"Tradition," writes the Travancore Census Superintendent (1901), "traces the Samantas to the prudent Kshatriyas, who cast off the holy thread, to escape detection and slaughter by Parasu Rama. They are believed to have then fled to uninhabited forests till they forgot the Sandhyavandana prayers, and became in certain respects no better than Sudras. Thus they came, it is said, to be called Amantrakas, Samantrakas, Samantas, or having no mantra at all. Referring to this, Mr. Stuart says [140] 'Neither philology, nor anything else, supports this fable.' From the word Samantra, Samanta can, no doubt, be conveniently derived, but, if they could not repeat mantras, they should have been called Amantras and not Samantras. In the Kerala Mahatmya we read that the Perumals appointed Samantas to rule over portions of their kingdom. Taking the Sanskrit word Samanta, we may understand it to mean a petty chief or ruler. It is supposed that the Perumals who came to Malabar contracted matrimonial alliances with high class Nayar women, and that the issue of such unions were given chiefships over various extents of territories. Changes in their manners and customs were, it is said, made subsequently, by way of approximation to the Kshatriyas proper. Though the sacred thread, and the Gayatri hymn were never taken up, less vital changes, as, for instance, that of the wearing of the ornaments of the Kshatriya women, or of consorting only with Nambutiri husbands, were adopted. Those who lived in Ernat formed themselves by connections and alliances into one large caste, and called themselves Eratis. Those who lived in Valluvanat became Vallotis. The unification could not assume a more cosmopolitan character as the several families rose to importance at different times, and, in all probability, from different sections of the Nayars."