ROOTED IN SIVAKASI By Jenny Fyans

THE SECOND PART OF THE SERIES TRACES THE INFL UX OF DIFFERENT COMMUNITIES THAT TODAY MAKE UP THE FABRIC OF SIVAKASI. IN PARTICULAR, IT UNRAVELS THE HOMECOMING OF THE NADARS, TRADITIONALLY CONSIDERED A MARGINALISED CASTE.Wherever they settled and along their trading routes, the Nadars built a chain of pettais(fortified spaces) for warehousing goods and provisioning of other common marketinfrastructure. The pettais were financed by a communal tax (mahamai), with control over itsproceeds vested with a representative council, the uravinmurai. THE INTRODUCTION OF THE MAHAMAI SYSTEM, OR A COMMON RESOURCE POOL FOR TRADE BENEFI TS, STEERED THE FORTUNES OF THE NADARS IN A POSITIVE CURVE. SO IMPRESSED WAS C. RAJAGOPALACHARI, THE THEN-CHIEF MINISTER OF TAMIL NADU, THAT HE ADOPTED THE PRINCIPLE OF THE MAHAMAI SYSTEM TO INTRODUCE THE CONCEPT OF SALES TAX IN THE STATE.

Draughts in the far south of India drove communities further north in the mid- 1800s; people from Nagercoil and Tirunelveli in particular were drawn to Sivakasi for its agricultural potential. Agriculture was the mainstay of the region. As more communities from different parts of southern India came to settle in Sivakasi, bringing with them their various skills and knowledge, crop production gradually became more diverse to include sugar cane, banana, tobacco, and cotton.In Tirunelveli, the cotton trade was becoming increasingly competitive as Nadar traders developed an edge through their connection with Nadar cotton cultivators (Hardgrave 1969)—an edge not duplicable by the more highly specialized higher communities. Till 1920s the former Ramanathapuram Territory around Sivakasi, Thiruthangal, Srivilliputur, Sattur, Aruppukottai were growing Cotton to a large extent and exporting to Britain from Pettai Premises at Virudhunagar.At the start of the 20th century, the Nadarswere Tamil Nadu’s premier trading community, specializing in village-level procurement andaggregation of farm produce and supplying to European export houses such as Harveys,Volkarts and Rallis Later when the cotton cultivation declined due to sudden climating change, the Community of Sivakasi entered in to matches and subsequently into Crackers & Printing.

By 1891, the 12,000 people living in Sivakasi were a mixture of several religions, various castes, and geographic backgrounds. There were people from the Chettiar community, who went on to establish a thriving oil business in Sivakasi; the Naidu community, skilled agriculturalists who had migrated from Andhra Pradesh; and the Nadar community, one of the largest groups to settle in Sivakasi.The Nadars were treated as a low caste. Several of them were palmyrah climbers and tappers; as this occupation was associated with widespread stigma, consequently Nadars associated with the profession were also discriminated against.

In Sivakasi, the Nadars were able to work with relative ease. They were particularly skilled at making Palm jaggery/Palm Sugar and sold it in the markets in Sivakasi. However, they did not sell it all in the markets: they would always keep perhaps 1 per cent of the produce for the members of the Nadar community. Each family would save the same amount, and together the families pooled their resources of Palm jaggery and found it to be a good way of ensuring plentiful supply for them. This began the evolution of the practice known as ‘Mahamai’ or a common resource pool. The pooling of jaggery soon extended to other trades; traders would set apart a stipulated amount according to their trade practised, and this was collected daily and utilised for the common interest of the community.

Thanks to the Mahamai system, opportunities abounded. Pettais, Stay Houses and Lodges, Schools, temples and marriage halls were built: Sivakasi flourished at a time when the Nadar people had previously experienced intense hardship.