Kiryathil Nair: Difference between revisions

Kiryathil Nair
Nagavanshi Kshatriya
	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 20% of the total Nair population
Regions with significant populations
	Mostly in Malabar and Cochin, and also in parts of Travancore
Languages
	Malayalam, Sanskrit
Religion
	Hinduism
Related ethnic groups
	Nair, Nambuthiri, Samantan, Samantha Kshatriya

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Kiryathil Nair or Kiriyath Nair also known as Vellayama Nairs is a Kshatriya subdivision of the Nair caste of martial nobility,^[6]^[7]^[8]^[9] who performed the functions of Kshatriyas in Kerala, India. They were also involved in business, industry, medicine and accounting, but as they were the Kshatriya sub-division, their main occupation was governing the land.^[10]^[11]^[12]^[13]^[14]^[15]^[16]^[17] They constituted the ruling elites (Naduvazhi) and feudal aristocrats (Jenmimar) in the regions of Malabar and Cochin.^[18]^[19]

This subcaste was one of the highest-ranking subcastes of the Nair community along with the Samantan Nairs and Samantha Kshatriya, with whom they share a close history.^[20] They have traditionally lived in ancestral homes known as Tharavads and Kovilakams.^[21]

In medieval Kerala, most of the kings belonged to extensions of the Samanthan and Kiryathil Nair castes, including the Zamorins of Calicut who were from the Eradi subgroup of the Samantan Nair subcaste. The Koratty Kaimals and Kodassery Karthas under the Perumpadappu swaroopam who were also from the Kiryathil Nair subcaste.^[22]^[23] Historians have also stated that, "The whole of the Kings of Malabar belong to the same great body, and are homogeneous with the mass of the people called as Nairs."^[24]

The Kiryathil Nairs were the original descendants of the Nāgas who, according to the text Keralolpathi and many other old texts, they are Nagavanshi Kshatriyas migrated to Kerala from the North as serpent-worshippers and asserted their supremacy before the arrival of the Namboodiris, and therefore were historically given status and privileges that were not extended to other Nairs.^[25]^[26] In the words of the British anthropologist Edgar Thurston CIE, "The original Nairs were undoubtedly a military body, holding lands and serving as a militia."^[27] The Kiryathils, due to their ruling and martial exploits, claim descendance from the mythical Nagavanshi Kshatriya dynasty.^[28]^[29]^[30]

Etymology

The term "Kiryathil" is derived from the Malayalam word Kirīṭaṁ (കിരീടം), meaning "crown". Therefore, the literal meaning of Kiryathil Nair is "The Crowned Nair."^[31] Together with Illathu Nairs and Swaroopathil Nairs, they form the top tier of the Nair hierarchy in Malabar District. Unlike the other two, however, who were required to serve in the households of Kings in the form of accounts respectively, Kiryathils had no such obligations and were recognized as independent feudal lords.^[32] As such, the Swaroopathil Nairs, who were traditionally employed as soldiers in the armies of regional kings, formed the bulk of the military controlled by Kiryathil overlords, who themselves reported directly to the Zamorin, the king of Calicut.^[33] Additionally, Kiryathils were also the only Nair division whose members were allowed to wear bracelets on both arms (a symbol of aristocracy). In ancient times, the land was divided into Naadus and Desams, each governed by rulers known as Naaduvazhi and Desavazhi, respectively, often belonging to the Samanthan Nair and Kiriyath Nair lineage in Malabar District.^[34]^[35]^[10]

Military heritage

^[36]^[37] These Nair families belong to or connected to the aristocratic tharavads, which were ancestral homes associated with prestige, power and wealth in medieval Kerala.^[38]

Relation with Samantha Kshatriyas

The caste boundary between Kiryathil Nair and Samantha Kshatriya is very minor and therefore many families among the Kiryathils, over the course of time, became recognised as Samanthan and vice versa. As anthropologist Christopher Fuller notes, all Kshatriyas of Kerala are "super-eminent Nairs."^[39] The Kiriyathil Nairs

served as regional rulers, lords and military chieftains for various kingdom's of Kerala, including the Zamorin, and owned vast amounts of lands and raised soldiers.^[40]

The title of "Kaimal" (from the Malayalam word Kai - "കൈ," meaning "hand" - signifying power and authority) was awarded by the monarchs of Kerala to affluent Samantha Nair and also some Kiriyath Nair families who were exceedingly influential, and the Kaimals were one of the highest caste of Hindu caste in South India.^[41]

The title of "Kartha" (from the Malayalam word Karthavu - "കർത്താവ്", meaning "lord" - signifying command and dominance) was awarded to notable Nair families who had relations with the ruling class.^[42] While the Karthas were generally considered to be lower than the Kaimals in terms of seniority, both of them jointly formed the two major Aristocratic lineages of the Cochin royal family.^[43]

Branching of power

The Kiryathil Nairs, due to their significance in being the direct descendants of the Nagavanshi Kshatriya clan who migrated to southern India, formed the "original" rank from which the two most powerful royal houses of Kerala stemmed from:^[44]^[45]

a) The Zamorins, who were originally Kiryathil Nairs whose ancestors performed the Hiranyagarbha ceremony to elevate them to the rank of Samantan Nairs. They eventually became the kings of Calicut, beginning around 1124 AD.^[46]

Kiryathil Nair ⟶ Hiranyagarbha ritual ⟶ Samantan Nairs ⟶ The Zamorin (Kings of Calicut, circa. 1124 AD)

b) The Cochin Rajas, who were originally Kiryathil Nairs whose ancestors performed the Hiranyagarbha ceremony to elevate them to the rank of Samantha Kshatriyas. They eventually became the kings of Cochin, beginning around 1100 AD.^[47]

Kiryathil Nair ⟶ Hiranyagarbha ritual ⟶ Samantha Kshatriyas ⟶ The Cochin Raja (Kings of Cochin, circa. 1100 AD)

Incidentally, the Zamorins of Calicut and the Rajas of Cochin were engaged in a feudal struggle with each other, culminating in a series of military conflicts.^[48] Notable battles include the Battle of Cochin (1504), which saw the Kingdom of Calicut suffer a devastating defeat at the hands of their Cochin opponents, who were assisted by the Portuguese Empire.^[49]

Military conquests

Among the numerous military conquests carried out by the Samantan and Kiryathil Nairs, the most significant was their victory against Tipu Sultan, the de facto Muslim ruler of Mysore.^[50] Tipu Sultan, along with his predecessor Hyder Ali, was aware of the caste pride that Nairs held, as well as their strict adherence to the Hindu faith and military excellence on the battlefield.^[51] He therefore deprived them of their caste status, and prohibited them from carrying arms and outlawed them.^[52] When this failed to break their martial spirit, starting in 1786 AD, Tipu Sultan began the forceful conversion of Nairs into Sunni Islam, and when they resisted and refused, he tortured, humiliated and killed most of the Nair warriors.^[53]^[54]

Historical records show that out of the 30,000 Nair warriors who were captured alive by him, only about a hundred or so survived.^[55] The Samantans and Kiryathils vowed vengeance, and marshalled the Malayali soldiers. The Samantan Nair warrior-prince Ravi Varma Raja defeated Tipu Sultan in November 1788,^[56] while the King of Travancore Dharma Raja Rama Varma sent the Travancore Nair Brigade, under the command of Raja Kesavadas, to defeat Tipu Sultan again during the Battle of Nedumkotta in early 1790.^[35] The Nairs were helped by the Maratha Empire and the Sikh Empire, all three of whom united to destroy the armies of the Muslim ruler and finally rescue the surviving Nairs by March 1792.^[57]

Varna classification

Historically, despite the absence of the usual 4-tier Varṇa classification in South India, the Kiriyathil Nair along with Samanthan Nair, Illathu Nair and Swaroopathil Nairs were objectively considered as kshatriyas,^[58] having functions like ruling, administrative, military and social requirements and duties that are associated with warrior aristocracy,^[59]^[60] as given in the Manusmriti, the legendary legal text of Hinduism.^[61]^[62]

Social status

While some Kiryathil Nair families were regional rulers who functioned as vassal kings to the Zamorins, most were independent aristocratic feudal lords and controlled groups of soldiers known as Charnavar under their command. These soldiers usually belonged to the Purattu Charna Nair subcaste.^[63]

Currently, the Kiryathils constitute less than 4% of the total Nair population.^[64]

Caste inheritance

Until the early 20th century, almost all Nair families, irrespective of their social standings, followed a matrilineal system of inheritance.^[65]^[66] The children of a Nair couple would inherit the caste of their mother, while the property and lands that were owned by the family would be passed down through their daughters and sisters.^[67] This form of matrilineal inheritance was known as Marumakkathayam, and resulted in Nair families holding their women in high honor.^[68] However, the Government of Kerala passed "The Joint Family System (Abolition) Act" in 1975, which abolished this practice.^[69]

Furthermore, the historic 1926 Travancore Nayar Act (signed by the Queen of Travancore Sethu Lakshmi Bayi) greatly reduced the role of women in caste inheritance, and by late 1928, the matrilineal system of caste among Nairs was completely replaced by the patrilineal system that was followed by the rest of India.^[70] For this reason, the vast majority of Nair families have switched to favoring the father's caste for his children, while only a few of them have kept the traditional method of favoring the mother's.^[71]

