Kaniyar

Kaniyar are a caste of India with origins in the states of Kerala and Karnataka. There are regional variations in the name used to define them. The Kerala Public Service Commission considers Kaniyar Panicker (otherwise known as Kaniyan, Kanisu, Ganaka, Kanisan, Kamnan, and Kani) to be one group in their list of designated Other Backward Classes, and Kalari Panicker (otherwise referred to as Kalari Kurup) to be another.

Traditions of origin

Kathleen Gough has recorded that the caste believe they were descended from a degraded section of the Tamil Brahmins and that they ascribed their "rudimentary" knowledge of Sanskrit, medicine and astrology to those origins.

Traditional occupations

Edgar Thurston reported in 1909 that the caste was not flourishing because its members relied on their traditional occupation of astrology and were averse to manual labour. He stated that they were generally intelligent people who were "well versed in both Malayam and Sanskrit", punctilious in both manner and appearance, and conservative in cultural matters. In some areas they were strictly vegetarian but in others would eat meat and fish.