The Nair Brigade
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The Nair Brigade
The Nair Brigade was the army of the erstwhile kingdom of Travancore in India. Nairs were a Kshatriya, warrior community of the region. The personal bodyguard of the king Marthanda Varma (1706–1758) was also called ''Thiruvithamkoor Nair Pattalam'' (Travancore Nair Army). The Travancore army was officially referred as the Travancore Nair Brigade in 1818. The headquarters of the brigade was in Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum). Origin and history The Nair, Nairs are the major Nobility, aristocratic Kshatriya, martial caste of Kerala. Each region is governed or ruled by Jenmi, Nair landlords or leaders with titles such as Pillai (Kerala title), Pillai, Kurup of Travancore, Kurup, Kaimal, Kaimals, etc. The military setup of Nairs includes Nair soldiers who are encompassed under Nair landlords. There are hundreds of Nair lords in each Venad (kingdom), kingdom, and these Nair landlords unite in times of emergency or at the request of Raja, Rajas or King, kings. Sometimes, they have ...
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Venad (kingdom)
Venad was a medieval kingdom between the Western Ghat mountains of India with its capital at city of Quilon.Noburu Karashmia (ed.), A Concise History of South India: Issues and Interpretations. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2014. 143-44.Narayanan, M. G. S. 2002. ‘The State in the Era of the Ceraman Perumals of Kerala’, in ''State and Society in Premodern South India'', eds R. Champakalakshmi, Kesavan Veluthat, and T. R. Venugopalan, pp.111–19. Thrissur, CosmoBooks. It was one of the major principalities of Kerala, along with kingdoms of Kolathunadu, Zamorin, and Kochi in medieval and early modern period.Menon, T. Madhava. ''A Handbook of Kerala.'' Vol 1. Trivandrum: Dravidian Linguistics Association, 2002/ref> Venad outlasted the Chera Perumals of Makotai, Chera Perumal kingdom, gradually developed as an independent principality, known as the Chera kingdomThapar, Romila'', The Penguin History of Early India: From the Origins to AD 1300.'' Penguin Books, 2002. ...
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Kaimal
Kaimal is an aristocratic title or position granted by various Rajas to powerful Nair families in Kerala. The word "Kaimal" originated from "Kai," meaning "the hand," signifying power in medieval Kerala. Kaimals are considered one of the highest title among Nairs. Kaimals identify themselves as a Nair Subcaste. There are many references recorded in various historical documents. They are the Jenmi and Naduvazhi of Kerala. Several well known families have borne the title, including the Thachudaya Kaimal, Kaimals of Koratti, Angi and Pondicherry. Many Kaimal families are also part of Kshatriya Kshema Sabha along with Nair Service Society. Subcaste Koima + Alu: Koima (Dominant) Alu (Person) means 'The person who dominates.' This was the title given to the feudal chiefs under the Kerala kings. The Kaimals were the title awarded to individuals from different Nair subcastes. There are different Nair Kaimals: (1) Thachudaya Kaimal, (2) Vakkayil Kaimal, (3) Vakkathu Illam Kaima ...
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Ayyappan Marthanda Pillai
Ayyappan, also known as Dharmasastha and Manikandan, is the Hindu deity of truth and righteousness. According to Hindu theology, he is described as the son of Shiva and Mohini (the female avatar of Vishnu), thus representing a bridge between Shaivism and Vaishnavism. Ayyappan is a warrior deity and is revered for his ascetic devotion to Dharma, the ethical and right way of living. He is usually depicted as a youthful man riding or near a Bengal tiger and holding a bow and arrow. In some representations, he is seen holding a sword and riding an Indian elephant or a horse. Other iconography generally shows him in a yogic posture wearing a bell around his neck. The legend and mythology of Ayyappan varies across regions, reflecting a tradition that evolved over time. According to Malayalam lore, Ayyappan is presented as a warrior prince of Pandala kingdom. In the later years, the stories of Ayyappan expanded with various versions describing him as a warrior who protected people f ...
