Menon
Encyclopedia
Menon is a clan of the Nair
community of Kerala
and was an honorific hereditary title to be used as an affix to the name and investituted by the Sāmudiri Rāja on certain members of Kiryathil and Akattu Charna classes of Nairs. Menons who belonged to the Kiriyathil were Vassals to the Kings. The most important of the Zamorin's samanthans (vassals) included Menons of Eranad . Some of them who belonged to other subdivision of this clan are devoted to administrative duties and involved writing and casting accounts. The recipient of the title held it lifelong or his family held it in perpetuity along the matrilineal line, depending on the amount of money known as Adiyara paid for securing the same and as soon as a person was dignified with this title he was presented with an Ola (palmyra leaf for writing on) and a style, the symbols of an accountant.
Nair
Nair , also known as Nayar , refers to "not a unitary group but a named category of castes", which historically embody several castes and many subdivisions, not all of whom bore the Nair title. These people historically live in the present-day Indian state of Kerala...
community of Kerala
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
and was an honorific hereditary title to be used as an affix to the name and investituted by the Sāmudiri Rāja on certain members of Kiryathil and Akattu Charna classes of Nairs. Menons who belonged to the Kiriyathil were Vassals to the Kings. The most important of the Zamorin's samanthans (vassals) included Menons of Eranad . Some of them who belonged to other subdivision of this clan are devoted to administrative duties and involved writing and casting accounts. The recipient of the title held it lifelong or his family held it in perpetuity along the matrilineal line, depending on the amount of money known as Adiyara paid for securing the same and as soon as a person was dignified with this title he was presented with an Ola (palmyra leaf for writing on) and a style, the symbols of an accountant.