139-824: Moopil Nair , also transliterated Mooppil and Muppil is an elite subgroup of the Nair caste . They were vazhunnors , naduvazhis and desavazhis of small feudal polities on the Malabar , present-day Kerala state , South India , typically owing at least nominal allegiance to a superordinate Raja , despite frequently aggregating lands and political powers of sufficient scale so as to establish them as essentially autonomous monarchs in their own rights. Although Moopils frequently simply styled themselves as 'the' name of swaroopam/tharavadu Nair, virtually all were entitled to higher titular Nair rank, most saliently that of Nambiar, but also Nayanar and Mannadiyar , among others. Among them
278-716: A revolt in 1809 to remove British influence from the Travancore sarkar . After a few months, the rebellion was defeated and Velu Thampi had committed suicide. Afterwards, the Nairs were disbanded and disarmed. Up to this time the Nairs had been historically a military community, who along with the Nambudiri Brahmins owned most of the land in the region; after it, they turned increasingly to administrative service. By this time there were nine small Nair kingdoms and several chiefdoms which were loosely affiliated to them;
417-541: A Dravidian substratum . There are also hundreds of Dravidian loanwords in Indo-Aryan languages, and vice versa. According to David McAlpin and his Elamo-Dravidian hypothesis , the Dravidian languages were brought to India by immigration into India from Elam (not to be confused with Eelam ), located in present-day southwestern Iran . In the 1990s, Renfrew and Cavalli-Sforza have also argued that Proto-Dravidian
556-483: A bath. The period was followed by a feast and by participation in sports events, which also involved Nairs from nearby villages. Subsequently, the family stayed in mourning while one male member undertook a diksha , during which time he had to maintain a pure life. This involved him living with a Brahmin, bathing twice daily and desisting from cutting either his hair or his fingernails, as well as being prevented from speaking with or indeed even seeing women. In some cases,
695-547: A caste system within a caste system. Except for high-ranking priests, the Nayar subdivisions mirror all the main caste categories: high-status aristocrats, military and landed; artisans and servants; and untouchables. But ... this structure is ideal rather than real. M. N. Srinivas observed in 1957 that, " Varna has been the model to which observed facts have been fitted, and this is true not only of educated Indians, but also of sociologists to some extent." Instead of analysing
834-545: A consequence of a decline in trade with the Romans . There is no evidence of Nairs in the area during this period. Inscriptions on copper-plate regarding grants of land and rights to settlements of Jewish and Christian traders, dated approximately between the 7th- and 9th-centuries AD, refer to Nair chiefs and soldiers from the Eranad , Valluvanad , Venad (later known as Travancore ) and Palghat areas. As these inscriptions show
973-454: A consequence of shared work experiences with, for example, a local Nambudiri or Nair chief. These groups then became an endogamous subdivision, in a similar manner to developments of subdivisions in other castes elsewhere. The more subdivisions that were created, the more opportunity there was for social mobility within the Nair community as a whole. Even the highest ranked of the Nairs, being
1112-514: A few traits of structural (either phonological or grammatical) borrowing from Indo-Aryan, whereas Indo-Aryan shows more structural than lexical borrowings from the Dravidian languages. Many of these features are already present in the oldest known Indo-Aryan language , the language of the Rigveda (c. 1500 BCE), which also includes over a dozen words borrowed from Dravidian. The linguistic evidence for Dravidian impact grows stronger as we move from
1251-517: A given distance of other castes on the grounds that they would "pollute" the relatively higher-ranked group. For example, Dalits were prohibited within 64 feet. Likewise, a Nair could approach but not touch a Nambudiri. The Nairs identify themselves as being in many subgroups and there has been debate regarding whether these groups should be considered as subcastes or a mixture both of those and of subdivisions. There have been several attempts to identify these various groups; most of these were prior to
1390-475: A guardian of the clan. The worship of snakes , a Dravidian custom, is so prevalent in the area that one anthropologist notes: "In no part of the world is snake worship more general than in Kerala." Serpent groves were found in the southwestern corner of nearly every Nair compound. The origin of the Nair is disputed. Some people think the name itself is derived from nayaka , an honorific meaning "leader of
1529-510: A king was considered to be divine by nature and possessed religious significance. The king was 'the representative of God on earth' and lived in a "koyil", which means the "residence of a god". The Modern Tamil word for temple is koil ( Tamil : கோயில் ). Ritual worship was also given to kings. Modern words for god like "kō" ( Tamil : கோ "king"), "iṟai" ( இறை "emperor") and "āṇḍavar" ( ஆண்டவன் "conqueror") now primarily refer to gods. These elements were incorporated later into Hinduism like
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#17327918648731668-444: A king. In all cases, the landholdings could not be sold without royal permission. The villages were historically mostly self-sufficient, with craft trades such as pottery and metalwork present in each of them. This meant that there was little need for close central control by the higher levels in the organisational hierarchy, and it also meant that trade between villages was minimal. Such traders as did exist were mostly concentrated in
1807-421: A lungi as their article of clothing. The dhoti is generally white in colour, and occasionally has a border of red, green or gold. Dhotis are usually made out of cotton for more everyday use, but the more expensive silk dhotis are used for special functions like festivals and weddings. Traditional dress of Dravidian women is typical of most Indian women, that of the sari. This sari consists of a cloth wrapped around
1946-404: A martial review would take place. According to Gough, the villages were generally between one and four square miles in area and their lands were usually owned by one landlord family, who claimed a higher ritual rank than its other inhabitants. The landlord was also usually the desavazhi (headman) and in all cases, their families were known as jenmis . These landlords were from the lineages of
2085-467: A negative effect; they also believed that utterances of a person with kari nakku (black-tongue) had a similarly bad effect. They also believed kothi from a poor man watching someone eating a delicious food will cause stomach-aches and dysentery . The Nair traditionally practised certain rituals relating to births, although often only for those of the first-born. Of these, pulicudi was the most significant to them. This involved rubbing coconut oil onto
2224-459: A piece of laced muslin; the remainder of the community used once to wear a material manufactured in Eraniyal but by the time of Panikkar 's writing were generally using cotton cloth imported from Lancashire , England, and wore nothing above the waist. Nair men eschewed turbans or other head coverings, but would carry an umbrella against the sun's rays. They also eschewed footwear, although some of
2363-465: A proto-Dravidian assumption, they proposed readings of many signs, some agreeing with the suggested readings of Heras and Knorozov (such as equating the "fish" sign with the Dravidian word for fish, "min") but disagreeing on several other readings. A comprehensive description of Parpola's work until 1994 is given in his book Deciphering the Indus Script . Paleoclimatologists believe the fall of
