{{Short description|Hindu community of Kerala, India}} {{pp-protected|reason=Long term and persistent [[WP:Disruptive editing|disruptive editing]]. See protection log. This has been going on for years.; requested at [[WP:RfPP]]|small=yes}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2020}} {{use Indian English|date=December 2017}} {{Infobox ethnic group |group= '''Ezhava''' | image = Ezhava Temple.png | image_caption = An ancient Ezhava temple in 19th Century near Trivandrum. |regions = [[Kerala]] | region2 = | pop = Approx. 8,000,000 (2018) | total_ref = <ref name="ecostat.kerala.gov.in">[https://www.ecostat.kerala.gov.in/images/pdf/publications/Vital_Statistics/data/vital_statistics_2018.pdf Vital statistics 2018] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220511142922/http://www.ecostat.kerala.gov.in/images/pdf/publications/Vital_Statistics/data/vital_statistics_2018.pdf |date=11 May 2022 }}</ref> | langs = [[Malayalam]] | rels = [[Hinduism]] | related_groups = [[Billava]], [[Sinhalese people|Sinhalese]] {{fact|date=August 2024}}}}
The '''Ezhavas,''' ({{ipa|ml|iːɻɐʋɐ|lang}}) also known as ''Thiyya'' or ''Tiyyar'' ({{ipa|ml|t̪ijːɐ|lang}}) in the [[Malabar region]],<ref>{{cite book |title=Society in India: Continuity and change |first=David Goodman |last=Mandelbaum |author-link=David G. Mandelbaum |publisher=University of California Press |year=1970 |isbn=9780520016231 |page=[https://archive.org/details/societyinindia01mand/page/502 502] |quote=Another strong caste association, but one formed at a different social level and cemented by religious appeal, is that of the Iravas of Kerala, who are also known as Ezhavas or Tiyyas and make up more than 40 per cent of Kerala Hindus |url=https://archive.org/details/societyinindia01mand/page/502 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Matrilineal Kinship |editor1-first=David Murray |editor1-last=Schneider |editor2-first=E. Kathleen |editor2-last=Gough |chapter=Tiyyar: North Kerala |first=E. Kathleen |last=Gough |author-link=Kathleen Gough |page=405 |year=1961 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-02529-5 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lfdvTbfilYAC&pg=PA312 |quote=Throughout Kerala the Tiyyars (called Iravas in parts of Cochin and Travancore) ... }}</ref> and Chegavar/Chovar ({{ipa|ml|tʃeɡɐʋɐr, tʃoːʋɐr|lang}}) in the south, are a community with origins in the region of India presently known as [[Kerala]], where in the 2010s they constituted about 23% of the population and were reported to be the largest [[Hindu]] community.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/india/south/story/caste-based-organisations-nss-sndp-form-hindu-grand-alliance-in-kerala-115305-2012-09-05|title=Caste-based organisations NSS, SNDP form Hindu Grand Alliance in Kerala|first=M. G. |last=Radhakrishnan|date= 5 September 2012|work=India Today}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.firstpost.com/politics/guess-whos-after-the-hindu-vote-in-kerala-hint-its-not-the-bjp-2619712.html|title=Guess who's after the Hindu vote in Kerala? (Hint: It's not BJP)|work=Firstpost}}</ref>
Ezhava dynasties such as the [[Mannanar]] existed in Kerala.<ref name="Smith1976pp31-32">[[Ezhava#Smith1976|Pullapilly (1976)]] pp. 31–32</ref> The British also formed a separate regiment in the British Indian Army called the [[Thiyyar Regiment]] in Malabar, which was one of the oldest army regiments in India. The British deployed this unit in various military operations.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Biswas |first=Ashim |title=The Thiyyas of Kerala: A Socio-Historical Analysis |journal=Journal of Historical Studies and Research |volume=3 |issue=1 |year=2023 |pages=103–113 |url=https://www.jhsr.in/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/103-113JHSR-VOL.3-NO.-1-Ashim-Biswas..pdf}}</ref><ref>L.K.A.Iyer, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=XGSuAwWHa0kC The Mysore Tribes and caste]''. Vol.III, A Mittal Publish. Page.279, Google Books</ref>
The Ezhavas are classified as an [[Other Backward Class]] by the Government of India under [[Reservation in India|its system of positive discrimination]].<ref name="obc">{{cite web|title=Central List of OBCs: Kerala|url=http://ncbc.nic.in/User_Panel/GazetteResolution.aspx?Value=mPICjsL1aLvX4YwLqUBC2NUPs1mZbhKbKhWJfmW%2b7ZgXWaQGOVNjwfOOnQuzOlde|publisher=National Commission for Backward Classes, Government of India|access-date=2017-04-16}}</ref>
==Variations==
They are also known as ''Ilhava'', ''Irava'', ''Izhava'' and ''Erava'' in the south of the region; as ''Chovas'', ''Chokons'' and ''Chogons'' in [[Central Travancore]]; and as ''Thiyyar'', ''Tiyyas'' and ''Theeyas'' in the [[Malabar region]].<ref name="Nossiter1982p30">[[Ezhava#Nossiter1982|Nossiter (1982)]] p. 30</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Society in India: Continuity and change |first=David Goodman |last=Mandelbaum |author-link=David G. Mandelbaum |publisher=University of California Press |year=1970 |isbn=9780520016231 |page=[https://archive.org/details/societyinindia01mand/page/502 502] |quote=Another strong caste association, but one formed at a different social level and cemented by religious appeal, is that of the Iravas of Kerala, who are also known as Ezhavas or Tiyyas and make up more than 40 per cent of Kerala Hindus |url=https://archive.org/details/societyinindia01mand/page/502 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Matrilineal Kinship |editor1-first=David Murray |editor1-last=Schneider |editor2-first=E. Kathleen |editor2-last=Gough |chapter=Tiyyar: North Kerala |first=E. Kathleen |last=Gough |author-link=Kathleen Gough |page=405 |year=1961 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-02529-5 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lfdvTbfilYAC&pg=PA312 |quote=Throughout Kerala the Tiyyars (called Iravas in parts of Cochin and Travancore) ... }}</ref> Some are also known as ''Thandan'', which has caused administrative difficulties due to the presence of a distinct caste of [[Thandan]] in the same region. The ''Thandan'' or ''Palakkad Thandan'' lives mostly in the [[Alathur]], [[Mannarkkad|Mannarkad]], [[Palakkad]] and [[Ottapalam|Ottappalam]] taluks of Palakkad and [[Thalapilly taluk]] of Thrissur.