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Nayars
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 cu ... [...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] |
Chris Fuller (academic)
Christopher John Fuller is an emeritus professor of anthropology at the London School of Economics and a Fellow of the British Academy. He has studied and written extensively about the people of India, particularly with regard to subjects such as Hinduism, the caste system, and the relationship between globalisation and the middle-classes. Career Fuller was a lecturer in the Department of Social Anthropology at the University of Manchester prior to holding a similar position as lecturer in anthropology at the London School of Economics (LSE) between 1979–87. He was a reader in anthropology at the LSE between 1987–94 and has been an emeritus professor of anthropology there since 2009. Fuller's primary area of field research has been the state of Tamil Nadu, particularly between 1976–2001 at the Hindu temple in Madurai that is dedicated to Minakshi. His first fieldwork was among the Nair and Syrian Christian communities of Kerala in 1971–72. Fuller has also conducted fieldw ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kathleen Gough
Eleanor Kathleen Gough Aberle (16 August 1925 – 8 September 1990) was a British anthropologist and feminist who was known for her work in South Asia and South-East Asia. As a part of her doctorate work, she did field research in Malabar district from 1947 to 1949. She did further research in Tanjore district from 1950 to 1953 and again in 1976, and in Vietnam in 1976 and 1982. In addition, some of her work included campaigning for: nuclear disarmament, the civil rights movement, women's rights, the third world and the end of the Vietnam War. She was known for her Marxist leanings and was on an FBI watchlist. Early life and education Kathleen Gough was born on 16 August 1925 in Hunsingore, a village near Wetherby in Yorkshire, England, that then had a population of 100, no electricity and no piped water. She had a brother and a half-sister. Her father, Albert, was a blacksmith who became involved in the introduction of agricultural machinery to the area and has been describ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Travancore
The Kingdom of Travancore ( /ˈtrævənkɔːr/), also known as the Kingdom of Thiruvithamkoor, was an Indian kingdom from c. 1729 until 1949. It was ruled by the Travancore Royal Family from Padmanabhapuram, and later Thiruvananthapuram. At its zenith, the kingdom covered most of the south of modern-day Kerala ( Idukki, Kottayam, Alappuzha, Pathanamthitta, Kollam, and Thiruvananthapuram districts, and some portions of Ernakulam district), and the southernmost part of modern-day Tamil Nadu (Kanyakumari district and some parts of Tenkasi district) with the Thachudaya Kaimal's enclave of Irinjalakuda Koodalmanikyam temple in the neighbouring Kingdom of Cochin. However Tangasseri area of Kollam city and Anchuthengu near Attingal in Thiruvananthapuram district, were British colonies and were part of the Malabar District until 30 June 1927, and Tirunelveli district from 1 July 1927 onwards. Travancore merged with the erstwhile princely state of Cochin to form Travancore-Cochin i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kettu Kalyanam
Kalyanam, also known as , was the name of an elaborate marriage ceremony of the Samanthan, Nair, Maarar, and Ambalavasi communities of the southern Indian state of Kerala. The customs varied from region to region and caste to caste. (a matrilineal form of marriage) might take place only if the bride had already had this elaborate ritual mock-marriage known as . The is ceremonial only, for after the rituals the groom returns to his house, never to meet the bride again. In some parts of Malabar immediately after the ceremony, a formal divorce is constituted, whereas in other areas the groom enters into with the girl and becomes her husband in practice, if the girl be of marriageable age. Ceremonies Among the communities that practiced the custom, a grand ceremony would be held at its oldest ancestral house. All the girls of appropriate age of the lineage of one generation were ritually married to chosen bridegrooms of (linked neighborhood kinship groups not of the same famil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polygamy
Crimes Polygamy (from Late Greek (') "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, sociologists call this polygyny. When a woman is married to more than one husband at a time, it is called polyandry. In contrast to polygamy, monogamy is marriage consisting of only two parties. Like "monogamy", the term "polygamy" is often used in a ''de facto'' sense, applied regardless of whether a state recognizes the relationship.For the extent to which states can and do recognize potentially and actual polygamous forms as valid, see Conflict of marriage laws. In sociobiology and zoology, researchers use ''polygamy'' in a broad sense to mean any form of multiple mating. Worldwide, different societies variously encourage, accept or outlaw polygamy. In societies which allow or tolerate polygamy, in the vast majority of cases the form accepted is polygyny. According to the ''Ethnographic A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sambandam
