Pillai
Pillai, Pillay, Pulle or Pilli is a popular title of Tamil- and Malayalam-speaking people of India and others living in Sri Lanka, Singapore, Malaysia, South Africa and Fiji, mostly from Vellalar and Nair communities.
Though it started as a Hindu title, today Pillai is also found amongst Muslims and Christians both as a surname and a given name.
South African Tamils use the spelling Pillay, whereas some Sri Lankan castes may also use Pulle or Pilli.
Tamil Nadu usage
In Tamil Nadu this title or surname is predominantly used by people of the Vellalar caste among the population of Tamil descent, and the Nair caste population of the Malayalam-speaking immigrant population, although other castes also use the title. In southern Tamil Nadu, in Thirunelveli and Kanyakumari, those who are very concerned about their vegetarian status called them Saiva Pillai. The Elur Chetty community in South Tamilnadu and Kerala also uses this surname.
Kerala usage
In Kerala this title is only used by Nair and Vellalar communities. Some feudal lords and senior military officers among the Nairs of Kerala used it, notably the Ettuveetil Pillamar or eight Pillai families who were great feudal Lords of powerful kingdoms. However, Vellalars in Kerala were mostly farmers.
The term Pillai in Tamil (and hence in old Malayalam) meant "child" or "son", and conferring this title on an individual was indicative of his intimacy with the local kings. It was such a sought-after title that as recently as 1810 a Brahmin got himself invested with the same.
The formal investiture of the title among the noble class is associated with a ceremony known as Thirumukom Pidikukka, which confers special privileges. Thirumukom meant " high self " which was an honorific title conferred by the kings of Kerala. Thirumukom was one step below thirupad which was the title used by the kings of kerala.
In South Kerala, Vellalar and Nair communities use Chella pilla and Chellamma pilla titles to represent high social status.
Andhra Pradesh usage
The Gavara community uses Pilla as a title, whereas the Aaraama Dravidulu community uses Chellapilla.
List of castes using the title
- Agamudaiyar
- Elur Chetty
- Illathupillai
- Isai Vellalar, also called Sengunthar in some places in Tamil Nadu
- Karai Kattu Pillai
- Karkartha Saiva, Karkatha Vellalar
- Karuneegar
- Nair
- Nangudi Vellalar
- Nanjil Nattu Vellalar
- Pattarya Pillai
- Saiva Pillai
- Saiva Vellalar
- Seer Karuneegar
- Senaithalaivar
- Siva Vellalar
- Sozhia Vellalar
- Thampi
- Thuluva Vellalar
- Tirunelvelli Saiva
- Veerakodi Vellalar
- Vellalar
- Yadava
History of the title
"Pillai" was historically used throughout the medieval period as an honorific title bestowed on high functionaries serving in various royal courts in south India. Although traditionally bestowed on members of high status and aristocratic castes, the name became adopted as a surname by a broad layer of the Tamil peasantry during the 19th and 20th century. With the extension of tenancy rights, the growth of the market economy and with new opportunities for middle class employment, members of cultivator communities, starting with the Vellalar peasantry, began adopting the name as both a form of upward social mobility and as a means of differentiating themselves from the broader peasantry.[citation needed] Those adopting it for this reason included communities considered historically oppressed (see Maravar and Adi Dravida). The phenomena was particularly notable amongst members of the Tamil diaspora in Sri Lanka, Singapore, Malaysia, South Africa, and Fiji, a diaspora created in part by the export of indentured agricultural labour at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century.[citation needed]
Amongst some Tamil communities the name is also now used as a caste name or signifier, though without any real historical basis. The use of a similar surname in Kerala is of different historical origins.
Some prominent Pillais
- V. O. Chidambaram Pillai (1872-1936), Indian freedom fighter
- Subbayya Sivasankaranarayana Pillai (1901-1950), Indian mathematician
- K.C. Sreedharan Pillai (1920-1985), Indian mathematician
- Sardar Vedaratnam Pillai, Indian freedom fighter
- Rao Bahadur N.Parameswaran Pillai (1884-1938), Indian engineer
- Devasahayam Pillai (1712-1752), Indian court official and martyr
- R. Balakrishna Pillai, former State minister in Kerala
- Rao Bahadur P.I.Chinnaswamy Pillai
- L. D. Swamikannu Pillai, Indian astronomer, Speaker of Tamil Nadu Assembly
- Dhanraj Pillay (born 1968), Indian hockey player
- Mr. K. N. Manisamy Pillai (joint founder of Raj Television)
- Nisha Pillai, an Indian-born BBC News journalist and news anchor[1]
- Dr. Sivathanu Pillai, Head of Defence Research and Development Organisation
- Ammamuthu Pillai, former Minister of AIADMK
See also
External links
- Matrimony site for Pillai Community, listing castes using the title
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