Sambhavar: Let’s Rediscover

 

After a long time, to be precise more than 20 years, I travelled to my native place. Then after a gap of year or so, I travelled to my native place. Last time, I spent most of my time at my mother’s place (my maternal grandfather’s village). Long back, my maternal grandfather use to proudly say he is Sambhavar. This way long back, say 30 to 40 years back. I have heard of this.

This time when I was in the village, people have started identifying with the Paraiyar caste. The government and the political parties representing the downtrodden want to being them into one community. The political parties for their own political gains and the government to bring all the downtrodden community under one caste.  

Here, my thoughts wandered. Long back when the first census was conducted, that is way back in the last of the 18^th century, the Konar community due to the similarity with the Yadav community from the North India were bracketed under the Yadav group. It is possible that similar classifications might have occurred with other communities as well.

The Sambhavar community too might have lost its distinct identity to the Paraiyar community maybe because to the similarity with the Paraiyar community.

Back then, in my maternal grandfather’s time, they identified strongly with the Sambhavar  community. But, now the fourth generation, even the third generation, are not aware of their Sambhavar  identity.

They now identify themselves as the Paraiyar.

The arrival of the Christian missionaries started from the 17^th century onwards in the southern Tamil Nadu. They embraced the  downtrodden community, the Sambhavars and others. The Christian missionaries build schools and educated them, gave them dignity. They employed them in their institutions. The Sambhavar, a few of them, were the first community in southern Tamil Nadu to embrace Christianity. The Britishers too employed them. The Madras Army was one on them where they were employed. The wealth Englishmen who had tea estate too employed them.

This made them to travel to other parts of the country too. We find Sambhavars in north Kerala and in other parts of Kerala and in southern districts of Tamil Nadu and in other parts of Tamil Nadu. They are  in good numbers in Southern districts of Tamil Nadu.  

Now, with time it seems the community is assimilating into the larger Paraiyar community.