Vellalar is a Tamil caste used primarily by various Sub castes who traditionally pursued agriculture as a profession in the Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and northeastern parts of Sri Lanka. Some of the communities that identify themselves as a Vellalar are the numerically strong Arunattu Vellalar, Chettiar Vellalar Chozhia Vellalar, Nanjinad Vellalar, Karkarthar Vellalar, Kongu Vellalar, Thuluva Vellalar, and Sri Lankan Vellalar. The Vellalars are traditionally classified under the Vaishya varna and from the 1870's onwards, starting from British rule are also classified as high ranking Shudras, of which the latter Shudra classification was strongly protested against by the Vellalars and is contested by historians like K.A.Nilakanta Sastri, R.S.Sharma and S.Thiruvenkatachari who have stated that the Vellalars cannot be equated with Shudras. The Vellalar enjoyed a status almost as high as Brahmins, due to the possession of land—the basis of wealth. Vellalar were dominant communities in Tamil agrarian societies for 600 years until the decline of the Chola empire in the 13th century, with their chieftains able to practise state-level political authority after winning the support and legitimisation of Brahmins and other higher-ranked communities with grants of land and honours.
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