Talk:Caste system in Kerala/Archives/2010/November

Uppercstes of Kerala are Tulu Nambudiris (Aryans) and Tulu Bunt (community) (Nagas) and lower castes are Dravidian Tamils from Chera Kingdom
Kerala was ruled by Traditional Dravidian Tamil kings ortherwise called Villavarkon or the King of Villavar people.Majority of the Dravidian people talked Tamil till the British arrived.The word Malayalam itself means the language of Hill people in Tamil. All the Dravidian Malayalaees descend from the ancient Tamils from the Chera Dynasty Ay kingdom. These Dravidians who once had been the rulers of the Chera Kingdom were subjected to repeated attacks by the Non Dravidian Nagas and Aryans from Tulunadu. The Nagas (Nairs and Bunts) were brought to Tulunadu by the Kadamba king Mayuravarma in 345 AD as heriditary bonded slaves to Banavasi in Karnataka from Ahichatram in the Uttarpradesh Nepal border.As they were not allowed and have families they practices Matriarchy. These Nagas could be related to Newars of Nepal and might have belonged to Nepal. The Nagas unlike original inhabitants of Kerala the Tamils practised Naga Worship, Matriarchy and Polyandry and family system did not exist among them. The Nagas displayed fair skin with an yellowish tinge and slightly Mongoloid features.The Nagas were called Bunta or Bunts or Bunt (community) Because they were Bonded slaves (Bunta) to Dravidian kings such as Kadamba and Alupas Pandyan kingdom.Tulunadu records called Grama Paddati and Padanna recolect this migration of Nepalese Nagas or Bunta or Bunt (community) from Ahichatram. The Nagas were led to Karnataka by Aryan Brahmins from Ahichatram. The descendent of these  Aryan Brahmins descend Tulu Brahmins including Nambudiris. Keralolpathi mentions Ahichatram in its first chapter. Some of these Nambudiri Brahmins from Tulunadu worked in the temples of Kerala from seventh century onwards.There is no evidence to suggest that the Tulu brahmins played any role outside the temples. Some of the Bunts/Nairs came to Kerala as Drummers and servants of Nambudiris.In the inscription at Thrikodithanam Mahavishnu Kshetram {http://www.thrikodithanam.org/mural.htm} there is a mention of Thencheril Chennan Nair (Chennan in Kannada Good) who used to play Chenda. The country was still ruled by the Tamil Villavar Kings of Chera Kingdom.Chera King Kulasekhara who wrote Periar Thirumozhi in classical Tamil (825 AD described himself as Villavarkon and also as leader of Vanavar Malayar and Pazhuvettaraiyar. With the repeated attack of Rashtrakuta Dynasty Chera Dynasty came to an end at 1100 AD. Still Kerala was ruled by Patriarchal Tamil Kings till 1310 when Malik Kafur attacked south India.After the attack of Malik Kafur in 1310 the indigenous Tamils of Kerala and Tamil Nadu were defeated and replaced. The Tulu Bunt-Nairs appeared in Kerala and Telugu Naickers became the rulers of Tamil Nadu.

After the attack of Malik Kafur in 1310 many subcastes of Tulu Bunt {community} such as Nayara Menava, Kuruba, Samantha and Maralu appeared in Kerala as rulers. The south Indian Nagas (Nairs/Bunts and Naickers who were ethnically different from Dravidians suddenly became rulers of South India after the attack possibly as allies of Malik Kafur and Madurai Sultanate. The Tulu Brahmins (Nambudiris and Pothis)in fact became the feudal lords of Kerala.The Nagas were primitive people  compared to Dravidians.  A Portuguese etch plate drawing shows the Cochin King and his Nair soldiers wearing only loincloths. The Magnificient Dravidian architecture was replaced by Newa architecture the Nepalese architecture of Newars.  The Tulu Brahmins including Nambudiris used Tulu Script to write Malayalam from 1300s. Still majority of Malalees used a kind of Tamil called Malayalam-Tamil to write Malayalam. The Portuguese called the language of Kerala as Lingua Malabar Tamul. The Malayalam-Tamil or Malyanma used to be the Dravidian Malayalees who formed the majority of the population when British arrived. British who allied with Nairs of Kerala banned the Malayalam Tamil written with either Tamil or Malayanma script and replaced it with Tulu Script. Between 1800 to 1900 the British opened schools to promote Grantha Bhasa written with Tulu Script hitherto the language of Nambothiris. This move made most of the Dravidian population who used Malanma or Tamil to write Malayalam like their ancestors appear illiterate.

The Kerala caste system is the creation of invaders such as Malik Kafur which made Tulu people as rulers of Kerala and made Kolathiri as their superior king. But most of the Malayalees are Dravidians and not related to either Nair or Nambudiris the Naga and Aryan migrants from Ahichatram. Vilmeenkodi (talk) 20:08, 14 November 2010 (UTC)