| Negritos: The earliest known inhabitants of Kerala were the Negritos (People of the Negroid race). Members of this race lived by hunting and by gathering plants and fruits. These people have dark skin and tightly curled brown hair and are less than 1.5 metres tall. Descendants of this race still inhabit the mountain regions of the state. They have a good knowledge of herbal medicine and were skilled in interpreting natural phenomena. |
| |
| Australoids: After the Negritoes came the Proto-Australoids (Austrics), who spread over the whole of India. These belonged to the same race as the present-day Australian Aborigines. They represented a race of medium height, dark (in some cases black) complexion with long heads and flat noses. They laid the foundation of They introduced the cultivation of rice and vegetables and made sugar from sugarcane. They introduced snake-worship inKerala. |
| |
| Dravidians: By 700 B.C., the Dravidians (The Mediterranean People), who migrated from the Mediterranean region, spread to the whole of India especially in the south, supplanting the Austrics and Negritoes alike. The Dravidians are the ancestors of majority of the present day Malayalees. They absorbed many of the beliefs of the Negrito and Austricpeople , but they were strongly inclined to the worship of the Mother Goddess in all her myriad forms: Protector, Avenger, Bestower of wealth, wisdom and arts. |
| |
| Aryans: After the Dravidians came the Aryans who had already settled over northern India from the Mesopotamian region. They migrated to south India during circa 300 B.C. The "white" or fair-skinned Brahmins belonged to this stock. By the advent of Aryans, caste system also formed inKerala. The Aryans have made a deep impression on Kerala in late proto-historic times. |
| |
| Today, Kerala population is the melting pot of various races, religions and ethnic groups. The vast majority of Keralites carry three racial strains in their genetic make-up; Munda, Dravidian, and Aryan. Of this, majority of today's Keralites have a Dravidian ancestry. Nevertheless, many of them pride themselves on their Aryan descent. |
| |
| The major tribes who inhabit the mountains of Kerala are Kanis, Uralis, Kadar, Kanikkar, Paniyar etc.. They are considered to be the descendants of the Negrito race. |
| |
| Kerala Culture |
| Among the people who have enriched Indian Cultural Heritage and helped the cause of national integration, the people of the Kerala region of South India have a place of honour. Kerala culture is, in fact, an integral part of Indian culture. Kerala like the Indian subcontinent can claim to have a culture the history of which runs into the dim recesses of antiquity. Kerala's culture is also a composite and cosmopolitan culture to which several people and races have made their significant contributions. The gradual evolution of composite and cosmopolitan culture led to the emergence of a spirit of tolerance and catholicity of outlook, which still persist among the people of Kerala. Its history unfolds the romantic and fascinating story of a unique process of cultural synthesis and social assimilation. In response to every challenge Kerala has demonstrated through the ages its genius for adaptation and fusion of old traditions and new values in every sphere of human thought and endeavour. The culture of Kerala has persisted through the ages precisely for the reasons of antiquity, unity, continuity and universality of its nature. In its widest sense it embraces the highest achievements of the human spirit in every sphere of life. Thus, in its totality, it represents the quintessence of the collective achievements of a people in the fields of religion and philosophy, language and literature, art and architecture, education and learning and economic and social organisation. In fact, all through its history the genius of Kerala has blossomed forth in all its vigour and vitality and has helped its people to reach the peak of excellence in all their endeavours. |
| |
| The culture of Malayalis has a flavor of its own, though it is a part of an Indian and the Dravidian culture. This has been the product of the peculiar geographical feature of Kerala. Bounded on the east by the Western Ghats and the west by the Arabian sea, it had long periods of insular existence. This has resulted in the distinctiveness of their language, dress, culture and institutions. |
| |
| The origin of the inhabitants of Kerala is nearly lost in the hoary past. It is beyond doubt that the Malayali culture is the offshoot of the Dravidian culture. There are striking similarities in the languages, customs and other cultural aspects to the Mediterranean civilization, civilization of Egypt and Mesopotamia, to some extent the Indus Valley, and that of Sri Lanka. Anthropologically, the Dravidas are a mixture of Ptoto-Australoids, Mediterranean’s and Negritude’s. Tradition has it that the Dravidas inhabited a land to the west of the Indian peninsula and eventually made Madurai their capital. There is a tradition in the ‘Vadakkan pattukal’ that the Ezhavas arrived in Kerala by sea from Ezham, which is interpreted to be the present day Sri Lanka. However, it is interesting to note that the land to the east of the Tigris in Iran, now called Khuzistan was once known as Elam. A civilization flourished there five thousand years ago with city states having distinctive culture and language. Their language is found similar to the Dravidian language. In any case it appears that the ancestors of the present inhabitants of south India had arrived here by sea rather than by land from the north. It was only at a much later stage that the region now constituting Kerala developed its distinctive culture. |
| |
| South India was ruled mainly by the Cheras, the Cholas and the Pandyas. The Cheras held their sway over the whole of Kerala and to some extent to the east of the Western Ghats. There were frequent clashes between the Cheras and the Pandyas and eventually the Cholas succeeded and ruled the whole of Kerala. Gradually several local rulers came up and for a few centuries there was little intercourse between Keralites and outsiders. It is conjectured that Malayalam started developing as a separate language during this period. The influence of Sanskrit was tremendous and Malayalam became a sort of a synthetic language of Sanskrit and Tamil. During this period, Ayurveda also took its roots in Kerala and even today it is practiced mostly in Kerala with the speciality of ‘Panchakarma’ involving medicated oil massages. |
|
|
|
|
|
