Karaiyar

Karaiyar, also known as Karayar, Karaiar or Kurukulam is a sea-faring and warrior caste found in the Tamil Nadu state of India and coastal areas of Sri Lanka.Template:Sri Lankan Tamil people

Origins

The Karaiyar, along with Mukkuvar and Paravar are one of the oldest inhabitants of the coastal region of Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka. They are predominantly found in the coastal area known as Coromandal coast. These three sea-faring related social groups are regionally distributed, with each group dominating a certain coastal belt. Sea-faring activities includes trading and marine activities such as coastal fishing, and naval activities.

Karaiyar culture in Ceylon has historically extolled Corsican virtues of refined far-sighted justice along with martial courage and defiance against foreign impositions. Karaiyar are aslo found north of Tanjore in Tamil Nadu and well into the Andhra Pradesh coastal areas. Moreover there has been significant numbers of intermarriages between Karaiyar and Marawar caste, another warrior caste of Tamil Nadu descended from Pandyans that were hunted down and almost wiped out during the pogroms against undesirables after the failed Indian Mutiny.

A significant part of this community consists of the traditional Warrior and Naval community of Sri Lanka, which were disempowered after the fall of the northern and southern kingdoms to Europeans. For information on the martial race of Sri Lanka see Karava.

Traditional occupation

Karaiyars have traditionally been naval warriors, but engaged with activities related to boat building, overseas trading, and fishing during peacetimes. They have also provided mercenary forces and considered most valorous by local kings in India and Sri Lanka. A great many of them after foreign impositions by Europeans (18th Century C.E) lead lives as coastal fishermen and a significant minority became petty and wealthy chiefs and merchants in both countries.

anskritisation

Along with South Indian groups such as the Pandyans who historically claim a lineage of the Pandavas according to tradition, it appears Kurukulam comes from the Kauravas of the Kuru (kingdom) in Mahabharata and Kshatriya origin. The concept of Sanskritisation has been widely discredited, as phylogenetically and culturally members of the Dravidian and Indo-Aryan Groups have been mixing and similarly the lexicons and myths since 200 B.C.E at the most latest. It is in fact old misleading prejudice among those whose lineage were recently raised to Brahmanhood through fiscal means, that other castes such as Karaiyar's were not of the origins claimed in their histories but acted out of mean interests for their supposed "advancement" and good opinion of others, like the authors of the prejudice. It should be noted that the few disregarded commentators coming with qualifications unrelated to the field of history have continue to do disservice by further perpertrating the misconception of Sanskritisation as valid.

Position in Sri Lanka

In Sri Lanka, where they form over 10% of the country's total population, they are an upwardly mobile and relatively upgraded caste amongst the majority Sinhalese and minority Sri Lankan Tamils since the departure of the British whom during their rule promoted the more numerous, more commercial and obedient caste namely the Vellalar to positions of civil power(see Caste in Sri Lanka). Nevertheless, Catholicized Karaiyar have made the most significant portion of the executive branch, namely of the police force and navy, proportionally of any caste during British rule. Amongst the Sinhalese, Karaiyar's are known as the Karave. Analysis of family names and traditions of Karaiyar castes in Sri Lanka indicates that it has accepted within its fold many indigenous and migrant peoples from India and abroad. The Karaiyar of Sri Lanka and India differ from each other in significant manner due to their relative social and political positions.

Karaiyar and their politics

The Karaiyar amongst Sri Lankan Tamils are currently overwhelmingly represented in the Tamil rebel group LTTE who were compelled to take up arms after a series of discriminatory legislation targeting Ceylon Tamils soon after Independence from Britain and after all means of peaceful action proved fruitless. On the otherhand, Karave are very vocal about their Sinhala Buddhist identity and drive the nationalistic political parties such as the SLFP and JVP. Some sociologist attempted to marginalize the civil conflict and have made very untenable comments based on oversimplification of cultural consciousness in groups by interpreting the current civil war in Sri Lanka as a vehicle by which both the Karaiyar and Karave have attempted to marginalize the traditional elites by taking extremely partisan but opposite views.

ee also

* Karave
* Maravar
* Negombo Tamil

References

*RAGHAVAN, M. D., The Karava of Ceylon - Society and Culture, K. V. G. de Silva, 1961.
*

External links

* [http://www.tamilelibrary.org/teli/slhist.html Karaiyar in the service of Jaffna Kingdom]
* [http://www.tamilnation.org/forum/sivaram/920701lg.htm Tamil militarism of Karaiyar due to Maravar mixing in Jaffna by late journalist Taraki Sivaram]