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JULY, 1914]
THE HISTORY OF THE NAIK KINGDOM OF MADURA
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west, where the local chief of Amarâvati, Kumâra Vêda by name, adopted him and, on his retirement, bequeathed to him the chiefdom of Dhârâmangalam! Another chief, Immadi Goppana Mannâdiar of Poravipalayam, had a very respectable family history which goes back to still ancient times. It says that, immediately after the return of Kampana Udayâr, the restored Pandya recognized the then Goppana as a chief. "In course of time, the Pandyan kingdom became extinct, and the Râya's power was extended throughout the south. The Râya then crowned Kottiyam Nâgama Naik's son, Viśvanâtha Nâik, as the king of the country east of the pass. Visvanâtha when he came to Madura summoned all the Polygars, and Mansabdars of the country. Goppana Mannâdiar went, and saw him and obtained his favour." The same was more or less the case with the Pallava Râya Kavundans of Thôppampatti, the Periya Kavundans of Masakûr, the Chôliyânda Kavundans of Sevvur, the Sakkarai Kavuṇḍans of Palayakôttai, etc. These Kavundans, it should be mentioned, were recognized as feudal vassals by the later Nâiks; but as in Tinnevelly, they were controlled by a number of Tôttiya chieftains whom Viśvanâtha either established or raised from obscurity to grandeur. Thus came into existence the Dêva Nâiks of Avalampatti, the Samba Nâiks of Samachuvadi, the Bomma Nâiks of Andipatti, the Muttu Rangappa Nâiks of Mêtraṭṭi, the Chinnama Nâiks of Mailâḍi, the Dimma Nâiks of Vêdapatți, the Sottha Nâiks of Sothampatti, the Sila Naiks of Tungâvi, etc. Some of these were, as a reference to their histories in Appendix VII will shew, Polygars in the times which preceded the advent of Viśvanâtha Nâiken in Madura, but they were definitely organized by him in the middle of the 16th century.
The Castes and Creeds of the Immigrants. The Tôttiyans.
It may be asked to what caste and creed the immigrants belonged. The majority of the Telugu colonists were Tôttiyans, or Kambalattârs. Both the chiefs who migrated to the south and became83 Polygars, and their main followers were Tôttiyans. Of a proud and virile community, they connected themselves in their legends with God Krishna. They declared that they were the descendants of the 8000 cowherdesses of Krishna, a tradition which indicates, as Mr. Stewarts surmises, that their original occupation was perhaps the rearing and keeping of cattle. Other circumstances also go to prove this. The names of their two most important subdivisions, Kollar and Erkollar, are simply the Tamil forms of the Telugu Golla and Eragolla, which denote the shepherd castes of the Telugu country. The subdivision of Killavars, again, is probably a corruption of the Telugu kildri, a herdman. The fact that the Tôttiya bride and bridegroom are seated in their marriage ceremony, even now, on bullock saddles goes to prove the pastoral and agricultural life of their early ancestors. The extraordinary skill they display in the reclamation of waste lands is noticed in scores of Mackenzie MSS, which graphically describe the processes of their emigration with their herds of cattle. Besides agriculture, cattle breeding and
83 Nelson uses the term Vadugas to denote the immigrants. He subdivides them into Kavarers, Gollas, Reddis, Kammavârs, and Tottiyans or Kambalas. Of these the last three were agricultural. See his Madu. Manual, p. 80.
84 Madr. Census Rep. 1891; Thurston's Castes and Tribes.
