Total population | |
---|---|
Less than 20% of the total Nair population [4] | |
Regions with significant populations | |
Mostly in Malabar and Cochin, and also in parts of Travancore | |
Languages | |
Malayalam, Sanskrit [5] | |
Religion | |
Hinduism | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Nair, Nambuthiri, Samantan, Samantha Kshatriya |
Kiryathil Nair or Kiriyath Nair also known as Vellayama Nairs is a Kshatriya subdivision of the Nair caste of martial nobility, [6] [7] [8] [9] who performed the functions of Kshatriyas in Kerala, India. They were also involved in business, industry, medicine and accounting, but as they were the Kshatriya sub-division, their main occupation was governing the land. [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] They constituted the ruling elites (Naduvazhi) and feudal aristocrats (Jenmimar) in the regions of Malabar and Cochin. [18] [19]
This subcaste was one of the highest-ranking subcastes of the Nair community along with the Samantan Nairs and Samantha Kshatriya, with whom they share a close history. [20] They have traditionally lived in ancestral homes known as Tharavads and Kovilakams. [21]
In medieval Kerala, most of the kings belonged to extensions of the Samanthan and Kiryathil Nair castes, including the Zamorins of Calicut who were from the Eradi subgroup of the Samantan Nair subcaste. The Koratty Kaimals and Kodassery Karthas under the Perumpadappu swaroopam who were also from the Kiryathil Nair subcaste. [22] [23] Historians have also stated that, "The whole of the Kings of Malabar belong to the same great body, and are homogeneous with the mass of the people called as Nairs." [24]
The Kiryathil Nairs were the original descendants of the Nāgas who, according to the text Keralolpathi and many other old texts, they are Nagavanshi Kshatriyas migrated to Kerala from the North as serpent-worshippers and asserted their supremacy before the arrival of the Namboodiris, and therefore were historically given status and privileges that were not extended to other Nairs. [25] [26] In the words of the British anthropologist Edgar Thurston CIE, "The original Nairs were undoubtedly a military body, holding lands and serving as a militia." [27] The Kiryathils, due to their ruling and martial exploits, claim descendance from the mythical Nagavanshi Kshatriya dynasty. [28] [29] [30]
The term "Kiryathil" is derived from the Malayalam word Kirīṭaṁ (കിരീടം), meaning "crown". Therefore, the literal meaning of Kiryathil Nair is "The Crowned Nair." [31] Together with Illathu Nairs and Swaroopathil Nairs, they form the top tier of the Nair hierarchy in Malabar District. Unlike the other two, however, who were required to serve in the households of Kings in the form of accounts respectively, Kiryathils had no such obligations and were recognized as independent feudal lords. [32] As such, the Swaroopathil Nairs, who were traditionally employed as soldiers in the armies of regional kings, formed the bulk of the military controlled by Kiryathil overlords, who themselves reported directly to the Zamorin, the king of Calicut. [33] Additionally, Kiryathils were also the only Nair division whose members were allowed to wear bracelets on both arms (a symbol of aristocracy). In ancient times, the land was divided into Naadus and Desams, each governed by rulers known as Naaduvazhi and Desavazhi, respectively, often belonging to the Samanthan Nair and Kiriyath Nair lineage in Malabar District. [34] [35] [10]
[36] [37] These Nair families belong to or connected to the aristocratic tharavads, which were ancestral homes associated with prestige, power and wealth in medieval Kerala. [38]
The caste boundary between Kiryathil Nair and Samantha Kshatriya is very minor and therefore many families among the Kiryathils, over the course of time, became recognised as Samanthan and vice versa. As anthropologist Christopher Fuller notes, all Kshatriyas of Kerala are "super-eminent Nairs." [39] The Kiriyathil Nairs
served as regional rulers, lords and military chieftains for various kingdom's of Kerala, including the Zamorin, and owned vast amounts of lands and raised soldiers. [40]
The title of "Kaimal" (from the Malayalam word Kai - "കൈ," meaning "hand" - signifying power and authority) was awarded by the monarchs of Kerala to affluent Samantha Nair and also some Kiriyath Nair families who were exceedingly influential, and the Kaimals were one of the highest caste of Hindu caste in South India. [41]
The title of "Kartha" (from the Malayalam word Karthavu - "കർത്താവ്", meaning "lord" - signifying command and dominance) was awarded to notable Nair families who had relations with the ruling class. [42] While the Karthas were generally considered to be lower than the Kaimals in terms of seniority, both of them jointly formed the two major Aristocratic lineages of the Cochin royal family. [43]
The Kiryathil Nairs, due to their significance in being the direct descendants of the Nagavanshi Kshatriya clan who migrated to southern India, formed the "original" rank from which the two most powerful royal houses of Kerala stemmed from: [44] [45]
