Castes and Tribes of Southern India/Pāndya

by Edgar Thurston

Pāndya.— The territorial name Pāndya, Pāndiya, Pāndiyan, or Pāndi has been returned, at recent times of census, as a sub-division of various Tamil classes, e.g., Ambattan, Kammālan, Ōcchan, Pallan, Vannān, and Vellāla. Pāndiya is further a title of some Shānāns. In Travancore, Pāndi has been returned by some Izhavans. The variant Pāndiangal occurs as an exogamous sept of the Tamil Vallambans, and Pāndu as a Tamil synonym for Kāpu or Reddi.