Agamudayar (otherwise Agamudaiyar, Akamudayar, Agamudayan) are a Tamil community found in the Indian state of

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil languag ...

. 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''. T ...

) 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 ...

Villupuram Viluppuram, Villupuram, or Vizhuppuram () is a Municipality and the administrative headquarters of Viluppuram district. Located south west of a Tiruvannamalai and north west of Cuddalore null The town serves as a major railway junction, ...

, Tiruvanamalai,

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 n ...

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) i ...

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 ...

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 m ...

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 Medieva ...

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 Tam ...

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 *

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 * A. Lakshmanaswami Mudaliar *

Arcot Ramasamy Mudaliar Sir Arcot Ramasamy Mudaliar (14 October 1887 – 17 July 1976) was an Indian lawyer, diplomat, and statesman who was the first president of the United Nations Economic and Social Council and the 24th and last Diwan of Mysore. He also served as ...

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 * V. Ravichandran *

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 *

Simbuthevan Chimbu Devan is an Indian film director also known as a writer, cartoonist, and screenwriter. His films mostly explore the fantasy and historical genres and also comedy. He debuted with the historical comedy-drama film Imsai Arasan 23 M Pulike ...

Thengai Srinivasan Thengai Srinivasan (21 October 1937 – 9 November 1987) was an Indian actor who appeared in Tamil-language films and plays from the 1960s to the 1980s. He was given the prefix ''Thengai'' (coconut) after his role as a coconut-seller in t ...

* Kalaipuli S. Thanu * Sandow M. M. A. Chinnappa Thevar *

Vasanthabalan Vasanthabalan (sometimes credited as Vasantha Balan) is an Indian Tamil film director and screenwriter, known for his Tragedy Films in Tamil Cinema. He has made critically acclaimed films including '' Veyil'' (2006), ''Angadi Theru'' (2010) and ...

* Vivek

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Agamudayar Mukkulathor Social groups of Tamil Nadu