Rationalists rubbish parties’ royal claims to caste lineage

In the 1950s and 1960s, the Dravidian movement used to cite the history of the great kings of Tamil Nadu to bolster the concept of Tamil pride and self-respect, against the mighty Congress which was propagating nationalism. 

After a gap of several years, caste outfits and their political offshoots of late are trying to hijack the legacy of the Chola, Pandya and Pallava kings, to mobilise people along caste lines. 

Every occasion connected with the great kings — like the Sadhayam festival of Raja Raja Chola— are used to coating the kings in caste colours to boost clan pride. Nearly seven caste outfits, including Mukklalathor organisations, lay claims to the great Chola Emperor Raja Raja and the leaders of such communities appeal to the people every year, to gather at the Sadhayam festival in large numbers at the Thanjavur Big Temple to garland his statue.

The trend is not confined to caste Hindus alone, as some of the scheduled communities too claim royal lineage. Puthiya Thamizhagam leader K Krishnasamy had conducted a rally claiming that the members of Devendrakulam, a scheduled community, belonged to a royal lineage and they should be removed from the SC list. Devendra denotes the leader of Marudham land during the Sangam age, he says. 

The Vanniyar Sangam traces its roots to the Pallava kings. Posters and banners inviting the community youth to its annual conference on Chitra Pournami regularly features the Pallava kings, who ruled the northern districts of Tamil Nadu. Even Karikalan, who ruled two thousand years during the Sangam age, is not beyond the reach of caste organisations. Besides, some of the communities link their ancestry to chieftains like Adhiyaman, Malayman and Vallavarayan. Such opinions are a misinterpretation of history, says P Maniarasan, a Tamil scholar and leader of Thamizhar Desiya Periyakkam. 

The claims on Karikalan is unfounded, since the Tamil society of the Sangam age was not classified into castes. “Tamil grammarian Tholkappiyar classifies Tamil society into six, depending on their occupation and no such thing as caste had been mentioned. None of the Sangam literature mentions any caste,” he says. 

“As far as Raja Raja is concerned, the fact that seven communities stake a claim to his lineage itself is a clear indication that he did not have a caste identity. The Chola empire extended throughout South India, besides Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Indonesia and the emperors could not afford to have any caste identity. They had marriage connections with many other kingdoms including non-Tamils, like the Chalukyas, to maintain their hold,” he points out. Meanwhile, there are pleas from Hindutva outfits to ban caste outfits from celebrating festivals related to kings. 

Hindu Makkal Katchi leader Arjun Sampath says, “Some of the national leaders have already been portrayed as caste leaders, creating tension among the people. The period of Raja Raja Chola, who ruled Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka, was a golden age in the state history and he is beyond caste.” Commenting on the trend, DK Vice-President Kali Poongundran, says, “Caste leaders are trying to mobilise a crowd for selfish political gains. But, this is a temporary phenomenon and it will not make have any adverse impact on Tamil society. 

In the past too, several leaders have tried to mobilise support along caste lines, but they had not succeeded. Even efforts to bring several communities under one umbrella to win elections have not succeeded. There is nothing to be alarmed about such attempts by caste outfits.”