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Singh |first=K. S. |url=https://www.google.co.in/books/edition/India_s_Communities/jHQMAQAAMAAJ?hl=en |title=India's Communities |date=1998 |publisher=Anthropological Survey of India |isbn=978-0-19-563354-2 |pages=2716 |language=en}}</ref> Thiyya<ref name="Smith1976pp31-322">[[Ezhava#Smith1976|Pullapilly (1976)]] pp. 31–32</ref> group has claimed a distinct identity in the [[Caste system in India|Hindu caste system]] than the other Ezhava groups but was considered to be of similar caste by [[Colonial India|colonial]] and subsequent administrations.<ref name="Nossiter1982p302">[[Ezhava#Nossiter1982|Nossiter (1982)]] p. 30</ref><ref name="Kodoth2001p350">{{cite journal |last=Kodoth |first=Praveena |date=May 2001 |title=Courting Legitimacy or Delegitimizing Custom? Sexuality, Sambandham and Marriage Reform in Late Nineteenth-Century Malabar |journal=Modern Asian Studies |volume=35 |issue=2 |page=350 |doi=10.1017/s0026749x01002037 |issn=0026-749X |jstor=313121 |pmid=18481401 |s2cid=7910533}}</ref> Recent research by the [[Kirtads Museum|KIRTADS]] indicates that the Ezhavas of southern Kerala and the Thiyyas of [[Malabar District|Malabar]] are distinct groups with separate cultural and anthropological identities.<ref>{{cite news |date=12 October 2025 |title=Thiyyas and Ezhavas are different: Study |url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/kerala/2025/Oct/12/thiyyas-and-ezhavas-are-different-study |access-date=20 October 2025 |work=The New Indian Express}}</ref><ref name="stdg">{{cite web |url=http://164.100.24.208/ls/CommitteeR/Social/20threport.pdf |title=Standing Committee on Social Justice and Empowerment (2006-2007) |page=13}}</ref>
==History== ===Origin===
===Inscriptions=== The earliest use of the word Eelam or Ezham is found in a [[Tamil-Brahmi]] inscription as well as in the [[Sangam literature]]. The [[Tirupparankunram]] inscription found near [[Madurai]] in [[Tamil Nadu]] and dated on palaeographical grounds to the 1st century BCE, refers to a person as a householder from Eelam (''Eela-kudumpikan'').<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Being a Tamil and Sri Lankan|last=Civattampi|first=Kārttikēcu|date=2005|publisher=Aivakam|isbn=9789551132002|pages=134–135|language=en}}</ref> The inscription reads "erukatur eelakutumpikan polalaiyan", which translates to "Polalaiyan, (resident of) Erukatur, the husbandman (householder) from Eelam".<ref name="Schalk">{{Cite book | last=Schalk | first=Peter | contribution=Robert Caldwell's Derivation īlam<sīhala: A Critical Assessment | editor-last=Chevillard | editor-first=Jean-Luc | title=South-Indian Horizons: Felicitation Volume for François Gros on the occasion of his 70th birthday | place=Pondichéry | publisher=Institut Français de Pondichéry | isbn=978-2-85539-630-9 | pages=347–364 | year=2004 }}.</ref> The Sangam literature ''[[Paṭṭiṉappālai]]'', mentions ''Eelattu-unavu'' (food from Eelam). One of the prominent Sangam Tamil poets is known as [[Eelattu Poothanthevanar]] meaning Poothan-thevan (proper name) hailing from ''Eelam''. ([[Akanaṉūṟu]]: 88, 231, 307; [[Kuṟuntokai]]: 189, 360, 343; [[Naṟṟiṇai]]: 88, 366).<ref>{{Cite book|title=Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature: Sasay to Zorgot|last=Lal|first=Mohan|date=1992|publisher=Sahitya Akademi|isbn=9788126012213|pages=4155|language=en}}</ref> The Tamil inscriptions from the [[Pallava]] & [[Chola]] period dating from 9th century CE link the word with toddy, toddy tapper's quarters (''Eelat-cheri''), tax on toddy tapping (''Eelap-poodchi''), a class of toddy tappers (''Eelath-chanran''). Eelavar is a caste of toddy tappers found in the southern parts of [[Kerala]].<ref name=":0" /> ''Eela-kaasu'' and ''Eela-karung-kaasu'' are refers to coinages found in the [[Chola dynasty|Chola]] inscriptions of [[Parantaka I]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Politics of Tamil Nationalism in Sri Lanka|last=Sivarajah|first=Ambalavanar|date=1996|publisher=South Asian Publishers|isbn=9788170031956|pages=122|language=en}}</ref>
===Legend===
There are [[myth of origin|myths of origin]] for the Ezhava. According to some [[Malayalam]] folk songs like [[Vadakkan Pattukal]]<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bright |first1=William |title=Review of Dialect Survey of Malayalam (Ezhava-Tiiya) |journal=Language |date=1978 |volume=54 |issue=1 |pages=249 |doi=10.2307/413041 |jstor=413041 }}</ref> and legends{{which|date=April 2020}}, the Ezhavas were the progeny of four bachelors that the king of [[Sri Lanka|Ceylon]] (Sri Lanka) sent to what is now [[Kerala]] at the request of the [[Chera dynasty|Chera]] king Bhaskara Ravi Varma, in the 1st century CE. These men were sent, ostensibly, to set up [[coconut]] farming in the region.<ref>[[#Smith1976|Pullapilly (1976)]] pp. 25–26</ref> Another version of the story says that the king sent eight martial families at the request of a Chera king to quell a civil war that had erupted against him.<ref>{{cite book|last=G.|first=Rajendran|title=The Ezhava community and Kerala politics|date=1974|publisher=Kerala Academy of Political Science|oclc=898909945}}{{page needed|date=February 2022}}</ref>
===Social and religious divergence=== It has been suggested that the Ezhavas may share a common heritage with the [[Nair]] caste. This theory is based on similarities between numerous of the customs adopted by the two groups, particularly with regard to marking various significant life stages such as childbirth and death, as well as their matrilineal practices and martial history. Oral history, folk songs and other old writings indicate that the Thiyyas were at some point in the past serving in the armies of various kings, including the [[Zamorin]]s of [[Kozhikode|Calicut]] and the rulers of the [[Kingdom of Cochin]]. [[Cyriac Pullapilly]] has said that only a common parentage can explain some of these issues.<ref name="Smith1976pp26-30">[[#Smith1976|Pullapilly (1976)]] pp. 26–30</ref>[[File:A Pretty Thiiyar Girl ,19th century British Photograph.jpg|thumb|upright=1|left|A Thiyan girl, 1898]]