References

^ 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.
^ Unny, Govindan (1994). Kinship Systems in South and Southeast Asia: A Study. Vikas Publishing House. ISBN 9780706976687.
^ Panikkar, Kavalam Madhava (1960). A History of Kerala, 1498-1801. Annamalai University, Tamil Nadu. ISBN 978-8194918837.
^ 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.
^ Goody, Jack (December 1975). Literacy in Traditional Societies. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521290050.
^ 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.
^ Lawrence, James Henry (14 February 2018). The Empire of the Nairs: Or, the Rights of Women. An Utopian Romance. Palala Press. ISBN 978-1377341378.
^ Hartmann, Paul; Patil, B. R.; Dighe, Anita (1989). "The Mass Media and Village Life: An Indian Study". SAGE Publications, New Delhi.
^ Kumar, Dharma; Desai, Meghnad (1982). The Cambridge Economic History of India, c.1200-c.1750. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521226929.
^ ^a ^b 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.
^ 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.
^ 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.
^ 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.
^ 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.
^ 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.
^ 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).
^ 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.
^ Karat, Prakash (1977). "Organized Struggles of Malabar Peasantry, 1934-1940". Social Scientist. 5 (8): 3–17. doi:10.2307/3516560. JSTOR 3516560.
^ Nair, Adoor K.K. Ramachandran (January 1986). "Slavery in Kerala". New Delhi: Mittal Publications. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
^ "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.
^ Hermann, Gundert (1872). A Malayalam and English Dictionary. C. Stolz ; Trübner & Co. ; Missionhaus.
^ K.V. Krishna, Ayyar (1938). "The Zamorins of Calicut: From The Earliest Times Down to A.D 1806". Norman Printing Bureau, Calicut.
^ 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.
^ 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.
^ Fawcett, Fred (1915). "Anthropology: Nayars of Malabar". Madras Government Museum Bulletin. 3 (3). Gyan Publishing House.
^ "The Keralolpathi (കേരളോല്പത്തി)" (PDF). Books.sayahna.org. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
^ Thurston, Edgar (1909). Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Vol. 1 of 7. Gutenberg Publications. ISBN 978-1113560315.
^ 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.
^ Unny, Govindan (1994). Kinship Systems in South and Southeast Asia: A Study. Vikas Publishing House. ISBN 9780706976687.
^ Panikkar, Kavalam Madhava (1960). A History of Kerala, 1498-1801. Annamalai University, Tamil Nadu. ISBN 978-8194918837.
^ "The Keralolpathi (കേരളോല്പത്തി)" (PDF). Books.sayahna.org. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
^ Thurston, Edgar (1909). Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Vol. 5 of 7. Gutenberg Publications. ISBN 978-1113560315.
^ Narayan, Vivek (August 2021). "Caste as Performance: Ayyankali and the Caste Scripts of Colonial Kerala". Theatre Survey. 62 (3). Cambridge University Press: 272–294. doi:10.1017/S004055742100020X. S2CID 237271020.
^ Aiya, Nigam (1906). The Travancore State Manual (PDF). ISBN 9781977068392.
^ ^a ^b Shungoonny Menon, P. (2010). History of Travancore: From The Earliest Times (1878). Kessinger Publishing, Montana, USA. ISBN 978-1165280636.
^ Fuller, Christopher John (1976). The Nayars Today. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521213011.
^ Mencher, Joan (1966). "Namboodiri Brahmins of Kerala". Journal of Asian and African Studies. Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland.
^ Galo, Ester (2019). "Narrating Middle-Class Houses Across Indian History: Memory, Gender and Material Culture". The Fall of Gods: Memory, Kinship and Middle Classes in South India. Oxford University Press.
^ Fuller, Christopher J. (1975). "The Internal Structure of the Nayar Caste". Journal of Anthropological Research. 31 (4): 283–312. doi:10.1086/jar.31.4.3629883. JSTOR 3629883. S2CID 163592798.
^ "Classifications of the Nair Community". Nairs.in.
^ Koshy, M. O. (1989). The Dutch Power in Kerala, 1729-1758. Mittal Publications, New Delhi. ISBN 9788170991366.
^ Fuller, Christopher John (December 1976). The Nayars Today. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-29091-3. {{cite book}}: |journal= ignored (help)
^ Menon K. P, Padmanabha (1929). "History of Kerala". Digital Library of India. 2. Cochin Government Press, Ernakulam.
^ K.V, Krishna Iyer (1938). "The Zamorins of Calicut: From the Earliest Times Down to A.D. 1806" (PDF). Central Archaeological Library, Department of Archaeology, Government of India. Norman Printing Bureau, Calicut.
^ Menon, Achyuta (1911). "The Cochin State Manual" (PDF). Central Archaeological Library, Department of Archaeology, Government of India. Cochin Government Press, Ernakulam.
^ Jeffrey, Robin (1976). The Decline of Nayar Dominance: Society and Politics in Travancore, 1847–1908. Sussex University Press. ISBN 0-85621-054-4.
^ Fuller, Christopher J. (December 1975). "The Internal Structure of the Nayar Caste". Journal of Anthropological Research. 31 (4). The University of Chicago Press: 283–312. doi:10.1086/jar.31.4.3629883. ISSN 0091-7710. JSTOR 3629883. S2CID 163592798.
^ Frederick Charles, Danvers (August 2017). The Portuguese in India: A.D. 1571-1894. Andesite Press. ISBN 978-1375782197.
^ Danvers (1894: p. 114). Osório (p. 313) says 19,000, Góis (p. 123) says 18,000 (with breakdown) and Correia (p. 489) says 20,000.
^ Naravane, M. S. (April 2007). Battles of the Honourable East India Company: Making of the Raj. A.P.H Publishing Corporation, New Delhi. ISBN 978-81-313-0034-3.
^ Fernandes, Praxy (1969). "Storm Over Seringapatam: The Incredible Story of Hyder Ali and Tippu Sultan". Thacker and Co Ltd, Mumbai.
^ Fernandes, Praxy (1969). "Storm Over Seringapatam: The Incredible Story of Hyder Ali and Tippu Sultan". Thacker and Co Ltd, Mumbai. p. 38.
^ Hardiman, David (March 2021). Noncooperation in India: Nonviolent Strategy and Protest, 1920-22. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-758056-1.
^ Fernandes, Praxy (1969). "Storm Over Seringapatam: The Incredible Story of Hyder Ali and Tippu Sultan". Thacker and Co Ltd, Mumbai. p. 120.
^ Prabhu, Alan Machado (1999). Sarasvati's Children: A History of the Mangalorean Christians. I.J.A. Publications, Bangalore. OCLC 47965430.
^ Sreedhara Menon, A. (1962). "Kerala District Gazetteers: Kozhikode". Superintendent of Government Presses. Department of Education, Government of Kerala, India.
^ MacFarlane, Charles; Lillie Craik, George (1847). "Pictorial History of England: Being a History of the People, as Well as a History of the Kingdom". 6. Charles Knight Publishers, Great Britain.
^ Dumont, Louis (1980). Homo Hierarchicus: The Caste System and Its Implications. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 9780226169637.
^ Kumar, Dharma; Desai, Meghnad (1982). The Cambridge Economic History of India, c.1200-c.1750. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521226929.
^ Kolenda, Pauline Mahar (1963). "Toward a Model of the Hindu Jajmani System". Human Organization: Contours of Culture Change in South Asia. 22 (1). Society for Applied Anthropology: 11–31. JSTOR 44124164.
^ Jha, Ganganath (1920). Manusmṛti with the Manubhāṣya of Medhātithi. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. ISBN 81-208-1155-0.
^ Olivelle, Patrick (2010). "Dharmasastra: A Literary History". In Lubin, Timothy; Krishnan, Jayanth; Davis, Jr. Donald R. (eds.). Law and Hinduism: An Introduction. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521716260.
^ Gough, E. Kathleen (1961). "Nayars: Central Kerala". In Schneider, David Murray; Gough, E. Kathleen. Matrilineal Kinship. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-02529-5. Retrieved 2011-06-09.
^ 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.
^ Jeffrey, Robin (1992). Politics, Women and Wellbeing: How Kerala became a 'Model'. Cambridge Commonwealth Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. ISBN 978-0195656220.
^ Mayadevi, Moothedath (October 2015). "Women and Marriage in Marumakkathayam". International Research Journal of Social Sciences. 4(10), 1–4. International Science Congress Association, ISSN 2319-3565.
^ Panikkar, T. K. Gopal (1900). "Malabar and its Folk" (PDF). G. A. Natesan & Co. Printers, Madras.
^ Jeffrey, Robin (October 2004). "Legacies of Matriliny: The Place of Women and the "Kerala Model"". Pacific Affairs. 77 (4). University of British Columbia Press: 647–664. JSTOR 40023536.
^ "Kerala Joint Hindu Family System (Abolition) Act, 1975". Government of Kerala, India. August 1976.
^ Puthenkalam, J (1966). "The Family Organisation in the South-West of India". Sociological Bulletin. SAGE Publications, Inc. pp. 1–26. JSTOR 42864645.
^ "India: What is left of matrilineal societies in Kerala? | DW | 15.12.2021". Deutsche Welle.

External links

Digital Colonial Documents (India)

[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.

[:0-10] 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] Karat, Prakash (1977). "Organized Struggles of Malabar Peasantry, 1934-1940". Social Scientist. 5 (8): 3–17. doi:10.2307/3516560. JSTOR 3516560.

[19] Nair, Adoor K.K. Ramachandran (January 1986). "Slavery in Kerala". New Delhi: Mittal Publications. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)

[20] "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.

[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.

[31] "The Keralolpathi (കേരളോല്പത്തി)" (PDF). Books.sayahna.org. Retrieved 15 July 2022.

[32] Thurston, Edgar (1909). Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Vol. 5 of 7. Gutenberg Publications. ISBN 978-1113560315.

[33] Narayan, Vivek (August 2021). "Caste as Performance: Ayyankali and the Caste Scripts of Colonial Kerala". Theatre Survey. 62 (3). Cambridge University Press: 272–294. doi:10.1017/S004055742100020X. S2CID 237271020.

[34] Aiya, Nigam (1906). The Travancore State Manual (PDF). ISBN 9781977068392.

[:1-35] Shungoonny Menon, P. (2010). History of Travancore: From The Earliest Times (1878). Kessinger Publishing, Montana, USA. ISBN 978-1165280636.

[36] Fuller, Christopher John (1976). The Nayars Today. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521213011.

[37] Mencher, Joan (1966). "Namboodiri Brahmins of Kerala". Journal of Asian and African Studies. Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland.

[38] Galo, Ester (2019). "Narrating Middle-Class Houses Across Indian History: Memory, Gender and Material Culture". The Fall of Gods: Memory, Kinship and Middle Classes in South India. Oxford University Press.

[C.Fuller-39] Fuller, Christopher J. (1975). "The Internal Structure of the Nayar Caste". Journal of Anthropological Research. 31 (4): 283–312. doi:10.1086/jar.31.4.3629883. JSTOR 3629883. S2CID 163592798.

[40] "Classifications of the Nair Community". Nairs.in.

[41] Koshy, M. O. (1989). The Dutch Power in Kerala, 1729-1758. Mittal Publications, New Delhi. ISBN 9788170991366.

[42] Fuller, Christopher John (December 1976). The Nayars Today. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-29091-3. {{cite book}}: |journal= ignored (help)

[43] Menon K. P, Padmanabha (1929). "History of Kerala". Digital Library of India. 2. Cochin Government Press, Ernakulam.

[44] K.V, Krishna Iyer (1938). "The Zamorins of Calicut: From the Earliest Times Down to A.D. 1806" (PDF). Central Archaeological Library, Department of Archaeology, Government of India. Norman Printing Bureau, Calicut.

