Sembadavar

Sembadavar or Parvatha Rajakulam is a community found mainly on the Coromandel coast of the Indian states of Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry. They also take the title Nattar.[1] Sembadavar are a maritime community who are occupied primarily as inland and river fishermen and primarily fish with fishing net.[2][3][4]A similar caste also known as Sambuni Reddi is found in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.[5] There are many theories as to their origins but they have since ancient times been recorded in the area of Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry and Sri Lanka.

parvatha rajakulam
Parvatha Rajakulam
ReligionsHinduism, Roman Catholicism
LanguagesTamil
Related groupsTamil people

Etymology

The name Sembadavar is mythologically connected to the principal Hindu god Shiva. The name is derived from the Tamil words Sambu, a name of Shiva and Padavar meaning boatmen thus literally meaning "Shiva's boatmen".[6] The name might also be derived from Sem meaning good and Padavar thus literally meaning "good boatmen".[1]

History

Mythological origin

According to one legend was Shiva fond of one of their chief deity Ankalamman. Out of the union was Parvatha Rajan (king of the Parvata Kingdom) born who disguised himself as a boatman.[7] His boat was made of copper, the Vedas assumed the form of his fishing net and the Rakshasas took the form of the pisces.[6] Accidentally was a rishi caught in his net, who angered called Parvatha Rajan a "Sembu Padavar" meaning "copper boatmen" and cursed his descendants to become fishermen. From this myth do they call themselves as Sembadavar or also Parvatha Rajakulam (meaning descendant of Parvatha Raja).[8]

Post-independence

In 1947, the fisheries became a monopoly of the new independent Indian government.

As of 2011, Parvatharajakulam is classified as a Most backward caste by the Governments of Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry.[9]

References
  1. Singh, Kumar Suresh; India, Anthropological Survey of (2001). People of India. Anthropological Survey of India. pp. 725, 1312. ISBN 9788185938882.
  2. Fisheries, Madras (India : State) Dept of (1927). Bulletin. p. 82.
  3. Nārāyaṇaṉ, Ka Ilakkumi; Gangadharan, T.; Chandrasekar, N. (1999). Salem City: An Ethnohistory (1792-1992). Vysya college. p. 47.
  4. Memoirs of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal. p. 234.
  5. People of India: A - G. Oxford Univ. Press. 1998. p. 2791. ISBN 9780195633542.
  6. State), Madras (India (1962). Madras District Gazetteers. Superintendent, Government Press. p. 154.
  7. Masilamani-Meyer, Eveline (1986). Aṅkāḷaparamēcuvari, a Goddess of Tamilnadu: Her Myths and Cult. Steiner Verlag Wiesbaden. pp. 98–101. ISBN 9783515047029.
  8. Singh, Nagendra Kumar (2006). Global encyclopaedia of the South Indian Dalit's ethnography. Global Vision Publishing House. p. 693. ISBN 9788182201675.
  9. "List of Backward Classes approved by the Government of Tamil Nadu". Government of Tamil Nadu. Retrieved 1 April 2011.

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