[2][3][4] They are classified as an Other Backward Class or a Denotified Tribe in Tamil Nadu, depending on the district.

[7][8][9][10][11] The term Maravar has diverse proposed etymologies;[12] it may come simply from a Tamil word maram, meaning such things as vice and murder.

During the British colonial era, the Maravars were sometimes recorded as Kshatriyas by the legal officers involved in Zamindari litigation proceedings but more often they classified as Shudras.

[17] During the formation of Tamilaham, the Maravars were brought in as socially outcast tribes or traditionally as lowest entrants into the shudra category.

[18][citation needed] The Maravas to this day are feared as a thieving tribe and are an ostracised group in Tirunelveli region.