Mukkuvar also Mukkuva are a social group or caste primarily a fishing community, living in the coastal districts of Kerala, south Tamil Nadu in India and also in Sri Lanka. It is a community that has differing ethnic identities based on the state or country of domicile. Although they may be an insignificant community in India, their social and numerical position makes them an important community in Sri Lanka. They are also found in Lakshadweep islands off India but are called as Melacherries. In sociology, a group is usually defined as a collection consisting of a number of people who share certain aspects, interact with one another, accept rights and obligations as members of the group and share a common identity. ... Caste systems are traditional, hereditary systems of social stratification, such as clans, gentes, or the Indian caste system. ... Kerala ((?); Malayalam: കേരളം, — ) is a state on the tropical Malabar Coast of southwestern India. ... Tamil Nadu (தமிழ் நாடு, Land of the Tamils) is a state at the southern tip of India. ... Lakshadweep (Malayalam: ലക്ഷദ്വീപ് []) is the smallest Union Territory of India. ...

Origins

Historically some believe that they are originally from East coast of Tamil Nadu who then migrated to Kerala, Sri Lanka and Lakshdweep. Also some may have re-migrated from Sri Lanka back to India and settled in the south western coastal side of Kerala. But in general they are ancient indigenous fishers and inhabitants of the general area that they are found toady^[1]. Historically they are an important community in the affairs of Sri Lanka as Mukkuva Chiefs controlled large swath of lands on the western and eastern coast of Sri Lanka. This came about due to their military raiding parties during the medieval period that was recorded in local historical records such as the Kokila Sandesya as the Mukara Satana or the ‘fight of the Mukkaru’^[2] The word indigenous is an adjective derived from the Latin word indigena, meaning native, belonging to, aboriginal; and has several applications: Indigenous peoples, communities and cultures native or indigenous to a territory; Indigenous (band), a Native American blues-rock band; In biology, indigenous means native to a place or biota...

Religion

Most of the members of this community in India are Roman Catholics due to the missionary activities of St. Xavier and other Jesuits [3]. Currently many have also converted to Evangelical Christianity in the recent years. Significant minority in India are Hindus (See Mata Amritanandamayi). In Sri Lanka majority of them are either Hindus or Buddhists with a significant minority who are Catholics. The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ... Xavier may mean: A form of the name Javier. ... The Society of Jesus (Latin: Societas Iesu), commonly known as the Jesuits, is a Roman Catholic religious order. ... Look up Evangelical in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Mātā Amritanandamayī Devi(माता अमृतानन्‍दमयी), also known by her followers as Amma, Ammachi or Mother (born September 27, 1953), was born Sudhamani in the small village of Parayakadavu, near Kollam, Kerala. ... This article is about the Hindu religion; for other meanings of the word, see Hindu (disambiguation). ... Statues of Buddha such as this, the Tian Tan Buddha statue in Hong Kong, remind followers to practice right living. ...

Current condition

Many of the Mukkuvars do a variety of jobs, including engineering, education, clerical, etc, major part of the community does fishing or fishing related works. However there are many entrepreneurs and educationists among them. In India, there is social segregation based on fishers and boat owners, with the boat owner’s today claiming to be a separate caste called Arayan or Aravan although at one point they were simply the richer segments of the Mukkuva community. Amongst Malayalee Mukkuvas, the word Mukkuva is considered derogatory. Where as in Sri Lanka, amongst Sinhalese and Tamil Mukkuvas, it is not generally considered to be derogatory. Arayan or Aravan or Dheevaran is a dravidian caste of Kerala, India. ... Malayalee is the Malayalam word used to denote a person belonging to Kerala. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... see Sri Lankan Tamils ...

In Sri Lanka, some have fused with the dominant Sinhalese Karave caste, where as amongst Sri Lankan Tamils they predominate in the eastern Batticalo district where they form the majority of the Tamil speaking population.[4] They are divided into number of Kudis or clans. Descent is through matrilineal line. They have their own law called Mukkuva laws ^[5] that are used in the court systems to resolve legal issues. Karave also Karava or Kurukula are a fishing related caste or social group found in the south western coastal areas of Sri Lanka. ... Sri Lankan Tamils also known as Eelam Tamils, Ceylonese or Ceylon Tamils and Jaffna Tamils are today a trans-national minority, and are Tamil people from Sri Lanka. ... Batticaloa(මඩකලපුව In Sinhala, மட்டக்களப்பு In Tamil) is the provincial capital of the eastern province of Sri Lanka but now both northern and eastern provinces merged and Trincomalee has been declared as the provincial capital of north -East province. ... Matrilineality is a system in which one belongs to ones mothers lineage; it may also involve the inheritance of property or titles through the female line. ...

Their socio economic conditions are affected by the ongoing Black July induced civil war between the Sinhalese dominated government and the LTTE. Black July is the commonly used name of the pogroms starting in Sri Lanka on July 23, 1983. ... LTTE is an acronym or initialism for: Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam Known for their guerilla warfare forcibly killing every other independent groups aiming for seperate state. ...

2004 Tsunami

The 2004 Tsunami affected Mukkuvas of eastern Sri Lanka and Southern Tamil Nadu and Kerala very adversely. They were discriminated in rehabilitation projects in both the countries as reported by NGOs. The tsunami that struck Malé in the Maldives on December 26, 2004. ... NGO is an abbreviation or code for: Non-governmental organization Nagoya Airport (IATA code) This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...

See also

• Caste in Sri Lanka
• Marakkar

The system of Caste in Sri Lanka is a division of society into strata, differing somewhat from the classic Varnas of North India but is similar in nature to the Jati system found in South India . ...

References

• ↑  The Mukkuva law: or, The rules of succession among the Mukkuvars of Ceylon. / By C. Brito, Imprint Colombo, H. D. Gabriel, 1876

• ↑ Sri Lankan Tamil society and heritage by Prof Sivathamby[6]

• ↑ Tamils of Sri Lanka: historical roots of Tamil identity By S. K. Sitrampalam[7]

• ↑  The ancient myths of the aborigines Kerala Calling, July 2004 by Dr. M.V Vishnu Namboodiri[8]

External links

• The Mukkuv¡r A Fishing Community by G. John Samuel
• Mukkuvas in India
• The effect of 2004 Tsunami
• Retention of Tamil in Kerala by Mukkuvas
• Mukkuva raids into Sri Lanka
• Women in fishing communities