The former are closely allied to the Vellālas, while the latter are usually regarded as a more civilised section of the southern Maravans. It may be possible that the Agamudaiyans of North Arcot are the descendants of the first immigrants from the Madura district, who, after long settlement in the north, severed all connexions with their southern brethren." In some districts, Agamudaiyan occurs as a synonym of Vellālas, Pallis and Mēlakkārans, who consider that Agamudaiyan is a better caste name than their own.
The Agamudaiyans proper are found in the Tanjore, Madura, and Tinnevelly districts.
It is noted in the Tanjore Manual that Ahamudaiyar (the equivalent of Agamudaiyan) is "derived from the root āham, which, in Tamil, has many significations.In one of these, it means a house, in another earth, and hence it has two meanings, householder and landholder; the suffix Udeiyār indicating ownership. The word is also used in another form, ahambadiyan, derived from another meaning of the same root, i.e., inside. And, in this derivation, it signifies a particular caste, whose office it was to attend to the business in the interior of the king's palace, or in the pagoda." "The name,"Mr. J. H. Nelson writes,*[1] "is said by the Rev. G. U. Pope, in his edition of the Abbė Dubois' work,†[2] to be derived from āham, a temple, and padi, a step, and to have been given to them in consequence of their serving about the steps of temples. But, independently of the fact that Madura pagodas are not approached by flights of steps, this seems to be a very far-fetched and improbable derivation of the word. I am inclined to doubt
