SRILANKAN PILLAI VELLALA NAIR MENON HISTORY

இலங்கை வேளாளர், பிள்ளை, மேனன், நாயர் வரலாறு

see more wikipedia on Pillai & Vellalar & Sri Lankan Mudaliyars

The history of Vellalas in Srilanka is very old and famous. Vellalas still thrive in Srilanka. They are both Politically and economically strong there. Find more info with our comments here as articulated earlier by Vaibhava Maalai, Arumuga Navalar, J.M.Nallasami Pillai, Mootootambi Pillai and others... In Sri Lanka, they are currently estimated to form over fifty (50)% of the population of the Sri Lankan Tamils in the Northern Province and Jaffna. (See also Hinduism in Sri Lanka and Caste in Sri Lanka).^[3] The Aaarunattu Vellar community also prevails in Sri Lanka

thanks for : http://www.tamilnation.org/forum/sivaram/920701lg.htm

....Thus began the rise of the Vellalas in Jaffna. The Portuguese seem to have also favoured another caste called the Madapalli. The Vellalas were not only cultivators, but a section of them which had developed scribal skills, provided the local officials, interpreters and karnams (accountants). Successive colonial powers found Vellala scribal groups useful where Brahmins were not forthcoming. Histories of Jaffna were written and presented to the Portuguese, which showed the Vellala and the Madapalli as the original and dominant community of the peninsula....

....In 1834, Simon Casie Chitty recorded in his Ceylon Gazetteer, that Kallar, Maravar, Ahampadiyar and Palli (Vanniyar) were sub-divisions of the Vellala caste. It is clear that the Tamil martial castes of Jaffna had swelled the ranks of the Vellalas when faced with unfavourable conditions under colonial rule, as they later did under the British in Tamilnadu. This gave rise to the saying in the peninsula, “Kallar, Maravar and Ahampadiyar came slowly, slowly and became Vellalas.” But, unlike their counterparts in Tamilnad, the Jaffna Vellalas didn’t generally change their military caste titles. “In former days the Vellalas had the titles of Rayan, Thevan, Kizhan and Mazhavan.”.....

....The Vellalars of Jaffna have been chronicled clearly in the Vaipava Malai and other historical texts of Jaffna. These Vellalar chiefs claim descent from traditional minor-kings and chiefs of Thamizhagam. They have been Commanders of Chola and Pandya Armies as well as respected ministers and administrators. A full list can be obtained from the Vaipava Malai. Jaffna is a correct point of reference to study the Vellalar history of last 1000 years. From the 13th century when migration of Vellalar chiefs to Jaffna took place, Tamil Nadu has seen a decline in the traditional power of Vellalars.