Firstly the Nairs were prominent from far earlier than the 16th century eg the Aaruveetil Madambis who were sent in 823 AD to protect the Kandiyur temple inscriptions dating back a 1000 years mentioning these Madambis even today exist in Kandiyur Ambalam So that point stating that they gained ascendancy because of Namboodiris is wrong These 6 Madambis were Kiriyathil Nairs who donot allow their womenfolk to marry from other castes Nevertheless i ve heard of the cold war that exists between the Nairs and Ezhavas and very often i hear that the NSS and SNDP keep opposing each other etc etc