The Syrian Malabar Nasrani people are an ethnic group from Kerala, South India. It refers to those who became Christians in the Malabar coast in the earliest days of Christianity, including the natives and the Jewish diaspora in Kerala. It has been suggested that the term Nasrani Nazarenes used by ancient Jewish Christians in the Near-East who believed in the divinity of Jesus but clung to many of the Mosaic ceremonies. They follow a unique Hebrew-Syriac Christian tradition which includes several Jewish elements although they have absorbed some Hindu customs. Their heritage is Syriac-Keralite, their culture South Indian, their faith St. Thomas Christian, and their language Malayalam. Much of their Jewish tradition has been forgotten, especially after the Portuguese invasion of Kerala in the early 1500s. They are popularly known as Syrian Christians in view of the Syriac (classical form of Aramaic) liturgy used in church services since the early days of Christianity in India. derives from the name The Nasrani people are also called Syrian-Malabar Christians, Saint Thomas Christians , Suriyani Christians or even as Syrian Christians. They are also called as Nasrani Mapillas.
According to Hermann Gundert (who wrote the first Malayalam dictionary), the term 'mapilla' was a title used to denote semitic immigrants from West Asia. Thus the term Mapilla was used to denote both Arab and Christian-Jewish descendants in Kerala. The descendants of Arabs were, and still are, called Jonakan Muslim Mappila, while the descendants of Syrian-Jewish Christians are called Nasrani Mappilas and the descendants of Halakhik Cochin Jews are called as Juda Mappila. Origins The Syrian Malabar Nasranis are some of the earliest people who joined Christianity, including the native people of Kerala and many Malabar Jews from the Jewish diaspora of the pre-Christian era who were settled in Kerala. The community is also comprises several ancient Syriac Christian settlements in Kerala which included Nestorians who were fleeing persecution. The most prominent immigrations took place during the 4th and 9th centuries. The Knanaya Nasranis claim to be the descendants of one such group of 4th century immigrants.
Since Hinduism was the predomininant local religion, some writers claim that the first converts were mainly the Brahmins of Kerala called the namboothiris, but others argue that the claims were made by the later Christians to obtain special caste status in the prevailing caste system of India. A notable point is that the Namboothiri history claims their origin in Kerala in the seventh century CE, while Christianity in India originated in the first century CE. Besides several of the Malabari locals who joined early Christianity returned to their earlier faith during a shaivite revival by the shaivite scholar Manikka Vachkar.
Thus the community consists of people from ethnic groups of Kerala including some Brahmins, the pre-Christian era Jewish diaspora, different trading diaspora of Muzirs, Syriac Christian settlers and the Knanayas. The southern coast of the Indian subcontinent (hypothesized by the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus to be the place mentioned as Ophir in the Old Testament) inevitably became a gateway from the Mediterranean world to Kerala. The people there traded in teak, ivory, spices and peacocks, and the area was endowed with a magnificent coastline with numerous ports from Mangalapuram to Kodungallur, also known as Cranganore. In the ancient times it was called as Muziris in Latin and Muchiri in Malayalam. The trade routes brought with them not just riches but also stateless nations and nascent worldviews. Cranganore became one of the earliest settlements of the Jewish diaspora from the later Old Testament period. They continued trade with the Mediterranean world, thus establishing a strong link between the southern coast of the Indian peninsula and the Judeo-Roman world. Laying the links or foundations for what would later be the early 'Judeo-Nazaraean' diaspora. The early Aramaic-speaking Syriac Christians who came to Kerala from Syria (whose kin already had a Jewish settlement in Kodungulloor) were of largely ethnically Jewish origin. The ancient navigation route from the Judeo-Roman world to the Malabar coast British researcher William Dalrymple travelled across the Arabian Sea to Kerala in a boat similar to those mentioned in ancient Jewish and Roman texts and showed how the Nasrani-Jewish people had travelled from Syria to Kodungulloor. He followed the same course as mentioned in the Acts of Thomas, a copy of which survives in a monastery on Mount Sinai. The symbol of the Nasranis is the Syrian cross, also called the Nasrani Menorah Mar Thoma sleeba in Malayalam. It is based on the Jewish menorah, the ancient symbol of the Hebrews, which consists of a branched candle stand for seven candlesticks. (Exodus 25).[20] In the Nasrani Menorah the six branches, (three on either side of the cross) represents God as the burning bush, while the central branch holds the cross, the dove at the tip of the cross represents the Holy Spirit. (Exodus 25:31).[20] In Jewish tradition the central branch is the main branch, from which the other branches or other six candles are lit. Netzer is the Hebrew word for "branch" and is the root word of Nazareth and Nazarene. (Isaiah 11:1).[20] Note that the Christian cross was not adopted as a symbol by Mediterranean and European Christianity until several centuries had passed. Persecution by Portuguese The Judeo-Nasrani tradition of the Syro-Malabar Nasranis was wiped out when the Portuguese invaded Kerala, and denounced the Nasrani account of Christian faith as false. They imposed their European rituals and liturgy and obliterated the Jewish legacy from the Nasrani tradition. The Portuguese described the Nasranis as Sabbath-keeping Judaizers. Archbishop Menezes of Goa, convened the Synod of Diamper in Kerala in 1599.There he ordered all the texts of the Syrian Nasranis to be burnt.
The Portuguese burned the Gospel of Thomas and the Acts of Thomas. The purpose stated by Menezes was to erase all legacies of antiquity and Jewishness.[21] Amongst several accusations, the Nasranis were accused of not worshiping images of saints and biblical figures.[21] They completely obliterated the records of early Nasrani life and Hebrew-Syriac tradition and imposed on the Nasranis that they were local people who were converted and not descendants of early Jewish settlers converted to Christianity by the Apostle Thomas. This despite the fact that the Acts of Thomas (a copy of which still survives in a monastery on Mount Sinai), states that the early Christian converts by the apostle Thomas in Kerala were early Jewish people settled in the Malabar coast.Most of all, the Portuguese burned the Nasrani Aramaic Peshitta Bible known today as the Lost Aramaic Bible that was based on the Jewish Targum and included the Gospel of the Nazoraeans. The Portuguese imposed the teaching that the Jews killed Jesus. The Nasranis, who were, until then, the "living fossils" of the Christian-Jewish tradition, lost their very defining ethos.
