Posted a thread on brahman migrations to South a week ago.

Related to that is another topic - the development of Vaishnavism down South - Sri-Vaishnavism in particular

Mahadevan's paper has interesting thoughts on how the brahman migration patterns are linked to this

Sri-Vaishnavism is one of the dominant brahminical sects in Tamil Nad today

Roughly 1 in 3 Tamil speaking brahmans in the world are Sri-Vaishnavites

Adhering to the philosophy and theology that emanates from its chief AcArya - Ramanuja, a 11th/early 12th cen figure

But Sri-Vaishnavism does not begin with Ramanuja

It has much deeper roots, possibly going back all the way to the Sangam period.

But chiefly, Sri Vaishnavism's development in Tamil nad has two phases -

1. The Alwar phase of devotional Vaishnavism of 1st millennium (roughly 3rd to 8th cen CE)

2. The AcArya phase that begins with Nathamuni (in 10th century) and continues through yAmuna, rAmAnuja himself, parasara Bhattar, Vedanta Desika, manavAla Mamuni etc
Right upto 16th cen

The community today privileges both these phases that have contributed to its development

Summarized in the phase Ubhaya vedAnta

The AcArya phase giving SVs their formal philosophy and major Sanskrit texts

The Alwar phase providing the Nalayira Divya prabandham in Tamizh

As per Mahadevan these two phases are not to be taken at face value

They are indicative of a deeper story. One of multiple brahman migrations to South

The early brahman migrations were those of the pUrvashikhas (tuft on the front) - likely in the Sangam age or even before (pre 3rd/4th cen at any rate)

These early brahmans are today represented by the Chozhiya brahmins in Tamil Nad (both among SVs and Smarthas) + Nambuthiris

They are a fairly small minority among brahman population today, but historically they constituted all brahmans down south (pre 5th cen CE)

These brahmans brought with them not the purANas (as per Mahadevan) but an early version of the Mahabharata

This version of MB (let's call it the pUrvashikha version) is still with us today

Preserved among Namboothiris in Kerala

Mahadevan's view is this version included an early version of Hari Vamsha, the narrative of Sri KRSNa's life.

The earliest kRSNa-ite text in Indian history

And it is from this particular MB recension (and NOT the purANas) that Vaishnavism makes its debut down south

It enters non-brahman life through folk art and songs in the vernacular

But the source of it all is hari vamsha

And this Hari Vamsha is the source of the Alvar phase of Sri-Vaishnavism!

Mahadevan's research suggests that all the brahman Alwars were Purvashikha brahmans

And their Tamil poetry (which eulogizes KRSNa, his exploits in Gokula among other things) stemmed from Harivamsha

And in this phase, the cultural mixing of the pUrvashika brahmans and the elite non brahmans of the country (like say vellalars) must have been very deep

Because the Alwars included many distinguished non-brahman names

Notably Nammalvar the most illustrious of all Alwars

So the penetration of Vaishnavism through the Mahabharata was deep

Contributing the incipience of Vaishnavite (and particularly KRSna-ite) devotion in Tamil country

That's phase 1 of what eventually became Sri-Vaishnavism

Around the mid-Pallava period, new streams of brahmans started moving down south

The great Aparashikha migrations from the north

With little to no connect with the much more remote purvashikha brahmans

That's where the Phase 2 of Sri Vaishnavism begins

Starting with Nathamuni, an Aparashikha settler in Kanchi region circa 10th century

This great AcArya "discovers" the Alvar hymns through Purvashikha settlers (notably Madhurakavi Alvar - a late brahman Alvar of 9th/10th cen)

And Natamuni, to his credit, does not dismiss this Tamil work as some local relic

But systematizes it into a larger work called Nalayira Divya Prabandham (NLP) - (4000 divine verses)

So this is a classic case of Aparashikha - Purvashika cultural synthesis

But this synthesis should not let us overlook the fact that there were conflicts between the new immigrants and the more rooted brahmans of an earlier age

Often the Aparashikha immigrants had strong prejudices (maybe racial) against the Purvashikha settlers

An example -

Nathamuni sends Uyakkondar, a pUrvashikha brahman as his wife's escort, to an Aparashikha settlement

There the legend in SV lore goes that the Aparashikha homes fed Uyakkondar stale food

As he is not "one of them"!

This is fascinating

We are not talking of Upper-caste prejudice against non brahmans here

But prejudices between new settlers and earlier, more assimilated settlers (who were likely more properly Tamizh)

The Aparashikhas then start Phase 2 of Sri Vaishnavism

They bring with them from the north newer texts likely

The Vishnu Purana. Bhagavata Purana (which they probably authored themselves)

These are texts that were perhaps not known to the earlier Purvashikha brahmans

And this changes Sri-Vaishnavism

It broadens it from its original KRSNa-centric focus stemming from Harivamsha

And the Aparashikhas formalize Vaishnavite thought through its famous AcAryas - starting with yAmuna and Ramanuja

The phase from 10th to 16th cen is the great AcArya phase of SV history

When Aparashikhas are dominant. And pUrvashikha influence becomes more marginal

Having said that the great Purvashikha legacy remained (The 4000 tamil verses).

The Aparashikhas embrace it as part of their tradition too. Despite their own distinct Sanskritic contributions

It is indeed fascinating how the migration histories give us insight on the development of a major South Indian religious tradition - Sri Vaishnavism

Different groups shaped it in very distinct ways at vastly different eras.

But ultimately a synthesis was reached!

Post-script :

Sharing Mahadevan's paper once again for everybody's reference

…https://crossasia-journals.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/index.php/ejvs/article/view/327/322