Know the Etymology: 304
Place Name of the Day: Thursday, 07 November 2013

Ma'rava-ku'richchi

மறவகுறிச்சி
Maṟavakuṟicci

Maravar+ku'richchi

The part of the village or settlement of the Ma'ravar community

Ku'richchi

A locality, sector or part of a large village that gains its own identity by the caste group that has settled that part or by any other identifiable phenomenon of that part (Eezham Tamil); 1. Ku'richchi: Village (Tamil, Thivaakaram Lexicon 5:97; Village in the hilly tract (from the root Ku'ram, DED 1844); 2. Koo'ru: Section, division, part, share, (Tamil, DED 1924); Share of land, general term for land, sub-district (Tamil, inscriptions, 731 CE, 772 CE, 877 CE, SII viii, 331; SII, xvi, 19; SII, vi, 290 respectively); Koo'r'ram: Species, class (Tamil, DED 1924); district (Tamil, inscriptions, 771 CE, SII, v, 405); 3. Ku'ri: Mark, sign, symbol (Tamil, DED 1847); Specified place, rendezvous (Tamil, Changkam usage, Ku'runthokai 114: 1-2)

Ma'ravar

An ancient community of warriors largely found in southern Tamil Nadu (Tamil); Tamil tribe of warriors (Malayalam, DED 4763); Ma'rava: The cast of Maravar (Tulu, DED 4793); From Ma'ram: Valour, bravery, strength, power, victory, war, killing murder, anger, wrath, enmity (Tamil, DED 4793); Ma'ravan: (Ma'raththi: feminine form) A member of the Marava caste, warrior, hero, commander, military chief, inhabitant of desert or hilly tract, one belong to the caste of hunters (Tamil, DED 4793); A chieftain and commander of the Pandyan king (Tamil, Aka'naanoo'ru, 13:6); A member of the Ma'ravar community and commander in the service of the king (Tamil, inscription, 879 CE, SII, xiv, 15); Ma'rap-padai: The regiment of Ma'rava soldiers that was in the Pandyan country (Tamil, inscription, c. 800 CE, EI, xii, 10); Theavar, Theavan: Title for a member of the Ma'ravar community (Tamil, MTL)

Ku'richchi is a commonly used term in Eezham Tamil to mean a part or sector of a village that has its own identity, because of the community of people inhabiting that part or because of the presence of any special feature in that part differentiating it from the rest of the village. Sometimes a Ku'richchi itself becomes a village.

Ku'richchi is also a common place-name component in Tamil Nadu, especially in the southern part.

The shade of meaning with which Ku'richchi is used in Eezham Tamil is not found in Madras Tamil Lexicon (MTL) or in Dravidian Etymological Dictionary (DED) that largely follows the MTL in getting the shades of meanings for Tamil words.

In old Tamil literary usages, while Thivaakaram lexicon lists Ku'richchi as one of the terms meaning a village, a post-Changkam literature (Nari Viruththam 1:2) notes it as a village of the Ku'ravar community (people of the hilly tract). Hence, the DED traces the etymology to the root Ku'ram.

However, the way the term Ku'richchi is used in Eezham Tamil and Tamil Nadu place names, it seems, the term is related to either the root Koo'ru, meaning section, division or part (DED 1924), or the root Ku'ri, meaning a mark (DED 1847) and meaning a specified place in the Changkam Tamil usage.

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Ku'richchi meaning a village:

“Paakkam paddinam …ku'richchi…oor ena navin'risinoarea” (Thivaakara Nika'ndu 5:97)

“பாக்கம் பட்டினம் …குறிச்சி…ஊர் என நவின்றிசினோரே” (திவாகர நிகண்டு 5:97)

Paakkam, Paddinam….Ku'richchi….etc., mean a village, it is said


Ku'richchi meaning a village of the Ku'ravar:

“Ku'ravar vaazhum ku'richchi u'l'laan oar veadan” (Nari Viruththam 1:2)

“குறவர் வாழும் குறிச்சி உள்ளான் ஓர் வேடன்” (நரி விருத்தம் 1:2)

A hunter who is in the Ku'richchi inhabited by Ku'ravar


Ku'ri meaning a specified place or rendezvous:

“Nin ku'ri vanthanen iyal theark ko'nka”

“நின் குறி வந்தனென் இயல் தேர்க் கொண்க”

Oh, the man of the coastal tract coming in the rolling chariot, I have come to the place specified by you


Koo'r'ru (from Koo'ru) meaning a division of a village:

“Thirukkoayiludaiya naaraaya'namangkalaththira'ndu koo'r'raarum” (Travancore Archaeological Series, II, p 40-41)

