Valangai or the right hand refers to a caste-based division of communities 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 ...
that was in vogue from ancient times right up to the 19th and even the early decades of the 20th century AD. Since India's independence, the differences have practically vanished.
[ G. S.Ghurye, Pg 359]
The ''Valangai'' or right-handed faction was made up of castes with an agricultural basis while the ''
Idangai
Idangai or the left hand is a caste-based division of communities in Tamil Nadu that was in vogue from ancient times right up to the 19th and even the early decades of the 20th century AD. Since India's independence, the differences have practicall ...
'' was made of metal workers, weavers, etc. i.e. castes involved in manufacturing.
The Valangai faction was numerically superior to the ''
Idangai
Idangai or the left hand is a caste-based division of communities in Tamil Nadu that was in vogue from ancient times right up to the 19th and even the early decades of the 20th century AD. Since India's independence, the differences have practicall ...
'' or left-handed faction. There were 6 castes in the ''Idangai'' faction as opposed to sixty in the ''Valangai'' faction.
The ''Valangai'' faction was better organized, politically, than the ''Idangai''.
[ Caste Ideology and Interaction, Pg 105]
Jean-Antoine Dubois
Abbé J. A. Dubois or Jean-Antoine Dubois (; January 1765 – 17 February 1848) was a French Catholic missionary in India, and member of the ''Missions Etrangères de Paris''; he was called Dodda Swami by the local people. In his work on Hin ...
on ''Valangai'' writes, The ''
Paraiyars'' are its chief support, as a proof of which they glory in the title ‘Valangai-Mougattar’, or friends of the Right-hand.
[Hindu manners, customs and ceremonies. Dubois, J. A. (Jean Antoine),1899(Page.25.)]
During the
Chola
The Chola Empire, which is often referred to as the Imperial Cholas, was a medieval thalassocratic empire based in southern India that was ruled by the Chola dynasty, and comprised overseas dominions, protectorates and spheres of influence ...
period, the left and right-hand factions comprised ninety-eight castes each, but by the 19th century, the right-hand faction was made of 60 castes, and the left-hand, only six.
See also
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Caste system in India
The caste system in India is the paradigmatic ethnographic instance of social classification based on castes. It has its origins in ancient India, and was transformed by various ruling elites in medieval, early-modern, and modern India, espe ...
*
Idangai
Idangai or the left hand is a caste-based division of communities in Tamil Nadu that was in vogue from ancient times right up to the 19th and even the early decades of the 20th century AD. Since India's independence, the differences have practicall ...
Notes
References
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Indian castes
Social groups of Tamil Nadu
Agriculture in Tamil Nadu
South Indian communities
Ethnic groups in India
{{India-ethno-stub