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The Northern Nadars of Tamil Nadu: An Indian Caste in the Process of Change

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Dennis Templeman's work on Northern Nadars had emerged out of Robert Hardgrave's study, The Nadars Of Tamilnadu:The political culture of a community in change (1969),often considered as the first classic on Tamil Nadars. Exactly after 30 years of his mentor's work Templeman came out with his masterpiece about how the disjunctive social process of conflict,competition and power equation among the caste members and between castes were instrumental in weakening the effectiveness of nadars caste association at the grassroot level, popularly known "uravinmurais". The mark of difference between Hardgrave and Templeman studies are that the former primarily dealt with how the nadar caste as a whole rose to a 'solid' and 'forward caste' status achieving 'power' and wealth from a lowly position in the social hierarchy i.e just above the untouchable,defined the commonly prevalent notion that hindu caste system is overtly rigid with no scope for any upward mobility.In addition, this work further thrown light on the sphere of 'official' state and national government and on the impact of nadar caste and class affiliations ,intercaste relations and politics within nadar caste association i.e Nadar Mahajana Sangham,on nadars interaction with regional and state level political parties. whereas, the later work focusses on the uncovered dimension of Hardgrave's work i.e conflict within local association, between local associations and between nadars and other communities in local settlement ,which focusses upon the manipulation and use power and the struggle for power at the grassroot level rather than at the regional and national level. Primarily Templeman's work examined these local association under which caste as a whole achieved great cohesiveness and effectiveness,as well as the conditions which ultimately have led to their present weakened state. The methodology used by Templeman to examine the political and social conflict of Nadars were to a large extent influenced by the anthropological study of law, unlike the ethnographical approach used by the conventional anthropologists. The author used legal ethnography to study caste conflicts ,which is similar to the strategy oriented game theory approach adopted by F.G.Bailey and Fredrik. Barth. This work is based on intensive field study over a period of twenty five years in five distinct nadar settlements i.e Madurai( a large town),Aruppukottai(a small town),Palayampatti and Pattiveeranpatti( two villages) and Palamedu(a small village). This book consists of ten chapters , and the first three chapters deals about Nadars ethos,historical development of a caste, changes occured, family,marriage and kinship pattern and the religious tradition and beliefs of the caste. The fourth chapter is devoted for Nadar local association in general where as the fifth chapter highlights how the association began to shed some of their traditional characteristic features were recasted to promote and project nadars interest in changing circumstances. Chaters six and seven vivids the nature of conflict of the aforesaid five nadar settlements. The eigth and nineth capters gives a complete picture of how the changes have occured in the caste and its association within a span of thirty years i.e the timelag between Hardgrave's work to the present author's work on nadars.Templeman had mentioned that the Nadars caste association not only in the sample villages but all the nadar settlements in Tamilnadu has assumed a new role as service organisation catering the needs of both nadars and others,i.e from the communal character to secular character. Templeman diagnosed three cardinal principles that gained currency among the Northern Hindu Nadars viz.,1) Caste as an endogamous group 2) importance of relative caste status and 3)Usefulness of local association. The author's following observation has a merit i.e " the Nadars believe they can perceive the conditions in which different values and actions will be effective, and in their ability to modify their behaviour and values in order to take advantage of such emerging opportunities". While concluding, Templeman talks about Northern nadars agency and ideology and revealed the fact that how nadars have continually reworked their social institutions while working within them. He has borrowed the agency approach generally used by antropologists concerned with law. His comparision of nadars mobility pattern with Saraswat brahmins and Jatavs and how Nadars mobility pattern is superior than the other two communities are quite interesting and unique among the backward castes.

It is a great book, which gives the picture of how nadars grown because of their unity among themselves and helping their community in all their causes.
It is a must for every nadar to read this Book,
If you are a Nadar you have to have this book,
If you are not, it is a great book to read about the community which came up to the higher economy status by their sheer hardwork, Dedication and their self formed Organisation support.