The History of Paraiyan / Paraiyar - An Analysis


Lets get the fact correct. Paraiyans / Paraiyars are not mentioned in the Sangam era as per Wikipedia. The earliest mention of Paraiyan / Paraiyars  / Paraiyars  is in the 11th Century, ie, during the Chola period. It is well documented that Chola kings conquered many territories. Their rules extended from the whole of Tamil Nadu to West Bengal in the East to Kholapur in the Present day Maharashtra in the West. Now again according to Wikipedia, a chieftain of Karnataka origin settled in the conquered territory of Bengal and founded the Sena dynasty. It is also believed that the people of Mithila are descendants from soldiers and subjects of Chola Kingdom. Cholas were worshippers of Lord Shiva. The Chola kings as well as their descendants have build huge Temples dedicated to Lord Shiva in present day Tamil Nadu and in other States. To their credit goes the world famous Brihadisvara Temple at Thanjavur. Sensing opportunity in Chola Kingdom large number of Saivite Brahmins from Bengal settled in the Chola country during the Chola period and were given lands in Kanchipuram and the Cauvery Delta by the Chola kings, this information is as per the available records.
If you take a closer look at the above para, the Chola kings had Chieftain of Karnatak origin. According to Google search, he had Chieftains of Malayalam origin, Telugu origin, Tulu origin, Muslim origin and of course Tamil origin. From this it can be interfered that he was looking for best available talent.

Coming to Paraiyans / Paraiyars, historians and others have referred this caste as Drummers. They beat Drums during funerals, that is, what historians say. There are also mentions of Paraiyans / Paraiyars chieftains, especially during the Chola Period. Now, coming to Chola Dynasty, they were always looking for innovations and talents to lead its military to conquest enemy’s territories.
If we all recollect, in ancient times and during Chola Period also there were Drummers in the military. What is the role of the Drummers? The Drummers play a very important role in the military strategy. During Chola Period horses and elephants were used to win the war. They were the fastest mode of transport then. Riding horses the soldiers were able to swiftly attack the enemy. Likewise, from tall elephants, the archers (soldiers) were able to shoot arrows properly at their targets. Sitting in elephants give a better view of the battlefield and a quick decision making power to react to the situation.

 Here the roles of the drummers were of prime importance. By beating the drum in a particular beat, the drummers were able to scare off the horses and the elephants. Imagine the elephant retreating; when they retreat from the beating of particular beat from the drum, they create havoc in their own army. They kill their own soldiers with their feet. Same with the horses, when they retreat the soldiers on the horses are at a disadvantage. They fall. The horses run in great speed from the battlefield through their own army.  The person sitting on the Elephants and Horses are not ordinary soldiers, they are of higher hierarchy, either generals, chieftains and even kings and princes. When their horses and elephants run away from the battlefield the whole war is lost.

The role of the drummer too is of most important during war. If Paraiyans / Paraiyars are drummers and they are also mentioned as chieftains in some place, then they took active part during wars.
Why is the earliest mention of Paraiyan / Paraiyars  in the 11th Century? Paraiyans / Paraiyars  existed even before. The wars that were fought then were on small scale between the local kings. Drummers were given less importance, as strategies were yet to be developed. Chola Kings ambitions changed everything. At its Zenith their rule extended from Bengal (both east and west Bengal) to Tamil Nadu and beyond to Sri Lanka, Maldives, Sumatra, Malay Peninsula and Indonesia. In their quest to conquer new territories, they realized the importance of drummers in winning the war. Chola dynasty ascension in the South was also the period when the Muslims rulers were rapidly changing the face of India. They too were on an expansion spree.

During the Chola period it seems the Paraiyans / Paraiyars were given a place of Importance. They too were loyal to the Kings and the Chola Kings treated them too treated them as equals. It seems the Chola’s inter-married. They might have had marriage relationship with their Chieftains and their kin. Paraiyan / Paraiyars too were Chieftains during the Chola period. Maybe, that’s the reason every Caste in present day Tamil Nadu claims to be a descendant of Chola.

The decline of Chola Dynasty also marked the decline of the Paraiyan / Paraiyars, in short Drummers. By then Delhi Sultanate of Turkish, Persian, Mongoloid and of other present day west Asian origin started establishing their foothold in present day South India including Tamil Nadu. They brought in modern artillery of their times like long range cannons which can throw fireballs to long distance to cause havoc in the army camp. Paraiyan / Paraiyars, in short Drummers were no longer required. Their decline started and when the British establish their rule in Tamil Nadu that is in the latter half of 16th Century, this caste was reduced to penury (extreme poverty). They did whatever menial job was available for their day-to-day survival including beating of drums in funerals.
As stated in the earlier paras, the Cholas ruled the entire South India, Odisha, Bengal (both west and east). In the conquered territories they left behind their Satraps or Chieftains as the caretakers of these territories.

After the decline of Chola Empire, many kings and dynasty of lower caste origin came into prominence. They might be Paraiyan / Paraiyars /Paraiyars?

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Continue: Please click the below link for new insights

Paraiyan (Paraiyar) - Few unknown and known fact

https://valluvashastri.blogspot.com/2020/06/paraiyan-paraiyar-few-unknown-and-known.html

@All Right Reversed 

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