Castes and Tribes of Southern India/Karumpurattan

by Edgar Thurston

Karumpurattan. — It is recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, that "the term Karumpurattān is said to be a corruption of Karu-aruttar, which means the Annihilators, and to have been given to the caste because they are the descendants of a garrison of Chola Vellālas, who treacherously allowed an enemy to enter the Tanjore fort, and annihilate the Rāja and his family. Winslow, however, says *^[1] that Karumpuram is a palmyra tree,† ^[2]and Karumpurattān may thus mean a palmyra man, that is, a toddy-drawer. In the enumeration schedules, the name was often written Karumpuran. If this etymology is correct, this caste must originally have been Shānāns or Iluvans. It is said to have come from the village of Tiruvadamarudūr in Tanjore, and settled in the north- eastern part of Madura. The caste has seven sub-castes, called after seven nādus or villages in Madura, in which it originally settled. In its ceremonies, etc., it closely follows the Ilamagams. Its title is Pillai."

1. • Tamil and English Dictionary, 1862.
2. † The word, in this sense, is said to occur in a Tamil work named Pingala Nikandu. Karuku is Tamil for the serrated margin of the leaf — petiole of the palmyra palm.