Chekavar

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Wikipedia

Painting depicting informal childhood marriage ceremony between Unniyarcha and Chandu Chekavar.

Chekavar (Also known as Chekon or Chevakar, Cekavar) were the warriors belonging to Hindu Thiyyar community in Malabar of Kerala.[1][2][3]

Influence

N. Prabhakaran challenges the notion that the Kadathanadan and Chekavar martial traditions have influenced the political violence in Kannur, arguing that the practice of kalaripayattu does not foster violent behaviour or drive the region's history of political killings.[4]

Etymology

Chekavar is derived from the Sanskrit words Sevakar, Sevakan or Sevaka, which mean soldiers in service or soldiers in royal service.[5][6]

History

Jacob Canter Visscher's Letters from Malabar notes about the employment of Nairs as soldiers: "They [Nairs] may be justly entitled born soldiers, as by virtue of their descent they must always bear arms." Quoting Visscher in Jumbos and Jumping Devils (2020), Nisha P. R. stated that "In spite of the fact that Thiyyas were also supreme practitioners of payatt and had a unavoidable presence in the militia of the ruler, they were not allowed in the military services".[7]

Hendrik van Rheede, former governor of Dutch Malabar, in his memorandum of 1677 notes about the existence of a fencing training: "[...] the tree-climbers, otherwise called silgos, who are also bound to war and arms. These people usually serve to teach the nayros in the fencing school; further their occupation is to tap the coconut tree [...]".[8]

According to Indudharan Menon, "The songs of the Vatakkan pattu (northern ballads) are about a clan of martial Chekavars who were Tiyyas and masters of the martial arts".[9] According to David Levinson and Karen Christensen, "Kalarippayattu was traditionally practiced primarily by Nayars, Kerala's martial caste, as well as by a special sub-caste among Kerala's Brahmans, the Yatra Brahmans; lower-caste practitioners known as chekavar drawn from among special families of Tiyyas; Muslims (especially Sufis in northern Kerala); and Christians".[10]

According to historian A. Sreedhara Menon, the Vadakkan Pattukal were composed in the 17th or 18th century. The stories centres around two main families, one belonging to the Thiyyas and the other to the Nairs. Heroes such as Aromal Chekavar, Unniyarcha, and Aromalunni belongs to the former. The events are set in the medieval principalities of Kolathunadu, Kadathanadu and Kottayam. Menon further notes that Aromal is "said to be an immigrant from Ezhathunad (Sri Lanka)".[2]

Notable people

References

  1. ↑ P., Girija, K (2021). Mapping the History of Ayurveda : Culture, Hegemony and the Rhetoric of Diversity. ISBN 978-1-000-48139-6.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. 1 2 Menon, A. Sreedhara (4 March 2011). Kerala History and its Makers. DC Books. pp. 82–86. ISBN 978-81-264-3782-5. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
  3. ↑ Kurup, K. K. N. (1985). "History of the Tellicherry Factory, 1683-1794".
  4. ↑ N. Prabhakaran (18 May 2024). "വടക്കൻ മനസ്സ്: കണ്ണൂരിലെ രാഷ്ട്രീയ കൊലപാതകങ്ങളുടെ കഥ പറയുമ്പോൾ". Mathrubhumi (in Malayalam). Retrieved 9 June 2025.
  5. ↑ Mathew, George (1989). Communal Road to a Secular Kerala. Concept Pub.Co, 1989. p. 30. ISBN 81-7022-282-6.
  6. ↑ Smith, Bardwell L. (1976). Religion and Social Conflict in South Asia. BRILL. p. 27. ISBN 90-04-04510-4.
  7. ↑ Nisha, P. R. (12 June 2020). Jumbos and Jumping Devils: A Social History of Indian Circus. p. 45. ISBN 9780190992071.
  8. ↑ Heniger, J. (2017). Hendrik Adriaan van Reed Tot Drakestein 1636-1691 and Hortus, Malabaricus. p. 50. ISBN 9781351441070.
  9. ↑ Indudhara Menon (2018). Hereditary Physicians of Kerala: Traditional Medicine and Ayurveda in Modern India. Taylor & Francis, 2018. ISBN 9780429663123.
  10. ↑ Levinson, David; Christensen, Karen (1996). Encyclopedia of World sport:from Ancient times to the present vol.3. ABC. p. 615. ISBN 9780874368192.
  11. ↑ K. k. N Kurup (1989). Samooham Charithram Samskaram. Poorna Publication. p. 73.
  12. ↑ Singh, Shanta Serbjeet (23 August 2000). Indian Dance: The Ultimate Metaphor. Ravi Kumar. p. 243. ISBN 9781878529657 – via Google Books.