>JPxG at 04:06, 9 June 2021

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{{Short description|An agrarian Sri Lankan Tamil caste}}{{Infobox caste|caste_name=Koviyar|classification=|languages=[[Tamil language|Tamil]]|religions=[[Hinduism]], [[Christianity]]|related= [[Sri Lankan Vellalar]], [[Tamils]], [[Sri Lankan Tamils]], [[Sinhalese people|Sinhalese]]|subdivisions=}}'''<span lang="Ta" dir="ltr">Koviyar</span>''' ({{Lang-ta|கோவியர்|translit=Kōviyar}}, also known as '''Covia''') is a [[Sri Lankan Tamils|Tamil]] caste found in [[Sri Lanka]]. They are traditional agriculturalists and temple workers.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=W3aAB9IFVdkC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Sri+Lankan+Tamil+Nationalism:+It&hl=de&sa=X&ei=2EX3VKfMD8jjO7-pgPgE&ved=0CB4Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Koviar&f=false Sri Lankan Tamil Nationalism: Its Origins and Development in the Nineteenth from A. Jeyaratnam Wilson]</ref> ''Kattavarayan'' as [[Village deities of Tamils of Sri Lanka|caste deity]] is observed by the Koviar.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0EBCAQAAMAAJ|title=The Ceylon Antiquary and Literary Register|date=1922|pages=12|language=en}}</ref>

== Etymology ==
The [[Yalpana Vaipava Malai]] states that the term ''Koviyar'' stems from [[Koil|''Kovil'']], a [[Tamil language|Tamil]] term meaning temple.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ukHRAAAAMAAJ|title=South India and Ceylon|last=Pillay|first=Kolappa Pillay Kanakasabhapathi|date=1963|publisher=University of Madras|pages=168|language=en}}</ref> Another view holds that the term is derived from the Tamil words ''Ko'' (cow) and ''[[Idaiyar]]'', meaning cowherds.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_PSbAAAAMAAJ|title=The Laws and Customs of the Tamils of Jaffna|last=Tambiah|first=Henry Wijayakone|date=2001|publisher=Women's Education & Research Centre|isbn=9789559261162|pages=59, 76|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ukHRAAAAMAAJ|title=South India and Ceylon|last=Pillay|first=Kolappa Pillay Kanakasabhapathi|date=1963|publisher=University of Madras|pages=161|language=en}}</ref>

Another theory states that they are descended from Sinhala prisoners of war, and that Kovi is a Tamilised form of the Sinhala [[Govigama|Govi]].<ref>Indrapala, K. (1965). Dravidian settlements in Ceylon and the beginnings of the kingdom of Jaffna.</ref> Tamil dirge songs sung by [[Sri Lankan Vellalar|Vellalar]] women during funeral rituals carried out by Koviyar refer to them as Sinhalas ("O you Kovia, Sinhala").<ref>R. S. Perinbanayagam - The Karmic Theater: Self, Society, and Astrology in Jaffna, p27</ref>

Vellalar men often took concubines from the Koviyar community, and the children are entitled to Vellalar status as well as certain paternal inheritances.<ref>R. S. Perinbanayagam - The Karmic Theater: Self, Society, and Astrology in Jaffna, p27</ref>

==<span lang="Ta" dir="ltr">History</span>==

=== Early period ===
They are mentioned in the [[Thesavalamai|Thesavalamai law]] of the [[Jaffna Peninsula]], which was codified by the [[Dutch Ceylon|Dutch under their rule]]. There they are stated as descendants of the [[Sri Lankan Vellalar]].<ref name=":1" /> Intermarriages between the Vellalars and Koviyars were common.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OlU7AAAAIAAJ|title=Aspects of Caste in South India, Ceylon and North-West Pakistan|last=Leach|first=E. R.|date=1971-10-31|publisher=CUP Archive|isbn=9780521096645|location=Cambridge University Press|pages=66|language=en}}</ref> Other traditions account that they were [[Sinhalese people|Sinhalese]] captives from the [[Govigama]] caste who were settled in [[Jaffna Kingdom]], suggested by their ritual status being equal to that of the Vellalars with whom they share similar traditional occupation with.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3MO_86VwNSkC|title=Buddhism Betrayed?: Religion, Politics, and Violence in Sri Lanka|last=Tambiah|first=Stanley Jeyaraja|date=1992-07-15|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=9780226789491|pages=145|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":11">{{Cite journal|last=Hellmann-Rajanayagam|first=Dagmar|date=1993|title=The Jaffna Social System: Continuity and Change under Conditions of War|journal=[[International Quarterly for Asian Studies|Internationales Asienforum]]|language=en|volume=24|issue=3-4|pages=256}}</ref> The ''Vaiya Padal'' states that they were one of the castes who came from [[Tamilakam|Tamil country]] in [[Southern India]] and were apparently herdsmen.<ref name=":0" />

