Samantan Explained

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

Samantan Nair, also known as Samanthan Nair or just Samantan[1] (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 (Jenmimar) of the Nair community in Kerala.[2] [3]

Robin Jeffrey, an anthropologist, described the Samantans as, "A matrilineal caste ranking between Nairs and Kshatriyas" [4]

Notes and References

  1. The Traditional Kinship System of the Nayars of Malabar . Kathleen . Gough . 1954 . Social Science Research Council Summer Seminar on Kinship, Harvard University . Harvard University Press. 15134143M .
  2. Web site: The Nayars of South Malabar . Joan . Mencher . 1963 . Cornell University Press.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.

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