a) The Zamorins, who were originally Kiryathil Nairs whose ancestors performed the Hiranyagarbha ceremony to elevate them to the rank of Samantan Nairs. They eventually became the kings of Calicut, beginning around 1124 AD. [46]
Kiryathil Nair ⟶ Hiranyagarbha ritual ⟶ Samantan Nairs ⟶ The Zamorin (Kings of Calicut, circa. 1124 AD)
b) The Cochin Rajas, who were originally Kiryathil Nairs whose ancestors performed the Hiranyagarbha ceremony to elevate them to the rank of Samantha Kshatriyas. They eventually became the kings of Cochin, beginning around 1100 AD. [47]
Kiryathil Nair ⟶ Hiranyagarbha ritual ⟶ Samantha Kshatriyas ⟶ The Cochin Raja (Kings of Cochin, circa. 1100 AD)
Incidentally, the Zamorins of Calicut and the Rajas of Cochin were engaged in a feudal struggle with each other, culminating in a series of military conflicts. [48] Notable battles include the Battle of Cochin (1504), which saw the Kingdom of Calicut suffer a devastating defeat at the hands of their Cochin opponents, who were assisted by the Portuguese Empire. [49]
Among the numerous military conquests carried out by the Samantan and Kiryathil Nairs, the most significant was their victory against Tipu Sultan, the de facto Muslim ruler of Mysore. [50] Tipu Sultan, along with his predecessor Hyder Ali, was aware of the caste pride that Nairs held, as well as their strict adherence to the Hindu faith and military excellence on the battlefield. [51] He therefore deprived them of their caste status, and prohibited them from carrying arms and outlawed them. [52] When this failed to break their martial spirit, starting in 1786 AD, Tipu Sultan began the forceful conversion of Nairs into Sunni Islam, and when they resisted and refused, he tortured, humiliated and killed most of the Nair warriors. [53] [54]
Historical records show that out of the 30,000 Nair warriors who were captured alive by him, only about a hundred or so survived. [55] The Samantans and Kiryathils vowed vengeance, and marshalled the Malayali soldiers. The Samantan Nair warrior-prince Ravi Varma Raja defeated Tipu Sultan in November 1788, [56] while the King of Travancore Dharma Raja Rama Varma sent the Travancore Nair Brigade, under the command of Raja Kesavadas, to defeat Tipu Sultan again during the Battle of Nedumkotta in early 1790. [35] The Nairs were helped by the Maratha Empire and the Sikh Empire, all three of whom united to destroy the armies of the Muslim ruler and finally rescue the surviving Nairs by March 1792. [57]
Historically, despite the absence of the usual 4-tier Varṇa classification in South India, the Kiriyathil Nair along with Samanthan Nair, Illathu Nair and Swaroopathil Nairs were objectively considered as kshatriyas, [58] having functions like ruling, administrative, military and social requirements and duties that are associated with warrior aristocracy, [59] [60] as given in the Manusmriti , the legendary legal text of Hinduism. [61] [62]
While some Kiryathil Nair families were regional rulers who functioned as vassal kings to the Zamorins, most were independent aristocratic feudal lords and controlled groups of soldiers known as Charnavar under their command. These soldiers usually belonged to the Purattu Charna Nair subcaste. [63]
Currently, the Kiryathils constitute less than 4% of the total Nair population. [64]
Until the early 20th century, almost all Nair families, irrespective of their social standings, followed a matrilineal system of inheritance. [65] [66] The children of a Nair couple would inherit the caste of their mother, while the property and lands that were owned by the family would be passed down through their daughters and sisters. [67] This form of matrilineal inheritance was known as Marumakkathayam , and resulted in Nair families holding their women in high honor. [68] However, the Government of Kerala passed "The Joint Family System (Abolition) Act" in 1975, which abolished this practice. [69]
Furthermore, the historic 1926 Travancore Nayar Act (signed by the Queen of Travancore Sethu Lakshmi Bayi) greatly reduced the role of women in caste inheritance, and by late 1928, the matrilineal system of caste among Nairs was completely replaced by the patrilineal system that was followed by the rest of India. [70] For this reason, the vast majority of Nair families have switched to favoring the father's caste for his children, while only a few of them have kept the traditional method of favoring the mother's. [71]
Valluvanad was an independent chiefdom in present-day central Kerala that held power from the early 12th century to the end of the 18th century. Prior to that, and since the late 10th century, Valluvanad existed as an autonomous chiefdom within the kingdom of the Chera Perumals. The disintegration of the Chera Perumal kingdom in early 12th century led to the independence of the various autonomous chiefdoms of the kingdom, Valluvanad being one of them.
