Pattanavar (also spelled ''Pattinavar'') is a

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

caste found in

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. They are a maritime community dominating

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

Kanchipuram Kanchipuram (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: '; ), also known as Kanjeevaram, is a stand alone city corporation, satellite nodal city of Chennai in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu in the Tondaimandalam region, from ...

Cuddalore Cuddalore, also spelt as Kadalur (), is a heavy industries hub and a port city, and headquarters of the Cuddalore District in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Situated south of Chennai, Cuddalore was an important city and port during the Britis ...

, Villuppuram,

Thanjavur Thanjavur (), also known as Thanjai, previously known as Tanjore, Pletcher 2010, p. 195 is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the 12th biggest city in Tamil Nadu. Thanjavur is an important center of southern Indian religion, art ...

and

Nagapattinam Nagapattinam (''nākappaṭṭinam'', previously spelt Nagapatnam or Negapatam) is a town in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Nagapattinam district. The town came to prominence during the period of Medieval ...

districts of the

Coromandel Coast The Coromandel Coast is a coastal region along the southeastern front of the Indian peninsula. Its delimitations are numerous, but generally admitted to be bounded by the Krishna River, Krishna river River mouth, mouth to the north, the Bay of B ...

, who have traditionally been involved in

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...

shipment Freight transport, also referred to as freight forwarding, is the physical process of transporting commodities and merchandise goods and cargo. The term shipping originally referred to transport by sea but in American English, it has been exte ...

navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

, and

trade Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. Traders generally negotiate through a medium of cr ...

Etymology

The term ''Pattanavar'' literally means inhabitant of a ''Pattinam.'' The term Pattinam means "sea-port town" which is often seen as a suffix among prominent harbors such as

, Kaveripoompattinam and Chennaipattinam. They are among other divided as Periya Pattanavar and Chinna Pattanavar. The term ''Periya'' means "big" and the term ''Chinna'' means "small", where the Periya Pattanavar are considered socially superior to the Chinna Pattanavar. The Pattanavars are also colloquial known as ''Karaiyar'' in the

Thanjavur district Thanjavur District is one of the Districts of Tamil Nadu, 38 districts of the States and territories of India, state of Tamil Nadu, in southeastern India. Its headquarters is Thanjavur (Tanjore) . The district is located in the delta of the Cauv ...

, which is also the term of one of the subcaste of the community. Karaiyar means "coast people", which is also term for a dominant maritime caste in Sri Lanka. The earliest mention of this term is made by 2nd century AD

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

writer

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine science, Byzant ...

, mentioning them with the corrupted term ''Kareoi''s''.'' The subcaste's name ''Padaiyachi'' means literally "ruler of army".

History

The Pattanavar are one of the communities who traditionally inhabited the

Sangam landscape The Sangam landscape (Tamil language, Tamil: அகத்திணை "inner classification") is the name given to a poetic device that was characteristic of love poetry in classical Tamil language, Tamil Sangam literature. The core of the devi ...

''Neithal,'' the littoral landscape. They have inhabited the

since ancient times where they possess a strong system of self-governance. The Pattinavar merchants were organized in trader guilds such as the Five Hundred Lords of Ayyavolu and the ''Patinenvisayattar''. They were reputed for oversea trading with other

South Asian South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...

countries. The Pattinavars served additionally as naval mercenaries under the

kings. According to some historians like

Hermann Kulke Hermann Kulke (born 1938 in Berlin) is a German historian and Indologist, who was professor of South and Southeast Asian history at the Department of History, Kiel University (1988–2003). After receiving his PhD in Indology from Freiburg Uni ...

, the Pattinavar community may have played a significant role in the organization and exploits of the Chola navy.

Traditions

Governing systems

The Pattanavar possess a strong system of self-governance. Their Panchayati raj is controlled by their hereditary leaders known as '' Nattar''. The Pattanavar follow a traditional system known as ''Padu''. The term ''Padu'' means "fishing ground" or "fishing site". According to Matthew, the Padu system is a "traditional system of granting entitlements to eligible members of a particular community to undertake specific fishing activities in certain designated fishing grounds during specified seasons." The system is hereditary where only those of the ''Periya Pattanavar'' subcaste can participate. The participants are granted the rights to use ''padu fishing gears'' which include beach seine and stake net. Fishing with gears unregulated by the Padu system are often methods of low yields.

Subcastes

The Pattanavar are traditionally divided into

endogamous Endogamy is the cultural practice of marrying within a specific social group, religious denomination, caste, or ethnic group, rejecting any from outside of the group or belief structure as unsuitable for marriage or other close personal relatio ...

subcastes which include the ''Periya Pattanavar'', ''Chinna Pattanavar'', ''Karaiyar'' and ''Padaiyachi''. Both Karaiyar and Padaiyachi are traditionally considered subcastes of warrior heritage. The Periya Pattanavar and the Chinna Pattanavar are said to share common ancestor.

Titles

They use titles such as ''Chetty'', ''

Mudaliar Mudaliar (alternatively spelled: Muthaliar, Mudali, Muthali) is a Tamil title and surname. As title, it was historically given to high-ranking officers, administrators and their descendants during the rule of Imperial Cholas. The surname is most ...

'', ''Pillai'', ''Varunakula Mudali'' and ''Kurukulavamsam''. Their headmen were known as ''Yejaman'' and ''Nattamai''. The title ''Chetty'', is a generic term used by several

merchant groups. The Pattanavars who used this title had politicoeconomic power, and gained wealth through maritime trade. Their village headmen were also known as ''Ūr Chettiar'', where the main headman was known as ''Periya Chettiar'' and the assistant headman known as ''Chinna Chettiar''. The Pattanavar have also been noted to have caste titles such as Varunakula mudali (

Varuna Varuna (; , ) is a Hindu god. He is one of the earliest deities in pantheon, whose role underwent a significant transformation from the Vedic to the Puranic periods. In the early Vedic era, Varuna is seen as the god-sovereign, ruling the sky ...

clan headman) or Kurukula vamsam ( Kuru clan lineage).Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Vol. 6 of 7, Edgar Thurston https://www.gutenberg.org/files/42996/42996-h/42996-h.htm#pl6-185 These titles are also shared with the Sinhalese Karava and Sri Lankan Tamil

Karaiyar Karaiyar is a Sri Lankan Tamil caste found mainly on the northern and eastern coastal areas of Sri Lanka, and globally among the Tamil diaspora. They are traditionally a seafaring community that is engaged in fishing, shipment and seaborn ...

who share common origins.

References

{{Portal, Tamils, India, Hinduism Social groups of Tamil Nadu Indian castes by profession Ethnic groups in India South Indian communities Fishing castes