The population of Kerala, India is a heterogenous group that comprises many ethnic groups that originated in other parts of India as well as the world, with distinctive cultural and religious traditions. While the majority of Keralites speak the Malayalam language, various ethnic groups may speak other languages as well.[1][2]
The racial and ethnic history of Kerala is highly controversial and disputed among the cultural anthropologists, historians and other scholars. The people of Kerala, known as Malayali (people speaking Malayalam language), are polygenetic and belong to different ethnic groups and religions. The Census of India does not recognise racial or ethnic groups within India.[3][4] According to a 2009 study published by David Reich et al., the modern Indian population is composed of two genetically divergent and heterogeneous populations which mixed in ancient times, known as Ancestral North Indians (ANI, Indo-Aryan-speaking population) and Ancestral South Indians (ASI, Dravidian-speaking population).[5]
Negrito element: the earliest racial strain in the population of Kerala as of South India in general. These people still live in forests of Kerala state. Most of these tribes' have curly hair, black skin, round head and broad nose.[6]
e.g.: Hill tribes such as Kadar, Kanikkar, Malapandarams, Mutuvans, Ullatans, Uralis, Paniyas etc.[6]
Proto-Australoids: the Negritos were probably replaced by Proto-Australoids. These people have flat nose and dark skin.[6]
Malayalis are the native people of Kerala who speak Malayalam, the official language of the state. The Malayalam language is a Dravidian language which is spoken by 45 million people. Similar to other major languages, modern Malayalam includes loanwords from Arabic, Portuguese, and in more recent times English.[7] While the majority of Malayalis live in Kerala, significant populations also exist in other parts of India, the Middle East, Europe and North America. According to the Indian census of 2011, there were 32,413,213 speakers of Malayalam in Kerala, making up 97.03% of the total population of the state.[8]
The majority of Christians belong to the Saint Thomas Christian community, and are also known as Syrian Christians or Nasrani Mappila.[10] The Nasranis settlers arrived in Kerala during the first century AD. Thomas the Apostle reached the trade route of Muziris in 52 AD, and preached Christianity. Although there is no evidence of this, descendants of the Cochin Jews who have traditionally followed Halakhic Judaism are known as Juda Mappila.[12]
Historically, there have been frequent migrations between Kerala and the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu. The history of ancient Kerala itself is deeply intertwined with Tamil Nadu's ancient past, and the Tamil and Malayalam languages are closely related. The dialect of Tamil spoken today in the district of Palakkad in Kerala has a large number of Malayalam loanwords, has been influenced by Malayalam syntax and also has a distinct Malayalam accent.[13]
Some of the earliest migrations attested by history were those of Iyers from the Cauvery delta to the district of Palakkad. The first of these migrations are believed to have taken place over five hundred years ago. Although the Iyers migrated to Kerala, they were not allowed to carry out poojas in Malayali temples. The reason for this was political as well as the difference in the Agama and Tantric modes of worship employed by Kerala Iyers and Nambudiris respectively. As a result, the Nambudiris used to require ritual purification if coming into contact with a Kerala Iyer (Eda Shuddham). These Iyers settled in Palakkad where they owned land and led an affluent existence till the enactment of the land reforms in the 1960s. There have also been migrations of Iyers to the princely state of Travancore from the Tirunelveli district during the 18th and 19th centuries. These Iyers are called Kerala Iyers and differ significantly from Palakkad Iyers in their language and social status. Some of Travancore's diwans were Tamil Brahmins as a result of Madras presidency being under the direct control of the British.[14][15]
Shivalli Brahmins living all over the Indian state of Kerala are part of the larger Tulu Brahmin subsect primarily found in the Indian state of Karnataka but also in the Kasaragod district of Northern Kerala. Their mother tongue is the Tulu language. Brahmins from Tulunadu may have migrated to Kerala before the first centuryC.E.[16]
Today, there is a sizeable Tulu Brahmin population in Thiruvananthapuram and elsewhere in the state.[17]
Kannada is one of the major languages of India, spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka. The Kannada people number roughly 50 million, making it the fifteenth-most spoken language in the world.[18] It is one of the official languages of India and the official and administrative language of the state of Karnataka.[19] Kannada people constitute a small portion of the population of the district of Kasargod in North Kerala.
