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Menon (subcaste)
Menon is a surname of the Nair community of Kerala, India, and is an honorific hereditary title, often used as an affix to one's name, bestowed by the various kings of Kerala (including the Zamorin) to the members of Nair subcastes. The recipient of the title held it lifelong, and the male members of the family held it in perpetuity along the matrilineal line. Historically, the Menons were feudal landlords or Naduvazis, and were often engaged in various administrative and political duties, such as being ministers and advisors in the service of the kings of Kerala. Many members of the Menon subcaste are related to the rulers of the Kingdom of Cochin. Furthermore, members of the Cochin royal family were often married to aristocratic Menon families. Thus, the children of such Maharajah Mahārāja (; also spelled Maharajah, Maharaj) is a Sanskrit title for a "great ruler", "great king" or " high king". A few ruled states informally called empires, including ruler raja Sri Gu ... [...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] |
Malabar Region
The Malabar Coast is the southwestern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Geographically, it comprises the wettest regions of southern India, as the Western Ghats intercept the moisture-laden monsoon rains, especially on their westward-facing mountain slopes. The term is used to refer to the entire Indian coast from the western coast of Konkan to the tip of India at Kanyakumari. The peak of Anamudi, which is also the point of highest altitude in India outside the Himalayas, and Kuttanad, which is the point of least elevation in India, lie on the Malabar Coast. Kuttanad, also known as ''The Rice Bowl of Kerala'', has the lowest altitude in India, and is also one of the few places in the world where cultivation takes place below sea level. The region parallel to the Malabar Coast gently slopes from the eastern highland of Western Ghats ranges to the western coastal lowland. The moisture-laden winds of the Southwest monsoon, on reaching the southernmost point of the Indian Penin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cochin
Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) ( the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of Kerala and is commonly referred to as Ernakulam. Kochi is the most densely populated city in Kerala. As of 2011, it has a corporation limit population of 677,381 within an area of 94.88 km2 and a total urban population of more than of 2.1 million within an area of 440 km2, making it the largest and the most populous metropolitan area in Kerala. Kochi city is also part of the Greater Cochin region and is classified as a Tier-II city by the Government of India. The civic body that governs the city is the Kochi Municipal Corporation, which was constituted in the year 1967, and the statutory bodies that oversee its development are the Greater Cochin Development Authority (GCDA) and the Goshree Islands Development Authority (GIDA) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Malayalam
Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was designated a "Classical Language of India" in 2013. Malayalam has official language status in Kerala, and Puducherry ( Mahé), and is also the primary spoken language of Lakshadweep, and is spoken by 34 million people in India. Malayalam is also spoken by linguistic minorities in the neighbouring states; with significant number of speakers in the Kodagu and Dakshina Kannada districts of Karnataka, and Kanyakumari, district of Tamil Nadu. It is also spoken by the Malayali Diaspora worldwide, especially in the Persian Gulf countries, due to large populations of Malayali expatriates there. There are significant population in each cities in India including Mumbai, Bengaluru, Delhi, Kolkata, Pune etc. The origin of Malayalam remains a matter of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hinduism
Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global population, known as Hindus. The word ''Hindu'' is an exonym, and while Hinduism has been called the oldest religion in the world, many practitioners refer to their religion as '' Sanātana Dharma'' ( sa, सनातन धर्म, lit='the Eternal Dharma'), a modern usage, which refers to the idea that its origins lie beyond human history, as revealed in the Hindu texts. Another endonym is ''Vaidika dharma'', the dharma related to the Vedas. Hinduism is a diverse system of thought marked by a range of philosophies and shared concepts, rituals, cosmological systems, pilgrimage sites, and shared textual sources that discuss theology, metaphysics, mythology, Vedic yajna, yoga, agamic rituals, and temple building, among other to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 category of castes". The Nair include several castes and many subdivisions, not all of whom historically bore the name 'Nair'. Fuller (1975) p. 309 These people lived, and continue to live, in the area which is now the Indian state of Kerala. Their internal caste behaviours and systems are markedly different between the people in the northern and southern sections of the area, although there is not very much reliable information on those inhabiting the north. Fuller (1975) p. 284 Historically, Nairs lived in large family units called ''tharavads'' that housed descendants of one common female ancestor. These family units along with their unusual marriage customs, which are no longer practiced, have been much studied. Although the detail varied from one region to the next, the main points of interest to researchers of Nair marriage custo ... [...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] |
