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JOURNAL, B.A.S. (CEYLON). [VOL. XXI. 



on that account called "Ayar," 1 "Kovalar," and "Mullai- 

 nilamakkal " by the Tamil people. Immigrants from Vel- 

 pulam as they also were, not being in contact with the civilized 

 population of the Nadus, i.e., the towns and villages of the 

 country, they were not so well posted up in the practical arts 

 and crafts of life, or so refined and cultured as the former, i.e., 

 the Yadavas inhabiting the towns and villages. Their tribal 

 gods were Kannan, i.e., Krishna, and Baladeva, 2 who, as 

 Avatars of Tirumal, i.e., the holy Vishnu, had incarnated in 

 their race ; and they celebrated frequent festivals and held 

 dances in honour of these gods. According to the following 

 passages in " Kalithogei," this shepherd race would appear 

 to have accompanied the original founder of the Pandiyan 

 family to the south, namely : — 



(1) " The excellent clans of ' Ayar ' 3 who came along with 

 the illustrious house which ' Thennavan,' 4 whose virtue 

 never fades, planted in olden times." 



(2) " The great (shepherd) families who followed the 

 imperishable house." 



It has been pointed out (by eminent scholars) that 

 Katyayana, who lived during the reign of king Nanda in the 

 first half of the fourth century B.C. , and who wrote " Varthikas " 

 to explain the sutras of Panini, besides alluding to the Cholas 

 and the Pandiyas (by name), refers, 5 indirectly, to the ancestry 



1 Mr. Kanakasabhai Pillai thinks that the " Ayar " are identical 

 with the " Ahirs " of the Sanscrit Puranas. — Vide '•' Tamils Eighteen 

 Hundred Years Ago," p. 57. 



2 Same as " Bala Raman." 



3 Mr. Kanakasabhai Pillai, as elsewhere noticed, identifies these 

 "Ayar " races with the " Ahirs " or " Abirs " of the Sanscrit records. 

 They were a non- Aryan people who inhabited , at first, the lower valley of 

 the Indus, but in later times moved down to the south and occupied the 

 regions about Guzerat. The fact that these shepherd races paid 

 reverence to the "Jakshas" would seem to indicate some sort of 

 ethnical affinity between them, the " Yakshas," and " Rakshasas " 

 of ancient India. — Vide "Tamils Eighteen Hundred Years Ago," 

 chap. XV., p. 229. 



4 " The King of the South," a name applied to the Pandiyas. " Then- 

 nan " is only another form of the same name, but it is sometimes 

 interpreted as meaning " the lord of the coconut groves."— V. J. T. 



5 "Varthika on Panini," IV., 1-168. 