34 comments:
Brahmin conversion is not a plausible event by any count. Kshatriyas and Vysyas too are out of question since Kerala has never been known for these two communities. Then come Nairs, Ezhavas and Dalits by the process of elimination. But Nairs were a strong and prosperous community in every sense - financially, socially, politically and militarily. The faith or the ways of such prosperous communities cannot be easily dented by a new faith or religion coming from overseas. Those who are vulnerable are the unfortunate people living in misery and are insecure in their life, looking for some escape route. That is what happened in Rome in the early centuries of the Christian era. It was the plebeans and slaves in Rome who embraced Christianity in the first two or three centuries. And it was after Emperor Constantine became a Christian out of political expediency, that the patricians began to stand in queue for conversion.
All considered, in Kerala, the possibilities are heavily tilted in favour of the downtrodden forefathers of, say, Ezhavas and Dalits whose lot in the country was not in the least enviable. But, historically, the only thing we can say safely at this stage is that no evidence is available for any definite inference.
Jewish conversion is a minor possibility since the number of migrant Jews and tourists might not have been great.
Overall, the needle of possibilities turns to Ezhavas and Dalits, apart from a few Jews here and there
St. Thomas visited Kerala and introduced Christianity .After St. Thomas other missionaries from Persia came to Kerala and converted many people.. The early converts in Kerala belonging to different grades in society on the basis of occupation were commonly called Christians But the name Christian was changed to Nasrani when the Arabs (Moplahs) came to Kerala. Muslims used the word Nasrani in a contemptuous and derogatory manner. Christians and Jews were hated by Muslims in the Middle East and so they used the word 'Nasrani' in a derogatory and spiteful manner, as the Greeks called others 'barbarians.' Muslims quote the Koran to call Christians and Jews as 'Nasranis.'
This is the basis of the verse. " Jews say: 'Uzair is the son of God' and the Christians say: 'The Messiah, son of God'. Such is their saying with their mouths; they imitate the infidels saying earlier. Allah has cursed them, how are they to turn? "(Surat al-Tawbah: 30) By this interpretation, Muslims regard Christians and Jews infidels and collectively call them ‘Nasrani.’
Even today all Christians are contemptuously called Nasranis in the Middle East by the Arabs. In Kerala also, after the Arabs gave the derogatory name 'Nasranis' to Christians, Brahmins and Nairs also used that word in a derogatory and insulting manner till the arrival of colonial powers. Vrahnins and Nairs made Christians work as coolies, agricultural labourers in their farmlands and compulsory service called ‘oozhiyam.’ The true economic and social condition of the Christians who were ridiculously called Nasranis was recorded by a missionary when European powers were slowly establishing their authority; Abbe J.A. Dubois, a missionary in Mysore, in his letter dated August 7, 1815, writes: “The Jesuits, on their first arrival in India, hearing of them, in one way or other converted the greatest part to the Catholic faith. Their liturgy is to this day in the Syrian language, and in the performance of their religious ceremonies they use this ancient dead tongue. There remains still among them large congregations, consisting of 70 or 80,000 Christians, of whom two-thirds are Catholics, and a third Nestorians. They are all designated under the contemptuous name of Nazarany, and held by the pagans in still greater contempt than the Christians of this part of the country. The Nairs chiefly keep them at a greatest distance, and they form a separate caste.”
When the Portuguese and the British educated these hapless Christians and appointed them as soldiers, businessmen and planters, Christians ascended to top position in the fields of education, business, plantations, and commerce making Brahmins and Nairs inferiors. Gradually the contemptuous name Nasrani was given up and the words, ‘Christians’ and ‘Syrian Christians’ became common usage. But in Arab countries Christians are even today called in a vulgar form, ‘Nasranis.” In a recent riot in Cairo, the Huffington Post dated August 17, 2013 reported an incident
“Naguib’s home supplies store on a main commercial street in the provincial capital, also called Minya, was torched this week and the flames consumed everything inside.
"A neighbor called me and said the store was on fire. When I arrived, three extremists with knifes approached me menacingly when they realized I was the owner," recounted Naguib. His father and brother pleaded with the men to spare him. Luckily, he said, someone shouted that a Christian boy was filming the proceedings using his cell phone, so the crowd rushed toward the boy shouting "Nusrani, Nusrani," the Quranic word for Christians which has become a derogatory way of referring to them in today's Egypt.”
What is your pedigree? Before colonial powers came to Kerala. Persian and Assyrian missionaries or metrans who came to Kerala lived here as sojourners. They never married the locals. But they converted lower castes, who were alone allowed to be converted by the Hindu rulers. Parallel example is from Malabar where the Zamorin allowed the Arabs to marry the cherumars(lowest of the lower castes)and their children are known today as Moplahs. The same is the case with the converts of Ceylon where these Persian and Assyrian missionaries built churches, as in Kerala, and converted the lower castes. The great crowd that gathered at the time of the Coonen Cross incident consisted of lower castes, mainly mukkuvas of the coast. After the coming of the colonial powers, the Portuguese and the British converted only lower castes, because Nairs and Brahmins were not prepared to accept Christianity. CMS missionaries converted untouchables like Ezhavas, dhobies, barbers,parayas and slaves who later joined the mainstream of Syrian Christians. This is your pedigree. Your visit to the Middle east and seeing Assyrians shows your craving to get the status of Assyrians. A Latin Catholic carpenter from Kochi can go to Rome and claim that his status is as high as the Romans. Assyrians were mere sojourners to kerla and they came as missionaries from Persia and left the place as they left Ceylon. By using words such as 'shi,' 'aashole,' and 'cowdung,' yiu are trying to bury real history and make false claims. Nobody will be jealous of you when he tell about your humble and menial past.Early Americans were homeless pilgrims; now the wealthiest people of the world. who will be jealous of them? You thank the Portuguese and the British for elevating you from a scratch.
