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Vadama

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Harishsubramanian (talk | contribs) at 03:32, 12 October 2009 (I am removing thsi 16 century term, because I personally belong to the same clan, a clan from appayya dikshithar , their full family tree indicates that they must have been in tamil nadu since 14 cen.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Vadama
வடமா
File:Dikshitar.png
File:S. Subramania Iyer.gif
Sir C. P. Ramaswami Iyer · Muthuswami Dikshitar
Sir S. Subramania Iyer · V. V. S. Iyer
Regions with significant populations
Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh
Languages
Brahmin Tamil
Religion
Hinduism
Related ethnic groups
Iyer, Vadagalai Iyengar, Tamil people

Vadama (Template:Lang-ta) meaning "Northerners" are a sub-sect of the Iyer community of Tamil Brahmins. While some believe that their name is an indication of the fact that they were the most recent Brahmin migrants to the Tamil country others interpret the usage of the term "Vadama" as a reference to their strict adherence to the Sanskrit language and Vedic rituals which are of northerly origin. Like other Iyer communities, they follow the Advaita philophy propounded by Adi Shankara. A significant proportion of the Vadama community converted to Vaishnavism, and are thus believed to have given rise to the Vadagalai Iyengar community, though it may be possible that some vadamas are also part of Thenkalai Iyengar community [1]

The oldest historical references to Vadamas date from the first millennium A.D. A large number of Vadamas migrated to Kerala during the medieval period, so that Vadamas along with the Brahacharnam form the majority of the Kerala Iyer community. A section of the Vadama community also migrated north to the Telugu country and Maharashtra where they were known as "Dravidas".

Vadamas have a military tradition unlike other Iyer communities. They are believed to have been the protectors of Brahmin villages or agraharams and served as administrators and advisors to Tamil and Telugu kings during the medieval and early modern period.

Etymology of the term

The term Vadama may have originated from the Tamil term 'Vadakku' meaning North, indicating the Northern origin of the Vadama Brahmins[2]. This claim is supported by the fact that, unlike other subsects of Iyers, some Vadama pay oblations in their daily Sandhyavandanam to the river Narmada in Central India.[3]. It is not certain is whether 'North' refers to northern Tamil Nadu/Southern Deccan, or regions further north. Other scholars are of the opinion that rather than the superficial indication of a northern origin for the people, the term "vadama" would rather refer to proficiency in Sanskrit and Vedic ritual, associated with the north prior to the first millennium.[4][5]

Relatives and family members of C. P. Ramaswami Iyer, a Vadadesa Vadama, believed that they were descended from Deshastha Brahmins of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh who migrated to Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh from where they migrated to the northern part of Tamil Nadu where they were granted the village of Chetpet by a local chieftain.[6]

Sub-categories

Vadamas are further sub-divided into five categories

  • Vadadesa Vadama (Vadamas of the northern country)[7]
  • Choladesa Vadama[8][9](Vadamas of the Chola country)[7]
  • Sabhaiyar(member of the conference (Sabha))[7]
  • Injee[5][7] and
  • Thummagunta Dravida.[7]

Intermarriage with other Iyer sects has been increasing in recent times, while earlier, most marriages were arranged only within the same subsect of Vadama. Such a degree of exclusion has become rather uncommon now. Exceptions did exist, such as the marriage of Kurratalwan's sons(Considered to be Vadama followers of Sri Vaishnavism), which took place outside the Vadama fold. [10]

History

Some historians hold that all Brahmins who migrated to the far-south during and after the age of the Gupta Emperors, came to be classified as Vadama.[11]

First Millennium A.D.

