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By the late 19th-century, the caste system of Kerala had evolved to be the most complex to be found anywhere in India. There were over 500 groups represented in an elaborate structure of relationships and the concept of ritual pollution extended not merely to untouchability but even further, to unapproachability.
Kalarippayattu training is undertaken by every youth of the Nair community. The practice was established by Parashuraman, Durga, and Bhadrakali.. Shri Kallanthattil Gurukkal (a Nampoothiri Brahmin), Kshatriyas, King Marthanda Varma, Shri Pazhassiraja, Guru of Kallanthattil Gurukkal (a Kshatriya, Kolathiri rajah) all learned kalarippayattu.
The caste system in India is the paradigmatic ... it seems likely that the caste system—far from being the ancient and unchanging essence of Indian civilisation as ...
Ambedkar views that definitions of castes given by Émile Senart [5] John Nesfield, H. H. Risley and Dr Ketkar as incomplete or incorrect by itself and all have missed the central point in the mechanism of the caste system. Senart's "idea of pollution" is a characteristic of caste in so far as caste has a religious flavour.
Like the rest of India, the lower castes touching the upper castes was termed as "pollution," but only in Kerala did the lower castes pollute not just by touch but also by merely approaching an upper caste. For example, a Nair could stand next to a Namboodiri, whereas an Ezhava was forbidden to either approach or touch either the Namboodiri or ...
Until the early 20th century, almost all Nair families, irrespective of their social standings, followed a matrilineal system of inheritance. [65] [66] The children of a Nair couple would inherit the caste of their mother, while the property and lands that were owned by the family would be passed down through their daughters and sisters. [67]
Pillai or Pillay, (IPA:) meaning "Child of King" (Prince) or "Child", [1] is a surname found among the Malayalam and Tamil-speaking people of India and Sri Lanka.. In Kerala, Pillai is the most common title among upper-caste Nairs, [2] [3] often bestowed by the ruling royal families of Kerala [3] and less commonly found among some Brahmins, [4] Nazrani Mappila and Marars of travancore.
' The ruler of the land ') were feudatory Nair princes who ruled over microstates that are now administrative parts of Kerala, India. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] They constituted the aristocratic class of Nairs within the Hindu caste system and were either kings themselves or nobility in the service of the kings of Kerala.