Iruvelpattu: An Indian Village Discovered by a British Professor

About 10 kilometres from the district headquarters, the town of Villupuram in Tamil Nadu, lies one of the many forgotten villages of India, Iruvelpattu. Researched as one of the typical villages of South India out of sheer economic interest, British professor Gilbert Slater managed to do what no one else did, put a common village on the map and draw attention from academic and governmental quarters.

A Tamil Nadu Village Farm in Villupuram, Source: Wikimedia Commons

In the early 20th century, when India was seething under the reign of British Rule, poverty in Indian villages rose to a dismal degree. Fortunately, among the British, there were a few fair and just people in the academic field, who determined to research further on this topic and bring a little alleviation to the poor strata of the Indian society.

One such effort was led by Gilbert Slater, who was appointed as a professor at the University of Madras back in 1915. Slater’s view of approaching the whole issue of Indian villages and poverty thereof was one of a kind. He assigned projects to his students to take up any one village and learn something real about its people, culture, and economic condition. For his understanding, he chose the village of Iruvelpattu, better known as Eruvellipet in colonial times.

A Farmer's Day, Source: Wikimedia Commons

What Slater began as an academic research project turned out to be significant in the history of this Tamil Nadu village. Researchers in the late 20th century, long after India gained independence, revisited the same village to draw parallels between what Slater had observed and the state in which they found the village. The differences were not striking.

In Slater’s time, the main occupation of Iruvelpattu was farming, especially paddy farming. And in modern times, it is still the same. A lot of the neighbouring villages also rely on paddy farming as their main source of income. These are areas from where many of the South Indian rice varieties make their way into urban kitchens. Farmers in these areas also grow groundnuts, millets, and sugarcane.

River Pennar, Source: Wikimedia Commons

Iruvelpattu’s inhabitants, in Slater’s research, sourced a majority of their required water supply from the River Malattar, which flew rather unpromisingly through the village. The river was a channel of the much bigger River Pennar. From Pennar, a separate channel poured water into a lake, which acted as a reservoir.

The main high road that connected the village to the city divided it into two parts, according to the castes of the residents. The bright and sunny western part of the road housed the upper caste residents and the eastern, somewhat neglected side of the road housed the pariah village. This kind of caste-based segregation went on to exist even in the later part of the 20th century.

Slater observed that the upper caste people were allowed to fetch water from the cleaner portion of the river, leaving the debris and waste-laden portion to the fate of the pariahs. Fortunately, in later years, the pariah village constructed a well that met its potable drinking water needs.

Aiyanar Temple Under a Tree, Source: Wikimedia Commons

Regardless of the distinct differences in the quality of life between the upper caste village and the pariah village, they all typically bow down to a common god, Aiyanar. Aiyanar temples are abundant not just in this village but in the entire district of Villupuram. Indeed, it is one of the most worshipped gods of South India. Aiyanar’s shrines are located in the Pariah village and also on the main road between the two segments of Iruvelpattu.

Divisions among castes, however, have somehow increased over time. For example, in Slater’s report, he mentioned a common fund that the two segments of the village used in perfect solidarity during emergencies. The later researchers, however, found no such existing funds. Instead, they encountered one extremely powerful landlord, who directly or indirectly supervised and controlled all occurrences in both sections of the village.

Casuarina Farming, Source: Wikimedia Commons

A major economic achievement that Slater noted was that the village was self-sustaining in terms of fuel. For the most part, cow dung was dried and used as fuel when not being used as manure in farmlands. Another great source of fuel was casuarina barks. A handful of casuarina farms proved to be a blessing to those who sought to save the cow dung for fertilisation.

Even in modern times, casuarina farming helps sort out the fuel needs of many of the village residents. Times are, however, changing now and with more outreach from the government, the quality of life in this village ought to change gradually. As is evident from the improving literacy rate of the village, where even many girls go to school, winds of change are subtly blowing. And now, even farmers are standing up for their rights for fair prices and better selling spaces for paddy, one of their main crops.

Slater’s investigation of a typical South Indian village managed to put at least one poverty-stricken region on the radar of historians and authorities alike.