Moopil Nair are Nair naduvazhis (governors of nads or city states) and Desavazhis (rulers of Desams) of tiny feudal kingdoms on the Malabar Coast, present day Kerala state, South India. Moopil Nairs belonged to the Samanthan Nair subcaste of the Nair caste in the Hindu Caste system. After the fall of the Mahodayapuram Cheras in the 12th century, Malabar Coast was fragmented into numerous feudal city states called nads, governed by chiefs called naduvazhis. Some of these Nads were again divided into desams ruled by the Desavazhis.
Moopil Nair chieftainships included the Valluvakkonathiris, who ruled Valluvanad, based on present day Angadippuram. Others were those of the Kavalapparas, Kuthiravattathu Moopil Nair (near Kozhikode, commanded Samoothiri of Calicut's cavalry forces), Mannarkad Moopil Nayar (governed the area in and around Attappady) and Kuppathode Moopil Nair (ruled Pulpally).[1]
Mannarkkad Muppil Nair ('Kunnattattil Madambil Nair) was the royal title usually given to the eldest male member of Mannarghat Muppil Nair family. He was a "desavazhi" (provincial governor) under Valluvanad (southern Malabar, India), looking after the eastern boundary and the hilly areas. The Nairs had considerable land holdings in the area and also held about 70% of the land in Attappadi,[2] including Silent Valley.[3]
References
1. Velluva, Sanathanan (2004). "Developmental Effects on Livelihood Strategies of Tribespeople in Attappady, Kerala". Kerala Research Programme on Local Level Development. pp. 15–182. http://krpcds.org/publication/downloads/99.pdf
3. http://www.leadindia.org/attapaddy.pdf