Samantan Nair, also known as Samanthan Nair or just Samantan (meaning "equal to" or "deemed to be"), was a generic term applied to dignify a group of sub-clans among the ruling elites (Naduvazhi) and feudal lords (Jenmimar) of the Nair community in Kerala. Robin Jeffrey, an anthropologist, described the Samantans as, "A matrilineal caste ranking between Nairs and Kshatriyas"