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Caste System In Kerala
The caste system in Kerala differed from that found in the rest of India. While the Indian caste system generally divided the four-fold ''Varna'' division of the society into Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras, in Kerala, that system was absent. The Malayali Brahmins formed the priestly class, and they considered all other castes to be either shudra or ''avarna'' (those outside the ''varna'' system). The exception to this were the military elites among the Samantha Kshatriyas and the Nairs, who were ritually promoted to the status of Kshatriya by means of the ''Hiranyagarbha'' ceremony. This was done so that the Samanthans and Nairs could wield temporal ruling powers over the land, as they constituted the aristocratic class. Over time, the dominance of the "upper caste" Brahmin and Nair nobles gradually declined due to social and political changes. Overview Like the rest of India, the lower castes touching the upper castes was termed as "pollution," but only in Ker ...
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India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since 2023; and, since its independence in 1947, the world's most populous democracy. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast, it shares land borders with Pakistan to the west; China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the north; and Bangladesh and Myanmar to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is near Sri Lanka and the Maldives; its Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand, Myanmar, and Indonesia. Modern humans arrived on the Indian subcontinent from Africa no later than 55,000 years ago., "Y-Chromosome and Mt-DNA data support the colonization of South Asia by modern humans originating in Africa. ... Coalescence dates for most non-European populations averag ...
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Kurup Of Travancore
Kurup or Nair Kurup is a title of nobility used by Nair, Nairs in Kerala, They were Nairs who were experts in Kalaripayattu, Kalaripayyattu and had their own Nair Brigade, Nair army in many parts of Kerala, many among them were powerful warlords, also serving as Warrior, warriors and Nair Brigade, army generals. Additionally, a segment of the Nair Kurup belonged to the "Jenmi, Naaduvaazhi" and Naduvazhi, landlord class in Venad (kingdom), Venad until the 17th century. ''The Nair, Nair Kurup caste is unrelated to other Kurups. It is important not to confuse them with the Ambalavasi, Ambalavasi Kurup, Kalari Panicker, Kurup Caste, Kalari Kurup, etc., as they have distinct identities and no relation with the Nair caste Kurup.'' Etymology "Kurup" is a title of nobility among the Nair, Nairs, historically given by different kingdoms to Nair individuals or families who have reached a high level of expertise in Kalaripayattu or warfare. Title of Travancore Kingdom The Nair title "K ...
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Parasurama
Parashurama (), also referred to as Rama Jamadagnya, Rama Bhargava and Virarama, is the sixth avatar among the Dashavatara of the preserver god Vishnu in Hinduism. Hindu tradition holds him to be the destroyer of the evil on Earth. According to legends, Shiva advised him to go and liberate the Mother Earth from felons, ill-behaved men, extremists, demons and those blind with pride. He is described as one amongst the '' Chiranjivis'' (Immortals), who will appear at the end of the ''Kali Yuga'' to be the guru of Vishnu's tenth and last incarnation, Kalki. Born to Jamadagni and Renuka, the Brahmin Parashurama was foretold to appear at a time when overwhelming evil prevailed on the earth. The Kshatriya class, with weapons and power, had begun to abuse their power, take what belonged to others by force and tyrannise people. He corrected the cosmic equilibrium by destroying these Kshatriyas twenty-one times (leaving some lineages). He is married to Dharani, an incarnation of Laks ...
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International Institute For Asian Studies
Introduction The International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS) is a global research institute and knowledge exchange platform, based in Leiden, the Netherlands. The Institute initiates and promotes multidisciplinary as well as inter- and trans-regional initiatives that engage institutional partners and knowledge communities in Asia, Africa, Europe, the Americas, and beyond. Across multiple platforms and programmes, the IIAS promotes critical, humanistic, and collaborative work on, with, in,and beyond Asia. In so doing, the Institute promotes a more integrated understanding of present-day Asian realities, pioneers new approaches to Asian Studies in a changing global context, and contributes to new humanistically-informed and policy-relevant knowledge about Asia. Establishment The IIAS was established in 1993, following recommendations by two successive committees, installed by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (Netherlands) (1989) and the Royal Netherlands Acad ...
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Tamil Language
Tamil (, , , also written as ''Tamizhil'' according to linguistic pronunciation) is a Dravidian language natively spoken by the Tamil people of South Asia. It is one of the longest-surviving classical languages in the world,. "Tamil is one of the two longest-surviving classical languages in India" (p. 7). attested since 300 BC, 300 BCE.: "...the most acceptable periodisation which has so far been suggested for the development of Tamil writing seems to me to be that of A Chidambaranatha Chettiar (1907–1967): 1. Sangam Literature – 200BC to AD 200; 2. Post Sangam literature – AD 200 – AD 600; 3. Early Medieval literature – AD 600 to AD 1200; 4. Later Medieval literature – AD 1200 to AD 1800; 5. Pre-Modern literature – AD 1800 to 1900" at p. 610 Tamil was the lingua franca for early maritime traders in South India, with Tamil inscriptions found outside of the Indian subcontinent, such as Indonesia, Thailand, and Egypt. The language has a well-documented history wit ...
