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 PAGE
FROM PATTOM
RAMACHANDRAN NAIR
This page is created by one
of the most famous Historian - Sri Pattom.G.
Ramachandran Nair.
PAGE FROM PATTOM G.
RAMACHANDRAN NAIR
Pattom G.Ramachandran
Nair
Born in 1939, Sri.
Pattom G. Ramachandran Nair is a well-known litterateur
and renowned historian, who has been actively engaged in
the field for the past four decades. His father was Sri.
K.M.Govinda Pillai and mother Smt. J.Pankajakshy Amma. He
is the author of Thiruvanthapurathinte Ithihasam, Nair
Samudayathinte Ithihasam, Saisavasoukumaryam –
Kavi Bhavanayil, Prasastha Vykthikal, Asan-Ulloor-Vallathol,
Paul-Marar-Mundassery, Pattom Muthal Nayanar Vare,
P.N.Panicker (Biography) etc. He is one
among the founding Directors of Navadhara Publishing
Society. He is also the Advisory Committee Member of
the Cultural Publications of the Government of Kerala.
He won several awards for his outstanding works including
Vallathol Sahithya Samithy award. He was a member of the
N.S.S. Prathinidhi Sabha and Member of N.S.S. Union,
Thiruvananthapuram. Smt.G.Lathika Devi is his wife.
Binu Chandran is his son and Sindhu Rajasekharan is
daughter. Malavika and Adithyachandra are grandchildren.
In this page he inks about
the history and details of the Nair community. Here we
will find the most significant matters about the noble
community.
Contact E Mail:
pattom_ramachandran@rediffmail
.com
TEL FROM OVER SEAS 00914712474031
WITH IN INDIA 04712474031
FROM PATTOM TO NAIR IS A
SAGA OF NAIR HISTORY
The words From Best
of the Nair Historians In Kerala
Nair – Hindu Caste of the
Indian State of Kerala. Before the British conquest i.e.
1792 the region contained small feudal Kingdoms in each of
which the royal and noble lineages, the militia and most
land managers were drawn from Nairs and related caste.
During British rule, Nairs became prominent in position,
Government Service, Medicine, Education and Law.
(Encyclopedia
Britanica)
Nair – A people of
Malabar coast of India that are probably Dravidians with
Aryan admixture.(Oxford Dictionary)
Nairs are the Malayalee
warriors (Kshatriyas) of Kerala. They are the owners of
this land.
(Sabdatharavali)
Nairs are the savama Hindus
who constituted the warriors, landed gentry and yeoman of
Kerala. Nayars are the largest and most important section
of the society of Kerala. They were the lords of the
country and guardian of public weal.
(Robin Jeffrri –
The Decline of Nair Dominance)
The word ‘Nair’ means
one who leads, a leader, a guardian, a teacher or a
father. Nair is not a caste, but a society of the
Dravidian culture.
(Nair Samudayathinte
Ithihasm – Pattom G.Ramachandran Nair)
It is not easy to
trace out the exact date of the origin of Nairs. They
belonged to the Dravidian group, not the Aryan. It is
believed that in the Aryan society the rulers were
Kshatriyas. Chera rulers who ruled over Kerala from AD 130
to AD 1100 were not Kshatriyas. But they belonged to this
place. So it can reasonably be presumed that they were
Nairs. In his account of ancient India, Greek ambassador
in the court of Chandra Gupta, Megasthenes refers in
around 300 BC about the Nairs and the kingdom of Cheras,
where there were female sovereigns. There is no evidence
to prove the advent of Aryans to Kerala or their
establishment of kingdoms here. But there are clear
evidences for the involvement of Nairs in the rule of the
country.
It can be assumed
that as a result of the Aryan insurgency to the South the
Non-Kshatiyas of Kerala were converted as Kshatriyas.
Though the rules of Venad, Onat (Kayamkulam), Deshinganad,
Ilayidathu Swaroopam, Thekkumkur, Vadakkumkur, Kochi,
Kozhikode and Kolathumadu were known as Kshatriyas, they
were actually Nairs. The profession of the Ksyathriyas was
warfare. According to this interpretation, Nairs would
seem to be more like Kshatriyas since they were a martial
class as well. Similar to Kshatriyas, Nairs were second to
the Brahmins (Namboothiris).
The word ‘Nair’
was first recorded in the 9th century Thirukodithana (Trikodisthanam)
command of Vijayaragadeven. Mention to Nair was also seen
in the Thirunelli Pattayam of Bhaskararavi Verma. There
are inferences about ‘Padanairs’ (warriors) in two
stone carvings of Nedumpuram Thali. In the stonewall of
Suchindram Dwaraka Temple which belongs to AD 400, it was
recorded that ‘Pallikkan Nair’ was the temple uralan.
During the beginning of the 19th century Nair became a
caste name in Venad. Before that, the word was used to
mean ‘warrior’.