[45] Menon, Achyuta (1911). "The Cochin State Manual" (PDF). Central Archaeological Library, Department of Archaeology, Government of India. Cochin Government Press, Ernakulam.

[46] Jeffrey, Robin (1976). The Decline of Nayar Dominance: Society and Politics in Travancore, 1847–1908. Sussex University Press. ISBN 0-85621-054-4.

[fuller-47] Fuller, Christopher J. (December 1975). "The Internal Structure of the Nayar Caste". Journal of Anthropological Research. 31 (4). The University of Chicago Press: 283–312. doi:10.1086/jar.31.4.3629883. ISSN 0091-7710. JSTOR 3629883. S2CID 163592798.

[48] Frederick Charles, Danvers (August 2017). The Portuguese in India: A.D. 1571-1894. Andesite Press. ISBN 978-1375782197.

[49] Danvers (1894: p. 114). Osório (p. 313) says 19,000, Góis (p. 123) says 18,000 (with breakdown) and Correia (p. 489) says 20,000.

[50] Naravane, M. S. (April 2007). Battles of the Honourable East India Company: Making of the Raj. A.P.H Publishing Corporation, New Delhi. ISBN 978-81-313-0034-3.

[51] Fernandes, Praxy (1969). "Storm Over Seringapatam: The Incredible Story of Hyder Ali and Tippu Sultan". Thacker and Co Ltd, Mumbai.

[52] Fernandes, Praxy (1969). "Storm Over Seringapatam: The Incredible Story of Hyder Ali and Tippu Sultan". Thacker and Co Ltd, Mumbai. p. 38.

[53] Hardiman, David (March 2021). Noncooperation in India: Nonviolent Strategy and Protest, 1920-22. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-758056-1.

[54] Fernandes, Praxy (1969). "Storm Over Seringapatam: The Incredible Story of Hyder Ali and Tippu Sultan". Thacker and Co Ltd, Mumbai. p. 120.

[55] Prabhu, Alan Machado (1999). Sarasvati's Children: A History of the Mangalorean Christians. I.J.A. Publications, Bangalore. OCLC 47965430.

[56] Sreedhara Menon, A. (1962). "Kerala District Gazetteers: Kozhikode". Superintendent of Government Presses. Department of Education, Government of Kerala, India.

[57] MacFarlane, Charles; Lillie Craik, George (1847). "Pictorial History of England: Being a History of the People, as Well as a History of the Kingdom". 6. Charles Knight Publishers, Great Britain.

[58] Dumont, Louis (1980). Homo Hierarchicus: The Caste System and Its Implications. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 9780226169637.

[59] Kumar, Dharma; Desai, Meghnad (1982). The Cambridge Economic History of India, c.1200-c.1750. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521226929.

[60] Kolenda, Pauline Mahar (1963). "Toward a Model of the Hindu Jajmani System". Human Organization: Contours of Culture Change in South Asia. 22 (1). Society for Applied Anthropology: 11–31. JSTOR 44124164.

[61] Jha, Ganganath (1920). Manusmṛti with the Manubhāṣya of Medhātithi. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. ISBN 81-208-1155-0.

[62] Olivelle, Patrick (2010). "Dharmasastra: A Literary History". In Lubin, Timothy; Krishnan, Jayanth; Davis, Jr. Donald R. (eds.). Law and Hinduism: An Introduction. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521716260.

[K.Gough-63] Gough, E. Kathleen (1961). "Nayars: Central Kerala". In Schneider, David Murray; Gough, E. Kathleen. Matrilineal Kinship. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-02529-5. Retrieved 2011-06-09.

[64] 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.

[65] Jeffrey, Robin (1992). Politics, Women and Wellbeing: How Kerala became a 'Model'. Cambridge Commonwealth Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. ISBN 978-0195656220.

[66] Mayadevi, Moothedath (October 2015). "Women and Marriage in Marumakkathayam". International Research Journal of Social Sciences. 4(10), 1–4. International Science Congress Association, ISSN 2319-3565.

[67] Panikkar, T. K. Gopal (1900). "Malabar and its Folk" (PDF). G. A. Natesan & Co. Printers, Madras.

[68] Jeffrey, Robin (October 2004). "Legacies of Matriliny: The Place of Women and the "Kerala Model"". Pacific Affairs. 77 (4). University of British Columbia Press: 647–664. JSTOR 40023536.

[69] "Kerala Joint Hindu Family System (Abolition) Act, 1975". Government of Kerala, India. August 1976.

[70] Puthenkalam, J (1966). "The Family Organisation in the South-West of India". Sociological Bulletin. SAGE Publications, Inc. pp. 1–26. JSTOR 42864645.

[71] "India: What is left of matrilineal societies in Kerala? | DW | 15.12.2021". Deutsche Welle.

