Nedungadi is a
Samanthan
Samantan Nair or more commonly Samantan (meaning "equal to" or "deemed to be"), was a generic term applied to dignify a group of sub-clans among the ruling elites and feudal lords of the Nair community in Kerala. The Samantan Nairs are members of ...
last name, originating in the
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 ...
n state of
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 ...
. Nedungadi belong to Samanthan section of the Malabar ruling class of
Nairs
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 histo ...
.
Samanthans were the erstwhile rulers of small Nadus (Places) under the
Chera Dynasty.
The name Nedungadi is believed to be derived from the word "Nedunganadu" and the word "aadi", meaning "ancient/going back a long way". "Nedunganadu" used to be a small region that now includes
Shornur,
Ottappalam
Ottapalam, (also spelled Ottappalam) is a town, taluk and municipality in the Palakkad District, Kerala, India. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ottapalam taluk. Ottapalam is located about 36 km from district headquarters Palakkad. ...
, Kothakursi,
Pattambi
Pattambi is a town taluk and municipality in the Palakkad district of the state of Kerala, India. It is also the administrative headquarters of the Pattambi Taluk. Pattambi is located along the banks of Bharathappuzha river. A Mini Civil Station ...
, Kootanad,
Naduvattam
Naduvattam is a Panchayat town in The Nilgiris district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on Coimbatore- Gundalpet National Highway NH 67 of the Nilgiri Ghat Roads.
History
In the 19th century, when the British Straits Settlemen ...
, Karalmanna Cherpulasserry, Karimpuza, Nellaya, Vallapuzha are the old seats of Eralpad Raja, the second Sthani of
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 ...
. The Zamorin obtained rights to rule this place after defeating Nedungadies. The places ruled by the Nedungadies at an earlier time are mainly in
Palghat District
Palakkad District () is one of the 14 districts in the Indian state of Kerala. It was carved out from the southeastern region of the former Malabar District on 1 January 1957. It is located at the centre of Kerala. It is the largest district i ...
and also include
Aliparamba, Thootha,
Anamangad,
Arakkuparamba
Arakkuparamba is a village in Malappuram district in the state of Kerala, India.
Arakkuparamba was once famous for mining iron ore. Iron ore mined from Arakkuparamba was converted into iron plates and rods at neighbouring Aliparamba. Ore melt ...
, Eravimangalam, Nattukal,
Valamkulam, Amminikkad in
Malappuram District
Malappuram (), is one of the List of districts of Kerala, 14 districts in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kerala, with a coastline of . It is the most populous district of Kerala, which is home to around 13% of the to ...
of Kerala. In all these places, there are still Samanathan Nair families with "Nedungadi" in their names.
In medieval times, Nedunganadu was a small territorial unit within the
Chera kingdom. The place was also known as Parambu Nadu in old writings. Parambu Nadu is seen as the territory ruled by Velir chief famous Vel Pari. Later on divided and ruled by Chola, Chera and Pandya Kings and other Velir chiefs with their fighting heads. In Purananooru of Sangham texts, Tirukoilur, surrounding present Dharmapuri is mentioned as Nedunadu, the land lies between the eastern and western seas. The name for the place
Cherpulassery
Cherpulassery (also known by its former name Cherpulacherry) is a town and municipality in the Palakkad district, of Kerala, India. Cherpulassery is often called the Sabarimala of Malabar as the famous Ayyappankavu temple is located here . The ...
came from Chera Pulla Cherry. The place were the sons of Cheras lived. The nearby place is Kotha Kursi. Kotha was the pet name for Cherans. The name
Shornur is derived from the old name Cheran vanna oor (places ruled by Chera Kings) later on corrupted to Cheruvannor and to the present day Shornur. A place with a railway junction connecting railway lines to Trivandrum, Chennai, Mangalore and Nilambur. The original family name of the rulers is unknown, but the members of the royal families are referred to as "the Nedungadis" in the later documents of the
Samutiris of
Kozhikode
Kozhikode (), also known in English as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. It has a corporation limit population of 609,224 and a metropolitan population of more than 2 million, making it the second la ...
who conquered and ruled this territory.
Nedungadi is the term generally used to describe the men of the caste, and the women are known by name Kovilamma / kovilpad.
In addition, one of the authors of "
Kundalatha
''Kundalatha'' (or Kundalata, ml, കുന്ദലത) is a novel by Appu Nedungadi, published in 1887. It is considered to be the first Malayalam novel.
See also
* ''Indulekha (novel), Indulekha''
External links
Novel and Short Story to the ...
," one of the first
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 des ...
novels, was from this family:
T.M. Appu Nedungadi. The first scholar who did research on the evolution of the Malayalam language was one Kovunni Nedungadi
belonging to this community. Nedungadi contributed to CV Raman's optics research.
Nedungadi Bank
Nedungadi Bank was the first private sector commercial bank to be set up in South India. Appu Nedungadi established the bank in 1899, in Calicut, Malabar District, British India (present day Kozhikode, Kerala, India).
The bank was incorporated o ...
was also a famous bank in India until 2003, when it was bought by
Punjab National Bank
Punjab National Bank (abbreviated as PNB) is an Indian public sector bank headquartered in Delhi. The bank was founded in May 1894 and is the second largest government-owned bank in India, both in terms of its business volumes and its network ...
.
See also
^ 1891 Censuses of Travancore, Malabar and Cochin
^ Castes and Tribes of Southern India, by Edgar Thurston and K Rangachari.
^ "Organised Struggles of Malabar Peasantry 1934–1940"
^ A general collection of ... voyages and travels, digested by J. Pinkerton - Page 736
Nedungnad Carithram - from prehistoric times to A.D. 1860(Malayalam
by (Madhavam: Perintalmanna, 2012).
^ Kareem, C.K. (1973). Kerala under Haider Ali and Tipu Sultan. Paico publishing house. pp. 136, 137. Retrieved 2007-12-18.
^ Miller, Eric J. 1954. Caste and Territory in Malabar. American Anthropologists 56(3):410-420
^ Miller, Eric J. 1955. Village Structure in North Kerala. In M.N. Srinivas ed. India's Village. Bombay: Media Promoters & Publishers
^ Bhaskaran, K. Ooril pazhakiya oru achi kavinde katha, Sree oorpazhachi kshetra seva samiti, 1997.
^ A collection of treaties, engagements, and other papers of importance relating to British affairs in Malabar" also by William Logan.
^ E. Thurston. Castes and tribes of South India Volume 5
^ "Organised Struggles of Malabar Peasantry 1934–1940"
^ "Organised Struggles of Malabar Peasantry 1934–1940"
^ Mackenzie Manuscripts: Summaries of the Historical Manuscripts in the Mackenzie Collection, I (Madras: University of Madras, 1972), 287. T. V. Mahalingam (ed.)
^ Kudali Granthavari (Malayalam) K. K. N. Kurup by (Calicut: Calicut University, 1995).
^ Female Initiation Rites on the Malabar Coast, Gough, Kathleen 1955a, The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland
References
{{Reflist
Surnames of Indian origin