Von Luschan[edit]

Southern Italian
Tellichery
snake
Vilakkithala - Also p.27
General

Nagavanshi[edit]

[1] - Nair (Nagara) Kshatriyas sent out a religious invasion under Sankara which subjugated the whole of India. The history of Kerala goes hack to the days of the Mahabharatha and the Ramayana.

[2] - The Nairs are included in the Kshatriya class (soldiers) and the castes below Nairs are considered as Sudras (slaves).

[3] - In the southern parts of the peninsula, the Nairs (a species of country nobility rather than a distinct tribe) are considered to belong to the warrior caste. Whether they are the dispersed remnants of the old Kshatriyas, is not yet sufficiently ascertained.

[4] - None of these people, except possibly the Nairs of Kerala and the Rajus of Andhra, have been viewed by some as Kshatriya

[5] - Nairs of Malabar enjoyed social power similar to that claimed by Kshatriyas of the North.

[6] - The Nairs of Kerala, Mudaliars of Tamilnad, Reddys of Andhra are low castes only in the sense of sacred thread, but for all practical purposes they are equal to the Kshatriya.

[7] - Mention is made also of an expedition into Malabar to assist the Kshatriya rulers, the Nairs, against an insurrection of the natives.

[8] - The Bhataraka was probably his father-in-law, and the Kshatriyas (the Nairs) against whom the aboriginal Malabarians had revolted.

[9] - Nair or Menon caste are considered equivalent to Kshatriya or the warrior caste.

[10] - The war-like Nairs once lorded over the famous state, Kerala. They were of Kshatriya blood, possessed of all the attributes suggested by the name.

[11] - The Kshatriya or soldier caste is practically identical with the Rajputs of North Central India, and the Nairs of the south. Outside the three " twice- born castes, the whole of the mass of the Indian people were classed as Sudras.

[12] - The warrior caste, the Nairs, who claimed to be the equivalent of the Kshatriyas in other parts of India now came into being. Racially they were half Aryan.

[13] - (Brahmans) and Nayar (Kshatriya) in Kerala. According to the theory

[14] - After the decline of Perumal rule in Kerala, the Nayar Kshatriya rulers became powerful.

[15] - This is because for a long period, the Nambuthiri (Brahmin) and the Nair (Kshatriya) communities would begin their education with Sanskrit and would continue their studies in Sanskrit.

[16] - in the presence of a Namboodiri (Brahmin) an Ezhava ( an untouchable ) had to stand 36 feet away and in the presence of a Nair (Kshatriya) he

[17] - Inheritance

[18] - "A Nayar or Kshatriya bridegroom holds a drawn sword in his right hand. This procession is considered to be the most spectacular of the entire function."

[19] Nayar (Malayalam-speaking caste claiming Kshatriya status)

[20] Only the Nair (Kshatriya) community and it's subcastes practised matriarchy in Kerala.

[21] - Of the Kshatriyas we find but a few who lay claim to the honours of that caste ; and here I may observe, that it is general throughout India for the different castes of fighting Shudras, whose peculiar dharma or religions duty it is to engage in war and plunder, to call themselves Kshatriyas, although, according to Hindoo history, all that race was annihilated by divine wrath. The Nair of Malabar, who is notoriously of servile caste, will describe himself and his ancestors as belonging to the royal or fighting division; wears the Janeo or thread of the twice born, and demeans himself accordingly.

[22] - Within South India, It was only in Kerala that there emerged warrior lineages approximate to the Kshatriya model. Nayar ' Kshatriya-hood ' was thus based on special ecological conditions within the south Indian macro-region.

[23] - One of the theories propagated about the origin of Paramaras gives notable clues about the relation that sustained Nambutiri (Brahmins) and Nayar (Kshatriya) in Kerala.

[24] - The Chera Kings the first known rulers of Kerala, were by origin of Nayar

[25] - "Chera, Chola and Pandya, who were descendants of the fire, the sun and the moon respectively.

