaikola Padai ) took up weaving silk and transformed to land owners and business men. They form a significant population in Kancheepuram and Tirupur-Salem, started using Mudaliar surname even though there is no established date on when they started using the title. It should be noted that Sengunthars do not intermarry with other Mudaliars even though they may reside in the same area as other Mudaliars.

Sengunthars/ Kaikolars do not belong to the Kshatriya community. One must be of ruling class like Kurus (Pandavas, Kauravas), Guptas, Nandhas, Chola, Chera, Pallavas, Rajputs, Rajus etc. to claim Kshatriya status. The Sengunthars/ Kaikolars belong to the weaver community and the Government of TamilNadu, India lists them as a Backward caste. The Kshatriyas are forward caste and not backward caste, they come in second after the Brahmins in the Hindu varna. This is such a blatant contradiction.

The inclusion of caste under Backward caste or forward caste is not on based on "hierarchy" (I prefer to use the terms "division" since history as shown there is not really a high caste or low caste but people in a certain groups that gets involved in different activities for a living) of the old caste system but on the general financial standing of the caste in the society at the time of categorization. One can be in the "high" caste a few thousand/hundred years ago but find themselves categorized as backward castes simply because today (or at the time of the Tamil Nadu caste classification) they need financial help.

This is absolutely false. Please take sometime to read what you have written. The caste system has nothing to do with the financial standing of a group. There are Brahmins in Tamil Nadu who are not financially well off but are still considered forward caste whereas I can cite numerous backward classes who are financially well off relative to other forward castes by a huge margin but are still designated as backward castes by the TamilNadu and the Indian government. The Hindu caste system was not formulated based upon the financial status of people. So do not give a new definition for the Hindu caste system based on financial status. This is one of the reasons people from backward classes convert to Islam or Christianity as they are unable to move up the hindu caste ladder inspite of acquiring a large amount of wealth.

Yes, history books do have reference to "secunder and kaikolar" as soldiers under Chola Kingdom(History of Ancient India- by Mahajan;etc). And yes the secunder/kaikolar did venture into weaving perhaps for survival especially during the British rule.The change that happens in the history of India may change a caste's status or classification? The issue then is what do you define as Kshatriya class?Must one be in a royal family/minister/high commander to be Kshatriya class? Or is it a profession that is involved in the armed defence of a nation? If it is in the former category then a member in the latter who has distinguish service becomes a senior commander, which usually happens in the olden days, what will then he be referred to? On the other hand when an army is defeated then the losing soldiers, even a senior commander, will be out of job or even imprisoned then what will happen to their children/successors. Perhaps the children will need to find an alternative job like for eg.weaving, to survive!

Please understand that you cannot use the word Kshatriya loosely. It is a term coined by the Hindu caste system in ancient India. Yes, one must be able to trace their ancestry to a person from royal family in order to be classified as Kshatriya. If a King loses a war he would still be a considered a King and his ancestors would be able to trace their lineage back to him. Do not insert fragments of your imagination and try to re-write history. No, the soldiers serving in the army are not Kshatriya as they are not ruling class. Please stop skewing the definition of Kshatriya.

Origin of Other Castes using Mudaliar title

Also not much is known about the origin of other castes using Mudaliar title. One of high interest is Arcot mudaliar who intermarry freely with Agamudayar/Thuluva Vellala. However their caste name does not appear in the TN caste list. So Arcot should be just another name that Agamudayar used when they moved to the north.

TRIVIA

• Mudaliars of Bangalore- Mudaliars constitute a significant percentage of the population in South Bangalore (surrounding Ulsoor Lake, MG Road, High grounds). Many well-known buildings on MG Road & surrounding were once owned by Mudaliars (e.g - Gangaram's, Plaza Cinema). The famous "Attara Kachheri" or the red court house that stands opposite of Vidhana Sauda was built by Rai Bahadur Arcot Narayansamy Mudaliar. Palatial homes surrounding Windsor Manor (5 star hotel) are even today owned & inhabited by affluent Mudaliar families. The Bangalore Exhibition is usually conducted on the RBANMS grounds in Ulsoor which owned by Rai Bahadur Arcot Narayansamy Mudaliar trust. The trust has several schools and colleges affiliated to it.

• Mudaliars of Hyderabad- Mudaliars live in significant numbers in the areas of Boiguda, Padma Rao Nagar, Maredpalli in Secunderabad. They run a popular girls school called "Keys High's School" in addition to some colleges. A popular residential area called "Padma Rao Nagar" is named after late. Dewan Bahadur Padma Rao Mudaliar.

• Mudaliars of Sri Lanka- Mudaliars live in significant numbers in various areas of Sri Lanka. People of different caste can become Mudaliyars even though originally Mudaliars was a homogenous caste group. Mudaliyar transformed from a caste name to a title due to the nature of political development which promoted Mudaliyars to positions of leadership. Soon all leaders had to take the name of Mudaliyar.

• Historical Gatti Mudaliars of Salem/Omalur as Feudal Lords

The Gatti Mudaliars were in charge of the most dangerously exposed province of the Nayak Kingdom with Kaveripuram on the right bank of the Cauvery as their strategic capital commencing one of the principal passes to the Mysore Plateau. The centre of their power seems, however, to have been Taramangalam where they have built a grant edifice of a temple. It is said their domination extended as far as Thalaivasal to the east, Dharapuram in Erode district in the west and Karur district in the south. The forts of greatest strategic importance held by the Gatti Mudaliars were Omalur and Attur. By about 1635 A.D., the Muslim Sultans of Bijapur and Golkonda made in roads into the south when the power of Tirumalai Nayak had wanted palacode area came under Bijapur. Meanwhile Kantirava narasa Raja of Serangapatnam took several places in Coimbatore from Gatti Mudaliars in 1641 A.D.