Konkanis
Cochin GSB's are a branch of the Konkani language-speaking Gaud Saraswat Brahmins community belonging originally to Karnataka and Goa. They form the majority of Konkani-speakers in Kerala. GSBs of Cochin form the southernmost subsect of Saraswat Brahmins of West coast. GSBs of north Kerala are same as GSBs of Canara in speech and customs, whereas GSBs of Cochin and Travancore have developed their own Konkani dialect and Customs, which distinguish them from rest of GSB community, this subsect is now called Cochin GSBs. In geographical terms, Cochin GSBs are those who live south of Thrissur district of Kerala.[20] Other Konkani speaking minorities in Kerala include the Kudumbis, Daivajnas, and the Vaishya Vani. All these groups had migrated from Goa within last few centuries for various socioeconomic reasons.
There are about 10,000 speakers of the Mahl language in Kerala. Most Mahl speakers are temporary resident people from neighbouring Maldives. Other Mahl speakers are from Indian island of Minicoy and most of them live in Trivandrum.
Smaller minority groups
Gujaratis
There are about 500 Gujarati families living for many generations in Kochi, the commercial hub of Kerala. Gujarati community is composed of various social groups like Jains, Saurashtrians and Kutchis. The Gujarati Street at Mattancherry in the city is a main Gujarati cultural icon in Kerala.[21]Calicut, Trichur, and Cannore also have a sizeable population of Hindu and Jain Gujaratis.[22]They are basically business people doing all forms of wholesale and retail trade.[citation needed] There is a Gujarati Higher Secondary School near Calicut Beach.[23]
Kochi is home to the Punjabi speaking Sikh community in Kerala as the coastal city has the most number of Sikhs in the south Indian state. Many of the Kerala's Punjabi Sikh community are in the automobile spare parts industry.[citation needed]
Other minorities
Kerala also have a small number of scattered Bengali, Bihari and Oriya communities.
List of mother tongues spoken in Kerala by number of speakers
An Indian Jewish family in Cochin, circa 1900.'Onapottan' – a folk character seen during Onam season specially in North Malabar Region. With the face painted and crown ( Kireedam ) he has a bell in his hand and an umbrella made of Palm Leaves on the other.A.K. Antony former Defence Minister of India is an atheist who was born to a Malayali family in the Alappuzha district of Kerala.
Hindu women worship during Attukal Pongala at Tippu Street, South Fort, Thiruvananthapuram.Malik Dinar Mosque, Thazhathangadi, Kasargode, Kerala.Inside a Knanaya Church in Thazhathangadi, Kottayam
According to the 2001 census[9] the breakdown of ethnic groups by religion is:
In 1968, the Communist government under E. M. S. Namboodiripad ordered a socio-economic survey of each resident in the state of Kerala, to assess caste inequalities. Until the census of 2011, this survey was the only caste-based count conducted in post-independence India.[citation needed] The survey was not very conclusive, since it merged several unrelated castes into one group (for example, Ambalavasis and Tamil Brahmins were grouped along with Malayali Brahmins).[citation needed]
The survey found that individuals belonging to higher castes possessed more land and had relatively higher per capita income as compared to the general population.[citation needed] The survey found that 33% of the states population was forward caste, almost half of whom were Syrian Christians.[citation needed] According to the survey, 13% of the Brahmins, 6.8% of the Syro-Malabar Catholics ,5.4% of the Jacobites and 4.7% of the Nairs owned more than 5 acres of land. This compared with 1.4% of the Ezhavas, 1.9% of the Muslims and 0.1% of the Scheduled Castes who had that much land in their possession.[24]
Population of Kerala, per the 1968 Socio-Economic Survey[citation needed]
The last comprehensive caste census of Kerala was undertaken by the British in 1931 (the Census of 1941 also asked caste, but the tables were never published).[25]
↑ "The Karnataka Official Language Act"(PDF). Official website of Department of Parliamentary Affairs and Legislation. Government of Karnataka. Retrieved 29 June 2007.
↑ Kudva, Venkataraya Narayan (1972). History of the Dakshinatya Saraswats. Samyukta Gowda Saraswata Sabha.
↑ Sivanandan, P (1979). "Caste, Class and Economic Opportunity in Kerala: An Empirical Analysis". Economic and Political Weekly. 14 (7/8): 475–480. JSTOR4367366.