There is a perception that some Kashmir-linked Vadama settled in Tirunelveli between 750 and 800 AD. This has been suggested based on an inscription at the temple of Tiruvalishvaram one of the earliest Nataraja temples in South India[citation needed]. An interesting fact corroborating this migration may be had from the treatise called Natyashastra written by Bharata Muni, held by some to have been from Kashmir and by others to be from the south, formed the basis of the dance-form Bharatanatyam which is particularly associated with Tamil Nadu[12].Art Historians such as Vasundhara Filliozat claim that there are inscriptional evidences to prove the continuous migration of teachers from Kashmir to South[12]. Such scholars also state that some other South Indian Saivaite and Tantric traditions were also introduced by teachers from Kashmir.[12]

It appears that the Sabhaiyar group of the Vadama, were present in the Chola Empire in the ninth century, since the grant of the entire village of Chirri[dai]yarru excluding the kani of Samgappadi-kilan was made to the temple of Mahadeva at Tirumalpperu as a tax-free devadana in the 21st year (892 A.D) of the reign of Chola Aditya I and the administration of the charity was entrusted to the sabhaiyar of Puduppakkam in Purisanadu.[13]

Second Millennium A.D.

11th to the 14th Century A.D.

The Srivaishnava hold that their guru Ramanujacharya, born in the first quarter of the eleventh century[14], was a Vadama by birth. It appears from his hagiography, that his family had settled at Sriperumbudur and that he had his early philosophical training at Kanchipuram. This may be indicative of a Vadama presence in the Tondaimandalam by that period.

14th and 15th Centuries A.D.

Instability prevailed in Peninsular India in the aftermath of the defeat of the Yadavas of Deogiri and Kakatiyas of Warangal in the early fourteenth century by the Tughlaqs. In response to the Moslem irruptions the Kingdom of Vijayanagar was founded in 1336, and came to be locked in an existential struggle with the Bahmani Sultanate from 1347 to 1490, when the Moslem state broke up. This early period was marked by much strife, especially in the jehads of Taj-ud-din Firuz Shah (1397-1422) and his brother Ahmad Shah I Wali (1422-1435), when thousands of Hindus, especially Brahmins, were enslaved and temples of the northern Deccan desecrated.[14] The oppression was also felt in the eastern peninsula as far as the Gajapati Kingdom where, for instance in 1478, Muhammad Shah III Lashkari (1463-1482) demolished the Great Temple of Kondavidu and was acclaimed as a ghazi, for personally decapitating all the Brahmins.[14] Such excesses induced Brahmins to seek refuge in the realms of Vijayanagar, where many were appointed karnams (bailiffs) in preference to other castes, from the reign of Harihara I (1336-1357) onward. [14] It may be noted in this context that the Vadama are traditionally held to have been administrators and warriors amongst the Iyers.

A tradition from Kerala holds that the Vadama amongst the Palghat Iyers came in fleeing the destruction created by the armies of Alauddin Khilji, and directly settled in Kerala, rather than taking the more common, albeit more circuitous, route of most Palghat Iyers, of sojourning in the Tanjore and Madurai areas before migrating there.[citation needed] This might, perhaps, be on account of the Sultan's armies taking the route to, and reaching Madurai, before turning back north by way of Trichinopoly. It is also noteworthy to observe that the Tugluq armies, which followed the route of the Khilji invasions, succeeded in setting up the short-lived Madurai Sultanate, in the early 14th century, thus giving additional reason for Hindus to avoid Madurai. However, since most Kerala Iyers migrated from different regions of modern Tamil Nadu into Kerala in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries in the reign of the Kerala Varmans and many Palghat Vadama trace their origin to the same families and villages as many Tanjore Vadama, the origins of this tradition are uncertain.

Early 16th Century A.D.

After the division of the Bahmani Sultanate in 1490, into the Sultanates of Bijapur, Golconda, Ahmadnagar and Berar, the armies of Vijayanagar were successful in fending of invasions and restricting the Sultanates to Central India, especially in the reign of Krishnadeva Raya (1509-1529), who also began the practice of appointing Brahmins commanders of strategically important forts.[14] This historical fact needs to be noted keeping in mind the martial tradition of the Vadama.

