Re: [INDOLOGY] Brāhmaṇa and Savarṇa

Thu Jul 17 23:52:11 UTC 2014

Dear Manu,

Thanks for confirming my understanding of the epigraphic data.

It is interesting that we seem to have no references to Savarṇas outside the Tamil country while we do have references to Ambaṣthas in the north.

The origin of Savarṇas given by the Dharmasūtras is not convincing to me for the following reason. There were no 'native' Kṣatriyas in the Tamil country. Even if one considers the Tamil kings who have gone through the Hiraṇyagarbha ceremony to be Kṣatriyas, I do not know of any evidence for a large number of Tamil (Cōḻa and Pāṇṭiya) royal women marrying brahmins to produce a class of Savarṇas. On the other hand, in Kerala, we have Nambudiri brahmins marrying princesses to produce offsprings who were considered Kṣatriyas and not Brāhmaṇas or Savarṇas. If these Savarṇas had migrated from north of Tamil Nadu, there should have been some evidence for their presence there. But we do not seem to have any such data. 

What is interesting is that in a 13th century inscription, one Savarṇa is described as a cook in the Madurai temple. But his village was Maruttuvakkuṭi (meaning 'village of physicians'). This suggests that even though his ancestors were probably physicians, he had taken up employment in the Madurai temple as a cook. If he had not been considered a Brāhmaṇa in practice, I do not think he would have been appointed as a cook in this famous brahminical temple. Today we hear of no Savarṇas in the Tamil country.

As for 'Ambaṣṭha', we have an 'Ambaṣṭha' translated by Hultzsch as 'barber' (based on the modern usage). But this Ambaṣṭha had the title caṭaṅkavi (Tamilized form of 'Ṣaḍaṅgavid') which was usually associated with Brahmins in many inscriptions. 

This seems to suggest that while the Dharmasūtras might have come up with theoretical names for possible permutations and combinations of varṇas and their derivatives, at least in the Tamil country, between 11th and 13th centuries Savarṇa and Ambaṣṭha seem to have referred to Brahmins who hailed from families of physicians. 

If you have information related to the inscription mentioning Savarṇa-vṛtti, that will be wonderful. I would also appreciate if you have any information on the Savarṇas engaged in other occupations.

Thanks

Regards,
Palaniappan

-----Original Message-----
From: Manu Francis <manufrancis at gmail.com>
To: palaniappa <palaniappa at aol.com>
Cc: july2307 <july2307 at yandex.ru>; Indology <indology at list.indology.info>
Sent: Thu, Jul 17, 2014 4:07 pm
Subject: Re: [INDOLOGY] Brāhmaṇa and Savarṇa

Dear Palaniappan,
I find in my files 10 hits of inscriptions mentioned in the ARE that use the word savar.na. I have not checked all, but most are from TN and indeed seem to confirm that this word is used mostly for physicians.

I can check thoroughly, if needed.

Best.
--

Emmanuel Francis
Chargé de recherche CNRS, Centre d'étude de l'Inde et de l'Asie du Sud (UMR 8564, EHESS-CNRS, Paris)
http://ceias.ehess.fr/
http://ceias.ehess.fr/index.php?1725
http://rcsi.hypotheses.org/
Associate member, Centre for the Study of Manuscript Culture (SFB 950, Universität Hamburg)
http://www.manuscript-cultures.uni-hamburg.de/index_e.html
https://cnrs.academia.edu/emmanuelfrancis

On Thu, Jul 17, 2014 at 10:27 PM,  <palaniappa at aol.com> wrote:

Thank you for the information. This is interesting. Given that Savarṇas are most often seen as physicians, I would have expected savarṇa-vṛtti to be glossed as a grant for the livelihood of a physician instead of a scribe. Is the posted interpretation given by Sircar or T. N. Subramanian? Is there any reference to an inscription or SITI reference?

Regards,
Palaniappan

-----Original Message-----
From: Dmitriy <july2307 at yandex.ru>
To: indology <indology at list.indology.info>
Sent: Thu, Jul 17, 2014 2:09 am
Subject: Re: [INDOLOGY] Brāhmaṇa and Savarṇa

Possibly, it is a question of a rather late inscriptions.
In any case, I didn't find "savarNa" mentions in my base (and don't remember such definitions) in texts of inscriptions till the V-VIII centuries.
Interestingly, that D. Ch. Sircar in his Epigraphical Glossary mentions savarNa only once (savarNa-vRtti = profession of writing the document).
And just refers to a South Indian Temple Inscriptions by T.N. Subramanian

Dmitriy N. Lielukhine
Oriental Institute
Moscow
http://indepigr.narod.ru/index_1.htm

17.07.2014, 10:13, "palaniappa at aol.com" <palaniappa at aol.com>:

In an inscription of ca. 1009, Brahmin villages, Vaikhānasa villages, and Savarṇa villages are mentioned separately. (E. Hultzsch, the editor of the inscription corrects the reading of 'Cavaṇṇar' as 'camaṇar' and interprets them as Jains. This correction was not necessary.) There are other inscriptions where individuals mentioned as Savarṇa are listed with their Brahminical gotras and at least in one inscription a Savarṇa is described as belonging to Bhāradvāja gotra and Bodhāyana sūtra. One inscription mentions 32 Savarṇas being given 32 house sites as an agrahara. These Savarṇas seemed to have functioned as physicians. It is clear that they were Brahmins but are classified as separate from 'Brāhmaṇa'. K. V. Subrahmanya Aiyer mentions (without citing the specific reference) Yādavaprakāśa as explaining in his work Vaijayanti that Savarṇa was an offspring of a Brahmin father and a Kṣatriya mother. To me this explanation seems to be suspect. It looks like a section of Brahmins was willing to engage in professions such as being musicians, physicians, etc., notwithstanding any objections from the orthodox Vedic Brahmins who  seemed to have reserved for themselves the designation 'Brāhmaṇa' (without any modifier), at least in the beginning.  Inscriptions also differentiate Brāḥmaṇa from Śiva-Brāhṃaṇa. (The Tamil epic Cilappatikāram mentions the music-loving Brahmins as having their own quarters separate from Vedic Brahmins.)  This is similar to the adoption of the Tamil classical dance form by the Brahmins in the 20th century. In spite of the earlier objections from orthodox Brahmins, that dance form has become very popular among all Tamil Brahmins nowadays. Tamil Brahmins serving as physicians also seem to have gained acceptance from the orthodox over time. I would like to know if 'Savarṇa' as a Brahmin was known to texts/inscriptions outside the Tamil region. 

Thanks in advance.

Regards,
Palaniappan

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