[26] - The Nayar caste took the place of the Kshatriyas

[27] - The historical household unit among the Nayar of the Kshatriya caste in South-West India.

[28] - Nair (Kerala Kshatriya caste)

[29] - The annual arattu - Taking the image of god for a final purifying bath in a procession headed by his majesty with his Nair (Kshatriya) officers with drawn swords must have been an awe-inspiring sight

[30] / [31] - for after mentioning an expedition of his into Malabar to aid the Kshatriya (Nair) rulers, against the rebellious natives of the province.

[32] - All this was done by Nair Kshatriyas under orders of Adiyodi. This chamber is called the Aryan Smoke Chamber.

[33] - But the bulk of those who carried on the Kshatriya profession (ie warfare) were drawn from the Nair caste.

[34] - Nayar is the caste corresponding to the Kshatriyas, second in importance to the Brahmans. At present, Nair or Nayar is a title added to nearly all the names of the race, and it is, like Mister or Esquire, assumed as a birthright by any.

[35] - Gen. Candeth was very proud of his ancestry. "I am a Nair from Kerala. I am a Kshatriya", he had told this reporter at the time of the interview.

[36] - The Kshatriya, or military class is said by the Brahmins to be extinct. But the Rajpoots and the Nairs in the Deccan in all probability belong to this class.

[37] - Specifically, the Jews adapted the religious behaviours and symbol complexes of two significant Hindu reference groups: the dominant Nayar caste (particularly the local royal family) and, from a distance, the Nambudiris, the highest brahmin caste of Kerala.

[38] - The Reddys of Andhra, the Vellalas of Tamil Nadu, and the Nayars of Malabar never accepted the four-fold division. Also, they enjoyed as communities social power similar to that claimed by the Kshatriyas.

[39] - his very boyhood, because divine Brahmanic qualities filled his veins, though the people of his caste in Kerala are noted for their Kshatriya spirit.

[40] - Warriors of Kerala in historical times were the Nairs, who, by occupation combined the functions of Kshatriyas with those of the Vaisyas.

[41] - For many reasons, the Kshatriyas and the Nayars are not different castes.

[42] - The ethnology of the Nayars is as interesting as their sociology. They claim to be Kshatriyas by caste.

[43] - The Nayars are treated as Kshatriyas.

[44] - Perhaps most of the Kshatriyas are Samantans belonging to high caste Nayars.

[45] - In Malabar warrior lineages did emerge and ruled over larger territorial units; these were the Nayars, who, if not as Shudras, were regarded as Kshatriyas.

[46] - The Nayars form the bulk of the Hindu population of Malabar, and they are considered as de-casted Kshatriyas.

[47] - The Nayars, members of the Kshatriya or warrior caste, ruled all those regions for many centuries under various kings and priests.

[48] - The Nayars, however, are primarily a military caste. Though they have become greatly mixed in recent times, and they are said to be regarded as Kshatriyas.

[49] - It further relates that the original Newars were drawn from the Nayars and were Brahma-Kshatriya.

[50] - For instance, apart from the Nayars of Kerala the Kshatriya or warrior order is virtually nonexistent in the South.

[51] - The Nayars traditionally performed Kshatriya and Vaishya functions.

[52] - Groups such as the Nayars, whose activities as rulers and professional warriors would normally equate them with the Kshatriya.......

[53] - The Nayars (traditional warriors) followed Marumakkathayam.

[54] - The Nayars are Malayalam speaking people, and may be described as the Kshatriyas or fighting clans of Southern India.

[55] - JC Locke, in his The First Englishmen in India describes the Nairs as the polyandrous warrior race of Malabar. They correspond to the Kshatriyas of the rest of India.

[56] - Social status of the Nairs (Kshatriyas) in Malabar society at that time...

[57] - Nairs (Kshatriyas).

[58] - Kshatriyas and Samantans were originally Nairs

[59] - The Nairs were given a dominant position in the caste hierarchy and were functionally equated with the Kshatriyas.

[60] - and Kshatriya Nairs of Kerala.

