Kerala Usage
Pillai is a subdivision or clan of the Nair community of Kerala. Pillai was one of the most common titles of dignity held by the Hindu caste of the Nairs and Pattaryas of North Travancore. The title of Pillai was bestowed through a formal ceremony known as Thirumukom Pidikkuka, i.e. holding the face of the King, and included the payment of a fee known as Adiyara to the King. A person thus bestowed with this title now secured the honorific title of Pillai suffixed and the distinctive title of Kanakku (meaning accountant in Tamil language) prefixed to his name. However, Kanakku and Pillai were never used together; a person named Krishnan would be referred to as Krishnan Pillai or Kanakku, followed by his maternal uncle's name, and Krishnan. The latter style was used in royal writs and communications. So important were the privileges granted by this title that as late as in 1814 a Brahmin, Sanku Annavi, sometime Dewan of Travancore, obtained the same from the Maharajah. Prominent among the Pillais of medieval Kerala were the Ettuveetil Pillamar of Travancore.
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