Swaroopathil Nairs or Charna Nairs were one of the subcastes belonging to the Nair community in Kerala. They were warriors of Samanta Kshatriya Royal Households known as Swaroopams. This subcaste is found only in Travancore. In Malabar, two related subcastes, Akathu Charna Nairs and Purathu Charna Nairs are treated as equivalent to Swaroopathil Nairs in caste hierarchy.
Demographics
According to the 1891 Census, Swaroopathil Nairs composed around 9.2% of the total Nair population, while Akathu Cherna and Purathu Cherna Nairs accounted for 3.3% and 11.1% respectively.
References
Swaroopathil Nair Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA