History of Vadugar

Were they the so called "Aryan" invasions that invasions that came through the Khyber and Bolan  passes as the European historiography had concocted? The probe began. Kannadigas indeed stand out as teachers to Tamils, by negative examples. We ind ind that most o the invasions on the Tamil Tamil country !ere rom Karnataa. #t began !ith the Kalabhra invasions around $%& A. '., and their pillage over the Tamil country or over three centuries. Then came the (hlauya, )oysala, and *i+ayanagara ayaa invasions on the Tamil Tamil land. The Telugu Telugu -allavas ruled over the Tamils ater the Kalabhras. Then came the uestion o studying the history o those alien invaders. We ind in the /angam Tamil (lassics reuent reerences to a semi0barbarian and erocious stoc o  people !ho roamed around beyond the *1nadam 2Thirupathi3 hills. They served as mercenaries to many o the ancient /tates, particularly the 4auryas. They !ere called Vadugar  in  in Tamil classics. These *adugar got split into Eastern *adugar and Western We stern *adugar *adugar,, as !as the case !ith the 5erman barbarians breaing up into Eastern and Western 5oths. The Eastern *adugar gradually became Telugus. The Western *adugar, !ho !ere called as Kósar  as Kósar  in  in the /angam literature, became the Kannadigas. The northern raction o these K6sar !ere called as Mârattar  as Mârattar 7 and they became the Marathis the Marathis later. The northern segment o the Telugu *adugar *adugar in Kalinga broe into Oddars or  Oriyas. Oriyas. The irst ever territory that the K6sar or the Kannada *adugar *adugar occupied in the ormer (hera country !as the Tulun8du, as the Tamil literary evidences tell. Then they came do!n to the present 4ysore, then called as Erumainâdu as Erumainâdu.. #t !as thus called as it !as conuered by b y a *adugan *adugan called Erumai called Erumai.. )e participated in the Thalaiy8lan8nam battle against -andyan edunche9hiyan o the /angam Age. The successive invasions o these *adugar *adugar barbarians and their overrunning the (hera, (hola and -andya -and ya empires o the antiuity !as the cause or the all o the Tamils Tamils and their sub+ugation and classiication into lo! class aborigines. Brahmanism, as an apartheid !ay o lie, in act, had its origin only in the (hera country 2Kerala3 through the legendary person in -arasur8ma. Whereas the Aryan concept had its root in the north. The British colonial intellect conused Brahmanism !ith Aryanism, and had imposed a alse historiography by branding Brahmanism as an import rom the north. Though born do!n the extreme south in the (hera country, Brahmanism !as carried into the (hola and -andya countries only through the Kannada and Telugu 2or the *adugar3 *adugar3 Brahmans.  Manu Smruti, Smruti, !hich !as !ritten in Karnataa, !as adopted ado pted as the social code by b y the court o -uliesi ##, the (haluya monarch. The (haluyan epigraphical eulogies o mânavakula or Mânava or Mânava Dharma !ould Dharma !ould sho! it. #t !as the *adugar *adugar colonisers !ho imposed birth0based caste discriminations and untouchability on the Tamils in the (hola and -andya /tates. These indings helped the enlightened among the Karnataa Tamils to diso!n and discredit the 'ravidian ideology ideolog y and rediscover their Tamil Tamil identity. /o the beacon is no! in the hands o the Karnataa Tamils. Tamils.

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. on0Tamilian people o orth: #n the case o non0Tamilian people, speciic names have  been mentioned lie Kosar;, 4oriyar<, andar=&, Tondaiyar==, and *adugar=$. Kosars  belonged to Tulu country and they !ere living south o the *indhya and near the shores o !estern ocean. andar and 4oriyar are no others but the andas and 4auryas o north #ndia. Tondaiyars !ere ound in the orests o *engadam hills !here elephants !ere abundant. /o they !ent on expeditions, captured, trained and ormed them into a brigade. The trained elephants brought ire!ood to the >ishis and they ate the ood o their country only. rom this, !e can iner that Tondaiyars !ere having similar vocation lie Ariyars, as ar as elephants are concerned. *adugar !ere having their lands be yond *engadam and they spoe a dierent language. Another point to be noted is that at one  place 2-uram. @;3, the *adugars are denoted as vada vadugarC. The term vadugarC connotes that they !ere rom the north and hence the expression vada vadugarC is very signiicant, as it actually denotes northern group o northernersC. This can be compared !ith the expression vada AriyarC and vadavariyar" denoting northern AriyarC, but such expressions are ound in /ilappathiaram and not in the /angam literature taen or discussion. But the important point to be noted is the usage o AriyarC, !hile the !ord AriyarC is generally used to denote the peo ple o north or the ings o north, the above mentioned !ords Kosar, andar, 4oriyar, Tondaiyar and *adugar are used to denote only  particular groups o people !ho lived in the north o Tami9hagam. *************************************************************************************************************** *************************************************************************************