A theory has been proposed for the origins of the [[Caste system in Kerala|caste system in the Kerala region]] based on the actions of the Aryan [[Jain]]s introducing such distinctions prior to the 8th-century AD. This argues that the Jains needed protection when they arrived in the area and recruited local sympathizers to provide it. These people were then distinguished from others in the local population by their occupation as protectors, with the others all being classed as out-caste. Pullapilly describes that this meant they "... were given ''kshatriya'' functions, but only ''shudra'' status. Thus originated the Nairs." The Ezhavas, not being among the group protecting the Jains, became out-castes.<ref name="Smith1976pp26-30"/>
An alternate theory states that the system was introduced by the [[Nambudiri]] Brahmins. Although Brahmin influences had existed in the area since at least the 1st century CE, there was a large influx from around the 8th century when they acted as priests, counsellors and ministers to invading Aryan princes. At the time of their arrival the non-aboriginal local population had been converted to Buddhism by missionaries who had come from the north of India and from Ceylon. The Brahmins used their symbiotic relationship with the invading forces to assert their beliefs and position. Buddhist temples and monasteries were either destroyed or taken over for use in Hindu practices, thus undermining the ability of the Buddhists to propagate their beliefs.<ref name="Smith1976pp26-30"/>
The Buddhist tradition of the Ezhavas, and the refusal to give it up, pushed them to an outcaste role within the greater Brahminic society.<ref name="Smith1976pp26-30"/><ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A6MfPh-9DiEC&pg=PA25 | page=18 | title=On life and times of George Joseph, 1887–1938, a Syrian Christian nationalist from Kerala | last=Joseph |first=George Gheverghese | publisher=Orient Longman | year=2003 | access-date=2007-12-09 | isbn=978-81-250-2495-8}}</ref> This tradition is still evident as Ezhavas show greater interest in the moral, non-ritualistic, and non-dogmatic aspects of the religion rather than the theological.<ref name="Smith1976pp26-30"/>
==Past occupations== The Ezhavas used to work as agricultural labourers, small cultivators, [[toddy tapper]]s and liquor businessmen; some were also involved in weaving and some practised [[Ayurveda]].<ref name="Smith1976pp31-32" /><ref>{{cite book |last=Rao |first=M. S. A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tZAiAAAAMAAJ&q=Chekor+kalari |title=Social Movements and Social Transformation |publisher=Macmillan |year=1979 |isbn=9780333902554 |page=23}}</ref> An upper section of Ezhavas , by reason of wealth and/or influence, came into the position to acquire titles such as Panicker from the local rulers. These people lived in Nalukettu, had their private temples and owned a large amount of land.<ref name="Osella50" /> [[File:Pictorial Depiction of a Thiyar Couple.jpg|thumb|A Thiyya couple, 18th century]]
The social anthropologists Filippo and Caroline Osella say that the Ezhavas "... consisted in the mid-nineteenth century of a small landowning and titled elite and a large mass of landless and small tenants who were largely illiterate, considered untouchable, and who eked out a living by manual labour and petty trade."<ref name="Osella8">{{cite book |title=Social Mobility in Kerala: Modernity and Identity in Conflict |first1=Filippo |last1=Osella |first2=Caroline |last2=Osella |publisher=Pluto Press |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-7453-1693-2 |page=8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rMRw0gTZSJwC&pg=PA8}}</ref>{{efn|Gough describes Ezhava subtenants in Central Travancore, who worked land held by the Nair caste. One-third of the net produce from these lands was retained by the subtenants and the remainder was the property of the Nair tenant.<ref>{{cite book |title=Matrilineal Kinship |editor1-first=David Murray |editor1-last=Schneider |editor2-first=E. Kathleen |editor2-last=Gough |chapter=Nayars: Central Kerala |first=E. Kathleen |last=Gough |author-link=Kathleen Gough |page=315 |year=1961 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-02529-5 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lfdvTbfilYAC&pg=PA315 |quote=Tiyyars (called Iravas in Cochin)}}</ref>}} [[A. Aiyappan]], another social anthropologist and himself a member of the caste,<ref name="Osella8" /> noted the mythical belief that the Ezhava brought coconut palms to the region when they moved from Ceylon.<ref name="Osella50">{{cite book |last1=Osella |first1=Filippo |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rMRw0gTZSJwC&pg=PA50 |title=Social Mobility in Kerala: Modernity and Identity in Conflict |last2=Osella |first2=Caroline |publisher=Pluto Press |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-7453-1693-2 |pages=55}}</ref> Their traditional occupation, or ''avakasam'', was tending to and tapping the sap of such palms. This activity is sometimes erroneously referred to as ''toddy tapping'', toddy being a liquor manufactured from the sap. Arrack was another liquor produced from the palms, as was jaggery (an unrefined sugar). In reality, most Ezhavas were agricultural labourers and small-time cultivators, with a substantial number diverging into the production of [[coir]] products, such as coconut mats for flooring, from towards the end of the 19th century.<ref name="Nossiter1982p30"/> The coastal town of [[Alleppey]] became the centre of such manufacture and was mostly controlled by Ezhavas, although the lucrative export markets were accessible only through European traders, who monopolised the required equipment. A boom in trade for these manufactured goods after [[World War I]] led to a unique situation in twentieth-century Kerala whereby there was a shortage of labour, which attracted still more Ezhavas to the industry from outlying rural areas. The [[Great Depression]] impacted in particular on the export trade, causing a reduction in price and in wages even though production increased, with the consequence that during the 1930s many Ezhava families found themselves to be in dire financial circumstances.