Nairs of Kerala and their Origins

 

Who are the Nairs? What does the term Nair mean? What are the origins of the Nair caste? These are some of the multiple questions that will appear in the minds of the people who see the mention of the word Nair. And it's indeed some of these doubts that we are going to clear in this video. So let's get started...

The term Nair is a Prakritised/Dravidised derivation of the term Nāgar or Naga, which means Serpent people. This is corroborated by works of famous archeologist and ephigraphist Don Martino de Z Wickremasinghe, the books of the multidisciplinary historian K.M.Panikker, and many others 

Today the term Nair is used to refer to a Hindu warrior community of the Southern Indian state of Kerala. Regarding most commoners, the origins of the Nairs are shrouded in mystery. But many old historians and archeologists are quite clear on their stance regarding the origin of Nairs

According to the community legends orally passed down since generations, the Nairs are Nagvanshi Kshatriyas who had ripped off their sacred threads during their violent conflicts with Parashuram. Embroiled in either conflict or escape, they forgot to do Upanayanam ceremonies for their children at the right time. This turned them into Vratyas, who had ritual rank of Shudras. Unable to defeat Parashuram, they made a compromise.

As a part of certain conditions of the compromise, most Nairs were given back their Kshatriya functions. But in case of ritual status they were still considered Vratyas as their Upanayanam had not been done for generations. And the Hindu law text Manusmriti states that, if after the last prescribed period, the twice-born remain uninitiated, they become Vratyas, fallen from Savitri. (Manusmriti: verse II.39)

More about the historical genesis of Nair community will be discussed in coming posts. Stay tuned and do let us know your opinions in comments. Have a great day!