I am intrigued by the practices and beliefs of a community native to Kerala - India, the Kerala Iyers not Namboodris, they are Tamil Brahmin communities residing in Kerala, who migrated centuries ago from Tamil Kingdoms to Kerala. They practice an admixture of Malayali and Tamil cultures, though most of their forefather Tamil practices are still intact.
Though they still converse in Tamil and follow most Tamil practices, they refuse to align themselves as a part of the Tamil region and are in fact against few practices(preference in food, attire, religious practices, etc.) native to Tamil region!
I looked up online for any literature on the causes of migration and there was no literature I could look into. But there were few websites that discussed the reasons for migration in their own views eg here.
Several sources suggest that the Brahmins were driven out of Tamil Kingdom and forced to take refuge in Kerala due to:
1. Invasion by Muslim rulers
2. Isolation from society, etc.
I am looking for the reason(s) for their migration with credible source(s). I was also wondering if there was something to do with the reason of migration for their non-alignment with Tamil Brahmins.
A few sources/leads that I came across.
- A news article published in a regional daily, here
- A research article (un?)published by Prof. Lakshman Singh - Plight of Palghat Iyers - Couldn't get my hands on it, not even the abstract!
- A very brief account of a Tamil brahmin settlement in Kerala @ Coolimuttam
- This is a refute to the news article published1 by one of the Kerala Iyers, Mr. Narayanmurthi. ( I tried google, google scholar searching for the article on Plight of Palghat iyers and I couldn't get to it anywhere)
- Another account on Kerala Iyers from yet another community in Kerala @ Kuzhalmannam.
Hope this helps.