Eradi is a subcaste of
Kiriyathil Nair or Eradi Nair community from the
Eranad
Eranad () also known as Ernad refers to the erstwhile province in the midland area of Malabar, consisting of Malappuram and nearby regions such as Anakkayam, Manjeri, Kondotty, Nilambur, etc. Currently Eranad Taluk is a Taluk in Malappuram dis ...
of
Kerala
Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...
,
they were later elevated to the
Samanthan Nair
Samantan Nair, also known as Samanthan Nair or just Samantan (meaning "equal to" or "deemed to be"), was a generic term applied to dignify a group of sub-clans among the ruling elites (Naduvazhi) and feudal lords (Jenmimar) of the Nair community ...
caste by performing the Padmagarbha Yagna.
The Samoothiri (
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 Edi ...
), the erstwhile monarchs and hereditary rulers of the kingdom of
Kozhikode
Kozhikode (), also known as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. Known as the City of Spices, Kozhikode is listed among the City of Literature, UNESCO's Cities of Literature.
It is the nineteenth large ...
, belong to this subcaste.
They derive their name from the province of
Eranad
Eranad () also known as Ernad refers to the erstwhile province in the midland area of Malabar, consisting of Malappuram and nearby regions such as Anakkayam, Manjeri, Kondotty, Nilambur, etc. Currently Eranad Taluk is a Taluk in Malappuram dis ...
, where they were the ruling chiefs. The Eradi or Samoothiri first tried to elevate himself to the
Samanthan Kshatriya status by performing the
Hiranyagarbha
Hiranyagarbha (, , poetically translated as 'universal womb') is the source of the creation of the universe or the manifested cosmos in Vedic philosophy. It finds mention in one hymn of the Rigveda ( RV 10.121), known as the Hiraṇyagarbha ...
Yagna, but fierce opposition by his opponents (Most notable of whom were the
Rajas of Cochin) forced the
Namboothiris of
Malabar to abandon the plan. Instead, the Samoothiri was elevated to the Samanthan Nair caste by performing the Padmagarbha Yagna.
See also
*Justice
V. Balakrishna Eradi
*
Nair
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 hi ...
References
{{reflist
Kerala society
Indian castes