Naduvazhi
Naduvazhi ( IAST:''nātuvāḻi''; ) refers to feudal elites, ruling chieftains and descendants of royal kingdoms in various regions that are now administrative parts of Kerala, India. They constituted the aristocratic class within the Hindu caste system and were either kings themselves or nobility in the service of the kings of Kerala. Function Prior to the British reorganisation of the area now known as Kerala, it was divided into around ten feudal states. Each of these was governed by a ''rajah'' (king) and was subdivided into organisational units known as ''nads''. In turn, the ''nads'' were divided into ''dēsams'', which anthropologist Kathleen Gough considers to be villages. However, the early 20th-century historian Kavalam Panikkar states that the ''dēsams'' were themselves divided into ''amsas'', and that these were the villages. He believes that generally only the ''amsas'' survived the reorganisation. The person who governed the ''nad'' was known as the ''naduvazhi'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kingdom Of Cochin
The Kingdom of Cochin, named after its capital in the city of Kochi (Cochin), was a kingdom in the central part of present-day Kerala state. It commenced at the early part of the 12th century and continued to rule until 1949, when monarchy was abolished by the dominion of India. Historically, the capital of Cochin was in Kodungallur (Cranganore), but in 1341 the capital was moved to Cochin inorder to remedy a disastrous flood. By the early 15th century, Cochin lost its ability to fully defend itself. By the late 15th century, the Cochin kingdom shrank to its minimal extent as a result of invasions by the Zamorin of Calicut. When Portuguese armadas arrived in India, the Kingdom of Cochin had lost its vassals to the Zamorins, including Edapalli and Cranganore, the later of which had even been at the centre of the kingdom historically. Cochin was looking for an opportunity to preserve its independence, which was at risk. King Unni Goda Varma warmly welcomed Pedro Álvares Cabra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maharajah
Mahārāja (; also spelled Maharajah, Maharaj) is a Sanskrit title for a "great ruler", "great king" or " high king". A few ruled states informally called empires, including ruler raja Sri Gupta, founder of the ancient Indian Gupta Empire, and Chandragupta Maurya. 'Title inflation' soon led to most being rather mediocre or even petty in real power, which led to compound titles (among other efforts) being used in an attempt to distinguish some among their ranks. The female equivalent, Maharani (or Maharanee, Mahārājñī, Maharajin), denotes either the wife of a Maharaja (or Maharana etc.) or also, in states where it was customary, a woman ruling without a husband. The widow of a Maharaja is known as a Rajmata, "queen mother". Maharajakumar generally denotes a son of a Maharaja, but more specific titulatures are often used at each court, including Yuvaraja for the heir (the crown prince). The form "Maharaj" (without "-a") indicates a separation of noble and religious office ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paliath Achan
Paliath Achan or Paliyath Achan is the name given to the oldest male member of the Paliam royal family, a Nair/Menon chieftain family from the Indian state of Kerala who were elevated to the status of royalty by the Rajah of Kingdom of Cochin (Kerala), since the family figured prominently in the history of the region. Overview The Paliath Achans were hereditary prime ministers to the Rajah of Kingdom of Cochin (Kerala) from 1632 to 1809 and second only to the Rajah in power and wealth in the central Cochin area during that period. The Tharavadu Palace The main family tharavadu ('' Naalukettu'') is approximately 450 years old. The ''Kovilakam'' (palace) houses a large number of artefacts including ancient documents, religious sacraments, swords, rifles, and gifts brought by foreign dignitaries. Several other buildings, like the Paliath Achan's ''Kovilakam'' (which was built by the Dutch, and also known as the Dutch palace) exist adjacent to the tharavadu. The buildings in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kingdom Of Valluvanad
Valluvanad was an independent chiefdom in present-day central Kerala that held power from the early 12th century to the end of the 18th century. Prior to that, and since the late 10th century, Valluvanad existed as an autonomous chiefdom within the kingdom of the Chera Perumals.Ganesh, K. N. (2009). Historical Geography of Natu in South India with Special Reference to Kerala. Indian Historical Review, 36(1), 3–21. The disintegration of the Chera Perumal kingdom in early 12th century led to the independence of the various autonomous chiefdoms of the kingdom, Valluvanad being one of them. The earliest mention of the term "Valluvanad" as a political entity, from the 9th and early 10th century, are references to a region within the Ay kingdom in the south Kerala, then a vassal to the Pandya kingdom. It is possible that the new chiefdom in central Kerala (within the kingdom of the Chera Perumals) derives its origin from this eponymous subdivision in south Kerala. Valluvanad was rule ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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