Sambandham was an informal mode of marriage followed by Nairs, Samantha Kshatriyas, Kshatriyas, and Ambalavasis 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 b ... among their own communities as well as with the Nambudiris, in what is the present day state of Kerala, India. All of these were matrilineal communities. Sambandham also denoted reciprocal marriage among Nairs and this term was not just used to denote hypergamous marriages between the Nambudiris and the Nairs. The custom is no longer observed. Alternate names for the system were used by different social groups and in different regions; they included ''Pudavamuri'', ''Pudavakoda'', ''Vastradanam'', ''Vitaram Kayaruka'', ''Mangalam'' and ''Uzhamporukkuka''. Practice Among Nairs The Nair women were allowed to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Indian Army
The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four-star general. Two officers have been conferred with the rank of field marshal, a five-star rank, which is a ceremonial position of great honour. The Indian Army was formed in 1895 alongside the long established presidency armies of the East India Company, which too were absorbed into it in 1903. The princely states had their own armies, which were merged into the national army after independence. The units and regiments of the Indian Army have diverse histories and have participated in several battles and campaigns around the world, earning many battle and theatre honours before and after Independence. The primary mission of the Indian Army is to ensure national security and national unity, to defend the nation from external aggression an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
9th Battalion, Madras Regiment
The 9th battalion of the Madras Regiment (Travancore) is the oldest extant unit in the Indian Army. It has been in service for over 300 years. History The battalion was raised in 1704 at Padmanabhapuram, the capital of the erstwhile kingdom of Travancore. Raised as personal bodyguards to the Maharaja of Travancore, the unit, though redesigned through the ages, continues to retain its individual identity with no history of disbandment or re-raising. The Travancore Army, known as the Nair Brigade, completely exterminated the superior and better equipped Dutch Forces which landed at Colachal in July 1741 during the reign of Anizham Thirunal Veer Bala Marthand Varma. In the Battle of Colachel, during the Travancore–Dutch War, Capt Eustachius De Lannoy, the Dutch Naval Forces Commander, was captured and was asked later to train the Travancore Army. From 1741 to 1758, Capt De Lannoy remained in command of the Travancore Forces and was involved in annexation of small principalitie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Snake
Snakes are elongated, Limbless vertebrate, limbless, carnivore, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other Squamata, squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping Scale (zoology), scales. Many species of snakes have skulls with several more joints than their lizard ancestors, enabling them to swallow prey much larger than their heads (cranial kinesis). To accommodate their narrow bodies, snakes' paired organs (such as kidneys) appear one in front of the other instead of side by side, and most have only one functional lung. Some species retain a pelvic girdle with a pair of vestigial claws on either side of the cloaca. Lizards have evolved elongate bodies without limbs or with greatly reduced limbs about twenty-five times independently via convergent evolution, leading to many lineages of legless lizards. These resemble snakes, but several common groups of legless lizards have eyelids and external ears, which snakes lack, altho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nair Brigade
The Nair Brigade was the army of the erstwhile kingdom of Travancore in India. Nairs were a warrior community of the region. The personal bodyguard of the king Marthanda Varma (1706–1758) was also called ''Thiruvithamkoor Nair Pattalam'' (Travancore Nair Army). The Travancore army was officially referred as the Travancore Nair Brigade in 1818. In the early years, only Nairs were admitted into this brigade. Later, the unit was expanded and several sub-units were formed. The name Nair Brigade remained unchanged, even following the admittance of non-Nairs. The headquarters of the brigade was in Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum). History The army of Travancore was modernised by Marthanda Varma, who is known as "the maker of modern Travancore".The first Commander in Chief of his army was Kumaraswamy Pillai,''Travancore State Manual'pdf Digital book/ref> who was a veteran soldier. Thanu Pillai, brother of then Dalawa Arumukham Pillai was made the Lieutenant Commander. He defeated t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
