The Decline of Nair Dominance: Society and Politics in Travancore 1847-1908

by Robin Jeffery

nan

Genres: History

393 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1994

Reviews

[Sajith Kumar · Rating 4 out of 5]

The southwestern state of Kerala leads most other states of India on the indices of social progress and human development. This belies an era of extreme oppression faced by the lower castes among Hindus. Learning of the inhuman treatment of the slave castes and licentious nature of marital customs of the upper castes, Swami Vivekananda once likened Kerala to a lunatic asylum. The Nair community swept aside other Hindu castes in carving out a powerful niche for themselves. Their monopoly was total in the administration and military of the princely states that constituted Kerala. In addition, they controlled virtually the entire land resources and agriculture. Trade and commerce by individuals were non-existent around the beginning of the nineteenth century, since the state exercised monopoly on the sale of pepper, tobacco and most other cash crops. This book is a study of the social and political changes resulting from the impact of a cash economy, Western-style education, improved communications, and a British-inspired system of law on the complex social structure of Travancore. It also deals with the breakdown of the matrilineal social system and with the growth of social assertiveness and political aspirations among low-caste Hindus and Christians. It is the story of a dominant caste brought down from comfortable supremacy over its neighbours to keen competition with them in sixty years. At the time of publication of this book in 1976, Robin Jeffrey was a research fellow in the Australian National University at Canberra. A Canadian by birth, Jeffrey taught in a high school in India from 1967-9 and the Regional Institute of English in Chandigarh.

Kerala Brahmins had weaved a web of myth and legend to justify their position at the apex of society. Even though Nairs dominated the society on material means, being Sudras, they were at the bottom of the Varna system. It was believed that sage Parasurama had brought Sudras to the reclaimed land of Kerala to act as the servants and bodyguards of Nambudiri Brahmins. Established custom demanded Nairs not to have formal marriage relations among themselves and to keep their women always in a state of availability to satisfy the sexual desires of Nambudiris. Innovating further, Nairs extended their accessibility to all upper castes, including non-Malayali Brahmins, Kshatriyas and rulers of the land. This ritual pimping secured the position of the males among them and the community predominated over all other castes. Ritual pollution, which in the rest of India was transmitted only by touch, could in Kerala be communicated over a distance. Non-approachability was an invention of Nairs and Nambudiris.

Travancore came under the paramountcy of the British by around 1800 after it sought their assistance to defeat Tipu Sultan's aggression. Christian missionaries flocked in large numbers to the state and wielded great influence in politics through the British Resident. With a view to enable religious conversions, they set up schools for children. Low-caste adherents to these missions were benefiting from education, which not only gave them an enhanced idea of their own status but the skills to carry on trade or seek salaried work outside Travancore. This helped bolster the literacy levels in the kingdom. In 1901, Travancore had a literacy rate of 22 per cent which was the highest in India. In nine small towns, it was higher than that of Kolkata. By 1905, there were more than twenty Malayalam and English newspapers. Nairs also benefited. Even though they constituted only twenty percent of the population, they held much of the land and sixty per cent of the jobs in government.

The time period of the subject matter of this book is the 61 years from 1847 to 1908. Historical events of profound significance took place in this interval between the accession of Uthram Tirunal Marthanda Varma and the height of the reign of Moolam Tirunal Rama Varma when serious discussions to do away with the matrilineal joint family were being undertaken. On second thoughts however, I feel the author should have extended his study till 1936, by which time reservations in government jobs were assured to the lower castes and the Temple Entry Proclamation came into force. Earlier, the hiring of lower-caste Hindus in public service was due to specific concessions granted to them on a one-time basis, but reservations brought in a systematic program to deliberately exclude the Nairs and upper castes. This served the most severe blow to Nair dominance. The early part of the period was a time of progressive thought in Travancore. In the 1860s, the Dewan, Maharaja and the royal family showed a positive enthusiasm for certain aspects of administrative modernization and pursued new programs with determination and zeal. However, this did not mean that they reformed their personal lives. Ayilyam Tirunal and Visakham Tirunal were typical conservatives. Both were not prepared to eat in the same room with Englishmen. They conscientiously performed the many costly religious ceremonies of their theocratic state and received their European guests in the early morning, before their purificatory bath. When Visakham Tirunal lay dying in 1885, his Nair wife and children were forbidden by his own orders not to come near him to avoid ritual pollution. Only Brahmins were allowed to touch his body, and thereby denying competent medical care to reach him.

