The Thampis and Kochammas are the sons and daughters of the

maharajah Maharaja (also spelled Maharajah or Maharaj; ; feminine: Maharani) is a royal title in Indian subcontinent of Sanskrit origin. In modern India and medieval northern India, the title was equivalent to a prince. However, in late ancient India ...

s of Southern Travancore (Present-day Kanyakumari district) and their consorts belonging to

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 ...

caste A caste is a Essentialism, fixed social group into which an individual is born within a particular system of social stratification: a caste system. Within such a system, individuals are expected to marry exclusively within the same caste (en ...

. The titles "Thampi" and "Thankachi" was given by the

royal families A royal family is the immediate family of monarchs and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term papal family describes the family of a pope, while the ...

in the region of

Padmanabhapuram Padmanabhapuram () is a town and a municipality near Thuckalay in Kanyakumari district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. As of 2011, the town had a population of 21,342. Padmanabhapuram was the capital of Travancore state in the past. In 17 ...

, Travancore Kingdom (present-day Kanyakumari district, Tamil Nadu) to their Malayali

relatives. They were part of the Samanthan Nair aristocracy and belong to the Illam Nair subcaste. The Thampi surname is also used by non-Nair communities, and they have no relation to the aristocratic

Thampis. The very term ''Thampi'' and ''Thankachi'' meaning, brother and sister respectively which indicated the position of the Thampi families as the non-crown inheriting royal relatives of the Royal House of Travancore as per the matrilineal law followed. The consort of the ruling Maharajah (King) as well as Elayarajah (Crown Prince) was known as the ''Ammachi'' with the title of Panapillai Amma. To the names of the sons of the Maharajahs was prefixed the title of ''

Sri Shri (; , ) is a Sanskrit term denoting resplendence, wealth and prosperity, primarily used as an honorific. The word is widely used in South and Southeast Asian languages such as Assamese, Meitei ( Manipuri), Marathi, Malay (including In ...

'' suffixed with Thampi. The daughters were known as ''Kochammas''. The other members as well as the descendants of the Ammaveedus, however, were simply known as Thampi and Thankachi.

Origin

The Maharajahs of southern Travancore (

Kanyakumari Kanyakumari (Tamil; / kəɳjɑkʊmɑɾiː/; referring to Devi Kanya Kumari, officially known as Kanniyakumari, formerly known as Cape Comorin) is a town and a municipality in Kanyakumari district in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. It is the ...

district) adopted the

matrilineal Matrilineality, at times called matriliny, is the tracing of kinship through the female line. It may also correlate with a social system in which people identify with their matriline, their mother's lineage, and which can involve the inheritan ...

custom and inheritance prevalent in the land around the 14th Century AD. So basically, the Nair Thampi caste people originated at the original Travancore capital i.e.

(present day Kanyakumari district). The Thampi title prevalent mainly in Kanyakumari region of Travancore (old Kerala). The Thampis present in the other parts of Travancore Kingdom i.e present central Kerala districts like Thampis in

Kottayam Kottayam () is a city in the Kottayam district of Kerala, India. It is the district headquarters of the district and is located about north of the state capital Thiruvananthapuram. As per the 2011 Indian census, Kottayam has a population of ...

are people who have since migrated to northern borders of Kingdom after the 17th century. Accordingly, when a king died, his nephew (sister's son) would become the next ruler, and his own son, born of his wife, would be simply called ''Thampi'' with the title ''" Sri (mother's house name) (personal name) Thampi"'' which was also one of the highest titles of nobility in Travancore. All of the Maharajahs' daughters were known by the style of ''Kochamma'' with the title ''" (mother's house name) Ammaveetil Srimathi (personal name) Pilla Kochamma"''. Since the

Marumakkathayam Marumakkathayam was a system of matrilineal inheritance prevalent in regions of the Indian state of Kerala. It is similar to the Aliyasanthana system followed by the Bunt community in Karnataka. The word "Marumakkathayam" originated from the ...

system of matrilineal inheritance existed in Travancore, the descendants of these individuals would not gain any distinguishing title other than Thampi (male) and Thankachi (female).

Position

The title of Thampi was also rarely given to some families in Travancore by the Maharajah of Travancore, as a reward for exemplary military, social or government services. Thampis indeed had some special social privileges in Travancore. Besides only the Maharajah, they were the only people permitted the use of Palanquins. They also had the right to visit their Royal Cousins, their father's heir as per the Marumakkathayam law, Without formally previously Announcing their visit. According to a noted expert, in some of the areas on the borders of Travancore and Cochin Kingdom, they formed the third estate colloquially called "Thoruvam Nairs". In the caste hierarchy, they belonged to the Samanthan Nairs subcaste.Aspects of Kerala Social Organisation published by the Asiatic Society 2014 at pages 14-15 by Abhed Kiran Ravi Kumar Pillai Kandamath

References

{{Kingdom of Travancore Indian court titles Titles in India Nair Travancore royal family Women from the Kingdom of Travancore People from the Kingdom of Travancore

Origin

Position

See also

References