Sengunthar

Sengunthar
Classification Tamil people
Gotra Upa Subramanya, Nandhi
Religions Hinduism
Languages Tamil
Populated states Tamil Nadu

Sengunthar ([sɛŋkʊnʈɻ]), also known as the Kaikolar and Sengunthar Mudaliyar,[1] is a Tamil community found in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and also in some parts of Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Northern Province, Sri Lanka. They are classified into various sub-sects based on a patrilineal system called Koottams, which is similar to gotras.

Etymology

  • The ancient occupational name of Kaikkolar comes from the words kai (hand) and kol (a shuttle used in looms). The appended -ar means people.[2]
  • Kaikkolar also means men with stronger arms.[3][4]
  • Sengunthar means a red spear people, which the community believes connects them to the god Murugan, who is known as a red god. They believe that the original nine Kaikolars served in an army fighting on behalf of Murugan and that they descend from these nine people.[2]

History

Chola period

The earliest literary evidence about Sengunthar occurs in Adhi Diwakaram, a Tamil lexicon written by Sendan Diwakarar. This dictionary, probably from the 8th CE is thought to refer to them as weavers and army commanders, which may be indicative of their dual role in society at that time.[5]

Inscriptions from the 11th century suggest that by the time of the Chola dynasty, the Sengunthar had already developed its involvement in weaving and trading, together with a role in military matters that was probably necessary to protect those interests. They were a part of the Ayyavole 500 trading group during the Chola period and there are also references in the 12th century that suggest they had armies and that some specific people were assigned to act as bodyguards for the Chola emperors. Such historical records emphasise their military function, with the poet Ottakoothar glorifying them and suggesting that their origins lay with the armies of the gods.[6]

In the army of the medieval and later Cholas, many commanders and captains were drawn from their ranks. Further records of exploits of Sengunthar army in Ceylon, Bengal, Burma and Indonesia were recorded in temple inscriptions.[7][8]

Sengunthars soldiers in the regiment of Paluvettaraiyar and were involved in the invasion of Sri Lanka by Cholas in the 10th century.[9]

Some were chieftains and commanders-in-chief of the later Cholas. Kaikkolar commanders-in-chief were known as Samanta Senapathigal[10] or Senaithalaivar.[11][12][13]

Later society

After the 13th century, Sengunthars became associated with weaving completely.[7][8][14] According to Deepak Kumar, the Sengunthar weavers very often figure in the capacity of kudi, i.e. tenant-cultivators and also holders of kaniyachi, that is hereditary possession over the land.[15] During the period of Sadasiva raya, the sthanathar of the Brahmapuriswara temple made an agreement that they would cultivate certain lands of the Kaikkolar regiment.[7][15]

According to Himanshu Prabha Ray, in 1418 in Tiruvannamalai, Sengunthars were given the right to blow the conch, ride palanquins and elephants and wave the temple fly whisk.[16]

Traditions and festivals

Sengunthar Shaivite priests are vegetarian, wear the sacred thread, and shave their foreheads in the Brahmanic fashion. Both alcoholic and sexual abstinence are valued, as is control of the passions. But when they are concerned with the sacred locus of the interior, meat eating, blood sacrifice, spirit possession, and the worship of small gods are all prominent. Sengunthars thus follow both a priestly model and a Dravidian tradition.[17]

Sura samharam

The Sura Samharam festival is a traditional ritual where the Sengunthars dress as the lieutenants of Karthikeya and re-enact the killing of the demon Suran.[18]

Literary references

  • Senguntha Prabanda Thiratu[19] is a collection of various literary works written about Kaikkolars. It was originally published by Vannakkalanjiyam Kanji Shri Naagalinga Munivar in 1926 and republished in 1993 by Sabapathi Mudaliar.[20] The collection contains:
  • Senkunthar Pillai Tamizh by Gnanaprakasa Swamigal, Tirisirapuram Kovintha Pillai and Lakkumanaswami. A collection of songs about the Sungunthars, taken from palm-leaf manuscripts, that was first published in the 18th century in Kanchipuram
  • Eetti Ezhubathu, the major literary work about the Sengunthars. It comprises poetry by Ottakkoothar written in the 12th century CE during the reign of Rajaraja Chola II. It describes the mythical origin of Sengunthar, expeditions of Sengunthar chieftains and also praises the 1008 Kaikolar who were beheaded trying to enable it to be written.[21]
  • Ezhupezhubathu, a sequel to Eetti Ezhubathu written by Ottakkoothar. In this work, he prays the goddess Saraswathi to reattach the heads of the 1008 Sengunthars to their respective bodies.
  • Kalipporubathu, a collection of ten stanzas compiled by Kulothunga Chola III. These stanzas were written after Ezhupezhubathu to express joy when the 1008 heads were reattached. These stanzas include the songs who witnessed it in the court of Raja Raja II including himself which was later compiled by his successor Kulothunga Chozha III
  • Thirukkai Vazhakkam, which describes the good deeds of Sengunthars and their Saivite religious principles. It was written by Puhalendi.
  • Sengunthar Silaakkiyar Malai was written by Kanchi Virabadhra Desigar. It describes the legends and eminent personalities of the Sengunthar community.