↑ Census 1931 of Travancore (Imper. Table XVII), Census 1931 of Cochin (Imper Table VXII) & Census 1931 of Madras Vol.2, p.306-310
Chandran, VP (2018). Mathrubhumi Yearbook Plus - 2019 (Malayalamed.). Kozhikode: P. V. Chandran, Managing Editor, Mathrubhumi Printing & Publishing Company Limited, Kozhikode.
Malayalam is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was designated a "Classical Language of India" in 2013. Malayalam has official language status in Kerala and Puducherry (Mahé), and is also the primary spoken language of Lakshadweep and is spoken by 34 million people in India. Malayalam is also spoken by linguistic minorities in the neighbouring states; with a significant number of speakers in the Kodagu and Dakshina Kannada districts of Karnataka, and Kanyakumari and Nilgiris district of Tamil Nadu. It is also spoken by the Malayali Diaspora worldwide, especially in the Persian Gulf countries, due to the large populations of Malayali expatriates there. They are a significant population in each city in India including Mumbai, Bengaluru, Delhi, Kolkata, Pune etc. Malayalam is closely related to the Tamil language.
The Kingdom of Travancore, also known as the Kingdom of Thiruvithamkoor, was an Indian kingdom from c. 1729 until 1949. It was ruled by the Travancore Royal Family from Padmanabhapuram, and later Thiruvananthapuram. At its zenith, the kingdom covered most of the south of modern-day Kerala and the southernmost part of modern-day Tamil Nadu with the Thachudaya Kaimal's enclave of Irinjalakuda Koodalmanikyam temple in the neighbouring Kingdom of Cochin. However Tangasseri area of Kollam city and Anchuthengu near Attingal in Thiruvananthapuram were parts of British India.
Iyers are an ethnoreligious community of Tamil-speaking Hindu Brahmins. Most Iyers are followers of the Advaita philosophy propounded by Adi Shankara and adhere to the Smarta tradition. This is in contrast to the Iyengar community, who are adherents of Sri Vaishnavism. The Iyers and the Iyengars are together referred to as Tamil Brahmins. The majority of Iyers reside in Tamil Nadu, India.
Travancore–Cochin, or Thiru–Kochi, was a short-lived state of India (1949–1956). It was originally called United State of Travancore and Cochin following the merger of two former kingdoms, Travancore and Cochin on 1 July 1949. Its original capital was Thiruvananthapuram. It was renamed State of Travancore–Cochin in January 1950. Travancore merged with erstwhile princely state of Cochin to form Travancore–Cochin in 1950. The five Tamil-majority Taluks of Vilavancode, Kalkulam, Thovalai, Agastheeswaram, and Sengottai were transferred from Travancore-Cochin to Madras State in 1956. The Malayalam-speaking regions of the Travancore–Cochin merged with the Malabar District and the Kasaragod Taluk of South Canara district in Madras State to form the modern Malayalam-state of Kerala on 1 November 1956, according to the States Reorganisation Act, 1956 passed by the Government of India.
The Malayali people are a Dravidian ethnolinguistic group originating from the present-day state of Kerala in India, occupying its southwestern Malabar coast. They are predominantly native speakers of the Malayalam language, one of the six classical languages of India. The state of Kerala was created in 1956 through the States Reorganisation Act. Prior to that, since the 1800s existed the Kingdom of Cochin, the Kingdom of Travancore, Malabar District, and South Canara of the British India. The Malabar District was annexed by the British through the Third Mysore War (1790–92) from Tipu Sultan. Before that, the Malabar District was under various kingdoms including the Zamorins of Calicut, Kingdom of Tanur, Arakkal kingdom, Kolathunadu, Valluvanad, and Palakkad Rajas.
Mappila Muslim, in general, is a member of the Muslim community of same name found predominantly in Kerala and Lakshadweep Islands, in southern India. Muslims of Kerala make up 26.56% of the population of the state (2011), and as a religious group they are the second largest group after Hindus (54.73%). Mappilas share the common language of Malayalam with the other religious communities of Kerala.
Azhvanchery Thamprakkal or Azhvanchery Samrāṭ is the title of the senior-most male member of the Nambudiri Brahmin feudal lords of Azhvanchery Mana in Athavanad, Kerala, South India. They had the right over Guruvayur, and were the titular head of all Nambudiri Brahmins of Kerala. The Lord of Azhvanchery based at Athavanad and the Lord of Kalpakanchery based at neighbouring Kalpakanchery were usually present at the coronation of a new Zamorin of Kozhikode. Kalpakanchery Thamprakkals were related to the Nambudiris of Panniyoor while Azhvanchery Thamprakkals to those of Chowwara.
