ROLE OF PEASANTS IN THE EARLY HISTORY OF TAMILAKAM 33 Seminar of Tamil Studies, Madras, 1968; Rajan Gurukkal, 'Non-Brahmana Resistance to the Expansion of Brahmadeyas' The Early Pandyan Experience", IHC Proceedings, Annamalai, 1984. 90. See Burton Stein, Peasant State and Society, Chapter II. The factual and conceptual errors involved in Burton Stein's theory are clearly brought out in R. Champakalakshmi, 'Peasant* in The Indian Economic and Social History Review, Vol. XVIII, Nos. 3 and 4,1983. For a good criticism of the theory of Bm/imfn-Peasant alliance from the Marxist point of view, see D.N. Jha, 'Validity of the Brahmana Peasant Alliance and the Segmentary State in Early Medieval South India", in Social Science Probings, June 1984, pp.272-80. 91. The Prasasti or Meykirti portions of the inscriptions of the kings of south India in the post-Sangam period dearly indicate their attempt to imitate the Hindu kings of north India. See Kesavan Veluthat, "The Status of Monarch", IHC Proceedings, Kurukshetra, 1982. 92. This process has been discussed in some detail in the present writer's UCC National Lectures delivered at Delhi (JNU), Hyderabad and Madras in 1984. These lectures have not yet been published. R. Champakalakshmi presented a paper on State Formation in South India at Calicut University (1986) in which she traced the developments in Pallava-Cola periods with the help of inscriptions. This is also not published. 93. See M.G.S. Narayanan, The Causes of the Arrested Development of Tamil Tribal Croups in South India with Special Reference to Kerala, Mimeographed paper presented at the Seminar on Tribal Development, Calicut, 1978. 94. While the kings were made to perform Vedic sacrifices and follow Brahminical precepts, the local Tamil deities were identified with Sanskritic-Puranic deities, i.e. Vendan with Indra, Mayon with Vishnu, Murugan with Skanda, Korravai with Durga and Kadalon with Varuna. When the chiefs and their Brahmin courtiers joined hands, the panas were gradually alienated. Political and cultural changes paralleled the developments in the socio-economic sphere of life. The replacement of the Pana bard by the Brahmana scholar in the Tamil court symbolised the change in the society and state. 95. See M.G.S. Narayanan, Re-Interpretations, op. cit. Social and Economic Structure of South India. 96. The appearance of new Brahmin landlords, the temporary strengthening of the State under the Cola empire and the progressive reduction of the status of the Vellala peasants are brought out with the help of inscriptions in N.Karashima, South Indian History and Society. These were the consequences of the Brahmin-chief tain alliance in south India. 97. Ibid., Chapter II. See also Elamkulam P.N. Kunhan Pillai, 'Kerala in the Grip of Chaturvarnya' in Keralam Ancum Arun NoorrantuJwIil (Malay alam), Kottayam, 1960, and Feudalism in Kerala (Malayalam), Kottayam, 1964. The present writer is indebted to the inspiration and guidance of Elamkulam in the study of the early history of Kerala which formed an integral part of Tamilakam in ancient times. 98. The Pulayar, Parayar, Cerumar etc. who are listed as scheduled castes and who were traditional agricultural workers having the status of agrestic slaves or serfs in medieval society must be the descendants of the early peasants who lost their lands. Those who could receive patronage from kings or Brahmins were promoted but others were driven to the bottom when communal land was becoming private property. The caste system based on birth and marriage made self-improvement nearly impossible for such people by keeping their movement restricted to the village and forcing them to remain illiterate. 99. The district manuals and gazetteers compiled at the dose of the 19th century and the beginning of the present century are full of such reports and accounts of criminal tribes. See also Edgar Thurston, Castes and Tribes of South India, Madras, 1910. 100. The work of foreign agendes like the London Mission Society, The Basel Mission Sodety etc. engaged in conversion to Christianity often undertaken with the open or tadt support of the British imperial power, encouraged caste conflicts. The Dravidian theory, interpreting Tamil sodety in radal and communal terms, owes much to the writings of Bishop Caldwell, G.U. Pope etc. There was an element of genuine protest, released by a modem education and way of life, but it was often channelized into communal hatred and cultural chauvinism through the Dravidian separatist movement which took roots among the people.