Can we just appreciate the way the editing was done so precisely and flawlessly !! And the content went straight into my mind, and clarified my many doubts about the matrilineal system of Kerala!! Thank you sooo much for the entire team for so much of content being propelled perfectly in just 5 minutes of time!! Thank you:)
Interesting, please tell me the name of your tribe that practices Matrilineal system , I'm from Northeast India , my tribe also ia a Matrilineal Society
Glad to know that, most tribal societies are matrilineal and it's possible that the so called nairs evolved from tribes. Other things the so called nairs do is worship ancestors, sacred groves and serpents.
My parents are from Travancore. In Schools when a child is admitted the girl takes the mothers initial surname, and boys their fathers. And Women do not change their initial or surname post marriage.
@@JayJay-sn1wf you do not know the security a woman has in her own house. It's people like you who are a bane to the women. We own property, we learn martial rights, we have all rights, no torture by mother's inlaws. Sambandam isn't prostitution. Don't make judgments on someone's culture and fairing without knowing what it is.
@@JayJay-sn1wfget lost..prostituion?🤣...it was a social sysytem which used to tie up tge savarnas togetger not to prostitute..above all who need to do such thing to get a women they like when they arw having power and wealth with them..the morality of today was not from here ,its from the brits...even in vedas we can see systems such..also sambandham is a sama bandham an open marriage contract ..first see the video full anx h9w this system emerged...
@@JayJay-sn1wf all the societies of agriculture and civilizations used to be matriarchal but rest of the world of nomadic herds men hd bn patriarchal Please study history scientifically
This is the same system that Celtic and other pre-Christian European kingdoms used. That's why the king's nephew is always vying for the throne in Celtic, Roman, and other ancient European lore.
@@karthikrajeev4536 they were animists historically with Hindu-Buddhist influence before, only turned Christians 50-80 years ago. They don't have any literature or arts of their own, like tribals.
No, the pressure is still to have a son. The son becomes the King, not the daughter. Consider the scenario, the current King has two sisters. The eldest nephew will be the future king, it doesn't matter whether he has any/ elder sisters. Daughters are not that much important as you think.
@@vishnuviki9634 actually yes and no the community was always in need of warriors to fight at the king's side as mostly men where taught the martial arts (kalari payatu) the need for sons where seen as a blessing like if the opposite community wins a battle and a new born (son) is born then he is tasked to take revenge for the family. So both men and women had strict responsibility in the house
Here in Meghalaya, in the north eastern part of india, have matrilineal society as well . Our surname is the surname of our mother. The ancestral wealth , properties goes to the youngest daughter of the family.
Nairs had matrilineal (Marumakkathayam) system because the system supported their particular lifestyle. Nairs were warriors who were trained in their martial arts - Kalaripayattu in the Kalaris (or gyms) which was run by a landlord or king. The kings strength depended on the number of Nair fighters who were loyal to him and whom they could summon to fight at a moment's notice. Training started from 7 years of age and you could sent to a battle from around 15 years. When you went to fight, it was either kill or be killed. Meaning there was 50% chance you would not return home. In Patrilineal system, widow would not be supported. In Matrilineal system, widow would stay with sisters, brothers, mother, maternal uncles, etc. and the widow and kids would be supported. They could also marry again and continue living at their mother's house. The husband lived with his mother's family in a similar system. No one knows for sure if the matrilineal system existed before the Nairs became fighters OR if the fighters developed the system as a support for their women. It was definitely better than Sati system practised by Rajputs. FYI - in coastal Karnataka (north of Kerala), there are some castes like Bunts (Shettys), Billava, etc. who follow Matrilineal system called Aliyasantana; And Thiyyas in north Kerala, who were also warriors, also followed matrilineal system. Nair system had to be supported by landlords or kings because they were soldiers (hence non-productive) who were either fighting or training to fight. The landlords and the kings were also Nairs who practised matriliny. Similar systems around other parts are the Mamluk system created by the Abbasid caliph al-Muʿtaṣim (833-842) in Baghdad, and it soon spread throughout the Muslim world. Turkic Slave dynasty in India (started in 1206 AD) was Mamluk. Mamluk sultanate ruled Egypt from 13th to 16th centuries. Ottoman Turks also followed the Mamluk system.Japanese had Samurai system. The Mongol lifestyle of horse-riding and Bow-Arrow/sword fighting and living in camps (Ordo), was a natural training system where in every single Mongol man had to learn how to fight if he wanted to survive (the weak ones were killed). Coming back to Kerala - Kerala has only been peaceful after British took over in 1792 and gradually passed laws to limit Nairs powers. Before 1792, Kerala was always divided into 10-15 Swaroopams (or Kingdoms) which was further divided into Nadus (region/country) which were ruled by Naduvazhis (chiefs) who were constantly fighting with each other and Nair brigades were created as warrior community to protect the rulers/Naduvazhis and Rajas (just like Samurai of Japan who were kept as retainer by the Daimyos/local landlords who in turn supported the Shogun generals who supported the emperor). Nairs were trained in fighting (like Samurai) from 7 years of age (and practised the very highly developed Kalaripayattu Martial Arts of Kerala) and their main job was to protect their retainer (like Samurai protected Daimyo) and retainer's land. All the Nair men did, starting from 7 years of age, was train to fight and fight when necessary and most Nair men died fighting in battles for their Lords in their 20's or earlier and there used to be few men who were over 30. Going into 1000 years of Kerala history, in 9th/10th centuries AD, Kerala was invaded and occupied by Rashtrakutas. From 11th to 13 century, Kerala taken over by an expanding Chola Empire. In 11th century, per Tamil sources, both Cholas and Pandyans, together, invaded Kerala and killed all Nair chiefs and their warriors, in a very brutal war which lasted the whole of the 11th century (Pandyans eventually defeated Cholas in 13th century). During this time, in 11th century, the Nambudiri Brahmins rose in prominence in Kerala Society and Sanskrit words started entering the Tamil language which was spoken by Kerala people till that time (Kerala was, till that time, part of Tamilakam or Tamil Speaking Homeland). With Nambudiris influence, slowly the Tamil spoken by Kerala people became Sankritized, over last 1000 years, and changed to modern Malayalam language that we see today. With Nambudiris, the caste system also started in Kerala. We don't have any solid historical proof, but it seems from older Tamil Sangam literature that Kerala society was not as casteist as it is today. Before Nambudiri Brahmin influence became strong after the 11th century, the fighters, farmers, ironsmith, coppersmith, etc., worked closely with each other and professions were generally not based on ones birth. It seems, after Nambudiris came to Kerala, the fighters were designated as lokars or general people and separated from other castes (Thiyya in north Kerala, who are not Nairs, also have the same warrior tradition as Nairs). The term "Nair" was only given to chiefs in early times. And the Nair chiefs gave titles to their main people like Nambiar, Pillai, Menon, Menoki, Panicker, etc., and also took titles like Kaimal and Kartha for themselves - all of which are found as last names today. After Portuguese came to India, they started calling all fighters as Nairs. Tipu Sultan also called all fighters Nairs. But the modern self-designation as Nair is a 20th century phenomena after creation of the Nair caste organization called- Nair Service Society which was formed in early 20th century by Mannam (Mannathu Padmanabhan). Going back to history - In the 14-15th centuries AD, Kerala was part of VIjayanagara kingdom. From 16th to 19th century Kerala kings fought Portuguese (Vasco da Gama), Dutch, Hyder Ali, Tipu Sultan and British. Only after British took Kerala in 1792 that peace came to Kerala. British stopped the Kalaris because of rebellions (Pazhassi Raja) from Nairs from time to time. After there was no need for fighting (their primary occupation) the Nair way of life unravelled. There were too many men (because no one died fighting) in the tharwad (family house) who challenged the Karnavar (head of family) and the big families started to split up into smaller families. Men wanted to take care of their wives rather than sisters and sisters children. And then slowly the matrineal system broke down. Final nail in the coffin was the law against Matriliny in 1925 by the Travancore kingdom. Just a disclaimer - Not all so-called Nairs were fighters, and not all fighters in Kerala were Nairs. We know for a fact that the Thiyyas in North Kerala have their own glorious martial tradition ( Aromal Chekavar and Unnyarcha) and practise Kalaripayyattu and who used to be matrilineal (nowadays neither Thiyyas nor Nairs are matrilineal). Before casteism gained strength after 11th century, it seemed anyone from any background could be trained to be a fighter. After caste became entrenched in Kerala region, the society got divided up into castes and the lokar/nair people were created as a group (besides Thiyya in the north who never gave up their warrior tradition) who mainly had a warrior tradition.
Nambudiris came to Kerala from where?? How nambudiris made jaathi/caste system?? Tamil and Samskritham was composed by Rishis like Agastya and his gurus. Sangam members like Agastya Rishi were here while Muthal(First) Sangam, which was before 1100 or even before Buddhism and Jainism. Who were the shishyas of Agastya Rishi or other rishis like Saptarishis???
Also, many mercenaries who were brought to Kerala by the kings, got shoehorned into the Nair caste. This included Rajputs, Bunts to Maravars of TN. My grandfather was from one such family and his surname was “Singhar” which denotes “Singh “. They migrated from Mewar and there are many customs that they followed which were different from that of Nairs. Nevertheless, now we all have Nair surname and don’t follow any different customs. Similarly, Tamil Padam nairs found in the border villages were temple singers who got assimilated into Nair. It is postulated that the Maravars soldiers who were brought in by Marthanda Varma also got absorbed into this community. One may observe that the Nairs in southern districts of quilon and south travancore resemble Tamils more than rest of the nair folks from other districts.
@@007Sanoop Stage Agasthya was a Vellala who brought the famous 18 Velir kings along with the 18 Cr vellalas to the South, from Dwaraka, after requesting Lord Krishna (this information is there in tholkapiyam and purananuru written in BC). These Velir kings fought against the Nagars who inhabited the forest, defeated them, cleared the forest and created fertile agricultural land. The Velirs brought both saivam and tamil to the South. The 18 kings established 18 small kingdoms out of which 3 became more prominent: The chera-Chola-Pandyas. Chera kings were vellalas and shivites and married women from Pandya and Chola kings. Kongu nadu (present day Coimbatore and surrounding area) was part of Cheranadu. After the cholas and Pandyas destroyed the Chera kingdom, the Nagars took over the land. They are the Nairs and Thiyyas. Nagars were basically hunters and gatherers who migrated from South-East Asian countries. The Nambudri bramins were Aryans who migrated from several parts of India. The Aryas were strictly patrilineal while the Nagars were Matrilineal and thus formed a perfect match. The present day Nairs are born out of Sambandam relationship between Nair women and Nambudari men.
The Muslims of Lakshadweep and Kannur still follows the Matrilineal system, Many of the old practices are still followed including staying in Brides house, the children are brought up in their mother’s house, and they even accept their mother’s house name as their surname. They also consider senior most women as the family head, and I am also part of that system
@@jojyjohn7496 Usually he will stays in his wife house, and he will always stays with his mother and sisters also, in order to fullfill his duties with his family, the marriage is arranged in the same village or nearby, this will ensure his bond with his mother and he will be there whenever his presence is needed. Because of this custom,most of the marriages were between relatives and this ensures no dowry or at least a small amount is accepted. Apart from that, she will feel more secured in her home and the husband even can’t scold her in her house in the presence of her father and brother.So divorce is less in number and it is done according to Muslim law. The maternal home is inherited to younger sister and she will be incharge of caring parents, thus she will hold some influence over his brother and her children will be more attached to uncle than their father ,
@@fazeelpk9274 thanks for the reply pls clarify if a man has some property or cash in his name( his own money not received from his father) so who will inherit those money is it nephew/niece or own child... Nd what about division of property??? Is it mandatory for men's to provide support like school fee dress etc to sisters child and what happen if men refuses this?? Plss clarify
@@jojyjohn7496 now inheritance is done according to common system, because matrilineal inheritance is stopped by the law, but still he possess some moral obligation to his sister and niece/nephew and sister also have some obligations, with the marriage sister is not transferred from her parental home. So the bond between brother and sister continues, and she cares parents so the bond again strengthened, so a sister can depend her brother whenever needed and he is obliged to help her(usually in other customs, the duty is done by daughter in law). Now every property is divided between son and daughters only, but during his lifetime, he usually(uncle) spends lots for his sister and niece and even he is the person to take decisions of their marriages
Wow, like I'm from madhya pradesh in our school we really don't get to know much about these incredible stories.. my India has literally many stories..
