Who are ‘Paraiyars’, really?
WHILE in India recently, I bought a translation of Moeurs, institutions et cérémonies des peuples de l’Inde (Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies: The Classic First-Hand Account of India in the Early Nineteenth Century) by Abbé Dubois. What interested me was the proximity of the year the book w...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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2011
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| Online Access: | http://eprints.usm.my/32003/ http://eprints.usm.my/32003/1/DZUL14.pdf |
| _version_ | 1848876705079361536 |
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| author | Abd Razak, Dzulkifli |
| author_facet | Abd Razak, Dzulkifli |
| author_sort | Abd Razak, Dzulkifli |
| building | USM Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | WHILE in India recently, I bought a translation of Moeurs, institutions et cérémonies des peuples de l’Inde (Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies: The Classic First-Hand Account of India in the Early Nineteenth Century) by Abbé Dubois.
What interested me was the proximity of the year the book was first published — 1905 — to the period that is narrated by National Laureate Datuk Abdullah Hussain in his book Interlok. The index pages showed an entry of the word “pariah”, which in Malaysia has been reduced to a mere letter for some reason.
The book throws new light on the subject.
Some highlights are reproduced below based on several reference sources (not limited to Dubois), including those by Indian scholars intended as exploratory reading.
The word “pariah” refers to members of the Paraiyar or Pariah caste. “Paraiyar” in Tamil means “a drummer (parai = drum)”, although the origin of the word is still debatable. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-15T17:03:47Z |
| format | Article |
| id | usm-32003 |
| institution | Universiti Sains Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-15T17:03:47Z |
| publishDate | 2011 |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | usm-320032020-02-11T04:28:06Z http://eprints.usm.my/32003/ Who are ‘Paraiyars’, really? Abd Razak, Dzulkifli BL1100-1295 Hinduism WHILE in India recently, I bought a translation of Moeurs, institutions et cérémonies des peuples de l’Inde (Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies: The Classic First-Hand Account of India in the Early Nineteenth Century) by Abbé Dubois. What interested me was the proximity of the year the book was first published — 1905 — to the period that is narrated by National Laureate Datuk Abdullah Hussain in his book Interlok. The index pages showed an entry of the word “pariah”, which in Malaysia has been reduced to a mere letter for some reason. The book throws new light on the subject. Some highlights are reproduced below based on several reference sources (not limited to Dubois), including those by Indian scholars intended as exploratory reading. The word “pariah” refers to members of the Paraiyar or Pariah caste. “Paraiyar” in Tamil means “a drummer (parai = drum)”, although the origin of the word is still debatable. 2011 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://eprints.usm.my/32003/1/DZUL14.pdf Abd Razak, Dzulkifli (2011) Who are ‘Paraiyars’, really? The New Sunday Times. |
| spellingShingle | BL1100-1295 Hinduism Abd Razak, Dzulkifli Who are ‘Paraiyars’, really? |
| title | Who are ‘Paraiyars’, really? |
| title_full | Who are ‘Paraiyars’, really? |
| title_fullStr | Who are ‘Paraiyars’, really? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Who are ‘Paraiyars’, really? |
| title_short | Who are ‘Paraiyars’, really? |
| title_sort | who are ‘paraiyars’, really? |
| topic | BL1100-1295 Hinduism |
| url | http://eprints.usm.my/32003/ http://eprints.usm.my/32003/1/DZUL14.pdf |