Kiryathil Nair
Anonymous 16th century Portuguese illustration from the Códice Casanatense, depicting a Malabarese couple of the Nair warrior caste. It illustrates a Nair soldier and his wife, with the inscription reading, "Malabarese gentiles that are called Nayars." | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| Less than 20% of the total Nair population | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Mostly in Malabar and Cochin, and also in parts of Travancore | |
| Languages | |
| Malayalam, Sanskrit | |
| Religion | |
| Hinduism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Nair, Nambuthiri, Samantan, Samantha Kshatriya |
Kiryathil Nair or Kiriyath Nair also known as Vellayama Nairs is the highest ranking Shudra subdivision of the Nair caste of martial nobility, who performed the functions of Kshatriyas in Kerala, India They were independent barons and also served as Deshavazhis of the regions of Malabar District and Cochin.
This was one of the highest-ranking sub-castes of the Nair community along with the Samantan Nairs and Samantha Kshatriya, with whom they share a close history. They have traditionally lived in ancestral homes known as Tharavads and Kovilakams.
In medieval Kerala, most of the kings belonged to extensions of the Samanthan and Kiryathil Nair castes, including the Zamorins of Calicut who were from the Eradi subgroup of the Samantan Nair subcaste. The Koratty Kaimals and Kodassery Karthas under the Perumpadappu swaroopam who were also from the Kiryathil Nair subcaste. Historians have also stated that, "The whole of the Kings of Malabar belong to the same great body, and are homogeneous with the mass of the people called as Nairs."
The Kiryathil Nairs were the original descendants of the Vellalars who according to the text Keralolpathi were Shudras who migrated to Kerala to serve the Namboodiris. An alternate theory was that the Kiriyathil Nairs were descendants of serpent worshipping local hill tribes of Kerala called Nagas. They were historically given status and privileges that were not extended to other Nairs. In the words of the British anthropologist Edgar Thurston CIE, "The original Nairs were undoubtedly a military body, holding lands and serving as a militia."