16th and 17th Centuries A.D.

Relative peace prevailed until the Battle of Talikota, in 1565, when Rama Raya of Vijayanagar was killed and the capital city razed to the ground. The land, in addition to being plundered by the combined armies of the Sultanates, came to be oppressed by renegade polygars and bandits whose rise commenced with the destruction of the central power.[14] The Mogul invasion of Peninsular India and the depredations of the Deccan by the Mahrattas under Shivaji also began early in the seventeenth century.

A combination of these belligerent powers and the desolation they helped create appears to have made the relative peace offered in the far south of the country under the Hindu kings of Travancore, Madurai, Tanjore and Mysore, far more desirable and induced many Hindus to migrate there. A fact supporting this idea, we have from English chroniclers in the 1600s, who state that their procurement of goods along the Western Concan and Canara coasts, suffered severely after the Mogul invasions and the mass depopulation of the peninsula they caused [15]. Another statement often encountered in their annals is that the economic growth of the factory at Fort St. George, Madras was in a large measure attributable to the fact that many people chose to settle there to escape the chaotic conditions farther north [15]. When we consider, in conjunction with these two facts, Fort St. George's position as a newly-established, well-fortified and growing settlement in Aurangzeb's time, and therefore a secure refuge, a mass exodus southwards seems to have occurred in the period in question.

According to some traditions, a large number of Dikshits from Thrayambak (near Nasik) on the banks of the river Godavari fled Thrayambak in the face of Muslim raids and found refuge with the Vijayanagar kings. They then migrated further south, receiving the patronage of the rulers of Kancheepuram and Vellore. When Nilakanta Dikshitar was gifted Paalaamadai and other villages by Thirumala Naick of Madurai, he is said to have invited his kin to share his gift. Most of the Vadadesa Vadamas of Tirunelveli trace their origins to the two families of Nilakanta Dikshitar and Srinivasa Dikshitar. These families migrated to other villages in the course of time and are found in large numbers in Kadayam, Gangaikondan, Cheranmahadevi, Pathamadai, Paalaamadai and Tharuvai amongst several others. [citation needed]

Interestingly, some Vadama invidividuals who migrated to what are today Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh in the 17th century called themselves Dravida Brahmins.[16]

17th Century A.D. to the Present

During the 19th century, the Vadamas along with other Tamil Brahmins made ample use of the opportunities provided by British rule to dominate the civil services, legislature and the judiciary in the Madras Presidency. The most prominent of the intelllectuals of the period was Sir C. P. Ramaswamy Iyer who served as the Diwan of Travancore from 1936 to 1947. Throughout the second half of the 19th century and the early 20th century there was intense political rivalry between the Vadamas and the Brahacharanams for the domination of Brahmin villages called agraharams. [17]

Further information: Aaraama Dravidulu and Ashtagrama Iyer

Iyengar communities

The Vaishnavite spiritual leader Ramanuja is generally believed to have been born, a Vadama. Vadamas have adopted Vaishnavism in large numbers and form a substantial portion of the Vadakalai Iyengar community.[18][7][19][20] The mass adoption of Vaishnavism by Vaishnavism by Vadamas has given rise to the saying "Vadamam muthi Vaishnavam" or a "Vadama ripens into a Vaishnava".[7] Edgar Thurston recounts at the beginning of the 20th century, the widespread prevalence of inter-marriage between Vaishnavite converts from the Thummagunta Dravida sub-group and Smartha girls from the same sub-sect.[20] Thurston also recounts that Vadamas often observed death pollution in some Vaishnavite families and vice versa.[7][20]

Gurukkal Brahmins

Some of the Gurukkal in temples in Tamil Nadu, are Vadama, though not recognised as such by the community, since they have certain practices that are prohibited for the Vadama.[5]

There is also evidence that some South Indian brahmins settled in Kashmir. The actual sect of their origin is not known. [21]

