Skip to main content

Chola Warlords: Who Were the Paluvettaraiyars?

Ponniyin Selvan I movie poster showing actor Sarathkumar as Periya Paluvettaraiyar and actor Parthiban as Chinna Paluvettaraiyar. In 2024, Oxford University Press published  Minor Majesties: The Paluvēṭṭaraiyars and Their South Indian Kingdom of Paluvūr, 9th–11th Centuries A.D ., a groundbreaking study by historian Valerie Gillet. In the book’s opening chapter, A Tentative Biography of the Paluvettaraiyars , Gillet delves into the lineage and origins of this influential fami ly.  These Chola warlords traced their lineage to the formidable Maravars, an ancient warrior tribe renowned for their valor. However, I believe that while the Paluvettaraiyars were indeed of Maravar descent, they likely forged alliances through intermarriage with those of the Kallar and Agambadiyar clans, further solidifying their power and influence. Prominent figures in the medieval Chola era, the Paluvettaraiyars played a pivotal role in shaping the empire’s political and military landscape. Through st...
Post a Comment

BN Indians vs PR Indians



It has been a week since elections (GE13) ended. It is probably the most controversial elections in our nation's history. When I started this blog, I told myself to avoid writing about politics. But I can't help it. I decided to start writing whatever that I feel as necessary.

 Alot of Barisan Nasional (BN) supporters particularly those from Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) believe that Malaysians of Indian origin can only be represented by BN at both state and federal level. They have played the race cards for too long.

 I decided to do some calculation to check on this matter.

During the elections, we will select candidates for 2 different seats. One is for the state level, the other is for the federal level.

 The state seats are known as Dewan Undangan Negeri (DUN) in Malaysia. A person who wins a DUN is known as Ahli Dewan Undangan Negeri (ADUN). Federal seats are referred to as Parliament seats. A person who wins the Parliament seat is referred to as Member of Parliament (MP).

 Let's take a look at the statistics if what BN-MIC says is true.
Indian reps in federal and state level after GE13.

Barisan Nasional fielded a total of 33 candidates of Indian origin. Of these 33 candidates, 4 won the parliament seats and 5 won the state seats. The majority lost in the elections.

Pakatan Rakyat (PR) fielded a total of 42 candidates of Indian origin. Of these 42 candidates, 10 won the parliament seats and 19 won the state seats. The majority won in the elections.

79% of Indian ADUNs are from Pakatan Rakyat. Only 21% of Indian ADUNs are from Barisan Nasional.
71% of Indian MPs are from Pakatan Rakyat. Only 29% of Indian MPs are from Barisan Nasional.

 We need to keep in mind that MIC is an all Indian party. Yet, they did not win as many seats as the Indians of PR who are mainly from the multiracial parties of Democratic Action Party (DAP) and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR).

 Take a look below for the list of candidates, their constituencies and total votes. The winners have been highlighted. You can also compare the difference of votes gained. Click to download it.
Indian candidate performance for parliament.
The picture above is for the parliament seats. 

 Both BN and PR fielded 13 Indians each for parliament seats. 7 of them met head to head. PR won 5 out of the 7 meets. The remaining candidates competed with candidates from other ethnics. 

Of those 6 non-Indian meets, BN only won 2 but PR won 5. These shows that at the parliament level, the Malaysian voters preferred PR candidates more than the BN candidates.

 BN gained a total of 321,528 votes and PR gained a total of 538,568 votes. On average, a BN candidate gets 24,733 votes but a PR candidate gets 41,428 votes.

Here are the details for the state level.
Indian candidates performance for state
BN fielded 20 Indian candidates and PR fielded 29 Indian candidates. 

 13 of them met head to head. PR won 10 out of the 13 meets. The remaining candidates competed with candidates from other ethnics. 

Of those 7 non-Indian meets, BN won only 2. 
Of those 16 non-Indian meets, PR won 9. 

 BN gained a total of 181,065 votes and PR gained a total of 333.877 votes. On average, a BN candidate gets 9,053 votes but a PR candidate gets 11,513 votes.  

Once again, the Malaysian voters have shown that the majority of them preferred Indians candidates from PR, and not Indian candidates from BN.

 This clearly shows that the major representation of the ethnic Indian community actually comes from Pakatan Rakyat and not Barisan Nasional. 



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Indian confusion - Race, Caste, Clan & Surnames

Before you read, keep in mind that this was not written with the intention to divide the people. It was written with the intention to explain the meaning of each group. The write up on my journey in Bali is still in progress. I have to transfer some image files in order to upload them. So I thought of writing about the biggest confusion in the Indian Malaysian community. It is a sensitive one too. But clarification should be given. Else, when are we going to understand it? To my friends of other races who happened to read my blog, this will probably be enlightening as many may not be aware of our demographics. First of all, there are two main classification for us in Malaysia. Indian & Ceylonese. Many assume it to be a homogenous race like Chinese, but it isn't. The Chinese have many languages but they have a common language called Mandarin. They also have one writing script. This is what makes the over 1 billion Chinese worldwide as a homogenous race. Ancient Chinese ...
103 comments
Read more

Dogs of Tamil Nadu

Pictures taken from Google. Credit goes to the various people who uploaded them. I apologise for not being able to identify the original owner of the pics. Whenever we speak of dogs, we tend to focus on the European breeds.  This is due to their popularity and demand. Unknown to many, India has about 88 native dog breeds. Six of these breeds are from the southern state of Tamil Nadu. Most of these dogs from Tamil Nadu evolved naturally. That makes them more suitable to the hot climate in the south. Furthermore, these dogs require less medical attention as their immune system is stronger, making them less prone to disease which are common among the European breeds. In Tamil Nadu, we can find breeds like the famous Rajapalayam, Kombai, Alangu Mastiff, Chippiparai, Kanni and Malayeri. Both the Alangu Mastiff and Malayeri are now extinct. Malayeri The Malayeri (hill climber) was a shepherd dog used by the tribals to herd sheeps. It was commonly found in the hills of Tamil Na...
92 comments
Read more

Muniswaran Worship

(Pictures taken from Google except for the Banyan tree) Hinduism is a world of its own. It is not a single book religion like the Abrahamic religions. It is actually a collection of various religions, philosophies, doctrines, rituals and practices. In Hinduism, worship of minor deities is also practiced. Although it is not part of mainstream Hinduism, it still plays an important part in the daily lives of many individuals and families. The worship of minor deities is much more common in rural areas. It is often more of a clan or family affair. The minor deities fall into different categories. One of it is a class of powerful spirits known as Muni. My family use to offer worship under this tree in Klang. My interest in Muni worship started at a very young age. I have always been a curious kid. I ask alot of questions.. I still am a curious person. Always looking for more clues and hopefully some answers. It is perhaps my late paternal grandmother, Letchumy, who ign...
58 comments
Read more