 The Nambudiris have been described to be responsible for the Sanskrit influence on Malayalam, basically a Dravidian language, due to the Nambudiri Brahmin's mixing of Sanskrit and the local Tamil language.Medieval Kerala has been characterised as an oligarchy which was dominated by the Nambudiris, who owned all the temples and their subsidiary villages.The Nambudiris had influence with the ruling class through the practice of "sambandam", where younger Nambudiris used to have relationships with Kshatriya women or women from the upper sections of the Nair caste.The children of such unions were not considered Nambudiris, but a part of their matrilocal lineages.