Gounder is a title used by various communities in the

Indian state India is a federal union comprising 28 states and 8 union territories, with a total of 36 entities. The states and union territories are further subdivided into districts and smaller administrative divisions. History Pre-indep ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil languag ...

. It may refer to communities such as the ,

Kongu Vellalar Kongu Vellalar is a community found in the Kongu region of Tamil Nadu, India. Etymology The Vellalar of the Kongu country came to be known as Kongu Vellalar. They are also known by names such as "Bupaalan", Gangavamsam, Kudiyaanavar and V ...

s , Kurumbas, Tuluva Vellalars, Uralis,

Vanniyars The Vanniyar, also spelled Vanniya, formerly known as the Palli, are a Dravidian community or ''jāti'' found in the northern part of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. From the 19th century, peasant castes typically classified under Shudra cat ...

, Vettuvars and

Vokkaliga Vokkaliga (also transliterated as Vokkaligar, Vakkaliga, Wakkaliga, Okkaligar, Okkiliyan) is a community, or a group of closely-related castes, from the Indian state of Karnataka. They are also present in the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu. As ...

Etymology

There are number of derivations for the title. One theory derives it from the Tamil word ''Kaamindan'', meaning "noble protector of the country", later modified as ''Kavundan'' or Gounder. According to S. N. Sadasivan the Tamil Kavundans or Goundans branched off from the

s and both might have a common origin from the

Kuruba Kuruba is a Hindu caste native to the Indian state of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. They are the third-largest caste group in Karnataka. Traditionally, they were agriculturalists and cattle farmers. The origins of kuruba ...

History

During the

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi language, Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Q ...

era, some Gounders migrated to Malayan rubber plantations as Kanganis to manage the coolies.

References

Tamil society Indian surnames Karnataka society Social groups of Tamil Nadu {{India-ethno-stub