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Nair Martanda Pillai
The Nair (, ) also known as Nayar, are a group of Indian Hindu castes, described by anthropologist Kathleen Gough as "not a unitary group but a named category of castes". The Nair include several castes and many subdivisions, not all of whom historically bore the name 'Nair'. Fuller (1975) p. 309 These people lived, and many 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. Fuller (1975) p. 284 Historically, Nairs lived in large family units called ''tharavads'' that housed descendants of one common female ancestor. These family units along with their unusual marriage customs, which are no longer practiced, have been much studied. Although the detail varied from one region to the next, the main points of interest to researchers of Nair marria ...
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Zamorin
The Samoothiri (Anglicised as Zamorin; Malayalam: , , Arabic: ''Sāmuri'', Portuguese: ''Samorim'', Dutch: ''Samorijn'', Chinese: ''Shamitihsi''Ma Huan's Ying-yai Sheng-lan: 'The Overall Survey of the Ocean's Shores' 433 Translated and Edited by J. V. G. Mills. Cambridge University Press for the Hakluyt Society (1970).) was the title of the erstwhile ruler and monarch of the Calicut kingdom in the South Malabar region of India. Originating from the former feudal kingdom of Nediyiruppu Swaroopam, the Samoothiris and their vassal kings from Nilambur Kovilakam established Calicut as one of the most important trading ports on the southwest coast of India. At the peak of their reign, they ruled over a region extending from Kozhikode Kollam to the forested borders of Panthalayini Kollam (Koyilandy).Varier, M. R. Raghava. "Documents of Investiture Ceremonies" in K. K. N. Kurup, Edit., "India's Naval Traditions". Northern Book Centre, New Delhi, 1997K. V. Krishna Iyer, ''Zamorin ...
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Battle Of Thrissur
The Battle of Thrissur took place at Thrissur in 1763 between the forces of the Kingdom of Travancore and the Zamorin of Calicut. Prelude Paliath Achan of the Kingdom of Cochin and Maharaja Rama Varma of the Kingdom of Travancore made an alliance to drive out the Zamorin of Calicut from the territories belonging to the Raja of Kochi. Kingdom of Cochin accepted to cede parts of these territories to Travancore after the conquest. Battle The Travancore army marched forward under the command of the Dalawa Martanda Pillai. On arriving at Paravur, the Travancore commander on the advice of General de Lannoy decided upon a direct attack on Thrissur from two sides. For this purpose the army was grouped, in two divisions, one under Ayyappan Marthanda Pillai and the other under General de Lannoy. The plan was to make a converging attack on Thrissur, the Dalawa marching directly on it while the General was to capture Chetuva and attack it from the north. Thrissur was successfully occ ...
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Anantha Padmanabhan Pillai
Anant or Ananta may refer to: Hinduism *Ananta (infinite) (), an epithet of Vishnu, with meanings in other Indic religions *Ananta Shesha, the serpent that circles the world Places * Ananta (Arequipa), a mountain in the Arequipa Region, Peru * Ananta (Cusco), a mountain in the Cusco Region, Peru *Ananta (Puno), a mountain in the Puno Region, Peru *Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh, a district of Andhra Pradesh, India * Ananta Vasudeva Temple (thirteenth century) at Bhubaneswar, in Orissa state of India *Thiruvananthapuram (holy city of Anantha), capital city of Kerala People People in government *Ananta (king) (died 1068 AD), a king of the Lohara dynasty of Kashmir * Ananta Narcina Naik, Indian politician *Ananta Nayak (born 1969), Indian politician * Ananta Prasad Paudel (born 1962), Nepalese politician *Ananta Singh (1903–1979), Indian revolutionary People in film *Anant Balani (1962–2003), Bollywood film director and screenwriter *Ananta Jalil (born 1978), Bangladeshi film actor ...
