Samantan Explained

Group:	Samantan Nair
Popplace:	Kerala
Languages:	Malayalam, Sanskrit
Religions:	Hinduism
Related:	Illathu Nairs, Kiryathil Nairs, Nambiar, Eradi, Swaroopathil Nair

Samantan Nair, also known as Samanthan Nair or just Samantan (meaning "equal to" or "deemed to be"), was a generic term applied to dignify a group of sub-clans among the ruling elites (Naduvazhi) and feudal lords (Jenmi) of the Nair community in Kerala.^{[1] [2]}

Robin Jeffrey, an anthropologist, described the Samantans as, "A matrilineal caste ranking between Nairs and Kshatriyas" ^[3]

Notes and References

1. Web site: The Nayars of South Malabar . Joan . Mencher . 1963 . Cornell University Press.
2. Book: Perumāḷs of Kerala: Brahmin Oligarchy and Ritual Monarchy : Political and Social Conditions of Kerala Under the Cēra Perumāḷs of Makōtai (c. AD 800-AD 1124) . Muttayil Govindamenon Sankara . Narayanan . January 1996 . Current Books Thrissur . 8193368320.
3. Book: Jeffrey, Robin . Robin Jeffrey

   . The Decline of Nayar Dominance: Society and Politics in Travancore, 1847–1908 . Robin Jeffrey . 1976. Sussex University Press . 0-85621-054-4.