The Vanniyar, also spelled Vanniya,[1] formerly known as the Palli, are a Dravidian[2] community or jāti found in the northern part of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
The Vanniyars were historically considered a lower caste. They have been trying to gain a higher socio-religious standing since the 19th century, using the Sanskritisation process to promote a myth of origin that they are related to the ancient Agnikula deity, born from the flames of a fire sacrifice.
- ^ Rudolph, Lloyd I.; Rudolph, Susanne Hoeber (1967). The Modernity of Tradition: Political Development in India. University of Chicago Press. p. 49. ISBN 978-0-226-73137-7.
- ^ Kashyap, V. K.; Guha, S.; Sitalaximi, T.; Bindu, G. H.; Hasnain, S. E.; Trivedi, R. (2006). "Table 1 Ethnic, linguistic and geographical affiliations of Indian populations included in the study". BMC Genetics. 7. BMC Genomics: 28. doi:10.1186/1471-2156-7-28. ISSN 2730-6844. PMC 1513393. PMID 16707019.