Nambudiri
Malayali Brahmin caste, native to Kerala, India
The Nambudiri (Malayalam: [n̪ɐmbuːd̪iɾi, n̪ɐmbuːɾi]), also transliterated as Nampoothiri, Nambūdiri, Namboodiri, Namboothiri, Namboodri, Namboori, 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. Headed by the Azhvanchery Thamprakkal Samrāṭ, the Nambudiris were the highest ranking caste in Kerala. They owned a large portion of the land in Malabar District, and together with the Nair monarchs of Kerala, the Nambudiris formed the landed aristocracy known as the Jenmimar, until the Kerala Land Reforms starting in 1957.
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." 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."
History
Origin
Nambudiri mythology associates their immigration to Kerala from the banks of Narmada, Krishna, Kaveri rivers with the legendary creation of Kerala by Parashurama, the sixth avatar of Vishnu. According to this legend, the region was created when Parashurama threw his axe into the sea Although it is known that the present-day region of Kerala was once governed by the Chera dynasty, little information exists regarding its early ethnography.
Brahmin presence in the Tamil country is attested from the Sangam period onward. Based on the fact that Nambudiris are Pūrvaśikhā Brahmins wearing the traditional hair tuft on the front, T.P Mahadevan proposes that they are the descendants of these Sangam age Brahmins who moved west into the region of Malabar during the Kalabhra interregnum, with those remaining behind in what is today Tamil Nadu composing the Śōḻiya Brahmins. This sets them apart from the later Aparaśikhā Brahmin (wearing their hair tufts on the back) migrants to South India such as the Tamil Iyers. According to T.P Mahadevan, the Nambudiris brought with them a very early recension of the Mahabharata which became the basis of the Malayalam language version of the epic.
There are lots of theories as to how Nambudiri Brahmins came to settle in Kerala, the commonly accepted point of view is that they moved in from North India via Tulu Nadu or Karnataka.
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