=== Colonial period ===
The political rise of the [[Sri Lankan Vellalar|Vellalar]] under [[Dutch Ceylon]], pushed the Koviyar along with the [[Sri Lankan Pallar|Pallar]] and [[Nalavar]] into slavery through the legalisation of the ''[[Thesavalamai]]'' law, who were a group initially bound to only serve the state as [[Tenant farmer|tenant farmers]].<ref name=":5">{{Cite journal|last=Arasaratnam|first=S.|date=1981-07-01|title=Social History of a Dominant Caste Society: The Vellalar of North Ceylon (Sri Lanka) in the 18th Century|journal=The Indian Economic & Social History Review|language=en|volume=18|issue=3–4|pages=377–391|doi=10.1177/001946468101800306|issn=0019-4646}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Perinbanayagam|first=R. S.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tzPXAAAAMAAJ|title=The karmic theater: self, society, and astrology in Jaffna|date=1982|publisher=University of Massachusetts Press|pages=23|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=David|first=Kenneth|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vp_la9QMGIQC|title=The New Wind: Changing Identities in South Asia|date=1977-01-01|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|isbn=9783110807752|pages=195|language=en}}</ref> They were after the abolishment of slavery considered as domestic servants or ''Kudimakkal'' for a section of dominant castes, and had the role as ceremony officiators.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hocart|first=Arthur Maurice|title=Caste, a Comparative Study|date=1968|publisher=Russell & Russell|pages=10|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Holmes|first=Walter Robert|title=Jaffna, Sri Lanka 1980|date=1980|publisher=Christian Institute for the Study of Religion and Society of Jaffna College|pages=215|language=en}}</ref>
=== Modern period ===
After Sri Lanka’s independence from [[UK|Britain]] in 1948, [[Sri Lankan Tamil nationalism|Sri Lankan Tamil politics]] was geared towards a nationalistic cause. Koviyar using their ritual and physical proximity to the educational services upgraded themselves socially and economically. The [[Policy of standardization]] imposed by the successive Sri Lankan governments since 1973 had the effect of restricting the number of Tamil students entering state [[Universities]] and affected upwardly mobile Koviyar students as much as the dominant class. Hence Koviyar were also involved in many of the Tamil nationalistic agitations that eventually resulted in the formation of [[Sri Lankan Tamil militant groups|many Tamil militant groups]]. They were prominent in one of them namely [[TELO]] that was eventually eclipsed by the [[LTTE]] that was also seen as to be associated with [[Karaiyar]] caste in [[Jaffna]].{{Citation needed|date=December 2017}}

The [[Sri Lankan Civil War|civil war]] and the [[Black July]] pogroms have retarded most of these gains and many have escaped the deprivations by seeking [[refugee]] status in [[India]], [[Europe]] and [[North America]]. They are merging with the host populations and/or the [[Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora]].<ref name=DR>{{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=grMjo9Opu14C&pg=PA103&dq=%22Koviar%22&sig=Vdzi6TzNXIgYYPX5zTcEWzC-_XM#PPA104,M1
|title= From differences to ethnic solidarity amongst Tamils|access-date=2008-06-04 |work=Dagmar Hellman-Rajanayagam | first1=S. H. | last1=Hasbullah | first2=Barrie M. | last2=Morrison | isbn=978-0-7619-3221-5 | year=2004 | publisher=Sage}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Caste system in Sri Lanka]]
* [[Village deities of Tamils of Sri Lanka]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060128224729/http://www.tamilcanadian.com/pageview.php?ID=756&SID=133 Another theory on the origin of the word Koviar]
* [http://www.rootsweb.com/~lkawgw/nobtosom.html Estimates of Koviar caste population in Jaffna]

{{Sri Lankan Tamil people}}

[[Category:Sri Lankan Tamil castes]]

Koviyar - Revision history

>JPxG at 04:06, 9 June 2021