Aarama Dravidulu

There is a perception that some Aarama Dravidulu Brahmins of Andhra Pradesh hold that their ancestors migrated in the 13th and 14th centuries, from Saurashtra to the banks of the River Cauvery in Tamil Nadu, whence some of them migrated to Andhra Pradesh, by all accounts before the 18th century. [22]

Traditional occupation

They are held to have been the land-lords and head-men of the Brahmin villages called agraharams[23]. They may also have organised the agraharams' defence in turbulent times[23]. A proverb still prevalent amongst the Aiyers indicating the supposed short-temper of Vadama Brahmins, may be indicative of their martial past.[citation needed] They were among the Brahmin nobles and administrators under the Nayaka, Travancore and Vijayanagar rulers. Administrative practices adopted by them were strictly in accordance with those prescribed in the Hindu Dharma-Shastras, as may be observed from the records of the kings themselves and the writings of travellers, most prominently Ibn Battuta and Jean-Baptiste Tavernier.

But, as with other Brahmins, their primary duties were to study the Vedas, teach them and perform the ceremonies they entailed. The vast majority of them, until the nineteenth century, were household priests with some even being temple-priests, particularly in Travancore.

Many were great scholars and served in the courts of kings. Nilakanta Dikshitar was a minister to Thirumalai Naick of Madurai. Sri Visakam Thirunal Rama Varma of Travancore had several Vadama in his court as Tharka Sastrys, whose duty was to advise the king.[citation needed]

In the nineteenth century, as with other Iyers, many of the Vadama joined, the judiciary of British India as lawyers and judges, or served in the Indian Civil and Revenue Services. Many others continued in the service of the kings of the princely states of Travancore, Mysore, Pudukottai, and Ramnad.[24]

Religious practices

While the religious rituals of the Vadama are, in almost all respects, identical with those of other Iyers, there are a few minor deviations from them. One of these lies in the practice of some men applying Gopi Chandanam, an yellow pigment of mineral origin similar in appearance to that obtained from sandalwood, on the forehead, instead of Vibhuthi. However, there were some others like Appayya Dikshitar's family who applied only Vibhuti, being staunch devotees of Shiva. While it was more common in former times, the use of Gopi Chandanam continues, being replaced by Vibhuthi otherwise.

The Vadama traditionally claim to be superior to other classes of Iyers[25]. However it was not uncommon for other brahmin sects to talk proudly about their own superiority. One ritualistic difference from other Iyers, arises in their having to recite the following verse in honour of the River Narmada, and to ward of serpents, as part of their Sandhyavandanam:

Narmadayai namah pratah Narmadayai namo nisi Namostu Narmade tubhyam pahi mam visa-sarpatah[26]

Also, in some parts of Kerala, as Nambudiri Brahmacharis were not commonly found[27], a Brahmachari belonging to the Vadadesa Vadama was required to pour water into the hands of a Nambudiri sanyasi as part of the rituals connected with the latter's breakfast.[28]