<ref name="Osella50" /><ref>{{cite book |title=Communal Road to a Secular Kerala |first=George |last=Mathew |publisher=Concept Publishing Company |year=1989 |isbn=978-81-7022-282-8 |pages=137–138 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1TuPeXFP0WgC&pg=PA137}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title='Destroy Capitalism!': Growing Solidarity of Alleppey's Coir Workers, 1930–40 |first=Robin |last=Jeffrey |author-link=Robin Jeffrey |journal=Economic and Political Weekly |volume=19 |issue=29 |pages=1159–1165 |date=21 July 1984 |jstor=4373437}}</ref> [[File:Chogans.JPG|thumb|upright=1.1|right|An Ezhava couple, 19th century]]
Some Ezhavas were involved in weaving and ship making.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bVgeAAAAMAAJ&q=jaggery|title= Religion and ideology in Kerala |page=246|first=Geneviève |last=Lemercinier|publisher=D.K. Agencies |year=1984|isbn= 9788185007021 |access-date=2011-06-21}}</ref>
===Martial traditions=== Some Ezhava served in army of local chieftains and local rulers such as of [[Kadathanad]] and [[Kurumbranad]] of Kerala, who were privileged in the pre-colonial period to have their own private armies.<ref>{{cite book | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=A6MfPh-9DiEC&pg=PA25 | page = 20 | title = On life and times of George Joseph, 1887–1938, a Syrian Christian nationalist from Kerala | author = Joseph, George Gheverghese | publisher = Orient Longman | year = 2003 | access-date = 2007-12-09 | isbn=978-81-250-2495-8}}</ref>
====Chekavar==== A subgroup of the Ezhavas considered themselves to be warriors and became known as the Chekavars. The ''[[Vadakkan Pattukal]]'' ballads describe Chekavars as forming the militia of local chieftains and kings but the title was also given to experts of Kalari Payattu.<ref name = "chek1002">{{cite book |first=Elamkulam P. N. Kunjan |last=Pillai |title=Studies in Kerala History |publisher=National Book Stall |location=Kottayam |year=1970 |pages=111, 151–154}}</ref>
===Medicine and traditional toxicology=== Some Ezhavas had an extensive knowledge of the medicinal value of plants, passed to them by their ancestors. Known as ''Vaidyars'', these people acted as physicians. [[Itty Achudan]] was probably the best known Ezhava physician: he directly influenced the botanical classification in ''[[Hortus Malabaricus]]'', published during the 17th century. Achudan's texts were written in the [[Kolezhuthu]] script that Ezhava castes used, for they were prevented from learning the more Sanskritised Aryazuthu script which was the preserve of the upper-castes.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Indigenous Knowledge and the Significance of South-West India for Portuguese and Dutch Constructions of Tropical Nature |first=Richard |last=Grove |journal=Modern Asian Studies |volume=30 |issue=1 |date=February 1996 |pages= 121–143|jstor=312903 |doi=10.1017/s0026749x00014104|s2cid=144682406 }}</ref>
Some Ezhavas practiced ayurvedic medicine.<ref name="Alan Bicker 2000 9">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FS7dkOgNGT0C&pg=PA9|title= Indigenous environmental knowledge and its transformations|page=9|first=RF Ellen Peter Parkes |last=Alan Bicker|publisher=Routledge |year=2000|access-date=2011-06-15|isbn= 9789057024832}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8XJ2HHZcM6oC&pg=PA83|title= Ecological Journeys |page=82|first=Madhav |last=Gadgil|publisher=Orient Blackswan |year=2005|access-date=2011-06-15|isbn= 9788178241128}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WwNUblS-jpwC&pg=PA3120|title= Modern World System and Indian Proto-Industrialization |page=312|first=Abhay Kumar |last=Singh|publisher=Northern book center |year=2006|access-date=2011-06-15|isbn= 9788172112011}}</ref>
==Culture== [[File:The traditional attire of Thiyyar (Tiyya) Bridegroom and companions who dressed as warriors and holding raised sword in their right hand ,in 1912.jpg|thumb|upright=1|left|The traditional attire of Thiyyar (Tiyya) Bridegroom and companions, in 1912]]
===Arjuna Nrtam (Mayilpeeli Thookkam)=== [[Mayilpeeli Thookkam|Arjuna Nrtam]] ("the dance of [[Arjuna]]") is a ritual art performed by Ezhava men and is prevalent in the [[Bhagavathy]] temples of south Kerala, mainly in [[Kollam]], Alappuzha and [[Kottayam]] districts. The ritual is also called "Mayilpeeli Thookkam" because the costume includes a characteristic garment made of mayilppeeli ([[peacock]] feathers). This garment is worn around the waist in a similar fashion as the "uduthukettu" of [[Kathakali]]. The various dance movements are similar to kalarippayattu techniques. The performers have their faces painted green and wear distinctive headgears. The all-night performance of the dance is usually presented solo or in pairs.<ref name="ezh22">{{cite book | last=Bernier|first=Ronald M. | title = Temple Arts of Kerala: A South Indian Tradition | publisher = Asia Book Corporation of America | year = 1982 | isbn = 978-0-940500-79-2}}</ref>{{page needed|date=April 2020}}
===Makachuttu=== Makachuttu art is popular among Ezhavas in [[Thiruvananthapuram]] and Chirayinkizhu taluks and in [[Kilimanoor]], Pazhayakunnummal and Thattathumala regions. In this, a group of eight performers, two each, twine around each other like serpents and rise up, battling with sticks. The techniques are repeated several times. [[Sandalwood]] paste on the forehead, a red towel round the head, red silk around the waist and bells round the ankles form the costume. This is a combination of [[snake worship]] and [[Kalarippayattu]].<ref name = "ezh22"/>{{page needed|date=April 2020}}<ref name = "ezh23">Krishna Chaitanya, Temple Arts of Kerala: A South Indian Tradition (Abhinav Publications, 1987,{{ISBN|8170172098}})</ref>{{page needed|date=April 2020}}