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@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 {{Short description| Sub-caste}}
 {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}}
 {{Use Indian English|date=September 2019}}
 {{Infobox Ethnic group
-| image            =
+| image            = Codice Casanatense Nayars.jpg
+| native_name      = ''[[Nagavanshi]]'' ''[[Kshatriya]]''<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2843423 | jstor=2843423 | title=Some Aspects of Nayar Life | last1=Panikkar | first1=Kavalam M. | journal=The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland | year=1918 | volume=48 | pages=254–293 | doi=10.2307/2843423 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gAiBAAAAMAAJ&q=kinship+systems+in+South+and+Southeast+Asia:+A+Study | title=Kinship Systems in South and Southeast Asia: A Study | isbn=9780706976687 | last1=Unny | first1=Govindan | publisher=Vikas Publishing House | year=1994 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | first1=Kavalam Madhava | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dCkLAQAAIAAJ | last1=Panikkar | date=1960 | publisher=Annamalai University, Tamil Nadu | title=A History of Kerala, 1498-1801 |isbn=978-8194918837}}</ref>
-Codice Casanatense Nayars.jpg
+| caption          = 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."
-| native_name      = ''Nagavanshi Kshatriya''
-| caption          = Anonymous 16th century Portuguese illustration from the [[Códice Casanatense|''Códice Casanatense'']], depicting a Malabarese couple of the Nair warrior caste (Nagavanshi). It illustrates a Nair soldier and his wife, with the inscription reading, "Malabarese gentiles that are called Nayars."
 | group            = Kiryathil Nair
-| pop              = Less than 4% of the total Nair population<ref>{{cite book |title=Dynamics of Migration in Kerala: Dimensions, Differentials, and Consequences |first1=Kunniparampil Curien |last1=Zachariah |first2=Elangikal Thomas |last2=Mathew |first3=Sebastian Irudaya |last3=Rajan |publisher=Orient Longman, Hyderabad |isbn=978-81-250-2504-7 |year=2003 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D497alRZPcoC}}</ref>
+| pop              = Less than 20% of the total Nair population<ref>{{cite book |title=Dynamics of Migration in Kerala: Dimensions, Differentials, and Consequences |first1=Kunniparampil Curien |last1=Zachariah |first2=Elangikal Thomas |last2=Mathew |first3=Sebastian Irudaya |last3=Rajan |publisher=Orient Longman, Hyderabad |isbn=978-81-250-2504-7 |year=2003 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D497alRZPcoC}}</ref>
 | popplace         = Mostly in [[Malabar (Northern Kerala)|Malabar]] and [[Kingdom of Cochin|Cochin]], and also in parts of [[Travancore]]
+| languages        = [[Malayalam]], [[Sanskrit]]<ref>{{cite book | last=Goody | first=Jack | title=Literacy in Traditional Societies | publisher=Cambridge University Press | date=December 1975 | isbn=9780521290050 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B9SUyI-3tRwC&pg=PA132}}</ref>
-| languages        = [[Malayalam]]
 | religions        = [[Hinduism]]
-| related          = [[Nair]]s, [[Samantha Kshatriya]], [[Nagavanshi]], [[Samantan|Samantha Nair]], [[Kaimal]], [[Kartha]], [[Eradi]]
+| related          = [[Nair]], [[Malayali Brahmins|Nambuthiri]], [[Samantan]], [[Samantha Kshatriya]]
 }}
-'''Kiryathil Nair''' or '''Kiriyath Nair''' is a [[Martial race|martial]] [[nobility]] [[Caste system in India|caste]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://ijcrt.org/papers/IJCRT2202054.pdf | first1=Prof. T. | last1=Rajesh | date=February 2022 |volume=10 |issue=2 | journal=International Journal of Creative Research Thoughts (IJCRT) | title=A Historical Analysis on the Decline of Nair Militia System in Travancore | quote=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.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.amazon.in/Empire-Nairs-Rights-Utopian-Romance/dp/1377341372 | first1=James Henry | last1=Lawrence | date=14 February 2018 | publisher=Palala Press | title=The Empire of the Nairs: Or, the Rights of Women. An Utopian Romance |isbn=978-1377341378}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/18192226 | title=The Mass Media and Village Life: An Indian Study | last1=Hartmann | first1=Paul | last2=Patil | first2=B. R. | last3=Dighe | first3=Anita | year=1989 | publisher=SAGE Publications, New Delhi}}</ref> belonging to the [[Kshatriya]] [[Varna (Hinduism)|varṇa]],<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pbZEDwAAQBAJ&dq=kiriyam%20nair%20highest&pg=PA22 | title=Politicization of Caste Relations in a Princely State (Communal Politics in Modern Travancore 1891-1947) | isbn=9789387456006 | last1=Shaji | first1=A. | date=December 2017 | publisher= Zorba Books | quote=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.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | chapter-url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-349-12252-3_3 | title=Old Kerala: Politics, Women and Wellbeing | first1=Robin | last1=Jeffrey | chapter=Old Kerala | year=1992 | series=Cambridge Commonwealth Series | pages=19–33 | publisher=Palgrave Macmillan, London | doi=10.1007/978-1-349-12252-3_3 | isbn=978-0292704176 | quote=Beneath these exalted folk (the Namboodiri Brahmins), more numerous families of Nairs provided warriors and supervisors (administrators) for the land.}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/226077587 | title=Colonialism and Ethnogenesis: A Study of Kerala, India | first1=Prema | last1=Kurien | date= January 1994 | publisher=Springer Publishing, New York | journal=Theory and Society |volume=23 |issue=3 | pages=385–417 | doi=10.1007/BF00993836| s2cid=143697757 | quote=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.}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | url=https://openlibrary.org/books/OL15134143M/The_traditional_kinship_system_of_the_Nayars_of_Malabar. | title=The Traditional Kinship System of the Nayars of Malabar | first1=Kathleen | last1=Gough | year=1954 | journal=Social Science Research Council Summer Seminar on Kinship, Harvard University | publisher=Harvard University Press| ol=15134143M }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | url=https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/42995 | title=Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Vol. 5 of 7| last1=Thurston | first1=Edgar| year=1909| publisher=Gutenberg Publications | isbn=978-1113560315 | quote=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.}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/jar.31.4.3629883 | doi=10.1086/jar.31.4.3629883 | title=The Internal Structure of the Nayar Caste | year=1975 | last1=Fuller | first1=Christopher John | journal=Journal of Anthropological Research | volume=31 | issue=4 | pages=283–312 | s2cid=163592798 | quote=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.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.189154/page/n293/mode/2up?q=Nair+ | title=Downfall Of Hindu India | isbn=978-8121200509 | last1=Vaidya | first1=Chintaman Vinayak | date=January 1986 | publisher=Gyan Publishing House | page=293 | quote=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).}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://ijcrt.org/papers/IJCRT2202054.pdf | first1=Dr. T. | last1=Rajesh | date=February 2022 |volume=10 |issue=2 | journal=International Journal of Creative Research Thoughts (IJCRT) | title=A Historical Analysis on the Decline of Nair Militia System in Travancore | quote=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.}}</ref> which forms one of the highest-ranking subcastes of the [[Nair]] community along with the [[Samantha Kshatriya]]s with whom they share a close history.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://arrow.latrobe.edu.au/store/3/4/4/6/5/public/B1480153Xappendix3part6.pdf |title=Answers to Interrogatories by Maharaja Rajya Shri Onden Raman Avergal, Sheristsdar, Chirakkal Taluk | publisher=La Trobe University Press | website=Arrow.latrobe.edu.aus |access-date=19 July 2022}}</ref> They constituted the ruling elites (''[[Naduvazhi]]'') and feudal aristocrats (''[[Jenmi|Jenmimar]]'') in the regions of [[Malabar (Northern Kerala)|Malabar]] and [[Kingdom of Cochin|Cochin]] in present-day [[Kerala]], India.<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3516560 | jstor=3516560 | title=Organized Struggles of Malabar Peasantry, 1934-1940 | last1=Karat | first1=Prakash | journal=Social Scientist | year=1977 | volume=5 | issue=8 | pages=3–17 | doi=10.2307/3516560 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=03R1JWXcVYIC&dq=jenmi+kerala&pg=PA25 | title=Slavery in Kerala | last1=Nair | first1= Adoor K.K. Ramachandran | publisher=Mittal Publications, New Delhi | date=January 1986}}</ref> As the pinnacle of the Nair hierarchy, the Samanthan and Kiryathil Nairs were second only to the [[Nambudiri|Namboodiri]] [[Brahmin]]s in social status, and outranked even the priestly [[Ambalavasi]]s.<ref>{{cite book| url=https://archive.org/details/declineofnayardo0000jeff/page/14/mode/2up?q=kiriathu&view=theater | title=The Decline of Nayar Dominance: Society and Politics in Travancore, 1847 - 1908 | publisher=University of Sussex Press  | year=1976 | last1= Jeffrey | first1= Robin| isbn=9780856210549 }}</ref>
+'''Kiryathil Nair''' or '''Kiriyath Nair''' also known as '''Vellayama Nairs''' is a [[Kshatriya]] subdivision of the [[Nair]] caste of [[Martial race|martial]] [[nobility]],<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://ijcrt.org/papers/IJCRT2202054.pdf | first1=Kripabhavan T. | last1=Rajesh | date=February 2022 |volume=10 |issue=2 | journal=International Journal of Creative Research Thoughts (IJCRT) | title=A Historical Analysis on the Decline of Nair Militia System in Travancore | publisher=The University of Kerala |quote=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.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | first1=James Henry | last1=Lawrence | date=14 February 2018 | publisher=Palala Press | title=The Empire of the Nairs: Or, the Rights of Women. An Utopian Romance |isbn=978-1377341378}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/18192226 | title=The Mass Media and Village Life: An Indian Study | last1=Hartmann | first1=Paul | last2=Patil | first2=B. R. | last3=Dighe | first3=Anita | year=1989 | publisher=SAGE Publications, New Delhi}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title= The Cambridge Economic History of India, c.1200-c.1750 |first1= Dharma |last1=Kumar | first2=Meghnad | last2=Desai |publisher= Cambridge University Press |year=1982 |isbn=9780521226929 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L-s8AAAAIAAJ}}</ref> who performed the functions of Kshatriyas in [[Kerala]], [[India]]. They were also involved in business, industry, medicine and accounting, but as they were the Kshatriya sub-division, their main occupation was governing the land.<ref name=":0">{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pbZEDwAAQBAJ&dq=kiriyam%20nair%20highest&pg=PA22 | title=Politicization of Caste Relations in a Princely State (Communal Politics in Modern Travancore 1891-1947) | isbn=9789387456006 | last1=Shaji | first1=A. | date=December 2017 | publisher= Zorba Books | quote=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.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | chapter-url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-349-12252-3_3 | first1=Robin | last1=Jeffrey | title=Politics, Women and Well-Being | chapter=Old Kerala | year=1992 | series=Cambridge Commonwealth Series | pages=19–33 | publisher=Palgrave Macmillan, London | doi=10.1007/978-1-349-12252-3_3 | isbn=978-0292704176 | quote=Beneath these exalted folk (the Namboodiri Brahmins), more numerous families of Nairs provided warriors and supervisors (administrators) for the land.