Sengunthar
Sengunthar or Kaikolan or Kaikolar are a large Tamil and Telugu socially backward caste [1][2] of weavers in the states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh in southern India. They have close ties of kinship with the Devadasi or Devaradiyars[3][4]
Origin
The Kaikolars also called as Sengunthar, are a large Tamil socially backward caste no kaikolar/Sengunthar speak Telugu in their home. Kaikolar or Sengunthar are from pure tamil background people[1][2] of weavers in the states of Tamil Nadu,in southern India. Their name comes from a mythical hero and from the words "kai" (hand) and "kol" (shuttle used in looming or spear). They consider the different parts of the loom to represent various gods and sages.
They are true warriors and they doesnt belong to Telugu community. They are pure Tamil people who are having most faith towards Lord Subramanya particularly as they are from Chola empire army Thiruchendur Lord Murugan is their favorite God.
An Excellent proof from Ponniyin Selvan that shows Kaikolars are Warriors in Chola Period
http://www.tamilnation.org/literature/kalki/unicode/mp169v2p2.htm#1
They are also known as Sengundar, which means a red dagger, which is traced to the legend of the earth being harassed by demons, which led to the people asking the god Shiva to help them. He was furious with the demonic giants and sent six sparks from his eyes. Parvati, his wife became frightened and retired to her chamber but dropped nine beads from her anklets. Shiva converted those beads into nine women, each giving birth to a hero, complete with moustache and daggers. These nine led by Subramanya, with a large army destroyed the demons. Kaikolans or Sengundar claim descent from one of the nine heroes. There are seventy-two subdivisions (nadu or desams).
History of Kaikolars in Medieval South India and 21st Century
The research articles clearly define Kaikolars as the Sengunthar-Kaikolars of the terinja-Kaikolar Padai of the Chola empire. There is absolutely no question of ambiguity regarding their identity.
Community Legends and festivals
The Sura Samhara festival is a ritual tradition practised by the Kaikolars to celebrate the divine origin of the weavers. According to the mythology of weaver community, the Kaikolars weavers were born out of nine gems that were scattered from Parvati's anklet. At the Sura Samhara festival, they dress up as the nine warriors of Virabahu, the lieutenant of Lord Karthikeya and enact the killing of the demon Narakasura[4].
Gods/Goddesses
Kaikolars are predominantly Shaivites. They possess a Clan God as most of the castes in Tamil Nadu. Mostly, it is some form of Amman i.e Parvati or Murugan.
Kootam/kulam
Kootam defines birth from a single male ancestor. Kootam is transferred patrilineally i.e., via the father of a person. Hence people belonging to the same kootam are considered brothers and sisters. So marriage between a male and female belonging to the same kootam is prohibited however distantly they may be related.
Historically there were 72 kootams in Kaikolan. Each kootam had a leader. The head leader in Kanchipuram was the head for all these leaders. This was used to manage disputes within the community.
Nowadays, the kootams have merged into one another and there is no well defined leader for each kootam. It is used only for setting up marriage alliances.
A list of Kootam has been removed from this section awaiting authentication by accurate reference material.
Warrior Clans
During Chola rule Kaikolars served as soldiers and were called "Terinja kaikolar padai". (Terinja means "known" in Tamil and Padai means "regiment"), so "terinja-kaikolar padai" were the personal bodygurads. Kaikkolars who were initially weavers were militarised during the Chola empire and formed a major part of the Chola army from 8th century to 13th century. There were no Kaikolar army before or after the Chola empire.
They formed many regiments in the Chola army. Some of those regiments are:
Singalantaka-terinda-Kaikkolar (a regiment named after Singalantaka i.e. Parntaka I)
Virasola-terinja-Kaikkolar
Kodandarama-terinja-Kaikkolar
Danatonga-terinja-Kaikkolar
Parantaka-terinia-Kaikkolar
Muttavalperra-Kaikkolar - (meaning the "recipient of the pearl ornamented sword" in Tamil)
Samarakesarit-terinja-Kaikkolar
Vikramasingat-terinja-Kaikkolar
Adityapanma-terinda-Kaikkolar
Karikala-Chola-terinja-Kaikkolar
Arumolideva-terinja Kaikkolar
Parttivasekarat-terinja-Kaikkolar
Gangadaditta-terinja-Kaikkola
Madurantaka-terinja-Kaikkolar
Pirantaka-terinja-Kaikkolar
The link below indicates that Kaikolars were prominent members of Tamil society even during the 10th century AD during Chola rule.
Weaving Clans
The end of Chola rule brought the end to Kaikolans role in the army. Reasons are unknown, but Kaikolars took up weaving on a mass scale or continued their weaving business exclusively for pretty much the next six to seven centuries. Even though there may have been a few rich Kaikolans doing various businesses including agriculture, the vast majority of Kaikolans were involved in weaving which was not a profitable business due to the industrial revolution.
Historical Personalities
Ottakoothar was a court poet of three Chola kings namely Vikrama Chola. Kulotunga-II and Rajaraja II. He wrote poems in praise of these three kings namely Vikrama Cholan Ula, Kulothunga Cholan Ula and Rajarajan Ula. Ottakoothar had also written Kulothungan Pillai Tamil in praise of Chola king Kulothunga II and Saraswathy Andhadhi in praise of Saraswathi the Goddess of learning Sekizhar the minister of chola dynasty wrote periyapuranam his native is kundrathur near chennai kambar who wrote ramayana in tamil he is also from chola empire kamban veetu kattu tharium kavipadum
Culture and Customs
The culture and customs of the Kaikolans is similar to most Tamil. However there are differences in customs between the various kootams of Sengunthar. The significant difference is that some Sengunthars are more kootam conservative than other Sengunthar groups when it comes to marriage partners.
Associations
There are many associations for Sengunthars.
They are:
Socio Economic Service Society (SES) in Nungambakkam - Chennai.
Sengunthar Mahajana Sangam.
EVKS Sampath? He belongs to EVR's family
Pulavar Govindhan: Former Speaker of Tamil Nadu Assembly.
perumal mudaliar national pictures
Vallal sabapathi mudaliar: vallal sapabathy mudaliar educational trust.
ethiraj mudaliar: Chairman, Binny Group, partner Ramachandra medical college.
References
- ^ a b http://www.tn.gov.in/bcmbcmw/bclist.htm
- ^ a b http://ncbc.nic.in/backward-classes/ap.html
- ^ Artisans in Vijayanagar Society, Vijaya Ramaswamy, Indian Economic & Social History Review, Vol. 22, No. 4, 417-444 (1985), http://ier.sagepub.com/cgi/content/citation/22/4/417
- ^ a b 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 Cite error: The named reference "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" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).