mr radhakrishnan your comment about coonan cross is wrong.you don't know about history.nasranis are given same social status as nairs or namboothiris ancient times..even they were appointed as soldiers by cochin kings ancient times.About coonan cross,it is a bravery act by syrian christians to oppose portuguese to protect their jewish traditions of christianity.Acts of st thomas,an article,and antiquities of old traditions were destroyed by portuguese..syrian christians believed romans crucified christ and not the jews..still st thomas christians were unknown about the old traditions recorded which were destructed by portuguese..no need to blame any castes..each has its own merits and demerits..before commenting anything you should study deeply..you should also have to taken into account that..after the arrival of christianity from middle east..many social reforms happened like removal of untouchability, dress code for women..education..etc..other wise you and your generation still continues in darkness..syrian christians have done great things to the society and will continue also..because of their hard work..so you have to change your blind belief..i think you are still in darkness..every caste has good people and bad people..we have to accept that..
I think you have no idea about some basics of Marthoma christians history.
In Kerala, historically there are three categories of Christians.
1. Marthoma nazranis - converts by St. Thomas in I century AD.
2. Converts - by foreign missionaries , Portuguese and Anglican, during AD1500 - 1947. This includes latin catholics, CSI etc.
3. Immigrant Christians – This comprises the Jews and kanaya communities that had migrated from Syria in third and fourth centuries.
Now you may see Marthoma nazranis' are here from Ist century onwards; even before Christianity took form and shape in Rome or any other western coutry. These Marthoma nazranis' were treated in par with upper class in ancient Kerala. And moreover, these group suffered the most from foreign invasion as each visiting group wanted the Marthoma nazranis' to bring their faith under any cost.
Now some argue St.Thomas never visited Kerala. But there is no other story popular about St. Thomas in any other part of the world for the period AD52 –AD72. And Mylapore near Chennai is the only place said in the entire Universe to be the place at which St.Thomas was murdered. So the history of Marthoma nazranis’ stays firm and different from other Christians.
For a brief history of Marthoma nazranis' / malankara please read:
http://joneworld.blogspot.in/2014/04/history-of-stthomas-christians-of-kerala.html
NAIR CASTE
INFLUENCE OF C.V.RAMAN PILLAI AND HIS NOVELS
During last decade of 19th century ie during 1890's a man called C.V.raman pillai who was living kerala wrote a novel,a historical romance.it was one of the first novels in Malayalam.the novels name is marthanda varma-the famous king of travancore who enlarged travancore to a bigger country and made it strong with new revenue administration .he also weakened the feudal system there which was slowly emerged and formed from 14th century.C.V.Raman was very high caste spirited person (as was like many at the time.even now its said that nairs are the most caste spirited persons in kerala ).so he named all the important characters of the novel with surname pillai, some of the characters were real historical figures .they too were christian-ed with pillai surname.this novel was very popular and was taught in schools and colleges(even now) .many thought foolishly that it was the real history.but actually many characters were his creation which he thought needed for a love story.he knew many folk songs and from that he formed his own story.some parts of these songs are including at the start of each chapter.
Many after reading this novel tried to read the history accordingly ,doing so they corrupted the real history.as all know kerala people is very caste spirited specially the upper castes and christians.the caste organizations of kerala also tried to make profit from this novel.and thus when the real social history surfaces many people find it difficult to believe and accept.
The author C.V.Raman was a learned man .but at his time travancore state government jobs were mainly given to tamil bhrahmins.new educated malayalees wanted to have jobs in government and they organised and started demanding this need.a memorandum was submitted to king which was signed by thousands demanding appointment of malayalees in administrative jobs of travancore.but it was rejected.later some relaxation was given.many ezhavars awere also signed in that memorandum including Doctor Pulpu ,one of the great reformation personalities of kerala,along with the nairs and others.when government began to accept malayalee youngsters to service,ezhavar and other castes were denied this right.it was like a 100% reservation for the upper class,mainly benefited by nairs.it aroused a new hate and separation between nairs and ezhavars who were now in obc list and were untouchables at the time. but ezhavars were already organised and actively taking part with the reform movements of sndp .nairs and bhrahmins lagged back and were clinging tight to the old customs.many learned persons from upper class including nairs and bhrahmins were actually part of the reform movements and were working even with sndp .eventually removements started in upper class and new organisations were formed.nairs were so few in number.so many small castes , sects and groups joined together and took the umbrella name nairs and formed the organistion named nair service society(nss).after the formation of nss many sects were included in it.eventhough it was a organization meant for the modernization or civilizisation as explained by its leaders at that time ,it eventually became involved in politics after independance and is the most benefited caste organization in kerala.
Ananadha padmanabhan is the central or hero of the novel mathanda varma written by C.V.Ramana.this character again appears in another novel by the same author.the marthanda varma novel is also love story between anadha padmanabhn and a nair girl.anantha padmanabhan is a trusted friend and companion of marthanda varma.he is very good in arms and is a good warrior.he saves the king many times from the hands of ettuveetil pillamar.another family is also comes into importance in the novel .it is the mangoikkal family.marthanda varma was saved by that family and in that act the family house was burned down.they helped marthanda varma escape from the enimies and he stays in their family.but the enemies suspecting this attacked the house ,but they were stopped by the paraya (another caste now in scheduled list) soldiers and others of the mankoyikkal family.enemies tried to kill marthanda varma by setting fire to the house but bharathan channan or anantha padmanabhan saves the marthanda varma.in the novel ananthapadmanabhan is made nair by making him the son a thirumukkathu pillai.mankoyikkal family is also made nair by using the word kurup and pillai surnames to its family members some of whom also appears in his another novel dharma rajah.