“திருக்கோயிலுடைய நாராயணமங்கலத்திரண்டு கூற்றாரும்” (Travancore Archaeological Series, II, p 40-41)

People of both the parts of the Naaraaya'na-mangalam village to which the temple belongs

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The term Ma'ravar deriving from the root Ma'ram (DED 4793), was used in the Changkam Tamil literature to mean warriors (Ku'runthokai 283:5; Na'r'ri'nai 18:6), commanders (Mathuraikkaagnchi 726), warrior kings (Pu'ra:naanoo'ru 93:10), a martial community (Ku'runthokai 331: 3), hunters (Ku'runthokai 297:1) and people of the arid tract who used to hunt and way-lay (Na'r'ri'nai 33:6).

Some early references in the Changkam literature and later references found in the inscriptions show that Ma'ravar, when became a regiment of soldiers, were especially associated with the Pandyan kings of southern Tamil Nadu.

As a community or caste, the distribution of Ma'ravar today is particularly found concentrated in the Ramnad district and in the neighbouring districts of Tamil Nadu.

During the Naayakkar rule of Mathurai and when the Dutch were eying for the coastal assets of Tamil Nadu, the Ma'rava chieftains became independent rulers of Ramnad. They took up the title Cheathupathi (the lord of the Cheathu or Adams Bridge) and competed with the Dutch, then ruling Ceylon, in pearl and conch fishing in the Gulf of Mannaar. Ma'ravar were also known as Theavar.

Eezham Tamil place names related to Ma'ravar/ Ma'ravan and Theavan show the settlements of the community in the island.

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Ma'ravan as commander associated with the Pandyan king:

“Thiru veezh maarpin thennavan ma'ravan… Koadaip poru:nan Pa'n'ni” (Aka:naanoo'ru 13:6)

“திரு வீழ் மார்பின் தென்னவன் மறவன்… கோடைப் பொருநன் பண்ணி” (அகநானூறு 13:6)

Pa'n'ni (a name) the chief of Koadai hills and the commander of the Pandyan king whose chest is favoured (as an abode) by the goddess of wealth [the Pandyan king is thus equated here to god Thirumaal/ Vishnu; Pa'n'ni the chieftain and commander of the king is described in the other lines of the poem as an expert in catching elephants and in training them]


Ma'rap-padai as regiment of Ma'ravar serving the Pandyan king:

“Ma'rappadai meenavan” (c. 800 CE, Epigraphia Indica, XIII, 10)

“மறப்படை மீனவன்” (c. 800 CE, Epigraphia Indica, XIII, 10)

The Pandyan king having the regiment of Ma'ravar


Ma'ravan as an individual term of identity for a person belonging to the community or caste of Ma'ravar:

“Muththoork koo'r'raththu perumaaththoor ma'ravan” (879 CE, South Indian Inscritions, XIV, 15)

“முத்தூர்க் கூற்றத்து பெருமாத்தூர் மறவன்” (879 CE, South Indian Inscritions, XIV, 15)

The Ma'ravan of the village Perumaaththoor in the division of Muththoor

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Ma'rava-ku'richchi is a place in the Poonakari division of Ki'linochchi district

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Some related place names:


Ku'richchi:

Idaik-ku'richchi: The part of the village or sub-village of the members of the cattle herding community; or the part in the middle; Thenmaraadchi division, Jaffna district

Cheddiya-ku'richchi: The part of the village or sub-village inhabited by members of the merchant community; Poonakari division, Ki'linochchi district

Karampaik-ku'richchi: The part of barren land or thorny scrubland; Thenmaraadchi division, Jaffna district

Chiththan-ku'richchi: The part of the village named after a mystic person; Poonakari division, Ki'linochchi district

Naduk-kurichchi: The central part or the middle part; This is the middle part of the Pungkudutheevu Island, Jaffna district


Ma'ravar:

Ma'ravan puloa/ Ma'ravan-pulavu: The field of a person of the Ma'ravar community; Thenmaraadchi division, Jaffna district

Periyanaadduth-theavan-thu'rai: The port named after a Ma'rava chief or member (Theavan) of the guild called Periyanaadu; Mayiliddi, Jaffna district

Veeramaa'nikkath-theavan-thu'rai: The port named after a Ma'rava chief called Veeramaa'nikkaththeavan; Mayiliddi, Jaffna district

Pulingkaththeavan-mu'rippu: The bund (tank) of a Ma'rava chief Pulingkath-theavan; Ka'ndaava'lai division, Ki'linochchi district

Theavan-piddi: The coastal high ground of a Maravar community person; Maanthai West division, Mannaar district

First published: Thursday, 07 November 2013, 10:53