@@anupnair7465 I heard that in Kerala about 150 to 200 years ago, who collected tax for the women's breast? Also I heard that the tax will differ based on the breast size. I heard that Namboothi Braminan who collected the tax that time is that correct? This law is only for certain cast people OR for all women's. Also please tell me who are the Menons?
Also we Billavas and Bunts and other communities in coastal Karnataka also follow matrilineal system of inheritance.we adopt surnames from mother. And also we have our ancestral houses called taravadu da ill (Moolada ill) where women play an important role...
Hi everyone, student from philippines and this is one of our topic in understanding culture and social politics. As a History Enthusiast, it is such a honor for me to know this information and be educated with the different practices around the world. Thank you for the video for explaining the nature and background of Nair or Nayar (it was spelled nayar in our book but feel free to correct me)
In Kanyakumari district that is Nanjil Nadu the Marumakkal Vazhi Vellalars followed this system. Kavimany Desiga Vinayagam Pillai belonged to this Community. He criticised and wrote மறுமக்கள் லழி மானியம் against this system. The Aram vallartga Nayagi Amman ie அறம் வளர்த்த நாயகி அதாவது பள்ளி அறை நாச்சியார் அவர்கள் இந்த இலத்தை சேர்ந்தவர்கள். அவர் ஶ்ரீவில்லிபுத்தூரில் ஆண்டாள் போல சுசீந்திரம் தாணுமாலயன் பெருமாளை நேசித்து அவருடன் இரண்டர கலத்தவர். அவர் பூர்வீகம் சுசீந்திரம் கோயிலில் இருந்து மூன்று கிமீ தூரத்தில் தேரூர் என்ற ஊறில் உள்ளது
The shudra "Nair" s will do anything to please namboothries and upper caste to gain higher social status. What ever they does ..the shudra status will not change.
For those like myself fans of the Elamo-Dravidian theory, it's worth noticing that ancient Elamites (unlike their known neighbors, which were all patrilineal and quite strongly patriarchal) also practiced matrilineality, including the royalty.
Yes because Tulunadu shares it's broader with Kerala ,in ancient times we have good relations hence this system might also has been adopted,I must say Tulunadu is amazing one day I ll surely visit there
Royal matrilineal system is not narrated truthfully. The king never marries and he may have several ammachis. The real matrilineal system is followed among Nairs when they marry within their community. Also it can be seen among Muslims of Malabar and part of Kollam. Again it is practiced by a special Latin Christians in the Mayyanad Panchayat of Kollam and their relatives settled in Chirayinkeezh and Karunagappally (Vadakkumthala) also follow true matrilineal system.
@@isacnewtonrobert4117 Not quite sure what you mean by 'Real' matrilineal system. The fact that the system allowed relationships outside the community shows the 'Real-ness' of the matrilineal system among the Nairs, and the fact that in reality, it's only the female lineage that really matters for a person to be a member of the family. The status of the partner and the caste/class standing definitely was a factor which did give the Nairs upward mobility within their community like the Menons of Cochin and Thampis of Travancore but they were very much still a part of their matrilineal family and the titles that came along with it.
@@isacnewtonrobert4117 The Muslims of Lakshadweep and Kannur still follows the Matrilineal system, Many of the old practices are still followed including staying in Brides house, the children are brought up in their mother’s house, and they even accept their mother’s house name as their surname. They also consider senior most women as the family head, and I am also part of that system
My father was Railway employee, a Station Master fm 1944 to 1984. We are four children, 3 girls & 1 boy.But my father was interested in providing for his niece, cousin sisters & their children.We were not given good food, good clothes or good education. My maternal grandparents told their sons to care only for their children, not sister's kids. This way we suffered a lot bcuz of my father's behaviour. He belonged to Kallazhi House, Padoor, Palakkad.
I am a Nair, and to this day we are more attached to our mothers family than our dads family. Up until a generation ago, we kept our mothers family name. Nairs were also mostly banned from joining the British army since the British did not trust them. Moreover the British banned all Kalaris, the traditional and most ancient martial arts school in the world.
@@simpleguy9993 yes the sambandham system was really ugly when you look from todays point of view. To your point, grandparents from my dads and moms side are products of sambandham. Not very proud to say it, but it is just a fact of history. My moms family had a martial past (kurup) and there are still functioning Kalaris in my native place near Kottayam. Unfortunately we were never trained per customs to be a warrior.
Father was not a big deal in matrilineal system but uncle matters lot. Daughter's birth was a jubilation while sons birth just a birth of a baby. Nothing more
thankyou so much for the video as i m from north india nd was studying sociolgy but can't get the concept of illum and tarawad but ur video was a great help to make me clear what tarawas system would work like thankyou
Nice.. it is not independent sociological entity. It should be narrated with Cast System where Appan Namboothiri had to have Nair Sambandham which had arena of loose relationships for money, land. Does all uncle love sisters children.? The uncles looted the sisters wealth and gave to his own children?. Explain also keeping "Vettila Chellam".. Explain what will Nair do on Namboothiri visit?. Whose is Nambeesan?. Nair women's child cannot call " Appa" Father if his is born from a Namboothiri... Many can refer their aristocrat father but never identify.... It was basically patriarchal confinement of a Nair women with wealth so that Namboothiri brahmins had the free entry for sex under the custody of Nair Brother...Indian constitution permit gender equality.. Let child be looked after by mother and biological. Father first hand.... Custom was abolished because it was full of vices....
Hello I am from Karnataka ( kuvempu university ) it's really helpful to my literature work and it also in our syllabus. Sambandhan was a freedom of choice to women.
No. If a Nambhudri or Embarathri likes a nair women he will go to her house with a saree and few bettle leaves (vethella-chella) and the women has no other option except to be his concubine. Brahmin men can have as many concubine as they please.
The Truth is as below: After the Namboodiri Brahmins enterance, the native Kerala women of all caste including Nair's and Menon were sexually abused and forced to have their 1st child with Namboodiri men, The first child's father of the Kings wife will be a Namboodiri, that's why they don't respect the kings and no importance was given to her
@@urbanhyena4063 He is telling fake news. There was absolutely no restrictions on the child except one rule that he couldn't enter the kitchen of his father's house.
@Storytrails Thank you, Akila Raman. You presented the genuine concept of the system remarkably well. It is delusional to think a 6:40 minutes introduction to this matrilineal system will detail all the miscreants who found different methods of exploiting it. Every system has its own share of miscreants and distorted attitudes deliberate on misusing it. Marumakkathaayam was no exception. Get real. Those intrigued by the maruamakkathaayam way can do an indepth study of the several instances that it was misused, exploited, twisted rather than rely on a 6:40 duration introductory video expecting it to cover a detailed comprehensive factual report.
U missed te important part Nair Man doesn't know who is father or who is his children Coz nair women in taravadu ( literally means ppl comes and goes ) - where visited by 3 , 4 or more men in same period of time It's some sort of organised prositution to deliver a warrior man's who doesn't know father or children - so that he will bound to no family obligation or commitment - so that he can fight without any back thoughts
you people brought patriarchy, and made woman a slave of her husband and his family. Lot of bride burning in the name of dowry etc happens now and you are responsible for that. sexual rights of women is destroyed. Whereas you rich people does get sex by all stealthy means. Recently Sister Abhaya's death is tip of the iceberg and many christians themselves have realised it. Patriarchy to nuclear family lead to social isolation and host of psychological problems. How can you use the word 'prostitution' when the amma veedu's are already rich enough to feed themselves? In those days there was no need to buy cars and other goodies. The needs were few, and that was already available to them. You christians and muslims destroyed the freedom of women, and now they are trying to imprison women in burqua. Your 'holy' books even mention throwing stones and killing women as punishment to adultery. If someone want to destroy your wife or sister or mother he could spread rumour about her adultery and your religious goondas would execute the punishment. You people even burned Joan of Arch at stake. Now you are insulting the local practices in kerala.
@@arjunjagadeesh4290 Partially true. Nair women had an official nair husband and unofficial nambhudari husband, so she herself will not know which kid is born to whom. Because of this genetic heterosis the nair men and women were very tall, strong and beautiful (In TN we call this as Malayalathan Velutha Katha).
@@mrwashingtondc2005 I don’t agree to generalizing nair women were having children of unknown people.Some families of poor background might have such arrangement but that can be used to generalize an entire community.
Because the Nair women had physical relationships with the Namboodiri Brahmins. Hence as it was a polyandrous society, the matrilineal society was more convenient. The Bhavni or the Devadasi system of Goa and South Maharashtra is very similar.
Namboothiries enter into a formal conjugal contract called pudava koda to form a relationship with a Nair women. Same is practised with kshthriya woman of Malayala at that time. It is far from being called prostitution or devadasi system. Nair ladies never took any money nor property in forming this alliance.
People barks without knowing the history. No point in responding to them. We know who did prostitution behind toddy shop and sharing the wife among all other brothers. There are some backward caste whose job is to criticise upper caste peoples. They lived in such a nasty situation those days now want to take a revenge in this way. Now i understood why upper caste people kept these people a side with all untouchability and on. Their attitude is this.
@@aj9969 Is your mom prostituting to your dad? Why is Sambandham union not a marriage as per your logic? Or may be you call it a formal relationship with the knowledge of family. On what ground is it a prostitution. I remember reading Thiya/ Christians offering sex to Nairs for money. Why is that not prostitution?
Matrilineal System exist among Eastern Tamils & Eastern Muslims of Sri Lanka! It does exist today too!! Mixed Matrilineal - Patrilineal system exist in Northern Tamils of Sri Lanka!
I probably didn't understand this well.. so if someone knows please clarify.. If it's a matrilineal system why the King's daughter get's no royal status? Why does the queen who is married to king has to live away from her husband's house as a rule with her children? Is this not some kind of discrimination against the king's wife and children? And where in the world the Men in royalty did not go to fight wars? 🙄🙄
I was born in a well-known Nair family from Alappuzha of Southern Kerala side. This type of system is just a piece of shit and still carries on and on.
its very hard to determine matrilineal system bcz after one generation lineage got mixed so matrilineal system is false system and still lineage passes through male child, so its indirectly a patrilineal linkage.
The above story is a whitewashed version. The lady who is speaking is twisting the truth very nicely. FYI: The Kerala Brahmin had complete control over our dear Nair women. The Nair men married Nair women but had to leave the house immediately after marriage to be part of Brahmin's Army. The Kerala brahmin would have affair with the married Nair women. This was done because in the brahmin family only the eldest brother could marry a brahmin girl. The rest had to have a life with married nair women. This was for protecting lands owned by the brahmin community who owned 95 % of land in Kerala. Younger Brahmin men had to have affairs with Nair women. Hence Nair women got privilagees from brahmin men like house, money, and protection. The kids born out of this affair were not privileged to be brahmin. The Nair boys would eventually join Brahmin Army, who were brave warriors.