Jeffrey describes the minutiae of the reforms that sounded the death knell of Nair dominance. Most joint families of Nairs possessed Sirkar pattam (government lease) lands that could not be sold or disposed to a third party other than lapsing back to the government. In 1867, the government granted full ownership rights to the possessors. Land could be monetized from then onwards and land value shot up for the first time. Forced labour from the lower castes was enlisted for public works by a system known as Uzhiyam. This was abolished and wages in cash were given to the labourers in return for their work. The increased freedom of labour to stay away from work produced shortages which further notched up the wages. Upon the constant pressure from Madras government to liberalise the economy, Travancore lifted the state monopoly on pepper and tobacco and imposed duties in its place. This helped to usher in an era of cash economy and enabled the lower castes to improve their lot in a big way. Their labour was now rewarded with cash and coir products which they manufactured fetched money in the export markets. Nairs were at the receiving end of this new phenomenon. Apart from a few government employees, most Nairs felt it humiliating to work under the orders of another person, especially if he belonged to an inferior caste.

The social transformation portrayed by Jeffrey in these pages was palpable, but by no means irreversible, if Nairs turned out to be a bit more pragmatic. Syrians, other Christians, non-Malayali Brahmins and Ezhavas, who had less burdensome family institutions than the impartible, matrilineal joint family (marumakkathayam tharavad) of the Nairs were prepared to attempt new occupations and had some experience in dealing regularly with money. Almost a tenth of the present day Kerala population is employed outside its frontiers and we see the origins of this practice in the era under study in this book. From the 1840s, educated converts had been going to Sri Lanka to work on coffee estates. More than providing a lucrative income for the expatriates, it provided a safe place for the converts to flourish, away from the watchful eyes of the Nairs. Later, other lower castes followed in their footsteps for the same set of reasons. This so spread in society that all castes were eventually willing to go abroad in search of greener pastures. By 1908, the unquestioned dominance which Nairs had enjoyed sixty years earlier had vanished. They still held many advantages, but these were not unchallenged and the economic power of the majority of Nair families was manifestly on the decline. The book ends on this note.

The book is typeset like it was done using a primitive typewriter, with both sides of the paragraph not even properly aligned. This makes it difficult to read. It is true that it was published in 1976, but we have seen books better in presentation and style that was brought out much earlier. It uses strange spellings that were not in common use even in 1976. It uses ‘Nayar’ for Nair, ‘Irava’ for Ezhava, ‘Shanar’ for Channar and so on. The greatest plus point of the book is that it brings into the open the transformation of Kerala from the medieval to modern times that was running coterminous with the fall of Nair dominance. Over time, the caste identity of a person ceased to be his lone characteristic. Class, education and intellectual achievement also became parameters in fully describing a person. The extensive tables of statistical data presented along with the text makes this book unique in its genre.

The book is highly recommended.

[Devaraj · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book shows invalid information with poor reference but with valid information regarding the political history of nayar Kshatriya . This review to inform about two reviewers in below . The man I dont know have some problems with nairs posting such shit things about nairs . Nair are warriors , noble caste and are of ruling caste . They are kshetriya caste not sudras . They nairs don't have any qualities of sudras and doesn't practise any shudra practices . How can military warrior caste are shudras . All the kings of kerala are of nair lineage . Naire are not servants of brahmins . They used to have hold high political power caste and exise dominance over namboothiri . Namboothiri and nair used to have relationship through marriage because of non shudra status . Sambandam is like a formal marriage , sambandam is a malayalam informal marriage or informally used . According to Malabar Marriage act it is a marriage it have all formal relationship or common official marriage type . Not as a for sexual life . The nair women's hold high power in controlling their namboothiri husband and even they can divorce . Most of men women relationship or marriage as women consider as sexual needs don't contain any respect they were for childrens but nair womens hold high power they even looked their husbands . Low castes actually single time relation and to share womens to high caste . Nair womens doesn't practise polyandry . Their is no source of it .

