Thandan (surname)

Status

1. According to Historian A.K.iyer, "In the southern parts of the State, only one man is appointed by the ruler of the State, for specified localities, and he is called the Thandan, whose privileges consist in wearing a gold knife and style, walking before a Nair with a cloth on his head, riding on a palanquin or a horse, carrying a silk, umbrella, and having a brass lamp borne before him, for each of which he pays separately a tax to the Government. Any person, using these privileges unauthorized, lays himself open to a penalty. His local deputies, who are Ponambani or Veettukarans, are appointed by him, and besides them, there are elected men, two, four, or six for each village or a number of villages, known as Kaikhars or managers, and their business is to make preliminary enquiries about social disputes and convene meetings before the Thandan for the arbitration and settlement of all such disputes. In Travancore and North Malabar, the head-men of the caste are known by the names of Panicker and Tharayil Karanavar, whose social functions and status are substantially the same as those detailed above. Thus, in the Cochin State the name 'Thandan' is given to the head-man of the caste, while in the adjoining Taluks of Palghat and Valluvanad it is referred to a sub-caste, the members of which observe the custom of polyandry".