2502-528: A proto-Dravidian origin of the ancient Indus Valley civilisation. The discovery in Tamil Nadu of a late Neolithic (early 2nd millennium BCE, i.e. post-dating Harappan decline) stone celt allegedly marked with Indus signs has been considered by some to be significant for the Dravidian identification. Yuri Knorozov surmised that the symbols represent a logosyllabic script and suggested, based on computer analysis, an agglutinative Dravidian language as
2641-524: A similar genetic makeup, but also carry a small portion of Western Steppe Herder ancestry and may also have additional contributions from local hunter-gatherer groups. Although in modern times speakers of various Dravidian languages have mainly occupied the southern portion of India, Dravidian speakers must have been widespread throughout the Indian subcontinent before the Indo-Aryan migration into
2780-813: A small number of people in modern Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu to Catholicism, most notably the Paravars. Ancient Dravidian religion constituted of an animistic and non- Vedic form of religion which may have influenced the Āgamas , Vedic and non- Vedic texts which post-date the Vedic texts. The Agamas are Tamil and Sanskrit scriptures chiefly constituting the methods of temple construction and creation of murti , worship means of deities, philosophical doctrines, meditative practices, attainment of sixfold desires and four kinds of yoga. The worship of village deities , as well as sacred flora and fauna in Hinduism
2919-463: A whole. Census information thereafter appears to have become unreliable on the matter of the subdivisions, in part at least because of the NSS campaign to ensure that respondents did not provide the information requested of them. The NSS also promoted marriage across the various divisions in a further attempt to promote caste cohesion, although in this instance it met with only limited success. Indeed, even in
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#17327918648733058-500: Is Tamil . In Prakrit , words such as "Damela", "Dameda", "Dhamila" and "Damila", which later evolved from "Tamila", could have been used to denote an ethnic identity. In the Sanskrit tradition, the word drāviḍa was also used to denote the geographical region of South India. Epigraphic evidence of an ethnic group termed as such is found in ancient India and Sri Lanka where a number of inscriptions have come to light datable from
3197-464: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Nair The Nair ( / ˈ n aɪər / , Malayalam: [n̪aːjɐr] ) 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
3336-419: Is recognised as a survival of the pre-Vedic Dravidian religion. Hinduism can be regarded as a religious and cultural fusion or synthesis between ancient Dravidians and Indo-Aryans, and other local elements. Ancient Tamil grammatical works Tolkappiyam , the ten anthologies Pattuppāṭṭu , and the eight anthologies Eṭṭuttokai shed light on early ancient Dravidian religion. Murugan (also known as Seyyon)
3475-724: Is that the majority of early Old Indo-Aryan speakers had a Dravidian mother tongue which they gradually abandoned. Erdosy (1995 :18) Even though the innovative traits in Indic could be explained by multiple internal explanations, early Dravidian influence is the only explanation that can account for all of the innovations at once. Early Dravidian influence accounts for several of the innovative traits in Indic better than any internal explanation that has been proposed. According to Zvelebil, "several scholars have demonstrated that pre-Indo-Aryan and pre-Dravidian bilingualism in India provided conditions for
3614-615: Is the lungi , or the more formal dhoti , called veshti in Tamil, panche in Kannada and Telugu, and mundu in Malayalam. The lungi consists of a colourful checked cotton cloth. Many times these lungis are tube-shaped and tied around the waist, and can be easily tied above the knees for more strenuous activities. The lungi is usually everyday dress, used for doing labour while dhoti is used for more formal occasions. Many villagers have only
3753-519: Is the spirit of prematurely dead people; Bhutam , Panikkar says, "is seen generally in marshy districts and does not always hurt people unless they go very near him"; and Pisachu is a spirit of bad air causing illnesses. Believing Pretam to be wandering around the place of death, they warned people to stay away from those areas between 9 am and 3 pm. They also believed in a comic elf called Kuttichattan who would be prone to mischief. They believed in evil eye —that compliments from others had
3892-401: Is to say, they assumed a position above the status that they were perceived as being by others. The hypothesis, proposed by writers such as Fuller and Louis Dumont , that most of the subgroups were not subcastes, arises in large part because of the number of ways in which Nairs classified themselves, which far exceeded the 18 or so groups which had previously been broadly accepted. Dumont took
4031-757: The Indian subcontinent , but may have deeper pre-Neolithic roots from Western Asia , specifically from the Iranian plateau . Their origins are often viewed as being connected with the Indus Valley civilisation , hence people and language spread east and southwards after the demise of the Indus Valley Civilisation in the early second millennium BCE, some propose not long before the arrival of Indo-Aryan speakers, with whom they intensively interacted. Though some scholars have argued that
4170-584: The Kaliththokai . Dance forms such as Bharatanatyam are based on older temple dance forms known as Catir Kacceri , as practised by courtesans and a class of women known as Devadasis . Carnatic music originated in the Dravidian region. With the growing influence of Persian and Sufi music on Indian music, a clear distinction in style appeared from the 12th century onwards. Many literary works were composed in Carnatic style and it soon spread wide in
4309-605: The Madisar , specific to Tamil Brahmin Community, and the Mundum Neriyathum . In Mahabharata , Bhishma claimed that southerners are skilled with sword-fighting in general and Sahadeva was chosen for the conquest of the southern kingdoms due to his swordsmanship. In South India various types of martial arts are practised like Kalaripayattu and Silambam . In ancient times there were ankams , public duels to
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4448-457: The Madras area but outside Malabar. There were 44 listed in Travancore in the census of 1901. These designations were, however, somewhat fluid: the numbers tended to rise and fall, dependent upon which source and which research was employed; it is likely also that the figures were skewed by Nairs claiming a higher status than they actually had, which was a common practice throughout India. Data from
4587-633: The Nayakas . Medieval Tamil guilds and trading organisations like the Ayyavole and Manigramam played an important role in the southeast Asia trade. Traders and religious leaders travelled to southeast Asia and played an important role in the cultural Indianisation of the region. Locally developed scripts such as Grantha and Pallava script induced the development of many native scripts such as Khmer , Javanese Kawi , Baybayin , and Thai . Around this time, Dravidians encountered Muslim traders, and
4726-933: The Telugus from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana , the Tamils from Tamil Nadu , Sri Lanka , Malaysia and Singapore , the Kannadigas from Karnataka , the Malayalis from Kerala , and the Tulu people from Karnataka. The Dravidian language family is one of the oldest in the world. Six languages are currently recognized by India as Classical languages and four of them are Dravidian languages Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam. The most commonly spoken Dravidian languages are Telugu (తెలుగు), Tamil (தமிழ்), Kannada (ಕನ್ನಡ), Malayalam (മലയാളം), Brahui (براہوئی), Tulu (തുളു), Gondi and Coorg . There are three subgroups within
