The Nair Brigade was the army of the erstwhile kingdom of

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 ...

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 so ...

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 histor ...

s were a warrior community of the region. The personal bodyguard of the king

Marthanda Varma Anizham Thirunal Marthanda Varma (Malayalam: ) was the founding monarch of the southern Indian Kingdom of Travancore (previously Venadu) from 1729 until his death in 1758. He was succeeded by Rama Varma ("Dharma Raja") (1758–98).Subrahmany ...

(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 Thiruvananthapuram (; ), also known by its former name Trivandrum (), is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as of 2011. The encompassing urban agglomeration populati ...

(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 the Dutch army with the Travancore army in 1741 at the

Battle of Colachel The Battle of Colachel (or The Battle of Kulachal) was fought on between the Indian kingdom of Travancore and the Dutch East India Company. During the Travancore-Dutch War, King Marthanda Varma's (1729–1758) forces defeated the Dutch East ...

and captured the Dutch commander Captain

Eustachius De Lannoy Eustachius Benedictus de Lannoy (also sometimes called 'Captain De Lannoy') (30 December 1715 – 1 June 1777, Udayagiri Fort) was a skilled military strategist and commander of the Travancore Army, under Maharaja Marthanda Varma. De Lannoy ...

. Marthanda Varma agreed to spare the Dutch captain's life on the condition that he joined his army and trained his soldiers on modern lines. The Travancore army was reorganised as the Travancore Nair Brigade in 1818. The Travancore Army was considered a part of the Indian State Forces from 1935. The units were known as the First, Second and Third Travancore infantry. The State Forces consisted of infantry units, the State Forces Artillery, the Travancore Training Centre, the Sudarsan Guards and the State Forces Band. With the integration of the State into the Indian Union, the Nair Brigade was integrated into the

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- ...

as the 9th Battalion Madras Regiment (1st Travancore) and the 16th Battalion of the Madras Regiment (2nd Travancore) in 1954.

Strength

The Army of Travancore was very strong during the 1700s. Later, after 1809 with the strengthening of

English East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southe ...

, and with Travancore signing a treaty handing over defense to the Company's army, the Nair Brigade headcount was reduced to 700 soldiers without arms and discipline, which was later increased to 1200 in number by request of then resident queen of Travencore,

Gowri Parvati Bayi Uthrittathi Thirunal Gowri Parvathi Bayi (1802–1853) was the Regent of the Indian state of Travancore in 1815-1829. She succeeded her sister Maharani Gowri Lakshmi Bayi, till her regency was relinquished in favour of her nephew, Maharajah Sw ...

in 1819. The total strength of Travancore Nair Army in 1945 was 4,082 men, of which 84 were officers and 132 were JCOs. A part of this force (those within medical categorization 'A') were absorbed into the Indian Army (Travancore - Cochin unified forces), while the remaining forces were disbanded. After the unification of Travancore and Cochin forces, Trivandrum was declared as the headquarters of the unified command.

Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

V.N. Parameswaran Pillai Maj Gen V.N. Parameswaran Pillai OBE (''Velayudhan Pillai Narayana Pillai Parameswaran Pillai'') was the last GOC of the Travancore Nair Army. He took command in 1945 and oversaw the partial absorption of the Travancore Army in to the Indian Ar ...

, the GOC of the Travancore Nair army, became the commandant of the unified forces. The unified force was divided into five infantry battalions (Travancore - I, II, III and IV, Cochin I). The unification took place under

and

Lt Col Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

G.S. Subbiah of Cochin on 20 May 1949. Finally the forces unified Travancore-Cochin forces were either disbanded or absorbed into the Indian Army and

was allowed to retire. The first group of State Forces of Cochin Kingdom was also called as the Nair Brigade in 1940. The Brigade's name was changed in 1945 to Cochin State Forces by Kerala Varma and allowed non-Nairs also to be admitted into his army. Following the integration of Travancore Army with the Indian Forces, the Pazhavangadi Ganapathi Temple in Thiruvananthapuram which the Brigade maintained and owned was likewise transferred to the Indian Army.

Ranks of the Nair Brigade

{, class="wikitable" ! Nair Brigade Rank !! Salary In Travancore Rupees (1897) , - , Commanding Officer, , 559 - 1017{{Cite book, url=https://archive.org/details/nayarbrigadeoftr00madr/page/n3/mode/2up, title=The Nayar Brigade of Travancore, publisher=The Superintendent Government Press, Madras, year=1898, pages=16 , - , Sergeant Major, , 173 , - , Subadar-Major, , 40 , - , Subadar, , 24 - 30 , - , Jamadar, , 12 - 15 , - , Havildar-Major , 11 , - , Havildar, , 9 , - , Naigue, , 8 , - , Sepoy , , 6 - 7

References

pdf Digital book
Kingdom of Travancore Military history of India Military units and formations of the princely states of India Nair

History

Strength

Ranks of the Nair Brigade

See also

References