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ORIGIN
OF NAIRS
It may not be
easy to trace the exact date of the origin of Nairs. It is
certain that they belong 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. Greek ambassador to the court
of Chandra Gupta Mourya, Megasthenes refers in around 300 BC about the
Nairs and the kingdom of Cheras, where there were female sovereigns,
in his account of ancient India. There is no ample evidence to prove
the advent of Aryans to Kerala or their establishment of kingdoms
here. But there are clear evidences of the involvement of Nairs
in the rule of the country. Wickiepedia says that all Cheras
were Nairs and Kerala history is more or less connected to Nair
caste.
It can be assumed that as a result of the Aryan subjugation to the
south the Non-Kshatriyas of Kerala were converted as Kshatriyas.
Though the rulers of Venad, Onat (Kayamkulam), Deshinganad,
Ilayidathu Swaroopam, Thekkumkur, Vadakkumkur, Kochi, Kozhikode
and Kolathunadu were known as Kshatriyas, they
were actually Nairs. The profession of the Kshatriyas was
warfare. According to this interpretation, Nairs would seem to be
more like Kshatriyas since they too were a martial class.
The rulers of Thekkumkur and Vadakkumkur were saluted
as “Naerae”.
Nair
men in early 19th century
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Nair
Women – early 19th century
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The word ‘Nair’ was authoritatively recorded in the 9th
century Thirukodithana (Trikodisthanam) command of Vijayaragadevan.
Mention to Nair also seen in the Thirunelli Pattayam of Bhaskararavi
Varma. 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 has been 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.
Whatever
may be the arguments on the origin of Nair community, it is an undisputable
fact that the Nairs were a strong group of people having deep-rooted
influence over Kerala. No other society ever possessed their status
or standards. They are deeply entrenched with the history and culture
of Kerala. Truly speaking, the history of Nairs is indeed the
history of Kerala.
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