4865-596: The Vaishyas were not present at all. The roles left empty by the absence of these two ritual ranks were taken to some extent by a few Nairs and by non-Hindu immigrants, respectively. The Nambudiri Brahmins were at the top of the ritual caste hierarchy and in that system outranked even the kings. They regarded all Nairs as Shudra . Below the Nambudiris came the Tamil Brahmins and other later immigrants of
5004-466: The Veluttetan , Chakkala and Vilakkittalavan , would take titles such as Nair or Nayar in order to boost their social status, as was also the practice with other castes elsewhere, although they were often not recognised as caste members by the higher ranks and other Nairs would not marry with them. It has also been postulated that some exogamous families came together to form small divisions as
5143-404: The diksha might last for a year rather than the more usual forty-one days, in which case there would be considerable celebration at its end. Pork was noted as a favourite food of the Nair, and even high-status Nairs were noted as eating buffalo meat. The Nair avoided beef, and many did not eat lamb. In the modern day, alcohol is a component of Nair-dominated festivals in Kerala. Prior to
5282-429: The rajah when required. All fighting was usually suspended during the monsoon period of May to September, when movement around the country was almost impossible. Roads did not exist, nor wheeled vehicles or pack animals, until after 1766. The desavazhi had the right to operate kalaris , which were military training schools that all young Nair men from the age of 12 were expected to attend. They ceased attending at
5421-655: The "Nareae, who are shut in by the Capitalis range, the highest of all the mountains in India". Fuller believes it probable that the Nareae referred to the Nairs and the Capitalis range is the Western Ghats . There are large gaps in the known early history of the Kerala region, which in the 1st-century AD is thought to have been governed by the Chera dynasty and which by the late 3rd-century AD had broken up, possibly as
5560-505: The 1970s, it was likely that cross-subdivision marriage was rare generally, and this was certainly the case in the Central Travancore area. Dravidian peoples The Dravidian peoples , Dravidian-speakers or Dravidians , are a collection of ethnolinguistic groups native to South Asia who speak Dravidian languages . There are around 250 million native speakers of Dravidian languages. Dravidian speakers form
5699-492: The 2nd century BCE mentioning Damela or Dameda persons. The Hathigumpha inscription of the Kalinga ruler Kharavela refers to a T(ra)mira samghata (Confederacy of Tamil rulers) dated to 150 BCE. It also mentions that the league of Tamil kingdoms had been in existence for 113 years by that time. In Amaravati in present-day Andhra Pradesh there is an inscription referring to a Dhamila-vaniya (Tamil trader) datable to
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5838-475: The 3rd century BCE. Ancient literary works, such as the Cilappatikaram , describe a system of music . The theatrical culture flourished during the early Sangam age. Theatre-dance traditions have a long and varied history whose origins can be traced back almost two millennia to dance-theatre forms like Kotukotti , Kaapaalam and Pandarangam , which are mentioned in an ancient anthology of poems entitled
5977-691: The 3rd century CE. Another inscription of about the same time in Nagarjunakonda seems to refer to a Damila . A third inscription in Kanheri Caves refers to a Dhamila-gharini (Tamil house-holder). In the Buddhist Jataka story known as Akiti Jataka there is a mention to Damila-rattha (Tamil dynasty). While the English word Dravidian was first employed by Robert Caldwell in his book of comparative Dravidian grammar based on
6116-403: The 5th to 7th century AD, are guidebooks on the Dravidian style of Vastu Shastra design, construction, sculpture and joinery technique. Isanasivagurudeva paddhati is another text from the 9th century describing the art of building in India in south and central India. In north India, Brihat-samhita by Varāhamihira is the widely cited ancient Sanskrit manual from the 6th century describing
6255-526: The Ambalavasi group. She also believes that some Nairs adopted the title of Samantan in order to emphasise their superiority over others in their caste. The unwillingness of the higher varnas to engage in what they considered to be the polluting activities of industrial and commercial activity has been cited as a reason for the region's relatively limited economic development. Keralite traditions included that certain communities were not allowed within
6394-694: The Brahmin varna . Beyond this, the precise ranking is subject to some difference in opinion. Kodoth has placed the Samantan caste below the Kshatriya rank but above the Nairs, but Gough considers that the Pushpakans and Chakyars , both of which were the highest ranked in the group of temple servants known as Ambalavasis , were ranked between the Brahmins and the Nairs, as were several other members of
6533-488: The British amalgamated seven of those kingdoms (Calicut, Kadattunad, Kolattunad, Kottayam, Kurumbranad, Palghat and Walluvanad) to form Malabar District , while Cochin and Travancore were left as native states under the control of their own rulers but with advice from the British. Velu Thampi's rebellion had made the British wary of Nair leaders, and the Travancore sarkar was mainly under control of British residents although
6672-433: The Dravidian language family: North Dravidian, Central Dravidian, and South Dravidian, matching for the most part the corresponding regions in the Indian subcontinent. Dravidian grammatical impact on the structure and syntax of Indo-Aryan languages is considered far greater than the Indo-Aryan grammatical impact on Dravidian. Some linguists explain this anomaly by arguing that Middle Indo-Aryan and New Indo-Aryan were built on
6811-533: The Dravidian languages may have been brought to India by migrations from the Iranian plateau in the fourth or third millennium BCE or even earlier, reconstructed proto-Dravidian vocabulary suggests that the family is indigenous to India. Genetically, the ancient Indus Valley people were composed of a primarily Iranian hunter-gatherers (or farmers) ancestry, with varying degrees of ancestry from local hunter-gatherer groups. The modern-day Dravidian-speakers display
6950-911: The Dravidian regions. The most notable Carnatic musician is Purandara Dasa who lived in the court of Krishnadevaraya of the Vijayanagara empire. He formulated the basic structure of Carnatic music and is regarded as the Pitamaha ( lit , "father" or the "grandfather") of Carnatic Music. Kanakadasa is another notable Carnatic musician who was Purandaradasa's contemporary. Each of the major Dravidian languages has its own film industry like Kollywood (Tamil), Tollywood (Telugu), Sandalwood (Kannada), Mollywood (Malayalam). Kollywood and Tollywood produce most films in India. Dravidian speakers in southern India wear varied traditional costumes depending on their region, largely influenced by local customs and traditions. The most traditional dress for Dravidian men
7089-652: The Dutch in 1683. The British and French were also active in the region now known as Kerala, the former from 1615 and the latter from 1725. These various European powers combined with one or another of the Nair rulers, fighting for control. One notable alliance was that of the Portuguese with the Kingdom of Cochin , with whom they sided in order to work against the power of the Zamorins of Calicut. Although Calicut remained
