Svetlanafvq at 17:24, 19 February 2026

2026-02-19T17:24:08Z

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{{Short description|Warrior title of the Hindu Thiyya community}}
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{{About||the film|Chekavar (film)}}
[[File:Wedding at ‘Puthooram Veedu’.jpg|thumb|Painting depicting informal childhood marriage ceremony between [[Unniyarcha]] and [[Chandu Chekavar]].]]
'''Chekavar''' (Also known as ''Chekon'' or ''Chevakar'', ''Cekavar'') were the [[warrior]]s belonging to [[Hindu]] [[Tiyyar |Thiyyar]] community in [[Malabar District|Malabar]] of [[Kerala]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7yhHEAAAQBAJ&dq=chegon&pg=PT137|title=Mapping the History of Ayurveda : Culture, Hegemony and the Rhetoric of Diversity|last=P.|first=Girija, K|year=2021|isbn=978-1-000-48139-6}}</ref><ref name="kkkksg"/><ref>{{cite web | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tQ8oAAAAMAAJ&q=k.+k.+n+kurup+tiyya | title=History of the Tellicherry Factory, 1683-1794 | last1=Kurup | first1=K. K. N. | year=1985 }}</ref>

==Influence==
[[N. Prabhakaran]] challenges the notion that the Kadathanadan and Chekavar martial traditions have influenced the political violence in [[Kannur]], arguing that the practice of kalaripayattu does not foster violent behaviour or drive the region's history of political killings.<ref>{{cite web |title=വടക്കൻ മനസ്സ്: കണ്ണൂരിലെ രാഷ്ട്രീയ കൊലപാതകങ്ങളുടെ കഥ പറയുമ്പോൾ |url=https://www.mathrubhumi.com/books/excerpts/n-prabhakaran-writes-about-political-murders-in-kannur-district-vadakkan-manasu-book-excerpt-1.9846498 |website=Mathrubhumi |author=N. Prabhakaran |date=2024-05-18 |access-date=2025-06-09 |language=ml}}</ref>

==Etymology==
''Chekavar'' is derived from the Sanskrit words ''Sevakar'', ''Sevakan'' or ''Sevaka'', which mean soldiers in service or [[soldier]]s in royal service.<ref name="mathew">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1TuPeXFP0WgC&pg=PA30|title=Communal Road to a Secular Kerala |page=30|first=George |last=Mathew|year=1989 |publisher=Concept Pub.Co, 1989|isbn=81-7022-282-6}}</ref><ref name="smith">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xNAI9F8IBOgC&pg=PA27|title= Religion and Social Conflict in South Asia |page=27|first=Bardwell L. |last=Smith|publisher=BRILL |year=1976|isbn=90-04-04510-4}}</ref>

==History==
Jacob Canter Visscher's ''Letters from Malabar'' notes about the employment of [[Nairs]] as soldiers: "They [Nairs] may be justly entitled born soldiers, as by virtue of their descent they must always bear arms." Quoting Visscher in ''Jumbos and Jumping Devils'' (2020), Nisha P. R. stated that "In spite of the fact that [[Thiyyas]] were also supreme practitioners of ''payatt'' and had a unavoidable presence in the militia of the ruler, they were not allowed in the military services".<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.google.co.in/books/edition/Jumbos_and_Jumping_Devils/My8DEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PT45&printsec=frontcover|title = Jumbos and Jumping Devils: A Social History of Indian Circus|page=45|isbn = 9780190992071|last1 = Nisha|first1 = P. R.|date = 12 June 2020}}</ref>

[[Hendrik van Rheede]], former governor of [[Dutch Malabar]], in his memorandum of 1677 notes about the existence of a fencing training: "[...] the tree-climbers, otherwise called ''silgos'', who are also bound to war and arms. These people usually serve to teach the ''nayros'' in the fencing school; further their occupation is to tap the coconut tree [...]".<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.google.co.in/books/edition/Hendrik_Adriaan_Van_Reed_Tot_Drakestein/rIZHDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA50&printsec=frontcover|title = Hendrik Adriaan van Reed Tot Drakestein 1636-1691 and Hortus, Malabaricus|page=50|isbn = 9781351441070|last1 = Heniger|first1 = J.|year = 2017}}</ref>

According to Indudharan Menon, "The songs of the Vatakkan pattu (northern ballads) are about a clan of martial Chekavars who were [[Ezhava|Tiyyas]] and masters of the martial arts".<ref name="rjy">{{cite book|last=Indudhara Menon|year=2018|title=Hereditary Physicians of Kerala: Traditional Medicine and Ayurveda in Modern India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xouADwAAQBAJ&dq=chekavar+Tiyya&pg=PT77|publisher=Taylor & Francis, 2018|isbn=9780429663123}}</ref> According to David Levinson and [[Karen Christensen]], "Kalarippayattu was traditionally practiced primarily by [[Nayars]], Kerala's martial caste, as well as by a special sub-caste among Kerala's [[Brahmans]], the Yatra Brahmans; lower-caste practitioners known as chekavar drawn from among special families of Tiyyas; Muslims (especially [[Sufis]] in northern Kerala); and Christians".<ref>{{cite book|first1=David|last1=Levinson|first2=Karen|last2=Christensen|year=1996|title=Encyclopedia of World sport:from Ancient times to the present vol.3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TMoUAQAAIAAJ&q=Tiyyas|publisher=ABC|page=615|isbn=9780874368192}}</ref>

According to historian [[A. Sreedhara Menon]], the [[Vadakkan Pattukal]] were composed in the 17th or 18th century. The stories centres around two main families, one belonging to the Thiyyas and the other to the Nairs. Heroes such as [[Aromal Chekavar]], [[Unniyarcha]], and Aromalunni belongs to the former. The events are set in the medieval principalities of [[Kolathunadu]], [[Kadathanadu]] and [[Kingdom of Kottayam|Kottayam]]. Menon further notes that Aromal is "said to be an immigrant from Ezhathunad ([[Sri Lanka]])".<ref name="kkkksg">{{Cite book|last=Menon|first=A. Sreedhara|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wnAjqjhc1VcC|title=Kerala History and its Makers|publisher=DC Books|date=4 March 2011|isbn=978-81-264-3782-5|pages=82–86|access-date=10 October 2021}}</ref>

==Notable people==
*[[Aromal Chekavar]]
*[[Unniyarcha]]
*[[Chandu Chekavar]]
*[[Kuroolli Chekon]]
*[[Kathivanoor Veeran]]<ref>{{cite book|last=K. k. N Kurup|year=1989|title=Samooham Charithram Samskaram|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tqVEAQAAIAAJ&q=%E0%B4%9A%E0%B5%87%E0%B4%95%E0%B4%B5%E0%B5%BB|publisher=Poorna Publication |page=73}}</ref>
*[[Kottackkal Kanaran Gurukkal]]<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eCF6AAAAMAAJ&q=karnaran+chekavar|title=Indian Dance: The Ultimate Metaphor|first=Shanta Serbjeet|last=Singh|date=August 23, 2000|publisher=Ravi Kumar|isbn=9781878529657 |via=Google Books|page=243}}</ref>
*[[Arattupuzha Velayudha Panicker]]

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Thiyyar warriors]]
[[Category:Indian warriors]]

Chekavar - Revision history

Svetlanafvq at 17:24, 19 February 2026