in reality the anantha padmanabhan is a historic figure and belonged to channar community.his house still exists in kanyakumari district which was constructed by him during the period of marthanda varma king.he was the caprtain of the body guard battallion which included 36 warriors who were all channars selected personnaly by marthanda varma.he was a great friend of marthanda varma and served the king as his minister and army commander.actually he helped marthanda varma is securing the support of channar and nadar community to fight against the madampis of travancore who helped the thampis in their claim to thrown.these powerful feudal lords were trying to kill the marthanda varma.anantha padmanabhan died in the year 1953 after the establishment of travancore kingdom.
the mankoyikkal family also existed and their house too is in kanyakumari district of tamilnadu.kanyakumari was part of the travancore kingdom till 1956.they belonged to channar caste.now the channar caste name is not used.the channar caste and nadar caste combined together in 1925 and is now a single caste.they too held high posts in the period of marthanda varma and rama varma.its likely that they were given the title kurup as they trained soldiers.king marthanda varma also formed a title called chempaka raman pillai which was given to the most eminent personnalities who helped in the government.this title was given to these two families.
the word ettuveetil pillamar too was coined by C.V.Raman pillai and got popular in such a way that all, even historians use the same word.but they were not all pillais or anyone of them belonged to caste vellala pillai who now use the surname pillai.these eight houses were very powerful feudal lords and they held influencial posts .ramana madam and pallichal were ministers of attingal soverign of which ramana madom was a bhrahmin family.kulathoor and chempazhanthi were ezhava families.the arms trainer or kalarippayattu teacher of kazhakuttom was an ezhava man named kesava panikker.later he left from kazhakuttom with his diety whom he worshiped to another place called thozhuvancode where he established a temple now known as thozhvancode devi temple.its priests are even today members of his family and those families related to him and also they belonged to ezhava family.there is no bhrahmin priests in that temple.the word used in the old documents for mentioning these people are ettuveetil madampimar and not ettuveetil pillamar.in the document which mention the punishment of these madampis only 4 houses are stated.the reason is that all were not supporters for the eliminations of marthanda varma.because of the popularity of the word ettuveetil pillamar ,through the novel many people thought that all the pillais or nairs were against marthanda varma and it was a fight against nairs and the ruling family and in the fight nairs lost.
the novel was so influencing that many not only historians but also the intellectuals of communist party too were misguided so much that in the books written by them , they mention this as the mass or people revolt against the ruling class or marthanda varma.it also made people to think that nairs were the controlling the state affairs and all the powerful land lords or atleast all the powerful lords were nairs who used to keep a sur name as pillai.this also created a new story that nairs of travncore were against marthanda varma and as ruler he crushed them.this was really not the actual case.nor the nairs were anywhere near to be called powerful for they were so few in number in kerala and travncore.only after the formation nss many castes which were not actually considered nairs were included and thus the number of nairs have increased.earlier these castes were having (still now) seperate caste names and considered nairs to be so much lower to them that even touching them was not allowed.but they used to appoint nairs for their house hold works,but still they were kept aside.the water touched by a nair was not considered good to drink by them (because of the untouchablity practised at the time) doing so was punishable with bhrasht meaning throwing out from their caste and denying all the rights,which included social out casting.even today many castes which joined with nss(nair service society) consider themselves higher than nairs and dont like to got together with so called nairs, eventhough many times they dont use their old sub caste title but generally considered as nairs by others.marriages are not encouraged amoung them or they dont prefer to make an aliance from the nairs.pillais of trivandrum also are part of the nss ,they too are considered as nairs generally.but they use the surname as pillai and not nair.the caste name is vellala pillai.marriages doesnot occur between these castes.in southern districts nairs castes itself is considered as two types.one higher and other lower.generally speaking higher traditionally possess more lands.they generally distance away from the lower nairs.higher nairs generally doesnot support rss or hindu fundalmentalist organisations and movements.
Additions and method of changing caste of characters,and alloting caste historical person done by C.V.Raman was later criticized by many others later.but generally that critics literature is not popular among the masses.any way many persons before and after C.V.Raman had done the same thing .alloting castes to 18 siddhars of tamilnadu is one such example ,done by those who transilated their works to malyalayam.this has happened in recent past ,from 70's to till date.many who reads these works only were easily fall to belive that they belonged to that caste or at time of these historic perosns caste system existed and was strong as in later years.even now some new papers knowingly or unknowingly put caste names to persons when they write a feature about historic events.examples can be seen even now in 2012.
19TH CENTURY BHRAHMIN EFFORTS
there are some works such as kerala mahathmyam,kerala charitham,kerala pazhama etc which claim to be history books.but actually these were written by bhrahmins of kerala during the second half of 19th century or after 1850s.in it many forged stories were written with characters taken from puranas ,ramayana and mahabharatha.the stories of parasurama one purana character throwing axe to sea,story of mahabali and vamana etc are wrtten in these books.no facts or actual history is dealt in these works.but it was claimed that it was written very very early.but it contains reference of british rule,cannons,rifles etc which shows that ,it was written after 19th century.the aim and claim of these works is that kerala is for bhrahmins or bhrahmins are only rigthful owners of kerala.for that parasurama story was forged ,donating of kerala by him to bhrahmins etc were written.ofcourse it was written by bhrahmins of kerala who were leading lasy or easy living in kerala during that period.so in that books they claimed kerala was for them only.