Notable people

References

  1. ↑ Mines, Mattison (1984). The Warrior Merchants: Textiles, Trade and Territory in South India. Cambridge University Press. p. 15. ISBN 9780521267144.
  2. 1 2 Mines, Mattison (1984). The Warrior Merchants: Textiles, Trade and Territory in South India. Cambridge University Press. pp. 54–55. ISBN 978-0-52126-714-4.
  3. ↑ Sen, Sailendra Nath (1999). Ancient Indian History and Civilization. New Age International. ISBN 978-8-12241-198-0.
  4. ↑ Religion and Society in South India: a volume in honour of Prof. N. Subba Reddy, V. Sudarsen, G. Prakash Reddy, M. Suryanarayana.
  5. ↑ Ramaswamy, Vijaya (1985). Textiles and Weavers in Medieval South India. Oxford University Press. p. 15.
  6. ↑ Sinopoli, Carla M. (2003). The Political Economy of Craft Production: Crafting Empire in South India, c.1350–1650. Cambridge University Press. p. 188. ISBN 9781139440745.
  7. 1 2 3 Ramaswamy, Vijaya (1985). Textiles and weavers in medieval South India. Oxford University Press.
  8. 1 2 Mines, Mattison (1984). The Warrior Merchants: Textiles, Trade and Territory in South India. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521267144.
  9. ↑ Historical perspectives of warfare in India: some morale and matériel determinants By Sri Nandan Prasad, Centre for Studies in Civilizations (Delhi, India)
  10. ↑ Manickam, V. Kongu Nadu, a history up to A.D. 1400.
  11. ↑ Ramaswamy, Vijaya (1985). Textiles and weavers in medieval South India. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 4 December 2011.
  12. ↑ Kongu Nadu, a history up to A.D. 1400. 1 January 2000. Retrieved 4 December 2011.
  13. ↑ The Pandyan Townships: The Pandyan ... – R. Tirumalai, Tamil Nadu (India). Dept. of Archaeology. Google Books. 2 September 2008. Retrieved 4 December 2011.
  14. ↑ de Neve, Geert (2005). The Everyday Politics of Labour: Working Lives in India's Informal Economy. Berghahn Books. ISBN 9788187358183.
  15. 1 2 Science and Empire: Essays in Indian Context, 1700–1947 By Deepak Kumar
  16. ↑ Ray, Himanshu Prabha (2004). "Far-flung fabrics - Indian textiles in ancient maritime trade". In Barnes, Ruth. Textiles in Indian Ocean Societies. Routledge. p. 27. ISBN 978-1-13443-040-6.
  17. ↑ Mines, Mattison (August 1982). "Models of Caste and the Left-Hand Division in South India". American Ethnologist. 9 (3). JSTOR 643998. (Subscription required (help)).
  18. ↑ Weaver Folk Traditions as a Source of History, Vijaya Ramaswamy, Indian Economic & Social History Review, Vol. 19, No. 1, 47–62 (1982), http://ier.sagepub.com/cgi/content/citation/19/1/47?ck=nck
  19. ↑ "Senguntha Prabandha Thiratu". Archive.org. Retrieved 4 December 2011.
  20. ↑ The Indian Economic and Social History Review-Delhi School of Economics. Vikas Publishing House. 1982.
  21. ↑ Tamil literature – Kamil Zvelebil. Retrieved 4 December 2011.

Further reading

  • Irschick, Eugene F. (1986). Tamil revivalism in the 1930s.
  • Irschick, Eugene F. (1994). Dialogue and History: Constructing South India, 1795-1895. University of California Press. ISBN 9780520914322.
  • Lucassen, Jan; Lucassen, Leo (2014). Globalising Migration History: The Eurasian Experience. BRILL. ISBN 978-9-00427-136-4.
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