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Kiryathil Nair
Kiryathil Nair or Kiriyath Nair is a martial nobility caste belonging to the Kshatriya varṇa, which forms one of the highest-ranking subcastes of the Nair community along with the Samantha Kshatriyas with whom they share a close history. They constituted the ruling elites (''Naduvazhi'') and feudal aristocrats ('' Jenmimar'') in the regions of Malabar and Cochin in present-day Kerala, India, and have traditionally lived in ancestral homes known as ''Tharavads''. As the pinnacle of the Nair hierarchy, the Samanthan and Kiryathil Nairs were second only to the Namboodiri Brahmins in the social status system of Kerala, and outranked even the priestly Ambalavasis. In medieval Kerala, all 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 Kollengode and Sekharivarma Rajas of Palakkad who were from the Samantan Menon subcaste, the kings of Travancore ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nagavanshi
Nagavanshi ( IAST: Nāgavaṃśī) refers to any of the several Indian Kshatriya dynasties or ruling groups claiming descent from the mythical Nāgas. Along with Suryavanshi, Chandravanshi and Agnivanshi, the Nagavanshi clans form a part of the Kshatriya class in the Varna system of India. The notable members of this class include: * Nagvanshis of Chotanagpur, who ruled in Chota Nagpur, Jharkhand * Nagas of Padmavati, who ruled in Madhya Pradesh * Nagas of Vidisha, who ruled in Madhya Pradesh * Nagas of Vindhyatabi, ancient dynasty of Odisha * Nagas of Kalahandi, who ruled in Kalahandi, Odisha * Chindaka Naga, who ruled in Chhattisgarh and Odisha, and whose kingdom was called Chakrakot; also known as Chhindaka Nagas or Nagvanshis or Barsur * Alupas, ancient dynasty of Karnataka * Bunts, who ruled coastal Karnataka * Nair The Nair , also known as Nayar, are a group of Indian Hindu castes, described by anthropologist Kathleen Gough as "not a unitary group but a named ca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nobility
Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy (class), aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below Royal family, royalty. Nobility has often been an Estates of the realm, estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The characteristics associated with nobility may constitute substantial advantages over or relative to non-nobles or simply formal functions (e.g., Order of precedence, precedence), and vary by country and by era. Membership in the nobility, including rights and responsibilities, is typically Hereditary title, hereditary and Patrilinearity, patrilineal. Membership in the nobility has historically been granted by a monarch or government, and acquisition of sufficient power, wealth, ownerships, or royal favour has occasionally enabled commoners to ascend into the nobility. There are often a variety of ranks within the noble class. Legal recognition of nobility has been much more common in monarchies, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zamorin
The Samoothiri (Anglicised as Zamorin; Malayalam: , Arabic: ''Sāmuri'', Portuguese: ''Samorim'', Dutch: ''Samorijn'', Chinese: ''Shamitihsi''Ma Huan's Ying-yai Sheng-lan: 'The Overall Survey of the Ocean's Shores' 433 Translated and Edited by J. V. G. Mills. Cambridge University Press for the Hakluyt Society (1970).) was the hereditary Nair monarch and ruler of the Kingdom of Kozhikode (Calicut) in the South Malabar region of India. Calicut was one of the most important trading ports on the southwest coast of India. At the peak of their reign, they ruled over a region extending from Kozhikode Kollam (Kollam) to the borders of Panthalayini Kollam (Koyilandy).Varier, M. R. Raghava. "Documents of Investiture Ceremonies" in K. K. N. Kurup, Edit., "India's Naval Traditions". Northern Book Centre, New Delhi, 1997K. V. Krishna Iyer, ''Zamorins of Calicut: From the earliest times to AD 1806''. Calicut: Norman Printing Bureau, 1938. The Zamorins belonged to the Eradi caste of the Saman ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
History Of Kerala
The term ''Kerala'' was first epigraphically recorded as ''Keralaputra'' ( Cheras) in a 3rd-century BCE rock inscription by the Mauryan emperor Ashoka of Magadha. It was mentioned as one of four independent kingdoms in southern India during Ashoka's time, the others being the Cholas, Pandyas and Satyaputras. The Cheras transformed Kerala into an international trade centre by establishing trade relations across the Arabian Sea with all major Mediterranean and Red Sea ports as well those of Eastern Africa and the Far East. The dominion of Cheras was located in one of the key routes of the ancient Indian Ocean trade. The early Cheras collapsed after repeated attacks from the neighboring Cholas and Rashtrakutas. In the 8th century, Adi Shankara was born in Kalady in central Kerala. He travelled extensively across the Indian subcontinent founding institutions of the widely influential philosophy of Advaita Vedanta. The Cheras regained control over Kerala in the 9th century until the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ambalavasi
Ambalavasi, more properly Ampalavasi, ( ml, അമ്പലവാസി; IAST: Ampalavāsi; ) is the generic name for a group of castes among Hindus in Kerala, India, who have traditionally rendered temple services. Castes The Ambalavasis are broadly divided into two groups, being those who wear the sacred thread and those who do not. Sacred thread wearers Pushpaka Brahmins * Pushpaka (Pushpakan Unni) * Nambeesan * Theeyatt Unni * Kurukkal * Puppalli * Plappalli (Pilappalli) * Nambidi * Daivampadi or Brahmani Others * Chakyar, * Nambiar * Atikal (also written as Adikal) Threadless Ambalavasis *Pisharody * Marar * Varyar *Pothuval, The feminine names of threadless ''ambalavasi'' castes are formed by adding the suffix ''-syar'' to the masculine names as Pisharadi-Pisharasyar, Marar-Marasyar, Variar-Varasyar, Poduval-Poduvalsyar. Temple services Though all Ampalavāsis have to do service in temples, they have sufficiently distinct functions to perform. Pushpakans and Namb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Caste System In Kerala