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#17327918648737228-575: The IVC-scripts. The Brahui population of Balochistan in Pakistan has been taken by some as the linguistic equivalent of a relict population, perhaps indicating that Dravidian languages were formerly much more widespread and were supplanted by the incoming Indo-Aryan languages. Asko Parpola, who regards the Harappans to have been Dravidian, notes that Mehrgarh (7000–2500 BCE), to
7367-491: The Indian subcontinent. The process of post-Harappan/Dravidian influences on southern India has tentatively been called "Dravidianization", and is reflected in the post-Harappan mixture of IVC and Ancient Ancestral South Indian people. Yet, according to Krishnamurti, Dravidian languages may have reached south India before Indo-Aryan migrations. The Dravidian language influenced the Indo-Aryan languages. Dravidian languages show extensive lexical (vocabulary) borrowing, but only
7506-613: The Indo-Aryans moved into an already Dravidian-speaking area after the oldest parts of the Rig Veda were already composed. According to Thomason and Kaufman, there is strong evidence that Dravidian influenced Indic through "shift", that is, native Dravidian speakers learning and adopting Indic languages. According to Erdosy, the most plausible explanation for the presence of Dravidian structural features in Old Indo-Aryan
7645-399: The Indus Valley Civilisation and eastward migration during the late Harappan period was due to climate change in the region, with a 200-year long drought being the major factor. The Indus Valley Civilisation seemed to slowly lose their urban cohesion, and their cities were gradually abandoned during the late Harappan period, followed by eastward migrations before the Indo-Aryan migration into
7784-580: The Indus civilisation, suggesting a "tentative date of Proto-Dravidian around the early part of the third millennium." Krishnamurti further states that South Dravidian I (including pre-Tamil) and South Dravidian II (including pre-Telugu) split around the eleventh century BCE, with the other major branches splitting off at around the same time. The origins of the Dravidians are a "very complex subject of research and debate". They are regarded as indigenous to
7923-418: The Indus civilization, suggesting a "tentative date of Proto-Dravidian around the early part of the third millennium BCE", after which it branched into various Dravidian languages. South Dravidian I (including pre- Tamil ) and South Dravidian II (including pre- Telugu ) split around the eleventh century BCE, with the other major branches splitting off at around the same time. The third century BCE onwards saw
8062-414: The NSS. As late as 1975, the NSS still had most of its support in the Central Travancore region, although it also has numerous satellite groups around the world. From its early years, when it was contending that the Nairs needed to join together if they were to become a political force, it argued that the caste members should cease referring to their traditional subdivisions and instead see themselves as
8201-494: The Nair men was the mundu , a cloth wrapped around the waist and then left to hang down nearly to the ground, rather than tucked in as in other parts of India. The low-hanging fabric was considered as specific to the Nair caste, and at the start of the 20th century it was noted that in more conservative rural areas a non-Nair could be beaten for daring to wear a cloth hanging low to the ground. Wealthy Nairs might use silk for this purpose, and they also would cover their upper body with
8340-505: The Nair military past. Kathakali is a dance-drama which portrays scenes from Sanskrit epics or stories. The dance drama was historically performed exclusively by Nairs and had always traditionally been associated with them; Nair rulers and chiefs had patronized the art, the first Ramanattam plays were written by a Nair from a ruling family, and Kathakali had foundations in Nair military training and religious customs. The first Kathakali actors were most likely Nair soldiers who performed
8479-565: The Nairs as witnesses to the agreements between those traders and the successors to the Cheras, the Perumals , it is probable that by this time the Nairs were vassal chieftains. Certainly by the 13th-century, some Nairs were the rulers of small kingdoms and the Perumals had disappeared. Trade with China, which had declined for some time, began to increase once more in the 13th-century and it
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#17327918648738618-563: The Nairs contributed increasingly to literature and drama. Nairs from the lowest subsections of the community had also partaken in these artistic traditions. By the 19th century, novels written by Nairs had dealt with themes of social change. These themes would primarily relate to the rise of the nuclear family in replacement of the old matrilineal system. Novels such as, for example, Indulekha by O.C Menon had themes which dealt with societal constraints on romantic love, while C.V Raman Pillai's Marthanda Varma had dealt with themes relating to
8757-402: The Nairs had facilitated Padmanabhan to create the NSS. The organization aimed to respond to these issues by creating educational institutions, welfare programs, and to replace cumbersome customs such as the matrilineal system. Subsequent to Indian independence from British rule, the regions of Travancore, Malabar District and Cochin became the present-day state of Kerala. It is with regard to
8896-400: The Nairs is Bhagavati , who is the patron goddess of war and fertility. Central to all aspects of Nair life and revered as a kind and ferocious virgin mother, Bhagavati identifies with both Sanskritic and regional based aspects of worship. The goddess was worshipped in the temples of the royal Nair matrilineages and also the village Nair matrilineages. The idol would either be placed in
9035-411: The Nairs living in the former areas of Cochin and South Malabar, which are sometimes jointly referred to as Central Kerala, that there is the most information; that available for North Malabar is the most scant. Two former Travancore State Army divisions, the 1st Travancore Nayar Infantry and the 2nd Travancore Nayar Infantry were converted into 9th and 16th Battalions of Madras Regiment respectively after
9174-483: The Nairs was something that was covered by nearly all visitors, and their characteristic of always being armed is well described. The Portuguese arrived in the area from 1498, by which time the Zamorin (King) of Calicut had come to the fore. Arab traders had firmly established themselves at his port and although trade still went to the ports of the other two small kingdoms, it was in relatively small amounts. Indeed,
9313-624: The Nairs. These descriptions were initially idealized by Europeans for its martial society, productivity, spirituality, and for its marriage practices. Some early examples of these works being John Mandeville ’s ‘’Travels’’ (1356), William Caxton ’s ‘The mirrour of the wourld’ (1481), and Jean Boudin ’s ‘Les sex livres de la republique’ (1576). The Nair men are described as being polite and well-mannered in old sources, and nearly all historical descriptions describe them as arrogant. Sources on Nair women are scant and were written by men, and these primarily comment on their beauty. The martial society of
9452-640: The Samhitas down through the later Vedic works and into the classical post-Vedic literature. This represents an early religious and cultural fusion or synthesis between ancient Dravidians and Indo-Aryans. According to Mallory there are an estimated thirty to forty Dravidian loanwords in Rig Veda . Some of those for which Dravidian etymologies are certain include ಕುಲಾಯ kulāya "nest", ಕುಲ್ಫ kulpha "ankle", ದಂಡ daṇḍa "stick", ಕುಲ kūla "slope", ಬಿಲ bila "hollow", ಖಲ khala "threshing floor". While J. Bloch and M. Witzel believe that
9591-699: The Travancore Nair Infantry (also known as the Nair Pattalam ) distinguished themselves in battle against the Dutch at the Battle of Colachel (1741). The Nair army was re-organized in the European style and had transformed from a feudal-based force into a standing army. Though this army was still made up of Nairs, this had checked the power of local chiefs and was the first limit on Nair dominance. There had been Hindu–Muslim clashes during
