Ezhava

The Ezhavas () are a community with origins in the region of India presently known as Kerala, where in the 2010s they constituted about 23% of the population and were reported to be the largest Hindu community. They are also known as ''Ilhava'', ''Irava'', ''Izhava'' and ''Erava'' in the south of the region; as ''Chovas'', ''Chokons'' and ''Chogons'' in Central Travancore; and as ''Thiyyar'', ''Tiyyas'' and ''Theeyas'' in the Malabar region. Some are also known as ''Thandan'', which has caused administrative difficulties due to the presence of a distinct caste of Thandan in the same region. The Malabar Ezhava Pullapilly (1976) pp. 31–32 group have claimed a higher ranking in the Hindu caste system than do the others, although from the perspective of the colonial and subsequent administrations they were treated as being of similar rank. Nossiter (1982) p. 30

Ezhava dynasties such as the Mannanar existed in Kerala. Pullapilly (1976) pp. 31–32 The Chekavar, a warrior section within the Ezhava community, served the army of the Chera dynasty; there were also renowned Kalaripayattu experts among Chekavars. Britishers also formed the Thiyyar Regiment in Malabar during the colonial rule. There were lesser known Thiyya regiments and Thiyyar Pattalam formed by the French and British governments in Mahe and Thalassery. The British deployed the unit in various military operations.

History

Inscriptions

The earliest use of the word Eelam
or Ezham is found in a Tamil-Brahmi inscription as well as in the Sangam literature. The Tirupparankunram inscription found near Madurai in Tamil Nadu and dated on palaeographical grounds to the 1st century BCE, refers to a person as a householder from Eelam (''Eela-kudumpikan''). The inscription reads,

The Sangam literature ''Paṭṭiṉappālai'', mentions ''Eelattu-unavu'' (food from Eelam). One of the prominent Sangam Tamil poets is known as Eelattu Poothanthevanar meaning Poothan-thevan (proper name) hailing from ''Eelam''. (Akanaṉūṟu: 88, 231, 307; Kuṟuntokai: 189, 360, 343; Naṟṟiṇai: 88, 366). The Tamil inscriptions from the Pallava & Chola period dating from 9th century CE link the word with toddy, toddy tapper's quarters (''Eelat-cheri''), tax on toddy tapping (''Eelap-poodchi''), a class of toddy tappers (''Eelath-chanran''). Eelavar is a caste of toddy tappers found in the southern parts of Kerala. ''Eela-kaasu'' and ''Eela-karung-kaasu'' are refers to coinages found in the Chola inscriptions of Parantaka I.

Legend

There are myths of origin for the Ezhava. According to some Malayalam folk songs like Vadakkan Pattukal and legend, the Ezhavas were the progeny of four bachelors that the king of Ceylon (Sri Lanka) sent to what is now Kerala at the request of the Chera king Bhaskara Ravi Varma, in the 1st century CE. These men were sent, ostensibly, to set up coconut farming in the region. Another version of the story says that the king sent eight martial families at the request of a Chera king to quell a civil war that had erupted against him.

Social and religious divergence

It has been suggested that the Ezhavas may share a common heritage with the Nair caste. This theory is based on similarities between numerous of the customs adopted by the two groups, particularly with regard to marking various significant life stages such as childbirth and death, as well as their matrilineal practices and martial history. Oral history, folk songs and other old writings indicate that the Thiyyas were at some point in the past members of the armed forces serving various kings, including the Zamorins of Calicut and the rulers of the Kingdom of Cochin. Cyriac Pullapilly has said that only a common parentage can explain some of these issues. Pullapilly (1976) pp. 26–30

A theory has been proposed for the origins of the caste system in the Kerala region based on the actions of the Aryan Jains introducing such distinctions prior to the 8th-century AD. This argues that the Jains needed protection when they arrived in the area and recruited local sympathizers to provide it. These people were then distinguished from others in the local population by their occupation as protectors, with the others all being classed as out-caste. Pullapilly describes that this meant they "... were given ''kshatriya'' functions, but only ''shudra'' status. Thus originated the Nairs." The Ezhavas, not being among the group protecting the Jains, became out-castes.

An alternate theory states that the system was introduced by the Nambudiri Brahmins. Although Brahmin influences had existed in the area since at least the 1st century CE, there was a large influx from around the 8th century when they acted as priests, counsellors and ministers to invading Aryan princes. At the time of their arrival the non-aboriginal local population had been converted to Buddhism by missionaries who had come from the north of India and from Ceylon. The Brahmins used their symbiotic relationship with the invading forces to assert their beliefs and position. Buddhist temples and monasteries were either destroyed or taken over for use in Hindu practices, thus undermining the ability of the Buddhists to propagate their beliefs.