The caste system in Kerala differed from that found in the rest of India. While the Indian caste system generally divided the four-fold ''Varna'' division of the society into Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras, in Kerala, the Malayali Brahmins formed the priestly class, while the Kshatriyas, Samantha Kshatriya and Nairs formed the upper military and ruling classes. Other than the Brahmins, Samanthans and Nairs, all other castes were analogous to Shudras if the ''Varna'' system is considered. The women from the military elite and ruling classes such as Nairs, Samantha Kshatriyas and the Ambalavasi communities married men both from their own communities and from the Nambudiri Brahmin households through a marriage ritual called Sambandam. Like the rest of India, the lower castes touching the upper castes was called "pollution," but only in Kerala did the lower castes pollute not just by touch but also by merely approaching a Brahmin or a Nair. The Kerala caste system was ritual ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brahmin
Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (guru or acharya). The other three varnas are the Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra. The traditional occupation of Brahmins is that of priesthood at the Hindu temples or at socio-religious ceremonies, and rite of passage rituals such as solemnising a wedding with hymns and prayers.James Lochtefeld (2002), Brahmin, The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Vol. 1: A–M, Rosen Publishing, , page 125 Traditionally, the Brahmins are accorded the highest ritual status of the four social classes. Their livelihood is prescribed to be one of strict austerity and voluntary poverty ("A Brahmin should acquire what just suffices for the time, what he earns he should spend all that the same day"). In practice, Indian texts suggest that some Brahmins historicall ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nambudiri
The Nambudiri (), also transliterated as Nampoothiri, Nambūdiri, Namboodiri, Nampoothiri, and Nampūtiri, are a Malayali Brahmin caste, native to what is now the state of Kerala, India, where they constituted part of the traditional feudal elite, owning a large portion of the land in the region of Malabar until the Kerala Land Reforms starting in 1957, and intermarrying with the Nair monarchs and aristocracy through sambandham. They have historically been distinguished by rare practices such as the adherence to Śrauta ritualism, the Pūrva-Mīmāṁsā school of Hindu philosophy, and orthodox tradition, as well as many idiosyncratic customs unique among Brahmins, including primogeniture. Cyriac Pullapilly mentions that the dominating influence of the Nambudiris was to be found in all matters: religion, politics, society, economics and culture of Kerala. History Origin Nambudiri mythology associates their immigration to Kerala from the banks of Narmada, Krishna, Kaveri r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tharavad
Tharavad () (തറവാട്), is the Malayalam word for the ancestral home of aristocratic families in Kerala, which usually served as the common house for the joint family system practiced in the state. The German linguist Hermann Gundert, in his Malayalam—English dictionary published in 1872, defines a ''tharavad'' as, "An ancestral residence of land-owners and kings", and also as, "A house, chiefly of noblemen". Contemporary usage of the word is now more generic to all social classes. By extension, the word refers not just to the family's house but to the extended family that shares that house. In the Nair Tharavads, the head of the family was known as Karnavar and the inheritance was matrilineal. In the Namboothiri Tharavads, the inheritance was patrilineal Patrilineality, also known as the male line, the spear side or agnatic kinship, is a common kinship system in which an individual's family membership derives from and is recorded through their father's line ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast, it shares land borders with Pakistan to the west; China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the north; and Bangladesh and Myanmar to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives; its Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand, Myanmar, and Indonesia. Modern humans arrived on the Indian subcontinent from Africa no later than 55,000 years ago., "Y-Chromosome and Mt-DNA data support the colonization of South Asia by modern humans originating in Africa. ... Coalescence dates for most non-European populations average to between 73–55 ka.", "Modern human beings—''Homo sapiens''—originated in Africa. Then, int ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kerala
Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South Canara, and Thiruvithamkoor. Spread over , Kerala is the 21st largest Indian state by area. It is bordered by Karnataka to the north and northeast, Tamil Nadu to the east and south, and the Lakshadweep Sea to the west. With 33 million inhabitants as per the 2011 census, Kerala is the 13th-largest Indian state by population. It is divided into 14 districts with the capital being Thiruvananthapuram. Malayalam is the most widely spoken language and is also the official language of the state. The Chera dynasty was the first prominent kingdom based in Kerala. The Ay kingdom in the deep south and the Ezhimala kingdom in the north formed the other kingdoms in the early years of the Common Era (CE). The region had been a prominent spic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jenmi
Jenmi is the term used to refer to the landed aristocracy of Kerala. They formed the landowning nobility as well as the landed gentry of the region during Medieval times, and the majority of the estates and feudal properties were owned by this community. They predominantly belonged to the Nambudiri (Brahmin priests) and Nair (kings, lords and soldiers) castes, and it was not unusual for an aristocratic family to own up to of land. The Maharajas of Cochin and Travancore, as wells as many other rulers such as those of Punjar in Travancore, were well known for their numerous feudal estates. Temples like the Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Trivandrum (controlled by the Maharaja of Travancore), the Koodalmanikyam Temple (controlled by the Thachudaya Kaimal) and the Guruvayoor Temple of M. R. Ry. were built on lands owned by these feudal aristocrats. The Zamorins of Calicut were also Jenmis in their own right, owning at least 60,000 to 90,000 acres of estate lands. Today, however, there a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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