[61] - Among them, until recently, only the eldest son was allowed to take a wife from his own caste (the others had to marry Nairs who are Kshatriyas and their......).

[62] - Kshatriya: Rajpoots and the Nairs in the Deccan belong to this class.

[63] - Se trouvait flatté du rapprochement, puisque les Nairs, en dépit de leurs pratiques irrégulières, sont rangés comme Ksatriyas parmi les castes nobles.

[64] - The Nairs (or Nayars), a twice-born caste that constitutes some 15 per cent of the Hindu population in the state, was once a warrior community practising.....

[65] - Stranieri sono anche i rappresentanti della casta ksatriya, pochissimi di numero anche al tempo in cui il Papi scrive; i Nayar, di casta simile alla loro ma.....

[66] - Kerala ritual, which he calls the "sorcery," "martial," and "priestly" complexes, corresponding to three caste divisions (Sudra, Ksatriya/ Nayar, and Brahmin).

[67]- dasarkan kasta adalah kasta Ksatria Nayar yang bersifat matrilineal di Kerala (Gough,1961).

[68] - Kalarippayattu is traditionally associated with the Nayar caste, which corresponds, in Kerala, to the Ksatriya military caste of the classical Indian tradition.

[69] - Among the Kshatriya (warrior) class, the Nayar caste was predominant on the Malabar coast. Nayar males were "not permitted to marry, rear families........

[70] - In the arid hill country which is now known as Rajastan, powerful lords and their arms bearing retainers had been calling themselves Rajputs. These people's closest counterparts elsewhere were the users of the south Indian designations Nayar and Nayaka

[71] - For example, Nairs are not considered by him as shudras. But there is a line of pollution, and Nairs are much above this line.

[72] - Dames writes that the Nairs are " classed as Sudras, whereas their real analogy is with the Kshatriyas of ancient, and the Rajputs of modern days.

[73] - The Nairs had enjoyed throughout Kerala, the status of Kshatriyas.

[74] - The Rajpoots and Nairs in the Deccan are supposed to belong to the Kshatriya. If the class be extinct, as the Brahmins allege, this may be owing to the peaceful character of the people, their freedom from foreign invasion, and the commercial habits which characterise the Hindoo.

[75] - Nairs took the place of Kshatriyas.

[76] - Nairs, who as the warriors of the country, should by analogy be called Kshatriyas rather than Sudras — a curious revelation ascribed to Parasu Rama.

[77] - Nairs who, being given the function of defence, became analogous to Kshatriyas.

[78] - The Nairs are also the martial race, like the Kshatriya castes of northern India.

[79] - Kshatriya, or military class, is said by the Brahmans to have become extinct; but the Rajpoots and the Nairs in all probability belong to this class.

[80] - As few Kshatriyas came from the North, the Nair chieftains took the place of the Kshatriyas, and with their great grit and adaptability a remarkable military system was established in Kerala under the lead of the Nairs.

[81] - Nairs, en dépit de leurs pratiques irrégulières, sont rangés comme Ksatriyas.

[82] - Nayars were members of the warrior or Kshatriya caste, the second highest caste of Indian society. Nayar men trained as professional soldiers.

[83] - Their enactment are neither documentary records of the ruler-warrior (ksatriya) caste (Nayars) nor the fantasies of poets writing in isolation.

[84] - The Nayars, though Kshatriyas by profession in earlier days....

[85] - It was needful that there should be a protector or Kshatriya caste ; so they promoted the ruling race to this distinction, and called them Nayars.

[86] - Brahmans have mating relations with the female members of the matrilineal Kshatriya Nayars.

[87] - Themselves tenants of chiefly Nayars (Samantan or Kshatriya Nayars).

[88] - Others held 12 year kanam lease from those (Nambuthiris or Kshatriya Nayars) with a superior title to land.

[89] - à celle des Ksatriya (Nayar).

[90] - The Kshatriyas, Rajputs and Nayars are landowners and higher agriculturists, still harking back to their traditional importance as militia.

