Uthumalai
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Uthumalai, also known as Uttumalai, is a village in the Indian state of
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 ...
. It lies in Veerakeralampudur taluk, which itself is in
Tenkasi district Tenkasi () is one of the 38 districts of Tamil Nadu, India, separated from Tirunelveli district on 22 November 2019. The Government of Tamil Nadu announced its creation on 18 July 2019. The district headquarters is at Tenkasi. Geography The ...
.


History

The village was once governed by what anthropologist Nicholas Dirks terms "little kings", who were
polygar Palaiyakkarars, or Poligar, Palegara (as the British referred to them) in Andhra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu were the holders of a small kingdom as a feudatory to a greater sovereign. Under this system, ''palayam'' was given for valuable military ...
s from the
Maravar Maravar (also known as Maravan and Marava) are a Tamil community in the state of Tamil Nadu. These people are one of the three branches of the Mukkulathor confederacy. Members of the Maravar community often use the honorific title '' Thevar''. ...
caste A caste is a Essentialism, fixed social group into which an individual is born within a particular system of social stratification: a caste system. Within such a system, individuals are expected to marry exclusively within the same caste (en ...
. Theirs was the largest in area, although not in population, of several Maravar-governed lands in what is now Tirunelveli district. The lands formed a part of the 1803
Permanent Settlement The Permanent Settlement, also known as the Permanent Settlement of Bengal, was an agreement between the East India Company and landlords of Bengal to fix revenues to be raised from land that had far-reaching consequences for both agricultural m ...
in
Madras Presidency The Madras Presidency or Madras Province, officially called the Presidency of Fort St. George until 1937, was an administrative subdivision (province) of British India and later the Dominion of India. At its greatest extent, the presidency i ...
and became recognised by the
British East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...
(EIC) as a
zamindar A zamindar in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semi-autonomous feudal lord of a ''zamindari'' (feudal estate). The term itself came into use during the Mughal Empire, when Persian was the official language; ''zamindar'' is the ...
i estate, with its palace at Veerakeralampudur. In 1823, it comprised , with a population of 14,612; administratively situated in Tenkasi taluk by 1917, it was the third-largest of all the zamindaris in the district, comprising 63 villages spread over an area of , with an estimated population of 51,246. The zamindari estates of the area arose in the aftermath of the
Polygar Wars The Polygar Wars or Palaiyakkarar Wars were wars fought between the Polygars (''Palaiyakkarars'') of the former Tirunelveli Kingdom in Tamil Nadu, India and the British East India Company's Madras Regiment between March 1799 to May 1802 or Jul ...
, when the British conferred the status on those who they deemed not to have been subversive. Uthumalai had sided with them in opposition to Polygar rebels such as
Veerapandiya Kattabomman Veerapandiya Kattabomman was an 18th-century Palayakarrar and king of Panchalankurichi in present-day Tamil Nadu, India. He fought the British East India Company and was captured by the British with the help of the ruler of the kingdom of Pu ...
. The little kings were now expected to be landlords who managed local agriculture and paid an annual tribute, although even the British authorities had doubts about their transplanting of the settled property concept from its origins in
Bengal Presidency The Bengal Presidency, officially the Presidency of Fort William in Bengal until 1937, later the Bengal Province, was the largest of all three presidencies of British India during Company rule in India, Company rule and later a Provinces o ...
to that of Madras. Despite its zamindari status, in the first half of the century the British East India Company often imposed direct rule, overarching the position of the zamindar. The family gained a period of relatively independent governance during the regency of Peryanayaki Nachiar, who acted on behalf of her underage son, Irudalaya Marudappa Taver, after the death of his father in 1850. As an adult ruler, Irudalaya married Annapurni Nachiar and Menakshi Sundra Nachiar, although only the latter initially joined him in his palace – Annapurni was around six years old at the time of her marriage and so at first lived with her relatives. Those relatives assisted Irudalaya in opposing the claims of his uncle, who lived and held a title at Chokkampatti. Irudalaya was succeeded as zamindar upon his death in 1891 by an adopted son, Navanithakrishna Marudappa Taver, but the Court of Wards stepped in to govern on his behalf because he, too, was a minor. When Navanithakrishna died, a few months after his father, a family squabble broke out as Annapurni and Menakshi laid claim to the estate, each arguing that they had the closer relationship to Irudalaya and Navanithakrishna. A wide range of arguments were put forward during the legal proceedings, such as a claim that Irudalayar had been too ill in his last years to formally adopt Navanithakrishna, that he had divorced Annapurni and she had forced her way into the palace, and that Menakshi could not have taken part in any adoption process – and thus could not be the adoptive mother – because her
menstrual cycle The menstrual cycle is a series of natural changes in hormone production and the structures of the uterus and ovaries of the female reproductive system that makes pregnancy possible. The ovarian cycle controls the production and release of eg ...
made her ritually polluted. The court concentrated on the divorce and ritual arguments and ruled in favour of Menakshi, a decision that was upheld by the Privy Council on appeal.


Demographics

The 2011 Census of India recorded Uthumalai as having 2,168 households and a population of 7,737, comprising 3,788 males and 3,949 females. A portion of the population was categorised as members of Scheduled Castes; there were no members of Scheduled Tribes.


Infrastructure

Since 2012, the village has had a 700-kW wind turbine that feeds into the grid. , the nearest town was
Surandai History Surandai Palayam was formed during the reign of Madurai Nayagam Khansagi. It was changed to Sameen during the British rule. Surandai city was formed by amalgamation of villages of Lower Surandai, Bangla Surandai and Surandai. This town ...
, over distant. The village had several educational facilities at all levels from pre-school to senior secondary; facilities for higher education were some distance away, with the exception of a non-vocational training centre. There were some primary healthcare facilities in the village, but the nearest hospital was over 10 km away. It had a veterinary hospital. There was a sub-post office in the village, with a more major office less than 10 km away. Internet facilities were available, as was a bus service. The nearest railway station was over 10 km from the village and so too was the nearest market and ATM, although there were other banking facilities. Sankarankovil is a nearby municipality and nearest railway station, 24KM apart from village. The village contains 3 ATMs (1 nationalised bank ATM and 2 white label ATMs) and 2 banks (
Central Bank of India The Central Bank of India (CBI) is an Public sector banks in India, Indian public sector bank based in Mumbai. Despite its name, CBI is not the central bank of India, a role served by the Reserve Bank of India. History The Central Bank of ...
and Pandian Grama Bank)


Economy

The area of the village in 2011 was , agriculture was the mainstay of the local economy and
beedi A beedi (also spelled bidi or biri) is a thin cigarette or cigar, mini-cigar filled with tobacco flake and commonly wrapped in a tendu (''Diospyros melanoxylon'') or ''Piliostigma racemosum'' leaf tied with a string or adhesive at one end. It ...
was the main crop.


References

Notes Citations


Further reading

* * *{{cite journal , title=Study of Poligar Violence in Late 18th Century Tamil Country in South India , first=Raman N. , last=Seylon , journal=African and Asian Studies , volume=3 , issue=3–4 , pages=245–272 , year=2004 , doi=10.1163/1569209332643692 Villages in Tenkasi district Zamindari estates Palayam