[Afsal Najeeb · Rating 5 out of 5]

The writer has presented an in depth scholarly analysis of the issue using sources ranging from ancient works of literature and periodicals to official documents and pamphlets. Writing the history of a complex society with multiple divisions is not an easy task. But the narrative has the flow of a work of fiction and has managed to present a comprehensive picture.
One could differ with the author on certain aspects - relative priority given to missionary activities, limited accounts of the subaltern society and question if the decline of Nayar dominance was as significant a societal change as the author has presented it to be.
But there is no denial that the well researched book is indeed a brilliant attempts to present the history of Kerala society. And a rare one too

[Dr. Ajith P Rajan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I own the malayalam version of the book. The book explains the decline of the power of Nair caste especially till earlier part of 20th century. Surprisingly the author is of Canadian origin.

[Razeen Muhammed rafi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kerala southmost state of India was believed to be Created by an epic story of Parashurama who is believed to be incarnation of Lord Mahavishnu. It is believed that this land was created with Axe thrown by Parashuram. Land which raised by this act starts from Kanyakumari. This land was donated to Brahmin by Parashuram . Brahmins brought Shudras as their helpers and it was told that ladies of these class have to walk in bare breast as Brahmins are god's representative so these women's need to make their boss happy by these way.
Namboori Brahman used to make sambandham( informal mode of marriage followed by Nairs).Nairs are Knight class who used to live in Tarawad and practiced Matrilineal alliance. Woman's followed polyandry in this caste.
This book deals with history of Travancore, How Ezhava caste which was backward class came up in social hierarchy by education and business and how missionaries have helped them to prosper. Also how some of colleges and newspapers where started in Travancore and how it deals in enhancing literacy rate of state . How Travancore government Diwan's have been helping British and missionaries are well explained in this book. We can tell this book as a predicissor of Ivory Throne book by Manu Pillai.

[Dr. Charu Panicker · Rating 2 out of 5]

ഒരു സമുദായത്തിന്റെ പരിവര്‍ത്തനം മാത്രമല്ല ഇവിടെ അവതരിപ്പിക്കുന്നത്. അന്നേവരെ നിലനിന്നിരുന്ന ജാതി- സാമൂഹിക വ്യവസ്ഥകളെ തിരുത്തിക്കൊണ്ടുള്ള കേരളദേശത്തിന്റെ സമൂലമായ മാറ്റത്തെയാണ്. പുസ്തകത്തിന്റെ തലക്കെട്ടിൽ നായർ സമുദായത്തിനെയാണ് സൂചിപ്പിക്കുന്നതെങ്കിലും മറ്റ് സമുദായങ്ങളുടെ മാറ്റങ്ങളും പറഞ്ഞു പോകുന്നുണ്ട്. പ്രധാനമായും സുറിയാനി ക്രിസ്ത്യാനികളെ പറ്റി ഒരുപാട് ���രാമർശങ്ങളുണ്ട്.

[Rakesh K P · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highly recommended

[Nitin Nair · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally understood why my grandparents left Travancore

[Manish · Rating 4 out of 5]

A scholarly analysis of the social changes in Kerala beginning from the 18th century and going until the early part of the 20th century.

[Muhammad Juneem · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent piece of work.