[91] - The Nairs regard themselves as declassed Kshatriyas.

Journals[edit]

[92] - Varadpande points out an intriguing parallel with the present day Kutiyattam performers, the Cakyars, who claim their descent from the ancient sutas and are historically the children of the union of Brahman Nambudiris and Kshatriya Nairs of Kerala.

[93] / [94] - The Nayar caste took the place of the Kshatriyas.

[95] - It was the Prince of Kottarakara, from a Nayar ruling family in the south of Kerala, who produced.......

[96] / [97] - The two dominant castes—Namboodiris (Brahmins or the priestly caste) and Nairs (Kshatriyas or the aristocratic caste)—stood at the apex of the system of customary obligations and rights, and together they appropriated the largest share of the cultivator's product.

[98] - He mentions how various peasant castes like the marathas, reddis, vellalas, nayars, and coorgs were able to claim kshatriya status in the Deccan and in south India.

[99] - The Nayar are traditionally a warrior caste.

[100] / [101] - Dr. Gundert defines the Nayars as the Sudras of Kerala, raised to the rank of Kshatriyas by their intimate connection with the Brahmans.

[102] - The military aristocracy of the Nayars, confined to the coast of Malabar, is founded on polyandry.

[103] - Their persecution by the Maravar (warrior caste of the southeast) and the Nayar (warrior caste of the southwest) was itself proof that the Shanar were a conquered race of early Tamil royalty.
[104] - In the Apartheid Andhrite Vijayanagar varna system, a semi-Aryan Nair warrior would shoot a Dravidian Sudra Negro at sight.

[105] - They are considered generally as a Dravidian variety of the Aryan Kshatriyas.

[106] - These were historically the monopoly of certain savarna (upper caste) Hindus with distinct ‘middle class’ orientation and cultural values, and who benefited from early access to western education. Among them are the Brahmins, Khatris, Kayasthas, the Bengali bhadralok, Nairs, etc. For simplicity’s sake, we may label them ‘Brahmin-plus’ communities as opposed to the Vaishya-plus Old Guard.

Malayalam Sources[edit]

ശബ്ധതാരാവലി (ശ്രീകൺടേശ്വരം പദ്മനാഭ പിള്ള): നായർ - നായന്മാർ കേരളത്തിലെ യോധ്ധാക്കൾ (ക്ഷത്രിയർ) ആകുന്നു.

Others[edit]

[107] - A Nair of former days is thus described by Duncan: "He walks along with his naked sword held up as a walking stick; others have it fastened to their back, the hilt being struck in the waistband, and the blade rising up and glittering between their shoulders".

[108] - Nayars are considered martial, and are very like the Rajputs.

[109] - The Nayars are a caste, or rather, a set of related castes. They generally fit into the scheme of things in Kerala as the Rajputs do in Northern India.

[110] - Thus, he concludes, the social structure of the ancestors of the present Rajputs and of the Nayars must have had much in common.

[111] - Ehrenfels has indigenously argued a continuity of culture between the moon-descended Rajputs, the Nayars, and the matrilineal peoples of the Indus civilization.

[112] - Vaishya (merchant caste), Kayasth (scribe caste), Rajput and Nair (warrior castes) institutions helped these castes maintain their traditional high status by facilitating access to modern educational....

[113] - The Nair were a warrior caste and every adult Nair male rendered military service to the king.

[114] - In the past, though, the Nair male was quite a warrior — Nairs only gave up dueling some eighty years ago under British pressure.

[115] - The Maharaja of Travancore is a Nair.

[116] - Nairs were the warrior race in Kerala. This group had to bear the human costs of war.

[117] - At the age of 16, every Nayar warrior was confirmed in his military service by a ceremony in which the noble he was to serve endowed him with a sword.

[118] - Nairs have as much right to be ranked as Rajputs as any other communities of that class that have grown up in India through the centuries.

[119] — Preceding unsigned comment added by 122.177.157.129 (talk) 15:49, 5 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]