}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/226077587 | title=Colonialism and Ethnogenesis: A Study of Kerala, India | first1=Prema | last1=Kurien | date= January 1994 | publisher=Springer Publishing, New York | journal=Theory and Society |volume=23 |issue=3 | pages=385–417 | doi=10.1007/BF00993836| s2cid=143697757 | quote=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.}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | url=https://openlibrary.org/books/OL15134143M/The_traditional_kinship_system_of_the_Nayars_of_Malabar. | title=The Traditional Kinship System of the Nayars of Malabar | first1=Kathleen | last1=Gough | year=1954 | journal=Social Science Research Council Summer Seminar on Kinship, Harvard University | publisher=Harvard University Press| ol=15134143M }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | url=https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/42995 | title=Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Vol. 5 of 7| last1=Thurston | first1=Edgar| year=1909| publisher=Gutenberg Publications | isbn=978-1113560315 | quote=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.}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/jar.31.4.3629883 | doi=10.1086/jar.31.4.3629883 | title=The Internal Structure of the Nayar Caste | year=1975 | last1=Fuller | first1=Christopher John | journal=Journal of Anthropological Research | volume=31 | issue=4 | pages=283–312 | s2cid=163592798 | quote=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.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.189154/page/n293/mode/2up?q=Nair+ | title=Downfall Of Hindu India | isbn=978-8121200509 | last1=Vaidya | first1=Chintaman Vinayak | date=January 1986 | publisher=Gyan Publishing House | page=293 | quote=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).}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |url=https://ijcrt.org/papers/IJCRT2202054.pdf | first1=Kripabhavan T. | last1=Rajesh | date=February 2022 |volume=10 |issue=2 | journal=International Journal of Creative Research Thoughts (IJCRT) | title=A Historical Analysis on the Decline of Nair Militia System in Travancore | publisher=The University of Kerala | quote=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.}}</ref> They constituted the ruling elites ([[Naduvazhi]]) and feudal aristocrats ([[Jenmi]]mar) in the regions of [[Malabar District|Malabar]] and [[Kingdom of Cochin|Cochin]].<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3516560 | jstor=3516560 | title=Organized Struggles of Malabar Peasantry, 1934-1940 | last1=Karat | first1=Prakash | journal=Social Scientist | year=1977 | volume=5 | issue=8 | pages=3–17 | doi=10.2307/3516560 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=03R1JWXcVYIC&dq=jenmi+kerala&pg=PA25 | title=Slavery in Kerala | last1=Nair | first1= Adoor K.K. Ramachandran | publisher=Mittal Publications| location=New Delhi | date=January 1986}}</ref>
+This subcaste was one of the highest-ranking subcastes of the Nair community along with the [[Samantan|Samantan Nairs]] and [[Samantha Kshatriya]], with whom they share a close history.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://arrow.latrobe.edu.au/store/3/4/4/6/5/public/B1480153Xappendix3part6.pdf |title=Answers to Interrogatories by Maharaja Rajya Shri Onden Raman Avergal, Sheristsdar, Chirakkal Taluk | publisher=La Trobe University Press (LTUP) | location=Melbourne | website=Arrow.latrobe.edu.aus |access-date=19 July 2022}}</ref>  They have traditionally lived in ancestral homes known as [[Tharavad]]s and [[Kovilakam]]s.<ref>{{cite book| url=https://archive.org/details/ldpd_8661431_000/page/n1/mode/2up | title=A Malayalam and English Dictionary | publisher= C. Stolz ; Trübner & Co. ; Missionhaus. | year=1872 | last1=Hermann | first1= Gundert}}</ref>
-In [[History of Kerala|medieval Kerala]], all of the kings belonged to extensions of the Samanthan and Kiryathil Nair castes, including the [[Zamorin]]s of [[Calicut]] who were from the [[Eradi]] subgroup of the [[Samantan|Samantan Nair]] subcaste, the Kollengode and Sekharivarma Rajas of [[Palakkad]] who were from the Samantan [[Menon (subcaste)|Menon]] subcaste, the kings of [[Travancore]], including [[Marthanda Varma]], who were from the Samantan Nair subcaste, as well as the Koratty [[Kaimal]]s and Kodassery [[Kartha]]s of the [[Kingdom of Cochin|Cochin royal family]] who were from the Kiryathil Nair subcaste.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://archive.org/details/TheZamorinsOfCalicut/page/n3/mode/1up?view=theater | title=The Zamorins of Calicut: From The Earliest Times Down to A.D 1806 | first1=Ayyar | last1=K.V. Krishna | year=1938 | publisher= Norman Printing Bureau, Calicut}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/1_20200409_20200409_1359 | title=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) | first1=Muttayil Govindamenon Sankara | last1=Narayanan | date= January 1996 | publisher=Current Books Thrissur | isbn=8193368320}}</ref> 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."<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kvYyEAAAQBAJ&dq=Kerala%20A%20Journey%20in%20Time%20Part%20II%3A%20Kingdom%20Of%20Cochin%20%26%20Thekamkoor%20Rajyam&pg=PT29 | title=Kerala, A Journey in Time Part II: Kingdom of Cochin & Thekamkoor Rajyam; People Places and Potpourri | isbn=9781638735144 | last1=Pottamkulam | first1=George Abraham | date=11 June 2021 | publisher=Notion Press}}</ref>
+In [[History of Kerala|medieval Kerala]], most of the kings belonged to extensions of the Samanthan and Kiryathil Nair castes, including the [[Zamorin]]s of [[Calicut]] who were from the [[Eradi]] subgroup of the [[Samantan|Samantan Nair]] subcaste. The Koratty [[Kaimal]]s and Kodassery [[Kartha]]s under the [[Kingdom of Cochin|Perumpadappu swaroopam]] who were also from the Kiryathil Nair subcaste.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://archive.org/details/TheZamorinsOfCalicut/page/n3/mode/1up?view=theater | title=The Zamorins of Calicut: From The Earliest Times Down to A.D 1806 | first1=Ayyar | last1=K.V. Krishna | year=1938 | publisher= Norman Printing Bureau, Calicut}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/1_20200409_20200409_1359 | title=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) | first1=Muttayil Govindamenon Sankara | last1=Narayanan | date= January 1996 | publisher=Current Books Thrissur | isbn=8193368320}}</ref> 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 [[Nair|Nairs]]."<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kvYyEAAAQBAJ&dq=Kerala%20A%20Journey%20in%20Time%20Part%20II%3A%20Kingdom%20Of%20Cochin%20%26%20Thekamkoor%20Rajyam&pg=PT29 | title=Kerala, A Journey in Time Part II: Kingdom of Cochin & Thekamkoor Rajyam; People Places and Potpourri | isbn=9781638735144 | last1=Pottamkulam | first1=George Abraham | date=11 June 2021 | publisher=Notion Press}}</ref>
-[[File:Zamorin of Calicut (1868-1892).jpg|thumb|right|The lineage of the [[Zamorin]]s of [[Calicut]] was that of the [[Samantan|Samantan Nairs]] whose ancestors performed the [[Śrauta]] [[Hiranyagarbha (donation)|''Hiranyagarbha'']] ritual to achieve a higher status that empowered them to rule over the [[Brahmin]]s. The Kiryathil Nairs were one of the constituent members of the Samantan community.]]
+[[File:Zamorin of Calicut (1868-1892).jpg|thumb|right|The lineage of the [[Zamorin]]s of [[Calicut]] was that of the [[Samantan|Samantan Nairs]] whose ancestors performed the [[Śrauta]] [[Hiranyagarbha (donation)|Hiranyagarbha]] ritual to achieve a higher status that empowered them to rule over the [[Brahmin]]s. The Kiryathil Nairs were one of the constituent members of the Samantan community.]]
-The Kiryathil Nairs were the original descendants of the [[Nāga]]s who, according to the legendary [[Brahmin|Brahmanical]] text ''[[Keralolpathi]]'', migrated to Kerala from the [[Indo-Gangetic Plain|North]] as [[snake worship|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.<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.213414/page/n5/mode/2up | title=Anthropology: Nayars of Malabar | last1=Fawcett |first1= Fred | year=1915| journal=Madras Government Museum Bulletin, Vol. III. No. 3. | publisher=Gyan Publishing House}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.sayahna.org/ml/pdf/keralolpathi.pdf |title=The Keralolpathi (കേരളോല്പത്തി)|website=Books.sayahna.org|access-date=19 July 2022}}</ref> In the words of the British anthropologist [[Edgar Thurston]] [[Order of the Indian Empire|CIE]], "The original Nairs were undoubtedly a military body, holding lands and serving as a militia."<ref>{{cite book | url=https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/42991 | title=Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Vol. 1 of 7| last1=Thurston | first1=Edgar| year=1909| publisher=Gutenberg Publications | isbn=978-1113560315}}</ref> The Kiryathils, as a result of their royal and warrior lineages, claim descendance from the mythical [[Nagavanshi]] [[Kshatriya]] dynasty.<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2843423 | jstor=2843423 | title=Some Aspects of Nayar Life | last1=Panikkar | first1=Kavalam M. | journal=The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland | year=1918 | volume=48 | pages=254–293 | doi=10.2307/2843423 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gAiBAAAAMAAJ&q=kinship+systems+in+South+and+Southeast+Asia:+A+Study | title=Kinship Systems in South and Southeast Asia: A Study | isbn=9780706976687 | last1=Unny | first1=Govindan | publisher=Vikas Publishing House | year=1994 }}</ref>
+The Kiryathil Nairs were the original descendants of the [[Nāga]]s who, according to the  text ''[[Keralolpathi]]'' and many other old texts, they are [[Nagavanshi|Nagavanshi Kshatriyas]] migrated to Kerala from the [[Indo-Gangetic Plain|North]] as [[snake worship|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.<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.213414/page/n5/mode/2up | title=Anthropology: Nayars of Malabar | last1=Fawcett |first1= Fred | year=1915| journal=Madras Government Museum Bulletin |volume=3 |issue=3 | publisher=Gyan Publishing House}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.sayahna.org/ml/pdf/keralolpathi.pdf |title=The Keralolpathi (കേരളോല്പത്തി)|website=Books.sayahna.org|access-date=19 July 2022}}</ref> In the words of the British anthropologist [[Edgar Thurston]] [[Order of the Indian Empire|CIE]], "The original Nairs were undoubtedly a military body, holding lands and serving as a militia."<ref>{{cite book | url=https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/42991 | title=Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Vol. 1 of 7| last1=Thurston | first1=Edgar| year=1909| publisher=Gutenberg Publications | isbn=978-1113560315}}</ref> The Kiryathils, due to their ruling and martial exploits, claim descendance from the mythical [[Nagavanshi|Nagavanshi Kshatriya]] dynasty.<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2843423 | jstor=2843423 | title=Some Aspects of Nayar Life | last1=Panikkar | first1=Kavalam M. | journal=The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland | year=1918 | volume=48 | pages=254–293 | doi=10.2307/2843423 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gAiBAAAAMAAJ&q=kinship+systems+in+South+and+Southeast+Asia:+A+Study | title=Kinship Systems in South and Southeast Asia: A Study | isbn=9780706976687 | last1=Unny | first1=Govindan | publisher=Vikas Publishing House | year=1994 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | first1=Kavalam Madhava | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dCkLAQAAIAAJ | last1=Panikkar | date=1960 | publisher=Annamalai University, Tamil Nadu | title=A History of Kerala, 1498-1801 |isbn=978-8194918837}}</ref>
 ==Etymology==