Kerala is a state in south-western India. Most of Kerala's 34.8 million people are ethnically Malayalis. Most of the Malayalam and English speaking Keralites derive their ancestry from Dravidian communities that settled in Kerala. Additional ancestries derive from millennia of trade links across the Arabian Sea, whereby people of Arab, Jewish, Syrian, Portuguese, English and other ethnicities settled in Kerala. Many of these immigrants intermarried with native Malayalam speakers resulting in formation of many Muslim and Christian groups in Kerala. Some Muslims and Christians thus take lineage from Middle Eastern and European settlers who mixed with native population.
Gaud Saraswat Brahmins (GSB) are a Hindu Brahmin community, who are part of the larger Saraswat Brahmin community that migrated to Konkan from Gaud, as per the Skanda Purana in ancient India. They belong to the Pancha Gauda Brahmins group.They primarily speak Konkani and its various dialects as their mother tongue.
Islam arrived in Kerala, the Malayalam-speaking region in the south-western tip of India, through Middle Eastern merchants. The Indian coast has an ancient relation with West Asia and the Middle East, even during the pre-Islamic period.
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 are 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.
Kerala Iyers, Pattars or Bhattars, are Tamil Brahmins of the Indian state of Kerala — people who were residents in the Kerala region, and also people who migrated from present day Tamil Nadu in different waves from the time of the Chera dynasty. They are Hindus. The community consists of two groups - the Palakkad Iyers and Iyers of the Cochin and Travancore regions.
North Malabar refers to the geographic area of southwest India covering the state of Kerala's present day Kasaragod, Kannur, and Wayanad districts, and the taluks of Vatakara and Koyilandy in the Kozhikode District of Kerala and the entire Mahé Sub-Division of the Union Territory of Puducherry. Traditionally North Malabar is defined as the northern portion of erstwhile Malabar District which lies between Chandragiri River and Korapuzha River. The region between Netravathi River and Chandragiri River, which included the portions between Mangalore and Kasaragod, are also often included in the term North Malabar, as the Kumbla dynasty in the southernmost region of Tulu Nadu, had a mixed lineage of Malayali Nairs and Tuluva Brahmins.
Religion in Kerala is diverse. According to 2011 census of India figures, 54.73% of Kerala's population are Hindus, 26.56% are Muslims, 18.38% are Christians, and the remaining 0.33% follow other religions or have no religion. As of 2020, Hindus, Muslims, Christians and others account for 41.5%, 43.9%, 13.9% and 0.7% of the total child births in the state, respectively.
Karnataka is a state in the southern part of India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act. Karnataka is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, Goa to the north-west, Maharashtra to the north, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh to the east, Tamil Nadu to the south-east, and Kerala to the south-west. The state covers an area of 74,122 sq mi (191,976 km2), or 5.83% of the total geographical area of India. It comprises 30 districts. Kannada is the official language of Karnataka and as per the 2011 census is the mother tongue of 66.5% of the population. Various ethnic groups with origins in other parts of India have unique customs and use languages at home other than Kannada, adding to the cultural diversity of the state. Significant linguistic minorities in the state in 2011 included speakers of Urdu (10.8%), Telugu (5.8%), Tamil (3.5%), Marathi (3.4%), Hindi (3.2%), Tulu (2.6%), Konkani (1.3%) and Malayalam (1.3%).
Canarese Konkani are a set of dialects spoken by minority Konkani people of the Canara sub-region of Karnataka, and also in Kassergode of Kerala that was part of South Canara. Kanarese script is the primary mode of writing used in Canarese Konkani, as recognised by the Konkani Academy.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Kerala:
Malaysian Malayalees, also known as Malayalee Malaysians, are people of Malayali descent who were born in or immigrated to Malaysia from the Malayalam speaking regions of Kerala. They are the second largest Indian ethnic group, making up approximately 15% of the Malaysian Indian population. The bulk of Malaysian Malayali migration began during the British Raj, when the British facilitated the migration of Indian workers to work in plantations, but unlike the majority Tamils, the vast majority of the Malayalis were recruited as supervisors in the oil palm estates that followed the kangani system, and some were into trading and small businesses with a significant proportion of them running groceries or restaurants. Over 90% of the Malayalee population in Malaysia are Malaysian citizens.
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