Castes and Tribes of Southern India/Mūppan
Mūppan.— Mūppan has been defined as "an elder, the headman of a class or business, one who presides over ploughmen and shepherds, etc. The word literally means an elder: Mukkiradu, to grow old, and muppu, seniority." At recent times of census, Mūppan has been returned as a title by many classes, which include Alavan, Ambalakāran, Kudumi, Pallan, Paraiyan and Tandan in Travancore, Senaikkudaiyan, Sāliyan, Shānān, Sudarmān and Valaiyan. It has further been returned as a division of Konkana Sūdras in Travancore. During my wanderings in the Malabar Wynād, I came across a gang of coolies, working on a planter's estate, who called themselves Mūppans. They were interesting owing to the frequent occurrence among them of a very simple type of finger-print impression (arches).