9730-492: The age of 18 but were expected to be available for military duty at a day's notice. The function of these schools became less significant practically, following the introduction of the Arms Act by the British, which limited the right of Nairs to carry arms; however, they continued to exist and provided some training to those Nair men who did not attend English schools. This training became evident at village festivals, during which
9869-527: 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. Historically, Nairs lived in large family units called tharavads that housed descendants of one common female ancestor. These family units along with their unusual marriage customs, which are no longer practiced, have been much studied. Although
10008-422: The broad system of classification took place from the late 1950s. Fuller, writing in 1975, claims that the approach to classification by use of titular names was a misconception. People could and did award themselves the titles; and on those occasions when a title was in fact bestowed, it nonetheless did not signify their subgroup. He argues that the broad outline of the subdivisions ... embodies, so to speak,
10147-659: The chalcolithic population did not descend from the neolithic population of Mehrgarh, which "suggests moderate levels of gene flow". They further noted that "the direct lineal descendants of the Neolithic inhabitants of Mehrgarh are to be found to the south and the east of Mehrgarh, in northwestern India and the western edge of the Deccan plateau", with neolithic Mehrgarh showing greater affinity with chalocolithic Inamgaon , south of Mehrgarh, than with chalcolithic Mehrgarh. The Indus Valley civilisation (2,600–1,900 BCE) located in
10286-458: The child in the first few months of its life. Although birth was considered to be ritually polluting, a death in the family was thought to be much more so. In the case of the death of the oldest member of the family, whether male or female, the body would be cremated on a pyre; for all other family members, burial was the norm. In either case, the ceremonies were conducted by the Maran subgroup of
10425-486: The community and they utilised both elements of superstition and of Hinduism. The occasions involving cremation were more ritualised than those involving burial. An elaborate fourteen-day period of mourning followed the cremation, during which the family performed various symbolic acts around the pyre and were regarded to be highly polluted in ritual terms, thus necessitating not only that they took regular baths, but also that any other Nair who might touch them must also take
10564-407: The community from superstition, taboo and otiose custom, to establish a network of educational and welfare institutions, and to defend and advance Nair interests in the political arena." Devika and Varghese believe the year of formation to be 1913 and argue that the perceived denial of 'the natural right' of upper castes to hold elected chairs in Travancore, a Hindu state, had pressured the founding of
10703-437: The dance-drama part-time, influenced by the techniques of Kalaripayattu . As Kathakali developed as an art form, the need for specialization and detail grew. Those who had become masters of the art would pass their traditions on to their families. These families were the source of the next generations of Kathakali students, and it was often the nephew of the master that would be chosen as the disciple. The historical attire of
10842-507: The data, and that "the linguistic jury is still very much out." As a proto-language , the Proto-Dravidian language is not itself attested in the historical record. Its modern conception is based solely on reconstruction. It is suggested that the language was spoken in the 4th millennium BCE, and started disintegrating into various branches around 3rd millennium BCE. According to Krishnamurti, Proto-Dravidian may have been spoken in
10981-584: The design and construction of Nagara -style Hindu temples. Traditional Dravidian architecture and symbolism are also based on Agamas. The Agamas are non- Vedic in origin and have been dated either as post-Vedic texts or as pre-Vedic compositions. The Agamas are a collection of Tamil and Sanskrit scriptures chiefly constituting the methods of temple construction and creation of murti , worship means of deities, philosophical doctrines, meditative practices, attainment of sixfold desires and four kinds of yoga. Chola-style temples consist almost invariably of
11120-433: The detail varied from one region to the next, the main points of interest to researchers of Nair marriage customs were the existence of two particular rituals—the pre-pubertal thalikettu kalyanam and the later sambandam —and the practice of polygamy in some areas. Some Nair women also practiced hypergamy with Nambudiri Brahmins from the Malabar region . The Nair were historically involved in military conflicts in
11259-574: The development of many great empires in South India like Pandya , Chola , Chera , Pallava , Satavahana , Chalukya , Kakatiya and Rashtrakuta . Medieval South Indian guilds and trading organisations like the "Ayyavole of Karnataka and Manigramam" played an important role in the Southeast Asia trade, and the cultural Indianisation of the region. Dravidian visual art is dominated by stylised temple architecture in major centres, and
11398-637: The end of British governance in India but Kathleen Gough also studied the issue in 1961. These analyses bear similarities to the Jatinirnayam , a Malayalam work that enumerated 18 main subgroups according to occupation, including drummers, traders, coppersmiths, palanquin bearers, servants, potters and barbers, as well as ranks such as the Kiriyam and Illam . Although the Jatinirnayam did not itself distinguish any particular subgroups as ranking higher, subsequent attempts at classification did do so, claiming
11537-404: The entire Kerala region. The British imposed the next limitation on Nair dominance. After signing the treaty of subsidiary alliance with Travancore in 1795, British residents were sent to the Travancore administration; the interference from the British had caused two rebellions in 1804 and 1809, the latter of which was to have lasting repercussions. Velu Thampi , the Nair dewan of Travancore, led
11676-400: The essence for the set sari, which is considered to be Kerala's specific regional wear. Sonja Thomas describes how this is an example of how “primacy was given to upper caste cultural norms”. The Nair women would also wear onera ( onnara ), a loincloth worn as an undergarment by more conservative women. The undergarment was noted as beautifying and slimming the waist. The primary deity of
11815-567: The extreme view that the Nairs as a whole could not be defined as a caste in the traditional sense, but Fuller believed this to be unreasonable as, "since the Nayars live in a caste society, they must evidently fit into the caste system at some level or another." The 1891 Census of India listed a total of 128 Nair subgroups in the Malabar region and 55 in the Cochin region, as well as a further 10 in
11954-869: The far-reaching influence of Dravidian on the Indo-Aryan tongues in the spheres of phonology, syntax and vocabulary." With the rise of the Kuru Kingdom a process of Sanskritization started which influenced all of India, with the populations of the north of the Indian subcontinent predominantly speaking the Indo-Aryan languages. The third century BCE onwards saw the development of large Dravidian empires like Chola , Pandya , Rashtrakuta , Vijayanagara , Chalukyas Western Chalukya , and kingdoms like Chera , Chutu , Ay , Alupa , Pallava , Hoysala , Western Ganga , Eastern Ganga , Kadamba , Kalabhra , Andhra Ikshvaku , Vishnukundina , Eastern Chalukya , Sena , Kakatiya , Reddy , Mysore , Jaffna , Mysore , Travancore , Venad , Cochin , Cannanore , Calicut and
