In the early nineteenth century, the Nadars were a community mostly engaged in the palmyra industry, including the production of toddy. However, there were a few subsects comprising wealthy landlords and money lenders. At this time, the majority of Nadars lived south of the Thamirabarani River, and formed 80 - 90 per cent of the population between there and Cape Comorin. Although numerically dominant in the area, the Nadars had a minimal interaction with other communities and they were themselves divided by their various endogamous subcastes, and thus lacked communal cohesion.