List of Vadamas

Notes

  1. ^ "Rural Society in Southeast India", Kathleen Gough, Cambridge University Press, 1982
  2. ^ "South Indian Studies", Harogadde Manappa Nayak, Balakrishnan Raja Gopal, T. V. Mahalingam, Geetha Book House, 1990
  3. ^ "Journal of the Asiatic Society", India Asiatic Society, 1832
  4. ^ "Peasant state and society in medieval South India", Burton Stein, Oxford University Press, 1980
  5. ^ a b c All About Hinduism
  6. ^ Sir C. P. Remembered, Pg 7
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Pg 334
  8. ^ "Caste in Indian Politics", R. Kothari, Orient Longman, 2004
  9. ^ "Inequality and Its Perpetuation: A Theory of Social Stratification", Victor Salvadore D' Souza, University of California Press, 1981
  10. ^ Srivaishnavism
  11. ^ "History of Tamilnad", N. Subrahmanian, Koodal Publishers, Tamil Nadu, 1977
  12. ^ a b c Art and Culture in Ancient Kashmir
  13. ^ What Is India News Service
  14. ^ a b c d e f 'A History of South India from Pre-historic Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar', K. A. Nilakanta Sastri, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 1975
  15. ^ a b "A New Account of the East Indies", Captain Alexander Hamilton, published 1739, A. Bettesworth and C. Hitch, London
  16. ^ "Rahul Dravid - A Biography", Vedam Jaishankar (ISBN 817476481X). Publisher: UBSPD Publications, January 2004
  17. ^ R. Jayaraman (1981). Caste and class: dynamics of inequality in Indian society. p. 89.
  18. ^ "Rural Society in Southeast India", Kathleen Gough, Cambridge University Press, 1982
  19. ^ Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Pg 348
  20. ^ a b c Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Pg 349
  21. ^ http://vitasta.org/2001/1.6.html This website references Kalhana's Rajatarangini which says that some Dravid Brahmins were settled at Sempora when Raja Jaya Simha (1128-1149) ruled over Kashmir
  22. ^ http://www.vepachedu.org/manasanskriti/aaraamadraavida.html This reference quotes "Aaraamadraavida Vamsacharitra," written (1935) by Anantapadmanaabham Dvivedula (1888-1947), published by Venkataramarao Dvivedula, Samkhavaram, Andhra Pradesh - 533446.
  23. ^ a b "Journal of the Andhra Historical Society", Andhra Historical Research Society, Rajahmundry, Madras Presidency, 1929
  24. ^ "From Landlords to Software Engineers: Migration and Urbanization among Tamil Brahmans", C. J. Fuller and Haripriya Narasimhan, London School of Economics and Political Science, 2008
  25. ^ "Tanjore District Handbook", Madras Record Office, Madras, India, 1957
  26. ^ Vedic Vocalisation and the Regional Languages from the Chapter "Siksa", in Hindu Dharma : kamakoti.org:
  27. ^ Frequently Asked Questions
  28. ^ "Castes and Tribes of South India", Edgar Thurston and K. Rangachari, Government Press, 1909
  29. ^ "Indian Music", Bigamudre Chaitanya Deva, Indian Council for Cultural Relations, 1974
  30. ^ "Facets of Indian Culture", Ramanuja Srinivasan, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, 1962
  31. ^ "A Dictionary of South Indian Music and Musicians", P. Sambamoorthy, Indian Publishing House, 1952
  32. ^ "Studies in Arts and Sciences", S. Thiruvenkatachari, Ram Bros., 1978
  33. ^ "Bharati and the Fine Arts", T. S. Parthasarathy, publ. in "Shanmukha", 1982
  34. ^ "Sri Krishna Leela Tarangini" by Nārāyaṇatīrtha, Balasubrahmanya Natarajan, Balasubrahmanyam Venkataraman, Balasubrahmanyan Ramachandran, Mudgala Trust, 1990
  35. ^ Ramanuja
  36. ^ a b "History of Sri Vaishnavism in the Tamil Country: Post-Ramanuja", N. Jagadeesan, Koodal Publishers, 1977
  37. ^ A Kali Yuga woman saint
  38. ^ 'Sri Appayya Dikshita', N. Ramesan, Srimad Appayya Dikshitendra Granthavaliu Prakashana Samithi, Hyderabad, India, 1972
  39. ^ http://kalviviswam.org/kalpathy/Publication1_files/page0002.htm
  40. ^ Autobiography of Swami Sivananda
  41. ^ "Poll Pourri". The Hindu. April 25, 2006.
  42. ^ "Kola Iyers".

References

  • Thurston, Edgar (1909). Castes and Tribes of Southern India Volume I - A and B. Madras: Government Press. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  • Shakunthala Jagannathan (1999). Sir C. P. Remembered. Vakils, Feffer and Simmons Ltd. ISBN 81-87111-27-5.

See also

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