===Poorakkali=== Poorakkali is a folk dance prevalent among the Ezhavas of Malabar, usually performed in Bhagavathy temples as a ritual offering during the month of [[Meenam]] (March–April). Poorakkali requires specially trained and highly experienced dancers, trained in Kalaripayattu. Standing round a traditional lamp, the performers dance in eighteen different stages and rhythms, each phase called a niram.<ref name="ezh22"/>{{page needed|date=April 2020}}
==Customs== Ezhavas adopted different patterns of behavior in family system across Kerala. Those living in southern [[Travancore]] tended to meld the different practices that existed in the other parts of Kerala. The family arrangements of northern [[Malabar (Northern Kerala)|Malabar]] were matrilineal with patrilocal property arrangements, whereas in northern Travancore they were matrilineal but usually matrilocal in their arrangements for property. Southern Malabar saw a patrilineal system but partible property.<ref name="Nossiter1982p30"/><ref name="jeffrey1974">{{cite journal |first=Robin |last=Jeffrey |author-link=Robin Jeffrey |title=The Social Origins of a Caste Association, 1875–1905: The Founding of the S.N.D.P. Yogam |journal=South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies |volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=39–59 |date=1974 |doi=10.1080/00856407408730687}}</ref>
These arrangements were reformed by legislation, for Malabar in 1925 and for Travancore in 1933. The process of reform was more easily achieved for the Ezhavas than it was for the Nairs, another Hindu caste in Kerala who adopted matrilineal arrangements; the situation for the Nairs was complicated by a traditional matrilocal form of living called ''[[tharavadu|taravadu]]'' and by their usually much higher degree of property ownership.<ref name="Nossiter1982p30"/> That said, certainly by the 1880s, the Ezhavas appear increasingly to have tried to adopt Nair practises in a bid to achieve a similar status. [[Robin Jeffrey]] notes that their women began to prefer the style of jewellery worn by Nairs to that which was their own tradition. Further, since Nairs cremated their dead, Ezhavas attempted to cremate at least the oldest member of their family, although cost usually meant that the remainder were buried. Other aspirational changes included building houses in the Nair tharavad style and making claims that they had had an equal standing as a military class until the nineteenth century.<ref name="jeffrey1974"/> [[File:An Ezhava family.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|right|An Ezhava family of early 20th century]] [[Polyandry|Polygamy]] was practised in within certain parts of Ezhava community, but has since died out. There are several proposed arguments for this, the Valiyagraman Ezhavas argue that they practised it for economic reasons, the argument that the older brother would marry first, and share his wife with his younger brother(s) until they could afford to marry. It was also common for one of the brothers to be away for long periods of time.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Filippo Osella|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rMRw0gTZSJwC&dq=social+mobility+in+kerala+filippo+osella+polyandry&pg=PA89|title=Social Mobility In Kerala: Modernity and Identity in Conflict|author2=Caroline Osella|date = 20 December 2000|isbn=0-7453-1694-8|pages=89–90| publisher=Pluto Press }}</ref>
Following the British settlement in what became Kerala, some Thiyya families in [[Thalassery]] were taken as concubines by British administrative officers who were in charge of [[Malabar District]]. Children resulted from these relationships and were referred to as "white Thiyyas". These liaisons were considered as "dishonourable" and "degrading" to the Thiyya community and were excluded from it. Most of these women and children became Christians. The Thiyyas in northern Malabar generally had a better relationship with colonisers than the Hindus in other parts of the country. This was due in part to the fact that the British would employ Thiyyas but local princes would not.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Robin Jeffrey|title=Politics, Women and Well-Being: How Kerala Became 'a Model'|date=27 July 2016|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ENC-DAAAQBAJ&dq=Tiyyas+in+north+Malabar+fared+better+than+in+south+Malabar%2C+perhaps+because+land+was+more+readily+available.+They+were+matrilineal+before+the+British+East+India+company+estalished+forts+at+Telicherry+and+Cannanore+in+the+early+eighteenth+century%2C+and+some+Tiyya+families+permitted+their+women+to+form+liaisons+with+Europeans.+A+small+community+%E2%80%94+the+so-called+%E2%80%98white+Tiyyas%E2%80%99+%E2%80%94+resulted%2C+and+though+the+suggestion+of+concubinage+with+Europeans+became+a+great+embarrassment+in+the+twentieth+century%2C+such+arrangements+brought+considerable+advantage+in+the+eighteenth+and+nineteenth+centuries.+Tiyyas+in+north+Malabar%2C+even+if+not+members+of+%E2%80%98white+Tiyya%E2%80%99+families%2C+developed+a+smoother+relationship+with+the+European+rulers+than+Hindus+elsewhere+in+Kerala.+The+British%2C+unlike+Kerala%27s+princes+readily+employed+Tiyyas%2C+and+Tiyya+factotum+became+a+constant+companion+of+some+British+officials&pg=PA50|isbn= 978-1-349-12252-3|page=50|publisher=Springer }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rMRw0gTZSJwC&dq=social+mobility+in+kerala+filippo+osella+pallor+skin+tone&pg=PA83|title = Social Mobility in Kerala: Modernity and Identity in Conflict|isbn = 9780745316932|last1 = Osella|first1 = Filippo|last2 = Caroline|first2 = Filippo|last3 = Osella|first3 = Caroline|date = 20 December 2000| publisher=Pluto Press }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://science.thewire.in/politics/caste/janaki-ammal-geeta-doctor-caste-poems/|title=E.K. Janaki Ammal and the Caste Conundrum – The Wire Science|date=15 August 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Abraham |first1=Janaki |title=The Stain of White: Liaisons, Memories, and White Men as Relatives |journal=Men and Masculinities |date=October 2006 |volume=9 |issue=2 |pages=131–151 |doi=10.1177/1097184X06287764 |s2cid=145540016 }}</ref>
