[tamil] Karaiyar/Karave
Subject:
[varalaaRu] Rajesh Kochar on my mail regarding
Karaiyar/Karave in Indology list
Date:
Wed, 10 Jan 2001 17:16:15 -0000
From:
"Raveen Satkurunathan" <cjep_sa@yahoo.com>
Reply-To:
varalaaRu@egroups.com
To:
varalaaRu@egroups.com
Rajesh Kochhar <rkk@NISTADS.RES.IN>
Subject: caste names/surnames
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Tendency to seek Sanskrit or scriptural origins for all names and
words should be resisted.Whole vocabulary and life style have existed
beyond the catchment area of texts. Even where textual origins are
possible, the tendency is to seek prestige-enhancing antecedents.
Surely origins of all castes and caste names cannot possibly be
source of pride to their current bearers. It is however rarely if
ever one comes across non-flattering etymology.
Rajesh Kochhar
(author of a recent book on Aryans, review can be found in the
Frontline magazine archives)
From: Raveen Satkurunathan <tawady@YAHOO.COM>
Subject: Re: Karave caste and Kurus
On Tue, 9 Jan 2001 18:28:48 +0000, N. Ganesan
<naga_ganesan@HOTMAIL.COM>
wrote:
>For the Sri Lankan caste name, Karava, please consider
>the tamil name kaLamar. (More on Jaffna naLavar,
>Kannada kaLabaru who were ruling TN their name
>sanskritized as Kalabhra, karunATu 'black country'
>(Cf nallamalai hills in AP where nalla = black
>and river Krishna) ..)
>
>BTW, karaiyar 'shore folk, fisherman' is different from
>karavar.
The equivalent Tamil caste name is Karaiyar (not Karavar, still
found in TN and Jaffna), it became Karava or Karave in Sinhalese via
Kaurava. (Karaiyar->Kaurava -> Karava ?) By the late 13th century in
Tamil Nadu Karaiyar had Sanskritized their name to Kaurava(r).
Similalrly Parathavar another fisher caste had Sanskritized its name
into Bharatha(r), all alluding North Indian 'Aryan' Kshatriya
ancestry. These castes always had a dominant element in them; there
were not all poor fisher folks. The fish 'mudalalis' (merchants) were
wily entrepreneurs who had made a lot of money in colonial period
trading. When these Karaiyar found themselves in Sri Lanka (just
before and after Portuguese colonial period) it was easy
for them to use the Kaurava `origin myth' to assimilate with the
dominant Indo-Aryan Sinhalese. Although "high" caste Sinhalese
Buddhist prelates still will not accept these caste members into
their Buddhist orders.
Some of the South Indian derived Karave, Salagama (cinnamon peelers)
and Durave (toddy tapers) were able to use the colonial education
system to become the new Sinhala elites. Thus began their `heavily
funded' effort to Arayanize them in local books and newspapers. There
are number of website dedicated to this caste myth.
For your reference try
Nobodies to Somebodies - The Rise of the Colonial Bourgeoisie in Sri
Lanka' by Kumari Jayawardena, 2000, Social Scientists' Association
and Sanjiva Books. ISBN 955-9102-26-5.
Caste Conflict and Elite Formation, The Rise of the Karava Elite in
Sri Lanka 1500 - 1931. Michael Roberts 1982, Cambridge, Cambridge
University Press. ISBN 81-7013-139-1
Social Change in Nineteenth Century Ceylon. Patrick Peebles. 1995,
Navrang ISBN 81-7013-141-3.
Following is a book written due to the `heavy' funding of the Karava
elites :-) But it is useful in understanding the caste myth.
The Karava of Ceylon - Society and Culture' M. D. Raghavan, Emeritus
Ethnologist, National Museums of Ceylon, K. V. G. de Silva 1961
.
For Tamil Nalavar of Sri Lanka it most probably have to be derived
from Sinhala Nahalava. They are the reverse of the Karave, Duarve and
Salagama. They are Sinhalese who have become Tamils over a period of
time.
Raveen
> In Dravidian, -m-/-v- does not become -y-.
>Dravidian makes skt svAmi as sAmi,sAvi, sOvi, sOmi
>but not sAyi. Saayi happens in the North India
>For example in Bengal gosAyi.
>
>That's why Gowda and foll. him, Emeneau's derivation
>of sAyaNa from sAyi utterly fanciful. It is much easier
>to get it from Dravidian words.
>
>Regards,
>N. Ganesan
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