The Vengalil family (Malayalam: വെങ്ങാലിൽ; Hindi: वेङ्ङालिल; also transliterated as ''Vengayil'') is an

aristocratic Aristocracy (, ) is a form of government that places strength in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocrats. The term derives from the el, αριστοκρατία (), meaning 'rule of the best'. At the time of the word's ...

Keralite

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 ...

family from

Malabar Malabar may refer to the following: People * Malabars, people originating from the Malabar region of India * Malbars or Malabars, people of Tamil origin in Réunion Places * Malabar Coast, or Malabar, a region of the southwestern shoreline o ...

that was powerful in

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 ...

during much of the

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...

, and known as intimates of the Nehru-Gandhi family.

Background

Closely affiliated with the

Dewan ''Dewan'' (also known as ''diwan'', sometimes spelled ''devan'' or ''divan'') designated a powerful government official, minister, or ruler. A ''dewan'' was the head of a state institution of the same name (see Divan). Diwans belonged to the el ...

ship 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 ...

and related to the royal families of

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 K ...

and Travancore, the Vengalil family were among India's greatest landowners until the rise of the

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

government in Kerala, with estates in Malabar comprising some 200,000 acres,"Organised Struggles of Malabar Peasantry 1934–1940"
/ref> and encompassing thousands of acres of prized hardwood forest, including the hydroelectric power center of

Kuttiyadi Kuttiady is one of the Major towns situated in the north-eastern part of Kozhikode district of Kerala, India. It is located from Vadakara and from Kozhikode. Kuttiady is situated in the slopes of the Western Ghats. The four-sided junction o ...

. The family originated through the marriage of

Raman Menon Raman may refer to: People *Raman (name) *C. V. Raman (1888–1970), Indian Nobel Prize-winning physicist Places * Raman, Punjab (India) * Raman, Rawalpindi, Pakistan * Raman District, Yala Province, Thailand ** Raman Railway Station * Raman ...

, Dewan of Travancore (1815–1817) serving Maharani

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 Swa ...

and his wife, Narayani Amma. Influential members include politician

V. K. Krishna Menon Vengalil Krishnan Krishna Menon (3 May 1896 – 6 October 1974) was an Indian academic, politician, and non-career diplomat. He was described by some as the second most powerful man in India, after the first Prime Minister of India, Jawa ...

and author

Janaki Ram Janaki Ram is an Indian-American author who has written biographies and collections of short stories, as well as a prominent figure in Asian art auctions. She is a relative of V. K. Krishna Menon and Sir C. P. Ramaswami Iyer and a member of the pow ...

, as well as C. P. Ramaswami Aiyar by marriage. Numerous members of the Vengalil family held titles equivalent to that of Thakur or

Raja ''Raja'' (; from , IAST ') is a royal title used for South Asian monarchs. The title is equivalent to king or princely ruler in South Asia and Southeast Asia. The title has a long history in South Asia and Southeast Asia, being attested f ...

in north India.

References

* Krishna Menon: A Biography by T. J. S. George (1965) * V. K. Krishna Menon: a personal memoir by Janaki Ram (1997) Colonial Kerala Indian noble families {{Kerala-stub