View source for Kaniyar

{{short description|South Indian caste}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}}
'''Kaniyar''' is a [[caste]] from the Indian state of [[Kerala]]. There are regional variations in the name used to define them. They are listed under the [[Backward class|Other Backward Communities]] (OBC) by the Kerala Government.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Kerala Public Commission – List of other backward classes|url=https://www.keralapsc.gov.in/list-scheduled-castes-kerala-state}}</ref><!-- The [[Kerala Public Service Commission]] considers Kaniyar Panicker (otherwise known as ''Kaniyan'', ''Kanisu'', ''Ganaka'', ''Kanisan'', ''Kamnan'', and ''Kani'') to be one group in their list of designated [[Backward class|Other Backward Classes]], and ''Kalari Panicker'' (otherwise referred to as ''Kalari Kurup'') to be another.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.keralapsc.org/obcs.htm |title=List of Other Backward Classes in Kerala State |publisher=Kerala Public Service Commission |access-date=3 May 2011}}</ref>-->
{{Use Indian English|date=September 2019}}
{{Infobox Ethnic group
| image            =
| caption          =
| group            = Kaniyar
| pop              =
| popplace         = [[Malabar (Northern Kerala)|Malabar]], [[Thrissur]], [[Palakkad]], [[Travancore]].
| languages        = [[Malayalam]]
| religions        = [[Hinduism]]
| related          = [[kalari|Ganaka]], [[Kalari Panicker ]], [[Thiyyar]]<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xouADwAAQBAJ&dq=kaniya+tiyya&pg=PT92 | title=Hereditary Physicians of Kerala: Traditional Medicine and Ayurveda in Modern India | isbn=9780429663123 | last1=Menon | first1=Indudharan | date=18 December 2018 }}</ref>
}}
==Traditions of origin==
[[Kathleen Gough]] has recorded that the caste believes that they descended from a section of the [[Tamil Brahmins]] and that they ascribed their "rudimentary" knowledge of [[Sanskrit]], medicine and astrology to those origins.<ref name="Goody"/>
==Traditional occupations==
Gough says that the caste in many ways played the role of {{quote|pseudo-Brahmans in relation to the lower castes&nbsp;...&nbsp;Their lore was, of course, a much simplified version of Brahman lore. Through them, however, some of the elements of Sanskrit religious belief and practices were filtered to lower caste people who could not attend high-caste temples or receive Brahmanical services&nbsp;...&nbsp;[They] served as media for the Sankritisation of the lower castes&nbsp;...<ref name="Goody"/>}}
It was the Kaniyars who decorate the elaborate costumes.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pta.kerala.gov.in/art.htm |title=Padayani |publisher=Government of Kerala portal |access-date=28 April 2011}}</ref> of the dance conducted at various temples in central Travancore. They were also famous in the field of ayurveda treatment (Traditional Indian medical stream) across Kerala. Kaniyar panickers are famous with astrology even now in [[Kerala|Northern Kerala]].
The Kaniyar were also once teachers, primarily in village schools.<ref name="Goody"/> The arrival of the British in the area saw the demise of traditional teaching, with Sanskrit teaching being deprecated in favor of its English counterpart, disruption due to various wars and also a discouragement of the village schools in general. The standard of literacy declined greatly for nearly a century and began to improve once more with the advent of state aid for (principally English-based) education at the end of the 19th century.<ref>{{cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B9SUyI-3tRwC&pg=PA155 |chapter=Literacy in Kerala |first=Kathleen |last=Gough |author-link=Kathleen Gough |editor-first=Jack |editor-last=Goody |editor-link=Jack Goody |title=Literacy in traditional societies |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2005 |orig-year=1968 |edition=Reprinted |isbn=0-521-29005-8 |page=155}}</ref>
Aside from general teaching,they also taught [[fencing]] to the [[Izhava]] and [[Thiyya|Thiyyar]] caste.<ref name="Goody"/>  ''[[Gurukkal, Kalarippayattu|Gurukkal]]'' is another name used for the northern group because of their involvement with these schools. They asserted that because of this they were superior to the ''[[Aasaan|Asan]]'' members of the caste, who were primarily to be found in southern Travancore.<ref name="Goody">{{cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B9SUyI-3tRwC&pg=PA149 |chapter=Literacy in Kerala |first=Kathleen |last=Gough |author-link=Kathleen Gough |editor-first=Jack |editor-last=Goody |editor-link=Jack Goody |title=Literacy in traditional societies |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2005 |orig-year=1968 |edition=Reprinted |isbn=0-521-29005-8 |pages=148–149}}</ref>
== Notable people ==
* [[Niranam Poets]] – Madhava Panikkar, Sankara Panikkar, and Rama Panikkar Authoers of Kannassa Ramayanam.
==References==
{{Reflist}}
[[Category:Social groups of Kerala]]
[[Category:Social groups of Karnataka]]
[[Category:Kerala society]]
[[Category:Indian castes]]
[[Category:Other Backward Classes]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in India]]
[[Category:Other Backward Classes of Karnataka]]
[[Category:South Indian communities]]