Sembadavar or Parvatha Rajakulam is a traditional fisherman community found mainly on the

Coromandel coast The Coromandel Coast is the southeastern coastal region of the Indian subcontinent, bounded by the Utkal Plains to the north, the Bay of Bengal to the east, the Kaveri delta to the south, and the Eastern Ghats to the west, extending over an ...

of the Indian states 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 ...

and Pondicherry. They also take the title

Nattar The institution of the ''nattar'' was well-defined. It was in charge of all matters pertaining to a village, including water-management. It was noted that: "If ruling class is taken to mean those with the power and authority to manage community ...

. Sembadavar are a maritime community who are occupied primarily as inland and river fishermen and primarily fish with fishing net. A similar caste also known as ''Sambuni Reddi'' is found in

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

and

Telangana Telangana (; , ) is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated on the south-central stretch of the Indian subcontinent, Indian peninsula on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India b ...

. There are many theories as to their origins but they have since ancient times been recorded in the area of

, Pondicherry and

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

Etymology

The name Sembadavar is mythologically connected to the principal

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

god

Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...

. The name is derived from the

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 ...

words ''Sambu,'' a name of Shiva and ''Padavar'' meaning boatmen thus literally meaning "Shiva's boatmen". The name might also be derived from ''Sem'' meaning good and ''Padavar'' thus literally meaning "good boatmen".

History

Mythological origin

According to one legend was Shiva fond of one of their chief deity ''Ankalamman''. Out of the union was ''Parvatha Rajan'' (king of the

Parvata Kingdom Parvatas Kingdom refers to the territory of a tribe known as Parvatas (Mountaineers), mentioned in the epic Mahabharata. Most of the descriptions of Parvata kingdom in the epic refer to a mountainous country in the Himalayas. Tribes belonging to o ...

) born who disguised himself as a boatman. His boat was made of copper, the

Vedas upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''. The Vedas (, , ) are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the ...

assumed the form of his fishing net and the Rakshasas took the form of the pisces. Accidentally was a

rishi ''Rishi'' () is a term for an accomplished and enlightened person. They find mentions in various Vedic texts. Rishis are believed to have composed hymns of the Vedas. The Post-Vedic tradition of Hinduism regards the rishis as "great yogis" or ...

caught in his net, who angered called Parvatha Rajan a "Sembu Padavar" meaning "copper boatmen" and cursed his descendants to become fishermen. From this myth do they call themselves as Sembadavar or also ''Parvatha Rajakulam'' (meaning descendant of Parvatha Raja).

Post-independence

In 1947, the fisheries became a monopoly of the new independent Indian government. , Parvatharajakulam is classified as a Most backward caste by the Governments of

and Pondicherry.

References

External links

List of Backward Classes approved by Government of Tamil Nadu Latest updated list of OBCS notified by the UT of Puducherry Central list of OBCS for the UT of Puducherry Central list of other Backward classes
{{Use dmy dates, date=October 2017 Tamil society Indian castes Sri Lankan Tamil society Social groups of Tamil Nadu Converts to Christianity Fishing castes