12093-418: The first Tamil Muslims and Sri Lankan Moors appeared. Portuguese explorers like Vasco de Gama were motivated to expand mainly for the spice markets of Calicut (today called Kozhikode) in modern-day Kerala. This led to the establishment of a series of Portuguese colonies along the western coasts of Karnataka and Kerala, including Mangalore. During this time Portuguese Jesuit priests also arrived and converted
12232-421: The independence. The Nayar Army from Cochin was incorporated into the 17th Battalion. Historically most Nairs were literate in Malayalam, and many in Sanskrit. The explanation for this literacy was attributed to the general needs of administration, as many Nairs served as scribes and bailiffs for the royal courts. Many Nairs had become prominent philosophers and poets, and from the 16th century and onwards,
12371-421: The kingdom based at Kolathunad had split into three even smaller kingdoms; and the ruler of Venad had conceded considerable powers to local chiefs within his kingdom. By the time of European arrival, the title Nair was used to refer to all military castes. The Portuguese used the term Nair for all soldiers, and prior to 1498 the military or retainer Nairs are believed to have been called 'Lokar'. Gough states that
12510-517: The kings and chiefs, were no more than "supereminent" subdivisions of the caste, rather than the Kshatriyas and Samantans that they claimed to be. Their claims illustrated that the desires and aspirations of self-promotion applied even at the very top of the community and this extended as far as each family refusing to admit that they had any peers in rank, although they would acknowledge those above and below them. The membership of these two subgroups
12649-476: The late 19th-century and early 20th-century censuses indicates that ten of these numerous subdivisions accounted for around 90% of all Nairs, that the five highest ranking of these accounted for the majority, and that some of the subdivisions claimed as little as one member. The writer of the official report of the 1891 census, H A Stuart, acknowledged that some of the recorded subdivisions were in fact merely families and not sub-castes, and Fuller has speculated that
12788-475: The legendary marriage of Shiva to Queen Mīnātchi who ruled Madurai or Wanji-ko , a god who later merged into Indra . Tolkappiyar refers to the Three Crowned Kings as the "Three Glorified by Heaven", ( Tamil : வாண்புகழ் மூவர் , Vāṉpukaḻ Mūvar ). In Dravidian-speaking South India, the concept of divine kingship led to the assumption of major roles by state and temple. The cult of
12927-716: The majority of the population of South India and are natively found in India , Pakistan , Afghanistan , Bangladesh , the Maldives , Nepal , Bhutan and Sri Lanka . Dravidian peoples are also present in Singapore , Mauritius , Malaysia , France , South Africa , Myanmar , East Africa , the Caribbean , and the United Arab Emirates through recent migration . Proto-Dravidian may have been spoken in
13066-496: The medieval period, notably when Muslim armies from Mysore invaded and gained control of northern Kerala in 1766. The Nairs of Kottayam and Kadathanad led the resistance, and the Nairs managed to defeat all Mysorean garrisons except for those in Palakkad. Shortly afterwards, Haider Ali died and his son Tipu had become Sultan. The Nairs of Calicut and South Malabar had recaptured Calicut and defeated an army sent by Tipu to break
13205-429: The most likely candidate for the underlying language. Knorozov's suggestion was preceded by the work of Henry Heras, who suggested several readings of signs based on a proto-Dravidian assumption. Linguist Asko Parpola writes that the Indus script and Harappan language are "most likely to have belonged to the Dravidian family". Parpola led a Finnish team in investigating the inscriptions using computer analysis. Based on
13344-466: The most significant of the kingdoms until the 1730s, its power was eroded and the rulers of Cochin were freed from being vassals of the Zamorins. In 1729, Marthanda Varma became the Raja of Venad and inherited a state facing war and refractory Nair chiefs. Varma curtailed the power of the Nair chiefs and introduced Tamil Brahmins to form a core component of his administration. Under Marthanda Varma's reign,
13483-480: The mother goddess is treated as an indication of a society which venerated femininity. This mother goddess was conceived as a virgin, one who has given birth to all and one, and were typically associated with Shaktism . The temples of the Sangam days, mainly of Madurai, seem to have had priestesses to the deity, which also appears predominantly as a goddess. In the Sangam literature, there is an elaborate description of
13622-451: The northwest of the Indian subcontinent is sometimes identified as having been Dravidian. Already in 1924, when announcing the discovery of the IVC, John Marshall stated that (one of) the language(s) may have been Dravidic. Cultural and linguistic similarities have been cited by researchers Henry Heras , Kamil Zvelebil , Asko Parpola and Iravatham Mahadevan as being strong evidence for
13761-480: The pallu except in areas of North Karnataka. Due to the complexity of draping the sari, younger girls start with a skirt called a pavada . When they get older, around the age when puberty begins, they transition to a langa voni or half-sari, which is composed of a skirt tied at the waist along with a cloth draped over a blouse. After adulthood girls begin using the sari. There are many different styles of sari draping varying across regions and communities. Examples are
13900-502: The people", while others believe it stems from the community's association with the Naga cult of serpent worship. Christopher Fuller , an anthropologist, has said that it is likely that the first reference to the Nair community was made by Pliny the Elder in his Natural History , dating from 77 AD. That work describes what is probably the Malabar coast area wherein could be found
14039-409: The point that a third Nair kingdom, based on the port of Calicut , became established. There were also small kingdoms at Walluvanad and Palghat, away from the coastline. This period was characterized by continuous war between these various kingdoms, and most able bodied Nair men were assigned to fight in these wars. The large influx of travelers and traders to Kerala had left many early accounts of
14178-464: The port towns and consisted of immigrant Syrians, Muslims, Christians and Jews, with Hindu traders later arriving from other parts of India, as well as the Europeans. The Nairs were the sole members of the village organisations, which existed for such purposes as managing the affairs of the temples and, at one time, organising military training and deployment. A Nair family was considered to be part of
14317-425: The pregnant woman, followed by bathing, formal dressing, consultation with an astrologer regarding the expected date of birth and a ceremonial drinking of tamarind juice, dripped along the blade of a sword. The woman would also select a grain, from which it was believed possible to determine the gender of the child. This ritual was performed in front of the community and contained many symbolic references; for example,
14456-479: The production of images on stone and bronze sculptures. The sculpture dating from the Chola period has become notable as a symbol of Hinduism . The Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple located in Indian state of Tamil Nadu is often considered as the largest functioning Hindu temple in the world. The temple is built in Dravidian style and occupies an area of 156 acres (631,000 m ). The origin of the Sanskrit word drāviḍa
