Koviar

Koviyar (, also known as Covia) is a Tamil caste found in Sri Lanka. They are traditional agriculturalists and temple workers. ''Kattavarayan'' as caste deity is observed by the Koviar.

Etymology

The Yalpana Vaipava Malai states that the term ''Koviyar'' stems from ''Kovil'', a Tamil term meaning temple. Another view holds that the term is derived from the Tamil words ''Ko'' (cow) and '' Idaiyar'', meaning cowherds.

Another theory states that they are descended from Sinhala prisoners of war, and that Koviyar is a Tamilised form of the Sinhala Goviya. Tamil dirge songs sung by Vellalar women during funeral rituals carried out by Koviyar refer to them as Sinhalas ("O you Kovia, Sinhala").

Vellalar men often took concubines from the Koviyar community, and the children are entitled to Vellalar status as well as certain paternal inheritances.

History

Early period

They are mentioned in the Thesavalamai law of the Jaffna Peninsula, which was codified by the Dutch under their rule. There they are stated as descendants of the Sri Lankan Vellalar. Intermarriages between the Vellalars and Koviyars were common. Other traditions account that they were Sinhalese captives from the Govigama caste who were settled in Jaffna Kingdom, suggested by their ritual status being equal to that of the Vellalars with whom they share similar traditional occupation with. The ''Vaiya Padal'' states that they were one of the castes who came from Tamil country in Southern India and were apparently herdsmen.

Colonial period

The political rise of the Vellalar under Dutch Ceylon, pushed the Koviyar along with the Pallar and Nalavar into slavery through the legalisation of the ''Thesavalamai'' law, who were a group initially bound to only serve the state as tenant farmers. They were after the abolishment of slavery considered as domestic servants or ''Kudimakkal'' for a section of dominant castes, and had the role as ceremony officiators.

Modern period

After Sri Lanka’s independence from Britain in 1948, Sri Lankan Tamil politics was geared towards a nationalistic cause. Koviyar using their ritual and physical proximity to the educational services upgraded themselves socially and economically. The Policy of standardization imposed by the successive Sri Lankan governments since 1973 had the effect of restricting the number of Tamil students entering state Universities and affected upwardly mobile Koviyar students as much as the dominant class. Hence Koviyar were also involved in many of the Tamil nationalistic agitations that eventually resulted in the formation of many Tamil militant groups. They were prominent in one of them namely TELO that was eventually eclipsed by the LTTE that was also seen as to be associated with Karaiyar caste in Jaffna.

The civil war and the Black July pogroms have retarded most of these gains and many have escaped the deprivations by seeking refugee status in India, Europe and North America. They are merging with the host populations and/or the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora.

See also

* Caste system in Sri Lanka
* Village deities of Tamils of Sri Lanka

References

External links

Another theory on the origin of the word Koviar



{{Sri Lankan Tamil people

Sri Lankan Tamil castes