The Kingdom of Cochin or the Cochin State, named after its capital in the city of Kochi (Cochin), was a kingdom in the central part of present-day Kerala state. It originated in the early part of the 12th century and continued to rule until its accession to the Dominion of India in 1949.
The Nair also known as Nayar, are a group of Indian Hindu castes, described by anthropologist Kathleen Gough as "not a unitary group but a named category of castes". The Nair include several castes and many subdivisions, not all of whom historically bore the name 'Nair'. These people lived, and many continue to live, in the area which is now the Indian state of Kerala. Their internal caste behaviours and systems are markedly different between the people in the northern and southern sections of the area, although there is not very much reliable information on those inhabiting the north.
Malabar District, also known as British Malabar or simply Malabar was an administrative district on the southwestern Malabar Coast of Bombay Presidency (1792–1800), Madras Presidency (1800–1937), Madras Province (1937–1950) and finally, Madras State (1950–1956) in India. It was the most populous and the third-largest district in the erstwhile Madras State. The historic town of Kozhikode was the administrative headquarters of this district.
The caste system in Kerala differed from that found in the rest of India. While the Indian caste system generally divided the four-fold Varna division of the society into Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras, in Kerala, there existed only two varnas: Brahmins and Shudras, out of these four, while others were classified as Avarna. The Malayali Brahmins formed the priestly class. Brahmins labeled all other castes as "Sat-sudra", "Shudra" and "Avarna" based on their origin and ritual rank. The exception to this were Kings in Kerala like of Travancore and Cochin, who were ritually promoted to the status of Kshatriya by means of the Hiranyagarbha ceremony.
Sambandham was a mode of traditional marriage practiced by Nambudiris, Nairs, Samantha and Ambalavasis among their own communities as well as with each other, in Kerala, India.
Kaimal is an aristocratic title or position granted by various Rajas to powerful Nair families in Kerala.
Kartha or Karthavu, meaning "Lord" in the Malayalam language, is an aristocratic title. It was conferred by the Rajas to powerful families, they are Desavazhi or Naduvazhi status.
Jenmi or Janmi, plural Jenmimar, is the Malayalam term used to refer to the landed aristocracy of Kerala who traditionally held their lands as absolute and allodial owners, with such lands known as Jenmom or Janmam. They formed the landowning nobility as well as the landed gentry of the region in colonial times, and the majority of the estates and feudal properties were owned by this community. They predominantly belonged to the Nambudiri and Nair castes.
Samantan Nair, also known as Samanthan Nair or just Samantan, was a generic term applied to dignify a group of sub-clans among the ruling elites (Naduvazhi) and feudal lords (Jenmimar) of the Nair community in Kerala.
The Nambudiri, also transliterated as Nampoothiri, Nambūdiri, Namboodiri, Namboothiri and Nampūtiri, are a Malayali Brahmin caste, native to what is now the state of Kerala, India, where they constituted part of the traditional feudal elite. Headed by the Azhvanchery Thamprakkal Samrāṭ, the Nambudiris were the highest ranking caste in Kerala. They owned a large portion of the land in the region of Malabar, and together with the Nair monarchs, the Nambudiris formed the landed aristocracy known as the Jenmimar, until the Kerala Land Reforms starting in 1957.
Naduvazhi were feudatory Nair princes who ruled over microstates that are now administrative parts of Kerala, India. They constituted the aristocratic class of Nairs within the Hindu caste system and were either kings themselves or nobility in the service of the kings of Kerala.
The Nair Brigade was the army of the erstwhile kingdom of Travancore in India. Nairs were a warrior community of the region. The personal bodyguard of the king Marthanda Varma (1706–1758) was also called Thiruvithamkoor Nair Pattalam. The Travancore army was officially referred as the Travancore Nair Brigade in 1818.
The Samoothiri was the title of the erstwhile ruler and monarch of the Kingdom of Calicut in the South Malabar region of India. Originating from the former feudal kingdom of Nediyiruppu Swaroopam, the Samoothiris and their vassal kings from Nilambur Kovilakam established Calicut as one of the most important trading ports on the southwest coast of India. At the peak of their reign, they ruled over a region extending from Kozhikode Kollam to the forested borders of Panthalayini Kollam (Koyilandy). The Samoothiris belonged to the Eradi subcaste of the Samantan community of colonial Kerala, and were originally the ruling chiefs of Eranad. The final Zamorin of Calicut committed suicide by setting fire to his palace and burning himself alive inside it, upon learning that Hyder Ali had captured the neighboring country of Chirackal in Kannur.