Ladies had no choice? All ladies were forced into this even if she resisted? Or it was at her free will and choice? I know a American highly paid lawyer lady who has 3 children from 3 different men. All by her own choice. This looks something similar. Or there ladies were forced against their will? Key question is did women have freedom to say no to a man she did not want to be with? If they did not have that freedom then it was prostitution. But if lady had total freedom and she asserted that freedom from time to time, it is advance civilisation, like western civilization is right now on his aspect.
@@nv9991women don't have freedom.if namboothiri wants she must accept that sambatham.. Brahmin and namboothiri sex with nayar girls at night only. Morning,that Brahmin treat that girls as untouchable things
Very interesting, I am ex-Dubai and knew a number of Malayalis there but this is the first time I hear about the matrilineal system. I love Kerala and the whole of south India, the people, the land and culture, cuisine. One Q's, what about family inheritance, wouldn't it bring about squables and litigation down the road..??
Good and simple explanation.👌 The clear picture can be seen in the movie - OZHIMURI- directed by Madhupal- The movie is about the power of Nair women and later social contradictions.
What ever explained in this video is not completely wrong but there are some most important facts which they are not explaining, may be because they don't know or haven't done much research. Nowadays anybody can narrate history in their own way in social media and there will be people to watch it. Since this video is concentrating on nair community, I have to say few things to portrait the real history. To start with, Travancore had history even beyond 1800s to be specific Travancore history starts from the era or Great Marthanda varma from Attingal kingdom, before his era the region down south from Venad(present day Quilon or Kollam) was ruled by two heirs, the head of Attingal kingdom and head of Kilimanoor kingdom. The heir of Attingal was always been a Queen and they followed Matriarchy and the head of Kilimanoor was always been a Prince but the supreme authority always been the Queen of Attingal for the regions combined. Along with these two higher authorities there were multiple feudals in the extended regions who were following the Queen's orders. If you look at the two regions the Kilimanoor kingdom was situated towards the eastern region of present day Thiruvananthapuram and Attingal was on the western side of the district and had been doing business with foreign traders for thousands of years along with their fellow kingdoms and the traders landing on these two main ports in the region, one in present day Vizhinjam and other the famous Anjengo port, that's the most wealthy area of that time and most of the businesses happen there and hence Queen had greater powers, located just few kilometers to the west of Queen's palace in Attingal. The two kingdoms followed a peculiar way of bonding relations between each other by the princess of Attingal due to take over the authority of Attingal to marry the prince of Kilimanoor and the baby born to them would be considered as future King/Queen of the region. There were times in the past that there were no princesses in Attingal kingdom and hence the then Queen had to adopt a baby princess from Kolathiri kingdom from northern Malabar, who were Brahmins and had close connections with the then Vijayanagara Empire. These adoptions took place two time in history once in 1200 and then in 1600 from what I have learned, the princess adopted in 1600 was the mother of Marthanda Varma, and these adoption had to pay big price in the then political history of Attingal and Kilimanoor kingdoms. Now to be specific all the kingdoms in the southern regions in present day Tamil Nadu and Kerala were descendants of Pandya, Chola or Chera and all these three kingdoms itself were inter related. The kingdoms in Venad, Attingal and Kilimanoor were part of then Ay Kingdom and that was a fact and all these rulers asserted over and over multiple times in their interviews and is properly written in history as well, that means they have no connection with Vaishnava Brahmins or the Kingdoms Vaishnavas tried to set up or unite to oppose the greater oppression from multiple Mugal/Muslim rulers from North. That means the Nairs assigned to protect the Vaishnava Brahmins in North Kerala or Malabar region have nothing to do with the then kingdoms, had it been the truth you would have found them in even in all the neighboring kingdoms in present day Karnataka, Goa, Tamil Nadu or even elsewhere. That means Nairs are not an indigenous group assigned to take up warrior duty or anything of that sort anywhere else. Nairs are only specific to Malabar region and there is absolutely no evidence whatsoever convincing in history to support the argument in this video, in fact the people who are purely marital is Chekavars in Malabar or Chovar or Channars down south, also Kalari is not an art form specific to Kerala. In fact Kalari is practiced in different parts of southern region on different degree and extend under different names. Chekavars(going with this one name further) are considered the Gladiators in southern region and if you examine the history you will know how it worked out and most of them belong to Thiyyas or Ezhavas, Lord Ayyappa believed to had learned Kalari from a Ezhava Kalari Guru in Alappy(Alappuzha) district. Lately there have been hurry in tying and glorious things to some specific groups which is not right. So that means the nairs in 1800 were no warlords nor they had anything to do with any of the wars the Travancore fought but I agree they were warriors and share the space with rest of the warriors from other communities, after all every clan should their own set of warriors to begin with if you can understand the basics of how humans lived as clans. Being the last war fought by Travancore was the second war with Tipu Sultan in late 1700s, the Great Balarama varma(Dharma Raja) fought and he won that with the help of British. Eventually the fighting force of the then Travancore was totally depleted and had to accept British authority. From the early 1700 to mid 1800 there had been an influx of refugees from Malabar to Travancore and they were mostly Nairs, assigned to protect the Brahmin Feudal families in Malabar and hence the name Nair, because of British/French oppression, internal conflicts between small kingdoms and religious problems in that regions and there was a large number of refugees from Malabar based Royal/Feudal families to Travancore due to Tippu's attack. The first and second and last war with Tippu and Travancore was mainly because Dharma Raja denied Tippu's demand to hand over the refugees from Royal/Feudal families, I believe this is because of Dharma raja's soft corner towards the people from Kolathunadu from where the adoptions occurred, so that he could extort their wealth. Later some of those regular refugees from Malabar moved and settled in the regions under Madras Presidency and many with the background of farming settled in the eastern hills of middle regions in present day Kerala and started farming, also became closely associated with British when they started tea plantations in that area after British got the land from the Travancore rulers to compensate for their second Tippu - Travancore war expenses and the expense in providing protection to the Travancore kingdom from British military. The rest of the Royals/Feudal refugees from Malabar slowly started infiltrating in to Travancore Kingdom and Royal circles with the help of British and this kind of change the history of Travancore from early 1800 onwards, the locals were always against this because the new comers were grabbing their opportunity on multiple grounds because neither the Travancore King nor the British did anything untill early 1900s and the only resort was the Queen of Attingal. In fact the locals always protested against the adoptions from Brahmin Royal families since they feared eventually their own kingdom will be compromised, there were recorded protests even against the adoption of King Marthanda Varma's mother during late 1600s even if we keep history of Attingal revolt left alone. Being all these said the concept of Nair warlords and Nair army started coming up during the time of Velu thampi who was the Dalawa during the next king after Dharma Raja who was probably one of the weakest kings in Travancore. Thampi is the title given to a male child born to Nair woman from an affair from a man related to Royal family, so he had some connection with Royals already and he was very sympathetic of Nairs because of their social status at that time and started recruiting the Nair males alone to the army and letting go the men from the rest of the communities. Now we have to understand that at that time there was no need of a separate army since Travancore was already paying to British for their protection and British never involved in the day to day life of a normal Travancorian other than collecting taxes on time. This was the worst time in Travancore history and there was multiple taxes imposed on regular Travancore people and people started thing differently and all the reformation movement started this time. So the conclusion is that although many Nairs try to glorify themselves as warlords and warriors there were no wars really fought after they formed Nair Army in Travancore and that is the reason later on the Queen of Attingal decommissioned the army and decided to keep a small number just for the protection of Royal and procession. One thing to remember at this time is that one of the greatest wars Travancore fought was the war of Kolachal against the Dutch forces and it was actually the Land and Naval war, the Dutch was defeated in Naval war and when this was done majority of the Naval warriors were from fishermen community. There were many Nair Feudal families at that time and there were many normal Nair families as well trying to find their bread in vain but still they wouldn't miss a chance to glorify themselves by pointing the luxury of a wealthy Nair family in far away place although that doesn't fill their stomach, I see them more ambitious than other social groups but there should be an end to falsifying the history at some point and we have to learn to understand and analyze history as a story happened in the past else it would be childish. Apart from Matriarchy followed in Attingal Kingdom, the matrilineal system followed by many of the communities back then were to protect their wealth, if you closely examine all the families followed were wealthy nevertheless of the community they belong to.
Marthanda varma kku nair pattalathodoppam cheriya oru maravar pada koodi ondayirunnu. Maravar, kallar, thevar thudangiyavar thamil sainika jathikalanu. Marthanda varmayude kalathu cheriya oru MARAVAPPADA yum ondayirunnu ennathozhichal yudham poornamayum thiruvithamkoor nair army anu cheythathu. Athil ezhavarum illa mukkuvarum yudham cheythittilla. Kashmeerile janamgal Indian army ye help cheyyum pole thiruvithamkoor janamgal athu nair ayalum mukkuvar ayalum ezhava ayalum nair pattalathe anukoolichirunnu.
😂😂😂 chovanmaaar oru history undakkaaan ithrem kashtapedano,,thiyyans and ezhavass are unto uchables and outcaste , there profession is toddy tapping,and rarely ayurveda practitioner and kalari teaching.
Untouchable ezhavan 😂 wants to become Malayala Kshatriya but unfortunately its nair, so please come as a new newborn baby in nair house😄😄, or cames to ouer house,in nadar house ok
@@ashwinkumars1610 Chovvathikal Sayippinde kunnavizhungunna toys mathramayirunnu pandukalangalil. Today their sons born out of sayippinte vaanam are trying to insult other communities like Nairs. Haha
The story of King Arthur versus his nephew, Mordred, by incest with Morgan, is a classic matrilineal system Celtic story where the Contender is always the king's nephew.
Nairs ➖ Nair ( Also known as Nayar or Malayala kshthriya ) is the name of a Hindu forward Caste from the southern Indian state of Kerala. Nairs were the descendants of Nagavanshi Kshthriyas, who migrated to Kerala from further North. They served the Brahmin Kings as Warriors and Local Rulers. Only following Group in Nair community were considered as Kshthriya such as Samanthan Nair, Kiriyathil Nair, Illathu Nair and Sworoopathil Nair, and all other Nairs served to the Kshthriya Nairs. ‼
@@gopikrish7205 we are nairs not the avarnas that did adhiratriavakasam, koodekidappuavakasam , onnamratriavakasam, merungukoodal, pattanavari, pandavavicharam, ammvan ozhichil to don't know father
The Travancore Royals, like the Nair community, practised the matrilineal system of inheritance. So, the king’s wife was not the Queen, but just the Ammachi or king’s wife. Although she was from a royal family, she never stayed in the palace, but in a separate house called “ammaveedu” (or ammachi’s house). King Swathi Thirunal (reign: 1813-46) fell in love with a dancer in his court. Her name was Sundara Lakshmi and she came from Thanjavur (in Tamilnadu). He could not marry her, because she was not royalty. So, he got her adopted by the Vadassery royal family and then married her in 1843, despite objection from the orthodoxy. She was provided a separate house and this was called the “Thanjavur Ammaveedu” - or “the house of the king’s wife who hailed from Thanjavur”
no we nairs still culturallly and religiously follow matriarchy all our customs are still through mother family ...only innheritence is equally divided among brother and sister unde this act and wont go to sister kids thats they wont be at par with their uncles earlier property was divided between brother sister and sister kids.