INFLUENCE OF CHATTAMPI SWAMIKAL
saint sri chatampi swamikal during the first half of 20th century wrote a book named prachena malayalam.in that he claims that he had found some reference in tamil books about nair caste orgin.but that books were not mentioned by him.he goes at length claiming that nairs were desecenders of snake worshipers or naga aradhars lived in kerala long ago.he also argued that these people were called nagas because of their method of worshiping snakes.the main claim of the book is that nairs were there in kerala from time immorial and from the date on which earth was formed and that the nairs were the only authorised owners of kerala or kerala belongs to nairs.its so sad thing that a person who was revered as an acomplished saint could't even rise from the caste thoughts accumulated in him from his childhood.
that book stired confidence in nairs and helped to feel pride.the reasons are many.nairs were called as malayala sudras or the most downward caste in the varna system ,by the bhrahmins of kerala .ealier it was like a pride for the nairs as they were considered in side the varna system and some what part of hindus as they were allowed to enter the temple eventhough with some restrictions.these restriction include denial of ringing bell which was considered sacred,were never allowed to touch or come near the priest,nor were allowed to touch the offerings ,not allowed to enter the place were cooking of dishes meant for offerings.they were also had to move away when the priest come with things for worship.still it was considered as good as many other castes who forms now the majority of hindu religion now were not allowed even to enter the temple.also the bhrahims considered nairs as their servents who were obliged work for them sometimes even without wages.anything given to them were mere the great kindness of the bhrahmins.nair womens were the main maid servents doing house hold works in bhrahmin familes.the nair women were also had to submit to bhrahmins for sex if he desired so.if a bhrahmin comes to a nair house ,he can mate with any women he desires.it was the custom and considered as sacred and blessing.nairs also practiced polygamy ie having more number of husbands(i dont know the correct word in english .the word used popularly with somewhat nicely is sumbandakar meaning men in relation).anyone from bhrahims to nairs can have relation with a nair woman if he desires so.even an order of proclaimation from a travancore king declairing that those nair women who does not submit to wishes (sextual) of men from bharahmins to nairs shall be considered leading an unholy life which is punishable.it is difficult for a nair lady to live alone or with her lover or single husband.if an influencial person desires ,there is nothing she can do.out of the childrens born ladies will get more importance as the children of that girls shall be the next rightful heir of the family.this was because with this system no nair man can declaire strongly that he is the father of a kid for the kids mother had many men mating with her.but the mother of a kid can be identified much more easily as she delivers a kid which have witnesses and there by proof .because of this practise ,which was practiced mainly by nairs,the childrens doesnot know who their father was.it was not a problem till the 20th century.but after that due to reform movements and spread of education this custome began considering to be a shame to them.many great reformers fought against this system .this system does not exists now and is even unlawful.
he comes to the conclusion like Kanippayyoor that the term Nayar means one who serves
the Nampootiri with dog-like loyalty (for further meaning refer to pp. 53-54 of the Open
Letter). Even otherwise Manusmriti loudly proclaims that the Sudras' occupation is to
render services at the foot of the Brahmin and the other two varnas. At the time when the
Kerala Sudras fully trusted the Nampootiri and hailed him god, he had cleverly coined
the term Nayar concealing the meaning of it but making them believe that it was an
honorific."
but the unbelivable thing is that those who followed them used the word nair to denote the soilders of kerala.many never seen kerala and those who visited were not aware of the social setup of kerala.many who visited kerala have already read books about kerala written by their forecomers and were driven by the prejudices.this continued and in 400 years that word gradually got accepatance and today many keep that word in their surname thinking it has great meaning.what shall a person,who have lived 400 years ago think when he hears such names.he may have laughed and says what pitty.
OTHER CULTURAL EVIDANCES
the customs ,practices and even the houses were built according to these needs.those who were wealthy were able to built bigger houses.these big houses built by the nairs have some specialty.the steps leading to the second floor starts right from the veranda.this was to help those visitors or sambandakars.they dont have to enter the house ,they can easily go to the second floor and enter their favourite woman's room.these type of houses can be seen still in many parts of kerala.the namboothiri houses too have some peculiarity.that part where homas are done doesnot have second floor that was to avoid filling of smoke into the second floor.nairs where the main servants of the namboothiri families without them it was difficult for the bhrahmins to maintain their houses.namoothiris called nairs valyakkar(servents),adiyars(slaved like servants) ,sudras(lowest in varna system) etc.this was also considered by the nairs as a great thing they have pride in telling others that they were the adiyars of that or this mana(house of naboothiri).
further the customs followed by the namboothiri families were so ridiculus and now it seems unbelivable and nowadays they too feel shame to tell all that.but it is the true past and nothing to gain from concealing and covering it.reformation movements which started in india has changed the most degraded society of india and also it has helped to better the lives of all ,also the indian independence too was the result of such movements.that all movements helped people to come together ,meet and discuss the problems in the society.open talking was the base thing for the progress.but there were practices of untouchability.if a bhrahmin touches a nair it was taught he gets poluted and have to do penance and bathing .there were others such as ezhavar,thiyyar,pulayas etc whom if the namboothiri come closer beyond some limit then the namboothiri had to bath before he enter his house or temple.these namboothiris were commonly the priests of the temples belonging to the ruling family and other savarnas.there were worshiping systems and places for the ezhavars and thiyyas ,it was some sort of small temples ,but there all the poojas and worships were conducted by the persons from amoung them.pulayar and parayar were also had some form of worshiping .their main worshipping figure was goddess nowadays considered as kali(kali was a common name amoung them from very early period).they too perfomed poojas themselves.it may be interesting to point out here that kali was the cheif goddess worshipped by the warriors of india.eventhough pulayar and parayar were considered to the most downward caste earlier,actually they had a golden past.the words pulayar and parayar were in use in early times of sangam age when these were the names associated people who were the main men nearer to the then kings.sangam literature depicts of pictures of possessions of kings accompanied by pulayar and parayar.also modern researches shows that many places in kerala had kingsor rulers belonging to this caste.even today in second decade of 21st century they are the ones who raise the pride of kerala by winning medals in athletics and other strenious sports.
