Pillai or Pillay, (IPA: [piɭːai̯]) meaning "Child of King"(Prince),[1] is a surname found among the Tamil and Malayalam-speaking people of India and Sri Lanka. Traditionally used by various Vellalar subcastes, upper caste Nairs, and some Brahmins, often bestowed by ruling royal families of Kerala and Tamil Nadu.[2][3][4][5] It is also used by many Tamil-speaking castes, including Rowther, Isai Vellalar, Karaiyar, Agamudayar, etc and less commonly found among Malayalam-speaking communities like Nazrani Mappila and Marars of travancore.[6][7]

Origin

According to epigraphic records, Pillai is an ancient title back to the Sangam Era that was used as a suffix and given to junior members of the royal family.[8] Originally a title meaning "royal child", it came to be given to administrators of temples; often holding large estates on behalf of the latter.[9]

Early English records also address these hereditary ruling chiefs as the princes of Kerala ranking below the monarch. The most well known are the Pillais of the Eight Nair Noble Houses, the Ettuveettil Pillamar of Travancore.[10][11]

According to epigraphic records of Sangam era, define the direct meaning of Pillai as "Child of King" (prince), denoting nobility.[12] The title occurs both as a single name or as a suffix to the name.

Notable Tamil-Speaking Pillai's

Notable people with this surname or its variants include:

Notable Malayali Pillai's

References

  1. ↑ Sircar, Dineschandra (1966). Indian Epigraphical Dictionary. p. 166. ISBN 9788120805620.
  2. ↑ Shungoonny Menon, P. (1998). History of Travancore from the earliest times (2nd AES repr. [d.Ausg.] Madras, Higginbotham, 1878 ed.). New Delhi: Asian Educational Services. ISBN 978-81-206-0169-7.
  3. ↑ Pandian, Jacob (1987). Caste, Nationalism and Ethnicity: An Interpretation of Tamil Cultural History and Social Order. Popular Prakashan. p. 110. ISBN 9780861321360.
  4. ↑ University, Vijaya Ramaswamy, Jawaharlal Nehru (2017-08-25). Historical Dictionary of the Tamils. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 268. ISBN 9781538106860.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  5. ↑ Pfister, Raymond (1995). Soixante ans de pentecôtisme en Alsace (1930-1990): une approche socio-historique. P. Lang. p. 166. ISBN 9783631486207.
  6. ↑ Shungoonny Menon, P. (1998). History of Travancore from the earliest times (2nd AES repr. [d.Ausg.] Madras, Higginbotham, 1878 ed.). New Delhi: Asian Educational Services. ISBN 978-81-206-0169-7.
  7. ↑ A handbook of Kerala. 2 (1st ed.). Thiruvananthapuram: International School of Dravidian Linguistics. 2002. ISBN 978-81-85692-31-9.
  8. ↑ See inscription at Kannankara temple, Trivandrum District. Quoted as Inscription 9/60 in P. Sundaram Pillai's Some Early Sovereigns of Travancore. Page 40-41 He makes the observation that they were in his opinion not men in the royal service.
  9. ↑ Mark de Lannoy,Kulasekhara Perumals of Travancore, Page 202
  10. ↑ More, Lena (2003). English East India Company and the local rulers in Kerala. ISBN 8188432040.
  11. ↑ Shungoonny Menon, P. (1998). History of Travancore from the earliest times (2nd AES repr. [d.Ausg.] Madras, Higginbotham, 1878 ed.). New Delhi: Asian Educational Services. ISBN 978-81-206-0169-7.
  12. ↑ Sircar, Dineschandra (1966). Indian Epigraphical Dictionary. p. 166. ISBN 9788120805620.
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