To your comment, let me tell in detail. It is a mix of puranas and history. As per purana there were mainly 2 vamsam of rulers. One is Surya vansham and other is chandra vamsham. Ram belonged to Surya Vamsham and Lord Sri Krishna belonged to Chandra Vamsham. How this came in to existance is like this. In Matsya avatar, Lord Vishnu carried the Vaivaswata Manu (Dravida Manu) and Sapta rishis and took to North India. A scientiost called Brahma invented SOMARAS and increased life span. This Manu which is a Dravida Manu or Tamil Manu is the fore father of Surya Vamsham or Rajputs. In fact all Rajputs are some or the pther related to Tamil. In Chandra vamsham comes Yaduvamsham . Here this dynasty started from Yayathi and Devyani. Ie a Raja and Brahmin women. Hence this dynasty is od Deva Vamsam also. It is this vamsham that is in the land occupied by Lord Parashurama, Brahmins (not Nambudiri but still Older TULU Barhmins). and Devas (Kurup, Kartha, Kaimal and Malayali Pillai's). We fathered the Chera dynasty and converted the Tamil blood in to Malayali + Tulu+ Little bit Tamil Blood. So we were given the ststus of Deva's. There is another ritual held in Koodal Manikyam temple at Irijalakkuda where a kurup will be converted to Lord Narayan by by process called JATAKAVARODHAM and is called as Maikkam Kerelar. It was done by the top most Brahmin in Kerala by name AZHVANCERRY TAMPRAKKAL. Now it is stopped by Indira Gandhi. We have to be carried by Travancore and Cochins Raja's (symbolically). Brahmins have to walk infront and behind us. IWhat more, when Dwaraka was drowning Lord Krishna told the Idol to be installed in GURUVAYUR (The land of his father Lord Vishnu, the manikkam Keralar) One request, MGR's father is from our sons's caste but Veluppilai Prabhakaran's father is directly from or caste. Please dont mixup thins but certainly we love our tTAmil Brothr-in-laws and we will give you the support back.
@@JayJay-sn1wf Hello, modern morality is not applicable in ancient world. We can't completely comprehend how things were at that point of time. Do not judge people so impulsively, we do not walk in their shoes
@@JayJay-sn1wf what do you know about tharavadus and the role women played.? WHERE IS PRODTITUTION THERE IN THIS? A man after giving pudava, in front of family both his and hers, with the elders blessing. Is that prostitution? May be in your community that is prostitution. Right to divorce a man. That's a blessing. Absence of widowhood that too. Right to remarry, that too. Right to wealth in the family that too. Right to education that too, right to learn martial arts that too. No mother inlaw torture, no dowry. No threat of being thrown out of the house. Where have you seen so much security for a woman. Why should a woman live with a man who is nasty to her? Male chauvinist like you are the cause of all ptoblems. Women in the community have rights who I most women in india didn't have.
Ezhava / Thiyya History - The Chandala / Panchamar ( Ezhava, Thiyya ) communities are commonly known as the Toddy Tappers are from the Slave Caste. There is a list of slaves taken from kochi in kerala by the Dutch east India company in 1783. Acten Van Transport report Cover ( Dutch ) The caste has been recorded those who were taken as a slaves in it . The most are from the Pulaya ( Cheramar ) 53 people, under the second place is the caste called Chekon - 49 people, ( 34 men and 15 women ) . The difference between only four people is from the Pulaya community... That's why they lost the first place !! The context of the complaint field by Kurikkaasseril Madhavan , Kunjiraman and other people from cherthala in 1884 , The complaint says that Ezhavas and other lower castes are prohibited from even near court of the first class district magistrate or even lower court. They have had many inconvenience in using public platforms, when they see the upper caste people ( Nairs and brahmins) on the road . When they talking to upper caste people ( savarnas ) they should use some ritual words, so if they speak without using those words, it will hurt them. Even though there are a lot of people in the state ( Ezhava / Thiyya ) there is not even a single chovan ( Ezhava / Thiyya ) in the government office, they are denied the chance for that. The complaint of the Chandala Ezhavas that day was, not even a single Ezhavan with 5 rupees salary was in the government service, at least Ezhavas didn't even dare to ask for the freedom of a Dog, to walk on the street. - C. Kesavan jeevitha Samaram, page # 77 ) THIRUVALLA SAASANAM - even if an Ezhava becomes a Christian, he never becomes an Ezhava, so don't allow cherian ( An Ezhava man who converted into Christianity ) travel near the temple and others who converted to Christianity and force them to go through the fields around to the temple ( Robin Jeffrey - The Decline of the Nair Dominance, page # 77 ) .
What the comentator said is not completely correct. Marumakkarhaayam has been practised in Nair families even after 1935. Nairs lived in big families called koottukutumbam and the senior uncle was the karanavar and he used to regulate the affairs of the family in consultation with his elder sisters. Some of these used to become selfish and used to smuggle items to his wife's house. But the nephews used to object to this and some strife used to come up in such families. In general, uncles were ruling the family in a fair way and harmony prevailed. When family property was shared, male children used to get one share but female grown up children a share eqal to the no of children she have plus one . This practice is followed even now for property obtained in hereditary way. Another point is that they have tried to mix up the Ammaveedu system with matrilineal system. They are different. Ammmaveedu was set up as the houses where the royalty enjoyed their extra marital affairs. This is why they were not accepted as legitimate wives of the king. Kings could have wives from another royal family in spite of these Ammaveedu. So, in short what is presented here is a mix up of two different things and so not accurate. Now that group families no longer exist, legal rights on properties are still held as before in Nair families.
The Picts of the North of Scotland supposedly had a matrilineal system of inheritance, at least for their kings. The only evidence is The Venerable Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English people, where he gives this as the reason why the marriage of the son of of the King of Scots and the sister of the King of Picts resulted in the merger of the two kingdoms in the 9th century. That seems to be the only matrilineal system in Europe.
my mum always told me stories about sambandams with a saree acting as proof of the sambandam wherein returning it meant ending the sambandam but I never fully believed it until now. thank you for the video
Sambhandam is actually the exploitation of the ladies by the brahmins. wonder why didn't people retaliate to this. women married already has to sleep with a brahmin man.
@@vkavka3160 Fake news alert. Sambandham was proper matrilinear marriage. Both Nair-Nair and Brahmin-Nair Sambandam existed. Periyar due to his Dravdianism m*dness couldn't properly understand this system and that's why many Tamilians like you are mislead.
Very exciting video and interesting to know about the previous system. Some thing like a Beautiful house but not Good to stay for a long period of time Just because not inherited always created a ditatchment. An ancient kingdom with total blindess. Tq 🙏
The brahmin caste in Kerala, typically Namboodiris had a strange custom. Only the eldest son was allowed to marry and produce legal offsprings. The younger sons, had to engage in 'sambandhams' with Nair ladies elsewhere, through contracts. Nair ladies, even if they marry, had to make way to accommodate the wandering Namboodiri boys, at fall of dusk. For the Namboodiri boys too, if they find presence of another namboodiri boy at the *visiting place*, they ware supposed to walk out and search for another halting place. Nair families too considered social engagement with Namboodiri boys to be socially elitist, as Kerala had already been divided into a pecking order of caste structure - something that prompted Swami Vivekananda to call Kerala a place of mental asylum.
Then why not just have the queens daughter become the ruler, and any brothers could remain princess... This is kind of the queen is needed to produce the next king, but it is still her brother who is the ruler, and her daughter again is just to produce the next king.
Can we just appreciate the way the editing was done so precisely and flawlessly !! And the content went straight into my mind, and clarified my many doubts about the matrilineal system of Kerala!! Thank you sooo much for the entire team for so much of content being propelled perfectly in just 5 minutes of time!! Thank you:)
Thank you for such lovely words :) Made our day!
They have hided core things about third rate Sambandham system.
Those who say sarcasm about this now are mostly backward classes.
@@gautamn08 why would they do that ?
@@aneeshprasobhan why wouldn't they?
I am from Ghana, West Africa and in my tribe we also follow a matrilineal line.
Thanks for sharing :)
Share a video please, if possible
Interesting, please tell me the name of your tribe that practices Matrilineal system , I'm from Northeast India , my tribe also ia a Matrilineal Society
Glad to know that, most tribal societies are matrilineal and it's possible that the so called nairs evolved from tribes. Other things the so called nairs do is worship ancestors, sacred groves and serpents.
@@discomallu9769 nalla veshamam undu lle 😂
My parents are from Travancore. In Schools when a child is admitted the girl takes the mothers initial surname, and boys their fathers. And Women do not change their initial or surname post marriage.
Duniya ka subse bekar system ha isliye kerala ya tho islamic yha Christian state bane wala ha
Thanks for sharing
@@JayJay-sn1wf you do not know the security a woman has in her own house. It's people like you who are a bane to the women. We own property, we learn martial rights, we have all rights, no torture by mother's inlaws.
Sambandam isn't prostitution. Don't make judgments on someone's culture and fairing without knowing what it is.
@@JayJay-sn1wfget lost..prostituion?🤣...it was a social sysytem which used to tie up tge savarnas togetger not to prostitute..above all who need to do such thing to get a women they like when they arw having power and wealth with them..the morality of today was not from here ,its from the brits...even in vedas we can see systems such..also sambandham is a sama bandham an open marriage contract ..first see the video full anx h9w this system emerged...
@@JayJay-sn1wf all the societies of agriculture and civilizations used to be matriarchal but rest of the world of nomadic herds men hd bn patriarchal Please study history scientifically
This is the same system that Celtic and other pre-Christian European kingdoms used. That's why the king's nephew is always vying for the throne in Celtic, Roman, and other ancient European lore.
Love from Meghalaya ♥️
It's happy to see Kerela also follow matrilineal system too as Meghalaya
Thankyou for spreading positively brother 😊
What they are bastards
I came to meghalaya the last month and I was very glad to hear that khasis follow matrilineal line..
@@karthikrajeev4536 i appreciate it brother ❤️🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳
@@phrangsngilyngdoh the difference was that khasis were Christians
@@karthikrajeev4536 they were animists historically with Hindu-Buddhist influence before, only turned Christians 50-80 years ago. They don't have any literature or arts of their own, like tribals.
Pressures to have a daughter ? Unheard of! Beautiful.
Thank you :)
No, the pressure is still to have a son.
The son becomes the King, not the daughter. Consider the scenario, the current King has two sisters. The eldest nephew will be the future king, it doesn't matter whether he has any/ elder sisters. Daughters are not that much important as you think.
@@കിട്ടുണ്ണിയേട്ടൻI think u r communist brainwashed poor ! How nephew will born without sister (daughter or girl.
It is not beautiful. Daughter or son. Both are equal and shouldn't be pressured
@@vishnuviki9634 actually yes and no the community was always in need of warriors to fight at the king's side as mostly men where taught the martial arts (kalari payatu) the need for sons where seen as a blessing like if the opposite community wins a battle and a new born (son) is born then he is tasked to take revenge for the family. So both men and women had strict responsibility in the house
Here in Meghalaya, in the north eastern part of india, have matrilineal society as well . Our surname is the surname of our mother. The ancestral wealth , properties goes to the youngest daughter of the family.
what is your tribe
That's pretty cool
@storytrails should make a video about that custom too.
what is your tribe ?
Kuling Bhramin?
