Nairs Family History & Genealogy

History

The Nair were historically involved in military conflicts in the region. Following hostilities between the Nair and the British in 1809, the British limited Nair participation in the British Indian Army. After India's independence, the Nair Brigade of the Travancore State Force was merged into the Indian Army and became a part of the 9th Battalion, Madras Regiment, the oldest battalion in the Indian Army. The Nair pada defeated the Dutch in the famous battle of Colochel.

Name Origin

Nairs are the Malayalee warriors (Kshathriyas) of Kerala. They are the owners of this land. Hindu Caste of the Indian State of Kerala. Before the British conquest i.e. 1792, the region contained small feudal Kingdoms in each of which the royal and noble lineages, the militia and most land managers were drawn from Nairs and related caste. During British rule, Nairs became prominent in position, Government Service, Medicine, Education and Law.” There are differences of opinion about the origin of Nair community. One argument is that Nairs are descendents of Nagas, once a mighty group of India. Nagas were the oldest and strongest group lived in India before the Aryan insurgency. They were in India even before the era of Ramayana. They were warriors in the Mahabharatha battle and mention to this effect was seen in Harivamsa and Vishnu Markandeya epics. The Surya and Soma dynasties were related to the Nagas. There is mention in Ramayana that Nagas witnessed the sea crossing of Hanuman. The Nagas ladies were far famed for their beauty. There is a story in Mahabharatha that Arjuna during his journey met with Uloopy, a beautiful Naga girl and at once fell in love with her and later married her.

Spellings & Pronunciations

First reference to the Nair community was made by Pliny the Elder in his Natural History, dating from 77 AD. That work describes what is probably the Malabar coast area wherein could be found the "Nareae, who are shut in by the Capitalis range, the highest of all the mountains in India". Fuller believes it probable that the Nareae referred to the Nairs and the Capitalis range is the Western Ghats.

Nationality & Ethnicity

Nairs are a group of Indian castes, Nairs lived, and continue to live, in the area which is now the Indian state of Kerala. Their internal caste behaviours and systems are markedly different between the people in the northern and southern sections of the area, although there is not very much reliable information on those inhabiting the north.

Famous People named Nairs

Devan Nair Chengara Veetil, also known as C. V. Devan Nair, was a Singaporean politician, as a member of the People's Action Party who became the third President of Singapore. G. Madhavan Nair is the former Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation and Secretary to the Department of Space, Government of India since September 2003 and was also the Chairman, Space Commission. Dr.K.Bhaskaran Nair was one of the eminent writers who had a separate vision and style in the field of science and literature. He upheld moral values even in science. He was the Principal, Director of Collegiate Education, Secretary of Sahithya Academy and Member of Kendra Sahithya Academy. Marudhur Gopalan Ramachandran Nair (17 January 1917 – 24 December 1987), popularly known by his initials MGR, was an Indian film actor who worked primarily in Tamil films as an actor, director, producer, and politician who also served as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu successively for three terms.

Early Nairses