Aranadan (ISO-639-3 code: aff)

The Aranadan (plural: Aranadans), also known as Eranadar, is one of the Scheduled Tribe communities found mainly in Malappuram district of Kerala. According to Luie (1962: 39), the word Eranadan is derived from Ernad, because they lived in the eastern region of Ernad taluk (hence also called Ernadan) of the composite Madras State, before the reorganization of Indian states in 1956. Aranadan is often misspelled as Arandan in the list of Scheduled Tribes and Census records. In the Madras Census Report of 1901, the Aranadans were described as hill tribes of Malabar. Historically, non-tribal populations considered them socially inferior due to food practices, even believing that if an Aranadan approached within a hundred yards, they consider themselves polluted. These restrictions are no longer practiced today.

Occupation

Their settlements are found scattered in Vazhikadavu, Edakkara, Aranadankara, Kavalamukkatta, Telppara (Telipara), Pattakkarimpu, and other parts of the Nilambur forest range. Their area is characterized by hills, valleys, mountains, rivers, streams, forests, and grasslands, with steep and slippery hills.

Language

Each tribal community’s language is generally known by its community name. Accordingly, the speech of the Aranadan community is known as the Aranadan language. Their speech shows features of the northern dialects of Malayalam and Kannada. Bindhu (1991: 154) points out that their language was found to be a mixture of Malayalam, Tamil, and Tulu. Usha (1992: 16) points out that the Aranadan language can be considered a dialect of Malayalam. Nasalization of vowels is a distinctive feature of this language.