Agamudayar (otherwise Agamudaiyar, Akamudayar, Agamudayan) are a

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nati ...

community found in the Indian state of

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

. In Southern parts of Tamil Nadu, they are considered as one of the three castes which make up the Mukkulathor community. According to the anthropologist Zoe E Headley, the three communities (Agamudayar, Kallar and

Maravar Maravar (also known as Maravan and Marava) are a Tamil community in the state of Tamil Nadu. These people are one of the three branches of the Mukkulathor confederacy. Members of the Maravar community often use the honorific title ''Thevar''. The ...

) are the "numerically dominant rural backward castes of the southern districts of Tamil Nadu". Agamudayars are listed in the national commission of backward caste lists for Tamil Nadu as ‘Agamudayar including Thozhu or Thuluva Vellala ’.

Etymology

The term ''Agamudayar'' is a Tamil word meaning "House owner" or "Landholder".

Demographics

They are concentrated in

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

, Villupuram,

Tiruvanamalai Tiruvannamalai (Tamil: ''Tiruvaṇṇāmalai'' IPA: , otherwise spelt ''Thiruvannamalai''; ''Trinomali'' or ''Trinomalee'' on British records) is a city, a spiritual, cultural, economic hub and also the administrative headquarters of Tiruvanna ...

Cuddalore Cuddalore, also spelt as Kadalur (), is the city and headquarters of the Cuddalore District in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Situated south of Chennai, Cuddalore was an important port during the British Raj. While the early history of Cudda ...

Sivagangai Sivaganga () is a city and headquarters of the Sivaganga district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Sivaganga is a rani velunachiyar kingdom of Tamil Nadu. It is an important city in this district for official and commercial purposes. Its ni ...

Ramanathapuram Ramanathapuram (), also known as Ramnad, is a town and a municipality in Ramanathapuram district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the administrative headquarters of Ramanathapuram district and the second largest town (by population) in ...

Thanjavur Thanjavur (), also Tanjore, Pletcher 2010, p. 195 is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Thanjavur is the 11th biggest city in Tamil Nadu. Thanjavur is an important center of South Indian religion, art, and architecture. Most of the Gr ...

Thiruvarur Thiruvarur () also spelt as Tiruvarur is a town and municipality in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the administrative headquarters of Thiruvarur district and Thiruvarur taluk. The temple chariot of the Thyagaraja temple, weighing and mea ...

Nagapattinam Nagapattinam (''nākappaṭṭinam'', previously spelt Nagapatnam or Negapatam) is a town in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Nagapattinam District. The town came to prominence during the period of Medieval ...

Madurai Madurai ( , also , ) is a major city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District. As of the 2011 census, it was the third largest Urban agglomeration in ...

Tirunelveli Tirunelveli (, ta, திருநெல்வேலி, translit=Tirunelveli) also known as Nellai ( ta, நெல்லை, translit=Nellai) and historically (during British rule) as Tinnevelly, is a major city in the Indian state of Tami ...

and Pudukkottai districts.

Titles of Agamudayar

* Thevar * Servai *Mudaliar * Pillai * Desigar * Udaiyar * Maniakkarar

Notable people

Vijaya Bhaskar Vijaya Bhaskar ( kan, ವಿಜಯಭಾಸ್ಕರ್; 1924–2002) was an Indian music director and composer who composed music for several mainstream and experimental feature films in the Kannada film industry. Scoring music for over 600 fe ...

S. S. Chandran S. S. Chandran (25 September 1941 – 9 October 2010) was an Indian comedy actor, producer, and politician from Tamil Nadu. He belonged to the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party and was a Member of the Parliament representing Tamil N ...

P. U. Chinnappa Pudukkottai Ulaganathan Pillai Chinnappa (5 May 1916 – 23 September 1951) was an Indian singer and film actor during the 30s era from Pudukottai, India. He is also credited as one of the first major influential actors of South Cinema. His no ...

* V. L. Ethiraj * S. P. Jananathan *

Kovi Manisekaran Kovi Manisekaran ( ta, கோவி. மணிசேகரன், 2 May 1927 – 18 November 2021) was an Indian Tamil scholar, film director and actor. He was awarded Sahitya Akademi Award for Tamil for his historical novel ''Kutrala Kurinji'' i ...

A. Lakshmanaswami Mudaliar Sir Arcot Lakshmanaswami Mudaliar , FRCOG, FACS (14 October 1887 – 15 April 1974) was an Indian educationist and physician. He was the identical younger twin brother of Sir A. R. Mudaliar. Initial education was in Kurnool and they moved to ...

* Arcot Ramasamy Mudaliar *

C. Natesa Mudaliar Dr. C. Natesa Mudaliar (1875–1937), also known as Natesan, was an Indian politician and activist of the Dravidian Movement from the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. He was one of the founders of the Justice Party, along with P. Theagaraya Chetty ...

* Pachaiyappa Mudaliar *

V. M. Muralidharan Vellore Madhavan Muralidharan, popularly known as Mike Muralidharan, (born 29 December 1959) is an Indian educationist and IT industry veteran. He is the Chairman of Ethiraj College for Women, the Chief Operating Officer of Bahwan CyberTek Gr ...

* Sangili Murugan * Maruthu Pandiyar *

S. S. Rajendran Sedapatti Suryanarayana Rajendran, also known by his initials SSR (January 1928 – 24 October 2014), was an Indian actor, director, producer and politician who worked in Tamil theatre and cinema. Film career Rajendran made his acting de ...

V. Ravichandran Veeraswamy Ravichandran (born 30 May 1961), known mononymously as Ravichandran, is an actor, director, producer, music director, lyricist and editor in the Kannada Film Industry. He is the son of film producer N. Veeraswamy. As producer, Ravi ...

K. S. Ravikumar K. S. Ravikumar (born 30 May 1958) is an Indian film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, primarily working in Tamil films. Career 1990–1997 Ravikumar worked as co-director on R. B. Choudary's production ''Pudhu Vasantham'' directe ...

P. U. Shanmugam P U Shanmugam, affectionately called as ''Paa Vuu Saa'' (15 August 1924 - 11 April 2007) was an Indian politician and former minister of Tamil Nadu for Internal affairs, former minister of Public works, former minister of public health and variou ...

* Simbuthevan *

Thengai Srinivasan Thengai Srinivasan (21 October 1937 – 9 November 1987) was an Indian actor who appeared in Tamil language, Tamil-language films and plays from the 1960s to the 1980s. He was given the prefix ''Thengai'' (coconut) after his role as a coco ...

* Kalaipuli S. Thanu *

Sandow M. M. A. Chinnappa Thevar "''Eugen Sandow, Sandow''" Marudur Marudachalamurthy Ayyavoo Chinnappa Thevar (28 June 1915 – 8 September 1978) was a producer of Tamil cinema, Tamil films in the mid-1950s through the 1960s and 1970s. He is best known for his films featuring a ...

* Vasanthabalan * Vivek

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Agamudayar Mukkulathor Social groups of Tamil Nadu