Caste Name: | Agamudayar |
Languages: | Tamil |
Ethnicity: | Tamils |
Population: | 1981-1982: 5 per cent of the Backward Class population of Tamil Nadu[1] |
Region: | Tamil Nadu |
Agamudayar (otherwise Agamudaiyar, Akamudayar, Agamudayan) are a Tamil community found in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.[2] In Southern parts of Tamil Nadu, they are considered as one of the three castes which make up the Thevar or Mukkulathor community. According to the anthropologist Zoe E Headley, the three communities (Agamudayar, Kallar and Maravar) are the "numerically dominant rural backward castes of the southern districts of Tamil Nadu".[3] Agamudayars are listed in the national commission of backward caste lists for Tamil Nadu.[4] Agamudayar consider themselves to be descendants of the Chera dynasty.[5]
The term Agamudayar is a Tamil word meaning "House owner" or "Landholder".[6]