Gatti Mudalis

The Gatti Mudalis were in charge of the most dangerously exposed province of the Nayak Kingdom with Kaveripuram on the right bank of the Cauvery as their strategic capital commencing one of the principal passes to the Mysore Plateau. The centre of their power seems, however, to have been Taramangalam where they have built a grant edifice of a temple. It is said their domination extended as far as Thalaivasal to the east, Dharapuram in Erode district in the west and Karur district in the south. The forts of greatest strategic importance held by the Gatti Mudalis were Omalur and Attur. By about 1635 A.D., the Muslim Sultans of Bijapur and Golkonda made in roads into the south when the power of Tirumalai Nayak had wanted palacode area came under Bijapur. Meanwhile Kantirava narasa Raja of Serangapatnam took several places in Coimbatore from Gatti Mudalis in 1641 A.D.

Genealogy of Gatti Mudaliars

From the names of the Gatti Mudaliars, it is clear that they are not Tamil names except for the last one. There were only 3 from that dynasty.

*Gutti Mudhali, Haman (16thC)
*Gatti Mudhali, Vanna Immudi Hama Nayana (16thC)
*Gatti Mudhali, Vanangamudi (17thC)

Origin of Gatti Mudaliars

Tondai Mandala Saiva Vellala

It is highly likely that Gatti Mudaliars are Tondai Mandala Saiva Vellala and probably related to Arya Natha Mudaliar, Dalavoy of the Madurai Nayaks.

They just used the most popular title of that time i.e. Mudali.

Kongu Vellala

There were many minor Kongu Vellala and Nayak poligars under the Ramachandra Nayakas and Gatti Mudali dynasty. However it is very unlikely that Gatti Mudali belong to Kongu Vellala. However they might have married with Kongu Vellala poligars for political reasons.

engunthar

This is not possible since many inscriptions indicate that the Gatti Mudaliars are Vellalas.

Why Mudali and not Gounda title?

The word Mudali is a Tamil word, where Gounda is a Kannada word. The chiefs of Tamils were called Mudali. The chiefs of Kannadas were called Gounda. This can be seen by the total absence of the word Gounda in Tamil inscriptions. However there are thousands of Gounda inscriptions in Karnataka dating back over 1000 years.

As Kongu nadu got transferred from Tamil power to Karnataka power, the title also changed accordingly. By 1700, gounda title had firmly overtaken all Tamil titles such as mudali and pillai in Kongu nadu.

However there were only Mudali and Pillai titles prevalent in Tamilnadu for use by Tamils and Nayak and Reddi as the titles for Telugus.

References

*"Kongumandalasatakangal" (1923), Muthusamykonar T.A, Tiruchengode.
*"Painthamizh Velir Katti Muthalikal" (2007) Pulavar Raju S., Kongu Aivu Mayyam, Erode.http://www.salem.tn.nic.in/ahistory.htmhttp://attur.org/town/mudhali.htmlhttp://www.namakkal.tn.nic.in/nkl.htmhttp://www.salemexpress.com/places.htm