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Dutch East India Company
The United East India Company ( ; VOC ), commonly known as the Dutch East India Company, was a chartered company, chartered trading company and one of the first joint-stock companies in the world. Established on 20 March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating Voorcompagnie, existing companies, it was granted a 21-year monopoly to carry out trade activities in Asia. Shares in the company could be purchased by any citizen of the Dutch Republic and subsequently bought and sold in open-air secondary markets (one of which became the Amsterdam Stock Exchange). The company possessed quasi-governmental powers, including the ability to wage war, imprison and execute convicts, negotiate treaties, strike Coinage of the Dutch East India Company, its own coins, and establish colonies. Also, because it traded across multiple colonies and countries from both the East and the West, the VOC is sometimes considered to have been the world's first multinational corporation. St ...
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Indian Army
The Indian Army (IA) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Land warfare, land-based branch and largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Commander-in-Chief, Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of the Army Staff (India), Chief of the Army Staff (COAS). The British Indian Army, Indian Army was established on 1 April 1895 alongside the long established presidency armies of the East India Company, which too were absorbed into it in 1903. Some princely states maintained their own armies which formed the Imperial Service Troops which, along with the Indian Army formed the land component of the Armed Forces of the Crown of India, responsible for the defence of the Indian Empire. The Imperial Service Troops were merged into the Indian Army after Independence of India, independence. The units and regiments of the Indian Army have diverse histories and have participated in several battles and campaigns around the world, earnin ...
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Eustachius De Lannoy
Eustachius Benedictus de Lannoy (also sometimes called 'Captain De Lannoy') (30 December 1715 – 1 June 1777, Udayagiri Fort) was a skilled military strategist and commander of the Travancore army, under Maharaja Marthanda Varma. De Lannoy, originally a Dutch naval officer, arrived with a Dutch naval force at Colachel in 1741 sent by the Dutch East India Company, or Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie (VOC) with the objective of instituting a trading post for the company at Colachel. The company was the world's first joint-stock company and was the largest multinational company. It was a very rich corporation and had its own naval fleet to protect its trade and maritime establishments. In order to establish the trade post, the Dutch force had to engage the Travancore army. They subsequently defeated the Dutch naval force at the Battle of Colachel. De Lannoy, who was captured in the battle, subsequently earned the trust of the king, Maharaja Marthanda Varma, who made him an ...
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Battle Of Colachel
The Battle of Colachel (or The Battle of Kolachel) was fought on between the Indian kingdom of Travancore and the Dutch East India Company. During the Travancore-Dutch War, King Marthanda Varma's (1729–1758) forces defeated the Dutch East India Company's forces led by Admiral Eustachius De Lannoy on 10 August 1741. The Dutch never recovered from the defeat and no longer posed a large colonial threat to India. Travancore triumphed in the war thanks to the exceptional military efforts of the Travancore Nair Brigade at sea, along with the leadership of three Nair commanders—Arumukhan Pilla, Nanu Pilla, and Chembaka Raman Pilla—on land. Background In the early 18th century, the Malabar Coast region of present-day Kerala was divided among several smaller kingdoms. In the 1730s, Marthanda Varma, the ruler of Travancore, adopted an expansionist policy, and conquered several territories from these small states. This threatened the interests of the Dutch East India Compa ...
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Members Of A Nair Brigade
Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in a database ** Member variable, a variable that is associated with a specific object * Limb (anatomy), an appendage of the human or animal body ** Euphemism for penis * Structural component of a truss, connected by nodes * User (computing), a person making use of a computing service, especially on the Internet * Member (geology), a component of a geological formation * Member of parliament * The Members, a British punk rock band * Meronymy, a semantic relationship in linguistics * Church membership, belonging to a local Christian congregation, a Christian denomination and the universal Church * Member, a participant in a club or learned society A learned society ( ; also scholarly, intellectual, or academic society) is an organization ...
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