Chekavar

[7][8] Some of these heroes are remembered and worshipped even today through folk songs like Vadakkan Pattukal; for example, the 19th century Kuroolli Chekon who fought against the British is remembered through folk songs while the Sangam age hero Akathooty Chekavar, Commander-in-chief of the Chera army, was adopted into Theyyam forms and is worshipped as a war deity today.

[16][17] Jacob Canter Visscher's Letters from Malabar says: 'They may be justly entitled soldiers, as by virtue of their descent they must always bear arms.

In spite of the fact that Thiyyas were also practitioners of payatt and had a unavoidable presence in the militia of the ruler, they were allowed in the military services.

'[7] Hendrik van Rheede, governor of Dutch Malabar between 1669 and 1676, wrote about Chekavar in Hortus Malabaricus: "[Chekavas] are bound to war and arms.

According to historian A. Sreedhara Menon:Northern songs are represented in Malabar where the Unniyarcha and Aromal Chekavars of the Puthuram Veettil house are an important Thiyyar family known for their martial arts.