Sengunthar or Kaikolan or Kaikolar are a large group of Tamil in southern India.
Sengunthar is a distinguished caste from Tamilnadu. Sengunthar are also known as Kaikolar. This dual name of Senguntar or Kaikolar was used for over 1200 years based on literary evidence. Sengunthars live throughout India and around the world. Sengunthars form a significant proportion of population in various districts of Tamilnadu esp. in Arcot, Kanchipuram, Chingleput, Salem, Erode, Coimbatore, and Dharmapuri. Sengunthars use the title of Mudaliar after their name .In this page we will discuss about the history of sengunthars, their culture and customs.
Origin The Kaikolars also called as Sengunthar, are a large Tamil people. Their name comes from a mythical hero and from the words "kai" (hand) and "kol" (shuttle used in looming or spear). They consider the different parts of the loom to represent various gods and sages. In Andhra Pradesh they were also called as Kaikola/Kaikolan
They were in the army of Chola dynasty. They are also known as Sengundhar, which means a red dagger.
In the anthology collection of songs from various periods about Sengunthar, called Senguntha Prabhanda Thirattu, it is claimed that Sengunthas were serving the army of Early Cholas even about 2000 years ago.
Further even before the rise of medieval Cholas, inscriptionary evidence exists about Kaikkola in Jain temples of Tamilnadu
Brief History of Sengunthars in South India
The earliest historically accurate evidence for Sengunthars, as per Chola inscriptions (Thelintha Kaikola Padai) indicate that they belong to the warrior class.
They took up weaving silk and transformed to land owners and business men.
Later, during 17th and 18th century history indicate that Sengunthars were predominantly involved in weaving. This is indicated in various sources. At the same time, weaving was not the only occupation involved. Agriculture and business were also secondary occupations of Sengunthars.
Since Sengunthars were not Vellalars and belonged to the Idangai (Left-hand) caste group as per old British documents of the 18th century they did not feel bound to the land. They also migrated across Tamilnadu from their origin to spread Tamil literature.
They form a significant population in Kancheepuram and Tirupur-Salem. They started
using Mudaliar surname even though there is no established date on when they started using the title.
It should be noted that Sengunthars do not tend to intermarry with other Mudaliars even though they may reside in the same area as other Mudaliars.
Kaikkolars using Mudali title from the Diary of Ananda Ranga Pillai
It is customary for Kaikkolars to use Mudali title after their personal name. In Pondicherry there were many weaver families in the 18th century. Since each caste was represented by two head-men known as nattars, the weavers also were required to select two head-men. Since there was dispute in selecting these two-headmen, the chief dubash of that time Ananda Ranga Pillai was requested by the Governor of Pondicherry to select the two head-men.
The two head-men selected were Muttu Mudali and Ana Nayakka Mudali both from Kaikkolar caste. From this we understand that Mudali surname was used by Sengunthars as early as 1750AD.
History and Historical Evidence
During chola rule kaikolars served as soldiers and called as "Thelintha kaikolar padai"
Sengunthars were considered as descendents of lord Muruga having a kol{Vel}. There is
another story indicating that Sengunthars are descendants of VeeraBahu the general of Lord Muruga.
Sengunthars Temple Trustees
According to India before Europe by Catherine Ella Blanshard Asher, Cynthia Talbot, Sengunthas attained positions of responsibility at the two major Vaishnavite temples of Srirangam and Tirupati. In Tirupati, they were in charge of distributing the consecrated food offerings to the worshippers.
In the book The Political Economy of Commerce: Southern India, 1500-1650, author Sanjay Subrahmanyam states that many Senguntha families were rich enough to contribute both land and gold to temples. According to Ruth Barnes in Textiles in Indian Ocean Societies, in AD 1418 in Tiruvannamalai, Sengunthars were given the right to blow the conch, ride palanquins and elephants and wave the temple fly whisk.
Sengunthars becoming weavers
Only during the 13th century Sengunthas have become associated with weaving completely. Further during this time as the Chola Empire weakened the role as soldiers’ decreases and their role as weavers’ increases.
Diverse nature of the Sengunthar Nadus forming
separate castes with a single name There are 72 subdivisions or Nadus in Sengunthar. These are separated across hundreds of kilometres in distance. As time progressed, these subdivisions got separated from one another and lost the common cultural bondings. Further based on the location of the subdivisions, whether in Tamilnadu or Kerala or Andhra or Karnataka, customs and even language changed for these nadus.
Finally all that remains common are
• the name of the caste - sengunthar/Kaikolar
• The chief goddess - Kanchipuram Kamatchi.
So while Sengunthar is recognized as a single caste for all legal purposes, in reality these 72 subdivisions are separate castes with different customs and never intermarry. However this is now changing once again due to globalization.
Community Legends and festivals
The Sura Samhara festival is a ritual tradition practised a long time ago by the Sengunthars. According to the mythology of weaver community, the Sengunthars weavers were born out of nine gems that were scattered from Parvati's anklet. At the Sura Samhara festival, they dress up as the nine warriors of Virabahu, the lieutenant of Lord Karthikeya and enact the killing of the demon Narakasura..
Modern Clans While the 4 desai nadus, 16 peria nadus and 72 nadus in the Sengunthar have now disappeared as Sengunthar have embraced the modern growth of India, there is still a lot of diversity among Sengunthars.
Certain regions of Sengunthars are still very much separated both by distance, culture and marriage relations. They are a. Kanchipuram (more than 2 major subgroups)
b. Tiruvannamalai
c. Salem, Erode (more than 10 subgroups)
d. Coimbatore
e. Madurai and southern districts (multiple subgroups)
f. Tanjore, Tiruchi(multiple subgroups)
g. Kerala (Cochin, Trivandrum)
h. Andhrapradesh (Chittoor, Nellore, Prakasam, Hyderabad, etc)
i. Karnataka (Kolar, Bangalore, Mangalore, etc)
j. Sri Lanka (Nallur/Yaalpaanam(Jaffna)) Mass emigration from Kanchipuram during
Yaalpaana Kingdom era.
Even within these geographical regions many exogamous (no intermarriage) subgroups exist.
These are a legacy of the old classification of Sengunthars.
Associations There are many associations for Sengunthars.
They are:
Socio Economic Service Society (SES) in Nungambakkam - Chennai.
Sengunthar Mahajana Sangam.
Business Establishments Gomathi Mills
The Chennai Silks
Nilgiris Dairy Forms
Sharp tools Kodai International Hotels
Modern Personalities Politics CN Annadurai
Bharathidasan
Tiruppur Kumaran
Pulavar Govindhan: Former Speaker of Tamil Nadu Assembly.
Governor of the State of Uttar Pradesh Shri T.V. Rajeswar
Arts Prashanth actor
Thyagrajan actor
P. S. Veerappa villan actor
ANANDRAJ villan actor
Kennedy alias vikram actor
Thiagarajan actor
P.S.veerappa actor
Perumal mudaliar national pictures
R.k.Selvamani director
Pa. Vijay lyrist
P.Vasu director
G.V.Prakash, Music Director
Business
Ariyanatha Mudaliar: Founder of Chennai Silks
Ethiraj mudaliar: Chairman, Binny Group, partner Ram Chandra medical college.
M. Nandagopal Executive Chairman, Mohan Breweries and Distilleries Limited,
