The Nayar of India
The Nayar of India
Chrystal Powers
Professor Bob Larkin
Anthropology 101
April 29, 2013
The Nayar of India The Nayar people of India are indigenous people that live in the southwest part of India. Their culture is known to be complex yet fascinating. Generally they were known to be rulers, warriors, and landowners that rarely worked the land but supervised it. They later gradually lost their political power as they abandoned the role of being warriors. The Nayar people are primarily maintained thru agriculture and the social and economic status of the families show little difference between the poor and the wealthy. For generations the Nayar culture’s traditions, beliefs, as well as their customs have been a huge debate among the scholars and authorities. This paper will explore the fascination of the economic organization, beliefs and values, and their kinship farther in the following paragraphs.
Economic Organization The means of the Nayar people of India comes from their family farms. Their main sources of food come from cultivation of coconuts and rice. The families use servants to farm their land and rarely farm themselves. The families in the past grow all they need in order to supply their own family and the servants that farm for them. Pork, and fish along with the rice and coconuts are what the Nayar people use for nutrition, and they cook it differently for each meal (Panikakar 1918). Today they add bread and many other wheat products to their diet. The economy is basically stable and there is not much to distinguish between the poor and the wealthy within the Nayar society. It is not uncommon for a Nayar family and the land units to share personal income as well as assets (Panikaker 1918). The individuals that have received an education and have sought out employment outside of agriculture may even bring their earnings home to the family to share. Due to the family sharing the finances the Nayar society
Chrystal Powers
Professor Bob Larkin
Anthropology 101
April 29, 2013
The Nayar of India The Nayar people of India are indigenous people that live in the southwest part of India. Their culture is known to be complex yet fascinating. Generally they were known to be rulers, warriors, and landowners that rarely worked the land but supervised it. They later gradually lost their political power as they abandoned the role of being warriors. The Nayar people are primarily maintained thru agriculture and the social and economic status of the families show little difference between the poor and the wealthy. For generations the Nayar culture’s traditions, beliefs, as well as their customs have been a huge debate among the scholars and authorities. This paper will explore the fascination of the economic organization, beliefs and values, and their kinship farther in the following paragraphs.
Economic Organization The means of the Nayar people of India comes from their family farms. Their main sources of food come from cultivation of coconuts and rice. The families use servants to farm their land and rarely farm themselves. The families in the past grow all they need in order to supply their own family and the servants that farm for them. Pork, and fish along with the rice and coconuts are what the Nayar people use for nutrition, and they cook it differently for each meal (Panikakar 1918). Today they add bread and many other wheat products to their diet. The economy is basically stable and there is not much to distinguish between the poor and the wealthy within the Nayar society. It is not uncommon for a Nayar family and the land units to share personal income as well as assets (Panikaker 1918). The individuals that have received an education and have sought out employment outside of agriculture may even bring their earnings home to the family to share. Due to the family sharing the finances the Nayar society