non-elite CT names (Re: Telugu history)

[Periannan Chandrasekaran]

--- Lakshmi Srinivas <lsrinivas at YAHOO.COM> wrote:
> --- Raveen Satkurunathan <tawady at YAHOO.COM> wrote:
> > In my opinion even the CT names
> > reflect a difference between the
> > urbane, aristocratic and culturally Indic urban
> > elites and the common people
> > except the emphasis of the then elites was on being
> > �refined Tamil� rather
> > than �Sanskrit� most probably due to Buddhist and
> > Jaina influences. Refined
> > Tamil enabled them to differentiate them from the
> > common people with "unrefined"
> > Tamil names such as listed above.
> >
>
>
> Are there any reliably known names of the common
> people from the CT texts? If you omit the names of the
> kings, poets, famous chieftains etc , that is.
>
> Regards,
>
> LS
>

one may survey the rich  cast of the great CT epic "cilappatikAram":

the hero and heroine who are scions of rich businessmen: kOvalan2 & kaNNaki

Their fathers: mAcAttuvAn2 (great merchant), mAnAykan2 (great leader?)
The courtesan: mAtavi (the name of a domestic creeper/vine)
Her female friend (of mAtavi): vAcavadattai
The milkmaids at madurai suburb: mAtari, aiyai
(= "great consort of king" ?given name )jain monk:

The Jain monk guiding the hero/heroine: kavunti

Brahmins:
The brahmin friend of kaNNaki: tEvanti
The brahmin messenger sent by mAtavi to kOvalan2: kOcikamANi (kaucikan2?)
The brahmnin visitor from pUmpuhAr at madurai: mADalan2
Brahmin names mentioned:
kIrantai (a tamil name), parAcaran2, vArttikan2, kArttikai, takkiNan2 (dakSiNa)

The "elite":
Coza: karikAl vaLavan2
The paNdiyan emperor/empress: ceziyan2 (hereditary title),  kOp perun tEvi
Chera: ceGkuTTuvan2
Chera chieftains: azumpil vEL, villavan2 kOtai


Brahmin names are evidently Sanskrit. But it is difficult to detect any
differences among the non-brahmin names.


P.Chandrasekaran




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