Hinduism: Details about 'Chanar'

Index / Hinduism / Ayyavazhi / Chanar /

Navigation

Home
 One level up
 Back
 Index of contents
 Links
 Hinduism-Shop

Useful Links

Hinduism Portal
History Hindu deities Denominations Mythology Reincarnation Karma
Nirvana Dharma Ayurveda Scriptures Festivals By country

Nadar is one of the South Indian Tamil caste and the term also used to refer to the man belong to that caste.The caste also refered as 'chanas'.

Contents

History

The Nadars are a hardworking community and became successful after some struggles early on because of the caste system. One of their occupations was toddy (a kind of liquor) gathering from Palm trees. The 19th century saw the Nadars embracing Christianity in large numbers some out of will and some due to the easier acceptance into Christian schools. Today the distribution of Nadars between the two major religions, Hindu and Christian, are 60% and 40% respectively. Nadars traditionally have been extremely clannish people. Although outwardly



they are united as Nadars, there is a clear cut distinction between the Nadars of various regions of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. For example the customs and practices of Nadars hailing from Tirunelveli will be completely different from that of Nadars hailing from Madurai or Nagercoil. It is only in the present generation that Nadars like the current generation of most castes in India, are really opening up.

The premium placed on education by the Nadar community resulted in a drastic improvement in the socio-economic landscape of the community, a distinction reserved to upper classes of India. The Nadars are known for their work mostly on small scale business. Most cities in Tamil Nadu will have a grocery store run by a person from this community. They are even referred to as 'Annachi Kadai' or 'Nadar Kadai.' The Nadars also have branched into electronics, applicances and silverware retail mega-stores.

Genetic study

Recent genetic studies on the antigenic variations among south Indian populations



suggest nadars to have several genotypic characters shared with East Asian populations consistent with the demographic history of South India and also several unique genetic markers. The study suggested a distinct evolutionary lineage with lesser admixture in the gene pool among groups of Tamilnadu. The gene pool of nadars show more similarity to the East Asian populations (Tissue Antigens. 2003 Dec; 62(6): 542-7), a trend not observed in the Brahmin communities of south Tamilnadu, who are more closely related to the branch of the Indo-European and Central Asian tree (Human Biology 1996, 68(4), 523-37).

Further reading

  • M. Immanuel (2002) The Dravidian Lineages: The Nadars Through the Ages. A Socio-Historical Study. From Indus Valley Civilization to Present time. Published by: Historical Research & Publications Trust, 137/H-4 Bethel Nagar, Nagercoil-629004, Tamil Nadu, India.
  • D. Templeman. (1996) The Northern Nadars of Tamil Nadu: An Indian Caste in The Process of Change (February, 1996): New Delhi: Oxford University Press
  • Robert L. Hardgrave, Jr.(1969) The Nadars of Tamilnad; the political culture of a community in change. From year 1800 British records to 1968.

Famous people

  • Kamaraj - K Kamaraj, Freedom fighter, Politician, the Congress ‘‘King Maker’’
  • Shiv Nadar - Billionaire, CEO, HCL Group(Infotech), a technocrat who heads a multinational IT giant
  • K T K Thangamani , a barrister and communist leader of standing,
  • V S Azariah, the first Indian Bishop consecrated by the Church of England,
  • S P Adityan, who founded one of India’s most successful newspaper empires,
  • Admiral O S Dawson, former Chief of the Naval Staff,
  • M S S Pandian, renowned social scientist,
  • David Davidar, prominent publisher and writer,
  • Manuel Aron, India’s first International Chess Master and the first chess player to be honoured with the Arjuna Award,
  • Ranjan Roy Daniel, Physicist conferred Padma Bhushan and
  • Sam Rajappa, distinguished journalist.

Visitors who viewed this also viewed:

Hinduism: Avesha Avatara
Hinduism: Barbarian
Hinduism: Shatarupa
New Age: Ufos
Buddhism: Bodhisattva Vows
Christianity: Latter Day Saint Denominations

 


Click here for our Hinduism-Shop





This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Chanar". A list of the wikipedia authors can be found here.