Caste and Weaving Communities of South India

In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the practice of weaving was deeply intertwined with issues of caste, labour, and environmental and political changes. Weaving castes in South India in this period were tied directly to the types of textiles produced with many of the weaving caste communities specialising in specific types of cloth production or weaving techniques. So a general understanding of caste and how caste functioned in South India is important to understanding the nature of production of textiles and the politics of labour in this period.

Painting of three couples Unknown artist Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, c.1830 V&A, IS.39:18-1987

In this time period, the caste system was a complex social institution that structured most aspects of daily life for South Asians, especially for those who were Hindu. The caste system is often simplified to a four-tier varna hierarchical system where there were “in-caste” communities (Brahmans, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, and Shudras) and “out-of-caste” communities who were only allowed to exist upon the fringes of society. The lower registers of the varnas like the Shudras were categorised also as “savarna” (pure) and “avarna” (polluted) castes. Within the varnas, communities were further classified into jati or sub-caste. These jatis were largely endogamous and occupation-based groups that varied from region to region. Within these rigid structures, however, the practice of caste system and caste hierarchy was highly varied and very much regional in practice. In South India, for example, the most powerful caste groups were sometimes not Brahmans but landowning agriculturists like Vellalars and Nairs.

Most of the weaving communities in South India were of the lower caste, classified as “avarna” Shudra and therefore ritually “polluting” to upper castes. But there are notable exceptions to this stratification. For example, the Pattunulkkar or Saurashtrar from the Madurai region of Tamil Nadu were categorised as Brahmans. Often the higher caste weavers worked with materials like silk and finer textiles whereas the lower caste weavers worked with cotton, coarse cloth production, and everyday textiles. They worked in guild-like systems or village groups. These weavers and dyers were dependent on middlemen traders and merchants who could also be landowning agriculturists themselves, who were higher in the caste hierarchy as well. This led to considerable economic exploitation of weaving communities even before the takeover of textile trade by European East India Companies.

While the complexities of caste and the politics of caste within weaver communities cannot be fully explained here, here are some of the prominent weaving communities of South India that wove cotton cloths and garments:

Kaikolars (Sengunthar): The Kaikolars or Sengunthar are weaver caste communities spread around Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh. They were cotton weavers who produced everyday garments as well as high-quality cotton cloths. They also wove other lighter fabrics such as muslin.

Devangas: Devanga weaving communities are found across southern India in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and some regions of Kerala. They specialise in both cotton and silk weaving including fine silk sarees for weddings and festivals. They also make textiles for exports, especially lungis for men and dhotis.

Saliyar (Sali): The Saliyar weaving communities lived in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka. In Kerala, they are known as Chaliya. They are divided into two groups: the Pattusaliya who weave silk textiles including high-quality silk saris, and Padmasaliya who weave high-quality cotton textiles and garments.

Koshtis: These weaving communities lived in Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Telangana regions and were expert cotton weavers who produced garments for everyday wear. They also wove dhurries or cotton rugs.

With these caste groups, there were also further bifurcations into left hand castes (kallar) and right hand castes (ariyan) with right hand castes being ritually pure and left hand castes being ritually impure. There were many different factors like culture and language that created these bifurcations where, for example, within the Kaikolar castes, there were left hand Kaikolar and right hand Kaikolar. These divisions also created conflict between weaving communities. Furthermore, in addition to Hindu weaving communities, some communities of Muslims also practised weaving as their community occupation.

Prior to the eighteenth century, scholars have traced two periods of significant migration and movement of these weaving caste communities that have led to their presence in most parts of southern India. But following the advent of the European trading companies, the mobility of these weaving communities was mainly due to either climatic or political strife or concerted effort by European companies to entice them to settle within their regions of control for ease of access to textiles. Through these movements, however, the same caste group diversified linguistically and culturally to varying extents, most of them becoming endogamous. So, for example, the Sali of Karnataka will not intermarry with the Saliyar of Tamil Nadu even though they are the same caste and have similar customs and traditions.

The decline of textile production because of colonial intervention and the further impoverishment of weavers led to many either quitting their caste-occupation practices and finding jobs in textile mills or as agricultural labourers. This led to the breakdown of the caste-based occupational community systems in the late-19th to early-20th centuries even as the caste system as an institution continued to have an impact in society.