Nairs had matrilineal (Marumakkathayam) system because the system supported their particular lifestyle. Nairs were warriors who were trained in their martial arts - Kalaripayattu in the Kalaris (or gyms) which was run by a landlord or king. The kings strength depended on the number of Nair fighters who were loyal to him and whom they could summon to fight at a moment's notice. Training started from 7 years of age and you could sent to a battle from around 15 years. When you went to fight, it was either kill or be killed. Meaning there was 50% chance you would not return home. In Patrilineal system, widow would not be supported. In Matrilineal system, widow would stay with sisters, brothers, mother, maternal uncles, etc. and the widow and kids would be supported. They could also marry again and continue living at their mother's house. The husband lived with his mother's family in a similar system. No one knows for sure if the matrilineal system existed before the Nairs became fighters OR if the fighters developed the system as a support for their women. It was definitely better than Sati system practised by Rajputs. FYI - in coastal Karnataka (north of Kerala), there are some castes like Bunts (Shettys), Billava, etc. who follow Matrilineal system called Aliyasantana; And Thiyyas in north Kerala, who were also warriors, also followed matrilineal system. Nair system had to be supported by landlords or kings because they were soldiers (hence non-productive) who were either fighting or training to fight. The landlords and the kings were also Nairs who practised matriliny. Similar systems around other parts are the Mamluk system created by the Abbasid caliph al-Muʿtaṣim (833-842) in Baghdad, and it soon spread throughout the Muslim world. Turkic Slave dynasty in India (started in 1206 AD) was Mamluk. Mamluk sultanate ruled Egypt from 13th to 16th centuries. Ottoman Turks also followed the Mamluk system.Japanese had Samurai system. The Mongol lifestyle of horse-riding and Bow-Arrow/sword fighting and living in camps (Ordo), was a natural training system where in every single Mongol man had to learn how to fight if he wanted to survive (the weak ones were killed). Coming back to Kerala - Kerala has only been peaceful after British took over in 1792 and gradually passed laws to limit Nairs powers. Before 1792, Kerala was always divided into 10-15 Swaroopams (or Kingdoms) which was further divided into Nadus (region/country) which were ruled by Naduvazhis (chiefs) who were constantly fighting with each other and Nair brigades were created as warrior community to protect the rulers/Naduvazhis and Rajas (just like Samurai of Japan who were kept as retainer by the Daimyos/local landlords who in turn supported the Shogun generals who supported the emperor). Nairs were trained in fighting (like Samurai) from 7 years of age (and practised the very highly developed Kalaripayattu Martial Arts of Kerala) and their main job was to protect their retainer (like Samurai protected Daimyo) and retainer's land. All the Nair men did, starting from 7 years of age, was train to fight and fight when necessary and most Nair men died fighting in battles for their Lords in their 20's or earlier and there used to be few men who were over 30. Going into 1000 years of Kerala history, in 9th/10th centuries AD, Kerala was invaded and occupied by Rashtrakutas. From 11th to 13 century, Kerala taken over by an expanding Chola Empire. In 11th century, per Tamil sources, both Cholas and Pandyans, together, invaded Kerala and killed all Nair chiefs and their warriors, in a very brutal war which lasted the whole of the 11th century (Pandyans eventually defeated Cholas in 13th century). During this time, in 11th century, the Nambudiri Brahmins rose in prominence in Kerala Society and Sanskrit words started entering the Tamil language which was spoken by Kerala people till that time (Kerala was, till that time, part of Tamilakam or Tamil Speaking Homeland). With Nambudiris influence, slowly the Tamil spoken by Kerala people became Sankritized, over last 1000 years, and changed to modern Malayalam language that we see today. With Nambudiris, the caste system also started in Kerala. We don't have any solid historical proof, but it seems from older Tamil Sangam literature that Kerala society was not as casteist as it is today. Before Nambudiri Brahmin influence became strong after the 11th century, the fighters, farmers, ironsmith, coppersmith, etc., worked closely with each other and professions were generally not based on ones birth. It seems, after Nambudiris came to Kerala, the fighters were designated as lokars or general people and separated from other castes (Thiyya in north Kerala, who are not Nairs, also have the same warrior tradition as Nairs). The term "Nair" was only given to chiefs in early times. And the Nair chiefs gave titles to their main people like Nambiar, Pillai, Menon, Menoki, Panicker, etc., and also took titles like Kaimal and Kartha for themselves - all of which are found as last names today. After Portuguese came to India, they started calling all fighters as Nairs. Tipu Sultan also called all fighters Nairs. But the modern self-designation as Nair is a 20th century phenomena after creation of the Nair caste organization called- Nair Service Society which was formed in early 20th century by Mannam (Mannathu Padmanabhan). Going back to history - In the 14-15th centuries AD, Kerala was part of VIjayanagara kingdom. From 16th to 19th century Kerala kings fought Portuguese (Vasco da Gama), Dutch, Hyder Ali, Tipu Sultan and British. Only after British took Kerala in 1792 that peace came to Kerala. British stopped the Kalaris because of rebellions (Pazhassi Raja) from Nairs from time to time. After there was no need for fighting (their primary occupation) the Nair way of life unravelled. There were too many men (because no one died fighting) in the tharwad (family house) who challenged the Karnavar (head of family) and the big families started to split up into smaller families. Men wanted to take care of their wives rather than sisters and sisters children. And then slowly the matrineal system broke down. Final nail in the coffin was the law against Matriliny in 1925 by the Travancore kingdom. Just a disclaimer - Not all so-called Nairs were fighters, and not all fighters in Kerala were Nairs. We know for a fact that the Thiyyas in North Kerala have their own glorious martial tradition ( Aromal Chekavar and Unnyarcha) and practise Kalaripayyattu and who used to be matrilineal (nowadays neither Thiyyas nor Nairs are matrilineal). Before casteism gained strength after 11th century, it seemed anyone from any background could be trained to be a fighter. After caste became entrenched in Kerala region, the society got divided up into castes and the lokar/nair people were created as a group (besides Thiyya in the north who never gave up their warrior tradition) who mainly had a warrior tradition.
Thanx for Shari this knowledge
Wow..thanks for sharing all this info
Nambudiris came to Kerala from where??
How nambudiris made jaathi/caste system??
Tamil and Samskritham was composed by Rishis like Agastya and his gurus.
Sangam members like Agastya Rishi were here while Muthal(First) Sangam, which was before 1100 or even before Buddhism and Jainism.
Who were the shishyas of Agastya Rishi or other rishis like Saptarishis???
Also, many mercenaries who were brought to Kerala by the kings, got shoehorned into the Nair caste. This included Rajputs, Bunts to Maravars of TN. My grandfather was from one such family and his surname was “Singhar” which denotes “Singh “. They migrated from Mewar and there are many customs that they followed which were different from that of Nairs. Nevertheless, now we all have Nair surname and don’t follow any different customs. Similarly, Tamil Padam nairs found in the border villages were temple singers who got assimilated into Nair. It is postulated that the Maravars soldiers who were brought in by Marthanda Varma also got absorbed into this community. One may observe that the Nairs in southern districts of quilon and south travancore resemble Tamils more than rest of the nair folks from other districts.
@@007Sanoop Stage Agasthya was a Vellala who brought the famous 18 Velir kings along with the 18 Cr vellalas to the South, from Dwaraka, after requesting Lord Krishna (this information is there in tholkapiyam and purananuru written in BC). These Velir kings fought against the Nagars who inhabited the forest, defeated them, cleared the forest and created fertile agricultural land. The Velirs brought both saivam and tamil to the South. The 18 kings established 18 small kingdoms out of which 3 became more prominent: The chera-Chola-Pandyas. Chera kings were vellalas and shivites and married women from Pandya and Chola kings. Kongu nadu (present day Coimbatore and surrounding area) was part of Cheranadu. After the cholas and Pandyas destroyed the Chera kingdom, the Nagars took over the land. They are the Nairs and Thiyyas. Nagars were basically hunters and gatherers who migrated from South-East Asian countries. The Nambudri bramins were Aryans who migrated from several parts of India. The Aryas were strictly patrilineal while the Nagars were Matrilineal and thus formed a perfect match. The present day Nairs are born out of Sambandam relationship between Nair women and Nambudari men.
The Muslims of Lakshadweep and Kannur still follows the Matrilineal system, Many of the old practices are still followed including staying in Brides house, the children are brought up in their mother’s house, and they even accept their mother’s house name as their surname. They also consider senior most women as the family head, and I am also part of that system
In Jaffna, this part of Lankan Tamils’ custom and part of civic code called thsa- valamai.
Do man always stays in wife's house nd how about divorce etc
@@jojyjohn7496 Usually he will stays in his wife house, and he will always stays with his mother and sisters also, in order to fullfill his duties with his family, the marriage is arranged in the same village or nearby, this will ensure his bond with his mother and he will be there whenever his presence is needed. Because of this custom,most of the marriages were between relatives and this ensures no dowry or at least a small amount is accepted. Apart from that, she will feel more secured in her home and the husband even can’t scold her in her house in the presence of her father and brother.So divorce is less in number and it is done according to Muslim law. The maternal home is inherited to younger sister and she will be incharge of caring parents, thus she will hold some influence over his brother and her children will be more attached to uncle than their father ,
@@fazeelpk9274 thanks for the reply pls clarify if a man has some property or cash in his name( his own money not received from his father) so who will inherit those money is it nephew/niece or own child... Nd what about division of property???
Is it mandatory for men's to provide support like school fee dress etc to sisters child and what happen if men refuses this?? Plss clarify
@@jojyjohn7496 now inheritance is done according to common system, because matrilineal inheritance is stopped by the law, but still he possess some moral obligation to his sister and niece/nephew and sister also have some obligations, with the marriage sister is not transferred from her parental home. So the bond between brother and sister continues, and she cares parents so the bond again strengthened, so a sister can depend her brother whenever needed and he is obliged to help her(usually in other customs, the duty is done by daughter in law). Now every property is divided between son and daughters only, but during his lifetime, he usually(uncle) spends lots for his sister and niece and even he is the person to take decisions of their marriages
Wow, like I'm from madhya pradesh in our school we really don't get to know much about these incredible stories.. my India has literally many stories..
Its so sorry north indians don't know many south indian history's
@@anupnair7465 literally we actually don't know but yeah love to know alot. ✨😌
@@anupnair7465 I heard that in Kerala about 150 to 200 years ago, who collected tax for the women's breast? Also I heard that the tax will differ based on the breast size. I heard that Namboothi Braminan who collected the tax that time is that correct? This law is only for certain cast people OR for all women's. Also please tell me who are the Menons?
@@mars-cs4uk man who all told this 😂?
Similar with Khasi tradition, we also practice Matrilineal System.Wow amazing to hear that in Kerala also practice the same way just like we do.
Also we Billavas and Bunts and other communities in coastal Karnataka also follow matrilineal system of inheritance.we adopt surnames from mother.
And also we have our ancestral houses called taravadu da ill (Moolada ill) where women play an important role...
well i think majority of nairs still have the concept of female inheritance also a significant amount uses their mother's surname
Hi everyone, student from philippines and this is one of our topic in understanding culture and social politics.
As a History Enthusiast, it is such a honor for me to know this information and be educated with the different practices around the world.
Thank you for the video for explaining the nature and background of Nair or Nayar (it was spelled nayar in our book but feel free to correct me)
I think Manu Pillai, s The Ivor Throne is a must read for all those who are interested for an indepth info on this subject
Yes👍👍
True
In Kanyakumari district that is Nanjil Nadu the Marumakkal Vazhi Vellalars followed this system. Kavimany Desiga Vinayagam Pillai belonged to this
Community. He criticised and wrote மறுமக்கள் லழி மானியம் against this system.