==Spiritual and social movements== [[File:Narayana Guru.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|left|Narayana Guru]]
Some Thiyyas converted to [[Islam]] from around the 9th century, due to the influence of Arab traders. These people, and other Muslim converts in the region, are now known as [[Mappilla]]s.<ref name="Gough313" /> A sizeable part of the Ezhava community, especially in central [[Travancore]] and in the [[Western Ghats|High Ranges]], embraced [[Christianity]] during the [[British Raj|British rule]], due to caste-based discrimination. In [[Kannur]], [[Protestant]] missions started working in the first half of the 19th century, notably the [[Basel Mission|Basel German Evangelical Mission]]. Most of their converts were from the Thiyya community.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wFsbAAAAIAAJ&q=cannanore+thiyya|title= Kerala District Gazetteers: Palghat|page=188|first=C. K |last=Kareem|publisher=printed by the Superintendent of Govt. Presses |year=1976|access-date=2011-06-24}}</ref> The [[Congregational]]ist [[London Missionary Society]] and the [[Anglican]] [[Church Mission Society]] were also prominent in the movement for religious conversion, having established presences in the Travancore region in the early 19th century.<ref>{{cite book |title=Missionary Encounters: Sources & Issues |editor1-first=Robert A. |editor1-last=Bickers |editor2-first=Rosemary E. |editor2-last=Seton |publisher=Routledge |year=1996 |isbn=9780700703708 |chapter=Who is to benefit from missionary education? Travancore in the 1930s |first=Dick |last=Kooiman |page=158 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=98D8AemziJoC&pg=PA158}}</ref>
The lowly status of the Ezhava meant that, as [[Thomas Nossiter]] has commented, they had "little to lose and much to gain by the economic and social changes of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries". They sought the right to be treated as worthy of an English education and for jobs in government administration to be open to them.<ref name="Nossiter1982p30"/> An early Ezhava campaigner and their "political father", according to Ritty Lukose, was [[Padmanabhan Palpu]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Lukose |first=Ritty A. |title=Everyday Life in South Asia |publisher=Indiana University Press |year=2010 |isbn=9780253354730 |editor1-last=Mines |editor1-first=Diane P. |edition=2nd |page=209 |chapter=Recasting the Secular: Religion and Education in Kerala, India |editor2-last=Lamb |editor2-first=Sarah |editor-link2=Sarah Lamb (anthropologist) |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=828fOvb61wIC&pg=PA209}}</ref> In 1896, he organised a petition of 13,176 signatories that was submitted to the [[Maharajah]] of the [[princely state]] of Travancore, asking for government recognition of the Ezhavas' right to work in public administration and to have access to formal education.<ref>{{cite book |title=Being Middle-class in India: A Way of Life |editor-first=Henrike |editor-last=Donner |first=Caroline |last=Wilson |chapter=The social transformation of the medical profession in urban Kerala : Doctors, social mobility and the middle classes |publisher=Routledge |location=Abingdon, Oxon |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-415-67167-5 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1_e8FT54FjIC&pg=PT193 |pages=193–194}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Different Types of History |editor-first=Bharati |editor-last=Ray |chapter=Subjects of New Lives |first=Udaya |last=Kumar |publisher=Pearson Education India |year=2009 |isbn=978-81-317-1818-6 |page=329 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9x5FX2RROZgC&pg=PA329}}</ref> Around this time, nearly 93 per cent of the caste members were illiterate.<ref name="Padmanabhan">{{cite book |chapter=Learning to Learn |first=Roshni |last=Padmanabhan |title=Development, Democracy and the State: Critiquing the Kerala Model of Development |editor-first=K. Ravi |editor-last=Raman |publisher=Routledge |year=2010 |isbn=978-1-13515-006-8 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IGiMAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA106 |page=106}}</ref>{{efn|Robin Jeffrey notes that literacy among Ezhava men increased from 3.15 per cent to 12.10 per cent between the [[census of India prior to independence|1875 and 1891 censuses]], mainly through the work of missionaries rather than government schools.<ref name="jeffrey1974"/>}} The upper caste Hindus of the state prevailed upon the Maharajah not to concede the request. The outcome not looking to be promising, the Ezhava leadership threatened that they would convert from Hinduism en masse, rather than stay as [[helot]]s of Hindu society. [[C. P. Ramaswamy Iyer]], realising the imminent danger, prompted the Maharajah to issue the [[Temple Entry Proclamation]], which abolished the ban on lower-caste people from entering Hindu temples in the state.{{citation needed|date=March 2013}} Steven Wilkinson says that the Proclamation was passed because the government was "frightened" by the Ezhava threat of conversion to Christianity.<ref>{{cite book |title=Votes and Violence: Electoral Competition and Ethnic Riots in India |first=Steven I. |last=Wilkinson |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2006 |edition=Reprinted |orig-year=2004 |isbn=978-0-521-53605-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tLpRFbLSxvAC&pg=PA179 |page=179}}</ref>