The Samantha Kshatriyas are a noble community of Kerala, India. They were historically ruling elites (Naduvazhi) and feudal aristocrats (Jenmi) in the Kingdom of Cochin and Kingdom of Travancore. Despite their nomenclature suggesting that they are a part of the Kshatriya class in the Hindu ritual ranking system known as Varna, that system has never existed in South India.
Nayanar is an honorific title used by sub-castes of the Nair community from North Malabar, India. The word Nayanar is believed to have originated from the word "Nayanmar" meaning "Nairs", which is a title of nobility. Nayanar families are mostly seen north of the river Korapuzha. Like other North Malabar Nairs, Nayanars earlier claimed a higher status to Nairs of South Malabar.
The Kavalappara is an princely Indian Nair tharavad or swaroopam, whose estates and powers vested in the matrilineally-mediated succession to and from each Kavalappara Nair, who headed the family and held the rank of Moopil Nair. In medieval Kerala, they served as part of the jenmi, or allodially landed nobility, and were sworn to the service of the rajas of the area, first that of Palghat and then later that of Cochin. Based at Kavalappara Desam in Karakkat, Valluvanada, their holdings extended to areas such as Kailiad and Panayur, ultimately compassing some 155,358 acres of jenmom estates, and ranking preeminent among the jenmimars of Malabar.
There are numerous ceremonies and customs adopted by the Nair caste, which is prominent in the South Indian state of Kerala.
The total population of the Nair community is disputed, since there has been no caste-based census since 1931. However, various sources cite figures ranging from 12% to 15%. There is also the practical difficulty of certain Nair subcastes considered as independent castes. Out of the citizens eligible to vote in Kerala, around 12% or 15% belong to the Nair community. The most reliable population figures comes from two sources. The BCRC estimated Nair population at 14.47% of the total population of Kerala based on a statewide sample survey conducted for the reservation of seats in educational institutions.
The 'Aryanisation' brought about a complete change in their social life. They (the Namboodiri Brahmins) raised them (the Nairs) to the rank of Kshatriyas, for they performed the duties of the feudal soldiers, particularly in the protection of the land and the people.
The Nairs are the gentry and have no other duty than to carry on wars and they constantly carry their arms with them. They all live with the kings and some of them with the relations of the king and lords of the country. They do not have contact with the lower sections of the society. In Travancore, they functioned as feudal aristocracy for a long period. As the feudal aristocracy, the Nairs inflicted a lot of hardships on the lower castes.
Beneath these exalted folk (the Namboodiri Brahmins), more numerous families of Nairs provided warriors and supervisors (administrators) for the land.
The groups that were closely in contact with the Brahmins and the kings (by performing personal and military services for them) 'Aryanized' and evolved gradually into a caste - that of the Nairs. The Nair caste took the place of the Kshatriyas. They were divided into several sub-castes and occupied a range of positions. The high-status Nairs were important chieftains and military commanders.
These Nairs, besides being all of noble descent, have to be armed as knights by the hand of a king or lord with whom they live. The whole of these Nairs formed the soldiers of Kerala, directed by the Namboodiris and governed by the Rajas. According to an inscription of the Chola King Kulōttunga I (A.D. 1083–84), he conquered Kudamalai-Nadu, i.e., the 'Western hill country' (Malabar), whose warriors, the ancestors of the Nairs of the present day, perished to the last man in defending their independence. The Nairs are the warriors, and their arms, which they constantly carry, distinguish them from the other tribes.
Among the highest-ranking and most powerful or wealthy Nairs, we can begin by looking at the Kshatriyas and Samantan Nairs, the two castes to which the kings and chiefs claimed to belong. The Raja of Travancore used to perform an extraordinary ceremony known as Hiranyagarbhan, or "golden womb." The essential feature of this ceremony was the casting of a hollow golden vessel through which the raja passed. On emerging from the vessel, the raja's caste status rose from Samantan Nair to Kshatriya.
This land of Namboodiri Brahmins and Nair Kshatriyas sent out a religious invasion under Sankara which subjugated the whole of India. The history of Kerala goes back to the days of the Mahabharata and the Ramayana. (The author here is referring to the national spread of the Advaita Vedanta religious philosophy under the guidance of Adi Shankara).
The Brahmins had the right to 'Kshatriyanise' the Nairs. For that purpose, the Brahmins created a ceremony called 'Hiranyagarbha.' Gradually, the Brahmins dragged the Nairs into more war-like tendencies and later they themselves grew up as the military class of the land. Thus the Nair militia was formed during the 11th century AD which rendered the services of the military.
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