The Aram vallartga Nayagi Amman ie அறம் வளர்த்த நாயகி அதாவது பள்ளி அறை நாச்சியார் அவர்கள் இந்த இலத்தை சேர்ந்தவர்கள். அவர் ஶ்ரீவில்லிபுத்தூரில் ஆண்டாள் போல சுசீந்திரம் தாணுமாலயன் பெருமாளை நேசித்து அவருடன் இரண்டர
கலத்தவர். அவர் பூர்வீகம் சுசீந்திரம் கோயிலில் இருந்து மூன்று கிமீ தூரத்தில் தேரூர் என்ற ஊறில் உள்ளது
Female inheritance is still practised in some families including ours... most of the properties are given to female members
@@ashrafmanghala1205 👌👌
@@ashrafmanghala1205 get a life
The shudra "Nair" s will do anything to please namboothries and upper caste to gain higher social status.
What ever they does ..the shudra status will not change.
@@ashrafmanghala1205 converted bullas giving gyan
@@Indrauta You know Malayalam and Kerala history?
For those like myself fans of the Elamo-Dravidian theory, it's worth noticing that ancient Elamites (unlike their known neighbors, which were all patrilineal and quite strongly patriarchal) also practiced matrilineality, including the royalty.
Very informative. I have seen this in Meghalaya too
Thank you :)
In tulunadu, Coastal Karnataka( Mangaluru, Udupi) also has matrilineal hierarchical system
Yes because Tulunadu shares it's broader with Kerala ,in ancient times we have good relations hence this system might also has been adopted,I must say Tulunadu is amazing one day I ll surely visit there
Brother do we have any gotram ?
@@ManishPoojary I am not sure about that
@@Minisreesvlogs yess ❤️❣️
@@Minisreesvlogs bunts from there are sibling caste of nairs of kerala
Very informative. Thanks to your team for great efforts.
Thank you :)
Royal matrilineal system is not narrated truthfully. The king never marries and he may have several ammachis. The real matrilineal system is followed among Nairs when they marry within their community. Also it can be seen among Muslims of Malabar and part of Kollam. Again it is practiced by a special Latin Christians in the Mayyanad Panchayat of Kollam and their relatives settled in Chirayinkeezh and Karunagappally (Vadakkumthala) also follow true matrilineal system.
@@isacnewtonrobert4117 Not quite sure what you mean by 'Real' matrilineal system. The fact that the system allowed relationships outside the community shows the 'Real-ness' of the matrilineal system among the Nairs, and the fact that in reality, it's only the female lineage that really matters for a person to be a member of the family. The status of the partner and the caste/class standing definitely was a factor which did give the Nairs upward mobility within their community like the Menons of Cochin and Thampis of Travancore but they were very much still a part of their matrilineal family and the titles that came along with it.
@@isacnewtonrobert4117 The Muslims of Lakshadweep and Kannur still follows the Matrilineal system, Many of the old practices are still followed including staying in Brides house, the children are brought up in their mother’s house, and they even accept their mother’s house name as their surname. They also consider senior most women as the family head, and I am also part of that system
@@ashrafmanghala1205 Sunil KR.... 1915 ലാണ് നായർ ഭ്രിത്യജന സംഘം NSS, എന്ന പേരിൽ അറിയപ്പെടുന്നത്. നായന്മാർ പൂണൂൽ ഉപേക്ഷിച്ച നാഗക്ഷത്രിയർ ആണ്..
Didn't know about this at all. Thanks for the information! ❤
Happy to help!
@@StorytrailsChannel
👇👇👇 Another matrilineal community in kerala 👇👇👇
th-cam.com/video/CiSLt-ffbjk/w-d-xo.html
My father was Railway employee, a Station Master fm 1944 to 1984. We are four children, 3 girls & 1 boy.But my father was interested in providing for his niece, cousin sisters & their children.We were not given good food, good clothes or good education. My maternal grandparents told their sons to care only for their children, not sister's kids. This way we suffered a lot bcuz of my father's behaviour. He belonged to Kallazhi House, Padoor, Palakkad.
Both of u deliver the language is excellent
I am a Nair, and to this day we are more attached to our mothers family than our dads family. Up until a generation ago, we kept our mothers family name. Nairs were also mostly banned from joining the British army since the British did not trust them. Moreover the British banned all Kalaris, the traditional and most ancient martial arts school in the world.
@@simpleguy9993 yes the sambandham system was really ugly when you look from todays point of view. To your point, grandparents from my dads and moms side are products of sambandham. Not very proud to say it, but it is just a fact of history. My moms family had a martial past (kurup) and there are still functioning Kalaris in my native place near Kottayam. Unfortunately we were never trained per customs to be a warrior.
Father was not a big deal in matrilineal system but uncle matters lot.
Daughter's birth was a jubilation while sons birth just a birth of a baby. Nothing more
thankyou so much for the video as i m from north india nd was studying sociolgy but can't get the concept of illum and tarawad but ur video was a great help to make me clear what tarawas system would work like thankyou
So Beautifully explained. In today's world, content which is well delivered.
Very interesting and very informative, thank you. Any significant reason for the word "Thanjavur"in the name??
We have this for our literature studies,I being a malayali never knew this 🤦 thank you sooo much for clearing it ❤️❤️❤️❤️
Our pleasure 😊
@@salvam3442 madras
Nice.. it is not independent sociological entity. It should be narrated with Cast System where Appan Namboothiri had to have Nair Sambandham which had arena of loose relationships for money, land. Does all uncle love sisters children.? The uncles looted the sisters wealth and gave to his own children?. Explain also keeping "Vettila Chellam".. Explain what will Nair do on Namboothiri visit?. Whose is Nambeesan?. Nair women's child cannot call " Appa" Father if his is born from a Namboothiri... Many can refer their aristocrat father but never identify.... It was basically patriarchal confinement of a Nair women with wealth so that Namboothiri brahmins had the free entry for sex under the custody of Nair Brother...Indian constitution permit gender equality.. Let child be looked after by mother and biological. Father first hand.... Custom was abolished because it was full of vices....
Caste system came in a bit later..
I was waiting some idiot to disturb the peace of mind 😂
Well said ! I was waiting for something real !!!
Institutionalized prostitution being glossed over lol
Those two guys in the video were telugus, how do you expect a telugu knows much about Kerala History.
Fascinating. Thanks very much for the interesting post.
You guys done wonderful job. Keep doing... Love from delhi
Excellent story telling!
Thank you :)
I am surprised, no body ever told me this
Hello I am from Karnataka ( kuvempu university ) it's really helpful to my literature work and it also in our syllabus. Sambandhan was a freedom of choice to women.
hey? i would like to know more about your syllabus. could you please contact me via Gmail?
No. If a Nambhudri or Embarathri likes a nair women he will go to her house with a saree and few bettle leaves (vethella-chella) and the women has no other option except to be his concubine. Brahmin men can have as many concubine as they please.
The Truth is as below:
After the Namboodiri Brahmins enterance, the native Kerala women of all caste including Nair's and Menon were sexually abused and forced to have their 1st child with Namboodiri men, The first child's father of the Kings wife will be a Namboodiri, that's why they don't respect the kings and no importance was given to her
Thank you so much, always wanted to know more about this system
this is so interesting! i like the way you present
@Kochi Rajaa wow this is interesting. What implications does it have when the kid can't call the upper class father "dad"?
Thank you! 😃
@@urbanhyena4063 He is telling fake news. There was absolutely no restrictions on the child except one rule that he couldn't enter the kitchen of his father's house.
Wonderful channel , quite informative and useful, blessings to you guys
thanku so much for exellent explanation
Very beautiful explanation and too much people don't how much
@Storytrails Thank you, Akila Raman. You presented the genuine concept of the system remarkably well.
It is delusional to think a 6:40 minutes introduction to this matrilineal system will detail all the miscreants who found different methods of exploiting it. Every system has its own share of miscreants and distorted attitudes deliberate on misusing it. Marumakkathaayam was no exception.
Get real. Those intrigued by the maruamakkathaayam way can do an indepth study of the several instances that it was misused, exploited, twisted rather than rely on a 6:40 duration introductory video expecting it to cover a detailed comprehensive factual report.
An a Nair Hindu Proud to be a warrior💂💂
The concept of husbandb did not exist in sambandhan. The woman had multiple partners.
Very informative.Am a Fernandez from Malaysia.
Great work 🔥
Thank you for the simple accurate and effective video.
I really appreciate the presentation
Great work
While mentioning matriliny system of Kerala, great contribution of Namboothiries also should have been mentioned.
I'm from Thanjavur,TN.
Lovely. I like that the explanations are clear and umbiased.
Thank you :)
very interesting. I am subscribing.
Welcome aboard!
Thanks...it helped in my upsc sociology prep.:)
U missed te important part
Nair Man doesn't know who is father or who is his children
Coz nair women in taravadu ( literally means ppl comes and goes ) - where visited by 3 , 4 or more men in same period of time
It's some sort of organised prositution to deliver a warrior man's who doesn't know father or children - so that he will bound to no family obligation or commitment - so that he can fight without any back thoughts
Wrong misleading information! Better read books like ivory throne by Many S Pillai
you people brought patriarchy, and made woman a slave of her husband and his family. Lot of bride burning in the name of dowry etc happens now and you are responsible for that.
sexual rights of women is destroyed. Whereas you rich people does get sex by all stealthy means.
Recently Sister Abhaya's death is tip of the iceberg and many christians themselves have realised it.
Patriarchy to nuclear family lead to social isolation and host of psychological problems.
How can you use the word 'prostitution' when the amma veedu's are already rich enough to feed themselves? In those days there was no need to buy cars and other goodies. The needs were few, and that was already available to them.
You christians and muslims destroyed the freedom of women, and now they are trying to imprison women in burqua. Your 'holy' books even mention throwing stones and killing women as punishment to adultery. If someone want to destroy your wife or sister or mother he could spread rumour about her adultery and your religious goondas would execute the punishment. You people even burned Joan of Arch at stake. Now you are insulting the local practices in kerala.
@@arjunjagadeesh4290 Partially true. Nair women had an official nair husband and unofficial nambhudari husband, so she herself will not know which kid is born to whom. Because of this genetic heterosis the nair men and women were very tall, strong and beautiful (In TN we call this as Malayalathan Velutha Katha).
@@mrwashingtondc2005 I don’t agree to generalizing nair women were having children of unknown people.Some families of poor background might have such arrangement but that can be used to generalize an entire community.
Because the Nair women had physical relationships with the Namboodiri Brahmins. Hence as it was a polyandrous society, the matrilineal society was more convenient. The Bhavni or the Devadasi system of Goa and South Maharashtra is very similar.
Namboothiries enter into a formal conjugal contract called pudava koda to form a relationship with a Nair women. Same is practised with kshthriya woman of Malayala at that time. It is far from being called prostitution or devadasi system. Nair ladies never took any money nor property in forming this alliance.
People barks without knowing the history. No point in responding to them. We know who did prostitution behind toddy shop and sharing the wife among all other brothers.
There are some backward caste whose job is to criticise upper caste peoples. They lived in such a nasty situation those days now want to take a revenge in this way. Now i understood why upper caste people kept these people a side with all untouchability and on. Their attitude is this.
@@MrUseless909 so, it was free prostitution?
@@aj9969 Is your mom prostituting to your dad? Why is Sambandham union not a marriage as per your logic? Or may be you call it a formal relationship with the knowledge of family. On what ground is it a prostitution. I remember reading Thiya/ Christians offering sex to Nairs for money. Why is that not prostitution?
@@MrUseless909tharavad ? And property
Matrilineal System exist among Eastern Tamils & Eastern Muslims of Sri Lanka! It does exist today too!! Mixed Matrilineal - Patrilineal system exist in Northern Tamils of Sri Lanka!
Satavahanas too, adopted the same system of inheritance. How cool!❤
I probably didn't understand this well.. so if someone knows please clarify..
