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Kiryathil Nair

Kiryathil Nair
Anonymous 16th century Portuguese illustration from the Códice Casanatense, depicting a Malabarese couple of the Nair warrior caste. It illustrates a Nair soldier and his wife, with the inscription reading, "Malabarese gentiles that are called Nayars."
Total population
Less than 4% 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

Kiryathil Nair or Kiriyath Nair also known as Vellayama Nairs is a Kshatriya subdivision of Nair caste, of martial nobility,[6][7][8][9] having performed the functions of Kshatriyas in Kerala, India. They also did business, industry, medicine and accounting. But as they were Kshatriya sub-division their main occupation was martial nobility.[10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17]

This subcaste was one of the highest-ranking subcastes of the Nair community along with Samantan Nairs with whom they share a close history.[18] They constituted the ruling elites (Naduvazhi) and feudal aristocrats (Jenmimar) in the regions of Malabar and Cochin in present-day Kerala, India,[19][20] and 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 lineage of the Zamorins of Calicut was that of the Samantan Nairs whose ancestors performed the Śrauta Hiranyagarbha ritual to achieve a higher status that empowered them to rule over the Brahmins. The Kiryathil Nairs were one of the constituent members of the Samantan community.

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]

  1. ^ Panikkar, Kavalam M. (1918). "Some Aspects of Nayar Life". The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. 48: 254–293. doi:10.2307/2843423. JSTOR 2843423.
  2. ^ Unny, Govindan (1994). Kinship Systems in South and Southeast Asia: A Study. Vikas Publishing House. ISBN 9780706976687.
  3. ^ Panikkar, Kavalam Madhava (1960). A History of Kerala, 1498-1801. Annamalai University, Tamil Nadu. ISBN 978-8194918837.
  4. ^ Zachariah, Kunniparampil Curien; Mathew, Elangikal Thomas; Rajan, Sebastian Irudaya (2003). Dynamics of Migration in Kerala: Dimensions, Differentials, and Consequences. Orient Longman, Hyderabad. ISBN 978-81-250-2504-7.
  5. ^ Goody, Jack (December 1975). Literacy in Traditional Societies. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521290050.
  6. ^ Rajesh, Kripabhavan T. (February 2022). "A Historical Analysis on the Decline of Nair Militia System in Travancore" (PDF). International Journal of Creative Research Thoughts (IJCRT). 10 (2). The University of Kerala. 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.
  7. ^ Lawrence, James Henry (14 February 2018). The Empire of the Nairs: Or, the Rights of Women. An Utopian Romance. Palala Press. ISBN 978-1377341378.
  8. ^ Hartmann, Paul; Patil, B. R.; Dighe, Anita (1989). "The Mass Media and Village Life: An Indian Study". SAGE Publications, New Delhi.
  9. ^ Kumar, Dharma; Desai, Meghnad (1982). The Cambridge Economic History of India, c.1200-c.1750. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521226929.
  10. ^ Shaji, A. (December 2017). Politicization of Caste Relations in a Princely State (Communal Politics in Modern Travancore 1891-1947). Zorba Books. ISBN 9789387456006. 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.
  11. ^ Jeffrey, Robin (1992). "Old Kerala". Politics, Women and Well-Being. Cambridge Commonwealth Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. pp. 19–33. doi:10.1007/978-1-349-12252-3_3. ISBN 978-0292704176. Beneath these exalted folk (the Namboodiri Brahmins), more numerous families of Nairs provided warriors and supervisors (administrators) for the land.
  12. ^ Kurien, Prema (January 1994). "Colonialism and Ethnogenesis: A Study of Kerala, India". Theory and Society. 23 (3). Springer Publishing, New York: 385–417. doi:10.1007/BF00993836. S2CID 143697757. 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.
  13. ^ Gough, Kathleen (1954). "The Traditional Kinship System of the Nayars of Malabar". Social Science Research Council Summer Seminar on Kinship, Harvard University. Harvard University Press. OL 15134143M.
  14. ^ Thurston, Edgar (1909). Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Vol. 5 of 7. Gutenberg Publications. ISBN 978-1113560315. 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.
  15. ^ Fuller, Christopher John (1975). "The Internal Structure of the Nayar Caste". Journal of Anthropological Research. 31 (4): 283–312. doi:10.1086/jar.31.4.3629883. S2CID 163592798. 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.
  16. ^ Vaidya, Chintaman Vinayak (January 1986). Downfall Of Hindu India. Gyan Publishing House. p. 293. ISBN 978-8121200509. 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).
  17. ^ Rajesh, Kripabhavan T. (February 2022). "A Historical Analysis on the Decline of Nair Militia System in Travancore" (PDF). International Journal of Creative Research Thoughts (IJCRT). 10 (2). The University of Kerala. 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.
  18. ^ "Answers to Interrogatories by Maharaja Rajya Shri Onden Raman Avergal, Sheristsdar, Chirakkal Taluk" (PDF). Arrow.latrobe.edu.aus. Melbourne: La Trobe University Press (LTUP). Retrieved 19 July 2022.
  19. ^ Karat, Prakash (1977). "Organized Struggles of Malabar Peasantry, 1934-1940". Social Scientist. 5 (8): 3–17. doi:10.2307/3516560. JSTOR 3516560.
  20. ^ Nair, Adoor K.K. Ramachandran (January 1986). "Slavery in Kerala". Mittal Publications, New Delhi. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  21. ^ Hermann, Gundert (1872). A Malayalam and English Dictionary. C. Stolz ; Trübner & Co. ; Missionhaus.
  22. ^ K.V. Krishna, Ayyar (1938). "The Zamorins of Calicut: From The Earliest Times Down to A.D 1806". Norman Printing Bureau, Calicut.
  23. ^ Narayanan, Muttayil Govindamenon Sankara (January 1996). Perumāḷs of Kerala: Brahmin Oligarchy and Ritual Monarchy : Political and Social Conditions of Kerala Under the Cēra Perumāḷs of Makōtai (c. AD 800-AD 1124). Current Books Thrissur. ISBN 8193368320.
  24. ^ Pottamkulam, George Abraham (11 June 2021). Kerala, A Journey in Time Part II: Kingdom of Cochin & Thekamkoor Rajyam; People Places and Potpourri. Notion Press. ISBN 9781638735144.
  25. ^ Fawcett, Fred (1915). "Anthropology: Nayars of Malabar". Madras Government Museum Bulletin. 3 (3). Gyan Publishing House.
  26. ^ "The Keralolpathi (കേരളോല്പത്തി)" (PDF). Books.sayahna.org. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
  27. ^ Thurston, Edgar (1909). Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Vol. 1 of 7. Gutenberg Publications. ISBN 978-1113560315.
  28. ^ Panikkar, Kavalam M. (1918). "Some Aspects of Nayar Life". The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. 48: 254–293. doi:10.2307/2843423. JSTOR 2843423.
  29. ^ Unny, Govindan (1994). Kinship Systems in South and Southeast Asia: A Study. Vikas Publishing House. ISBN 9780706976687.
  30. ^ Panikkar, Kavalam Madhava (1960). A History of Kerala, 1498-1801. Annamalai University, Tamil Nadu. ISBN 978-8194918837.

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