14595-732: The region. Following hostilities between the Nair and the British in 1809, the British limited Nair participation in the British Indian Army . After India's independence , the Nair Brigade of the Travancore State Force was merged into the Indian Army and became a part of the 9th Battalion, Madras Regiment , the oldest battalion in the Indian Army. The serpent is worshipped by Nair families as
14734-416: The reorganisation of the region by the British, Kerala was divided into around ten feudal states. Each of these was governed by a rajah (king) and was subdivided into organisational units known as nadus . In turn, the nadus were divided into dēsams . The person who governed the nadu was known as the naduvazhi . It was an inherited role, originally bestowed by a king, and of a lower ritual rank than
14873-600: The rest of the administration had been handled for the most part by non-Malayali Brahmins and Nairs. The Travancore army became the Travancore Nair Brigade in 1818–1819. The Nair unit, 1st Battalion of HH Rani's Troops, was likewise incorporated into this brigade, but the Brigade served only in a police capacity until the withdrawal of the East India Company troops in 1836. In 1901, the unit
15012-522: The rites performed by the Kurava priestess in the shrine Palamutircholai. Among the early Dravidians, the practice of erecting memorial stones, Natukal and Viragal , had appeared, and it continued for quite a long time after the Sangam age, down to about the 16th century. It was customary for people who sought victory in war to worship these hero stones to bless them with victory . Mayamata and Manasara shilpa texts estimated to be in circulation by
15151-419: The rituals of thalikettu kalyanam and sambandham , which constituted their traditional version of a marriage ceremony, in order to advance themselves by association with higher-ranked participants and also to disassociate themselves from their existing rank and those below. The Nair Service Society (NSS) was founded in 1914. Nossiter has described its purpose at foundation as being "... to liberate
15290-399: The royal families or feudatory chiefs; or were patrilineal Nambudiri families or the estates of temples operated by groups of those families. They were also from the lineages of the matrilineal vassal Samantan chiefs and, finally, the lowest jenmis in terms of ritual ranking were Nairs who had inherited from matrilineal ancestors to whom land and the concomitant headmanship had been granted by
15429-511: The royal lineages. Although Nair families, they generally used the title of Samantan and were treated as vassals. However, some naduvazhi were feudatory chiefs, former kings whose territory had been taken over by, for example, the Zamorins of Calicut. In these instances, although they were obeisant to the rajah, they held a higher ritual rank than the Zamorin as a consequence of their longer history of government; they also had more power than
15568-912: The season and the land. Tolkappiyam mentions that each of these thinai had an associated deity such as Seyyon in Kurinji (hills), Thirumaal in Mullai (forests), and Kotravai in Marutham (plains), and Wanji-ko in the Neithal (coasts and seas). Other gods mentioned were Mayyon and Vaali , now identified with Krishna and Balarama, who are all major deities in Hinduism today. This represents an early religious and cultural fusion or synthesis between ancient Dravidians and Indo-Aryans, which became more evident over time with sacred iconography, traditions, philosophy, flora and fauna that went on to influence and shape Indian civilisation. Throughout Tamilakam ,
15707-706: The siege. This had caused the Sultan himself to intervene in 1789 during which many Hindus, especially Nairs, were kept captive or killed by Muslims under Tipu Sultan . Many Nairs had fled to the protection of Travancore, while others engaged in guerilla warfare. However the Nairs of Travancore were able to defeat the Muslim forces in 1792 at the Third Anglo-Mysore War . After this, the East India Company established its pre-eminence throughout
15846-468: The single-member subdivisions were "Nayars satisfying their vanity, I suppose, through the medium of the census." The revisionist argument, whose supporters also include Joan Mencher , proposes a mixed system. The larger divisions were indeed subcastes, as they demonstrated a stability of status, longevity and geographic spread; however, the smaller divisions were fluid, often relatively short-lived and narrow in geographic placement. These divisions, such as
15985-517: The structure of the subgroups independently, commentators had explained them inappropriately by using an existing but alien social structure. From this unsuitable methodology had come the notion that the groups were subcastes rather than subdivisions. He also argued, in 1966, that "Some Nayars "ripened" into Samantans and Kshatriyas. The royal lineages of Calicut, Walluvanad, Palghat and Cochin, for instance, although of Nayar origin, considered themselves superior in ritual rank to their Nayar subjects." That
16124-508: The subcontinent. According to Horen Tudu, "many academic researchers have attempted to connect the Dravidians with the remnants of the great Indus Valley civilisation , located in Northwestern India... but [i]t is mere speculation that the Dravidians are the ensuing post–Indus Valley settlement of refugees into South and Central India." The most noteworthy scholar making such claims is Asko Parpola , who did extensive research on
16263-554: The three following parts, arranged in differing manners, but differing in themselves only according to the age in which they were executed: Besides these, a south Indian temple usually has a tank called the Kalyani or Pushkarni – to be used for sacred purposes or the convenience of the priests – dwellings for all the grades of the priesthood are attached to it, and other buildings for state or convenience. Literary evidence of traditional form of theatre, dance and music dates back to
16402-599: The title Nair existed prior to that time referring to only those families that were involved in the military. The Portuguese had many involvements in South India, including their support of the Paravars in a trade battle over control of the pearl fisheries of Malabar , but in the Nair kingdoms, their principal interest was to obtain control of the trade in pepper . In this they followed the Muslim Arabs, whom they eventually marginalised; and they were in turn followed by
16541-449: The usage of the Sanskrit word drāviḍa in the work Tantravārttika by Kumārila Bhaṭṭa , the word drāviḍa in Sanskrit has been historically used to denote geographical regions of southern India as whole. Some theories concern the direction of derivation between tamiḻ and drāviḍa ; such linguists as Zvelebil assert that the direction is from tamiḻ to drāviḍa . The largest Dravidian ethnic groups are
16680-418: The use of the sword was believed to make the child a warrior. In the months subsequent to the birth there followed other rituals, including those of purification and the adornment of the child with a symbolic belt to ward off illness, as well as a name-giving ceremony at which an astrologer again played a significant role. There were also various dietary restrictions, both for the woman during pregnancy and for
16819-460: The various occupations to be traditional ones and stating that only the higher ranked groups were soldiers. Anthropologists, ethnologists and other authors believe that the last name of a Nair was a title which denoted the subgroup ( vibhagam ) to which that person belonged and indicated the occupation the person pursued or was bestowed on them by a chief or king. These names included Nair itself, Kurup , Menon , and Pillai . A re-evaluation of
16958-412: The vassal chiefs. The naduvazhi families each saw themselves as a distinct caste in the same manner as did the rajahs; they did not recognise other naduvazhi families as being equal to them. The naduvazhi maintained criminal and civil order and could demand military service from all Nairs below him. There was usually a permanent force of between 500 and 1000 men available and these were called upon by
