The Nambudiri (Malayalam pronunciation: [n̪ɐmbuːd̪iɾi]), also transliterated as Nampoothiri, Nambūdiri, Namboodiri, Namboothiri and Nampūtiri, are a Malayali Brahmin caste, native to what is now the state of Kerala, India, where they constituted part of the traditional feudal elite.[1] Headed by the Azhvanchery Thamprakkal Samrāṭ, the Nambudiris were the highest ranking caste in Kerala.[2][3] They owned a large portion of the land in the region of Malabar, and together with the Nair monarchs, the Nambudiris formed the landed aristocracy known as the Jenmimar,[4][5] until the Kerala Land Reforms starting in 1957.[6]
The Nambudiris have traditionally lived in ancestral homes known as Illams and have been described by anthropologist Joan Mencher as, "A wealthy, aristocratic landed caste of the highest ritual and secular rank."[7] Venerated as the carriers of the Sanskrit language and ancient Vedic culture, the Nambudiris held more power and authority than the kings and were "above and outside the political systems of the kingdoms."[8][9]
- ^ Jeffrey, Robin (1992). "Old Kerala". Politics, Women and Well-Being. Cambridge Commonwealth Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. pp. 19–33. doi:10.1007/978-1-349-12252-3_3. ISBN 978-0292704176.
- ^ Fuller, Christopher (1976). The Nayars Today. Cambridge University Press. p. 11. ISBN 978-0-521-21301-1.
- ^ Krishna Iyer, K. V. (1938). The Zamorins Of Calicut. Norman Printing Bureau, Calicut.
- ^ Karat, Prakash (1977). "Organized Struggles of Malabar Peasantry, 1934-1940". Social Scientist. 5 (8): 3–17. doi:10.2307/3516560. JSTOR 3516560.
- ^ Nair, Adoor K.K. Ramachandran (January 1986). "Slavery in Kerala". Mittal Publications, New Delhi.
- ^ P., Radhakrishnan (December 1981). "Land Reforms in Theory and Practice: The Kerala Experience". Economic and Political Weekly. 16 (52): A129–A137. JSTOR 4370526.
- ^ Mencher, Joan (January 1966). "Namboodiri Brahmins: An Analysis of a Traditional Elite in Kerala". Journal of Asian and African Studies. 1 (3). Leiden: Brill Publishers: 183–196. doi:10.1163/156852166X00262.
- ^ Gough, Kathleen (1974) [1961]. "Nayars: Central Kerala". In Schneider, David M.; Kathleen Gough (eds.). Matrilineal Kinship. University of California Press. pp. 298–384. ISBN 9780520025295.
- ^ Mencher, Joan (1966). "Namboodiri Brahmins of Kerala". Journal of Asian and African Studies. Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland.