Sri Lankan Mukkuvar

Sri Lankan Mukkuvar (Tamil: முக்குவர்) is a Tamil caste found in the coastal regions of Sri Lanka.

Mukkuvar
ReligionsHinduism, Christianity
LanguagesTamil
Related groupsKerala Mukkuvar

The community is traditionally occupied in fishing, conch shell and pearl diving but are also found as involved in agriculture.[1][2][3] They also include the major landlords in the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka who historically also served as mercenaries in medieval era.[4]

Etymology

The name of the caste has several etymology theories. According to one is Mukkuvar derived from Tamil word mukku (means tip or corner) and the suffix ar (people), thus the term denotes "those from tip of the landmass".[5] Another theory states that the word Mukkuvan (singular form), means "diver" derived from the Dravidian word muluku (to immerse or to dive).[6] Other titles used by the community are Kukankulam, Murkukan and Mukkiyar.[2][7] Their titles Kukankulam (Kukan clan) and Murkukan (foremost Kukan) are literary references to Kukan, the mariner who ferried Hindu god Rama across Ganges from Ayodhya whose descendant they claim.[4]

History

The earliest mention of the Mukkuvar is in the Sinhalese panegyric called Dambadeni asna (13th century AD), mentioning them as soldiers under the army of Parakramabahu II.[4] Their folk origin varies from region to region. According to the legend of the Mukkuvar from Kerala, they emigrated from Sri Lanka.[8] The Mattakallappu Manmiyam text and other local palm-leaf manuscripts attribute the emigration of the Sri Lankan Mukkuvar from South India under the rule of Kalinga Magha in 12th century AD, who delegates the power to local petty kings whose successors are identified as belonging to Kukankulam.[4] The conch shell trade flourished in the ancient and medieval era. The Mukkuvars of Jaffna region were traditionally involved in conch shell diving, however took to fishing with the decline of the conch shell trade.[9]

The Mukkuvar are found in Northern Province and Eastern Province of Sri Lanka.[10] Mukkuvar tribes migrated from Kilakarai in Tamil Nadu to cities in Puttalam and Jaffna Kingdom in the 8th century. The Jaffna chronicle, Yalpana Vaipava Malai, mentions the exile of Mukkuvars from Jaffna Kingdom to Batticaloa. They established a local polity in Puttalam, northwestern Sri Lanka. However, they and the Sonakar were defeated in a three-month siege by the Karaiyar chieftains, sponsored by the Kingdom of Kotte in the 15th century. This event is celebrated in a Sinhalese palm leaf manuscript called the Mukkara Hatana (The Mukkuvar War).[2]

Ruins locally known as Vedi Arasan Kottai i.e. Vedi Arasan's fort.

According to a popular folklore, is the Delft Island linked to the Mukkuvar king Vedi Arasan. Vedi Arasan had forts at Kayts, Kankesanthurai and Keerimalai, and was in possession of a Naga gemstone.[11] The Karaiyar king Meekaman with his Chola army defeated Vedi Arasan and the Moor chief Meera and earned his Naga gemstone for the Chola princess Kannika.[12][13] Ruins in Delft island such as Meekaman kottai and Vedi Arasan kottai are local names identified with this event.[14]

The Mattakallappu Manmiyam refers to the defeat of the Thimilar by the Mukkuvar and the Sonakar in eastern parts of the island. Several places in Eastern Province bear names related to this event.[15] The theme of the Mukkuvar seeking the aid of Muslim Sonakars was always present and at that time alliances and intermarriage between the communities took place.[8] The Batticaloa region was under the leadership of Mukkuvar Vannimai chiefs.[2]

Religion

One of the earliest tribes to get converted to Catholicism by the Portuguese were the Mukkuvars from Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala. The Mukkuvar practising Islam are known as Pusalan, Pulasar, Puislam or "New muslims", derived from the Tamil word putiya (new) and Islam.[16] The Mukkuvars of Sri Lanka from North Western Province are mostly Roman Catholic with a strong minority of Muslim Mukkuvars, however they are mostly Hindus in the Northern and Eastern provinces.[10]

Customs

The Mukkuvars of eastern parts of Sri Lanka follow the Mukkuva laws, also known as Mukkuva Ēṟppāṭu, which applies to marriage and property.[4] The Mukkuvars in Eastern Sri Lanka are, like other castes, also divided into kudi's (matrilineal clans).[17]

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See also

References
  1. Ragupathy, Ponnampalam (1987). Early Settlements in Jaffna: An Archaeological Survey. University of Jaffna. p. 223.
  2. McGilvray, Dennis B. (2008). Crucible of Conflict: Tamil and Muslim Society on the East Coast of Sri Lanka. Duke University Press. p. 60, 61, 64, 77. ISBN 978-0822389187.
  3. (Jaffna), University Teachers for Human Rights (1991). The Debasement of the law and of humanity and the drift towards total war. UTHR (Jaffna), University of Jaffna, Thirunelvely. p. 31.
  4. McGilvray, Dennis B. (1982). Caste Ideology and Interaction. Cambridge University Press. p. 59, 60, 68. ISBN 9780521241458.
  5. Suryanarayan, V. (2005). Conflict Over Fisheries in the Palk Bay Region. Lancer Publishers. p. 3. ISBN 9788170622420.
  6. Colombo, Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland Ceylon Branch (1967). Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. Colombo Apothecaries Company. p. 42.
  7. Holmes, Walter Robert (1980). Jaffna, Sri Lanka 1980. Christian Institute for the Study of Religion and Society of Jaffna College. p. 219.
  8. McGilvray, Dennis B. (1974). Tamils and Moors: caste and matriclan structure in eastern Sri Lanka. University of Chicago. p. 25–26.
  9. Ragupathy, Ponnampalam (1987). Early Settlements in Jaffna: An Archaeological Survey. University of Jaffna. p. 166.
  10. Raghavan, M. D. (1971). Tamil culture in Ceylon: a general introduction. Kalai Nilayam. p. 88. Religiously considered, in the North-western Province, they are largely Roman Catholics, with a strong minority of the Muslim Mukkuvar in the village of Kottantivu. In the Northern and Eastern Provinces they are largely Hindus.
  11. The Ceylon Antiquary and Literary Register. 8. Archeological Survey of India: Office Of The Times Of Ceylon. 1923. p. 252.
  12. Raghavan, M.D. (1971). Tamil Culture in Ceylon: A General Introduction. Kalai Nilayam. p. 53.
  13. Tamil Culture. 2–3. Academy of Tamil Culture: Tamil Literature Society. 1953. p. 307.
  14. Devendra, D. T. (1969). "A Ruined Dagaba in Delft". The Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain & Ireland. 13: i–iii. ISSN 0304-2235. JSTOR 43483470.
  15. (Jaffna), University Teachers for Human Rights (1993). Land, human rights & the eastern predicament. UTHR (Jaffna), University of Jaffna, Thirunelvely. p. 89.
  16. Kurien, Prema A. (2002). Kaleidoscopic Ethnicity: International Migration and the Reconstruction of Community Identities in India. Rutgers University Press. p. 77. ISBN 9780813530895.
  17. Thurnheer, Katharina (2014). Life Beyond Survival: Social Forms of Coping After the Tsunami in War-affected Eastern Sri Lanka. Transcript Verlag. p. 142. ISBN 9783839426012.

17. Could Marthanda Varma have won the Colachel War without the fishermen

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Further reading
  • The ancient myths of the aborigines Kerala Calling, July 2004 by Dr. M.V Vishnu Namboodiri
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