Eventually, in 1903, a small group of Ezhavas, led by Palpu, established [[Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam (SNDP)]], the first caste association in the region. This was named after [[Narayana Guru]], who had established an [[ashram]] from where he preached his message of "one caste, one religion, one god" and a Sanskritised version of the Victorian concept of self-help. His influence locally has been compared to that of [[Swami Vivekananda]].<ref name="Nossiter1982pp30-32" /> One of the initial aims of the SNDP was to campaign for the removal of the restrictions on school entry but even after those legal barriers to education were removed, it was uncommon in practice for Ezhavas to be admitted to government schools. Thus, the campaign shifted to providing schools operated by the community itself.<ref name="Padmanabhan" /> The organisation, attracted support in Travancore but similar bodies in Cochin were less successful. In Malabar, which unlike Cochin and Travancore was under direct British control,<ref name="SchneiderGoughp304">{{cite book |title=Matrilineal Kinship |editor1-first=David Murray |editor1-last=Schneider |editor2-first=E. Kathleen |editor2-last=Gough |chapter=Nayars: Central Kerala |first=E. Kathleen |last=Gough |page=304 |year=1961 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-02529-5 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lfdvTbfilYAC&pg=PA304}}</ref> the Ezhavas showed little interest in such bodies because they did not suffer the educational and employment discrimination found elsewhere, nor indeed were the disadvantages that they did experience strictly a consequence of caste alone.<ref name="Nossiter1982pp30-32">[[#Nossiter1982|Nossiter (1982)]] pp. 30–32</ref>
The Ezhavas were not immune to being manipulated by other people for political purposes. The [[Vaikom Satyagraha]] of 1924–1925 was a failed attempt to use the issue of [[avarna]] access to roads around temples in order to revive the fortunes of [[Indian National Congress|Congress]], orchestrated by [[T. K. Madhavan]], a revolutionary and civil rights activist,<ref name="Smith1976p38">[[#Smith1976|Pullapilly (1976)]] p. 38</ref> and with a famous temple at [[Vaikom]] as the focal point. Although it failed in its stated aim of achieving access, the [[satyagraha]] (movement) did succeed in voicing a "radical rhetoric", according to Nossiter.<ref name="Nossiter1982pp30-32"/> During this movement, a few [[Khalsa|Akalis]]{{mdash}}an order of armed [[Sikh]]s{{mdash}}came to Vaikom in support of the demonstrators. After the eventual passing of the Temple Entry Proclamation, some of the Akalis remained. They attracted some Ezhava youth to the concepts of the Sikhism, resulting in Ezhava conversions to that belief.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C8EBAAAAMAAJ&q=sikhism+ezhava|title= The abstention movement|page=19|first=K.K |last=Kusuman|publisher=Kerala Historical Society |year=1976|access-date=2011-06-15}}</ref>
Between the Travancore census of 1875 and 1891, the literacy of Ezhava men had been increased from 3.15 percent to 12.1 percent. The 1891 census showed that there were at least 25000 educated Ezhavas in Travancore<ref>''The Decline of Nair Dominance: Society and Politics in Travancore 1847-1908'', Robin Jeffrey, Manohar Classics. p. 187-190</ref> Dr. Palpu had support from Parameswaran Pillai who was editing the Madras Standard. He raised the issue of the rights of Ezhavas in a speech at the National Conference in Pune in 1885, which was also editorialized in the Madras Standard. Pillai and Dr. Palpu also raised their questions regarding Ezhavas in the House of Commons in England in 1897. Palpu met with Swamy Vivekanda in Mysore and discussed the conditions of Ezhavas. Vivekanda has advised him to unite the Ezhava community under the leadership of a spiritual leader. He embraced this advice and associated with Sree Narayana Guru and formed the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam (S.N.D.P), registered in March 1903.<ref>''The Decline of Nair Dominance: Society and Politics in Travancore 1847-1908'', Robin Jeffrey, Manohar Classics. p. 187-190</ref> By mid 1904, the emerging S.N.D.P Yogam, operating a few schools, temples, and a monthly magazine announced that it would hold an industrial exhibition with its second annual general meeting in Quilon in January 1905. The exhibition was skillful and successful and was a sign of the awakening Ezhava community. <ref>''The Decline of Nair Dominance: Society and Politics in Travancore 1847-1908'', Robin Jeffrey, Manohar Classics. p. 187-190</ref>
The success of the SNDP in improving the lot of Ezhavas has been questioned. Membership had reached 50,000 by 1928 and 60,000 by 1974, but Nossiter notes that, "From the Vaikom ''satyagraha'' onwards the SNDP had stirred the ordinary Ezhava without materially improving his position." The division in the 1920s of {{cvt|60000|acre|ha}} of properties previously held by substantial landowners saw the majority of Ezhava beneficiaries receive less than one acre each, although 2% of them took at least 40% of the available land. There was subsequently a radicalisation and much political infighting within the leadership as a consequence of the effects of the [[Great Depression]] on the [[coir]] industry but the general notion of self-help was not easy to achieve in a primarily agricultural environment; the Victorian concept presumed an industrialised economy. The organisation lost members to various other groups, including the Communist movement, and it was not until the 1950s that it reinvented itself as a pressure group and provider of educational opportunities along the lines of the [[Nair Service Society]] (NSS), Just as the NSS briefly formed the National Democratic Party in the 1970s in an attempt directly to enter the political arena, so too in 1972 the SNDP formed the Social Revolutionary Party.<ref name="Nossiter1982pp30-32"/>