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Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural diffusion, diffused there from the northwest in the late Bronze Age#South Asia, Bronze Age. Sanskrit is the sacred language of Hinduism, the language of classical Hindu philosophy, and of historical texts of Buddhism and Jainism. It was a lingua franca, link language in ancient and medieval South Asia, and upon transmission of Hindu and Buddhist culture to Southeast Asia, East Asia and Central Asia in the early medieval era, it became a language of religion and high culture, and of the political elites in some of these regions. As a result, Sanskrit had a lasting effect on the languages of South Asia, Southeast Asia and East Asia, especially in their formal and learned vocabularies. Sanskrit generally connotes several Indo-Aryan languages# ...
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Malayalam
Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 Languages with official status in India, scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was designated a "Classical Languages of India, Classical Language of India" in 2013. Malayalam has official language status in Kerala, Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé, Puducherry, Mahé), and is also the primary spoken language of Lakshadweep. Malayalam is spoken by 35.6 million people in India. Malayalam is also spoken by linguistic minorities in the neighbouring states; with a significant number of speakers in the Kodagu and Dakshina Kannada districts of Karnataka, and Kanyakumari district, Kanyakumari, Coimbatore district, Coimbatore and Nilgiris district, Nilgiris district of Tamil Nadu. It is also spoken by the Malayali diaspora, Malayali Diaspora wo ...
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Cyriac Pullapilly
Cyriac K. Pullapilly (June 15, 1932 – December 17, 2017) was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a former priest of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church and a professor of history at Saint Mary's College, Indiana. Biography Cyriac Pullapilly was an only child, born in what is now Kerala, India, on June 15, 1932. Raised by his mother, Anna, he was educated at St. Thomas College and St. Joseph's Pontifical Seminary before becoming an ordained priest in the Eastern Rite Syro-Malabar Catholic Church on March 16, 1958. According to some source, the ordination was the culmination of his mother's ambitions for him, although others say that his parents were initially reluctant for him to enter the church. While attending the seminary, he wrote for a missionary publication called ''Home Field''. He also was part of the anti-communist movement in his college and wrote various publications critical of the communist government which controlled the legislature in his state. Pullapilly was a ...
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Kingdom Of Cochin
The kingdom of Cochin or the Cochin State, named after its capital in the city of Kochi (Cochin), was a kingdom in the central part of present-day Kerala state. It originated in the early part of the 12th century and continued to rule until its accession to the Dominion of India in 1949. The kingdom of Cochin, originally known as Perumpadappu Swarupam, was under the rule of the Kulasekhara dynasty (Second Cheras), Later Cheras in the Medieval India, Middle Ages. After the fall of the Kulasekhara dynasty (Second Cheras), Mahodayapuram Cheras in the 12th century, along with numerous other provinces Perumpadappu Swarupam became a free political entity. However, it was only after the arrival of Portuguese on the Malabar Coast that the Perumpadappu Swarupam acquires any political importance. Perumpadappu rulers had family relationships with the Nambudiri rulers of Edappally. After the transfer of Kochi and Vypin from the Edappally rulers to the Perumpadappu rulers, the latter came ...
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Travancore
The kingdom of Travancore (), also known as the kingdom of Thiruvithamkoor () or later as Travancore State, was a kingdom that lasted from until 1949. It was ruled by the Travancore Royal Family from Padmanabhapuram, and later Thiruvananthapuram. At its zenith, the kingdom covered most of the south of modern-day Kerala ( Idukki, Kottayam, Alappuzha, Pathanamthitta, Kollam, and Thiruvananthapuram districts, major portions of Ernakulam district, Puthenchira village of Thrissur district) and the southernmost part of modern-day Tamil Nadu ( Kanyakumari district and some parts of Tenkasi district) with the Thachudaya Kaimal's enclave of Irinjalakuda Koodalmanikyam temple in the neighbouring kingdom of Cochin. However Tangasseri area of Kollam city and Anchuthengu near Attingal in Thiruvananthapuram were parts of British India. Malabar District of Madras Presidency was to the north, the Madurai and Tirunelveli districts of Pandya Nadu region in Madras Presidency ...
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Malabar District
Malabar District, also known as British Malabar or simply Malabar was an administrative district on the southwestern Malabar Coast of Bombay Presidency (1792–1800), Madras Presidency (1800–1950) and finally, Madras State (1950–1956) in India. It was the most populous and the third-largest district in the erstwhile Madras State. The historic town of Kozhikode was the administrative headquarters of this district. The district included the present-day districts of Kannur district, Kannur, Kozhikode district, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Malappuram district, Malappuram, Palakkad district, Palakkad (excluding Chittur-Thathamangalam, Chittur taluk), Chavakad, Chavakad Taluk and parts of Kodungallur, Kodungallur Taluk of Thrissur district (former part of Ponnani Taluk), and Fort Kochi area of Ernakulam district in the northern and central parts of present Kerala state, the Lakshadweep, Lakshadweep Islands, and a major portion of the Nilgiris district in modern-day Tamil Nadu. The detach ...
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