Ethnic groups in Kerala

Malayalis are the native people of Kerala who speak Malayalam, the official language of the state. The Malayalam language is a Dravidian language possibly related to Tamil which crystallised into a distinctive tongue only at the beginning of the medieval era. Similar to other major languages, modern Malayalam includes loanwords from Portuguese, Arabic, Syriac, and in more recent times English.[7] While the majority of Malayalis live in Kerala, significant populations also exist in other parts of India, the Middle East, Europe and North America. According to the Indian census of 1991, there were 28,096,376 speakers of Malayalam in Kerala, making up 96.66% of the total population of that state.

The majority (about 54%) of the Malayali people are Hindu, mostly of the Ezhava, Ambalavasi, Namboothiri, Nair, Kammalar (Vishwakarma), Pulayan and Mukkuvar communities, but there are also large Muslim (24%) and Christian (18%) communities.[8][9] The Muslim community in Kerala, trace their origins far back to early contacts with Arab traders after the advent of the Muhammed in the Arabian peninsula, and mostly follow the Shafi`i school of Sunni Islam. Many speak the distinctive Mappila dialect of Malayalam.[10] There is also a sizable population of Rowthers, who have a Turkish ancestry. The majority of Christians belong to the Saint Thomas Christian community, and are also known as Syrian Christians or Nasrani.[9] The Nasranis has presence in Kerala from the first century AD itself. By tradition Thomas the Apostle reached Muziris in 52 AD. The descendants of the Cochin Jews who have traditionally followed Halakhic Judaism are known as Juda Mappila.[11]

Historically, there have been frequent migrations between Kerala and the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu. The history of ancient Kerala itself is deeply intertwined with Tamil Nadu's ancient past, and the Tamil and Malayalam languages are closely related. The dialect of Tamil spoken today in the district of Palakkad in Kerala has a large number of Malayalam loanwords, has been influenced by Malayalam syntax and also has a distinct Malayalam accent.[12]

Some of the earliest migrations attested by history were those of Iyers from the Cauvery delta to the district of Palakkad. The first of these migrations are believed to have taken place over five hundred years ago. These Iyers settled in Palakkad where they owned land and led an affluent existence till the enactment of the land reforms in the 1960s. They followed many Malayali practices include the practice of sambandham. There have also been migrations of Iyers to the princely state of Travancore from the Tirunelveli district during the 18th and 19th centuries. These Iyers are called Kerala Iyers and differ significantly from Palakkad Iyers in their language and social status. Some of Travancore's diwans were Tamil Brahmins.[13][14]

Apart from Iyers, many other Tamil communities also migrated to Kerala between the 18th and the 20th century when the southernmost Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu was a part of the Travancore kingdom. The capital of the Travancore kingdom which ruled over most of Kerala was located in Padmanabhapuram in present-day Tamil Nadu. The caste system in Kerala is very similar to that which exists in the southern districts of Tamil Nadu.[15]

Kerala is also the home to a sizable population of Sri Lankan Tamils who arrived as refugees as a result of the Sri Lankan civil war, as well as Indian Tamils of Sri Lanka who were displaced due to the Ceylon Citizenship Act. The latter number close to 10,000 and are mainly found in eastern parts of the Kollam district where they work in rubber plantations under the Government of Kerala's initiative Rehabilitation Plantations Limited.[16]

The Tamil caste of Vellalars migrated from Tamil Nadu to eastern parts of Kerala like Idukki and Pathanamthitta districts. They are prominently found in places including Erattupetta, Pala, Ponkunnam, Kanjirappalli, Thodupuzha, and Pathanamthitta. Similarly, Tamil Muslims migrated the same route from Madurai to the regions of Thodupuzha, Irattupetta, and Pathanamthitta. They are distinct from Malayalam speaking Mappila Muslims in many ways including the usage of a dialect of Tamil inside their houses.

Shivalli Brahmins living all over the Indian state of Kerala are part of the larger Tulu Brahmin subsect primarily found in the Indian state of Karnataka but also in the Kasaragod district of Northern Kerala. Their mother tongue is the Tulu language. Brahmins from Tulunadu may have migrated to Kerala before the first century C.E.[17] Today, there is a sizeable Tulu Brahmin population in Thiruvananthapuram and elsewhere in the state.[18]

Kannada is one of the major languages of India, spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka. The Kannada people number roughly 50 million, making it the fifteenth-most spoken language in the world.[19] It is one of the official languages of India and the official and administrative language of the state of Karnataka.[20] Kannada people constitute a significant portion of the population of the district of Kasargod in North Kerala. Kannada is also an administrative language in the district. The entire Wayanad region fell under the Kannada speaking area as per the linguistic survey and history of Colonel Wilks. There are significant speakers of Kannada language in Kochi & Trivandrum and border regions of Karnataka.

Cochin GSB's are a branch of the Konkani language-speaking Gaud Saraswat Brahmins community belonging originally to Karnataka and Goa. They form the majority of Konkani-speakers in Kerala. GSBs of Cochin form the southernmost subsect of Saraswat Brahmins of West coast. GSBs of north Kerala are same as GSBs of Canara in speech and customs, whereas GSBs of Cochin and Travancore have developed their own Konkani dialect and Customs, which distinguish them from rest of GSB community, this subsect is now called Cochin GSBs. In geographical terms, Cochin GSBs are those who live south of Thrissur district of Kerala.[21] Other Konkani speaking minorities in Kerala include the Kudumbis, Daivajnas, and the Vaishya Vani. All these groups had migrated from Goa within last few centuries for various socioeconomic reasons.

There are about 10,000 speakers of the Mahl language in Kerala. Most Mahl speakers are temporary resident people from neighbouring Maldives. Other Mahl speakers are from Indian island of Minicoy and most of them live in Trivandrum.

An Indian Jewish family in Cochin, circa 1900.

'Onapottan' – a folk character seen during Onam season specially in North Malabar Region. With the face painted and crown ( Kireedam ) he has a bell in his hand and an umbrella made of Palm Leaves on the other.

A.K. Antony former Defence Minister of India is an atheist who was born to a Malayali family in the Alappuzha district of Kerala

(Excluding the tribal population)[25]

Hindu women worship during Attukal Pongala at Tippu Street, South Fort, Thiruvananthapuram.

Malik Dinar Mosque, Thazhathangadi, Kasargode, Kerala.

Inside a Knanaya Church in Thazhathangadi, Kottayam

According to the 2001 census[8] the breakdown of ethnic groups by religion is:

In 1968, the Communist government under E. M. S. Namboodiripad ordered a socio-economic survey of each resident in the state of Kerala, to assess caste inequalities. Until the census of 2011, this survey was the only caste-based count conducted in post-independence India. The survey was not very conclusive, since it merged several unrelated castes into one group (for example, Ambalavasis and Tamil Brahmins were grouped along with Malayali Brahmins).

The survey found that individuals belonging to higher castes possessed more land and had relatively higher per capita income as compared to the general population. The survey found that 33% of the states population was forward caste, almost half of whom were Syrian Christians. According to the survey, 13% of the Brahmins, 6.8% of the Syrian Catholics, 5.4% of the Jacobites and 4.7% of the Nairs owned more than 5 acres of land. This compared with 1.4% of the Ezhavas, 1.9% of the Muslims and 0.1% of the Scheduled Castes who had that much land in their possession.[26]

The last comprehensive caste census of Kerala was undertaken by the British in 1931 (the Census of 1941 also asked caste, but the tables were never published).[27]

• Religion in Kerala
• Caste system in Kerala
• Migrant labourers in Kerala