Thandan (surname)

Thandan (also known as Thiyya Thandan) is the honorary title given to the headman of the mainly Thiyya community people in Palakkad, Thrissur district, who reside in the Indian State of Kerala.[1][2][3][4] Thandan is the hereditary headman of a Thiyyar tara (village) and is a Thiyya by caste. He is appointed by the senior Rani of the Zamorin's family or by a local Raja in territories outside the Zamorin's jurisdiction.[5] Thandan becomes the jenmi of the dhesam or dhesavazhi.[6] They are designated as Other Backward Classes by the Government of Kerala as per anthropological studies conducted by the Kerala Institute of Research, and Development Studies.[7]

This article is about the Thiyya caste. For the synonym for some members of the Ezhava caste, see Ezhava.

Status

Thandan was the most commonly-used title to represent the highest privilege among the Thiyyar of the Malabar area. The most notable Thiyyar of the Malabars received the title as Thandan for their service to the state either in the administration of Malabar district.[8] The Thandan, the privileged Thiyyar-Karanavar in a dhesam has to carry out the instructions of the politically powerful. He was powerful enough to rule the caste people in his area. In Malabar, the smallest political unit is known as thara. The head of the thara is known as tharayil karanavar, "The one who got privilege from the king."[9]

1. According to Historian A.K.iyer, "Thandan.-Thiyya like the Nayars receive titles from the rulers of the State. That of thandan is purchasable and gives a person the right to be the headman of the caste in his village. He can wear a gold knife and style, may walk before a Nayar with a cloth on his head, ride on a palaquin or a horse, carry a silk umbrella and have a brass lamp borne before him. For each of these privileges he pays separately a tax to the Sircar. Any person using these privileges unauthorised lays himself opeh to a penalty. A Thandan cannot go for cooly work such as ploughing and gathering cocoanuts: Below him there is an inferior officer who is called a Ponamban. Thus in Cochin it is a title pos- Beseed by the headman of the caste, while in the Valluvanad Taluk, the name is applied to a sub-caste. Habits.-Their habits are settled and they are found in all parts of the State. Houses.- The poorer classes of people live in huts with mud walls and thatched roofs, with a room or two and a verandah either in front or all around, while the richer people have their houses like those, of the Nayars".[10]

2. According to F.Fawcett, "headman of the Tiyans called the " Tandan," comes to the temple followed by two of his caste- men carrying slung on a pole over their shoulders three bunches of young cocoanuts, an appropriate offering, This time there will be loud drumming and a large crowd with the Tandan, and in front of him are men dancing about, imitating sword play with sticks and shields, clanging the shields, palling at bows as if firing off imaginary arrows, the while shouting and yelling madly. The sticks represent swords".[11]

See also

References
  1. Herman Gundert (1872). Kerala Sahitya Malayalam English Dictionary.
  2. Singh, Kumar Suresh (1998). India's Communities: H - M. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-563354-2.
  3. Greece), Peter (Prince of (1963). A Study of Polyandry. Mouton.
  4. L.K.Ananda Krishna Iyer (1969). Cochin Tribes and Castes Vol.1. Johnson reprint Corporation. p. 305.
  5. Thurston, Edgar; Rangachari, K. (1909). Castes and tribes of southern India. University of California Libraries. Madras : Government Press. p. 12.
  6. Kerala (India) (1962). Kerala District Gazetteers: Mapappuram. Superintendent of Government Presses. p. 66.
  7. "Standing Committee on Social Justice and Empowerment (2006-2007)" (PDF). p. 13.
  8. Journal of Kerala Studies. University of Kerala. 2009. p. 203, 205.
  9. Journal of Kerala Studies. University of Kerala. 2009. p. 205.
  10. L.K.Ananda Krishna Iyer (1969). Cochin Tribes and Castes Vol.1. Johnson reprint Corporation. p. 305.
  11. F.Fawcett (2004). Nayar of Malabar, Vol.3 issue of Bulletin of Madras Government Museum. Asian education service. p. 257. ISBN 9788120601710.
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