17097-439: The village layout. Nairs were not permitted to perform rites in the temples of the sanketams , the villages where the land was owned by a group of Nambudiri families, although they might have access to the outer courtyard area. Sometimes there were no Nairs at all in these villages. In villages where temples existed which were privately owned by a single Nambudiri family, there would be another temple, dedicated to Bhagavati, that
17236-435: The village organisation even if they had moved away from it. There were other castes in these villages, and other religious groups also, but they were excluded from the organisations. This arrangement was different from that found elsewhere in India, and another difference was that each house, whether for Nairs or otherwise, was usually in its own compound. There was no communal land, as existed elsewhere, and no communal plan for
17375-506: The waist and draped over the shoulder. Originally saris were worn bare, but during the Victorian era, women began wearing blouse (called a ravike) along with sari. In fact, until the late 19th century most Kerala women did not wear any upper garments, or were forced to by law, and in many villages, especially in tribal communities, the sari is worn without the blouse. Unlike Indo-Aryan speakers, most Dravidian women do not cover their head with
17514-430: The wealthy would wear elaborate sandals. The historical dress of the Nair woman was the mundu, as well as a cloth that covered the upper body. The mundum neryathum , a garment that roughly resembles the sari , had later become the traditional dress of the Nair women. The dress consisted of a cloth tied around the waist as well as a cloth covering the breast, and worn without a blouse. The mundum neryathum had become
17653-617: The west of the Indus River valley, is a precursor of the Indus Valley Civilisation, whose inhabitants migrated into the Indus Valley and became the Indus Valley Civilisation. It is one of the earliest sites with evidence of farming and herding in South Asia . According to Lukacs and Hemphill, while there is a strong continuity between the neolithic and chalcolithic (Copper Age) cultures of Mehrgarh, dental evidence shows that
17792-435: The western side of the house or be placed in a room with other deities. The kalaris would also have an area for the worship of Kali, the warlike manifestation of Bhagavati. Serpent deities known as Nāga were revered by the Nairs, and these deities would be placed in a grove in the family property. The groves would portray a miniature forest made to resemble Patala , and could feature various types of idols. Naga worship
17931-913: Was Kavalappara Moopil Nair , who ruled the small kingdom of Kavalappara Swaroopam, and a nominal feudatory of the Vellattiri Raja of Valluvanad , himself a sometime Moopil Nair. Kavalappara holdings spanned some 155,358 acres of allodially freeheld jenmi lands, rendering them among Malabar's foremost jenmimars , alongside fellow Moopil Nairs such as the Mannarghat Nair , a feudatory of the Vallabha Velattiri Raja of Valluvanad, whose peak estates subsumed some 180,000 acres of Malabar lands, and Koothali Nair , whose total holdings are unknown, but whose rump holdings along as escheated to Malabar state amounted to some 53,000 acres. This article about an Indian ethnicity or social group
18070-484: Was brought to India by farmers from the Iranian part of the Fertile Crescent, but more recently Heggerty and Renfrew noted that "McAlpin's analysis of the language data, and thus his claims, remain far from orthodoxy", adding that Fuller finds no relation of Dravidian language with other languages, and thus assumes it to be native to India. Renfrew and Bahn conclude that several scenarios are compatible with
18209-442: Was during this period that two small Nair kingdoms were established. Both of these—at Kolattunad and at Venad —contained major seaports, and they expanded by taking over the inland territory of neighbouring chieftains. Although trade with China once more went into decline in the 14th-century, it was replaced by trade with Muslim Arabs. These traders had been visiting the area for several hundred years but their activities increased to
18348-460: Was glorified as the red god seated on the blue peacock, who is ever young and resplendent , as the favoured god of the Tamils . Sivan was also seen as the supreme God. Early iconography of Murugan and Sivan and their association with native flora and fauna goes back to the Indus Valley Civilisation. The Sangam landscape was classified into five categories, thinais , based on the mood,
18487-494: Was gradually lost, for there was a massive rate of wealth transfer to Christians and avarna Hindus. Christian missionaries also found interest in the dissolution of the tharavads as they saw this as an opportunity to convert the Nairs. In 1914, the Nair Service Society (NSS) was founded by Mannathu Padmanabha Pillai . Growing up in poverty and witnessing widespread domestic disarray and land alienation amongst
18626-410: Was gradually reformed to some degree, with one of those reformers, Swami Vivekananda , having observed that it represented a "mad house" of castes. The usual four-tier Hindu caste system, involving the varnas of Brahmin (priest), Kshatriya (warrior), Vaishya (business person, involved in trading, entrepreneurship and finance) and Shudra (service person), did not exist. Kshatriyas were rare and
18765-425: Was in contrast with other communities who were quick to unite for caste interests. By 1908, the Nairs had not completely lost their dominance; they still held the most land, and had still held a majority of the government posts despite competition from low-castes and Christians. The dominance that Nairs historically held from their ritual status had come under opposition. The land that the Nairs historically had held
18904-755: Was relieved of its police duties and placed under a British officer. In 1935, the Travancore Nair Regiment and the Maharaja's bodyguard were fused and renamed the Travancore State Force, as part of the Indian State Forces system. The changes in the economy and the legal system from the late 1800s had ruined many Nair tharavads. Nair leaders noted the decay of their community and struggled to deal with issues regarding widespread infighting, disunity, and feuds. This
19043-597: Was significant to the entire tharavad since, as Gough says, they "... could inflict or avert sickness in general but were especially believed to be responsible for the fertility or barrenness of tharavad women". Gough speculates that the Nagas were seen as phallic symbols representing the procreative powers of the ancestors. Nairs believed in spirits, which on some occasions they attempted to tame by performing various rituals. According to Panikkar, they believed in spirits such as Pretam , Bhutam and Pisachu . Pretam
19182-430: Was statistically insignificant, being a small fraction of 1 per cent of the regional population, but the example of aspirational behaviour which they set filtered through to the significant ranks below them. These subdivisions might adopt a new name or remove themselves from any association with a ritually demeaning occupation in order to assist their aspirations. Most significantly, they adopted hypergamy and would utilise
19321-488: Was used by the Nairs. It was in villages where the Nairs included the headman that there might be just a single temple, run by their village organisation. By the late 19th-century, the caste system of Kerala had evolved to be the most complex to be found anywhere in India. There were over 500 groups represented in an elaborate structure of relationships and the concept of ritual pollution extended not merely to untouchability but even further, to unapproachability . The system
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