Panicker

Panicker is an Indian title or surname used by members of various communities in the state of Kerala. Members of the Hindu Nair and Ezhava castes have this last name, as do some Christians from the Syrian Catholic and Syrian Orthodox communities.

Etymology

The word 'Panicker' was derived from the Sanskrit word 'Parinayaka' meaning 'captain of warriors', in the context of the Sanskrit word 'Nayaka' which stood for a 'warrior' or 'leader' which evolved into the surname 'Nair'. It was a title bestowed on Kalari masters in Kerala, specially among the Nairs and Ezhavas. Sometimes, it was also held by the teachers of a region and Maarans. In later days, the Maharajah of Travancore bestowed this title as a reward for merit to those members of the Hindu and Christian communities, who excelled in martial endeavours and military exploits. There are a few rare instances of Nambudiris with this title as in the case of the Chemmunda Panicker.

"They are the skillful men who teach this art [Kalarippayattu] , and they are called the Panickers: these are the captains in war.— Barbosa" [cite book | title = Indian and Oriental Arms and Armour | author = Lord Egerton of Tatton| publisher = Courier DoverPublications | date = 2002| page = 80]

Intonation and Spelling

There are several ways to spell this surname in the Roman alphabet, but they all represent one spelling in Malayalam. The second consonant is a retroflex nasal. It is normally represented by a single letter "n": but many British and American clerks automatically double it to "nn", and a few families in Britain and America spell their names that way. The third consonant is usually represented as "kk": this is a convention taken over from Tamil, as a single consonant between two vowels would normally be voiced, although Malayalam has distinct voiced and unvoiced letters. However "ck" is more in keeping with English convention, and many Malayalis automatically rewrite other people's names in this fashion when copying documents. The third vowel is usually spelt "a", but an "e" without emphasis also represents this sound in English speech.

Following the current conventions for Romanising Malayalam without diacritic marks, the name would be "Panikkar,". However, Panikker, Panicker, Panickar, Paniker, Panikar, Panniker, Pannikar and possibly other variants are to be found.

References

* Travancore State Manual Volume II by V. Nagam Aiya (published 1906)
* Castes and Tribes of Southern India by Edgar Thurston

ee also

* Caste
* Nair
* Ezhava
* Syrian Catholic
* Muloor S.Padmanabha Panicker
* Kavalam Narayana Panicker
* Arattapuzha Velayudha Panicker
* Rev. Prof. Raimon Panikkar
* Geevarghese Mar Ivanios