113992242-Dravidian-Settlements-in-Ceylon-and-the-Beginnings-of-the-Kingdom-of-Jaffna-By-Karthigesu-Indrapala-Complete-Phd-Thesis-University-of-London-1965

kukar (equated with Kuka = Skt. Kuga) Such attempts at claiming
descent from personalities appearing in the epics are co Ofl
among some castes of South India and Cey1on
The name Mukkuvar is to be derived from the
Malayam nkkuka, 'to dive' (Tamil Ma1ay4am zm4ukuka>
rnukkuka) Mukkukan literally means a divert Probably the
Mukkuvar were a caste pearl-divers who later took to fishing.
Some of the early foreign notices of this community confirm
their maritime profession. The Italianatravel].er Vartheina (1510)
and the Portuguese writers Correa (1525) and Barros (1552)
refer to the Nukkuvar of Ker4a as fishermen But it appears
that sometimes the term mukkuvar had a general application
370
1. S.Casie Chetty, Manual of the Putta].am District, p.2k.
2. See supra, p. tic> , the example of the Kurukulas who claim
descent from the Kurus of the Mahbhrata.
3. . urrow and LB.Emeneau, Dravidian Ety ologic 1 Dictionary, (1961),
pp. 337-338.
k. H.Yule,and A.C. urnell, Hobson-Jobson, London 1903, p. 592.
5. L.Varthema, The Travels of Varthema, Tr. T.W.Jones, (1863), p.1k2&
'The fourth class are called Yiechua, and these are fishermen';
E.J.Stanley, Thre Voyages of Vasco a Gama and is Viceroyalty,
fro the Len as In i of spar Correa, (1869), p. :
'Nacuas which are fishermen'; J. de Barros, 'Decadas de Asia, etc.,
Lisbon 1778 : 'ucuaria, a fisherman's village', quoted in
Hobson-Jôbsoh, . cit., p. 592.