The savarnas( the term was mainly used by namboothiris to denote themselves earlier) were much interested in creating castes and new subcastes.this created a lot of subcastes amoung the so called upperclass.bhrahmins of kerala was also divided by different subcastes.the top most is the wealthy namboothiris called as addyians and poor was called aasiyans. As found every where poor did't got much respect and their situation did't improved much. They were given jobs to assist wealthy namboothiris as servants.in the 20th century there were many namoothiri hotels which served food for money.but at first they were mainly intented for the bhrahmins,some permitted upto nairs but for them seperated place and plates were used.but avarnas were not served there.at that time all the workers in these hotels were namboothiri. Later it these namboothiri hotels meant reduced to the hotel name ,that means the workers were taken from all castes even from other religion too. All were allowed to dine there.
Even with highest social status the customs of bhrahmins of kerala was too pathetic. Only the first son of the family was allowed to marry.other sons have no right to marry.but they can mate with any women upto nairs. Not all but some kshatriya families of kerala were ready to allow their ladies to enter in relation with these namboothiris . the most infamous amoung these family was the cochin rulers or thrippunithura kovilakam.these practice created a lot of branches headed with seperated women. The namoothiris which entered in relation with these royal families were like in service or like given job.they were treated well money was given to them and to their familes. Ofcourse these money came from the state treasury and to the treasury from the working people.the income generating people were the farmers , traders and few industrialists.they made the majority of kerala population and consists mainly of so called avarnas which included ezhavar,pulayar and others.but they were not given recognition and rights. Ezhavars which forms the largest community of kerala is belived to be the Buddhist followers earlier.learning institutes were maintained by them which offered studying sanskrit and tamil languages. Medical treatment was one of their main occupation.anyone who is brilliant enough to learn sanskrit and medicine was allowed to learn in these institutes and can become a doctor. They were revered by the royal families and the namboothiris even during the period of untouchabilities. But the rules for untouchability was always relaxed when question of survival and workability comes.numerous stories and court case records shows these practices. Trade and factories were mainly run by the members belonged to this caste.
the ambalavasi caste in kerala is that caste consists of people who were living doing jobs related to temples.this caste consists numerous subcastes.they doesn't were the owners or authorities of the temples but were doing the jobs such as cleaning,sweeping,singing,using drums and other instruments etc.they were not allowed to do the poojas which was done mainly by the bhrahmins.the bhrahmins many times were the authorities of these temples and they were the people who handle the income to the temple.at that time the temple income was mainly from the state treasury,given by the kings.this helped the owners or namboothiris to live well without necessary for doing any useful work.those persons living with jobs related to temples or ambalavasis were actually were dependentant on bharhmins as they can be denied job at any stage by these bhrahmins.so naturally they tried to keep the bhrahmins satisfied.they too practised the sambandam or were ready to entertain namboothiris with their women lot.bhrahmins entered into sambandan or a concubineship with these familes.it was not considered or accepted as marriage by the bhrahmin comunity.still the ambalavasis prefered to get a bhrahmin relation for their woman. this was way they have found to keep their job secure and income intact.so they prefer to have bhrahmin relative.if the namboothiri was a learned man and have income it was an added advantage for them.but generally if not all ,the members of ambalavasi castes are very poor and lagged behind in kerala.this was not because of any social backwardness but because of their way living superstitions.many tend to pursue their traditional occupation which have less income.their reluctance to modern education was also another reason.still they are not too poor to live as they can live by finding job and food from the temples even now.
it should also be noted that the sambandam by namboothiris with kshathriyas and ambalavasis were different than with the nairs.the bhrahmins used to live in the houses of these kshathriyas and ambalavasi familes with whom they have started sambandam.usually the ladies doesnot have other males in relation to her.that is kshtriyas and ambalavasis used to make sambandam with only one namboothiri at a time if not for the life time.it was like a marriage as the man and lady live together in the same house just like husband and wife.even though the namboothiris doesnot consider this as a marriage and children born in this relation had no right on the father and also on the property and wealth he ever possessed.this was not the case with the nairs.not only namboothirs but anyone from bhrahmin to nairs can have relations with any nair women.she can have any number of males as she desires at the same time.these men does not stay at these nair houses nor they drink water or take food from these houses as it was considered an act punishable with bhrasht under social laws.the namoothiris or bhrahmins doesnot enter in relation or mate with a nair lady if she is a virgin.its said that they were not ready to pull a lady to prostitution as it was a sin which would fall on them.so the nairs practiced a custom or ritual just after a lady attains puberty or mensuration.a ceremony was conducted in which the girl was declaired to attain womanhood.then her mother invites a man from a sub caste of nairs who would mate with lady accepting presence or money.this subcaste does't exists now.but they were held in high esteem till the end of 19th century.they would only accept the invitation only when satisfied by the money and presents given to them.in some places a ritual marriage was also arranged which would last only for few days.when this phase is over the family can invite namboothiris and others to enter sambandam with the girl.the namboothirs and others were now come to have relation with her.these men come only at night and if there is no one he can sleep with the woman he choosed.but he would not stay there after the sun rise and never take food or drink even water.it may sound unbelivable now but it was the social custome practiced by the nairs till 20th century.it seized to exists only with the modern education and social reform movements.after independance this practise was declaired unlawful by framing new laws.