The Tamils and the Andhras

By -A'#T 4. >A5)A*A A#DA5A>  #  the countries !hich mae up the southern portion o #ndia it is !ell0no!n that those in !hich Tamil, Telugu and Kanarese are spoen are the countries !hich may boast o an ancient culture and a memorable past. The cultural and historical inter0relations bet!een these countries are naturally o great interest. Though the Kanarese language and literature are old and rich, still the intimacy o the contact o the Tamils !ith the Andhras, the ruitulness o the contact and the importance o the enuiry may !ell +ustiy our  going irst into the relations bet!een them. -hilologists are agreed that in the 'ravidian group o languages Tamil, Telugu and Kanarese all into a class by themselves.  them the irst t!o are the languages entitled to be considered the more ancient. Though Kanarese has no mean literature, still the  belie o the ancient Tamil scholars !as that the Kanarese language is a product o the intermingling o Tamil and Telugu. Fayam0ondan, the prince o poets o the early years o the t!elth century A. '., speas o Kanarese being a +umble o Csome Telugu and much TamilC.= The truth o this observation !ill not be lost on those !ho have studied old Kanarese. 4alayalam is, indeed, another language pertaining to this group, but it is ittingly treated as a daughter o Tamil. That the mountainous regions sirting the !estern sea !ere ormerly a part o the Tamil country and that the language spoen there !as not

dierent is obvious enough rom the old 4alayalam literature and the inscriptions ound in that area. This is !hy Kamban, as great a scholar as be !as a poet, speas o  4alayalam as i it !as not in his days a language very dierent rom Tamil.$ # Tamil, Telugu and Kanarese belong to one class, !hich language is the parent? ne may coness to an inability to oer a solution acceptable to scholars in general. There are some amongst us !ho hold that Tamil occupies that relationship. #t is accepted on all hands that TolappiyarCs Tolkappiyam is the earliest and most authoritative. This !or  divides the country !here Tamil is current into t!elve divisions and classiies the !ords that come rom lands lie *adugu beyond those t!elve divisions as !ords o oreign origin. -anam0paranar too, a contemporary o Tolappiyar, describes the Tamil land as limited on the north by the *enata )ills and does not claim that its domain extended urther beyond. Kaai0padiniyar, also an ancient Tamil poet, mentions distinctly that *adugu, the land !here the Telugu language is current, ormed the northern limit o  Tamil.@ #t !ill thus be patent that long beore TolappiyarCs times Tamil and Telugu had  been current side by side as t!o independent languages. To +udge by the Tamil literature no! available, Telugu !ould seem to be entitled to an antiuity eual to that o Tamil. 'uring the /angam period the Tamils ne! the Andhras under the name Vadugar G and their language as Vadugu. /imilarly, the Telugus called the Tamils by the name Aravar  and their language Aravam. The !ord Vadagar is only a variant o Vadugar, a northerner. Fust as the country to the !est Kudakku! became  Kudaku so the country to the north Vadakku!  became Vadagu and, later, changed to Vadugu.% This derivation is also indicated by the lines o Kaai0padiniyar already uoted and by the phrase C*adugar o  the orthC in another !or o the /angam age. #t seems that even in the times o the Hast /angam the country north o the *enata )ills !as considered the country o the *adugar. I /ome o the Kanarese too seem to have been called *adugar.  #n conseuence o the Andhras and the Kanarese having been called by the common name o *adugar in the days o the /angam, it has been surmised that they !ere then one race and that their  language too must have been no!n as *adugu and that it is only later that Kanarese must have branched o into a separate language.; But llam0Ko0Adigal, the great epic0  poet o the /angam age, mentions distinctly those !ho spea the Kanarese language as Karunadar,<  and other classical !riters mae mention separately o the lands !here Kanarese and Telugu !ere respectively spoen.=&  The northern portion o the 4ysore state and parts o the districts o Bellary and Anantapur seem to be no!n even no! as Badaga0nadu and the Kanarese o those areas are no!n as "adaga#varu and "adaga# natti#varu. A poem o the /angam mentions an Erumai as a C*adugar chieC in !hose land lo!ed the river Ayiri.== This is evidently the Agiri !hich alls into the Tungabhadra. #t is this country !hich !as probably the extreme southern limit o the Asoan empire as is evidenced rom inscriptions ound in the vicinity. # these be so, it ollo!s that the Telugus !ho !ere to the north, and the Badaga Kannadas !ho !ere to the !est, o the Tamils !ere no!n generically as the *adugar. The poet, 4a0mulanar, says that it is beyond the lands o a chie o the name o Katti that the language changed into that o the *adugar.=$ -erhaps the chies !ell0no!n as Katti0 4udaliyars in the days o the *i+ayanagar empire and later belonged to the lineage o this Katti.=@ #t is !orthy o  note that these Katti04udaliyars occupied those portions o the

