Agamudayar

Agamudayar
The Marudhu Pandiyars (Periya Marudhu and Chinna Marudhu)
ReligionsHinduism
LanguagesTamil
RegionTamil Nadu
EthnicityTamils
Population1981-1982: 5 per cent of the Backward Class population of Tamil Nadu[1]

Agamudayar (otherwise Agamudaiyar, Akamudayar, Agamudayan) are a Tamil community found in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.[2] In Southern parts of Tamil Nadu, they are considered as one of the three castes which make up the Thevar or Mukkulathor community. According to the anthropologist Zoe E Headley, the three communities (Agamudayar, Kallar and Maravar) are the "numerically dominant rural backward castes of the southern districts of Tamil Nadu".[3] Agamudayars are listed in the national commission of backward caste lists for Tamil Nadu as "Agamudayar including Thozhu or Thuluva Vellala".[4][5] Agamudayar consider themselves to be descendants of the Chera dynasty.[6]

  1. ^ Radhakrishnan, P. (10 June 1989). "Ambasankar Commission and Backward Classes". Economic and Political Weekly. 24 (23): 1265–1268. JSTOR 4394921.
  2. ^ Das, Biswajit; Majhi, Debendra Prasad (2021). Caste, Communication and Power. SAGE Publishing India. p. 157. ISBN 978-93-91370-90-9.
  3. ^ Headley, Zoe E. (2011). "Caste and Collective Memory in South Asia". In Clark-Decès, Isabelle (ed.). A Companion to the Anthropology of India. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 1982, 1985. ISBN 978-1-44439-058-2.
  4. ^ "List of Backward Classes approved by Government of Tamil Nadu".
  5. ^ "National Commission for Backward Classes". www.ncbc.nic.in. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
  6. ^ Caste as Social Capital The Complex Place of Caste in Indian Society. R Vaidyanathan. 24 July 2023. ISBN 978-93-5708-186-3.