 An ancient Ezhava temple in 19th Century near Trivandrum. | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| Approx. 8,000,000 (2018)[1][1] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Kerala | |
| Languages | |
| Malayalam | |
| Religion | |
| Hinduism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Billava, Sinhalese |
The Ezhavas, also known as Thiyya or Tiyyar in the Malabar region,[2][3] are a community with origins in the region of India presently known as Kerala, where in the 2010s they constituted about 23% of the population and were reported to be the largest Hindu community.[4][5] The Malabar Ezhava[6] group has claimed a higher rank in the Hindu caste system than the other Ezhava groups but was considered to be of a similar rank by colonial and subsequent administrations.[7][8]
Ezhava dynasties such as the Mannanar existed in Kerala.[6]
- ^ a b Vital statistics 2018 Archived 11 May 2022 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Mandelbaum, David Goodman (1970). Society in India: Continuity and change. University of California Press. p. 502. ISBN 9780520016231.
Another strong caste association, but one formed at a different social level and cemented by religious appeal, is that of the Iravas of Kerala, who are also known as Ezhavas or Tiyyas and make up more than 40 per cent of Kerala Hindus
- ^ Gough, E. Kathleen (1961). "Tiyyar: North Kerala". In Schneider, David Murray; Gough, E. Kathleen (eds.). Matrilineal Kinship. University of California Press. p. 405. ISBN 978-0-520-02529-5.
Throughout Kerala the Tiyyars (called Iravas in parts of Cochin and Travancore) ...
- ^ Radhakrishnan, M. G. (5 September 2012). "Caste-based organisations NSS, SNDP form Hindu Grand Alliance in Kerala". India Today.
- ^ "Guess who's after the Hindu vote in Kerala? (Hint: It's not BJP)". Firstpost.
- ^ a b Pullapilly (1976) pp. 31–32
- ^ Nossiter (1982) p. 30
- ^ Kodoth, Praveena (May 2001). "Courting Legitimacy or Delegitimizing Custom? Sexuality, Sambandham and Marriage Reform in Late Nineteenth-Century Malabar". Modern Asian Studies. 35 (2): 350. doi:10.1017/s0026749x01002037. ISSN 0026-749X. JSTOR 313121. PMID 18481401. S2CID 7910533.