Nambiar
Nambiar is a caste from Kerala in south India . They are similar to Nair / Menons and other martial community . But they are also ambalavasis { ambala meaning Temple and vaasis meaning inhabitants } .. in other words they are temple inhabitants who are associated with the priestly caste in managing the affairs of the temple thought not the actual conduct of ceremonies . They were protectors of the temple from a martial point of view against marauding fiefdoms . Traditionally, the ambala vaasis were used to marrying from the priestly community, the Nambuduri community .. though they were not given the rights of inheritance and children thus born were never considered as the brahmins to do the priestly duties . Invariably, the Nambuduri priest had one pivotal wife from his community and a couple of sambandams { meaning affiliations or relationships} with those from other ambalavaasis . There is a school of thought which believes that Nambiars are from the vaishyacommunity but the jury is still out on that . Over a period of time as sociological revolutions against the hegemony of the upper caste developed in a highly forward kerala societal structure, Nambiars preferred to associate themselves more with the Nairs than what they considered the unequal status amongst the Nambuduris .
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