==Position in society== They were considered as ''avarna'' (outside brahmanical varna system) by the Nambudiri Brahmins who formed the Hindu clergy and ritual ruling elite in late medieval Kerala.<ref name="Nossiter1982p30"/> [[Kathleen Gough]] says that the Ezhavas of Central Travancore were historically the highest-ranking of the "higher polluting castes", a group whose other constituents included [[Kanisan]]s and various artisanal castes, and who were all superior in status to the "lower polluting castes", such as the [[Pulayar]]s and [[Paraiyar]]s. The Nairs and, where applicable, the Mapillas ranked socially and ritually higher than the polluting castes.<ref name="Gough313">{{cite book |title=Matrilineal Kinship |editor1-first=David Murray |editor1-last=Schneider |editor2-first=E. Kathleen |editor2-last=Gough |chapter=Nayars: Central Kerala |first=E. Kathleen |last=Gough |author-link=Kathleen Gough |pages=312–313 |year=1961 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-02529-5 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lfdvTbfilYAC&pg=PA312}}</ref>{{efn|Kathleen Gough says of the Mappillas that they "... lived mainly in the ports and at inland trading posts on the banks of rivers. They were partly outside the village ranking system ... and were theoretically outside the Hindu religious hierarchy. Nevertheless Muslims were in some contexts accorded a rank ritually and socially between that of the Nayars and Tiyyars."<ref name="Gough313" />}} From their study based principally around one village and published in 2000, the Osellas noted that the movements of the late 19th- and 20th centuries brought about a considerable change for the Ezhavas, with access to jobs, education and the right to vote all assisting in creating an identity based on more on class than caste, although the stigmatic label of ''avarna'' remained despite gaining the right of access to temples.<ref>{{cite book |title=Social Mobility in Kerala: Modernity and Identity in Conflict |first1=Filippo |last1=Osella |first2=Caroline |last2=Osella |publisher=Pluto Press |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-7453-1693-2 |pages=16, 29 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rMRw0gTZSJwC&pg=PA16}}</ref>
==Dispute between different Ezhava communities== Some in the Ezhava community in Malabar have objected to being treated as Ezhava by the government of Kerala, arguing that the Ezhava in Malabar (locally known as Thiyyar) are a separate caste. They have campaigned for the right to record themselves as Thiyya rather than as Ezhava when applying for official posts and other jobs allocated under India's system of positive discrimination. They claim that the stance of the government is contrary to a principle established by the [[Supreme Court of India]] relating to a dispute involving communities who were not Ezhava.<ref>{{cite news |publisher=News 18 |title=Thiyyas to move SC against Government order |date=23 January 2012 |first=Kalathil |last=Ramakrishnan |url=https://www.news18.com/news/india/thiyyas-to-move-sc-against-government-order-439733.html |access-date =18 June 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |newspaper=The Hindu|date=23 May 2012 |title=Plea to lower minimum qualification for jobs |url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-kerala/plea-to-lower-minimum-qualification-for-jobs/article3447946.ece |access-date=28 March 2013}}</ref> The Thiyya Mahasabha (a sub-group of the Ezhava in Malabar) has also opposed the SNDP's use of the Thiyya name at an event.<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=The Hindu|url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-kerala/thiyya-forum-lashes-out-at-sndp/article4349866.ece |date=27 January 2013 |title=Thiyya forum lashes out at SNDP |access-date=9 March 2013}}</ref>
In February 2013, the recently formed Thiyya Mahasabha objected to the SNDP treating Ezhavas and Thiyyas as one group, rather than recognising the Thiyyas in Malabar as being distinct. The SNDP was at that time attempting to increase its relatively weak influence in northern Kerala, where the politics of identity play a lesser role than those of class and the [[Communist Party of India (Marxist)]] has historically been a significant organisation.<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=The Hindu|date=1 February 2013 |title=Ezhava-Thiyya convention in Kozhikode |url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-kerala/ezhavathiyya-convention-in-kozhikode/article4367837.ece |access-date=28 March 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |publisher=The New Indian Express |date=1 February 2013 |title=SNDP out to make a dent in CPM citadels in Malabar |url=http://newindianexpress.com/states/kerala/article1444651.ece |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140521131832/http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/kerala/article1444651.ece |url-status=dead |archive-date=21 May 2014 |access-date=28 March 2013}}</ref>
==See also== *[[List of Ezhavas]] *[[Travancore Labour Association]] *[[Narayana Guru]] *[[Temples consecrated by Narayana Guru]] *[[Padmanabhan Palpu]] *[[R. Sankar]] *[[Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam (SNDP)]] *[[Sree Narayana Trust]] *[[List of Sree Narayana Institutions]]
==Similar communities==
* [[Billava]] * [[Namadhari Naik|Namadhari Naik (Halepaika)]] * [[Idiga]] * [[Nadar (caste)|Nadar]]
==Notes== {{notelist}}
==References== {{reflist}}
===Bibliography=== *{{cite book |title=Communism in Kerala: a study in political adaptation |first=Thomas Johnson |last=Nossiter |publisher=University of California Press |year=1982 |chapter=Kerala's identity: unity and diversity |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8CSQUxVjjWQC |isbn=978-0-520-04667-2 |author-link=Thomas Nossiter |access-date=2011-06-09 |ref=Nossiter1982}} *{{cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xNAI9F8IBOgC&pg=PA38 |title=Religion and Social Conflict in South Asia |volume=22 |series=International studies in sociology and social anthropology |editor-first=Bardwell L. |editor-last=Smith |publisher=E. J. Brill |first=Cyriac K. |last=Pullapilly |author-link=Cyriac Pullapilly |chapter=The Izhavas of Kerala and their Historic Struggle for Acceptance in the Hindu Society |location=Netherlands |year=1976 |access-date=2011-06-09 |isbn=978-90-04-04510-1 |ref=Smith1976 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/religionsocialco0000unse}}
{{commons category|Ezhava}} {{Narayana Guru}}
[[Category:Ezhava| ]] [[Category:Social groups of Kerala]] [[Category:Indian castes]] [[Category:Narayana Guru]] [[Category:Malayali people]] [[Category:Brewing and distilling castes]] [[Category:Other Backward Classes]] [[Category:Hindu ethnic groups]] [[Category:Ethnic groups in India]] [[Category:South Indian communities]]