The Buddhist tradition of the Ezhavas, and the refusal to give it up, pushed them to an outcaste role within the greater Brahminic society. This tradition is still evident as Ezhavas show greater interest in the moral, non-ritualistic, and non-dogmatic aspects of the religion rather than the theological.

Past occupations

They used to work as agricultural labourers, small cultivators, toddy tappers and liquor businessmen, some Ezhavas were also involved in weaving and some practised Ayurveda. An upper section, by reason of wealth and/or influence, came into the position to acquire titles such as Panicker from the local rulers. These people lived in Nalukettu, had their private temples and owned a large amount of land.

The social anthropologists Filippo and Caroline Osella say that the Ezhavas "... consisted in the mid-nineteenth century of a small landowning and titled elite and a large mass of landless and small tenants who were largely illiterate, considered untouchable, and who eked out a living by manual labour and petty trade." A. Aiyappan, another social anthropologist and himself a member of the caste, noted the mythical belief that the Ezhava brought coconut palms to the region when they moved from Ceylon. Their traditional occupation, or ''avakasam'', was tending to and tapping the sap of such palms. This activity is sometimes erroneously referred to as ''toddy tapping'', toddy being a liquor manufactured from the sap. Arrack was another liquor produced from the palms, as was jaggery (an unrefined sugar). In reality, most Ezhavas were agricultural labourers and small-time cultivators, with a substantial number diverging into the production of coir products, such as coconut mats for flooring, from towards the end of the 19th century. The coastal town of Alleppey became the centre of such manufacture and was mostly controlled by Ezhavas, although the lucrative export markets were accessible only through European traders, who monopolised the required equipment. A boom in trade for these manufactured goods after World War I led to a unique situation in twentieth-century Kerala whereby there was a shortage of labour, which attracted still more Ezhavas to the industry from outlying rural areas. The Great Depression impacted in particular on the export trade, causing a reduction in price and in wages even though production increased, with the consequence that during the 1930s many Ezhava families found themselves to be in dire financial circumstances.

Some Ezhavas were involved in weaving and ship making.

Martial traditions

Some Ezhava served in army of local chieftains and local rulers such as of Kadathanad and Kurumbranad of Kerala, who were privileged in the pre-colonial period to have their own private armies.

Chekavar

A subgroup of the Ezhavas considered themselves to be warriors and became known as the Chekavars. The '' Vadakkan Pattukal'' ballads describe Chekavars as forming the militia of local chieftains and kings but the title was also given to experts of Kalari Payattu.

Medicine and traditional toxicology

Some Ezhavas had an extensive knowledge of the medicinal value of plants, passed to them by their ancestors. Known as ''Vaidyars'', these people acted as physicians. Itty Achudan was probably the best known Ezhava physician: he directly influenced the botanical classification in ''Hortus Malabaricus'', published during the 17th century. Achudan's texts were written in the Kolezhuthu script that Ezhava castes used, for they were prevented from learning the more Sanskritised Aryazuthu script which was the preserve of the upper-castes.

Some Ezhavas practiced ayurvedic medicine.

Culture

Arjuna Nrtam (Mayilpeeli Thookkam)

Arjuna Nrtam ("the dance of Arjuna") is a ritual art performed by Ezhava men and is prevalent in the Bhagavathy temples of south Kerala, mainly in Kollam, Alappuzha and Kottayam districts. The ritual is also called "Mayilpeeli Thookkam" because the costume includes a characteristic garment made of mayilppeeli (peacock feathers). This garment is worn around the waist in a similar fashion as the "uduthukettu" of Kathakali. The various dance movements are similar to kalarippayattu techniques. The performers have their faces painted green and wear distinctive headgears. The all-night performance of the dance is usually presented solo or in pairs.

Makachuttu

Makachuttu art is popular among Ezhavas in Thiruvananthapuram and Chirayinkizhu taluks and in Kilimanoor, Pazhayakunnummal and Thattathumala regions. In this, a group of eight performers, two each, twine around each other like serpents and rise up, battling with sticks. The techniques are repeated several times. Sandalwood paste on the forehead, a red towel round the head, red silk around the waist and bells round the ankles form the costume. This is a combination of snake worship and Kalarippayattu.Krishna Chaitanya, Temple Arts of Kerala: A South Indian Tradition (Abhinav Publications, 1987,)

Poorakkali

Poorakkali is a folk dance prevalent among the Ezhavas of Malabar, usually performed in Bhagavathy temples as a ritual offering during the month of Meenam (March–April). Poorakkali requires specially trained and highly experienced dancers, trained in Kalaripayattu. Standing round a traditional lamp, the performers dance in eighteen different stages and rhythms, each phase called a niram.

