Pattanavar

Pattanavar (also spelled Pattinavar) is a Tamil caste found in Tamil Nadu, India.

Pattanavar
ReligionsHinduism, Christianity
LanguagesTamil
Subdivisions[1]
  • Periya Pattanavar
  • Chinna Pattanavar
  • Karaiyar
  • Padaiyachi
Related groupsTamil people, Karaiyar, Karava

They are a maritime community dominating Chennai, Kanchipuram, Cuddalore, Villuppuram, Thanjavur and Nagapattinam districts of the Coromandel Coast, who have traditionally been involved in fishing, shipment, navy, and trade.[2][3][4]

Etymology

The term Pattanavar literally means inhabitant of a Pattinam. The term Pattinam means "sea-port town" which is often seen as a suffix among prominent harbors such as Nagapattinam, Kaveripoompattinam and Chennaipattinam.[5][6] They are among other divided as Periya Pattanavar and Chinna Pattanavar. The term Periya means "big" and the term Chinna means "small", where the Periya Pattanavar are considered socially superior to the Chinna Pattanavar.[7]

The Pattanavars are also colloquial known as Karaiyar in the Thanjavur district, which is also the term of one of the subcaste of the community.[4] Karaiyar means "coast people", which is also term for a dominant maritime caste in Sri Lanka.[8] The earliest mention of this term is made by 2nd century AD Greek writer Ptolemy, mentioning them with the corrupted term Kareois.[9] The subcaste's name Padaiyachi means literally "ruler of army".[10]

History

The Pattanavar are one of the communities who traditionally inhabited the Sangam landscape Neithal, the littoral landscape.[11] They have inhabited the Coromandel Coast since ancient times where they possess a strong system of self-governance.[12]

The Pattinavar merchants were organized in trader guilds such as the Five Hundred Lords of Ayyavolu and the Patinenvisayattar.[13][14] They were reputed for oversea trading with other South Asian countries. The Pattinavars served additionally as naval mercenaries under the Tamil kings.[15] According to some historians like Hermann Kulke, the Pattinavar community may have played a significant role in the organization and exploits of the Chola navy.[16]

Traditions

Governing systems

The Pattanavar possess a strong system of self-governance. Their Panchayati raj is controlled by their hereditary leaders known as Nattar.[17]

The Pattanavar follow a traditional system known as Padu.[18] The term Padu means "fishing ground" or "fishing site".[19] According to Matthew, the Padu system is a "traditional system of granting entitlements to eligible members of a particular community to undertake specific fishing activities in certain designated fishing grounds during specified seasons." The system is hereditary where only those of the Periya Pattanavar subcaste can participate.[20] The participants are granted the rights to use padu fishing gears which include beach seine and stake net. Fishing with gears unregulated by the Padu system are often methods of low yields.[21]

Subcastes

The Pattanavar are traditionally divided into endogamous subcastes which include the Periya Pattanavar, Chinna Pattanavar, Karaiyar and Padaiyachi. Both Karaiyar and Padaiyachi are traditionally considered subcastes of warrior heritage.[22] The Periya Pattanavar and the Chinna Pattanavar are said to share common ancestor.[4]

Titles

They use titles such as Chetty, Mudaliar, Pillai, Varunakula Mudali and Kurukulavamsam.[5][23] Their headmen were known as Yejaman and Nattamai.[24] The title Chetty, is a generic term used by several Tamil merchant groups.[25] The Pattanavars who used this title had politicoeconomic power, and gained wealth through maritime trade. Their village headmen were also known as Ūr Chettiar, where the main headman was known as Periya Chettiar and the assistant headman known as Chinna Chettiar.[26]

The Pattanavar have also been noted to have caste titles such as Varunakula mudali (Varuna clan headman) or Kurukula vamsam (Kuru clan lineage).[27] These titles are also shared with the Sinhalese Karava and Sri Lankan Tamil Karaiyar who share common origins.

