Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Vol. 6 of 7Thurston, Edgar
History
Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Vol. 6 of 7
Thurston, Edgar
Caste -- India, South; Ethnology -- India, South; India, South -- Social life and customs; Tribes -- India, South
being a Tamil, and the latter a Sanskrit word. Nadan, on the other
hand, means a man who lives in the country, as opposed to Uran, the
man who resides in a village. The title of the caste is Nadan, and
it seems most probable that it refers to the fact that the Iluvan
ancestors of the caste lived outside the villages. (South Indian
Inscriptions, vol. II, part 1.) But, even if Nadan and Gramani both
mean rulers, it does not give those who bear these titles any claim
to be Kshatriyas. If it did, all the descendants of the many South
Indian Poligars, or petty chiefs, would be Kshatriyas."
The Census Superintendent, 1891, states that the "Shanans are in
social position usually placed only a little above the Pallas and
the Paraiyans, and are considered to be one of the polluting castes,
but of late many of them have put forward a claim to be considered
Kshatriyas, and at least 24,000 of them appear as Kshatriyas in the
caste tables. This is, of course, absurd, as there is no such thing as
a Dravidian Kshatriya. But it is by no means certain that the Shanans
were not at one time a warlike tribe, for we find traces of a military
occupation among several toddy-drawing castes of the south, such
as the Billavas (bowmen), Halepaik (old foot soldiers), Kumarapaik
(junior foot). Even the Kadamba kings of Mysore are said to have
been toddy-drawers. 'The Kadamba tree appears to be one of the palms,
from which toddy is extracted. Toddy-drawing is the special occupation
of the several primitive tribes spread over the south-west of India,
and bearing different names in various parts. They were employed by
former rulers as foot-soldiers and bodyguards, being noted for their
fidelity. [168]' The word Shanan is ordinarily derived from Tamil saru,
meaning toddy; but a learned missionary derives it from san (a span)
and nar (fibre or string), that is the noose, one span in length,
used by the Shanans in climbing palm-trees." The latter derivation
is also given by Vellalas.
It is worthy of note that the Tiyans, or Malabar toddy-drawers,
address one another, and are addressed by the lower classes as Shener,
which is probably another form of Shanar. [169]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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