[Vineeth Sivadas · Rating 2 out of 5]

നായർ മേധാവിത്വത്തിന്റെ പതനം
-റോബിൻ ജെഫ്റി

ഞാൻ വളരെ പ്രതീക്ഷയോടെ വാങ്ങിയ ഒരു പുസ്തകമാണ് പക്ഷെ എന്നെ വല്ലാതെ നിരാശപ്പെടുത്തി കളഞ്ഞു

ഇതിൽ നായന്മാരുടെ 18 ആം നൂറ്റാണ്ടിലെ ആധിപത്യവും തുടർന്നുണ്ടായ പതനവുമാണ് വുവരിച്ചിരിക്കുന്നതു. കേരളത്തിൽ ജനിച്ചു വളർന്ന ഒരുവിധം ആൾക്കാർക്കും അറിയാം മരുമക്കത്തായം ആയിരുന്നു നായന്മാരുടെ പ്രധാന പ്രശ്നം എന്ന്.
ഇതിലും അതിൽ കൂടുതലൊന്നും പറയുന്നില്ല...പിന്നെ പറയുന്നത് മറ്റു സമുതായങ്ങളുടെ വളർച്ചയാണ്.
വെറും നൂറ്റിഅമ്പതു page കൊണ്ട് തീർക്കാവുന്നതു വെറുതെ വലിച്ചു നീട്ടി 300 Page ആകിയിരിക്കുകയാണ്

ഇതിൽ പറയുന്ന ദിവാൻ സർ മാധവ റാവു പഴയ തിരുവതാങ്കൂറിനെ തകർച്ചയുടെ വക്കിൽ നിന്ന് രക്ഷിച്ചത്.. അദ്ദേഹത്തിന്റെ നടപടികളെ പറ്റി വളരെ നന്നായി വ്യാഖ്യാനിച്ചിട്ടുണ്ട്.. അതേപോലെ ഊഴിവേലയെ യും പൊതുരാമത്തു കമ്മീഷനെ പറ്റിയും വളരെ നന്നായി എഴുതിട്ടുണ്ട്.. പണ്ടത്തെ തീണ്ടൽ നെ പറ്റി വളരെ വിശദമായി എഴുതിട്ടുണ്ട്.
നമ്മുടെ ജാതി വ്യവസ്ഥ മിഷനറി കൾ എങ്ങനെ മുതലാക്കുന്നു (ഇപ്പഴും അതിനു മാറ്റമില്ല)സിഎംസ്, റോമൻ കത്തോലിക്കർ, സുറായിനി ക്രിസ്ത്യൻസ് എന്നിവരെ പറ്റിയും നല്ലോണം വിശതീകരിച്ചിട്ടുണ്ട്.

ലേഖകൻ ശ്രീ നാരായണ ഗുരു ദേവനെ പറ്റി പറയുന്നുണ്ട്.. പക്ഷെ നായരായ ചട്ടമ്പി സ്വാമികളെ പറ്റി മിണ്ടുന്നില്ല.. അതേപോലെ ദിവാൻ സർ മാധവ റാവു നെ പറ്റി പറയുന്നുണ്ട് പക്ഷെ നായരായ വേലുത്തമ്പി ധവള യെ പറ്റി ഒന്നോ രണ്ടോ വരിയാണ് ഉള്ളത് ... വേലുത്തമ്പി ദളവ കഴിഞ്ഞാൽ കേശവദാസ് എന്ന നായർ വളരെ പ്രശസ്തനാണ് അദ്ദേഹത്തെ പറ്റിയും ഒന്നും ഇല്ല..

sndp യെ പോലെ നായന്മാർക്ക് കെട്ടുറപ്പും ഐക്യവും ഉണ്ടായിരിന്നില്ല. അത് ഇപ്പഴും ഇല്ല. പക്ഷെ ഒന്ന് നമുക്ക് മനസിലാവും 19ആം നൂറ്റാണ്ടിന്റെ പടി ചവിട്ടുമ്പോൾ ഏറ്റവും കൂടുതൽ കഷ്ടപ്പാട് ഏതു സമുധായകരാണെന്ന് അനുഭവിക്കാൻ പോകുന്നത് എന്ന്...

[Muhammad Juneem · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent piece of work.

[Arathi Menon · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must-read for every Keralite. It gets you a feeling that 200 years is a very short time and the progress Kerala has achieved within that time is crazy. Know about a lot of hidden figures who played a part in shaping each one of us.