Chakkala Nair


Chakkalans, also known as Vattakkatans, is one of the lower subcastes of the Nair community. They are distributed throughout Kerala. In Travancore, they are known as Chakkalans, while in Cochin and Malabar they are Vattakattans.
The Chakkalans, who were traditionally recorded as being oilmongers, rank below many other lower ranking Nair clans such as Otattu Nair and Kalamkotti Nair, but still rank above a few other subcastes like Asthikkuracchi Nair and Chaliyan Nair. Although hard evidence is "scanty", according to Chris Fuller, it seems likely that many of the lower-ranking subcastes of the Nairs, who are generally not accepted as being Nairs by those of higher rank, achieved their association with the caste by a process of deliberate upward social mobility, including by simply adopting the Nair identity regardless of whether they were accepted by their putative peers.