WHY THE CASTE NAME NAIR GOT ACCEPTED
but why the caste name nair got so famous and became known to all keralites despite kerala was divided in different countries ruled by many kings.why was the caste name nair be selected and claimed as all same from kshtriyas to bottom most caste of savarnas as nair.its one of the classic examples which shows how the mind set of people can be changed with education which was far distanced or have no corelation to the actual facts.it has been shown earlier that the word nair itself was not considered as a good word and it contained a bad meaning attached to it and how untiringly many have tried to give new meaning to it.the word was not mentioned in any official records such as stone inscriptions,land records ,orders from the king etc.one other reason for this may be it denoted a very small subcaste mainly employed as house hold servents.even no good literature in the medivial kerala used that word.but there were some reference to this caste indirectly in some literatures such as chambu set of literature which uses a mixture language of malayalam and sanskrit ,which was more popular amoung the bhrahmins of kerala.but from the second quarter of 19th century this word nair became popular slowly.this was because of the modern english education.some how when portughese came to kerala they some how got the idea that the soldiers of kerala were all nairs.may be they called the soldiers as nairs.in the books and writings they wrote they used the word nair to denote the soldiers of kerala.they being came from a thick and last era of fedualism,where class division of society was strong ,they were easy pray to the misunderstanding that nairs where the soldiers or nairs alone where the soldiers of kerala.this misconcept was passed on to others and was continued by other europeans such as detch ,english and french.these other later europeans learned about kerala from the writings of portughese.they too absorbed the prejudice that nairs were all soldiers or the kerala soldiers were all nairs.this passed unchecked so mcuh that in almost all the writings the word nair was used to denote the army of kerala.when the english education was introduced in kerala in the second decade of 19th century ,this same misconcept was later taught to the kerala children in schools and thus the misconcept and prejudices were taught to the actual people itself.and above all even today many learned persons and even historians thinks that nairs are the only soldiers of kerala.But in reality many nairs were not soldiers or have nothing to do with warfare.
it quite possible that portughese used the word nair knowing its bad meaning to denote the soilders of kerala armies to which they had frequent querrel and fights.they hated keralites and soildiers of kerala to whom they have to fight.word nair being used to harase or mention a down troden man whose only task he was permitted to do was to serve the bhrahmins with atmost loyality and who were used to be called the sudras of kerala by the bhrahmins.in manusmrithi the sudra word is defined as that person who should do all types of labour to a bhrahmin with atmost loyality without expecting anything in return like that of a dog.the malayalam word of dog is naya.in malaylam lexicon the word nair is said to orgin from this word naya.kanippayoor sangarn namboothiri says sudras loyality is compared to dog in manusmrithi and other sanskrit texts.bhrahmins who were aware of this may have coined the word nair from the malayalam word naya and have give to these servants and made them belive it to be honoroble name.
portughese knowing this may have used the nair to satisfy their hatred towards kerala people.eventhough they were aware that nairs were not military people and portughese too were used to appoint soilders in their service for guarding their factory and into their armies.these people who they were accoustomed with, majority of whom were not nairs.for nairs were generally considered as slaves of bhrahmins.it should be noted in particular that even the british who conqured and ruled india did not considered indian soildiers as equal to british soildiers.they called indian soilders as sipoyees meaning peons or chowkidars or servants.these sepayees were made to do the house hold works of british soildiers and other petty services to them.if the british have kept such an attitute then what shall be the attitude of portughese towards indians and keralaites for the mutual hatred was the sole connection between them and keralaites.
in many books written in malayalam and english the word orgin is discussed.from the social history of kerala some
excerpts are quoted here."
In Brahminic Hinduism dog and hound have come to occupy an important position.
Even in the English language, phrases like watch-dog, dog-like loyalty and dogged
resistance are expressions of high literary acceptability. Kampil Ananthan in his open
letter (1952) addressed to R. Narayana Panicker, a Malayalam lexicographer pointed out
that the domestic services in Sanskrit were swavrithy (suna- eva-vrithy) which is given as
"sevaswa vritl ralthyata" in Manusmruti and sevaswa vrithy in Amarakosa and, therefore
Ok ppl stop diverting to another subject , we are discussing about history of nazaranies or Christians of Kerala, we already know about bhramins and other Hindu groups , the fact that the Portuguese forced the Christians of Kerala to Catholism is recorded in several places .
Mr radakrishnan speaks in the same manner like other Christian hating groups in the region or around the world.
Well! Christians and Jews were the groups they were fleeing from death / conversion / persecution till date! The Romans and later the Muslim rulers ordered Christians to be executed is also recorded in history.
Technically! the minority groups that were running from persecution / execution have landed or given shelter by the ruling parties in Kerala also cannot be ruled out.. I don't think we Christians are trying to establish a higher or equal status with the nairs or bhramins.
We are just a group of people curious to know our origins or history.
Before Pattom Radhakrishnan posts any more idiotic (at best) comments in Nasrani sites demeaning Syrian Christians, let him go through this site. Maybe he is not intelligent enough to grasp what is written by his fellow Hindus who know a thing or two about Kerala history in the recent past. Most probably he will continue to defame Syrian Christians and their contributions to society and country until someone nails his Dick to a tree.
Please excuse my language.
The belief of modern Historians that Namboothiries migrated to Kerala after 5th century is certainly wrong considering the fact that even in geographically separated (from Indian subcontinent) Sri Lanka there were Sanskrit influences as early as third century BCE.
When the Mauryan Emperor Asoka sent Buddhist missionaries to Sri Lanka around 275 BCE the capital of Sri Lanka was named Anuradhapura (See Mahavamsa). As it is sure that Sanskrit coexist with Aryan/Brahmin societies it can be considered that Sri Lanka was a Hindu land with Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaisyas and Sudras along with outcastes (Chandalas).
The King had established marriage relations with Asoka and the whole Kingdom was converted to Buddhism. Hinduism reappeared in the island only around 1,000 AD when Cholas conquered it and established the province of MummudiChola Mandalam (Jaffna Peninsula) and settled it with Hindu Tamilians.
The presence of Sanskrit-speaking Aryans in Sri Lanka as early as 275 BCE proves that in geographically connected Kerala too (with India) there were Namboothiri Brahmins as early as 275 BCE and that the Chera Kings of Kerala of the time were noble Kshatriyas and not Dravidians.
Do you have any shame? There are over 50 Syrian Christian families with deep history that dates back 500-1000 years and each of these annals when examined reveal the bhramin traditions that were practised. Nazarene means follower of the Nazarene who is Jesus. For there was no other word for Christianity. It's something to be proud of.