-The term "Kiryathil" is derived from the [[Malayalam]] word ''Kirīṭaṁ'' (കിരീടം), meaning "crown". Therefore, the literal meaning of Kiryathil Nair is "The Crowned Nair."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.sayahna.org/ml/pdf/keralolpathi.pdf|title=The Keralolpathi (കേരളോല്പത്തി)|website=Books.sayahna.org|access-date=15 July 2022}}</ref> Together with [[Nair|Illathu Nair]]s and [[Swaroopathil Nair]]s, they form the top tier of the Nair hierarchy. Unlike the other two, however, who were required to serve in the households of [[Nambudiri|Namboodiri]]s and [[Kshatriyas]] respectively, Kiryathils had no such obligations and were recognized as independent feudal lords.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.56741/page/n329/mode/2up?q=kiriyam | title=Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Vol. 5 of 7 | year=1909| last1=Thurston | first1=Edgar | publisher=Gutenberg Publications | isbn=978-1113560315}}</ref> As such, the Swaroopathi‎l Nairs, who were traditionally employed as soldiers in the armies of regional kings, formed the bulk of the military controlled by Kiryathil overlords, who themselves reported directly to the [[Zamorin]], the hereditary Nair king of [[Calicut]].<ref>{{ Cite journal |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/theatre-survey/article/abs/caste-as-performance-ayyankali-and-the-caste-scripts-of-colonial-kerala/5F486EE550D6E1EE343D68059B7F1A4D | title=Caste as Performance: Ayyankali and the Caste Scripts of Colonial Kerala | last1=Narayan | first1=Vivek | journal=Theatre Survey | date=August 2021 | volume=62 | issue=3 | pages=272–294 | publisher=Cambridge University Press| doi=10.1017/S004055742100020X | s2cid=237271020 }}</ref> Additionally, Kiryathils were also the only Nair division whose members were allowed to wear bracelets on both arms (a symbol of aristocracy), and they are therefore considered superior to both the Illathu and Swaroopathil subcastes.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://printing.kerala.gov.in/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Travancore-State-Manual-1906.pdf | title=The Travancore State Manual| last1=Aiya | first1=Nigam| year=1906 | isbn=9781977068392 }}</ref>
+The term "Kiryathil" is derived from the [[Malayalam]] word ''Kirīṭaṁ'' (കിരീടം), meaning "crown". Therefore, the literal meaning of Kiryathil Nair is "The Crowned Nair."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.sayahna.org/ml/pdf/keralolpathi.pdf|title=The Keralolpathi (കേരളോല്പത്തി)|website=Books.sayahna.org|access-date=15 July 2022}}</ref> Together with [[Nair|Illathu Nair]]s and [[Swaroopathil Nair]]s, they form the top tier of the Nair hierarchy in [[Malabar District]]. Unlike the other two, however, who were required to serve in the households of Kings in the form of accounts respectively, Kiryathils had no such obligations and were recognized as independent [[feudal lords]].<ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.56741/page/n329/mode/2up?q=kiriyam | title=Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Vol. 5 of 7 | year=1909| last1=Thurston | first1=Edgar | publisher=Gutenberg Publications | isbn=978-1113560315}}</ref> As such, the Swaroopathil Nairs, who were traditionally employed as soldiers in the armies of regional kings, formed the bulk of the military controlled by Kiryathil overlords, who themselves reported directly to the [[Zamorin]], the king of [[Calicut]].<ref>{{ Cite journal |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/theatre-survey/article/abs/caste-as-performance-ayyankali-and-the-caste-scripts-of-colonial-kerala/5F486EE550D6E1EE343D68059B7F1A4D | title=Caste as Performance: Ayyankali and the Caste Scripts of Colonial Kerala | last1=Narayan | first1=Vivek | journal=Theatre Survey | date=August 2021 | volume=62 | issue=3 | pages=272–294 | publisher=Cambridge University Press| doi=10.1017/S004055742100020X | s2cid=237271020 }}</ref>  Additionally, Kiryathils were also the only Nair division whose members were allowed to wear bracelets on both arms (a symbol of [[aristocracy]]). In ancient times, the land was divided into Naadus and Desams, each governed by rulers known as [[Naduvazhi|Naaduvazhi]] and [[Desavazhi]], respectively, often belonging to the [[Nair|Samanthan Nair]] and Kiriyath Nair lineage in [[Malabar District]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://printing.kerala.gov.in/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Travancore-State-Manual-1906.pdf | title=The Travancore State Manual| last1=Aiya | first1=Nigam| year=1906 | isbn=9781977068392 }}</ref><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":0" />
-[[File:The King of Cochin riding on an Elephant, attended by his Nairs.jpg|thumb|The [[Kingdom of Cochin|King of Cochin]] riding his war elephant, surrounded by soldiers. The [[Kaimal]]s and [[Kartha]]s were the two major feudal houses within the Cochin royal family, with the king being elevated to the rank of [[Samantha Kshatriya]] by performing the [[Śrauta]] [[Hiranyagarbha (donation)|''Hiranyagarbha'']] ritual every 8 years. The soldiers, on the other hand, were from the [[Swaroopathil Nair]] caste.]]
+[[File:The King of Cochin riding on an Elephant, attended by his Nairs.jpg|thumb|The [[Kingdom of Cochin|King of Cochin]] riding his war elephant, surrounded by soldiers. The [[Kaimal]]s and [[Kartha]]s were the two major feudal houses within the Cochin royal family, with the king being elevated to the rank of [[Samantha Kshatriya]] by performing the [[Śrauta]] [[Hiranyagarbha (donation)|Hiranyagarbha]] ritual every 8 years. The soldiers, on the other hand, were from the [[Swaroopathil Nair]] caste.]]
-[[File:Vasco Da Gama welcomed by the Zamorin.jpg|thumb|[[Vasco Da Gama]] being welcomed by the Samoothiri of Calicut, in the year 1498.]]
+[[File:Vasco Da Gama welcomed by the Zamorin.jpg|thumb|[[Vasco Da Gama]] being welcomed by the [[Zamorin|Samoothiri of Calicut]], in the year 1498]]
+==Military heritage==
-==Relation with Namboodiri Brahmins==
-Some families among the Kiryathil Nairs trace their ancestral roots to Namboodiri Brahmin households due to the earlier prevalence of the marriage tradition known as [[Sambandam]], which was practiced between the Namboodiri, Samantha Kshatriya, Nair and Ambalavasi castes.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yQM4AAAAIAAJ&q=sambandham+custom+of+kshatriyas+in+kerala&pg=PA116 | title=The Nayars Today | year=1976 | last1= Fuller | first1= Christopher John | publisher=Cambridge University Press| isbn=9780521213011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.academia.edu/927015 | title=Namboodiri Brahmins of Kerala | year=1966 | last1= Mencher | first1= Joan | journal=Journal of Asian and African Studies | publisher=Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland}}</ref> These families belong to aristocratic [[tharavad]]s known as [[Illam]]s, which were [[ancestral homes]] associated with prestige, power and wealth in [[History of Kerala|medieval Kerala]].<ref>{{cite journal| url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/335972838 | title=Narrating Middle-Class Houses Across Indian History: Memory, Gender and Material Culture| first1=Ester | last1=Galo | journal=The Fall of Gods: Memory, Kinship and Middle Classes in South India | year = 2019 | publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref>
+<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yQM4AAAAIAAJ&q=sambandham+custom+of+kshatriyas+in+kerala&pg=PA116 | title=The Nayars Today | year=1976 | last1= Fuller | first1= Christopher John | publisher=Cambridge University Press| isbn=9780521213011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.academia.edu/927015 | title=Namboodiri Brahmins of Kerala | year=1966 | last1= Mencher | first1= Joan | journal=Journal of Asian and African Studies | publisher=Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland}}</ref> These Nair families belong to or connected to the aristocratic [[tharavad]]s, which were [[ancestral homes]] associated with prestige, power and wealth in [[History of Kerala|medieval Kerala]].<ref>{{cite journal| url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/335972838 | title=Narrating Middle-Class Houses Across Indian History: Memory, Gender and Material Culture| first1=Ester | last1=Galo | journal=The Fall of Gods: Memory, Kinship and Middle Classes in South India | year = 2019 | publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref>
-[[File:Military classess.jpg|thumb|right|The [[British Raj]] Census of 1893 listed the [[Nairs]] as a dwindling [[Kshatriya]] caste, following their [[Captivity of Nairs at Seringapatam|subjugation]] by [[Tipu Sultan]]. The population of other warrior castes such as the [[Rajput|Rajputs]] and the [[Maratha Empire|Marathas]] remained high.]]
+[[File:Military classess.jpg|thumb|right|The [[British Raj]] census of 1893 noted the [[Nair|Nairs]] as a declining [[Kshatriya]] caste, attributing it in part to their subjugation by Tipu Sultan. Additionally, the integration of the [[Nair Brigade|Travancore Nair army]] into the [[Indian Army|Indian army]] influenced their demographic trends. In contrast, warrior castes like the [[Rajput|Rajputs]] and [[Marathas]] maintained substantial populations during this period.]]
-[[File:Martial Race.jpg|thumb|right|Another census released later in 1893 by the [[British Raj]] placed emphasis on the "Nairs of Malabar" grouping, which directly corresponded to the Kiryathil Nairs. Once again, they are listed as belonging to the military caste.  ]]
+[[File:Martial Race.jpg|thumb|right|The subsequent census of 1893 by the British Raj highlighted the "[[Nair|Nairs]] of [[Malabar Coast|Malabar]]" grouping, specifically referring to the Nairs of Malabar Coast ([[Kerala]]), categorizing them within the military caste. This classification aligns with the involvement of the [[Nair Brigade|Travancore Nair]] army in [[Indian Army|Indian army]], which further shaped the representation of the Nair community within the military hierarchy during that period.]]
 ==Relation with Samantha Kshatriyas==
-The caste boundary between Kiryathil Nair and [[Samantha Kshatriya]] is very minor and therefore many families among the Kiryathils, over the course of time, became recognised as Samanthan and vice versa. As anthropologist [[Chris Fuller (academic)|Christopher Fuller]] notes, all Kshatriyas of Kerala are "super-eminent Nairs."<ref name="C.Fuller">{{cite journal |last=Fuller |first=Christopher J. |date=1975 |title=The Internal Structure of the Nayar Caste |journal=Journal of Anthropological Research |volume=31 |issue=4 |pages=283–312 |doi=10.1086/jar.31.4.3629883 |jstor=3629883|s2cid=163592798 }}</ref> The Kiryathils served as regional rulers, lords and military chieftains for various kings of Kerala, including the [[Zamorin]], and owned vast amounts of lands and raised soldiers.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.nairs.in/classifications.htm | title=Classifications of the Nair Community |website=Nairs.in}}</ref>
+The caste boundary between Kiryathil Nair and [[Samantha Kshatriya]] is very minor and therefore many families among the Kiryathils, over the course of time, became recognised as Samanthan and vice versa. As anthropologist [[Chris Fuller (academic)|Christopher Fuller]] notes, all Kshatriyas of Kerala are "super-eminent Nairs."<ref name="C.Fuller">{{cite journal |last=Fuller |first=Christopher J. |date=1975 |title=The Internal Structure of the Nayar Caste |journal=Journal of Anthropological Research |volume=31 |issue=4 |pages=283–312 |doi=10.1086/jar.31.4.3629883 |jstor=3629883|s2cid=163592798 }}</ref> The Kiriyathil Nairs
+served as regional rulers, lords and military chieftains for various kingdom's of Kerala, including the [[Zamorin]], and owned vast amounts of lands and raised soldiers.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.nairs.in/classifications.htm | title=Classifications of the Nair Community |website=Nairs.in}}</ref>
-The title of "[[Kaimal]]" (from the Malayalam word ''Kai'' - "കൈ", meaning "hand" - signifying power and authority) was awarded by the monarchs of Kerala to certain Samanthan and Kiryathil  families who were exceedingly influential, and the Kaimals were one of the highest caste of any Hindu castes in South India.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ro8SLhyAc9AC&pg=PR8 | title=The Dutch Power in Kerala, 1729-1758 | isbn=9788170991366 | last1=Koshy | first1=M. O. | year=1989 | publisher=Mittal Publications, New Delhi}}</ref>