Customs

Ezhavas adopted different patterns of behavior in family system across Kerala. Those living in southern Travancore tended to meld the different practices that existed in the other parts of Kerala. The family arrangements of northern Malabar were matrilineal with patrilocal property arrangements, whereas in northern Travancore they were matrilineal but usually matrilocal in their arrangements for property. Southern Malabar saw a patrilineal system but partible property.

These arrangements were reformed by legislation, for Malabar in 1925 and for Travancore in 1933. The process of reform was more easily achieved for the Ezhavas than it was for the Nairs, another Hindu caste in Kerala who adopted matrilineal arrangements; the situation for the Nairs was complicated by a traditional matrilocal form of living called '' taravadu'' and by their usually much higher degree of property ownership. That said, certainly by the 1880s, the Ezhavas appear increasingly to have tried to adopt Nair practises in a bid to achieve a similar status. Robin Jeffrey notes that their women began to prefer the style of jewellery worn by Nairs to that which was their own tradition. Further, since Nairs cremated their dead, Ezhavas attempted to cremate at least the oldest member of their family, although cost usually meant that the remainder were buried. Other aspirational changes included building houses in the Nair tharavad style and making claims that they had had an equal standing as a military class until the nineteenth century.

Polygamy was practised in within certain parts of Ezhava community, but has since died out. There are several proposed arguments for this, the Valiyagraman Ezhavas argue that they practised it for economic reasons, the argument that the older brother would marry first, and share his wife with his younger brother(s) until they could afford to marry. It was also common for one of the brothers to be away for long periods of time.

Following the British settlement in Kerala, some Thiyya families in Thalassery,were taken as concubines by ruling british administrative officers,mostly of which Resident ministers who were in charge of Malabar District and subsequently had children. This community was referred to as "white Thiyyas".These liaisons were considered as "dishonorable" and "degrading" to the samudhayam (community), and were excluded from the community. Most of these women and children had converted to Christianity. The Thiyyas in northern Malabar generally had a better relationship with colonizers than the Hindus in other parts of the country. This was due in part, to the fact that the British would employ Thiyyas, but Kerala's local princes wouldn't.

Spiritual and social movements

Some Ezhavas converted to Islam from around the 9th century, due to the influence of Arab traders. These people, and other Muslim converts in the region, are now known as Mappillas. A sizeable part of the Ezhava community, especially in central Travancore and in the High Ranges, embraced Christianity during the British rule, due to caste-based discrimination. In Kannur, Protestant missions started working in the first half of the 19th century, notably the Basel German Evangelical Mission. Most of their converts were from the Ezhava community. The Congregationalist London Missionary Society and the Anglican Church Mission Society were also prominent in the movement for religious conversion, having established presences in the Travancore region in the early 19th century.

The lowly status of the Ezhava meant that, as Thomas Nossiter has commented, they had "little to lose and much to gain by the economic and social changes of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries". They sought the right to be treated as worthy of an English education and for jobs in government administration to be open to them. An early Ezhava campaigner and their "political father", according to Ritty Lukose, was Padmanabhan Palpu. In 1896, he organised a petition of 13,176 signatories that was submitted to the Maharajah of the princely state of Travancore, asking for government recognition of the Ezhavas' right to work in public administration and to have access to formal education. Around this time, nearly 93 per cent of the caste members were illiterate. The upper caste Hindus of the state prevailed upon the Maharajah not to concede the request. The outcome not looking to be promising, the Ezhava leadership threatened that they would convert from Hinduism en masse, rather than stay as helots of Hindu society. C. P. Ramaswamy Iyer, realising the imminent danger, prompted the Maharajah to issue the Temple Entry Proclamation, which abolished the ban on lower-caste people from entering Hindu temples in the state. Steven Wilkinson says that the Proclamation was passed because the government was "frightened" by the Ezhava threat of conversion to Christianity.

Eventually, in 1903, a small group of Ezhavas, led by Palpu, established Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam (SNDP), the first caste association in the region. This was named after Narayana Guru, who had established an ashram

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