In the Tamil region during the Sangam period, the landless labourers and slaves were known as:

In the Tamil region during the Sangam period, landless labourers and slaves were called "kadaisiyar" and "adimai".

NCERT on Sangam society:

• NCERT explains that there were different categories of people in the villages of the Tamil region:
• Large landowners were known as "vellalar".
• Ordinary ploughmen were known by another term.
• Landless labourers, including slaves, were known as "kadaisiyar" and "adimai".

About these terms:

• "Kadaisiyar" means "the last" or "the lowest", referring to people at the bottom of society.
• "Adimai" means a slave or a bonded servant; the word "adimai" is still used in Tamil for a slave.
• They worked on the lands of rich landowners and had no land of their own.

Rural society in different regions (NCERT):

• In the northern part of the country, the village headman was known as the "grama bhojaka"; he was often the largest landowner and generally had slaves and hired workers to cultivate the land.
• Apart from the headman, there were other independent farmers, known as "grihapatis", most of whom were smaller landowners.
• Then there were men and women such as the "dasa karmakara", who did not own land and had to earn a living working on the fields owned by others.

Social life in the Sangam period:

• Sangam literature describes different landscapes ("tinai"), each with its own people and occupations: hills (kurinji), forests (mullai), farmland (marutam), sea coast (neytal) and dry land (palai).
• Society included kings and chiefs, warriors, poets (panar), farmers, fishermen, hunters and herders.
• The "Maravar" were a warrior community.

Why not the other options?

• ✗"Vellalar" were large landowners.
• ✗"Maravar" were warriors.
• ✗Good to know
• ✗Ordinary ploughmen had another name.