page_title: Nair Brigade
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Nair Brigade / History
caption_attribution_description: English: This picture shows some of its members part of a Nair brigade in the service of the British, as painted by the Swiss artist Paul Aimé Vallouy (1832–1899) and part of a series of three charcoal and watercolour drawings made in 1855.
context_page_description: The Nair Brigade was the army of the erstwhile kingdom of Travancore in India. Nairs were a community of the region. The personal bodyguard of the king Marthanda Varma was also called Thiruvithamkoor Nair Pattalam. The Travancore army was officially referred as the Travancore Nair Brigade in 1818.
  In the early years, only Nairs were admitted into this brigade. Later, the unit was expanded and several sub-units were formed. The name Nair Brigade remained unchanged, even following the admittance of non-Nairs. The headquarters of the brigade was in Thiruvananthapuram.
context_section_description: The army of Travancore was modernised by Marthanda Varma, who is known as "the maker of modern Travancore".The first Commander in Chief of his army was Kumaraswamy Pillai, who was a veteran soldier. Thanu Pillai, brother of then Dalawa Arumukham Pillai was made the Lieutenant Commander. He defeated the Dutch army with the Nair Brigade in 1741 at the Battle of Colachel and captured the Dutch commander Captain Eustachius De Lannoy.
  Marthanda Varma agreed to spare the Dutch captain's life on condition that he joined his army and trained his soldiers on modern lines.
  The Travancore army was reorganised as the Travancore Nair Brigade in 1818. The Travancore Army was considered a part of the Indian State Forces from 1935. The units were known as the First, Second and Third Travancore infantry. The State Forces consisted of infantry units, the State Forces Artillery, the Travancore Training Centre, the Sudarsan Guards and the State Forces Band. With the integration of the State into the Indian Union, the Nair Brigade was integrated into the Indian Army as the 9th Battalion Madras Regiment (1st Travancore) and the 16th Battalion of the Madras Regiment (2nd Travancore) in 1954.
caption: Members of a Nair brigade
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