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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 prevalent among Tamils from Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka. Descendants of Tamil migrants also bears variants of the name in countries such as South Africa, and elsewhere in the Tamil diaspora.

The title is usually borne by the communities like the Kondaikatti Vellalar, Thuluva Vellalar, Karaiyar and Senguntha Kaikolar.

Etymology

The title is derived from the Tamil word muthal or "muthar" meaning first with the suffix yaar denoting people. The title is used in the same sense as simply meaning headman.

History

The term "Mudali" (or "Mudaliar") is an honorific historically associated with the Vellalars, a group of agrarian communities, particularly in the Tondaimandalam region. Among the Vellalars, subgroups like the Kondaikatti and Thuluva Vellalars used this title to emphasize their deep-rooted connection to agriculture and land. The name "Vellalar" itself is commonly believed to stem from "vel-anmai," meaning "command over agriculture," highlighting the community's role as primary cultivators and signify their longstanding role in land ownership in Tamil Nadu.

Over time, this title was also adopted by other groups, notably the Sengunthar community. Sengunthars, traditionally held a prominent place as skilled weavers in the Tamil region and served as soldiers and commanders in Chola Empire .During the rule of Imperial Cholas, the Sengunthars were warriors and were given the title "Sengunda-Mudali", indicating an evolution in their social status within Tondaimandalam society. Sengundhars are a relatively high ranking caste who rival in status the main agriculturist caste, the Vellalars.

The adoption of the "Mudali" honorific by both agricultural and artisan communities reflects the social dynamics and intermingling of caste and occupational identities within Tamil Nadu’s historical caste structure.

India

Kondaikatti Vellalar

Kondaikatti Vellalar or Thondaimandala Mudaliar is a Tamil caste in south India. Historically, they were a caste of non-cultivating land-holders and some of them were administrators under various south Indian dynasties especially the Chola Empire. Their original homeland was Thondaimandalam and from there they spread to other areas in south India and northeastern parts of Sri Lanka. Since they historically used the Mudaliar title, they are sometimes referred to as Thondaimandala Mudaliar.

Thuluva Vellalar

Thuluva Vellalar (Thondaimandala Tuluva Vellalar), also known as Agamudaya Mudaliars  and Arcot Mudaliars, is a caste found in northern Tamil Nadu, southern Andhra Pradesh. They were originally significant landowners. An early Tamil tradition states that a king known as Ādonda Chakravarthi, a feudatory of Karikala Chola brought a large number of agriculturists (now known as the Tuluva Vellalas) from the Tulu areas in order to reclaim forest lands for cultivation in Thondaimandalam during late 2nd century CE. Tuluva Vellalars are progressive and prosperous in the society. They are considerably advanced in the matter of education and the community was eagerly involved in business, Government and Non- governmental institutions.

Senguntha Kaikola Mudaliar

Senguntha Kaikola Mudaliar is a caste commonly found in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and the neighboring country Sri Lanka. In Andhra Pradesh, they are called as Kaikala or Karikala Bhaktulu, who consider the Chola emperor Karikala Chola as their hero. They were warriors by ancient heritage and traditional, Textile Merchants and Slik Weavers by occupation. They were part of the Chola army as Kaikola regiment and were dominant during the rule of Imperial Cholas, holding commander and minister positions in the court. Ottakoothar, 12th century court poet and rajaguru of Cholas under Vikrama Chola, Kulothunga Chola II, Raja Raja Chola II reign belong to this community.In the olden days in India, the Sengunthars were warriors and were given the title Mudaliar for their bravery. In early thirteenth century, after the fall of Chola empire large number of Kaikolars migrated to Kongu Nadu from Tondaimandalam and started doing weaving and textile businesses as their full time profession as they sworn to be soldiers only for Chola emperors. At present, most of the textile businesses in Tamil Nadu are owned by Senguntha Mudaliyars.

Sri Lanka

Karaiyar and Sri Lankan Vellalar

After the expulsion of the Portuguese, was the growing Dutch rule revolted in 1658 in the Jaffna region by the Christian Karaiyars and Madapallis. A Dutch minister of the 17th century, Philippus Baldaeus, described the Karaiyars, Madapallis and Vellalars among the influential classes of the Christians. Elite Karaiyars were appointed to the rank of Mudaliyars. The Karaiyar dominance got weakened through the political rise of the Vellalars under Dutch rule.

Karaiyar

For centuries have the Karaiyars had sea-trade relations with India but also Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam Malaysia and Indonesia, which has been heavily restricted since British rule.

At the hand of the powerful maritime trading clans of the Karaiyars, the emergence of urban centers known as pattanam were seen.Mudaliar (meaning "capitalist") were conferred on the maritime elite trading clans of the Karaiyars as titles of nobility.

See also

• Ceylonese Mudaliyars
• List of Mudaliars
• List of Vellalars
• List of Sengunthars

Notes

1. Some of the important endogamous sub-divisions among the Vellalas are: Aranbukatti, Arunattu, Cholapuram Chetti, Choliya, Dakshinattan, Kaniyalan, Karaikatta or Pandya, Kodikkal, Kongu, Kottai, Malaikanda, Nainan, Mangudi, Pandaram or Gurukal, Panjukara Chetti, Ponneri Mudali, Pundamalli Mudali, Sittak kattu Chetti, Tondamandalam Mudali or Kondaikatti, Tuluva, Uttunattu, and Yelur. The Tondaimandalam, Ponneri and Pundamalli Vellalas use the title Mudaliar;
2. Most of the Dubashes in the late eighteenth-century Madras were Telugu brahmans or Telugu perikavārs, Tamil kannakapillais, Tamil yādhavas, or Tamil Kondaikatti vellalas.
3. Among Tamil castes, both Karkattar Vellalas (Arunachalam, 1975) and Kondaikatti Vellalas (Barnett, 1970) have much the same profile as the KP: both are non-cultivating land-holders, with a history of service to ruling dynasties. Both are of high status, laying great stress on ritual purity.
4. Like the Kondaikatti Velalar described by Barnett(1970), they have allied themselves with south Indian dynasties as administrators, and have built up a position in the religious sphere in being employers of Brahmans and builders of temples for "high" gods like Siva, Ganesh and Vishnu.
5. The original stronghold of the Kondaikatti Vellalas was Tondaimandalam. Later they spread from there throughout Tamil Nadu. Some of them were employed in the king's court and others as military leaders during expansionist times.
6. The original home of the Kondaikatti Vellalar is Tondaimandalam and subsequently they are found throughout Tamil nadu.

References

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3. Vidyodaya Journal of Arts, Science, and Letters: Vidyodaya Vidyā Kalā Bhāsāśāstrīya Sangrahaya. Vidyodaya Campus, University of Sri Lanka. 1970. p. 117.
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Sources

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• Indian Council of Agricultural Research. Farmers of India, Band 2. Indian Council of Agricultural Research, 1961.
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• Surnames of Indian origin