+The title of "[[Kaimal]]" (from the Malayalam word ''Kai'' - "കൈ," meaning "hand" - signifying power and authority) was awarded by the monarchs of Kerala to affluent Samantha Nair and also some Kiriyath Nair families who were exceedingly influential, and the Kaimals were one of the highest caste of Hindu caste in South India.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ro8SLhyAc9AC&pg=PR8 | title=The Dutch Power in Kerala, 1729-1758 | isbn=9788170991366 | last1=Koshy | first1=M. O. | year=1989 | publisher=Mittal Publications, New Delhi}}</ref>
-==Branching of Power==
+The title of "[[Kartha]]" (from the Malayalam word ''Karthavu'' - "കർത്താവ്", meaning "lord" - signifying command and dominance) was awarded to notable Nair families who had relations with the ruling class.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Fuller|first=Christopher John|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yQM4AAAAIAAJ&q=zamorin|title=The Nayars Today |date=December 1976|publisher=Cambridge University Press| journal=Changing Culture Series| isbn=978-0-521-29091-3|language=en}}</ref> While the Karthas were generally considered to be lower than the Kaimals in terms of seniority, both of them jointly formed the two major [[Aristocracy|Aristocratic]] [[Royal family|lineages]] of the [[Kingdom of Cochin|Cochin royal family]].<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.211241/page/n441/mode/2up?q=kaimal&view=theater | title=History of Kerala | volume=2 | last1=Menon K. P | first1=Padmanabha | date=1929 | journal= Digital Library of India | publisher=Cochin Government Press, Ernakulam}}</ref>
-The Kiryathil Nairs, due to their significance in being the direct descendants of the [[Nagavanshi]] clans who migrated to southern India, formed the "original" rank from which the two most powerful royal houses of Kerala stemmed from:<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://ignca.gov.in/Asi_data/3379.pdf | title=The Zamorins of Calicut: From the Earliest Times Down to A.D. 1806 | journal=Central Archaeological Library, Department of Archaeology, Government of India | last1=K.V | first1=Krishna Iyer | year=1938 | publisher=Norman Printing Bureau, Calicut}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | url=https://printing.kerala.gov.in/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Cochin-State-Manual-1911.pdf | title=The Cochin State Manual | journal=Central Archaeological Library, Department of Archaeology, Government of India | last1=Menon | first1=Achyuta | year=1911 | publisher=Cochin Government Press, Ernakulam}}</ref>
+==Branching of power==
+The Kiryathil Nairs, due to their significance in being the direct descendants of the [[Nagavanshi|Nagavanshi Kshatriya]] clan who migrated to southern India, formed the "original" rank from which the two most powerful royal houses of Kerala stemmed from:<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://ignca.gov.in/Asi_data/3379.pdf | title=The Zamorins of Calicut: From the Earliest Times Down to A.D. 1806 | journal=Central Archaeological Library, Department of Archaeology, Government of India | last1=K.V | first1=Krishna Iyer | year=1938 | publisher=Norman Printing Bureau, Calicut}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | url=https://printing.kerala.gov.in/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Cochin-State-Manual-1911.pdf | title=The Cochin State Manual | journal=Central Archaeological Library, Department of Archaeology, Government of India | last1=Menon | first1=Achyuta | year=1911 | publisher=Cochin Government Press, Ernakulam}}</ref>
-a) The '''Zamorins''', who were originally Kiryathil Nairs whose ancestors performed the ''Hiranyagarbha'' ceremony to elevate them to the rank of '''Samantan Nairs'''. They eventually became the '''kings of Calicut''', beginning around 1124 AD.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Decline of Nayar Dominance: Society and Politics in Travancore, 1847–1908 |url=https://archive.org/details/declineofnayardo0000jeff |first=Robin |last=Jeffrey |authorlink=Robin Jeffrey |year=1976|publisher=Sussex University Press |isbn=0-85621-054-4}}</ref>
+a) The '''Zamorins''', who were originally Kiryathil Nairs whose ancestors performed the ''Hiranyagarbha'' ceremony to elevate them to the rank of '''Samantan Nairs'''. They eventually became the '''kings of Calicut''', beginning around 1124 AD.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Decline of Nayar Dominance: Society and Politics in Travancore, 1847–1908 |url=https://archive.org/details/declineofnayardo0000jeff |first=Robin |last=Jeffrey |author-link=Robin Jeffrey |year=1976|publisher=Sussex University Press |isbn=0-85621-054-4}}</ref>
 Kiryathil Nair ⟶ ''Hiranyagarbha'' ritual ⟶ Samantan Nairs ⟶ The Zamorin (Kings of Calicut, circa. 1124 AD)
 b) The '''Cochin Rajas''', who were originally Kiryathil Nairs whose ancestors performed the ''Hiranyagarbha'' ceremony to elevate them to the rank of '''Samantha Kshatriyas'''. They eventually became the '''kings of Cochin''', beginning around 1100 AD.<ref name="fuller">{{Cite journal|last=Fuller|first=Christopher J. |author-link=Chris Fuller (academic)|date=December 1975|title=The Internal Structure of the Nayar Caste |jstor=3629883 |journal=Journal of Anthropological Research |volume=31 |issue=4 |pages=283–312 | publisher=The University of Chicago Press |doi=10.1086/jar.31.4.3629883 |s2cid=163592798 |issn=0091-7710}}</ref>
 Kiryathil Nair ⟶ ''Hiranyagarbha'' ritual ⟶ Samantha Kshatriyas ⟶ The Cochin Raja (Kings of Cochin, circa. 1100 AD)
 Incidentally, the Zamorins of Calicut and the Rajas of Cochin were engaged in a feudal struggle with each other, culminating in a series of military conflicts.<ref>{{cite book | title=The Portuguese in India: A.D. 1571-1894 |first=Danvers |last=Frederick Charles |date=August 2017|publisher=Andesite Press |isbn=978-1375782197}}</ref> Notable battles include the [[Battle of Cochin (1504)]], which saw the Kingdom of Calicut suffer a devastating defeat at the hands of their Cochin opponents, who were assisted by the [[Portuguese Empire]].<ref>Danvers (1894: p.&nbsp;114). Osório (p.&nbsp;313) says 19,000, Góis (p.&nbsp;123) says 18,000 (with breakdown) and Correia (p.&nbsp;489) says 20,000.</ref>
-==Military Conquests==
+==Military conquests==
-Among the numerous military conquests carried out by the Samantan and Kiryathil Nairs, the most significant was their victory against [[Tipu Sultan]], the de facto Muslim ruler of [[Kingdom of Mysore|Mysore]].<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.amazon.in/Battle-Honorable-East-India-Company/dp/813130034X | last=Naravane| first=M. S.|year=April 2007|title=Battles of the Honourable East India Company: Making of the Raj |location=New Delhi| publisher=A.P.H Publishing Corporation |isbn=978-81-313-0034-3}}</ref> Tipu Sultan, along with his predecessor [[Hyder Ali]], was aware of the caste pride that Nairs held, as well as their strict adherence to the [[Hinduism|Hindu]] faith and military excellence on the battlefield.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://library.staloysius.edu.in/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=223805 | last=Fernandes| first=Praxy|year=1969|title=Storm Over Seringapatam: The Incredible Story of Hyder Ali and Tippu Sultan| publisher=Thacker and Co Ltd, Mumbai}}</ref> He therefore deprived them of their caste status, and prohibited them from carrying arms and outlawed them.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://library.staloysius.edu.in/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=223805 | last=Fernandes| first=Praxy|year=1969|title=Storm Over Seringapatam: The Incredible Story of Hyder Ali and Tippu Sultan| page=38 | publisher=Thacker and Co Ltd, Mumbai}}</ref> When this failed to break their martial spirit, starting in 1786 AD, Tipu Sultan began the forceful conversion of Nairs into [[Sunni Islam]], and when they resisted and refused, he tortured, humiliated and killed most of the Nair warriors.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uX4fEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA8|title=Noncooperation in India: Nonviolent Strategy and Protest, 1920-22|isbn=978-0-19-758056-1|last1=Hardiman|first1=David|date=March 2021 | publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | url=https://library.staloysius.edu.in/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=223805 | last=Fernandes| first=Praxy|year=1969|title=Storm Over Seringapatam: The Incredible Story of Hyder Ali and Tippu Sultan | page=120 | publisher=Thacker and Co Ltd, Mumbai}}</ref>
+Among the numerous military conquests carried out by the Samantan and Kiryathil Nairs, the most significant was their victory against [[Tipu Sultan]], the de facto Muslim ruler of [[Kingdom of Mysore|Mysore]].<ref>{{Cite book | last=Naravane| first=M. S.|date=April 2007|title=Battles of the Honourable East India Company: Making of the Raj | publisher=A.P.H Publishing Corporation, New Delhi |isbn=978-81-313-0034-3}}</ref> Tipu Sultan, along with his predecessor [[Hyder Ali]], was aware of the caste pride that Nairs held, as well as their strict adherence to the [[Hinduism|Hindu]] faith and military excellence on the battlefield.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://library.staloysius.edu.in/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=223805 | last=Fernandes| first=Praxy|year=1969|title=Storm Over Seringapatam: The Incredible Story of Hyder Ali and Tippu Sultan| publisher=Thacker and Co Ltd, Mumbai}}</ref> He therefore deprived them of their caste status, and prohibited them from carrying arms and outlawed them.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://library.staloysius.edu.in/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=223805 | last=Fernandes| first=Praxy|year=1969|title=Storm Over Seringapatam: The Incredible Story of Hyder Ali and Tippu Sultan| page=38 | publisher=Thacker and Co Ltd, Mumbai}}</ref> When this failed to break their martial spirit, starting in 1786 AD, Tipu Sultan began the forceful conversion of Nairs into [[Sunni Islam]], and when they resisted and refused, he tortured, humiliated and killed most of the Nair warriors.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uX4fEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA8|title=Noncooperation in India: Nonviolent Strategy and Protest, 1920-22|isbn=978-0-19-758056-1|last1=Hardiman|first1=David|date=March 2021 | publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | url=https://library.staloysius.edu.in/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=223805 | last=Fernandes| first=Praxy|year=1969|title=Storm Over Seringapatam: The Incredible Story of Hyder Ali and Tippu Sultan | page=120 | publisher=Thacker and Co Ltd, Mumbai}}</ref>
-Historical records show that out of the 30,000 Nair warriors who were captured alive by him, only about a hundred or so survived.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/sarasvatis-children-a-history-of-the-mangalorean-christians/oclc/47965430 | last=Prabhu| first=Alan Machado |year=1999|title=Sarasvati's Children: A History of the Mangalorean Christians | publisher=I.J.A. Publications, Bangalore}}</ref> The Samantans and Kiryathils vowed vengeance, and marshalled the Malayali soldiers. The Samantan Nair warrior-prince [[Ravi Varma of Padinjare Kovilakam|Ravi Varma Raja]] defeated Tipu Sultan in November 1788,<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://books.google.co.in/books/about/Kerala_District_Gazetteers_Ernakulam.html?id=BsO1AAAAIAAJ&redir_esc=y | last=Sreedhara Menon| first=A.|year=1962|title=Kerala District Gazetteers: Kozhikode | journal=Superintendent of Government Presses | publisher=Department of Education, Government of Kerala, India.}}</ref> while the King of Travancore [[Dharma Raja|Dharma Raja Rama Varma]] sent the [[Nair Brigade|Travancore Nair Brigade]], under the command of [[Raja Kesavadas]], to defeat Tipu Sultan again during the [[Battle of Nedumkotta]] in early 1790.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.amazon.in/History-Travancore-Earliest-Times/dp/1165280639 | last=Shungoonny Menon | first=P.|year=2010|title=History of Travancore: From The Earliest Times (1878) | publisher=Kessinger Publishing, Montana, USA | isbn=978-1165280636}}</ref> The Nairs were helped by the [[Maratha Empire]] and the [[Sikh Empire]], all three of whom united to destroy the armies of the Muslim ruler and finally rescue the surviving Nairs by March 1792.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://books.google.co.in/books?id=uMhLAAAAYAAJ&redir_esc=y | last1=MacFarlane| first1=Charles | last2=Lillie Craik | first2=George | year=1847|title=Pictorial History of England: Being a History of the People, as Well as a History of the Kingdom | journal=6 | publisher=Charles Knight, Ludgate Street, Great Britain}}</ref>
