Samantan Nair or more commonly Samantan (Sama + anta means equal distance or difference, rather risen from the common masses) was a generic term applied to dignify a collection of sub-clans among the ruling elite and feudal estate owners of Kerala belonging to the Nair community. Robin Jeffrey, an anthropologist, described the Samantas as "a matrilineal caste ranking between Nayars and Kshatriyas and found in limited numbers in north Travancore. They were more numerous in Cochin and British Malabar."