Tamil country !hich 4a0mulanar assigned to Katti. There are reasons to hold that the land called *adugar0munai and placed beyond the lands o this Katti is identical !ith the Badaga0nadu !e have already mentioned.=G #t is these Badagas that seem to be reerred to  by /t. /undara in one o his psalms on a shrine in the Kongu country.=% #n *embatturarCs Tiru#viliaiyadal $uranam the Fain ing !ho captured 4adura is called in one place Cthe Karnataa ingC and at another place as Cthe *adugu ingC.=I  These reerences sho! that the term *adugar !as also used to devote the Kanarese, some o  !hom seem latterly to have settled in the Tamil country.= The amous commentator achchinaru0#niyar and the author o the old commentatory on the  %annul state that o the lands surrounding the Tamil country those in !hich Kanarese, *adugu and Telugu !ere current !ere distinct entities. =; The Telugu country  being treated as distinct rom the *adugu country, !e have +ustiication or holding , that they had the Badaga country in mind in dra!ing the distinction. ther!ise !e should have to suppose that they treated the northern part o Andhra as the Telugu land and the southern part as the *adugu land, and see support or this vie! in the act that the Tamil country itsel !as divided into the /en0Tamil and the Kodum0Tamil lands. )o!ever this may be, the later Tamils ignored !hat distinction there might have been and applied the terms *adugar and *adugu to the Andhras and theAndhra language.  o evidence is orthcoming to sho! that the Andhras styled themselves *adugar. /o too, the Tamils never called themselves Aravar, though a lexicographer !ho lived so late as three centuries bac chronicled that !ord indicated the Tamils. To the ancient Andhras the Tamils !ere no!n not as Aravar but as Aruvar. When "Jayam0Kondan describes the terror !hich the Tamilian army o Kulottunga0(hola struc into the hosts o the Kalinga ing, he says that they applied the name Aruvar to the Tamils.=< That it is only the term Aruvar !hich !as current in early times is clear also rom an old stan9a on the same !ar  uoted in the Dandi#Alangaram.$& These instances establish that the Andhras called the Tamils in early days by the name o Aruvar. Those regions o the Tamil land !hich ad+oin the Telugu country are Aruva and Aruva0vada0talai and the people o these regions !ere no!n as Aruvalar. We may thereore tae it that the *adugar applied the name Aruva irst to the people o these regions and then applied it generally to all Tamils. II

Het us no! loo at the relationships bet!een the Tamils and the *adugar. #n the irst  period, the earliest, the Tamils and the Andhras lived in amity7 in the second the Tamils attained supremacy over the Andhras and in the third the position !as reversed. The irst  period is the age o the /angam: the early Tamil !ors no!n as the /angam poems do not sho! that, even though there might have been small dierences on the rontiers o the Tamil country, there !as any mared antagonism or that any serious conlicts arose in conseuence. #n t!o o these poems !e have mention o the *adugar helping annan and the 4auryas but they seem to be Kanarese o the Badaga country and not Andhras.$= The three great ings o the Tamil country, the (holas, the -andyas and the (heras, do not seem to have been guilty o the ambition to bring under their control lands beyond the Tamil country. #t !ould even seem that they !ere so attached to Cthe good land !here Tamil !as spoenC that they had no love or mixing it up !ith lands !here strange tongues !ere current:$$ the evidences in support o this vie! are many and convincing. When ings o the north made incursions into the south the three great ings o the Tamil