One finds mention of
the Nairs during the reign of the King Rama Varma
Kulashekhara (1020-1102) of second Chera dynasty, when the
Cholas attacked the Chera Kingdom. The Nairs fought by
forming suicide squads (Chavers) against the invading
force.
There are differences
of opinion about the origin of Nair community. One
argument is that Nairs are descendent of Nagas. Nagas were
the oldest and strongest group lived in India before the
Aryan insurgency. They were in India even before the era
of Ramayana. They were warriors in the Mahabharatha battle
and mention to this effect was seen in Harivamsa and
Vishnu Markandeya epics. The Surya and Soma dynasties were
related to the Nagas.
After the
Mahabharatha battle the Nagas became more powerful. It was
Nagas who killed the King Parikshit. There is historical
evidence to believe that Nagas inhabited in all suitable
places even from time immemorial. There capital was
Thakshasila. Their rule extended from Thakshasila to Assam
on one side and from South India to Ceylon (Sri Lanka) on
the other. The Nagas who came to Kerala became Nairs.
Snake worship is a special feature of Nairs. There were
Sarpakavus (snake parks) attached to almost all the Nair
Tharavads. The Nair ladies and men had a habit of combing
and tying their hair just like a serpen’t head. Nairs
followed matrilineal (marumakkathayam) system. Before the
advent of Namboodiris, an organized war-like group of
people exercised supremacy over Kerala. Their origin was
unknown. Owing to the worship of Naga (snake), this set of
people came to be known as Nagas. They exercised control
over Adivasis, put them to hard fieldwork and made them
slaves. Kodungallur Kunhikuttan Thampuran in his book
‘Keralathil’ firmly ascertains that Nairs are same as
Nagas.
Sri Vidyadhiraja
Chattambi Swamikal has reproduced some old ballads calling
Nairs and Nagas in his book ‘Pracheena Malayalam’. He
in his work ‘Pracheena Malayalam’ has reproduced the
following details about Nagas found in the old vattezhuthu
records. “Nagas wearing caps made of areca nut and
wooden shoes with long moustache and hair, with beams in
forehead and sword in hand, and moving elegantly were
treated with respect by all country men. The Nagas treated
‘dharma’ as all in all. To them it was their life,
their organs, their Gods, their knowledge, their very
existence and all in all”.
Sri Chattambi
Swamikal also quoted some other information about Nagas.
Wherever Nagas were mentioned special mention about their
forehead was made. This shows that they were devoted
shoats or worshippers of Lard Shiva. They believed in the
gospel of Dharma. They were the followers of Shiavait
movement. They became Nairs later. These shoats in course
of time became the followers of brahmnical faith. Brahmins
treated the Nairs as Sudras. Therefore, it is proved
beyond doubts that Nairs were a group of people who
recognized the supremacy of the Brahmins.
P. Damodaran Pillai
says that Nagas were the group of people who moved
southwards from North India during pre-historic times.
They became the Nairs of today. It is difficult to trace
the origin of the word ‘Nair’ which might have a
connection with snake worshippers, known at one time as
‘Nagas’. Some are of the opinion that the ancestors of
the Nairs were a sect of snake worshipping Scythians. They
came to India through Northwest border and settled down in
different parts of the country. According to K. P.
Padmanabha Menon, Keralan or Cheralan who ruled Kerala
centuries ago, brought Nagas and permitted to settle here
and these Nagas were later were known as Nairs and
Ambalavasis.
There is another
version that Nairs belonged to Dravidian group of people,
which stretched from Europe to Eastern end of Asia. Some
believe that Nairs were transitioned Naeri people who
inhabited on the banks of Euphrates and Tigris rivers
during very ancient times. Agriculture was the main
occupation of this group. By about BC 3000 Urathier Naeri
of Hurien tribe attacked their country. The war lasted for
a very long period. In the end Sargan-1 conquered the
Naeri land completely by BC 2018 (as evidenced from the
stone inscriptions of Sargan-I). Naeris fled to different
parts in different groups. Those who reached India settled
in the Indus Vally and various places like Lothal area,
between Goa and Kannur, Thakshsila, Katmandu, North Bihar,
Bengal and in some places near Madras (now Chennai). Those
who reached Karnataka settled in Tulunadu and Kadathanadu.
Another group crossed the Sahya Mountains and reached
Kerala. These Naeri settlers later became Nairs.
The prime group of
idolaters in Kozhikode was called s Brahmins and the next
as Nairs. Varthema (AD 1502) recorded that Naeris were
just like decent people among them. The Thekkumkur and
Vedakkumkur rulers of Kerala were saluted as Naeris.
Whatever may be arguments
on the origin of Nair community, it is an indisputable
fact that Nairs were strong group of people having
deep-rooted influence over Kerala. No other society had
possessed their status or standard. They were deeply
immersed with the history and culture of Kerala. Truly
speaking, the history of Nairs is indeed the history of
Kerala.
WORK ON NAIRS LATEST BOOK
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