mulavelil

hiya....wel ur not really missing manu..coz manus still in YNG...this time yet another name....sorry for bursting ur bubble.....hehe........and u need to better ur english....u never say the people of YNG 'is'....its 'are'.....

LOOK!!! LOOK!!! WHAT PEOPLE COME UP WITH!!!! 'MENONS WERE DEVADASIS' TRY SUGGESTING THAT TO ONE.....MAD...THTS Y I SAY NORTH INDIAN SOCIAL STRATIFICATION AND SOUTH INDIAN SYSTEMS ARE TOTALY DIFFERENT....MAD!!!

You may know that onlya warrior who wears a sacred thread can be called a Kshatriya. Other warriors are all considered, inspite of their vocation and status as Sudras. This is seen in Kerala (Nair), Karnataka (Naidus), Andhra (Reddys) and Maharashtra (Marathas). The Brahmins of these lands never accepted the warrior clans as Kshatriyas. Famous is an example where Marathi Brahmins refused to accept Shivajis coronation saying he was a Maratha=Sudra. In Kerala, the indegeneous Dravidian warriors were Naga migrants and were known as Cheras (Naga= Chera in TAMIL). With the coming of the Brahmins, they became the topmost people in the ladder followed by the Nagars (Later derived to Nair). However when it came to making a powerful Nair rule as king it was essential to make him wear a sacred thread as only threaded Kshatriyas may rule as kings. Hence the most powerful Nair families were taken and through Hiranyagrabha at every coronation they were made Kshatriyas. Meanwhile the remaining warriors didnt get the thread and hence they were merely called Nairs while the kings became Kshatriyas. One has to note that among the Royal families (JKshatriyas) and other Nairs, all customs and ceremonies, all practices etc are the same. Even polyandry was present among the Royals. The Rani of Attingal Gowri Parvati Bhai had three husbands. Since hindu philosophy doesnt allow any non threaded warrior to call himself a Kshatriya, and asserts that without a thread he is a Soodra, Nairs were also called Sudra and they didnt mind at all. They had power, land and prestige. They owned temples and lived in massive mansions. One more point is that if u check the records prior to the 1500s all of them mention that Nairs begin with the King and ends with menial servants who work in Brahmin and Nair houses. Nair caste includes the Varma (pure Kshatriyas), the Samantha Kshatriyas (Thampi,Nambiars, Unnithans and Valiathans), title holding nobles (Kaimal, Kartha, Menon, Pillai), Martial arts teachers (Panicker, Kurup), Illathu Nair (landlords), Swaroopi Nairs (soldiers), Vattakedan Nairs (guards of individual houses), Palichan Nairs (armed palanquin bearers) and it ends at semi Nair semi sudra castes like Vilakithala, Chakalla etc. The Nairs were the aristocracy of the land. Brahmins married Nair ladies. Nair ladies were known for their beauty in the past. Most of the higher caste Nairs were fairer than the Brahmins themselves. The only point i wish to make here is that in south India and north india the caste holding is extremely different. North India there are Brahmins, Kshatriyas , Vaisyas and Sudras. In Kerala there are Namboodiris (who were higher than other Brahmins) and remaining all were Sudras (the Namboodiris didnt eat even with Royals) and perhaps u dont know, all texts except the Keralolpathi (written by Namboodiris) mention that the Namboodiris are descended from Fishermen whom Parasurama converted. So one can say that their history isnt all so clear either. And Arya doesnt mean fair skin. In the past a Namboodiri cpuld be a Nair and vice versa. There as so many families of Namboodiris who trace origin to Nairs and vice versa. another important aspect of Kerala is that some of the artisan Avarna castes like a few special carpenters are dwija and wear the sacred thread. Similarly while Hinduism consideres people of other religios as mlechas or lowest caste, in Kerala all articles passing into a temple right from the food of the priests to the milk, ghee etc had to be 'purified' by the touch of a marthoma christian. Namboodiris are sposed to be indias most orthodox brahmins. the Manusmriti says that if a Brahmin ever has a child through a Sudra, he and his entire family is Sudra. But then would the orthodox Namboodiris marry Nairs if they were really Sudras in the true sense of the word? there are many peculiarities in Kerala. Savarna means non sudra and Nairs are savarna. at the same time Brahmins insist they are sudra too. wht sense does it make? similarly there was unapproachability in Kerala. Nair was the only caste that coudl approach a Namboodiri Brahmin but not touch him. There were low subcastes like Chakalla and Vilakithala which were Savarna but not pure Nairs who had to maintain a distance of 6 feet from other Nairs and 12 feet from a Namboodiri. On top of this the Brahmin definition of Nairs is as "progeny of Brahman boys and Rakshasa and Gandharva women". So what does that make the Nairs? a mixed semi aryan and semi dravidian race? iI have consulted scholars on these topics and they say that the Keralolpathi is a 15th century book and cannot be relied on at all. He says that both Namboodiri and aNair were Sthana Perus or positions. Anybody who studied the Vedas was called Namboodiri while anyone attached with military was a Nair. He says that there were indeed migrant Brahmins who came to Kerala but they converted native people to Brahminsim too. He also adds that just like a doctor would want his son to be a doctor only, a Namboodiri would prefer his son to become a Namboodiri and a Nair would want his son as a warrior as well. Infact later, after the 1500s when the Namboodiris took to arms instead to assuming Nair title they took another title, Nampi which became a subcaste of warrior Namboodiris. As said before Samanthans like Unnithans and nobles like Karthas ruled as governers and district chiefs. I am an Unnithan and we claim our paternal descent from Kayamkulam Royal Family. Our main family Kaduvinal Unnithan ruled over 14 Villages in Cheriyanadu. Such was the power wielded by Nairs and specially the aristocracy. I am not sure about Karthas though. But i have read that they are nobles who recieve the said title with a fiefdom to rule after special services to the Kings. Panicker was recieved as an ambiguous title to all Nairs, Ezhavasc (Avarna) and also Christians who commanded imperial armies. But my grandmother says kartha came from 'Karthavu' which, like Achan, means Lord.