After reading all the comments, I have come to the conclusion that the inconvenient truth about Syrian Christians is that they are not prepared to reveal their original caste. Every Indian is born in a caste. But as far as the Syrian Christians are concerned, CMS missionaries influenced the British Resident to order the Travancore Maharajah's government to remove the original caste names of Syrian Christians from the Census Report so that they could be exempted from compulsory slave service called 'oozhiyam labour.' All converts were from low castes right from the day Persian/Assyrian missionaries came to Kerala. Namboodiris, Tamil Brahmins and Nairs, although alowed missionary activities,were not prepared to be converted because conversion would deprive them of all caste privileges and even excommunication.
The name 'Syrian Christian' is a misnomer. Syrian Christians are Christians of Syria, Iraq, Iran and Turkey. When the Portuguese came to Kerala they found this Christian community using Syriac as the liturgical language, and to differentiate between Catholics using Latin liturgy called them 'Syriac Christians'. It was only later 'Syriac' was wrongly pronounced 'Syrian' in the common parlance.
All converts by the pioneering Persian missionaries were lowest of the low castes, such as pulayas, parayas, dhobies, barbers, Ezhavas and fishermen.But the Portufguese elevated these lower caste converts of Persians and Portuguese by appointing them in their army, by educating them, by teaching them cultivation which made them rich planters and training them in commerce and industries.
Syrian Christians became wealthy and cultured because of their exodus to foreign countries. In the 19th century they moved to Burma, Malaya, Singapore, Ceylon and in the 20th century to Africa, Australia, Canada, the Gulf countries and USA. If you read obituary column in the Malayala Manoroma, most of Syrian Christians children and grandchildren living in foreign countries, especailly the Gulf and the USA. This foreign residence totally wioed out their past low caste pedigree.
Namboodhiri converted to Christians and now called as Syraian Christians is entirely wrong.See the food habits of Syrian Christians.All are non vegetarians,not as like Namboodhiris.Herman Gundert in his book "Nasranikalude Pazhama" said that Syrian Christisns of Kerala are business people of kerala..
സിറിയാണി നസ്രാണികൾ ബ്രാഹ്മിണ വേരുകൾ തേടി പോവുന്നത് ശുദ്ദ അസബന്ധം തന്നെയാണു
ഇന്ന് കേരളത്തിലെ മൈനോറിറ്റിയാണു നംബൂതിരികൾ( below .5%)എന്നാൾ എറ്റവും വലിയ ജന വിഭാഗം ആണു സിറിയൻ ക്രിസ്ത്യാണികൽ(above 10%)
സമുദ്രത്തേക്കാൾ വലുതാണു അതിൽ നിന്നു ഉലഭവിച്ച പുഴ എന്ന് പറയുന്ന പോലെ ശുദ്ദ അസംബന്ധമാണു സിറിയൻ നസ്രാണികൾ ഞങ്ങൾ നംബൂതിരിമാരെ കൂട്ടുപിടിക്കുന്നത്
ആഹാര രീതിയും,വസ്റ്റ്ഗ്ര രീതിയും, സംസക്കാരവും 2 പോളുകളിൽ ആണു ഞങ്ങളുടെയും ക്രിസ്ത്യാനികളുടെയും
പണ്ടു കാട് വേട്ടി തെളിച്ചു അധ്വാനിച്ചു പുതുപണക്കാർ ആയ നസ്രാണികൾക്കു സമൂഹത്തിൽ നല്ല വില ഞങ്ങൾ നംബൂീതിരികൾ ഉൾപ്പെടെ നൽകിയിരുന്നു അത് പണ്ടുള്ള പണക്കരായ ഈഴവ കുടുംബങ്ങൾക്കും നൽകിയിരുന്നു അല്ലാതെ ജാതി അടിസ്താനത്തിൽ അല്ല
Mr johnykutty from your language we all can figure out your pedigree
http://controversiesinhistory.blogspot.com/2012/03/forged-story-of-sole-nair-soildership.html
forged story of sole nair soildership
There are some popular beliefs in kerala .even historians are not free from these prejudices .one such prejudice is nairs were the sole warriors or soilders in kerala during the earlier period.can it be true by any means.actually answer is no.one european person who were in kerala during the middle of 1700s wrote that ,there were some 15 lakh soilders in kerala.he gives the army strength of each princely states eg 50000 regular army in travancore,another 1lakh using traditional weapons.samudhiri had some 50000 to 75000.kochi had 35000 and palakkad raja had 20000etc.this goes on and on.even that list was not complete.but we know even in the census taken in the last decades of 1800s ,the total savarna population was less than 10%.to sustain a 15lakh army is not easy.even india in 21st century find it too expensive.and population strength is one main concern.any country can rise a army which will be some 5% to 10% of its youths population.may be the kerala armies were not regular armies.still 15 lakh soilders is not so easy to be formed from a section of the society which forms only a minority of the society.but we shall better look at the records and make an understanding of the actual fact.
palace records does not use the word nair army.samudiri granda varikal never refer to nair army.the word used is lokar.why would they have not used the word nair pada,if it the usual usage or the pada was actually consists of nairs.they should have used it surely .but the reason is evedent the then army was not consists entirely of nairs.samudhiri letters have also been found.in it also he never used the word nair pada.there also he used the word lokar.the famous naval battles fought during that time was betteen portugeese and naval army of samudhiri led by marakkar .the naval army was mainly consists of mappilas.
there is one incidant,once a portugeese army group invaded calicut and marched upto samudiris palace.samudiri was not there ,nor his army.lokar or people around the place or in the city got alert and attacked the portugese.many portugeese were wounded and some killed ,portugese were forced to return to their ships,never again they dare to do such a thing.majority of people in calicut city are ezhavas or thiyyas,even now.if there is another major group its the muslims.(mukkuvar or deevara are also there.but lesser in beech area compared to more southern and norther parts.also muslims were converted from ezhava and deevara families for serving in navy. )the greatest lord (or family )in calicut that time was a ezhava having granded many titles and positions from samudiri.when haider attacked calicut this lord came to see haider ali and presented gifts before him and requested to spare the people of calicut.while samudhiri family and many brahmin familes fled to travancore.
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