Mudaliar also known as Mudaliyar, Mudali and Moodley in Tamil. It literally means a person of first rank in a feudal society in south India. Most Mudaliars are Tamil people with Tamil as their mother tongue. The word Mudaliar means first citizens or first ones and is used to denote a Vellalar subcaste. Mudaliar was used to represent a Vellala sub-caste which may be: Thondaimandala Mudaliar, Thondaimandala Kondaikatti Vellalar or Thuluva Vellala Mudaliar.