See also

References
  1. Pārati, Paktavatcala (1999). Coromandel fishermen: an ethnography of Paṭṭaṇavar subcaste. Pondicherry Institute of Linguistics and Culture. p. 7. ISBN 9788185452098.
  2. Sudarsen, V.; Selvaraj, B.; Raj, A. Xavier (1995). Knowledge of the Sea: Some Maritime Communities in India. PPST Foundation. p. 4.
  3. Grewal, J. S.; Culture, Project of History of Indian Science, Philosophy, and (2005). The State and Society in Medieval India. Oxford University Press. p. 206. ISBN 9780195667202.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. Pārati, Paktavatcala (1999). Coromandel fishermen: an ethnography of Paṭṭaṇavar subcaste. Pondicherry Institute of Linguistics and Culture. p. 7. ISBN 9788185452098.
  5. Raghavan, M. D. (1971). Tamil culture in Ceylon: a general introduction. Kalai Nilayam. p. 141.
  6. Kōvintacāmi, Mu (1977). A Survey of the Sources for the History of Tamil Literature. Annamalai University. p. 93.
  7. Hollen, Cecilia Coale Van (1998). Birthing on the Threshold: Childbirth and Modernity Among Lower Class Women in Tamil Nadu, South India. University of California, Berkeley with the University of California, San Francisco. p. 23.
  8. Liebau, Heike (6 July 2017). Cultural Encounters in India: The Local Co-workers of Tranquebar Mission, 18th to 19th Centuries. Taylor & Francis. p. 485. ISBN 9781351470667.
  9. Arunachalam, S. (1952). The History of the Pearl Fishery of the Tamil Coast. Ananamalai University. p. 34.
  10. Ramasamy, K. (1978). Padayachi Dialect of Tamil. Annamalai University. pp. i.
  11. Pālaṉ, Je (1982). Caṅkaṟukkum enkaḷ kulam (in Tamil). Neytal Patippakam. p. 8.
  12. Bavinck, Maarten; Vivekanandan, Vriddagiri. "Qualities of self-governance and wellbeing in the fishing communities of northern Tamil Nadu, India - the role of Pattinavar ur panchayats". ResearchGate. Maritime Studies. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
  13. Subramanian, T.; Kannan, R.; Archaeology, Tamil Nadu (India) Dept of (2003). Tarangampadi (Tranquebar) excavation & conservation report, 2001-2002. Dept. of Archaeology, Govt. of Tamilnadu.
  14. Subbarayalu, Y. (2014). "Forms of labour in ancient and medieval South India (up to the thirteenth century)". Studies in People's History. 1 (2): 153–162. doi:10.1177/2348448914549896. S2CID 130462838.
  15. Pa., Balakrishnan. "Caṅka Kāla Neytal Nila Makkaḷiṉ Vāḻviyal Muṟaikaḷ (சங்க கால நெய்தல் நில மக்களின் வாழ்வியல் முறைகள்)" (PDF). Caṅka Ilakkiyattil Neytal Nilapapṇpum Nākarīkamum (சங்க இலக்கியத்தில் நெய்தல் நிலபப்ண்பும் நாகரீகமும்) (in Tamil). Manonmaniam Sundaranar University. 4 – via Sodhganga. பட்டினவர் தொழில்களாக கடல் ஓடுதல், கடல் வாணிபம் செய்தல், கடற்படை வீரர்களாக அரசபடைகளில் வணிக கணங்களின் கடற்படையில் பணி செய்தார்கள்: The Pattinavar were occupied in seafaring, maritime trade and were naval mercenaries of imperial armies.
  16. Hermann Kulke, K Kesavapany, Vijay Sakhuja. Nagapattinam to Suvarnadwipa: Reflections on the Chola Naval Expeditions to Southeast Asia. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2009. pp. 92–93.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  17. "Qualities of self-governance and wellbeing in the fishing communities of northern Tamil Nadu, India - the role of Pattinavar ur panchayats". ResearchGate. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
  18. Traditional Marine Tenure and Sustainable Management of Marine Resources in Asia and the Pacific: Proceedings of the International Workshop, 4th-8th July, 1994. International Ocean Institute - South Pacific. 1 January 1994. p. 29. ISBN 9789820102415.
  19. Journal of the Inland Fisheries Society of India. Inland Fisheries Society of India. The Society. 1970. p. 13.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  20. Mathew, Sebastian; Nations, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United (1991). Study of territorial use rights in small-scale fisheries: traditional systems of fisheries management in Pulicat Lake, Tamil Nadu, India. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. pp. 5–8.
  21. Coulthard, Sarah (2006). "Survival of the Commons: Mounting Challenges and New Realities, the Eleventh Conference of the International Association for the Study of Common Property". Digital Library Of the Commons. Indiana University.
  22. Gandhi, Kanchan (2011). "IDENTITY POLITICS, POWER AND RESISTANCE IN DISASTER RESPONSE: A CASE STUDY OF THE 2004 TSUNAMI RELIEF, REHABILITATION AND RECOVERY IN TAMIL NADU". ResearchGate. Department of Geography: National University of Singapore.
  23. Pandian, Jacob (1983). "Political Emblems of Caste Identity: An Interpretation of Tamil Caste Titles". Anthropological Quarterly. 56 (4): 190–197. doi:10.2307/3317621. JSTOR 3317621.
  24. "Pattanavars" (PDF). Indian Fisheries. International Collective in Support of Fishworkers.
  25. Population Review. Indian Institute for Population Studies. 1975. p. 26.
  26. Pandian, Jacob (1983). "Political Emblems of Caste Identity: An Interpretation of Tamil Caste Titles". Anthropological Quarterly. 56 (4): 190–197. doi:10.2307/3317621. JSTOR 3317621.
  27. Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Vol. 6 of 7, Edgar Thurston https://www.gutenberg.org/files/42996/42996-h/42996-h.htm#pl6-185
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