+Historical records show that out of the 30,000 Nair warriors who were captured alive by him, only about a hundred or so survived.<ref>{{Cite book | url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/47965430 | last=Prabhu| first=Alan Machado |year=1999|title=Sarasvati's Children: A History of the Mangalorean Christians | publisher=I.J.A. Publications, Bangalore| oclc=47965430}}</ref> The Samantans and Kiryathils vowed vengeance, and marshalled the Malayali soldiers. The Samantan Nair warrior-prince [[Ravi Varma of Padinjare Kovilakam|Ravi Varma Raja]] defeated Tipu Sultan in November 1788,<ref>{{Cite journal | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BsO1AAAAIAAJ | last=Sreedhara Menon| first=A.|year=1962|title=Kerala District Gazetteers: Kozhikode | journal=Superintendent of Government Presses | publisher=Department of Education, Government of Kerala, India.}}</ref> while the King of Travancore [[Dharma Raja|Dharma Raja Rama Varma]] sent the [[Nair Brigade|Travancore Nair Brigade]], under the command of [[Raja Kesavadas]], to defeat Tipu Sultan again during the [[Battle of Nedumkotta]] in early 1790.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book | last=Shungoonny Menon | first=P.|year=2010|title=History of Travancore: From The Earliest Times (1878) | publisher=Kessinger Publishing, Montana, USA | isbn=978-1165280636}}</ref> The Nairs were helped by the [[Maratha Empire]] and the [[Sikh Empire]], all three of whom united to destroy the armies of the Muslim ruler and finally rescue the surviving Nairs by March 1792.<ref>{{Cite journal | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uMhLAAAAYAAJ | last1=MacFarlane| first1=Charles | last2=Lillie Craik | first2=George | year=1847|title=Pictorial History of England: Being a History of the People, as Well as a History of the Kingdom | journal=6 | publisher=Charles Knight Publishers, Great Britain.}}</ref>
+==Varna classification==
-==Social Status==
+Historically, despite the absence of the usual 4-tier [[Varna (Hinduism)|Varṇa]] classification in [[South India]], the Kiriyathil Nair along with Samanthan Nair, Illathu Nair and Swaroopathil Nairs were objectively considered as kshatriyas,<ref>{{Cite book|title=Homo Hierarchicus: The Caste System and Its Implications|last=Dumont|first=Louis|date=1980|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=9780226169637|language=en}}</ref> having functions like ruling, administrative, military and social requirements and duties that are associated with warrior aristocracy,<ref>{{cite book|title= The Cambridge Economic History of India, c.1200-c.1750 |first1= Dharma |last1=Kumar | first2=Meghnad | last2=Desai |publisher= Cambridge University Press |year=1982 |isbn=9780521226929 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L-s8AAAAIAAJ}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=Toward a Model of the Hindu Jajmani System | url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44124164 |first=Pauline Mahar |last=Kolenda |journal=Human Organization: Contours of Culture Change in South Asia |volume=22 |issue=1 |year=1963 | pages=11–31 | publisher=Society for Applied Anthropology | jstor=44124164}}</ref> as given in the ''[[Manusmriti]]'', the legendary legal text of Hinduism.<ref>{{cite book |last=Jha |first=Ganganath |title=Manusmṛti with the Manubhāṣya of Medhātithi |url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/manusmriti-with-the-commentary-of-medhatithi |year=1920 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publishers |isbn=81-208-1155-0}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last= Olivelle |first=Patrick| url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/hinduism-and-law/dharmasastra/3A6FC1A15E12CEF1D18B5BA1E5437931 | chapter = Dharmasastra: A Literary History| title =Law and Hinduism: An Introduction| editor=Lubin, Timothy |editor2=Krishnan, Jayanth |editor3=Davis, Jr. Donald R. | publisher = Cambridge University Press| year= 2010| isbn=9780521716260}}</ref>
+==Social status==
 While some Kiryathil Nair families were regional rulers who functioned as [[vassal]] kings to the [[Zamorin]]s, most were independent aristocratic feudal lords and controlled groups of soldiers known as ''Charnavar'' under their command. These soldiers usually belonged to the [[Swaroopathil Nair|Purattu Charna Nair]] subcaste.<ref name="K.Gough">[[Kathleen Gough|Gough, E. Kathleen]] (1961). "Nayars: Central Kerala". In Schneider, David Murray; Gough, E. Kathleen. Matrilineal Kinship. University of California Press. {{ISBN|978-0-520-02529-5}}. Retrieved 2011-06-09.</ref>
@@ Line 76: / Line 80: @@
 Currently, the Kiryathils constitute less than 4% of the total Nair population.<ref>{{cite book |title=Dynamics of Migration in Kerala: Dimensions, Differentials, and Consequences |first1=Kunniparampil Curien |last1=Zachariah |first2=Elangikal Thomas |last2=Mathew |first3=Sebastian Irudaya |last3=Rajan |publisher=Orient Longman, Hyderabad |isbn=978-81-250-2504-7 |year=2003 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D497alRZPcoC}}</ref>
-==Caste Inheritance==
+==Caste inheritance==
-Until the early 20th century, almost all Nair families, irrespective of their social standings, followed a matrilineal system of inheritance.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ENC-DAAAQBAJ | title=Politics, Women and Wellbeing: How Kerala became a 'Model' | first1=Robin | last1=Jeffrey | year=1992 | series=Cambridge Commonwealth Series | publisher=Palgrave Macmillan, London| isbn=978-0195656220}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | url=https://www.academia.edu/31004048 | title=Women and Marriage in Marumakkathayam | first1=Moothedath | last1=Mayadevi | journal=International Research Journal of Social Sciences | volume=4(10), 1-4 | date=October 2015 | publisher=International Science Congress Association, ISSN 2319–3565}}</ref> The children of a Nair couple would inherit the caste of their mother, while the property and lands that were owned by the family would be passed down through their daughters and sisters.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.rarebooksocietyofindia.org/book_archive/196174216674_10152113626716675.pdf | title=Malabar and its Folk | first1=T. K. Gopal | last1=Panikkar | year=1900 | publisher=G. A. Natesan & Co. Printers, Madras}}</ref> This form of matrilineal inheritance was known as ''[[Marumakkathayam]]'', and resulted in Nair families holding their women in high honor.<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40023536 | title=Legacies of Matriliny: The Place of Women and the "Kerala Model" | first1=Robin | last1=Jeffrey | journal=Pacific Affairs | volume=77 | date=October 2004 | issue=4 | pages=647–664 | publisher=University of British Columbia Press| jstor=40023536 }}</ref> However, the [[Government of Kerala]] passed "The Joint Family System (Abolition) Act" in 1975, which abolished this practice.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.indianemployees.com/acts-rules/details/kerala-joint-hindu-family-system-abolition-act-1975#:~:text=An%20Act%20to%20abolish%20the,in%20the%20State%20of%20Kerala.&text=(2)%20It%20extends%20to%20the,of%20the%20State%20of%20Kerala.&text=(4)%20an%20undivided%20Hindu%20family%20governed%20by%20the%20Mitakshara%20law. | title=Kerala Joint Hindu Family System (Abolition) Act, 1975| year=August 1976 | issue=30 | publisher=Government of Kerala, India.}}</ref>
+Until the early 20th century, almost all Nair families, irrespective of their social standings, followed a matrilineal system of inheritance.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ENC-DAAAQBAJ | title=Politics, Women and Wellbeing: How Kerala became a 'Model' | first1=Robin | last1=Jeffrey | year=1992 | series=Cambridge Commonwealth Series | publisher=Palgrave Macmillan, London| isbn=978-0195656220}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | url=https://www.academia.edu/31004048 | title=Women and Marriage in Marumakkathayam | first1=Moothedath | last1=Mayadevi | journal=International Research Journal of Social Sciences | volume=4(10), 1-4 | date=October 2015 | publisher=International Science Congress Association, ISSN 2319-3565}}</ref> The children of a Nair couple would inherit the caste of their mother, while the property and lands that were owned by the family would be passed down through their daughters and sisters.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.rarebooksocietyofindia.org/book_archive/196174216674_10152113626716675.pdf | title=Malabar and its Folk | first1=T. K. Gopal | last1=Panikkar | year=1900 | publisher=G. A. Natesan & Co. Printers, Madras}}</ref> This form of matrilineal inheritance was known as ''[[Marumakkathayam]]'', and resulted in Nair families holding their women in high honor.<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40023536 | title=Legacies of Matriliny: The Place of Women and the "Kerala Model" | first1=Robin | last1=Jeffrey | journal=Pacific Affairs | volume=77 | date=October 2004 | issue=4 | pages=647–664 | publisher=University of British Columbia Press| jstor=40023536 }}</ref> However, the [[Government of Kerala]] passed "The Joint Family System (Abolition) Act" in 1975, which abolished this practice.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.indianemployees.com/acts-rules/details/kerala-joint-hindu-family-system-abolition-act-1975#:~:text=An%20Act%20to%20abolish%20the,in%20the%20State%20of%20Kerala.&text=(2)%20It%20extends%20to%20the,of%20the%20State%20of%20Kerala.&text=(4)%20an%20undivided%20Hindu%20family%20governed%20by%20the%20Mitakshara%20law. | title=Kerala Joint Hindu Family System (Abolition) Act, 1975| date=August 1976 | issue=30 | publisher=Government of Kerala, India.}}</ref>
 Furthermore, the historic 1926 Travancore Nayar Act (signed by the Queen of [[Kingdom of Travancore|Travancore]] [[Sethu Lakshmi Bayi]]) greatly reduced the role of women in caste inheritance, and by late 1928, the matrilineal system of caste among Nairs was completely replaced by the patrilineal system that was followed by the rest of India.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/42864645 | title=The Family Organisation in the South-West of India | first1=J | last1=Puthenkalam | year=1966 | volume=15 | series=Sociological Bulletin | issue=2 | pages=1–26 | publisher=SAGE Publications, Inc.| jstor=42864645 }}</ref> For this reason, the vast majority of Nair families have switched to favoring the father's caste for his children, while only a few of them have kept the traditional method of favoring the mother's.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.dw.com/en/india-what-is-left-of-matrilineal-societies-in-kerala/a-60133613 | title=India: What is left of matrilineal societies in Kerala? &#124; DW &#124; 15.12.2021 | website=[[Deutsche Welle]] }}</ref>
 ==See also==
+*[[Nayanar (Nair subcaste)]]
-* [[Kaimal]]
 * [[Nambiar (Nair subcaste)]]
-* [[Nayanar (Nair Subcaste)]]
+* [[Achan (title)|Achan]]
+* [[Nair]]
-* [[Pillai (Kerala title)|Pillai]]
+* [[Kaimal]]
+*[[Samantha Kshatriya]]
+*[[Swaroopathil Nair]]
 ==References==