Rajput is a caste or Jati and so is Nair.
Caste status and role of Nair and Rajput is identical.
Both served as warrior aristocracy.
Robert Orme had described Nairs as prouder and even haughtier than Rajputs (Note that he chose Rajput to compare)
Asiatic Journal of 1828 edition also note that Nairs physically resemble Rajputs the most.
It is a lie that Nairs collaborated with British and Portuguese. In fact even a glance at text books prescribed for BA history students should prove the point.
Nairs fought relentlessly and savagely all those who invaded Kerala, and in course of time pushed back all invaders - Kalabhras, Kadambas, Cholas, Portuguese, Dutch, Mysore Nawabs. Only invader who had decisively defeated Nairs are British - and they did it more by trickery than force - blame for which must go on Rajas rather than on Nairs as a caste.
Above mentioned post only take into consideration of Nairs of South Kerala but no mention is made of heroic struggle waged by Nairs of Malabar or North Kerala on Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan for twenty years in form of guerrilla warfare and bled Hyder and Tipu dry and weakened them during their wars with British enemy.
There is also no mention about 14 year long Cotiote War waged between a Nair oriented force of Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja and British armies. Cotiote War is one of the longest and bloodiest war waged by British in India.
Mr. Vinayak, could I know if the title VARMA you bearing as suffix is a Nair surname or a caste distinct from Nairs. As far as I know VARMAS of Kerala are locally known as Rajkut(derived from Raj-Kutumbi), just similar to a Rajput in Rajasthan and enjoy the same prestige. But your commendation of Nairs have let me in confusion. Are the people bearing the title VARMA originally Nairs, infact ?
ReplyDeleteNope Varmas aren't nair, the samantha kshatriyas are entirely different from nairs, though these days some of these online groups try to generalize these different castes. A Nair cannot have a Varma title.
ReplyDeleteI don't no about varma but Nair are nagvanshi some chandravanshi come from new Delhi in Mahabharata time Nair are Kshatriya but varma belong brahman
DeleteNairs are really superior to rajput..no one can change the truth
ReplyDeleteNair are similar to rajputs, and dogras
ReplyDelete