Nambiar (Nair subcaste)
Nambiār, also known as Nambiyār, was an Hindu sub-caste of the Nair community.[1]
The precious Nambiar title was initially given to the progeny out of morganatic union between Nair women and their Namboothiri paramours in North Malabar. They were originally the headmen of village or desams who received the Nambiar title from assembly of Thamburans (Namboothiri) , or priests and are considered as of the higher rank than common.
Until the early 20th century, Nambiars in North Malabar held a prejudice that they were superior to their counterparts in South Malabar. In earlier days, Nambiar women, like most women of Nair clans of north Malabar, would not marry Nair men of South Malabar.[2][need quotation to verify][3] In previous generations, the Nairs of North Malabar did not, as a rule, allow women of their district to have sambandam with men of South Malabar because Rajah of Kolathiri, who was the king of the best part of North Malabar, was jealous of any connections between women of his country and the subjects of the Zamorin.[4]
See also
References
- ^ Younger, Paul (1993). "Hindu-Christian Worship Settings in South India". In Coward, Harold (ed.). Hindu-Christian Dialogue: Perspectives and Encounters. Motilal Banarsidass. p. 192. ISBN 978-81-208-1158-4.
- ^ Miller, Eric J. (June 1954). "Caste and Territory in Malabar". American Anthropologist. New. 56 (3): 410–420. JSTOR 664971.
- ^ Miller, Eric J. (1955). "Village Structure in North Kerala". In Srinivas, M. N. (ed.). India's Villages. Bombay: Media Promoters & Publishers.
- ^ Report of the Malabar Marriage Commission, 1891 - Answers to Interrogatories.