Kiryathil Nair

Kiryathil Nair or Kiriyathil Nair is a Kshatriya subcaste of the Nair community, who have traditionally lived in the regions of Malabar and Cochin in present-day Kerala, India.

Kiryathil Nair
Regions with significant populations
Mostly in Malabar and Cochin, also in Travancore.
Languages
Malayalam
Related ethnic groups
Nairs

Social status

The Kiryathil Nairs are one of the highest classes of Nairs. In the caste hierarchy, they were considered same to Illathu Nairs,[1] but inferior to Samanthan Nairs. The caste boundary between Kiryathil Nair and Samanthan Nair is very vague and therefore some families among the Kiryathils in the course of time may be recognised as Samanthan and vice versa.[2]

Kiryathil Nairs were feudal lords, known as Naduvazhi, and controlled a limited number of militiamen known as Charnavars under their command. These soldiers usually belonged to the Purattu Charna Nair subcaste.[3]

See also

References
  1. Carol Culpepper, Jetta (April 2006). "1911 Encyclopedia Britannica20061211911 Encyclopedia Britannica. Burlingame, CA: LoveToKnow Corporation 2003‐. URL: www.1911encyclopedia.org Last visited October 2005 Gratis". Reference Reviews. 20 (3): 9–9. doi:10.1108/09504120610655222. ISSN 0950-4125.
  2. Fuller, Christopher J. (1975). "The Internal Structure of the Nayar Caste". Journal of Anthropological Research. 31 (4): 283–312. JSTOR 3629883.
  3. Gough, E. Kathleen (1961). "Nayars: Central Kerala". In Schneider, David Murray; Gough, E. Kathleen. Matrilineal Kinship. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-02529-5. Retrieved 2011-06-09.
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