- Source: Thandan (surname)
Thandan (Thiyya Thandan, Thandar) is the honorary surname given to the headman of the mainly Thiyya caste people in Palakkad, Thrissur district, who reside in the Indian state of Kerala. They are designated as an Other Backward Class by the Government of Kerala.
Status
Thandan was the most commonly-used title to represent the highest privilege among the Thiyyar of the Malabar area. The most notable Thiyyar of the Malabars received the title as Thandan for their service to the state in the administration of Malabar district.
1. According to Historian A.K.iyer, "Thandan.-Thiyya like the Nayars receive titles from the rulers of the State. That of thandan is purchasable and gives a person the right to be the headman of the caste in his village. He can wear a gold knife and style, may walk before a Nayar with a cloth on his head, ride on a palaquin or a horse, carry a silk umbrella and have a brass lamp borne before him. For each of these privileges he pays separately a tax to the Sircar. Any person using these privileges unauthorised lays himself opeh to a penalty. A Thandan cannot go for cooly work such as ploughing and gathering cocoanuts: Below him there is an inferior officer who is called a Ponamban and Panicker. Thus in Cochin it is a title pos- Beseed by the headman of the caste, while in the Valluvanad Taluk, the name is applied to a sub-caste of Thiyya caste. Habits.-Their habits are settled and they are found in all parts of the State. Houses.- The poorer classes of people live in huts with mud walls and thatched roofs, with a room or two and a verandah either in front or all around, while the richer people have their houses like those, of the Nayars".
The Thandan, the privileged Thiyyar-Karanavar in a dhesam had to carry out the instructions of the politically powerful. He was powerful enough to rule the caste people in his area. In Malabar, the smallest political unit is known as the thara. The head of the thara is known as tharayil karanavar, "the one who got privilege from the king."
See also
Caste system in India