If it's a matrilineal system why the King's daughter get's no royal status? Why does the queen who is married to king has to live away from her husband's house as a rule with her children?
Is this not some kind of discrimination against the king's wife and children?
And where in the world the Men in royalty did not go to fight wars? 🙄🙄
I was born in a well-known Nair family from Alappuzha of Southern Kerala side. This type of system is just a piece of shit and still carries on and on.
Sambhandankarran is a person who is not the woman's husband, just a temporary fixture. The woman had multiple male liaisons.
@@fairwind3058 what do you know what is sambandam?
May be sambadakaran was a temp thing in your family. Don't bring your male chauvinistic attitude any demean a system that was made to protect women.
@@fairwind3058 Sambandakaran ie., Living Partner in the (western countries)
This is the exploitation of nair females
U guys are good story tellers
Even now in Northern SriLankan Tamil has the matrilineal system
Yes we jaffna tamis follow this custom
its very hard to determine matrilineal system bcz after one generation lineage got mixed so matrilineal system is false system and still lineage passes through male child, so its indirectly a patrilineal linkage.
The above story is a whitewashed version. The lady who is speaking is twisting the truth very nicely. FYI: The Kerala Brahmin had complete control over our dear Nair women. The Nair men married Nair women but had to leave the house immediately after marriage to be part of Brahmin's Army. The Kerala brahmin would have affair with the married Nair women. This was done because in the brahmin family only the eldest brother could marry a brahmin girl. The rest had to have a life with married nair women. This was for protecting lands owned by the brahmin community who owned 95 % of land in Kerala. Younger Brahmin men had to have affairs with Nair women. Hence Nair women got privilagees from brahmin men like house, money, and protection. The kids born out of this affair were not privileged to be brahmin. The Nair boys would eventually join Brahmin Army, who were brave warriors.
So funny these nair queen being banged by multiple Brahmins...nd they are proud of it😎😎
Ladies had no choice? All ladies were forced into this even if she resisted? Or it was at her free will and choice?
I know a American highly paid lawyer lady who has 3 children from 3 different men. All by her own choice. This looks something similar.
Or there ladies were forced against their will?
Key question is did women have freedom to say no to a man she did not want to be with?
If they did not have that freedom then it was prostitution.
But if lady had total freedom and she asserted that freedom from time to time, it is advance civilisation, like western civilization is right now on his aspect.
@@nv9991women don't have freedom.if namboothiri wants she must accept that sambatham.. Brahmin and namboothiri sex with nayar girls at night only. Morning,that Brahmin treat that girls as untouchable things
And the plight of Nambuthiri women was bad. They couldn't marry or they have to marry very old men thus becoming widows at a younger age
WoW very happy to learn this new information. Thank you all for making this wonderful video
In the Germanic tribes in the Europe, the nephew was the heir to the King. Similar.
Beautiful story ❤❤❤
Interestingly Kerala and meghalaya are top in literacy and gender ratio
Very interesting, I am ex-Dubai and knew a number of Malayalis there but this is the first time I hear about the matrilineal system. I love Kerala and the whole of south India, the people, the land and culture, cuisine. One Q's, what about family inheritance, wouldn't it bring about squables and litigation down the road..??
Equal share..
Infact they are given their share during the marriage itself..
No squabbles... The system was common to all.. And equally divided
No dowry either.
Crime against women were also less.. You can search that..
I think u don't know there reality properly 😭😭
Good and simple explanation.👌
The clear picture can be seen in the movie - OZHIMURI- directed by Madhupal- The movie is about the power of Nair women and later social contradictions.
SriLankan Tamils still have the matrilineal system
Dont degrade Tamil traditions never
What ever explained in this video is not completely wrong but there are some most important facts which they are not explaining, may be because they don't know or haven't done much research. Nowadays anybody can narrate history in their own way in social media and there will be people to watch it. Since this video is concentrating on nair community, I have to say few things to portrait the real history.
To start with, Travancore had history even beyond 1800s to be specific Travancore history starts from the era or Great Marthanda varma from Attingal kingdom, before his era the region down south from Venad(present day Quilon or Kollam) was ruled by two heirs, the head of Attingal kingdom and head of Kilimanoor kingdom. The heir of Attingal was always been a Queen and they followed Matriarchy and the head of Kilimanoor was always been a Prince but the supreme authority always been the Queen of Attingal for the regions combined. Along with these two higher authorities there were multiple feudals in the extended regions who were following the Queen's orders.
If you look at the two regions the Kilimanoor kingdom was situated towards the eastern region of present day Thiruvananthapuram and Attingal was on the western side of the district and had been doing business with foreign traders for thousands of years along with their fellow kingdoms and the traders landing on these two main ports in the region, one in present day Vizhinjam and other the famous Anjengo port, that's the most wealthy area of that time and most of the businesses happen there and hence Queen had greater powers, located just few kilometers to the west of Queen's palace in Attingal. The two kingdoms followed a peculiar way of bonding relations between each other by the princess of Attingal due to take over the authority of Attingal to marry the prince of Kilimanoor and the baby born to them would be considered as future King/Queen of the region.
There were times in the past that there were no princesses in Attingal kingdom and hence the then Queen had to adopt a baby princess from Kolathiri kingdom from northern Malabar, who were Brahmins and had close connections with the then Vijayanagara Empire. These adoptions took place two time in history once in 1200 and then in 1600 from what I have learned, the princess adopted in 1600 was the mother of Marthanda Varma, and these adoption had to pay big price in the then political history of Attingal and Kilimanoor kingdoms.
Now to be specific all the kingdoms in the southern regions in present day Tamil Nadu and Kerala were descendants of Pandya, Chola or Chera and all these three kingdoms itself were inter related. The kingdoms in Venad, Attingal and Kilimanoor were part of then Ay Kingdom and that was a fact and all these rulers asserted over and over multiple times in their interviews and is properly written in history as well, that means they have no connection with Vaishnava Brahmins or the Kingdoms Vaishnavas tried to set up or unite to oppose the greater oppression from multiple Mugal/Muslim rulers from North. That means the Nairs assigned to protect the Vaishnava Brahmins in North Kerala or Malabar region have nothing to do with the then kingdoms, had it been the truth you would have found them in even in all the neighboring kingdoms in present day Karnataka, Goa, Tamil Nadu or even elsewhere. That means Nairs are not an indigenous group assigned to take up warrior duty or anything of that sort anywhere else.
Nairs are only specific to Malabar region and there is absolutely no evidence whatsoever convincing in history to support the argument in this video, in fact the people who are purely marital is Chekavars in Malabar or Chovar or Channars down south, also Kalari is not an art form specific to Kerala. In fact Kalari is practiced in different parts of southern region on different degree and extend under different names. Chekavars(going with this one name further) are considered the Gladiators in southern region and if you examine the history you will know how it worked out and most of them belong to Thiyyas or Ezhavas, Lord Ayyappa believed to had learned Kalari from a Ezhava Kalari Guru in Alappy(Alappuzha) district. Lately there have been hurry in tying and glorious things to some specific groups which is not right.
So that means the nairs in 1800 were no warlords nor they had anything to do with any of the wars the Travancore fought but I agree they were warriors and share the space with rest of the warriors from other communities, after all every clan should their own set of warriors to begin with if you can understand the basics of how humans lived as clans. Being the last war fought by Travancore was the second war with Tipu Sultan in late 1700s, the Great Balarama varma(Dharma Raja) fought and he won that with the help of British. Eventually the fighting force of the then Travancore was totally depleted and had to accept British authority.
From the early 1700 to mid 1800 there had been an influx of refugees from Malabar to Travancore and they were mostly Nairs, assigned to protect the Brahmin Feudal families in Malabar and hence the name Nair, because of British/French oppression, internal conflicts between small kingdoms and religious problems in that regions and there was a large number of refugees from Malabar based Royal/Feudal families to Travancore due to Tippu's attack. The first and second and last war with Tippu and Travancore was mainly because Dharma Raja denied Tippu's demand to hand over the refugees from Royal/Feudal families, I believe this is because of Dharma raja's soft corner towards the people from Kolathunadu from where the adoptions occurred, so that he could extort their wealth. Later some of those regular refugees from Malabar moved and settled in the regions under Madras Presidency and many with the background of farming settled in the eastern hills of middle regions in present day Kerala and started farming, also became closely associated with British when they started tea plantations in that area after British got the land from the Travancore rulers to compensate for their second Tippu - Travancore war expenses and the expense in providing protection to the Travancore kingdom from British military.
The rest of the Royals/Feudal refugees from Malabar slowly started infiltrating in to Travancore Kingdom and Royal circles with the help of British and this kind of change the history of Travancore from early 1800 onwards, the locals were always against this because the new comers were grabbing their opportunity on multiple grounds because neither the Travancore King nor the British did anything untill early 1900s and the only resort was the Queen of Attingal. In fact the locals always protested against the adoptions from Brahmin Royal families since they feared eventually their own kingdom will be compromised, there were recorded protests even against the adoption of King Marthanda Varma's mother during late 1600s even if we keep history of Attingal revolt left alone.
Being all these said the concept of Nair warlords and Nair army started coming up during the time of Velu thampi who was the Dalawa during the next king after Dharma Raja who was probably one of the weakest kings in Travancore. Thampi is the title given to a male child born to Nair woman from an affair from a man related to Royal family, so he had some connection with Royals already and he was very sympathetic of Nairs because of their social status at that time and started recruiting the Nair males alone to the army and letting go the men from the rest of the communities. Now we have to understand that at that time there was no need of a separate army since Travancore was already paying to British for their protection and British never involved in the day to day life of a normal Travancorian other than collecting taxes on time. This was the worst time in Travancore history and there was multiple taxes imposed on regular Travancore people and people started thing differently and all the reformation movement started this time.
So the conclusion is that although many Nairs try to glorify themselves as warlords and warriors there were no wars really fought after they formed Nair Army in Travancore and that is the reason later on the Queen of Attingal decommissioned the army and decided to keep a small number just for the protection of Royal and procession. One thing to remember at this time is that one of the greatest wars Travancore fought was the war of Kolachal against the Dutch forces and it was actually the Land and Naval war, the Dutch was defeated in Naval war and when this was done majority of the Naval warriors were from fishermen community. There were many Nair Feudal families at that time and there were many normal Nair families as well trying to find their bread in vain but still they wouldn't miss a chance to glorify themselves by pointing the luxury of a wealthy Nair family in far away place although that doesn't fill their stomach, I see them more ambitious than other social groups but there should be an end to falsifying the history at some point and we have to learn to understand and analyze history as a story happened in the past else it would be childish.
Apart from Matriarchy followed in Attingal Kingdom, the matrilineal system followed by many of the communities back then were to protect their wealth, if you closely examine all the families followed were wealthy nevertheless of the community they belong to.
Marthanda varma kku nair pattalathodoppam cheriya oru maravar pada koodi ondayirunnu. Maravar, kallar, thevar thudangiyavar thamil sainika jathikalanu. Marthanda varmayude kalathu cheriya oru MARAVAPPADA yum ondayirunnu ennathozhichal yudham poornamayum thiruvithamkoor nair army anu cheythathu. Athil ezhavarum illa mukkuvarum yudham cheythittilla. Kashmeerile janamgal Indian army ye help cheyyum pole thiruvithamkoor janamgal athu nair ayalum mukkuvar ayalum ezhava ayalum nair pattalathe anukoolichirunnu.
😂😂😂 chovanmaaar oru history undakkaaan ithrem kashtapedano,,thiyyans and ezhavass are unto uchables and outcaste , there profession is toddy tapping,and rarely ayurveda practitioner and kalari teaching.