country dre! together and repulsed all their attempts at gaining even a oot0hold.$@ The Tamil country !as thereore soil !hich even the apoleons o the north had to let alone. The strength o the Tamils in even the days !hen practically the !hole o #ndia had come under the su9erainty o Asoa is obvious rom the circumstances that his over0lordship stopped short o 4ysore and that he sent ambassadors to the three great Tamil ings. or  did the amous empire o the 5uptas cast its shado! over the Tamil land. #n those early days, the Tamil !ere neither ambitious o ruling over others nor supine enough to be ruled over. Evidences o the *adugar attempting to lay their hands upon the Tamil country being !anting absolutely, they must have lived in peace and concord !ith the Tamils. But ater the days o the /angam the relations changed. The change !as due not to their o!n dierences but to the invasions o ings rom north. When the northern ings o the -allava and (haluya dynasties conuered Andhra and Karnataa their eager  eyes !ere cast on 'ravida as !ell. #t is thenceor!ard that !e mostly hear o conlicts  bet!een the Tamils and the northerners in the Tamil country and beyond. Hight on these masters is thro!n by the poems rom  $andik#Kovai uoted in the commentary on #raiyanarCs Kalavuiyal, the hymns o the *aishnava saints and others and some copper   plates. Wars !ere ought bet!een the Tamils and the *adugar !hen the -alla vas too  root in the Tamil land. An old Tamil poem speas o ho! the herds o co!s taen rom the *adugar in !ar by the army o the -allava !ho ruled over the Tondai country !ere capable o giving mil or the !hole !orld. $G  Hie the -allavas, the (haluyas too established themselves in *engi, a part o Andhra, and in course o time came to be called Andhras. The (holas had to advance against them and !age urious !ars in the Telugu country. The northern !ars o (hola0ings lie0 >a+ara+a # and >a+a >a+endra # are !ell0 no!n. )istory records ho! *ira0>a+endra conuered *engi and made a git o it to a (haluya o the name o *a+ayaditya. #n the commentary on the Vira#soliyam, a Tamil grammar composed in honour o this *ira0>a+endra, occurs a stan9a !hich chronicles this event.$% The (holas and the (haluyas o *engi !ere not merely ranged as opponents in !ar: they entered into marital relations !ith each other and three generations o (hola  princesses entered the *engi amily: as brides it is no!n that *imaladitya # the Eastern (haluya 2=&=%0=&$$3 married Kundavai, daughter o the great (hola ing >a+ara+a #7 >a+ara+a0arendra 2=&$$0=&I=3 the son o the (haluya *imaladitya # married Ammanga0devi, daughter o >a+endra #, himsel son o >a+ara+a #, and *iramaditya # o  the Western (haluya line married the daughter o *ira0>a+endra (hola. These alliances tended bring peace to these dynasties, and in the process o the Eastern (haluya alliances o the (holas brought the Andhra country under the dominion o the Tamils. When the Eastern (haluya ing !ho !as the husband o Ammanga0devi, daughter o  >a+endra # died about =&I$, the son o that couple, prince >a+endra, ascended the throne o the Andhra country. The direct (hola line, having become almost extinct at this time, and the (hola ingdom having no ing at its helm, this >a+endra came do!n rom the Andhra country, put or!ard the claim that the (hola throne !as his in his right as the daughterCs son o >a+endra (hola #, laid hands on the ingdom and mounted the (hola throne in =&&. Thus he became the lord o the Andhra country and the (hola empire. #t is this >a+endra that is !ell no!n under the name Kulottunga # and under the epithets CAbhayaC and C*i+ayadhara C. )e deserved the title Cthe Hord o both lineagesC, inasmuch as he !as entitled to t!o cro!ns,that o his ather, the (haluya ing, !ho belonged to

the lineage o the 4oon, and that o his maternal grand0ather, the (hola ing, !ho  belonged to the lineage o the /un.$I )is pro!ess !as elt by his enemies all round an d he emerged victorious in every contest. Anantavarman (hoda05anga, ing o the Kalinga country, having once ailed to pay tribute in time, Kulottunga sent an army under his commander0in0chie, Karunaara0 Tondaiman and brought that country under his control. This !ar it is that urnished the theme or Fayam0ondanCs Kalingattup#parani, a !ar0 song the lie o !hich no other literature in the !orld can boast o. )e ruled the (hola empire rom 5angai0onda cholapuram, in the heart o the Tamil country, nominating his sons *ira (hola and *irama (hola as *iceroys o *engi. n his death in ==$& A. '., his son *irama (hola ascended the throne. #t is in his days and in those o his son Kulottunga ## and his grand son >a+ara+a ## that great Tamil poets lie ttautta and Kamban and -ugalendi lourished. These ings too !ere rulers over both the Tamil and the Andhra countries and some o the viceroys !hom they sent rom the (hola country settled in Andhra and in a generation or t!o turned Andhras. C*elananduC and C-ottappiC (holas are examples o this process. The Tamil scholars o those days !ere also !ell versed in the literary !ors o the Andhras. The &apparungala#virutti, a reno!ned commentary !hich must be attributed to the tenth or the eleventh century A. '., cites an old prosodical !or in the Andhra language said to have been !ritten by one *anchi. Though the reading in the printed  boos is C*an+i,C some manuscripts may be taen to yield the reading CAvaran+iC 2Aparan+i ?3. (ompetent Telugu scholars are not able to trace an author o this name. The existence o so early a prosodical treatise sho!s that the Andhra literature must have been very rich. )ere !e have proo positive that the absence in the present day o Telugu !ors earlier than those o annayya0Bhatta 2==th century3 cannot support the vie! that there !as no Telugu literature prior to his days.  '(nd(r(d )rom TAM*+ y >. /E/)A'>#0A#DA5A>, B.A., B.H. *************************************************************************************************************** **************************************************************************************