:Nambiar (Nair subcaste)

{{short description|Indian caste}}

{{distinguish|Nambiar (Ambalavasi caste)}}

{{redirect|Nambiyar|the river in Tamil Nadu|Nambiyar River}}

{{EngvarB|date=September 2013}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2024}}

{{Infobox ethnic group

| group = Nambiar (Nair subcaste)

| image =

| caption =

| pop =

| regions = North Kerala

| languages = Malayalam, Sanskrit

| related = Nair, Nayanar, Samantha Nair

}}

Nambiār, also known as Nambiyār, is a sub-group of the Indian Nair caste. Majority were jenmi landlords in the Malabar region.{{cite book |editor-first=Harold |editor-last=Coward |author-link=Harold Coward |title=Hindu-Christian Dialogue: Perspectives and Encounters|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6eHgNyNimoAC&pg=PA192|year=1993|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ.|isbn=978-81-208-1158-4|page=192 |first=Paul |last=Younger |chapter=Hindu-Christian Worship Settings in South India}}{{Cite book |last=British Indian Government of Madras |url=http://archive.org/details/MalabarMarriageCommissionReport |title=Malabar Marriage Commission Report |date=1891}}

In earlier days, Nambiar women, like most women of Nair clans of North Malabar (present-day Kannur, Kasaragod, Wayanad districts) would not marry Nair men of South Malabar (present-day Kozhikode, Malappuram, Palakkad, Thrissur districts).{{cite book |first=Eric J. |last=Miller |author-link=Eric J. Miller |year=1955 |chapter=Village Structure in North Kerala |editor-first=M. N. |editor-last=Srinivas |editor-link=M. N. Srinivas |title=India's Villages |location=Bombay |publisher=Media Promoters & Publishers}}