Untouchable ezhavan 😂 wants to become Malayala Kshatriya but unfortunately its nair, so please come as a new newborn baby in nair house😄😄, or cames to ouer house,in nadar house ok
@@ashwinkumars1610 Chovvathikal Sayippinde kunnavizhungunna toys mathramayirunnu pandukalangalil. Today their sons born out of sayippinte vaanam are trying to insult other communities like Nairs. Haha
The story of King Arthur versus his nephew, Mordred, by incest with Morgan, is a classic matrilineal system Celtic story where the Contender is always the king's nephew.
Thats a story of misplaced identity and conspiracy.
Very well explained .
Earlier I watched few videos but I could not understand.but now I am clear . Thank you 😊.
Interesting to know the system and it's abolition.
Beautifully explained
Thank you so much 🙂
Matrilineal doesn't mean matriarchal.
But I hear there were many contractor for same woman😂
Last but not the least I can say our marriage with Travancore Royal family started the Matrilineal system in Kerala.
Nairs ➖ Nair ( Also known as Nayar or Malayala kshthriya ) is the name of a Hindu forward Caste from the southern Indian state of Kerala. Nairs were the descendants of Nagavanshi Kshthriyas, who migrated to Kerala from further North. They served the Brahmin Kings as Warriors and Local Rulers. Only following Group in Nair community were considered as Kshthriya such as Samanthan Nair, Kiriyathil Nair, Illathu Nair and Sworoopathil Nair, and all other Nairs served to the Kshthriya Nairs. ‼
Please dont use the words forward caste or backward caste anywhere.
@@sanakiddy2883it's the truth even though it'll hurt your feelings but who cares about your feelings
What is the use u ppl dont know who is ur father😅
@@gopikrish7205
we are nairs not the avarnas that did adhiratriavakasam, koodekidappuavakasam , onnamratriavakasam, merungukoodal, pattanavari, pandavavicharam, ammvan ozhichil to don't know father
Very good narration...
Thanks a lot
Very Informative video. thank you! My native is Thanjavur. Hence interested to know why it is Thanjavur Amma Veedu? Is the King's wife from Thanjavur?
The Travancore Royals, like the Nair community, practised the matrilineal system of inheritance. So, the king’s wife was not the Queen, but just the Ammachi or king’s wife. Although she was from a royal family, she never stayed in the palace, but in a separate house called “ammaveedu” (or ammachi’s house). King Swathi Thirunal (reign: 1813-46) fell in love with a dancer in his court. Her name was Sundara Lakshmi and she came from Thanjavur (in Tamilnadu). He could not marry her, because she was not royalty. So, he got her adopted by the Vadassery royal family and then married her in 1843, despite objection from the orthodoxy. She was provided a separate house and this was called the “Thanjavur Ammaveedu” - or “the house of the king’s wife who hailed from Thanjavur”
@@StorytrailsChannel thank you very much for your reply
The nectar of martilinea thoroughly explained.
no we nairs still culturallly and religiously follow matriarchy all our customs are still through mother family ...only innheritence is equally divided among brother and sister unde this act and wont go to sister kids thats they wont be at par with their uncles earlier property was divided between brother sister and sister kids.
To your comment, let me tell in detail. It is a mix of puranas and history. As per purana there were mainly 2 vamsam of rulers. One is Surya vansham and other is chandra vamsham. Ram belonged to Surya Vamsham and Lord Sri Krishna belonged to Chandra Vamsham. How this came in to existance is like this. In Matsya avatar, Lord Vishnu carried the Vaivaswata Manu (Dravida Manu) and Sapta rishis and took to North India. A scientiost called Brahma invented SOMARAS and increased life span. This Manu which is a Dravida Manu or Tamil Manu is the fore father of Surya Vamsham or Rajputs. In fact all Rajputs are some or the pther related to Tamil.
In Chandra vamsham comes Yaduvamsham . Here this dynasty started from Yayathi and Devyani. Ie a Raja and Brahmin women. Hence this dynasty is od Deva Vamsam also. It is this vamsham that is in the land occupied by Lord Parashurama, Brahmins (not Nambudiri but still Older TULU Barhmins). and Devas (Kurup, Kartha, Kaimal and Malayali Pillai's).
We fathered the Chera dynasty and converted the Tamil blood in to Malayali + Tulu+ Little bit Tamil Blood.
So we were given the ststus of Deva's.
There is another ritual held in Koodal Manikyam temple at Irijalakkuda where a kurup will be converted to Lord Narayan by by process called JATAKAVARODHAM and is called as Maikkam Kerelar. It was done by the top most Brahmin in Kerala by name AZHVANCERRY TAMPRAKKAL. Now it is stopped by Indira Gandhi.
We have to be carried by Travancore and Cochins Raja's (symbolically). Brahmins have to walk infront and behind us.
IWhat more, when Dwaraka was drowning Lord Krishna told the Idol to be installed in GURUVAYUR (The land of his father Lord Vishnu, the manikkam Keralar)
One request, MGR's father is from our sons's caste but Veluppilai Prabhakaran's father is directly from or caste.
Please dont mixup thins but certainly we love our tTAmil Brothr-in-laws and we will give you the support back.
Sari thanjavur yedhku innga vandhichi🤔🤔
Institutionalized prostitution being glossed over lol
@@JayJay-sn1wf Hello, modern morality is not applicable in ancient world. We can't completely comprehend how things were at that point of time. Do not judge people so impulsively, we do not walk in their shoes
@@johnutube5651 Well, you can't change the rules when it pleases you.
@@JayJay-sn1wf what do you know about tharavadus and the role women played.?
WHERE IS PRODTITUTION THERE IN THIS?
A man after giving pudava, in front of family both his and hers, with the elders blessing. Is that prostitution?
May be in your community that is prostitution.
Right to divorce a man. That's a blessing. Absence of widowhood that too. Right to remarry, that too. Right to wealth in the family that too. Right to education that too, right to learn martial arts that too. No mother inlaw torture, no dowry. No threat of being thrown out of the house. Where have you seen so much security for a woman.
Why should a woman live with a man who is nasty to her?
Male chauvinist like you are the cause of all ptoblems.
Women in the community have rights who I most women in india didn't have.
@@JayJay-sn1wf hello man Why are you vomiting your shit everywhere here ? I think you got hurt very much
I have read somewhere that the women of Tharavad had mutiple sexual partners..so its impossible to know who is the father of the child?
Ezhava / Thiyya History - The Chandala / Panchamar ( Ezhava, Thiyya ) communities are commonly known as the Toddy Tappers are from the Slave Caste. There is a list of slaves taken from kochi in kerala by the Dutch east India company in 1783. Acten Van Transport report Cover ( Dutch ) The caste has been recorded those who were taken as a slaves in it . The most are from the Pulaya ( Cheramar ) 53 people, under the second place is the caste called Chekon - 49 people, ( 34 men and 15 women ) . The difference between only four people is from the Pulaya community... That's why they lost the first place !!
The context of the complaint field by Kurikkaasseril Madhavan , Kunjiraman and other people from cherthala in 1884 , The complaint says that Ezhavas and other lower castes are prohibited from even near court of the first class district magistrate or even lower court. They have had many inconvenience in using public platforms, when they see the upper caste people ( Nairs and brahmins) on the road . When they talking to upper caste people ( savarnas ) they should use some ritual words, so if they speak without using those words, it will hurt them. Even though there are a lot of people in the state ( Ezhava / Thiyya ) there is not even a single chovan ( Ezhava / Thiyya ) in the government office, they are denied the chance for that.
The complaint of the Chandala Ezhavas that day was, not even a single Ezhavan with 5 rupees salary was in the government service, at least Ezhavas didn't even dare to ask for the freedom of a Dog, to walk on the street. - C. Kesavan jeevitha Samaram, page # 77 )
THIRUVALLA SAASANAM - even if an Ezhava becomes a Christian, he never becomes an Ezhava, so don't allow cherian ( An Ezhava man who converted into Christianity ) travel near the temple and others who converted to Christianity and force them to go through the fields around to the temple ( Robin Jeffrey - The Decline of the Nair Dominance, page # 77 ) .
What the comentator said is not completely correct. Marumakkarhaayam has been practised in Nair families even after 1935. Nairs lived in big families called koottukutumbam and the senior uncle was the karanavar and he used to regulate the affairs of the family in consultation with his elder sisters. Some of these used to become selfish and used to smuggle items to his wife's house. But the nephews used to object to this and some strife used to come up in such families. In general, uncles were ruling the family in a fair way and harmony prevailed. When family property was shared, male children used to get one share but female grown up children a share eqal to the no of children she have plus one . This practice is followed even now for property obtained in hereditary way. Another point is that they have tried to mix up the Ammaveedu system with matrilineal system. They are different. Ammmaveedu was set up as the houses where the royalty enjoyed their extra marital affairs. This is why they were not accepted as legitimate wives of the king. Kings could have wives from another royal family in spite of these Ammaveedu. So, in short what is presented here is a mix up of two different things and so not accurate. Now that group families no longer exist, legal rights on properties are still held as before in Nair families.
I was confused when they said the king's wife was a Nair. After reading your comment, everything made sense.
Do you recommend any books where I can read about this ? Related to all communities.
Ivory throne - Manu S Pillai is must read book❤👌
The Picts of the North of Scotland supposedly had a matrilineal system of inheritance, at least for their kings. The only evidence is The Venerable Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English people, where he gives this as the reason why the marriage of the son of of the King of Scots and the sister of the King of Picts resulted in the merger of the two kingdoms in the 9th century. That seems to be the only matrilineal system in Europe.
my mum always told me stories about sambandams with a saree acting as proof of the sambandam wherein returning it meant ending the sambandam but I never fully believed it until now. thank you for the video
Sambhandam is actually the exploitation of the ladies by the brahmins. wonder why didn't people retaliate to this. women married already has to sleep with a brahmin man.
@@vkavka3160 Fake news alert. Sambandham was proper matrilinear marriage. Both Nair-Nair and Brahmin-Nair Sambandam existed. Periyar due to his Dravdianism m*dness couldn't properly understand this system and that's why many Tamilians like you are mislead.
Interesting 😀
Literally no one is talking about Meghalaya the only Matrilineal state in India 💨
Very exciting video and interesting to know about the previous system. Some thing like a Beautiful house but not Good to stay for a long period of time Just because not inherited always created a ditatchment. An ancient kingdom with total blindess. Tq 🙏
Informative and very cute and neat explanation.
Thank you :)
True
The brahmin caste in Kerala, typically Namboodiris had a strange custom. Only the eldest son was allowed to marry and produce legal offsprings. The younger sons, had to engage in 'sambandhams' with Nair ladies elsewhere, through contracts. Nair ladies, even if they marry, had to make way to accommodate the wandering Namboodiri boys, at fall of dusk. For the Namboodiri boys too, if they find presence of another namboodiri boy at the *visiting place*, they ware supposed to walk out and search for another halting place. Nair families too considered social engagement with Namboodiri boys to be socially elitist, as Kerala had already been divided into a pecking order of caste structure - something that prompted Swami Vivekananda to call Kerala a place of mental asylum.
You did not mention about the power and control of Namboothiri brahmins in this set up. When this system started? Who gave this idea of social set up?
Yes the marriage that took place between High caste Nairs (including royal families) with Namboodiri Brahmins.
In Tamil nadu coastal region, muslims maraikayar community also follows matrilineal system..
Then why not just have the queens daughter become the ruler, and any brothers could remain princess... This is kind of the queen is needed to produce the next king, but it is still her brother who is the ruler, and her daughter again is just to produce the next king.
Fascinating... I wonder how many would go back to this system given a chance